name	Absolute Radio
area	United Kingdom:National (AM/DAB);London (FM)
branding	Absolute.
slogan	"Discover real music" "The home of the no-repeat guarantee"
airdate	As Virgin Radio 30 April 1993 As Absolute Radio 29 September 2008
frequency	1215 kHz, AM Variants 105.8 MHz (G. London) DAB - (Digital One) - 11D (England & Wales) - 12A (Scotland)Sky: 0107 Virgin Media: 915Freeview: 727Freesat: 724 TalkTalk TV: 620Smallworld: 851Orbit Network: 127 Usen (Japan): CG3
share	0.8% (National)2.3% (London)
share as of	August 2011
share source
format	Modern adult contemporary
owner	TIML Radio Limited
sister stations	Absolute Classic Rock Absolute 80s Absolute 90s Absolute Radio Extra
website	AbsoluteRadio.co.uk
affiliations	}}

Absolute Radio is one of the UK's three Independent National Radio stations. The station rebranded to its current name at 7.45am on 29 September 2008.

The station is based in London and plays popular rock music. It currently broadcasts on mediumwave and DAB across the UK, on 105.8 FM in London, Sky (channel 0107), Virgin Media (channel 915), Freeview (channel 727), Freesat (channel 724) and TalkTalk TV (channel 620). It is also available in other parts of the world via satellite, cable, and on the Internet. Absolute Radio is a patron of The Radio Academy.

History

1993-1997: Virgin Radio launch and early years

The 1990 Broadcasting Act allowed for the launch of independent national radio (INR) stations in the United Kingdom. The Radio Authority was mandated to award three INR licences, one of which (INR1) had to be for a 'non-pop' station (which was awarded to Classic FM), and one of which had to be for a predominantly speech-based service (this would be advertised later as INR3 and would be awarded to Talk Radio). The remaining licence was to be open to 'all-comers'. The licences were to be awarded to the highest cash bidder, providing that the applicant met criteria set down in the Broadcasting Act.

The second national licence, INR2, would take over the 1197 kHz and 1215 kHz frequencies, which were to be relinquished by BBC Radio 3. The licence was advertised in October 1991 and five organisations bid: the Independent National Broadcasting Company of Sheffield, which bid £4,010,000 per year; a TV-am/Virgin consortium (£1,883,000); Radio Chiltern's 20/20 Radio (£1,311,000); Radio Clyde's Score Radio (£701,000); and a consortium of CLT, Harvey Goldsmith and RTÉ (£211,000). The TV-am/Virgin consortium was awarded the licence in April 1992, after the Radio Authority said that it was not satisfied that Independent National Broadcasting would be able to sustain the service. Later that year, TV-am lost its ITV license and its stake in the radio station was sold in March 1993 to Apax Partners, JP Morgan Investment Corporation and Sir David Frost.

The station launched as Virgin 1215 at 12.15pm on 30 April 1993. The first song was a cover version of the Steppenwolf song "Born to be Wild", recorded by Australian group INXS. Richard Branson was the first voice to be heard, live from the Virgin Megastore in Manchester, with Richard Skinner the first voice back in the London studios. Skinner was also Programme Director, a role he shared with John Revell. David Campbell, previously managing director of one of Virgin's post-production television companies, was the chief executive at launch.

From before its launch on AM, Virgin Radio was campaigning for a national FM network. Initially, it lobbied for Radio 4's FM network to be made available and then, when the Radio Authority launched a consultation on the use of the 105-108 MHz band, it lobbied for it to be set aside as a national network. The Radio Authority decided, however, that 105-108 MHz would be licensed to new local and regional stations and Virgin Radio applied for and won one of the new FM licences advertised in London as a result.

Virgin Radio launched on 105.8 MHz FM in London on 10 April 1995 beginning with a message from David Frost at 6am followed by the Russ ‘n’ Jono breakfast show. Part of the licence requirements for the London service meant that a daily London opt-out was broadcast on FM, presented initially by Rowland Rivron.

