Coordinates	38°37′38″N90°11′52″N
name	Woody Allen
birth name	Allen Stewart Konigsberg
birth date	December 01, 1935
birth place	The Bronx, New York, U.S.
influences	Charlie Chaplin, Groucho Marx, Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini, Stanley Kubrick
occupation	ActorDirectorScreenwriterComedianMusicianPlaywright
home town	New York City, New York
years active	1950–present
spouse
partner	Mia Farrow (1980–92)
relatives	Letty Aronson (sister)
children	Seamus Farrow (son)Bechet Dumaine Allen (daughter)Manzie Tio Allen (daughter)
website	www.woodyallen.com

Woody Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; December 1, 1935) is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema. He is also a jazz clarinetist who performs regularly at small venues in Manhattan.

Early life

Allen was born in The Bronx and raised in Brooklyn, NY, the son of Nettie (born Cherrie; November 8, 1906 – January 27, 2002), a bookkeeper at her family's delicatessen, and Martin Konigsberg (December 25, 1900 – January 13, 2001), a jewelry engraver and waiter. His family was Jewish and his grandparents were immigrants who spoke Yiddish, Hebrew, and German; both of his parents were born and raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Allen has a sister, Letty, who was born in 1943, and was raised in Midwood, Brooklyn. His childhood was not particularly happy: his parents did not get along, and he had a rocky relationship with his stern, temperamental mother. Allen spoke German quite a bit during his early years. While attending Hebrew school for eight years, he went to Public School 99 (now The Isaac Asimov School for Science and Literature) and to Midwood High School. During that time, he lived in an apartment at 1402 Avenue K, between East 14th and 15th Streets. Unlike his comic persona, he was more interested in baseball than school and his strong arms ensured he was the first to be picked for a team. He impressed students with his extraordinary talent at card and magic tricks. To raise money he began writing jokes (or "gags") for the agent David O. Alber, who sold them to newspaper columnists. According to Allen, his first published joke read: "Woody Allen says he ate at a restaurant that had O.P.S. prices – over people's salaries."

He began to call himself Woody Allen. He would later joke that when he was young he was often sent to inter-faith summer camps, where he "was savagely beaten by children of all races and creeds." At the age of 17, he legally changed his name to Heywood Allen. He was already earning more than both of his parents combined.

After high school, he attended New York University (NYU), where he studied communication and film. He later briefly attended City College of New York and soon flunked out. Later, he learned via self-study rather than the classroom. He eventually taught at The New School. He also studied with writing teacher Lajos Egri.

Career

Comedy writer

He became a full-time writer for Herb Shriner, earning $75 a week at first. At the age of 19, he started writing scripts for ''The Ed Sullivan Show'', ''The Tonight Show'', specials for Sid Caesar post-''Caesar's Hour'' (1954–1957), and other television shows. By the time he was working for Caesar, he was making $1500 a week; with Caesar he worked alongside Danny Simon, whom Allen credits for helping him to form his writing style.

In 1961, he started a new career as a stand-up comedian, debuting in a Greenwich Village club called the Duplex. Examples of Allen's standup act can be heard on the albums ''Standup Comic'' and ''Nightclub Years 1964–1968'' (including his classic routine entitled "The Moose"). Together with his managers, Allen developed a neurotic, nervous, and intellectual persona for his stand-up routine, a successful move which secured regular gigs for him in nightclubs and on television. Allen brought innovation to the comedy monologue genre and his stand-up comedy is considered influential.

Allen wrote for the popular ''Candid Camera'' television show, and appeared in some episodes.

Allen started writing short stories and cartoon captions for magazines such as ''The New Yorker''; he was inspired by the tradition of four prominent ''New Yorker'' humorists, S. J. Perelman, George S. Kaufman, Robert Benchley and Max Shulman, whose material he modernized. Allen is also an accomplished author having published four collections of his short pieces and plays. These are ''Getting Even,'' ''Without Feathers'', ''Side Effects'' and ''Mere Anarchy.'' His early comic fiction was heavily influenced by the zany, pun-ridden humour of S.J. Perelman.

Playwright

He also became a successful Broadway playwright and wrote ''Don't Drink the Water'' in 1966. It starred Lou Jacobi, Kay Medford, Anita Gillette and Allen's future movie co-star Tony Roberts. A film adaptation of the play, directed by Howard Morris, was released in 1969, starring Jackie Gleason. Because he was not particularly happy with the 1969 film version of his play, in 1994, Allen directed and starred in a third version for television, with Michael J. Fox and Mayim Bialik.

The next play Allen wrote that was produced on Broadway was ''Play It Again, Sam'', which he also starred in. The play opened on February 12, 1969, and ran for 453 performances. It also featured Diane Keaton and Tony Roberts. Allen, Keaton and Roberts would reprise their roles in the film version of the play, directed by Herbert Ross. For its March 21 issue, ''Life'' featured Allen on its cover. In 1981, his play ''The Floating Light Bulb'' premiered on Broadway and ran for 65 performances. While receiving mixed reviews, it was noted for giving an autobiographical insight into Allen's childhood, specifically his fascination with magic tricks. He has written several one-act plays, including 'Riverside Drive' and 'Old Saybrook' which both explore well-known Allen themes.

On October 20, 2011, Allen's one-act play ''Honeymoon Motel'' opened as part of a larger piece entitled ''Relatively Speaking'' on Broadway, along with two other one-acts by Ethan Coen and Elaine May.

Early films

His first movie was the Charles K. Feldman production ''What's New Pussycat?'' in 1965, for which he wrote the initial screenplay. Warren Beatty hired him to re-write a script and to appear in a small part in the movie. Over the course of the re-write, Beatty's role was lessened and Allen's increased. Beatty was upset and quit the production. Peter O'Toole was hired for the Beatty role, and Peter Sellers was brought in as well; Sellers was a big enough star to demand many of Woody Allen's best lines/scenes, prompting hasty re-writes. Because of this experience, Allen realized the importance of having control of his own writing. Despite the fact that most of his movies do not gross well and the fact that due to the small amounts of money his producers are able to raise he asks his actors to work for far less than what they would normally be paid, Allen remains one of a handful of writers and directors who has been able to maintain complete control over his own work.

Allen's first directorial effort was ''What's Up, Tiger Lily?'' (1966, co-written with Mickey Rose), in which an existing Japanese spy movie – ''Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Kagi no kagi'' (1965), "International Secret Police: Key of Keys" – was redubbed in English by Allen and his friends with entirely new, comic dialogue.

Allen also appeared in Feldman's follow-up to ''What's New Pussycat?'', the James Bond spoof ''Casino Royale''. A number of writers contributed to the film, but once again Allen scripted his own sequences, although in this case uncredited.

Allen directed, starred in, and wrote ''Take the Money and Run'' in 1969. That same year he starred in his own TV special, ''The Woody Allen Special.'' On the show he performed standup comedy routines before a live audience and acted in a sketch with Candice Bergen in which they appeared nude but their bodies were kept hidden from view by the camera. The special also had guest appearances by the pop vocal group The 5th Dimension singing their hit singles "Workin' On A Groovy Thing" and "Wedding Bell Blues." The show's sponsor, Libby's, broadcast comical commercials starring Tony Randall as a detective.

From 1971 to 1975, Allen co-wrote, directed, and starred in ''Bananas'', ''Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)'', ''Sleeper'', and ''Love and Death''. ''Take the Money and Run'' and ''Bananas'' were co-written by his childhood friend, Mickey Rose.

In 1972, he wrote and starred in the film version of ''Play It Again, Sam'', which was directed by Herbert Ross and co-starred Diane Keaton. In 1976, he starred in ''The Front'' (directed by Martin Ritt) a humorous and poignant account of Hollywood blacklisting during the 1950s.

''Annie Hall'' won four Academy Awards in 1977, including Best Picture, Best Actress in a Leading Role for Diane Keaton, Best Original Screenplay and Best Director for Woody Allen. ''Annie Hall'' set the standard for modern romantic comedy and also started a minor fashion trend with the clothes worn by Diane Keaton in the film (the masculine clothing, such as ties with cardigans, was actually Keaton's own). While in production, its working title was "Anhedonia," a term that means the inability to feel pleasure and its plot revolved around a murder mystery. Allen re-cut the movie after production ended to focus on the romantic comedy between Allen's character, Alvy Singer, and Keaton's character, Annie Hall. The new version, retitled ''Annie Hall'' (named after Keaton, Hall being her original last name and Annie a nickname), still deals with the theme of the inability to feel pleasure. The film is ranked at No. 35 on the ''American Film Institute'' "100 Best Movies" and at No. 4 on the AFI list of "100 Best Comedies."

''Manhattan,'' released in 1979, is a black-and-white film that can be viewed as an homage to New York City. As in many other Allen films, the protagonists are upper-middle class academics. The love-hate opinion of cerebral persons found in ''Manhattan'' is characteristic of many of Allen's movies including ''Crimes and Misdemeanors'' and ''Annie Hall.'' ''Manhattan'' focuses on the complicated relationship between a middle-aged Isaac Davis (Allen) and a 17-year-old Tracy (Mariel Hemingway).

Between ''Annie Hall'' and ''Manhattan'', Allen wrote and directed the dark drama ''Interiors'' (1978), in the style of the late Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, one of Allen's chief influences. ''Interiors'' represented a departure from Allen's "early, funny" comedies (a line from 1980s ''Stardust Memories'').

1980s

Allen's 1980s films, even the comedies, have somber and philosophical undertones. Some are influenced by the works of European directors, notably Ingmar Bergman and Federico Fellini. ''September'' resembles Bergman's ''Autumn Sonata'', and Allen uses many elements from Bergman's ''Wild Strawberries'' in ''Another Woman''. Similarly, the Federico Fellini classic ''Amarcord'' strongly inspired ''Radio Days''.

''Stardust Memories'' features Sandy Bates, a successful filmmaker played by Allen, who expresses resentment and scorn for his fans. Overcome by the recent death of a friend from illness, the character states, "I don't want to make funny movies any more" and a running gag has various people (including a group of visiting space aliens) telling Bates that they appreciate his films, "especially the early, funny ones." Allen believes this to be one of his best films.

Allen combined tragic and comic elements in such films as ''Hannah and Her Sisters'' and ''Crimes and Misdemeanors'', in which he tells two stories that connect at the end. He also produced a vividly idiosyncratic tragi-comical parody of documentary, ''Zelig''.

He made three films about show business: ''Broadway Danny Rose'', in which he plays a New York show business agent, ''The Purple Rose of Cairo'', a movie that shows the importance of the cinema during the Depression through the character of the naive Cecilia, and ''Radio Days'', which is a film about his childhood in Brooklyn and the importance of the radio. ''Purple Rose'' was named by ''Time'' as one of the 100 best films of all time and Allen has described it as one of his three best films, along with ''Stardust Memories'' and ''Match Point.'' (Allen defines them as "best" not in terms of quality but because they came out the closest to his original vision.)

In 1989, Allen teamed up with directors Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese to make ''New York Stories'', an anthology film about New Yorkers. Allen's short, ''Oedipus Wrecks'', is about a neurotic lawyer and his critical mother. His short pleased critics, but ''New York Stories'' bombed at the box office.

1990s

His 1992 film ''Shadows and Fog'' is a black-and-white homage to the German expressionists and features the music of Kurt Weill. Allen then made his critically acclaimed drama ''Husbands and Wives'' (1992), which received two Oscar nominations: Best Supporting Actress for Judy Davis and Best Original Screenplay for Allen. His film ''Manhattan Murder Mystery'' (1993) combined suspense with dark comedy and marked the return of Diane Keaton, Alan Alda and Anjelica Huston.

He returned to lighter movies like ''Bullets Over Broadway'' (1994), which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Director, followed by a musical, ''Everyone Says I Love You'' (1996). The singing and dancing scenes in ''Everyone Says I Love You'' are similar to many musicals starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The comedy ''Mighty Aphrodite'' (1995), in which Greek drama plays a large role, won an Academy Award for Mira Sorvino. Allen's 1999 jazz-based comedy-drama ''Sweet and Lowdown'' was also nominated for two Academy Awards for Sean Penn (Best Actor) and Samantha Morton (Best Supporting Actress). In contrast to these lighter movies, Allen veered into darker satire towards the end of the decade with ''Deconstructing Harry'' (1997) and ''Celebrity'' (1998). Allen made his only sitcom "appearance" to date (2009) via telephone on the show ''Just Shoot Me!'' in a 1997 episode, "My Dinner with Woody" which paid tribute to several of his films. Allen also provided the lead voice in the 1998 animated film ''Antz'', which featured many actors he had worked with and had Allen play a character that was similar to his earlier neurotic roles.

2000s

''Small Time Crooks'' (2000) (a remake of the 1942 film comedy ''Larceny, Inc.'', written by S. J. Perelman and starring Edward G. Robinson) was his first film with the DreamWorks studio and represented a change in direction: Allen began giving more interviews and made an attempt to return to his slapstick roots. ''Small Time Crooks'' was a relative financial success, grossing over $17 million domestically but Allen's next four films floundered at the box office, including Allen's most expensive film, ''The Curse of the Jade Scorpion'' (with a budget of $26 million). ''Hollywood Ending'', ''Anything Else'', and ''Melinda and Melinda'' were given "rotten" ratings from film-review website Rotten Tomatoes and each earned less than $4 million domestically. Some critics claimed that Allen's films since 1999's ''Sweet and Lowdown'' were subpar and expressed concern that Allen's best years were now behind him. Others have been less harsh; reviewing the little-liked ''Melinda and Melinda'', Roger Ebert wrote, "I cannot escape the suspicion that if Woody had never made a previous film, if each new one was Woody's Sundance debut, it would get a better reception. His reputation is not a dead shark but an albatross, which with admirable economy Allen has arranged for the critics to carry around their own necks." Woody gave his godson Quincy Rose a small part in ''Melinda and Melinda''. Allen was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2001. ''Match Point'' (2005) was one of Allen's most successful films of the decade, garnering very positive reviews. Set in London, it starred Jonathan Rhys-Meyers and Scarlett Johansson. It is also markedly darker than Allen's first four films with DreamWorks SKG. In ''Match Point'', Allen shifts his focus from the intellectual upper class of New York to the moneyed upper class of London. It earned more than $23 million domestically (more than any of his films in nearly 20 years) and over $62 million in international box office sales. ''Match Point'' earned Allen his first Academy Award nomination since 1998, for Best Writing – Original Screenplay and also earned directing and writing nominations at the Golden Globes, his first Globe nominations since 1987. In an interview with ''Premiere Magazine'', Allen stated this was the best film he has ever made.

