Coordinates	23°33′″N46°38′″N
name	Luc Besson
birth date	March 18, 1959
birth place	Paris, France
years active	1981–present
occupation	Producer, director, screenwriter
spouse	Anne Parillaud (div.)Milla Jovovich (1997–99)Virginie Silla (2004–) }}

Luc Besson (; born 18 March 1959) is a French film director, writer, and producer. He is the creator of EuropaCorp film company. He has been involved with over 50 films, spanning 26 years, as writer, director, and/or producer.

Early life

Besson was born in Paris to parents who were both Club Med scuba diving instructors. This had a profound influence on his childhood as Besson planned on becoming a marine biologist. He spent much of his youth traveling with his parents to tourist resorts in Italy, Yugoslavia and Greece. The family returned to France when Besson was 10. His parents promptly divorced and were remarried to other people. "Here there is two families, and I am the only bad souvenir of something that doesn't work," he said in the ''International Herald Tribune''. "And if I disappear, then everything is perfect. The rage to exist comes from here. I have to do something! Otherwise I am going to die."

At the age of 17, Besson had a diving accident that left him temporarily unable to dive.

"I was 17 and I wondered what I was going to do. ... So I took a piece of paper and on the left I put everything I could do, or had skills for, and all the things I couldn't do. The first line was shorter and I could see that I loved writing, I loved images, I was taking a lot of pictures. So I thought maybe movies would be good. But I thought that to really know I should go to a set. And a friend of mine knew a guy whose brother was a third assistant on a short film. It's true," he said in a 2000 interview with ''The Guardian''.

"So, I said: 'OK, let's go on the set.' So I went on the set...The day after I went back to see my mum and told her that I was going to make films and stop school and 'bye. And I did it! Very soon after I made a short film and it was very, very bad. I wanted to prove that I could do something, so I made a short film. That was in fact my main concern, to be able to show that I could do one."

Career

Out of boredom, he started to write stories, including the backdrop to what later became one of his most popular movies, ''The Fifth Element''. Besson directed and co-wrote the screenplay of this science fiction thriller with the screenwriter, Robert Mark Kamen. The film is inspired by the French comic books Besson read as a teenager. He also reportedly worked on the first drafts of ''Le Grand Bleu'' while still in his teens.

At 18, Besson returned to his birthplace of Paris. There he took odd jobs in film to get a feel for the industry. He worked as an assistant to directors including Claude Faraldo and Patrick Grandperret. Besson also directed three short films, a commissioned documentary, and several commercials.

After this, he moved to the United States for three years, but returned to form his own production company which he called "Les Films du Loup". The name was later changed to "Les Films du Dauphin". In the early 1980s, Besson met Éric Serra and asked him to compose the score for his first short film, ''L'Avant dernier''.

In recent years, he has written and produced numerous action movies, including the ''Taxi'' and ''The Transporter'' series, and the Jet Li films ''Kiss of the Dragon'' and ''Unleashed/Danny the Dog''. Besson was also in charge of the promotional movie for the Paris bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Luc had been nominated for Best Director and Best Picture César Awards for his films ''Léon'' (a.k.a. ''The Professional'') and ''The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc'', but won Best Director and Best French Director for his film ''The Fifth Element''.

Cinéma du look

Critics cite Besson as a pivotal figure in the Cinéma du look movement, a specific, highly visual style produced from the 1980s into the early 1990s. ''Subway'', ''The Big Blue'' and ''Nikita'' are all considered to be of this stylistic school. The term was coined in a 1989 essay, in ''La Revue du Cinema'' n° 449, by Raphaël Bassan, in which Besson was lumped with two other directors who shared "le look." These directors were said to favor style over substance, spectacle over narrative.

Most of the filmmakers in the category, including Besson, squirmed uncomfortably at being labeled, particularly in light of their forebears: France's New Wave. "Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut were rebelling against existing cultural values and used cinema as a means of expression simply because it was the most avant-garde medium at the time," said Besson in ''The New York Times''. "Today, the revolution is occurring entirely within the industry and is led by people who want to change the look of movies by making them better, more convincing and pleasurable to watch.

"Because it's becoming increasingly difficult to break into this field, we have developed a psychological armor and are ready to do anything in order to work", he added in this same interview. "I think our ardor alone is going to shake the pillars of the moviemaking establishment."

Besson is working on a film called ''The Lady'' (original title ''Dans la Lumiere''), due to be released in the fall of 2011. He is also working on ''Lockout'' due to be released in April 2012.He is also co-producer of a film called ''Colombiana'', also scheduled to be released in August 2011.

Works

Many of Besson's films have achieved popular, if not critical success. One such release was ''Le Grand Bleu''. "When the film had its premiere on opening night at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival, it was mercilessly drubbed, but no matter; it was a smash," observed the ''International Herald Tribune'' in a 2007 profile of Besson. "Embraced by young people who kept returning to see it again, the movie sold 10 million tickets and quickly became what the French call a film générationnel, a defining moment in the culture."

Besson created the Arthur series, which comprises ''Arthur and the Minimoys'', ''Arthur and the Forbidden City'', ''Arthur and the Vengeance of Maltazard'' and ''Arthur and the War of the Two Worlds''. Besson directed ''Arthur and the Invisibles'', an adaptation of the first two books of the collection. A film with live action and animation, it was released in the UK and the USA and starred Freddie Highmore, Madonna, Snoop Dogg, Mia Farrow, Robert De Niro and David Bowie.

Critical evaluation

Besson has been criticized as the most Hollywood of French filmakers. His "slick, commercial" action movies have been panned as "so interchangeable—drugs, sleaze, chuckling supervillainy, and Hong Kong-style effects—that each new project probably starts with white-out on the title page."

Others disagree. American film critic Armond White has praised Besson, who he claims is one of the best film producers, for refining and revolutionizing action film, also stating that Besson dramatizes the struggle of his characters "as a conscientious resistance to human degradation",

Personal life

Besson was married to Anne Parillaud, who starred in ''Nikita'', a film he wrote and directed. They have one daughter. He later dated model Maïwenn Le Besco. Their daughter, Shana Besson, was born in 1993. Besson married Milla Jovovich on 14 December 1997, but they divorced in 1999. On 28 August 2004, Besson married Virginie Silla, a film producer.

He has five daughters: Juliette, Shana, Talia, Satine, and Mao. Mao was born in 2005.

Filmography

:''See Luc Besson filmography''

Awards

Among Besson's many awards are the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film Critics Prize, Fantasporto Audience Jury Award-Special Mention, Best Director, and Best Film, for ''Le Dernier Combat'' in 1983; The Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Silver Ribbon-Best Director-Foreign Film, for ''La Femme Nikita'', 1990; the Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film, ''Nil by Mouth'', 1997; and the Best Director Cesar Award, for ''The Fifth Element'', 1997.

Music videos

''Pull Marine'': Isabelle Adjani (1983)

''Mon Légionnaire'': Serge Gainsbourg (1988)

''Que mon cœur lâche'': Mylène Farmer (1992)

''Love Profusion'': Madonna (2003)

''L'impasse'': Kery James

References

External links

Luc Besson Official Homepage at Luc-Besson.com

Luc Besson Interview, Angel-A

JewReview.net video interview with Luc Besson and Rie Rasmussen about Angel-A

In-depth interview with Luc Besson

Category:1959 births Category:Living people Category:People from Paris Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:César Award winners Category:French film directors Category:French film producers Category:Best Director César Award winners

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Coordinates	23°33′″N46°38′″N
name	Éric Serra
background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
birth name	Éric Serra
born	September 09, 1959near Paris, France
origin	Paris
genre	Pop, dance, electronic
instrument	Guitar, percussion, drums
occupation	Songwriter, record producer, composer, President of EuroVoice European Music Contest
years active	1970–present
label	RXRA
website	www.ericserra.com }}

Éric Serra (born on 9 September 1959) is a French composer. He has often worked on the movies of Luc Besson.

Biography

Éric Serra's father Claude was a famous French songwriter in the 1950s and '60s, and, as such, Éric was exposed to music and its production at a young age. His mother died when he was just seven years old. In the early '80s, Serra met director Luc Besson and was asked to score his first movie ''Le Dernier Combat'' (1983). Serra has scored all of Besson's directed movies to date, except ''Angel-A'' (2005) (scored by Anja Garbarek), and several that Besson has written such as ''Wasabi''.

In 1995, Éric Serra was chosen to compose the score to the James Bond film ''GoldenEye'', and produced a much more modern-sounding avant-garde soundtrack compared to previous Bond films. It met with mixed reviews from film critics. Serra's score is often criticized by Bond fans, and is considered the farthest departure from a traditional Bond score in the series history. The producers later hired John Altman to provide the music for the tank chase in St. Petersburg. Serra's original track for that sequence can still be found on the soundtrack as "A Pleasant Drive In St. Petersburg". The incidental music for the film has thus far been the only collaboration on a James Bond film.

Occasionally, and mainly due to his album released by this name, he is known in credits as RXRA (pronounced like his name, in French). An example is "Little Light of Love" on ''The Fifth Element'' soundtrack, which is credited to RXRA.

Other projects

From 1980 to 1988, Éric Serra played bass guitar for French singer Jacques Higelin.

