A shire is a traditional term for a division of land, found in the United Kingdom and in Australia. In parts of Australia, a shire is an administrative unit, but it is not synonymous with "county" there, which is a land registration unit. Individually, or as a suffix in Scotland and in the far northeast of England, the word is pronounced . As a suffix in an English or Welsh place name, it is in most regions pronounced , or sometimes .

In the British Isles, "shire" is the original term for what is usually known as a ''county''; the word ''county'' having been introduced at the Norman Conquest of England. The two are synonymous. Although in modern British usage counties are referred to as "shires" mainly in poetic contexts, terms such as Shire Hall remain common. Shire also remains a common part of many county names.

The word derives from the Old English, ''scir'', and appears to be allied to ''shear'', ''shore'', "share" as it is a division of the land. The system was first used in Wessex from the earliest settlement period, and spread to most of the rest of England in the tenth century, along with West Saxon political control. In Domesday (1086) the city of York was divided into shires. The first shires of Scotland were created in English-settled areas such as Lothian and the Borders, (Bernicia) in the ninth century. King David I more consistently created shires and appointed sheriffs across lowland ''shores'' of Scotland.

The shire in early days was governed by an ''Ealdorman'' and in the later Anglo-Saxon period by royal official known as a "shire reeve" or sheriff. The shires were divided into hundreds or wapentakes, although other less common sub-divisions existed. An alternative name for a shire was a "sheriffdom" until sheriff court reforms separated the two concepts. In Scotland the word "county" was not adopted for the shires. Although "county" appears in some texts, "shire" was the normal name until counties for statutory purposes were created in the nineteenth century.

Shire county

The phrase "shire county" applies, unofficially, to non-metropolitan counties in England, specifically those that are not unitary local authority areas.

Shire names in Britain

"Shire" also refers, in a narrower sense, to ancient counties with names that ended in "shire". These counties are typically (though not always) named after their county town.

The suffix ''-shire'' is attached to most of the names of English, Scottish and Welsh counties. It tends not to be found in the names of shires that were pre-existing divisions. Essex, Kent, and Sussex, for example, have never borne a ''-shire'', as each represents a former Anglo-Saxon kingdom. Similarly Cornwall was a British kingdom before it became an English county.

Shire names in England

Shires in England bearing the "-shire" suffix include: Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire, Worcestershire, and Yorkshire. These counties, on their historical boundaries, cover a little more than half the area of England. The counties that do not use "-shire" are mainly in three areas, in the south-east, south-west and far north of England.

The county of Devon is also known as Devonshire, although this is not an official name and is not often used outside the county. The counties of Dorset, Rutland and Somerset were occasionally Dorsetshire, Rutlandshire and Somersetshire, but these usages are now considered archaic.

Hexhamshire was a county in the north-east of England from the early 12th century until 1572, when it was incorporated into Northumberland.

Shire names in Scotland

In Scotland, barely affected by the Norman Conquest of England, the word "shire" prevailed over "county" until the 19th century. Earliest sources have the same usage of the "-shire" suffix as in England (though in Scots this was oftenmost "schyr"). Later the "Shire" appears as a separate word.

"Shire" names in Scotland include Aberdeenshire, Ayrshire, Banffshire, Berwickshire, Clackmannanshire, Cromartyshire, Dumfriesshire, Dunbartonshire, Inverness-shire, Kincardineshire, Kinross-shire, Kirkcudbrightshire, Lanarkshire, Morayshire, Nairnshire, Peeblesshire, Perthshire, Renfrewshire, Ross-shire, Roxburghshire, Selkirkshire, Stirlingshire, and Wigtownshire

In Scotland four shires have alternative names with the "-shire" suffix: Angus (Forfarshire), East Lothian (Haddingtonshire), Midlothian (Edinburghshire) and West Lothian (Linlithgowshire).

Sutherland is occasionally still referred to as Sutherlandshire. Similarly, Argyllshire, Buteshire, Caithness-shire and Fifeshire are sometimes found. Also, Morayshire was previously called Elginshire. There is currently much debate about whether Argyllshire was ever really used.

Shire names in Wales

Shires in Wales bearing the "-shire" suffix include: Brecknockshire (or Breconshire), Caernarvonshire, Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Monmouthshire, Montgomeryshire, Pembrokeshire, and Radnorshire.

In Wales, the counties of Merioneth and Glamorgan are occasionally referred to with the "shire" suffix. The only traditional Welsh county that never takes "shire" is Anglesey.

Non-county "shires"

The suffix –''shire'' could be a generalised term referring to a district. It did not acquire the strong association with county until later.

Other than these, the term was used for several other districts. Bedlingtonshire, Craikshire, Norhamshire and Islandshire were exclaves of County Durham, which were incorporated into Northumberland or Yorkshire in 1844. The suffix was also used for many hundreds, wapentakes and liberties such as Allertonshire, Blackburnshire, Halfshire, Howdenshire, Leylandshire, Powdershire, Pydarshire, Richmondshire, Riponshire, Salfordshire, Triggshire, Tynemouthshire, West Derbyshire and Wivelshire, counties corporate such as Hullshire, and other districts such as Applebyshire, Bamburghshire, Bunkleshire, Carlisleshire, Coldinghamshire, Coxwoldshire, Cravenshire, Hallamshire, Mashamshire and Yetholmshire.

Non-county shires were very common in Scotland. Kinross-shire and Clackmannanshire are arguably survivals from such districts. Non-county "shires" in Scotland include Bunkleshire, Coldinghamshire and Yetholmshire.

Richmondshire is today the name of a local government district of North Yorkshire.

Shires in Australia

"Shire" is the most common word in Australia for rural Local Government Areas (LGA). The states of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia use the term "Shire" for this unit.

In contrast, South Australia uses district and region for its rural LGA units, while Tasmania uses municipality. Shires are generally functionally indistinguishable from towns, municipalities, or cities.

Three LGAs in outer metropolitan Sydney have populations exceeding that of towns or municipalities, but retain significant bushlands and/or semi-rural areas, have continued to use the title of 'Shire', possibly due to community demand or popularity, or for financial and socio-political gain. These three 'City-Shires' are:

Sutherland Shire (which is commonly referred to as '' 'The Shire' '')

The Hills Shire ('' 'The Garden Shire' '', previously '' 'Baulkham Hills Shire' '')

Hornsby Shire ('' 'The Bushland Shire' '')

Shires in the United States

In 1634, eight "shires" were created in the Virginia Colony by order of Charles I, King of England. They were renamed as counties only a few years later. They were:

Accomac Shire (now Accomack County, Virginia)

Charles City Shire (now Charles City County, Virginia)

Charles River Shire (now York County, Virginia)

Elizabeth City Shire (now the City of Hampton, Virginia)

Henrico Shire (now Henrico County, Virginia)

James City Shire (now James City County, Virginia)

Warwick River Shire (now the City of Newport News, Virginia)

Warrosquyoake Shire (now Isle of Wight County, Virginia)

Among these Shires of Virginia, the five noted above are considered to be still existent in somewhat their same political form in Virginia as of 2006, though three of them have vanished. Most of their boundaries have changed in the intervening centuries.

Before the Province of New York was granted county subdivisions and a greater royal presence in 1683, the early ducal colony consisted of York Shire, as well as Albany and Ulster, after the three titles held by Prince James: Duke of York, Duke of Albany, Earl of Ulster. While these were basically renamed Dutch core settlements, they were quickly converted to English purposes, while the Dutch remained within the colony, as opposed to later practice of the Acadian Expulsion. Further Anglo-Dutch synthesis occurred when James enacted the Dominion of New England and later when William III of England took over through the Glorious Revolution.

