Coordinates	29°25′″N98°30′″N
birth name	Russell Ira Crowe
birth date	April 07, 1964
birth place	Wellington, New Zealand
occupation	Actor and musician
years active	1986–present
spouse	Danielle Spencer (2003–present) }}

Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is a New Zealand-born Australian actor and musician. His acting career began in the late 1980s with roles in Australian television series including ''Police Rescue'' and ''Neighbours''. In the early 1990s, Crowe's local prominence peaked when he won the Australian Film Industry Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of an inner-city skinhead in the Geoffrey Wright film, ''Romper Stomper''. In the late 1990s, Crowe transferred his acting ambitions to the USA with his breakout role in ''L.A. Confidential'' (1997). Crowe won the Academy Award for Best Actor for ''Gladiator'' in 2001 and has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Actor in a Leading Role: ''The Insider'' (1999), ''Gladiator'' (2000) and ''A Beautiful Mind'' (2001). He is also co-owner of South Sydney Rabbitohs, a National Rugby League team.

Early life

Crowe was born on 7 April 1964 in Wellington, New Zealand, the son of Jocelyn Yvonne (née Wemyss) and John Alexander Crowe, both of whom were movie set caterers; his father also managed a hotel. Crowe's maternal grandfather, Stan Wemyss, was a cinematographer who was named an MBE for filming footage of World War II. Crowe's maternal great-great-grandmother was Māori, and his paternal grandfather was from Wrexham, Wales; Crowe also has Scottish, Norwegian, English, and German ancestry. His two cousins, Martin and Jeff Crowe, are former New Zealand cricket captains.

When Crowe was four years old, his family moved to Australia, where his parents pursued a career in film set catering. The producer of the Australian TV series ''Spyforce'' was his mother's godfather, and Crowe at age five or six was hired for a line of dialogue in one episode, opposite series star Jack Thompson (in 1994 Thompson played Crowe's father in ''The Sum of Us''). Crowe also appeared briefly in serial ''The Young Doctors''.

He had been educated at the Sydney Boys High School. When he was 14, Crowe's family moved back to New Zealand, where he (along with his brother Terry) attended Auckland Grammar School with cousins Martin Crowe and Jeff Crowe. He then continued his secondary education at Mount Roskill Grammar School, which he left at the age 16 to pursue his ambitions and childhood dreams of becoming a successful actor.

Career

Crowe began his performing career as a musician in the mid-1980s, under guidance from his good friend Tom Sharplin, when he performed as a rock 'n roll revivalist, under the stage name ''Russ Le Roq''. He had a New Zealand single with ''I Just Want To Be Like Marlon Brando''. He managed an Auckland music venue called "The Venue" in the mid '80s.

From 1986 to 1988 he was given his first professional role by director Daniel Abineri in a production of ''The Rocky Horror Show''. He played the role of Eddie/Dr Scott. He repeated this performance in a further Australian production of the show. In the 1988 Australian production of ''Blood Brothers'', Crowe played the role of Mickey. He was also cast again by Daniel Abineri in the role of Johnny in the stage musical ''Bad Boy Johnny and the Prophets of Doom'' in 1989.

Crowe returned to Australia at age 21, intending to apply to the National Institute of Dramatic Art. "I was working in a theatre show, and talked to a guy who was then the head of technical support at NIDA," Crowe recalled. "I asked him what he thought about me spending three years at NIDA. He told me it'd be a waste of time. He said, 'You already do the things you go there to learn, and you've been doing it for most of your life, so there's nothing to teach you but bad habits.'" In 1987 Crowe spent six months busking when he couldn't find other work.

After appearing in the TV series ''Neighbours'' and ''Living with the Law,'' Crowe was cast in his first film, ''The Crossing'' (1990), a small-town love triangle directed by George Ogilvie. Before production started, a film-student protégé of Ogilvie, Steve Wallace, hired Crowe for the film ''Blood Oath'' (1990) (aka ''Prisoners of the Sun'') which was released a month earlier than ''The Crossing'', although actually filmed later. In 1992, Crowe starred in the first episode of the second series of ''Police Rescue.'' Also in 1992 Crowe starred in ''Romper Stomper'', an Australian film which follows the exploits and downfall of a racist skinhead group in blue-collar suburban Melbourne, directed by Geoffrey Wright, for which Crowe won an Australian Film Institute (AFI) award for Best Actor, following up from his Best Supporting Actor award for ''Proof'' in 1991.

After initial success in Australia, Crowe began acting in American films. He first co-starred with Denzel Washington in ''Virtuosity,'' and with Sharon Stone in ''The Quick and the Dead'' in 1995. He went on to become a three-time Oscar nominee, winning the Academy Award as Best Actor in 2001 for ''Gladiator''. Crowe was awarded the (Australian) Centenary Medal in 2001 for "service to Australian society and Australian film production."

Crowe received three consecutive best actor Oscar nominations for ''The Insider'', ''Gladiator'' and ''A Beautiful Mind''. Crowe won the best actor award for ''A Beautiful Mind'' at the 2002 BAFTA award ceremony, as well as the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award for the same performance. However he failed to win the Oscar that year, losing to Denzel Washington. It has been suggested that his attack on television producer Malcolm Gerrie for cutting short his acceptance speech may have turned voters against him.

All three films were also nominated for best picture, and both ''Gladiator'' and ''A Beautiful Mind'' won the award. Within the six year stretch from 1997–2003, he also starred in two other best picture nominees, ''L.A. Confidential'' and ''Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World'', though he was nominated for neither. In 2005 he re-teamed with ''A Beautiful Mind'' director Ron Howard for ''Cinderella Man''. In 2006 he re-teamed with ''Gladiator'' director Ridley Scott for ''A Good Year'', the first of two consecutive collaborations (the second being ''American Gangster'' co-starring again with Denzel Washington, released in late 2007). While the light romantic comedy of ''A Good Year'' was not greatly received, Crowe seemed pleased with the film, telling STV in an interview that he thought it would be enjoyed by fans of his other films.

In recent years Crowe's box office standing has declined considerably. Crowe appeared in ''Robin Hood'', a film based on the Robin Hood legend, directed by Ridley Scott and released on May 14, 2010.

Crowe starred in the 2010 Paul Haggis film ''The Next Three Days'', an adaptation of the 2008 French film ''Pour Elle''.

On 15 June 2011 it was announced Crowe had been cast as Superman's biological father Jor-El in Zack Snyder's 2013 Superman reboot "Man of Steel".

Al-Qaeda threats

On 9 March 2005, Crowe revealed to ''GQ'' magazine that Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents had approached him prior to the 73rd Academy Awards on 25 March 2001 and told him that the Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda wanted to kidnap him. Crowe told the magazine that it was the first time he had ever heard of al-Qaeda and was quoted as saying:

Crowe recalled that:

Crowe was guarded by United States Secret Service agents for the next few months, both while shooting films and at award ceremonies (Scotland Yard also guarded Crowe while he was promoting ''Proof of Life'' in London in February 2001). Crowe said that he:

Music

In the 1980s Crowe, going under the name of "Russ le Roq", recorded a song titled "I Want To Be Like Marlon Brando".

In the '80s Crowe and friend Billy Dean Cochran formed a band, "Roman Antix", which later evolved into the Australian rock band 30 Odd Foot of Grunts (abbreviated to TOFOG). Crowe performed lead vocals and guitar for the band, which formed in 1992. The band released ''The Photograph Kills EP'' in 1995 as well as three full length records, ''Gaslight'' (1998),''Bastard Life or Clarity'' (2001) and ''Other Ways of Speaking'' (2003). In 2000 TOFOG performed shows in London, Los Angeles and the now famous run of shows at Stubbs in Austin, TX which became a live DVD that was released in 2001 called ''Texas''. In 2001 the band came to the US for major press, radio and TV appearances for the ''Bastard Life or Clarity'' release and returned Stubbs in Austin, TX to kick off a sold out US tour with dates in Austin, Boulder, Chicago, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, New York City and the last show at the famous Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ.

In early 2005 30 Odd Foot Of Grunts as a group has "dissolved/evolved" with Crowe feeling his future music would take a new direction and he began a collaboration with Alan Doyle of the Canadian band Great Big Sea, and with it a new band: The Ordinary Fear of God which also involved some members of the previous TOFOG lineup. A new single, ''Raewyn'', was released in April 2005 and an album entitled ''My Hand, My Heart'' which was released and is available for download on iTunes. The album includes a tribute song to actor Richard Harris, who became Crowe's friend during the making of ''Gladiator''.

Russell Crowe & The Ordinary Fear of God set out to break the new band in by performing a successful sold out series of dates of Australia in 2005 and then in 2006 returned to the US to promote their new release ''My Hand, My Heart'' with another sold-out US Tour and major press, radio and television appearances.

In March 2010 Russell Crowe & The Ordinary Fear of God's version of the John Williamson song "Winter Green" was included on a new compilation album ''The Absolute Best of John Williamson: 40 Years True Blue'', commemorating the singer-songwriter's milestone of 40 years in the Australian music industry.

In May 2011 there are plans to release a new Russell Crowe & The Ordinary Fear of God recording (co-written with Alan Doyle) and for a US Tour which would be the first live dates in the US since 2006.

On 2 August 2011, the third collaboration between Crowe and Doyle was released on iTunes as ''The Crowe/Doyle Songbook Vol III'', featuring 9 original songs followed by their acoustic demo counterparts (for a total of 18 tracks). Danielle Spencer does guest vocals on most tracks. The release coincided with a pair of live performances at the LSPU Hall in St. John's, NF. The digital album is due to be released on Amazon.com on 9 August 2011. The album has since charted at #72 on the Canadian Albums Chart.

Philanthropy

During location filming of ''Cinderella Man'', Crowe made a donation to a Jewish elementary school whose library had been damaged as a result of arson. A note with an anti-Semitic message had been left at the scene. Crowe called school officials to express his concern and wanted his message relayed to the students. The school’s building fund received donations from throughout Canada and the amount of Crowe’s donation was not disclosed.

On another occasion, Crowe donated a large sum of money ($200,000) to a struggling primary school near his home in rural Australia. Crowe's sympathies were sparked when a pupil drowned at the nearby Coffs Harbour beach in 2001, and he believes the pool will help students become better swimmers and improve their knowledge of water safety. At the opening ceremony he dove into the pool fully clothed as soon as the venue was declared open. Nana Glen principal Laurie Renshall says, "The many things he does up here, people just don't know about. We've been trying to get a pool for 10 years."

Personal life

From his youth to the present, Crowe has had a special love of horses. "They're just like people," he told CraveOnline, "there are some horses that you have a deeper connection with immediately, and you can work on that over time." He has also noted that he sometimes finds it difficult to part with his equine co-stars when a film wraps.

On 7 April 2003, his 39th birthday, Crowe married Australian singer and actress Danielle Spencer. Crowe met Spencer while filming ''The Crossing'' (1990). Crowe and Spencer have two sons: Charles "Charlie" Spencer (born 21 December 2003) and Tennyson Spencer (born 7 July 2006).

Prior to his marriage to Spencer, Crowe had a relationship with Meg Ryan during and after the filming of ''Proof of Life'' in 2000.

Most of the year, Crowe resides in Australia. He has a home in Sydney at the end of the Finger Wharf in Woolloomooloo and a 320-hectare rural property in Nana Glen near Coffs Harbour, New South Wales.

Crowe also owns a house in the North Queensland city of Townsville: he purchased the $450,000 home in the suburb of Douglas on 3 May 2008. It's believed the home is for his niece, who is studying at James Cook University.

Crowe stated in November 2007 that he would like to be baptised, and feels that he has put it off for too long. "I do believe there are more important things than what is in the mind of a man," he says. "There is something much bigger that drives us all. I'm willing to take that leap of faith."

In the beginning of 2009, Crowe appeared in a series of special edition postage stamps called "Legends of the Screen", featuring Australian actors. He, Geoffrey Rush, Cate Blanchett, and Nicole Kidman each appear twice in the series: once as themselves and once as their Academy Award-winning character.

Crowe announced he had quit smoking in July 2010 for the sake of his two sons. He told a press conference that he had started smoking when he was ten, and had probably smoked up to 18,000 cigarettes a year for most of his life. On 10 November 2010 he admitted on the ''Late Show with David Letterman'' that he had smoked over 60 cigarettes a day until stopping, but added that he had smoked heavily on the previous day. In December 2010 the ''Toronto Sun'' reported that Crowe was smoking as heavily as ever during the making of, and the subsequent publicity campaign for, ''The Next Three Days''. By April 2011, it has been officially confirmed that Crowe has taken up smoking again. Since then, he has been spotted smoking just as heavily as before.

Sport

Rugby league

Crowe has been a supporter of the rugby league football team the South Sydney Rabbitohs since childhood. Since his rise to fame as an actor, he has continued appearing at home games, and supported the financially troubled club. Following the Super League war of the 1990s Crowe made an attempt to use his Hollywood connections to convince Ted Turner, rival of Super League's Rupert Murdoch, to save the Rabbitohs before they were forced from the National Rugby League competition for two years. In 1999 Crowe paid A$42,000 at auction for the brass bell used to open the inaugural rugby league match in Australia in 1908 at a fund-raiser to assist Souths' legal battle for inclusion in the League. In 2005, he made the Rabbitohs the first club team in Australia to be sponsored by a film, when he negotiated a deal to advertise his film ''Cinderella Man'' on their jerseys.

He is friends with many current and former players of the club, and currently employs former South Sydney forward Mark Carroll as a bodyguard and personal trainer. He has encouraged other actors to support the club, such as Tom Cruise and Burt Reynolds.

On 19 March 2006, the voting members of the South Sydney club voted (in a 75.8% majority) to allow Crowe and businessman Peter Holmes à Court to purchase 75% of the organisation, leaving 25% ownership with the members. It cost them A$3 million, and they received four of eight seats on the board of directors. A six part television miniseries entitled "South Side Story" depicting the takeover aired in Australia in 2007.

On 5 November 2006, Crowe appeared on ''Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' to announce that Firepower International was sponsoring the South Sydney Rabbitohs for $3 million over three years. During a ''Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' appearance, watched by over 11 million viewers, Crowe showed viewers a Rabbitoh playing jersey with Firepower's name emblazoned on it.

Crowe helped to organise a rugby league game that took place in Jacksonville, Florida between the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the English Super League champions Leeds Rhinos on 26 January 2008 (Australia Day). The game was played at the University of North Florida. Crowe told ITV Local Yorkshire the game wasn't a marketing exercise.

Crowe wrote a letter of apology to a Sydney newspaper following the sacking of South Sydney's coach Jason Taylor and one of their players David Fa'alogo after a drunken altercation between the two at the end of the 2009 NRL season.

