David Geffen was born in Borough Park, Brooklyn, New York, to Abraham and Batya Geffen. He has an older brother Mitchell. Although his grades in school were generally poor, he credits his shopkeeper mother with teaching him his business skills. He started in the music business as an agent and quickly became one of the top agents in the industry. He earned a reputation as being the best friend you can have, but also the worst enemy--he had a very long, very public and very nasty feud with super-agent 'Michael Ovitz' (qv). Misdiagnosed with bladder cancer in 1976 (it wasn't until 1980 that he found out that he did not have cancer), he has since been a major contributor to medical charities and foundations, and has had several buildings named after him such as The Geffen Playhouse and The David Geffen School of Medicine, both at UCLA. He branched out into music publishing, record and film production by founding MCA. In 1990 he sold his company for more than one billion dollars, making him one of the richest people in the entertainment industry. His wealth is estimated to exceed $2.6 billion. He lives in Malibu, near Los Angeles.
Coordinates | 35°27′″N139°38′″N |
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name | David Geffen |
birth date | February 21, 1943 |
birth place | Brooklyn, New York, USA |
ethnicity | Jewish |
occupation | Record executiveFilm producerTheatrical producer |
networth | US$4.6 billion }} |
Geffen began his entertainment career in the mailroom at the William Morris Agency, where he quickly became an agent. In order to obtain the WMA job, he had to show proof of graduating college. Geffen forged a letter and submitted it to WMA. His colleagues in the mailroom included Elliot Roberts, who later became Geffen's partner in a management company. He left William Morris to become a personal manager and was immediately successful with Laura Nyro and Crosby, Stills and Nash. In the process of looking for a record deal for young Jackson Browne, Ahmet Ertegün suggested that Geffen start his own record label.
The label was distributed by Warner Bros. Records since its inception, but in 1990, the label was sold to MCA and today is part of the Interscope-Geffen-A&M; division of MCA's successor, Universal Music Group, formed as the result of the 1999 merger between the MCA and PolyGram families of labels.
He was an early financial supporter of President Bill Clinton. In 2001 he had a falling out with the former president over Clinton's decision to not pardon Leonard Peltier, on whose behalf he had lobbied the President.
According to ''Forbes'' ("The 400 Richest Americans of 2004") and other sources, Geffen has pledged to give whatever money he makes from now on to charity, although he has not specified which charities or the manner of his giving. In 2002, he announced a $200 million unrestricted endowment for the School of Medicine at UCLA. The School thereafter was named David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Along with Kenneth Langone's gift to New York University School of Medicine, Geffen's donation is the largest donation ever made to a medical school in the United States.
Geffen was an early supporter of Barack Obama for president and raised $1.3 million for Obama in a star-studded Beverly Hills fund raiser. On February 21, 2007, in an interview with Maureen Dowd of the ''New York Times'', Geffen described Hillary Rodham Clinton and Bill Clinton in unflattering terms: "Everybody in politics lies, but they do it with such ease, it's troubling." He said that Hillary Clinton was "incredibly polarizing" and described Bill Clinton as "reckless" and cast doubt on those who say he has become a different person since leaving office.
Geffen is openly gay. In May 2007, ''Out'' magazine ranked Geffen first in their list of the fifty "Most Powerful Gay Men and Women in America."
Geffen is the subject of Joni Mitchell's song "Free Man in Paris". Mitchell and Geffen were close friends, and in the early 1970s made a trip to Paris with Robbie and Dominique Robertson.
Geffen can be heard on Barbra Streisand’s ''The Broadway Album'', released in 1985. The track "Putting It Together" features Geffen, Sydney Pollack, and Ken Sylk portraying the voices of record company executives talking to Barbra. He resides in Malibu, California. He, along with other celebrities including Steven Spielberg and Brad Pitt, donated money to stop Proposition 8 from becoming law in California.
Geffen is the subject of several books, most recently ''The Operator: David Geffen Builds, Buys, and Sells the New Hollywood'' (2001) by Thomas R. King, who initially had Geffen's cooperation, but later did not. An earlier biography was ''The Rise and Rise of David Geffen'' (1997) by Stephen Singular. Geffen is also a featured character in the books "Mailroom: Hollywood History From The Bottom Up" by David Rensen, "Mansion On The Hill" by Fred Goodman and "Hotel California" by Barney Hoskyns as well as several books about Michael Ovitz.
While the sand mean high tide is public property, residents have fought to keep the public out of the area and the beaches private and Geffen "fought an infamous battle for decades to keep the public from using an easement he was supposed to grant under terms of building his home on Carbon Beach" before losing the court battle 2005 and having to open the gates beside his home to the public. In 2005, facing a rising tide of anger, Geffen relented and allowed access through a non-profit group. Garry Trudeau parodied this dispute in his daily comic strip ''Doonesbury''.
Other homeowners along the beach have hired security guards to keep people out. The LA Urban Ranger group has explored the access issues along the beach area.
