name	Hair
latin	unguis
code	TH H3.12.00.3.02001 }}

Hair is a filamentous biomaterial, that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Found exclusively in mammals, hair is one of the defining characteristics of the mammalian class.

The human body, apart from its glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and fine vellus hair. Most common interest in hair is focused on hair growth, hair types and hair care, but hair is also an important biomaterial primarily composed of protein, notably keratin.

The word "hair" often refers to two distinct structures: # the part beneath the skin, called the hair follicle or when pulled from the skin, called the bulb. This organ is located in the dermis and maintains stem cells which not only re-grow the hair after it falls out, but also are recruited to regrow skin after a wound; # the shaft, which is the hard filamentous part that extends above the skin surface. A cross section of the hair shaft may be divided roughly into three zones.

Hair fibers have a structure consisting of several layers. Starting from the outside: # the cuticle which consists of several layers of flat, thin cells laid out overlapping one another as roof shingles, # the cortex, which contains the keratin bundles in cell structures that remain roughly rod-like; and in some cases, # the medulla, a disorganized and open area at the fiber's center.

Description

Each strand of hair is made up of the medulla, cortex, and cuticle. The innermost region, the medulla, is not always present and is an open, unstructured region. The highly structural and organized cortex, or middle layer of the hair, is the primary source of mechanical strength and water uptake. The cortex contains melanin, which colors the fiber based on the number, distribution and types of melanin granules. The shape of the follicle determines the shape of the cortex, and the shape of the fiber is related to how straight or curly the hair is. Asian hair typically has a round fiber and is quite straight. Oval and irregularly-shaped fibers are generally more wavy or even curly.

Hair growth begins inside the hair follicle. The only "living" portion of the hair is found in the follicle. The hair that is visible is the hair shaft, which exhibits no biochemical activity and is considered "dead". The base of the root is called the bulb, which contains the cells that produce the hair shaft. Other structures of the hair follicle include the oil producing sebaceous gland which lubricates the hair and the erector pili muscles, which are responsible for causing hairs to stand up. In humans, with little body hair, the effect results in goose bumps.

Natural Color

All natural hair colors are the result of two types of hair pigment. Both of these pigments are melanin types, produced inside the hair follicle and packed into granules found in the fibers. Eumelanin is the dominant pigment in dark-blond, brown, and black hair, while pheomelanin is dominant in red hair. This is more effective in other mammals whose fur fluffs up to create air pockets between hairs that insulate the body from the cold. The opposite actions occur when the body is too warm; The arrector muscles make the hair lay flat on the skin which allows heat to leave.

Protection

Human hair may not compete with the painful spines of the porcupine, but much of the hair on the human body is suited to protect it. This natural armor cannot directly protect humans from potential predators, but it does help to keep the sense organs, such as the eyes, working properly.

Touch sense

Movements of hair shafts are detected by nerve receptors within the skin and by hair follicle receptors through displacement and vibration of hair shafts. Hairs can sense movements of air as well as touch by physical objects and are especially sensitive to the presence of insects. Some hairs, such as eyelashes, are especially sensitive to the presence of potentially harmful matter.

Eyebrows and eyelashes

The eyebrows provide some protection to the eyes from dirt, sweat, and rain. More importantly, they play a key role in non-verbal communication. In many other mammals they contain much longer, whisker-like hairs that act as tactile sensors.

The eyelash grows at the edges of the eyelid and protects the eye from dirt. The eyelash is to humans, camels, horses, ostriches etc., what whiskers are to cats; they are used to sense when dirt, dust, or any other potentially harmful object is too close to the eye. The eye reflexively closes as a result of this sensation.

Evolution

A 2008 study by the Medical University of Vienna traced the origins of hair to the common ancestor of mammals, birds, and lizards that lived 310 million years ago. The study found chickens, lizards, and humans all possessed a similar set of genes that was involved in the production of alpha keratin. In chickens and lizards, the α-keratin produced was found in their claws, but in mammals it was used to produce hair. The scientists involved continued searching for the mechanisms that allowed mammals to use the keratins of animal claws to produce hair.

Human "hairlessness"

Humans seem hairless not because of a lack of follicles but because of the predominance of vellus fibers which are thinner, shorter, and more transparent than terminal fibers. The ''density'' of human hair follicles on the skin is about the average for an animal of equivalent size. In order to comprehend why humans are essentially hairless, it is essential to understand that mammalian body hair is not merely an aesthetic characteristic; it protects the skin from wounds, bites, cold temperatures, and UV radiation. Additionally, it can be used as a communication tool and as a camouflage. To this end, it can be concluded that benefits stemming from the loss of human body hair must be great enough to outweigh the loss of these protective functions by nakedness.

Humans are the only primate species that have undergone significant hair loss and of the approximately 5000 extant species of mammal, only a handful are effectively hairless. This list includes elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, walruses, pigs, whales and other cetaceans, and naked mole rats. Therefore, apparent bareness in humans, likely has existed at least since that time. Later when humans began to live in more northerly latitudes, however, light skin became an advantage for the production of vitamin D and the recessive gene began to become more prevalent in those populations.

Balding, where terminal hair switches to vellus hair, usually occurs at around thirty to forty years of age. In prehistoric times, most individuals were not as likely to live past 30, with few reaching their fourth decade, and thus it wasn't likely that this trait was subject to selection. Most species evolved as the climate in Africa changed, to adjust their thermoregulation to the intense UV and sunlight at the equator, mostly by panting. Early hominids likely possessed fur similar to other large apes, but about 2.5 million years ago they developed a greater distribution of sweat glands that enabled them to perspire over most of the body. It is not clear whether the change in body hair appearance occurred before or after the development of sweat glands. Humans have eccrine sweat glands all over their bodies. Aside from the mammary glands that produce a specialized sweat called milk, most mammals just have apocrine sweat glands on their armpits and loin. The rest of their body is covered in eccrine glands. There is a trend in primates to have increased eccrine sweat glands over the general surface of the body. At this time, the earth entered a period of global cooling that had a dehumidifying effect on the main early human habitats in East and Central Africa. Lush, wooded forests gave way to dry, grassland savannah; because of this, early humans were required to travel farther in search of food and water. As early humans diverged from their chimpanzee-lineage, they also became omnivorous in order to maximize calorie intake, an important distinction in a nutrient-scarce environment. Prey, however, are moving targets, and though early humans changed the traditionally ape-like appearance of the australopithecines and adapted long, strong legs to facilitate sustained running, dense, hairy coats still posed a potentially fatal risk of causing overheating during the chase. Humans kept the hair on our head which reflects harmful UV rays, but our body hair was reduced. The rise in eccrine glands occurred on the genes that determine the fate of epidermal stem cells in human embryonic development. Opponents of the thermoregulatory hypothesis would say that losing hair added an extreme weakness to cold, but, seeing as how humans figured out cutlery around 2.6 million years ago, our ancestors easily could have found clothing within the 1.4 million years between cutting up their kills and losing their hair.

The aquatic ape hypothesis posits that sparsity of hair is an adaptation to a semi-aquatic environment, but the theory has yet to gain support among scientists.

Another hypothesis for the thick body hair on humans proposes that Fisherian runaway sexual selection played a role (as well as in the selection of long head hair), (see types of hair and vellus hair), as well as a much larger role of testosterone in men. Sexual selection is the only theory thus far that explains the sexual dimorphism seen in the hair patterns of men and women. On average, men have more body hair than women. Males have more terminal hair, especially on the face, chest, abdomen, and back, and females have more vellus hair, which is less visible. The halting of hair development at a juvenile stage, vellus hair, would also be consistent with the neoteny evident in humans, especially in females, and thus they could have occurred at the same time. This theory, however, has significant holdings in today's cultural norms. There is no evidence that sexual selection would proceed to such a drastic extent over a million years ago when a full, lush coat of hair would most likely indicate health and would therefore be more likely to be selected ''for'', not against.

A final hypothesis is that human hair was reduced in response to ectoparasites. The “ectoparasite” explanation of modern human nakedness is based on the principle that a hairless primate would harbor fewer parasites. When our ancestors adopted group-dwelling social arrangements roughly 1.8 mya, ectoparasite loads increased dramatically. Early humans became the only one of the 193 primate species to have flees, which can be attributed to the close living arrangements of large groups of individuals. While primate species have communal sleeping arrangements, these groups are always on the move and thus are less likely to harbor ectoparasites. Because of this, selection pressure for early humans would favor decreasing body hair because those with thick coats would have more lethal-disease-carrying ectoparasites and would thereby have lower fitness. Additional evidence for this hypothesis comes from studies that show that most ectoparasites on modern humans are confined to the head and pubic regions. Early humans were able to compensate for the loss of warmth and protection provided by body hair with subcutaneous fat and clothing. Hairlessness could be maintained in modern society by sexual selection for hairless partners in addition to natural selection to reduce parasite loads.

Evolutionary variation

Evolutionary biologists suggest that the genus Homo arose in East Africa approximately 2.5 million years ago. They devised new hunting techniques. The higher protein diet led to the evolution of larger body and brain sizes. Jablonski postulates that increasing body size, in conjunction with intensified hunting during the day at the equator, gave rise to a greater need to rapidly expel heat. As a result, humans evolved the ability to sweat: a process which was facilitated by the loss of body hair. A major problem with this theory, however, is that it does not explain why males are larger, hairier, and were more active in hunting than females. The female-male size differential among other closely associated primates is much greater than among humans, however, so it might have been reduced during evolution.

Other primates have sweat gland in their armpits that function as those of humans, and thus it is probable that human sweat glands evolved from a similar distribution, spreading to more areas of the body, rather than occurring through evolution of a new trait. It is not known whether the increased distribution of sweat glands occurred before, during, or after, the change in body hair, or even whether the two are related developments. Horses also sweat, and they are larger, hairier, and expend more energy running than human males, so there may not be any connection between the ability to sweat and the apparent hairlessness of humans.

Another factor in human evolution that also occurred in the prehistoric past was a preferential selection for neoteny, particularly in females. The idea that adult humans exhibit certain neotenous (juvenile) features, not evinced in the great apes, is about a century old. Louis Bolk made a long list of such traits, and Stephen Jay Gould published a short list in ''Ontogeny and Phylogeny''. In addition, paedomorphic characteristics in women are widely acknowledged as desirable by men. For instance, vellus hair is a juvenile characteristic. However, while men develop longer, coarser, thicker, and darker terminal hair through sexual differentiation, women do not, leaving their vellus hair visible.

Texture

Curly hair

Jablonski asserts that it was evolutionarily advantageous for pre-humans to retain the hair on their heads in order to protect the scalp as they walked upright in the intense African (equatorial) UV light. While some might argue that, by this logic, humans should also express hairy shoulders given that these body parts would putatively be exposed to similar conditions, the protection of the head, the seat of the brain that enabled humanity to become one of the most successful species on the planet (and which also is very vulnerable at birth), was arguably a more urgent issue (axillary hair in the underarms and groin were also retained as signs of sexual maturity). During the gradual process by which ''Homo erectus'' made a transition from furry to naked skin, their hair texture putatively changed gradually from straight (the condition of most mammals, including humanity's closest cousins—chimpanzees), to Afro-textured hair or 'kinky' (i.e. tightly coiled). This argument is based on the principle that curly hair impedes the passage of UV light into the body relative to straight hair (thus curly and/or coiled hair would be particularly advantageous for pale-skinned hominids living at the equator). It is substantiated by Iyengar's (1998) findings that UV light can enter into straight human hair roots (and thus into the body/skin) via the hair shaft. Specifically, the results of this study suggest that this phenomenon occurs in a manner similar to the way that light passes through fiber optic tubes (which do not function as effectively when kinked/sharply-curved/coiled). In this sense, during the period in which hominids (i.e. Homo Erectus) were gradually losing their straight body hair and thereby exposing the initially pale skin underneath their fur to the sun, straight hair would have been an adaptive liability. Hence, tightly coiled or 'kinky' Afro-hair may have (initially) evolved to prevent the entry of UV light into the body during the transition toward dark, UV-protected skin.

By contrast, some believe that tightly coiled hair that grows into a typical Afro-like formation would have greatly reduced the ability of the head and brain to cool. They reason that although hair density in African peoples is much less than their European counterparts, in the intense sun the effective 'woolly hat' produced would have been a disadvantage. However, anthropologists such as Nina Jablonski make the opposite argument with regards to this hair texture. Specifically, Jablonski's assertions suggest that the adjective "woolly" in reference to Afro-hair is a misnomer to the extent that it connotes the high heat insulation derivable from the true wool of sheep. Instead, the relatively sparse density of Afro-hair, combined with its springy coils actually results in an airy, almost sponge-like effect. This, in turn, Jablonski argues, more likely facilitates an increase in the circulation of cool air onto the scalp. Further, Afro-hair does not respond as easily to moisture/sweat as straight hair. Thus it does not stick to the neck and scalp when wet. Rather, unless totally drenched, it tends to retain its basic springy puffiness. In this sense, the trait may enhance comfort levels in intense equatorial climates compared to straight hair (which, on the other hand, tends to naturally fall over the ears and neck to a degree that provides slightly enhanced comfort levels in cold climates relative to tightly coiled hair).

Further, some interpret the ideas of Charles Darwin as suggesting that some traits, such as hair texture, were so arbitrary to human survival that the role natural selection played was trivial. Hence, they argue in favor of his suggestion that sexual selection may be responsible for such traits. However, inclinations towards deeming hair texture "adaptively-trivial" may root in certain cultural value judgments more than objective logic. In this sense the possibility that hair ''texture'' may have played an adaptively-significant role cannot be completely eliminated from consideration. In fact, while the sexual selection hypothesis cannot be ruled out, the asymmetrical distribution of this trait vouches for environmental influence. Specifically, if hair texture were simply the result of adaptively arbitrary human aesthetic preferences, one would expect that the global distribution of the various hair textures would be fairly random. Instead, the distribution of Afro-hair is strongly skewed toward the equator. Further, it is notable that the most pervasive expression of this hair texture can be found in sub-Saharan Africa; a region of the world that abundant genetic and paleo-anthropological evidence suggests, was the relatively recent (~200,000 year old) point of origin for modern humanity. In fact, although genetic findings (Tishkoff, 2009) suggest that sub-Saharan Africans are the most genetically diverse continental group on Earth, Afro-textured hair approaches ubiquity in this region. This points to a strong, long-term selective pressure that, in stark contrast to most other regions of the genomes of sub-Saharan groups, left little room for genetic variation at the determining loci. Such a pattern, again, does not seem to support human sexual aesthetics as being the sole/primary cause of this distribution.

Straight hair

According to the recent single origin hypothesis, anatomically modern humans arose in East Africa approximately 200,000 years ago. Then, ~150,000 years later (i.e. around 50,000 years ago), sub-groups of this population began to expand our species' range to regions outside of, and (later) within, this continent (Tishkoff, 1996). For those members of this group who migrated far north (i.e. to northern Eurasia, etc.), the UV light of these regions was too weak to penetrate the highly pigmented skin of the initially (relatively) dark-skinned migrants so as to provide enough vitamin D for healthy bone development. Malformed bones in the pelvic area were especially deadly for women because they interfered with the successful delivery of babies, leading to the death of both the mother and the infant during labor. Hence, those with less pigmented skin survived and had children at higher rates because their skin allowed more UV light for the production of vitamin D. Thus, the skin of those in the group that left the African continent and went far north gradually developed adaptations for relatively greater translucence compared to equatorial hues. This enabled the passage of more UV light into the body at high latitudes, facilitating the natural human body-process of manufacturing vitamin D (which is essential for bone development) in response to said light. In this sense, the evidence with regard to the evolution of straight hair texture seems to support Jablonski's suggestions that the need for vitamin D triggered the transition from dark to pale, translucent skin among modern humans. Specifically, the distribution of this trait suggests that this need may have (initially) grown so intense at certain (early) points that those among said (initially more deeply-pigmented skinned) Northern-migrants with mutations for straighter hair survived and had children at (somewhat) higher rates. This early change in texture was likely subsequently followed by the accumulation of adaptively-advantageous genetic changes that led to the above-mentioned skin-translucence. This argument is made based on the principle that straight fibers better facilitate the passage of UV light into the body relative to curly hair. It is substantiated by Iyengar's (1998) findings that UV light can pass through straight human hair roots in a manner similar to the way that light passes through fiber optic tubes (Iyengar, 1998).