See also

Counties of England

Counties of Scotland

Counties of Wales

Counties of the United Kingdom

Gau

Scirii

The Shire in the Lord of the Rings

Shire Horse

Shire plc

References

Category:Types of country subdivisions

als:Shire de:Shire (Verwaltungseinheit) es:Shire fr:Shire (division administrative) la:Scira ja:シャイア pt:Shire th:ไชร์ tr:Shire

Coordinates	6°7′55″N1°13′22″N
name	Howard Shore
background	non_performing_personnel
birth name	Howard Leslie Shore
born	October 18, 1946Toronto, Ontario, Canada
occupation	composer, orchestrator, conductor, music producer
genre	Classical, Orchestra, Film Score
years active	1978–present
website	howardshore.com }}

Howard Leslie Shore (born October 18, 1946) is a Canadian composer, notable for his film scores. He has composed the scores for over 80 films, most notably the scores for ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy, for which he won three Academy Awards. He is also a consistent collaborator with director David Cronenberg, having scored all but one of his films since 1979. Shore has also worked with Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme, David Fincher and many other filmmakers.

He has also composed a few concert works including one opera, ''The Fly'', based on the plot (though not his score) of Cronenberg's 1986 film premiered at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on 2 July 2008., a short piece Fanfare for the Wanamaker Organ and the Philadelphia Orchestra, and a short overture for the Swiss 21st Century Symphony Orchestra.

Shore is a three-time winner of the Academy Award, and has also won two Golden Globe Awards and four Grammy Awards. He is the uncle of film composer Ryan Shore.

Early life and career

Shore was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the son of Bernice (née Ash) and Mac Shore. He studied music at Berklee College of Music in Boston after graduating from Forest Hill Collegiate Institute. From 1969 to 1972, he performed with the group Lighthouse. In 1970 he was the music director of Lorne Michaels and Hart Pomerantz's short-lived TV program ''The Hart & Lorne Terrific Hour''. Shore wrote the music for Canadian magician Doug Henning's magical/musical ''Spellbound'' in 1974, and he was the musical director for Lorne Michaels' hugely influential late-night NBC comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1975 to 1980, appearing in many musical sketches, including Howard Shore and His All-Nurse Band, and dressed as a beekeeper for a John Belushi/Dan Aykroyd performance of the Slim Harpo classic ''I'm a King Bee''. Shore also suggested the name for The Blues Brothers to Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi.

Film scoring

1979–2000

Shore's first film score was to David Cronenberg's first major film ''The Brood'' (1979). He would go on to score all of Cronenberg's subsequent films, with the exception of The Dead Zone (1983), which was scored by Michael Kamen. The first film he scored that was not directed by Cronenberg was Martin Scorsese's ''After Hours''.

Following ''After Hours'', he scored ''The Fly'' (1986), again directed by Cronenberg. Two years later, he composed the score to ''Big'' (1988), directed by Penny Marshall and starring Tom Hanks. He then scored two more of David Cronenberg's films: ''Dead Ringers'' (1988) and ''Naked Lunch'' (1991).

During 1991, Shore composed the score for the highly acclaimed film ''The Silence of the Lambs'', starring Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins, and directed by Jonathan Demme. He received his first BAFTA nomination for the score. The film became the third (and most recent) to win the five major Academy Awards (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, and Best Actress). Shore is the only living composer to have scored a "Top Five" Oscar winning film.

During 1993, he composed the scores for ''M. Butterfly'' (another collaboration with Cronenberg), ''Philadelphia'' (his second collaboration with Jonathan Demme), and ''Mrs. Doubtfire'', directed by Chris Columbus. The latter two films were highly successful; ''Philadelphia'' winning Tom Hanks his first Oscar.

Shore scored another three films in 1994: ''The Client'', ''Ed Wood'', and ''Nobody's Fool''. ''Ed Wood'' is notable for being one of the two films directed by Tim Burton that did not feature a score by Danny Elfman.

Shore continued to score numerous films from 1995–2001, including two David Fincher films, ''Seven'' (1995) and ''The Game'' (1997); also, he collaborated on two films with Cronenberg along with Tom Hanks' directorial debut, ''That Thing You Do!''.

2001–2005

Shore's major success came in 2001 with his score to ''The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring'', the first film in the highly acclaimed ''The Lord of the Rings trilogy''. The news that Shore would score the trilogy surprised some, since he was primarily associated with dark, ominous films and had never scored an epic of this scale. However, the score was hugely successful and won Shore his first Oscar, as well as a Grammy Award, and nominations for a Golden Globe and a BAFTA.

The following year, Shore composed the scores to ''Panic Room'', ''Gangs of New York'' (replacing Elmer Bernstein), and ''The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers'', the second film in the trilogy. The latter two films were both nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, although neither won. Shore's score for ''The Two Towers'' was deemed ineligible for submission to the Academy, due to a new rule that disallowed the submission of scores which contained themes from previous work. This rule proved very unpopular, due to the fact that had it been present in earlier years, it would have invalidated various other sequel scores (such as ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'') from being nominated. As a result the Academy dispensed with this rule for future years. Shore did, however, receive a BAFTA nomination for ''Gangs of New York''.

In 2003 he composed the score for the final film in ''The Lord of the Rings trilogy'', ''The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King''. The film was the most successful film in the trilogy and the most successful of the year. Shore won his second Oscar for Best Original Score, as well as a third for Best Original Song for "Into the West", which he shared with Fran Walsh and Annie Lennox. The film was nominated for, and won a total of eleven Academy Awards, a record for the number of Oscars won by a single film, and a record that only two other films—Titanic (1997) and Ben-Hur (1959)—have matched. Shore also won his first Golden Globe, his third and fourth Grammy (the fourth for Best Song), and was nominated for a third BAFTA. The scores of ''The Lord of the Rings'' became one of the most successful film scores ever written, and the biggest success in Shore's career.

In 2004, Shore again collaborated with Martin Scorsese, scoring his epic film ''The Aviator''. He won a second Golden Globe for the score, becoming the first, and to date, the only, composer to have won consecutive Golden Globes in the Original Score category. He also received his sixth Grammy nominations, and his fifth BAFTA nomination.

He collaborated again with David Cronenberg in 2005 to score ''A History of Violence'', starring Viggo Mortensen. The film was a success and received two Oscar nominations. In 2006, he collaborated for the fourth time with Martin Scorsese, this time to score ''The Departed''. The film was highly successful and won four Oscars, including a long awaited win for Scorsese, and Best Picture.

Although Shore was originally commissioned to compose the soundtrack for ''King Kong'' (indeed, he had already recorded most of the music), he was later replaced by James Newton Howard due to "differing creative aspirations for the score" on his and the filmmakers' parts. This was a mutual agreement between himself and Peter Jackson. Despite this, Shore has a cameo near the end of ''King Kong'' as the conductor of the pit orchestra in the theater, performing portions of Max Steiner's score to the ''original 1933 version'' of the film.

2006–Present

In 2007, he composed the music for ''Soul of the Ultimate Nation'', an online multiplayer video game. The soundtrack is notable for being the first video game soundtrack to feature Lydia Kavina on the theremin. During 2007 he also composed the scores to ''The Last Mimzy'', and ''Eastern Promises'', the latter of which was another collaboration with David Cronenberg and earned Shore his fourth Golden Globe nomination. In 2008 he scored ''Doubt'', starring Meryl Streep and directed by John Patrick Shanley. The film was a success, earning five Oscar nominations.

In 2010, Shore composed the score to the ''third installment'' in the highly popular ''Twilight'' film series, following Carter Burwell and Alexandre Desplat, who scored the first and second films, respectively. He also replaced John Corigliano to score ''Edge of Darkness'', starring Mel Gibson.

Shore's next two projects are ''A Dangerous Method'', continuing his long-term collaboration with director David Cronenberg. He will also compose the score to Martin Scorsese's ''Hugo Cabret'', which will be his fifth collaboration with Scorsese. Both films are currently in post-production.

