Bela may refer to:

Places

• Bela, on the banks of river Satluj, district Rupar, Punjab, India
• Bela, Ajdovščina, Slovenia
• Bela, Kamnik, Slovenia
• Bela, Nepal
• Bela, Janakpur
• Bela, Pakistan, the capital of Lasbela district in the Balochistan province of Pakistan
• Bela Pratapgarh, a town in Pratapgarh District, Uttar Pradesh, India
• Bela, Varaždin County, a village in the Varaždin County, Croatia
• Bela, a village administered by Pucioasa town, Dâmboviţa County, Romania
• Bela, a village in Vidin Province, Bulgaria
• Bela, an alternative name of the city Zoar, mentioned in Genesis 14
• River Bela, in Cumbria, England
• Bela Bela, a town in the Limpopo Province of South Africa; previously known as Warmbaths in English and Warmbad in Afrikaans and deriving its name from the geothermic hot springs nearby

Surname

• Bela (without an accent) is a surname of Basque and Hungarian origin, also known for the old Hungarian minority areas of Croatia-Slavonia.^[1] It may also refer to:

People

• Bela, son of Beor, first King of Edom^[2]
• Bela B., German musician
• Jacques de Bela, French-Basque lawyer and writer.
• Jean Philippe de Bela, French-Basque military figure and writer.
• Leila Bela, Iranian-American avant-garde musician
• Bela (or Belah), the name of three Biblical characters

Fiction

• Bela, a female character in Lermontov's novel A Hero of Our Time
• Bela (comics), a Marvel Comics character
• Bela Talbot, a character in the third season of the television series Supernatural

Others

• Bael a species of tree native to India.
• Belot, popular popular Trick-taking card games in Croatia
• Klaberjass, popular Trick-taking card games in Jewish communities
• Bela (gastropod), a genus of sea snails
• BESLA, formerly known as the Black Entertainment Lawyers Association (BELA)

See also[link]

• Béla (disambiguation) - Hungarian name
• Belá (disambiguation) - Places in Slovakia
• Bělá (disambiguation) - Places in the Czech Republic

References[link]

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Bela Lugosi
Bela Lugosi in 1920
Born	Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (1882-10-20)20 October 1882 Lugos, Austria-Hungary (now Lugoj, Romania)
Died	16 August 1956(1956-08-16) (aged 73) Los Angeles, California, United States
Cause of death	Heart attack
Resting place	Holy Cross Cemetery
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1917–1956
Spouse	Ilona Szmick (1917–1920) (divorced) Ilona von Montagh (1921–1924) (divorced) Beatrice Weeks (1929–1929) (divorced) Lillian Arch (1933–1953) (divorced) 1 child[1] Hope Lininger (1955–1956) (his death)
Children	Bela George Lugosi
Parents	István Blaskó (father) Paula de Vojnich (mother)
Website
http://www.lugosi.com

Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (20 October 1882 – 16 August 1956), commonly known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen.^[2] He was best known for having played Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version, as well as having starred in several of Ed Wood's low budget films in the last years of his career.

Early life[link]

Lugosi, the youngest of four children,^[3] was born as Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó in Lugos (at the time part of Austria–Hungary, now Lugoj in Romania), to Paula de Vojnich and István Blaskó, a banker.^[4] He later based his last name on his hometown.^[3] He and his sister Vilma were raised in a Roman Catholic family.^[5] At the age of 12, Lugosi dropped out of school.^[3] He began his acting career probably in 1901 or 1902. His earliest known performances are from provincial theaters in the 1903–1904 season, playing small roles in several plays and operettas.^[6] He went on to Shakespeare plays and other major roles. Moving to Budapest in 1911, he played dozens of roles with the National Theater of Hungary in the period 1913–1919. Although Lugosi would later claim that he "became the leading actor of Hungary's Royal National Theater", almost all his roles there were small or supporting parts.^[7]

During World War I, he served as an infantry lieutenant in the Austro-Hungarian Army from 1914 to 1916. There he rose to the rank of captain in the ski patrol and was awarded a medal for being wounded at the Russian front.^[3]

Due to his activism in the actors union in Hungary during the time of the Hungarian Revolution of 1919, he was forced to flee his homeland.^[3] He first went to Vienna, Austria, and then settled in Berlin, Germany, in the Langestrasse where he continued acting.^[3] Eventually, he traveled to New Orleans, United States as a crewman aboard a merchant ship.^[3]

Career[link]

Early films[link]

Lugosi's first film appearance was in the 1917 movie Az ezredes (known in English as The Colonel). When appearing in Hungarian silent films he used the stage name Arisztid Olt. Lugosi made 12 films in Hungary between 1917 and 1918 before leaving for Germany. Following the collapse of Béla Kun's Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919, leftists and trade unionists became vulnerable. Lugosi was proscribed from acting due to his participation in the formation of an actors’ union. In exile in Germany, he began appearing in a small number of well received films, including adaptations of the Karl May novels, Auf den Trümmern des Paradieses (On the Brink of Paradise), and Die Todeskarawane (The Caravan of Death), opposite the ill-fated Jewish actress Dora Gerson. Lugosi left Germany in October 1920, intending to emigrate to the United States, and entered the country at New Orleans in December 1920. He made his way to New York and was legally inspected for immigration at Ellis Island in March 1921.^[8] He declared his intention to become a U.S. citizen in 1928, and on June 26, 1931, he was naturalized.^[9]