Éric Serra is also a songwriter, notably having written "It's Only Mystery" for the film ''Subway'' and "My Lady Blue" for ''Le Grand Bleu''. In 1988, Éric Serra released an album of rock music titled ''RXRA'' which resembles the artist's name when pronounced as initial letters in French.

Most recently he composed the music for the new Criss Angel/Cirque Du Soleil show 'Criss Angel: Believe' to open at the Luxor Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, in October 2008.

Onscreen appearances

Serra has spent little time in front of the camera, choosing to work behind the scenes instead. However, on French television he has made a number of appearances performing music, and notably appeared in the Luc Besson movie ''Subway'' in which he plays 'Enrico the bassist'.

Film scores

Éric Serra has created the scores for the following movies:

''Arthur and the War of the Two Worlds'' (2010)

''The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec'' (2010)

''Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard'' (2009)

''Arthur and the Invisibles'' (2006)

''Bandidas'' (2006)

''Bulletproof Monk'' (2003)

''Rollerball'' (2002)

''Décalage horaire'' (2002)

''Wasabi'' (2001)

''L'Art (délicat) de la séduction'' (2001)

''The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc'' (1999)

''The Fifth Element'' (1997) (collaborating on its famous "Diva Dance" with opera singer Inva Mulla Tchako)

''GoldenEye'' (1995)

''Léon'' a.k.a ''The Cleaner'' a.k.a. ''The Professional'' (1994)

''Atlantis'' (1991)

''Nikita'' a.k.a. ''La Femme Nikita'' (1990)

''The Big Blue'' a.k.a. ''Le Grand Bleu'' (1988) (European version; a separate soundtrack composed by Bill Conti was created for the US version)

''Kamikaze'' (1986)

''Subway'' (1985)

''La Nuit du flingueur'' (1984) (TV)

''Le Dernier Combat'' (1983)

''L'Avant dernier'' (1981) (short film)

External links

Fan Site

Official Criss Angel Believe show website

Category:French composers Category:1959 births Category:Living people Category:French film score composers

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Coordinates	23°33′″N46°38′″N
Name	Angelina Jolie
Birth name	Angelina Jolie Voight
Birth date	June 04, 1975
Birth place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, director, writer, producer, humanitarian
Years active	1982; 1991–present
Spouse	Jonny Lee Miller (1996–1999)Billy Bob Thornton (2000–2003)
Partner	Brad Pitt (2005–present)
Children	6
Parents	Jon VoightMarcheline Bertrand
Relatives	James Haven (brother)Chip Taylor (uncle) }}

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Header1	Film awards
data2	{{Infobox | child yes | title Academy Awards | label1 | data1 | label2 2000 | data2 Best Supporting Actress }}

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{{infobox | child	yes | title Golden Globe Awards | label1 1998 | data1 Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film | label2 1999 | data2 Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film | label3 2000 | data3 Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture }}

| data4 =

{{infobox | child	yes | title Screen Actors Guild Awards | label1 1999 | data1 Outstanding Female Actor – Miniseries or Television Movie | label2 2000 | data2 Outstanding Supporting Female Actor }}

}}

Angelina Jolie ( , born Angelina Jolie Voight; June 4, 1975) is an American actress and director. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and was named Hollywood's highest-paid actress by ''Forbes'' in 2009 and 2011. Jolie is noted for promoting humanitarian causes as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). She has been cited as the world's "most beautiful" woman, a title for which she has received substantial media attention.—and received further critical acclaim for her performances in the dramas ''A Mighty Heart'' (2007) and ''Changeling'' (2008), which earned her a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actress. Jolie made her directorial debut with the wartime drama ''In the Land of Blood and Honey'' (2011).

Divorced from actors Jonny Lee Miller and Billy Bob Thornton, Jolie now lives with actor Brad Pitt, in a relationship notable for fervent media attention. Jolie and Pitt have three adopted children, Maddox, Pax, and Zahara, and three biological children, Shiloh, Knox, and Vivienne.

Early life and family

Born in Los Angeles, California, Jolie is the daughter of actors Jon Voight and Marcheline Bertrand. She is the sister of actor James Haven, niece of singer-songwriter Chip Taylor, and goddaughter of actors Jacqueline Bisset and Maximilian Schell. On her father's side, Jolie is of German and Slovak descent, and on her mother's side, she is of primarily French Canadian, Dutch, and German ancestry, as well as of distant Huron heritage.

After her parents' separation in 1976, Jolie and her brother lived with their mother, who abandoned her acting ambitions to focus on raising her children. As a child, Jolie regularly saw movies with her mother and later explained that this had inspired her interest in acting; she had not been influenced by her father. When she was six years old, her mother and stepfather, filmmaker Bill Day, moved the family to Palisades, New York; they returned to Los Angeles five years later. She then decided she wanted to act and enrolled at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, where she trained for two years and appeared in several stage productions.

At the age of 14, Jolie dropped out of her acting classes and aspired to become a funeral director. She began working as a fashion model, modeling mainly in Los Angeles, New York, and London. During this period, she wore black clothing, experimented with knife play, and went out moshing with her live-in boyfriend. Two years later, after the relationship had ended, she rented an apartment above a garage a few blocks from her mother's home.

Jolie suffered episodes of suicidal depression throughout her teens and early twenties. later commenting, "I collected knives and always had certain things around. For some reason, the ritual of having cut myself and feeling the pain, maybe feeling alive, feeling some kind of release, it was somehow therapeutic to me." She also began experimenting with drugs; by the age of 20, she had tried "just about every drug possible," including heroin.

Jolie has had a difficult relationship with her father. Due to Voight's marital infidelity and the resulting breakup of her parents' marriage, she was estranged from her father for many years. They reconciled and he appeared with her in ''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' (2001), but their relationship again deteriorated. In August of that year, Voight claimed his daughter had "serious mental problems" on ''Access Hollywood''. In response, Jolie released a statement in which she indicated that she no longer wished to pursue a relationship with her father. She explained that because she had adopted her son Maddox, she did not think it was healthy for her to associate with Voight. In the wake of her beloved mother's death from ovarian cancer on January 27, 2007, Jolie again reconciled with her father after a six-year estrangement.

Career

Early work: 1982; 1991–1997

When she was seven years old, Jolie had a small part in ''Lookin' to Get Out'' (1982), a movie co-written by and starring her father, Jon Voight. She committed to acting at the age of 16, but initially found it difficult to pass auditions, often being told that she was "too dark." The movie failed to make a profit at the box office, but developed a cult following after its video release.

She next appeared in the 1996 comedy ''Love Is All There Is'', a modern-day loose adaptation of ''Romeo and Juliet'' set among two rival Italian family restaurant owners in The Bronx, New York. In the road movie ''Mojave Moon'' (1996) she played a young woman who falls for Danny Aiello's middle-aged character, while he develops feelings for her mother, played by Anne Archer. That same year, Jolie also portrayed Margret "Legs" Sadovsky, one of five teenage girls who form an unlikely bond in the film ''Foxfire'' after they beat up a teacher who has sexually harassed them. The ''Los Angeles Times'' wrote about her performance, "It took a lot of hogwash to develop this character, but Jolie, Jon Voight's knockout daughter, has the presence to overcome the stereotype. Though the story is narrated by Maddy, Legs is the subject and the catalyst."

In 1997, Jolie starred with David Duchovny in the thriller ''Playing God'', set in the Los Angeles underworld. The movie was not well-received by critics; Roger Ebert noted that "Angelina Jolie finds a certain warmth in a kind of role that is usually hard and aggressive; she seems too nice to be [a criminal's] girlfriend, and maybe she is." She then appeared in the television film ''True Women'' (1997), a historical romantic drama set in the American West and based on the book by Janice Woods Windle. That year, she also appeared as a stripper in the music video for "Anybody Seen My Baby?" by the Rolling Stones.

Breakthrough: 1998–2000

Jolie's career prospects began to improve after she won a Golden Globe Award for her performance in TNT's ''George Wallace'' (1997). She portrayed Cornelia Wallace, the second wife of Alabama Governor George Wallace, played by Gary Sinise. The film was very well-received by critics and won, among other awards, the Golden Globe Award for Best Miniseries or Television Film. Jolie also received an Emmy Award nomination for her performance.

In 1998, Jolie starred in HBO's ''Gia'', portraying supermodel Gia Carangi. The film chronicled the destruction of Carangi's life and career as a result of her addiction to heroin, and her decline and death from AIDS in the mid-1980s. Vanessa Vance from Reel.com noted, "Angelina Jolie gained wide recognition for her role as the titular Gia, and it's easy to see why. Jolie is fierce in her portrayal—filling the part with nerve, charm, and desperation—and her role in this film is quite possibly the most beautiful train wreck ever filmed." For the second consecutive year, Jolie won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for an Emmy Award. She also won her first Screen Actors Guild Award.

