Network name	Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)
Network logo
Country	Australia
Network type
Available	Nationwide
Owner	Australian government
Slogan	"It's your ABC"
Key people
Launch date	13 November 1929(radio)1 July 1932(incorporation)5 November 1956(television)1995(online)1 January 2001(digital TV)2009(digital radio)
Past names	Australian Broadcasting Company (1929–32)Australian Broadcasting Commission (1932–83)
Website	www.abc.net.au

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" (and informally as "Aunty"), is Australia's national public broadcaster. With a total budget of AU$1.13 billion annually, the corporation provides television, radio, online and mobile services throughout metropolitan and regional Australia, as well as overseas through the Australia Network and Radio Australia.

Founded in 1929 as the Australian Broadcasting Company, it was subsequently made a state-owned corporation on 1 July 1932, as the Australian Broadcasting Commission. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act of 1983 A licensing scheme, administered by the Postmaster-General's Department, was soon established allowing certain stations government funding, albeit with restrictions placed on their advertising content.

Following a 1927 Royal Commission inquiry into radio licensing issues, the government established the National Broadcasting Service which subsequently took over a number of the larger funded stations. It also nationalised the Australian Broadcasting Company which had been created by entertainment interests to supply programs to various radio stations. The Australian broadcast radio spectrum was constituted of the ABC and the commercial sector. Directions from the Minister about whether or not to broadcast any matter now had to be made in writing, and any exercise of the power had to be mentioned in the Commission's Annual Report. reading the first ABC News bulletin in 1956.]] Although radio programs could be broadcast nationally by landline, television relay facilities were not put in place until the early 1960s. This meant that news bulletins had to be sent to each capital city by teleprinter, to be prepared and presented separately in each city, with filmed materials copied manually and sent to each state. After a suggestion by space engineer, Doug Rickard, the ABC's senior graphic designer, Bill Kennard, submitted a design in 1965 which was part of the waveform of an oscilloscope.

In 1978 the ABC NSW Staff Association organised a strike against budget cuts and political interference. Sydney ABC was off air for four days. A packed free concert in support was held at the Regent Theatre and compered by Bob Hudson. It featured Fred Dagg and Robyn Archer.

The ABC budget began to decline in 1976 and was not reversed until 1985. However, Tom Molomby writes: :"The effects of the budget reductions had been so badly handled that the organisation was to remain seriously crippled for years."

1980s–90s

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983

The changes also led to the split of television and radio operations into two separate divisions, with an overhaul of management, finance, property and engineering undertaken. on a single site in the inner-city suburb of Ultimo.

The ABC Multimedia Unit was established in July, 1995, to manage the new ABC website (launched in August). Funding was allocated later that year specifically for online content, as opposed to reliance on funding for television and radio content. The first online election coverage was put together in 1996, and included news, electorate maps, candidate information and live results. The ABC's television operation joined its radio and online divisions at the corporation's Ultimo headquarters in 2000.

2000s

In 2001, digital television commenced after four years of preparation. Minister for Communications Helen Coonan inaugurated the channel at Parliament House three days later. Genre restrictions limiting the types of programming the channel could carry were lifted in October, 2006 – ABC2 was henceforth able to carry programming classified as comedy, drama, national news, sport and entertainment.

A high incidence of breast cancer in female staff working at the ABC's offices in Brisbane led to the closure of the site, based in Toowong, on 21 December 2006. Sixteen women were diagnosed with the disease in a period spanning 1994 to 2007. A progress report released in March, 2007, by an independent panel formed to investigate the occurrences found that the rate of occurrence for breast cancer rate at the offices was eleven times higher than elsewhere – since the closure of the site, the ABC's Brisbane-based television and radio operations were moved to alternate locations around the city, including Ten Brisbane's studios at Mt Coot-tha. The ABC's Managing Director, Mark Scott, announced in August, 2007 that new studios would be built on the site, following the final release of the Review and Scientific Investigation Panel's report. The new home of the ABC in Brisbane will be at South Bank, next to the Conservatorium and QPAC.

At midday on 8 February 2008, ABC TV was rebranded as ABC1, complementing the existing ABC2 digital-only channel which was launched on 7 March 2005 also adding branding for a new kids channel announced in the past throughout the Howard Government based on succeeding the 2007 election but left to 2009 Rudd Government Budget where ABC3 was funded later announced in June. A new online video-on-demand service launched in July of the same year, titled ABC iView, and the ABC launched digital radio broadcasts in the same month.

2010s

ABC News 24 launched on July 22, 2010, and brought with it both new programming content as well as a collaboration of existing news and current affair productions and resources. The ABC launched the 24-hr news channel to both complement its existing 24hr ABC News Radio service and compete with commercial offerings on Cable TV. It became the ABC's 5th domestic TV channel and the 4th launched within the past 10 years.

Corporation

Structure

Below is the divisional structure of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. {| border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="6" | style="background:ivory; text-align:center; border:1px solid silver; line-height:105%;"|ABC Secretariat | style="background:ivory; text-align:center; border:1px solid silver; line-height:105%;"|Director of Editorial Policies | style="background:ivory; text-align:center; border:1px solid silver; line-height:105%;"|Chief of Staff | style="background:ivory; text-align:center; border:1px solid silver; line-height:105%;"|Director of Corporate Development | | | style="background:#f0f0ff; text-align:center; border:1px solid silver; line-height:105%;"|General CounselRob Simpson | style="text-align:center; width:120px; background:#f0f0ff; border:1px solid silver; line-height:105%;"|Chief Operating OfficerDavid Pendleton |- | $\backslash uparrow$ | $\backslash uparrow$ | $\backslash uparrow$ | $\backslash uparrow$ | | | $\backslash uparrow$ | $\backslash uparrow$ |- | colspan="7" style="background:honeyDew; text-align:center; border:1px solid silver; line-height:105%;"|ABC BoardManaging DirectorMark Scott |- | $\backslash downarrow$ | $\backslash downarrow$ | $\backslash downarrow$ | $\backslash downarrow$ | $\backslash downarrow$ | $\backslash downarrow$ | $\backslash downarrow$ |- | style="text-align:center; width:120px; background:#f0f0ff; border:1px solid silver; line-height:105%;"|InnovationDirectorIan Carroll | style="text-align:center; width:120px; background:#f0f0ff; border:1px solid silver; line-height:105%;"|Radio and Regional ContentDirectorKate Dundas | style="text-align:center; width:120px; background:#f0f0ff; border:1px solid silver; line-height:105%;"|TelevisionDirectorKim Dalton | style="text-align:center; width:120px; background:#f0f0ff; border:1px solid silver; line-height:105%;"|News and Current AffairsDirectorKate Torney | style="text-align:center; width:120px; background:#f0f0ff; border:1px solid silver; line-height:105%;"|International, Corporate Strategy & GovernanceDirectorMurray Green | style="text-align:center; width:120px; background:#f0f0ff; border:1px solid silver; line-height:105%;"|CommercialDirectorLynley Marshall | style="text-align:center; width:120px; background:#f0f0ff; border:1px solid silver; line-height:105%;"|CommunicationsDirectorMichael Millett |}

Management

The operations of the ABC are governed by a board of directors, consisting of a Managing Director, five to seven Directors, The Managing Director is appointed by the board for a period of up to five years, but is eligible for renewal. The authority and guidelines for the appointment of directors is provided for in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983.

Appointments to the ABC Board made by successive governments have often resulted in criticism of the appointees' political affiliation, background, and relative merit. Past appointments have associated directly with political parties – five of fourteen appointed chairmen have been accused of political affiliation or friendship, include Richard Downing and Ken Myer (both of whom publicly endorsed the Australian Labor Party at the 1972 election Ron Brunton, and Keith Windschuttle.

During their 2007 federal election campaign, Labor announced plans to introduce a new system, similar to that of the BBC, for appointing members to the board. Under the new system, ABC candidates would be considered by a panel established "at arm's length" from the Communications Minister. If the Minister chose someone not on the panel's shortlist, they would be required to justify this to parliament. The ABC Chairman would be nominated by the Prime Minister and endorsed by the Leader of the Opposition.

The board's members: Mark Scott – Managing Director, appointed 5 July 2006 Maurice Newman AC – Chairperson, appointed 1 January 2007 the ABC is funded entirely by the Australian government, in addition to some revenue received from its retail outlets. In the 2006–07 federal budget, the ABC received A$823 million of government funding, increased to $840 million in 2008–09. is often used in reference to the services provided by the ABC. It is estimated that the cost of the ABC per head of population per day is now 7.1 cents a day, based on the Corporation's 2007–08 'base funding' of $543 million.

The Australian Communications Minister, Senator Stephen Conroy indicated strong support from the Government for the ABC's funding submission for the 2009/10 budget, saying the organisation had been underfunded for many years.

Politics and criticism

The ABC has often been accused of having a bias to the left wing of politics. Coalition members of parliament and some right wing commentators such as Andrew Bolt, Piers Akerman, Tim Blair and Gerard Henderson while the Hawke government unsuccessfully proposed merging it with the Special Broadcasting Service. The appointment of Jonathan Shier, managing director at the time, was also controversial.

A 2004 Roy Morgan media credibility survey found that media professionals regarded ABC Radio as the most accurate news source in the country.

South Australian state treasurer Kevin Foley accused ABC Radio of right-wing bias in February 2008 for its reporting of state economic issues, claiming that it is not "an objective media organisation".

A number of former journalists and presenters have moved from positions at the corporation to politics. Alan Carpenter, Clare Martin, Mary Delahunty, and Maxine McKew, as well as the Liberal Party's Pru Goward, Rob Messenger, Peter Collins, all held, or hold, positions at the ABC. Research undertaken by the broadcaster has indicated that out of a total of 19 former staffers moving into party political positions, 10 have joined the Labor Party, and 9 the Liberal Party.

Services

Radio

The ABC operates 46 local radio stations, in addition to four national networks and international service Radio Australia. In addition, DiG Radio launched on digital platforms in 2002, currently offering three separate stations.

ABC Local Radio is the Corporation's flagship radio station in each broadcast area. There are 46 individual stations, each with a similar format consisting of locally presented light entertainment, news, talk back, music, sport and interviews, in addition to some national programming such as AM, PM, The World Today, sporting events and Nightlife.

ABC Radio National broadcasts more than 60 special interest programs per week covering a range of topics including music, comedy, book readings, radio dramas, poetry, science, health, the arts, religion, social history and current affairs.

ABC NewsRadio is a rolling news service, previously known as the Parliamentary and News Network. The service was established to broadcast federal parliamentary sittings, to relieve the local ABC radio network from this intermittent task, and to provide a news service at other times. The network broadcasts news on a 24/7 format with updates on the quarter-hour. Much of its news content is produced by the ABC itself, however many programs are relayed from the BBC World Service, NPR, Deutsche Welle, Radio Netherlands and CNN Radio.

ABC Classic FM was the ABC's first FM radio service. It was originally known simply as "ABC FM", and for a short time "ABC Fine Music". Its format borrowed heavily from community stations that eventually founded the Fine Music Network, as well as BBC Radio 3.

Triple J is the national youth radio network, and broadcasts contemporary alternative and independent music; it is targeted at people aged 18–35. While the network plays music from around the world, it has a strong focus on local artists. Triple J was formerly known as "Double Jay" when it launched in Sydney on 19 January 1975.

Television

Within Australia, the ABC operates four channels. ABC1, the Corporation's original television service, receives the bulk of funding for television and shows first-run comedy, drama, documentaries, and news and current affairs. In each state and territory a local news bulletin is shown at 7.00 p.m. nightly.

In 2001 ABC TV launched its digital service.

ABC2, launched in 2005, is a digital-only channel that shows repeated programs from ABC1, as well as some original content including news programs, children's shows, animation, and music shows.

In September 2007, the Australian government announced a proposal to launch a new digital-only children's channel, to be named ABC3. An ABC3 channel appeared on television receivers in 2008, as a place holder for the future ABC3 channel. ABC3 was considered by the Australia 2020 Summit and given as one of the recommendations to the Government. In April 2009, the Government's official response to the Summit approved the idea, and in the 2009–10 Commonwealth Budget $67 million was allocated towards ABC3 as part of the Government's $167 million funding increase to the ABC. The channel launched in December 2009.

In January 2010, the ABC announced it's intention to launch Australia's first free-to-air news dedicated channel. ABC News 24 replaced the former ABC High Definition simulcast of ABC1 and commenced broadcasting at 7:30pm (AEST) 5:30 (AWST) on Thursday, 22 July 2010.

Online

An experimental Multimedia Unit was established in 1995, charged with developing policy for the ABC's work in web publishing. In March 2005 the division oversaw the launch of ABC2, a free-to-air digital television channel, in effect a replacement for ABC Kids and Fly.

In conjunction with the ABC's radio division, New Media and Digital Services implemented the ABC's first podcasts in December 2004. By mid-2006 the ABC had become an international leader in podcasting with over fifty podcast programs delivering hundreds of thousands of downloads per week, including trial video podcasts of The Chaser's War on Everything and jtv.

In February 2007, the New Media & Digital Services division was dissolved and divided up amongst other areas of the ABC. It was replaced by a new Innovations area, to manage ABC Online and investigate new technologies for the ABC.

International

The Australia Network is an international satellite television service operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, funded by advertising and grants from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Aimed at the Asia-Pacific region, the service broadcasts a mixture of English language programming, including general entertainment, sport, and current affairs.

ABC Radio Australia is an international shortwave, satellite and internet radio service with transmissions aimed at East Asia and the Pacific Islands, although its signals are also audible in many other parts of the world. It features programs in various languages spoken in these regions, including Mandarin, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Khmer and Tok Pisin.

Radio Australia bulletins are also carried on the World Radio Network, available via satellite in Europe and North America.

Commercial

ABC Commercial is the division of the ABC responsible for pursuing new sources of revenue for the Corporation.

Orchestras

Up until the installation of disc recording equipment in 1935, all content broadcast on the ABC was produced live, including music. For this purpose, the ABC established broadcasting orchestras in each state, and in some centres also employed choruses and dance bands. This became known as the ABC Concert Music Division, which was controlled by the Federal Director of Music – the first of whom was W. G. James. There are currently six state symphony orchestras:

Adelaide Symphony Orchestra

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

Sydney Symphony Orchestra

Queensland Symphony Orchestra

Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra

West Australian Symphony Orchestra

The orchestras were corporatised in the 1990s }}

ABC2

ABC3

ABC News 24

See also

Timeline of Australian radio

References

External links

ABC website

AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION ACT 1983

Friends of the ABC

Film Australia Digital Learning – digital resources tagged with ‘ABC’

Category:Australian radio networks Category:Australian television networks Category:Commercial-free television networks Category:Government entities of Australia Category:Organizations established in 1932 Category:Publicly funded broadcasters

Name	Trey Parker
Caption	Parker at The Amazing Meeting, January 20, 2007
Birth date	October 19, 1969
Birth name	Randolph Severn Parker III
Birth place	Conifer, Colorado, U.S.A.
Occupation	Actor, writer, director, producer, musician
Active	1992 -
Spouse	Emma Sugiyama (2006–present)

Trey Parker (born Randolph Severn Parker III; October 19, 1969) is an American animator, screenwriter, director, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of the television series South Park along with his creative partner and best friend Matt Stone.

Parker started his film career in 1992, making a holiday short titled Jesus vs. Frosty. His first success came from Cannibal! The Musical. From there he made another short title Jesus vs. Santa, which led him and his college friend, Matt Stone, to create the animated television series South Park, which has been on television for over a decade. He has won 4 Emmy Awards for his role in South Park, winning for both "Outstanding Programming More Than One Hour" and "Outstanding Programming Less Than One Hour".

Early life

Parker was born in Denver, Colorado, the son of Randy (a geologist) and Sharon (an insurance broker). The two share the first names and occupations of South Park characters Randy and Sharon Marsh. He has an older sister named Shelley, which is also the name of Stan Marsh's older sister. Parker grew up in the Conifer, Colorado area, and attended Berklee College of Music before transferring to the University of Colorado, where he majored in music.

Career

In 1992, Parker and Stone created Jesus vs. Frosty. It included four boys, Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Kenny McCormick and Eric Cartman. Both Jesus vs. Frosty and Cannibal! The Musical were made while they were students at the University of Colorado film school, studying under both Stan Brakhage and Jerry Aronson. Fox executive Brian Graden saw Cannibal! The Musical, and commissioned Parker and Stone to create Time Warped, a show similar to Cannibal!, but on a weekly basis. After two pilot episodes, the show was dropped.

After the duo released Cannibal! The Musical, they were asked to make another animated short. They came up with two worthwhile ideas; one a sequel to Jesus vs. Frosty, entitled Jesus vs. Santa, and one about a character that would later be recurring in South Park, Mr. Hankey. They chose to write about the four boys, and their decision ultimately opened the door for them to present a show, South Park, to Comedy Central. Stone and Parker produced 13 episodes for season 1. South Park is currently still under contract to produce new episodes through 2011.

In 1997, they also released Orgazmo, a movie rated NC-17. In 1998, they starred in (but did not write or direct) BASEketball, another feature film, while being renewed for a second season of South Park. In 1999, Parker and Stone made , which gave the series a new level of prominence. He was nominated for an Academy Award as the co-writer of one of the film's songs, "Blame Canada," but did not win. In 2001, the duo announced they would do 39 shorts between the lengths of 2 and 5 minutes. Although originally thought to be South Park related, they decided they would do something different. The result was the shorts Princess. The content was so extreme that it was cancelled after two shows aired. In 2001, they also created That's My Bush!, another television series. Despite great reviews, the show was cancelled after one season for the cost per episode. In 2004, they made a film, titled . The film was not considered a box-office success, grossing 51 million dollars in theaters, despite largely positive reviews (78% fresh rating on RottenTomatoes.com). As of 2010, South Park is in its fourteenth season.

Parker is also a member of the band DVDA with Stone, for which he plays keyboards and sings. DVDA's songs have appeared in many of the duo's productions. They include Orgazmo, BASEketball , South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, and Team America: World Police.

Trey claimed to have been on acid with Matt Stone at the time of the 2000 Academy Awards, where they wore dresses popularized by Jennifer Lopez and Gwyneth Paltrow at previous awards shows.

On September 28, 2007, Parker and Stone acquired the rights to the Canadian-made Kenny vs. Spenny, which premiered November 14, 2007 on Comedy Central with ten old and new episodes.

In April 2010, Trey Parker and Matt Stone received a "warning" for allegedly representing the Prophet Muhammad in a bear costume: "We have to warn Matt and Trey [South Park creators] that what they are doing is stupid and they will probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh for airing this show." It was revealed in the next episode that the person in the bear costume was really Santa Claus and not the Prophet Muhammad.

Theater productions

Parker and Stone are collaborating with Avenue Q composer Robert Lopez on a musical about Mormons; it has been titled Book of Mormon, and will star Cheyenne Jackson. It will be produced by Scott Rudin and Anne Garefino. It will open at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre on March 24, 2011, following previews from February 24, 2011.

On July 27, 2010, a stage version of Cannibal! The Musical will make its West End premiere at the Leicester Square Theatre. It will be produced by Frazer Brown.

Voices on South Park

Eric Cartman

Stan Marsh

Randy Marsh

Marvin Marsh

Starvin' Marvin

Clyde Donovan

Mr. Garrison

Ned Gerblansky

Dr. Alphonse Mephesto

Mr. Hankey

Santa Claus

God

Sexual Harassment Panda

Mr. Mackey

Stephen Stotch

Officer Barbrady

Ms. Choksondik

Timmy

Jimmy Vulmer

Tuong Lu Kim

Phillip

Satan

and many other minor speaking roles.