Also in 2009 Crowe persuaded young England international forward Sam Burgess to sign with the Rabbitohs over other clubs that were competing for his signature, after inviting Burgess and his mother to the set of ''Robin Hood'', which he was filming in England at the time.

In the 2010 post-season it was reported that Crowe's influence was critical in persuading Greg Inglis, one of the world's best players, to renege on his deal to join the Brisbane Broncos and sign for the Rabbitohs for 2011.

On 5 December 2010 the Sunday Telegraph reported that the NRL was investigating the business relationships Russell Crowe has with a number of media and entertainment companies in relation to the South Sydney Rabbitohs' salary cap. Salary cap auditor Ian Schubert was reported to be delving into Crowe's recent dealings with Channel Nine, Channel Seven, ANZ Stadium and V8 Supercars.

On 26 January 2011 the ''Sydney Morning Herald'' reported that the Rabbitohs were about to embark on a five year multi-million dollar sponsorship deal with the giant Star City Casino. Souths also announced a corporate partnership with the bookmaking conglomerate Luxbet.

Previously Crowe had been prominent in trying to prevent gambling being associated with the Rabbitohs. Reuters, on 3 January 2008, reported that Crowe was "fighting a new gladiatorial combat to wean his countrymen off their addiction to gambling machines."

In May 2011 Crowe was credited for an arrangement with Fox to have the 2011 State of Origin series broadcast live for the first time in the United States, in addition to the NRL Grand Final.

Other sporting interests

In Football (soccer), Crowe acknowledged to be a fan of Bristol City and Leeds United.

Crowe is a big cricket fan. He played cricket in school and his cousins Martin Crowe and Jeff Crowe are former Black Caps Captains. Russell Crowe also captained the 'Australian' Team containing Steve Waugh against an English side in the 'Hollywood Ashes' Cricket Match. On 17 July 2009, Crowe took to the commentary box for the British sports channel, Sky Sports, as the 'third man' during the second test of the 2009 Ashes series, between England and Australia.

Russell Crowe is also a supporter of the Leeds Rhinos in the Super League and Richmond Tigers in the AFL

Crowe is a big supporter of the University of Michigan Wolverines American football team, an interest that stems from his friendship with former Wolverines coach Lloyd Carr. Carr used Crowe's movie ''Cinderella Man'' to motivate his team in 2006 following a disappointing 7–5 season the previous year. Upon hearing of this, Crowe called Carr and invited him to Australia to address his Rugby league team the South Sydney Rabbitohs, an offer Carr took Crowe up on the following summer. In September 2007, after Carr came under fire following the Wolverines' 0–2 start, Crowe traveled to Ann Arbor, Michigan for the Wolverines' 15 September game against Notre Dame to show his support for Carr. He addressed the team before the game and watched from the sidelines as the Wolverines defeated the Irish 38–0.

Crowe is also a fan of the National Football League, and on 22 October 2007, appeared in the booth of a Monday Night game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Jacksonville Jaguars. He is also a devout fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs which stems from his shooting of ''Cinderella Man'' at Maple Leaf Gardens.

Altercations and controversies

Crowe has been involved in a number of altercations in recent years which have given him a reputation for having a bad temper.

In 1999, Crowe was involved in a scuffle at the Plantation Hotel in Coffs Harbour, Australia, which was caught on security video. Two men were acquitted of using the video in an attempt to blackmail Crowe.

When part of Crowe's appearance at the 2002 BAFTA awards was cut out to fit into the BBC's tape-delayed broadcast, Crowe used strong language during an argument with producer Malcolm Gerrie. The part cut was a poem in tribute to actor Richard Harris who was then terminally ill, and was cut for copyright reasons. Crowe later apologised, saying "What I said to him may have been a little bit more passionate than now, in the cold light of day, I would have liked it to have been." Later that year, Crowe was alleged to have been involved in a "brawl" with businessman Eric Watson inside a trendy Japanese restaurant in London. The fight was broken up by British actor Ross Kemp.

In June 2005, Crowe was arrested and charged with second-degree assault by New York City police, after he threw a telephone at an employee of the Mercer Hotel who refused to help him place a call when the system did not work from his room, and was charged with fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon (the telephone). The employee, a concierge, was treated for a facial laceration. Crowe described the incident as "possibly the most shameful situation that I've ever gotten myself in... and I've done some pretty dumb things in my life". He was sentenced to conditional release. Prior to the plea bargain, Crowe settled a lawsuit filed by the concierge, Nestor Estrada. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed but amounts in the six-figure range have been suggested.

Crowe's altercations were lampooned in the ''South Park'' episode, "The New Terrance and Phillip Movie Trailer".

In June 2011, Crowe expressed his views against infant circumcision on Twitter, calling the practice "barbaric" and asking, "Who are you to correct nature? Is it real that [God] requires a donation of foreskin? Babies are [born] perfect." The comments coincided with a debate to ban the procedure on infants in California. Crowe removed the comments the following day and tweeted an apology: "My personal beliefs aside I realize that some will interpret this debate as me mocking the rituals and traditions of others. I am very sorry."

Filmography

+ Films
! Year	! Film	! Role	Notes
1990		Lt. Jack Corbett
1990	''''	Johnny Ryan
1991		Andy	Australian Film Institute
1992		Kim Barrett
1992	''[[Romper Stomper''	Hando	Australian Film Institute
1993	''[[Hammers Over the Anvil''	East Driscoll
1993	''''	The Man (Egan)
1993	''For the Moment''	Lachlan Currie
1993	''Love in Limbo''	Arthur Baskin
1994	''''	Jeff Mitchell
1995	''''	Cort
1995	''No Way Back''	FBI Agent Zack Grant
1995	''Virtuosity''	SID 6.7
1995	''Rough Magic''	Alex Ross
1997		Officer Wendell "Bud" White	Chlotrudis Award for Best ActorNominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture DramaNominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
1997	''Heaven's Burning''	Colin O'Brien
1997		Steve
1999	''Mystery, Alaska''	Sheriff John Biebe
1999	''''	Jeffrey Wigand	Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorLondon Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor (also for ''Gladiator (2000 film)
2000		[[Maximus Decimus Meridius	Academy Award for Best ActorBlockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor – ActionBroadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorDallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorEmpire Award for Best ActorLondon Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor (also for ''The Insider'')San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best ActorNominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading RoleNominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture DramaNominated—Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best ActorNominated—MTV Movie Award for Best PerformanceNominated—MTV Movie Award for Best FightNominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best ActorNominated—Saturn Award for Best ActorNominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture DramaNominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading RoleNominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2000	''Proof of Life''	Terry Thorne
2001	''''		BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading RoleBroadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorDallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorGolden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture DramaScreen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading RolePhoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best ActorNominated—American Film Institute Awards 2001
2003	''[[Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World''	Capt. Jack Aubrey	Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama
2005	''Cinderella Man''
2006	''''	Max Skinner
2007		Ben Wade	Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2007
2008		Detective Cristofuoro
2008		Ed Hoffman
2009		Cal McAffrey
2010		Robin Longstride
2010	''''	John Brennan
2011	''The Man with the Iron Fists''		Filming
2011	''Republic of Doyle''		''TV Series''
2013	''Superman: Man of Steel''	Jor-El	''Pre-production''

References

External links

Russell Crowe: ''American Gangster'' video interview with stv.tv, November 2007

Category:1964 births Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:Best Actor Academy Award winners Category:Best Actor BAFTA Award winners Category:New Zealand expatriates in Australia Category:Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Former students of Mount Roskill Grammar School Category:Former students of Auckland Grammar School Category:Living people Category:Australian film actors Category:Australian Christians Category:New Zealand film actors Category:New Zealand people of Scottish descent Category:New Zealand people of Welsh descent Category:New Zealand Māori people Category:New Zealand rock singers Category:Naturalised citizens of Australia Category:People convicted of assault Category:People from Wellington City Category:People from Sydney Category:New Zealand people of Norwegian descent Category:New Zealand rugby league chairmen and investors Category:Recipients of the Centenary Medal Category:People educated at Sydney Boys High School

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Coordinates	29°25′″N98°30′″N
name	Russell Peters
birth name	Russell Dominic Peters
birth date	September 29, 1970
birth place	Brampton, Ontario, Canada
medium	Stand-up, Television, Film, Radio
nationality	Canadian
genre	Satire, Improvisational comedy, Observational comedy
active	1989–present
subject	Racism, Race relations, Stereotypes, Multiculturalism, Indian culture
influences	George Carlin, Steve Martin, Cheech and Chong, Don Rickles, Eddie Murphy
signature	Russell Peters Autograph.svg
website	RussellPeters.com
spouse	Monica Diaz (2010–present) 1 child }}

Russell Dominic Peters (born September 29, 1970) is a Canadian comedian, actor and disc jockey. He began performing in Toronto in 1989 and has been nominated for four Gemini Awards.

Early life

Russell Peters was born in Brampton, Ontario, Canada to Eric and Maureen Peters. His family is of Anglo-Indian ancestry and is Catholic. His father was born in Pune, India and worked as a federal meat inspector and his mother was born in Calcutta, India. He has an older brother named Clayton who was born in Calcutta.

He went to Georges Vanier Catholic Elementary School from kindergarten to grade 8, Bramalea Secondary School for grades 9–10, and North Peel Secondary School for grades 11–12 in Brampton.

Career

Peters began performing in Toronto in 1989. He has since also performed in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, mainland China, Hong Kong, Iran, Denmark, South Africa, the Caribbean, Vietnam, New Zealand, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Sweden, India, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Jordan, Norway , Lebanon, London, Pakistan and Trinidad among other places.

He hosted the Canada Day Comedy Festival 2006. His comedy special ''Russell Peters: Outsourced'', aired on Comedy Central on August 16, 2006. The DVD version features his uncensored performance. The DVD has been popular, especially in Canada, selling over 100,000 copies. ''Outsourced'' remained on the National DVD Chart over one and a half years after release.

In September 2008, it was confirmed that Peters made a deal with Fox to develop a new sitcom, based on his experience in Canada. Peters says, "It's really a snapshot of where my family maybe was ten years ago" and he ensures that the sitcom is "Something that will be funny and honest." Peters participated in a USO tour of Iraq, Afghanistan, Germany, Africa and Greenland in November 2007 with Wilmer Valderrama and Mayra Veronica. Peters' latest DVD/CD combo ''Russell Peters: Red, White, and Brown'' was recorded on February 2, 2008, at The WAMU Theatre at Madison Square Garden. Peters and his brother, Clayton Peters, who is also his manager, self-produced and financed ''Red, White and Brown''. It was released in Canada in September 2008 and in the US on January 27, 2009. Peters also currently produces and stars on the radio situation comedy series, ''Monsoon House'', on CBC Radio One.

Peters was the host of the 2008 Juno Awards televised ceremonies in Calgary on April 6, 2008, for which he won a Gemini Award for "Best Performance or Host in a Variety Program or Series". The 2008 awards broadcast received the second-highest ratings ever for the program. He was asked to host the Juno Awards for a second year in a row. The 2009 Juno Awards took place in Vancouver on March 29, 2009.

Between June 2008 and June 2009, Peters earned $10 million, making him one of the highest-paid comedians during that twelve-month period.

Between June 2008 and June 2010, Peters earned $15 million, continuing his run as one of the highest-paid comedians.

On October 26, 2010, Peters released his autobiography, ''Call me Russell'', co - written with his brother Clayton and Dannis Koromilas.

Russell first appeared as a guest on the Joe Rogan podcast on December 17th 2010, episode 63. On June 21st 2011, Russell went onto the Joe Rogan podcast again, this time with Junior Simpson. Joe Rogan was the main host and Brian Redban was the co-host/technician.

Popularity

Peters' popularity extends to several countries. In Canada, Peters became the first comedian to sell out Toronto's Air Canada Centre, with more than 15,000 tickets in two days for the single show. He ended up selling over 30,000 tickets nationally over the two-day sales period. A total of over 60,000 tickets were sold across six cities. In Sydney, Peters had a record breaking audience of 13,880, making the event the largest stand-up comedy show in Australian history He broke a UK comedy sales record at London's O2 arena when he sold over 16,000 tickets to his show on February 14, 2009 . Peters attributes his sudden widespread popularity to a stand-up performance he did on the Canadian TV comedy series ''Comedy Now!'' that was uploaded onto YouTube and became viral. While the initial video upload featured his performance in its 45 minute entirety, subsequent videos uploaded by other YouTube users were snippets of that performance, chopped into each of the cultural groups he targeted. According to Peters, those snippets made their way to those specified cultural groups, and were well received by them.

Comedy

Russell Peters' stand-up performances are mostly made up of observational comedy where he uses humor to poke fun at the subjects of race, class and culture, often using his own life experiences as well as impersonations of different cultural accents to illustrate his act. Russell Peters uses his minority status to allow him to poke fun at different races in his performance, but according to an interview done for ''The National'', he does not intend to put down or offend different races and cultures, but instead tries to raise them up through humor. For example: "Somebody gonna get a hurt real bad".

Personal life

Peters proposed to girlfriend Monica Diaz García on July 10, 2010 at the Los Angeles International Airport. He announced the engagement via Twitter. The couple married on August 20, 2010 at A Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas. The wedding was attended by about 20 guests, including an Elvis impersonator. Peters and Diaz had their first child, a girl, due February 23, 2011. When announcing the pregnancy, Peters told The Canadian Press, "Did I get married because she was knocked up? I would say that expedited it." His daughter was born two and a half months early,on December 14, 2010, but was healthy as Peters stated on his Twitter. She was given the name Crystianna Marie Peters.

Awards and recognition

He has been nominated for four Gemini Awards, the Canadian television awards. He has also been nominated for Best Male Comic at the Canadian Comedy Awards. Peters has been featured at such shows as Montreal's Just for Laughs (Juste pour rire) Comedy Festival, the Winnipeg Comedy Festival, and the Edinburgh Festival.

On June 28, 2011 it was announced that Peters will receive a star on Canada's Walk of Fame and will be inducted on October 1 at Elgin Theatre in Toronto.

1997 – Nomination for the Gemini Award in the category "Best Individual Performance in a Comedy Program or Series". This was for ''Show Me The Funny'', from the TV-series ''Comics!'' (1997)

2004 – Nomination for a Gemini Award for his Comedy Now! special.

2008 – Nomination for a Gemini Award for hosting The Junos.

2008 – Winner of a Gemini Award for 'Best Performance or Host in a Variety Program or Series'.

Filmography

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Notable roles played

Peters has appeared in a few films, most recently ''Senior Skip Day'' also starring Larry Miller, Tara Reid, and Gary Lundy. Besides this, he has also had short appearances in the 1994 film ''Boozecan'' as Snake's Friend, the 1999 film ''Tiger Claws III'' as Detective Elliott, the 2004 film ''My Baby's Daddy'' as the obstetrician, the 2006 film ''Quarter Life Crisis'' as Dilip Kumar, the 2007 film ''The Take'' as Dr. Sharma, and the 2008 film ''Senior Skip Day'' as Uncle Todd.