In accordance with Lee Strasberg's method acting, Jolie preferred to stay in character in between scenes during many of her early films, and as a result had gained a reputation for being difficult to deal with. While shooting ''Gia'', she told her then-husband Jonny Lee Miller that she would not be able to phone him: "I'd tell him: 'I'm alone; I'm dying; I'm gay; I'm not going to see you for weeks.'" After ''Gia'' wrapped in 1997, Jolie announced that she had given up acting for good, because she felt that she had "nothing else to give." She separated from Miller and moved to New York, where she enrolled at New York University to study filmmaking and attend writing classes; she later described it as "just good for me to collect myself." Encouraged by her Golden Globe Award win for ''George Wallace'' and the positive critical reception of ''Gia'', she resumed her career. Jolie won the Breakthrough Performance Award from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures.

In 1999, she starred in the comedy-drama ''Pushing Tin'', alongside John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, and Cate Blanchett. The film received a mixed reception from critics, and Jolie's character—Thornton's seductive wife—was particularly criticized. ''The Washington Post'' wrote, "Mary (Angelina Jolie) [is] a completely ludicrous writer's creation of a free-spirited woman who weeps over hibiscus plants that die, wears lots of turquoise rings and gets real lonely when Russell spends entire nights away from home." She then co-starred with Denzel Washington in ''The Bone Collector'' (1999), an adaptation of a crime novel by Jeffery Deaver. Jolie played a police officer haunted by her cop father's suicide, who reluctantly helps Washington track down a serial killer. The movie grossed $151 million worldwide, but was a critical failure. The ''Detroit Free Press'' concluded, "Jolie, while always delicious to look at, is simply and woefully miscast."

Jolie next took the supporting role of the sociopathic Lisa Rowe in ''Girl, Interrupted'' (1999), an adaptation of former mental patient Susanna Kaysen's memoir of the same name. While Winona Ryder played the main character in what was hoped to be a comeback for her, the film instead marked Jolie's final breakthrough in Hollywood. She won her third Golden Globe Award, her second Screen Actors Guild Award, and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. ''Variety'' noted, "Jolie is excellent as the flamboyant, irresponsible girl who turns out to be far more instrumental than the doctors in Susanna's rehabilitation".

In 2000, Jolie appeared in her first summer blockbuster, ''Gone In 60 Seconds'', in which she played Sarah "Sway" Wayland, the ex-girlfriend of car thief Nicolas Cage. The role was small, and ''The Washington Post'' criticized that "all she does in this movie is stand around, cooling down, modeling those fleshy, pulsating muscle-tubes that nest so provocatively around her teeth." She later explained that the film had been a welcome relief after the emotionally heavy role of Lisa Rowe. It became her highest grossing movie up until then, earning $237 million internationally.

International success: 2001–present

Although highly regarded for her acting abilities, Jolie's films to date had often not appealed to a wide audience, but ''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' (2001) made her an international superstar. An adaptation of the popular ''Tomb Raider'' videogame, Jolie was required to learn a British accent and undergo extensive martial arts training to play the title role of Lara Croft. She was generally praised for her physical performance, but the movie generated mostly negative reviews. ''Slant'' commented, "Angelina Jolie was born to play Lara Croft but [director] Simon West makes her journey into a game of Frogger." The movie was an international success nonetheless, earning $275 million worldwide, and launched her global reputation as a female action star.

Jolie then starred opposite Antonio Banderas as his mail-order bride in ''Original Sin'' (2001), a thriller based on the novel ''Waltz into Darkness'' by Cornell Woolrich. The film was a major critical failure, with ''The New York Times'' noting, "The story plunges more precipitously than Ms. Jolie's neckline." In 2002, she starred in ''Life or Something Like It'' as an ambitious television reporter who is told that she will die in a week. The film was poorly received by critics, though Jolie's performance received positive reviews. CNN's Paul Clinton wrote, "Jolie is excellent in her role. Despite some of the ludicrous plot points in the middle of the film, this Academy Award-winning actress is exceedingly believable in her journey towards self-discovery and the true meaning of fulfilling life."

Jolie reprised her role as Lara Croft in ''Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life'' (2003), which established her among Hollywood's highest-paid actresses. The sequel was not as lucrative as the original, earning $156 million at the international box office. She appeared in the music video for Korn's "Did My Time," which was used to promote the film. She next starred in ''Beyond Borders'' (2003), as a socialite who joins aid workers in Africa and Asia. The film reflected Jolie's real-life interest in promoting humanitarian relief, but it was critically and financially unsuccessful. The ''Los Angeles Times'' wrote, "Jolie, as she did in her Oscar-winning role in ''Girl, Interrupted'', can bring electricity and believability to roles that have a reality she can understand. She can also, witness the ''Lara Croft'' films, do acknowledged cartoons. But the limbo of a hybrid character, a badly written cardboard person in a fly-infested, blood-and-guts world, completely defeats her."

In 2004, Jolie starred alongside Ethan Hawke in the thriller ''Taking Lives''. She portrayed an FBI profiler summoned to help Montreal law enforcement hunt down a serial killer. The movie received mixed reviews and ''The Hollywood Reporter'' concluded, "Angelina Jolie plays a role that definitely feels like something she has already done, but she does add an unmistakable dash of excitement and glamour." She also provided the voice of the angelfish Lola in the DreamWorks animated movie ''Shark Tale'' (2004), and had a brief appearance in ''Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow'' (2004), a science fiction adventure film shot entirely with actors in front of a bluescreen. That same year, Jolie played Olympias in ''Alexander'', about the life of Alexander the Great. The film failed domestically, which director Oliver Stone attributed to disapproval of the depiction of Alexander's bisexuality, but it succeeded internationally, with revenue of $139 million outside the United States.

Jolie then starred opposite Brad Pitt in the 2005 action-comedy ''Mr. & Mrs. Smith'', which tells the story of a bored married couple, John and Jane Smith, who find out that they are both secret assassins. The film received mixed reviews, but was generally lauded for the chemistry between the two leads. The ''Star Tribune'' noted, "While the story feels haphazard, the movie gets by on gregarious charm, galloping energy and the stars' thermonuclear screen chemistry." The movie earned $478 million worldwide, making it the seventh-highest grossing film of 2005.

Jolie next appeared in Robert De Niro's ''The Good Shepherd'' (2006), a film about the early history of the CIA, as seen through the eyes of Edward Wilson, an officer based on James Jesus Angleton and played by Matt Damon. Jolie played the supporting role of Margaret "Clover" Russell, Wilson's neglected wife. According to the ''Chicago Tribune'', "Jolie ages convincingly throughout, and is blithely unconcerned with how her brittle character is coming off in terms of audience sympathy."

In 2007, Jolie made her directorial debut with the documentary ''A Place in Time'', which captures daily life in 27 locations around the world during a single week. The film was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival and was intended for distribution to high schools through the National Education Association. Jolie then starred as Mariane Pearl in the documentary-style drama ''A Mighty Heart'' (2007). Based on Pearl's memoir of the same name, the film chronicles the kidnapping and murder of her husband, ''The Wall Street Journal'' reporter Daniel Pearl, in Pakistan. ''The Hollywood Reporter'' described Jolie's performance as "well-measured and moving," played "with respect and a firm grasp on a difficult accent." Jolie was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for her performance. She also played Grendel's mother in the animated epic ''Beowulf'' (2007), which was created through the motion capture technique.

Jolie co-starred alongside James McAvoy and Morgan Freeman in the 2008 action movie ''Wanted'', an adaptation of Mark Millar's graphic novel of the same name. The film received predominately favorable reviews and proved an international success, earning $342 million worldwide. She also provided the voice of Master Tigress in the DreamWorks animated movie ''Kung Fu Panda'' (2008). With revenue of $632 million internationally, it became the third-highest grossing film of 2008. That same year, Jolie took on the lead role in Clint Eastwood's drama ''Changeling''. Based in part on the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders, the film stars Jolie as Christine Collins, who is reunited with her kidnapped son in 1928 Los Angeles—only to realize the boy is an impostor. The ''Chicago Tribune'' noted, "Jolie really shines in the calm before the storm, the scenes [...] when one patronizing male authority figure after another belittles her at their peril." Jolie received nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a BAFTA Award.

Jolie next starred in the 2010 thriller ''Salt'', her first film in two years. She starred alongside Liev Schreiber as CIA agent Evelyn Salt, who goes on the run after she is accused of being a KGB sleeper agent. Originally written as male, the character Salt underwent a gender change after a Colombia Pictures executive suggested Jolie for the role to director Phillip Noyce. The film was an international success with revenue of $294 million. It received mixed to positive reviews, with Jolie's performance earning praise; ''Empire'' remarked, "When it comes to selling incredible, crazy, death-defying antics, Jolie has few peers in the action business." She also starred opposite Johnny Depp in ''The Tourist'' (2010), which was a major critical failure. Peter Travers wrote, "Depp and Jolie hit career lows, producing the chemistry of high-fashion zombies." After a slow start at the domestic box office, the film went on to gross $278 million worldwide. Jolie received a controversial Golden Globe Award nomination, which was speculated to have been given merely to ensure her high-profile presence at the awards ceremony.