Within a year, Virgin Group was considering the next steps for the radio station, including the option of a flotation or buying back the shares of JP Morgan, Apax and Sir David Frost. In May 1997, it was announced that Capital Radio had agreed to acquire Virgin Radio in an £87 million deal. Capital's plans included moving Virgin Radio from 1 Golden Square to Capital's Leicester Square building and splitting programming between the AM and FM services. The Radio Authority approved the acquisition, but Nigel Griffiths, the Consumer Affairs Minister, referred the takeover to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission (MMC). The MMC report into the takeover would not be issued until January 1998, and would recommend that the deal could only go ahead if Capital Gold was sold or Virgin's London FM licence was left out of the deal. However, the delay in approval of the Capital acquisition would ultimately lead to the deal not going through.

In January 1997, Chris Evans had left his role as presenter of the Radio 1 breakfast show as a result of a disagreement between him and the programme controller Matthew Bannister (Chris had asked for Fridays off to allow more time for him to work on his Channel 4 television show, TFI Friday). Evans was keen to return to radio. Indeed it was reported that his agent, Michael Foster, had approached Matthew Bannister to ask if Chris would be allowed to be return to Radio 1, and he had gone as far as commencing negotiations to buy Talk Radio.

Richard Branson wanted Evans to work for Virgin Radio, so much so that he joined him on a Concorde flight to New York in order to try to persuade him to join as the drive time presenter. In the end, Virgin Radio hired Evans to present the breakfast show, replacing the incumbent Russ 'n' Jono show (presented by Russ Williams and Jonathan Coleman). His show started on 13 October 1997, the same day that Zoë Ball started as Evans' replacement on Radio 1. The initial contract would only be for ten weeks, until the MMC announced its decision on the Capital Radio takeover. Evans approached David Campbell to discuss buying the radio station and, with Michael Foster's help, they put together a deal to buy the radio station with venture capital supplied by Apax Partners and Paribas, with Virgin Group retaining a 20% stake in the business. The deal was announced on 8 December 1997, and would see the formation of the Ginger Media Group, an umbrella company overseeing Virgin Radio and producing programmes such as TFI Friday.

1998-2000: The Ginger Media Group

Evans' ownership of Virgin Radio started well, with a breakfast show audience increase of 660,000 to 2.2m in his first three months. In August 1998, Chris Evans took a spur of the moment decision one weekend to launch a Saturday afternoon show called Rock 'n' Roll Football, a show that is still broadcast on Absolute Radio. From 5 October 1998, Virgin Radio started simulcasts of the breakfast show on Sky One each morning for an hour between 7.30 and 8.30am. When a track was played on the radio, viewers would see a video at the same time.

The start of the new football season in August 1999 saw Terry Venables join Russ Williams in a show that would precede Rock 'n' Roll Football. At the end of 1999, in response to the TV programme Who Wants To Be A Millionaire not having given away its top prize, Virgin Radio set a broadcasting first when Clare Barwick won £1 million at the culmination of "Someone’s Going To Be A Millionaire".

The management team at the Ginger Media Group were considering expansion opportunities, including a plan to acquire the Daily Star newspaper from United News & Media, and hire Piers Morgan to edit it. Their plans were stalled, however, when the shareholders got cold feet. Evans wrote in his autobiography that "the management wanted to stick to our original brief of expansion, whereas our investors only cared about extracting the added value."

2000-2008: SMG ownership

The management team therefore set themselves on a strategy to sell the business three years ahead of schedule. They hired Goldman Sachs to run the sale process, and considered a public flotation, before selling to the Scottish Media Group (now ''STV Group plc'') for £225 million in March 2000. The Scottish Media Group, which owned Scottish Television and the Herald newspaper, fought off other bidders including Clear Channel, NRJ and Guardian Media. Evans personally made £75 million out of the sale.

Evans was subsequently fired by his new employer in 2001 for failing to report into work for five consecutive days while reportedly partying with his then wife Billie Piper.

Chief Executive, John Pearson, who had been with the station since before launch, resigned in April 2005, and was replaced by Fru Hazlitt, who had previously been managing director of Yahoo! UK and Ireland.