Peters is scheduled to star as "Pervius" in ''National Lampoon's The Legend of Awesomest Maximus'' he is also going to appear in a CBC movie entitled 'Breakaway'. He also acted in Duncan Jones's movie ''Source Code'' as Max, an amateur comedian with a bad attitude. ;Acting roles – television

"Comics Without Borders" (2008)

Russell Peters: Red, White and Brown (2008)

Senior Skip Day/High School's Day Off (Australia title) (2008)- Uncle Todd

;Appearances on television

"Lopez Tonight" - Himself (February 2, 2010)

"The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" – Himself (2009)

"The 9th Annual Canadian Comedy Awards" (2008)- Himself (Winner – Best Large Venue Stand-up)

"CBC News: The Hour" .... Himself – Episode dated 18 September 2008 (2008) TV episode .... Himself

"The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" – Himself – Episode dated 15 February 2008 (2008)

"Def Comedy Jam" – Episode #8.4 (2008) TV episode – Himself/Comedian

"Pulse: The Desi Beat" – Episode #1.9 (2007) TV episode – Himself

"Video on Trial" – Episode #3.3 (2007) TV episode – Himself

"Comics Unleashed" – Episode #1.6 (2009) TV episode- Himself

The 4th Annual Canadian Comedy Awards (2003) – Himself

The 5th Annual Canadian Comedy Awards (2004) – Nominee (Male Stand-up)

MTV Cribs (Where he featured on two different episodes)

;Self

Heckler (2007)

Let's All Hate Toronto (2007)

References

Further reading

External links

Official website

Russell Peters at Facebook

Russell named first Toronto ambassador

Category:1970 births Category:Actors from Ontario Category:Anglo-Indian people Category:Canadian expatriates in the United States Category:Canadian film actors Category:Canadian Internet personalities Category:Canadian people of Indian descent Category:Canadian radio actors Category:Canadian Roman Catholics Category:Canadian stand-up comedians Category:Gemini Award winners Category:Living people Category:People from Brampton

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Coordinates	29°25′″N98°30′″N
region	Western philosophy
era	20th century philosophy
colour	#B0C4DE
name	Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell
birth date	May 18, 1872
birth place	Trellech, Monmouthshire, UK
death date	February 02, 1970
death place	Penrhyndeudraeth, Wales, UK
school tradition	Analytic philosophy
main interests	Metaphysics, epistemology, logic, mathematics, philosophy of language, philosophy of science, ethics, philosophy of religion, history of philosophy
Influences	Mill, Peano, Frege, Santayana, Leibniz, Hume, Locke, Wittgenstein, Spinoza, Whitehead
Influenced	WittgensteinAyerCarnapGödelPopperQuineChomskyAustinKripkeSchlickTarskiWaismannDavidson EddingtonTuringVuilleminMcDowellKumarAlbert Ellis
notable ideas	Logical atomism, theory of descriptions, knowledge by acquaintance and knowledge by description, Russell's paradox, Russell's teapot.
notable ideas	Analytic philosophy, logical atomism, theory of descriptions, knowledge by acquaintance and knowledge by description, Russell's paradox, Russell's teapot
signature	}}

Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, and social critic. At various points in his life he imagined himself a liberal, a socialist, and a pacifist, but he also admitted that he had never been any of these things in any profound sense. He was born in Wales, into one of the most prominent aristocratic families in Britain.

Russell led the British "revolt against idealism" in the early 1900s. He is considered one of the founders of analytic philosophy along with his predecessor Gottlob Frege and his protégé Ludwig Wittgenstein, and is widely held to be one of the 20th century's premier logicians. He co-authored, with A. N. Whitehead, ''Principia Mathematica'', an attempt to ground mathematics on logic. His philosophical essay "On Denoting" has been considered a "paradigm of philosophy." His work has had a considerable influence on logic, mathematics, set theory, linguistics, computer science (see type theory and type system), and philosophy, especially philosophy of language, epistemology, and metaphysics.

Russell was a prominent anti-war activist; he championed free trade and anti-imperialism. Russell went to prison for his pacifism during World War I. Later, he campaigned against Adolf Hitler, then criticised Stalinist totalitarianism, attacked the United States of America's involvement in the Vietnam War, and was an outspoken proponent of nuclear disarmament. One of his last acts was to issue a statement which condemned Israeli aggression in the Middle East.

In 1950, Russell was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, "in recognition of his varied and significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought."

Biography

Ancestry

Bertrand Russell was born on 18 May 1872 at Ravenscroft, Trellech, Monmouthshire, Wales, into an influential and liberal family of the British aristocracy. His paternal grandfather, John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, was the third son of John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford, and had twice been asked by Queen Victoria to form a government, serving her as Prime Minister in the 1840s and 1860s. The Russells had been prominent in England for several centuries before this, coming to power and the peerage with the rise of the Tudor dynasty. They established themselves as one of Britain's leading Whig families, and participated in every great political event from the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536–40 to the Glorious Revolution in 1688–89 to the Great Reform Act in 1832.

Russell's mother Katharine Louisa (1844–1874) was the daughter of Edward Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley, and was the sister of Rosalind Howard, Countess of Carlisle. Kate and Rosalind's mother was one of the founders of Girton College, Cambridge.

Russell's parents were radical for their times. Russell's father, Viscount Amberley, was an atheist and consented to his wife's affair with their children's tutor, the biologist Douglas Spalding. Both were early advocates of birth control at a time when this was considered scandalous. John Russell's atheism was evident when he asked the philosopher John Stuart Mill to act as Russell's secular godfather. Mill died the year after Russell's birth, but his writings had a great effect on Russell's life.

Childhood and adolescence

Russell had two siblings: Frank (nearly seven years older than Bertrand), and Rachel (four years older). In June 1874 Russell's mother died of diphtheria, followed shortly by Rachel's death. In January 1876, his father also died of bronchitis following a long period of depression. Frank and Bertrand were placed in the care of their staunchly Victorian grandparents, who lived at Pembroke Lodge in Richmond Park. John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, his grandfather, who had been Prime Minister, died in 1878, and was remembered by Russell as a kindly old man in a wheelchair. As a result, his widow, the Countess Russell (née Lady Frances Elliot), was the dominant family figure for the rest of Russell's childhood and youth.

The countess was from a Scottish Presbyterian family, and successfully petitioned the Court of Chancery to set aside a provision in Amberley's will requiring the children to be raised as agnostics. Despite her religious conservatism, she held progressive views in other areas (accepting Darwinism and supporting Irish Home Rule), and her influence on Bertrand Russell's outlook on social justice and standing up for principle remained with him throughout his life — her favourite Bible verse, 'Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil' (Exodus 23:2), became his motto. The atmosphere at Pembroke Lodge was one of frequent prayer, emotional repression and formality; Frank reacted to this with open rebellion, but the young Bertrand learned to hide his feelings.

Russell's adolescence was very lonely, and he often contemplated suicide. He remarked in his autobiography that his keenest interests were in religion and mathematics, and that only the wish to know more mathematics kept him from suicide. He was educated at home by a series of tutors. His brother Frank introduced him to the work of Euclid, which transformed Russell's life.

Also, during these formative years, he discovered the works of Percy Bysshe Shelley. In his autobiography, he writes: "I spent all my spare time reading him, and learning him by heart, knowing no one to whom I could speak of what I thought or felt, I used to reflect how wonderful it would have been to know Shelley, and to wonder whether I should meet any live human being with whom I should feel so much sympathy." Russell claimed that beginning at age 15, he spent considerable time thinking about the validity of Christian religious dogma, and by 18 had decided to discard the last of it.

University and first marriage

Russell won a scholarship to read for the Mathematical Tripos at Trinity College, Cambridge, and commenced his studies there in 1890. He became acquainted with the younger G.E. Moore and came under the influence of Alfred North Whitehead, who recommended him to the Cambridge Apostles. He quickly distinguished himself in mathematics and philosophy, graduating as a high Wrangler in 1893 and becoming a Fellow in the latter in 1895.

Russell first met the American Quaker Alys Pearsall Smith when he was 17 years old. He became a friend of the Pearsall Smith family—they knew him primarily as 'Lord John's grandson' and enjoyed showing him off—and travelled with them to the continent; it was in their company that Russell visited the Paris Exhibition of 1889 and was able to climb the Eiffel Tower soon after it was completed.

He soon fell in love with the puritanical, high-minded Alys, who was a graduate of Bryn Mawr College near Philadelphia, and, contrary to his grandmother's wishes, married her on 13 December 1894. Their marriage began to fall apart in 1901 when it occurred to Russell, while he was cycling, that he no longer loved her. She asked him if he loved her and he replied that he didn't. Russell also disliked Alys's mother, finding her controlling and cruel. It was to be a hollow shell of a marriage and they finally divorced in 1921, after a lengthy period of separation. During this period, Russell had passionate (and often simultaneous) affairs with a number of women, including Lady Ottoline Morrell and the actress Lady Constance Malleson.

Early career

Russell began his published work in 1896 with ''German Social Democracy'', a study in politics that was an early indication of a lifelong interest in political and social theory. In 1896, he taught German social democracy at the London School of Economics, where he also lectured on the science of power in the autumn of 1937. He was also a member of the Coefficients dining club of social reformers set up in 1902 by the Fabian campaigners Sidney and Beatrice Webb.

He now started an intensive study of the foundations of mathematics at Trinity during which he discovered Russell's paradox which challenged the foundations of set theory. In 1903 he published his first important book on mathematical logic, ''The Principles of Mathematics'' showing that mathematics could be deduced from a very small number of principles, and contributing significantly to the cause of logicism.

In 1905 he wrote the essay "On Denoting", which was published in the philosophical journal ''Mind''. Russell became a fellow of the Royal Society in 1908. The first of three volumes of ''Principia Mathematica'', written with Whitehead, was published in 1910, which, along with the earlier ''The Principles of Mathematics'', soon made Russell world famous in his field.

In 1910 he became a lecturer in the University of Cambridge where he soon received an approach from the Austrian engineering student Ludwig Wittgenstein, who became his PhD student and whom he viewed as a genius and a successor who would continue his work on logic. He spent hours dealing with Wittgenstein's various phobias and his frequent bouts of despair. This was often a drain on Russell's energy, but Russell continued to be fascinated by him and encouraged his academic development, including the publication of Wittgenstein's ''Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus'' in 1922. Russell delivered his lectures on Logical Atomism, his version of these ideas, in 1918 before the end of the First World War and whilst Wittgenstein was still a prisoner of war.

First World War

During the First World War, Russell was one of a very small number of intellectuals engaged in pacifist activities, and, in 1916, he was dismissed from Trinity College following his conviction under the Defence of the Realm Act. He was charged a fine of 100 Pounds Sterling which he refused to pay, hoping that he would be sent to prison, but they instead sold his books at auction to raise the money. The books were bought by friends and he later treasured his copy of the King James Bible that was stamped "Confiscated by Cambridge Police." Russell was released from prison in September 1918. He was reinstated 1919, resigned 1920, was Tarner Lecturer 1926, and became a Fellow again 1944–1949. A later conviction for publicly lecturing against inviting the US to enter the war on Britain's side, resulted in six months' imprisonment in Brixton prison (see ''Bertrand Russell's views on society'').

Between the wars, and second marriage

In August 1920, Russell travelled to Russia as part of an official delegation sent by the British government to investigate the effects of the Russian Revolution. He met Vladimir Lenin and had an hour-long conversation with him. In his autobiography, he mentions that he found Lenin rather disappointing, sensing an "impish cruelty" in him and comparing him to "an opinionated professor". He also cruised down the Volga on a steam-ship. Russell's lover Dora Black also visited Russia independently at the same time — she was enthusiastic about the revolution, but Russell's experiences destroyed his previous tentative support for it. He wrote a book "The Practice and Theory of Bolshevism" about his experiences on this trip, which included 24 others from Britain, all of whom came home thinking well of the regime, despite Russell's attempts to change their mind. For example, he told them that he heard shots fired in the middle of the night and was sure these were clandestine executions, but the others maintained that it was only cars backfiring.

Russell subsequently lectured in Beijing on philosophy for one year, accompanied by Dora. He went there with optimism and hope, as China was then on a new path. Among other scholars there was Rabindranath Tagore, the Indian poet and also a Nobel Laureate. While in China, Russell became gravely ill with pneumonia, and incorrect reports of his death were published in the Japanese press. When the couple visited Japan on their return journey, Dora notified the world that "Mr. Bertrand Russell, having died according to the Japanese press, is unable to give interviews to Japanese journalists." The press were not amused and did not appreciate the sarcasm.

On the couple's return to England on 26 August 1921, Dora was six months pregnant, and Russell arranged a hasty divorce from Alys, marrying Dora six days after the divorce was finalised, on 27 September 1921. Their children were John Conrad Russell, 4th Earl Russell, born on 16 November 1921 and Katharine Jane Russell (now Lady Katharine Tait) born on 29 December 1923. Russell supported himself during this time by writing popular books explaining matters of physics, ethics, and education to the layman. Some have suggested that at this point he had an affair with Vivienne Haigh-Wood, first wife of T. S. Eliot.

Together with Dora, he also founded the experimental Beacon Hill School in 1927. The school was run from a succession of different locations, including its original premises at the Russells' residence, Telegraph House, near Harting, West Sussex. On 8 July 1930 Dora welcomed her third child, a daughter, Harriet Ruth. After he left the school in 1932, Dora continued it until 1943.

Upon the death of his elder brother Frank, in 1931, Russell became the 3rd Earl Russell. He once said that his title was primarily useful for securing hotel rooms.

Russell's marriage to Dora grew increasingly tenuous, and it reached a breaking point over her having two children with an American journalist, Griffin Barry. They separated in 1932 and finally divorced. On 18 January 1936, Russell married his third wife, an Oxford undergraduate named Patricia ("Peter") Spence, who had been his children's governess since the summer of 1930. Russell and Peter had one son, Conrad Sebastian Robert Russell, 5th Earl Russell, who became a prominent historian and one of the leading figures in the Liberal Democratic party.

Second World War

Russell opposed rearmament against Nazi Germany, but in 1940 changed his view that avoiding a full scale world war was more important than defeating Hitler. He concluded that Adolf Hitler taking over all of Europe would be a permanent threat to democracy. In 1943, he adopted a stance toward large-scale warfare, "Relative Political Pacifism": War was always a great evil, but in some particularly extreme circumstances, it may be the lesser of two evils.