Allen returned to London to film ''Scoop'', which also starred Johansson, Hugh Jackman, Ian McShane, Kevin McNally and Allen himself. The film was released on July 28, 2006, and received mixed reviews. He has also filmed ''Cassandra's Dream'' in London. ''Cassandra's Dream'' was released in November 2007, and stars Colin Farrell, Ewan McGregor and Tom Wilkinson.

After finishing his third London film, Allen headed to Spain. He reached an agreement to film ''Vicky Cristina Barcelona'' in Avilés, Barcelona and Oviedo, where shooting started on July 9, 2007. The movie stars Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem, Rebecca Hall and Penélope Cruz. Speaking of his experience there, Allen said: "I'm delighted at being able to work with Mediapro and make a film in Spain, a country which has become so special to me." ''Vicky Cristina Barcelona'' was well received, winning "Best Musical or Comedy" at the Golden Globe awards. Penélope Cruz received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film.

Allen has said that he "survives" on the European market. Audiences there have tended to be more receptive to Allen's films, particularly in Spain, France and Italy – countries where he has a large audience (something joked about in ''Hollywood Ending''). "In the United States things have changed a lot, and it's hard to make good small films now," Allen said in a 2004 interview. "The avaricious studios couldn't care less about good films – if they get a good film they're twice as happy but money-making films are their goal. They only want these $100 million pictures that make $500 million."

In April 2008, he began filming for a movie focused more towards older audiences starring Larry David, Patricia Clarkson and Evan Rachel Wood. Released in 2009, ''Whatever Works'', described as a dark comedy, follows the story of a botched suicide attempt turned messy love triangle. ''Whatever Works'' was written by Allen in the 1970s and the character now played by Larry David was originally written for Zero Mostel, who died the year ''Annie Hall'' came out.

2010s

''You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger'', filmed in London, stars Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins, Anupam Kher, Freida Pinto and Naomi Watts. Filming started in July 2009. It was released theatrically in the US on September 23, 2010, following a Cannes debut in May 2010, and a screening at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2010. Allen announced that his next film would be titled ''Midnight in Paris'', starring Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson, Marion Cotillard, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates, Michael Sheen, Gad Elmaleh and French First Lady Carla Bruni. The film followed a young engaged couple in Paris who see their lives transformed. It debuted at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival on May 12, 2011. Allen said he wanted to "show the city emotionally," during the press conference. "I just wanted it to be the way I saw Paris – Paris through my eyes," he added. ''Midnight in Paris'' has overthrown ''Hannah and Her Sisters'' to become Allen's most successful film at the box office in the United States. It has also opened to much critical acclaim, and has been considered by many critics to mark his return to form. His next film, ''Nero Fiddled'', is a Rome-set comedy slated for a 2012 release. The film will be structured in four different vignettes featuring dialogue in both Italian and English. The film will mark Allen's return to acting since his last role in ''Scoop''. In October 2011, Woody Allen's one-act play called ''Honeymoon Motel'' premiered as one in a series of one act plays on Broadway titled ''Relatively Speaking''. Also contributing to the plays are Elaine May and Ethan Coen with John Turturro directing.

Future projects

For many years, Allen wanted to make a film about the origins of jazz in New Orleans. The film, tentatively titled ''American Blues'', would follow the vastly different careers of Louis Armstrong and Sidney Bechet. Allen has stated that the film would cost between $80 and $100 million and is therefore unlikely to be made.

Distinction in the film world

Over the course of his career, Allen has received a considerable number of awards and distinctions in film festivals and yearly national film awards ceremonies, saluting his work as a director, screenwriter, and actor.

Allen's film ''Annie Hall'' won four Academy Awards in 1977, including Best Picture.

Allen won the 1978 O. Henry Award for his short story ''The Kugelmass Episode'', published in ''The New Yorker'' on May 2, 1977.

Allen twice won the César Award for Best Foreign Film, the first in 1980, for ''Manhattan'' and the second in 1986, for ''The Purple Rose of Cairo''. Seven other of his movies were nominated for the prize.

In 1986, Allen won the Golden Globe for Best Screenplay for ''The Purple Rose of Cairo''. In 2009 he won the same award for Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical for ''Vicky Cristina Barcelona''. In 2012, he won the Best Screenplay award for ''Midnight in Paris'' which was also nominated for Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical, Best Director and Best Actor (Comedy/musical) - ''Owen Wilson''. Overall, Allen has been nominated five times as Best Director, five times for Best Screenplay and twice for Best Actor (Comedy/musical).

At the 1995 Venice Film Festival, Allen received a Career Golden Lion for lifetime achievement.

In 1996, Allen received a lifetime achievement award from the Directors Guild of America.

In 2002, Allen won the Prince of Asturias Award. Subsequently, the city of Oviedo, Spain, erected a life-size statue of Allen. In 2002, Allen received the ''Palme des Palmes'', a special lifetime achievement award granted by the Cannes Festival. In a 2005 UK poll ''The Comedian's Comedian'', Allen was voted the third greatest comedy act ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.

In June 2007, Allen received a PhD Honoris Causa from Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain.

Academy Awards

Woody Allen has won three Academy Awards and been nominated a total of 23 times: 15 as a screenwriter, seven as a director, and one as an actor. He has more screenwriting Academy Award nominations than any other writer; all are in the "Best Original Screenplay" category. He is tied for third all-time with seven Best Director nominations. His actors have regularly received both nominations and Academy Awards for their work in Allen films, particularly in the Best Supporting categories.

''Annie Hall'' won four Academy Awards (Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director and Best Actress in a Leading Role - Diane Keaton). The film received a fifth nomination, for Allen as Best Actor in a Leading Role. ''Hannah and Her Sisters'' won three, for Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor in a Supporting Role and Best Actress in a Supporting Role categories; it was nominated in four other categories, including Best Picture and Best Director.

Despite friendly recognition from the Academy, Allen has consistently refused to attend the ceremony or acknowledge his Oscar wins. He broke this pattern only once. At the Academy Awards ceremony in 2002, Allen made an unannounced appearance, making a plea for producers to continue filming their movies in New York City after the 9-11 attacks, where he stated, "I didn't have to present anything. I didn't have to accept anything. I just had to talk about New York City." He was given a standing ovation before introducing a montage of movie clips featuring New York.

BAFTA

Allen has won a number of British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards and nominations for best picture, best director, best actor, and best screenplay. In 1997, he received the honorary BAFTA Fellowship for his work.

1978 – Won – Best Film – ''Annie Hall''

1978 – Won – Best Screenplay – ''Annie Hall'' (with Marshall Brickman)

1978 – Won – Best Direction – ''Annie Hall''

1980 – Won – Best Film – ''Manhattan''

1980 – Won – Best Screenplay – ''Manhattan'' (with Marshall Brickman)

1985 – Won – Best Screenplay – ''Broadway Danny Rose''

1986 – Won – Best Film – ''The Purple Rose of Cairo''

1986 – Won – Best Screenplay – ''The Purple Rose of Cairo''

1987 – Won – Best Screenplay – ''Hannah and Her Sisters''

1987 – Won – Best Direction – ''Hannah and Her Sisters''

1993 – Won – Best Screenplay – ''Husbands and Wives''

Nominated for best film for ''Hannah and Her Sisters'', ''Radio Days'', ''Crimes and Misdemeanors''.

Nominated for best actor for ''Annie Hall'', ''Manhattan'', ''Hannah and Her Sisters''.

Nominated for best director for ''Manhattan'', ''Crimes and Misdemeanors''.

Nominated for best screenplay for ''Zelig'', ''Radio Days'', ''Crimes and Misdemeanors'', ''Bullets Over Broadway'' (with Douglas McGrath) and ''Midnight in Paris''.

Theater

Although best known for his films, Allen has also enjoyed a very successful career in theater, starting as early as 1960, when Allen wrote sketches for the revue ''From A to Z''. His first great success was ''Don't Drink the Water'', which opened in 1968, and ran for 598 performances for almost two years on Broadway. His success continued with ''Play it Again, Sam'', which opened in 1969, starring Allen and Diane Keaton. The show played for 453 performances and was nominated for three Tony Awards, although none of the nominations were for Allen's writing or acting.

In the 1970s, Allen wrote a number of one-act plays, most notably ''God'' and ''Death'', which were published in his 1975 collection ''Without Feathers''.

In 1981, Allen's play ''The Floating Light Bulb'' opened on Broadway. The play was a critical success but a commercial flop. Despite two Tony Award nominations, a Tony win for the acting of Brian Backer (who also won the 1981 Theater World Award and a Drama Desk Award for his work), the play only ran for 62 performances. , it is the last Allen work that ran on Broadway.

After a long hiatus from the stage, Allen returned to the theater in 1995, with the one-act ''Central Park West'', an installment in an evening of theater known as ''Death Defying Acts'' that was also made up of new work by David Mamet and Elaine May.

For the next couple of years, Allen had no direct involvement with the stage, yet notable productions of his work were being staged. A production of ''God'' was staged at The Bank of Brazil Cultural Center in Rio de Janeiro, and theatrical adaptations of Allen's films ''Bullets Over Broadway'' and ''September'' were produced in Italy and France, respectively, without Allen's involvement. In 1997, rumors of Allen returning to the theater to write a starring role for his wife Soon-Yi Previn turned out to be false.

In 2003, Allen finally returned to the stage with ''Writer's Block'', an evening of two one-acts – ''Old Saybrook'' and ''Riverside Drive'' – that played Off-Broadway. The production marked the stage-directing debut for Allen. The production sold out its entire run.

Also that year, reports of Allen writing the book for a musical based on ''Bullets Over Broadway'' surfaced, but no show ever formulated. In 2004, Allen's first full-length play since 1981, ''A Second Hand Memory'', was directed by Allen and enjoyed an extended run Off-Broadway.

In June 2007, it was announced that Allen would make two more creative debuts in the theater, directing a work that he did not write and directing an opera – a re-interpretation of Puccini's ''Gianni Schicchi'' for the Los Angeles Opera – which debuted at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on September 6, 2008. Commenting on his direction of the opera, Allen said, "I have no idea what I'm doing." His production of the opera opened the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy, in June 2009.

Marriages and relationships

Harlene Rosen

At age 19, Allen married 16-year-old Harlene Rosen. The marriage lasted from 1954 to 1959. ''Time'' stated that the years were "nettling" and "unsettling."

Rosen, whom Allen referred to in his standup act as "the Dread Mrs. Allen," later sued Allen for defamation due to comments at a TV appearance shortly after their divorce. Allen tells a different story on his mid-1960s standup album ''Standup Comic.'' In his act, Allen said that Rosen sued him because of a joke he made in an interview. Rosen had been sexually assaulted outside her apartment and according to Allen, the newspapers reported that she "had been violated." In the interview, Allen said, "Knowing my ex-wife, it probably wasn't a moving violation." In a later interview on ''The Dick Cavett Show'', Allen brought the incident up again where he repeated his comments and stated that the amount that he was being sued for was "$1 million."

Louise Lasser

Allen married Louise Lasser in 1966. They divorced in 1969, and Allen did not marry again until 1997. Lasser starred in three Allen films after the divorce – ''Take the Money and Run'', ''Bananas'', and ''Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)'' – and made a brief appearance in ''Stardust Memories''.

Diane Keaton

In 1970, Allen cast Diane Keaton in his Broadway show, ''Play It Again, Sam.'' During the run she and Allen became romantically involved and although they broke up after a year, she continued to star in a number of his films, including ''Sleeper'' as a futuristic poet and ''Love and Death'' as a composite character based on the novels of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. ''Annie Hall'' was very important in Allen and Keaton's careers. It is said that the role was written specifically for her as Diane Keaton's given name is Diane Hall. She then starred in ''Interiors'' as a poet, followed by ''Manhattan''. In 1987, she had a cameo as a night-club singer in ''Radio Days'' and was chosen to replace Mia Farrow in the co-starring role for ''Manhattan Murder Mystery'' after Allen and Farrow began having troubles with their personal and working relationship while making this film. Keaton has not worked with Allen since ''Manhattan Murder Mystery.'' Since the end of their romantic relationship, Keaton and Allen have remained close friends.

Stacey Nelkin

The film ''Manhattan'' is said by the Los Angeles Times to be widely known to have been based on his romantic relationship with the actress Stacey Nelkin. Her bit part in ''Annie Hall'' ended up on the cutting room floor, and their relationship, though never publicly acknowledged by Allen, reportedly began when she was 17 years old and a student at New York's Stuyvesant High School.

Mia Farrow

Around 1980, Allen began a relationship with actress Mia Farrow, who had leading roles in several of his movies from 1982 to 1992. Farrow and Allen never married and kept separate homes but they adopted two children, Dylan Farrow (who changed her name to Eliza and is now known as Malone) and Moshe Farrow (now known as Moses); they also had one biological child, Satchel Farrow (now known as Ronan Seamus Farrow). Allen did not adopt any of Farrow's other family, including Soon-Yi Farrow Previn (the adopted daughter of Farrow and André Previn, now known as Soon-Yi Previn). Allen and Farrow separated in 1992, after Farrow discovered nude photographs that Allen had taken of a then 20-year-old Soon-Yi. In her autobiography, ''What Falls Away'' (New York: Doubleday, 1997), Farrow says that Allen admitted to a relationship with Soon-Yi.

After Allen and Farrow separated, a long public legal battle for the custody of their three children began. During the proceedings, Farrow alleged that Allen had sexually molested their adopted daughter Dylan, who was then seven years old. The judge eventually concluded that the sex abuse charges were inconclusive but called Allen's conduct with Soon-Yi "grossly inappropriate." She called the report of the team that investigated the issue "sanitized and therefore, less credible" and added that she had "reservations about the reliability of the report." Farrow won custody of their children. Allen was denied visitation rights with Malone and could see Ronan only under supervision. Moses, who was then 14, chose not to see Allen.