On his arrival in America, the 6 foot 1 inch (1.85 m), 180 lb. (82 kg) Béla worked for some time as a laborer, then entered the theater in New York City's Hungarian immigrant colony. With fellow Hungarian actors he formed a small stock company that toured Eastern cities, playing for immigrant audiences. He acted in his first Broadway play, The Red Poppy, in 1922. Three more parts came in 1925–1926, including a five-month run in the comedy-fantasy The Devil in the Cheese.^[10] His first American film role came in the 1923 melodrama The Silent Command. Several more silent roles followed, as villains or continental types, all in productions made in the New York area.

[edit] Dracula

Lugosi was approached in the summer of 1927^[11] to star in a Broadway production of Dracula adapted by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston from Bram Stoker's novel. The Horace Liveright production was successful, running 261 performances before touring. He was soon called to Hollywood for character parts in early talkies.

Despite his critically acclaimed performance on stage, Lugosi was not Universal Pictures’ first choice for the role of Dracula when the company optioned the rights to the Deane play and began production in 1930. A persistent rumor asserts that director Tod Browning's long-time collaborator, Lon Chaney, was Universal's first choice for the role, and that Lugosi was chosen only due to Chaney's death shortly before production. This is questionable, because Chaney had been under long-term contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer since 1925, and had negotiated a lucrative new contract just before his death.

Chaney and Browning had worked together on several projects (including four of Chaney's final five releases), but Browning was only a last-minute choice to direct the movie version of Dracula after the death of director Paul Leni, who was originally slated to direct.

Typecasting[link]

Through his association with Dracula (in which he appeared with minimal makeup, using his natural, heavily accented voice), Lugosi found himself typecast as a horror villain in such movies as Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Raven, and Son of Frankenstein for Universal, and the independent White Zombie. His accent, while a part of his image, limited the roles he could play.

Lugosi did attempt to break type by auditioning for other roles. He lost out to Lionel Barrymore for the role of Rasputin in Rasputin and the Empress; C. Henry Gordon for the role of Surat Khan in Charge of the Light Brigade; Basil Rathbone for the role of Commissar Dimitri Gorotchenko in Tovarich (a role Lugosi had played on stage). He did play the elegant, somewhat hot-tempered Gen. Nicholas Strenovsky-Petronovich in International House.

Regardless of controversy, five films at Universal — The Black Cat, The Raven, The Invisible Ray, Son of Frankenstein, Black Friday (plus minor cameo performances in 1934's Gift of Gab) and two at RKO Pictures, You'll Find Out and The Body Snatcher — paired Lugosi with Boris Karloff. Despite the relative size of their roles, Lugosi inevitably got second billing, below Karloff. Lugosi's attitude toward Karloff is the subject of contradictory reports, some claiming that he was openly resentful of Karloff's long-term success and ability to get good roles beyond the horror arena, while others suggested the two actors were — for a time, at least — good friends. Karloff himself in interviews suggested that Lugosi was initially mistrustful of him when they acted together, believing that the Englishman would attempt to upstage him. When this proved not to be the case, according to Karloff, Lugosi settled down and they worked together amicably (though some have further commented that Karloff's on-set demand to break from filming for mid-afternoon tea annoyed Lugosi).

Universal tried to give Lugosi more heroic roles, as in The Black Cat, The Invisible Ray, and a romantic role in the adventure serial The Return of Chandu, but his typecasting problem was too entrenched for those roles to help.

Lugosi addressed his plea to be cast in non-horror roles directly to casting directors through his listing in the 1937 Players Directory, published by the Motion Picture Academy, in which he (or his agent) calls the idea that he is only fit for horror films "an error."^[12]

Career path[link]

A number of factors worked against Lugosi's career in the mid-1930s. Universal changed management in 1936, and because of a British ban on horror films, dropped them from their production schedule; Lugosi found himself consigned to Universal's non-horror B-film unit, at times in small roles where he was obviously used for "name value" only. Throughout the 1930s, Lugosi, experiencing a severe career decline despite popularity with audiences (Universal executives always preferred his rival Karloff), accepted many leading roles from independent producers like Nat Levine, Sol Lesser, and Sam Katzman. These low-budget thrillers indicate that Lugosi was less discriminating than Karloff in selecting screen vehicles, but the exposure helped Lugosi financially if not artistically. Lugosi tried to keep busy with stage work, but had to borrow money from the Actors' Fund to pay hospital bills when his only child, Bela George Lugosi, was born in 1938.

From The Devil Bat, 1940

His career was given a second chance by Universal's Son of Frankenstein in 1939, when he played the character role of Ygor, who uses the Monster for his own revenge, in heavy makeup and beard. The same year saw Lugosi playing a straight character role in a major motion picture: he was a stern commissar in MGM's comedy Ninotchka, starring Greta Garbo. This small but prestigious role could have been a turning point for the actor, but within the year he was back on Hollywood's Poverty Row, playing leads for Sam Katzman. These horror, comedy and mystery B-films were released by Monogram Pictures. At Universal, he often received star billing for what amounted to a supporting part. The Gorilla (1939) had him playing straight man to Patsy Kelly, in a role she told author Boze Hadleigh was her finest role.