Nonetheless, some argue against this stance because straighter hair ends tend to point downward while fiber optics requires that light be transmitted at a high angle to the normal of the inner reflective surface. In light of this, they suggest that only light reflected from the ground could successfully enter the hair follicle and be transmitted down the shaft. Even this process, they argue, is hindered by the curvature at the base of the hair. Therefore, coupled with the amount of skin covered by long head hair, these factors seem to militate against the adaptive usefulness of straight hair at northern latitudes. They further argue that UV light also is poorly reflected from soil and dull surfaces. These ideas can be countered by the fact that during the winter, the time of year in which UV light is most scarce at northern latitudes, the ground is often covered with white snow. Given that white is the most effective color in terms of facilitating the reflection of ground light, the hypothesis that straight hair could have been adaptively favorable, cannot be fully discounted in this regard. In addition, as mentioned in the previous section, straight hair also may have contributed to enhanced comfort levels in the north. This is evident in the extent to which, relative to curly hair, it tends to provide a layer of protection for ears and necks against the cold.

The latter hypothesis seems the more plausible evolution determinant as the surface area of the head is minute compared to the remainder of the body, thus the energy required in producing long hair for the express purpose of "optical" amplification of UV light reflected from the snow seems counterproductive (however, it's very likely that the trait was sustained due to a nuanced combination of multiple influences, given that human hunting-skills and ingenuity were such by 50,000 years ago that said benefits in terms of 'comfort' could have alternatively been derived from constructing fur head/ear warmers from prey, etc.). Scientists point to the fact that straight hair found in many ethnic groups is denser as well and has a greater ability to "show" as it does not coil, hence providing more warmth as the likely deterministic factor for the evolution of straight long hair. Some scientists argue that since the head and appendages are the greatest areas for heat loss from the body, the ability to grow long hair on the crown of the head as well as the face provides a distinct advantage in a cold climate. Since the main sensory organs are anatomically located on the head, long hair provides the necessary warmth and protection in a cold climate that allows the use of these organs by exposing them to the elements to "sense", in for example a hunt, yet still providing necessary warmth and protection to sustain prolonged exposure. It may be argued, therefore, that the ability to grow long, straight, densely packed hair provides a distinct evolutionary advantage in cold climate; however, it would be a distinct disadvantage in a hot climate, when compared to loosely packed, spongy, closely cropped hair.

The EDAR Locus

A group of studies have recently shown that genetic patterns at the EDAR locus, a region of the modern human genome that contributes to hair texture variation among most individuals of East Asian descent, support the hypothesis that (East Asian) straight hair likely developed in this branch of the modern human lineage subsequent to the original expression of tightly coiled natural afro-hair. Specifically, the relevant findings indicate that the EDAR mutation coding for the predominant East Asian 'coarse' or thick, straight hair texture arose within the past ~65,000 years, which is a time frame that covers from the earliest of the 'Out of Africa' migrations up to now.

Removal practices

Depilation is the removal of hair from the surface of the skin. This can be achieved through methods such as shaving. Epilation is the removal of the entire hair strand, including the part of the hair that has not yet left the follicle. A popular way to epilate hair is through waxing it.

Shaving

Shaving is accomplished with bladed instruments, such as razors. The blade is brought close to the skin and stroked over the hair in the desired area to cut the terminal hairs and leave the skin feeling smooth. Depending upon the rate of growth, one can begin to feel the hair growing back within hours of shaving. This is especially evident in men who develop a five o'clock shadow after having shaved their faces. This new growth is called stubble. Stubble typically appears to grow back thicker because the shaved hairs are blunted.

Waxing

Waxing involves using a sticky wax and strip of paper or cloth to pull hair from the root. Waxing is the ideal hair removal technique to keep an area hair-free for long periods of time. It can take five to nine weeks for waxed hair to begin to resurface again. Hair in areas that have previously been waxed also is known to grow back finer and thinner, especially compared to hair that has been shaved with a razor.

Cutting and trimming

Because the hair on the head is normally longer than other types of body hair, it is cut with scissors or clippers. People with longer hair will most often use scissors to cut their hair, whereas shorter hair is maintained using a trimmer. Depending on the desired length and overall health of the hair, periods without cutting or trimming the hair can vary.

Many people will confuse what a haircut is versus what a trim is. A haircut is usually performed in order to change one's hairstyle, while a trim helps to keep away split ends and keep the hair well-groomed. Cutting hair tends to take off more hair than trimming hair does. When hair is trimmed, only the first few centimeters need to be removed, whereas haircuts can sometimes result in the loss of many inches of hair.

Social role

Hair has great social significance for human beings. It can grow on most external areas of the human body, except on the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet (among other areas). Hair is most noticeable on most people in a small number of areas, which are also the ones that are most commonly trimmed, plucked, or shaved. These include the face, ears, head, eyebrows, legs, and armpits, as well as the pubic region. The highly visible differences between male and female body and facial hair are a notable secondary sex characteristic.

Indication of status

Healthy hair indicates health and youth (important in evolutionary biology). Hair colour and texture can be a sign of ethnic ancestry. Facial hair is a sign of puberty in men. White hair is a sign of age or genetics, which may be concealed with hair dye. Male pattern baldness is a sign of age, which may be concealed with a toupee, hats, or religious and cultural adornments. Although drugs and medical procedures exist for the treatment of baldness, many balding men simply shave their heads. Hair whorls have been discovered to be associated with brain development.

Hairstyle may be an indicator of group membership. During the English Civil War, the followers of Oliver Cromwell decided to crop their hair close to their head, as an act of defiance to the curls and ringlets of the king's men. This led to the Parliamentary faction being nicknamed Roundheads. Having bobbed hair was popular among the flappers in the 1920s as a sign of rebellion against traditional roles for women. Female art students known as the "cropheads" also adopted the style, notably at the Slade School in London, England. Regional variations in hirsutism cause practices regarding hair on the arms and legs to differ. Some religious groups may follow certain rules regarding hair as part of religious observance. The rules often differ for men and women.

Many subcultures have hairstyles which may indicate an unofficial membership. Many hippies, metalheads, and Indian sadhus have long hair. Many punks wear a hairstyle known as a Mohawk or other spiked and dyed hairstyles; skinheads have short-cropped or completely shaved heads. Mullet hairstyles stereotypically have been associated with rednecks.

Heads were shaved in concentration camps, and head-shaving has been used as punishment, especially for women with long hair. The shaven head is common in military haircuts, while Western monks are known for the tonsure. By contrast, among some Indian holy men, the hair is worn extremely long.

In the time of Confucius (5th century BCE), the Chinese grew out their hair and often tied it, as a symbol of filial piety.

Regular hairdressing in some cultures is considered a sign of wealth or status. The dreadlocks of the Rastafari movement were despised early in the movement's history. In some cultures, having one's hair cut can symbolize a liberation from one's past, usually after a trying time in one's life. Cutting the hair also may be a sign of mourning.

Tightly coiled hair in its natural state may be worn in an Afro. This hairstyle was once worn among African Americans as a symbol of racial pride. Given that the coiled texture is the natural state of some African Americans' hair, or perceived as being more "African", this simple style is now often seen as a sign of self-acceptance and an affirmation that the beauty norms of dominant (northern/European) culture are not absolute. It is important to note that African Americans as a whole have a variety of hair textures, as they are not an ethnically homogeneous group, but an ad-hoc of different ethnicities, one component being African. It is also important to note that Afro-textured hair is not universal in Africa as well, and hair texture varies among different African ethnicities.

The film ''Easy Rider'' (1969) includes the assumption that the two main characters could have their long hairs forcibly shaved with a rusty razor when jailed, symbolizing the intolerance of some conservative groups toward members of the counterculture.

At the conclusion of the Oz obscenity trials in the UK, the defendants had their heads shaved by the police, causing public outcry. During the appeal trial, they appeared in the dock wearing wigs.

Religious practices

Women's hair may be hidden using headscarves, a common part of the ''hijab'' in Islam and a symbol of modesty required for certain religious rituals in Orthodox Christianity. Russian Orthodox Church requires all married women to wear headscarves inside the church; this tradition is often extended to all women, regardless of marital status. Orthodox Judaism also commands the use of scarves and other head coverings for women for modesty reasons. Certain Hindu sects also wear head scarves for religious reasons. Sikhs generally keep their hair uncut and men keep it tied in a bun on the head, which is then covered appropriately using a turban. Multiple religions, both ancient and contemporary, require or advise one to allow their hair to become dreadlocks, though people also wear them for fashion. For men, Islam, Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Christianity, Roman Catholicism and other religious groups have at various times recommended or required the covering of the head and sections of the hair of men, and some have dictates relating to the cutting of men's facial and head hair. Some Christian sects throughout history and up to modern times have also religiously proscribed the cutting of women's hair.

See also

Hypotrichosis, the state of having a less than normal amount of hair on the head or body

Hypertrichosis, the state of having an excess of hair on the head or body

Natural afro-hair

Hair follicle

Cowlick

References

Notes

Bibliography

Iyengar, B. (1998). The hair follicle is a specialized UV receptor in human skin? Bio Signals Recep, 7(3), 188–194.

Jablonski, N.G. (2006). ''Skin: a natural history.'' Berkley, CA: University of Califiornia Press.

Rogers, Alan R.; Iltis, David & Wooding, Stephen (2004), “Genetic variation at the MC1R locus and the time since loss of human body hair”, Current Anthropology 45 (1): 105–108.

Tishkoff, S.A. (1996). Global patterns of linkage disequilibrium at the CD4 locus and modern human origins. Science. 271(5254), 1380–1387.

External links

Discussion about shaving and cultures

Answers to several questions related to hair from curious kids

How to measure the diameter of your own hair using a laser pointer

Instant insight outlining the chemistry of hair from the Royal Society of Chemistry

Category:Articles with inconsistent citation formats

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Name	Lady Gaga
Alt	Portrait of Lady Gaga
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta
Birth date	March 28, 1986
Birth place	New York City, New York, U.S.
Instrument	Vocals, piano, keyboards
Genre	Pop, dance
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, performance artist, record producer, dancer, businesswoman, activist
Years active	2005–present
Label	Def Jam, Cherrytree, Streamline, Kon Live, Interscope
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Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (; born March 28, 1986), better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to focus on her musical career. She began performing in the rock music scene of Manhattan's Lower East Side, and by the end of 2007, was signed with Streamline Records. Employed as a songwriter for the record company, her vocal abilities captured the attention of recording artist Akon, who signed her to his label Kon Live Distribution.

Lady Gaga came to prominence as a recording artist following the release of her debut album ''The Fame'' (2008), which was a critical and commercial success that topped charts around the world and included the international number-one singles "Just Dance" and "Poker Face". After embarking on the Fame Ball Tour, she followed the album with ''The Fame Monster'' (2009), which spawned the worldwide hit singles "Bad Romance", "Telephone" and "Alejandro" and allowed her to embark on the eighteen-month long Monster Ball Tour, which later became one of the highest-grossing concert tours of all time. Her most recent album ''Born This Way'' (2011) topped the charts of most major markets and generated more international chart-topping singles that include "Born This Way", "Judas" and "The Edge of Glory". Beside her musical career, she involves herself with humanitarian causes and LGBT activism.

Influenced by such acts as David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Madonna and Queen, Lady Gaga is well-recognized for her flamboyant, diverse and outré contributions to the music industry through fashion, performance and music videos. She has sold an estimated 23 million albums and 64 million singles worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time and her singles some of the best-selling worldwide. Her achievements include four ''Guinness World Records'', five Grammy Awards and thirteen MTV Video Music Awards. Lady Gaga has consecutively appeared on ''Billboard'' magazine's Artists of the Year (scoring the definitive title in 2010), is regularly placed on lists composed by ''Forbes'' magazine, and was named one of the most influential people in the world by ''Time'' magazine.

Biography

1986–2004: Early life

Lady Gaga was born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta on March 28, 1986, in New York City. Brought up in the family home in Manhattan's Upper West Side, Gaga is of Italian and more distant French-Canadian descent, and is the daughter of Cynthia (née Bissett) and Joseph Germanotta, an internet entrepreneur. The elder of two children, Gaga has one sister, Natali, a fashion student, who was born in 1992. Gaga has stressed that – despite her seemingly affluent upbringing – she did not come from a wealthy background, stating that her parents "both came from lower-class families, so we've worked for everything—my mother worked eight to eight out of the house, in telecommunications, and so did my father."

From the age of 11, Gaga – who was raised Roman Catholic – attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart, a private all-girls Roman Catholic school on Manhattan's Upper East Side. She described her academic life in high school as "very dedicated, very studious, very disciplined" but also "a bit insecure" as she told in an interview, "I used to get made fun of for being either too provocative or too eccentric, so I started to tone it down. I didn't fit in, and I felt like a freak." Acquaintances dispute that she did not fit in at school. "She had a core group of friends; she was a good student. She liked boys a lot, but singing was No. 1," recalled a former high school classmate.

Left-handed Gaga began playing the piano at the age of four, went on to write her first piano ballad at 13, and started to perform at open mike nights by the age of 14. Her passion for musical theatre brought her lead roles in high school productions, including Adelaide in ''Guys and Dolls'' and Philia in ''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum''. She also appeared in a very small role as a mischievous classmate in the television drama series ''The Sopranos'' in a 2001 episode titled "The Telltale Moozadell" in addition to unsuccessfully auditioning for parts in New York shows. When her time at the Convent of the Sacred Heart came to an end, her mother encouraged her to apply for the Collaborative Arts Project 21 (CAP21), a musical theatre training conservatory at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. After gaining early admission at 17, she eventually lived in an NYU dorm on 11th Street.

She sharpened her songwriting skills while composing essays and analytical papers on art, religion, social issues and politics including a thesis on pop artists Spencer Tunick and Damien Hirst; such research prepared her for her future career focus in "music, art, sex and celebrity." She also tried out for and won auditions while at CAP21, including the part of an unsuspecting diner customer where MTV's ''Boiling Points'' – a prank reality television show – was being filmed. Notwithstanding these achievements, she felt that she was more creative than some of her classmates. "Once you learn how to think about art, you can teach yourself," she said. By the second semester of her sophomore year, she withdrew from the school to focus on her musical career. Her father agreed to pay her rent for a year, on the condition that she re-enroll at Tisch if unsuccessful. "I left my entire family, got the cheapest apartment I could find, and ate shit until somebody would listen," she remembers.

2005–07: Career beginnings

Settled in a small apartment on Rivington Street towards the summer of 2005, Gaga recorded a couple of songs with hip-hop singer Grandmaster Melle Mel, for an audio book accompanying the children's book ''The Portal in the Park'', by Cricket Casey. She also began a band called the Stefani Germanotta Band (SGBand) with some friends from NYU – guitarist Calvin Pia, bassist Eli Silverman, drummer Alex Beckham and booking manager Frank Fredericks – in September of that year. The band played a mixture of songs: some self-penned alongside classic rock numbers like Led Zeppelin's "D'yer Mak'er". Playing in bars like the Greenwich Village's The Bitter End and the Lower East Side's the Mercury Lounge, the band developed a small fan base and caught the eye of music producer Joe Vulpis. Soon after arranging time in Vulpis' studio in the months that followed, SGBand were selling their extended plays ''Words'' and ''Red and Blue'' at gigs around New York while becoming a local fixture of the downtown Lower East Side club scene.

SGBand reached their career peak at the 2006 Songwriters Hall of Fame New Songwriters Showcase at The Cutting Room in June where Wendy Starland, a singer and model, appeared as a talent scout for music producer Rob Fusari. Starland informed Fusari – who was searching for a female singer to front a new band – of Gaga's ability and contacted her. With SGBand disbanded, Gaga traveled daily to New Jersey to work on songs she had written and compose new material with the music producer. While in collaboration, Fusari compared some of her vocal harmonies to those of Freddie Mercury, lead singer of Queen. It was Fusari who helped create the moniker Gaga after the Queen song "Radio Ga Ga". Gaga was in the process of trying to come up with a stage name when she received a text message from Fusari that read "Lady Gaga." He explained, "Every day, when Stef came to the studio, instead of saying hello, I would start singing 'Radio Ga Ga'. That was her entrance song" and that the text message was the result of a predictive text glitch that changed "radio" to "lady". She texted back, "That's it," and declared, "Don't ever call me Stefani again." ''The New York Post'', however, has reported that this story is incorrect, and that the name resulted from a marketing meeting.