In a 2005 ''Vanity Fair'' interview, Allen estimated that, despite the scandal's damage to his reputation, Farrow's discovery of Allen's attraction to Soon-Yi Previn by finding nude photographs of her was "just one of the fortuitous events, one of the great pieces of luck in my life. . . It was a turning point for the better." Of his relationship with Farrow, he said, "I'm sure there are things that I might have done differently. . . Probably in retrospect I should have bowed out of that relationship much earlier than I did." In a report June 22, 2011, Reuters quoted Allen as saying, "What was the scandal? I fell in love with this girl, married her. We have been married for almost 15 years now. There was no scandal, but people refer to it all the time as a scandal and I kind of like that in a way because when I go I would like to say I had one real juicy scandal in my life."

Soon-Yi Previn

After ending his relationship with Mia Farrow in 1992, Allen continued his relationship with Soon-Yi Previn. Even though Allen never married Mia Farrow and was never Previn's legal stepfather, the relationship between Allen and Previn has often been referred to as a father involved romantically with his stepdaughter since he had been perceived as being in Previn's life in a father-like capacity. For example, in 1991, ''The New York Times'' described Allen's family life by reporting, "Few married couples seem more married. They are constantly in touch with each other, and not many fathers spend as much time with their children as Allen does." Despite assertions from Previn that Allen was never a father figure to her, the relationship became a scandal. In 1991, when the relationship started, Allen was 56 and Previn was 21. Asked whether their age difference was conducive to "a healthy, equal relationship," Allen said equality is not necessarily a requirement in a relationship and said, "The heart wants what it wants. There's no logic to those things. You meet someone and you fall in love and that's that."

Allen and Previn married on December 24, 1997, in the Palazzo Cavalli in Venice. The couple have adopted two daughters, naming them Bechet and Manzie Tio after jazz musicians Sidney Bechet, Manzie Johnson and Lorenzo Tio, Jr.

Allen and Farrow's biological son, Ronan Seamus Farrow, said of Allen: "He's my father married to my sister. That makes me his son and his brother-in-law. That is such a moral transgression. I cannot see him. I cannot have a relationship with my father and be morally consistent... I lived with all these adopted children, so they are my family. To say Soon-Yi was not my sister is an insult to all adopted children."

Clarinetist

thumb|250px|Woody Allen with Jerry Zigmont and Simon Wettenhall performing at Vienne Jazz Festival, [[Vienne, Isère|Vienne, France, September 20, 2003]] Allen is a passionate fan of jazz, which is often featured prominently in the soundtracks to his films. He began playing as a child and took his stage name from clarinetist Woody Herman. He has performed publicly at least since the late 1960s, notably with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band on the soundtrack of ''Sleeper''. One of his earliest televised performances was on ''The Dick Cavett Show'' on October 20, 1971.

Woody Allen and his New Orleans Jazz Band have been playing each Monday evening at Manhattan's Carlyle Hotel for many years (as of 2011, specializing in classic New Orleans jazz from the early twentieth century). The documentary film ''Wild Man Blues'' (directed by Barbara Kopple) documents a 1996 European tour by Allen and his band, as well as his relationship with Previn. The band has released two CDs: ''The Bunk Project'' (1993) and the soundtrack of ''Wild Man Blues'' (1997).

Allen and his band played the Montreal Jazz Festival on two consecutive nights in June 2008.

Significant works about Woody Allen

Apart from ''Wild Man Blues'', directed by Barbara Kopple, there are a number of other documentaries featuring Woody Allen, including the 2002 cable-television documentary ''Woody Allen: a Life in Film'', directed by ''Time'' film critic Richard Schickel, which interlaces interviews of Allen with clips of his films, and ''Meetin' WA'', a short interview of Allen by French director Jean-Luc Godard. In 2011 the PBS series American Masters co-produced a comprehensive documentary about him, ''Woody Allen: a Documentary'' directed by Robert B. Weide.

From 1976 to 1984, Stuart Hample wrote and drew ''Inside Woody Allen'', a comic strip based on Allen's film persona.

Psychoanalysis

Allen spent at least 30 years undergoing psychoanalysis. Many of his films contain references to psychoanalysis. Even the film ''Antz'', an animated feature in which Allen contributes the voice of lead character Z, opens with a classic piece of Allen analysis shtick.

''Moment Magazine'' says, "It drove his self-absorbed work." John Baxter, author of ''Woody Allen – A Biography'', wrote, "Allen obviously found analysis stimulating, even exciting."

Allen says he ended his psychoanalysis visits around the time he began his relationship with Previn. He says he still is claustrophobic and agoraphobic.

Filmography

Allen's films span six decades, starting with 1965's ''What's New Pussycat?''. He has written, directed, and starred in many of them, including films such as ''Annie Hall'' (1977), ''Hannah and Her Sisters'' (1986), and ''Husbands and Wives'' (1992), all of which earned major awards. Originally known for his comedies, his early successes were followed by his first purely dramatic work, ''Interiors (1978).

Theater works

In addition to directing, writing, and acting in films, Allen has written and performed in a number of Broadway theater productions.

{|class="wikitable" |- ! style="width:33px;"| Year ! Title ! Credit ! Venue |- | style="text-align:center;"| 1960 | ''From A to Z'' | Writer (book) | style="text-align:center;"|Plymouth Theatre |- | style="text-align:center;"|1966 | ''Don't Drink the Water'' | Writer | style="text-align:center;"|Coconut Grove Playhouse, Florida |- | style="text-align:center;"| 1969 | ''Play It Again, Sam'' | Writer, Performer (Allan Felix) | style="text-align:center;"|Broadhurst Theatre |- | style="text-align:center;"| 1975 | ''God'' | Writer | style="text-align:center;"|— |- | style="text-align:center;"| 1975 | ''Death'' | Writer | style="text-align:center;"|— |- | style="text-align:center;"| 1981 | ''The Floating Light Bulb'' | Writer | style="text-align:center;"|Vivian Beaumont Theatre |- | style="text-align:center;"| 1995 | ''Central Park West'' | Writer | style="text-align:center;"|Variety Arts Theatre |- | style="text-align:center;"| 2003 | ''Old Saybrook'' | Writer, Director | style="text-align:center;"|Atlantic Theatre Company |- | style="text-align:center;"| 2003 | ''Riverside Drive'' | Writer, Director | style="text-align:center;"|Atlantic Theatre Company |- | style="text-align:center;"| 2004 | ''A Second Hand Memory'' | Writer, Director | style="text-align:center;"|Atlantic Theater Company |- | style="text-align:center;"| 2011 | ''Honeymoon Motel'' | Writer | style="text-align:center;"|Brooks Atkinson Theatre |}

Bibliography

Published plays

''Don't Drink the Water: A comedy in two acts'' (1967), ASIN B0006BSWBW

''Play It Again, Sam'' (1969), ISBN 0-394-40663-X

''God: A comedy in one act'' (1975), ISBN 0-573-62201-9

''The Floating Light Bulb'' (1981)

''Three One-Act Plays: Riverside Drive / Old Saybrook / Central Park West'' (2003), ISBN 0-8129-7244-9

''Writer's Block: Two One-Act Plays'' (2005), ISBN 0-573-62630-8 (includes ''Riverside Drive'' and ''Old Saybrook'')

''A Second Hand Memory: A drama in two acts'' (2005)

The one-act plays ''God'' and ''Death'' are both included in Allen's 1975 collection ''Without Feathers'' (see below).

Short stories

''Getting Even'' (1971), ISBN 0-394-47348-5

''Without Feathers'' (1975), ISBN 0-394-49743-0

"The Whore of Mensa" (1974)

''Side Effects'' (1980), ISBN 0-394-51104-2

''Mere Anarchy'' (2007), ISBN 978-1-4000-6641-4

Anthologies

''Complete Prose of Woody Allen'' (1992), ISBN 0-517-07229-7. (Collection of Allen's short stories first published in ''Getting Even'', ''Without Feathers'' ''and Side Effects''.)

''The Insanity Defense: The Complete Prose''. New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2007, ISBN 978-0812978117.

Chapbook

''Lunatic's Tale'' (1986), ISBN 1-55628-001-7 (Short story previously included in ''Side Effects''.)

See also

Woody Allen filmography

List of awards and nominations received by Woody Allen

Cinema of the United States

References

Further reading

Stardust Memories: Visiting Woody Michael Žantovský recalls a memorable meeting between two giants, Woody Allen and Václav Havel

Essay by Victoria Loy on Woody Allen's career

''The Essential Woody Allen''; Lauren Hill

''Fun With Woody, The Complete Woody Allen Quiz Book (Henry Holt)'', Graham Flashner

''The Importance of Being Famous: Behind the Scenes of the Celebrity Industrial Complex'' by Maureen Orth p233 ISBN 0-8050-7545-3

''Woody Allen – A Biography''; John Baxter (1999) ISBN 0-7867-0666-X

''Woody Allen: Conversations with Filmmakers Series'', ed. R. E. Kapsis and K. Coblentz, (2006) ISBN 1-57806-793-6

''Woody Allen''; Stephan Reimertz, (rororo-Monographie), Reinbek (2005) ISBN 3-499-50410-3 (in German)

''Woody Allen: Eine Biographie''; Stephan Reimertz, Reinbek (2000) ISBN 3-499-61145-7 (in German)

''Woody Allen On Location'', by Thierry de Navacelle (Morrow, 1987); a day-to-day account of the making of ''Radio Days'' (1987)

''Woody Allen on Woody Allen: In Conversation With Stig Bjorkman'' (1995), ISBN 0-8021-1556-X

''Woody Allen: Profane and Sacred''; Richard A. Blake (1995) ISBN 978-0-810-82993-0

External links

The Official Site of Woody Allen

in 2009

Category:1935 births Category:20th-century actors Category:Actors from New York City Category:American Dixieland revivalists Category:American film actors Category:American film directors Category:American film producers Category:American jazz clarinetists Category:American screenwriters Category:American short story writers Category:American stand-up comedians Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:Best Director Academy Award winners Category:Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winners Category:César Award winners Category:Dixieland revivalist clarinetists Category:English-language film directors Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Category:Film directors from New York City Category:Film theorists Category:Independent Spirit Award winners Category:Jewish actors Category:Jewish American musicians Category:Jewish American writers Category:Jewish atheists Category:Jewish comedians Category:Jewish comedy and humor Category:Jewish dramatists and playwrights Category:Living people Category:O. Henry Award winners Category:People from Brooklyn Category:Writers Guild of America Award winners

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Coordinates	38°37′38″N90°11′52″N
name	Billy Graham
birth name	William Franklin Graham Jr.
birth date	November 07, 1918
birth place
residence
occupation	Evangelist
religion	Evangelical Christian
spouse	(her death)
children	Franklin, Nelson, Virginia, Anne and Ruth
education	Diploma in Biblical Studies, Florida Bible Institute (Trinity Bible College), 1940 B.A. in Anthropology, Wheaton College, 1943
ordained	Southern Baptist
offices held	President, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
title	Doctor (Honorary)
signature	Billy Graham Signature.svg
website	BillyGraham.org }}

William Franklin "Billy" Graham, Jr. (born November 7, 1918) is an American evangelical Christian evangelist, who rose to celebrity status as his sermons were broadcast on radio and television. Graham has been spiritual adviser to several United States Presidents and has met with 12, dating back to Harry S. Truman. He has repeatedly been on Gallup's most admired man and woman poll, and is listed at number seven for the 20th century (taken in 1999). He was ordained by the Southern Baptist Convention.

Graham has preached the Gospel in person to more people than any other person in history. According to his staff, more than 3.2 million people have responded to the invitation at Billy Graham Crusades to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, many to the altar call song "Just As I Am". As of 2008, Graham's lifetime audience, including radio and television broadcasts, topped 2.2 billion.

Early life

He was born November 7, 1918 to William Franklin Graham I (1888–1962) and Morrow Coffey (1892–1981), on a dairy farm near Charlotte, North Carolina. Graham was raised in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church by his parents. In 1933, when Prohibition in the United States ended, Graham's father forced Graham and his sister Katherine to drink beer until they vomited, which created an aversion, in both of them, to alcohol and drugs. According to the Billy Graham Center, Graham was converted in 1934 at age 16 during a series of revival meetings in Charlotte which were led by evangelist Mordecai Ham. However, he was turned down for membership in a local youth group because he was "too worldly". He was persuaded to go see Ham at the urging of one of the employees, Albert McMakin, on the Graham farm. After graduating from Sharon High School in May 1936, Graham attended Bob Jones College, which was located in Cleveland, Tennessee. After one semester, he found it too legalistic in both coursework and rules. At this time, he was influenced and inspired by Pastor Charley Young from Eastport Bible Church. He was almost expelled, but Bob Jones, Sr. warned him not to throw his life away: "At best, all you could amount to would be a poor country Baptist preacher somewhere out in the sticks.... You have a voice that pulls. God can use that voice of yours. He can use it mightily." In 1937, Graham transferred to the Florida Bible Institute (now Trinity College of Florida) on the site of today's Florida College in Temple Terrace, Florida. In his autobiography he writes that he "received [his] calling on the 18th green of the Temple Terrace Golf and Country Club," which is immediately in front of today's Sutton Hall at Florida College in Temple Terrace. Reverend Billy Graham Memorial Park is today located on the Hillsborough River directly east of the 18th green and across from where Graham often paddled a canoe to a small island in the river, where he would preach to the birds, alligators, and cypress stumps. Graham eventually graduated from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois with a degree in anthropology, in 1943. It was during his time at Wheaton that Graham decided to accept the Bible as the infallible word of God. Henrietta Mears of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood (Hollywood, California) was instrumental in helping Graham wrestle with the issue, which was settled at Forest Home Christian camp (now called Forest Home Ministries) southeast of the Big Bear area in Southern California. A memorial there marks the site of Graham's decision.