Ostensibly due to injuries received during military service, Lugosi developed severe, chronic sciatica. Though at first he was treated with pain remedies such as asparagus juice, doctors increased the medication to opiates. The growth of his dependence on pain-killers, particularly morphine and methadone, was directly proportional to the dwindling of screen offers. In 1943, he finally played the role of Frankenstein's monster in Universal's Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman, which this time contained dialogue (Lugosi's voice had been dubbed over that of Lon Chaney, Jr., from line readings at the end of 1942's The Ghost of Frankenstein because Ygor's brain had been transplanted into the Monster). Lugosi continued to play the Monster with Ygor's consciousness but with groping gestures because the Monster was now blind. Ultimately, all of the Monster's dialogue and all references to his sightlessness were edited out of the released film, leaving a strange, maimed performance characterized by unexplained gestures and lip movements with no words coming out. He also came to recreate the role of Dracula a second and last time on film in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein in 1948. By this time, Lugosi's drug use was so notorious that the producers were not even aware that Lugosi was still alive, and had penciled in actor Ian Keith for the role.

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein was Bela Lugosi's last "A" movie. For the remainder of his life he appeared — less and less frequently — in obscure, low-budget features. From 1947 to 1950, he performed in summer stock, often in productions of Dracula or Arsenic and Old Lace, and during the rest of the year made personal appearances in a touring "spook show" and on television. While in England to play a six-month tour of Dracula in 1951, he co-starred in a lowbrow movie comedy, Mother Riley Meets the Vampire (also known as Vampire over London and My Son, the Vampire). Upon his return to America, Lugosi was interviewed for television, and revealed his ambition to play more comedy, though wistfully noting, "Now I am the boogie man." Independent producer Jack Broder took Lugosi at his word, casting him in a jungle-themed comedy, Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla. Another opportunity for comedy came in September 1949 when Milton Berle invited Lugosi to appear in a sketch on Texaco Star Theater.^[13] Lugosi memorized the script for the skit, but became confused on the air when Berle began to ad lib.^[14]

Working with Ed Wood[link]

Lugosi in Ed Wood's Plan 9 From Outer Space, 1959

Late in his life, Bela Lugosi again received star billing in movies when filmmaker Ed Wood, a fan of Lugosi, found him living in obscurity and near-poverty and offered him roles in his films, such as an anonymous narrator in Glen or Glenda and a Dr. Frankenstein-like mad scientist in Bride of the Monster. During post-production of the latter, Lugosi decided to seek treatment for his drug addiction, and the premiere of the film was said to be intended to help pay for his hospital expenses. According to Kitty Kelley's biography of Frank Sinatra, when the entertainer heard of Lugosi's problems, he helped with expenses and visited at the hospital. Lugosi would recall his amazement, since he did not even know Sinatra.^[15]

During an impromptu interview upon his exit from the treatment center in 1955, Lugosi stated that he was about to go to work on a new Ed Wood film, The Ghoul Goes West. This was one of several projects proposed by Wood, including The Phantom Ghoul and Dr. Acula. With Lugosi in his famed Dracula cape, Wood shot impromptu test footage, with no storyline in mind, in front of Tor Johnson's home, a suburban graveyard and in front of Lugosi's apartment building on Carlton Way. This footage ended up in Plan 9 from Outer Space, which was mostly filmed after Lugosi's death. Wood hired Tom Mason, his wife's chiropractor, to double for Lugosi in additional shots.^[16] Mason is thinner than Lugosi, and in every shot covers the lower half of his face with his cape, as Lugosi sometimes did in Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein.

Following his treatment, Lugosi made one final film, in late 1955, The Black Sleep, for Bel-Air Pictures, which was released in the summer of 1956 through United Artists with a promotional campaign that included several personal appearances. To his disappointment, however, his role in this film was of a mute, with no dialogue.

Personal life[link]

In 1917, Lugosi married Ilona Szmick. The couple divorced in 1920, reputedly over political differences with her parents.

In 1929, Lugosi took his place in Hollywood society and scandal when he married wealthy San Francisco widow Beatrice Weeks, but she filed for divorce four months later. Weeks cited actress Clara Bow as the "other woman".^[17]

In 1933 he married 19-year-old Lillian Arch, the daughter of Hungarian immigrants. They had a child, Bela G. Lugosi, in 1938.^[18]

Lillian and Béla divorced in 1953,^[1] at least partially because of Béla's jealousy over Lillian taking a full-time job as an assistant to Brian Donlevy on the sets and studios for Donlevy's radio and television series Dangerous Assignment^[19] — Lillian eventually did marry Brian Donlevy, in 1966.

Lugosi married Hope Lininger, his fifth wife, in 1955. She had been a fan of his, writing letters to him when he was in hospital recovering from addiction to Demerol. She would sign her letters 'A dash of Hope'.