Post-Second World War

Before the Second World War, Russell taught at the University of Chicago, later moving on to Los Angeles to lecture at the University of California, Los Angeles. He was appointed professor at the City College of New York in 1940, but after a public outcry, the appointment was annulled by a court judgement: his opinions (especially those relating to sexual morality, detailed in ''Marriage and Morals'' ten years earlier) made him "morally unfit" to teach at the college. The protest was started by the mother of a student who would not have been eligible for his graduate-level course in mathematical logic. Many intellectuals, led by John Dewey, protested against his treatment. Albert Einstein's often-quoted aphorism that "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds..." originated in his open letter in support of Russell, during this time. Dewey and Horace M. Kallen edited a collection of articles on the CCNY affair in ''The Bertrand Russell Case''. He soon joined the Barnes Foundation, lecturing to a varied audience on the history of philosophy; these lectures formed the basis of ''A History of Western Philosophy''. His relationship with the eccentric Albert C. Barnes soon soured, and he returned to Britain in 1944 to rejoin the faculty of Trinity College.

Later life

During the 1940s and 1950s, Russell participated in many broadcasts over the BBC, particularly The Brains Trust and the Third Programme, on various topical and philosophical subjects. By this time Russell was world famous outside of academic circles, frequently the subject or author of magazine and newspaper articles, and was called upon to offer up opinions on a wide variety of subjects, even mundane ones. En route to one of his lectures in Trondheim, Russell was one of 24 survivors (among a total of 43 passengers) in an aeroplane crash in Hommelvik in October 1948. ''A History of Western Philosophy'' (1945) became a best-seller, and provided Russell with a steady income for the remainder of his life.

In a speech in 1948, Russell said that if the USSR's aggression continued, it would be morally worse to go to war after the USSR possessed an atomic bomb than before it possessed one, because if the USSR had no bomb the West's victory would come more swiftly and with fewer casualties than if there were atom bombs on both sides. At that time, only the USA possessed an atomic bomb, and the USSR was pursuing an extremely aggressive policy towards the countries in Eastern Europe which it was absorbing into its sphere of influence. Many understood Russell's comments to mean that Russell approved of a first strike in a war with the USSR, including Lawson, who was present when Russell spoke. Others, including Griffin who obtained a transcript of the speech, have argued that he was merely explaining the usefulness of America's atomic arsenal in deterring the USSR from continuing its domination of Eastern Europe.

In 1948, Russell was invited by the BBC to deliver the inaugural Reith Lectures - what was to become an annual series of lectures, still broadcast by the BBC. His series of six broadcasts, titled Authority and the Individual explored themes such as the role of individual initiative in the development of a community and the role of state control in a progressive society. Russell also continued to write about philosophy. He wrote a foreword to ''Words and Things'' by Ernest Gellner which was highly critical of the later thought of Ludwig Wittgenstein and of Ordinary language philosophy. Gilbert Ryle refused to have the book reviewed in the philosophical journal ''Mind'' which caused Russell to respond via the Times. The results was a month-long correspondence in the Times, between the supporters and detractors of Ordinary language philosophy which was only ended when the Times published an editorial about the matter, which was critical of both sides but agreeing with the opponents of Ordinary language philosophy.

In the King's Birthday Honours of 9 June 1949, Russell was awarded the Order of Merit, and the following year he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. When he was given the Order of Merit, King George VI was affable but slightly embarrassed at decorating a former jailbird, saying that "You have sometimes behaved in a manner that would not do if generally adopted." Russell merely smiled, but afterwards claimed that the reply "That's right, just like your brother" immediately came to mind.

In 1952, Russell was divorced by Spence, with whom he had been very unhappy. Conrad, Russell's son by Spence, did not see his father between the time of the divorce and 1968 (at which time his decision to meet his father caused a permanent breach with his mother).

Russell married his fourth wife, Edith Finch, soon after the divorce, on 15 December 1952. They had known each other since 1925, and Edith had taught English at Bryn Mawr College near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, sharing a house for 20 years with Russell's old friend Lucy Donnelly. Edith remained with him until his death, and, by all accounts, their marriage was a happy, close, and loving one. Russell's eldest son, John, suffered from serious mental illness, which was the source of ongoing disputes between Russell and John's mother, Russell's former wife, Dora. John's wife Susan was also mentally ill, and eventually Russell and Edith became the legal guardians of their three daughters (two of whom were later found to have schizophrenia).

In 1962, Russell played a public role in the Cuban Missile Crisis: in an exchange of telegrams with the Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev, Khrushchev assured him that the Soviet government would not be reckless. Russell also wrote to President Kennedy, who returned his telegram unopened.

Political causes

Russell spent the 1950s and 1960s engaged in various political causes, primarily related to nuclear disarmament and opposing the Vietnam war (see also Russell Vietnam War Crimes Tribunal). The 1955 Russell–Einstein Manifesto was a document calling for nuclear disarmament and was signed by 11 of the most prominent nuclear physicists and intellectuals of the time. He wrote a great many letters to world leaders during this period. He was in contact with Lionel Rogosin while the latter was filming his anti-war film ''Good Times, Wonderful Times'' in the 1960s. He also became a hero to many of the youthful members of the New Left. In early 1963, in particular, Russell became increasingly vocal about his disapproval of what he felt to be the US government's near-genocidal policies in South Vietnam. In 1963 he became the inaugural recipient of the Jerusalem Prize, an award for writers concerned with the freedom of the individual in society. In October 1965 he tore up his Labour Party card because he suspected the party was going to send soldiers to support the USA in the Vietnam War.

Final years and death

Russell published his three-volume autobiography in 1967, 1968, and 1969. On 23 November 1969 he wrote to ''The Times'' newspaper saying that the preparation for show trials in Czechoslovakia was "highly alarming". The same month he appealed to Secretary General U Thant of the United Nations to support an international war crimes commission to investigate alleged torture and genocide by the USA in South Vietnam. The following month, he protested to Alexei Kosygin over the expulsion of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn from the Writers Union.

On 31 January 1970, Russell issued a statement which condemned Israeli aggression in the Middle East and called for Israeli withdrawal from territory occupied in 1967. This was Russell's final political statement or act. It was read out at the International Conference of Parliamentarians in Cairo on 3 February 1970, the day after his death.

Russell died of influenza on 2 February 1970 at his home, Plas Penrhyn, in Penrhyndeudraeth, Merionethshire, Wales. His body was cremated in Colwyn Bay on 5 February 1970. In accordance with his will there was no religious ceremony; his ashes were scattered over the Welsh mountains later that year.

In 1980, a memorial to Russell was commissioned by a committee including A. J. Ayer. It consists of a bust of Russell in Red Lion Square in London sculpted by Marcelle Quinton.

Titles and honours from birth

Russell held throughout his life the following styles and honours:

from birth until 1908: The Honourable Bertrand Arthur William Russell

from 1908 until 1931: The Honourable Bertrand Arthur William Russell, FRS

from 1931 until 1949: The Right Honourable The Earl Russell, FRS

from 1949 until death: The Right Honourable The Earl Russell, OM, FRS

Views

Views on philosophy

Russell is generally credited with being one of the founders of analytic philosophy. He was deeply impressed by Gottfried Leibniz (1646–1716) and wrote on every major area of philosophy except aesthetics. He was particularly prolific in the field of metaphysics, the logic and the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of language, ethics and epistemology. When Brand Blanshard asked Russell why he didn't write on aesthetics, Russell replied that he didn't know anything about it, "but that is not a very good excuse, for my friends tell me it has not deterred me from writing on other subjects."

Views on society

Political and social activism occupied much of Russell's time for most of his life, which makes his prodigious and seminal writing on a wide range of technical and non-technical subjects all the more remarkable. Russell remained politically active almost to the end of his life, writing to and exhorting world leaders and lending his name to various causes. He was also famously noted for saying "No one can sit at the bedside of a dying child and still believe in God."

Russell determined man to be "the product of causes . . . his origin, his growth, his hopes and fears, his loves and his beliefs, are but the outcome of accidental collocations of atoms, that no fire, no heroism, no intensity of thought and feeling, can preserve an individual life beyond the grave; that all the labors of the ages, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness of human genius are destined to extinction in the vast death of the solar system, that the whole temple of man's achievement must inevitably be buried beneath the debris of a universe in ruins -- all these things, if not quite beyond dispute, are so nearly certain, that no philosophy which rejects them can hope to stand. . . ."

Selected works

Selected bibliography of Russell's books

This is a selected bibliography of Russell's books in English sorted by year of first publication.

1896. ''German Social Democracy''. London: Longmans, Green.

1897. ''An Essay on the Foundations of Geometry''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

1900. ''A Critical Exposition of the Philosophy of Leibniz''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

1903. ''The Principles of Mathematics'', Cambridge University Press.

1905. ''On Denoting'', Mind, vol. 14. ISSN: 00264425. Basil Blackwell.

1910. ''Philosophical Essays''. London: Longmans, Green.

1910–1913. ''Principia Mathematica">Principia Mathematica'' (with Alfred North Whitehead). 3 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

1912. The Problems of Philosophy''">''The Problems of Philosophy''. London: Williams and Norgate.

1914. ''Our Knowledge of the External World as a Field for Scientific Method in Philosophy''. Chicago and London: Open CPublishing.

1916. ''Principles of Social Reconstruction''. London: George Allen & Unwin.

1916. ''Justice in War-time''. Chicago: Open Court.

1917. ''Political Ideals''. New York: The Century Co.

1918. ''Mysticism and Logic and Other Essays''. London: Longmans, Green.

1918. ''Proposed Roads to Freedom: Socialism, Anarchism, and Syndicalism''. London: George Allen & Unwin.

1919. ''Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy''. London: George Allen & Unwin. (ISBN 0-415-09604-9 for Routledge paperback) (''Copy at Archive.org'').

1920. ''The Practice and Theory of Bolshevism''. London: George Allen & Unwin.

1921. ''The Analysis of Mind''. London: George Allen & Unwin.

1922. ''The Problem of China''. London: George Allen & Unwin.

1923. ''The Prospects of Industrial Civilization'', in collaboration with Dora Russell. London: George Allen & Unwin.

1923. ''The ABC of Atoms'', London: Kegan Paul. Trench, Trubner.

1924. ''Icarus; or, The Future of Science''. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner.

1925. ''The ABC of Relativity''. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner.

1925. ''What I Believe''. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner.

1926. ''On Education, Especially in Early Childhood''. London: George Allen & Unwin.

1927. ''The Analysis of Matter''. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner.

1927. ''An Outline of Philosophy''. London: George Allen & Unwin.

1927. ''Why I Am Not a Christian">Why I Am Not a Christian''. London: Watts.

1927. ''Selected Papers of Bertrand Russell''. New York: Modern Library.

1928. ''Sceptical Essays''. London: George Allen & Unwin.

1929. ''Marriage and Morals''. London: George Allen & Unwin.

1930. ''The Conquest of Happiness''. London: George Allen & Unwin.

1931. ''The Scientific Outlook''. London: George Allen & Unwin.

1932. ''Education and the Social Order'', London: George Allen & Unwin.

1934. ''Freedom and Organization, 1814–1914''. London: George Allen & Unwin.

1935. ''In Praise of Idleness''. London: George Allen & Unwin.

1935. ''Religion and Science''. London: Thornton Butterworth.

1936. ''Which Way to Peace?''. London: Jonathan Cape.

1937. ''The Amberley Papers: The Letters and Diaries of Lord and Lady Amberley'', with Patricia Russell, 2 vols., London: Leonard & Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press.

1938. ''Power: A New Social Analysis''. London: George Allen & Unwin.

1940. ''An Inquiry into Meaning and Truth''. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.

1945. A History of Western Philosophy and Its Connection with Political and Social Circumstances from the Earliest Times to the Present Day''">''A History of Western Philosophy and Its Connection with Political and Social Circumstances from the Earliest Times to the Present Day''. New York: Simon and Schuster.

1948. ''Human Knowledge: Its Scope and Limits''. London: George Allen & Unwin.

1949. ''Authority and the Individual''. London: George Allen & Unwin.

1950. ''Unpopular Essays''. London: George Allen & Unwin.

1951. ''New Hopes for a Changing World''. London: George Allen & Unwin.

1952. ''The Impact of Science on Society''. London: George Allen & Unwin.

1953. ''Satan in the Suburbs and Other Stories''. London: George Allen & Unwin.

1954. ''Human Society in Ethics and Politics''. London: George Allen & Unwin.

1954. ''Nightmares of Eminent Persons and Other Stories''. London: George Allen & Unwin.

1956. ''Portraits from Memory and Other Essays''. London: George Allen & Unwin.

1956. ''Logic and Knowledge: Essays 1901–1950'', edited by Robert C. Marsh. London: George Allen & Unwin.

1957. ''Why I Am Not A Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects'', edited by Paul Edwards. London: George Allen & Unwin.

1958. ''Understanding History and Other Essays''. New York: Philosophical Library.

1959. ''Common Sense and Nuclear Warfare''. London: George Allen & Unwin.

1959. ''My Philosophical Development">My Philosophical Development''. London: George Allen & Unwin.

1959. ''Wisdom of the West'', edited by Paul Foulkes. London: Macdonald.

1960. ''Bertrand Russell Speaks His Mind'', Cleveland and New York: World Publishing Company.

1961. ''The Basic Writings of Bertrand Russell'', edited by R.E. Egner and L.E. Denonn. London: George Allen & Unwin.

1961. ''Fact and Fiction''. London: George Allen & Unwin.

1961. ''Has Man a Future?'', London: George Allen & Unwin.

1963. ''Essays in Skepticism''. New York: Philosophical Library.

1963. ''Unarmed Victory''. London: George Allen & Unwin.

1965. ''On the Philosophy of Science'', edited by Charles A. Fritz, Jr. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company.

1967. ''Russell's Peace Appeals'', edited by Tsutomu Makino and Kazuteru Hitaka. Japan: Eichosha's New Current Books.

1967. ''War Crimes in Vietnam''. London: George Allen & Unwin.

1951–1969. ''The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell'', 3 vols.. London: George Allen & Unwin. Vol 2 1956

1969. ''Dear Bertrand Russell... A Selection of his Correspondence with the General Public 1950–1968'', edited by Barry Feinberg and Ronald Kasrils. London: George Allen and Unwin.

Note: These are major publications. Russell also wrote many pamphlets, introductions, articles and letters to the editor. His works also can be found in any number of anthologies and collections, perhaps most notably ''The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell'', which McMaster University began publishing in 1983. This collection of his shorter and previously unpublished works is now up to 16 volumes, and many more are forthcoming. An additional three volumes catalogue just his bibliography. The Russell Archives at McMaster University also have more than 30,000 letters that he wrote.

Additional references

Russell

1900, ''Sur la logique des relations avec des applications à la théorie des séries'', ''Rivista di matematica 7'': 115–148.