He has lived at 810 Fifth Avenue and at 785 Fifth Avenue in New York.
In October 2006, Geffen sold two paintings by Jasper Johns and a De Kooning from his collection for a combined sum of $143.5 million. On November 3, 2006, the ''New York Times'' reported that Geffen had sold Pollock's 1948 painting ''No. 5, 1948'' from his collection for $140 million (£73.35 million) to Mexican financier David Martinez. Martinez is the founder of London-based Fintech Advisory Ltd, a financial house that specializes in buying Third World debt. The sale made ''No. 5, 1948'' the most expensive painting ever sold (outstripping the $134 million paid in October 2006 for Gustav Klimt's portrait ''Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I'' by cosmetics heir Ronald Lauder).
Category:1943 births Category:American billionaires Category:American film producers Category:American Jews Category:American music industry executives Category:American talent agents Category:American theatre managers and producers Category:Businesspeople from New York Category:Film studio executives Category:LGBT businesspeople Category:LGBT Jews Category:Living people Category:People from Brooklyn Category:Santa Monica College alumni
ca:David Geffen de:David Geffen es:David Geffen fr:David Geffen it:David Geffen he:דייוויד גפן nl:David Geffen ja:デヴィッド・ゲフィン pl:David Geffen pt:David Geffen ru:Гиффен, Дэвид sh:David Geffen fi:David Geffen sv:David Geffen th:เดวิด เกฟเฟน zh:大衛·葛芬This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
Coordinates | 35°27′″N139°38′″N |
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name | King David |
title | King of Israel |
reign | over Judah c. 1010–1003 BC; over Judah and Israel c. 1003–970 BC |
predecessor | Saul (Judah), Ish-bosheth (Israel) |
successor | Solomon |
consort | Michal, Ahinoam, Abigail, Maachah, Haggith, Abital, Eglah, Bathsheba and Abishag |
royal house | House of David (new house) |
father | Jesse |
mother | not named in the Bible; identified by the Talmud as Nitzevet, daughter of Adael. |
birth date | c. 1040 BC |
birth place | Bethlehem |
death date | c. 970 BC |
death place | Jerusalem |
buried | }} |
David (; ISO 259-3 ''Dawid''; Strong's ''Daveed''; beloved; or '''') was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary. He is depicted as a righteous king, although not without fault, as well as an acclaimed warrior, musician and poet, traditionally credited for composing many of the psalms contained in the Book of Psalms.
Edwin Thiele dates his life to c. 1040–970 BC, his reign over Judah c. 1010–1003 BC, and his reign over the united Kingdom of Israel c. 1003–970 BC. The Books of Samuel, 1 Kings, and 1 Chronicles are the only source of information on his life and reign, although the Tel Dan stele may record the existence in the mid-9th century of a Judean royal dynasty called the "House of David", although this is disputed.
David's life is very important to Jewish, Christian, and Islamic culture. In Judaism, David, or David HaMelekh, is the King of Israel, and the Jewish people. A direct descendant of David will be the Messiah. In Islam, he is known as ''Dawud'', considered to be a prophet and the king of a nation.
The Israelites, under King Saul, face the Philistines in the Valley of Elah. The boy David is bringing food to his older brothers who are with Saul. He hears the Philistine giant Goliath challenging the Israelites to send their own champion to decide the outcome in single combat. David tells Saul he is prepared to face Goliath and Saul allows him to make the attempt. He is victorious, striking Goliath in the forehead with a stone from his sling. Goliath falls, and David kills him with his own sword and beheads him; the Philistines flee in terror. Saul sends to know the name of the young champion, and David tells him that he is the son of Jesse.
With God's help David is victorious over his people's enemies. The Philistines are subdued, the Moabites to the east pay tribute, along with Hadadezer of Zobah, from whom David takes gold shields and bronze vessels.
In various biblical passages, David is referred to as “the favorite of the songs of Israel,” the one who soothed Saul with music, and the founder of Temple singing. A Psalms scroll from the Dead Sea Scrolls (11QPsa) attributes 3600 tehilim (songs of praise) plus other compositions to David. Seventy-three of the 150 Psalms in the Bible are attributed to David. The supreme kingship of Yahweh is the most pervasive theological concept in the book of Psalms, and many psalms attributed to David are directed to Yahweh by name, whether in praise or petition, suggesting a relationship. According to the Midrash Tehillim, King David was prompted to the Psalms by the Holy Spirit that rested upon him.
In addition to ascribing authorship to David, several Psalms are identified with specific events in David’s life. Psalm 34 is attributed to David on the occasion of his escape from the Abimelech (king) Achish by pretending to be insane. According to the narrative in 1 Samuel 21, instead of killing the man who had exacted so many casualties from him, Abimelech allows David to depart, exclaiming, “Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?" Psalm 34 is one of seven acrostic Psalms in the original Hebrew; most English translations do not retain the acrostic form. The first part of Psalm 34 is directed toward Yahweh in complete and humble gratitude (David does not even mention his own royal status); the second part confidently directs others to Yahweh. encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them … Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the . | Psalm 34:6-7,11 (ESV)}}
In contrast, Psalm 18 is not related to a specific incident but rather to God’s faithful deliverance from “all of his enemies and from the hand of Saul.” The text of this Psalm was thought to date to the 10th century BC even before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls and is very similar to that of 2 Samuel 22. In this Psalm, David recalls being in deadly situations: “The cords of death entangled me, the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.” He cries out to God for help, and God rescues David.