Personal life

In 2006, Parker married Japanese socialite Emma Sugiyama in Hawaii. He proposed to Sugiyama at friend George Clooney's Italian villa the year before. The officiant was 1970s sitcom producer Norman Lear. Parker entertained his guests with karaoke renditions of Neil Diamond songs.

Religion

On a September 2006 airing of the ABC news program Nightline, Parker articulated his position on religion. He stated that he believes there is more going on than humanity knows and cautioned that it would take a long time to explain exactly what he meant by his belief in God. Stone subsequently added, "I still don't understand it."

Parker has stated his understanding on atheism as, "Basically ... out of all the ridiculous religion stories which are greatly, wonderfully ridiculous — the silliest one I've ever heard is, 'Yeah ... there's this big giant universe and it's expanding, it's all gonna collapse on itself and we're all just here just 'cause ... just 'cause'. That, to me, is the most ridiculous explanation ever."

Discography

Baseketball (soundtrack) (1998)

Orgazmo (soundtrack) (1998)

(1998)

(1999)

Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics (1999)

(soundtrack) (2005)

Filmography

{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#B0C4DE" align="center" ! Year ! Production ! Role ! Other notes |- |rowspan="1"| 1992 || Jesus vs. Frosty || Actor, Producer, Writer || |- |rowspan="1"| 1993 || Cannibal! The Musical || Director, Actor, Producer, Writer || |- |rowspan="3"| 1995 || Jesus vs. Santa || Actor, Producer, Writer || |- |Time Warped (un-aired television series) || Creator, Actor || |- |Your Studio and You || Actor, Writer, Director || Cameo |- | 1996 || Orgazmo || Director, Actor, Writer, Producer || |- |rowspan="1"| 1997 || South Park (Television Series; 1997-present) || Co-Creator, Voice Actor, Writer, Director, Executive Producer || |- | 1998 || BASEketball || Actor || |- |rowspan="2"| 1999 || || Director, Voice Actor, Writer, Producer, Music Co-Composer || Nomination - Academy Award for Best Original Song |- |Terror Firmer || Actor || |- | 2000 || Even If You Don't || Director || Music Video |- |rowspan="2"| 2001 || Princess (Flash series) || Director, Writer, Voice Actor, Producer || Animation Shorts |- |That's My Bush! (Television Series; 2001) || Co-creator, Writer, Executive Producer || Cameo |- |rowspan="2"| 2004 || || Director, Writer, Voice Actor, Producer || |- |Tales from the Crapper || Actor || Cameo |- | 2005 || The Aristocrats || Guest Appearance || |- | 2007 || Kenny vs. Spenny || Executive Producer || |- | 2007 || Saul of the Mole Men || Voice actor || Television series, intro sung by him |}

References

External links

Category:1969 births Category:American animators Category:American film directors Category:American libertarians Category:American screenwriters Category:American television producers Category:American voice actors Category:Berklee College of Music alumni Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Living people

Category:Peabody Award winners Category:People from Denver Metro Area Category:South Park Category:University of Colorado at Boulder alumni

Name	Roger Cross
Birthdate	October 19, 1969
Birth place	Christiana, Jamaica
Occupation	Actor
Yearsactive	1989–present

Roger Cross (born October 19, 1969) is a Canadian contemporary actor who has made numerous appearances in several movies and TV series, mostly on productions shot in Canada. He is best known for his work on 24 in America and First Wave in Canada.

Biography

Early life

The fourth of five children, Cross was born in Christiana, Jamaica, on October 19, 1969; but moved to Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada with his parents and siblings when he was eleven. He graduated in 1989 with a degree in Aviation and General Studies from Trinity Western University in Langley, B.C.

While awaiting a flying job, Cross - who has a background in martial arts - began to take stunt jobs on film sets and eventually shifted his focus to acting. He enrolled in Vancouver's Breck Academy, and was cast in The International Rescue, a feature film shot in China, Vietnam, and Burma. He has worked steadily ever since.

Movie career

Cross was cast in guest roles on such series as The X-Files, Sliders, Stargate SG-1, , Relic Hunter, The 4400, Higher Ground and . He was also a regular on the sci-fi series First Wave and appeared in such films as The Chronicles of Riddick, X2, , and Beautiful Joe. " free willy 3 the rescue" as 1st mate stevens

His most recent role has been Agent Curtis Manning on 24. His role began at the start of the show's fourth season in 2005 as a recurring character; however he later became a main cast member. For the show's sixth season, he was changed back from a main cast member to a recurring character. The motives behind this switch are apparent now as his character was reluctantly shot and killed in the fourth episode by friend Jack Bauer, as Cross' character was about to compromise the mission by killing a former terrorist for whom he held a personal grudge.

Cross can be seen in the Oliver Stone film, World Trade Center, which was released in August 2006. Cross also plays the character of Barry in the 2008 movie Mad Money. He also appears as DJ and transvestite Sunset Boulevard/Sonny Benson in the Showtime series The L Word. Cross recently appeared as prison inmate Anton Burrows in the Season 3 episode of Flashpoint, "Just a Man". As confirmed by the Geelong Advertiser on November 6, 2008, Cross has signed on to join John Schneider, John Wesley Shipp, Tania Zaetta, Jeremy Kewley, Rob Baard in the new Australian action film The Ninja entering pre-production in early 2009 and stars in Re-Kill.

Personal life

He currently resides in Los Angeles and has one son.

References

External links

Category:1969 births Category:Black Canadian actors Category:Canadian film actors Category:Canadian television actors Category:Jamaican expatriates in Canada Category:Jamaican expatriates in the United States Category:Living people

Name	Richard Dawkins
Caption	Dawkins in 2010 at Cooper Union in New York City
Birth name	Clinton Richard Dawkins
Birth date	March 26, 1941
Birth place	Nairobi, Kenya Colony
Residence	Oxford, England
Nationality	British
Ethnicity	White British
Religion	None
Education	MA, DPhil (Oxon)
Alma mater	Balliol College, Oxford
Occupation	Ethologist
Years active	1967-present
Employer	University of California, BerkeleyUniversity of Oxford
Organization	Fellow of the Royal SocietyFellow of the Royal Society of Literature
Known for	Gene-centered view of evolution, concept of the meme, advocacy of atheism and rationalism
Notable works	The Selfish Gene (1976)The Extended Phenotype (1982)The Blind Watchmaker (1986)
Influences	Charles Darwin, Ronald Fisher, George C. Williams, W. D. Hamilton, Daniel Dennett, Nikolaas Tinbergen (doctoral adviser)
Spouse	Marian Stamp Dawkins (m. 1967-1984)Eve Barham (m. 1984-?)Lalla Ward (m. 1992-present)
Children	Juliet Emma Dawkins (born 1984)
Parents	Clinton John DawkinsJean Mary Vyvyan (née Ladner)
Awards	Faraday Award (1990)Kistler Prize (2001)
Website	The Richard Dawkins Foundation

Clinton Richard Dawkins, FRS, FRSL (born 26 March 1941) is a British ethologist and evolutionary biologist. He is an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford, and was the University of Oxford's Professor for Public Understanding of Science from 1995 until 2008.

Dawkins came to prominence with his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, which popularised the gene-centered view of evolution and introduced the term meme. In 1982, he introduced into evolutionary biology an influential concept, presented in his book The Extended Phenotype, that the phenotypic effects of a gene are not necessarily limited to an organism's body, but can stretch far into the environment, including the bodies of other organisms.

Dawkins is an atheist and humanist, a Vice President of the British Humanist Association and supporter of the Brights movement. He is well-known for his criticism of creationism and intelligent design. In his 1986 book The Blind Watchmaker, he argued against the watchmaker analogy, an argument for the existence of a supernatural creator based upon the complexity of living organisms. Instead, he described evolutionary processes as analogous to a blind watchmaker. He has since written several popular science books, and makes regular television and radio appearances, predominantly discussing these topics. He has been referred to in the media as "Darwin's Rottweiler," a reference to English biologist T. H. Huxley, who was known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's evolutionary ideas. In his 2006 book The God Delusion, Dawkins contends that a supernatural creator almost certainly does not exist and that religious faith is a delusion—a fixed false belief. As of January 2010, the English-language version had sold more than two million copies and had been translated into 31 languages, making it his most popular book to date.

Biography

Dawkins was born in Nairobi, Kenya. His father, Clinton John Dawkins (1915-2010), returning to England in 1949, when Dawkins was eight. His father had inherited Over Norton Park, which he turned from a country estate into a commercial farm. Both his parents were interested in natural sciences; they answered Dawkins' questions in scientific terms.

Dawkins describes his childhood as "a normal Anglican upbringing." Though he began having doubts about the existence of God when he was about nine years old, he was persuaded by the argument from design, an argument for the existence of God or a creator based on perceived evidence of order, purpose, or design in nature, and embraced Christianity.

He attended Oundle, a Church of England school, Dawkins' research in this period concerned models of animal decision-making.

From 1967 to 1969, he was an assistant professor of zoology at the University of California, Berkeley. During this period, the students and faculty at UC Berkeley were largely opposed to the ongoing Vietnam War, and Dawkins became heavily involved in the anti-war demonstrations and activities. He returned to the University of Oxford in 1970 taking a position as a lecturer, and in 1990, as a reader in zoology. In 1995, he was appointed Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford, a position that had been endowed by Charles Simonyi with the express intention that the holder "be expected to make important contributions to the public understanding of some scientific field", and that its first holder should be Richard Dawkins.

Since 1970, he has been a fellow of New College. He has delivered a number of inaugural and other lectures, including the Henry Sidgwick Memorial Lecture (1989), first Erasmus Darwin Memorial Lecture (1990), Michael Faraday Lecture (1991), T.H. Huxley Memorial Lecture (1992), Irvine Memorial Lecture (1997), Sheldon Doyle Lecture (1999), Tinbergen Lecture (2004) and Tanner Lectures (2003).

He has sat on judging panels for awards as diverse as the Royal Society's Faraday Award and the British Academy Television Awards, and has been president of the Biological Sciences section of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2004, Balliol College, Oxford instituted the Dawkins Prize, awarded for "outstanding research into the ecology and behaviour of animals whose welfare and survival may be endangered by human activities". In September 2008, he retired from his professorship, announcing plans to "write a book aimed at youngsters in which he will warn them against believing in 'anti-scientific' fairytales."

Dawkins' parents were married from 1939 until his father's death in December 2010, aged 95.–28 February 1999) in Oxford. They had a daughter, Juliet Emma Dawkins (born 1984, Oxford). In 1992, he married actress Lalla Ward in Kensington and Chelsea, London. who had worked with her on the BBC's Doctor Who.

Work

Evolutionary biology

, Austin, March 2008]] In his scientific works, Dawkins is best known for his popularisation of the gene-centred view of evolution. This view is most clearly set out in his books The Selfish Gene (1976), where he notes that "all life evolves by the differential survival of replicating entities", and The Extended Phenotype (1982), in which he describes natural selection as "the process whereby replicators out-propagate each other". In his role as an ethologist, interested in animal behaviour and its relation to natural selection, he advocates the idea that the gene is the principal unit of selection in evolution.

Dawkins has consistently been sceptical about non-adaptive processes in evolution (such as spandrels, described by Gould and Lewontin) and about selection at levels "above" that of the gene. He is particularly sceptical about the practical possibility or importance of group selection as a basis for understanding altruism. This behaviour appears at first to be an evolutionary paradox, since helping others costs precious resources and decreases one's own fitness. Previously, many had interpreted this as an aspect of group selection: individuals were doing what was best for the survival of the population or species as a whole, and not specifically for themselves. British evolutionary biologist W. D. Hamilton had used the gene-centred view to explain altruism in terms of inclusive fitness and kin selection − that individuals behave altruistically toward their close relatives, who share many of their own genes. Similarly, Robert Trivers, thinking in terms of the gene-centred model, developed the theory of reciprocal altruism, whereby one organism provides a benefit to another in the expectation of future reciprocation. Dawkins popularised these ideas in The Selfish Gene, and developed them in his own work.

Critics of Dawkins' approach suggest that taking the gene as the unit of selection − of a single event in which an individual either succeeds or fails to reproduce − is misleading, but that the gene could be better described as a unit of evolution − of the long-term changes in allele frequencies in a population. In The Selfish Gene, Dawkins explains that he is using George C. Williams' definition of the gene as "that which segregates and recombines with appreciable frequency." Another common objection is that genes cannot survive alone, but must cooperate to build an individual, and therefore cannot be an independent "unit". In The Extended Phenotype, Dawkins suggests that because of genetic recombination and sexual reproduction, from an individual gene's viewpoint all other genes are part of the environment to which it is adapted.

Advocates for higher levels of selection such as Richard Lewontin, David Sloan Wilson, and Elliot Sober suggest that there are many phenomena (including altruism) that gene-based selection cannot satisfactorily explain. The philosopher Mary Midgley, with whom Dawkins clashed in print concerning The Selfish Gene, has criticised gene selection, memetics and sociobiology as being excessively reductionist.

In a set of controversies over the mechanisms and interpretation of evolution (the so-called 'Darwin Wars'), one faction was often named after Dawkins and its rival after the American paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould, reflecting the pre-eminence of each as a populariser of pertinent ideas. In particular, Dawkins and Gould have been prominent commentators in the controversy over sociobiology and evolutionary psychology, with Dawkins generally approving and Gould generally being critical. A typical example of Dawkins' position was his scathing review of Not in Our Genes by Steven Rose, Leon J. Kamin and Richard C. Lewontin. Two other thinkers on the subject often considered to be allied to Dawkins are Steven Pinker and Daniel Dennett; Dennett has promoted a gene-centred view of evolution and defended reductionism in biology. Despite their academic disagreements, Dawkins and Gould did not have a hostile personal relationship, and Dawkins dedicated a large portion of his 2003 book A Devil's Chaplain posthumously to Gould, who had died the previous year.

Dawkins' book expounds the evidence for biological evolution. It was released on 3 September 2009, published in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth nations by Transworld. In the United States it was released on 22 September 2009, where it was published by Free Press. All of his previous works dealing with evolution had assumed its truth, and not explicitly provided the evidence to this effect. Dawkins felt that this represented a gap in his oeuvre, and decided to write the book to coincide with Darwin's bicentennial year.

Meme

Dawkins coined the word meme (the behavioral equivalent of a gene) to describe how Darwinian principles might be extended to explain the spread of ideas and cultural phenomena. This has spawned the field of memetics. Dawkins' memes refer to any cultural entity that an observer might consider a replicator of a certain idea or a complex of ideas. He hypothesised that people could view many cultural entities as capable of such replication, generally through exposure to humans, who have evolved as efficient (although not perfect) copiers of information and behaviour. Memes are not always copied perfectly, and might indeed become refined, combined or otherwise modified with other ideas, resulting in new memes, which may themselves prove more, or less, efficient replicators than their predecessors, thus providing a framework for a hypothesis of cultural evolution, analogous to the theory of biological evolution based on genes. Since originally outlining the idea in his book The Selfish Gene, Dawkins has largely left the task of expanding upon it to other authors such as Susan Blackmore.

Although Dawkins invented the specific term meme independently, he has not claimed that the idea itself was entirely novel, and there have been other expressions for similar ideas in the past. For instance, John Laurent has suggested that the term may have derived from the work of the little-known German biologist Richard Semon. In 1904, Semon published Die Mneme (which appeared in English in 1924 as The Mneme). This book discussed the cultural transmission of experiences, with insights parallel to those of Dawkins. Laurent also found the term mneme used in Maurice Maeterlinck's The Life of the White Ant (1926), and has highlighted the similarities to Dawkins' concept. without recourse to evolution). He has described the Young Earth creationist view that the Earth is only a few thousand years old as "a preposterous, mind-shrinking falsehood," and his 1986 book, The Blind Watchmaker, contains a sustained critique of the argument from design, an important creationist argument. In the book, Dawkins argued against the watchmaker analogy made famous by the 18th-century English theologian William Paley in his book Natural Theology. Paley argued that, just as a watch is too complicated and too functional to have sprung into existence merely by accident, so too must all living things, with their far greater complexity, be purposefully designed. Dawkins shares the view generally held by scientists that natural selection is sufficient to explain the apparent functionality and non-random complexity of the biological world, and can be said to play the role of watchmaker in nature, albeit as an automatic, nonintelligent, blind watchmaker.

, 2008.]]In 1986, Dawkins participated in a Oxford Union debate, in which he and English biologist John Maynard Smith debated Young Earth creationist A. E. Wilder-Smith and Edgar Andrews, president of the Biblical Creation Society. In general, however, Dawkins has followed the advice of his late colleague Stephen Jay Gould and refused to participate in formal debates with creationists because "what they seek is the oxygen of respectability", and doing so would "give them this oxygen by the mere act of engaging with them at all." He suggests that creationists "don't mind being beaten in an argument. What matters is that we give them recognition by bothering to argue with them in public."

In a December 2004 interview with American journalist Bill Moyers, Dawkins said that "among the things that science does know, evolution is about as certain as anything we know". When Moyers questioned him on the use of the word theory, Dawkins stated that "evolution has been observed. It's just that it hasn't been observed while it's happening." He added that "it is rather like a detective coming on a murder after the scene... the detective hasn't actually seen the murder take place, of course. But what you do see is a massive clue... Huge quantities of circumstantial evidence. It might as well be spelled out in words of English."

Dawkins has ardently opposed the inclusion of intelligent design in science education, describing it as "not a scientific argument at all, but a religious one". He has been a strong critic of the British organisation Truth in Science, which promotes the teaching of creationism in state schools, and he plans—through the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science—to subsidise the delivering of books, DVDs and pamphlets to schools, in order to counteract what he has described as an "educational scandal".

Atheism and rationalism

, 24 June 2006.]] Dawkins is an outspoken atheist and a prominent critic of religion. He has been described as a vocal, militant rationalist, and as "the UK's Chief Atheist". In an interview with Thomas Bass for a book published in 1994 he described himself as a 'fairly militant atheist'. In 1996, when asked if he'd prefer to be known as a scientist or a militant atheist, he replied, "Bertrand Russell called himself the Passionate Sceptic. It's aiming high, but I'll shoot for that." He is an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society, a vice-president of the British Humanist Association (since 1996), a member of the Secular Coalition for America advisory board, a Humanist Laureate of the International Academy of Humanism, and a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. In 2003, he became a signatory of the humanist manifesto Humanism and Its Aspirations, published by the American Humanist Association.

Dawkins believes that his own atheism is the logical extension of his understanding of evolution and that religion is incompatible with science. In his 1986 book The Blind Watchmaker, Dawkins wrote:

In his 1991 essay "Viruses of the Mind" (from which the term faith-sufferer originated), he suggested that memetic theory might analyse and explain the phenomenon of religious belief and some of the common characteristics of religions, such as the belief that punishment awaits non-believers. According to Dawkins, faith − belief that is not based on evidence − is one of the world's great evils. He claims it to be analogous to the smallpox virus, though more difficult to eradicate. Dawkins is well-known for his contempt for religious extremism, from Islamist terrorism to Christian fundamentalism; but he has also argued with liberal believers and religious scientists, from biologists Kenneth Miller and Francis Collins to theologians Alister McGrath and Richard Harries. Dawkins has stated that his opposition to religion is twofold, claiming it to be both a source of conflict and a justification for belief without evidence. However, he describes himself as a "cultural Christian", and proposed the slogan "Atheists for Jesus".

Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, when asked how the world might have changed, Dawkins responded:

Dawkins has especially risen to prominence in contemporary public debates relating rationalism, science and religion since the publication of his 2006 book The God Delusion, which has achieved greater sales figures worldwide than any of his other works to date. Its success has been seen by many as indicative of a change in the contemporary cultural zeitgeist, central to a recent rise in the popularity of atheistic literature. The God Delusion was praised by among others the Nobel laureate chemist Sir Harold Kroto, psychologist Steven Pinker and the Nobel laureate biologist James D. Watson. In the book, Dawkins argued that atheists should be proud, not apologetic, because atheism is evidence of a healthy, independent mind. He sees education and consciousness-raising as the primary tools in opposing what he considers to be religious dogma and indoctrination. These tools include the fight against certain stereotypes, and he has adopted the term Bright as a way of associating positive public connotations with those who possess a naturalistic worldview. Critics have said that the programme gave too much time to marginal figures and extremists, and that Dawkins' confrontational style did not help his cause; Dawkins rejected these claims, citing the number of moderate religious broadcasts in everyday media as providing a suitable balance to the extremists in the programmes. He further remarked that someone who is deemed an "extremist" in a religiously moderate country may well be considered "mainstream" in a religiously conservative one. The unedited recordings of Dawkins' conversations with Alister McGrath and Richard Harries, including material unused in the broadcast version, have been made available online by the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science.

Oxford theologian Alister McGrath (author of The Dawkins Delusion and ) maintains that Dawkins is ignorant of Christian theology, and therefore unable to engage religion and faith intelligently. In reply, Dawkins asks "do you have to read up on leprechology before disbelieving in leprechauns?", and − in the paperback edition of The God Delusion − he refers to the American biologist PZ Myers, who has satirised this line of argument as "The Courtier's Reply". Dawkins had an extended debate with McGrath at the 2007 Sunday Times Literary Festival.

Another Christian philosopher Keith Ward explores similar themes in his 2006 book Is Religion Dangerous?, arguing against the view of Dawkins and others that religion is socially dangerous. Criticism of The God Delusion has come from philosophers such as Professor John Cottingham of the University of Reading. Other commentators, including ethicist Margaret Somerville, have suggested that Dawkins "overstates the case against religion", particularly its role in human conflict. Many of Dawkins' defenders claim that critics generally misunderstand his real point. During a debate on Radio 3 Hong Kong, David Nicholls, writer and president of the Atheist Foundation of Australia, reiterated Dawkins' sentiments that religion is an "unnecessary" aspect of global problems.

Dawkins argues that "the existence of God is a scientific hypothesis like any other". He disagrees with Stephen Jay Gould's principle of nonoverlapping magisteria (NOMA). In an interview with Time magazine, Dawkins said:

I think that Gould's separate compartments was a purely political ploy to win middle-of-the-road religious people to the science camp. But it's a very empty idea. There are plenty of places where religion does not keep off the scientific turf. Any belief in miracles is flat contradictory not just to the facts of science but to the spirit of science.

Astrophysicist Martin Rees has suggested that Dawkins' attack on mainstream religion is unhelpful. Regarding Rees' claim in his book Our Cosmic Habitat that "such questions lie beyond science", Dawkins asks "what expertise can theologians bring to deep cosmological questions that scientists cannot?" Elsewhere, Dawkins has written that "there's all the difference in the world between a belief that one is prepared to defend by quoting evidence and logic, and a belief that is supported by nothing more than tradition, authority or revelation." He has said that the publication of The God Delusion is "probably the culmination" of his campaign against religion.

In 2007, Dawkins founded the Out Campaign to encourage atheists worldwide to declare their stance publicly and proudly. Inspired by the gay rights movement, Dawkins hopes that atheists' identifying of themselves as such, and thereby increasing public awareness of how many people hold these views, will reduce the negative opinion of atheism among the religious majority.

In September 2008, following a complaint by Islamic creationist Adnan Oktar, a court in Turkey blocked access to Dawkins' website richarddawkins.net. The court decision was made due to "insult to personality". During the 2010 Global Atheist Convention in Melbourne, Australia Dawkins was criticised for his use of the phrase "Pope Nazi" in reference to wartime Pope Pius XII, whose actions during the Holocaust have been a matter of controversy.

at the Atheist Bus Campaign launch]] In October 2008, Dawkins officially supported the UK's first atheist advertising initiative, the Atheist Bus Campaign. Created by Guardian journalist Ariane Sherine and administered by the British Humanist Association the campaign aimed to raise funds to place atheist adverts on buses in the London area, and Dawkins pledged to match the amount raised by atheists, up to a maximum of £5,500. However, the campaign was an unprecedented success, raising over £100,000 in its first four days, and generating global press coverage. The campaign, started in January 2009, features adverts across the UK with the slogan: "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." Dawkins said that "this campaign to put alternative slogans on London buses will make people think — and thinking is anathema to religion."

In 2010, Dawkins supported legal efforts to charge Pope Benedict XVI with crimes against humanity. Dawkins and fellow anti-religion campaigner Christopher Hitchens were believed to be exploring the option of having the Pope arrested under the same legal principle that saw Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet arrested during a visit to Britain in 1998. Dawkins has given support to the idea of an atheists' "free thinking" school, that would teach children to "ask for evidence, to be sceptical, critical, open-minded".

On 15 September 2010, Dawkins, along with 54 other public figures, signed an open letter published in The Guardian, stating their opposition to Pope Benedict XVI making a State visit to the United Kingdom.

Richard Dawkins Foundation

In 2006, Dawkins founded the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science (RDFRS), a non-profit organisation. The foundation is in developmental phase. It has been granted charitable status in the United Kingdom and the United States. RDFRS plans to finance research on the psychology of belief and religion, finance scientific education programs and materials, and publicise and support secular charitable organisations. The foundation also offers humanist, rationalist and scientific materials and information through its website.

Other fields

, Menlo Park, California, 29 October 2006.]] In his role as professor for public understanding of science, Dawkins has been a critic of pseudoscience and alternative medicine. His 1998 book Unweaving the Rainbow takes John Keats' accusation that, by explaining the rainbow, Isaac Newton had diminished its beauty, and argues for the opposite conclusion. He suggests that deep space, the billions of years of life's evolution, and the microscopic workings of biology and heredity contain more beauty and wonder than do "myths" and "pseudoscience". Dawkins wrote a foreword to John Diamond's posthumously published Snake Oil, a book devoted to debunking alternative medicine, in which he asserted that alternative medicine was harmful, if only because it distracted patients from more successful conventional treatments, and gave people false hopes. Dawkins states that "there is no alternative medicine. There is only medicine that works and medicine that doesn't work."

Dawkins has expressed concern about the growth of the planet's human population, and about the matter of overpopulation. In The Selfish Gene, he briefly mentions population growth, giving the example of Latin America, whose population, at the time the book was written, was doubling every 40 years. He is critical of Roman Catholic attitudes to family planning and population control, stating that leaders who forbid contraception and "express a preference for 'natural' methods of population limitation" will get just such a method in the form of starvation.

As a supporter of the Great Ape Project – a movement to extend certain moral and legal rights to all great apes – Dawkins contributed the article "Gaps in the Mind" to the Great Ape Project book edited by Paola Cavalieri and Peter Singer. In this essay, he criticises contemporary society's moral attitudes as being based on a "discontinuous, speciesist imperative".

Dawkins also regularly comments in newspapers and weblogs on contemporary political questions; his opinions include opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the British nuclear deterrent and the actions of U.S. President George W. Bush. Several such articles were included in A Devil's Chaplain, an anthology of writings about science, religion and politics. He is also a supporter of the Republic campaign to replace the British monarchy with a democratically elected president. Dawkins has described himself as a Labour voter in the 1970s and voter for the Liberal Democrats since the party's creation. In 2009, he spoke at the party's conference in opposition to blasphemy laws. In the UK general election of 2010, Dawkins officially endorsed the Liberal Democrats, in support of their campaign for electoral reform and for their "refusal to pander to 'faith'."

In the 2007 TV documentary The Enemies of Reason, Dawkins discusses what he sees as the dangers of abandoning critical thought and rationale based upon scientific evidence. He specifically cites astrology, spiritualism, dowsing, alternative faiths, alternative medicine and homeopathy. He also discusses how the Internet can be used to spread religious hatred and conspiracy theories with scant attention to evidence-based reasoning.

Continuing a long-standing partnership with Channel 4, Dawkins participated in a five-part television series The Genius of Britain, along with fellow scientists Stephen Hawking, James Dyson, Paul Nurse, and Jim Al-Khalili. The five-episode series was broadcast in June 2010. The series focussed on major British scientific achievements throughout history.

Dawkins presented a More4 documentary entitled 'Faith School Menace' in which he argued for "us to reconsider the consequences of faith education, which... bamboozles parents and indoctrinates and divides children."

Dawkins wrote a positive review on the book Intellectual Impostures, written by Alan Sokal and Jean Bricmont.

Awards and recognition

, 12 October 2007, from Karlheinz Deschner.]] Dawkins was awarded a Doctor of Science by the University of Oxford in 1989. He holds honorary doctorates in science from the University of Huddersfield, University of Westminster, Durham University, the University of Hull, and the University of Antwerp, and honorary doctorates from the University of Aberdeen, Open University, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, He also holds honorary doctorates of letters from the University of St Andrews and the Australian National University (HonLittD, 1996), and was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1997 and the Royal Society in 2001.

Dawkins topped Prospect magazine's 2004 list of the top 100 public British intellectuals, as decided by the readers, receiving twice as many votes as the runner-up. He has been short-listed as a candidate in their 2008 follow-up poll. In 2005, the Hamburg-based Alfred Toepfer Foundation awarded him its Shakespeare Prize in recognition of his "concise and accessible presentation of scientific knowledge". He won the Lewis Thomas Prize for Writing about Science for 2006 and the Galaxy British Book Awards Author of the Year Award for 2007. In the same year, he was listed by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2007, and he was ranked 20th in The Daily Telegraph's 2007 list of 100 greatest living geniuses. He was awarded the Deschner Award, named after German anti-clerical author Karlheinz Deschner.

Since 2003, the Atheist Alliance International has awarded a prize during its annual conference, honouring an outstanding atheist whose work has done most to raise public awareness of atheism during that year. It is known as the Richard Dawkins Award, in honour of Dawkins' own work.

Media

Selected publications

Documentary films

Nice Guys Finish First (1987)

The Blind Watchmaker (1987)

Growing Up in the Universe (1991)

Break the Science Barrier (1996)

The Root of All Evil? (2006)

The Enemies of Reason (2007)

The Genius of Charles Darwin (2008)

Faith School Menace (2010)

Criticism of Dawkins

A number of writers have taken issue with the views expressed by Richard Dawkins. Examples include:

Darwin's Angel by John Cornwell

and The Dawkins Delusion? by Alastair McGrath

The Selfish Genius by Fern Elson-Baker

The Solitary Self: Darwin and the Selfish Gene by Mary Midgley

The Music of Life by Denis Noble

Why There Almost Certainly Is a God: Doubting Dawkins by Keith Ward

God's Undertaker: Has Science Buried God? by John Lennox

Reason, Faith, and Revolution: Reflections on the God Debate by Terry Eagleton

"Neo-Darwinism, the Modern Synthesis, and Selfish Genes: are they of use in physiology?" by Denis Noble Journal of Pysiology preprint here

Notes

b. The debate ended with the motion "That the doctrine of creation is more valid than the theory of evolution" being defeated by 198 votes to 115.

References

External links

General

Official website

Richard Dawkins' page on Academia.edu

The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science

Video

National Geographic Interviews – A series of video interviews with National Geographic Channel with Richard Dawkins on Darwin, Evolution and God.

TED Talks: Richard Dawkins on militant atheism at TED in 2002

TED Talks: Richard Dawkins on our "queer" universe at TED Global in 2005

Video interview with Riz Khan for Al Jazeera English

Video interview at Big Think

Selected writings

Viruses of the Mind (1993) – Religion as a mental virus.

The Real Romance in the Stars (1995) – A critical view of astrology.

The Emptiness of Theology (1998) – A critical view of theology. (Alternative link at RDFRS.)

Snake Oil and Holy Water (1999) – Suggests that there is no convergence occurring between science and theism.

What Use is Religion? (2004) – Suggests that religion may have no survival value other than to itself.

Race and Creation (2004) – On race, its usage and a theory of how it evolved.

The giant tortoise's tale, The turtle's tale and The lava lizard's tale (2005) – A series of three articles written after a visit to the Galápagos Islands.

Dawkins' Huffington Post articles

Audio

Richard Dawkins on RadioLIVE's Weekend Variety Wireless – Richard Dawkins appears live on New Zealand's RadioLIVE, taking calls from the audience.

Category:1941 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century biologists Category:20th-century non-fiction writers Category:21st-century biologists Category:21st-century non-fiction writers Category:Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Category:Atheism activists Category:British republicans Category:Criticism of religion Category:English atheists Category:English biologists Category:English humanists Category:English sceptics Category:English science writers Category:Ethologists Category:Evolutionary biologists Category:Fellows of New College, Oxford Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Category:Fellows of the Royal Society Category:Gifford Lecturers Category:Old Oundelians Category:People from Nairobi Category:Presenters of the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures Category:Recipients of the Medal of the Presidency of the Italian Republic Category:Statutory Professors of the University of Oxford Category:University of California, Berkeley faculty

Name	Fred Rogers
Caption	Mr. Rogers with the miniature set for his television program
Birth name	Fred McFeely Rogers
Birth date	March 20, 1928
Birth place	Latrobe, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Death date	February 27, 2003
Death place	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Death cause	Stomach cancer
Other names	Mister RogersMr. Rogers
Spouse	Sara Joanne Byrd (1952-2003)
Occupation	Educator, minister, songwriter, television host
Years active	1951–2002

Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003) was an American educator, Presbyterian minister, songwriter, and television host. Rogers was most famous for creating and hosting Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (1968–2001), that featured his gentle, soft-spoken personality and directness to his audiences. He was also known for his advocacy of various public causes. He testified to the U.S. Supreme Court on time shifting; and he gave a now-famous speech before the U.S. Senate, advocating government funding for children's television rather than the Vietnam War.

Rogers was honored for his life work in children's education. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian honor, a Peabody Award for his career, and was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. Two resolutions recognizing his work were unanimously passed by U.S. Congress, one of his trademark sweaters was acquired and is on display at the Smithsonian Institution, and several buildings and works of art in Pennsylvania are dedicated to his memory.

Personal life

Fred McFeely Rogers was born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, 40 miles (65 km) southeast of Pittsburgh, to James and Nancy Rogers; he had one sister, Elaine Rogers Crozier.

Rogers graduated from Latrobe High School (1946). He studied at Dartmouth College (1946–48) in Hanover, New Hampshire, and transferred to Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Music Composition (1951).

At Rollins, Rogers met Sara Joanne Byrd, an Oakland, Florida, native; and they married on June 9, 1952. They had two sons, James (b. 1959) and John (b. 1961), and three grandsons, the third (Ian McFeely Rogers) born twelve days after Rogers' death. In 1963, Rogers graduated from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and was ordained a minister in the Presbyterian Church. During the course of his career, he garnered forty honorary degrees. swam every morning, was a vegetarian, and neither smoked nor drank.

Rogers had an apartment in New York City and a summer home on Nantucket island in Massachusetts. for best children's show, and was briefly broadcast nationally on NBC.

During these eight years, he would leave the WQED studios during his lunch breaks to study theology at the nearby Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Rogers, however, was not interested in preaching; and, after his ordination, he was specifically charged to continue his work with Children's Television. He had also done work at the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Child Development.

In 1963, Rogers moved to Toronto, where he was contracted by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) to develop a 15-minute children's television program: Misterogers, which would be his debut in front of the camera. The show was a hit with children but lasted for only three seasons. Many of his famous set pieces—Trolley, Eiffel Tower, the 'tree', and 'castle'—were created by CBC designers. While in Canada, Rogers brought his friend and understudy Ernie Coombs, who would go on to create Mr. Dressup, a very successful and long-running children's show in Canada, and similar in many ways to Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Mr. Dressup also used some of the songs that would be featured on Rogers' later program.

In 1966, Rogers acquired the rights to his program from the CBC and moved the show to WQED in Pittsburgh, where he had worked on The Children's Corner. He developed the new show for the Eastern Educational Network. Stations that carried the program were limited but did include educational stations in Boston, Washington, D.C., and New York City.

After returning to Pittsburgh, Rogers attended and participated in activities at the Sixth Presbyterian church in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, a More Light congregation which he attended until his death.

Distribution of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood began on February 19, 1968. The following year, the show moved to PBS (Public Broadcasting Service). In 1971, Rogers formed Family Communications, Inc. (FCI), and the company established offices in the WQED building in Pittsburgh. Initially, the company served solely as the production arm of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, but now develops and produces an array of children's programming and educational materials.

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood

's Museum of American History.]]

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood began airing in 1968 and ran for 895 episodes; the last set of new episodes was taped in December 2000 and began airing in August 2001. At its peak, in 1985, 8% of U.S households tuned in to the show. Rogers found the character's pitching fast food as confusing to children, and called a press conference in which he stated that he did not endorse the company's use of his character or likeness (Rogers did no commercial endorsements of any kind throughout his career, though he acted as a pitchman for several non-profit organizations dedicated to learning over the years). The chain publicly apologized for the faux pas, and pulled the ads. By contrast, Fred Rogers found Eddie Murphy's parody of his show on Saturday Night Live, "Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood," amusing and affectionate, which was also initially broadcast at a time of night when his own child audience was not likely see it.

Emmys for programming

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood won four Emmy awards, and Rogers received one for lifetime achievement.

During the 1997 Daytime Emmys, the Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Rogers. The following is an excerpt from Esquire's coverage of the gala, written by Tom Junod:

Advocacy

in 2002.]]

PBS funding

In 1969, Rogers appeared before the United States Senate Subcommittee on Communications. His goal was to support funding for PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, in response to significant proposed cuts. In about six minutes of testimony, Rogers spoke of the need for social and emotional education that public television provided. He passionately argued that alternative television programming like his Neighborhood helped encourage children to become happy and productive citizens, sometimes opposing less positive messages in media and in popular culture. He even recited the lyrics to one of his songs.

The chairman of the subcommittee, John O. Pastore, was not previously familiar with Rogers' work, and was sometimes described as impatient. However, he reported that the testimony had given him goosebumps, and declared, "I think it's wonderful. Looks like you just earned the $20 million." The subsequent congressional appropriation, for 1971, increased PBS funding from $9 million to $22 million.

VCR

During the controversy surrounding the introduction of the household VCR, Rogers was involved in supporting the manufacturers of VCRs in court. His 1979 testimony in the case Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc. noted that he did not object to home recording of his television programs, for instance, by families in order to watch together at a later time. This testimony contrasted with the views of others in the television industry who objected to home recording or believed that devices to facilitate it should be taxed or regulated.

The Supreme Court considered the testimony of Rogers in its decision that held that the Betamax video recorder did not infringe copyright. The Court stated that his views were a notable piece of evidence "that many [television] producers are willing to allow private time-shifting to continue" and even quoted his testimony in a footnote:

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Death, awards, and memorials

, and opened to the public on November 5, 2009.]]

Rogers was diagnosed with stomach cancer in December 2002, not long after his retirement. He underwent surgery on January 6, 2003, which was unsuccessful. A few weeks later, he served as grand marshal of the Tournament of Roses Parade, with Art Linkletter and Bill Cosby.

Rogers died on February 27, 2003 at his home with his wife by his side, less than a month before he would have turned 75. Rogers is interred at Unity Cemetery in Latrobe.

On New Years Day of 2004, Michael Keaton hosted the PBS TV special "Mr. Rogers: America's Favorite Neighbor". It was released on DVD September 28 that year. Keaton was a former stagehand on the show before he quit to become an actor. To mark what would have been his 80th birthday, Rogers' production company sponsored several events to memorialize him, including "Won't You Wear a Sweater Day", during which fans and neighbors were asked to wear their favorite sweaters in celebration.