Death[link]

Lugosi's grave at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California

Lugosi died of a heart attack on August 16, 1956, while lying on a couch in his Los Angeles home. He was 73.^[20] The rumor that Lugosi was clutching the script for The Final Curtain, a planned Ed Wood project, at the time of his death is not true.^[21]

Lugosi was buried wearing one of the Dracula Cape costumes, per the request of his son and fourth wife, in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. Contrary to popular belief, Lugosi never requested to be buried in his cloak; Bela G. Lugosi confirmed on numerous occasions that he and his mother, Lillian, actually made the decision but believed that it is what his father would have wanted.^[22]

Legacy[link]

In 1979, the Lugosi v. Universal Pictures decision by the California Supreme Court held that Bela Lugosi's personality rights could not pass to his heirs, as a copyright would have. The court ruled that under California law any rights of publicity, including the right to his image, terminated with Lugosi's death.^[23][24]

Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6340 Hollywood Blvd.

In Tim Burton's 1994 Ed Wood, Lugosi is played by Martin Landau who received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. According to Bela G. Lugosi (his son), Forrest Ackerman, Dolores Fuller and Richard Sheffield, Lugosi never used profanity, owned small dogs, or slept in coffins. The film fabricated much about the Hungarian actor.

Three Lugosi projects were featured on the television show Mystery Science Theater 3000. The Corpse Vanishes appeared in episode 105, the serial The Phantom Creeps throughout season two and the Ed Wood production Bride of the Monster in episode 423.

An episode of Sledge Hammer titled "Last of the Red Hot Vampires" was a homage to Bela Lugosi; at the end of the episode, it was dedicated to "Mr. Blaskó".

In 2001, BBC Radio 4 broadcast There Are Such Things by Steven McNicoll and Mark McDonnell. Focusing on Lugosi and his well-documented struggle to escape from the role that had typecast him, the play went on to receive the Hamilton Dean Award for best dramatic presentation from the Dracula Society in 2002.

A statue of Lugosi can be seen today on one of the corners of the Vajdahunyad Castle in Budapest.

The Ellis Island Immigration Museum in New York City features a live, 30-minute play that focuses on Lugosi's illegal entry into the country and then his arrival at Ellis Island to enter the country legally.^[25]

The cape Lugosi wore in the 1931 film Dracula still survives today in the ownership of Universal Studios.

The theatrical play Lugosi - a vámpír árnyéka (Lugosi - the Shadow of the Vampire, in Hungarian) is based on Lugosi's life, telling the story of his life as he becomes typecast as Dracula and as his drug addiction worsens. He was played by one of Hungary's most renowned actors, Ivan Darvas.

Andy Warhol's 1963 silkscreen The Kiss depicts Lugosi from Dracula about to bite into the neck of co-star Helen Chandler, who played Mina Harker. A copy sold for $798,000 at Christie's in May 2000.^[26]

Lugosi was also the subject of "Bela Lugosi's Dead", the first single by English rock band Bauhaus. It was released in August 1979 and it is often considered to be the first gothic rock record.

Bela Lugosi was a charter member of the Screen Actors Guild.

Filmography[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Bela Lugosi: Dreams and Nightmares by Gary D. Rhodes, with Richard Sheffield, (2007) Collectables/Alpha Video Publishers, ISBN 0-9773798-1-7 (hardcover)
• The Immortal Count: The Life and Films of Bela Lugosi by Arthur Lennig (2003), ISBN 0-8131-2273-2 (hardcover)
• Bela Lugosi (Midnight Marquee Actors Series) by Gary Svehla and Susan Svehla (1995) ISBN 1-887664-01-7 (paperback)
• Bela Lugosi: Master of the Macabre by Larry Edwards (1997), ISBN 1-881117-09-X (paperback)
• Films of Bela Lugosi by Richard Bojarski (1980) ISBN 0-8065-0716-0 (hardcover)
• Sinister Serials of Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney, Jr. by Leonard J. Kohl (2000) ISBN 1-887664-31-9 (paperback)
• Vampire over London: Bela Lugosi in Britain by Frank J. Dello Stritto (2000) ISBN 0-9704269-0-9 (hardcover)
• Lugosi: The Man Behind the Cape by Robert Cremer (1976) ISBN 0-8092-8137-6 (hardcover)
• Bela Lugosi: Biografia di una metamorfosi by Edgardo Franzosini (1998) ISBN 88-459-1370-8

External links[link]

Biography portal

• Official website
• Bela Lugosi at the Internet Movie Database
• More information at PORT.hu
• Bela Lugosi at AllRovi^{[dead link]}
• Bela Lugosi at the Internet Broadway Database
• Bela Lugosi at Find a Grave

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Tagged since March 2011. It relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications. Tagged since March 2011. It may be in need of reorganization to comply with Wikipedia's layout guidelines. Tagged since November 2010. Its use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Tagged since March 2011.