The Scottish theologian Samuel Rutherford (1600–1661) notes that crying out to God is mentioned in many Psalms attributed to David. He comments, “Fervour is a heavenly ingredient in prayer. An arrow drawn with full strength hath a speedier issue.” The Midrash Tehillim teaches from Psalm 4 “that the mere mechanical application to the Throne of Mercy is not efficacious is plainly seen from the words of King David, who says God is nigh to all that call upon Him, and … he adds the important words, 'to those who call upon Him ''in truth''.'”
According to Psalm 40, David’s cries to God were heartfelt though not necessarily impatient; the poignant combination of a cry for help with a confident expression of faith echo today in the song “40” by the rock group U2 and that encapsulates David’s experience with his God: ; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the . | Psalm 40:1-3 (NIV)}}
Name | King David the Prophet |
---|---|
Birth date | c. 1040 B.C.E. |
Death date | c. 970 B.C.E. |
Venerated in | JudaismChristianityIslamBaha'ism |
Birth place | Bethlehem |
Death place | Jerusalem |
Titles | Holy Monarch, Prophet, Reformer, Spiritual Poet & Musician, Vicegerent of God, Psalm-Receiver |
Attributes | Psalms, Harp, Head of Goliath |
Prayer attrib | }} |
David is also viewed as a tragic figure; his acquisition of Bathsheba, and the loss of his son are viewed as his central tragedies.
Many legends have grown around the figure of David. According to one Rabbinic tradition, David was raised as the son of his father Jesse and spent his early years herding his father's sheep in the wilderness while his brothers were in school. Only at his anointing by Samuel - when the oil from Samuel's flask turned to diamonds and pearls - was his true identity as Jesse's son revealed. David's adultery with Bathsheba was only an opportunity to demonstrate the power of repentance, and some Talmudic authors stated that it was not adultery at all, quoting a Jewish practice of divorce on the eve of battle. Furthermore, according to David's apologists, the death of Uriah was not to be considered murder, on the basis that Uriah had committed a capital offence by refusing to obey a direct command from the King.
According to midrashim, Adam gave up 70 years of his life for the life of David. Also, according to the Talmud Yerushalmi, David was born and died on the Jewish holiday of Shavuot (Feast of Weeks). His piety was said to be so great that his prayers could bring down things from Heaven.
Western Rite churches (Roman Catholic, Lutheran) celebrate his feast day on 29 December, Eastern-rite on 19 December. The Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Church celebrate the feast day of the "Holy Righteous Prophet and King David" on the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers (two Sundays before the Great Feast of the Nativity of the Lord), when he is commemorated together with other ancestors of Jesus. He is also commemorated on the Sunday after the Nativity, together with Joseph and James, the Brother of the Lord.
David (Arabic داود, ''Dāwūd'') is a highly important figure in Islam as one of the major prophets sent by God to guide the nation of Israel. David is mentioned several times in the Qur'an, often with his son Solomon. In the Qur'an: David kills Goliath (II: 251) and God grants him kingship and wisdom and enforces it (XXXVIII: 20). David is made God's "vicegerent on earth" (XXXVIII: 26) and God further gives David sound judgment (XXI: 78; XXXVII: 21-24, 26) as well as the Psalms, which are regarded as books of divine wisdom (IV: 163; XVII, 55). The birds and mountains unite with David in ushering praise to God (XXI: 79; XXXIV: 10; XXXVIII: 18), while God instructs David in the art of fashioning chain-mail out of iron (XXXIV: 10; XXI: 80). Together with Solomon, David gives judgment in a case of damage to the fields (XXI: 78) and David judges in the matter between two disputants in his prayer chamber (XXXVIII: 21-23). There is no mention in the Qur'an of the wrong David did to Uriah nor is there any reference to Bathsheba, and therefore Muslims reject this narrative.
Muslim tradition and the ''hadith'' stress David's zeal in daily prayer as well as in fasting. Qur'an commentators, historians and compilers of the numerous ''Stories of the Prophets'' elaborate upon David's concise Qur'anic narratives and specifically mention David's gift in singing his Psalms as well as his beautiful musical and vocal talents. His voice is described as having had a captivating power, weaving its influence not only over man but over all beasts and nature, who would unite with him to praise God.