1901, ''On the Notion of Order'', ''Mind (n.s.) 10'': 35–51.

1902, (with Alfred North Whitehead), ''On Cardinal Numbers'', ''American Journal of Mathematics 23'': 367–384.

1948, BBC Reith Lectures: Authority and the Individual A series of six radio lectures broadcast on the BBC Home Service in December 1948.

Secondary references

John Newsome Crossley. ''A Note on Cantor's Theorem and Russell's Paradox'', ''Australian Journal of Philosophy 51'': 70–71.

Ivor Grattan-Guinness, 2000. ''The Search for Mathematical Roots 1870–1940''. Princeton University Press.

''Bertrand Russell: A Political Life'' by Alan Ryan 1981

Books about Russell's philosophy

''Bertrand Russell: Critical Assessments'', edited by A. D. Irvine, 4 volumes, London: Routledge, 1999. Consists of essays on Russell's work by many distinguished philosophers.

''Bertrand Russell'', by John Slater, Bristol: Thoemmes Press, 1994.

''Bertrand Russell's Ethics''. by Michael K. Potter, Bristol: Thoemmes Continuum, 2006. A clear and accessible explanation of Russell's moral philosophy.

''The Philosophy of Bertrand Russell'', edited by P.A. Schilpp, Evanston and Chicago: Northwestern University, 1944.

''Russell'', by A. J. Ayer, London: Fontana, 1972. ISBN 0-00-632965-9. A lucid summary exposition of Russell's thought.

''The Lost Cause: Causation and the Mind-Body Problem'', by Celia Green. Oxford: Oxford Forum, 2003. ISBN 0-9536772-1-4 Contains a sympathetic analysis of Russell's views on causality.

''Russell's Idealist Apprenticeship'', by Nicholas Griffin. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991.

Biographical books

''Bertrand Russell: Philosopher and Humanist'', by John Lewis (1968)

''Bertrand Russell'', by A. J. Ayer (1972), reprint ed. 1988: ISBN 0-226-03343-0

''The Life of Bertrand Russell'', by Ronald W. Clark (1975) ISBN 0-394-49059-2

''Bertrand Russell and His World'', by Ronald W. Clark (1981) ISBN 0-500-13070-1

''Bertrand Russell: Mathematics: Dreams and Nightmares'' by Ray Monk (1997) ISBN 0-75380-190-6

'' Bertrand Russell: 1872–1920 The Spirit of Solitude'' by Ray Monk (1997) ISBN 0-09-973131-2

''Bertrand Russell: 1921–1970 The Ghost of Madness'' by Ray Monk (2001) ISBN 0-09-927275-X

''Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth'' by Apostolos Doxiadis, and Christos Papadimitriou (2009)

See also

Cambridge University Moral Sciences Club

Notes

Further reading

Bertrand Russell. 1967–1969, ''The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell'', 3 volumes, London: George Allen & Unwin.

Wallechinsky, David & Irving Wallace. 1975–1981, "Famous Marriages Bertrand Russell & Alla Pearsall Smith, Part 1" & "Part 3", on "Alys" Pearsall Smith, webpage content from ''The People's Almanac'', webpages: Part 1 & Part 3 (accessed 8 November 2008).

Russell B, (1944) "My Mental Development", in Schilpp, Paul Arturn "The Philosophy of Betrand Russell", New York, Tudorm 1951, pp 3–20

External links

;Other writings available online

"A Free Man's Worship" (1903)

"The Elements of Ethics" (1910)

War and Non-Resistance (1915)

The War and Non-Resistance—A Rejoinder to Professor Perry (1915)

The Ethics of War (1915)

''Justice in Wartime'' (1917)

''Why Men Fight: A Method of Abolishing the International Duel'' (1917)

"Has Religion Made Useful Contributions to Civilization?" 1930

''Legitimacy Versus Industrialism 1814–1848'' (1935)

"Am I an Atheist or an Agnostic?" (1947)

"Ideas that Have Harmed Mankind" (1950)

"What Desires Are Politically Important?" (1950)

''An Outline of Philosophy'' (1951)

''Is There a God?'' (1952)

''The Scientific Outlook'' (1954)

"16 Questions on the Assassination" (of President Kennedy) (1964)

;Audio

Works by Bertrand Russell in audio format from LibriVox

Sound clips of Bertrand Russell speaking

;Other

Pembroke Lodge — childhood home and museum

The Bertrand Russell Society Quarterly

The Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation

Bertrand Russell in Japan

Photographs at the National Portrait Gallery

The Bertrand Russell Archives

Resource list

The First Reith Lecture given by Russell (Real Audio)

Nobel Prize

Bertrand Russell at 100 Welsh Heroes

Key Participants: Bertrand Russell – ''Linus Pauling and the International Peace Movement: A Documentary History''

PM@100: LOGIC FROM 1910 TO 1927 Conference at the Bertrand Russell Research Centre (McMaster University, Ontario, Canada), to be held on 21–24 May 2010, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the publication of Principia Mathematica.

Bertrand Russell Society Bulletin (2011-present)(Kris Notaro and David Blitz)

Category:1872 births Category:1970 deaths Category:20th-century mathematicians Category:20th-century philosophers Category:Academics of the London School of Economics Category:Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge Category:Analytic philosophers Category:Anti–Vietnam War activists Category:Atheist philosophers Category:Atheism activists Bertrand Russell Category:British anti–nuclear weapons activists Category:British anti-war activists Category:British logicians Category:British prisoners and detainees Category:British republicans Category:British Nobel laureates Category:Cambridge University Moral Sciences Club Category:Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament Category:Critics of work and the work ethic Category:Deaths from influenza Category:Earls in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Category:Epistemologists Category:Fellows of the Royal Society Category:Free love advocates Category:Welsh historians of philosophy category:English historians of philosophy Category:Infectious disease deaths in Wales Category:Kalinga Prize recipients Category:LGBT rights activists from the United Kingdom Category:Male feminists Category:Members of the Order of Merit Category:Nobel laureates in Literature Category:Ontologists Category:People from Monmouthshire Category:Philosophers of language Category:Philosophers of mathematics Bertrand Russell Category:Set theorists Category:University of California, Los Angeles faculty Category:University of Chicago faculty Category:Utilitarians Category:Western writers about Soviet Russia Category:World federalists Category:British sceptics

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Coordinates	29°25′″N98°30′″N
name	Russell Howard
birth name	Russell Joseph Howard
birth date	March 23, 1980
birth place	Bath, England
medium	Stand up, Television, Radio
nationality	English
active	2004–present
genre	Social satire, Observational comedy, Absurdist humour
subject	Everyday life, politics, Current events, family
notable work	The Milk Run, Mock the Week, Russell Howard's Good News
website
footnotes	}}

Russell Joseph Howard (born 23 March 1980) is an English comedian, best known for his shows ''Russell Howard's Good News'', and was a permanent panelist on ''Mock The Week''. He won "Best Compère" at the 2006 Chortle Awards and was nominated for an if.comedy award for his 2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe show, ''Wandering''.

Career

TV and radio work

In 2004 he was commissioned by BBC Radio 1 to write, sing and perform on the comedy series, ''The Milk Run'' and he has also appeared on the shows ''Banter'', hosted by Andrew Collins, and ''Political Animal'' for BBC Radio 4.

He was a regular on British topical panel show ''Mock the Week''. He has also made appearances on ''8 Out Of 10 Cats'', ''Would I Lie To You?'', ''Live At The Apollo'', ''The Secret Policeman's Ball 2008'', ''Law of the Playground'' and ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' (Series 18, Episode 2 and Series 20, Episode 4).

He was one of several comedians picked as the best comedy talent from the 2005 Edinburgh Festival Fringe that recorded 10–15-minute spots for the 'Edinburgh and Beyond show' which was aired on Paramount Comedy 1 in the autumn of 2006. The show was filmed at The Bloomsbury Theatre. From 2009 he took over as compère of this show from Al Murray.

From November 2006 to July 2008, Russell co-hosted ''The Russell Howard Show'' on BBC 6 Music with fellow comedian Jon Richardson in a Sunday morning slot previously hosted by Russell Brand. The show continued to air, without Howard, until March 2010. He has since explained that his main reason for leaving the show was that he finds radio "really restrictive" and "I feed off the audience as a performer, but you can't gauge a reaction on the radio."

Russell was commissioned to make a comedy show called ''Russell Howard's Good News'', aimed at under-25s, for BBC Three. The first episode aired on 22 October 2009 and the show ran for seven episodes as well as a "Best Of" show and a Christmas Special. It went on to become BBC Three's highest ever rating entertainment series. In the show, he gave his take on the week's major news stories, as well as giving attention to some of the more light-hearted stories of the week. Two more series of the show were commissioned, with the second series starting on March 25, 2010. A fourth series began on 24 March 2011 on BBC Three.

He made his United States television debut on the August 3, 2011 episode of ''Conan''.

Charity work

He appeared at Friends of the Earth's LIVEstock 1993 comedy and music event at the Hammersmith Apollo in support of the green campaign group's Food Chain Campaign for planet-friendly farming, in 12 November 2009.

For Sport Relief 2010 he took part in the BT Sport Relief Million Pound Bike Ride, with David Walliams, Jimmy Carr, Fearne Cotton, Miranda Hart, Patrick Kielty, and Davina McCall. They cycled from John O'Groats in Scotland to Land's End in 4 days trying to raise 1 million pounds.

In April 2010, Howard ran the Virgin London Marathon for the first time with both his brother and sister, to raise money for the National Society for Epilepsy – a condition from which his brother suffers. He completed the 26 mile course in 4 hours and 15 minutes, beating his target time of 5 hours. Sponsorship has raised over £7,000 to date.

Live comedy

A show from his 2007 ''Adventures'' tour was released on DVD on 17 November 2008, under the title "Russell Howard Live". The show on the DVD was recorded at The Bloomsbury Theatre.

Howard started touring his show ''Dingledodies'' in September 2008 and played various dates through to December. Due to overwhelming demand he further extended the tour twice into 2009. It sold in excess of 125,000 tickets, including three sell-out shows at the Hammersmith Apollo as well as several large arenas such as Wembley Arena and Manchester's MEN Arena. The DVD of this tour was released on 9 November 2009 and features a recording of the show from the Brighton Dome.

He was named "Best Theatre Show" at the 2009 Chortle Comedy Awards.

Howard performed 10 UK dates between 11 and 20 December 2009 for his "Big Rooms and Belly Laughs" tour.

In 2011 the far right English Defence League threatened to picket one of his live gigs in retaliation at material poking fun at them in one of his TV performances.

He is currently performing his new arena tour for 2011, titled ''Right Here Right Now''. The tour sold out in days and was extended twice, with new dates in December 2011 announced on 3 May 2011.

Personal life

Russell Joseph Howard, was born on 23 March 1980 in Bath, Somerset

Russell grew up in [[Bristol. He now lives in Leamington Spa.

Russell was educated at Flitwick Lower School, Bedford Modern School which he attended for a year at the age of 8, Perins School and Alton College in Hampshire, then at the University of the West of England in Bristol, where he studied economics in the end attaining a 2:1.

He has a dog named Archie, who he refers to in his show, Russell Howard's Good News.

It was reported in The Independent and News Of The World that he earned £4 million in 2009 alone, but he categorises these reports as false.

Television

*''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' BBC 2 (2006)

*''Mock The Week'' BBC 2 (2006–2010)

*''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' BBC 2 (2007)

*''Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive'' BBC Three (2007)

Would I Lie To You? (TV series)>Would I Lie To You?'' BBC 1 (2007)

Live at the Apollo (TV series)>Live at the Apollo'' BBC 1 (2007)

*''Law of the Playground'' Channel 4 (2008)

*''The Secret Policeman's Ball 2008'' Channel 4 (2008)

*''8 out of 10 Cats'' Channel 4 (2008)

Live at the Apollo (TV series)>Live at the Apollo'' BBC 1 (2009)

*''Russell Howard's Good News'' BBC Three (2009–)

Conan (TV series)>Conan'' (2011)

Radio

*''The Milk Run'' BBC Radio 1 (2004)

*''Political Animal'' BBC Radio 4 (2004)

Banter (radio show)>Banter'' BBC Radio 4 (2005)

*''The Russell Howard Show'' BBC 6 Music (2006–2008)

Writing

*''The Milk Run'' BBC Radio 1 (2004)

Stand-Up DVDs

!Title	!Release Date	!Notes
''Live''	17 November 2008	Live at London's Bloomsbury Theatre
''Live 2 – Dingledodies''	9 November 2009
''Right Here Right Now''	14 November 2011	Live at London's Hammersmith Apollo

References

External links

Russell Howard Official Website

Category:Alumni of the University of the West of England Category:British radio DJs Category:English comedians Category:English satirists Category:English stand-up comedians Category:English television writers Category:People from Bristol Category:1980 births Category:Living people

nl:Russell Howard sv:Russell Howard

Coordinates	29°25′″N98°30′″N
Width	200
Position	Center
Number	6
Birth date	February 12, 1934
Birth place	Monroe, Louisiana
Debutyear	1956
Finalyear	1969
Draftyear	1956
Draftround	1
Draftpick	2
Draftteam	St. Louis Hawks
High school	McClymonds
College	San Francisco (1953–1956)
Years1	– |team1 Boston Celtics
Cyears1	– |cteam1 Boston Celtics
Cyears2	– |cteam2 Seattle SuperSonics
Cyears3	|cteam3 Sacramento Kings
Stat1label	Points
Stat1value	14,522
Stat2label	Rebounds
Stat2value	21,620
Stat3label	Assists
Stat3value	4,100
Letter	r
Bbr	russebi01
Highlights	11× NBA Champion (, –, –) 5× NBA Most Valuable Player (, –, ) 5× NBA rebounding champion (–, –) 12× NBA All-Star (–) 3× All-NBA First Team (, , ) 8× All-NBA Second Team (, –, , –) NBA All-Defensive First Team () NBA All-Star Game MVP () NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team NBA 35th Anniversary Team NBA 25th Anniversary Team #6 Retired by Boston Celtics 2× NCAA Champion (1955–1956) NCAA MOP (1955)
Hof player	william-f-bill-russell
medaltemplates	}}

William Felton "Bill" Russell (born February 12, 1934) is a retired American professional basketball player who played center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A five-time winner of the NBA Most Valuable Player Award and a twelve-time All-Star, Russell was the centerpiece of the Celtics dynasty that won eleven NBA Championships during Russell's thirteen-year career. Along with Henri Richard of the National Hockey League's Montreal Canadiens, Russell holds the record for the most championships won by an athlete in a North American sports league. Before his professional career, Russell led the University of San Francisco to two consecutive NCAA championships (1955, 1956). He also won a gold medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics as captain of the U.S. national basketball team.