On 13 June 2006, SMG plc signed a deal with YooMedia to make Virgin Radio available on Freeview. It has always placed a great emphasis on other methods of transmission than medium wave, as the 1215 kHz frequency suffers from considerable interference, particularly after dark – BBC Radio 1, which used 1215 kHz for its first eleven years on air, moved to higher-quality medium wave frequencies (now used by talkSport) in 1978 mainly for this reason.

2008-present: Acquisition by Times of India and rebranding as Absolute Radio

On 12 April 2007, it was announced that SMG plc were to sell Virgin Radio, to enable the company to focus on its television station, STV. On 30 May 2008 SMG sold Virgin Radio to TIML Golden Square Limited, a subsidiary of The Times Group for £53.2 million with £15 million set aside for rebranding. TIML were given 90 days grace in which to rebrand the station. As part of the deal, Absolute Radio International, which operates two FM licences in Oxford, would manage the station.

On 1 September 2008 it was announced that Virgin Radio would be rebranded as Absolute Radio at the end of the month (28 September). At the same time some changes to the line-up were made known with JK and Joel, Robin Burke, Tony Hadley and John Osborne leaving the station and Allan Lake, Joanna Russell (of Trent FM's Jo & Twiggy) and Tim Shaw joining, though Osbourne would return shortly after. However, listening figures revealed for the final quarter of 2008 have revealed that almost one fifth of former Virgin Radio listeners have been lost since the rebranding to Absolute Radio.

Programming

Audience and playlist

Virgin Radio launched aiming at a target group of 24 to 44-year-olds and with a focus on album music, arguing that "singles chart shows on Radio 1 and local commercial radio were outdated because albums outsold singles by three to one." It would provide a blend of album and chart music from the past 25 years and aim to fill the "hole in the middle" between Radio 1, which was specifically aimed at young audiences and "gold" stations offering classic hits.

A year after launch, David Campbell was quoted as saying that "the music policy was wrong, even though Virgin had lots of research to suggest it was doing what listeners said they wanted. We did something we should never do: pursue critical acclaim, playing obscure tracks, gaining the praise of the music press." The station's approach had been to mix in more familiar music.

Fru Hazlitt, when interviewed for ''The Guardian'' in September 2006, described the type of music the station championed: "It's pretty much mainstream rock festival type music. Razorlight, Keane. These bands are becoming some of the biggest in the world."

When announcing the rebrand as Absolute Radio on the One Golden Square blog, Clive Dickens, Chief Operating Officer, noted that the station would be "sticking with real music – not manufactured rubbish – and we’re building on the amount of live music we do – we’re just going to discover more of all of it."

The music policy continues to focus on guitar-based rock, mostly British. In a blog post in February 2009, Head of Music James Curran noted that the twenty-most played artists in the first four months of Absolute Radio had been: Coldplay, Kings of Leon, The Killers, Oasis, U2, Razorlight, Kaiser Chiefs, Queen, Keane, Stereophonics, Elbow, Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M., Nickelback, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, David Bowie, The Police and Blur.

Presenters

Christian O'Connell - Weekdays 6-10am, Sunday 5-8pm

Russ Williams - Weekdays 10am-1pm, Saturday 1:30pm-5pm

Nick Jackson - Weekdays 1pm-5pm

Geoff Lloyd - ''Geoff Lloyd's Hometime Show'' - Monday-Thursday 5pm-8pm, Friday 5pm-7pm & "Unknown Pleasures" - Sunday 8pm-10pm

Iain Lee - Iain Lee's 2 Hour Long Late Night Radio Show Monday-Thursday 11pm-1am

Mark Crossley - Tuesday-Friday 1am-6am, Friday 11pm-2am

Polly James - Sunday-Monday 2am-6am

Max Dickins - Saturday 2am-6am

OJ Borg - Sunday 2am-6am & various cover

Frank Skinner - Saturday 8am-10am

Leona Graham - Friday 7pm-11pm Saturday 6pm-10pm Sunday 12pm-5pm

Ian Wright - Saturday 5pm-6.30pm

Dave Gorman - Sundays 10am-12pm

Vicki Blight -Saturday 6am-8am, Sunday 6am-10am

* Sarah Champion - Saturday-Sunday 11pm - 2am

Absolute Radio Schedule at absoluteradio.co.uk

News staff

Editor Andrew Bailey Broadcast Journalists Adrian Hieatt Tumshie Smillie Tania Snuggs Sandy Warr