Family

On August 13, 1943, Graham married Wheaton classmate Ruth Bell (1920–2007), whose parents were Presbyterian missionaries in China, where her father, L. Nelson Bell, was a general surgeon. He met Ruth at Wheaton: "I saw her walking down the road towards me and I couldn't help but stare at her as she walked. She looked at me and our eyes met and I felt that she was definitely the woman I wanted to marry." Ruth thought that he "wanted to please God more than any man I'd ever met." They married two months after graduation and later lived in a log cabin designed by Ruth in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Montreat, North Carolina. Ruth died on June 14, 2007, at the age of 87.

They had five children together: Virginia Leftwich (Gigi) Graham Tchividjian (born 1945); Anne Graham Lotz (born 1948; runs AnGeL ministries); Ruth Graham (born 1950; founder and president of Ruth Graham & Friends); Franklin Graham (born 1952; administers an international relief organization called Samaritan's Purse and will be his father's successor at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association); and Nelson Edman Graham (born 1958; a pastor who runs East Gates International, which distributes Christian literature in China). Graham has 19 grandchildren and 28 great-grandchildren. Grandson Tullian Tchividjian is senior pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

As a guard against even the appearance of wrongdoing Graham had a policy that he would never be alone with a woman, other than his wife Ruth. This has come to be known as the Billy Graham Rule.

Ministry

Beginning

Graham transferred in January 1937 from Bob Jones College to Florida Bible Institute, and then finally to Wheaton College in 1939. Graham attended Wheaton College from 1939 to 1943, when he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in anthropology. While attending college, he became pastor of the United Gospel Tabernacle and also had other preaching engagements.

Graham served briefly as pastor of the Village Church in Western Springs, Illinois, not far from Wheaton, in 1943-44. While there, his friend Torrey Johnson, pastor of the Midwest Bible Church in Chicago, told Graham that his radio program "Songs in the Night" was about to be canceled for lack of funding. Consulting with the members of his church in Western Springs, Graham decided to take over Johnson's program with financial support from his parishioners. Launching the new radio program on January 2, 1944, still called ''Songs in the Night'', Graham recruited the baritone George Beverly Shea as his director of radio ministry. While the radio ministry continued for many years, Graham decided to move on in early 1945, and in 1947, at age 30, he became the youngest person to serve as a sitting college president during his tenure at Northwestern Bible College in St. Paul, Minnesota. Graham served as the president of Northwestern Bible College from 1948 to 1952.

Initially, Graham intended to become a chaplain in the armed forces, but shortly after applying for a commission contracted mumps. After a period of recuperation in Florida, Graham was hired as the first full time evangelist of the new Youth for Christ International (YFCI) which was co-founded by Torrey Johnson and Canadian evangelist Charles Templeton and Graham traveled throughout both the United States and Europe as an YFCI evangelist. Unlike many evangelists then and now, Graham had little formal theological training; when his friend Chuck Templeton urged him to join him in applying to Princeton Theological Seminary for an advanced theological degree, Graham declined to apply with Princeton or any other university within the United States as he was already serving as the president of Northwestern Bible College.

Hearst intervention

Graham scheduled a series of revival meetings in Los Angeles in 1949, for which he erected circus tents in a parking lot. The Los Angeles revival is considered to be the time when Graham became a national religious figure. Graham's rise to national prominence is partly because of the assistance he received from news mogul William Randolph Hearst, whose interest in Graham was that he respected Graham for being his own person and following what he believed, though the two never met. Most observers believe that Hearst appreciated Graham's patriotism and appeals to youth and thought that Graham would be helpful in promoting Hearst's conservative anti-communist views. Hearst sent a telegram to his newspaper editors reading "Puff Graham" during Billy Graham's late 1949 Los Angeles crusade.

The increased media exposure from Hearst's newspaper chain and national magazines caused the crusade event to run for eight weeks—five weeks longer than planned. Henry Luce put him on the cover of ''TIME'' in 1954. At the Los Angeles revival, a fellow evangelist accused Graham of setting religion back 100 years. Graham replied, "I did indeed want to set religion back, not just 100 years but 1,900 years, to the Book of Acts, when 1st century followers of Christ were accused of turning the Roman Empire upside down."

Crusades

Billy Graham has conducted many evangelistic crusades since 1948. He began this form of ministry in 1947 and continued until recently. He would rent a large venue, such as a stadium, park, or street. He arranged a group of up to 5,000 people to sing in a choir and then preached the gospel and invited people to come forward (a practice begun by Dwight L. Moody). These people, called inquirers, were then given the opportunity to speak one-on-one with a counselor who clarified any questions the inquirer may have had and would pray with that person. The inquirers were often given resources, such as a copy of the Gospel of John or a Bible study booklet. In Moscow in 1992, one-quarter of the 155,000 people in his audience came forward upon his request.

Graham was offered a five-year, $5 million contract from NBC to appear on television opposite Arthur Godfrey, but he turned it down in favor of continuing his touring revivals because of his pre-arranged commitments. Graham had missions in London, which lasted 12 weeks, and a New York City mission in Madison Square Garden, in 1957, which ran nightly for 16 weeks. In 1959, he led his first crusade, which was in London.

Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

In 1950, Graham founded the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association with its headquarters in Minneapolis. The association later relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina. BGEA Ministries have included:

''Hour of Decision'', a weekly radio program broadcast around the world for more than 50 years

Mission television specials that have been regularly broadcast in prime time in almost every market in the U.S. and Canada

A syndicated newspaper column, ''My Answer'', carried by newspapers across the United States and distributed by Tribune Media Services

''Decision'' magazine, the official publication of the Association

''Christianity Today'' was started in 1956 with Carl F. H. Henry as its first editor

Passageway.org, the website for a children's program created by BGEA

World Wide Pictures, which has produced and distributed more than 130 films

Civil Rights Movement and Anti-Segregation

Graham's stance on civil rights and segregation was inconsistent in his early years. Like many white public figures, he had shown no concern for segregation until the civil rights movement began to take off in the early 1950s, and many of his early crusades were segregated. In response to the civil rights movement, he "zig-zagged" for some years - refusing to speak to some segregated auditoriums, while speaking to others. His memoirs say that in 1953 he dramatically tore down the ropes that organizers had erected to separate the audience. But he later retreated on the issue in Dallas, Texas and Asheville, North Carolina. Prior to Brown v. Board of Education, Graham assured audiences that the Bible had nothing to say about segregation. Subsequently, he emerged as an opponent of segregation and racism, reminding audiences of Christianity's pact with the marginalised and oppressed. (Michael G Long, ed., ''The Legacy of Billy Graham: Critical Reflections on America's Greatest Evangelist'', Westminster/John Knox Press, 2008, pp. 150–1) He also got in a fight with a southern KKK member about why integration of blacks into the Southern society was important. Graham said, "There is no scriptural basis for segregation… The ground at the foot of the cross is level, and it touches my heart when I see whites standing shoulder to shoulder with blacks at the cross." Graham paid bail money to secure the release of Martin Luther King, Jr. from jail during the 1960s civil rights movement; he invited King to join him in the pulpit at his 16-week revival in New York City in 1957. During that 16-week stint, Graham was heard by 2.3 million listeners, who gathered to hear him at Madison Square Garden, Yankee Stadium, and Times Square. However, due to his anxieties about addressing the politics of racism and being seen to publicly cooperate with the civil rights leader, he never invited King to appear with him again.

Later years

Graham's visibility and popularity extended into the secular world. He created his own pavilion for the 1964 New York World's Fair. He appeared as a guest on a 1969 Woody Allen television special, where he joined the comedian in a witty exchange on theological matters. During the Cold War, Graham became the first evangelist of note to speak behind the Iron Curtain, addressing large crowds in countries throughout Eastern Europe and in the Soviet Union, calling for peace. During the Apartheid era, Graham consistently refused to visit South Africa until its government allowed attending audiences to sit desegregated. His first crusade there was in 1973, during which he openly denounced apartheid. In 1984, he led a series of summer meetings in the United Kingdom, called Mission England, using outdoor football grounds as venues.

Graham was interested in fostering evangelism around the world. In 1983, 1986 and 2000 he sponsored, organized and paid for massive training conferences for Christian evangelists from around the world; with the largest representations of nations ever held until that time. Over 157 nations were gathered in 2000 at the RAI Convention Center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

At one revival in Seoul, South Korea, Graham attracted more than one million people to a single service. He appeared in China in 1988—for Ruth, this was a homecoming, since she had been born in China to missionary parents. He appeared in North Korea in 1992.

On September 22, 1991 Graham held the largest event he ever led in North America on The Great Lawn of New York City's Central Park. City officials estimated over 250,000 in attendance. In 1998, Graham spoke at TED (conference) to a crowd of scientists and philosophers.

On September 14, 2001, in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, Graham led a prayer and remembrance service at Washington National Cathedral, which was attended by President George W. Bush and past and present leaders. He also spoke at the memorial service following the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. On June 24–26, 2005, Billy Graham began what he has said would be his last North American crusade, three days at the Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in New York City. But on the weekend of March 11–12, 2006, Billy Graham held the "Festival of Hope" with his son, Franklin Graham. The festival was held in New Orleans, which was recovering from Hurricane Katrina.

Graham said that his planned retirement was because of his failing health. He has suffered from Parkinson's disease for about 15 years, has had hydrocephalus, pneumonia, broken hips, and prostate cancer. In August 2005, a frail Graham appeared at the groundbreaking for his library in Charlotte, North Carolina. Then 86, Reverend Graham used a walker to assist with mobility during the ceremony. On July 9, 2006, Graham spoke at the Metro Maryland Franklin Graham Festival, held in Baltimore, Maryland, at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

There had been controversy over where the burial place would be until a press release on June 13, 2007, saying that he and his wife would be buried alongside each other at the Billy Graham Library in his hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina. Graham's younger son Ned had argued with older son Franklin about whether burial at a library would be appropriate. Ruth Graham had said that she wanted to be buried not in Charlotte but in the mountains near Asheville, North Carolina, where she had lived for many years; Ned supported his mother's choice. Novelist Patricia Cornwell, a family friend, also opposed burial at the library, calling it a tourist attraction. Franklin wanted his parents to be buried at the library site. At the time of Ruth Graham's death, it was announced that they would be buried at the library site.

On August 18, 2007, Graham, 88, was in fair condition in Mission Health & Hospitals of Asheville after undergoing treatment for intestinal bleeding, but his condition was not life-threatening.

In April, 2010, Graham, at 91 and with substantial vision and hearing loss, made a rare public appearance at the re-dedication of the renovated Billy Graham Library. Graham's grandson, Will Graham told reporters that his grandfather has "got a lot more energy and he's talking about preaching one more time," stating that it would probably be a televised event rather than a stadium crusade.

Billy Graham has preached Christianity to live audiences of nearly 215 million people in more than 185 countries and territories through various meetings, including BMS World Mission and Global Mission. Graham has also reached hundreds of millions more through television, video, film, and webcasts.

On May 11, 2011, Billy Graham was admitted to Mission Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina, for treatment of pneumonia. He was released May 15, 2011, and returned home. Doctors said his response to treatment was excellent. According to his daughter, Anne Graham Lotz, in an interview aired on NPR on October 10, 2011, Billy Graham was recently placed on oxygen therapy. According to his son, Graham is working on a new book about salvation.

Politics

Politically, Graham is a registered member of the Democratic Party. He leaned Republican during the presidency of Richard Nixon. He did not completely ally himself with the religious right, saying that Jesus did not have a political party. He did not openly endorse political candidates, but he gave his support to some over the years.

He refused to join Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority in 1979, saying: "I'm for morality, but morality goes beyond sex to human freedom and social justice. We as clergy know so very little to speak with authority on the Panama Canal or superiority of armaments. Evangelists cannot be closely identified with any particular party or person. We have to stand in the middle in order to preach to all people, right and left. I haven't been faithful to my own advice in the past. I will be in the future."

According to a 2006 ''Newsweek'' interview, "For Graham, politics is a secondary to the Gospel.... When ''Newsweek'' asked Graham whether ministers—whether they think of themselves as evangelists, pastors or a bit of both—should spend time engaged with politics, he replied: 'You know, I think in a way that has to be up to the individual as he feels led of the Lord. A lot of things that I commented on years ago would not have been of the Lord, I'm sure, but I think you have some—like communism, or segregation, on which I think you have a responsibility to speak out.'".

Pastor to presidents

Graham has had a personal audience with many sitting US presidents from Harry S. Truman to Barack Obama. He visited in the Oval Office with Truman in 1950, urging him to counter communism in North Korea. However, Graham and his accompanying friends were not aware of Washington protocol; they appeased the press corps waiting outside with details of the visit, with the three pastors even acquiescing to the calls of the press to kneel on the White House lawn, as if praying. Truman allegedly commented about Graham in Merle Miller's oral biography ''Plain Speaking'':

But now we've got just this one evangelist, this Billy Graham, and he's gone off the beam. He's...well, I hadn’t ought to say this, but he’s one of those counterfeits I was telling you about. He claims he's a friend of all the Presidents, but he was never a friend of mine when I was President. I just don’t go for people like that. All he's interested in is getting his name in the paper.

Truman did not speak to Graham for years after their meeting. Graham has often told the story, usually as a warning that he would not reveal his conversations with world leaders.

Graham became a regular in the Oval Office during the tenure of Dwight D. Eisenhower, whom he urged to intervene with federal troops in the case of the Little Rock Nine, and it was at that time, on a Washington golf course, that he met and became close friends with Vice President Richard Nixon. Graham was invited by Eisenhower to visit with him when the former president was on his deathbed. Graham also counseled Lyndon B. Johnson, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and the Bush family.

The single notable exception among modern presidents is John F. Kennedy, with whom Graham played golf, but Kennedy was Roman Catholic; Graham enjoyed a friendship with Nixon and prominently supported him over Kennedy in the 1960 presidential election. Nixon wrote to Graham after that election: "I have often told friends that when you went into the ministry, politics lost one of its potentially greatest practitioners." Graham spent the last night of Johnson's presidency in the White House, and he stayed for the first night of Nixon's.