Shore's future projects include Robert Sigl's ''The Spider'' and Peter Jackson's ''The Hobbit'', which is currently in production. He is also set to compose the music to ''Sinatra'', and ''The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt'', both of which are being directed by Martin Scorsese and are due for release in 2011.

Conducting & performing

Since 2004, he has toured the world conducting local orchestras in the performance of his new symphonic arrangement of his highly acclaimed ''Lord of the Rings'' scores. The new work is entitled ''The Lord of the Rings: Symphony in Six Movements''. There are two movements for each of the movies, and an intermission between the second and third (or first and second, in some cases) movements. The concert presentation of the symphony also includes projected still images relating the music being performed to scenes from the films. Recently, however, Shore has been busy with other projects, leaving other conductors including Markus Huber, Alexander Mickelthwaite, and John Mauceri to lead the orchestras. April 24, 2008 marked the North American Live to Projection debut of ''Fellowship of the Ring'', with the score performed live by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ludwig Wicki. Wicki also conducted the Filene Center Orchestra at the Wolf Trap Farm Park in Vienna, Virginia on May 21 and 22, 2008 in the U.S. premiere of the Fellowship of the Ring Live to Projection. September 16, 2010 Shore conducted the RSO Vienna (Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra) which performed "In Dreams from The Fellowship of the Ring" at Hollywood in Vienna in Vienna, Austria.

Miscellany

Shore makes a cameo appearance on film in ''The Return of the King'' (extended edition) as a Guard of Rohan, during the drinking game at Edoras.

Shore was played by Neil Portnow in the 1989 film version of Bob Woodward's book ''Wired: The Short Life and Fast Times of John Belushi''.

Shore was commissioned by Macy's to write a Fanfare for the Store's 150th anniversary featuring the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Wanamaker Organ, the world's largest playing pipe organ. The work was debuted in the Grand Court of Macy's Philadelphia Store on September 27, 2008 in a concert that drew reviews from most of the major East Coast newspapers.

Included in the soundtrack to the film ''The Departed'', was a version of the song "Comfortably Numb", written in part by Roger Waters. Shore later collaborated with Waters on the song "Hello, I Love You" for the soundtrack of the film "The Last Mimzy".

With John Lurie, Shore wrote the theme song for ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien''. The theme was carried over to ''The Tonight Show'' when O'Brien succeeded Jay Leno as host.

Shore's work is notable for including the scores for two out of only three sequel films that won the Academy Award for Best Picture. The first was ''The Silence of the Lambs'' (sequel to the 1986 film ''Manhunter''), and the second, ''The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King''. The only other sequel film to achieve this is ''The Godfather Part II''. Shore narrates a one-hour CBC Radio documentary/soundscape on music in thriller/suspense film genres also including references to radio dramas and other media. The episode was called "Unsettling Scores" and premiered on the program called Inside the Music.

Awards

Shore has received three Academy Award nominations, winning all of them, two for Best Original Music Score, for ''The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring'' (2001), and ''The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'' (2003). He also won the Oscar for Best Original Song for "Into the West" from ''Return of the King''.

Shore has also received four Golden Globe nominations, winning two consecutive awards for ''The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'' (2003) and ''The Aviator'' (2004), making him the only the second composer (after Alan Menken) to have received consecutive Golden Globe Awards for Best Original Score. He also won three consecutive Grammy Awards for Best Score for each of the Lord of the Rings films, and received a second award in 2003 for the song "Into the West" from "Return of the King" in the category of Best Song. He has also received five BAFTA nominations, but has not won.

On June 11, 2007, Shore was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters Degree from York University in Toronto for "his sweeping artistic vision".

Shore has also been honored with awards from The National Board of Review, Recording Academy Honors, The Broadcast Film Critics, Chicago Film Critics, Genie Award, World Soundtrack Award, New York's Gotham Award, and The Saturn Award for Science Fiction.

Shore is the first recipient of the Film & TV Music Award for Best Score for a Science Fiction Feature Film for ''The Last Mimzy''.

One September 16, 2010 he was awarded with the Max Steiner Film Music Achievement Award by the City of Vienna at the yearly film music gala concert Hollywood in Vienna.

Filmography

''The Brood'' (1979)

''Scanners'' (1981)

''Videodrome'' (1983)

''After Hours'' (1985)

''The Fly'' (1986)

''Big'' (1988)

''Dead Ringers'' (1988)

''Naked Lunch'' (1991)

''The Silence of the Lambs'' (1991)

''The Last of the Mohicans'' (1992)

''Mrs. Doubtfire'' (1993)

''Philadelphia'' (1993)

''M. Butterfly'' (1993)

''The Client'' (1994)

''Ed Wood'' (Grammy Nominee) (1994)

''Nobody's Fool'' (1994)

''Moonlight and Valentino'' (1995)

''Se7en'' (1995)

''Crash'' (1996)

''The Truth About Cats & Dogs'' (1996)

''That Thing You Do!'' (1996)

''Striptease'' (1996)

''The Game'' (1997)

''Cop Land'' (1997)

''eXistenZ'' (1999)

''Analyze This'' (1999)

''Dogma'' (1999)

''High Fidelity'' (2000)

''The Cell'' (2000)

''The Yards'' (2000)

''The Score'' (2001)

''The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring'' (Oscar Winner, Grammy Winner & Golden Globe Nominee) (2001)

''Gangs of New York'' (2002)

''Panic Room'' (2002)

''Spider'' (2002)

''The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers'' (Grammy Winner) (2002)

''The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'' (2 Oscars Winner, 2 Golden Globes Winner & 2 Grammys Winner) (2003)

''The Aviator'' (Golden Globe Winner & Grammy Nominee) (2004)

''A History of Violence'' (2005)

''The Departed'' (Grammy Nominee) (2006)

''Soul of the Ultimate Nation'' (MMORPG) (2007)

''The Last Mimzy'' (2007)

''Eastern Promises'' (Golden Globe Nominee) (2007)

''Doubt'' (2008)

''The Betrayal'' (2008)

''The Twilight Saga: Eclipse'' (2010)

''Edge of Darkness'' (2010)

''A Dangerous Method'' (2011)

''Hugo Cabret'' (2011)

''The Spider'' (2011) ''Sinatra'' (2011) ''The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt'' (2011) ''The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey'' (2012)

''Cosmopolis'' (2012)

''The Hobbit: There And Back Again'' (2013)

See also

List of noted film producer and composer collaborations

References

External links

Howard Shore at Soundtrackguide.net

Howard Shore at The Danish Filmmusic Society (DFS)

Howard Shore Interview at Tracksounds

Category:1946 births Category:People from Toronto Category:Berklee College of Music alumni Category:Best Original Music Score Academy Award winners Category:Best Song Academy Award winning songwriters Category:Canadian film score composers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Living people Category:Saturday Night Live Band members

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Coordinates	6°7′55″N1°13′22″N
name	Bo Hansson
background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
born	April 10, 1943Sweden
died	April 23, 2010Stockholm, Sweden
instrument	Hammond organ, Guitar
genre	Rock and roll, jazz
occupation	Musician
years active	1960s–2010
label	Polydor Records, Silence Records, Famous Charisma, Sire Records
associated acts	The Merrymen
notable instruments	}}

Bo Hansson (April 10, 1943 – April 23, 2010) was a Swedish musician best known for his four instrumental albums released in the 1970s.

Early life and musical career

He spent his early life in a remote village in the pine forests of northern Sweden, but a change in his parents' fortunes forced a move to Stockholm and they were forced to leave the young Hansson behind, in the care of family friends. As a teenager he joined his parents in Stockholm, where he soon became interested in the burgeoning rock and roll scene and taught himself to play the guitar, before joining the band, Rock-Olga.

After the rock and roll craze gave way to jazz and blues in the late fifties, he joined 'Slim' Notini's Blues Gang as a guitarist. Hansson was able to move on and form his own blues group The Merrymen, who supported The Rolling Stones on an early Scandinavian tour.