Since Martin Noth put forward his analysis of the Deuteronomistic History biblical scholars have accepted that these two books form part of a continuous history of Israel, compiled no earlier than the late 7th century BC, but incorporating earlier works and fragments. Samuel's account of David "seems to have undergone two separate acts of editorial slanting. The original writers show a strong bias against Saul, and in favour of David and Solomon. Many years later, the Deuteronomists edited the material in a manner that conveyed their religious message, inserting reports and anecdotes that strengthened their monotheistic doctrine. Some of the materials in Samuel I and II, notably the boundary, allotment and administrative lists are believed to be very early, since they correspond closely to what we know of the territorial conditions of the late Davidic-early Solomonic period.
Beyond this, the full range of possible interpretations is available. The late John Bright, whose ''History of Israel'', which went through four editions from 1959 to 2000, takes Samuel at face value, but Donald B. Redford thinks all reconstructions from Biblical sources for the United Monarchy period are examples of 'academic wishful thinking', and Thomas L. Thompson measures Samuel against the archaeological evidence and concludes that "an independent history of Judea during the Iron I [i.e., the period of David] and Iron II periods has little room for historicizing readings of the stories of I-II Samuel and I Kings." Some interesting studies of David have been written: Baruch Halpern has pictured David as a lifelong vassal of Achish, the Philistine king of Gath; Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman have identified as the oldest and most reliable section of Samuel those chapters which describe David as the charismatic leader of a band of outlaws who captures Jerusalem and makes it his capital. Steven McKenzie, Associate Professor of the Hebrew Bible at Rhodes College and author of ''King David: A Biography'', states the belief that David actually came from a wealthy family, was "ambitious and ruthless" and a tyrant who murdered his opponents, including his own sons.
The Book of Chronicles lists David's sons by various wives and concubines. In Hebron he had six sons : Amnon, by Ahinoam; Daniel, by Abigail; Absalom, by Maachah; Adonijah, by Haggith; Shephatiah, by Abital; and Ithream, by Eglah. By Bathsheba, his sons were: Shammua; Shobab; Nathan; and Solomon. His sons born in Jerusalem by other wives included: Ibhar; Elishua; Eliphelet; Nogah; Nepheg; Japhia; Elishama; and Eliada. According to , Jerimoth, who is not mentioned in any of the genealogies, is mentioned as another of David's sons. According to , David adopted Jonathan's son Mephibosheth as his own.
David also had at least one daughter, Tamar by Maachah, who was raped by Amnon, her half-brother. Her rape leads to Amnon's death. Absalom, Amnon's half-brother and Tamar's full-brother, waits two years, then avenges his sister by sending his servants to kill Amnon at a feast to which he had invited all the king's sons.
Category:Hebrew Bible people Category:Kings of ancient Israel Category:Kings of ancient Judah Category:10th-century BC biblical rulers Category:11th-century BC biblical rulers Category:Biblical murderers Category:Burials in Jerusalem Category:History of Jerusalem Category:Old Testament saints Category:People celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendar Category:People from Bethlehem Category:Shepherds Category:Books of Samuel
ace:Daud ar:داود az:Davud peyğəmbər bn:দাউদ be:Давыд, цар ізраільска-іудзейскі br:David (roue Israel) bg:Давид ca:David cs:David (biblická postava) cy:Dafydd (brenin) da:Kong David pdc:Daafit de:David (Israel) el:Δαβίδ es:David eo:Davido eu:David fa:داوود fr:David (Bible) fur:Davide ga:Dáiví gl:David hak:Thai-ví-vòng ko:다윗 hi:दाउद hr:Kralj David id:Daud it:Davide he:דוד ka:დავითი sw:Daudi (Biblia) ku:Dawid lbe:Давуд идавс la:David (rex) lt:Dovydas hu:Dávid zsidó király mk:Давид ml:ദാവീദ് nl:Koning David ja:ダビデ no:David av Israel nn:David I av Israel pl:Dawid (król Izraela) pt:David ro:David (Iuda) ru:Давид sco:David sq:Mbreti David simple:David sk:Dávid (biblická postava) so:Nabi Daa'uud C.S. sr:Давид (краљ) fi:Daavid sv:Kung David ta:தாவீது அரசர் tl:David th:เดวิด tr:Davud uk:Давид vi:David wo:Daawuda yi:דוד המלך zh:大衛
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
Coordinates | 35°27′″N139°38′″N |
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Name | Barry Diller |
Birthname | Barry Charles Diller |
Birth date | |
Birth place | San Francisco, California, U.S. |
Occupation | Media executive |
Yearsactive | 1964–present |
Spouse | Diane von Fürstenberg (2001-present) |
Net worth | US$1.3 billion (2011) }} |
Barry Charles Diller (born February 2, 1942) is the Chairman and Senior Executive of IAC/InterActiveCorp and the media executive responsible for the creation of Fox Broadcasting Company and USA Broadcasting.