Although the musical relationship between Fusari and Gaga was unsuccessful at first, the pair soon set up a company titled Team Lovechild in which they recorded and produced electropop tracks and sent them to music industry bosses. Joshua Sarubin, the head of A&R; at Def Jam Recordings, responded positively and vied for the record company to take a chance on her "unusual and provocative" performance. After having his boss Antonio "L.A." Reid in agreement, Gaga was signed to Def Jam in September 2006 with the intention of having an album ready in nine months. However, she was dropped by the label after only three months – an unfortunate period of her life that would later inspire her treatment for the music video for her 2011 single "Marry the Night". Devastated, Gaga returned to the solace of the family home for Christmas and the nightlife culture of the Lower East Side. She became increasingly experimental: fascinating herself with emerging neo-burlesque shows, go-go dancing at bars dressed in little more than a bikini in addition to experimenting with drugs. Her father, however, did not understand the reason behind her drug intake and could not look at her for several months. "I was onstage in a thong, with a fringe hanging over my ass thinking that had covered it, lighting hairsprays on fire, go-go dancing to Black Sabbath and singing songs about oral sex. The kids would scream and cheer and then we'd all go grab a beer. It represented freedom to me. I went to a Catholic school but it was on the New York underground that I found myself." It was then when she became romantically involved with a heavy metal drummer in a relationship and break-up she likened to the musical film ''Grease'': "I was his Sandy, and he was my Danny, and I just broke." He later became an inspiration behind some of her later songs.

During this time, she met performance artist Lady Starlight, who helped mold her on-stage persona. Starlight explained that, upon their first meeting, Gaga wanted to perform with her to songs she had recorded with Fusari. Like SGBand, the pair soon began performing at many of the downtown club venues like the Mercury Lounge, The Bitter End, and the Rockwood Music Hall. Their live performance art piece was known as "Lady Gaga and the Starlight Revue" and, billed as "The Ultimate Pop Burlesque Rockshow", was a low-fi tribute to 1970s variety acts. Soon after, the two were invited to play at the 2007 Lollapalooza music festival in August that year. The show was critically acclaimed, and their performance received positive reviews. Having initially focused on avant-garde electronic dance music, Gaga had found her musical niche when she began to incorporate pop melodies and the glam rock of David Bowie and Queen into her music.

While Gaga and Starlight were busy performing, producer Rob Fusari continued to work on the songs he had created with Gaga. Fusari sent these songs to his friend, producer and record executive Vincent Herbert. Herbert was quick to sign her to his label Streamline Records, an imprint of Interscope Records, upon its establishment in 2007. Gaga later credited Herbert as the man who discovered her, adding "I really feel like we made pop history, and we're gonna keep going." Having already served as an apprentice songwriter under an internship at Famous Music Publishing, which was later acquired by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Gaga subsequently struck a music publishing deal with Sony/ATV. As a result, she was hired to write songs for Britney Spears and labelmates New Kids on the Block, Fergie, and the Pussycat Dolls. While Gaga was writing at Interscope, singer-songwriter Akon recognized her vocal abilities when she sang a reference vocal for one of his tracks in studio. He then convinced Interscope-Geffen-A&M; Chairman and CEO Jimmy Iovine to form a joint deal by having her also sign with his own label Kon Live Distribution, making her his "franchise player." As 2007 came to a close, her former management company introduced her to songwriter and producer RedOne, whom they also managed. The first song she produced with RedOne was "Boys Boys Boys", a mash-up inspired by Mötley Crüe's "Girls, Girls, Girls" and AC/DC's "T.N.T.". Gaga continued her collaboration with RedOne in the recording studio for a week on her debut album; making the chart-topping singles "Just Dance", "Poker Face" and "LoveGame" together. Gaga also joined the roster of Cherrytree Records, an Interscope imprint established by producer and songwriter Martin Kierszenbaum, after co-writing four songs with Kierszenbaum including the singles "Christmas Tree" and "Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)". Despite her secure record deal, she admitted that there was fear about her being too "racy", "dance-orientated" and "underground" for the mainstream market. She responded, "My name is Lady Gaga, I've been on the music scene for years, and I'm telling you, this is what's next."

2008–10: ''The Fame'' and ''The Fame Monster''

By 2008, Gaga had relocated to Los Angeles, where she worked extensively with her record label to complete her debut album in addition to setting up her own creative team – modeled on Andy Warhol's Factory – Haus of Gaga. Intensive work continued on the album, combining genres "from Def Leppard drums and hand claps to metal drums on urban tracks" while drawing inspiration from 1980s synthpop and incorporating dance music with clear hooks. ''The Fame'', described as an exploration of her obsession with fame and the intricacies of a rich and famous lifestyle, was first released on August 19, 2008, preceded by lead single "Just Dance" four months earlier. Due to radio play being slow, Gaga supported the releases by performing in the backwaters of Malta and Vietnam in addition to small gay clubs around the United States. She was also billed as a supporting artist on the North American leg of New Kids on the Block's reunion concert tour.

A sleeper hit, "Just Dance" hit the summit of the charts in six countries – Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States – in January 2009. The Grammy Award-nominated song provoked the instant success of ''The Fame''. Receiving positive reviews from contemporary critics who commended Gaga's ability to discover a melodious hook and compared her vocal abilities to those of Gwen Stefani, the album went to number-one in countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Ireland while appearing in the top-five in Australia, the United States and fifteen other countries. On ''Billboard'''s Dance/Electronic Albums chart, it stayed at the top spot 106 non-consecutive weeks. Since its release, ''The Fame'' has sold over 12 million copies worldwide. Gaga achieved an even greater unexpected success when "Poker Face", another sleeper hit, reached number-one in almost all major music markets in the world including the United Kingdom and the United States in early 2009. The follow-up single won the award for Best Dance Recording at the 52nd Grammy Awards over nominations for Song of the Year and Record of the Year, while ''The Fame'' was nominated for Album of the Year and won the Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronica Album. Gaga was the recipient of many other honors in 2009 including the accumulation of 3 of 9 MTV Video Music Awards nominations – she won Best New Artist while the video for her single "Paparazzi" gained the awards for Best Art Direction and Best Special Effects – and ''Billboard'' magazine's Rising Star award. In addition to being an opening act on the Pussycat Dolls' Doll Domination Tour during the first half of 2009 on their legs in Europe and Oceania, she also embarked on her own six-month critically appreciated worldwide concert tour The Fame Ball Tour which ran from March to September 2009.

While she traveled the world on tour, she wrote ''The Fame Monster'', a collection of eight songs, which was released in November 2009. Each song, dealing with the darker side of fame from personal experience, is expressed through a monster metaphor. Its first single "Bad Romance" topped the charts in eighteen countries, while reaching the top-two in the United States, Australia and New Zealand. It made Gaga the first artist in digital history to have three singles (along with "Just Dance" and "Poker Face") to pass the four million mark in digital sales and accrued the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance while its accompanying music video won the Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video at the 53rd Grammy Awards The album's second single "Telephone", which features singer Beyoncé, was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals and became Gaga's fourth UK number-one single while its accompanying music video, although controversial, received a more positive reception from contemporary critics: praising her for "the musicality and showmanship of Michael Jackson and the powerful sexuality and provocative instincts of Madonna." Her following single "Alejandro" paired Gaga with fashion photographer Steven Klein for a music video similarly as controversial – critics complimented its ideas and dark nature but the Catholic League attacked Gaga for her alleged use of blasphemy. Despite the controversy surrounding her music videos, they made Gaga the first artist to gain over one billion viral views on video-sharing website YouTube. Musically, ''The Fame Monster'' has also received abundant success. Equating to the amount of Grammy nominations her debut received, ''The Fame Monster'' garnered a total of six nominations; the album won for Best Pop Vocal Album and earned her a second-consecutive nomination for Album of the Year at the 53rd annual awards ceremony.

The success of the album allowed Gaga to start her second worldwide concert tour, The Monster Ball Tour, just weeks after the release of ''The Fame Monster'' and months after having finished The Fame Ball Tour. Upon finishing in May 2011, the critically acclaimed and commercially accomplished tour ran for over one and a half years and, according to ''Billboard'', grossed $227.4 million, making it one of the highest-grossing concert tours of all time and the highest-grossing for a debut headlining artist. Gaga also performed songs from the album at international events such as the 2009 Royal Variety Performance where she sang "Speechless", a power ballad, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II; the 52nd Grammy Awards where her opening performance consisted of the song "Poker Face" and a piano duet of "Speechless" in a medley of "Your Song" with Elton John; and the 2010 BRIT Awards where a performance of an acoustic rendition of "Telephone" followed by "Dance in the Dark" dedicated to the late fashion designer and close friend, Alexander McQueen, supplemented her hat-trick win at the awards ceremony. Other performances may have included her participation in Michael Jackson's This Is It concert series at London's O2 Arena. "I was actually asked to open for Michael on his tour," she stated. "We were going to open for him at the O2 and we were working on making it happen. I believe there was some talk about us, lots of the openers, doing duets with Michael on stage." A realized collaboration with Polaroid started in January 2010. Excited about combining the company with the digital era, Gaga was named Chief Creative Officer for a line of imaging products for the international optic company with the intent of creating fashion, technology and photography products.

Despite a successful debut, Mermaid Music LLC – her production team – was sued in March 2010 by past producer Rob Fusari who claimed that he was entitled to a 20% share of its earnings. Gaga's lawyer, Charles Ortner, described the agreement with Fusari as "unlawful" and declined to comment. Five months later, the New York Supreme Court dismissed both the lawsuit and a countersuit by Gaga. In addition to such strife, Gaga has been tested borderline positive for lupus, but claims not to be affected by the symptoms. The revelations caused considerable dismay amongst her fans, leading to Gaga addressing the matter in an interview with Larry King, saying she hopes to avoid symptoms by maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

2011–present: ''Born This Way''

Gaga's second studio album and third major release ''Born This Way'' was released on May 23, 2011. Described as "a marriage of electronic music with major [...] metal or rock 'n' roll, pop, anthemic style melodies with really sledge-hammering dance beats" and referred to as an album "about what what keeps us up at night and what makes us afraid", she stated. Gaga characterized her new music as "something so much deeper than a wig or lipstick or a fucking meat dress" and upon hearing it, Akon remarked that she is taking music to the "next level". Its arrival followed the release of its eponymous lead single "Born This Way" on February 11, 2011, which was performed live for the first time at the 53rd Grammy Awards two days after its release. The song, dealing with self-acceptance regardless of race or sexual orientation, debuted atop the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming the 19th number-one debut and the 1,000th number-one single in the history of the charts, while selling more than 3 million digital copies in the United States by October 2011. A music video was released for the song, showing Gaga giving birth to a new race amidst surrealistic images; critics noted artistic and cultural references and praised its concept. Gaga lent her vocals elsewhere, pairing with Elton John to record an original duet for the animated feature film ''Gnomeo & Juliet''. The song, titled "Hello, Hello", was released on February 11, 2011, without Gaga's vocals. The duet version was only featured in the film. In February, Gaga's concerts of her then-ongoing tour at Madison Square Garden in New York City, were filmed for an HBO special aired in May. The special was nominated for five awards at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards winning one – Outstanding Picture Editing for a Special (Single or Multi-Camera).

Two other singles, "Judas" and "The Edge of Glory", as well as a promotional single, "Hair", were eventually released before the album. The music video for "Judas", in which Gaga portrays Mary Magdalene, and Biblical figures such as Jesus Christ and Judas Iscariot are also featured, was criticized for its religious references; the video, nonetheless, received acclaim for its overall delivery and praise from others who claimed that there was nothing offensive about it. "Judas" additionally peaked within the top ten in several major musical markets. "The Edge of Glory" was intended as a promotional single; nevertheless, due to commercial success in digital outlets, the song was released as a single to critical appreciation, accompanied by a music video. Gaga also undertook a job as a fashion columnist for ''V'', where she wrote about her creative process, her studying of the world of pop culture, and her ability to tune into the evolution of pop-culture meme. Upon release, ''Born This Way'' sold 1.108 million copies in its first week in the United States, debuting atop the ''Billboard'' 200, and topping the charts in more than 20 other countries. The album received generally positive reviews from music critics, who praised its range of different styles as well as her vocals. Later, Lady Gaga went to Sydney to promote ''Born This Way'' with a one-of-a-kind concert at the Sydney Town Hall on July 13, 2011.

She continued her musical endeavors, releasing "You and I" and "Marry the Night" as succeeding singles from ''Born This Way'', as well as recording songs with veteran artists like Cher and Tony Bennett. The song recorded with Bennett is a jazz version of "The Lady Is a Tramp", while Gaga described her duet with Cher as a "massive" and "beautiful" track, which she "wrote a long time ago, and I've never put it on one of my own albums for, really, no particular reason." On August 28, at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, Gaga won two awards out of four nominations, and attended the event dressed as Jo Calderone, her male alter-ego. For the 2012 edition of the ''Guinness World Records'', Gaga was listed for Most Followers on Twitter, with over 13 million followers, and "Poker Face" was listed for Most Weeks on US Digital Hot Songs, with 83 weeks. Gaga continued her live appearances, and performed at the celebration of former US president Bill Clinton's 65th Birthday alongside Bono, Stevie Wonder and Usher, among others. She wore a blond wig as a nod to the famous performance of Marilyn Monroe for John F. Kennedy and changed the lyrics to her song "You and I" specifically for the performance. Later on, Gaga won four awards out of six nominations in the main categories at the 2011 MTV Europe Music Awards in November, for Best Female, Biggest Fans, Best Song and Best Video; the latter two with "Born This Way". On November 14, 2011, Gaga and her choreographer and creative director Laurieann Gibson parted ways, after working together for four years. Gibson's assistant Richard Jackson replaced her as Lady Gaga's choreographer.

Gaga released her fourth extended play ''A Very Gaga Holiday'' on November 22, and followed an appearance in her Thanksgiving Day television special entitled ''A Very Gaga Thanksgiving''. The television special was critically acclaimed and attained 5.749 million American viewers upon original airing. The accompanying tour for ''Born This Way'' was materializing, and at the same time Gaga started writing songs for a new record. She further explained to MTV News that she and Garibay were working on the follow-up album to ''Born This Way'' and stated that it was "beginning to flourish".

Artistry

Influences

Gaga's parents, who exposed her to artists like The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Elton John, had significant influence on her childhood and, presently, still do. "I am a real family girl. When it comes to love and loyalty, I am very old-fashioned. And I am quite down-to-earth for such an eccentric person," she insists. "I'm quite traditional in the family sense. I've always been that way." According to Gaga, Joanne Germanotta – her aunt who died of lupus aged 19 – lives on through her and inspires all of her music and art. Joanne's date of death is tattooed on Gaga's body and, despite dying 12 years before her birth, Gaga commented, "I really believe I have two hearts. I think I actually carry two souls in my body, and that I'm living out the rest of her life and her goodness – she died a virgin, she died never having experienced all these things that we all get to love and experience in our lives." Another spiritual influence on Gaga has been the Indian physician, public speaker and writer Deepak Chopra. Labeling him a "true inspiration", she stated that "he's always reminded me to work in a life of service to my fans and to fulfill my vision and my destiny" in addition to thinking about Chopra when it comes to her work as a musician: "I want so much for it to go beyond the music for my fans."

Musically, Gaga takes influence from numerous musicians from dance-pop singers like Madonna and Michael Jackson to glam rock artists like David Bowie and Queen whilst employing the theatrics of artists like Andy Warhol and of her musical theatre roots in performance. The Queen song "Radio Ga Ga" inspired her stage name, "Lady Gaga": "I adored Freddie Mercury and Queen had a hit called 'Radio Gaga'. That's why I love the name [...] Freddie was unique—one of the biggest personalities in the whole of pop music," she commented. Gaga receives regular comparisons to recording artist Madonna. The 53-year-old singer admits that she sees herself reflected in Gaga. In response to the comparisons, Gaga has stated, "I don't want to sound presumptuous, but I've made it my goal to revolutionize pop music. The last revolution was launched by Madonna 25 years ago" in addition to commenting that "there is really no one that is a more adoring and loving Madonna fan than me. I am the hugest fan personally and professionally." Like Madonna, Gaga has continued to reinvent herself and, over the few years her career has spanned, Gaga has drawn musical inspiration from a diverse mix of musicians including Whitney Houston, Britney Spears, Grace Jones, Cyndi Lauper, Blondie singer Debbie Harry, Scissor Sisters, Prince, Marilyn Manson and Yoko Ono.