In 1966, Hansson saw American jazz organist Jack McDuff perform at Stockholm's Gyllene Cirkeln Club, and was so captivated by the performance that he decided to leave The Merrymen to expand his musical horizons. Encouraged by fellow Merryman Bill Öhrström, he eventually acquired his own Hammond organ. Öhrström became an A&R; man and producer at Polydor Sweden, and introduced Hansson to other musicians, one of whom was drummer Janne Carlsson. Hansson and Carlsson immediately hit it off and were signed by Polydor under the band name Hansson & Karlsson, playing up-tempo Hammond organ based music and releasing three albums between 1967 and 1969. They became immensely popular in their home country and some parts of Europe, and even reached the ear of Jimi Hendrix, who took time out from his tour to jam with the duo, along with George Clemons on drums and Georg Wadenius on guitar, at the Klub Filips in Stockholm in late 1967. Hendrix went on to record a Hansson song, "Tax Free".

Solo debut

By 1969, Janne Carlsson had become a successful comedian and TV host, and Hansson decide to break up the partnership. Entranced by a copy of J.R.R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'', which he had purloined from his girlfriend, he moved into a friend's vacant apartment and started writing. When the unfortunate friend returned, he found that he had been evicted from his apartment after numerous complaints about the noise Hansson was creating. Hansson retreated to a remote cottage on an island off Stockholm where he, drummer Rune Carlsson and engineer Anders Lind, who had worked previously with Hansson & Karlsson, spent the winter of 1969 recording what was to become Hansson's debut solo album on a borrowed four track recorder. The resourceful Lind was even able to gain use of the only eight track recorder in Sweden at that time at the Swedish National Radio station, on the pretext that he was interested in buying one himself and wanted to test it. Once there, he persuaded session musicians Gunnar Bergsten and Sten Bergman to flesh out the recordings.

''Sagan Om Ringen'' was released on Silence Records (Sweden's first independent record label which was set up by Anders Lind) in autumn 1970 and became a huge hit. Copies of the album began to filter across to Britain where it came to the attention of Tony Stratton-Smith, who was so impressed that he released the album as ''Music Inspired by Lord of the Rings'' on his own Famous Charisma label in September 1972. The album peaked at #34 on the UK Album Chart and became Bo's only UK Top 40 album.

Further musical career

Encouraged by the success of his first album, Hansson was booked into Stockholm's Studio Decibel where he began work on the follow-up. Using the same team, along with guitarist Kenny Håkansson, the new recordings benefitted from the superior equipment and ''Ur Trollkarlens Hatt'' was released on Silence Records in late 1972, and on Charisma in the UK as ''Magician's Hat'' in October 1973. Although critically acclaimed, it failed to reach the popularity of the earlier work, and did not chart in the UK.

Popularity in Sweden, however, put pressure on Hansson to tour, and a hastily put-together touring band was assembled, however, the tour was cancelled by the reclusive keyboard player, citing a lack of motivation. Instead, he returned to Studio Decibel and started work on his third album. Using the tried and trusted backing musicians the recordings continued the progression of the previous album, and ''Mellanväsen'' was issued on Silence Records in October 1975, and as ''Attic Thoughts'' on Charisma in the UK in February 1976. Despite being the most accomplished record of Hansson's career, it did not find the success it deserved, though it did feature a song called ''Rabbit Music'' which would point the way to Hansson's next album.

In 1976, Hansson and Silence Records parted company, and he was able to negotiate a worldwide deal with The Famous Charisma Label. He returned once again to Studio Decibel and began work on recordings that were inspired by another book; Richard Adams' ''Watership Down''. Using the same session musicians but with a new producer, Pontus Olssen, the recordings were issued in September 1977 as ''El 'Ahrairah'' (after the novel's rabbit god) and ''Music Inspired by Watership Down'' on Charisma in the UK, and on Sire Records in the US. Another disappointing chart performance led to Hansson's withdrawal from the popular music scene, and though he worked on a number of projects with friends, little was heard from him until 1985 when he released the Swedish issue only album ''Mitt I Livet'' (The Middle of Life) on Silence Records (SRS 4700). He then again dropped off the radar.

Later years

Despite rumours of ill health and homelessness, Hansson found a new following amongst Swedish DJs in recent years, who sampled his music - something which apparently pleased him enormously. Although the better known ''Music Inspired by Lord of the Rings'' made it onto CD in 1988, in a remixed version accompanied by selected tracks from ''Magician's Hat'' and ''Attic Thoughts'', his other 1970s albums remained unavailable in full until 2005 when Silence Records (through EMI) re-issued them on CD, digitally re-mastered and with previously unreleased extra material. In 1998 Hansson & Karlsson reunited for some live concerts and a compilation album.

Due to his pioneering work and the mysteries surrounding Hansson & Karlsson's rise and fall, Hansson received the status of a living legend among the independent musical community in Sweden. He occasionally performed live sets with fellow organist Eric Malmberg who has been greatly inspired by Hansson's work.

Bo Hansson died in Stockholm on 23 April 2010.

Discography

1972 ''Music Inspired by Lord of the Rings'', Charisma (originally released in Sweden as ''Sagan om ringen'' in 1970)

1974 ''Magician's Hat'', Charisma (originally released in Sweden as ''Ur trollkarlens hatt'' in 1972)

1975 ''Attic Thoughts'', Charisma (released in Sweden as ''Mellanväsen'')

1977 ''Music Inspired by Watership Down'', Charisma (released in Sweden as ''El-Ahrairah'')

1983 ''Reflection: Best of Bo Hansson'', Fontana Records (compilation album covering Bo's first three solo albums)

1985 ''Mitt i livet'', Silence Records (released only in Sweden)

The CD reissues of the first three solo records are distributed internationally by the original company, Silence Records.

with Hansson & Karlsson

1967 ''Monument''

1968 ''Rex''

1969 ''Man at the Moon''

1998 ''Hansson & Karlsson'' (compilation)

2010 ''For People in Love 67-68'' (studio & live recordings)

See also

List of Swedes in music

References

External links

Official website

Category:1943 births Category:2010 deaths Category:Swedish musicians Category:Middle-earth music Category:Swedish keyboardists Category:Progressive rock musicians

de:Bo Hansson es:Bo Hansson fr:Bo Hansson fi:Bo Hansson sv:Bo Hansson (musiker)

Coordinates	6°7′55″N1°13′22″N
name	David Shire
background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
birth name	David Lee Shire
born	July 03, 1937Buffalo, New York
occupation	Composer
instrument	Piano
genre	Film scoremusicals Television score
years active	1960s–present
associated acts	}}

David Lee Shire (born July 3, 1937) is an American songwriter and the composer of stage musicals, film and television scores. The soundtrack to the movie ''The Taking of Pelham 123'' and parts of the ''Saturday Night Fever'' soundtrack such as ''Night on Disco Mountain'', an adaptation of Modest Mussorgsky's ''Night on Bald Mountain'', are some of his best known works. His other work includes the score of the 1985 film, Return to Oz, the "sequel-in-part" of The Wizard of Oz (1939 film). Shire is married to actress Didi Conn.

Education and early career

Shire was born in Buffalo, New York, the son of Esther Miriam (née Sheinberg) and Buffalo society band leader and piano teacher Irving Daniel Shire. He met his long-time theater collaborator lyricist/director Richard Maltby, Jr. at Yale University, where they wrote two musicals, ''Cyrano'' and ''Grand Tour'', which were produced by the Yale Dramatic Association. Shire also co-fronted a jazz group at school, the Shire-Fogg Quintet, and was a Phi Beta Kappa honors student, with a double major in English and music. He was a member of the Pundits and Elihu and he graduated magna cum laude in 1959.