Mark O'Connor (born August 5, 1961 in Seattle, Washington) ^[1] is an American bluegrass, jazz, country and classical violinist fiddler, composer and music teacher. O'Connor's music is wide-ranging, critically acclaimed, and he has received numerous awards for both his playing and his composition. As a teenager he won national string instrument championships for his virtuoso playing of the guitar and mandolin as well as on the fiddle. His mentors include Texas old-time fiddler Benny Thomasson^[2] who taught O'Connor to fiddle as a teenager, French jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli^[3] whom O'Connor toured as a teenager and guitarist Chet Atkins.^[4]

Early life[link]

At an early age Mark O'Connor was considered a child prodigy winning national titles on the fiddle, guitar and mandolin as a teenager.^[5] In 1975 at age thirteen, O'Connor won the prestigious Grand Masters Fiddle Championships^[6] in Nashville against amateur and professional competitors of all ages. Later that year in 1975, after turning to age 14, he accomplished the same feat on acoustic guitar at the National Flatpick Guitar Championships in Winfield, KS.^[7] At age 19, he won the Buck White International Mandolin Championship in Kerrville, TX.^[8] He is a four-time grand champion at the National Oldtime Fiddlers Contest in Weiser, Idaho^[9] —1979, 1980, 1981 and 1984.^[10]

Musical career[link]

He has recorded solo albums for Rounder, Warner Bros. Records, Sony, and his own CD line OMAC Records.

O'Connor has won two Grammy awards; one for his New Nashville Cats album and another for his Appalachian Journey album he did with Yo-Yo Ma and Edgar Meyer.^[11] He was named Musician of the Year by the Country Music Association six years in a row (from 1991 to 1996).^[12] His collaborative single Restless (with Vince Gill, Ricky Skaggs and Steve Wariner) won the 1991 CMA Vocal Event of the Year award.^[13]

O'Connor has crossed musical genres, composing, arranging, and recording folk, classical and jazz music. His Fiddle Concerto has received over 200 performances making it one of the most performed concertos written in the last 40 years.^[14] He has composed eight concertos, string quartets, string trios, choral works, solo unaccompanied works and a new Symphony (See Compositions) . He has worked and recorded with a wide variety of artists, such as Chet Atkins, James Taylor, Michelle Shocked, Alison Krauss, David Grisman, Tony Rice, Bela Fleck, Renée Fleming, Pinchas Zukerman, Stéphane Grappelli, Patty Loveless, The Dixie Dregs, John Hartford and Wynton Marsalis. Some of his more recent albums are or contain tributes to his musical mentors and inspirations, including Niccolò Paganini, Benny Thomasson, and Grappelli.

He has contributed music to the PBS Series Liberty! The American Revolution (the companion album is Liberty!).^[15] He recorded his "Fanfare For The Volunteer" with the London Philharmonic in 1999 for Sony Classical,^[16] and one of his most critically acclaimed orchestral pieces Americans Seasons for Sony Classical^[17] 2 as well. O'Connor recorded a 2½ hour double CD of his music with the mandolinist Chris Thile entitled Thirty-Year Retrospective. It celebrates his thirty years as a recording artist on his own OMAC label. He also provided the soundtrack to a 30-minute animated film on the story of Johnny Appleseed (and released the music on his 1992 album Johnny Appleseed), narrated by Garrison Keillor, He contributed four tracks to a 1993 album on the theme of The Night Before Christmas narrated by Meryl Streep that was recently reissued for Starbucks. One of his most popular compositions, Appalachia Waltz (appearing on the album of the same title), has been adopted by Yo-Yo Ma as part of his live performance repertoire, and used frequently as music for weddings including two of Vice President Al Gore's daughters. O'Connor hosts an annual fiddle camp (the Mark O'Connor Fiddle Camp) in Tennessee and an annual Strings Conference in San Diego, California. O'Connor is living in New York City working on new music. One of his recent efforts is his piano trio entitled Poets and Prophets which is inspired by his boyhood hero Johnny Cash. Currently O'Connor and Rosanne Cash have teamed up for concert dates premiering their collaboration in New York at Merkin Hall, January 2007. He plays on Ken Burns' The War.

On April 28, 2009, O'Connor teamed with prominent chamber musicians Kavafian, Neubauer and Haimovitz to present his second and third string quartets, amalgamating bluegrass with classical styles, at Merkin Concert Hall in New York. A recording by the same artists is to be released on O'Connor's OMAC label during May.

O'Connor Method[link]

On November 16, 2009, Mark O'Connor released books 1 and 2 of his 10-book O'Connor Method - A New American School of String Playing^[18] for string teachers and students of the violin designed to "guide students gradually through the development of pedagogical and musical techniques necessary to become a proficient, well-rounded musician through a carefully planned succession of pieces." Pieces cover a wide range of genres, and include: folk melodies such as "Amazing Grace," "Cielito Lindo" and "Buffalo Gals," American Classical tunes such as Copland's "Hoedown," two themes from Dvorak's New World Symphony, and O'Connor's "Appalachia Waltz."^[19] The series also contains short essays about topics including famous American fiddlers such as Thomas Jefferson and Davy Crockett, the history of Gypsies and Mariachi, and various dances. Teacher training sessions based on the method take place around the country.