After Nixon's victorious 1968 presidential campaign, Graham was an adviser, visiting the White House and leading some of the private church services that the President organized there. Nixon offered Graham the ambassadorship to Israel in a meeting they had with Golda Meir, but Graham turned down Nixon's offer. Nixon appeared at one of Graham's revivals in East Tennessee in 1970; the event drew one of the largest crowds to ever gather in Tennessee. Nixon became the first President to give a speech from an evangelist's platform. However, their friendship became strained when Graham rebuked Nixon for his post-Watergate behavior and the profanity heard on the Watergate tapes; they eventually reconciled after Nixon's resignation. Graham announced at that time, "I'm out of politics."

After a special law was passed on his behalf, Graham was allowed to conduct the first religious service on the steps of the Capitol building in 1952. When Graham was hospitalized briefly in 1976, three Presidents called in one day to wish him well: former President Nixon, current President Ford and President-elect Carter.

He was one of Reagan's personal guests at his inauguration and gave the benediction at George H. W. Bush's inauguration. He stayed at the White House the night before George H. W. Bush (who called Graham "America's pastor") launched the Persian Gulf War. Two days before the 2000 presidential election, Graham spoke at a prayer breakfast in Florida with George W. Bush in attendance. At a New York revival in 2005, Bill Clinton recalled how he had attended Graham's revival as a boy in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1959.

Graham has officiated at one presidential burial and one presidential funeral. He presided over the graveside services of President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1973 and took part in eulogizing the former president. Graham officiated at the funeral service of former First Lady Pat Nixon in 1993 and the funeral of Richard Nixon in 1994. He was unable to officiate at the state funeral of Ronald Reagan on June 11, 2004, because of recent double hip replacement surgery, which former President George H. W. Bush acknowledged during his eulogy. Graham had been Reagan's first choice. Because of Graham's hospitalization, the Reverend John Danforth, a Missouri Republican Senator during Reagan's tenure, and an ordained Episcopal priest, officiated at the funeral. Failing health prevented Graham from officiating at the state funeral of Gerald R. Ford on January 2, 2007, as well as the funeral of former First Lady Lady Bird Johnson in July 2007.

On April 25, 2010, President Barack Obama visited Rev. Graham at his home in Montreat, North Carolina where they “had a private prayer.”

As with other presidents in the past, Graham met with former President George W. Bush during December 2010, for a tour of his library.

Foreign policy views

Graham has been outspoken against communism and supportive of U.S. Cold War policy, including the Vietnam War. However, in a 1999 speech, Graham discussed his relationship with the late North Korean dictator Kim Il-sung, praising him as a "different kind of communist" and "one of the great fighters for freedom in his country against the Japanese." Graham went on to note that although he had never met Kim's son and former North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il, he had "exchanged gifts with him." Graham has given a globe surmounted with doves to the North Korean Friendship Museum.

During a March 12, 1991, CBS broadcast of Billy Graham's Long Island, New York crusade, Graham said in reference to the Persian Gulf War, "As our President, President Bush, has said, it is not the people of Iraq we are at war with. It is some of the people in that regime. Pray for peace in the Middle East, a just peace." Graham had earlier said that "there come times when we have to fight for peace." He went on to say that out of the war in the Gulf may "come a new peace and, as suggested by the President, a new world order."

Controversy

Discussion of Jews with Nixon

In 2002, declassified "Richard Nixon tapes" confirmed remarks made by Graham to President Nixon three decades earlier. Captured on the tapes, Graham agreed with Nixon that Jews control the American media, calling it a "stranglehold" during a 1972 conversation with Nixon. His remarks were characterized as anti-Semitic by Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League and evangelical author Richard Land. When the tapes became public, Graham apologized. According to ''Newsweek'' magazine, "[T]he shock of the revelation was magnified because of Graham's longtime support of Israel and his refusal to join in calls for conversion of the Jews."

In 2009, more tapes were released, in which Graham is heard in conversation with Nixon referring to Jews and "the synagogue of Satan." A spokesman for Graham said that Graham has never been an anti-Semite and that the comparison (in accord with the context of the quotation in the Book of Revelation) was directed specifically at those claiming to be Jews, but not holding to traditional Jewish values.

Fundamentalists

After Crusade in New York (1957) fundamentalists criticized Graham for his ecumenism (he was even called "Antichrist").

Awards and honors

Graham has frequently been honored by surveys, including "Greatest Living American" and has consistently ranked among the most admired persons in the United States and the world. Between 1950 and 1990, he appeared most frequently on Gallup's list of most admired people. The United States Postal Service has said that Graham is one of the few Americans, along with the current President, who can be delivered mail that simply reads his name and the country: "Billy Graham, America."

In 1967, he was the first Protestant to receive an honorary degree from Belmont Abbey College, a Roman Catholic school.

In 1971, Graham received an award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews. After the Nixon tapes were released, Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League called for Graham to return the award. He was honored by the American Jewish Committee with its National Interreligious Award for his efforts on behalf of Jewish-Christian relations; the committee called him one of the century's greatest Christian friends of Jews. In the same year, Graham's hometown of Charlotte held "Billy Graham Day" at which President Nixon made an appearance.

In 1972 he received the International Franciscan Award for "his contribution to true ecumenism".

He has received the Congressional Gold Medal from the United States Congress and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Reagan, America's highest civilian honors.

In 1986, Graham was given North Carolina's highest honor, the North Carolina Award, for public service.

President Bill Clinton and Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole awarded Graham the Congressional Gold Medal in a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol in 1996.

On May 30, 1999, Graham was invited to give the pre-race invocation at the Indianapolis 500.

In December 2001, he was presented with an honorary knighthood, Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE), for his international contributions to civic and religious life over 60 years.

On May 31, 2007, the $27 million Billy Graham Library was officially dedicated in Charlotte. Former Presidents Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton appeared to celebrate with Graham. A highway in Charlotte bears Graham's name, as does I-240 near Graham's home in Asheville.

For providing a platform during his events for many Christian musical artists, Graham was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1999 by the Gospel Music Association. Several songs by various artists have dedicated songs to or about Graham during his lifetime. Singer Michael W. Smith is active in Billy Graham Crusades as well as Samaritan's Purse.

In 2000, former First Lady Nancy Reagan presented the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award to Graham. Graham has been a friend of the Reagans for years.

Graham received the Big Brother of the Year Award for his work on behalf of children. He has been cited by the George Washington Carver Memorial Institute for his contributions to race relations. He has received the Templeton Foundation Prize for Progress in Religion and the Sylvanus Thayer Award for his commitment to "Duty, Honor, Country". The "Billy Graham Children's Health Center" in Asheville is named after and funded by Graham.

A professorial chair is named after him at the Alabama Baptist-affiliated Samford University, the Billy Graham Professor of Evangelism and Church Growth. His alma mater Wheaton College has an archive of his papers at the Billy Graham Center. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth. Graham has received 20 honorary degrees and refused at least that many more. In San Francisco, CA, the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, has often erroneously been called the ''Billy Graham Civic Auditorium'' and falsely considered to be named in his honor, but is actually named after the rock & roll promoter Bill Graham.

The movie ''Billy: The Early Years'' premiered in theaters officially on October 10, 2008, less than one month before Graham's 90th birthday. Graham has yet to comment on the film, but his son, Franklin released a critical statement on August 18, 2008, noting that the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association "has not collaborated with nor does it endorse the movie." Graham's eldest daughter Gigi, however, has praised the movie and has also been hired as a consultant to help promote the film.

In 2011, Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minnesota, where Graham was once president, named its newest campus building the Billy Graham Community Life Commons.

Books authored

Graham has authored the following books:

''Calling Youth to Christ'' (1947)

''America's Hour of Decision'' (1951)

''I Saw Your Sons at War'' (1953)

''Peace with God'' (1953, 1984)

''Freedom from the Seven Deadly Sins'' (1955)

''The Secret of Happiness'' (1955, 1985)

''Billy Graham Talks to Teenagers'' (1958)

''My Answer'' (1960)

''Billy Graham Answers Your Questions'' (1960)

''World Aflame'' (1965)

''The Challenge'' (1969)

''The Jesus Generation'' (1971)

''Angels: God's Secret Agents'' (1975, 1985)

''How to Be Born Again'' (1977)

''The Holy Spirit'' (1978)

''Till Armageddon'' (1981)

''Approaching Hoofbeats'' (1983)

''A Biblical Standard for Evangelists'' (1984)

''Unto the Hills'' (1986)

''Facing Death and the Life After'' (1987)

''Answers to Life's Problems'' (1988)

''Hope for the Troubled Heart'' (1991)

''Storm Warning'' (1992)

''Just As I Am: The Autobiography of Billy Graham'' (1997, 2007)

''Hope for Each Day'' (2002)

''The Key to Personal Peace'' (2003)

''Living in God's Love: The New York Crusade'' (2005)

''The Journey: How to Live by Faith in an Uncertain World'' (2006)

''Nearing Home: Life, Faith, and Finishing Well'' (2011)

Notes

External links

Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

Billy Graham Training Center

Streaming video clip from 1957 event in Times Square

Billy Graham Evangelistic Association Newsroom

Listen to Billy Graham Sermons

TED Talks: Billy Graham on technology, faith and suffering at TED in 1998

Oral History Interview with Billy Graham, from the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library

Financial summary of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Photos of Billy Graham and President Richard Nixon at Billy Graham Day in Charlotte, NC, Oct. 15, 1971.

Category:1918 births Category:American autobiographers Category:American evangelicals Category:American evangelists Category:American humanitarians Category:American religious leaders Category:American television evangelists Category:American people of English descent Category:American people of Irish descent Category:Baptist writers Category:People with cancer Category:Christian writers Category:Writers from North Carolina Category:Congressional Gold Medal recipients Category:Editors of Christian publications Category:Gospel Music Hall of Fame inductees Category:Graham family Category:Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Category:Living people Category:People from Charlotte, North Carolina Category:People with Parkinson's disease Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Category:Southern Baptist ministers Category:Templeton Prize laureates Category:Trinity College (Florida) alumni Category:Wheaton College (Illinois) alumni Category:American anti-communists Category:Christian revivalists Category:University and college presidents

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Coordinates	38°37′38″N90°11′52″N
name	Steve Coogan
birth date	October 14, 1965
birth place	Middleton, Lancashire, England
birth name	Stephen John Coogan
spouse	Caroline Hickman(m. 2002–2005; divorced)
occupation	Actor, Comedian, Writer, Producer
relatives	Brendan Coogan, Martin Coogan (brothers) }}

Stephen John "Steve" "Aha!" Coogan (born 14 October 1965) is a British comedian, actor, writer and producer. Born in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, (then Lancashire). He began his career as a standup comedian and impressionist, working as a voice artist throughout the 1980s on satirical puppet show ''Spitting Image.'' In the early nineties, Coogan began creating original comic characters which he presented in stage shows, this led to him winning the 1992 Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe, for his show with long-time collaborator John Thomson. The most prominent characters he developed at this time were Paul Calf, a stereotypical lower class Mancunian and his sister the promiscuous Pauline (played by Coogan in drag).

Working with Chris Morris, Patrick Marber and Armando Iannucci for ''On The Hour'' and ''The Day Today'', Coogan developed his most popular and most developed character; Alan Partridge, a socially awkward and politically incorrect regional media personality, who developed to feature in his own eponymous television series, ''Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge'' and ''I'm Alan Partridge'', which were well received and were nominated for five BAFTAs in total. Outside the UK, Coogan is better known for his roles in films such as ''24 Hour Party People'', ''The Wind in the Willows'', ''Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief'', ''Night at the Museum'', ''Tropic Thunder'', ''Hamlet 2'', ''The Trip'', ''A Cock and Bull Story'', ''In The Loop'' and ''The Other Guys''.

On 22 November 2011, Coogan, along with Hugh Grant, gave evidence to the Leveson Inquiry on phone hacking, favouring regulation of the press.

Early life

Coogan is one of seven children born to Kathleen (née Coonan), a homemaker, and Anthony Coogan, an IBM engineer. He was born in his parents' house and raised in Alkrington, a suburb of Middleton, north of Manchester, in an Irish working class family. Coogan was raised as a Roman Catholic. He had a happy childhood growing up with four brothers and two sisters, and in addition his parents fostered children on a short-term basis, sometimes accommodating two or three foster children at a time. Coogan had a talent for impersonation, and wanted to go to drama school, despite being advised by a teacher that it could lead to a precarious profession.

He went to five interviews for drama school in London, and then – after gaining confidence by joining a theatre company in Manchester called New Music – gained a place at the The Manchester Metropolitan School of Theater. Coogan's brother Martin was the vocalist and wrote the music for The Mock Turtles, a successful indie rock band in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Career

Coogan started out as a comic and mimic in Ipswich, as well as doing voice-over work for adverts and impressions on ''Spitting Image''. In 1988, he did impressions of Prince Charles which featured on the Urban label release "Don't Believe the Hype" by acid house artist Mista E. The impressions were also used as jingles in 1988/89 on the BBC Radio 1 FM Friday night dance music show ''Jeff Young's Big Beat''. In 1993 Coogan starred alongside Caroline Aherne and John Thomson in a one-off Granada TV sketch show ''The Dead Good Show''.

Alan Partridge

Coogan collaborated with Chris Morris and Armando Iannucci, amongst others, on the Radio 4 comedy show ''On the Hour'', where he helped give birth to his most famous creation, Alan Partridge. Alan went on to have his own radio show, as well as appearing on TV in ''The Day Today'' and his own chat show, ''Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge''. In 1997, he returned with the sitcom ''I'm Alan Partridge'', which was followed by a second series in 2002. Partridge was part of Coogan's 2008 stand-up tour, and an Alan Partridge movie is in production.

Other TV roles

''Paul Calf'' first began as a character named 'Duncan Disorderly' in Coogan's early stand-up routines. Calf first came to wider public notice in 1993, with several appearances on ''Saturday Zoo'', a late-night variety show presented by Jonathan Ross on Channel 4. Paul has appeared in two video diaries, an episode of ''Coogan's Run'', and in various stand-up performances. He is an unemployed Manchester wastrel with a particular hatred of students. His catchphrase is "Bag o' shite". Paul lives in a council house in the fictional town of Ottle with his mother and his sister, Pauline Calf (also played by Coogan). His father died some time before the first video diary was made. For a long time he was obsessed with getting back together with his ex-girlfriend, Julie. Paul's best friend is "Fat" Bob (played by John Thomson), a car mechanic who eventually married Pauline. Paul supports Manchester City and is very partial to Wagon Wheels. He wears Burton suits, sports a bleached mullet and drives a Ford Cortina.