Russell is widely considered one of the best players in NBA history. Listed as between 6'9" (2.06 m) and 6'10" (2.08 m), Russell's shot-blocking and man-to-man defense were major reasons for the Celtics' success. He also inspired his teammates to elevate their own defensive play. Russell was equally notable for his rebounding abilities. He led the NBA in rebounds four times and tallied 21,620 total rebounds in his career. He is one of just two NBA players (the other being prominent rival Wilt Chamberlain) to have grabbed more than fifty rebounds in a game. Though never the focal point of the Celtics' offense, Russell also scored 14,522 career points and provided effective passing.

Playing in the wake of pioneers like Earl Lloyd, Chuck Cooper, and Sweetwater Clifton, Russell was the first African American player to achieve superstar status in the NBA. He also served a three-season (1966–69) stint as player-coach for the Celtics, becoming the first African American NBA coach. Frequent battles with racism left Russell with a long-standing contempt for fans and journalists. When he retired, Russell left Boston with a bitter attitude, although in recent years his relationship with the city has improved. For his accomplishments in the Civil Rights Movement on and off the court, Russell was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama in 2011.

Russell is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. He was selected into NBA 25th Anniversary Team in 1971, into NBA 35th Anniversary Team in 1980 and named as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996, one of only four players that selected into all three teams. In 2007, he was enshrined in the FIBA Hall of Fame. In 2009, the NBA announced that the NBA Finals MVP trophy would be named the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award in honor of Russell.

Early years

Bill Russell was born to Charles and Katie Russell in West Monroe, Louisiana. West Monroe was strictly segregated, and the Russells often struggled with racism. Once, Russell's father was refused service at a gasoline station until the staff had taken care of all the white customers. When his father attempted to leave and find a different station, the attendant stuck a shotgun in his face, threatening to kill him unless he stayed and waited his turn. At another time, Russell's mother was walking outside in a fancy dress when a policeman accosted her. He told her to go home and remove the dress, which he described as "white woman’s clothing". Because large numbers of blacks were moving to Oakland, California during WWII to look for work there, Russell's father moved the family out of Louisiana when Russell was eight years old and settled them in Oakland. While there the family fell into poverty, and Russell spent his childhood living in a series of project homes.

Charlie Russell is described as a "stern, hard man" who was initially a janitor in a paper factory (a typical low paid, intellectually unchallenging "Negro Job", as sports journalist John Taylor commented), but later became a trucker when World War II broke out. Being closer to his mother Katie than to his father, Russell received a major emotional blow when she suddenly died when he was 12. His father gave up his trucking job and became a steel worker to be closer to his semi-orphaned children. Russell has stated that his father became his childhood hero, later followed up by Minneapolis Lakers superstar George “Mr. Basketball” Mikan, whom he met when he was in high school.

In his early years, Russell struggled to develop his skills as a basketball player. Although Russell was a good runner and jumper and had extremely large hands, he simply did not understand the game and was cut from the team in junior high school. As a sophomore at McClymonds High School, Russell was almost cut again. However, coach George Powles saw Russell's raw athletic potential and encouraged him to work on his fundamentals. Russell, who was used to racist abuse, was delighted by the warm words of his white coach. He worked hard and used the benefits of a growth spurt to become a decent basketball player, but it was not until his junior and senior years that he began to excel. Russell soon became noted for his unusual style of defense. He later recalled, "To play good defense... it was told back then that you had to stay flatfooted at all times to react quickly. When I started to jump to make defensive plays and to block shots, I was initially corrected, but I stuck with it, and it paid off."

One of Russell's high school teammates was future Baseball Hall-of-Famer Frank Robinson.

College career

Russell was ignored by college recruiters and did not receive a single letter of interest until Hal DeJulio from the University of San Francisco (USF) watched him in a high school game. DeJulio was not impressed by Russell's meager scoring and "atrocious fundamentals", but sensed that the young center had an extraordinary instinct for the game, especially in clutch situations. When DeJulio offered Russell a scholarship, the latter eagerly accepted. Sports journalist John Taylor described it as a watershed in Russell's life, because Russell realized that basketball was his one chance to escape poverty and racism; as a consequence, Russell swore to make the best of it.

At USF, Russell became the new starting center for coach Phil Woolpert. Woolpert emphasized defense and deliberate half-court play, concepts that favored defensive standout Russell. Woolpert was unaffected by issues of skin color. In 1954, he became the first coach of a major college basketball squad to start three African American players: Russell, K.C. Jones and Hal Perry. In his USF years, Russell used his relative lack of bulk to develop a unique style of defense: instead of purely guarding the opposing center, he used his quickness and speed to play help defense against opposing forwards and aggressively challenge their shots. Combining the stature and shot-blocking skills of a center with the foot speed of a guard, Russell became the centerpiece of a USF team that soon became a force in college basketball. After USF kept Holy Cross star Tom Heinsohn scoreless in an entire half, ''Sports Illustrated'' wrote, "If [Russell] ever learns to hit the basket, they're going to have to rewrite the rules."

However, the games were often difficult for the USF squad. Russell and his African American teammates became targets of racist jeers, particularly on the road. In one notable incident, hotels in Oklahoma City refused to admit Russell and his black teammates while they were in town for the 1954 All-College Tournament. In protest, the whole team decided to camp out in a closed college dorm, which was later called an important bonding experience for the group. Decades later, Russell explained that his experiences hardened him against abuse of all kinds. "I never permitted myself to be a victim," he said.

Racism also shaped his lifelong paradigm as a team player. "At that time," he has said, "it was never acceptable that a black player was the best. That did not happen...My junior year in college, I had what I thought was the one of the best college seasons ever. We won 28 out of 29 games. We won the National Championship. I was the MVP at the Final Four. I was first team All American. I averaged over 20 points and over 20 rebounds, and I was the only guy in college blocking shots. So after the season was over, they had a Northern California banquet, and they picked another center as Player of the Year in Northern California. Well, that let me know that if I were to accept these as the final judges of my career I would die a bitter old man." So he made a conscious decision, he said, to put the team first and foremost, and not worry about individual achievements.

On the hardwood, his experiences were far more pleasant. Russell led USF to NCAA championships in 1955 and 1956, including a string of 55 consecutive victories. He became known for his strong defense and shot-blocking skills, once denying 13 shots in a game. UCLA coach John Wooden called Russell "the greatest defensive man I've ever seen". During his college career, Russell averaged 20.7 points per game and 20.3 rebounds per game. Besides basketball, Russell represented USF in track and field events. He competed in the 440 yard (402 m) race, which he could complete in 49.6 seconds. He also participated in the high jump; ''Track & Field News'' ranked him as the seventh-best high jumper in the world in 1956. That year, Russell won high jump titles at the Central California AAU meet, the Pacific AAU meet, and the West Coast Relays. One of his highest jumps occurred at the West Coast Relays, where he achieved a mark of 6 feet 9¼ inches (2.06 m).

After his years at USF, the Harlem Globetrotters invited Russell to join their exhibition basketball squad. Russell, who was sensitive to any racial prejudice, was enraged by the fact that owner Abe Saperstein would only discuss the matter with Woolpert. While Saperstein spoke to Woolpert in a meeting, Globetrotters assistant coach Harry Hanna tried to entertain Russell with jokes. The USF center was livid after this snub and declined the offer: he reasoned that if Saperstein was too smart to speak with him, then he was too smart to play for Saperstein. Instead, Russell made himself eligible for the 1956 NBA Draft.

1956 NBA Draft

In the 1956 NBA Draft, Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach had set his sights on Russell, thinking his defensive toughness and rebounding prowess were the missing pieces the Celtics needed. In perspective, Auerbach’s thoughts were unorthodox. In that period, centers and forwards were defined by their offensive output, and their ability to play defense was secondary. However, Boston's chances of getting Russell seemed slim. Because the Celtics had finished second in the previous season and the worst teams had the highest draft picks, the Celtics had slipped too low in the draft order to pick Russell. In addition, Auerbach had already used his territorial pick to acquire talented forward Tom Heinsohn. But Auerbach knew that the Rochester Royals, who owned the first draft pick, already had a skilled rebounder in Maurice Stokes, were looking for an outside shooting guard and were unwilling to pay Russell the $25,000 signing bonus he requested. The St. Louis Hawks, who owned the second pick, originally drafted Russell, but were vying for Celtics center Ed Macauley, a six-time All-Star who had roots in St. Louis. Auerbach agreed to trade Macauley, who had previously asked to be traded to St. Louis in order to be with his sick son, if the Hawks gave up Russell. However the owner of St Louis called Auerbach later and demanded more in the trade. Not only did he want Macauley, who was the Celtics premier player at the time, he wanted Cliff Hagan, who had been serving in the military for three years and had not yet played for the Celtics. After much debate, Auerbach agreed to give up Hagan, and the Hawks made the trade. During that same draft, Boston also claimed guard K.C. Jones, Russell's former USF teammate. Thus, in one night, the Celtics managed to draft three future Hall of Famers: Russell, K.C. Jones and Heinsohn. The Russell draft-day trade was later called one of the most important trades in the history of North American sports.

1956 Olympics

Before his NBA rookie year, Russell was the captain of the U.S. national basketball team that competed at the 1956 Olympic tournament. Avery Brundage, head of the International Olympic Committee, argued that Russell had already signed a professional contract and thus was no longer an amateur, but Russell prevailed. He had the option to skip the tournament and play a full season for the Celtics, but he was determined to play in the Olympics. He later commented that he would have participated in the high jump if he had been snubbed by the basketball team. Under coach Gerald Tucker, Russell helped the national team win the gold medal in Melbourne, defeating the Soviet Union 89–55 in the final game. The United States dominated the tournament, winning by an average of 53.5 points per game. Russell led the team in scoring, averaging 14.1 points per game for the competition. His Celtics teammate K.C. Jones joined him on the Olympic squad and contributed 10.9 points per game.

Professional career

1956–59

Russell could not join the Celtics for the 1956–57 season until December, due to his Olympic commitment. After rejoining the Celtics, Russell played 48 games, averaging 14.7 points per game and a league-high 19.6 rebounds per game. During this season, the Celtics featured six future Hall-of-Famers: center Russell, forwards Heinsohn and Jim Loscutoff, guards Bill Sharman and Bob Cousy, and forward Frank Ramsey, who came off the bench. (K.C. Jones did not play for the Celtics until 1958 because of military service.)

Russell's first Celtics game came on December 22, 1956 against the St. Louis Hawks, led by star forward Bob Pettit, who held several all-time scoring records. Auerbach assigned Russell to shut down St. Louis's main scorer, and the rookie impressed the Boston crowd with his man-to-man defense and shot-blocking. In previous years, the Celtics had been a high-scoring team, but lacked the defensive presence needed to close out tight games. However, with the added defensive presence of Russell, the Celtics had laid the foundation for a dynasty. The team utilized a strong defensive approach to the game, forcing opposing teams to commit many turnovers, which led to many easy fast break points. Russell was an elite help defender who allowed the Celtics to play the so-called "Hey, Bill" defense: whenever a Celtic requested additional defensive help, he would shout "Hey, Bill!" Russell was so quick that he could run over for a quick double team and make it back in time if the opponents tried to find the open man. He also became famous for his shot-blocking skills: pundits called his blocks "Wilsonburgers", referring to the Wilson NBA basketballs he "shoved back into the faces of opposing shooters". This skill also allowed the other Celtics to play their men aggressively: if they were beaten, they knew that Russell was guarding the basket. This approach allowed the Celtics to finish with a 44–28 regular season record, the team's second-best record since beginning play in the 1946–47 season, and guaranteed a post-season appearance.

However, Russell also received negative attention. Constantly provoked by New York Knicks center Ray Felix during a game, he complained to coach Auerbach. The latter told him to take matters into his own hands, so after the next provocation, Russell punched Felix unconscious, paid a 25-dollar fine and was no longer a target of cheap fouls. With his teammates, Russell had a cordial relationship, with the notable exception of fellow rookie and old rival Heinsohn. Heinsohn felt that Russell resented him because the former was named the 1957 NBA Rookie of the Year: many people thought that Russell was more important, but Russell also had only played half the season. Russell also ignored Heinsohn's plea to give his cousin an autograph, and openly said to Heinsohn that he deserved half of his 300-dollar Rookie of the Year check. The relationship between the two rookies remained reserved. On the other hand, despite their different ethnic backgrounds and lack of common off-court interests, his relationship with Celtics point guard and fan favorite Bob Cousy was amicable.

In Game 1 of the Eastern Division Finals, the Celtics met the Syracuse Nationals, who were led by Dolph Schayes. In Russell's first NBA playoff game, he finished with 16 points and 31 rebounds, along with a reported 7 blocks. (At the time, blocks were not yet an officially registered statistic.) After the Celtics' 108–89 victory, Schayes quipped, “How much does that guy make a year? It would be to our advantage if we paid him off for five years to get away from us in the rest of this series.” The Celtics swept the Nationals in three games to earn the franchise's first appearance in the NBA Finals.

In the NBA Finals, the Celtics met the St. Louis Hawks, who were again led by Bob Pettit, as well as former Celtic Ed Macauley. The teams split the first six games, and the tension was so high that, in Game 3, Celtics coach Auerbach punched his colleague Ben Kerner and received a $300 fine. In the highly competitive Game 7, Russell tried his best to slow down Pettit, but it was Heinsohn who scored 37 points and kept the Celtics alive. However, Russell contributed by completing the famous “Coleman Play”. Here, Russell ran down Hawks guard Jack Coleman, who had received an outlet pass at midcourt, and blocked his shot despite the fact that Russell had been standing at his own baseline when the ball was thrown to Coleman. The block preserved Boston's slim 103–102 lead with 40-odd seconds left to play in regulation, saving the game for the Celtics. In the second overtime, both teams were in serious foul trouble: Heinsohn had fouled out, and the Hawks were so depleted that they had only 7 players left. With the Celtics leading 125–123 with one second left, the Hawks had the ball at their own baseline. Reserve guard Alex Hannum threw a long alley oop pass to Pettit, and Pettit's tip-in rolled indecisively on the rim for several seconds before rolling out again. The Celtics won, earning their first NBA Championship.

In the 1957–58 season, Russell averaged 16.6 points per game and a league-record average of 22.7 rebounds per game. An interesting phenomenon began that year: Russell was voted the NBA Most Valuable Player, but only named to the All-NBA Second Team. This would occur repeatedly throughout his career. The NBA reasoned that other centers were better all-round players than Russell, but no player was more valuable to his team. The Celtics won 49 games and easily made the first berth in the 1958 NBA Playoffs, and made the 1958 NBA Finals against their familiar rivals, the St. Louis Hawks. The teams split the first two games, but then Russell went down with a foot injury in Game 3 and could no longer participate in the playoffs. The Celtics surprisingly won Game 4, but the Hawks prevailed in Games 5 and 6, with Pettit scoring 50 points in the deciding Game 6.