After a semester of graduate work at Brandeis University (where he was the first Eddie Fisher Fellow) and six months in the National Guard infantry, Shire took up residence in New York City, working as a dance class pianist, theater rehearsal and pit pianist, and society band musician while constantly working with Maltby on musicals. Their first off-Broadway show, ''The Sap of Life'', was produced in 1961 at One Sheridan Square Theater in Greenwich Village.

Film and television scoring

Shire began scoring for television in the 1960s and made the leap to scoring feature films in the early 1970s. He was married to actress Talia Shire, for whose brother Francis Ford Coppola he scored ''The Conversation'', perhaps his best known score, in 1974. Additional screen credits include ''Two People'', ''All the President's Men'', ''The Hindenburg'', ''Farewell My Lovely'', ''The Taking of Pelham One-Two-Three'', ''2010'', ''Return to Oz'', Max Dugan Returns (a Neil Simon write) and ''Zodiac''. He composed original music for ''Saturday Night Fever'' (for which he received two Grammy Award nominations), and also worked on several disco adaptations including "Night on Disco Mountain." He won the Academy Award for Best Song for his and Norman Gimble's theme song for ''Norma Rae'', "It Goes Like It Goes". He was also nominated the same year in the same category for "The Promise (I'll Never Say Goodbye)" from the motion picture ''The Promise'', with lyrics by Marilyn and Alan Bergman. In 1981 his song "With You I'm Born Again," recorded by Billy Preston and Syreeta, was a top five international hit and stayed on the pop charts for 26 weeks.

''The Conversation'' featured an austere score for piano. On some cues Shire took the taped sounds of the piano and distorted them in different ways to create alternative sonic textures to round out the score. The music is intended to capture the isolation and paranoia of protagonist Harry Caul (Gene Hackman). The score was released on CD by Intrada Records.

For ''The Taking of Pelham One Two Three'', Shire used serial techniques and a funky jazz-rock rhythm section for the main theme. It is intended to evoke the bustle and diversity of New York City, and is an unofficial theme for the 6 subway line (the local Lexington Avenue Line that is depicted in the film). The soundtrack album was the first ever CD release by ''Film Score Monthly''. The end titles contain a more expansive arrangement of the theme. Shire received two Grammy nominations for his work on the film.

Shire's television scores have earned five Emmy nominations. His hundreds of scores for television include ''Sarah, Plain and Tall'', ''Raid on Entebbe'', ''The Kennedys of Massachusetts'', ''Serving in Silence'', Christopher Reeve's ''Rear Window'', Oprah Winfrey's ''The Women of Brewster Place'', and ''The Heidi Chronicles''. He also composed themes for the television series ''Alice'' and ''McCloud''.

His film and television scoring style is often compared to mostly his late counterpart Jerry Fielding.

Musical theatre

As a pit pianist, Shire played for the original productions of both ''The Fantasticks'' and ''Funny Girl'', eventually serving as Barbra Streisand’s accompanist for several years. He also intermittently conducted and arranged for her (most notably for her television specials Color Me Barbra and The Belle of Fourteenth Street), and over a period of several years she recorded five of his songs.

Shire's musical theatre work, always in collaboration with lyricist Richard Maltby, Jr. includes the two off-Broadway reviews ''Starting Here, Starting Now'' (Grammy nomination for Best Cast Album) and ''Closer Than Ever'' (Outer Critic's Circle Award for Best Musical) and the two Broadway shows ''Baby'' (Tony nominations for Best Musical and Best Score) and ''Big'' (Tony nomination for Best Score). All of these shows have had hundreds of regional and stock productions worldwide. A new musical entitled ''Take Flight'' premiered in London at the Menier Chocolate Factory in July 2007, with a separate production in Tokyo in November 2007. Previously concert versions were performed in Australia and Russia.

He recently completed ''A Stream of Voices'', a one-act opera, with libretto by Gene Scheer, for the Colorado Children's Chorale, which is scheduled to premiere in June 2008 in Denver.

Miscellaneous

Shire's individual songs have been recorded by Barbra Streisand, Melissa Manchester, Maureen McGovern, Johnny Mathis, Billy Preston, Jennifer Warnes, John Pizzarelli and Pearl Bailey, among many others. He co-wrote with David Pomerantz "In Our Hands", the theme song for the United Nations World Summit for Children. He has also written individual songs with lyricists Sheldon Harnick ("Everlasting Light") and Ed Kleban.

Either for his film scores or for pop concerts of his music, he has conducted many orchestras, including The London Symphony Orchestra, The Los Angeles Philharmonic, The San Francisco Opera Orchestra, The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra (2007) Irish Film Orchestra, and the Munich Symphony.

He also wrote and composed many songs for the hit PBS children's TV series ''Shining Time Station'', which starred his wife Didi Conn along with actor Brian O'Connor and comedian George Carlin.

He serves on the council of the Dramatists Guild of America and is a Trustee of the Rockland Conservatory of Music and the Palisades (New York) Library.

Personal

Shire has been married to actress Didi Conn since 1982; they have a son named Daniel who has been diagnosed with autism. He also has a son, screenwriter Matthew Shire, with ex-wife Talia Shire.

Theatre credits

;Broadway

''The Unknown Soldier and His Wife'' - incidental music

''Anyone Can Whistle'' - rehearsal pianist

''Funny Girl'' - pit pianist and assistant conductor

''Love Match'' - composer

''Baby'' - composer - Tony Award for Best Original Score nomination

''Company'' - dance music arranger

''Big'' - composer - Tony Award for Best Original Score nomination; Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music nomination

''Saturday Night Fever'' - songwriter of "Manhattan Skyline," "Salsation," and "Night on Disco Mountain"

;Off-Broadway (selected)

''Graham Crackers'' (1963)

''As You Like It'' (1973)

''Starting Here, Starting Now'' (1977)

''Urban Blight'' (1988)

''Closer Than Ever'' (1989) (Outer Critics Circle Award winner)

''Smulnik's Waltz'' (1991)

''The Loman Family Picnic'' (1993)

''Visiting Mr. Green'' (1997)

Notable songs

"With You I'm Born Again" - lyrics by Carol Connors - international chart hit by Billy Preston and Syreeta

"Starting Here, Starting Now;" "Autumn" - lyrics by Richard Maltby - recorded by Barbra Streisand

"What About Today," "The Morning After" - music and lyrics - recorded by Streisand

"The Promise (I'll Never Say Goodbye)" (Academy Award nominee) - lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman - recorded by Melissa Manchester

"It Goes Like It Goes" - lyrics by Norman Gimbel - recorded by Jennifer Warnes - (Academy Award winner)

"Coffee, Black" - lyrics by Maltby - recorded by John Pizzarelli

"Washington Square" - words and music (with Bob Goldstein) - recorded by The Village Stompers

See also

Coppola family tree

References

External links

Personal Website

David Shire at the Internet Broadway Database

Board of Advisors, The Buffalo Film Festival, Buffalo, NY, United States

'''''

Category:1937 births Category:Jewish American composers and songwriters Category:American film score composers Category:Best Song Academy Award winning songwriters Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Living people Category:American Jews Category:People from Buffalo, New York Category:Yale University alumni

de:David Shire fr:David Shire pt:David Shire fi:David Shire

Coordinates	6°7′55″N1°13′22″N
name	Sylvester Stallone
birth name	Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone
birth date	July 06, 1946
birth place	New York City, New York, U.S.
occupation	Actor, director, screenwriter
years active	1970–present
spouse
children	Sage, Seargeoh, Sophia, Sistine, Scarlet
parents	Frank Stallone Sr.Jackie Stallone
relatives	Frank Stallone (brother)
website	http://www.sylvesterstallone.com }}

Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone (; born July 6, 1946), commonly known as Sylvester Stallone, and nicknamed Sly Stallone, is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, film director and occasional painter. Stallone is known for his machismo and Hollywood action roles. Two of the notable characters he has portrayed include boxer Rocky Balboa and soldier John Rambo. The ''Rocky'' and ''Rambo'' franchises, along with several other films, strengthened his reputation as an actor and his box office earnings.