The television industry honored Rogers with a George Foster Peabody Award "in recognition of 25 years of beautiful days in the neighborhood" in 1987, the same year he was initiated as an honorary member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity, the national fraternity for men of music. Rogers was a National Patron of Delta Omicron, an international professional music fraternity. He was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1999. One of Rogers' iconic sweaters was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution, which displays it as a "Treasure of American History". In 2002 Rogers received the PNC Commonwealth Award in Mass Communications.

" by John Laidacker]]

He was furthermore awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002, for his contributions to children's education, justified by President George W. Bush, who said, "Fred Rogers has proven that television can soothe the soul and nurture the spirit and teach the very young". It read, in part, "Through his spirituality and placid nature, Mr. Rogers was able to reach out to our nation's children and encourage each of them to understand the important role they play in their communities and as part of their families", Santorum said. "More importantly, he did not shy away from dealing with difficult issues of death and divorce but rather encouraged children to express their emotions in a healthy, constructive manner, often providing a simple answer to life's hardships."

Following Rogers' death, the U.S. House of Representatives in 2003 unanimously passed Resolution 111 honoring Rogers for "his legendary service to the improvement of the lives of children, his steadfast commitment to demonstrating the power of compassion, and his dedication to spreading kindness through example."

The same year the U.S. Presbyterian Church approved an overture "to observe a memorial time for the Reverend Fred M. Rogers" at its General Assembly. The rationale for the recognition of Rogers reads, "The Reverend Fred Rogers, a member of the Presbytery of Pittsburgh, as host of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood since 1968, had a profound effect on the lives of millions of people across the country through his ministry to children and families. Mister Rogers promoted and supported Christian values in the public media with his demonstration of unconditional love. His ability to communicate with children and to help them understand and deal with difficult questions in their lives will be greatly missed."

Several buildings, monuments, and works of art are dedicated to Rogers' memory, including a mural sponsored by the Pittsburgh-based Sprout Fund in 2006, "Interpretations of Oakland," by John Laidacker that featured Mr. Rogers. Saint Vincent College in (Latrobe, Pennsylvania) completed construction of The Fred M. Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children's Media in 2008. The Fred Rogers Memorial Statue on the North Shore near Heinz Field in Pittsburgh was created by Robert Berks and dedicated in 2009.

studios in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.]]

The asteroid 26858 Misterrogers is named after Rogers. This naming, by the International Astronomical Union, was announced on May 2, 2003 by the director of the Henry Buhl Jr. Planetarium & Observatory at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh. The science center worked with Rogers' Family Communications, Inc. to produce a planetarium show for preschoolers called "The Sky Above Mister Rogers' Neighborhood", which plays at planetariums across the United States.

See also

Colcom Foundation

References

External links

PBS Kids: Official Site

The Fred M. Rogers Center

Family Communications, Inc.

Category:1928 births Category:2003 deaths Category:Actors from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Category:American Presbyterians Category:American Christians Category:American puppeteers Category:American television actors Category:American television personalities Category:American vegetarians Category:Christian vegetarians Category:Cancer deaths in Pennsylvania Category:Christianity in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Category:Dartmouth College alumni Category:Daytime Emmy Award winners Category:Deaths from stomach cancer Category:PBS people Category:Peabody Award winners Category:People from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania Category:Presbyterian ministers Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Category:Rollins College alumni

Name	Matt Stone
Caption	Stone at The Amazing Meeting in 2007
Birth date	May 26, 1971
Birth name	Matthew Richard Stone
Birth place	Houston, Texas, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, Writer, Television director, Television producer

Matthew Richard "Matt" Stone (born May 26, 1971) is an American screenwriter, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of South Park along with creative partner and best friend, Trey Parker.

Stone started his film career in 1992, making a holiday short titled Jesus vs. Frosty. His first success came from Cannibal! The Musical. From there he made another short title Jesus vs. Santa, leading him and his college friend Trey Parker to create the animated television series South Park, which has been on television for over a decade. He has four Emmy Awards for his role in South Park, winning for both "Outstanding Programming More Than One Hour" and "Outstanding Programming Less Than One Hour".

Early life

Stone was born in Houston, Texas to Gerald Whitney Stone, an economics professor, and Sheila Lois Belasco (who share the first names of the South Park character Kyle's parents). Stone's mother is Jewish and his father is of Irish descent; Stone "grew up agnostic" and considers himself "ethnically Jewish, but that's about all." He has a younger sister, Rachel. Stone was raised in the Denver, Colorado area, before moving to Littleton, Colorado. He attended Heritage High School in Littleton. He holds a degree in mathematics and film from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and was their first student to hold a double major in film and mathematics.

Career

In 1992, Stone and Parker created Jesus vs. Frosty. It included four boys, two resembling Stan and Kyle, one called Kenny who looked like Cartman, and a fourth unnamed boy who looked like Kenny McCormick. Both Jesus and Cannibal! The Musical were made while they were students at the University of Colorado film school, studying under both Stan Brakhage and Jerry Aronson. After the duo released Cannibal! The Musical, they were asked to make another animated short. They came down to two ideas: one a sequel to Jesus vs. Frosty, and one about a character that would later be recurring in South Park, Mr. Hankey. They chose to write about the four boys, and their decision ultimately opened the door for them to present a show (South Park) to Comedy Central. Stone and Parker produced 13 episodes for season 1. In 1997, they also released Orgazmo, a movie rated NC-17. In 1998, they made BASEketball, another feature film, while being renewed for a second season of South Park. In 1999, Stone and Parker made , which gave the series prominence. The film's music was nominated for an Academy Award, but lost. In 2001, the duo announced they would do 39 shorts between the lengths of 2 and 5 minutes. Although originally thought to be South Park-related, they decided they would do something different. The result was the shorts 'Princess'. The content was so extreme that it was cancelled after two shows aired. In 2001, they also created That's My Bush!, another television series. Despite great reviews, the show was cancelled after one season for its cost, reportedly $700,000 per episode. In 2004, they made a film titled which many critics reviewed positively. In August 2007, South Park was renewed for three more seasons, 13, 14 and 15, each of them containing 14 episodes.

Stone is also a member of the band DVDA with Parker, for which he plays bass and drums. DVDA's songs have appeared in many of the duo's productions, including Orgazmo, BASEketball, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, and Team America: World Police.

Stone claimed to have been on acid with Trey Parker at the time of the 2000 Academy Awards, where they wore dresses popularized by Jennifer Lopez and Gwyneth Paltrow at previous awards shows.

On September 28, 2007, Parker and Stone acquired the US rights to the Canadian-made Kenny vs. Spenny, which premiered November 14, 2007 on Comedy Central with ten old and new episodes.

Stone and Parker are collaborating with Avenue Q composer Robert Lopez on a musical about Mormons, it is titled Book of Mormon, and will star Cheyenne Jackson. It is set to open on Broadway in 2011 and is being produced by Scott Rudin and Anne Garefino.

In April 2010, Trey Parker and Matt Stone received a "warning" for allegedly representing the Prophet Muhammad in a bear costume: "We have to warn Matt and Trey [South Park creators] that what they are doing is stupid and they will probably wind up like Dutch director Theo van Gogh for airing this show." It was revealed in the next episode that the person in the bear costume was really Santa Claus and not the Prophet Muhammad; the "real" Muhammad was supposed to appear as well, but Comedy Central had him censored out against Stone and Parker's wishes.

Filmography

{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#B0C4DE" align="center" ! Year ! Production ! Role ! Other notes |- | 1992 || Jesus vs. Frosty || Director, Actor, Producer, Writer || |- | 1994 || Cannibal! The Musical || Actor, Producer || |- |rowspan="2"| 1995 || Jesus vs. Santa || Director, Actor, Producer, Writer || |- |Your Studio and You || Actor, Writer || Cameo |- |rowspan="2"| 1997 || South Park (Television Series; 1997–present) || Co-Creator, Voice Actor, Writer, Director, Executive Producer || |- |Orgazmo || Actor, Writer, Producer || Cameo |- | 1998 || BASEketball || Actor || |- |rowspan="2"| 1999 || || Voice Actor, Writer, Producer || |- |Terror Firmer || Actor || |- | 2000 || Even If You Don't || Director || Music Video |- |rowspan="2"| 2001 || Princess (Flash series) || Director, Writer, Voice Actor, Producer || Animation Shorts |- |That's My Bush! (Television Series; 2001) || Co-creator, Writer, Executive Producer || Cameo |- | 2003 || Bowling for Columbine || Interviewee || |- | 2004 || || Writer, Voice Actor, Producer || |- | 2006 || This Film Is Not Yet Rated || Interviewee || |- | 2007 || || Actor || |- | 2007 || Kenny vs. Spenny || Executive Producer || |- | 2010 || || Himself || |}

Voices on South Park

The following is an incomplete list of the voice Matt Stone performs on South Park.

Kyle Broflovski

Kenny McCormick

Bradley Biggle

Gerald Broflovski

Stuart McCormick

Craig Tucker

Butters Stotch

Jimbo Kern

Pip

Skeeter

Terrance

Saddam Hussein

Kevin Stoley

Priest Maxi

Tweek Tweak

Mr. Adler

References

External links

Matt Stone and Trey Parker at the Official South Park Website

Fresh Air Interview

Category:1971 births Category:American animators Category:American film actors Category:American film producers Category:American Jews Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American screenwriters Category:American skeptics Category:American television producers Category:American voice actors Category:Critics of Scientology Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Jewish actors Category:Living people Category:Peabody Award winners Category:People from Denver Metro Area Category:People from Houston, Texas Category:South Park Category:University of Colorado at Boulder alumni

Caption	Eastwood in 2008
Alt	An older man is at the center of the image smiling and looking off to the right of the image. He is wearing a white jacket, and a tan shirt and tie. The number 61 can be seen behind him on a background wall.
Nationality	American
Birth name	Clinton Eastwood
Birth date	May 31, 1930
Birth place	San Francisco, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, director, producer, composer
Years active	1953–present
Spouse	Maggie Johnson (1953-1984, divorced)Dina Ruiz (1996-present)
Partner	Sondra Locke (1975–89)Frances Fisher (1990–95)
Children	7

Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American film actor, director, producer, and composer. Throughout his five-decade career, he has received five Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, two Cannes Film Festival awards, and five People's Choice Awards, among other accolades. Eastwood served as the nonpartisan mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California from 1986–1988, where he supported small business interests and environmental protection. Twice married and the father of seven children, Eastwood is also known for his strong passion for jazz and golf.

Following his six-year run on the television series Rawhide (1959–65), Eastwood starred as the laconic Man With No Name in Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy of Spaghetti Westerns in the 1960s, and as Inspector Harry Callahan in the Dirty Harry films of the 1970s and 1980s. These roles, and several others as tough-talking, no-nonsense police officers, have made him an enduring cultural icon of masculinity.Eastwood won Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture and received nominations for Best Actor for his work in the films Unforgiven (1992) and Million Dollar Baby (2004). These films in particular, as well as others, including Play Misty for Me (1971) (his directorial debut), High Plains Drifter (1973), The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), Escape from Alcatraz (1979), Pale Rider (1985), In the Line of Fire (1993), and Gran Torino (2008), have all received critical acclaim and commercial success. He has directed most of his star vehicles, but has also directed films he did not act in, such as Mystic River (2003) and Letters from Iwo Jima (2006), for which he received Academy Award nominations.

Early life

Eastwood was born in San Francisco to Clinton Eastwood, Sr. (1906–70), a steelworker and migrant worker, and Margaret Ruth (née Runner; 1909–2006), a factory worker. He was nicknamed "Samson" by the nurses in the hospital as he weighed at birth. Eastwood is of English, Irish, Scottish, and Dutch ancestry, and was raised in a "middle class Protestant home" with his younger sister, Jean. His family relocated often, as his father worked at different jobs along the West Coast, including at a pulp mill. The family settled in Piedmont, California, where Eastwood attended Piedmont Junior High School and Piedmont Senior High School. He later transferred to Oakland Technical High School, where the drama teachers encouraged him to enroll in school plays, but he was not interested. As his family moved to different areas, he held a series of jobs, including a lifeguard, paper carrier, grocery clerk, forest firefighter, and golf caddy.

After graduating from high school in 1949, Eastwood intended to enter Seattle University and major in music theory. However, in 1950 he was drafted into the United States Army during the Korean War. He was stationed at Fort Ord in California, where his certificate as a lifeguard got him appointed as a life-saving and swimming instructor.While on leave in 1951, Eastwood was a passenger in a Douglas AD bomber that ran out of fuel and crashed in the ocean near Point Reyes. After escaping from the sinking fuselage, he and the pilot safely swam to shore.

Eastwood later moved to Los Angeles and began a romance with Maggie Johnson, a college student. He managed an apartment house in Beverly Hills by day and worked at a Signal Oil gas station by night. He enrolled at Los Angeles City College and married Maggie shortly before Christmas 1953 in South Pasadena.

Film career

1950s

Early career struggles

According to the CBS press release for Rawhide, the Universal (known then as Universal-International) film company was shooting in Fort Ord when an enterprising assistant spotted Eastwood and invited him to meet the director. According to Eastwood's official biography, the key figure was a man named Chuck Hill, who was stationed in Fort Ord and had contacts in Hollywood. disapproved initially of his acting skills, remarking, "He was quite amateurish. He didn't know which way to turn or which way to go or do anything". Lubin suggested that he attend drama classes and arranged for Eastwood's initial contract in April 1954, at $100 per week.

In May 1954, Eastwood made his first real audition for Six Bridges to Cross but was rejected by Joseph Pevney. After many unsuccessful auditions, he was eventually given a minor role by director Jack Arnold in Revenge of the Creature, a sequel to The Creature from the Black Lagoon. In September 1954, Eastwood worked for three weeks on Lubin's Lady Godiva of Coventry, won a role in February 1955 as a sailor in Francis in the Navy, and appeared uncredited in another Jack Arnold film, Tarantula, where he played a squadron pilot. In May 1955, Eastwood put four hours' work into the film Never Say Goodbye. Universal presented him with his first television role on July 2, 1955, on NBC's Allen in Movieland, which starred Tony Curtis and Benny Goodman. Although he continued to develop as an actor, Universal terminated his contract on October 23, 1955.

Eastwood joined the Marsh Agency, and although Lubin landed him his biggest role to date in The First Traveling Saleslady (1956) and later hired him for Escapade in Japan, without a formal contract Eastwood was struggling. Eastwood met financial advisor, Irving Leonard, who would arguably become the most responsible for launching his career in the late 1950s and 1960s and whom Eastwood described as being "like a second father to me". Upon Leonard's advice, he changed talent agencies to the Kumin-Olenick Agency in 1956 and Mitchell Gertz in 1957. He landed several small roles in 1956 as a temperamental army officer for a segment of ABC's Reader's Digest series, and as a motorcycle gang member on a Highway Patrol episode. The following year he played a Navy lieutenant in a segment of Navy Log and in early 1959 made a notable guest appearance on Maverick opposite James Garner as a cowardly villain intent on marrying a rich girl for money.

Rawhide

(1959–65)]] In 1958, Eastwood was cast as Rowdy Yates for the CBS hour-long western series Rawhide, the breakthrough in his career he had long been searching for. However, Eastwood was not especially happy with his character; Eastwood was almost 30, and Rowdy was too young and too cloddish for Clint to feel comfortable with the part. Filming began in Arizona in the summer of 1958. It took just three weeks for Rawhide to reach the top 20 in TV ratings and, although it never won an Emmy, it was a major success for several years, and reached its peak at number six in the ratings between October 1960 and April 1961. The Rawhide years (1959–65) were some of the most grueling of Eastwood's career, often filming six days a week for an average of twelve hours a day, yet he still received criticism by some directors for not working hard enough. By late 1963, Rawhide was beginning to decline in popularity and lacked freshness in the script; it was canceled in the middle of the 1965–66 television season.

1960s

In late 1963, Eastwood's co-star Eric Fleming on Rawhide rejected an offer to star in an Italian-made western called A Fistful of Dollars, to be directed in a remote region of Spain by Sergio Leone, who was relatively unknown at the time. Other actors, including Charles Bronson, Steve Reeves, Richard Harrison, Frank Wolfe, Henry Fonda, James Coburn, and Ty Hardin were considered for the main part in the film. Harrison suggested Eastwood, whom he knew could play a cowboy convincingly. Eastwood saw it as an opportunity to escape Rawhide and the States and signed a contract for $15,000 (US$}} in dollars) in wages for eleven weeks work and a bonus of a Mercedes automobile upon completion. He arrived in Rome in May 1964. Eastwood was instrumental in creating the Man With No Name character's distinctive visual style. Despite Eastwood being a non-smoker, Leone insisted that cigar smoking was an essential ingredient of the "mask" he was attempting to create with the loner character.

Some interior shots for the film were done at the Cinecittà studio on the outskirts of Rome and then production moved to a small village in Andalusia, Spain. A Fistful of Dollars became a benchmark in the development of spaghetti westerns, with Leone depicting a more lawless and desolate world than in traditional westerns and challenging the stereotypical American notions of a western hero with a morally ambiguous antihero. Eastwood became a major star in Italy.

Leone hired Eastwood to star in For a Few Dollars More (1965), the second film of the trilogy and thanks to screenwriter Luciano Vincenzoni, the rights to the film and the final film of the trilogy (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly) were sold to United Artists for roughly $900,000 (US$}} in dollars).

(1966)]] In January 1966, Eastwood met with producer Dino De Laurentiis in New York City and agreed to star in a non-Western five-part anthology production named Le streghe (The Witches) opposite De Laurentiis' wife, actress Silvana Mangano. Eastwood's nineteen-minute installment only took a few days to shoot. The performance was not met well by critics; one said "no other performance of his is quite so 'un-Clintlike'". Two months later, Eastwood began on the third Dollars film, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, in which he again played the mysterious Man With No Name. Lee Van Cleef returned to play a ruthless fortune seeker, while Eli Wallach was hired as the cunning Mexican bandit Tuco. The storyline involves a search for a cache of Confederate gold buried in a cemetery. One day, during the filming of the scene in which the bridge is blown up with dynamite, Eastwood, suspicious of explosives, urged his co-star Wallach to retreat up to the hilltop, saying, "I know about these things. Stay as far away from special effects and explosives as you can". Just minutes later, crew confusion over the word "Vaya!" consummated in a premature explosion which could have killed him, resulting in the bridge having to be rebuilt. All the films were successful in cinemas, particularly The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, which eventually collected $8 million (US$}} in dollars) in rental earnings and turned Eastwood into a major film star. Judith Crist described A Fistful of Dollars as "cheapjack". Newsweek described For a Few Dollars More as "excruciatingly dopey" despite the fact that it is now widely considered to be one of the finest films in film history. While Time highlighted the wooden acting, especially Eastwood's, critics such as Vincent Canby and Bosley Crowther of The New York Times praised Eastwood's coolness playing the tall, lone stranger. Leone's unique style of cinematography was widely acclaimed, even by some critics who disliked the acting. A cross between Rawhide and Leone's westerns, the film brought him a salary of $400,000 (US$}} in dollars) and 25% of the net earnings. Using money earned from the Dollars trilogy, Leonard helped establish Eastwood's production company, Malpaso Productions, named after Malpaso Creek on Eastwood's property in Monterey County, California. Leonard arranged for Hang 'Em High to be a joint production with United Artists. Filming began in June 1967 in the Las Cruces area of New Mexico and became a major success after release in July 1968, becoming the biggest United Artists opening in history and exceeding all of the James Bond films at that time. It was widely praised by critics, including Arthur Winsten of the New York Post, who described Hang 'Em High as "a western of quality, courage, danger and excitement".