Gaga has identified fashion as a major influence and has been stylistically compared to English eccentrics Leigh Bowery and Isabella Blow and to American recording artist Cher. She commented that "as a child, she somehow absorbed Cher's out-there fashion sense and made it her own." She has considered Donatella Versace her muse and the late British fashion designer and close friend Alexander McQueen as an inspiration, admitting that "I miss Lee every time I get dressed" while channeling him in some of her work. Modeled on Andy Warhol's Factory, Gaga has her own creative production team, which she handles personally, called the Haus of Gaga, who create many of her clothes, stage props, and hairdos. Her adoration of fashion came from her mother, who she stated was "always very well kept and beautiful." "When I'm writing music, I'm thinking about the clothes I want to wear on stage. It's all about everything altogether—performance art, pop performance art, fashion. For me, it's everything coming together and being a real story that will bring back the super-fan. I want to bring that back. I want the imagery to be so strong that fans will want to eat and taste and lick every part of us." The Global Language Monitor named "Lady Gaga" as the Top Fashion Buzzword with her trademark "no pants" a close third. ''Entertainment Weekly'' put her outfits on its end of the decade "best-of" list, saying, "Whether it's a dress made of Muppets or strategically placed bubbles, Gaga's outré ensembles brought performance art into the mainstream."

Musical and performance style

Gaga's musical and performance style is the subject of much analysis and scrutiny of critics as her career is a continuous experimentation with new musical ideas and images. She professes that she is "liberating" herself by constantly reinventing her sound and image, insisting that she has been drawn to such a practice since her childhood. Vocally, Gaga has drawn frequent comparison to the ranges of Madonna and Gwen Stefani. Possessing the range of a contralto, Gaga exhibits "overwhelming expression, instinctive vocal phrasing, '80s rock reminiscent chest belts and animalistic vocal ticks" while being able to move through 2.4 octaves. Gaga, who refuses to lip sync, has manipulated her vocal style over the course of her career yet considers ''Born This Way'' (2011) "much more vocally up to par with what I've always been capable of." In summation of her voice, ''Entertainment Weekly'' wrote, "There's an immense emotional intelligence behind the way she uses her voice. Almost never does she overwhelm a song with her vocal ability, recognizing instead that artistry is to be found in nuance rather than lung power."

Although her early lyrics have been criticized for lacking intellectual stimulation, "[Gaga] does manage to get you moving and grooving at an almost effortless pace." She admits that her songwriting has been misinterpreted; her friend and blogger Perez Hilton articulated her message in a clearer way: "you write really deep intelligent lyrics with shallow concepts." Gaga opined, "Perez is very intelligent and clearly listened to my record from beginning to end, and he is correct." "I love songwriting. It's so funny – I will just jam around in my underwear or I could be washing my dishes. I wrote several songs just at the piano," she confesses. Gaga believes that "all good music can be played at a piano and still sound like a hit." She has covered a wide variety of topics in her songs: while ''The Fame'' (2008) meditates on the lust for stardom, ''The Fame Monster'' (2009) expresses fame's dark side through monster metaphors. ''Born This Way'' (2011) is sung in English, French, German and Spanish and includes common themes in Gaga's controversial songwriting like love, sex, religion, money, drugs, identity, liberation, sexuality, freedom and individualism.

The structure of her music is said to echo classic 1980s pop and 1990s Europop. Her debut album ''The Fame'' (2008) provoked ''The Sunday Times'' to assert "in combining music, fashion, art and technology, [Gaga] evokes Madonna, Gwen Stefani circa 'Hollaback Girl', Kylie Minogue 2001 or Grace Jones right now" and a critic from ''The Boston Globe'' to comment that she draws "obvious inspirations from Madonna to Gwen Stefani... in [her] girlish but sturdy pipes and bubbly beats." Music critic Simon Reynolds wrote that "Everything about Gaga came from electroclash, except the music, which wasn't particularly 1980s, just ruthlessly catchy naughties pop glazed with Auto-Tune and undergirded with R&B;-ish beats." The follow-up ''The Fame Monster'' (2009), saw Gaga's taste for pastiche, drawing on "Seventies arena glam, perky ABBA disco and sugary throwbacks like Stacey Q" while ''Born This Way'' (2011) also draws on the records of her childhood and still has the "electro-sleaze beats and Eurodisco chorus chants" of its predecessor but includes genres as diverse as opera, heavy metal, disco, and rock and roll. "There isn't a subtle moment on the album, but even at its nuttiest, the music is full of wide-awake emotional details," wrote ''Rolling Stone'', who concluded: "The more excessive Gaga gets, the more honest she sounds."

Her performances are described as "highly entertaining and innovative"; the blood-spurting performance of "Paparazzi" at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards was described as "eye-popping" by MTV. She continued the "blood soaked" theme in The Monster Ball Tour, in which she wore a revealing leather corset and is "attacked" by a performer dressed in black who gnaws on her throat, causing "blood" to spurt down her chest, after which she lies "dying" in a pool of blood. Her performances of that scene on tour in England triggered protests from family groups and fans in the aftermath of a local tragedy, in which a taxi driver had murdered 12 people. "What happened in Bradford is very fresh in people's minds and given all the violence which happened in Cumbria just hours earlier, it was insensitive," said Lynn Costello of Mothers Against Violence. Her unconventionality continued at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards when she performed in drag as her male alter ego, Jo Calderone, and delivered a lovesick monologue before a performance of her song "Yoü and I". Chris Rock has defended her flamboyant and provocative behavior. "Well, she's Lady Gaga," he said. "She's not 'Lady Behave Yourself.' Do you want great behavior from a person named Gaga? Is this what you were expecting?"

Public image

While ''Rolling Stone'' named Gaga the "Queen of Pop" in 2011, public reception of Gaga's music, fashion sense and persona are mixed. Her status as a role model, self-esteem booster for her fans, trailblazer and fashion icon who breathes new life into the industry is by turns affirmed and denied. Gaga's albums have received mostly positive reviews and critics have pointed out her unique place in pop music, the need for new movements in popular culture, the attention Gaga brings to modern social issues, and the inherently subjective nature of her art. In view of her influence on modern culture and her rise to global fame, sociologist Mathieu Deflem of the University of South Carolina has organized a course titled "Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame" since the spring of 2011 with the objective of unravelling "some of the sociologically relevant dimensions of the fame of Lady Gaga."

Contrary to her outré style, the ''New York Post'' described her early look as like "a refugee from ''Jersey Shore''" with "big black hair, heavy eye makeup and tight, revealing clothes." Lady Gaga is a natural brunette; she bleached her hair blonde because she was often mistaken for Amy Winehouse. She has nine tattoos on the left side of her body (her father has banned etchings on her right): a unicorn head with a ribbon wrapped around its horn that says "Born This Way"; a small heart with "dad" written inside it; several white roses; a treble clef; three daises; "Tokyo Love" with a little heart; "Little Monsters" written in cursive; a peace symbol, which was inspired by John Lennon, who she stated was her hero; and a curling German script on her left arm quoting the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, her favorite writer, commenting that his "philosophy of solitude" spoke to her. Towards the end of 2008, comparisons were made between the fashions of Lady Gaga and recording artist Christina Aguilera that noted similarities in their styling, hair, and make-up. Aguilera stated that she was "completely unaware of [Gaga]" and "didn't know if it [was] a man or a woman." Lady Gaga released a statement in which she welcomed the comparisons due to the attention providing useful publicity, saying, "She's such a huge star and if anything I should send her flowers, because a lot of people in America didn't know who I was until that whole thing happened. It really put me on the map in a way."

When interviewed by Barbara Walters for her annual ABC News special ''10 Most Fascinating People'' in 2009, Gaga dismissed the claim that she is intersex as an urban legend. Responding to a question on this issue, she stated, "At first it was very strange and everyone sorta said, 'That's really quite a story!' But in a sense, I portray myself in a very androgynous way, and I love androgyny." In addition to Aguilera's statement, comparisons continued into 2010, when Aguilera released the music video of her single "Not Myself Tonight". Critics noted similarities between the song and its accompanying music video with Lady Gaga's video for "Bad Romance". There have also been similar comparisons made between Lady Gaga's style and that of fashion icon Dale Bozzio from the band Missing Persons. Some have considered their respective images to be strikingly parallel although fans of Missing Persons note that Bozzio had pioneered the look more than thirty years earlier. Nonetheless, Gaga was named one of Vogue.com UK's Best Dressed people of 2010 while her stylist, Dazed & Confused creative director Nicola Formichetti, won the Fashion Creator of the Year Award at the British Fashion Awards.

Part of the reasoning for Gaga's Best Dressed achievement was her attire worn to the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards: a dress supplemented by boots, a purse and a hat – each fabricated from the flesh of a dead animal. The dress, named ''Time'' magazine's Fashion Statement of 2010 and more widely known as the "meat dress", received divided opinions – evoking the attention of worldwide media but invoking the fury of animal rights organization PETA. Lady Gaga denied any intention of causing disrespect to any person or organization and wished for the dress to be interpreted as a statement of human rights with focus upon those in the LGBT community. In addition to this unconventionality, in a question posed about the necessary procedure to attach the prosthetics to give the appearance of recent horn-like ridges on her cheekbones, temples, and shoulders, Gaga responded, "They're not prosthetics, they're my bones." She also clarified that they were not the result of plastic surgery, believing such surgery to only be the modern byproduct of fame-induced insecurity to which she does not subscribe. The interviewer's further probing brought Gaga to the conclusion that they are an artistic representation of her inner inspirational light and part of the "performance piece" that is her musical persona: an inevitability of her becoming who she now is. When Gaga briefly met with US president Barack Obama at a Human Rights Campaign fundraiser, he described the interaction as "intimidating" as she was dressed in 16-inch heels making her undoubtedly the tallest woman in the room.

Gaga often refers to her fans as "Little Monsters" and in dedication, has had that inscription tattooed on "the arm that holds my mic." Her treatment of her "Little Monsters" has inspired criticism, due to the highly commercial nature of her music and image. To some, this dichotomy contravenes the concept of outsider culture. Camille Paglia in her 2010 cover story "Lady Gaga and the death of sex" in ''The Sunday Times'' asserts thatGaga "is more an identity thief than an erotic taboo breaker, a mainstream manufactured product who claims to be singing for the freaks, the rebellious and the dispossessed when she is none of those." Writing for ''The Guardian'', Kitty Empire opined that the dichotomy "...allows the viewer to have a 'transgressive' experience without being required to think. At [her performance's] core, though, is the idea that Gaga is at one with the freaks and outcasts. The Monster Ball is where we can all be free. This is arrant nonsense, as the scads of people buying Gaga's cunningly commercial music are not limited to the niche worlds of drag queens and hip night creatures from which she draws her inspiration. But Gaga seems sincere."

Philanthropy

Besides her career in music, Gaga has also contributed to various charities and humanitarian works. In 2011, she launched her own non-profit organization, the Born This Way Foundation, which focuses on youth empowerment and issues like self-confidence, well-being, anti-bullying, mentoring, and career development. "My mother and I have initiated a passion project. We call it the Born This Way Foundation," Gaga said in a statement about the foundation, which takes its name from the eponymous 2011 single and album. "Together we hope to establish a standard of Bravery and Kindness, as well as a community worldwide that protects and nurtures others in the face of bullying and abandonment." The foundation will work with a number of partners, including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The California Endowment and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.

For natural disasters, Gaga has also helped various relief efforts. Although declining an invitation to appear on the single "We Are the World 25" to benefit victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, she donated the proceeds of her January 24, 2010 concert at New York's Radio City Music Hall to the country's reconstruction relief fund. All profits from her official online store on that day were also donated. Gaga announced that an estimated total of $500,000 was collected for the fund. Hours after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami hit Japan on March 11, 2011, Gaga tweeted a message and a link to Japan Prayer Bracelets. All revenue from a bracelet she designed in conjunction with the company was donated to relief efforts. As of March 29, 2011, the bracelets raised $1.5 million. However, attorney Alyson Oliver filed a lawsuit against Gaga in Detroit in June 2011, noting that the bracelet was subject to a sales tax and an extra $3.99 shipping charge was added to the price. She also believed that not all proceeds from the bracelets would go to the relief efforts, demanding a public accounting of the campaign and refunds for people who had bought the bracelet. Lady Gaga's spokesperson called the lawsuit "meritless" and "misleading". On June 25, 2011, Gaga performed at MTV Japan's charity show in Makuhari Messe, which benefited the Japanese Red Cross.

Gaga also contributes in the fight against HIV and AIDS with the focus upon educating young women about the risks of the disease. In collaboration with Cyndi Lauper, Gaga joined forces with MAC Cosmetics to launch a line of lipstick under their supplementary cosmetic line, Viva Glam. Titled Viva Glam Gaga and Viva Glam Cyndi for each contributor respectively, all net proceeds of the lipstick line were donated to the cosmetic company's campaign to prevent HIV and AIDS worldwide. In a press release, Gaga declared, "I don't want Viva Glam to be just a lipstick you buy to help a cause. I want it to be a reminder when you go out at night to put a condom in your purse right next to your lipstick." The sales of Gaga-endorsed Viva Glam lipstick and lipgloss have raised more than $202 million to fight HIV and AIDS.

With the performance of the bilingual song "Americano" from her second studio album ''Born This Way'' (2011), Gaga jumped into the debate surrounding SB 1070, Arizona's immigration law. She premiered the tune for the first time on the Guadalajara, Mexico stop of her Monster Ball tour telling the local press that she could not "stand by many of the unjust immigration laws" in the United States.

LGBT advocacy

Gaga attributes much of her early success as a mainstream artist to her gay fans and is considered to be a gay icon. Early in her career she had difficulty getting radio airplay, and stated, "The turning point for me was the gay community. I've got so many gay fans and they're so loyal to me and they really lifted me up. They'll always stand by me and I'll always stand by them. It's not an easy thing to create a fanbase." She thanked FlyLife, a Manhattan-based LGBT marketing company with whom her label Interscope works, in the liner notes of ''The Fame'', saying, "I love you so much. You were the first heartbeat in this project, and your support and brilliance means the world to me. I will always fight for the gay community hand in hand with this incredible team." One of her first televised performances was in May 2008 at the NewNowNext Awards, an awards show aired by the LGBT television network Logo, where she sang her song "Just Dance". In June of the same year, she performed the song again at the San Francisco Pride event.

After ''The Fame'' was released, she revealed that the song "Poker Face" was about her bisexuality. In an interview with ''Rolling Stone'', she spoke about how her boyfriends tended to react to her bisexuality, saying "The fact that I'm into women, they're all intimidated by it. It makes them uncomfortable. They're like, 'I don't need to have a threesome. I'm happy with just you'." When she appeared as a guest on ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' in May 2009, she praised DeGeneres for being "an inspiration for women and for the gay community". She proclaimed that the October 11, 2009 National Equality March rally on the National Mall was "the single most important event of her career." As she exited, she left with an exultant "Bless God and bless the gays," similar to her 2009 MTV Video Music Awards acceptance speech for Best New Artist a month earlier. At the Human Rights Campaign Dinner, held the same weekend as the rally, she performed a cover of John Lennon's "Imagine" declaring that "I'm not going to [play] one of my songs tonight because tonight is not about me, it's about you." She changed the original lyrics of the song to reflect the death of Matthew Shepard, a college student murdered because of his sexuality.

Gaga attended the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards accompanied by four service members of the United States Armed Forces (Mike Almy, David Hall, Katie Miller and Stacy Vasquez), all of whom, under the United States military's "Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) policy, had been prohibited from serving openly because of their sexuality. In addition, Gaga wore a dress fabricated from the flesh of a dead animal to the awards ceremony. Gaga wished that the dress, more widely known as the "meat dress", was interpreted as a statement of human rights with focus upon those in the LGBT community adding that "If we don't stand up for what we believe in and if we don't fight for our rights, pretty soon we're going to have as much rights as the meat on our own bones." She later released three videos on YouTube videos urging her fans to contact their Senators in an effort to overturn the policy. In late September 2010 she spoke at the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network's "4the14K" Rally in Deering Oaks Park in Portland, Maine. The name of the rally signified the number – an estimated 14,000 – of service members discharged under the DADT policy at the time. During her remarks, she urged members of the U.S. Senate (and in particular, moderate Republican Senators from Maine, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins) to vote in favor of legislation that would repeal the DADT policy. Following this event, editors of ''The Advocate'' commented that she had become "the real fierce advocate" for gays and lesbians, one that Barack Obama had promised to be.