The purpose of the network was to have the flagship, WAMI, produce sports and news programming while testing general interest programming for the other stations in the group, of which the general interest programming would be locally produced by the other stations in the group. Due to the high costs involved with producing and acquiring talent for shows outside the typical areas of New York City and Los Angeles, plus the significantly low ratings such shows received in Miami Beach, the remaining shows were moved to Los Angeles to regain traction, but never did. Diller eventually sold the TV assets to Univision after rejecting a bid from The Walt Disney Company. The USA Network and its assets were later sold off to Vivendi. Diller retained the assets of the Home Shopping Network and the subsequent Internet assets he acquired later to bolster the HSN Online stable that later became IAC/InterActiveCorp.
Diller is currently the Chairman of Expedia and the Chairman of IAC/InterActiveCorp, an interactive commerce conglomerate and the parent of companies including ServiceMagic, Match.com, Citysearch, and Connected Ventures, home of Vimeo and CollegeHumor. In 2005, IAC/InterActiveCorp acquired Ask.com, marking a strategic move into the Internet search category.
He stepped down as Chief Executive Officer of IAC/InterActiveCorp on December 2, 2010.
Diller has been on the board of Coca-Cola since 2002. The new headquarters of IAC/InterActiveCorp was designed by Frank Gehry and opened in 2007 at 18th Street and the West Side Highway in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood. The western half of the block is dedicated to the building which stands several stories taller than the massive Chelsea Piers Sporting complex just across the West Side Highway. The extra floors guarantee a panoramic Hudson River view from Diller's sixth-floor office.
In 2003, on the PBS TV program ''NOW with Bill Moyers'', Diller vocalized a strong warning against media consolidation. In the interview he referred to media ownership by a few big corporations as an oligarchy, saying the concentration strangles new ideas.
Barry Diller was "the highest-paid executive [of 2005 fiscal year]" according to a report by The New York Times on Thursday, October 26, 2006 with a total compensation package in excess of $295 million. In an opinion article in the New York Times of Nov 7, 2006, Nicholas D. Kristof awarded him his annual ''Michael Eisner Award'', consisting of a $5 shower curtain, for corporate rapacity and laziness.
Diller worked with Stephen Chao at Fox Television, whom he later hired as President of Programming and Marketing at USA Network. Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, served as Diller's General Counsel during their tenure at USA Broadcasting, and again as Chief of Business Operations and a member of Barry Diller's Office of the Chairman at IAC/InterActiveCorp.
Category:1942 births Category:American film studio executives Category:American mass media owners Category:California Democrats Category:Directors of The Coca-Cola Company Category:IAC (company) Category:Living people Category:Fox Broadcasting Company executives Category:American Broadcasting Company executives Category:American billionaires
de:Barry Diller fr:Barry Diller it:Barry Diller ja:バリー・ディラーThis text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
Coordinates | 35°27′″N139°38′″N |
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name | Joey Stefano |
gender | male |
birth name | Nicholas Anthony Iacona Jr. |
birth date | January 01, 1968 |
birth place | Chester, Pennsylvania, USA |
death date | November 26, 1994 |
height | |
weight | |
eye color | Green |
hair color | Brown |
ethnicity | Italian |
alias | Joey Stefano |
spelling | US }} |
Joey Stefano, the stage name of Nicholas Anthony Iacona, Jr. (January 1, 1968–November 26, 1994) was an American pornographic actor who appeared in gay adult films.
Joey Stefano grew up in the Philadelphia area (Chester, Pennsylvania). His father died when he was 15. After several years of prostitution and hard-core drug use in New York City, Stefano moved to Los Angeles and quickly became a star in gay pornography. In addition to his good looks, his persona as a "hungry bottom" (sexually submissive but verbally demanding) contributed to his popularity.
His image and success caught the attention of Madonna, who used him as a model in her 1992 book ''Sex''.
During his lifetime, he was the subject of rumors (some of them spread by himself) regarding his relationships with prominent entertainment industry figures who were known to be gay. At a May 1990 dinner and interview with Jess Cagle (''Entertainment Weekly'') and Rick X (Manhattan Cable TV's ''The Closet Case Show''), Stefano discussed an alleged series of "dates" with David Geffen, who at one point implored Stefano to quit using drugs. After the videotaped interview appeared on Rick X's show, ''OutWeek Magazine'' "outed" Geffen, who went on to announce his homosexuality at an AIDS fundraiser.
He was HIV positive. According to a subsequent biography Stefano died of speedball overdose (cocaine, morphine, heroin, and ketamine) at age 26 in the shower of a motel on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California. His body was taken back to Pennsylvania where he was buried next to his father.
Stefano's life is chronicled in the book, "Wonder Bread and Ecstasy: The Life and Death of Joey Stefano" by Charles Isherwood, Alyson Publications, 1996. His life is also the subject of a one-man-play, "Homme Fatale: The Fast Life and Slow Death of Joey Stefano", by Australian playwright Barry Lowe.