Meanwhile, before Hang 'Em High had been released, Eastwood had set to work on the film Coogan's Bluff opposite Don Stroud, about a lonely New York City Police Department deputy sheriff facing a psychopathic criminal (Stroud). The project reunited him with Universal Studios after he received an offer of $1 million (US$}} in dollars), more than double his previous salary. Coogan's Bluff also became the first of many collaborations with Argentine composer Lalo Schifrin, who would later compose the jazzy scores to Eastwood's films throughout the 1970s and 1980s, especially the Dirty Harry film series. Filming began in November 1967, before the full script had been finalized. The film was controversial for its portrayal of violence, and set the prototype for the macho cop that Eastwood would play in the Dirty Harry films.

Eastwood was paid $850,000 (US$}} in dollars) in 1968 for the war epic Where Eagles Dare. The film, about a World War II squad parachuting into a Gestapo stronghold in the mountains, had Richard Burton playing the squad's commander and Eastwood as his right-hand man. Eastwood was also cast as Two-Face in the Batman television series, but the series was canceled before filming could commence.

In 1969, Eastwood branched out by starring in his career's only musical, Paint Your Wagon. He and fellow non-singer Lee Marvin played gold miners who share the same wife (played by Jean Seberg). Production for the film was plagued with bad weather and delays and the budget—eventually exceeding $20 million (US$}} in dollars) —was extremely high for this period. The film was not a critical or commercial success, although it was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.

1970s

In 1970, Eastwood starred in the western Two Mules for Sister Sara with Shirley MacLaine. The film, directed by Siegel, is about an American mercenary who gets mixed up with a whore disguised as a nun and aids a group of Juarista rebels during the reign of Emperor Maximilian in Mexico. Eastwood once again played a mysterious stranger—unshaven, wearing a serape-like vest, and smoking a cigar. Although it received moderate reviews, The New York Times Guide to the Best 1000 Movies Ever Made included Two Mules for Sister Sara in its top 1,000 films of all time. Later in 1970, Eastwood starred as one of a group of Americans who steal a fortune in gold from the Nazis in the World War II film Kelly's Heroes with Donald Sutherland and Telly Savalas.Kelly's Heroes was the last film that Eastwood appeared in which was not produced by his Malpaso Productions. Filming commenced in July 1969 on location in Yugoslavia and in London. The film received mostly a positive reception and its anti-war sentiments were recognized. Upon release, the film received major recognition in France and is considered one of Eastwood's finest works by the French. However, it grossed less than $1 million (US$}} in dollars) and according to Eastwood and Lang flopped because it was poorly publicized and due to Clint being "emasculated in the film".

The script for Dirty Harry (1971) was written by Harry Julian Fink and Rita M. Fink. It is a story about a hard-edged New York City (later changed to San Francisco) police inspector named Harry Callahan who is determined to stop a psychotic killer by any means. Dirty Harry is arguably Eastwood's most memorable character and has been credited with inventing the "loose-cannon cop genre" that is imitated to this day. His lines (quoted) have been cited as amongst the most memorable in cinematic history and controversially has been attributed to increasing ownership in the United States of a .44 Magnum. After its release in December 1971, Dirty Harry proved a phenomenal success, earning some $22 million (US$}} in dollars) in the United States and Canada alone. It was Siegel's highest-grossing film and the start of a series of films featuring the character of Harry Callahan. Although a number of critics such as Jay Cocks of Time praised his performance as Dirty Harry, describing him as "giving his best performance so far, tense, tough, full of implicit identification with his character", the film was widely criticized and accused of fascism.

Eastwood was offered the role of James Bond following the departure of Sean Connery, but turned it down because he believed the character should be played by an English actor. Eastwood next starred in the loner Western Joe Kidd (1972), based on a character inspired by Reies Lopez Tijerina, who stormed a courthouse in Tierra Amarilla, New Mexico in June 1967. Under John Sturges, filming began in Old Tucson in November 1971, but Eastwood suffered symptoms of a bronchial infection and several panic attacks during filming. Joe Kidd received a mixed reception. Roger Greenspun of The New York Times thought the film was unremarkable, with foolish symbolism and sloppy editing, but he praised Eastwood's performance.

In 1973, Eastwood directed his first western, High Plains Drifter, with a moral and supernatural theme which would be emulated later in Pale Rider. The plot follows a mysterious stranger (Eastwood) who arrives in a brooding Western town where the people hire the stranger to defend the town against three felons that are soon to be released. There remains confusion amongst viewers as to whether the stranger is the brother of the deputy whom the felons lynched and murdered or his ghost. Holes in the plot were filled in with black humor and allegory, influenced by Leone. The revisionist film received a mixed reception from critics, but was a major box office success. A number of critics thought Eastwood's directing was as derivative as it was expressive, with Arthur Knight of Saturday Review remarking that Clint had "absorbed the approaches of Siegel and Leone and fused them with his own paranoid vision of society". John Wayne, who had declined a role in the film, sent a letter of disapproval to Eastwood some weeks after the film was released, saying that "the townspeople did not represent the true spirit of the American pioneer, the spirit that made America great.

Eastwood turned his attention towards Breezy (1973), a film about love blossoming between a middle-aged man and a teenage girl. During casting for the film, Eastwood met Sondra Locke for the first time, an actress who would play a major role in many of his films for the next ten years and was an important figure in his life. Kay Lenz was awarded the part of Breezy, due to Locke being too old at 26. The film, shot very quickly and efficiently by Eastwood and Frank Stanley came in $1 million (US$}} in dollars) under budget and finished three days ahead of schedule. The film was not a major critical or commercial success; it barely reached the Top 50 before disappearing and was only made available on video in 1998.

After the filming of Breezy had finished, Warner Brothers announced that Eastwood had agreed to reprise his role as Detective Harry Callahan in a sequel to Dirty Harry, Magnum Force (1973), about a group of rogue young officers in the San Francisco Police Force who systematically exterminate the city's worst criminals. Although the film was a major success after release, grossing $58.1 million (US$}} in dollars) in the United States alone—a new record for Eastwood—it was not a critical success. The New York Times critics Nora Sayre criticized the often contradictory moral themes of the film and Frank Rich believed it "was the same old stuff". Eastwood's acting was noted by critics, but he was overshadowed by Bridges who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Eastwood was reportedly fuming at his own lack of Academy Award recognition and swore that he would never work for United Artists again.

The Eiger Sanction (1975) was based on a critically acclaimed spy novel by Trevanian. Paul Newman was originally intended for the role of Jonathan Hemlock which was later adopted by Eastwood, an assassin turned college art professor who decides to return to his former profession for one last sanction in return for a rare Picasso painting; he must climb the north face of the Eiger in Switzerland and perform the deed under perilous conditions. Once again he starred alongside George Kennedy. Mike Hoover taught Eastwood how to climb during several weeks of preparation at Yosemite in the summer of 1974 before filming commenced in Grindelwald on August 12, 1974. Despite prior warnings of the perils of the Eiger, the filming crew suffered a number of accidents including one fatality. Eastwood insisted on doing all his own climbing and stunts, in spite of the danger. Upon its release in May 1975, The Eiger Sanction was a commercial failure, receiving only $23.8 million (US$}} in dollars) at the box office and was panned by most critics, with Joy Gould Boyum of the Wall Street Journal dismissing the film as "brutal fantasy". Eastwood blamed Universal Studios for the film's poor promotion and turned his back on them. He formed a long-lasting agreement with Warner Brothers through Frank Wells that would last for the next 35 years.

The western, The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), was inspired by a 1972 novel by Asa Carter. The lead character, Josey Wales (Eastwood), is a rebel southerner who refuses to surrender his arms after the American Civil War and is chased across the old southwest by a group of enforcers. Eastwood cast his young son Kyle Eastwood, Chief Dan George and Sondra Locke for the first time, against director Philip Kaufman's wishes. Kaufman was notoriously fired under Eastwood's command by producer Bob Daley, resulting in a fine (reported to be around $60,000 (US$}} in dollars) from the Directors Guild of America, who subsequently passed new legislation reserving the right to impose a major fine on a producer for discharging a director and replacing him with himself. Upon release in August 1976, The Outlaw Josey Wales was widely acclaimed by critics with many critics and viewers seeing Eastwood's role as an iconic one that related to America's ancestral past and the destiny of the nation after the American Civil War.

Eastwood was offered the role of Benjamin L. Willard in Francis Coppola's Apocalypse Now, but declined as he did not want to spend weeks in the Philippines shooting it. He refused the part of a platoon leader in Ted Post's Vietnam War film, Go Tell the Spartans. The film, at 95 minutes, was considerably shorter than the previous Dirty Harry movie but was a major commercial success, grossing $100 million (US$}} in dollars) worldwide, becoming Eastwood's highest-grossing film to date.

In 1977, Eastwood directed and starred in The Gauntlet. He portrays a down-and-out cop who falls in love with a prostitute he is assigned to escort from Las Vegas to Phoenix to testify against the mob. Although a moderate hit with the viewing public, critics were mixed about the film, with many believing it was overly violent. Eastwood's longtime nemesis , an uncharacteristic, offbeat comedy role. Eastwood played Philo Beddoe, a trucker and brawler who roams the American West searching for a lost love, accompanied by his brother and an orangutan. Upon its release, the film was a surprising success and became Eastwood's most commercially successful film at the time. Panned by the critics, it ranks high amongst those of his career to date, and was the second-highest grossing film of 1978.

In 1979, Eastwood starred in the atmospheric thriller Escape from Alcatraz, the last of his films to be directed by Don Siegel. It is based on the true story of Frank Lee Morris, who, along with John and Clarence Anglin, escaped from the notorious Alcatraz prison in 1962. The film was a major success and marked the beginning of a period of praise from critics for Eastwood, with Stanley Kauffmann of The New Republic describing it as "crystalline cinema".

1980s

In 1980, Eastwood directed and played the lead role in the comedy Bronco Billy alongside Locke, Scatman Crothers, and Sam Bottoms. His children, Kyle and Alison, had small roles as orphans. Eastwood has cited Bronco Billy as being one of the most affable shoots of his career, and biographer Richard Schickel has argued that the character of Bronco Billy is Eastwood's most self-referential work. The film was a commercial failure, but was appreciated by critics. Janet Maslin of The New York Times believed the film was "the best and funniest Clint Eastwood movie in quite a while", and praised Eastwood's directing and the way he intricately juxtaposes the old West and the new. Later in 1980, Eastwood starred in the sequel to Every Which Way but Loose entitled Any Which Way You Can. The film received a number of bad reviews from critics, although Maslin described it as, "funnier and even better than its predecessor". However, the film was critically acclaimed in France, where it was compared to John Huston's The Grapes of Wrath. Also in 1982, Eastwood directed, produced, and starred in the Cold War-themed Firefox. The film was shot before Honkeytonk Man but was released after it, and at a cost of $20 million (US$}} in dollars) to produce, it was Eastwood's highest budget film to date. Eastwood's performance was likened to "Luke Skywalker trapped in Dirty Harry's Soul" by People. This would be the last time he starred with Locke, who plays a woman raped along with her sister by a ruthless gang at a fairground, and seeks revenge for her sister's now vegetative state by systematically murdering her rapists. The script's line "Go ahead, make my day", uttered by Eastwood during an early scene, is often cited as one of cinema's immortal ones, and was famously quoted by President Ronald Reagan in a speech to Congress. The film was the highest-earning of all the Dirty Harry films, earning $70 million (US$}} in dollars). It received rave reviews, with many critics praising the feminist aspects of the film through its explorations of the physical and psychological consequences of rape.

In 1984, Eastwood starred opposite his daughter Alison, Geneviève Bujold, and Jamie Rose in the provocative thriller Tightrope, inspired by newspaper articles about an elusive Bay Area rapist. Set in New Orleans (to avoid confusion with the Dirty Harry films), Eastwood starred as a single-parent cop, drawn into his target's tortured psychology and fascination for sadomasochism. Eastwood next starred in the period comedy City Heat (1984) with Burt Reynolds about a private eye and his partner who get mixed up with gangsters in the prohibition era of the 1930s. It grossed around $50 million (US$}} in dollars) domestically, but was overshadowed by Eddie Murphy's Beverly Hills Cop and failed to meet expectations. In 1985, Eastwood made his only foray into TV direction to date with the Amazing Stories episode "Vanessa In The Garden", which starred Harvey Keitel and Sondra Locke. This was his first collaboration with Steven Spielberg, who later produced Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima. Eastwood revisited the western genre, directing and starring in Pale Rider opposite Michael Moriarty and Carrie Snodgress. The film is based on the classic 1953 western Shane; a preacher descends from the mists of the Sierras and sides with miners during the California Gold Rush of 1850. The title is a reference to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, as the rider of a pale horse is Death, and shows similarities to his 1973 western High Plains Drifter in its themes of morality and justice and its exploration of the supernatural. Pale Rider became one of Eastwood's most successful films to date and was hailed as one of the best films of 1985 and the best western in years, with Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune remarking, "This year (1985) will go down in film history as the moment Clint Eastwood finally earned respect as an artist".

In 1986, Eastwood co-starred with Marsha Mason in the military drama Heartbreak Ridge, about the 1983 United States invasion of Grenada. He portrays an aging United States Marine Gunnery Sergeant and Korean War veteran. The production and filming of Heartbreak Ridge was marred by internal disagreements between Eastwood and long-time friend and producer Fritz Manes, and between Eastwood and the United States Department of Defense, who expressed contempt for the film. A commercial rather than a critical success (only viewed more favorably in recent times), the film was released in 1,470 theaters, and grossed $70 million domestically.

Eastwood's fifth and final Dirty Harry film, The Dead Pool, was released in 1988. It co-starred Liam Neeson, Patricia Clarkson, and a young Jim Carrey. The Dead Pool grossed nearly $38 million, relatively low takings for a Dirty Harry film. Eastwood began working on smaller, more personal projects, and experienced a lull in his career between 1988 and 1992. Always interested in jazz, Eastwood directed Bird (1988), a biopic starring Forest Whitaker as jazz musician Charlie "Bird" Parker. Alto saxophonist Jackie McLean and Spike Lee, son of jazz bassist Bill Lee and a long term critic of Eastwood, criticized the characterization of Charlie Parker, remarking that it did not capture his true essence and sense of humor. Eastwood received two Golden Globes for the film: the Cecil B. DeMille Award for his lifelong contribution, and the Best Director award. However, Bird was a commercial disaster, earning just $11 million, which Eastwood attributed to a declining interest in jazz amongst black people.

Carrey would again appear with Eastwood in the poorly received comedy Pink Cadillac (1989) alongside Bernadette Peters. The film is about a bounty hunter and a group of white supremacists chasing an innocent woman, who tries to outrun everyone in her husband's prized pink Cadillac. The film was a disaster, both critically and commercially, earning barely more than Bird and marking the lowest point in Eastwood's career in years.

1990s

In 1990, Eastwood directed and starred in White Hunter Black Heart, an adaptation of Peter Viertel's roman à clef about John Huston and the making of the classic film The African Queen. The film was shot on location in Zimbabwe in the summer of 1989. The film received some critical attention but only had a limited release and earned just $8.4 (US$}} in dollars) million. Later in 1990, Eastwood directed and co-starred with Charlie Sheen in The Rookie, a buddy cop action film. Critics found the macho jiving between Eastwood and Sheen unconvincing and passed the film off as blatant racial Hispanic stereotyping. 1991 was only the third year in Eastwood's career where he did not have a film showing in the cinemas. The reason was an ongoing lawsuit filed by Stacy McLaughlin after Eastwood had rammed her car while backing out of his parking space in the Malpaso parking lot. Eastwood won the suit, and agreed to pay McLaughlin's court fees if she did not appeal. including Best Actor for Eastwood and Best Original Screenplay for David Webb Peoples. It won four, including Best Picture and Best Director for Eastwood. Jack Methews of the Los Angeles Times described it as "the finest classical western to come along since perhaps John Ford's 1956 The Searchers.

In 1993, Eastwood played Frank Horrigan, a guilt-ridden Secret Service agent in the CIA thriller In the Line of Fire, co-starring John Malkovich and Rene Russo and directed by Wolfgang Petersen. Eastwood's character, Horrigan, is haunted by his failure to react in time to save John F. Kennedy's life. As of 2011, it is the last time he acted in a film he did not direct himself. The film was among the top 10 box office performers in that year, earning a reported $200 million (US$}} in dollars) in the United States alone. Later in 1993, Eastwood directed and co-starred with Kevin Costner in the 1960s-set A Perfect World. Janet Maslin of The New York Times remarked that the film was the highest point of Eastwood's directing career, and it has since been cited as one of Eastwood's most underrated directorial achievements.

In May 1994, Eastwood attended the 1994 Cannes Film Festival and was presented with France's Ordre des Arts et des Lettres medal. Eastwood continued to expand his repertoire by playing opposite Meryl Streep in the love story The Bridges of Madison County (1995). Based on a best-selling novel by Robert James Waller, it relates the story of Robert Kincaid (Eastwood), a photographer working for National Geographic, who has a love affair with a middle-aged Italian farm wife in Iowa named Francesca (Streep). The film was a hit at the box office and highly acclaimed by critics, much to their surprise; the novel was not viewed favorably and the subject matter was deemed a potentially disastrous one to produce on film. Roger Ebert remarked that "Streep and Eastwood weave a spell, and it is based on that particular knowledge of love and self that comes with middle age." The Bridges of Madison County was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Picture and Streep was also nominated for an Academy Award and Golden Globe.

In 1997, Eastwood then directed and again starred alongside Gene Hackman in the political thriller Absolute Power, in which he plays a veteran thief who witnesses the Secret Service cover up a murder. The film received a mixed reception from critics and was generally viewed as one of his weaker efforts. Maitland McDonagh of TV Guide remarked, "The plot turns are no more ludicrous than those of the average political thriller, but the slow pace makes their preposterousness all the more obvious. Eastwood's acting limitations are also sorely evident, since Luther is the kind of thoughtful thief who has to talk, rather than maintaining the enigmatic fortitude that is Eastwood's forte. Disappointing." Later in 1997, Eastwood directed Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, based on the novel by John Berendt and starring John Cusack, Kevin Spacey, and Jude Law. The film received a mixed response from critics.

In 1999, Eastwood directed and starred in True Crime, which also featured his young daughter, Francesca Fisher-Eastwood. Eastwood plays Steve Everett, a journalist recovering from alcoholism, given the task of covering the execution of murderer Frank Beechum (Isaiah Washington). The film received a mixed reception. Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote, "True Crime is directed by Mr. Eastwood with righteous indignation and increasingly strong momentum. As in A Perfect World, his direction is galvanized by a sense of second chances and tragic misunderstandings, and by contrasting a larger sense of justice with the peculiar minutiae of crime. Perhaps he goes a shade too far in the latter direction, though."If some reviews for True Crime were positive, commercially it was a box office bomb, earning less than half its $55 million (US$}} in dollars) budget, and easily became his worst performing film of the 1990s (White Hunter Black Heart having only a limited release).