Other Coogan creations include Tommy Saxondale, Duncan Thicket, and Portuguese Eurovision winner Tony Ferrino. Duncan Thicket has appeared in a tour of live shows. Other TV shows he has starred in include ''Coogan's Run'', ''Dr. Terrible's House of Horrible'', ''Monkey Trousers'' and ''Saxondale''. Coogan has provided voices for the animated series ''I Am Not an Animal'' and ''Bob and Margaret'', the one-off BBC2 comedy about sheep ''Combat Sheep'', two Christmas specials starring ''Robbie the Reindeer'', and an episode of the BBC Radio Four spoof sci-fi series ''Nebulous''.

During the 1989 series of The Krypton Factor, Coogan was invited to participate in a series of mini-movies for the observation round.

He starred in BBC2's ''The Private Life of Samuel Pepys'' in 2003, and ''Cruise of the Gods'' in 2002. In 2006, he had a cameo in the ''Little Britain'' Christmas special as a pilot taking Lou and Andy to Disneyland. In 2007, Coogan played a psychiatrist on HBO's ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'', and in 2008, starred in the BBC1 drama ''Sunshine''.

In 2010, he reunited with actor Rob Brydon and director Michael Winterbottom (both of whom he had worked with on the 2006 film ''A Cock and Bull Story'' (see Film Roles below)), for the partially improvised BBC2 sitcom ''The Trip'', in which he and Brydon do a tour of northern restaurants, which he is writing up for the Observer. ''The Trip'' was nominated for a 2011 Television BAFTA for Best Situation Comedy, and Coogan won Best Male Performance in a Comedy Role.

He provided the voices of Philip Masterson-Bowie (a horse) and Mark Andrews (a sparrow) for animated comedy series ''I Am Not an Animal''. He was also the voice of Satan on ''Neighbors from Hell''.

In December 2011, Coogan voiced Roger Mellie and Tracey Tunstall of The Fat Slags in three Viz ''Comedy Blaps'' for Channel 4.

Film roles

Notable film roles include Factory Records boss Tony Wilson in the film ''24 Hour Party People'', Mole in Terry Jones' ''The Wind in the Willows'', Phileas Fogg in a remake of Jules Verne's ''Around the World in 80 Days'' with Jackie Chan, Ambassador Mercy in ''Marie Antoinette'', Bruce Tick in ''Sweet Revenge'', and Octavius in ''Night at the Museum''. He has also played himself three times on screen. First, in one of the vignettes of Jim Jarmusch's 2003 film ''Coffee and Cigarettes'', alongside Alfred Molina. Second, in 2006 Coogan starred with Rob Brydon in Michael Winterbottom's ''A Cock and Bull Story'', a self-referential film of the "unfilmable" self-referential novel ''Tristram Shandy'' by Laurence Sterne. In the film, Coogan plays a fictional, womanizing version of himself. Thirdly he played himself in the 2010 film ''The Trip''.

The first film, which he co-wrote with Henry Normal, was ''The Parole Officer''. He also acted in this alongside Ben Miller and Lena Headey. Coogan has an uncredited cameo in ''Hot Fuzz'', scripted by ''Shaun of the Dead'' writers Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright. He stars as a failed actor turned high school drama teacher in the 2008 film ''Hamlet 2'' and had a role in ''Tropic Thunder'', playing the inexperienced director. It was announced on 8 August 2007, that he is also to star in a film adaptation of the life of Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards, which is still in pre-production. In 2009, he also starred as a lying reporter in'' What Goes Up'' with Olivia Thirlby, Molly Shannon and Hilary Duff. Also recently, he appeared in ''Finding Amanda'' alongside Brittany Snow and Matthew Broderick, returned as Octavius in ''Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian'', and played Hades in ''Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief''.

Achievements

Coogan's show ''Steve Coogan in character with John Thomson'' was winner of the Perrier Award for best show at the 1992 Edinburgh Fringe. He has won numerous awards for his work in TV including British Comedy Awards, BAFTAs, and The South Bank Show award for comedy. In 2003, he was listed in ''The Observer'' as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. In 2005, a poll to find ''The Comedians' Comedian'' saw him being voted amongst the top 20 greatest comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.

Comeback to stand-up comedy

In March 2008, it was confirmed that Coogan would return to doing stand-up comedy as part of his first stand-up tour in ten years. The tour, named "Steve Coogan as Alan Partridge and other less successful characters", saw the return of some of his old characters including Paul Calf and Alan Partridge. Reviews of the opening night were mixed. and such reviews continued as the tour progressed. Much of the criticism focused on the apparent unrehearsed quality of much of Coogan's performance. Chortle comedy guide wrote "Steve Coogan’s stage comeback after ten years is most definitely a show of two halves: the superlative Alan Partridge plus a collection of characters that are not only less successful, but woefully less funny."

Production work

Coogan, along with writing partner Henry Normal, founded Baby Cow Productions in 1999. Together they are the executive producers for such shows as ''The Mighty Boosh'', starring Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt, ''Nighty Night'', starring Julia Davis, ''Marion and Geoff'', starring Rob Brydon, "Gavin and Stacey" starring Ruth Jones, James Corden, Joanna Page, Mathew Horne and Rob Brydon, and ''Human Remains'', starring Davis and Brydon. Baby Cow Productions' latest venture is ''Where Are the Joneses'', an online sitcom which uses wiki technology to allow the audience to upload scripts and storyline ideas.

In the media

Coogan said he "liked to keep himself private", adding; "I have never wanted to be famous, as such - fame is a by-product," He has been a popular target of the British tabloid press since 1996, whom he stated have subjected him to entrapment and blackmail, printed obvious falsehoods about him, also targeting his family and friends in attempts to extract stories from them. Coogan in some cases gave a strong denial to allegations, but in others did not contest them because he wanted to shield vulnerable friends from adverse publicity. The tabloids also published intrusive information about his relationships and the schooling of his child. Coogan has also been critical of the broadsheet press, saying they have colluded with the tabloids in the interests of selling newspapers. In 2005 he said "''The Guardian'' tends to have its cake and eat it. It waits for the tabloids to dish the dirt and then it talks about the tabloids dishing the dirt while enjoying it themselves." However Coogan later gave credit to the same newspaper for its investigation of the phone hacking scandal. Coogan said that because of the persistent intrusion into his private life, the press had effectively made him "immune" to further attack, as his "closet is empty of skeletons".

Phone hacking

Coogan became a prominent figure in the News International phone hacking scandal as one of the celebrities who took action against the British tabloids in light of these events. He was made aware by his phone service provider of "possible anomalies" on his phone around the time in 2005 and 2006 In 2010 Coogan's legal firm obtained a partially redacted version of Glenn Mulcaire's hacking notebook by a court order which showed Coogan had been targeted and his personal information was in the possession of Mulcaire. Mulcaire was forced by the High Court of Justice to disclose to Coogan's legal team who amongst the staff at the News of the World ordered him to hack phones. This information was obtained by Coogan's lawyers on the 26th August 2011. Interviewed on ''Newsnight'' on 8 July 2011, Coogan said he was "delighted" by the closure of the News of the World and said it was a "fantastic day for journalism". He said the idea of press freedom was used by the tabloids as a "smokescreen for selling papers with tittle-tattle" and said the argument against press regulation was "morally bankrupt" Coogan provided an 8-page witness statement to the Leveson Inquiry and appeared at the inquiry on November 22, 2011 to discuss the evidence. He said he was there reluctantly representing a lot of celebrities who felt they could not speak out for fear of reprisals from the tabloid press.

Personal life

One of Coogan's brothers, Brendan, is a former ''Top Gear'' presenter, and another, Martin, was the lead singer of the early 1990s band The Mock Turtles. All the brothers attended the Cardinal Langley RC High School.

Coogan married Caroline Hickman in 2002,the couple divorced in 2005. He lives in Brighton to be close to Clare, his daughter from a previous relationship. On the commentary for Series 2 of ''I'm Alan Partridge'', Coogan states that he is a socialist who enjoys paying taxes, whilst discussing the eponymous character's investigation by the Inland Revenue. Coogan reportedly has a wealth of £5 million and supports the Labour Party.

A well noted car enthusiast, he has had a succession of Ferraris, but stopped buying them after realising that the depreciation and running costs were greater than hiring a private plane. He helped Jeremy Clarkson test a Ferrari 575M against an Aston Martin Vanquish S on the fifth series of Top Gear. Coogan drives one of the final air-cooled Porsche 911 Carrera 4s.

Filmography

Year !! Film !! Role !! Notes
	1989	''Resurrected (film)	Resurrected''	Youth 2
	1995	''The Indian in the Cupboard (film)	The Indian in the Cupboard''	Tommy Atkins
	1996	''The Wind in the Willows (1996 film)	The Wind in the Willows''	Mole
	1998	Alice Through the Looking Glass (1998 film)	Alice Through the Looking Glass	Gnat
	1998	''Sweet Revenge (1998 film)	Sweet Revenge''	Bruce Tick
	2001	''The Parole Officer''	Simon Garden	Also WriterNominated – BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer
	2002	''24 Hour Party People''	Tony Wilson
	2003	''Coffee and Cigarettes''	Steve	Segment: Cousins?
		Heston the snake	Voice Only
	Phileas Fogg
		Charley
''A Cock and Bull Story''	Tristram Shandy/ Walter Shandy/ Steve Coogan
	''The Alibi''	Ray Elliot
''Night at the Museum''	Octavius
	2006-2007	''Saxondale''	Tommy Saxondale
		Graham
''Hot Fuzz''	Metropolitan Police Inspector	Uncredited
	''Finding Amanda''	Michael Henry
''Tales of the Riverbank''	Roderick	Voice Only
''Tropic Thunder''	Damien Cockburn
''Hamlet 2''	Dana Marschz
	''What Goes Up''	Campbell Babbitt	Also Producer
	Paul Michaelson	Chlotrudis Award for Best Cast
''Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian''	Octavius
	''Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief''	Hades
''The Other Guys''	David Ershon
	Raisin	Voice Only
		Steve Coogan	Limited Release
''Our Idiot Brother''	Dylan

Awards and nominations

Edinburgh Comedy Awards ''Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge (TV series) ''Pauline Calf's Wedding Video'' ''Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge'' ''I'm Alan Partridge'' ''I'm Alan Partridge'' ''I'm Alan Partridge'' ''The Parole Officer'' ''Cruise of the Gods'' ''I'm Alan Partridge'' ''I'm Alan Partridge'' ''24 Hour Party People'' ''24 Hour Party People'' ''Happy Endings (film) ''In the Loop (film) ''The Trip (2010 TV series)

Year !! Nominated For !! Award !! Category !! Result
1992	''In Character With John Thompson''	Perrier Comedy Award ||	Best Comedy Show
1994	Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge'' ||	British Comedy Awards	Best Male TV Performer
1995	|	BAFTAs	Best Comedy Performance
1995	|	BAFTAs	Best Light Entertainment Performance
1998	|	British Comedy Awards	Best TV Comedy Actor
1998	|	BAFTAs	Best Comedy Performance
1998	|	BAFTAs	Best Comedy (Programme or Series)
2002	|	BAFTAs	BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer
2003	|	British Comedy Awards	Best TV Comedy Actor
2003	|	BAFTAs	Best Comedy Performance
2003	|	Royal Television Society	Best Comedy Performance
2003	|	Empire Awards	Best British Actor
2003	|	Online Film Critics Society	Best Breakthrough Performance
2005	Happy Endings'' ||	Satellite Award	Best Supporting Actor
2010	In the Loop'' ||	Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film>Chlotrudis Award	Chlotrudis Award for Best Cast>Best Cast
2011	The Trip ||	BAFTAs	Best Male Comedy Performance

Awards and Nominations sourced from IMDb http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0176869/awards 2/12/2010

Stand-up VHS and DVDs

''Live 'N' Lewd'' (7 November 1994)

''Live – The Man Who Thinks He's It'' (9 November 1998)

''As Alan Partridge And Other Less Successful Characters – Live'' (30 November 2009)

References

External links

Coming to a cinema near you... Alan Partridge as Our Man in Tashkent

Steve Coogan: From a Partridge to 'Cock and Bull Fresh Air interview by Terry Gross

Steve Coogan on BBC Radio Desert Island Discs

Evidence to the Leveson Inquiry

Profile on Chortle

Category:1965 births Category:Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University Category:British male comedians Category:English actors Category:English comedians Category:English film actors Category:English impressionists (entertainers) Category:English people of Irish descent Category:English socialists Category:English television actors Category:English voice actors Category:Living people Category:People from Middleton, Greater Manchester

da:Steve Coogan de:Steve Coogan es:Steve Coogan fr:Steve Coogan ga:Steve Coogan hr:Steve Coogan id:Steve Coogan it:Steve Coogan nl:Steve Coogan ja:スティーヴ・クーガン no:Steve Coogan pl:Steve Coogan pt:Steve Coogan ru:Куган, Стив simple:Steve Coogan fi:Steve Coogan sv:Steve Coogan tr:Steve Coogan

Coordinates	38°37′38″N90°11′52″N
name	Henry Rollins
background	solo_singer
birth name	Henry Lawrence Garfield
birth date	February 13, 1961
birth place	Washington, D.C., U.S.
instrument	Vocals
genre	Spoken word, alternative rock, punk rock
occupation	Musician, singer-songwriter, actor, motivational speaker, stand-up comedian, spoken-word artist, activist, publisher
years active	1980–present
label	2.13.61, Dischord, Quarterstick Records, SST
associated acts	Rollins BandBlack FlagState of AlertHenrietta Collins and the Wifebeating ChildhatersWartimeMother Superior
website	21361.com }}

Henry Rollins is an American singer-songwriter, spoken word artist, writer, comedian, publisher, actor, and radio DJ.