Gaga appeared at Europride, a pan-European international event dedicated to LGBT pride, held in Rome in June 2011. In a nearly twenty-minute speech, she criticized the intolerant state of gay rights in many European countries and described homosexuals as "revolutionaries of love" before performing acoustic renderings of "Born This Way" and "The Edge of Glory" in front of thousands at the Circus Maximus. She stated that "Today and every day we fight for freedom. We fight for justice. We beckon for compassion, understanding and above all we want full equality now". Gaga revealed that she is often questioned why she dedicates herself to "gayspeak" and "how gay" she is, to which, she told the audience: "Why is this question, why is this issue so important? My answer is: I am a child of diversity, I am one with my generation, I feel a moral obligation as a woman, or a man, to exercise my revolutionary potential and make the world a better place." She then joked: "On a gay scale from 1 to 10, I'm a Judy Garland fucking 42."

Discography

''The Fame'' (2008)

''The Fame Monster'' (2009)

''Born This Way'' (2011)

Filmography

''Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden'' (2011)

''A Very Gaga Thanksgiving'' (2011)

Concert tours

The Fame Ball Tour (2009)

Fame Kills: Starring Kanye West and Lady Gaga (2009–10) (canceled)

The Monster Ball Tour (2009–11)

See also

List of awards and nominations received by Lady Gaga

Honorific nicknames in popular music

List of best-selling music artists

References

Further reading

Monster Anthems (2011) by Robert Christgau

External links

Slide show ''Vanity Fair''

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Name	Paul O'GradyMBE
Pseudonym
Birth name	Paul James Michael O'Grady
Birth date	June 14, 1955
Birth place	Birkenhead, Merseyside, England
Nationality	British
Active	1988–present
Medium	Broadcaster, actor,entrepreneur, comedian,author, television personality
Domesticpartner
Spouse	(divorced)}}

|notable_work = | module =

{{infobox comedian awards |child	yes |baftaawards Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance2004 ''The Paul O'Grady Show'' (2008) }}

}} Paul James Michael O'Grady MBE (born 14 June 1955) is an English comedian, television presenter, actor, writer and radio DJ. He is best known for presenting the daytime chat television series, ''The Paul O'Grady Show'' and, more recently, ''Paul O'Grady Live'', as well as his drag queen comedic alter ego, Lily Savage, as whom he performed in various television series including ''Blankety Blank'' (1997–1999) and ''Lily Live!'' (2000–2001). He also appeared in the comedy sitcom ''Eyes Down'' (2003–2004) and presented several travel documentaries.

Born to a working class Irish migrant family in Birkenhead, O'Grady went through various jobs in his youth, including working in various bars, for the civil service and for social services, moving around the country to do so. It was whilst living in London in 1978 that he first turned his hand to drag, developing the character of Lily Savage based upon various female relatives of his.

In 2003, O'Grady was listed in ''The Observer'' as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy, and in 2006 he was listed by ''The Independent'' at number 32 in their 101 most influential gay men and women in Britain. In October 2008, he was appointed MBE in the 2008 Birthday Honours list for services to entertainment. On 23 July 2010, O'Grady received an Honorary Doctor of Arts from De Montfort University, Leicester, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to television, radio and the stage.

Life and career

Early life: 1955–71

Paul O'Grady's father, Patrick "Paddy" Grady (died 1973), had grown up on a farm in Ballincurry, County Roscommon, Ireland, but moved to England in 1936 in search for work, and settled down in the working class area of Birkenhead. His name was accidentally changed from Grady to O'Grady in a paperwork mistake when he joined the Royal Air Force and he subsequently decided to keep this altered name. Patrick married Mary Savage (1916–1988), who was born in England but whose parents had also been Irish immigrants, from County Louth. Patrick and Mary were devout Catholics and brought up their children in the faith. Paul was their third child, born at 7:30am on 14 June 1955 at St. Catherine's Hospital, Tranmere. His birth, over a decade after that of his siblings Brendan and Sheila, was not planned; his mother was 39 and she only discovered the pregnancy when she visited the doctor complaining of indigestion. Paul O'Grady spent his early life at the family's rented home of 23 Holly Grove, Higher Tranmere, Birkenhead, a house that had been built in a former quarry during the early 1930s, and O'Grady would later remark that the house was always damp and cold and that it also suffered from "ominous cracks" which "would appear in the walls and ceilings overnight".

He initially attended St. Joseph's, a Catholic primary school, where he excelled in all subjects but mathematics, and so his parents, hoping that he had a good future ahead of him, budgeted so that they could afford to send him to a private school, Redcourt, which was the Roman Catholic primary school attached to St Anselm's College. He subsequently failed the Eleven Plus exam, meaning that he was unable to gain entry to a grammar school, much to his mother's dismay, and went instead to the Blessed Edward Campion R.C. Secondary Modern and the Corpus Christi High School. It was here that he had his first homosexual experience, having a brief romance aged twelve with another boy, although in keeping with societal attitudes at the time he still assumed that he was heterosexual.

At the time he was also a huge fan of the popular television series ''The Avengers'' and ''Batman'', and was enrolled in the cub scouts by his mother, which he hated and left after a month. He later became an altar boy at a local Catholic church, though was dismissed from this position after laughing during a funeral service. Following on from this he joined the Marine cadets, later commenting that he was following in the footsteps of his childhood hero, the cartoon Popeye. He enjoyed the cadets, and at the advice of his captain joined the Boys' Amateur Boxing Club, where he gained his lifelong love of the sport. Meanwhile, he began playing truant from school, getting him into trouble with his parents, and then got into trouble with the police after he led three other boys into breaking and entering a house to commit burglary. O'Grady's first job was a paper round that he managed to keep for a week, being employed by a woman, Mrs Henshaw, whom his mother despised, and through this and other jobs he saved up to afford Mod clothes, for a time becoming a suedehead.

Early adulthood: 1972–76

After leaving school aged sixteen, O'Grady's mother got him a job in the civil service, working as a clerical assistant for the DHSS, who had offices in Liverpool that he could commute to from his parents' home every morning. To supplement this income, he also got a job working part-time at the bar of the Royal Air Forces Association club in Oxton. He was later called for a disciplinary hearing at the DHSS, who accused him of being incompetent and often late, and at which he decided to resign. Hoping for a better and more exciting life, he got a job at the Wheatsheaf Hotel in Virginia Water, Surrey, and aged seventeen moved away from his parents' home in Birkenhead and travelled south. He subsequently found the work and accommodation to be appalling, although he noted that it was here that he lost his virginity to a woman whom he had met smoking cannabis at a party. He did not remain in Surrey long however, as soon after he was arrested, accused of stealing from the hotel and was subsequently fired despite protesting his innocence.

Promptly returning home to Birkenhead, he soon got his old job at the RAFA club back, and also began to increasingly socialise within the Liverpudlian gay scene, attending local meetings of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality and getting a job at a gay bar, the Bear's Paw, all of which he kept a secret from his parents, to whom he was still not "out of the closet". Nonetheless, at the time he considered himself to be bisexual, and began having casual sex with a friend and colleague of his named Diane Jansen. Meanwhile, he had befriended a man named Tony on the gay scene, and they had "hit it off after a prolonged bitching session one night, though we were like chalk and cheese." Becoming best friends, the duo would regularly travel down to London to socialise with Tony's friend, the classical music conductor John Pritchard (1921-1989), whom O'Grady became very fond of.

When O'Grady was eighteen, his mother suffered a heart attack and was rushed to hospital, the stress of which caused his father to suffer the same fate within a matter of hours; whilst his mother recovered, his father soon died. Only a few days later, O'Grady's life was further complicated when he learned that Diane was pregnant with his child, a daughter named Sharon Lee Jansen. Following her birth on 16 May 1974, O'Grady agreed to pay £3 every week towards the upkeep of his daughter, but refused to marry Diane as he had begun to recognise that he was homosexual and did not want to enter a marriage that he would hate.

Briefly working as an assistant clerk at Liverpool Magistrates' Court, O'Grady subsequently got a job working as a barman at Yates's Wine Lodge, whilst also working the occasional night at the Bear's Paw. Realising that the wage from these jobs was not enough to support both himself and his daughter, he decided to travel to London in search for work. Moving in as a lodger of a gay couple in Westbourne Green, he once again only found poorly-paid work as a barman. Meanwhile, it was in London that he first began to associate with drag queens, particularly a man named Alistair and his stage partner Phil, who went under the stage name of The Harlequeens. Although he made friends in the city, O'Grady was homesick for Birkenhead and Liverpool, and feeling that he had few prospects in London, returned home.

Employed as an accountant in a Merseyside abattoir belonging to FMC Meats, he eventually became disgusted by the place and gained employment at Conny Home in West Kirby, a home for disabled and abused children, something he would continue for three years. Subsequently entering into a relationship with an older man named Norman, O'Grady moved into his house in Littlehampton, although their relationship was strained, with both cheating on one another, and ultimately it broke apart. Moving once more to London, where he rented a flat in Crouch End, O'Grady initially started busking with a friend in Camden Town before getting a job as a physiotherapist's assistant at the Royal Northern Hospital. Being made redundant from the hospital due to public sector cuts, O'Grady took up a job at a gay club called the Showplace, where he befriended a Portuguese lesbian named Theresa Fernandes, and in May 1977 they legally married in order to prevent her deportation back to Portugal, although eventually lost contact and only gained a divorce in 2005. He subsequently took up a job as a cleaner and a waiter at private functions, working for a series of wealthy clients in London, including an elite escort service. Following this, he began working for Camden Council as a peripatetic care officer who would live in with elderly people or dyfunctional families, a job that exposed him to the extreme poverty, poor living conditions and domestic violence faced by many Londoners, and would have a lasting effect on him for many years to come.

Lily Savage and Manila: 1978–80

It was whilst working for Camden social services that O'Grady made his first attempt at putting together a drag act, creating the character of Lily Savage in the process. Commenting on this, he would later relate that "I wanted to get up there but be larger than life, a creature that was more cartoon than human. I wasn't sure yet." His debut was on the afternoon of Saturday 7 October 1978, at a pub called the Black Cap, where he mimed the words to the Barbra Streisand song "Nobody Makes a Pass at Me" from the show ''Pins and Needles''. Coming offstage to a round of applause, another, more experienced drag act in the changing room remarked to him that "Well done, dahling [sic], You weren't bad, no, not bad at all… You've got something you know, de-ah, raw of course but with a little polish… who knows? A word of advice though. If you're considering getting an act together I'd drop the name. Lily Savage is all right for a bit of camp but no one is going to take an act that sounds like an old scrubber seriously, dahling." Nonetheless, the name, which was based upon his mother's maiden name, was one thing that he would maintain, and he would later recollect that:

:I've frequently been asked over the years who Lily Savage was based on and I've always answered that it was no one in particular and she was just a figment of my imagination. The truth, I realize now, is that Lily owes a lot to the women I encountered in my childhood. Characteristics and attitudes were observed and absorbed, Aunty Chris's in particular, and they provided the roots and compost for the Lily that would germinate and grow later on.

Following a holiday to Poland, and discovering that he was owed several more weeks off of work, he agreed to go and visit an ex-boyfriend who was living in Manila, The Philippines. Managing to afford the fare due to a "sizeable tax rebate" from the Inland Revenue, O'Grady found Manila to be a "culture shock", having difficulty with the climate, the food and the child sex industry, something which deeply disgusted him. He nonetheless learned to like many things about the city, briefly getting a job as a barman and waiter at a brothel known as Gussie's Bar.

Success of Lily Savage: 1980s

He returned to London in the early 1980s and subsequently achieved fame with his creation of Lily, initially playing to gay clubs and pubs up and down the country. He performed many times at the Goldsmith's Tavern, New Cross where he'd often precede Vic Reeves' three-hour show ''Vic Reeves Big Night Out'' before promptly leaving to do a show elsewhere. O'Grady's Lily was best known at the time for an eight-year residency at The Royal Vauxhall Tavern in south London. As Lily Savage, O'Grady was also in several acts which toured Europe. After appearing at The Edinburgh Festival and gaining a Perrier Award nomination, O'Grady's Lily Savage act became more mainstream and the character became popular on television, making appearances on the ITV daytime programme ''This Morning'' and as the 'On the Bed Presenter' on ''The Big Breakfast''. For a few years O'Grady hosted the game show ''Blankety Blank'' as Lily Savage, for the BBC and later for ITV. There was also a comedy show built around the character, ''Lily Live!'', appearing on ITV in 2000. Performing as Lily, O'Grady also co-hosted the 1996 Smash Hits Poll Winners Party with Ant & Dec. O'Grady also appeared along side Cilla Black and Barbara Windsor (as Savage) in the 2001 Royal Variety Performance where the trio performed a rendition of "You Gotta Get a Gimmick" from the musical ''Gypsy''.

It was during the 1980s that O'Grady would meet Brendan Murphy, known as "Murph" or "Murphy" to his friends, who would become his partner.

O'Grady retired the Lily Savage character around 2004. He claimed she had "seen the light, taken the veil and packed herself off to a convent in France" but on his TV show, he said, "she's escaped the convent and she's heading towards these shores!". On 23 May 2008 on the 500th edition of ''The Paul O'Grady Show'', guest star Julie Goodyear told O'Grady that Bet Lynch, the character she played in television soap opera ''Coronation Street'', had joined Savage in the French convent. On the 7 October 2009 episode of ''The Paul O'Grady Show'', after being prompted by actor Martin Clunes to "bring Lily back", O'Grady said he could not because she had been "bricked up in a chimney" by the Mother Superior of the convent.

Return of Lily Savage: 2010–11

However, in March 2010 it was announced that Lily Savage would be resurrected for one last time in the Christmas pantomime ''Aladdin – A Wish Come True'' at the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton, from December 2010 till January 2011.

Television career: 1988–present

Following the success of Lily Savage, O'Grady played a prostitute informant, Roxanne, in several episodes of ''The Bill'' between 1988 and 1990; in 1990 he appeared in the ITV miniseries ''Chimera'' as Tony Donaldson, a social worker skilled in signing for the deaf.

Abandoning drag, to portray himself, in 2000 he appeared in a six-part travelogue series entitled ''Paul O'Grady's Orient'', filmed in Shanghai, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Bangkok, Bali and Singapore. This was followed in 2001 by ''Paul O'Grady's America''.

From 2002 onwards, he appeared less as Savage and more often as himself. In 2002 he presented ''Outtake TV'', a bloopers show, and in 2003 starred as the lead character in the BBC sitcom ''Eyes Down'' for two series, as the manager of a northern Bingo hall. He also appeared in ''Celebrity Driving School'' for the BBC.

Richard and Judy are close friends of O'Grady, and gave him one of his first TV breaks on ''This Morning'' on ITV in the early 90s.

In July 2010 ''The Sun'' tipped that Paul O'Grady may judge acts in next year's series of ''Britain's Got Talent at the audition stages.

In December 2010, O'Grady hosted Coronation Street: The Big 50, to mark the end of Coronation Street's 50th anniversary week. The show featured 9 Corrie stars and 3 "superfans" in the bid to be crowned champions. The "Rovers Regulars" team which consisted of Michael Le Vell (Kevin Webster), Barbara Knox (Rita Sullivan) and William Roache (Ken Barlow) won overall. The show also featured popular ITV show The X Factor as Kirk Sutherland went on it, singing Sex on Fire and judges such as Simon Cowell praised him. It also featured boy band Boyzone (Keith Duffy starred on Corrie), singer Kym Marsh (who played Michelle Connor), Rachel Leskovac (who played Natasha Blakeman) as well as Norris Cole and Mary Taylor who went head to head on Countdown.

''The Paul O'Grady Show'': 2004–09

O'Grady stood in for Des O'Connor on an episode of the lunchtime celebrity chat show ''Today with Des and Mel'', something that impressed ITV enough that they asked him to stand in for O'Connor on other occasions as well. Eventually they decided that O'Grady would be a success if he presented his own daytime television show, and so commissioned a series, ''The Paul O'Grady Show'', which first aired on October 2004 in the 5 to 6pm slot. The show, which involved O'Grady interviewing celebrity guests, aired at the same time at Channel 4's similar series ''Richard and Judy'', creating a friendly rivalry between the two programs for ratings. Despite the competition, O'Grady's was a success, and won a number of awards in 2005, including a BAFTA and the award for Best TV Comedy Entertainment Personality at the British Comedy Awards. The show ran on ITV for three series, before O'Grady fell out with the broadcasting company and decided to switch to Channel 4.

In producing the show, O'Grady worked with many of his old friends, including Andy Collins, his warm-up man, whose job it was to "make sure the [studio] audience is relaxed, happy and ready for the main event".