In 2011, Jolie reprised her voice role as Master Tigress in the animated DreamWorks sequel ''Kung Fu Panda 2''. It became the fourth-highest grossing film of 2011 and Jolie's highest grossing film to date, earning $663 million at the international box office. She also made her directorial feature debut with ''In the Land of Blood and Honey'' (2011), a love story between a Serb soldier and a Bosniak prisoner of war, set during the 1992-95 Bosnian War. Jolie, who had twice visited Bosnia-Herzegovina in her capacity as a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, explained that she made the film to rekindle attention for the survivors of a war that took place in recent history. Prior to production in Sarajevo, however, the filming permit was briefly revoked in response to protests from the Association of Women Victims of War, over unfounded rumors that Jolie's script was about a rape victim who falls in love with her rapist. When Jolie presented the finished film to an audience assembled by Bosnian war-victims advocacy organizations, the response was "overwhelmingly positive."

Humanitarian work

Jolie first became personally aware of worldwide humanitarian crises while filming ''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' (2001) in Cambodia. She contacted the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for information on international trouble spots. To learn more about the conditions in these areas, Jolie began visiting refugee camps around the world. In February 2001, she went on her first field visit, an 18-day mission to Sierra Leone and Tanzania; she later expressed her shock at what she had witnessed. In the following months, she returned to Cambodia for two weeks and met with Afghan refugees in Pakistan. She covered all costs related to her missions and shared the same rudimentary working and living conditions as UNHCR field staff on all of her visits. Jolie was named a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador at UNHCR headquarters in Geneva on August 27, 2001.

Since then, Jolie has been on field missions around the world and met with refugees and internally displaced persons in more than 30 countries. Asked what she hoped to accomplish, she stated, "Awareness of the plight of these people. I think they should be commended for what they have survived, not looked down upon." Jolie aims to visit what she terms "forgotten emergencies," crises that media attention has shifted away from. She is noted for not shying away from traveling to areas that are at war: she visited the Darfur region of Sudan during the Darfur conflict in 2004; Chad during its civil war in 2007; Iraq during the Second Gulf War in 2007 and 2009; Afghanistan during the ongoing war in 2008 and 2011; and Libya during the Libyan revolution in 2011.

In addition to her field missions, Jolie uses her public profile to promote humanitarian causes through the mass media. Her early field visits were chronicled in her book ''Notes from My Travels'', which was published in conjunction with the release of her film ''Beyond Borders'' (2003). She filmed a 2005 MTV special, ''The Diary of Angelina Jolie & Dr. Jeffrey Sachs in Africa'', portraying her and noted economist Dr. Jeffrey Sachs on a trip to a remote group of villages in Western Kenya. Jolie has also regularly released public service announcements promoting World Refugee Day and other causes.

Over time, Jolie became more involved in promoting humanitarian causes on a political level. She has regularly attended World Refugee Day in Washington, D.C., and she was an invited speaker at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2005 and 2006. She also began lobbying humanitarian interests in the U.S. capital, where she met with members of Congress at least 20 times between 2003 and 2006, during which she pushed for several bills to aid refugees and vulnerable children in the Third World and the United States. She explained in 2006, "As much as I would love to never have to visit Washington, that's the way to move the ball." In 2007, she became a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Jolie has established several charitable organizations. In 2003, she founded the Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation—named the Maddox Jolie Project until 2007—which is dedicated to community development and environmental conservation in Cambodia's northwestern province Battambang. In 2006, she partnered with the Global Health Committee to establish the Maddox Chivan Children's Center, a daycare facility for children afflicted and affected by HIV in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh. That same year, she and her partner Brad Pitt founded the Jolie-Pitt Foundation, to aid humanitarian causes worldwide. In 2007, Jolie and noted economist Dr. Gene Sperling founded the Education Partnership for Children of Conflict, which funds education programs for children affected by man-made or natural disasters. In 2008, she collaborated with the Microsoft Corporation to establish Kids in Need of Defense, a pro bono movement of law firms, corporate law departments, NGOs and volunteers committed to providing legal counsel to unaccompanied immigrant children in the U.S. In 2010, she established the Jolie Legal Fellows Programme, which recruits lawyers to support governmental child protection efforts in Haiti.

Jolie has received wide recognition for her humanitarian work. In 2002, she received the inaugural Humanitarian Award by the Church World Service's Immigration and Refugee Program. In 2003, she was the first recipient of the Citizen of the World Award by the United Nations Correspondents Association. In 2005, she was awarded the Global Humanitarian Award by the UNA-USA. On July 31, 2005, King Norodom Sihamoni awarded Jolie Cambodian citizenship for her conservation work in the country. In 2007, Jolie received the Freedom Award by the International Rescue Committee. In 2011, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres presented Jolie with a gold pin reserved for the most long-serving staff, in recognition of her decade as a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador.

Personal life

Relationships

Jolie had a serious boyfriend for two years from the age of 14. They lived together in her mother's home, of which she has said, "He was my first boyfriend at a time when I wanted to be promiscuous and was starting to be sexual. We were in my bedroom, in my environment, where I was most comfortable and I wasn't in danger." She later compared the relationship to a marriage in its emotional intensity, and said that the breakup compelled her to dedicate herself to her acting career at the age of 16.

During filming of ''Hackers'' (1995), Jolie had a romance with British actor Jonny Lee Miller, her first lover since the relationship in her early teens. Jolie and Miller separated in September 1997 and divorced on February 3, 1999. They remained on good terms, and Jolie later explained, "It comes down to timing. I think he's the greatest husband a girl could ask for. I'll always love him, we were simply too young."

Jolie had a brief relationship with model-actress Jenny Shimizu on the set of ''Foxfire'' (1996). She later said, "I would probably have married Jenny if I hadn't married my husband. I fell in love with her the first second I saw her." Shimizu claimed in 2005 that her relationship with Jolie had lasted many years and continued even while Jolie was romantically involved with other people. In 2003, asked if she was bisexual, Jolie responded, "Of course. If I fell in love with a woman tomorrow, would I feel that it's okay to want to kiss and touch her? If I fell in love with her? Absolutely! Yes!"

After a two-month courtship, Jolie married actor Billy Bob Thornton on May 5, 2000, in Las Vegas. They met on the set of ''Pushing Tin'' (1999), but did not pursue a relationship at that time as Thornton was engaged to actress Laura Dern. As a result of their frequent public declarations of passion and gestures of love—most famously wearing one another's blood in vials around their necks—their marriage became a favorite topic of the entertainment media. Jolie and Thornton announced the adoption of a son from Cambodia in March 2002, but abruptly separated three months later. Their divorce was finalized on May 27, 2003. Asked about the sudden dissolution of their marriage, Jolie stated, "It took me by surprise, too, because overnight, we totally changed. I think one day we had just nothing in common. And it's scary but... I think it can happen when you get involved and you don't know yourself yet."

In early 2005, Jolie was involved in a well-publicized Hollywood scandal when she was accused of being the reason for the divorce of actors Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston. She and Pitt were alleged to have started an affair during filming of ''Mr. & Mrs. Smith'' (2005). She denied this on several occasions, but later admitted that they "fell in love" on the set. She explained in 2005, "To be intimate with a married man, when my own father cheated on my mother, is not something I could forgive. I could not look at myself in the morning if I did that. I wouldn't be attracted to a man who would cheat on his wife." The couple—dubbed "Brangelina" by the entertainment media—are the subject of worldwide media coverage.

Children

On March 10, 2002, Jolie adopted her first child, seven-month-old Maddox Chivan, from an orphanage in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He was born as Rath Vibol on August 5, 2001, in a local village. Jolie applied for adoption after she had visited Cambodia twice, while filming ''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' (2001) and on a UNHCR field mission. The adoption process was halted in December 2001 when the U.S. government banned adoptions from Cambodia amid allegations of child trafficking. Once the adoption was finalized, she took custody of Maddox in Namibia, where she was filming ''Beyond Borders'' (2003). Although Jolie and her then-husband Billy Bob Thornton announced the adoption together, she in fact adopted Maddox as a single parent.

Jolie adopted a daughter, six-month-old Zahara Marley, from an orphanage in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on July 6, 2005. Zahara was born as Yemsrach on January 8, 2005, in Awasa. At the time of the adoption, Zahara was wrongly believed to be an AIDS orphan and it was unknown whether she herself was HIV positive, but she later tested negative. Shortly after they returned to the United States, Zahara was hospitalized for dehydration and malnutrition. In November 2007, media outlets reported that Zahara's biological mother wanted her daughter back, but she denied these reports, saying she thought Zahara was "very fortunate" to have been adopted by Jolie.

Jolie was accompanied by her partner Brad Pitt when she traveled to Ethiopia to collect Zahara. She later indicated that she and Pitt had made the decision to adopt from Ethiopia together. In December 2005, Pitt's publicist announced that Pitt was seeking to adopt Maddox and Zahara. To reflect this, Jolie filed a request to legally change her children's surnames from Jolie to Jolie-Pitt, which was granted on January 19, 2006. The adoptions were finalized soon after.

In an attempt to avoid the media frenzy surrounding their relationship, Jolie and Pitt went to Namibia for the birth of their first biological child. On May 27, 2006, Jolie gave birth to a daughter, Shiloh Nouvel, in Swakopmund. Pitt confirmed that their newborn daughter would have a Namibian passport. The couple decided to sell the first pictures of Shiloh through the distributor Getty Images themselves, rather than allowing paparazzi to make these valuable photographs. ''People'' paid a reported $4.1 million for the North American rights, while ''Hello!'' obtained the British rights for a reported $3.5 million. All profits were donated to charities serving African children.