Category:1968 births Category:1994 deaths Category:People from Chester, Pennsylvania Category:People with HIV/AIDS Category:LGBT people from the United States Category:Actors in gay pornographic films Category:Male pornographic film actors Category:Pornographic film actors of Italian ethnicity
de:Joey Stefano es:Joey Stefano fr:Joey Stefano it:Joey Stefano fi:Joey StefanoThis text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
Coordinates | 35°27′″N139°38′″N |
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Name | La Toya Jackson |
Background | solo_singer |
Birth name | La Toya Yvonne Jackson |
Alias | Toya |
Born | May 29, 1956Gary, Indiana, U.S. |
Genre | Pop, R&B;, dance |
Occupation | Singer–songwriter, musician, actress, model, author, television personality, businesswoman |
Years active | 1972–present |
Label | Polydor (1980–82)Epic (1983–87)Teldec / RCA (1987–88)Teldec (1989)BCM (1990)Pump / Dino (1991–92)Mar-Gor (1993)CMC (1994–95)Ja-Tail / Bungalo (2002–present) |
Associated acts | The Jacksons, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Rebbie Jackson, USA for Africa |
Website | Official Site }} |
Gentleman callers during this period included Diana Ross' brother Chico, Prince, and a young David Gest. Jackson also dated Bobby DeBarge, and was the inspiration for Switch's 1979 hit "I Call Your Name" and 1980's "You and I".
Under Joe Jackson's tutelage Rebbie, La Toya and Janet formed a short-lived musical group. However, they never performed live and soon separated because of creative differences about the act's future direction. Consequently, no related material was ever released by the trio. The next year, La Toya began work on her first solo album.
The ''La Toya Jackson'' album peaked at #116 on the US ''Billboard'' 200, #26 on the ''Billboard'' R&B; album chart, and #178 on the UK Top 200, making it her highest placing album.
In 1982, Jackson released a follow-up album, ''My Special Love'', which generated two singles, "Stay the Night" and "I Don't Want You to Go".
In 1984 Jackson capitalized on her rising popularity by licensing her name to a fashion line; "David Laurenz for La Toya." According to her three year contract with the suede and leather-maker Jackson agreed to only wear David Laurenz items during her public appearances. Apparel in the collection included Jackson's signature leather headbands. Jackson starred in adverts for Nikon cameras and the following year she become the spokesmodel for cosmetics firm Mahogany Image and launched her own eponymous fragrance, ''La Toya''.
In 1985 Jackson participated on the single "We Are the World", an appeal for famine relief in Ethiopia. That same year Jackson featured in anti-drug music video "Stop the Madness".
Her 1985 single "Baby Sister" was a notable success, as it received one of three Outstanding Song Awards at the sixteenth annual World Popular Song Festival in Japan. "Baby Sister" was included on the 1986 album ''Imagination'', released just before Jackson's record label, Private-I, went bankrupt resulting in poor promotion. Jackson went on to record two duets; "Oops, Oh No!" with Cerrone, and "Yes, I'm Ready" with artist Jed. In 1987 Jackson was featured as a special guest at Minako Honda's ''DISPA (Disco Party)'' concert, joining in for the song, "Funkytown".
Under Gordon's management, Jackson's public image became increasingly sexier. Katherine Jackson recalled her shock seeing La Toya dance in a suggestive manner in 1988 for the first time in her autobiography ''My Family, The Jacksons'', "she'd been so conservative that she'd once dropped a friend who had begun wearing low-cut tops and skirts with slits in them." Katherine believed that Gordon was distancing La Toya from her family so he could "become the dominating influence in her life." Around this time Jackson was disfellowshipped by the Jehovah's Witnesses. Defying her father, Jackson made a stormy exit from the family's Encino compound to take up residence in New York City.
In late 1988, Jackson released the album ''La Toya'', which featured the singles, "You're Gonna Get Rocked!" and "(Ain't Nobody Loves You) Like I Do". The album also included a track titled "Just Say No", which was written for the Reagan administration's anti-drug campaign. The album included four tracks produced by Full Force, and three by Stock Aitken Waterman. The album is notable for being the first one Jackson released after changing her management.
In March 1989, Jackson posed topless for ''Playboy'' magazine. Jackson saw the pictorial as a declaration of independence from her conservative upbringing and "to show my parents they couldn't dictate to me any more--that I control my life." The cover and layout was one of the most successful issues in ''Playboy'''s history, turning Jackson into an overnight sex symbol. At its time of release, it sold over 8 million copies, going on to become the best selling issue of the magazine ever. She posed again in ''Playboy'' in November 1991 to promote her autobiography and subsequently acted in a 1994 video for the magazine, becoming one of the first celebrities to have a ''Playboy'' video released. She later said that she initially refused to pose for the second spread and for the video, however, Gordon beat her into submission.
In 1989, Jackson began recording her sixth album ''Bad Girl''. That year Jackson staged a live pay-per-view concert, ''A Sizzling Spectacular!'', from Bally's theatre in Reno. Jackson's set list included songs from ''La Toya'' and ''Bad Girl''. The show featured special guest star Edgar Winter.