Former presenters

Virgin Radio's original line-up included Russ Williams, Neil Francis, Richard Skinner, Mitch Johnson, Tommy Vance, Jonathan Coleman, Nick Abbot and Wendy Lloyd.

Other past presenters on the network include Danny Baker, Robin Banks, Vicki Butler-Henderson, Greg Burns, Robin Burke, Martin Collins, Gary Davies, Daryl Denham, Chris Evans (who also owned the station), Mark Fox, Neil Francis, Alan Freeman, Tony Hadley, Nicky Horne, Janey Lee Grace, Kevin Greening, Gary King, Phil Kennedy, JK and Joel, Jezza (aka Jeremy Kyle), Allan Lake, Tim Lichfield, Tim Lovejoy, Pete Mitchell, Al Murray, James Merritt, John Osborne, Lynn Parsons, Steve Penk, Vic Reeves, Jo Russell, Holly Samos, Harriet Scott, Tim Shaw, Richard Skinner, Graeme Smith, Suggs, David Tennant, Clive Warren, Sandy Beech, Ray Cokes (MTV), and many others.

Football commentary

From the 2010-11 season, Absolute Radio are broadcasting live commentary of 32 English Premier League games on Saturday afternoons. The matches are broadcast on AM only; the London FM service airs "Rock 'n Roll Football" in place of match output. On DAB, Absolute Radio Extra was established as a part-time opt-out service to carry match commentaries.

Ian Wright joined the station to host a post-match phone-in programme, as well as a regular music show on Absolute Radio 90s and a football podcast.

Broadcast

Studios

Virgin Radio and Absolute Radio have broadcast from studios at 1 Golden Square since Virgin Radio's launch in 1993.

AM transmission

The 1215 kHz frequency (247 metres) was used, in selected areas only, by the BBC Light Programme until 1967. It was then used nationally as the original home of BBC Radio 1 until 22 November 1978 and from 23 November 1978 until 28 February 1992 by BBC Radio 3.

In a number of areas, particularly in areas where the signal from the main 1215 transmitters overlap with each other, Absolute Radio operates a number of filler transmitters on different frequencies. Here is a list of the current AM transmitters in use by Absolute Radio:

1242 Sussex London, Hertfordshire, Essex, South Bedfordshire South and Central Cambridgeshire Dartford Tunnel West Midlands South Hampshire and Isle of Wight Dorset Gloucestershire East Tayside West Surrey and North East Hampshire North and West Kent, South and Central Essex Humberside Northamptonshire Northern Ireland South East Kent and South East Sussex South East Suffolk and North East Essex North West and Yorkshire Oxfordshire Devon East Norfolk and North East Suffolk Berkshire Aberdeen and East Grampian Cornwall South Yorkshire Staffordshire Cleveland Wiltshire Devon Nottinghamshire Merseyside South Wales, Avon, Somerset Central Scotland Tyne and Wear