Stallone's film ''Rocky'' was inducted into the National Film Registry as well as having its film props placed in the Smithsonian Museum. Stallone's use of the front entrance to the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the ''Rocky'' series led the area to be nicknamed the Rocky Steps. Philadelphia has a statue of his Rocky character placed permanently near the museum, on the right side before the steps. It was announced on December 7, 2010 that Stallone was voted into boxing's Hall of Fame.

Early life

Sylvester Stallone was born Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone in New York City, the elder son of Frank Stallone, Sr., a hairdresser, and Jackie Stallone (born Jacqueline Labofish), an astrologer, former dancer, and promoter of women's wrestling. His younger brother is actor and musician Frank Stallone. Stallone's father was born in Gioia del Colle, Apulia, Italy, and emigrated to the United States as a child. Stallone's mother is of half Russian Jewish and half French descent.

Complications his mother suffered during labor forced her obstetricians to use two pairs of forceps during his birth; misuse of these accidentally severed a nerve and caused paralysis in parts of Stallone's face. As a result, the lower left side of his face is paralyzed, including parts of his lip, tongue, and chin, an accident which has given Stallone his trademark snarling look and slightly slurred speech. Stallone was baptized and raised Catholic. He spent his first five years in Hell's Kitchen, bouncing between foster homes while his parents endured a loud, troubled marriage. His father, a beautician, moved the family to Washington DC, where he opened a beauty school. His mother opened a women's gymnasium called Barbella's in 1954. He attended Charlotte Hall Military Academy prior to attending Miami Dade College.

Career

When Stallone was nearly broke in New York, barely $50 to his name, he sold the script to ''Paradise Alley'' for $100.

''Italian Stallion'' and ''Score''

Stallone had his first starring role in the soft core pornography feature film ''The Party at Kitty and Stud's'' (1970). He was paid US$200 for two days' work. Stallone later explained that he had done the film out of desperation after being evicted from his apartment and finding himself homeless for several days. He has also said that he slept three weeks in the New York City Port Authority bus station prior to seeing a casting notice for the film. In the actor's words, "it was either do that movie or rob someone, because I was at the end – the very end – of my rope". The film was released several years later as ''Italian Stallion'', in order to cash in on Stallone's new found fame (the new title was taken from Stallone's nickname since ''Rocky'' and a line from the film).

Stallone also starred in the erotic off-Broadway stage play ''Score'' which ran for 23 performances at the Martinique Theatre from October 28 – November 15, 1971 and was later made into a film by Radley Metzger.

Early film roles, 1970–1975

In 1970 Stallone appeared in the film ''No Place to Hide,'' which was re-cut and retitled ''Rebel,'' the second version featuring Stallone as its star. After the style of Woody Allen's ''What's Up, Tiger Lily?,'' this film, in 1990, was re-edited from outtakes from the original movie and newly shot matching footage, then redubbed into an award-winning parody of itself titled ''A Man Called... Rainbo.'' Again starring Stallone, this self-parody was directed by David Casci and produced by Jeffrey Hilton. ''A Man Called...Rainbo'' won Silver Awards at the Chicago International Film Festival and Worldfest – Houston, and was featured on ''Entertainment Tonight'' along with its credited star, Sylvester Stallone. It received a Thumbs-Up on ''Siskel & Ebert,'' and was recommended by Michael Medved on the popular movie review show, ''Sneak Previews.''

Stallone's other first few film roles were minor, and included brief uncredited appearances in Woody Allen's ''Bananas'' (1971) as a subway thug, in the psychological thriller ''Klute'' (1971) as an extra dancing in a club, and in the Jack Lemmon film ''The Prisoner of Second Avenue'' (1975) as a youth. In the Lemmon film, Jack Lemmon chases, tackles and mugs Stallone, thinking that Stallone's character is a pickpocket. He had his second starring role in ''The Lords of Flatbush,'' in 1974. In 1975, he played supporting roles in ''Farewell, My Lovely''; ''Capone''; and ''Death Race 2000.'' He made guest appearances on the TV series ''Police Story'' and ''Kojak.''

Success with ''Rocky,'' 1976

Stallone gained worldwide fame with his starring role in the smash hit ''Rocky'' (1976). On March 24, 1975, Stallone saw the Muhammad Ali–Chuck Wepner fight, which inspired the foundation idea of ''Rocky.'' That night Stallone went home, and after three days 20 straight hours he had written the script for ''Rocky.'' After that, he tried to sell the script with the intention of playing the lead role. Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler in particular liked the script. ''Rocky'' was nominated for ten Academy Awards in all, including Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay nominations for Stallone. ''Rocky'' went on to win the Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Directing and Best Film Editing.

Rocky, Rambo and new film roles, 1978–1989

The sequel ''Rocky II,'' which Stallone had also written and directed (replacing John G. Avildsen, who won an Academy Award for directing the first film) was released in 1979 and also became a major success, grossing $200 million.

Apart from the ''Rocky'' films, Stallone did many other films in the late 1970s and early 1980s which were critically acclaimed but were not successful at the box office. He received critical praise for films such as ''F.I.S.T.'' (1978), a social, epic styled drama in which he plays a warehouse worker, very loosely modeled on James Hoffa, who becomes involved in the labor union leadership, and ''Paradise Alley'' (1978), a family drama in which he plays one of three brothers who is a con artist and who helps his other brother who is involved in wrestling. Stallone made his directorial debut directing ''Paradise Alley.''

In the early 1980s, he starred alongside British veteran Michael Caine in ''Escape to Victory'' (1981), a sports drama in which he plays a prisoner of war involved in a Nazi propaganda soccer game. Stallone then made the action thriller film ''Nighthawks'' (1981), in which he plays a New York city cop who plays a cat and mouse game with a foreign terrorist, played by Rutger Hauer.

Stallone had another major franchise success as Vietnam veteran John Rambo, a former Green Beret, in the action-war film ''First Blood'' (1982). The first installment of Rambo was both a critical and box office success. The critics praised Stallone's performance, saying he made Rambo seem human, as opposed to the way he is portrayed in the book of the same name, in ''First Blood'' and in the other films. Three Rambo sequels ''Rambo: First Blood Part II'' (1985), ''Rambo III'' (1988) and ''Rambo'' (2008) followed. Although box office hits, they met with much less critical praise than the original. He also continued his box office success with the ''Rocky'' franchise and wrote, directed and starred in two more sequels to the series: ''Rocky III'' (1982) and ''Rocky IV'' (1985). Stallone has portrayed these two characters in a total of ten films. In preparation for these roles, Stallone embarked upon a vigorous training regimen which often meant six days a week in the gym and further sit ups in the evenings. Stallone claims to have gotten his body fat percentage down to his all time low of 2.8% for Rocky III.

It was during this time period that Stallone's work cultivated a strong overseas following. He also attempted, albeit unsuccessfully, roles in different genres when he co-wrote and starred in the comedy film ''Rhinestone'' (1984) where he played a wannabe country music singer and the drama film ''Over the Top'' (1987) where he played a struggling trucker who, after the death of his wife, tries to make amends with his son who he left behind years earlier. His son does not think too highly of him until he sees him compete in a nation-wide arm wrestling competition. For the ''Rhinestone'' soundtrack, he performed a song. These films did not do well at the box office and were poorly received by critics. It was around 1985 that Stallone was signed to a remake of the 1939 James Cagney classic ''Angels With Dirty Faces.'' The film would form part of his multi-picture deal with Cannon Pictures and was to co-star Christopher Reeve and be directed by Menahem Golan. The re-making of such a beloved classic was met with disapproval by Variety Magazine and horror by top critic Roger Ebert and so Cannon opted to make ''Cobra'' instead. ''Cobra'' (1986) and ''Tango and Cash'' (1989) did solid business domestically but overseas they did blockbuster business grossing over $100 million in foreign markets and over $160 million worldwide.