For roughly the next decade Gordon controlled Jackson with threats, lies, and routine violence. According to Jackson, "When he hit me, the first time I was in shock, I just recalled my ear ringing, just ringing so hard." Gordon confiscated Jackson's passport, transferred her bank accounts into his name, hired bodyguards to watch La Toya constantly and banned her from speaking to or seeing her family, monitoring her every phone call. La Toya's father Joseph stated in his book ''The Jacksons'' that he believed Gordon brainwashed La Toya and made her fearful of her own family. Katherine also believed that La Toya had been brainwashed while Gordon claimed that Katherine had tried to kill her daughter. Sister Janet concurred with her parents saying at the time, "I think this guy who is with her has brainwashed her and made her like this... He keeps her away from the family, and now he's brainwashed her so much she keeps herself away from us."
In 1990 Jackson participated in the Sanremo Music Festival, entering "You and Me" an English-language version of "Verso l'ignoto" by siblings Marcella and Gianni Bella. While "You and Me" did not win Best Song, it entered Italy's hit parade, peaking at number twenty-eight. That year Jackson signed on with German-based BCM Records and released the single "Why Don't You Want My Love?" Jackson recorded other material with BCM, but the label went bankrupt and album plans were scrapped. Jackson signed with Dino Records quickly thereafter. 1991 saw the release of ''No Relations'', an album with strong house and funk influences. This album featured Jackson's top twenty-five Netherlands hit "Sexbox".
In 1992 Jackson signed a contract with the Moulin Rouge in Paris to star in her own revue, ''Formidable''. Jackson was to perform two shows a night, six nights a week. Jackson was highest paid performer in the cabaret's history earning a reported $5 million. Though ''Formidable'' was successful, selling out on most nights, Jackson departed half-way into her year-long contract owing the nightclub $550,000 in damages.
In October 1992 while taping an ''Exotic Club Tour'' in Minneapolis Jackson approached sister Janet Jackson, also in town recording her fifth studio album with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, to ask for help in escaping Gordon. Janet struck La Toya, accusing her elder sister of recording their conversation.
In 1993 in their New York home, Gordon beat Jackson repeatedly with a heavy brass dining room chair, leaving Jackson with black eyes, swollen lip and chin "the size of a clenched fist," cuts requiring 12 mouth stitches and contusions on her face, arms, legs and back. Jackson lost consciousness during the beating, leading Gordon to believe she was dead. She recalled, "He called his friends and said, 'She's dead. I killed her,' because I was lying in a puddle of blood and I was out." Gordon was arrested but then released, claiming he beat Jackson in self defense.
In December 1993 Gordon hastily arranged a press conference in Tel Aviv, where he had Jackson read a statement claiming to believe the sensational sex abuse allegation against her younger brother Michael might be true. This was an abrupt reversal of her previous defense of Michael against the charges. Gordon claimed La Toya had proof which she was prepared to disclose for a fee of $500,000. A bidding war between US and UK tabloids began, but fell through when they realized that her revelations were not what she had claimed them to be. According to La Toya, Gordon threatened to have siblings Michael and Janet killed if she didn't follow his orders.
Under Gordon's management, Jackson's career declined with his booking of disreputable jobs such as spokesperson for the Psychic Friends Network. Because of Gordon's steady stream of publicity stunts and her media portrayal as the Jackson family "black sheep" La Toya had become a hate figure of sorts. By the mid-1990s Jackson's finances were in disarray and she was forced to file for bankruptcy in order to stave off claims of $650,000 in damages to the Moulin Rouge for ending her contract early.
In 1993 Jackson held a concert at Poland's Sopot International Song Festival and released a step aerobics exercise video, ''Step-Up Workout''. In 1994, Jackson again worked for Playboy Entertainment, becoming one the very first celebrities to have a Celebrity Centerfold video. ''Playboy Celebrity Centerfold: La Toya Jackson'' was released in the first quarter of 1994 and sold roughly 50,000 copies. Jackson later released two albums, one of country music, ''From Nashville to You'', and another of Motown hits, ''Stop in the Name of Love'', in the mid-1990s.
La Toya Jackson ended her estrangement with the entire Jackson family and returned home to Hayvenhurst. Jackson forgave her parents for her stifled upbringing reasoning, "I've come to realize that as we get older, we grow and learn a lot more. And I think that my father and my mother, they raised children the best way they know how." According to La Toya, Michael knew that she was forced to attack him in the press against her will and he did not blame her. "He never held any of that against me, I remember when I'd got away from this total hell I'd been through where I'd been beaten, abused, controlled and forced to say those terrible things about Michael, which I didn't for a moment believe, he held out his arms and just hugged me. I was crying saying: 'I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry.' He just held me tight and said: 'I am your brother, I always knew it wasn't you saying those words." Jackson's last single of the 1990s was "Don't Break My Heart."