Transmitter Name !! Coverage !! Frequency (kHz) !! EMRP (kW) !! Grid Reference !! Air date
Boston	Lincolnshire	|	2
Brighton (Southwick)	|	1197	1.1
Brookmans Park transmitting station	Brookmans Park	|	1215	125
Chesterton Fen	|	1197	0.2
Dartford Tunnel	|	1215	0.004
Droitwich transmitting station	Droitwich	|	1215	105
Fareham	|	1215	1
Fern Barrow	|	1197	0.25
Gloucester	|	1197	0.3
Greenside Scalp	|	1242	0.5
Guildford (Pirbright)	|	1260	0.5
Hoo	|	1197	2
Hull	|	1215	0.32
Kings Heath	|	1233	0.5
Lisnagarvey transmitting station	Lisnagarvey	|	1215	16
Lydd	|	1260	2
Manningtree	|	1233	0.5
Moorside Edge transmitting station	Moorside Edge	|	1215	200
Oxford transmitting station	Oxford	|	1197	0.25
Plymouth	|	1215	1.1
Postwick	|	1215	1.2
Reading (Manor Farm)	|	1233	0.16
Redmoss	|	1215	2.3
Redruth transmitting station	Redruth	|	1215	2
Sheffield	|	1233	0.3
Sideway	|	1242	0.5
Stockton	|	1242	1
Swindon	|	1233	0.1
Torbay	|	1197	1
Trowell	|	1197	0.5
Wallasey	|	1197	0.4
Washford transmitting station	Washford	|	1215	100
Westerglen transmitting station	Westerglen	|	1215	100
Wrekenton	|	1215	2.2

Satellite distribution

In the summer of 1993, Virgin Radio began broadcasting in stereo on the Astra 1A satellite on an audio sub-carrier of the Sky News channel. This service ceased on 1 July 2001 in anticipation of Sky's cessation of its analogue satellite service. Virgin Radio was one of the first twenty radio stations which joined the Sky Digital service on 20 November 1999. Carried on Astra 2A, it launched on the channel 917 of the Sky EPG, and can today be found as Absolute Radio on channel 0107.

Website and internet broadcasting

Virgin Radio launched its first website on 7 March 1996. Designed by AKQA, it hosted a live RealAudio stream, making it the first European radio station to stream 24-hours a day on the internet. The station went onto redesign the website a further six times as Virgin Radio. Streaming audio formats and presentation developed over time: QuickTime streaming was added in July 1999, an interactive media player launched in October 1999, an Ogg Vorbis stream was launched in June 2003, and HE-AAC and Ogg FLAC streams were launched in December 2009.

In 2001, Virgin Radio joined the Measurecast and Arbitron internet broadcasting measurement services. Both measurement services have since closed. In 2009, Absolute Radio started publishing its internet listening and download statistics.

Virgin Radio was also among the first to explore the opportunities for delivering its services to mobile phones. It took part in a joint venture with Ericsson in 1999 to investigate the use of third-generation mobile phone technologies for radio, launched a WAP site in 2000 and took part in a trial in 2001 with Crown Castle and Manx Telecom to explore the use of 3G phones to add interactivity to digital radio broadcasts. In 2009, Absolute Radio launched an application for the Apple iPhone and tagging for the Apple iPod Nano. In 2010 applications were released for the Amazon Kindle, the Nokia Ovi Store, the BlackBerry and Windows Phone 7 and Absolute Radio was selected as a launch partner for the Apple iAd mobile advertising network.

Sister stations

A number of subsidiary stations to Virgin Radio and Absolute Radio have been launched as online and digital radio services over recent years, many being established during the period when SMG plc was in charge of the station. The stations were collectively known as the Virgin Radio Network (now the Absolute Radio Network). All 'Absolute' branded channels broadcast on DAB, the Internet, and digital television platforms; they are also now available as smartphone apps. The lineup of stations within the network has changed over time, and those currently on air are:

Absolute Classic Rock

A radio station on DAB, Virgin Media, Sky, Freesat and the Internet playing classic rock from the sixties to the nineties. Absolute Classic Rock launched as Virgin Radio Classic Rock, with live presenters (Richard Skinner, Gordon Loncaster and Alice Cooper) by Lali Parikh.

Absolute 80s

A radio station on DAB, Freesat, Sky, Virgin Media and the Internet which plays classic hits, and is aimed at "reluctant adults" who want to reconnect with the tunes of their youth. Absolute 80s was launched on 4 December 2009.

Absolute Radio 90s

Absolute Radio 90s launched on 21 June 2010 on DAB to a 13m population in London, Esssex, Wiltshire, Bristol, Berkshire and Bath. The station is also available on Sky 0203 and online via website and mobile smartphones.