The show gained a devout following, with an "extraordinary hardcore of fans [who] try to be at as many recordings as possible", in many cases arriving at the studio gates two hours before the advertised starting time in order to get the best seats. O'Grady's biographer Neil Simpson commented on the crowds coming to see the show being recorded when he related that "Groups of middle aged women dominate - but they are joined by beautiful twenty-something women with flawless make-up, flash City boys with Louis Vuitton briefcases, hip-looking students out for a good time and pensioners just wanting a laugh in the afternoon." In many cases, fans queuing to see the show had to be turned away because too many had turned up, and for live shows as many as a hundred often had to be turned away.

The fourth series of the show appeared on Channel 4 under the title of ''The New Paul O'Grady Show'' and began broadcasting in March 2006. On 24 August 2007 the ''Daily Mirror'' revealed that O'Grady had rejected a £5 million deal to return to ITV as the "New Parkinson." Instead he signed a £4 million deal to remain with Channel 4 until the end of 2009.

On 28 June 2008, O'Grady appeared in the ''Doctor Who'' episode ''The Stolen Earth''. On 6 June 2009, the ''Daily Mirror'' confirmed that O'Grady will sign a new two year contract with Channel 4 in autumn 2009 to keep his show on air until the end of 2011. However Channel 4 have told O'Grady that his show will face huge budget cuts, and his salary will most likely be halved. On Monday 21 September 2009, O'Grady returned to present the 11th (including ITV series) and final series of ''The Paul O'Grady Show''. On 14 October 2009, O'Grady agreed to an £8 million deal with ITV to host a Friday prime-time chat-show, to rival that of BBC One's ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' from 2010, after budget talks broke-down with Channel 4.

On 30 November 2009, O'Grady was a guest presenter on ITV's ''GMTV with Lorraine'', in celebration of Lorraine Kelly's 50th birthday. He has guest starred on ''Living'''s paranormal show, ''Most Haunted Live!'', after presenter Yvette Fielding was a guest on his show and invited him on. Also in November 2009, O'Grady reunited with Yvette Fielding to take part in a 2 part paranormal investigation series called ''Death In Venice'' where he and Fielding investigated haunted locations in Venice. The episodes were called "Vampire Island" and "Demonic Doctor".

On 18 December 2009, Channel 4 broadcast the final ever episode of ''The Paul O'Grady Show'', after 11 series which started in 2004. Guests included in the final line up were, JLS, Beverley Callard, Catherine Tate, William Roache, Linda Thorson, Honor Blackman, Joe McFadden, Natalie Cassidy, Scott Maslen, Kate Thornton and Melanie Sykes.

Paul O'Grady Live: 2010–11

Paul O'Grady spoke to ''The People'' in March 2010 about his new ITV show, saying "I have no idea what format it will take yet because we have not sat down with the producers ... The show will still have dogs and children but I want it to be a bit more adult too."

The programme began on ITV on Friday 10 September 2010 and ran for 10 episodes, ending on Friday 12 November 2010.

In October 2010, O'Grady attracted media attention when, on an episode of ''Paul O'Grady Live'', he openly criticised the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government for their implementation of mass cuts to government spending on social services, calling them "bastards" and remarking that "Do you know what got my back up? Those Tories hooping and hollering when they heard about the cuts. Gonna scrap the pensions – yeah! – no more wheelchairs – yeah!… I bet when they were children they laughed in ''Bambi'' when his mother got shot." His ''Bambi'' quote was soon after quoted by Peter Taffe at the Socialism 2010 conference. Meanwhile, O'Grady also used the show to voice his support for those student protesters who had occupied and vandalised the headquarters of the Conservative Party at Millbank Tower on Wednesday 10 November 2010. It was revealed on 6 October 2011, that ITV had axed his show after 2 series.

Theatre

As well as numerous national tours, O'Grady has appeared on stage in ''Prisoner Cell Block H - The Musical'', the musical ''Annie'' as "Miss Hannigan" (as Lily Savage), ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' as "the Childcatcher" and in the pantomime ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarves'' as the "Wicked Queen". He has been quoted as saying "I seem to be making a living frightening children". O'Grady announced on 18 October 2009 that he would be doing pantomime again in 2009-10 in Wimbledon. He appeared at the Mayflower Southampton as Lily Savage in Aladdin in 2010.

Radio work

O'Grady made his radio debut on 12 April 2003, when he stood in for Jonathan Ross to present the Saturday morning show on BBC Radio 2. Then, later in December 2003, O'Grady presented a two-part documentary about Cilla Black's illustrious career, with contributions from Black's other celebrity friends. O'Grady then presented his own radio show for the first time on Christmas Day afternoon of that year.

On 28 December 2003, O'Grady chose the tracks on ''Desert Island Discs'' on BBC Radio 4.

Throughout 2004 and 2005, O'Grady voiced many adverts for other local radio stations.

O'Grady returned to Radio 2 on Easter Saturday 2006, with his very own live 3-hour special radio show. The show featured special guests and celebrity chat, the best music and a whole host of games and competitions. O'Grady also taste-tested a selection of the finest Easter Eggs in a search for Britain's Best.

O'Grady then stood in for Elaine Paige on her Sunday radio show ''Elaine Paige on Sunday'' for two weeks, on 28 January and 4 February 2007. John Barrowman then took over from O'Grady for the following two weeks, before Paige returned.

O'Grady returned with his own show on Easter Monday 2007. The show featured special guests and celebrity chat, the best music and a whole host of games and competitions.

In January 2008, O'Grady once again presented Elaine Paige on Sunday, on 13, 20 and 27 January. He sat in for her once again on 31 August, and again on 9 November.

On Christmas 2008, O'Grady returned to Radio 2 with his own show ''The Paul O'Grady Christmas Show'', featuring a seasonal mix of Christmas music and some of the biggest hits of the year, including music from McFly and Girls Aloud.

O'Grady presented a two-part documentary on New Year's Eve and New Years Day 2008 on Radio 2, which was a tribute to Bill Cotton.

From 22 February 2009, O'Grady returned to Elaine Paige on Sunday to present the show for a month, whilst Paige was on tour.

After 6 years, O'Grady was given his own show on BBC Radio 2 entitled ''Paul O'Grady On The Wireless'', each Sunday.

O'Grady once again presented a Christmas Day show in 2009, from 11am until 1pm. Like ''The Paul O'Grady Christmas Show'' that he presented last year, the show featured a round-up of the nation's favourite pantos. There was also a Christmas Motown Triple, a Carpenters Christmas Triple, and Christmas Thank Yous.

On 7 September 2010, O'Grady presented 'Come To The Cabaret', a documentary celebrating the boozy, glitzy and subversive delights of the cabaret.

For the third year running, O'Grady once again presented a special show on Christmas Day. This year, the show was three hours long, running on Christmas morning from 10.00am until 1.00pm. There were Christmas phone messages from celebrity callers, and Christmas triples from Bette Middler, Sir Cliff Richard and Dolly Parton.

Personal life

O'Grady is openly gay. However, he has previously had relationships with women as well as men, and married a Portuguese lesbian, Teresa Fernandes, who was from a Catholic family, at Harrow Road register office, London, on 1 April 1977 in a marriage of convenience. They separated in 1980, before eventually divorcing in 2005. He is very close to his daughter Sharyn, who married her childhood friend Philip Mousley at Liverpool Town Hall on 30 July 2005. O'Grady's long-term lover and business partner of 20 years was Irish television producer Brendan Frank Murphy (4 March 1956 – 9 June 2005), who was HIV+ and died of brain cancer at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London, five days before O'Grady's fiftieth birthday. After the first show of series three of ''The Paul O'Grady Show'', there was a tribute to him.

O'Grady owns a flat in London, and a farm in Aldington near Ashford, Kent where his neighbour is Julian Clary. The farm is stocked with 32 animals, including a flock of geese which O'Grady refers to as the "Geese-stapo" (a pun on the ''Gestapo''). O'Grady had a grey Shih Tzu/Bichon Frise crossbreed dog named Buster Elvis Savage, who was euthanised on 19 November 2009, after he was diagnosed with cancer. A spokeswoman said "Buster had been suffering and in a lot of pain. Putting him down was the kind thing to do." O'Grady would later dedicate the second volume of his autobiography to his canine companion, describing him as "The greatest canine star since Lassie."

This came a few days after O'Grady announced on his show that Buster was 'in retirement' after viewers had asked if Buster had been given away, as Buster frequently appeared on his TV show with him, but has recently been replaced by one of O'Grady's other dogs, Olga, a Cairn Terrier after whom O'Grady named his recently formed production company, 'Olga TV'. He also has another dog called Louie, who only appeared a few times in the first ITV series (mainly due to his bad behaviour), before he adopted Olga live on air. On 29 September 2009, O'Grady adopted a puppy called Bullseye, who appeared on his show after much nagging from the crowd.

O'Grady became a grandfather on 26 December 2006, when his daughter Sharyn gave birth to a son, Abel. He revealed on his show on 2 December 2009 that he had become a grandfather again as Sharyn had given birth to a girl in the early hours of that morning.

O'Grady is publicly known for having had many high profile and celebrity friends, including the late politician Mo Mowlam, actresses Amanda Mealing and Barbara Windsor, comedienne Brenda Gilhoohy, and singer Cilla Black.

Health

In April 2002, O'Grady suffered a heart attack after weeks of complaining that he felt unwell; after an emergency operation and weeks of rest, his health recovered and he gave up smoking for two years. O'Grady went back to his 40-a-day habit after his lover and business partner Brendan Murphy died; he had continued to work on the show at the same time as nursing Murphy. He suffered a second heart attack on 30 June 2006; again he was taken to the William Harvey Hospital and into intensive care. He was given an angioplasty operation before being moved to a cardiac unit. He was released on 4 July and again promised to give up smoking. He therefore postponed the new series of his show from 4 September to the end of the month. The delayed second series started on 25 September 2006, and ran over three weeks into January (for the only time in the show's history), due to its 3 week delay start.

Books

On 18 September 2008, O'Grady released his first autobiography entitled, ''At My Mother's Knee... And Other Low Joints'', which was given a positive review by ''Private Eye'' who noted that the book did not fall into the most common celebrity biography traps of being ghost written, settling scores or not sounding like it had been written by its subject. His second book entitled ''The Devil Rides Out: The Second Coming'' was released on the 16 September 2010. He confirmed on 14 October 2010, during an interview on ''Loose Women'', that he will write a third and final chapter.

Stand-up videos

!Title	!Released	!Notes
''Live from the Hackney Empire''	1991	Live at London's Hackney Empire
''Live: Paying the Rent''	1993
''Live and Outrageous from The Garrick Theatre''	2 June 1997	Live at London's Garrick Theatre
''The Live Show''	1 October 1999

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

External links

''Paul O'Grady Live'' at itv.com

Category:1955 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century actors Category:21st-century actors Category:21st-century writers Category:Actors from Merseyside Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:English radio DJs Category:BBC Radio 2 presenters Category:Drag queens Category:Comedians from Liverpool Category:English businesspeople Category:English game show hosts Category:English people of Irish descent Category:English television actors Category:English television personalities Category:English television presenters Category:English television producers Category:Gay actors Category:Gay writers Category:LGBT businesspeople Category:LGBT comedians from the United Kingdom Category:LGBT DJs Category:LGBT people from England Category:LGBT radio personalities from the United Kingdom Category:LGBT television personalities from the United Kingdom Category:LGBT writers from the United Kingdom Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:People from Birkenhead

cy:Paul O'Grady de:Paul O’Grady

:''This article is about human hair. For other uses, see Longhair (disambiguation) or Hair'' Long hair is a hairstyle. Exactly what constitutes long hair can change from culture to culture, or even within cultures. For example, a woman with chin-length hair in some cultures may be said to have short hair, while a man with the same length of hair in some of the same cultures would be said to have long hair.

Scientists view long hair as playing a large part in natural selection among many species, since long, thick and healthy hair or fur is frequently a sign of fertility and youth. As hair grows slowly, long hair reveals several years of a person's health status and reproductive fitness. Hair length is significantly correlated with female attractiveness, as rated by men as well as women. Hair length and quality can act as a cue to especially a woman's youth and health, signifying reproductive potential. The prevalence of trichophilia (hair partialism or fetischism) is 7% in the population, and very long hair is a common subject of devotion in this group.

Ways of life often viewed as more rigid, such as soldiers and religious cultures, often have explicit rules regarding hair length. For example, Buddhist monks shave their heads as part of their order of worship. Even outside religious structures, cultures often associate male long hair with ways of life outside of what is culturally accepted. Subservient cultures, for example, are sometimes detected by their rulers through hair length, as was the case with the Irish under English rule and the Moors under Spanish rule in Medieval Spain.

Again, though, there are exceptions to these rules, notably among the long-haired and religiously devoted Nazarites of the Hebrew Bible (Samson being a famous example) and among the Sikhs.

East Asian cultures have traditionally seen long, unkempt hair in a woman as a sign of sexual intent or a recent sexual encounter, as usually their hair is tied up in styles such as the ponytail, plait, or any bun.

Transferred meaning

The traditional connotation of "long hair" in English meant, roughly, someone artistically knowledgeable or wise, an aesthete. As a descriptive term, it has been applied to Merovingians and classical music enthusiasts, as well as hippies and aesthetes.

Hair lengths

{| | | | | | | |} Hair length is measured (in centimeters or inches) from the line of the scalp on the forehead up over the highest point of the skull to its termination. In cosmetology, hair lengths longer than what is usually considered short are categorized according to the following:

''Chin level'' is considered long for men in some cultures, but usually not for women.

''Shoulder-length'' is hair reaching the shoulders; hair usually takes about 2 years to reach this point.

''Mid-back level'' is hair falling to the widest part of the chest.

''Waist-length'' hair falls to the smallest part of one's waist; for most people approximately 80–90 cm (32–36 inches) long, and taking about 7 years to grow, including occasional trims.

''Hip-length'' hair stretches to the hip.

''Classic length'' extends to almost upper thigh-length, where the legs meet the buttocks.

''Thigh-length'' reaches to the thigh.

''Knee-length'' reaches to the knee.

''Ankle/floor length'' comes to the ankle or beyond.

Maximum hair length

The maximum hair length that is possible to reach is about 15 cm for infants (below the age of 1), about 60 cm for children (below the age of 13), and generally 100 cm for adults. Documentation for decrease of the maximum length with age cannot be found in the literature. Some individuals can reach excessive lengths. Lengths greater than 150 cm are frequently observed in long hair contests. Xie Qiuping had the longest documented hair in the world, measuring 5.627 m (18 ft 5.54 in) in May 2004.

The maximum terminal hair length depends on the length of the anagen (period of hair growth) for the individual. Waist-length hair or longer is only possible to reach for people with long anagen. The anagen lasts between 2 and 7 years, for some individuals even longer, and follows by shorter catagen (transition) and telogen (resting) periods. Between 85% and 90% of the hair strains are in anagen.

Psychological significance

Anthropologists speculate that the functional significance of long head hair may be adornment, a by-product of secondary natural selection once other androgenic/somatic hair (body hair) had largely been lost. Another possibility is that long head hair is a result of Fisherian runaway sexual selection, where long lustrous hair is a visible marker for a healthy individual. For some groups or individuals, however, short hair is the selected trait.

By seven to nine months, infants can tell the sexes apart based on hair length, voice pitch and faces.

Cultural history

Hair is one of the most important ways humans have of presenting themselves, being one of the parts of their body which is easiest to manipulate. Also, having short, cut hair (or a shaven head) is often viewed as being under society's control, such as while in prison or as punishment for a crime, while males having long hair signifies being outside of the mainstream.

In Jewish and Christian scriptures

In the Old Testament, the Nazirites would go for long periods of time without cutting their hair to show devotion to God. Samson is one example; his strength depended upon his refraining from cutting his hair. The New Testament says, "Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering," something followed by women in some apostolic pentecostal denominations in some countries as an act of holiness.