2000-present

{| class="wikitable floatright" style="max-width: 26em;" |+ Academy Awards |- ! Year !! Award !! Film !! W/N |- | rowspan="3"|1992 || Best Director || Unforgiven || style="text-align: center"|Won |- | Best Picture || Unforgiven || style="text-align: center"|Won |- | Best Actor || Unforgiven || Nominated |- | 1994 || colspan="2"|Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award || style="text-align: center"|Won |- | rowspan="2"|2003 || Best Director || Mystic River || Nominated |- | Best Picture || Mystic River || Nominated |- | rowspan="3"|2004 || Best Director || Million Dollar Baby || style="text-align: center"|Won |- | Best Picture || Million Dollar Baby || style="text-align: center"|Won |- | Best Actor || Million Dollar Baby || Nominated |- | rowspan="2"|2006 || Best Director || Letters from Iwo Jima || Nominated |- | Best Picture || Letters from Iwo Jima || Nominated |} In 2000, Eastwood directed and starred in Space Cowboys, and was joined by Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, and James Garner. In 2002, Eastwood played an ex-FBI agent on the track of a sadistic killer (Jeff Daniels) in the thriller Blood Work. The film was a failure, grossing just $26.2 million on an estimated budget of $50 million and received mixed reviews, with a consensus at Rotten Tomatoes calling it "well-made but marred by lethargic pacing".

In 2003, Eastwood directed the crime drama Mystic River, a film about murder, vigilantism, and sexual abuse. Starring Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon, and Tim Robbins, Mystic River was lauded by critics and viewers alike. The film won two Academy Awards, Best Actor for Penn and Best Supporting Actor for Robbins, with Eastwood garnering nominations for Best Director and Best Picture. The film grossed $90 million (US$}} in dollars) domestically on a budget of $30 million.

In 2004, Eastwood found further critical and commercial success when he directed, produced, scored, and starred in the boxing drama Million Dollar Baby. Eastwood played a cantankerous trainer who forms a bond with a female boxer (Hilary Swank) he is persuaded to train by his lifelong friend (Morgan Freeman). The film won four Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Swank), and Best Supporting Actor (Freeman). Effectively at age 74, he became the oldest of eighteen directors to have directed two or more Best Picture winners. Eastwood also received a nomination for Best Actor and received a Grammy nomination for the score he composed. A. O. Scott of The New York Times lauded the film as a "masterpiece" and the best film of the year.

at Changelings premiere at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival]] In 2006, Eastwood directed two films about the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. The first, Flags of Our Fathers, focused on the men who raised the American flag on top of Mount Suribachi. The second one, Letters from Iwo Jima, dealt with the tactics of the Japanese soldiers on the island and the letters they wrote to family members. Letters from Iwo Jima was the first American film to show a war issue completely from the view of an American enemy. Both films were highly praised by critics and garnered several Oscar nominations, including Best Director and Best Picture for Letters from Iwo Jima.

On December 6, 2006, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver inducted Eastwood into the California Hall of Fame located at The California Museum for History, Women, and the Arts. In early 2007, Eastwood was presented with the highest civilian distinction in France, Légion d'honneur, at a ceremony in Paris. French President Jacques Chirac told Eastwood that he embodied "the best of Hollywood".

In 2008, Eastwood directed Changeling, which is based on a true story set in the late 1920s. It starred Angelina Jolie as a woman who is reunited with her missing son—only to realize he is an impostor. After releasing in several film festivals, the film grossed over $110 million (US$}} in dollars), the majority of which came from foreign markets. The film was highly acclaimed, with Damon Wise of Empire describing Changeling as "flawless". Todd McCarthy of Variety described it as "emotionally powerful and stylistically sure-handed" and stated that Changeling was a more complex and wide-ranging work than Eastwood's Mystic River, saying the characters and social commentary were brought into the story with an "almost breathtaking deliberation". Film critic Prairie Miller said that in its portrayal of female courage the film was "about as feminist as Hollywood can get", whilst David Denby argues that rather than "an expression of feminist awareness", the film—like Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby—is "a case of awed respect for a woman who was strong and enduring". , July 17, 2008]] After four years away from acting, Eastwood then ended his "self-imposed acting hiatus" with Gran Torino, which he also directed, produced, and partly scored with his son Kyle and Jamie Cullum. Biographer Marc Eliot called Eastwood's role "an amalgam of the Man with No Name, Dirty Harry, and William Munny, here aged and cynical but willing and able to fight on whenever the need arose." Eastwood has said that the role will most likely be the last time he acts in a film. It grossed close to $30 million during its wide release opening weekend in January 2009, the highest of his career as an actor or director. Gran Torino eventually grossed over $268 million (US$}} in dollars) worldwide in theaters, becoming the highest-grossing film of Eastwood's career so far without adjustment for inflation.

In 2009, Eastwood directed Invictus, based on the story of South Africa at the 1995 Rugby World Cup, with Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon as rugby team captain François Pienaar. John Carlin, author of the book on which the film is based, sold the film rights to Freeman.

In 2010, Eastwood directed Hereafter, a thriller starring Matt Damon as "a reluctant psychic", with co-stars Cécile de France and Lyndsey Marshal. The film had its world premiere on September 12, 2010 at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival and was given a limited release on October 15, 2010. Hereafter received mixed reviews from critics, with critical consensus on Rotten Tomatoes being, "Despite a thought-provoking premise and Clint Eastwood's typical flair as director, Hereafter fails to generate much compelling drama, straddling the line between poignant sentimentality and hokey tedium." Also in 2010, Eastwood collaborated with Bruce Ricker as an executive producer for a Turner Classic Movies (TCM) documentary about legendary jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, , to commemorate Brubeck's 90th birthday in December.

Politics

in the late 1980s]] As a politician, Eastwood made a successful foray into local and state government. He was elected mayor in April 1986 for one term in his home town of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, a small, wealthy town and artist community on the Monterey Peninsula. During his term, he had a tendency to support small business interests and advocate environmental protection. In 2001, he was appointed to the California State Park and Recreation Commission by Governor Gray Davis, and was reappointed in 2004 by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. When Eastwood and Shriver were not reappointed to the commission in March 2008 when their terms expired, Governor Schwarzenegger appointed Eastwood to the California Film Commission in April 2004.

Personal life

Relationships

Eastwood has fathered at least seven children by five women and has been described as a "serial womanizer."

Eastwood married swimsuit model Maggie Johnson on December 19, 1953, six months after they met on a blind date. During his marriage to Johnson, Eastwood had an affair with Roxanne Tunis, an extra on Rawhide which produced a daughter, Kimber, born on June 17, 1964, although it was not made public until 1989. Eastwood and Johnson had two children together: Kyle Eastwood (born May 19, 1968) and Alison Eastwood (born May 22, 1972). They separated around 1976, when Eastwood began living with actress Sondra Locke, but the $25 million (US$}} in dollars) divorce settlement was not finalized until May 1984.

Eastwood's relationship with Locke lasted 14 years, during which she had two abortions and then a tubal ligation. The couple separated acrimoniously in 1989. She filed a palimony suit against Eastwood for evicting her from the home which they shared and sued him for a second time for fraud. Locke and Eastwood resolved the dispute with a non-public settlement in 1999.

During his cohabitation with Locke, Eastwood had an affair with flight attendant Jacelyn Reeves. According to biographers, they met at the premiere of Pale Rider and conceived a son, Scott (born March 21, 1986), the same night. They also had a daughter, Kathryn (born February 2, 1988), although the identity of both was not publicly known until years later.

Actress Frances Fisher moved in with Eastwood after he broke up with Locke. They met while filming Pink Cadillac in 1988. They co-starred in Unforgiven and had a daughter, Francesca Fisher-Eastwood (born August 7, 1993). The couple ended their relationship in early 1995, but remain friends, and later appeared together in True Crime.

in 2007]] Eastwood met anchorwoman Dina Ruiz in an interview in 1993, and they married on March 31, 1996, when Eastwood surprised her with a private ceremony at a home on the Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas. She is 35 years his junior. The couple's daughter, Morgan Eastwood, was born on December 12, 1996.

Music

Eastwood, an audiophile, has had a strong passion for music all his life, particularly jazz and country and western music, and he is a pianist and composer. He developed as a ragtime pianist early on, and in late 1959 he produced the album Cowboy Favorites, which was released on the Cameo label. He composed the film scores of Mystic River, Grace Is Gone (2007), and Changeling, and the original piano compositions for In the Line of Fire. He also wrote and performed the song heard over the credits of Gran Torino.

Leisure

Eastwood, a life-long non-smoker (despite appearing to smoke in many of his films), has been conscious of his health and fitness since he was a teenager, and practices healthy eating and daily Transcendental Meditation. On July 21, 1970, Eastwood's father died unexpectedly of a heart attack at the age of 64. This profoundly altered Eastwood's life, encouraging him to adopt a vigorous health and exercise regime for longevity. He abstained from hard liquor, although he still favored cold beer and opened an old English-inspired pub called the Hog's Breath Inn in Carmel-by-the-Sea in 1971. Eastwood eventually sold the pub and now owns the Mission Ranch Hotel and Restaurant, also located in Carmel-by-the-Sea.

A keen golfer, Eastwood owns the Tehàma Golf Club, is an investor of the world-famous Pebble Beach Golf Links, and donates his time every year to charitable causes at major tournaments. Eastwood was a licensed pilot and often flew his helicopter to the studios to avoid traffic.

Awards and honors

Filmography

Discography

Notes

Bibliography and further reading

|nopp=yes|location=London|isbn=9780860517900}}

External links

Charlie Rose show: An hour with Clint Eastwood

|- ! colspan="3" style="background: #DAA520;"|National Board of Review |-

Category:1930 births Category:Actors from California Category:Akira Kurosawa Award winners Category:American actor-politicians Category:American actors of English descent Category:American actors of Scottish descent Category:American aviators Category:American composers Category:American film actors Category:American film directors Category:American film producers Category:American firefighters Category:American libertarians Category:American people of Dutch descent Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American restaurateurs Category:American television actors Category:Best Director Academy Award winners Category:Best Director Golden Globe winners Category:California Republicans Category:César Award winners Category:Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur Category:Eastwood family Category:English-language film directors Category:Fellini Gold Medalists Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Restaurateurs Category:Living people Category:Mayors of places in California Category:Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun Category:People from Oakland, California Category:People from Piedmont, California Category:People from San Francisco, California Category:Producers who won the Best Picture Academy Award Category:Spaghetti Western actors Category:Transcendental Meditation practitioners Category:United States Army soldiers Category:Western (genre) film actors Category:Western (genre) film directors

Name	Britney Spears
Years active	1992–present
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Britney Jean Spears
Born	December 02, 1981McComb, Mississippi,
Genre	Pop, dance-pop
Occupation	Singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, record producer, author, fashion designer, video director
Instrument	Vocals, piano
Label	Jive
Associated acts	The New Mickey Mouse Club
Url

Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album ...Baby One More Time in 1999. During her first decade within the music industry, she became a prominent figure in mainstream popular music and popular culture, followed by a much-publicized personal life. Her first two albums established her as a pop icon and broke sales records, while title tracks "...Baby One More Time" and "Oops!... I Did It Again" became international number-one hits. Spears was credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s.

In 2001, she released her third studio album Britney and expanded her brand, playing the starring role in the film Crossroads. She assumed creative control of her fourth studio album, In the Zone released in 2003, which yielded chart-topping singles "Me Against the Music", "Toxic" and "Everytime". After the release of two compilation albums, Spears experienced personal struggles and her career went under hiatus. Her fifth studio album, Blackout, was released in 2007 and despite receiving little promotion, it spawned hits "Gimme More" and "Piece of Me". In 2008, her erratic behaviour and hospitalizations caused her to be placed in a conservatorship. The same year, her sixth studio album Circus was released, with the global chart-topping lead single "Womanizer". After embarking on The Circus Starring Britney Spears, she released greatest hits The Singles Collection, which featured U.S. and Canadian number-one single "3".

Spears has sold over 100 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists in the history of contemporary music. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), she is the eighth top-selling female artist in the United States, with 32 million certified albums. Spears is also recognized as the best-selling female artist of the first decade of the 21st century, as well as the fifth overall. She was ranked the 8th Artist of the 2000–10 decade by Billboard. In June 2010, Spears was ranked sixth on Forbes list of the 100 Most Powerful and Influential celebrities in the world; she is also ranked as the third most powerful musician in the world.

Biography

1981–97: Early life and career beginnings

Britney Jean Spears was born on December 2, 1981, the second child of Lynne Irene (née Bridges) and James Parnell Spears. She is of English heritage through her maternal grandmother, who was born in London, and of distant Maltese descent. Her siblings are Bryan James and Jamie Lynn. At age three, she started to attend dance lessons in her hometown of Kentwood, Louisiana, and was selected to perform a solo at the annual recital. During her childhood, she also attended gymnastics and voice lessons, and won many state-level competitions and children's talent shows. Spears made her local stage debut at age five, singing "What Child Is This?" at her kindergarten graduation. She said about her ambition as a child, "I was in my own world, [...] I found out what I'm supposed to do at an early age". In December 1992, she was finally cast in The Mickey Mouse Club, but returned to Kentwood after the show was cancelled. She enrolled at Parklane Academy in nearby McComb, Mississippi. Although she made friends with most of her classmates, she compared the school to "the opening scene in Clueless with all the cliques. [...] I was so bored. I was the point guard on the basketball team. I had my boyfriend, and I went to homecoming and Christmas formal. But I wanted more."

In June 1997, Spears was in talks with manager Lou Pearlman to join female pop group Innosense. Lynne asked family friend and entertainment lawyer Larry Rudolph for his opinion and submitted a tape of Spears singing over a Whitney Houston karaoke song along with some pictures. Rudolph decided he wanted to pitch her to record labels, therefore she needed a professional demo. He sent Spears an unused song from Toni Braxton; she rehearsed for a week and recorded her vocals in a studio with a sound engineer. Spears travelled to New York with the demo and met with executives from four labels, returning to Kentwood the same day. Three of the labels rejected her, arguing audiences wanted pop bands such as The Backstreet Boys and The Spice Girls, and "there wasn't going to be another Madonna, another Debbie Gibson, or another Tiffany." Two weeks later, executives from Jive Records returned calls to Rudolph. Senior vice president of A&R; Jeff Fenster stated about Spears's audition that "It's very rare to hear someone that age who can deliver emotional content and commercial appeal. [...] For any artist, the motivation—the 'eye of the tiger'— is extremely important. And Britney had that." After hearing the recorded material, president Clive Calder ordered a full album. Spears had originally envisioned "Sheryl Crow music, but younger more adult contemporary" but felt alright with her label's appointment of producers, since "It made more sense to go pop, because I can dance to it—it's more me." She flew to Cheiron Studios in Stockholm, Sweden, where half of the album was recorded from March to April 1998, with producers Max Martin, Denniz PoP and Rami, among others. Her debut album, ...Baby One More Time, was released on January 1999. It debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 and was certified two-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America after a month. Worldwide, the album topped the charts in fifteen countries and sold over ten million copies in a year. It became the biggest selling album ever by a teenage artist. "...Baby One More Time" later received a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. The title track also topped the singles chart for two weeks in the United Kingdom, and became the fastest-selling single ever by a female artist, shipping over 460,000 copies. It would later become the 25th most successful song of all time in British chart history. Spears is also the youngest female artist to have a million seller in the country. "(You Drive Me) Crazy" was released as the third single from the album. It became a top-ten hit worldwide and propelled ...Baby One More Time to sell 26 million copies. The April 1999 cover of Rolling Stone featured Spears laying on her bed, clad with a bra, shorts and an open top. The American Family Association (AFA) referred to the shoot as "a disturbing mix of childhood innocence and adult sexuality" and called to "God-loving Americans to boycott stores selling Britney's albums." Spears responded to the outcry commenting, "What's the big deal? I have strong morals. [...] I'd do it again. I thought the pictures were fine. And I was tired of being compared to Debbie Gibson and all of this bubblegum pop all the time." Shortly before, Spears had announced publicly she would remain a virgin until marriage. but generated some controversy due to her racy outfits. An extension of the tour, titled Crazy 2k, followed in March 2000. Spears premiered songs from her upcoming second album during the show. The album sold over 20 million copies worldwide. Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone said that "the great thing about Oops! – under the cheese surface, Britney's demand for satisfaction is complex, fierce and downright scary, making her a true child of rock & roll tradition." The album's lead single, "Oops!... I Did It Again", peaked at the top of the charts in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and many other European nations. The album as well as the title track received Grammy nominations for Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, respectively. The same year, Spears embarked on the Oops!... I Did It Again World Tour, which grossed $40.5 million; she also released her first book, Britney Spears' Heart-to-Heart, co-written with her mother. On September 7, 2000, Spears performed at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. Halfway through the performance, she ripped of her black suit to reveal a sequined flesh-colored bodysuit, followed by heavy dance routine. It is noted by critics as the moment that Spears showed signs of becoming a more provocative performer. Amidst media speculation, Spears confirmed she was dating 'N Sync member Justin Timberlake. The album debuted at number one in the Billboard 200 and reached top five positions in Australia, the United Kingdom and mainland Europe and sold over 12 million copies worldwide. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic called Britney "the record where she strives to deepen her persona, making it more adult while still recognizably Britney. [...] It does sound like the work of a star who has now found and refined her voice, resulting in her best record yet." The album was honored with two Grammy nominations—Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Overprotected"— and was listed in 2008 as one of Entertainment Weekly's "100 Best Albums from the Past 25 Years". The album's first single, "I'm a Slave 4 U", became a top-ten hit worldwide. Spears's performance of the single at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards featured a caged tiger and a large albino python draped over her shoulders. It was harshly received by animal rights organization PETA, who claimed the animals were mistreated and scrapped plans for an anti-fur billboard that was to feature Spears. The tour grossed $43.7 million, becoming the second highest grossing tour of 2002 by a female artist, behind Cher's . Her career success was highlighted by Forbes in 2002, as Spears was ranked the world's most powerful celebrity. Spears also landed her first starring role in Crossroads, released in February 2002. Although the film was largely panned, most critics actually praised Spears's acting. Crossroads, which had a $11 million budget, went on to gross over $57 million worldwide. In July 2002, Spears announced she would take a six month break from her career; however, she went back into the studio in October to record her new album. Spears's relationship with Justin Timberlake ended after three years. In December 2002, Timberlake released the song "Cry Me a River" as the second single from his solo debut album. The music video featured a Spears look-alike and fueled the rumors that she had been unfaithful to him. As a response, Spears wrote the ballad "Everytime" with her backing vocalist and friend Annet Artani. The same year, Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst confirmed that he was in a relationship with Spears, only to deny it later. In a 2009 interview, he explained that "I just guess at the time it was taboo for a guy like me to be associated with a gal like her." Spears opened the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards with Christina Aguilera, performing "Like a Virgin". Halfway through they were joined by Madonna, with whom they both kissed. The incident was highly publicized. NPR listed the album as one of "The 50 Most Important Recording of the Decade", adding that "the decade's history of impeccably crafted pop is written on her body of work." In the Zone sold over 609,000 copies in the United States and debuted at the top of the charts, making Spears the first female artist in the SoundScan era to have her first four studio albums to debut at number one. In the Zone sold over 10 million copies worldwide. The album produced the hit singles: "Me Against the Music", a collaboration with Madonna; "Toxic"—which won a Grammy for Best Dance Recording; "Everytime" and "Outrageous". She began The Onyx Hotel Tour in support of In the Zone in March 2004. On June 8, 2004, Spears fell and injured her left knee during the music video shoot for "Outrageous". She was taken immediately to a local hospital, where doctors performed an MRI scan and found floating cartilage. The following day, Spears underwent arthroscopic surgery. She was forced to remain six weeks with a thigh brace, followed by eight to twelve weeks of rehabilitation, which caused The Onyx Hotel Tour to be canceled. During 2004, Spears became involved in the Kabbalah Centre through her friendship with Madonna. In July 2004, she announced her engagement to American dancer Kevin Federline, who she had met three months before. The romance received intense attention from the media, since Federline had recently broken up with actress Shar Jackson, who was still pregnant with their second child at the time. Shortly after, she released her first fragrance with Elizabeth Arden, Curious, which broke the company's first-week gross for a perfume. , her first greatest hits compilation album, was released in November 2004. Spears's cover version of Bobby Brown's "My Prerogative" was released as the lead single from the album, reaching the top of the charts in Finland, Ireland, Italy and Norway. The second single, "Do Somethin'", was a top ten hit in Australia, the United Kingdom and other countries of mainland Europe. Worldwide, Greatest Hits: My Prerogative sold over 5 million copies. In late 2004, Spears went on KIIS-FM radio in Los Angeles, CA to play a new demo titled "Mona Lisa." The demo was to be the first single from an upcoming album called the "Original Doll." However, Spears' label later cancelled the album for unknown reasons. Spears gave birth to her first child, Sean Preston Federline, on September 14, 2005.