Awards/honors[link]

2 Grammy awards; 1992 & 2001.^[20] 8 Grammy nominations; 1982–2004. 7 CMA awards; 1991–1996.^[21] 7 National & Grand Master fiddling championships; 1975–1984.^[22] 2 National Guitar championships; 1975 & 1977. World mandolin championship; 1982. Frets Magazine Readers Poll Musician of the year; 1983–1987. Irish-American Top 100; 2005.^[23] Hundreds of regional, state and local awards; 1972–present.

Compositions[link]

Orchestral - Full Orchestra

Queen Anne's Revenge - overture for symphony orchestra - 7 min

The Improvised Violin Concerto for violin and orchestra - 40 min

Olympic Harvest - overture for symphony orchestra - 6 min

Americana Symphony "Variations on Appalachia Waltz" for symphony orchestra - 34 min

Triple Concerto "March of the Gypsy Fiddler" for violin, cello, piano and orchestra - 26 min

Double Concerto "For the Heroes" for violin, cello and symphony orchestra - 35 min

Concerto No. 6 "Old Brass" for violin and orchestra - 35 min

Double Violin Concerto for two violins and symphony orchestra - 32 min

Three Pieces for Orchestra for symphony orchestra:

I. Call of the Mockingbird - 20 min

II. Trail of Tears - 16 min

III. Fanfare for the Volunteer - 20 min

Johnny Appleseed Suite - 18 min

The Fiddle Concerto for violin and orchestra - 40 min

Orchestral - String Orchestra

Elevations for string orchestra - 25 min

The Fallen for flute and string orchestra - 20 min

Harmony for violin and string orchestra - 11 min

American Seasons (Seasons of an American Life) for violin and orchestra - 35 min

Surrender The Sword for violin and string orchestra - 10 min

Song Of The Liberty Bell for violin and string orchestra - 7 min

String Quartets

• String Quartet No. 3 "Old-Time" - 25 min (2007)
• String Quartet No. 2 "Bluegrass" - 36 min (2005)
• String Quartet No. 1 (with double bass) - 30 min (1990; revised in 2006 for 2 violins, viola and cello)

Piano Trio

Piano Trio No. 2 "Strange Rims" - 25 min

Piano Trio No. 1 "Poets And Prophets" - 35 min

Fiddle Sonata for Piano Trio - 20 min

Miniatures for Piano Trio - 5 min

String Trio

In The Summertime - 7 min Musicopia - 7 min Blackberry Mull - 9 min Poem - 7 min Vistas - 10 min Caprice For Three - 4 min Butterfly’s Day Out - 5 min Misty Moonlight Waltz - 4 min Emily’s Reel - 5 min Old Country Fairy Tale - 9 min

Duo

Strings & Threads Suite for violin and guitar - 18 min When Bidden To The Wake Or Fair for violin and cello - 5 min Brave Wolfe for trumpet and violin - 5 min F.C.'s Jig - for violin and cello - 4 min

Solo

Appalachia Waltz (violin/cello) - 7 min Caprices No.'s 1 - 6 - 24 min Strings & Threads Suite for violin - 17 min Bonaparte's Retreat Variations - 7 min

Jazz Ensemble

Anniversary, M&W Rag, Stephane and Django, Fiddler Going Home, Gypsy Fantastic, Funky Swing, In The Cluster Blues, Pickles On The Elbow, Swingin’ On The Ville, Sweet Suzanne, In Full Swing.

Miscellaneous Instrumentals (Fiddle/Bluegrass/Newgrass/Contemporary)

A Bowl of Bula, Across the Ohio Frontier, Beserkley, Bow Tie, Captain's Jig, Cat in the Bag, Changing the Guard, Come Ride With Me, Conversation with a Friend, Cool Winds, Cotton Pickin' Blues, Court Suite, Dance of the Ol' Swamp Rat, Disco Fiddle, Rampsody, Druid Fluid, Ease with the Breeze, Fair Dancer Reel, False Dawn, Fancy Stops and Goes, Flailing, Flight Home, Floating Bridge of Dreams, Fluid Drive, Folktunes, Follow the Scout, From Panama to El Pichincha, Future Man, Get Set, Go, Granny White Special, Hear the Sun Shadows Dance, Hot Tamale, Idle Rain, Improvisations Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, Inns of Granny White, Inside the Stillness, Into the Walls of Mandoness, Irish Maiden, Johnny's Apple Pie, Light the Fire, Macedonia, March of the Pharaohs, Markology, Mark's Ark, Mark's Waltz, Midnight Interlude, My Celebration, Nashville Shuffle Boogie, New Lifetimes, October Impressions, Off to Sea Olympic Reel, On a June Day, One Winter's Night, Pacific Expectations, Pick it Apart, Pickin Parlor Rag, Pickin' in the Wind, Pilgrim's Waltz, Point of Crossing, Queen of the Cumberland, Rampology, Remember Ireland, River Out Back, Road to Appalachia, Rose Among Thorns, Sailor's Jig, Send Rainbows, Shine On, Slopes, Soft Gyrations, Stone from Which the Arch Was Made, Swept Away by Tides, Swing 11:11, Texas Dance Hall Blues, Thai Wat Sai, Thanks and Goodbyes, The Cricket Dance, The Dark Rain, The Emperor's Komponist, The Life and Times of Johnny Appleseed, The Robotic Muso, Three Angel Brides, Through the Lives, Outside the Landscape, Traveler's Ridge, Tubular Explosions, We're Surrounded, When We Talk.