Western culture

Classical period

In ancient Greece, long male hair was a symbol of wealth and power, while a shaven head was appropriate for a slave. The ancient Greeks had several Gods and heroes who wore their hair long, including Zeus, Achilles, Apollo, and Poseidon. Greek soldiers are said to have worn their hair long in battle. Such warriors considered it a sign of aristocracy and are said to have combed it openly in order to show off. Also, in order to keep enemies from getting a hold of it in battle, they were known to cut the front short, but leave it long in the back, where it was more out of reach. A widely held alternative interpretation of the conventional belief that they cut it short in the front in order to keep their enemies from getting a hold of it during battle is that, they did not in fact cut it in the front, but rather tied it back in a style known as a pony tail in order to keep it out of their enemies' reach. The pony tail method allowed warriors, who often traveled to battle with a minimal amount of equipment in order to avoid excessively heavy loads over long marches, to keep their hair manageable with a small piece of string to hold their pony tail in place and a knife to cut the back to length with one simple slice. Around the sixth century, however, the Greek men shifted to shorter hairstyles, with the exception of the Spartans. Women in the culture remained with the longer style, which for them showed freedom, health, and wealth, as well as good behavior. In men, it was considered a sign of false pride by this time. Women in Roman times valued long hair, usually with a center part. Men's hair was usually shorter than women's, (but in the early times, the custom was quite the same as in Greece) although other cultures of the time, such as Greeks in the east, considered long hair to be typical of philosophers, who were thought to be too engrossed in learning to bother with hair. Strictly in the province of Rome, however the shorter hairstyle was especially popular. When Julius Caesar conquered the Gauls, who favored long hair, he ordered it to be cut short.

Up to the seventeenth century

In the European middle ages, shorter hair often signified servitude and peasantry, while long hair was often attributed to freemen, such as the Germanic Goths and Merovingians. In Ireland, English colonists who wore their hair long in the back were considered to be rejecting their role as English subjects and giving in to the Irish life. Irishmen, in turn, scolded others of their race who moved into English culture by cutting their hair. Thus, hair length was one of the most common ways of judging a true Englishman in this period. Muslims in Christian areas were ordered to keep their hair short and parted, as their longer style was considered rebellious and barbaric. thumb|right|200px|Empress Elisabeth of Austria wearing thigh-length hair in 1865. A long hair fad was widespread among English and French men in the 11th and 12th centuries, though otherwise it was considered, mostly because of endorsement of the Roman Catholic Church, proper for men to have shorter, and women, longer hair. The fad was largely brought about by monarchs who rejected the shorter hairstyle, causing the people to follow. Wulfstan, a religious leader, worried that those with longer hair would fight like women, and be unable to protect England from foreign invasion. (This idea can be found in later military leaders as well, such as those of the American Confederacy.) Knights and rulers would also sometimes cut or pull out their hair in order to show penitence and mourning, and a squire's hair was generally shorter than a knight's. Married women who let their hair flow out in public were frowned upon, as this was normally reserved for the unwed, although they were allowed to let it out in mourning, to show their distressed state. Through these centuries it was expected of Eastern Christians to wear long hair as well as long beards, which was especially expected from clergy and monks.

In England, during the English Civil War times of 1642 to 1651, male hair length was emblematic of the disputes between Cavaliers and Roundheads (Puritans). Cavaliers wore longer hair, and were less religious minded, thought of by the Roundheads as lecherous. The more devout Roundheads had short hair, although there were exceptions.

Recent meanings

Before World War One men generally had longer hair and beards. However, short hair on men has often been enforced as a mean of control, in police, military and other forces that require obedience and discipline. Slaves and defeated armies were often required to shave their heads. The trench warfare in 1914 to 1918 exposed men to flea and lice infestations, which prompted the order to cut short hair, establishing a norm that has persisted.

Beat poets during the 1950s wore longer hairstyles, as did many of the urban gay culture, although long hair was far from popular. By 1960, a small "beatnik" community in Newquay, Cornwall, England (including a young Wizz Jones) had attracted the attention and the abhorrence of their neighbors for growing their hair to a length past the shoulders, resulting in a television interview with Alan Whicker on BBC television's ''Tonight'' series. The 1960s also introduced The Beatles, who started a more widespread longer hair fad. The social revolution of the 1960s led to a renaissance of unchecked hair growth, and long hair, especially on men, was worn as a political or countercultural symbol or protest. This cultural symbol extended to several Western countries in the Americas, Western Europe, South Africa, and Australia. Specific long hairstyles such as dreadlocks have been part of counterculture movements seeking to define other alternative cultures and lifestyles since this time. Longer hair in general remained popular among the youth rebellion throughout the liberal decade of the 1960s. Homosexual men, many of whom had adopted a long hairstyle in the early 1950s, have largely abandoned this trend. Some people saw the long hair fad as a threat to gender identity, cultural, and religious norms as it grew with the spread of the hippie movement in the 1960s. Notably, some country-and-western performers during this period (and many fans) also sported longer hair.

In the 1970s, the popularity of Jamaica's reggae music and musician Bob Marley prompted interest in dreadlocks internationally. The anti-establishment philosophy of Rastafari, echoed in much of the reggae of the time, resonated with left-leaning youth of all ethnicities — especially and primarily among African Americans and other Blacks, but among counterculture whites as well. The Eastern Christians are encouraged to wear long hair with long beard. In the 1980s the view of long hair as a solitary signifier of political or counter-cultural identity was countered and parodied in films such as Rambo and many other militaristic heroes of media which challenged then-contemporary views of what was masculine. Today, longer hairstyles remain popular among rock enthusiasts. Long hair may be grown for the purpose of being donated to an organization, such as Locks of Love, for hairpieces to help those who could not have hair otherwise, such as those who are diagnosed with alopecia areata.

Women

Women often have a stronger inclination towards long hair than men do. Younger women tend to have longer hair than older women. Hair length and quality can act as a cue to a woman's youth and health, signifying reproductive potential. Growing and wearing long hair was almost universal among women in the western world until World War One.

Sikhism

The Sikhs were commanded by Guru Gobind Singh at the Baisakhi Amrit Sanchar in 1699 to wear long uncut hair called Kesh at all times. This was one of the 'five requisites of faith', collectively called Kakars that form the external visible identifiers to clearly affirm a Sikh's commitment and dedication to the order (Hukam) of the tenth master and made one a member of the Khalsa. The Khalsa is the "Saint-Soldier" of Guru Gobind Singh who stated the following: "He does not recognize anyone else except One Lord, not even the bestowal of charities, performance of merciful acts, austerities and restraint on pilgrim-stations; the perfect light of the Lord illuminates his heart, then consider him as the immaculate Khalsa." (Guru Gobind Singh in the Dasam Granth page 1350)

The Kesh or unshorn long hair is an indispensable part of the human body as created by Vaheguru that is the mainstay of the 'Jivan Jaach' and the Rehni that was prescribed by Guru Gobind Singh Sahib by which a Sikh is clearly and quickly identified, Kesh. The kanga, another requisite of faith is usually tucked behind the "Rishi Knot" and tied under the turban. The uncut long head hair and the beard in the case of men forms the main kakar for the Sikhs.

KESADHARI, a term defining a Sikh as one who carries on his head the full growth of his kes (hair) which he never trims or cuts for any reason. Anyone, Sikh or non-Sikh, may keep the hair unshorn, but for the Sikh kes, unshorn hair, is an requisite of faith and an inviolable vow. The Sikh Rahit Maryada published by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, statutory body for the control and management of Sikh shrines and by extension for laying down rules about Sikh beliefs and practices, issued in 1945, after long and minute deliberations among Sikh scholars and theologians, defines a Sikh thus: Every Sikh who has been admitted to the rites of amrit, i.e. who has been initiated as a Sikh, must allow his hair to grow to its full length. This also applies to those born of Sikh families but [who] have not yet received the rites of amrit of the tenth master, Guru Gobind Singh. ".

Islam

In the Muslim world, it seems the trend of hair styles is now favouring short over long in men. In the past, Bedouin Muslims often wore their hair in long braids, but western influences brought on the view that such styles were feminine in nature. Now, Bedouins are much less likely to have long hair. Islamic countries in North Africa such as Egypt view long hair in men as homosexual and in one case the Egyptian police viewed it as satanic and a sign of an infidel, although Western rock music, especially heavy metal, may have contributed to this view.

Muslims regard Prophet Muhammad as the best example to live by, and try to emulate him whenever possible. The Islamic Prophet Muhammad reportedly in Sahih Muslim had hair that "hung over his shoulders and earlobes". Sahih Bukhari, regarded the most authentic of hadith, also supports this using a prime example of the prophet Isa. The Prophet Muhammad has also described Jesus as "having long hair reaching his ear lobes." Malik's Muwatta 51.2.6 reported, Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that Abu Qatada al-Ansari said to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, "I have a lot of hair which comes down to my shoulders, shall I comb it?'' The Messenger of Allah. may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Yes, and honour it." Sometimes Abu Qatada oiled it twice in one day because the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to him. "Honour it."

With regards to women, neither Qur'an nor Sunnah explicitly state that women cannot cut their hair. Hadith does mention that women should not imitate men, and vice versa, and hence many scholars on this assumption, decree that women should let their hair grow longer than the hair of the Prophet, reaching beyond their shoulders, as hadith mentions that the Prophet had his hair between his shoulder and his earlobes. (He described Jesus's hair, which hung to his earlobes, as long.)

However culturally, some Muslims are opposed to men having long hair as it is also important in Islam to have clear differences (in appearance) between sexes. And generally these cultures encourage women to have long hair and men to have short hair. The Taliban in Afghanistan viewed long hair for men as a western influence, and punished it by arrest and forced haircuts, albeit this would be a direct contradiction of the sunnah of the Prophet. Similar measures have been taken by Islamists in Iraq. In spite of this, several Taleban affiliated members of the Mehsud clan are recognisable by their long hair. The Saudi Islamist fighter Amir Khattab was also notable for his long hair. Dervishes of some Sufi orders, such as the Kasnazani, often have long hair and whirl it around during rituals.

Native Americans

Many Native American men wore long hair before the arrival of western influences on their culture or rather eastern influences for them. (In Cherokee legends, for example, males said to be handsome were often described as having "long hair almost to the ground" or similar formulas.). Both men and women of these cultures have frequently struggled to maintain their tradition, but have faced heavy opposition. Many consider it a sign of giving in to western influences to have their hair cut. Early American settlers saw long-haired, native men as rebelling against their civilized society. Mountain men and trappers who adopted the customs were also considered amoral, and often identified by their long hair. Since the cultural movements of the sixties and seventies, however, Native Americans have felt less pressure to have short hair, as different movements have defended their cultural rights. For example, several states have loosened prison regulations, allowing Native Americans to wear long hair during incarceration, along with other cultural allowances. There has been resistance to these changes, however, as long hair is sometimes used to hide drugs, as well as to identify with a gang.

Sub-Saharan Africans

In West African cultures, women with long hair were highly valued. Long, thick hair was seen as a sign of health, strength, and capability to bear many children. In keeping with this general theme, women who were too young for marriage would shave a portion of their heads to signal so. This tradition, however, did not extend to every African tribe, as several valued shorter hair.

African Americans

When African slaves were freed in the Americas, they struggled with comments from whites calling their hair ugly and nappy. Many African-American women began straightening their hair. However, there was and always will be a variety of hairstyles, such as dreadlocks, twists, short hair, long hair, curly hair, straight hair, etc. Social pressures were heavily influencing African-American females to have long straight hair. Rather African Americans have short or long hair, they can do a lot with their hair. Therefore, they have hair shows to show the large variety of hairstyles. African Americans, as well as other thick curly-haired people, are often pressured to not wear their natural hair in today's society. When they wear their hair natural, it's soft and easy to manage. However, when it comes to not wanting to wear natural hair, it becomes more difficult to manage. Therefore, African Americans are wearing natural hair more, so it's finally becoming more accepted.

Asia

Historically, East Asian cultures viewed long hair as a sign of youth and aesthetic beauty. Long hair is associated with private life and sexuality. East Asian cultures see long, unkempt hair in a woman as a sign of sexual intent or a recent sexual encounter, as usually their hair is tied up. Lay Buddhists have long hair, while Buddhist monks have shaved heads.

For Sikhs, Kesh is the practice of allowing one's hair to grow naturally as a symbol of devotion to God and lack of worldliness.

In Jewish and other cultures, shortening hair signifies mourning and sadness.

Around the seventeenth century, the Manchu people forced all men in China to adopt a hairstyle called a queue, which was basically a long braid down the back with the hair on the front part of the head shaved. This style lasted well into the nineteenth century, when the Chinese began immigrating to America. Americans at first judged them to be poor workers because their long hair brought an association with women. Both Islamic and Christian missionaries to the Chinese were strong advocates of shorter hair for their converts, but this was a small group. Around the Destruction of Four Olds period in 1964, almost anything seen as part of Traditional Chinese culture would lead to problems with the Communist Red Guards. Items that attracted dangerous attention if caught in the public included jewelry and long hair. These things were regarded as symbols of bourgeois lifestyle, that represented wealth. People had to avoid them or suffer serious consequences such as tortures and beatings by the guards. More recently, long hair was ridiculed in China from October 1983 to February 1984, as part of the Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign. Li Yang, an unorthodox Chinese English teacher who brands the popular Crazy English, claims the following on his website:

What [America, England and Japan] want most is for China’s youth to have long hair, wear bizarre clothes, drink soda, listen to Western music, have no fighting spirit, love pleasure and comfort!

In Southeast Asia and Indonesia, male long hair was valued in until the seventeenth century, when the area adopted outside influences including Islam and Christianity. Invading cultures enforced shorter hairstyles on men as a sign of servitude, as well. They were also confused at the short hairstyles among women in certain areas, such as Thailand, and struggled to explain why women in the area had such short hair. They came up with several mythical stories, one of which involved a king who found a long hair in his rice and, in a rage, demanded that all women keep their hair short.

In rural areas in certain Asian countries, for example India, girls still usually let their hair grow long, and knee-length hair is not unusual.

See also

Grooming

Haircut

Hair extensions

Hairstick

Lady Godiva

Long hair fetishism, a form of ''Trichophilia''

Rapunzel

Images

Female long hair in art (Gallery at Wikimedia commons)

Female long hair photos (Gallery at Wikimedia commons)

Male long hair in art (Gallery at Wikimedia commons)

Male long hair photos (Gallery at Wikimedia commons)

References

Category:Hairstyles Category:Pejorative terms for people Category:Heavy metal fashion

de:Langes Haar fr:Cheveux longs it:Capelli lunghi ja:ロングヘア uk:Довге волосся

birth date	January 07, 1964
birth place	Long Beach, California, US
birth name	Nicolas Kim Coppola
occupation	Actor, producer, director
years active	1980–present
spouse
parents
relatives	Marc Coppola (brother)Christopher Coppola (brother) }}

Nicolas Cage (born Nicolas Kim Coppola; January 7, 1964) is an Academy Award-winning American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including ''Raising Arizona'' (1987), ''The Rock'' (1996), ''Face/Off'' (1997), ''Gone in 60 Seconds'' (2000), ''Adaptation'' (2002), ''National Treasure'' (2004), ''Lord of War'' (2005), ''Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans'' (2009), and ''Kick-Ass'' (2010).

Early life

Cage was born Nicolas Kim Coppola on January 7, 1964 in Long Beach, California. His father, August Coppola, a professor of literature, and his mother, Joy Vogelsang, a dancer and choreographer, divorced in 1976. He was raised in a Catholic family. Cage's mother is of German descent and his father was of Italian descent (his paternal grandparents were composer Carmine Coppola and actress Italia Pennino, and his paternal great-grandparents were immigrants from Bernalda, Basilicata). Through his father, Cage is the nephew of director Francis Ford Coppola and actress Talia Shire, and the cousin of directors Roman Coppola and Sofia Coppola, film producer Gian-Carlo Coppola, and actors Robert Carmine and Jason Schwartzman. Cage's two brothers are New York radio personality Marc "The Cope" Coppola and director Christopher Coppola. He attended Beverly Hills High School, which is known for its many alumni who became entertainers. He aspired to act from an early age and also attended UCLA School of Theatre, Film and Television. His first non-cinematic acting experience was in a school production of ''Golden Boy''.

Career

Acting career

To avoid the appearance of nepotism as the nephew of Francis Ford Coppola, he changed his name early in his career to Nicolas Cage, inspired in part by the Marvel Comics superhero Luke Cage. Since his minor role in the film ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High'', with Sean Penn, Cage has appeared in a wide range of films, both mainstream and offbeat. He tried out for the role of Dallas Winston in his uncle's film ''The Outsiders'', based on S.E. Hinton's novel, but lost to Matt Dillon. He was also in Coppola's films ''Rumble Fish'' and ''Peggy Sue Got Married.''