Absolute Radio 00s

Absolute Radio 00s launched on 10 December 2010 at 10am online and on DAB Digital Radio in London. After an internet poll, the first song played was Mr. Brightside by The Killers.

Former spin-off stations

dabbl

dabbl was a user-controlled music radio station broadcast on the Internet and selected local DAB multiplexes 24 hours a day, and on DAB in London from 7pm to 6am daily. Its content was chosen by members of Absolute's VIP Service, who select songs which are then voted for. Songs with the most votes are then broadcast. dabbl has now ceased, its DAB slots outside London taken by Absolute Radio 90s.

Virgin Radio Groove

A radio station on DAB, Virgin Media, Sky and the Internet which played motown, soul and disco music. Originally named ''The Groove'', it was rebranded as a Virgin Radio station in 2004 and closed at the end of 2007.

Liquid

Liquid was a station playing indie, alternative and Britpop. It ran on DAB in London between 2000 and 2004, with its slot taken by Virgin Radio Classic Rock (now Absolute Classic Rock).

Virgin Radio Party Classics

Launched on 15 June 2006, Virgin Radio Party Classics played party pop music. The radio station was based on Suggs' ''Virgin Party Classics'' show broadcast on Virgin Radio. The station, which broadcast on Sky Digital and online, closed down on Friday 13 October 2006.

Absolute Xtreme

A radio station on DAB, Virgin Media, Sky and the Internet, playing new music. Absolute Xtreme was launched (as Virgin Radio Xtreme) on 5 September 2005, by Lali Parikh (Station Manager) with Steve Harris being the main on air talent. On 4 December 2009, Absolute Xtreme was replaced on DAB and digital TV by Absolute 80s.

Virgin Radio Viva (cancelled)

Virgin Radio Viva, which was due to launch on the new 4 Digital Group platform (which ultimately never launched), was due to be a popular music station aimed at 15- to 29-year-old women. It will now not go ahead.

References

Bibliography

External links

AbsoluteRadio.co.uk

Absolute Radio YouTube channel

Absolute Radio Last.fm page, showing a complete listing of most tracks played

Absolute Radio Player

The Launch of Absolute Radio Absolute Radio, 29 September 2008

Virgin Radio International

The launch of Virgin 1215 (audio file) Interval Signals Online

The Radio Academy

Category:Radio stations in London Category:Radio stations established in 1993 Category:Radio stations of The Times Group Category:Absolute Radio (UK) Category:1993 establishments in the United Kingdom

de:Virgin Radio fr:Absolute Radio it:Virgin Radio UK

name	Jane Goldman
birth name	Jane Loretta Anne Goldman
birth date	June 11, 1970
birth place	Hammersmith, London, UK
years active	2001–present
known for	Presenting:Jane Goldman Investigates (2003–04)
children	Betty Kitten (born 1991)Harvey Kirby (born 1994)Honey Kinny (born 1997)
occupation	Screenwriter, television presenter, author, model
spouse	}}

Jane Loretta Anne Goldman (born 11 June 1970) is an English screenwriter, author, model and television presenter. Between 2003 and 2004 she fronted her own paranormal series, ''Jane Goldman Investigates'', on the channel Living.

Personal life

Goldman was born in Hammersmith, London to Jewish parents. She first became romantically involved with TV presenter Jonathan Ross when she was a 16-year-old pop columnist for the ''Daily Star'' newspaper, and married him in 1988, when she was 18. They have since had three children: Betty Kitten (named after Bettie Page) born July 1991, Harvey Kirby (named after comic book artist Jack Kirby) born March 1994 and Honey Kinny born February 1997. The family lives in Hampstead Garden Suburb, London.

Career

Goldman worked as a staff writer on the multi-format computer games magazine ''Zero'', circa 1990–1992.

Goldman wrote the novel ''Dreamworld'', four non-fiction books for young adults, and the non-fiction, two-volume series ''The X-Files Book of the Unexplained'', about the American television show. Goldman appears as a character in author Neil Gaiman's short story "The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch" (1996).