Vocal

Folk Mass for choir - 40 min Let Us Move for choir - 15 min

Composing commissioning organizations[link]

Academy of Saint Martin-In-the-Fields - Library of Congress - Lila Wallace Reader's Digest Commissioning Program - Santa Fe Music Festival - La Jolla Music Festival - Hudson River Quadricentennial Music Project - Gloriae Dei Cantores - Kathryn Gould and Montalvo - Blueridge Parkway 75th Anniversary Appalachian State University - Bridgehampton Chamber Music Associates - Musicians for Harmony (NY) - Troy Savings Bank Hall 2000 Celebration - Tennessee Bicentennial Committee - Cabrillo Music Festival - Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra - Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra - San Diego Symphony Orchestra - East Texas Symphony Orchestra - Nashville Symphony Orchestra - Colorado Symphony Orchestra - Dubuque Symphony Orchestra - Fargo Moorhead Symphony Orchestra - Fox Valley - Symphony Orchestra - Greater Anderson Musical Arts Consortium - Tennessee Dance Theater - Imperial Symphony Orchestra - Garrett Lakes Arts Festival - Musicopia/Strings in the Schools (Philadelphia)

Education, Training and Research[link]

Violin Apprenticed under jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli; 1979–1980. Apprenticed under folk fiddler Benny Thomasson; 1974–1977. Apprenticed under Barbara Lamb, John Burke; 1973–1974.

Independent Research and Training - Various musical styles and composition including Classical, Flamenco, Bluegrass, Jazz, Western Swing, Appalachian, Cajun, Country, Texas fiddling, Gospel/Spiritual, Blues, Rock, Fusion; 1974–present.

Guitar Edmonds Community College, WA, Calvin Christ, Normando Brenez, Dudley Hill; 1966–1975.

Vocal Instruction and Theory Edmonds Community College, Frank DeMiero; 1976–1977.

Recording Engineering Training Seattle, WA - certificate of completion; 1981.

Keyboard, Theory, Bass and Percussion private teachers, secondary school, WA; 1978-79.

Ensembles - Member and Apprenticed under: Composer and Bandleader David Grisman of the David Grisman Quintet; 1979–1981. Composer and Bandleader Steve Morse of The Dregs; 1981–1982.

Post-Doctoral Training Honorary Doctorate, Sage Colleges, NY, Public Service Degree; 2002.

In 2008/2009 O'Connor was Artist-in-Residence at UCLA and in 2009/2010 he was Artist-in-Residence at the University of Miami.^[24]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

Music videos[link]

See also[link]

Biography portal

American fiddle

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website
• Official Publicity site
• Mark O'Connor at the Internet Movie Database
• Mark O'Connor - on Allmusic

This article is for the guitarist. For the former football player see Tony Rice (American football).

Tony Rice
Background information
Born	(1951-06-08) June 8, 1951 (age 61) in Danville, Virginia
Genres	Americana, Bluegrass, Folk
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	1970–present
Labels	Rounder
Website	Official website
Notable instruments
1935 Martin D-28 (previously owned by Clarence White)[1] Santa Cruz Tony Rice Professional

Tony Rice (born David Anthony Rice, June 8, 1951, Danville, Virginia) is an American acoustic guitarist and bluegrass musician. He is considered one of the most influential acoustic guitar players in bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, newgrass and acoustic jazz.^[2][3]

Rice spans the range of acoustic music, from traditional bluegrass to jazz-influenced New Acoustic music, to songwriter-oriented folk. Over the course of his career, he has played alongside J. D. Crowe and the New South, David Grisman (during the formation of “Dawg Music”) and Jerry Garcia, led his own Tony Rice Unit, collaborated with Norman Blake, recorded with his brothers Wyatt, Ron and Larry and co-founded the Bluegrass Album Band. He has recorded with drums, piano, soprano sax, as well as with traditional bluegrass instrumentation. ^[4][5]

Early years[link]

Rice was born in Danville, Virginia but grew up in Los Angeles, California, where he was introduced to bluegrass by his father, a semi-professional musician named Herb Rice. Tony and his brothers learned the fundamentals of bluegrass and country music from hot L.A. pickers like the Kentucky Colonels, led by Roland and Clarence White. Clarence White in particular became a huge influence on Tony Rice. Crossing paths with fellow enthusiasts like Ry Cooder, Herb Pedersen and Chris Hillman reinforced the strength of the music he had learned from his father.^[6]

In 1970, Rice had moved to Louisville, Kentucky where he played with the Bluegrass Alliance, and shortly thereafter, J.D. Crowe's New South. The New South was known as one of the best and most progressive bluegrass groups - eventually adding drums and electric instruments (to Rice's displeasure). But when Ricky Skaggs joined up in 1974, the band recorded "J. D. Crowe & the New South", an acoustic album that became Rounder’s top-seller up to that time. At this point, the group consisted of Rice on guitar and lead vocals, Crowe on banjo and vocals, Jerry Douglas on Dobro, Skaggs on fiddle, mandolin, and tenor vocals, and Bobby Slone on bass and fiddle.