1990–2002

With the then recent success of ''Lock Up'' and ''Tango and Cash,'' at the start of the 1990s Stallone starred in the fifth installment of the Rocky franchise ''Rocky V'' which was considered a box office disappointment and was also disliked by fans as an unworthy entry in the series.

After starring in the critical and commercial disasters ''Oscar'' (1991) and ''Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot'' (1992) during the early 90s, he made a comeback in 1993 with the hit ''Cliffhanger'' which was a success in the U.S., grossing $84 million, but even more successful worldwide, grossing $171 million for a total over US$255 million. Later that year he starred with Wesley Snipes in the futuristic action film ''Demolition Man'' which grossed in excess of $158 million worldwide. His string of hits continued with 1994's ''The Specialist'' (over $170 million worldwide gross).

In 1995, he played the comic book based title character Judge Dredd, who was taken from the British comic book 2000 AD in the film of the same name. His overseas box office appeal saved the domestic box office disappointment of ''Judge Dredd'', which cost almost $100 million and barely made its budget back with a worldwide tally of $113 million. He also appeared in the thriller ''Assassins'' (1995) with co stars Julianne Moore and Antonio Banderas. In 1996, he starred in the disaster film ''Daylight'' which was not very successful in the US but still grossed $126 million overseas.

That same year Stallone, along with an all-star cast of celebrities, appeared in the Trey Parker and Matt Stone short comedy film ''Your Studio and You'' commissioned by the Seagram Company for a party celebrating their acquisition of Universal Studios and the MCA Corporation. Stallone speaks in his Rocky Balboa voice with subtitles translating what he is saying. At one point, Stallone starts yelling about how can they use his Balboa character, that he left it in the past; the narrator calms him with a wine cooler and calling him, "brainiac." In response, Stallone says, "Thank you very much." He then looks at the wine cooler and exclaims, "Stupid cheap studio!"

Following his breakthrough performance in ''Rocky,'' critic Roger Ebert had once said Stallone could become the next Marlon Brando, though he never quite recaptured the critical acclaim achieved with ''Rocky.'' Stallone did, however, go on to receive much acclaim for his role in the low budget crime drama ''Cop Land'' (1997) in which he starred alongside Robert De Niro and Ray Liotta, but the film was only a minor success at the box office. His performance led him to win the Stockholm International Film Festival Best Actor Award. In 1998 he did voice-over work for the computer-animated film ''Antz,'' which was a big hit domestically.

In 2000, Stallone starred in the thriller ''Get Carter'' – a remake of the 1971 British Michael Caine film of the same name—but the film was poorly received by both critics and audiences. Stallone's career declined considerably after his subsequent films ''Driven'' (2001), ''Avenging Angelo'' (2002) and ''D-Tox'' (2002) also underachieved expectations to do well at the box office and were poorly received by critics.

2003–2005

In 2003, he played a villainous role in the third installment of the Spy Kids trilogy ''Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over'' which was a huge box office success (almost $200 million worldwide). Stallone also had a cameo appearance in the 2003 French film ''Taxi 3'' as a passenger.

Following several poorly reviewed box office flops, Stallone started to regain prominence for his supporting role in the neo-noir crime drama ''Shade'' (2003) which was only released in a limited fashion but was praised by critics. He was also attached to star and direct a film tentatively titled ''Rampart Scandal,'' which was to be about the murder of rappers Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. and the surrounding Los Angeles Police Department corruption scandal. It was later titled ''Notorious'' but was shelved.

In 2005, he was the co-presenter, alongside Sugar Ray Leonard, of the NBC Reality television boxing series ''The Contender.'' That same year he also made a guest appearance in two episodes of the television series ''Las Vegas.'' In 2005, Stallone also inducted wrestling icon Hulk Hogan, who appeared in ''Rocky III'' as a wrestler named Thunderlips, into the WWE Hall of Fame; Stallone was also the person who offered Hogan the cameo in ''Rocky III.''

Revisiting Rocky and Rambo, 2006–2008

After a three year hiatus from films, Stallone made a comeback in 2006 with the sixth installment of his successful Rocky series, ''Rocky Balboa'', which was a critical and commercial hit. After the critical and box office failure of the previous installment ''Rocky V'', Stallone had decided to write, direct and star in a sixth installment which would be a more appropriate climax to the series. The total domestic box office came to $70.3 million (and $155.7 million worldwide). The budget of the movie was only $24 million. His performance in ''Rocky Balboa'' has been praised and garnered mostly positive reviews.

Stallone's fourth installment of his other successful movie franchise, Rambo, with the sequel being titled simply ''Rambo''. The film opened in 2,751 theaters on January 25, 2008, grossing $6,490,000 on its opening day and $18,200,000 over its opening weekend. Its box office was $113,244,290 worldwide with a budget of $50 million.

Asked in February 2008 which of the icons he would rather be remembered for, Stallone said "it's a tough one, but ''Rocky'' is my first baby, so ''Rocky."''

Other film work

Stallone's debut as a director came in 1978 with ''Paradise Alley,'' which he also wrote and starred in. In addition, he directed ''Staying Alive'', the sequel to ''Saturday Night Fever'', along with ''Rocky II'', ''Rocky III'', ''Rocky IV'', ''Rocky Balboa'', and ''Rambo''. In August 2005, Stallone released his book ''Sly Moves'' which claimed to be a guide to fitness and nutrition as well as a candid insight into his life and works from his own perspective. The book also contained many photographs of Stallone throughout the years as well as pictures of him performing exercises. In addition to writing all six ''Rocky'' films, Stallone also wrote ''Cobra'', ''Driven'', and ''Rambo.'' He has co-written several other films, such as ''F.I.S.T.'', ''Rhinestone'', ''Over the Top'', and the first three ''Rambo'' films. His last major success as a co-writer came with 1993's ''Cliffhanger''. In addition, Stallone has continued to express his passion in directing a film on Edgar Allan Poe's life, a script he has been preparing for years. In July 2009, he appeared in a cameo in the Bollywood movie ''Kambakkht Ishq'' where he played himself, for which he has been nominated by the Indian version of Razzies, Golden Kela Awards. Stallone also provided the voice of a lion in Kevin James's comedy ''Zookeeper.'' Stallone has also mentioned that he would like to adapt a Nelson DeMille novel, ''The Lion's Game'' and James Byron Huggin's novel ''Hunter'', which Stallone had the film rights for several years and originally planned to use the plot from ''Hunter'' for ''Rambo V''. In 2009, Stallone expressed interest in starring in a remake of Charles Bronson's 1974 movie ''Death Wish''.

2010 onwards

''The Expendables'' was Stallone's big success of 2010. The movie, which was filmed during summer/winter 2009, was released on August 13, 2010. Stallone wrote, directed and stars in the movie. Joining him in the film were fellow action stars Jason Statham, Jet Li, and Dolph Lundgren plus Terry Crews, Mickey Rourke, Randy Couture, Eric Roberts, and Stone Cold Steve Austin as well as much anticipated cameos for fellow '80s action icons Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Indeed, the cameos of Willis and Schwarzenegger have been pushed quite heavily in the promotion of the movie. Due to the overwhelmingly positive reaction to early test footage and trailers, producer Avi Lerner has reported that there is already talk of making two more sequels, or at least some sort of a longer franchise, based on the members of the team. The movie took $34,825,135 in its opening weekend, going straight in at No.1 in the US box office. The figure marked the biggest opening weekend in Stallone's illustrious 35 year career. In summer 2010, Brazilian company O2 Filmes released a statement saying it was still owed more than $2 million US for its work on the film. Stallone also confirmed the planned ''Rambo V'' was cancelled in May 2010. The movie was officially greenlit by Nu Image/Millenium Films in September 2009 and initially Stallone said the movie was to be entitled ''Rambo V: The Savage Hunt'' and would be loosely based on a novel called ''Hunter'' (a novel to which Stallone had the rights for ten years), involving Rambo hunting a "feral beast". In November 2009 Stallone confirmed that the story has been switched and that the man/beast hunt story will be saved for an unrelated film. ''Rambo V'' will now be based on Rambo searching for women who disappeared in a town over the Mexican border. It was confirmed by Stallone himself in May 2010 that he has scrapped ''Rambo V'' (and "retired" ''Rambo'') in order to work on ''The Expendables'' sequel.