In the following 1958–59 season, Russell continued his strong play, averaging 16.7 points per game and 23.0 rebounds per game in the regular season. The Celtics broke a league record by winning 52 games, and Russell's strong performance once again helped lead the Celtics through the post-season, as they returned to the NBA Finals. In the 1959 NBA Finals, the Celtics recaptured the NBA title, sweeping the Minneapolis Lakers 4–0. Lakers head coach John Kundla praised Russell, stating, “We don’t fear the Celtics without Bill Russell. Take him out and we can beat them... He’s the guy who whipped us psychologically.”

1959–66

In the 1959–60 season, the NBA witnessed the debut of legendary 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) Philadelphia Warriors center Wilt Chamberlain, who averaged an unprecedented 37.6 points per game in his rookie year. On November 7, 1959, Russell's Celtics hosted Chamberlain's Warriors, and pundits called the matchup between the best offensive and best defensive center "The Big Collision" and "Battle of the Titans". Both men awed onlookers with "nakedly awesome athleticism", and while Chamberlain outscored Russell 30 to 22, the Celtics won 115–106, and the match was called a "new beginning of basketball". The matchup between Russell and Chamberlain became one of basketball's greatest rivalries. In that season, Russell's Celtics won a record 59 regular season games (including a then-record tying 17 game win streak) and met Chamberlain's Warriors in the Eastern Division Finals. Chamberlain outscored Russell by 81 points in the series, but the Celtics walked off with a 4–2 series win. In the 1960 Finals, the Celtics outlasted the Hawks 4–3 and won their third championship in four years. Russell grabbed an NBA Finals-record 40 rebounds in Game 2, and added 22 points and 35 rebounds in the deciding Game 7, a 122–103 victory for Boston.

In the 1960–61 season, Russell averaged 16.9 points and 23.9 rebounds per game, leading his team to a regular season mark of 57–22. The Celtics earned another post-season appearance, where they defeated the Syracuse Nationals 4–1 in the Eastern Division Finals. The Celtics made good use of the fact that the Los Angeles Lakers had exhausted St. Louis in a long seven-game Western Conference Finals, and the Celtics convincingly won in five games.

The following season, Russell scored a career-high 18.9 points per game, accompanied by 23.6 rebounds per game. While his rival Chamberlain had a record-breaking season of 50.4 points per game and a 100-point game, the Celtics became the first team to win 60 games in a season, and Russell was voted as the NBA's Most Valuable Player. In the post-season, the Celtics met the Philadelphia Warriors of Chamberlain, and Russell did his best to slow down the 50-points-per-game scoring Warriors center. In Game 7, the game was tied with two seconds left when Sam Jones sank a clutch shot that won the Celtics the series. In the 1962 NBA Finals, the Celtics met the Los Angeles Lakers of star forward Elgin Baylor and star guard Jerry West. The teams split the first six games, and Game 7 was tied one second before the end of regular time when Lakers guard Rod Hundley faked a shot and instead passed out to Frank Selvy, who missed an open eight-foot last-second shot that would have won L.A. the title. Though the game was tied, Russell had the daunting task of defending against Baylor with little frontline help, as the three best Celtics forwards, Loscutoff, Heinsohn and Tom Sanders, had fouled out. In overtime, Baylor fouled out the fourth forward, Frank Ramsey, so Russell was completely robbed of his usual four-men wing rotation. But Russell and little-used fifth forward Gene Guarilia successfully pressured Baylor into missed shots. Russell finished with a clutch performance, scoring 30 points and tying his own NBA Finals record with 40 rebounds in a 110–107 overtime win.

The Celtics lost playmaker Bob Cousy to retirement after the 1962–63 season, but they drafted John Havlicek. Once again, the Celtics were powered by Russell, who averaged 16.8 points and 23.6 rebounds per game, won his fourth regular-season MVP title, and earned MVP honors at the 1963 NBA All-Star Game following his 19 point, 24 rebound performance for the East. The Celtics reached the 1963 NBA Finals, where they again defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, this time in six games.

In the following 1963–64 season, the Celtics posted a league-best 58–22 record in the regular season. Russell scored 15.0 ppg and grabbed a career-high 24.7 rebounds per game, leading the NBA in rebounds for the first time since Chamberlain entered the league. Boston defeated the Cincinnati Royals 4–1 to earn another NBA Finals appearance, and then won against Chamberlain's newly-relocated San Francisco Warriors 4–1. It was their sixth consecutive and seventh title in Russell's eighth year, a streak unreached in any U.S. professional sports league. Russell later called the Celtics' defense the best of all time.

Russell again excelled during the 1964–65 season. The Celtics won a league-record 62 games, and Russell averaged 14.1 points and 24.1 rebounds per game, winning his second consecutive rebounding title and his fifth MVP award. In the 1965 NBA Playoffs, the Celtics played the Eastern Division Finals against the Philadelphia 76ers, who had recently traded for Wilt Chamberlain. Russell held Chamberlain to a pair of field goals in the first three quarters of Game 3. In Game 5, Russell contributed 28 rebounds, 10 blocks, seven assists and six steals. However, that playoff series ended in a dramatic Game 7. Five seconds before the end, the Sixers were trailing 110–109, but Russell turned over the ball. However, when the Sixers’ Hall-of-Fame guard Hal Greer inbounded, John Havlicek stole the ball, causing Celtics commentator Johnny Most to scream: “Havlicek stole the ball! It's all over! Johnny Havlicek stole the ball!” After the Division Finals, the Celtics had an easier time in the NBA Finals, winning 4–1 against the Los Angeles Lakers of Jerry West and Elgin Baylor. thumb|Russell defending Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia 76ers In the following 1965–66 season, the Celtics won their eighth consecutive title. Russell’s team again beat Chamberlain’s Philadelphia 76ers 4 games to 1 in the Division Finals, proceeding to win the NBA Finals in a tight seven-game showdown against the Los Angeles Lakers. During the season, Russell contributed 12.9 points and 22.8 rebounds per game. This was the first time in seven years that he failed to average at least 23 rebounds a game.

1966–69

Before the 1966–67 season, Celtics coach Red Auerbach retired. Initially, he had wanted his old player Frank Ramsey as coach, but Ramsey was too occupied running his three lucrative nursing homes. His second choice Bob Cousy declined, stating he did not want to coach his former teammates, and the third choice Tom Heinsohn also said no, because he did not think he could handle the often surly Russell. However, Heinsohn proposed Russell himself as a player-coach, and when Auerbach asked his center, he said yes. Russell thus became the first African American head coach in NBA history, and commented to journalists: "I wasn't offered the job because I am a Negro, I was offered it because Red figured I could do it." The Celtics’ championship streak ended that season at eight, however, as Wilt Chamberlain's Philadelphia 76ers won a record-breaking 68 regular season games and overcame the Celtics 4–1 in the Eastern Finals. The Sixers simply outpaced the Celtics, shredding the famous Boston defense by scoring 140 points in the clinching Game 5 win. Russell acknowledged his first real loss in his career (he had been injured in 1958 when the Celtics lost the NBA Finals) by visiting Chamberlain in the locker room, shaking his hand and saying, "Great". However, the game still ended on a high note for Russell. After the loss, he led his grandfather through the Celtics locker rooms, and the two saw white Celtics player John Havlicek taking a shower next to his black teammate Sam Jones and discussing the game. Suddenly, Russell Sr. broke down crying. Asked by his grandson what was wrong, his grandfather replied how proud he was of him, being coach of an organization in which blacks and whites coexisted in harmony.

In Russell's penultimate season, the 1967–68 season, his numbers slowly declined, but at age 34, he still tallied 12.5 points per game and 18.6 rebounds per game (the latter good for the third highest average in the league). In the Eastern Division Finals, the 76ers had the better record than the Celtics and were slightly favored. But then, national tragedy struck as Martin Luther King was assassinated on April 4, 1968. With eight of the ten starting players on Sixers and Celtics being African American, both teams were in deep shock, and there were calls to cancel the series. In a game called as "unreal" and "devoid of emotion", the Sixers lost 127–118 on April 5. In Game 2, Philadelphia evened the series with a 115–106 win, and in Games 3 and 4, the Sixers won, with Chamberlain suspiciously often defended by Celtics backup center Wayne Embry, causing the press to speculate Russell was worn down. Prior to Game 5, the Celtics seemed dead: no NBA team had ever come back from a 3–1 deficit. However, the Celtics rallied back, winning Game 5 122–104 and Game 6 114–106, powered by a spirited Havlicek and helped by a terrible Sixers shooting slump. In Game 7, 15,202 stunned Philadelphia fans witnessed a historic 100–96 defeat, making it the first time in NBA history a team lost a series after leading 3–1. Russell limited Chamberlain to only two shot attempts in the second half. Despite this, the Celtics were leading only 97–95 with 34 seconds left when Russell closed out the game with several consecutive clutch plays. He made a free throw, blocked a shot by Sixers player Chet Walker, grabbed a rebound off a miss by Sixers player Hal Greer, and finally passed the ball to teammate Sam Jones, who scored to clinch the win. Boston then beat the Los Angeles Lakers 4–2 in the NBA Finals, giving Russell his tenth title in 12 years. For his efforts Russell was named ''Sports Illustrated's'' Sportsman of the Year. After losing for the fifth straight time against Russell and his Celtics, Hall-of-Fame Lakers guard Jerry West stated, “If I had a choice of any basketball player in the league, my No.1 choice has to be Bill Russell. Bill Russell never ceases to amaze me.”

However, in the 1968–69 season, Russell seemed to reach a breaking point. Shocked by the murder of Robert F. Kennedy, disillusioned by the Vietnam War, and weary from his increasingly stale (and later divorced) marriage to his wife Rose, he was convinced that the U.S. was a corrupt nation and that he was wasting his time playing something as superficial as basketball. He was 15 pounds overweight, skipped mandatory NBA coach meetings and was generally lacking energy: after a New York Knicks game, he complained of intense pain and was diagnosed with acute exhaustion. Russell pulled himself together and put up 9.9 points and 19.3 rebounds per game, but the aging Celtics stumbled through the regular season. Their 48–34 record was the team's worst since 1955–56, and they entered the playoffs as only the fourth-seeded team in the East. In the playoffs, however, Russell and his Celtics achieved upsets over the Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks to earn a meeting with the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals. L.A. now featured new recruit Wilt Chamberlain next to perennial stars Baylor and West, and were heavily favored. In the first two games, Russell ordered not to double-team West, who used the freedom to score 53 and 41 points in the Game 1 and 2 Laker wins. Russell then ordered to double-team West, and Boston won Game 3. In Game 4, the Celtics were trailing by one point with seven seconds left and the Lakers having the ball, but then Baylor stepped out of bounds, and in the last play, Sam Jones used a triple screen by Bailey Howell, Larry Siegfried and Havlicek and hit a buzzer beater which equalized the series. The teams split the next two games, so it all came down to Game 7 in L.A., where Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke angered and motivated the Celtics by putting "proceedings of Lakers victory ceremony" on the game leaflets. Russell used a copy as extra motivation and told his team to play a running game, because in that case, not the better, but the more determined team was going to win.

The Celtics were ahead by nine points with five minutes remaining; in addition, West was heavily limping after a Game 5 thigh injury and Chamberlain had left the game with an injured leg. West then hit one basket after the other and cut the lead to one, and Chamberlain asked to return to the game. However, Lakers coach Bill van Breda Kolff kept Chamberlain on the bench until the end of the game, saying later that he wanted to stay with the lineup responsible for the comeback. The Celtics held on for a 108–106 victory, and Russell claimed his eleventh championship in 13 years. At age 35, Russell contributed 21 rebounds in his last NBA game. After the game, Russell went over to the distraught West (who had scored 42 points and was named the only NBA Finals MVP in history from the losing team), clasped his hand and tried to soothe him. Days later, 30,000 enthusiastic Celtics fans cheered their returning heroes, but Russell was not there: the man who said he owed the public nothing ended his career and cut all ties to the Celtics. It came as so surprising that even Red Auerbach was blindsided, and as a consequence, he made the "mistake" of drafting guard Jo Jo White instead of a center. Although White became a standout Celtics player, the Celtics lacked an All-Star center, went just 34–48 in the next season and failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 1950. In Boston, both fans and journalists felt betrayed, because Russell left the Celtics without a coach and a center and sold his retirement story for $10,000 to ''Sports Illustrated''. Russell was accused of selling out the future of the franchise for a month of his salary.

Post-player career

Russell's No. 6 jersey was retired by the Celtics in 1972, and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1975. Russell, who had a difficult relationship with the media, was not present at either event. After retiring as a player, Russell had stints as head coach of the Seattle SuperSonics (1973 to 1977) and Sacramento Kings (1987 to 1988). His time as a coach was lackluster; although he led the struggling SuperSonics into the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, Russell’s defensive, team-oriented Celtics mindset did not mesh well with the team, and he left in 1977 with a 162–166 record. Ironically, coach Lenny Wilkens later used a similar concept to help the SuperSonics win the title in 1979. Russell’s stint with the Kings was considerably worse, his last assignment ending when the Kings went 17–41 to begin the 1987–88 season.

In addition, Russell ran into financial trouble. He had invested $250,000 into a rubber plantation in Liberia, where he had wanted to spend his retirement, but it went bankrupt. The same fate awaited his Boston restaurant called "Slade's", after which he had to default on a $90,000 government loan to purchase the outlet. The IRS discovered that Russell owed $34,430 in tax money and put a lien on his house. He became a vegetarian, took up golf and worked as a color commentator, but he was uncomfortable as a broadcaster. He later said, "The most successful television is done in eight-second thoughts, and the things I know about basketball, motivation and people go deeper than that." On November 3, 1979, Russell hosted Saturday Night Live, in which he appeared in several sports-related sketches. Russell also wrote books, usually written as a joint project with a professional writer. These included 1979's ''Second Wind'' and 2001's ''Russell's Rules''. After spending several years living as a recluse on Mercer Island near Seattle, Russell rose to prominence again in January 2006, when he convinced Miami Heat superstar center Shaquille O'Neal to bury the hatchet with fellow NBA superstar and former Los Angeles Lakers teammate Kobe Bryant, with whom O'Neal had a bitter public feud. Later that year, on November 17, 2006, the two-time NCAA winner Russell was recognized for his impact on college basketball as a member of the founding class of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. He was one of five, along with John Wooden, Oscar Robertson, Dean Smith and Dr. James Naismith, selected to represent the inaugural class. On May 20, 2007, Russell was awarded an honorary doctorate by Suffolk University, where he served as its commencement speaker, and Russell received an honorary degree from Harvard University on June 7, 2007. Russell was also honored during 2009 NBA All-Star Weekend in Phoenix. On February 14, 2009, NBA Commissioner David Stern announced that the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award award would be re-named the "Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award" in honor of the 11-time NBA champion. The following day, during halftime of the All-Star game, Celtics captains Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen presented Russell a surprise birthday cake for his 75th birthday. Russell attended the final game of the Finals that year to present his newly christened namesake award to its winner, Kobe Bryant. Russell also won the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011.