After performing for the short-lived Washington D.C.-based band State of Alert in 1980, Rollins fronted the California hardcore punk band Black Flag from August 1981 until mid-1986. Following the band's breakup, Rollins soon established the record label and publishing company 2.13.61 to release his spoken word albums, as well as forming the Rollins Band, which toured with a number of lineups from 1987 until 2003, and during 2006.

Since Black Flag disbanded, Rollins has embarked on projects covering a variety of media. He has hosted numerous radio shows, such as ''Harmony in My Head'' on Indie 103, and television shows such as ''The Henry Rollins Show,'' MTV's ''120 Minutes'', and ''Jackass''. He had a recurring dramatic role in the second season of ''Sons of Anarchy'' and has also had roles in several films. Rollins has also campaigned for various political causes in the United States, including promoting LGBT rights, World Hunger Relief, and an end to war in particular, and tours overseas with the United Service Organizations to entertain American troops.

Early life

Born Henry Lawrence Garfield in Washington, D.C., the only child of Iris and Paul J. Garfield, a World War II veteran, and economist. When he was two years old, his parents divorced and he was raised by his mother in the Glover Park neighborhood of the city.

As a child and teenager, Rollins suffered from depression and low self-esteem. In the fourth grade, he was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and took Ritalin for several years so that he could focus during school. His mother taught him how to read before he was enrolled in kindergarten; however, due to "bad grades, bad attitude, poor conduct," he was soon enrolled at The Bullis School, then an all-male preparatory school in Potomac, Maryland.

According to Rollins, the Bullis School helped him to develop a sense of discipline and a strong work ethic. It was at Bullis that he began writing; his early literary efforts were mainly short stories about "blowing up my school and murdering all the teachers." Despite the relative affluence of Glover Park, for Rollins "it was a very rough upbringing in a lot of other ways. I accumulated a lot of rage by the time I was seventeen or eighteen."

Music career

State of Alert

After high school, Rollins attended American University in Washington for one semester, but dropped out in December 1979. He began working minimum-wage jobs, including a job as a courier for liver samples at the National Institutes of Health. Rollins got into punk rock after he and his friend Ian MacKaye procured a copy of The Ramones's eponymous debut album; he later described it as a "revelation." From 1979 to 1980, Rollins was working as a roadie for Washington bands, including Teen Idles. When the band's singer Nathan Strejcek failed to appear for practice sessions, Rollins convinced the Teen Idles to let him sing. Word of Rollins's ability spread around the punk rock scene in Washington; Bad Brains singer H.R. would sometimes get Rollins on stage to sing with him.

In 1980, the Washington punk band The Extorts lost their frontman Lyle Preslar to Minor Threat. Rollins joined the rest of the band to form State of Alert, and became its frontman and vocalist. He put words to the band's five songs and wrote several more. S.O.A. recorded their sole EP, ''No Policy'', and released it in 1981 on MacKaye's Dischord Records. S.O.A. disbanded after a total of a dozen concerts and one EP. Rollins had enjoyed being the band's frontman, and had earned a reputation for fighting in shows. He later said: "I was like nineteen and a young man all full of steam [...] ''Loved'' to get in the dust-ups." By this time, Rollins had become the manager of the Georgetown Häagen-Dazs ice cream store; his steady employment had helped to finance the S.O.A. EP.

Black Flag

In 1980, a friend gave Rollins and MacKaye a copy of Black Flag's ''Nervous Breakdown'' EP. Rollins soon became a fan of the band, exchanging letters with bassist Chuck Dukowski and later inviting the band to stay in his parents' home when Black Flag toured the East Coast in December 1980. When Black Flag returned to the East Coast in 1981, Rollins attended as many of their concerts as he could. At an impromptu show in a New York bar, Black Flag's vocalist Dez Cadena allowed Rollins to sing "Clocked In", as Rollins had a five-hour drive back to Washington, D.C., to return to work after the performance.

Unbeknownst to Rollins, Cadena wanted to switch to guitar, and the band was looking for a new vocalist. The band was impressed with Rollins' singing and stage demeanor, and the next day, after a semi-formal audition at Tu Casa Studio in NYC, they asked him to become their permanent vocalist. Despite some doubts, he accepted, in part because of MacKaye's encouragement. His high level of energy and intense personality suited the band's style, but Rollins' diverse tastes in music were a key factor in his being selected as singer; Black Flag's founder Greg Ginn was growing restless creatively and wanted a singer who was willing to move beyond simple, three-chord punk.

After joining Black Flag in 1981, Rollins quit his job at Häagen-Dazs, sold his car, and moved to Los Angeles, California. Upon arriving in Los Angeles, Rollins got the Black Flag logo tattooed on his left biceps and changed his surname from Garfield to Rollins, a surname he and MacKaye had used as teenagers. Rollins was in a different environment in Los Angeles; the police soon realized he was a member of Black Flag, and he was hassled as a result. Rollins later said: "That really scared me. It freaked me out that an adult would do that. [...] My little eyes were opened big time."

Before concerts, as the rest of the band tuned up, Rollins would stride about the stage dressed only in a pair of black shorts, grinding his teeth; to focus before the show, he would squeeze a pool ball. His stage persona impressed several critics; after a 1982 show in Anacortes, Washington, ''Sub Pop'' critic Calvin Johnson wrote: "Henry was incredible. Pacing back and forth, lunging, lurching, growling; it was all real, the most intense emotional experiences I have ever seen."

By 1983, Rollins' stage persona was increasingly alienating him from the rest of Black Flag. During a show in England, Rollins assaulted a member of the audience; Ginn later scolded Rollins, calling him a "macho asshole." A legal dispute with Unicorn Records held up further Black Flag releases until 1984, and Ginn was slowing the band's tempo down so that they would remain innovative. In August 1983, guitarist Dez Cadena had left the band; a stalemate lingered between Dukowski and Ginn, who wanted Dukowski to leave, before Ginn fired Dukowski outright. 1984's heavy metal music-influenced ''My War'' featured Rollins screaming and wailing throughout many of the songs; the band's members also grew their hair to confuse the band's hardcore punk audience.

Black Flag's change in musical style and appearance alienated many of their original fans, who focused their displeasure on Rollins by punching him in the mouth, stabbing him with pens, or scratching him with their nails, among other methods. He often fought back, dragging audience members on stage and assaulting them. Rollins became increasingly alienated from the audience; in his tour diary, Rollins wrote "When they spit at me, when they grab at me, they aren't hurting me. When I push out and mangle the flesh of another, it's falling so short of what I really want to do to them." During the Unicorn legal dispute, Rollins had started a weight-lifting program, and by their 1984 tours, he had become visibly well-built; journalist Michael Azerrad later commented that "his powerful physique was a metaphor for the impregnable emotional shield he was developing around himself." Rollins has since replied that "no, the training was just basically a way to push myself."

Rollins Band and solo releases

Before Black Flag disbanded in August 1986, Rollins had already toured as a solo spoken word artist. He released two solo records in 1987, ''Hot Animal Machine'', a collaboration with guitarist Chris Haskett, and ''Drive by Shooting'', recorded as "Henrietta Collins and the Wifebeating Childhaters"; Rollins also released his second spoken word album, ''Big Ugly Mouth'' in the same year. Along with Haskett, Rollins soon added Andrew Weiss and Sim Cain, both former members of Ginn's side-project Gone, and called the new group Rollins Band. The band toured relentlessly, and their 1987 debut album, ''Life Time'', was quickly followed by the outtakes and live collection ''Do It''. The band continued to tour throughout 1988; 1989 marked the release of another Rollins Band album, ''Hard Volume''. Another live album, ''Turned On'', and another spoken word release, ''Live at McCabe's'', followed in 1990.

Rollins and Weiss released ''Fast Food For Thought'', an EP by their one-off side project Wartime in 1990. It was sonically in many ways more reminiscent of Weiss's work with Ween than the Rollins Band. The music, while heavy and driving, had a distinctly psychedelic bent, culminating in the final track, a cover of "Franklin's Tower" by The Grateful Dead. Early pressings were simply credited to "Wartime" while later releases added the phrase "featuring Henry Rollins" to the cover.

1991 saw the Rollins Band sign a distribution deal with Imago Records and appear at the Lollapalooza festival; both improved the band's presence. However, in December 1991, Rollins and his best friend Joe Cole were accosted by two armed robbers outside Rollins's home. Cole was murdered by a gunshot to the head, Rollins escaped without injury but police initially suspected him in the murder and detained him for ten hours. Although traumatized by Cole's death, as chronicled in his book ''Now Watch Him Die'', Rollins continued to release new material; the spoken-word album ''Human Butt'' appeared in 1992 on his own record label, 2.13.61. The Rollins Band released ''The End of Silence'', Rollins's first charting album.

The following year, Rollins released a spoken-word double album, ''The Boxed Life''. The Rollins Band embarked upon the ''End of Silence'' tour; bassist Weiss was fired towards its end and replaced by funk and jazz bassist Melvin Gibbs. According to critic Steve Huey, 1994 was Rollins's "breakout year". The Rollins Band appeared at Woodstock 94 and released ''Weight'', which ranked on the Billboard Top 40. Rollins released ''Get in the Van: On the Road with Black Flag'', a double-disc set of him reading from his Black Flag tour diary of the same name; he won the Grammy for Best Spoken Word Recording as a result. Rollins was named 1994's "Man of the Year" by the American men's magazine ''Details'' and became a contributing columnist to the magazine. With the increased exposure, Rollins made several appearances on American music channels MTV and VH1 around this time, and made his Hollywood film debut in 1994 in ''The Chase'' playing a police officer.

In 1995, the Rollins Band's record label, Imago Records, declared itself bankrupt. Rollins began focusing on his spoken word career. He released ''Everything'', a recording of a chapter of his book ''Eye Scream'' with free jazz backing, in 1996. He continued to appear in various films, including ''Heat'', ''Johnny Mnemonic'' and ''Lost Highway''. The Rollins Band signed to Dreamworks Records in 1997 and soon released ''Come in and Burn'', but it did not receive as much critical acclaim as their previous material. Rollins continued to release spoken-word book readings, releasing ''Black Coffee Blues'' in the same year. In 1998, Rollins released ''Think Tank'', his first set of non-book-related spoken material in five years.

By 1998, Rollins felt that the relationship with his backing band had run its course, and the line-up disbanded. He had produced a Los Angeles hard rock band called Mother Superior, and invited them to form a new incarnation of the Rollins Band. Their first album, ''Get Some Go Again'', was released two years later. The Rollins Band released several more albums, including 2001's ''Nice'' and 2003's ''Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three''. After 2003, the band became inactive as Rollins focused on radio and television work. During a 2006 appearance on ''Tom Green Live!'', Rollins stated that he "may never do music again" a feeling which he reiterated in 2011 when talking to ''Trebuchet'' magazine. In an interview with ''Culture Brats'', Henry admitted he had sworn off music for good - "... and I must say that I miss it every day. I just don't know honestly what I could do with it that's different."

Musical style

Vocals

As a vocalist, Rollins has adopted a number of styles through the years. Rollins was initially noted in the Washington, D.C. hardcore scene for what journalist Michael Azerrad described as a "compelling, raspy howl". With State of Alert, Rollins "spat out the lyrics like a bellicose auctioneer". He adopted a similar style after joining Black Flag in 1981. By their album ''Damaged'' however, Black Flag began to incorporate a swing beat into their style; Rollins then abandoned his S.O.A. "bark" and adopted the band's swing. Rollins later explained: "What I was doing kind of matched the vibe of the music. The music was intense and, well, I was as intense as you needed."

In both incarnations of the Rollins Band, Rollins combined spoken word with his traditional vocal style in songs such as "Liar" (the song begins with a one minute spoken diatribe by Rollins), as well as barking his way through songs (such as "Tearing" and "Starve") and employing the loud-quiet dynamic. ''Rolling Stone'''s Anthony DeCurtis names Rollins a "screeching hate machine" and his "hallmark" as "the sheets-of-sound assault".

Guest work & collaborations

In 1993, Rollins appeared on the Tool album, ''Undertow'' where he and Tool front man, Maynard James Keenan, performed the vocals in the song "Bottom". Rollins appeared on the 1996 studio album ''Les Claypool and the Holy Mackerel Presents Highball with the Devil'', narrating "Delicate Tendrils". He also appears on Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi's solo record ''Iommi'' which was released in 2000.

Songwriting

Rollins wrote several songs with Black Flag, but was not the group's main songwriter. With the Rollins Band, his lyrics focused "almost exclusively on issues relating to personal integrity," according to critic Geoffrey Welchman.

Music producer

In the 1980s, Henry Rollins produced an album of acoustic songs for the convicted murderer Charles Manson titled ''Completion''. The record was supposed to be released by SST Records, but the project was later canceled due to the label receiving death threats for working with Manson. Only five test presses of ''Completion'' were pressed, two of which remain in Rollins' possession. Rollins is credited as mixer and producer on the 1995 album by Australian band Mark of Cain titled ''Ill at Ease''.

Appearances in other media

Television

As Rollins rose to prominence with the Rollins Band, he began to present and appear on television. These included ''Alternative Nation'' and ''MTV Sports'' in 1993 and 1994 respectively. 1995 saw Rollins appear on an episode of ''Unsolved Mysteries'' that explored the murder of his best friend Joe Cole and present ''State of the Union Undressed'' on ''Comedy Central''. Rollins began to present and narrate ''VH1 Legends'' in 1996. Rollins, busy with the Rollins Band, did not present more programs until 2001, but made appearances on a number of other television shows, including ''Welcome to Paradox'' in 1998 in the episode "All Our Sins Forgotten", as a therapist that develops a device that can erase the bad memories of his patients. Rollins also voiced ''Mad Stan'' in ''Batman Beyond'' in 1999 and 2000. He also did the voice in Apple's 1999 G4 Cube Ad with Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" playing as the theme song.

In 2001, Rollins appeared as the uncredited host of "Night Visions", a short-lived horror anthology series. Rollins was a host of film review programme ''Henry's Film Corner'' on the ''Independent Film Channel'', before presenting the weekly ''The Henry Rollins Show'' on the channel. The Henry Rollins Show is now being shown weekly on Film24 along with Henry Rollins Uncut. The show also lead to a promotional tour in Europe that led to Henry being dubbed a “bad boy goodwill ambassador” by a NY reviewer.