David Grisman Quintet[link]

Around this time, Rice met mandolinist David Grisman, who played with Red Allen during the '60s and was now working on some original material that blended jazz, bluegrass and classical styles. Rice left the New South and moved to California to join Grisman’s all-instrumental group. As part of the David Grisman Quintet, Rice expanded his musical horizons beyond three chord bluegrass, studying chord theory, learning to read charts and expanding the range of his playing. Renowned guitarist John Carlini was brought in to teach Rice music theory, and Carlini helped him learn the intricacies of jazz playing and musical improvisation in general. The David Grisman Quintet's 1977 debut recording is considered a landmark of acoustic string band music.

RockyGrass 2005

Solo career and Bluegrass Album Band[link]

In 1979, Rice left Grisman's group to pursue his own brand of music. He recorded "Acoustics", a jazz-inspired acoustic record, and then Manzanita,^[7] a collection of vocals and instrumentals, mostly in the bluegrass, but also folk style. This album doesn't include the five-string banjo. In 1980, Rice, Crowe, Bobby Hicks, Doyle Lawson and Todd Phillips formed a highly successful coalition, attacking bluegrass standards under the name the Bluegrass Album Band. This group recorded six volumes of music from 1980 to 1996.

Rice’s solo career hit its stride with "Cold on the Shoulder", a collection of bluegrass-inspired vocals. With this album, "Native American" and "Me & My Guitar", Rice arrived at a formula that incorporated his disparate influences, combining bluegrass, the songwriting of folk artists like Ian Tyson, Joni Mitchell, Phil Ochs, Tom Paxton, Bob Dylan and especially Gordon Lightfoot, with nimble, jazz-inflected guitar work. Simultaneously, he pursued his jazz-infused, experimental “spacegrass” with the Tony Rice Unit on the albums "Mar West", "Still Inside", and "Backwaters".

Collaborations[link]

In 1980 he recorded an album of bluegrass duets with Ricky Skaggs, called Skaggs & Rice. Two highly regarded albums with traditional instrumentalist and songwriter Norman Blake garnered a great deal of acclaim, as well as two Rice Brothers albums (1992 and 1994) that featured him teamed with his late elder brother, Larry and younger brothers, Wyatt and Ronnie. In 1993 he joined David Grisman and Jerry Garcia, to record The Pizza Tapes. Year after, Rice and Grisman recorded Tone Poems, an original collection of material, where they used historical vintage mandolins and guitars, different for each track. In 1995, Rice recorded folk album featuring just two guitars with John Carlini, who also worked for David Grisman Quintet. In 1997, Tony, his brother Larry, Chris Hillman (founder of Byrds) and banjoist Herb Pedersen, founded so-called "anti-supergroup" Rice, Rice, Hillman & Pedersen ^[8] and produced three volumes of music between 1997 and 2001.

Tony Rice today[link]

Tony Rice (right) performing with Peter Rowan at the Kent Stage in Kent, Ohio, November 2008

Since the early nineties, Rice's singing voice has silenced due to dysphonia, but he remains one of new acoustic music's top instrumentalists, bringing originality and vitality to everything he plays.^[9] He has often collaborated with Peter Rowan and they have recorded two CDs for Rounder Records: "You Were There For Me," released 2004, and "Quartet," released in 2007. For the second recording, Rice and Rowan were joined by Bryn Bright on vocals/bass and Sharon Gilchrist on vocals/mandolin.^[10] 2007 saw Tony team up with Alison Krauss and Union Station for a string of spring concerts, drawing material from Rice's 35-year career. Krauss always has cited Rice as being her prime musical influence.^[11] Rice resides in Reidsville, North Carolina.

Publications[link]

The authorized biography of Tony Rice, titled "Still Inside: The Tony Rice Story," has been completed by Tim Stafford (a member of award-winning bluegrass ensemble Blue Highway) and Hawai`i journalist Caroline Wright, and was published by Word Of Mouth Press in Kingsport, TN, USA in 2010. The book's official release took place at Merlefest in North Carolina, USA.^[12][13]

Discography[link]

Awards[link]

Grammy Awards[link]

• Best Country Instrumental Performance - The New South, Fireball - 1983

IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) Awards[link]

• Instrumental Performer of the Year - Guitar - 1990, 1991, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2007
• Instrumental Group of the Year - The Tony Rice Unit - 1991, 1995
• Instrumental Group of the Year - The Bluegrass Album Band - 1990
• Instrumental Album of the Year - Bluegrass Instrumentals, Volume 6 (Rounder) ; The Bluegrass Album Band - 1997

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official site
• http://www.classicwebs.com/bg_allia.htm
• 1998 Flatpicking Guitar Magazine Article
• Tony Rice on YouTube
  • Manzanita
  • Ten Degrees and Getting Colder
  • Church Street Blues
  • Cold on the Shoulder
  • Shenandonah
  • Freeborn Man
  • Where the Soul of Man Never Dies (duet with Ricky Skaggs)
  • Tipper
  • Blue Railroad Train
  • Old Home Place
  • Nine Pound Hammer
  • Little Sadie