Coaching record

|- | align="left"|BOS | align="left"| |81||60||21||.671||align="center"|2nd in Eastern||9||4||5||.444 | align="center"|Lost in Div. Finals |- | align="left"|BOS | align="left"| |82||54||28||.659||align="center"|2nd in Eastern||19||12||7||.632 | align="center"|Won NBA Championship |- | align="left"|BOS | align="left"| |82||48||34||.585||align="center"|4th in Eastern||18||12||6||.667 | align="center"|Won NBA Championship |- | align="left"|SEA | align="left"| |82||36||46||.439||align="center"|3rd in Pacific||—||—||—||— | align="center"|Missed Playoffs |- | align="left"|SEA | align="left"| |82||43||39||.524||align="center"|2nd in Pacific||9||4||5||.444 | align="center"|Lost in Conf. Semifinals |- | align="left"|SEA | align="left"| |82||43||39||.524||align="center"|2nd in Pacific||6||2||4||.333 | align="center"|Lost in First Round |- | align="left"|SEA | align="left"| |82||40||42||.488||align="center"|4th in Pacific||—||—||—||— | align="center"|Missed Playoffs |- | align="left"|SAC | align="left"| |58||17||41||.293||align="center"|(released)||—||—||—||— | align="center"|— |-class="sortbottom" | align="left"|Career | ||631||341||290||.540|| ||61||34||27||.557

Accomplishments and legacy

:''Bill Russell was the cornerstone of the Boston Celtics' dynasty.'' ::— introductory line of Russell's nba.com/history summary.

Russell is one of the most successful and decorated athletes in North American sports history. His awards and achievements include eleven NBA championships as a player with the Boston Celtics in 13 seasons (including two NBA championships as player/head coach), and he is credited with having raised defensive play in the NBA to a new level. By winning the 1956 NCAA Championship with USF and the 1957 NBA title with the Celtics, Russell became the first of only four players in basketball history to win an NCAA championship and an NBA Championship back-to-back (the others being Henry Bibby, Magic Johnson, and Billy Thompson). In the interim, Russell collected an Olympic gold medal in 1956. His stint as coach of the Celtics was also of historical significance, as he became the first black head coach in major U.S. professional sports when he succeeded Red Auerbach.

In his first NBA full season (1957–58), Russell became the first player in NBA history to average more than 20 rebounds per game for an entire season, a feat he accomplished 10 times in his 13 seasons. Russell's 51 rebounds in a single game is the second highest performance ever, only trailing Chamberlain's all-time record of 55. He still holds the NBA record for rebounds in one half with 32 (vs. Philadelphia, on November 16, 1957). Career-wise, Russell ranks second only to Wilt Chamberlain in regular season total (21,620) and average (22.5) rebounds per game, and led the NBA in average rebounds per game four times. Russell is the all-time playoff leader in total (4,104) and average (24.9) rebounds per game, he grabbed 40 rebounds in three separate playoff games (twice in the NBA Finals), and he never failed to average at least 20 rebounds per game in any of his 13 post-season campaigns. Russell also had seven regular season games with 40 or more rebounds, the NBA Finals record for highest rebound per game average (29.5 rpg, 1959) and by a rookie (22.9 rpg, 1957). In addition, Russell holds the NBA Finals single-game record for most rebounds (40, March 29, 1960 vs. St. Louis and April 18, 1962 vs. Los Angeles), most rebounds in a quarter (19, April 18, 1962 vs. Los Angeles), and most consecutive games with 20 or more rebounds (15 from April 9, 1960 – April 16, 1963). He also had 51 in one game, 49 in two others, and twelve straight seasons of 1,000 or more rebounds. Russell was known as one of the most clutch players in the NBA. He played in 11 deciding games (10 times in Game 7s, once in a Game 5), and ended with a flawless 11–0 record. In these eleven games, Russell averaged 18 points and 29.45 rebounds.

On the hardwood, he was considered the consummate defensive center, noted for his unmatched defensive intensity, his stellar basketball IQ and his sheer will to win. Russell excelled at playing man-to-man defense, blocking shots, and grabbing defensive and offensive rebounds. He also could score with putbacks and made mid-air outlet passes to point guard Bob Cousy for easy fast break points. He also was known as a fine passer and pick-setter, featured a decent left-handed hook shot and finished strong on alley oops. However, on offense, Russell's output was limited. His NBA career personal averages show him to be an average scorer (15.1 points career average), a poor free throw shooter (56.1%), and average overall shooter from the field (44%, not exceptional for a center). In his 13 years, he averaged a relatively low 13.4 field goals attempted (normally, top scorers average 20 and more), illustrating that he was never the focal point of the Celtics offense, instead focusing on his tremendous defense.

In his career, Russell won five regular season MVP awards (1959, 1961–63, 1965)—tied with Michael Jordan for second all-time behind Kareem Abdul Jabbar's six awards. He was selected three times to the All-NBA First Teams (1959, 1963, 1965) and eight Second Teams (1958, 1960–62, 1964, 1966–68), and was a twelve-time NBA All-Star (1958–1969). Russell was elected to one NBA All-Defensive First Team. This took place during his last season (1969), and was the first season the NBA All-Defensive Teams were selected. In 1970, ''The Sporting News'' named Russell the "Athlete of the Decade". Russell is universally seen as one of the best NBA players ever, and was declared "Greatest Player in the History of the NBA" by the Professional Basketball Writers Association of America in 1980. For his achievements, Russell was named "Sportsman of the Year" by ''Sports Illustrated'' in 1968. He also made all three NBA Anniversary Teams: the NBA 25th Anniversary All-Time Team (1970), the NBA 35th Anniversary All-Time Team (1980) and the NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time Team (1996). Russell ranked #18 on ''ESPN's 50 Greatest Athletes of the 20th Century'' in 1999. In 2009, ''SLAM Magazine'' named Russell the #3 player of all time behind Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain. On Saturday February 14, 2009, during the 2009 NBA All-Star Weekend in Phoenix, NBA Commissioner David Stern announced that the NBA Finals MVP Award would be named after Bill Russell.

Russell was named as a 2010 recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Personal life

Russell was married to his college sweetheart Rose Swisher from 1956 to 1973. They had three children, namely daughter Karen Russell, the television pundit and lawyer, and sons William Jr. and Jacob. However, the couple grew emotionally distant and divorced. In 1977, he married Dorothy Anstett, Miss USA of 1968, but they divorced in 1980. In 1996, Russell married his third wife Marilyn Nault, and their marriage lasted until her death in January 2009. His older brother is the noted playwright Charlie L. Russell.

During his career, Russell was one of the first big earners in NBA basketball. His rookie contract was worth $24,000, only fractionally smaller than the $25,000 of top earner Bob Cousy. In contrast to other Celtics, who had to work in the offseason to maintain their standard of living (Heinsohn sold insurance, Gene Guarilia was a professional guitar player, Cousy ran a basketball camp, and Auerbach invested in plastics and a Chinese restaurant), Russell never had to work part-time. When Wilt Chamberlain became the first NBA player to earn $100,000 in salary in 1965, Russell went to Auerbach and demanded a $100,001 salary, which he promptly received.

Personality

Russell was driven by "a neurotic need to win", as his teammate Heinsohn observed. He was so tense before every game that he regularly threw up in the locker rooms; it happened so frequently that his fellow Celtics were more worried when it did ''not'' happen. He was also known for his natural authority. When he became player-coach in 1967, Russell bluntly said to his teammates that "he intended to cut all personal ties to other players", and seamlessly made the transition from their peer to their superior.

To teammates and friends, Russell was open and amicable, but was extremely distrusting and cold towards anyone else. Journalists were often treated to the "Russell Glower", described as an "icily contemptuous stare accompanied by a long silence". Russell was also notorious for his refusal to give autographs or even acknowledge the Celtics fans, so far that he was called "the most selfish, surly and uncooperative athlete" by one pundit.

Russell-Chamberlain rivalry

For most of his career, Russell was close friends with his perennial opponent Wilt Chamberlain. Chamberlain often invited Russell over for Thanksgiving, and at Russell's place, conversation mostly concerned Russell's electric trains. However, the relationship deteriorated into intense loathing after Game 7 of the 1969 NBA Finals, where Chamberlain took himself out of a close game with six minutes left and never returned. Russell accused Chamberlain of being a malingerer and of "copping out" of the game when it seemed that the Lakers would lose; in retaliation, Chamberlain (whose knee was so bad that he could not play the entire offseason and ruptured it in the next season) was livid at Russell and saw him as a backstabber. The two men did not talk to each other for over 20 years until Russell attempted to patch things up, although he never uttered a genuine apology. When Chamberlain died in 1999, Chamberlain's nephew stated that Russell was the second person he was ordered to break the news to. At the eulogy, Russell stated that he never considered Chamberlain his rival and disliked the term, instead pointing out that they rarely talked about basketball.

Racist abuse, controversy and reconciliation

Russell's life was marked by an uphill battle against racism and controversial actions and statements in response to perceived racism. As a child, the young Russell witnessed how his parents were victims of racial abuse, and eventually moved into housing projects to escape the daily torrent of bigotry. When he later became a standout amateur basketball player at USF, Russell recalled how he and his few fellow African American colleagues were jeered by white students. Even after he became a star on the Boston Celtics, Russell was the victim of racial abuse. When the NBA All-Stars toured the U.S. in the 1958 offseason, white hotel owners in segregated North Carolina denied rooms to Russell and his black teammates, causing him to later write in his memoir ''Go Up for Glory'', "It stood out, a wall which understanding cannot penetrate. You are a Negro. You are less. It covered every area. A living, smarting, hurting, smelling, greasy substance which covered you. A morass to fight from." Before the 1961–62 season, Russell refused to play in an exhibition game in Lexington, Kentucky when he and his black teammates were refused service at a local restaurant.

As a consequence, Russell was extremely sensitive to all racial prejudice: according to Taylor, he often perceived insults even if others did not. He was active in the Black Power movement and supported Muhammad Ali's decision to refuse to be drafted. He was often called "Felton X," a mockery of the Nation of Islam's tradition of replacing a European slave name with an "X," and even purchased land in Liberia. Russell's public statements became increasingly militant, so far that he was quoted in a 1963 ''Sports Illustrated'' interview with the words: "I dislike most white people because they are people... I like most blacks because I am black", expressing that "human" was a negative trait and "black" was a positive trait which were mutually exclusive. However, when his white Celtics teammate Frank Ramsey asked whether he hated him, Russell claimed to be misquoted, but few believed it. Also, Taylor remarks that Russell overlooked that his career was only made possible by the white people who were proven anti-racists, namely his white high school coach George Powles (the person who encouraged him to play basketball), his white college coach Phil Woolpert (who integrated USF basketball), white Celtics coach Red Auerbach (who is universally regarded as an anti-racist pioneer and made him the first black NBA coach), and white Celtics owner Walter A. Brown, who gave him a high $24,000 rookie contract, just $1,000 shy of the top earning veteran Bob Cousy.

Nevertheless, as a result of repeated racial bigotry, Russell refused to respond to fan acclaim or friendship from his neighbors, thinking it was insincere and hypocritical. He decided that the world had given him nothing, so in return, he could give the world nothing. This attitude contributed to his legendary bad rapport with fans and journalists. He alienated the Boston Celtics fans by saying, "You owe the public the same it owes you, nothing! I refuse to smile and be nice to the kiddies." This supported the opinion that Russell (who was the highest paid Celtic) was egotistical, paranoid and hypocritical, and even the FBI described Russell in his file as "an arrogant Negro who won't sign autographs for white children". The already hostile atmosphere between Russell and Boston hit its nadir when vandals broke into his house, covered the walls with racist graffiti, damaged his trophies and defecated into the beds. In response, Russell described Boston as a "flea market of racism". After his retirement, he described the Boston press as corrupt and racist; in response, Boston sports journalist Larry Claflin claimed that Russell himself was the real racist. Despite his refusal to sign autographs, he accepted a $250,000 contract to sign 5,000 pieces of memorabilia.

Russell, who invariably saw himself as a victim of the media, was present neither when his Number 6 jersey was retired in 1972, nor when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1975, shunning the limelight both times. While Russell still has sore feelings towards the city, there has been something of a reconciliation; and he has even visited the city on a regular basis in recent years, something he never did in the years immediately after his retirement. When Russell originally retired, he demanded that his jersey be retired in an empty Boston Garden. In 1995, the Celtics left Boston Garden and entered the FleetCenter, now the TD Garden, and as the main festive act, the Boston organization wanted to re-retire Russell's jersey in front of a sellout audience. Perennially wary of the "racist" city of Boston, Russell decided to make amends and gave his approval. On May 6, 1999 the Celtics re-retired Russell's jersey in a ceremony attended by Russell's on-court rival Chamberlain, along with Celtics legend Larry Bird and Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The crowd gave Russell a prolonged standing ovation, which brought tears to his eyes. Russell was visibly shaken at this outpour of adoration. He thanked Chamberlain for taking him to the limit and "making [him] a better player" and the crowd for "allowing [him] to be a part of their lives."

On December 2, 2008, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and The Mayor's Office of New Bostonians awarded Russell the 2008 We Are Boston Leadership Awards. Russell, who according to the mayor flew a "red-eye flight" to be there, attended the annual event with his daughter. He was visibly grateful and shared anecdotes of racial bigotry when he first came to Boston as a player and bought a home in Reading, Massachusetts. Russell congratulated the mayor on wanting to be a "mayor for all of Boston" and commented that it was a city that truly changed.

See also

List of National Basketball Association career rebounding leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff rebounding leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff assists leaders

List of National Basketball Association season rebounding leaders

List of National Basketball Association players with most rebounds in a game

List of NCAA Division I men's basketball career rebounding leaders

Books

Further reading

Goudsouzian, Aram (2010). ''King of the Court: Bill Russell and the Basketball Revolution.'' Berkeley: University of California Press.

Kornheiser, Tony (1999). "Bill Russell: Nothing but a Man". In ''ESPN SportsCentury''. Michael MacCambridge, Editor. New York: Hyperion-ESPN Books. pp. 178–89.

References

External links

Bill Russell career stats

NBA.com: Bill Russell

Bill Russell: Hall of Fame

FIBA Hall of Fame on Russell

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