Personal life

Stallone has been married three times. At age 28, on December 28, 1974, he married Sasha Czack. The couple had two sons, Sage Moonblood (b. May 5, 1976) and Seargeoh (b. 1979). His younger son was diagnosed with autism at an early age. The couple divorced on February 14, 1985. He married model and actress Brigitte Nielsen, on December 15, 1985, in Beverly Hills, California. Stallone and Nielsen's marriage, which lasted two years, and their subsequent divorce, were highly publicized by the tabloid press. In May 1997, Stallone married Jennifer Flavin, with whom he has three daughters: Sophia Rose (b. August 27, 1996), Sistine Rose (b. June 27, 1998), and Scarlet Rose (b. May 25, 2002).

In 2007, he was caught in Australia with 48 vials of the synthetic human growth hormone Jintropin.

After Stallone's request that his acting and life experiences be accepted in exchange for his remaining credits, he was granted a Bachelors of Fine Arts (BFA) degree by the President of the University of Miami in 1999.

Stallone stopped going to church as his acting career progressed. He began to rediscover his childhood faith when his daughter was born ill in 1996, and is now a churchgoing Catholic.

Stallone supports the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, and is featured prominently on that organization's website along with other celebrities.

Tobacco promotion

In 1983 Stallone entered into an agreement with Associated Film Promotions, Inc. representing their client, cigarette manufacturer Brown & Williamson Corp., to use or place B&W; products in five of his feature films. In exchange, Stallone was paid a total of $500,000, disbursed as $250,000 up front and $50,000 "payable at the inception of production of each participating film." In the initial correspondences Stallone guaranteed that he would "use Brown and Williamson tobacco products in no less than five feature films" but later, to be consistent with the character of Rocky Balboa, it was decided that "other leads will have product usage" in ''Rocky IV''. In 2002 documentation of the agreement was made publicly available through the Legacy Tobacco Documents Library at the University of California, San Francisco.

Injuries

Known for physically demanding roles, and his willingness to do a majority of his own stunts, Stallone has suffered numerous injuries during his acting career. For a scene in ''Rocky IV'', he told Dolph Lundgren "Punch me as hard as you can in the chest." "Next thing I know, I was in intensive care at St. John’s Hospital for four days. It’s stupid!" While filming a fight scene with actor Steve Austin in ''The Expendables'', he broke his neck, which required the insertion of a metal plate.

Filmography

''Also see Sylvester Stallone filmography.'' ''Stop

rowspan=2	Year	Film	Credited as				Role	Notes
Director	Producer		Writer	Actor
rowspan="2"	1970	''The Party at Kitty and Stud's''					Stud
					Jerry Savage
	Bananas (film)>Bananas''					Subway Thug No.1	Uncredited
''Klute''					Discothèque Patron	Uncredited
1974	''The Lords of Flatbush''					Stanley Rosiello	Writer (additional dialogue)
rowspan="7"	1975	''The Prisoner of Second Avenue''					Youth in Park
''Capone (film)	Capone''					Frank Nitti
''Death Race 2000''					Machine Gun Joe Viterbo
''Mandingo (film)	Mandingo''					Young Man in Crowd	Uncredited (Scenes deleted)
''Farewell, My Lovely (1975 film)	Farewell, My Lovely''					Jonnie
''Police Story (TV series)	Police Story''					Caddo	TV series (1 episode)
''Kojak''					Detective Rick Daly
	Cannonball (film)>Cannonball''					Mafioso	Uncredited
''Rocky''					Rocky Balboa	Writer
rowspan="2"	1978	''F.I.S.T.''					Johnny D. Kovak	Screenplay
''Paradise Alley''					Cosmo Carboni	Director and Writer
1979	''Rocky II''					Rocky Balboa	Director and Writer
rowspan="2"	1981	Nighthawks (film)>Nighthawks''					Det. Sgt. Deke DaSilva
''Escape to Victory''					Captain Robert Hatch
rowspan="2"	1982	''Rocky III''					Rocky Balboa	Director and Writer
''First Blood''						Screenplay
1983	''Staying Alive''					Man on Street	Cameo; Uncredited, Director, Producer and Writer
1984	Rhinestone (film)>Rhinestone''					Nick Martinelli	Screenplay
1985	''Rambo: First Blood Part II''						Screenplay
1985	''Rocky IV''					Rocky Balboa	Director and Writer
1986	Cobra (1986 film)>Cobra''					Lieutenant Marion 'Cobra' Cobretti	Screenplay
1987	Over the Top (film)>Over the Top''					Lincoln Hawk	Screenplay
1988	''Rambo III''						Writer
rowspan="2"	1989	Lock Up (film)>Lock Up''					Frank Leone
''Tango & Cash''					Raymond 'Ray' Tango
1990	''Rocky V''					Rocky Balboa	Writer
1991	Oscar (1991 film)>Oscar''					Angelo 'Snaps' Provolone
1992	Or My Mom Will Shoot''					Sgt. Joe Bomowski
	Cliffhanger (film)>Cliffhanger''					Gabe Walker	Screenplay
''Demolition Man (film)	Demolition Man''					John Spartan
1994	''The Specialist''					Ray Quick
rowspan="3"	1995''
''Assassins (1995 film)	Assassins''					Robert Rath
''Your Studio and You''					Himself
1996	Daylight (film)>Daylight''					Kit Latura
rowspan="3"	1997	The Good Life (1997 film)>The Good Life''					Boss	not released
''Men In Black (film)	Men In Black''					Alien on TV Monitors	Cameo; uncredited
''Cop Land''					Sheriff Freddy Heflin
rowspan=2	1998	''Antz''					Weaver	Voice
''An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn''					Himself
2000	Get Carter (2000 film)>Get Carter''					Jack Carter
2001	''Driven''					Joe Tanto	Producer and Screenplay
rowspan="3"	2002	''Liberty's Kids''					Paul Revere	TV series (1 episode)
''D-Tox''					Jake Malloy
''Avenging Angelo''					Frankie Delano
rowspan="3"	2003	''Taxi 3''					Passenger to Airport	Cameo; Uncredited
''Shade (film)	Shade''					Dean 'The Dean' Stevens
''Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over''
2005	Las Vegas (TV series)>Las Vegas''					Frank the Repairman	TV Series (2 episodes)
2006	Rocky Balboa (film)>Rocky Balboa''					Rocky Balboa	Director and Writer
2008	Rambo (film)>Rambo''						Director and Writer
2009	''Kambakkht Ishq''					Himself	Cameo
2010	The Expendables (2010 film)>The Expendables''					Barney Ross	Director and Writer
2011	Zookeeper (film)>Zookeeper''					Lion	Voice
2012	''The Expendables 2''					Barney Ross
2012	''Bullet to the Head''						''Hitman''

References

External links

Category:1946 births Category:American film actors Category:American film directors Category:American Roman Catholics Category:American film directors of Italian descent Category:Actors from Maryland Category:Actors from New York City Category:Actors from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:American people of French descent Category:American people of Italian descent Category:American people of Russian descent Category:American people of Sicilian descent Category:American screenwriters Category:American television actors Category:Charlotte Hall Military Academy alumni Category:International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees Category:Living people Category:New York Republicans Category:People from Silver Spring, Maryland Category:University of Miami alumni

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