She eventually made the jump to script writing, and was a part of the writing team for David Baddiel's short-lived sitcom, Baddiel's Syndrome. She was the co-writer of the screenplay for ''Stardust'', based on Gaiman's novel, for which she won the 2008 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form. After ''Stardust'' Goldman became a frequent collaborator of director Matthew Vaughn, co-writing and producing his next movies, the comic book adaptations ''Kick-Ass'' and ''X-Men: First Class''. ''Kick-Ass'' has caused controversy with the character of a child assassin, Hit-Girl. Goldman defends this character by stating, "It's not a movie for kids, it's not something kids should see. Obviously no little kid could go around doing this." She also wrote a thriller entitled ''The Debt'', and is currently adapting a screenplay from Susan Hill's novel ''The Woman in Black''.

In June 2008 she was named Film-Maker of the Year at ''Glamour'' magazine's Women of the Year awards.

She wrote a monthly column in ''Total Guitar'', where she was taught to play guitar by a professional musician.

Jane Goldman Investigates

Goldman takes on several paranormal topics in her series, ''Jane Goldman Investigates''. She has individual episodes about several aspects of the paranormal, including ghosts, clairvoyance, astrology and dowsing. She takes a very hands-on approach, attempting to perform many of the tasks she's investigating, such as tarot card-reading and astrology. She dedicates one month to each topic, begins meeting with experts in each field and at the end of each month is given a final test to see how well she has grasped the subject matter.

Goldman also looks at the scientific side of each subject and conducts experiments to further her investigation. For example, she set up an experiment with rune readings to see if people could pick their specific reading out of a group of many. While most of her shows are light-hearted and fun, a few delve into darker aspects of the paranormal, such as voodoo curses and poltergeists.

Modelling

Goldman was a lingerie model for Fantasie bras.

Film credits

! Year !! Film !! Notes
		co-writer (screenplay)
		co-writer (screenplay), co-producer
	''The Debt''	co-writer (screenplay and story)
	''X-Men: First Class''	co-writer (screenplay)
		Writer (screenplay)
	''Kick Ass 2''	co-writer (screenplay), co-producer

References

External links

Review on DooYoo

Category:1970 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century women writers Category:English television presenters Category:English television producers Category:English television writers Category:People from Hammersmith Category:British people of Jewish descent de:Jane Goldman fr:Jane Goldman it:Jane Goldman ja:ジェーン・ゴールドマン

name	Bill Murray
birth name	William James Murray
birth date	September 21, 1950
birth place	Wilmette, Illinois, U.S.
years active	1973–present
occupation	Actor, Screenwriter
spouse	Margaret Kelly (1981–96)Jennifer Butler (1997–2008) }}

William James "Bill" Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He first gained national exposure on ''Saturday Night Live'' in which he earned an Emmy Award and later went on to star in a number of critically and commercially successful comedic films, including ''Caddyshack'' (1980), ''Ghostbusters'' (1984), and ''Groundhog Day'' (1993). Murray gained additional critical acclaim later in his career, starring in ''Lost in Translation'' (2003), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award, and a series of films directed by Wes Anderson, including ''Rushmore'' (1998), ''The Royal Tenenbaums'' (2001), ''The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou'' (2004) and ''Fantastic Mr. Fox'' (2009).

Early life

Murray was born and raised in Wilmette, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago, the son of Lucille (née Collins), a mail room clerk, and Edward Joseph Murray II, a lumber salesman. Murray's father died in 1967 from complications from diabetes when Bill was 17 years old. Murray, along with his eight siblings, grew up in an Irish Catholic family. Three of his siblings are actors: John Murray, Joel Murray, and Brian Doyle-Murray. His sister, Nancy, is an Adrian Dominican Sister in Michigan, traveling around the country portraying St. Catherine of Siena.

The family did not have much money, and Lucille Murray pressed her children to work. As a youth, Murray read children's biographies of American heroes like Kit Carson, Wild Bill Hickok and Davy Crockett. He attended St. Joseph grade school and Loyola Academy. During his teen years, he worked as a caddy to fund his education at the Jesuit High School. One of his sisters had polio and his mother had several miscarriages. During his teen years he was the lead singer of a rock band called the Dutch Masters and took part in high school and community theatre. Murray also conducted the George Mason University pep band, Green Machine, during the Charleston Classic.