Other Cage roles included appearances in the acclaimed 1987 romantic-comedy ''Moonstruck'', also starring Cher; The Coen Brothers cult-classic comedy ''Raising Arizona''; David Lynch's 1990 offbeat film ''Wild at Heart''; a lead role in Martin Scorsese's 1999 New York City paramedic drama ''Bringing Out the Dead''; and Ridley Scott's 2003 quirky drama ''Matchstick Men'', in which he played an agoraphobic, mysophobic, obsessive-compulsive con artist with a tic disorder.

Cage has been nominated twice for an Academy Award, winning once for his performance as a suicidal alcoholic in ''Leaving Las Vegas''. His other nomination was for his portrayal of real-life screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and Kaufman's fictional twin Donald in ''Adaptation.'' Despite these successes, most of his lower-profile films have performed poorly at the box office compared to his mainstream action/adventure roles. The suspense thriller ''8mm'' (1999) was not a box office success, but is now considered a cult film. He took the lead role in the 2001 film ''Captain Corelli's Mandolin'' and learned to play the mandolin from scratch for the part. In 2005, two offbeat films he headlined, ''Lord of War'' and ''The Weather Man'', failed to find a significant audience despite nationwide releases and good reviews for his acting in those roles. Poor reviews for ''The Wicker Man'' resulted in low box office sales. The much criticized ''Ghost Rider'' (2007), based on the Marvel Comics character, fared better, earning more than $45 million (the top earner) during its opening weekend and over $208 million worldwide through the weekend ending on March 25, 2007. Also in 2007, he made his directorial debut in ''Sonny'' and he starred in ''Next'', which shares the concept of a glimpse into an alternate timeline with ''The Family Man'' (2000).

Most of Cage's movies that have achieved financial success were in the action/adventure genre. In his second-highest grossing film to date, ''National Treasure'', he plays an eccentric historian who goes on a dangerous adventure to find treasure hidden by the Founding Fathers of the United States. Other action hits include ''The Rock'', in which Cage plays a young FBI chemical weapons expert who infiltrates Alcatraz Island in hopes of neutralizing a terrorist threat, ''Face/Off'', a John Woo film where he plays both a hero and a villain, and ''World Trade Center'', director Oliver Stone's film regarding the September 11, 2001 attacks. He had a small but notable role as the Chinese criminal mastermind Dr. Fu Manchu in Rob Zombie's fake trailer ''Werewolf Women of the S.S.'' from the B-movie double feature ''Grindhouse''.

Cage made his directorial debut with ''Sonny'', a low-budget drama starring James Franco as a male prostitute whose mother (Brenda Blethyn) serves as his pimp. Cage had a small role in the film, which received poor reviews and a short run in a limited number of theatres. Cage's producing career includes ''Shadow of the Vampire'', the first effort from Saturn Films.

In early December 2006, Cage announced at the Bahamas International Film Festival that he planned to curtail his future acting endeavors to pursue other interests. On ''The Dresden Files'' for the Sci-Fi Channel, Cage is listed as the executive producer. Cage said: "I feel I've made a lot of movies already and I want to start exploring other opportunities that I can apply myself to, whether it's writing or other interests that I may develop."

In November 2007, Cage was spotted backstage at a ''Ring of Honor'' wrestling show in New York City researching his role for ''The Wrestler''. The role was ultimately played by Mickey Rourke, who received an Academy Award nomination for his performance. ''Wrestler'' Director Darren Aronofsky, in an interview with slashfilm.com, said of Cage's decision to leave the film that: "Nic was a complete gentleman, and he understood that my heart was with Mickey and he stepped aside. I have so much respect for Nic Cage as an actor and I think it really could have worked with Nic but ... you know, Nic was incredibly supportive of Mickey and he is old friends with Mickey and really wanted to help with this opportunity, so he pulled himself out of the race."

In 2008, Cage appeared as Joe, a contract killer who undergoes a change of heart while on a work outing in Bangkok, in the film ''Bangkok Dangerous''. The film is shot by the Pang Brothers and has a distinct South-East Asian flavor. In 2009, Cage starred in science fiction thriller ''Knowing'', directed by Alex Proyas. In the film, he plays an MIT professor who examines the contents of a time capsule unearthed at his son's elementary school. Startling predictions found inside the capsule that have already come true lead him to believe the world is going to end at the close of the week, and that he and his son are somehow involved in the destruction. The film received mainly negative reviews but was the box office winner on its opening weekend. Also in 2009, Cage starred in the film ''Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans'', directed by acclaimed German director Werner Herzog. He portrayed a corrupt police officer with gambling, drug and alcohol addictions. The film was very well-received by critics, holding a rating of 87% positive reviews on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. Cage received lauds for his performance, with Michael Phillips of the ''Chicago Tribune'' writing "Herzog has found his ideal interpreter, a performer whose truth lies deep in the artifice of performance: ladies and gentlemen, Nicolas Cage, at his finest." This film reunited Cage with Eva Mendes, who played his love interest in ''Ghost Rider''. In 2010, Cage starred in the period piece ''Season of the Witch'', playing a 14th-century knight transporting a girl accused of causing the Black Plague to a monastery, and ''The Sorcerer's Apprentice'', in which he played the sorcerer. He will star in ''National Treasure 3'', which has a possible release date as early as 2011. He will again take the role of Benjamin Gates, a cryptologist-turned-treasure hunter.

Other works

Cage, an avid comic book fan, auctioned a collection of 400 vintage comics through Heritage Auctions for over $1.6 million in 2002.

In 2007 he created a comic book with his son Weston, called ''Voodoo Child'', which was published by Virgin Comics.

Cage is a fan and collector of painter and underground comic artist Robert Williams. He has written introductions for ''Juxtapoz'' magazine and purchased the painting ''Death On The Boards''.

Acting style

In February 2011, Cage claimed to have created a new method of acting he calls "Nouveau Shamanic". He claims to have used the acting style throughout his career and one day plans to write a book about the method.

Praise and criticism

Nicolas Cage's acting has been praised by influential film critic Roger Ebert who writes, in his "Great Movies" essay about the film ''Adaptation'', that: "There are often lists of the great living male movie stars: De Niro, Nicholson and Pacino, usually. How often do you see the name of Nicolas Cage? He should always be up there. He's daring and fearless in his choice of roles, and unafraid to crawl out on a limb, saw it off and remain suspended in air. No one else can project inner trembling so effectively.... He always seems so earnest. However improbable his character, he never winks at the audience. He is committed to the character with every atom and plays him as if he were him." Roger Ebert, in response to mixed reviews of ''Knowing'' and their focus on criticizing Cage, wrote an article in which he defends both Cage as an actor and the movie which, in stark contrast to other critics, Ebert gave 4/4 stars.

In the 1995 edition of the Academy Awards, Cage was awarded Best Actor for his performance in ''Leaving Las Vegas''.

In May 2001, Cage was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts by California State University, Fullerton. He spoke at the commencement ceremony.

Despite such praise, Cage has his detractors. Cage has been criticized for choosing to star in big-budget, action-adventure movies rather than smaller, character-driven dramas, the type of film that initially garnered him praise. In 1999, one-time friend Sean Penn expressed that sentiment to the ''New York Times'', declaring Cage "no longer an actor."

Personal life

Relationships and family

In 1988, Cage began dating actress Christina Fulton, who later bore their son, Weston Cage (born December 26, 1990). Weston is lead singer of the black metal band Eyes of Noctum, and appeared in Cage's film ''Lord of War'' as Vladimir, a young Ukrainian mechanic who quickly disarms a Mil Mi-24 helicopter.

Cage has been married three times. His first wife was actress Patricia Arquette (married on April 8, 1995, divorce finalized on May 18, 2001). Cage later married singer/songwriter Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis Presley. Cage is an Elvis fan and used the star as the base of his performance in ''Wild at Heart''. Presley and Cage married on August 10, 2002 and filed for divorce on November 25, 2002 which was finalized on May 16, 2004. The divorce proceeding was longer than the marriage.

Cage met his third and current wife Alice Kim, a former waitress who previously worked at the plush Los Angeles restaurant Kabuki, at the Los Angeles-based Korean nightclub, Le Privé. She bore their son, Kal-El, (after Superman's birth name) on October 3, 2005. Cage was once considered for the role of Superman in a film to be directed by Tim Burton. Alice had a minor role in the 2007 film ''Next'', which Cage produced. They were married at a private ranch in Northern California on July 30, 2004.

Real estate and tax problems

Nicolas Cage is one of Hollywood's highest paid actors, earning $40 million in 2009 according to ''Forbes Magazine''.

Cage had a Malibu home where he and Kim lived, but sold the property in 2005 for $10 million. In 2004 he bought a property on Paradise Island, Bahamas. In May 2006, he bought a island in the Exuma archipelago, some southeast of Nassau and close to a similar island owned by Faith Hill and Tim McGraw.

He once owned the medieval castle of Schloss Neidstein in the Oberpfalz region in Germany, which he bought in 2006 and sold in 2009 for $2.5 million. His grandmother was German, living in Cochem an der Mosel. In August 2007, Cage purchased "Grey Craig", a brick-and-stone country manor in Middletown, Rhode Island. With an estate occupying the home has 12 bedrooms and 10 full bathrooms and overlooks the Atlantic Ocean as well. It borders the Norman Bird Sanctuary to the west. The sale ranked among the state of Rhode Island's most expensive residential purchases until eclipsed that same year, 2007, by the $17.15 million sale of the Miramar mansion on Bellevue Avenue in Newport.

Also in 2007, the actor purchased Midford Castle in Somerset, England. Shortly after selling his German castle, Cage also put homes in Rhode Island, Louisiana, Nevada, and California, as well as a $7 million island in the Bahamas, up for sale.

On July 14, 2009, the Internal Revenue Service filed documents in New Orleans in connection with a federal tax lien against property owned by Cage in Louisiana, concerning unpaid federal taxes. The IRS alleges that Cage failed to pay over $6.2 million in federal income tax for the year 2007. In addition, the Internal Revenue Service has another lien for more than $350,000 in unpaid taxes dating from 2002 to 2004. Cage filed a $20 million lawsuit on October 16, 2009, against his business manager, Samuel J. Levin, alleging negligence and fraud. The lawsuit states that Levin "had failed to pay taxes when they were due and had placed [Cage] in speculative and risky real estate investments 'resulting in (the actor) suffering catastrophic losses'." Cage is also facing separate lawsuits from East West Bank and Red Curb Investments for unpaid, multimillion dollar loans. Samuel Levin filed a counter-complaint and responded to the lawsuit in a filing stating that he warned Cage that he was living beyond his means and urged him to spend less. Levin's filing states that "instead of listening to Levin, cross-defendant Cage (Coppola) spent most of his free time shopping for high ticket purchases, and wound up with 15 personal residences", Levin's complaint continued: "Likewise, Levin advised Coppola against buying a Gulfstream jet, against buying and owning a flotilla of yachts, against buying and owning a squadron of Rolls Royces, against buying millions of dollars in jewelry and art."

In his filing Levin says that in 2007 Cage's "shopping spree entailed the purchase of three additional residences at a total cost of more than $33 million; the purchase of 22 automobiles (including 9 Rolls Royces); 12 purchases of expensive jewelry; and 47 purchases of artwork and exotic items." One of those exotic items was a dinosaur skull of a Tarbosaurus for which Nicolas Cage paid $276,000 in an auction after winning a bidding contest against Leonardo DiCaprio.

According to Cage, he owned the "Most Haunted House in America", a home located in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. The home is known as "The LaLaurie house" after its former owner Delphine LaLaurie. The house was foreclosed and sold at auction on November 12, 2009 along with another New Orleans property for a total of $5.5 million, in the wake of his financial problems.

His Bel Air home, which had six loans totaling $18 million on it, failed to sell at an April 2010 foreclosure auction despite an opening offer of $10.4 million, substantially less than the $35 million that Cage had originally tried to sell it for. The home, built in 1940 for $110,000 had been owned by Dean Martin and singer Tom Jones. The home eventually sold in November 2010 for $10.5 million. Another home in Nevada also faces foreclosure auction.

In November 2011, Cage also sold his Action Comics #1 in an online auction for a record-breaking $2.16 million dollars (the previous record being 1.5), to assist paying his tax liens and other debts. Cage purchased the comic in 1997 for $110,000.

Legal issues

In December 2009, Christina Fulton sued Cage for $13 million and the house she is living in. The suit was in response to an order that she leave the dwelling that was brought about by Cage's financial difficulties.

On April 15, 2011, at 11:30 pm, Cage was arrested in New Orleans in the city's famed French Quarter district for suspicion of domestic abuse battery, disturbing the peace and public intoxication, after a police officer was flagged down by onlookers after Cage allegedly grabbed his wife's upper arm while appearing to be under the influence of alcohol. Cage was held in police custody until a bail of $11,000 was posted by Duane "Dog" Chapman. He was later ordered to appear in court on May 31, 2011. On May 5, 2011, it was announced that the charges against Cage had been dropped.

Filmography

+ Film credits
! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1980	''Brubaker''	Extra	Uncredited
1981		Nicholas
1982	''Fast Times at Ridgemont High''	Brad's Bud
1983	''''	Man in rumble scene	Uncredited
1983		Randy
1983	''Rumble Fish''	Smokey
1984	''Racing with the Moon''	Nicky and Bud
1984	''''	Vincent Dwyer
1984		Sergeant Al Columbato
1986	''''	Ned Hanlan
1986	''Peggy Sue Got Married''	Charlie Bodell
1987	''Raising Arizona''	H. I. McDunnough
1987	''Moonstruck''	Ronny Cammareri	Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1988		Man In Red Sports Car
1989	''Vampire's Kiss''	Peter Leow
1990	''Tempo di uccidere''	Enrico Silvestri
1990	''Fire Birds''	Jake Preston	aka ''Wings of the Apache''
1990		Sailor
1990	''Zandalee''	Johnny
1992	''Honeymoon in Vegas''	Jack Singer	Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1993	''Amos & Andrew''	Amos Odell
1993		Eddie
1994	''''	Himself
1994	''Red Rock West''	Michael Williams
1994	''Guarding Tess''	Doug Chesnic
1994		Charlie Lang
1994	''Trapped in Paradise''	Bill Firpo
1995		Little Junior Brown
1995	''Leaving Las Vegas''	Ben Sanderson
1996	''''	Dr. Stanley Goodspeed	Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor in an Action/Adventure
1997	''Con Air''	Cameron Poe	Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor in an Action/Adventure
1997	''Face/Off''	Castor Troy/Sean Archer
1998		Seth	Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor in a Drama or Romance Film
1998		Rick Santoro	Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor in a Suspense Film
1999		Tom Welles
1999	''Bringing Out the Dead''	Frank Pierce
2000		Randall "Memphis" Raines	Nominated—Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor in an Action Film
2000	''''	Jack Campbell	Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor in a Comedy or Romance Film
2000	''Welcome to Hollywood''	Himself
2001	''Italian Soldiers''	Himself
2001		Captain Antonio Corelli
2001	''Christmas Carol: The Movie''	Jacob Marley	Voice
2002	''Windtalkers''	Sgt. Joe Enders
2002	''Adaptation.''
2002		Acid Yellow
2003		Roy Waller
2004
2005	''Lord of War''	Yuri Orlov
2005	''''	David Spritz
2006	''''	Zoc	Voice
2006	''''	Edward Malus
2006	''Too Tough To Die''	Himself
2006
2007
2007
2007		Cris Johnson
2007	''National Treasure: Book of Secrets
2008		Joe
2009		Professor Jonathan "John" Koestler
2009		Speckles the Mole	Voice
2009		Dr. Tenma	Voice
2009	''Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans''	Terrence McDonagh, The bad Lieutenant
2010		Damon Macready/Big Daddy
2010	''''	Balthazar Blake
2011		Behman von Bleiruck
2011	''Drive Angry''	Milton
2011		Kyle
2011	''Seeking Justice''	Will Gerard
2012	''Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance''		filming
2012		Will Montgomery	filming
2012	''Frank or Francis''		pre-production
2012	''The Frozen Ground''	Detective Glenn Flothe	pre-production
2013	''''	Crug	Voice, pre-production

See also

Coppola family tree

List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees

References

External links

World Trade Center Interview with Nicolas Cage From IGN FilmForce

Category:1964 births Category:Actors from California Category:American people of German descent Category:American people of Italian descent Category:American film actors Category:American film directors Category:American film producers Category:American voice actors Category:Best Actor Academy Award winners Category:Coppola family Category:Living people Category:People from Long Beach, California Category:Science fiction fans Category:Pseudonymous artists

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