On March 15, 2007, Jolie adopted a son, three-year-old Pax Thien, from an orphanage in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Jolie adopted Pax as a single parent, because Vietnam's adoption regulations do not allow unmarried couples to co-adopt. The rights for the first post-adoption images of Pax were sold to ''People'' for a reported $2 million, as well as to ''Hello!'' for an undisclosed amount. In April, Jolie filed a request to legally change her son's surname from Jolie to Jolie-Pitt, which was approved on May 31, 2007. Pitt's adoption of Pax was finalized in the United States on February 21, 2008.

At the Cannes Film Festival in May 2008, Jolie confirmed that she was expecting twins. For the two weeks she spent in a seaside hospital in Nice, France, reporters and photographers camped outside on the promenade. She gave birth to a son, Knox Léon, and a daughter, Vivienne Marcheline, on July 12, 2008. The rights for the first images of Knox and Vivienne were jointly sold to ''People'' and ''Hello!'' for a reported $14 million—the most expensive celebrity pictures ever taken. The proceeds were donated to the Jolie-Pitt Foundation.

In the media

During the first decade of her career, Jolie—who does not employ a publicist or an agent—maintained a "wild child" persona in her communication with the media. She openly discussed her love life, including her bisexuality and her interest in BDSM. After she kissed her brother during the Academy Awards in 2000, their close relationship became the subject of tabloid media speculation, which she dismissed. She spoke about her experiences with drugs and depression, and recalled the time, in 1997, when she almost hired a hitman to kill her, as well as the three days, just before her marriage to Billy Bob Thornton, that she was sectioned at UCLA's psychiatric ward. ''Esquire'' in 2004, American ''FHM'' and British ''Harper's Bazaar'' in 2005, ''People'' and ''Hello!'' in 2006, ''Empire'' in 2007, and ''Vanity Fair'' in 2009. Jolie's extensive collection of tattoos has often been addressed by interviewers. She has fourteen known tattoos, among which the Latin proverb "quod me nutrit me destruit" (what nourishes me destroys me), the Tennessee Williams quote "A prayer for the wild at heart, kept in cages," two sak yant designs featuring a prayer of protection and a twelve-inch-by-eight-inch tiger, and six sets of geographical coordinates indicating the origins of her children. Over time, she has covered or lasered several of her tattoos, including the name of her second husband, "Billy Bob", and the Chinese characters "死" (death) and "勇" (courage).

Today, Jolie is one of the best-known celebrities around the world. According to the Q Score, in 2000, subsequent to her Oscar win, 31% of respondents in the United States said Jolie was familiar to them; by 2006 she was familiar to 81% of Americans. In a 2006 global industry survey by ACNielsen in 42 international markets, Jolie, together with her partner Brad Pitt, was found to be the favorite celebrity endorser for brands and products worldwide. She was the face of St. John and Shiseido from 2006 to 2008, and in 2011 had an endorsement deal with Louis Vuitton reportedly worth $10 million—a record for a single advertising campaign. She was among the ''Time'' 100, a list of the most influential people in the world as assembled by ''Time'', in 2006 and 2008. ''Forbes'' named her Hollywood's highest-paid actress in 2009 and 2011, with estimated annual earnings of $27 million and $30 million respectively, and she topped the magazine's Celebrity 100, a ranking of the world's most powerful celebrities, in 2009.

Filmography

+ Actor
Title	Year	Role	Notes
''Lookin' to Get Out''	1982	Tosh	As Angelina Jolie Voight
''Cyborg 2''	1993	Casella "Cash" Reese
''Without Evidence''	1995	Jodie Swearingen
! scope="row"	1995	Kate "Acid Burn" Libby
''Love Is All There Is''	1996	Gina Malacici
''Mojave Moon''	1996	Eleanor "Elie" Rigby
! scope="row"	1996	Margret "Legs" Sadovsky
''True Women''	1997	Georgia Virginia Lawshe Woods	TV film
! scope="row"	1997	Cornelia Wallace
! scope="row"	1997	Claire
''Gia''	1998		TV filmGolden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television FilmSatellite Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film	1998	Gloria McNeary
''[[Playing by Heart">Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
! scope="row"	1998	Gloria McNeary
''[[Playing by Heart''	1998	Joan
''Pushing Tin''	1999	Mary Bell
''''	1999	Amelia Donaghy
! scope="row"	1999	Lisa Rowe	Academy Award for Best Supporting ActressBlockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actress - DramaBroadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting ActressGolden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion PictureScreen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Supporting Female ActorNominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting ActressNominated—Empire Award for Best ActressNominated—Teen Choice Award for Film - Choice ActressNominated—Teen Choice Award for Film - Choice Hissy Fit
! scope="row"	2000	Sara "Sway" Wayland
''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider''	2001	Lara Croft
! scope="row"	2001	Julia "Bonny Castle" Russell
''Life or Something Like It''	2002	Lanie Kerrigan
''Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life''	2003	Lara Croft
''Beyond Borders''	2003	Sarah Jordan
! scope="row"	2004	Illeana Scott
''Shark Tale''	2004	Lola	Voice
''Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow''	2004	Francesca "Franky" Cook
! scope="row"	2004	Olympias
! scope="row"	2005	Jane Smith	Nominated— ''''	2006	Margaret "Clover" Russell
''''	2007	[[Mariane Pearl">32nd People's Choice Awards
''''	2006	Margaret "Clover" Russell
''''	2007	[[Mariane Pearl	Santa Barbara International Film Festival Award for Outstanding Performance of the YearNominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best ActressNominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best ActressNominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Female LeadNominated—London Film Critics Circle Award for Actress of the YearNominated—NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress – Motion PictureNominated—Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture DramaNominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Leading Female Actor
! scope="row"	2007	Grendel's mother
''Kung Fu Panda''	2008		Voice
! scope="row"	2008	Fox	People's Choice Award for Favorite Female Action StarNominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Female PerformanceNominated—People's Choice Award for Favorite Female Movie Star
! scope="row"	2008	Christine Collins	Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture DramaSaturn Award for Best ActressNominated—Academy Award for Best ActressNominated—BAFTA Award for Best Leading ActressNominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best ActressNominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best ActressNominated—Empire Award for Best ActressNominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture DramaNominated—Irish Film and Television Award for Best International ActressNominated—London Film Critics Circle Award for Actress of the YearNominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Leading Female ActorNominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actress: Drama
! scope="row"	2010	Evelyn Salt	Nominated— ''''	2010	Elise Clifton-Ward	Nominated—[[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy">37th People's Choice Awards
''''	2010	Elise Clifton-Ward	Nominated—[[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
''Kung Fu Panda 2''	2011	Master Tigress	Voice

+ Director
Title	Year	Notes
''In the Land of Blood and Honey''	2011

Selected awards

Year	Award	Category	Film	Result
1998	Emmy Award
1998	Golden Globe Award		''George Wallace''
1998		Breakthrough Performance	''Playing by Heart''
1998	Emmy Award		''Gia''
1999	Golden Globe Award		''Gia''
1999	Screen Actors Guild Award		''Gia''
2000	Academy Award
2000	Golden Globe Award		''Girl, Interrupted''
2000	Screen Actors Guild Award		''Girl, Interrupted''
2008	Golden Globe Award		''''
2008	Screen Actors Guild Award		''''
2009	Academy Award
2009	BAFTA Award		''Changeling''
2009	Golden Globe Award	Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama	''Changeling''
2009	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role	''Changeling''
2011	Golden Globe Award

Bibliography

''Notes from My Travels''. Pocket Books. 2003. ISBN 0-7434-7023-0.

"Justice for Darfur". ''The Washington Post''. February 28, 2007.

"A Year for Accountability". ''The Economist''. November 15, 2007.

"The 2009 TIME 100: Somaly Mam". ''Time''. April 30, 2009.

"The Case Against Omar al-Bashir". ''Time''. June 5, 2009.

"Justice Delayed Is Not Justice Denied". ''Newsweek''. December 10, 2009

References

Further reading

McFay, Edgar. ''Angelina Jolie: Angel in Disguise''. Icon Press, 2005. ISBN 1-894864-25-5.

Wolf, Naomi. "The Power of Angelina". ''Harper's Bazaar''. June 8, 2009.