After separating from Gordon, Jackson cloistered herself in her home and lived alone for the first time - the first six months she stated she never actually left her house due to be terrified of Gordon seeing her. Weary after her years of public scorn, she didn't know what to do with her life and was afraid to perform again. Jackson struggled to rebuild her confidence but was plagued with self doubt, explaining, "I got to the point, [...] where -- well, you know in the media they say things like, 'Oh, she can't sing. She has no talent. She can't dance.' I started believing that, and I was thinking, 'Oh my God'. And I started thinking, 'Oh gee, how could this happen to me?' How could I start believing this?". After this time she started to perform in Europe and South America occasionally to start making money to pay off the huge debts which Gordon had accumulated in her name while they where married. In the wake of the September 11 attacks Jackson was moved to compose "Free the World". She performed the song for friends to a positive reception. This spurred on Jackson to write more songs, ending up with a full album, ''Startin' Over''.
After Jack Gordon's death in 2005, Jackson was free to speak more openly about the control he exerted over her life. She sent a security expert to eyewitness that Gordon had not faked his death a second time. In 2005 she appeared on ABC News to recant her previous allegations and defend brother Michael against new charges of child abuse. VH1 described Jackson as a role model having weathered various successes and setbacks. The perception of Jackson as an underdog and her support for LGBT rights has led her to be declared a gay icon.
On January 10, 2007, the reality TV show ''Armed & Famous'' premiered on CBS starring Jackson and other celebrities. The program documented Jackson's basic training and service as a reserve police officer with the Muncie Police Department. Jackson maintains her badge by continuing to volunteer as a deputy.
The show was eventually removed from the CBS lineup, due to its inability to compete with ''American Idol''. VH1 subsequently aired the remaining episodes. On the show, Jackson demonstrated her phobia of cats, after she began hysterically screaming and locked herself in a squad car. This fear, she revealed, was caused by a childhood memory in which a relative was attacked by a cat. She underwent on-screen therapy to try to relieve her of this phobia. A single called "Armed and Famous" was planned but the title was changed to "I Don't Play That" shortly before it was sent to radio stations, where it failed to take off, on January 29, 2007, due to CBS' cancellation of the show.
In January 2009, Jackson was paid £103,000 to appear as a contestant on the British television program ''Celebrity Big Brother''. She was the second member of the Jackson family to be on the show, the first being her brother Jermaine in 2007. Jackson's goal in participating in show was to get over her shyness and "mix with people who I'd never normally meet." She was the fourth person evicted from the house ,and was the first evictee of the series to be cheered on her exit.
La Toya Jackson was one of the first siblings present at Reagan-UCLA Medical Center on June 25, 2009, after brother Michael Jackson was pronounced dead after suffering cardiac arrest. She was named as the informant on her brother's death certificate. Jackson requested a second autopsy to be carried out after noting suspicious medical paraphernalia in Michael's rented house, evasive behavior by his doctors, and discovering that $2 million in cash and jewels had gone missing. On July 13, an interview was published in ''News of the World'' and the ''Daily Mail'' wherein Jackson went public with her conclusion that Michael was murdered. The Los Angeles County Coroner ruled Jackson's death a homicide weeks later.
Jackson took part in NBC's ''Celebrity Apprentice'', which aired from March through May 2011 and raised $65,000 for her chosen charity, AIDS Project Los Angeles. La Toya was "fired" from ''Celebrity Apprentice'' in episode 8 during season 11, which aired on April 24, 2011 on NBC. In an ''Apprentice'' first, Jackson was rehired the following episode, as she felt she couldn't defend her case. La Toya was fired for the second time on May 8, 2011 and became the first person in history to be fired from ''The Apprentice'' twice within the same season. She was also the first guest judge to appear in two episodes of season three of ''RuPaul's Drag Race''.
Jackson's second memoir, ''Starting Over'', was released in the United States on June 21, 2011 through Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. An EP, also called ''Starting Over'',was released the same day via digital outlets. A new single will be released a month later followed by Jackson's final full-length album in the last quarter of 2011.
Category:1956 births Category:Living people Category:African American female singers Category:American disco musicians Category:American house musicians Category:American pop singers Category:American rhythm and blues singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American soul singers Category:American vegetarians Category:Big Brother UK contestants Category:Former Jehovah's Witnesses La Toya Jackson Category:LGBT rights activists from the United States Category:Musicians from Indiana Category:Participants in American reality television series Category:People from Gary, Indiana
Category:The Apprentice (U.S. TV series) contestants
az:Latoya Cekson cs:La Toya Jackson da:La Toya Jackson de:La Toya Jackson es:La Toya Jackson fa:لاتویا جکسون fr:La Toya Jackson ko:라토야 잭슨 it:La Toya Jackson hu:La Toya Jackson nl:La Toya Jackson ja:ラトーヤ・ジャクソン no:La Toya Jackson nn:La Toya Jackson pl:La Toya Jackson pt:La Toya Jackson ru:Джексон, Ла Тойя fi:La Toya Jackson sv:La Toya Jackson th:ลา โทยา แจ็กสัน tr:La Toya Jackson zh:拉托亞·傑克森This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
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