2002 saw Rollins guest star on an episode of the sitcom ''The Drew Carey Show'' as a man whom Oswald would find on eBay and pay to come to his house and kick his ass. He co-hosted the British television show ''Full Metal Challenge'', in which teams built vehicles to compete in various driving and racing contests, from 2002–2003 on Channel 4 and TLC. He has made a number of cameo appearances in television series such as MTV's ''Jackass'' and an episode of ''Californication'', where he played himself hosting a radio show. In 2006, Rollins appeared in a documentary series by VH1 and The Sundance Channel called ''The Drug Years''.

Rollins appears in FX's ''Sons of Anarchy's'' second season, which premiered in the fall of 2009 in the United States. Rollins plays A.J. Weston, a white-supremacist gang leader and new antagonist in the show's fictional town of Charming, California, who poses a deadly threat to the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club.

Rollins was a voice actor in the animated ''Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker'' and voiced Robotman (Cliff Steele) in two episodes of ''Batman: The Brave and the Bold''.

Rollins was a guest judge on the second season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', which aired on Logo on March 8, 2010. Henry is featured at the beginning of ''The Cornholes'', a public-access show on Santa Cruz Community Cable in Santa Cruz, California, espousing the virtues of the Improv Troupe and quoting Akira Kurosawa.

He has narrated episodes of ''UFC Primetime''.

Rollins was also interviewed in the National Geographic series Explorer "Born To Rage". He was interviewed regarding his possible link to the MAO gene (Warrior gene) and violent behavior.

On the ''Adventure Time'' episode "Her Parents," Rollins provided the voice of Lady Rainicorn's father Bob Rainicorn.

Rollins has done voice over work for Verizon Wireless and Infiniti luxury automobiles (2011).

Radio

On May 19, 2004, Rollins began hosting a weekly radio show, ''Harmony in My Head'', on Indie 103.1 radio in Los Angeles. The show aired every Monday evening, with Rollins playing music ranging from early rock and jump blues to hard rock, blues rock, folk rock, punk rock, heavy metal and rockabilly, and touching on hip hop, jazz, world music, reggae, classical music and more. ''Harmony In My Head'' often emphasizes B-sides, live bootlegs and other rarities, and nearly every episode has featured a song either by the Beastie Boys or British group The Fall.

Rollins put the show on a short hiatus to undertake a spoken-word tour in early 2005. Rollins posted playlists and commentary on-line; these lists were expanded with more information and published in book form as ''Fanatic!'' through 2.13.61 in November 2005. In late 2005, Rollins announced the show's return and began the first episode by playing the show's namesake Buzzcocks song. As of 2008, the show continues each week despite Rollins's constant touring with new pre-recorded shows between live broadcasts. In 2009 Indie 103.1 went off the air, although it continues to broadcast over the Internet.

In 2007 Rollins published ''Fanatic! Vol. 2'' through 2.13.61. ''Fanatic! Vol. 3'' was released in the fall of 2008.

On February 18, 2009, KCRW announced that Rollins would be hosting a live show on Saturday nights starting March 7, 2009.

In 2011 Rollins was interviewed on Episode 121 of American Public Media's podcast, "The Dinner Party Download", posted on November 3, 2011.

Film

Rollins began his film career appearing in several independent films featuring the band Black Flag. His film debut was in 1982's ''The Slog Movie'', about the West Coast punk scene. An appearance in 1985's ''Black Flag Live'' followed. Rollins' first film appearance without Black Flag was the short film ''The Right Side of My Brain'' with Lydia Lunch in 1985. Following the band's breakup, Rollins did not appear in any films until 1994's ''The Chase''. Rollins appeared in the 2007 direct-to-DVD sequel to ''Wrong Turn'' (2003), ''Wrong Turn 2: Dead End'' as a retired Marine Corps officer who hosts his own show which tests the contestants' will to survive. Rollins has also appeared in ''Punk: Attitude'', a documentary on the punk scene, and in ''American Hardcore'' (2006).

Some feature length movies Henry Rollins has appeared in include:

''Kiss Napoleon Goodbye'' (1990), with Lydia Lunch and Don Bajema.

''The Chase'' (1994), with Charlie Sheen.

''Johnny Mnemonic'' (1995), with Keanu Reeves, Ice T and Dolph Lundgren.

''Heat'' (1995), with Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and Val Kilmer.

''Lost Highway'' (1997), with Bill Pullman and Patricia Arquette. Directed by David Lynch.

''Jack Frost'' (1998), with Michael Keaton.

''Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker'' (2000), with Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill

''Morgan's Ferry'' (2001), with Billy Zane and Kelly McGillis.

''Dogtown and Z-Boys'' (2001 documentary)

''Scenes of the Crime'' (2001), with Jeff Bridges.

''The New Guy'' (2002), with Tommy Lee and DJ Qualls.

''Jackass The Movie'' (2002) with Johnny Knoxville and Bam Margera.

''Jackass Number Two'' (2006) with Preston Lacy, Steve-O, and Chris Pontius.

''Bad Boys 2'' (2003), with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.

''Feast'' (2005), with Balthazar Getty and Navi Rawat.

''The Alibi'' (2006)

''Wrong Turn 2: Dead End'' (2007)

''The Devil's Tomb'' (2009)

''H for Hunger'' (2009 documentary)

''William Shatner's Gonzo Ballet'' (2009 documentary)

''Green Lantern: Emerald Knights'' (2011) as Kilowog

Music videos

Rollins appeared as Vanilla Ice in the 1991 music video "Pop Goes the Weasel" by hip-hop trio 3rd Bass; and as Duke in the 2009 music video "The Ballad of G.I. Joe" on the website Funny or Die. He also appeared in the 2010 music video "Haifisch" by German industrial metal band Rammstein.

Video games

Rollins has made several voice acting performances in video games including the main character Mace Griffin in ''Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter'' and as himself in ''Def Jam: Fight for NY''.

Books

Rollins has written a series of books based on his travel journals referred to as the ''Black Coffee Blues'' trilogy. They include the namesake book, ''Black Coffee Blues'', ''Do I Come Here Often?'', ''The First Five'' and ''Smile, You're Traveling''. Others include ''See a Grown Man Cry, Now Watch Him Die'', ''Get in the Van'', ''Eye Scream'', ''Broken Summers'', ''Roomanitarian'', and ''Solipsist''.

Audiobooks

For the audiobook version of the 2006 novel ''World War Z'' Rollins voiced the character of T. Sean Collins, a mercenary hired to protect celebrities during a mass panic caused by an onslaught of the undead. Rollins' other audiobook recordings include ''3:10 to Yuma'' and his own autobiographical book ''Get in the Van'', for which he won a Grammy Award.

Blogging

In September 2008 Rollins began contributing to the "Politics & Power" blog at the online version of ''Vanity Fair'' magazine. Since March 2009 his posts have appeared under their own sub-title, ''Straight Talk Espresso''. His posts consistently direct harsh criticism at conservative politicians and pundits, although he does occasionally target the left wing as well. In August 2010 he began writing a music column for the ''LA Weekly'', an alternative newspaper in Los Angeles.

Spoken Word

Rollins also has toured doing spoken word performances which range from stand up comedy to more introspective commentaries on his childhood, such as the death of his friend, Joe Cole. He also speaks about experiences he's had with eccentric people. Rollins' spoken word style varies greatly, ranging from intense commentaries on society to playful, sometimes vulgar, anecdotes.

Campaigning and activism

Rollins has become an outspoken human rights activist, most vocally for gay rights, while deriding any suggestion that he himself is gay. On his 1998 spoken word album ''Think Tank'' the straight ally declared: "If I was gay, there would be no closet. You would never see the closet I came out of. Why? Because I'd have burned it for kindling by the time I was twelve... If I was gay, at this stage of the game—age 37, aging alternative icon—I'd be taking out ads." Rollins frequently speaks out on social justice on his spoken word tours and promotes equality, regardless of sexuality. He was the host of the WedRock benefit concert, which raised money for a pro-gay-marriage organization.

During the 2003 Iraq War, he started touring with the United Service Organizations to entertain troops overseas while remaining against the war, leading him to once cause a stir at a base in Kyrgyzstan when he told the crowd: "Your commander would never lie to you. That's the vice president's job." Rollins believes it is important that he performs to the troops so that they have multiple points of contact with the rest of the world, stating that, "they can get really cut loose from planet earth". He has also been active in the campaign to free the "West Memphis Three"—three young men believed by their supporters to have been wrongfully convicted of murder. Rollins appears with Public Enemy frontman Chuck D on the Black Flag song "Rise Above" on the benefit album ''Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three'', the first time Rollins had performed Black Flag's material since 1986.

Continuing his activism on behalf of troops and veterans, Rollins joined ''Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America'' (IAVA) in 2008 to launch a groundbreaking national public service advertisement campaign, CommunityofVeterans.org, which helps veterans coming home from war reintegrate into their communities. In April 2009, Rollins helped IAVA launch the second phase of the campaign which engages the friends and family of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans at SupportYourVet.org.

On December 3, 2009, Rollins wrote of his support for the victims of the Bhopal disaster in India, in an article for Vanity Fair 25 years – to the day – after the methyl isocyanate gas leak from the Union Carbide Corporation's pesticide factory exposed more than half a million local people to poisonous gas and resulted in the death of 17,000. He spent time in Bhopal with the people, to listen to their stories. In a later radio interview in February 2010 Rollins summed-up his approach to activism, "This is where my anger takes me, to places like this, not into abuse but into proactive, clean movement".

Personal life

Rollins stated in a 1998 interview with NY Rock, "I don't want a wife and I don't want kids. I'm 36 and if I met a woman of my own age and married her, I'd also be marrying her former life, her past."

Rollins dated fellow KCRW-DJ Liza Richardson.

Rollins has been close friends with musician Ian MacKaye since childhood.

Works

Work with State of Alert

''No Policy'' (1981)

three songs on the sampler ''Flex Your Head'' (1982)

Work with Black Flag

''Damaged'' (1981)

''My War'' (1984)

''Family Man'' (1984)

''Slip It In'' (1984)

''Loose Nut'' (1985)

''In My Head'' (1985)

Studio albums (Solo)

''Hot Animal Machine'' (1987)

''Drive by Shooting'' (1987)

Studio albums with Rollins Band

''Life Time'' (1987, re-release 1999)

''Hard Volume'' (1989, re-release 1999)

''The End of Silence'' (1992, double-CD re-release 2002)

''Weight'' (1994)

''Come In and Burn'' (1997)

''Get Some Go Again'' (2000)

''Nice'' (2001)

''Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three'' (2002)

Featured on

! Song	! Artist	! Album	! Year
"We Are 138"		''Evilive''	1982
"Kick Out the Jams"	Bad Brains		1990
	Hard-Ons	Released as a single	1991
"Bottom"			1993
"Wild America"	Iggy Pop		1993
"Sexual Military Dynamics"	Mike Watt	''Ball-Hog or Tugboat?''	1995
"Delicate Tendrils"	Les Claypool and the Holy Mackerel	''Highball with the Devil''	1996
"T-4 Strain"	Goldie	''Spawn: The Album''	1997
	Bone Thugs-n-Harmony & Edwin Starr		1998
"Laughing Man (In the Devil Mask)"	Tony Iommi		2000
"I Can't Get Behind That"	William Shatner	''Has Been''	2004
All tracks	The Flaming Lips		2009

Spoken word

''Short Walk on a Long Pier'' (1985)

''Big Ugly Mouth'' (1987)

''Sweatbox'' (1989)

''Live at McCabe's'' (1990)

''Human Butt'' (1992)

''The Boxed Life'' (1993)

''Think Tank'' (1998)

''Eric the Pilot'' (1999)

''A Rollins in the Wry'' (2001)

''Live at the Westbeth Theater'' (2001)

''Talk Is Cheap: Volume 1'' (2003)

''Talk Is Cheap: Volume 2'' (2003)

''Talk Is Cheap: Volume 3'' (2004)

''Talk Is Cheap: Volume 4'' (2004)

''Provoked'' (2008)

''Spoken Word Guy'' (2010)

''Spoken Word Guy 2'' (2010)

Spoken word videos

''Talking from the Box'' (1993)

''Henry Rollins Goes to London'' (1995)

''You Saw Me Up There'' (1998)

''Up for It'' (2001)

''Live at Luna Park'' (2004)

''Shock & Awe: The Tour'' (2005)

''Uncut from NYC'' (2007)

''Uncut from Israel'' (2007)

''San Francisco 1990'' (2007)

''Live in the Conversation Pit'' (2008)

Audio Books

''Get in the Van: On the Road with Black Flag'' (1994)

''Everything'' (1996)

''Black Coffee Blues'' (1997)

''Nights Behind the Tree Line'' (2004)

Essays

''Iron and the Soul'', First published in Details magazine, 1994.

''As We See It'', an editorial essay in ''Stereophile'' magazine.

References

Further reading

Azerrad, Michael. ''Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981–1991''. Little Brown and Company, 2001. ISBN 0-316-78753-1

External links

Interview with Henry Rollins on PMAKid.com

''Straight Talk Espresso'', Rollins's blog at VanityFair.com

IFC Site for ''The Henry Rollins Show''

Henry Rollins: 9 Questions with the Legendary Frontman about the Mainstream Media, So-called Class Warfare and the Political Necessities facing the 99% Movement, Dan O'Mahony, "Point Nine Nine", November 7, 2011

Category:1961 births Category:Actors from Washington, D.C. Category:American activist journalists Category:American anti–Iraq War activists Category:American bloggers Category:American book publishers (people) Category:American film actors Category:American human rights activists Category:American male singers Category:American poets Category:American public radio personalities Category:American punk rock singers Category:American spoken word artists Category:American television actors Category:Black Flag members Category:Grammy Award winners Category:LGBT rights activists from the United States Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Washington, D.C. Category:Songwriters from Washington, D.C. Category:Writers from Washington, D.C. Category:American atheists

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