External links

UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie, official homepage at UNHCR.org

Journey Through Eastern Congo, multimedia journal narrated by Jolie

Interviews with Angelina Jolie by Charlie Rose

Category:1975 births Category:Actors from Los Angeles, California Category:American aviators Category:American child actors Category:American film actors Category:American film directors Category:American film producers Category:American humanitarians Category:American people of Dutch descent Category:American people of French-Canadian descent Category:American people of German descent Category:American people of Slovak descent Category:American voice actors Category:American writers Category:Best Miniseries or Television Movie Actress Golden Globe winners Category:Best Supporting Actress Academy Award winners Category:Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe (television) winners Category:Bisexual actors Category:Female aviators Category:Female film directors Category:Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute alumni Category:LGBT people from the United States Category:Living people Category:Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie Screen Actors Guild Award winners Category:People of Iroquois descent Category:Saturn Award winners Category:United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Goodwill Ambassadors

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Coordinates	23°33′″N46°38′″N
name	Gertrude Bell
birth date	July 14, 1868
birth place	Washington Hall, County Durham, England
death date	July 12, 1926
death place	Baghdad, British Mandate of Mesopotamia (present day Iraq)
nationality	British
period	Victorian, Edwardian – 1900s
Known for	Writer, traveller, political officer, administrator, and archaeologist, explorer, cartographer in Greater Syria, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, and Arab
footnotes	}}

Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell, CBE (14 July 1868 – 12 July 1926) was an English writer, traveller, political officer, administrator, and archaeologist who explored, mapped, and became highly influential to British imperial policy-making due to her extensive travels in Greater Syria, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, and Arabia. Along with T. E. Lawrence, Bell helped establish the Hashemite dynasties in what is today Jordan as well as in Iraq. She played a major role in establishing and helping administer the modern state of Iraq, utilizing her unique perspective from her travels and relations with tribal leaders throughout the Middle East. During her lifetime she was highly esteemed and trusted by British officials and given an immense amount of power for a woman at the time. She has also been described as "one of the few representatives of His Majesty's Government remembered by the Arabs with anything resembling affection".

Early life

Bell was born in Washington Hall, County Durham, England - now known as Dame Margaret Hall - to a family whose wealth enabled her travels. She is described as having "reddish hair and piercing blue-green eyes, with her mother's bow shaped lips and rounded chin, her father’s oval face and pointed nose". Her personality was characterized by energy, intellect, and a thirst for adventure which shaped her path in life. Her grandfather was Isaac Sir Lowthian Bell, an industrialist and a Liberal Member of Parliament, in Benjamin Disraeli's second term. His role in British policy-making exposed Gertrude at a young age to international matters and most likely encouraged her curiosity for the world, and her later involvement in international politics.

Bell's mother, Mary Shield Bell, died in 1871, while giving birth to a son, Maurice. Bell was just three at the time, and the death led to a close relationship with her father, Sir Hugh Bell, 2nd Baronet, who was three times mayor of Middlesbrough, High Sheriff of Durham 1895, Justice of the Peace, Deputy Lieutenant of County Durham, Lord Lieutenant of the North Riding of Yorkshire. Throughout her life she consulted with him on political matters. Some biographies say the loss of her mother had caused underlying childhood trauma, revealed through periods of depression and risky behavior. At seven Bell acquired a stepmother, Florence Bell, and eventually, three half-siblings. Florence Bell was a playwright and author of children's stories, as well as the author of a study of Bell factory workers. She instilled concepts of duty and decorum in Gertrude and contributed to her intellectual and anti-feminist activities in the Anti-Suffrage League. Florence Bell's activities with the wives of ironworkers in Eston, near Middlesbrough, may have helped influence her step-daughter's later stance promoting education of Iraqi women.

Gertrude Bell received her early education from Queen's College in London and then later at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University at age 17. History was one of the few subjects women were allowed to study, due to the many restrictions imposed on them at the time. She specialized in modern history, in which she received a first class honours degree in two years.

Bell never married. She had an unconsummated affair with Major Charles Doughty-Wylie, a married man, with whom she exchanged love letters from 1913-1915. Upon his death in 1915 at Gallipoli, Bell launched herself into her work.

Travels and writings

Bell's uncle, Sir Frank Lascelles, was British minister (similar to ambassador) at Tehran, Persia. In May 1892, after leaving Oxford, Bell travelled to Persia to visit him. She described this journey in her book, ''Persian Pictures''. She spent much of the next decade travelling around the world, mountaineering in Switzerland, and developing a passion for archaeology and languages. She had become fluent in Arabic, Persian, French and German as well as also speaking Italian and Turkish. In 1899, Bell again went to the Middle East. She visited Palestine and Syria that year and in 1900, on a trip from Jerusalem to Damascus, she became acquainted with the Druze living in Jabal al-Druze. She traveled across Arabia six times over the next 12 years.

She published her observations in the book ''Syria: The Desert and the Sown'' published in 1907 (William Heinemann Ltd, London). In this book she described, photographed and detailed her trip to Greater Syria's towns and cities like Damascus, Jerusalem, Beirut, Antioch and Alexandretta. Bell's vivid descriptions opened up the Arabian deserts to the western world. In March 1907, Bell journeyed to the Ottoman Empire and began to work with the archaeologist and New Testament scholar Sir William M. Ramsey. Their excavations were chronicled in ''A Thousand and One Churches''.

In January 1909, she left for Mesopotamia. She visited the Hittite city of Carchemish, mapped and described the ruin of Ukhaidir and finally went to Babylon and Najaf. Back in Carchemish, she consulted with the two archaeologists on site. One of them was T. E. Lawrence. Her 1913 Arabian journey was generally difficult. She was the second foreign woman after Lady Anne Blunt to visit Ha'il.

Anti-Suffrage League

Bell also became honorary secretary of the British Women's Anti-Suffrage League. Her stated reason for her anti-suffrage stand was that as long as women felt that the kitchen and the bedroom were their only domains, they were truly unprepared to take part in deciding how a nation should be ruled.

War and political career

At the outbreak of World War I, Bell's request for a Middle East posting was initially denied. She instead volunteered with the Red Cross in France.

Later, from the World War I period until her death she was the only woman holding political power and influence in shaping British imperial policy in the Middle East. She often acquired a team of locals which she directed and led on her expeditions. Throughout her travels Bell established close relations with tribe members across the Middle East. Additionally, being a woman gave her exclusive access to the chambers of wives of tribe leaders, giving her access to other perspectives and functions.

Work in the Middle East

In November 1915, however, she was summoned to Cairo to the nascent Arab Bureau, headed by General Gilbert Clayton. She also again met T. E. Lawrence. At first she did not receive an official position, but, in her first months there, helped Lt. Cmdr. David Hogarth set about organizing and processing her own, Lawrence's and Capt. W. H. I. Shakespear's data about the location and disposition of Arab tribes that could be encouraged to join the British against the Ottoman Empire. Lawrence and the British used the information in forming alliances with the Arabs.

On 3 March 1916, after hardly a moment's notice, Gen. Clayton sent Bell to Basra, which British forces had captured in November 1914, to advise Chief Political Officer Percy Cox regarding an area she knew better than any other Westerner. She drew maps to help the British army reach Baghdad safely. She became the only female political officer in the British forces and received the title of "Liaison Officer, Correspondent to Cairo" (i.e. to the Arab Bureau where she had been assigned). She was Harry St. John Philby's field controller, and taught him the finer arts of behind-the-scenes political manoeuvering.

When British troops took Baghdad (10 March 1917), Bell was summoned by Cox to Baghdad and given the title of "Oriental Secretary." She, Cox and Lawrence were among a select group of "Orientalists" convened by Winston Churchill to attend a 1921 Conference in Cairo to determine the boundaries of the British mandate and nascent states such as Iraq. Gertrude is supposed to have described Lawrence as being able "to ignite fires in cold rooms".

Throughout the conference, the two worked tirelessly to promote the establishment of the countries of Transjordan and Iraq to be presided over by the Kings Abdullah and Faisal, sons of the instigator of the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire (ca. 1915-1916), Hussein bin Ali, Sharif and Emir of Mecca. Until her death in Baghdad, she served in the Iraq British High Commission advisory group there.

Referred to by Iraqis as "al-Khatun" (a Lady of the Court who keeps an open eye and ear for the benefit of the State), she was a confidante of King Faisal of Iraq and helped ease his passage into the role, amongst Iraq's other tribal leaders at the start of his reign. He helped her to found Baghdad's great Iraqi Archaeological Museum from her own modest artifact collection and to establish The British School of Archaeology, Iraq, for the endowment of excavation projects from proceeds in her will. The stress of authoring a prodigious output of books, correspondence, intelligence reports, reference works, white papers; of recurring bronchitis attacks brought on by years of heavy smoking in the company of English and Arab cohorts; of bouts with malaria; and finally, of coping with Baghdad's summer heat all took a toll on her health. Somewhat frail to start with, she became nearly emaciated.

Like Lawrence, Bell had attended Oxford and earned First Class Honours in Modern History. Bell spoke Arabic, Persian, French and German. She was an archaeologist, traveller and photographer in the Middle East before World War I. Under recommendation by renowned archaeologist and historian David Hogarth, first Lawrence, then Bell, were assigned to Army Intelligence Headquarters in Cairo in 1915 for war service. Because both Bell and Lawrence had traveled the desert and established ties with the local tribes and gain unique perspectives of the people and the land prior to World War I, Hogarth realized the value of Lawrence and Bell's expertise. Both Bell and Lawrence stood hardly 5'5", yet both could ride with great determination and endurance through the desert for hours on end. Both died prematurely after recurring bouts of depression, burn-out and exhaustion.

Her work was specially mentioned in the British Parliament, and she was awarded the Order of the British Empire. Some consider the present troubles in Iraq are derived from the lines Bell helped draw to create its borders. Perhaps so, but Gertrude's reports indicate that problems were foreseen, and that it was clearly understood that there were just not many (if any) permanent solutions for calming the divisive forces at work in that part of the world.