In November 2005, she released her first remix compilation, , which consists of eleven remixes. In February 2006, pictures surfaced of Spears driving with her son Sean, on her lap instead of in a car seat. Child advocates were horrified by the photos of her holding the wheel with one hand and Sean with the other. Spears claimed that the situation happened because of a frightening encounter with paparazzi, and that it was a mistake on her part. She publicly announced she no longer studied Kabbalah in June 2006, explaining, "my baby is my religion." On November 7, 2006, Spears filed for divorce from Federline, citing irreconcilable differences. Their divorce was finalized in July 2007, when the couple reached a global settlement and agreed to share joint custody of their children. Spears's aunt Sandra Bridges Covington, with whom she had been very close, died of ovarian cancer in January. On February 16, 2007, Spears stayed in a drug rehabilitation facility in Antigua for less than a day. The following night, she shaved her head with electric clippers at a hair salon in Tarzana, California. She admitted herself to other treatment facilities during the following weeks. After completing a month-long program at Promises, she wrote on her website, "I truly hit rock bottom. Till this day I don't think that it was alcohol or depression. [...] was like a bad kid running around with ADD." Spears lost physical custody of her children to Federline on October 1, 2007. The reasons of the court ruling were not revealed to the public.

Her fifth studio album, Blackout, was released in October 2007. It debuted at the top of charts in Canada and Ireland, number two in the U.S. Billboard 200,—held off from the top spot by Eagles's Long Road out of Eden— France, Japan, Mexico and the United Kingdom and the top ten in Australia, Korea, New Zealand and many European nations. In the United States, Spears became the only female artist to have her first five studio albums debut at the two top slots of the chart. Blackout sold over 3.1 million copies worldwide. Peter Robinson of The Observer said that "Britney has delivered the best album of her career, raising the bar for modern pop music with an incendiary mix of Timbaland's Shock Value and her own back catalogue." Dennis Lim of Blender commented, "Spears’s fifth studio album is her most consistent, a seamlessly entertaining collection of bright, brash electropop." Blackout won Album of the Year at MTV Europe Music Awards 2008 and was listed as the fifth Best Pop Album of the Decade by The Times. Spears performed the lead single "Gimme More" at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards. The performance was panned by many critics. David Willis of BBC stated her performance would "go down in the history books as being one of the worst to grace the MTV Awards". Despite the backlash, the single rocketed to worldwide success, peaking at number one in Canada and the top ten in almost every country it charted. The second single "Piece of Me" reached the top of the charts in Ireland and reached the top five in Australia, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The third single "Break the Ice" was released the following year and had moderate success due to Spears not being able to promote it properly. In December 2007, Spears began a relationship with paparazzi Adnan Ghalib.

2008–10: Conservatorship, Circus, and The Circus Starring Britney Spears

and her 27th birthday party.]] On January 3, 2008, Spears refused to relinquish custody of her sons to Federline's representatives. She was hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, after police that arrived at her house noted she appeared to be under the influence of an illicit substance. The following day, Spears's visitation rights were suspended at an emergency court hearing, and Federline was given sole physical and legal custody of the children. On January 31, 2008, Spears was committed to the psychiatric ward of Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and put on 5150 involuntary psychiatric hold. The court placed her under temporary conservatorship of her father James Spears and attorney Andrew Wallet, giving them complete control of her assets. The following month, she guest-starred on the How I Met Your Mother episode "Ten Sessions" as receptionist Abby. She received positive reviews for her performance, as well as bringing the series highest ratings ever. In July 2008, Spears regained some visitation rights after coming to an agreement with Federline and his counsel. On September 7, 2008, Spears opened the MTV Video Music Awards with a pre-taped comedy sketch with Jonah Hill and an introduction speech. She won Best Female Video, Best Pop Video and Video Of The Year for "Piece of Me".

A 60-minute introspective documentary, , was produced to chronicle Spears' return to the recording industry. Directed by Phil Griffin, For the Record was entirely shot in Beverly Hills, Hollywood, and New York City during the third quarter of 2008. Main shooting began on September 5, 2008, two days before Spears' appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards. For the Record was broadcast on MTV on November 30, 2008 to 3.7 million viewers.

Her sixth studio album Circus, was released in December 2008. It received positive reviews from critics; according to the music review aggregation of Metacritic, it garnered an average score of 64/100. Circus debuted at number one in Canada, Czech Republic and the United States, and inside the top in many European nations. In the United States, Spears became the youngest female artist to have five albums debut at number one, earning a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. She also became the only act in the Soundscan era to have four albums debut with 500,000 or more copies sold. and has sold 4 million copies worldwide. Its lead single, "Womanizer", became her first number one in the Billboard Hot 100 since "...Baby One More Time" and topped the charts in countries such as Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Norway and Sweden. It was also nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Dance Recording. In January 2009, Spears and her father James obtained a restraining order against her former manager Sam Lufti, ex-boyfriend Adnan Ghalib and attorney Jon Eardley—all of whom, court documents claim, had been conspiring to gain control of Spears's affairs. The restraining order forbids Lutfi and Ghalib from contacting Spears or coming within 250 yards of her, her property or family members. Spears embarked on The Circus Starring Britney Spears in March 2009. With a gross of U.S. $131.8 million, it became the fifth highest grossing tour of the year.

She released her second greatest hits album, The Singles Collection in November 2009. "3" became her third number one single in the US, and was the first song to debut at the top of the charts in three years. Later that month, she released an application for iPhone and iPod Touch titled "It's Britney!". In May 2010, Spears's representatives confirmed she was dating her agent Jason Trawick, and that they had decided to end their professional relationship to focus on their personal relationship. Spears designed a limited edition clothing line for Candie's. It was released on stores in July 2010. On September 28, 2010, she made a cameo appearance on a Spears-themed tribute episode of American TV show Glee, titled "Britney/Brittany". Spears approved of the episode, although her appearances received mixed reviews from critics. The episode drew Glee's second largest audience, as well as the show's highest ratings ever.

2010–present: Upcoming seventh album

In March 2010, it was confirmed by Jive Records that Spears had begun recording her seventh studio album. Max Martin and Dr. Luke are set to be the executive producers. Luke stated that he wanted the sound to "get harder" in different ways "and maybe a little more deep into electronic – grimier." On December 2, 2010, Spears announced via her Twitter account that the album will be released in March 2011. The lead single "Hold It Against Me" was premiered on Ryan Seacrest's radio show on January 10, 2011... It was released as a Digital Download exclusively to the iTunes store on January 11, 2011.

Musical style and performance

]] Following her debut, Spears was credited with leading the revival of teen pop in the late 1990s. The Daily Yomiuri reported that "[m]usic critics have hailed her as the most gifted teenage pop idol for many years, but Spears has set her sights a little higher-she is aiming for the level of superstardom that has been achieved by Madonna and Janet Jackson." Rolling Stone wrote: "Britney Spears carries on the classic archetype of the rock & roll teen queen, the dungaree doll, the angel baby who just has to make a scene." Rami Yacoub who co-produced Spears's debut album with lyricist Max Martin, commented, "I know from Denniz Pop and Max's previous productions, when we do songs, there's kind of a nasal thing. With N' Sync and the Backstreet Boys, we had to push for that mid-nasal voice. When Britney did that, she got this kind of raspy, sexy voice." Following the release of her debut album, Chuck Taylor of Billboard observed, "Spears has become a consummate performer, with snappy dance moves, a clearly real-albeit young-and funkdified voice ... "(You Drive Me) Crazy", her third single ... demonstrates Spears's own development, proving that the 17-year-old is finding her own vocal personality after so many months of steadfast practice." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic referred to her music as a "blend of infectious, rap-inflected dance-pop and smooth balladry." Spears later commented, "With ...Baby One More Time, I didn't get to show my voice off. The songs were great, but they weren't very challenging".

Oops!...I Did It Again and subsequent albums saw Spears working with several contemporary R&B; producers, leading to "a combination of bubblegum, urban soul, and raga." Her third studio album, Britney derived from the teen pop niche, "[r]hythmically and melodically ... sharper, tougher than what came before. What used to be unabashedly frothy has some disco grit, underpinned by Spears' spunky self-determination that helps sell hooks that are already catchier, by and large, than those that populated her previous two albums." Guy Blackman of The Age wrote that while few would care to listen to an entire Spears album, "[t]he thing about Spears, though, is that her biggest songs, no matter how committee-created or impossibly polished, have always been convincing because of her delivery, her commitment and her presence. For her mostly teenage fans, Spears expresses perfectly the conflicting urges of adolescence, the tension between chastity and sexual experience, between hedonism and responsibility, between confidence and vulnerability."

Spears possesses the vocal range of a contralto. Her vocal ability has also been criticized, often drawing unfavorable comparison to her pop rival, Christina Aguilera Critic Allan Raible derides her overdependence in Circus on digital effects and the robotic effect it creates. "She’s never been a strong vocalist..." writes Raible, "Could she handle these songs with stripped down arrangements and no vocal effects? More importantly, would anyone want to hear her attempt such a performance? Does it matter? No. The focus is still image over substance." Her image and persona are also often contrasted to Christina Aguilera. David Browne of Entertainment Weekly observed "Christina Aguilera may flash skin and belly button, but in her music and manner, she's too eager not to offend — she's a good girl pretending to be bad. Spears, however, comes across as a bad girl acting good ... Spears' artificial-sweetener voice is much less interesting than the settings, yet that blandness is actually a relief compared with Aguilera's numbing vocal gymnastics. In contrast, Allmusic comments: "Like her peer Christina Aguilera, Britney equates maturity with transparent sexuality and the pounding sounds of nightclubs ... Where Christina comes across like a natural-born skank, Britney is the girl next door cutting loose at college, drinking and smoking and dancing and sexing just a little too recklessly, since this is the first time she can indulge herself. Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine notes, "The disparity between Aguilera and Spears can't be measured solely by the timbre and octave range of their voices ... [Aguilera's] popularity has never reached the fever pitch of Britney's.

Like other dance-oriented pop stars, it has been widely reported that Spears lip-syncs in concert. Author Gary Giddins wrote in his book Natural selection: Gary Giddins on comedy, film, music, and books (2006) that "among many other performers accused of moving their lips while a machine does the labor are Britney Spears, Luciano Pavarotti, Shania Twain, Beyoncé, and Madonna." Rashod D. Ollison of The Baltimore Sun observes: "Many pop stars ... feel they have no choice but to seek vocal enhancement. Since the advent of MTV and other video music channels, pop audiences have been fed elaborate videos thick with jaw-dropping effects, awesome choreography, fabulous clothes, marvelous bodies. And the same level of perfection is expected to extend beyond the video set to the concert stage. So if Britney Spears, Janet Jackson or Madonna sounds shrill and flat without a backing track, fans won't pay up to $300 for a concert ticket." Giddins adds, "it was reported Britney Spears fans prefer her to lip-sync—despite her denials of doing so (contradicted by her own director)—because they expect flawless digitalization when they pay serious money for a concert." Noting on the prevalence of lip-syncing, Los Angeles Daily News reported "in the context of a Britney Spears concert, does it really matter? Like a Vegas revue show, you don't go to hear the music, you go for the somewhat-ridiculous spectacle of it all". Similarly, Aline Mendelsohn of the Orlando Sentinel remarked: "Let's get one thing straight: A Britney Spears concert is not about the music ... you have to remember that it's about the sight, not the sound." Critic Glenn Gamboa comments her concert tours are "like her life—a massive money-making venture designed to play up her talents and distract from her shortcomings with a mix of techno-tinged sex appeal and disco-flavored flash. And, like her life, it is, more or less, a success.

Influences

Throughout her career, Spears has drawn frequent comparisons to Madonna and Janet Jackson, in terms of vocals, choreography and stage presence, citing both as influences in her work. She has also named Michael Jackson as a source of inspiration." According to Spears: "I know when I was younger, I looked up to people... like, you know, Janet Jackson and Madonna. And they were major inspirations for me. But I also had my own identity and I knew who I was, you know." In the 2002 book Madonnastyle by Carol Clerk, she is quoted saying: "I have been a huge fan of Madonna since I was a little girl. She's the person that I've really looked up to. I would really, really like to be a legend like Madonna."

Many critics have argued that Spears should not be considered in the same league of talent as Jackson or Madonna. Journalists Erika Montalvo and Jackie Sheppard of the Rocky Mountain Collegian observed "[s]ome may argue that Spears is not only a good recording artist but also an important cultural icon." Joan Anderman of the Boston Globe remarked that "[t]hirteen costume changes in 90 minutes won't bless her with Madonna's intelligence or cultural barometer. An army of cutting-edge R&B; producers won't supply her with Janet Jackson's sense of humor or sincere smile ... Britney's heroes aren't great singers. But they're real singers. Spears sounds robotic, nearly inhuman, on her records, so processed is her voice by digital pitch-shifters and synthesizers."

Reporter Ed Bumgardner commented her transition from teen pop start to adult sex symbol with her third studio album Britney "takes its cues from two other successful performers—Madonna and Janet Jackson—both of whom she brazenly rips off and both of whom, like Spears, are passable singers, at best." Critic Shane Harrison wrote: "From the minimalist thump and "Nasty" feel of "I'm a Slave 4 U" to the scattered quotes in "Boys", [Britney] feels like [Spears's] attempt at 'Control'." The biographers also report "[s]ome observers of popular culture, however, feel that the comparisons between the two artist are meaningless and fail to recognize Madonna's unique contribution: Madonna was never 'just another pop star' whereas Britney can more easily be seen as a standard manufactured pop act." She is listed by the Guinness World Records as having the "Best-selling album by a teenage solo artist" for her debut album ...Baby One More Time which sold over thirteen million copies in the United States. Melissa Ruggieri of the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported, "She's also marked for being the best-selling teenage artist. Before she turned 20 in 2001, Spears sold more than 37 million albums worldwide".

Barbara Ellen of The Observer has reported: "Spears is famously one of the 'oldest' teenagers pop has ever produced, almost middle aged in terms of focus and determination. Many 19-year-olds haven't even started working by that age, whereas Britney, a former Mouseketeer, was that most unusual and volatile of American phenomena — a child with a full-time career. While other little girls were putting posters on their walls, Britney was wanting to be the poster on the wall. Whereas other children develop at their own pace, Britney was developing at a pace set by the ferociously competitive American entertainment industry". 'Britney Spears' has been Yahoo!'s most popular search term for the last four consecutive years, seven times in total. Spears was named as Most Searched Person in the Guinness World Records book edition 2007 and 2009. Spears has also become a major influence among many new artists, including Kristinia DeBarge, Lady Gaga, Little Boots, Selena Gomez & The Scene, Pixie Lott and Miley Cyrus who has cited Spears as one of her biggest inspirations and has also referenced Spears in her hit song "Party in the U.S.A.".

Bebo Norman wrote a song about Spears, called "Britney", which was released as a single. Boy band Busted also wrote a song about Spears called "Britney", which was on their debut album. She is also mentioned in P!nk's song "Don't Let Me Get Me". Richard Cheese called Britney Spears "a remarkable recording artist" and also went on to say that she was "versatile" and what the industry calls an "artist". People magazine and MTV reported that October 1, 2008, the Bronx's John Philip Sousa Middle School, named their music studio in honor of Britney Spears. Spears herself was present during the ceremony and donated $10,000 to the school's music program.

Discography

...Baby One More Time (1999)

Oops!... I Did It Again (2000)

Britney (2001)

In the Zone (2003)

Blackout (2007)

Circus (2008)

Awards and nominations

See also

Britney Spears filmography

Britney Spears products

List of Britney Spears tours

List of Britney Spears songs

List of best-selling music artists

List of best selling music artists in the United States

List of honorific titles in popular music

Notes

References

Further reading

Dennis, Steve (2009). Britney: Inside the Dream. Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0007317516.

Peters, Beth (1999). True Brit: The Story of Singing Sensation Britney Spears. Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0345436870.

Spears, Britney (2000). Britney Spears's Heart to Heart. Three Rivers Press. ISBN 978-0609807019.

Scott, Kieran (2001). I was a Mouseketeer!. Disney Press. ISBN 978-0786844708.

Stevens, Amanda (2001). Britney Spears: the illustrated story. Billboard Books. ISBN 978-0823078677.

Smith, Sean (2006). Britney The Unauthorized Biography of Britney Spears. Pan Macmillan. ISBN 978-0330440776.

External links

Category:1981 births Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:Actors from Louisiana Category:American child singers Category:American dance musicians Category:American dancers Category:American female singers Category:American film actors Category:American music video directors Category:American pop singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American stage actors Category:American television actors Category:Baptists from the United States Category:English-language singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Innosense members Category:Jive Records artists Category:Living people Category:Mouseketeers Category:Musicians from Louisiana Category:Parklane Academy alumni Category:Participants in American reality television series Category:People from Kentwood, Louisiana Category:Sony BMG artists Category:World Music Awards winners Category:American people of Maltese descent

Name	Alan Greenspan
Nationality	American
Order	13th Chairman of the Federal Reserve
Term start	August 11, 1987
Term end	January 31, 2006
President	Ronald ReaganGeorge H. W. BushBill ClintonGeorge W. Bush
Predecessor	Paul Volcker
Successor	Ben Bernanke
Order2	10th Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors
Term start2	1974
Term end2	1977
President2	Gerald Ford
Predecessor2	Herbert Stein
Successor2	Charles Schultze
Birth date	March 06, 1926
Birth place	New York City, New York, USA
Party	Republican
Alma mater	New York University (B.S./M.A./Ph.D.)
Spouse	Andrea Mitchell (1997–present)Joan Mitchell (1952–1953, annulled)
Profession	Economist

Alan Greenspan (born March 6, 1926) is an American economist who served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve of the United States from 1987 to 2006. He currently works as a private advisor and provides consulting for firms through his company, Greenspan Associates LLC. First appointed Federal Reserve chairman by President Ronald Reagan in August 1987, he was reappointed at successive four-year intervals until retiring on January 31, 2006 after the second-longest tenure in the position.

Early life and education

Greenspan is Jewish, born in 1926 in the Washington Heights area of New York City. His father Herbert Greenspan was of Romanian-Jewish descent and his mother Rose Goldsmith of Hungarian-Jewish descent.

Greenspan is an accomplished clarinet and saxophone player who played with Stan Getz when they were in school together. He studied clarinet at the Juilliard School from 1943 to 1944, when he dropped out to join a professional jazz band. He returned to college in 1945, attending New York University (NYU), where he received a B.S. in economics summa cum laude in 1948 and an M.A. in economics in 1950. Greenspan went on to Columbia University, intending to pursue advanced economic studies, but subsequently dropped out. At Columbia, Greenspan studied economics under the tutelage of future Fed chairman Arthur Burns, who constantly warned of the dangers of inflation.

In 1977, NYU awarded him a Ph.D. in economics. His dissertation is not available from NYU since it was removed at Greenspan's request in 1987, when he became Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. However, a single copy has been found, and the 'introduction includes a discussion of soaring housing prices and their effect on consumer spending; it even anticipates a bursting housing bubble'.