Creation of Iraq

As the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire was finalized by the end of the war in late January 1919, Bell was assigned to conduct an analysis of the situation in Mesopotamia. Due to her familiarity and relations with the tribes in the area she had strong ideas about the leadership needed in Iraq. She spent the next ten months writing what was later considered a masterful official report, "Self Determination in Mesopotamia". A.T. Wilson, had different ideas of how Iraq should be run, preferring an Arab government to be under the influence of British officials who would retain real control.

On 11 October 1920, Percy Cox returned to Baghdad and asked her to continue as Oriental Secretary, acting as liaison with the forthcoming Arab government. Gertrude Bell essentially played the role of mediator between the Arab government and British officials. Bell had to often mediate between the various groups of Iraq including a majority population of Shi’is in the southern region, Sunnis in central Iraq, and the Kurds, mostly in the northern region, who wished to be autonomous. Keeping these groups united was essential for political balance in Iraq and for British imperial interests. Iraq not only contained valuable resources in oil but would act as a buffer zone, with the help of Kurds in the north as a standing army in the region to protect against Turkey, Persia (Iran), and Syria. British officials in London, especially Churchill, were highly concerned to cut heavy costs in the colonies, including the cost of squashing tribal infighting. Another important project for both the British and new Iraqi rulers was creating a new identity for these people so that they would identify themselves as one nation.

British officials quickly realized that their strategies in governing were adding to costs. Iraq would be cheaper as a self-governing state. The Cairo Conference of 1921 was held to determine the political and geographic structure of what would become Iraq and the modern Middle East. Significant input was given by Gertrude Bell in these discussions thus she was an essential part of its creation. At the Cairo Conference Bell and Lawrence highly recommended Faisal bin Hussein, (the son of Hussein, Sherif of Mecca), former commander of the Arab forces that helped the British during the war and entered Damascus at the culmination of the Arab Revolt. He had been recently deposed by France as King of Syria, and British officials at the Cairo Conference decided to make him the first king of Iraq. They believed that due to his lineage as a Hashemite and his diplomatic skills he would be respected and have the ability to unite the various groups in the country. Shi'as would respect him because of his lineage from Prophet Muhammad. Sunnis, including Kurds, would follow him because he was Sunni from a respected family. Keeping all the groups under control in Iraq was essential to balance the political and economic interests of the British.

Upon Faisal's arrival in 1921, Bell advised him in local questions, including matters involving tribal geography and local business. She also supervised the selection of appointees for cabinet and other leadership posts in the new government.

Throughout the early 1920s Bell was an integral part of the administration of Iraq. The new Hashemite monarchy used the Sharifian flag, which consisted of a black stripe representing the Abbasid caliphate, green stripe representing the Ummayad caliphate, and a white stripe for Fatimid Dynasty, and lastly a red triangle to set across the three bands symbolizing Islam, Bell felt it essential to customize it for Iraq by adding a gold star to the design. Faisal was crowned king of Iraq on 23 August 1921, but he was not completely welcomed. Utilizing Shi'ite history to gain support for Faisal, during the holy month of Muharram, Bell compared Faysal's arrival in Baghdad to Huysan, grandson of Prophet Muhammad.

However working with the new king was not easy: "You may rely upon one thing — I'll never engage in creating kings again; it's too great a strain."

National Library of Iraq

In November 1919, Bell was an invited speaker at a meeting for the promotion of a public library in Baghdad, and subsequently served on its Library Committee, as President from 1921 to 1924. The Baghdad Peace Library (''Maktabat al-Salam'') was a private, subscription library, but in c.1924 was taken over by the Ministry of Education and became known as the Baghdad Public Library (or sometimes as the General Library). In 1961, this became the National Library of Iraq.

Baghdad Archaeological Museum

Gertrude Bell's first love had always been archaeology, thus she began forming what later became the Baghdad Archaeological Museum. Her goal was to preserve Iraqi culture and history which included the important relics of Mesopotamian civilizations, and keep them in their country of origin. She also supervised excavations and examined finds and artifacts. She brought in extensive collections, such as from the Babylonian Empire. The museum was officially opened in June 1926, shortly before Bell's death.

Death

Bell briefly returned to Britain in 1925, and found herself facing family problems and ill health. Her family's fortune had begun to decline due to the onset of post-World War I worker strikes in Britain and economic depression in Europe. She returned to Baghdad and soon developed pleurisy. When she recovered, she heard that her younger brother Hugo had died of typhoid. On 12 July 1926, Bell was discovered dead, of an apparent overdose of sleeping pills. There is much debate on her death, but it is unknown whether the overdose was an intentional suicide or accidental since she had asked her maid to wake her.

She never married or had children. Some say the death of Major Charles Doughty-Wylie affected her for the rest of her life and may have added to a depressive state. She was buried at the British cemetery in Baghdad's Bab al-Sharji district. Her funeral was a major event, attended by large numbers of people including her colleagues, British officials and the King of Iraq. It was said King Faisal watched the procession from his private balcony as they carried her coffin to the cemetery.

An obituary written by her peer David G. Hogarth expressed the respect British officials held for her. Hogarth honored her by saying,

No woman in recent time has combined her qualities – her taste for arduous and dangerous adventure with her scientific interest and knowledge, her competence in archaeology and art, her distinguished literary gift, her sympathy for all sorts and condition of men, her political insight and appreciation of human values, her masculine vigor, hard common sense and practical efficiency – all tempered by feminine charm and a most romantic sprit.

In 1927, a year after her death, her stepmother Dame Florence Bell, published two volumes of Bell's collected correspondence written during the 20 years preceding World War I.

A stained glass window to her by Douglas Strachan was erected in St Lawrence's Church, East Rounton, North Yorkshire. It depicts Magdalen College, Oxford, and Khadimain, Baghdad. The inscription reads

This window is in remembrance of Gertrude Versed in the learning of the east and of the west Servant of the state Scholar Poet Historian Antiquary Gardener Mountaineer Explorer Lover of nature of flowers and of animals Incomparable friend sister daughter.

References

Bibliography

Bell, Gertrude. ''Gertrude Bell: From Her Personal Papers 1914-1926''. London: Ernest Benn Ltd, 1961

Bodley, Ronald and Hearst, Lorna. "Gertrude Bell". New York, NY: The Macmillan Company. 1940.

Hogarth, David G. "Obituary: Gertrude Lowthian Bell." The Geographical Journal 68.4 (1926): pp. 363-368. JSTOR Web. 28 October 2009

Howell, Georgina, ''Gertrude Bell: Queen of the Desert, Shaper of Nations'' (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007) ISBN 0-374-16162-3; also issued as ''Daughter of the Desert: the remarkable life of Gertrude Bell'' (Macmillan, Basingstoke and Oxford, 2006) ISBN 1-4050-4587-6.

Lukitz, Liora, ''A Quest in the Middle East: Gertrude Bell and the Making of Modern Iraq'' (I.B. Tauris, 2006) ISBN 978-1-85043-415-3

Meyer, Karl E. and Shareen Blair Brysac, ''Kingmakers: the Invention of the Modern Middle East''(W.W. Norton, 2008) ISBN 978-0-393-06199-4.

O'Brien, Rosemary, ed. ''Gertrude Bell: The Arabian Diaries, 1913-1914''. USA: Syracuse University Press, 2000. Print.

Wallach, Janet, ''Desert Queen'' (1999). ISBN 0-385-49575-7

Winstone, H.V.F., ''Gertrude Bell'' (Barzan Publishing, England, 2004; ISBN 0-9547728-0-6)

External links

The Gertrude Bell Project based at Newcastle University Library

Gertrude Bell Biography also Gertrude Bell on her translations of Hafiz

Rory Stewart in the New York Review of Books on Gertrude Bell

British "Queen of Iraq" rests in Baghdad cemetery

Gertrude Bell, a Masterful Spy and Diplomat

Gertrude of Arabia, 7 September 2006, ''The Economist'', review of ''Daughter of the Desert: The Remarkable Life of Gertrude Bell'' by Georgina Howell

Review of the Civil Administration of Mesopotamia, London: H.M. Stationery Office. I920

Gertrude Bell (1911, rep.1924) 'From Amurath to Amurath', complete text with illustrations.

Works by Gertrude Bell at Project Gutenberg Australia The letters of Gertrude Bell, selected and edited by Lady Bell, 1927 (plain text and HTML)

Works by or about Gertrude Lowthian Bell at Internet Archive (scanned books original editions color illustrated)

Poems from the Divan of Hafiz English Translation by Gertrude Lowthian Bell, 1897

The Arab war; confidential information for General headquarters from Gertrude Bell, being despatches from the secret "Arab bulletin." 1940. Golden Cockerel Press

Category:1868 births Category:1926 deaths Category:Alumni of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford Category:British spies Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:Drug-related suicides in Iraq Category:English archaeologists Category:English explorers Category:English mountain climbers Category:English travel writers Category:Explorers of Arabia Category:Explorers of Asia Category:Explorers who committed suicide Category:Female wartime spies Category:Inter-War spies Category:Old Queens Category:People from Washington, Tyne and Wear Category:Spies who committed suicide Category:British women in World War I Category:Women archaeologists Category:Women travel writers Category:World War I spies for the United Kingdom Category:Writers who committed suicide

ar:جيرترود بيل de:Gertrude Bell es:Gertrude Bell eo:Gertrude Bell fr:Gertrude Bell it:Gertrude Bell he:גרטרוד בל nl:Gertrude Bell ja:ガートルード・ベル no:Gertrude Bell pl:Gertrude Bell sl:Gertrude Bell sv:Gertrude Bell tr:Gertrude Bell

Kay Scarpetta is a fictional character and protagonist in a series of crime novels written by Patricia Cornwell. The character is based on former Virginia Chief Medical Examiner Marcella Fierro, MD. The series is noted for the use of recent forensic technology in Scarpetta's investigations.

Fictional character biography

Dr. Kay Scarpetta was born in Miami, Florida in 1954. She is of Italian descent on both sides of her family, with the Scarpettas emigrating from Verona, Italy. She is blonde, and a sharp dresser, although always professional. As a young girl, she watched her father die slowly from leukemia, and the experience remained with her ever since, translating into her everyday work life, where she is surrounded by death. She is a perfectionist, an incredibly hard worker completely immersed in her work. Scarpetta loves to cook, particularly Italian food. She makes everything from scratch, including pasta and bread, and has a beautiful, custom-built restaurant kitchen in her home.

She was married once, to Tony Benedetti; they divorced about 6 years before the beginning of the first novel set in 1986, ''Postmortem''. Since then she had a serious relationship with Mark James, who died in a bombing in a London Tube station (in the novel ''Cruel and Unusual'') and later Benton Wesley, who was supposedly killed in ''Point of Origin'' but later reappeared. In 2007's ''The Book of the Dead'', Scarpetta and Wesley become engaged. By the beginning of 2008's ''Scarpetta,'' Benton and Kay are married.

In addition to a large custom-built house that includes a restaurant kitchen, a great room, and a mud room, Scarpetta also drives a new Mercedes, which she replaces often: in one case, after Lucy wrecks it, and in another after it is involved in the murder of her morgue assistant. She can't bear to drive it after his death, so she trades it in for a nearly identical car.

In the early novels Scarpetta is the Chief Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth of Virginia and works in Richmond. She resigns after the events of ''The Last Precinct'' and relocates to Florida to become a private forensic consultant. Scarpetta returns to Virginia in ''Trace'', convincing herself that she was fired from her position, at the request of her replacement, Dr. Joel Marcus. In ''Predator'', Scarpetta becomes the head of the National Forensic Academy in Hollywood, Florida, a private institution founded by her wealthy niece Lucy. In ''The Book of the Dead'', Scarpetta has relocated as a freelance forensic examiner/expert to Charleston, South Carolina. In ''Scarpetta''(2008), she has relocated to Massachusetts where she is an M.E., but she and Benton also share an apartment in New York City. In ''The Scarpetta Factor (2009),'' she is working full-time and Wesley is working part-time in New York.

The name ''Scarpetta'' is a diminutive, meaning "Little Shoe", as revealed in the 2009 novel ''The Scarpetta Factor''. This novel points out that the underlying pun is similar to the name of ''Caligula''. whose name means "Little Boots" in Latin. The novel features a website named Caligula, which is involved indirectly in the murder of a young woman.

Recurring characters in the series

Lucy Farinelli

Lucy is first introduced in ''Postmortem'' as a precocious 10–year–old, the only child of Kay's flighty, irresponsible, narcissistic sister. She has a natural aptitude for computers and easily learns UNIX, which she later uses while working for the FBI. She looks to her aunt Kay for stability and understanding, and although is frequently sulky in her adolescence, shapes herself into a very strong woman with Kay's model to follow. She enters the FBI at 18 (apparently despite the age requirement of 21), but is not well accepted due to her sexual orientation (she is a lesbian) and her genius IQ. Lucy has a habit of establishing long-term romantic relationships which last a few books and are then ended with little explanation. For example, Jo is last seen taken home (in The Last Precinct) by her parents following an underground operation that went bad during which Lucy shot her. She also has several one-night stands — even a few with men — and engages in other risky behaviors with firearms and various high-speed vehicles. At one point, she gets drunk and wrecks Kay's new Mercedes-Benz. She also gets into a firefight between two helicopters, using handheld firearms.

Early in her FBI career, Lucy is seduced by Carrie Grethen, a sociopathic coworker who is in cahoots with Temple Gault, a cold-blooded murderer who had crossed Kay's path a few years before. The relationship haunts Lucy and those who are close to her in several books. Lucy becomes a self-made millionaire by the age of 25 by building and selling internet search engines. She invests some of her earnings in her own private investigating firm, The Last Precinct, located in NYC, and later in a forensic training center, The National Forensic Academy, in Hollywood, Florida, which employs her Aunt Kay and Pete Marino. She has a penchant for buying expensive machines like helicopters, Ferraris, and motorcycles. She also purchases a private jet, for which she earns a private pilot license.

In ''Predator'', Lucy is diagnosed with a benign brain tumor that alters her physical appearance and seems also to modify her personality. In ''The Book of the Dead'' she is undergoing treatment; in later books the disease is not mentioned. In 2007's ''The Book of the Dead'' she almost kills Pete Marino when she discovers he has attacked and almost raped her Aunt Kay. In the latest two novels, ''Scarpetta'' and ''The Scarpetta Factor'', Lucy is back in New York running her own company again and is in a relationship with the New York DA Jaime Berger.

According to the timeline presented below, Lucy's chronological age does not correspond with the time between the publication of each book. (Other characters' ages are similarly mixed up; e.g., Kay Scarpetta is supposed to be around 40 at the beginning of the series, meaning she is 30 years older than Lucy. However, by the time of the novel ''Blow Fly'', Lucy is almost 30, while Scarpetta is still 46 rather than a more realistic 60.

! Book	! Year	! Age
''Postmortem''	1990	10
''All That Remains''	1992	16
''Cruel & Unusual''	1993	17
''The Body Farm''	1994	21
''From Potter's Field''	1995	21
''Cause of Death''	1996	23
''The Last Precinct''	2000	28
''Blow Fly''	2003	30

Pete Marino

In the earlier books of the series, Pete Marino worked as a homicide detective for the Richmond police department, eventually rising to the rank of Captain. Physically, Pete is big (to the point of corpulence) and balding. His high blood pressure, heavy smoking, and borderline alcoholism trouble Dr. Scarpetta, who worries about his long-term health. Marino is an excellent detective and has worked well for many years with Dr. Scarpetta, eventually joining her at the National Forensic Academy after retiring from the police force in ''Predator''. Marino seems to have problems with women through the whole Scarpetta series stemming from a prior marriage which resulted in a son who dabbles in criminal activity. Throughout the series Marino plays a great part in the upbringing of Lucy, although it seems that he has issues with her sexuality.

Pete Marino grew up in Bayonne, New Jersey.

In ''Book of the Dead'', Marino's not so secret crush on Scarpetta comes to a head. He reacts badly to news of Scarpetta's engagement to Benton Wesley, and after getting drunk and under the influence of a testosterone drug, he attacks Kay and almost rapes her. His actions lead to a confrontation with Lucy and her almost shooting him, after which Marino disappears. It is unknown if he has killed himself or just runs away as the book ends. Marino reappears in ''Scarpetta''.

Benton Wesley

Benton is an FBI profiler. He and Scarpetta work together on many cases, at first on a strictly professional level. As their relationship progresses, they end up having an affair, which goes on for years. Once Benton is no longer with his wife he wishes to marry Kay, but she resists because she is too independent. In ''Point of Origin'' Benton disappears; a body is found at the scene of a fire, badly burned and showing signs of having been tortured extensively. Kay identifies the body as Benton's by the Breitling watch she had given him. In ''Blow Fly'' it is later revealed that he is not dead, but had been hiding for years in a witness protection program. In ''Book of the Dead'' Kay and Benton become engaged; they are married by the beginning of ''Scarpetta''. In the early books Benton is described as the unit chief of the FBI profilers with a master's degree in psychology, working out of Quantico. In ''Point of Origin'' he has supposedly retired from the FBI and is working as a private consultant, though in ''The Scarpetta Factor'' it is implied that he was still under the FBI's control and was forced into the witness program, then into a retirement that he still resents. In the books following his return, he is a forensic psychologist on staff at McLean in Massachusetts, then also at Bellevue in NYC, while still consulting for the FBI.

Novels

''Postmortem'' (1990)

''Body of Evidence'' (1991)

''All That Remains'' (1992)

''Cruel and Unusual'' (1993)

''The Body Farm'' (1994)

''From Potter's Field'' (1995)

''Cause of Death'' (1996)

''Unnatural Exposure'' (1997)

''Point of Origin'' (1998)

''Black Notice'' (1999)

''The Last Precinct'' (2000)

''Blow Fly'' (2003)

''Trace'' (2004)

''Predator'' (2005)

''Book of the Dead'' (2007)

''Scarpetta'' (2008)

''The Scarpetta Factor'' (2009)

''Port Mortuary(2010)

''Red Mist'' (2011)

References

External links

Author's Official Website

Category:Fictional detectives Category:Series of books Category:Fictional doctors Category:Fictional American people of Italian descent

fr:Kay Scarpetta ko:케이 스카페타 it:Kay Scarpetta sv:Kay Scarpetta