Career

Prior to the Federal Reserve

From 1948 to 1953, Greenspan worked as an economic analyst at The Conference Board, a business and industry oriented think-tank in New York City. From 1955 to 1987, when he was appointed as chairman of the Federal Reserve, Greenspan was chairman and president of Townsend-Greenspan & Co., Inc., an economic consulting firm in New York City, a 33-year stint interrupted only from 1974 to 1977 by his service as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Gerald Ford.

In the summer of 1968, Greenspan agreed to serve Richard Nixon as his coordinator on domestic policy in the nomination campaign. Greenspan has also served as a corporate director for Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa); Automatic Data Processing, Inc.; Capital Cities/ABC, Inc.; General Foods, Inc.; J.P. Morgan & Co., Inc.; Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of New York; Mobil Corporation; and The Pittston Company. He was a director of the Council on Foreign Relations foreign policy organization between 1982 and 1988. He also served as a member of the influential Washington-based financial advisory body, the Group of Thirty in 1984.

Chairman of the Federal Reserve

On June 2, 1987, President Reagan nominated Greenspan as a successor to Paul Volcker as chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, and the Senate confirmed him on August 11, 1987. After the nomination, bond markets experienced their biggest one-day drop in 5 years. Just two months after his confirmation he was faced with his first crisis — the 1987 stock market crash. Noted investor, author and commentator Jim Rogers has claimed that Greenspan lobbied to get this chairmanship.

His terse statement that the Fed "affirmed today its readiness to serve as a source of liquidity to support the economic and financial system" is seen by many as having been effective in helping to control the damage from that crash.

His handling of monetary policy in the run-up to the 1991 recession was criticized from the right as being excessively tight, and costing George H. W. Bush re-election. The incoming Democratic president Bill Clinton reappointed Greenspan, and kept him as a core member of his economic team. Greenspan, while still fundamentally monetarist in orientation, argued that doctrinaire application of theory was insufficiently flexible for central banks to meet emerging situations.

Another famous example of the effect of his closely parsed comments was his December 5, 1996 remark about "irrational exuberance and unduly escalating stock prices" that led Japanese stocks to fall 3.2%.

During the Asian financial crisis of 1997—1998, the Federal Reserve flooded the world with dollars, and organized a bailout of Long-Term Capital Management. Some have argued that 1997-1998 represented a monetary policy bind — as the early 1970s had represented a fiscal policy bind — and that while asset inflation had crept into the United States, demanding that the Fed tighten, the Federal Reserve needed to ease liquidity in response to the capital flight from Asia. Greenspan himself noted this when he stated that the American stock market showed signs of irrationally high valuations.

In 2000, Greenspan raised interest rates several times; these actions were believed by many to have caused the bursting of the dot-com bubble. However, according to the Economist Paul Krugman "he didn't raise interest rates to curb the market's enthusiasm; he didn't even seek to impose margin requirements on stock market investors. Instead, he waited until the bubble burst, as it did in 2000, then tried to clean up the mess afterward." In autumn of 2001, as a decisive reaction to September 11 attacks and the various corporate scandals which undermined the economy, the Greenspan-led Federal Reserve initiated a series of interest cuts that brought down the Federal Funds rate to 1% in 2004. His critics, notably Steve Forbes, attributed the rapid rise in commodity prices and gold to Greenspan's loose monetary policy which he believed had caused excessive asset inflation and a weak dollar. By late 2004 the price of gold was higher than its 12-year moving average.

On May 18, 2004, Greenspan was nominated by President George W. Bush to serve for an unprecedented fifth term as chairman of the Federal Reserve. He was previously appointed to the post by Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

In a May 2005 speech, Greenspan stated: "Two years ago at this conference I argued that the growing array of derivatives and the related application of more-sophisticated methods for measuring and managing risks had been key factors underlying the remarkable resilience of the banking system, which had recently shrugged off severe shocks to the economy and the financial system. At the same time, I indicated some concerns about the risks associated with derivatives, including the risks posed by concentration in certain derivatives markets, notably the over-the-counter (OTC) markets for U.S. dollar interest rate options."

Greenspan opposed tariffs against China for its refusal to let the yuan rise. U.S. workers displaced by trade with China should be compensated, he said, through unemployment insurance programs and retraining.

Greenspan's term as a member of the Board ended on January 31, 2006, and Ben Bernanke was confirmed as his successor.

After the Federal Reserve

Immediately upon leaving the Fed, Greenspan formed an economic consulting firm, Greenspan Associates LLC. He also accepted an honorary (unpaid) position at HM Treasury in the United Kingdom.

On February 26, 2007, Greenspan forecast a possible surplus in the U.S. before or in early 2008. Stabilizing corporate profits are said to have influenced his comments. The following day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 416 points and increased 3.3.% of its value.

In May 2007, Greenspan was hired as a special consultant by PIMCO to participate in Pimco’s quarterly economic forums and speak privately with the bond manager about Fed interest rate policy.

In August 2007, Deutsche Bank announced that it would be retaining Greenspan as a Senior Advisor to its investment banking team and clients.

Greenspan's memoir of his professional career, The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World, was published September 17, 2007.

Memoir

Greenspan wrote a memoir titled The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World, published September 17, 2007. Greenspan says that he wrote this book in longhand mostly while soaking in the bathtub, a habit he regularly employs ever since an accident in 1971, when he injured his back. Greenspan discusses in his book, among other things, his history in government and economics, capitalism and other modes of economies, current issues in the global economy, and future issues that face the global economy. In the book Greenspan criticizes President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and the Republican-controlled Congress for abandoning the Republican Party's principles on spending and deficits. Greenspan's criticisms of President Bush include his refusal to veto spending bills, sending the country into increasingly deep deficits, and for "putting political imperatives ahead of sound economic policies". Greenspan writes, "They swapped principle for power. They ended up with neither. They deserved to lose [the 2006 election]." Of all the presidents with whom he worked, he praises Bill Clinton above all others, saying that Clinton maintained "a consistent, disciplined focus on long-term economic growth." Although he respected what he saw as Richard Nixon's immense intelligence, Greenspan found him to be "sadly paranoid, misanthropic and cynical". He said of Gerald Ford that he "was as close to normal as you get in a president, but he was never elected".

Objectivism

In the early 1950s, Greenspan began an association with famed novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand that would last until her death in 1982. Rand stood beside him at his 1974 swearing-in as Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers. he was converted to Rand's philosophy of Objectivism by her associate Nathaniel Branden. During the 1950s and 1960s Greenspan was a proponent of Objectivism, writing articles for Objectivist newsletters and contributing several essays for Rand's 1966 book including an essay supporting the gold standard.

During the 1950s, Greenspan was one of the members of Ayn Rand's inner circle, the Ayn Rand Collective, who read Atlas Shrugged while it was being written. Rand nicknamed Greenspan "the undertaker" because of his penchant for dark clothing and reserved demeanor. Although Greenspan was once recognized as a proponent of laissez-faire capitalism, some Objectivists find his support for a gold standard somewhat incongruous or dubious, given the Federal Reserve's role in America's fiat money system and endogenous inflation. He has come under criticism from Harry Binswanger, who believes his actions while at work for the Federal Reserve and his publicly expressed opinions on other issues show abandonment of Objectivist and free market principles. However, when questioned in relation to this, he has said that in a democratic society individuals have to make compromises with each other over conflicting ideas of how money should be handled. He said he himself had to make such compromises, because he believes that "we did extremely well" without a central bank and with a gold standard. Greenspan and Rand maintained a close relationship until her death in 1982. However, when asked about free markets and the ideas of Ayn Rand in an interview on April 4, 2010, Greenspan clarified his stance on laissez faire capitalism and asserted that in a democratic society there could be no better alternative. He stated that the errors that were made stemmed not from the principle, but the application of competitive markets in "assuming what the nature of risks would be."

I.T. Offshoring

On 30 April 2009, Alan Greenspan offered a spirited defense of the controversial H-1B visa program, telling a U.S. Senate subcommittee that the visa quota is "far too small to meet the need" and saying that it protects U.S. workers from global competition, creating a "privileged elite." Greenspan, testifying on immigration reform before the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship, said more skilled immigration was needed "as the economy copes with the forthcoming retirement wave of skilled baby boomers."

Criticism

Market bubbles

John Robbins has argued that "Greenspan may be more responsible than any other single human being for the disastrous developments in our nation's economy," and that "when it comes to wreaking financial havoc, Madoff was a piker compared to the man who was dubbed history's greatest Federal Reserve chairman upon his retirement in 2006." For this reason, Matt Taibbi has called Greenspan "the biggest asshole in the universe." and against the Federal Reserve in general.

Social Security

Prior to running the Federal Reserve, Greenspan headed the National Commission on Social Security Reform. In this capacity, according to Robbins, Greenspan's "policies triggered a staggering transfer of wealth from the lower and middle classes into the hands of the richest members of society.":

It is not an exaggeration to say that the resulting concentration of money and power in the hands of the few is undermining the economy, corrupting democracy, deepening the racial wealth divide, and tearing communities and families apart. It was primarily due to Greenspan's proposals that the Social Security tax rate went from 9.35 percent in 1981 to 15.3 percent in 1990. . . . The policies that were implemented following the recommendations of Greenspan's commission have produced, in the last 20 years, $1.7 trillion in new taxes borne almost entirely by the lower and middle class." However, Greenspan also noted, "I really didn't get it until very late in 2005 and 2006." On a list of 25 people to blame for the financial crisis, Time Magazine placed him at # 3.

Greenspan stated that the housing bubble was “fundamentally engendered by the decline in real long-term interest rates”, though he also claims that long-term interest rates are beyond the control of central banks because "the market value of global long-term securities is approaching $100 trillion" and thus these and other asset markets are large enough that they "now swamp the resources of central banks".

Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Federal Open Market Committee voted to reduce the federal funds rate from 3.5% to 3.0%. Then, after the accounting scandals of 2002, the Fed dropped the federal funds rate from then current 1.25% to 1.00%. Greenspan stated that this drop in rates would have the effect of leading to a surge in home sales and refinancing. :Besides sustaining the demand for new construction, mortgage markets have also been a powerful stabilizing force over the past two years of economic distress by facilitating the extraction of some of the equity that homeowners have built up over the years. The Federal Reserve acknowledges the connection between lower interest rates, higher home values, and the increased liquidity the higher home values bring to the overall economy. :Like other asset prices, house prices are influenced by interest rates, and in some countries, the housing market is a key channel of monetary policy transmission. — Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, September 2005. In a speech in February 2004, Greenspan suggested that more homeowners should consider taking out Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs) where the interest rate adjusts itself to the current interest in the market. The fed own funds rate was at a then all-time-low of 1%. A few months after his recommendation, Greenspan began raising interest rates, in a series of rate hikes that would bring the funds rate to 5.25% about two years later. A triggering factor in the 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis is believed to be the many subprime ARMs that reset at much higher interest rates than what the borrower paid during the first few years of the mortgage.

In 2008, Greenspan expressed great frustration that the speech he made on February 23, 2004 was used to criticize him on ARMs and the subprime mortgage crisis, and stated that he had made countervailing comments eight days after it that praised traditional fixed-rate mortgages.

In that speech, Greenspan had suggested that lenders should offer to home purchasers a greater variety of "mortgage product alternatives" other than traditional fixed-rate mortgages.}}

The subprime mortgage industry collapsed in March 2007, with many of the largest lenders filing for bankruptcy protection in the face of spiraling foreclosure rates. For these reasons, Greenspan has been criticized for his role in the rise of the housing bubble and the subsequent problems in the mortgage industry, as well as "engineering" the housing bubble itself: }}

Stiglitz stated that Greenspan “didn't really believe in regulation; when the excesses of the financial system were noted, (he and others) called for self-regulation — an oxymoron.” Greenspan, according to The New York Times, says he himself is blameless. On April 6, 2005 Greenspan called for a substantial increase in the regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: “Appearing before the Senate Banking Committee, the Fed chairman, Alan Greenspan, said the enormous portfolios of the companies — nearly a quarter of the home-mortgage market — posed significant risks to the nation's financial system should either company face significant problems.” Despite this, Greenspan still claims to be a firm believer in free markets, although in the 2007 publication of his biography, he writes, "History has not dealt kindly with the aftermath of protracted periods of low risk premiums" as seen before the credit crisis of 2008.

In Congressional testimony on October 23, 2008, Greenspan finally conceded error on regulation. The New York Times wrote, "a humbled Mr. Greenspan admitted that he had put too much faith in the self-correcting power of free markets and had failed to anticipate the self-destructive power of wanton mortgage lending. ... Mr. Greenspan refused to accept blame for the crisis but acknowledged that his belief in deregulation had been shaken." Although many Republican lawmakers tried to blame the housing bubble on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Greenspan placed far more blame on Wall Street for bundling subprime mortgages into securities.

Late 2000s recession

In March 2008, Greenspan wrote an article for the Financial Times' Economists’ Forum in which he said that the 2008-financial crisis in the United States is likely to be judged as the most wrenching since the end of World War II. In it he argued: "We will never be able to anticipate all discontinuities in financial markets." He concluded: “It is important, indeed crucial, that any reforms in, and adjustments to, the structure of markets and regulation not inhibit our most reliable and effective safeguards against cumulative economic failure: market flexibility and open competition.” The article attracted a number of critical responses from forum contributors, who, finding causation between Greenspan's policies and the discontinuities in financial markets that followed, criticized Greenspan mainly for what many believed to be his unbalanced and immovable ideological suppositions about global capitalism and free competitive markets. Notable critics included J. Bradford DeLong, Paul Krugman, Alice Rivlin, Michael Hudson, and Willem Buiter.

Greenspan responded to his critics in a follow-up article in which he defended his ideology as applied to his conceptual and policy framework, which, among other things, prohibited him from exerting real pressure against the burgeoning housing bubble or, in his words, "leaning against the wind". Greenspan argued, "My view of the range of dispersion of outcomes has been shaken, but not my judgment that free competitive markets are by far the unrivaled way to organize economies." He concluded: "We have tried regulation ranging from heavy to central planning. None meaningfully worked. Do we wish to retest the evidence?" The Financial Times associate editor and chief economics commentator, Martin Wolf, responded to the discussion with an article defending Greenspan primarily as a scapegoat for the market turmoil. Several notable contributors in defense of Greenspan included Stephen Roach, Allan Meltzer, and Robert Brusca.

An October 15, 2008 article in the Washington Post analyzing the origins of the economic crisis claims that Greenspan vehemently opposed any regulation of derivatives, and that Greenspan actively sought to undermine the office of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission when the Commission sought to initiate regulation of derivatives. Meanwhile, Greenspan recommended improving mark-to-market regulations to avoid having derivatives or other complex assets marked to a distressed or illiquid market during times of material adverse conditions as seen during the late 2000s credit crisis.

Greenspan was not alone is his opposition to derivatives regulation. In a 1999 government report that was a key driver in the passage of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000--legislation that clarified that most over-the-counter derivatives were outside the regulatory authority of any government agency—Greenspan was joined by Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Arthur Levitt, and Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman William Ranier in concluding "that under many circumstances, the trading of financial derivatives by eligible swap participants should be excluded from the CEA" (Commodity Exchange Act). Other government agencies also supported that view.

In Congressional testimony on October 23, 2008, Greenspan acknowledged that he was "partially" wrong in opposing regulation and stated "Those of us who have looked to the self-interest of lending institutions to protect shareholder's equity — myself especially — are in a state of shocked disbelief." Greenspan admitted fault in opposing regulation of derivatives and acknowledged that financial institutions didn't protect shareholders and investments as well as he expected.

Political views and alleged politicization of office

Greenspan describes himself as a "lifelong libertarian Republican". and criticized him for supporting Bush's 2001 tax cut plan. Then-Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi added that there were serious questions about the Fed's independence as a result of Greenspan's public statements. Greenspan also received criticism from Democratic Congressman Barney Frank and others for supporting Bush's Social Security plans favoring private accounts. Greenspan had said Bush's model has "the seeds of developing full funding by its very nature. As I've said before, I've always supported moves to full funding in the context of a private account."

Others, like Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, disagreed that Greenspan was too deferential to Bush, stating that Greenspan “has been an independent player at the Fed for a long time under both parties and made an enormous positive contribution”.

Economist Paul Krugman wrote that Greenspan was a “three-card maestro” with a “lack of sincerity” who, “by repeatedly shilling for whatever the Bush administration wants, has betrayed the trust placed in the Fed chairman”.

Republican Senator Jim Bunning, who opposed Greenspan's fifth reconfirmation, charged that Greenspan should comment only on monetary policy, not fiscal policy. However, Greenspan had used his position as Fed Chairman to comment upon fiscal policy as early as 1993, when he supported President Clinton's deficit reduction plan, which included tax hikes and budget cuts.

In 2009, author Frederick Sheehan released "Panderer to Power: The Untold Story of How Alan Greenspan Enriched Wall Street and Left a Legacy of Recession" exposing Greenspan's alleged politicization of his office. From the Amazon.com description of the book:

:::"Alan Greenspan’s 18-year stint as head of the Federal Reserve Bank witnessed some of the most massive upward redistributions of wealth in our nation’s history. It’s now clear that his policies contributed greatly to the transformation of Wall Street from an engine that financed American business to a business-destroying machine—and that Greenspan abetted the hollowing out of the U.S. economy by giving Wall Street and Washington everything they could possibly want."

Personal

Greenspan has married twice. His first marriage was to an artist named Joan Mitchell in 1952; the marriage ended in annulment less than a year later. He dated newswoman Barbara Walters in the late 1970s.

Honors

presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Alan Greenspan, on November 9, 2005 in the East Room of the White House.]] Greenspan was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States, by President George W. Bush in November 2005. His honorary titles include Commander of the French Légion d'honneur (Legion of Honor, 2000) and Knight Commander of the British Empire (2002). In 2006, Greenspan was awarded the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service.

In 2004, Greenspan received the Dwight D. Eisenhower Medal for Leadership and Service, from Eisenhower Fellowships. In 2005, he became the first recipient of the Harry S. Truman Medal for Economic Policy, presented by the Harry S. Truman Library Institute. In 2007, Greenspan was the recipient of the inaugural Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Citizen Leadership, presented by the University of Virginia.

On December 14, 2005, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Commercial Science degree by NYU, his fourth degree from that institution.

See also

Fedspeak

Greenspan put

List of United States political appointments that crossed party lines

References

Further reading

External links

"The Greenspan years": an article in the TLS by Robert B. Reich, December 19, 2007

1996 speech by Greenspan about the challenges of central banking

2003 speech by Greenspan about "Market Economies and Rule of Law"

Alan Greenspan's political donations

Greenspan Warns on Protectionism, BBC News, August 26, 2005

See analysis of Greenspan featured on Time.com

Sept 24 2007 — Greenspan and Naomi Klein on Democracy Now: on the Iraq War, Tax Cuts, Economic Populism

Oct 17, 2007 — economist Paul Krugman responds to the Sept 24 Democracy Now interview

Alan Greenspan interview on Charlie Rose Show — 53 mins video

The Alan Greenspan Timeline at Objectivism Reference Center

Alan Greenspan at Aspen Ideas Festival, July 2009, pt 1

Alan Greenspan at Aspen Ideas Festival, July 2009, pt 2

Alan Greenspan at Aspen Ideas Festival, July 2009, pt 3

Criticism

Making Economic Sense — Chapter 83

From Objectivists: , , , , ,

From Richard Salsman — Greenspan's Record: Better Than Predecessors, Not As Good as Gold

Doug Noland. The Greenspan Era: Lessons to be Learned, August 27, 2005.

Alan Greenspan Has Got to Go

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