After graduating, Murray attended Regis University in Denver, Colorado, taking premedical courses. However, he did not last long at Regis, quickly dropping out and returning to Illinois. In 2007, Regis University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree.

Around 1971, police arrested Murray at Chicago's O'Hare Airport for trying to smuggle 9 pounds of marijuana which he had allegedly intended to sell.

Career

Second City

With an invitation from his older brother, Brian, Murray got his start at Second City Chicago, an improvisational comedy troupe, studying under Del Close. In 1974, he moved to New York City and was recruited by John Belushi as a featured player on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'', which aired on some 600 stations from 1973 to 1974.

''Saturday Night Live''

In 1975, an Off Broadway version of a ''Lampoon'' show led to his first television role as a cast member of the ABC variety show ''Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell'' that featured animal acts and little kids with loud voices. That same season, another variety show titled ''NBC's Saturday Night'' premiered. Cosell's show lasted just one season, canceled in early 1976.

After working in Los Angeles with the "guerrilla video" commune TVTV on a number of projects, Murray rose to prominence in 1976. He joined the cast of NBC's ''Saturday Night Live'' for the show's second season, following the departure of Chevy Chase.

As the cult film had originated from a ''Rutland Weekend Television'' sketch that Eric Idle had brought for his appearance on ''SNL'', Murray as part of the cast of ''SNL'' also appeared next to Idle, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Michael Palin, and Neil Innes in the 1978 mockumentary ''All You Need Is Cash'' as "Bill Murray the K", a send-up of New York radio host Murray the K, in a segment of the film that is an obvious parody of the Maysles Brothers's documentary ''The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit''.

During the first few seasons of ''SNL'', Murray was in a serious, romantic relationship with fellow cast member Gilda Radner.

Film career

Murray landed his first starring role with the film ''Meatballs'' in 1979. He followed this up with his portrayal of famed writer Hunter S. Thompson in 1980's ''Where the Buffalo Roam''. In the early 1980s, he starred in a string of box-office hits including ''Caddyshack'', ''Stripes'', and ''Tootsie''.

Murray became the first guest on NBC's ''Late Night with David Letterman'' on February 1, 1982. He would later appear on the first episode of ''The Late Show with David Letterman'' in August 1993, when the show moved to CBS.

Murray began work on a film adaptation of the novel ''The Razor's Edge''. The film, which Murray also co-wrote, was his first starring role in a dramatic film. He later agreed to star in ''Ghostbusters'', in a role originally written for John Belushi. This was a deal Murray made with Columbia Pictures in order to gain financing for his film. ''Ghostbusters'' became the highest-grossing film of 1984. But ''The Razor's Edge'', which was filmed before ''Ghostbusters'' but not released until after, was a box-office flop.

Upset over the failure of ''Razor's Edge'', Murray took four years off from acting to study philosophy and history at the Sorbonne, frequent the Cinematheque in Paris, and spend time with his family in their Hudson River Valley home. During that time, his second son, Luke, was born. With the exception of a cameo appearance in the 1986 movie ''Little Shop of Horrors'', he did not make any appearances in films, though he did participate in several public readings in Manhattan organized by playwright/director Timothy Mayer and in a production of Bertolt Brecht's ''A Man's A Man''.

Murray returned to films in 1988 with ''Scrooged'' and the sequel ''Ghostbusters II'' in 1989. In 1990, Murray made his first and only attempt at directing when he co-directed ''Quick Change'' with producer Howard Franklin. His subsequent films ''What About Bob?'' (1991) and ''Groundhog Day'' (1993) were box-office hits and critically acclaimed.

After a string of films that did not do well with audiences (one of the exceptions being his role in the 1996 comedy ''Kingpin''), he received much critical acclaim for Wes Anderson's ''Rushmore'' for which he won Best Supporting Actor awards from the New York Film Critics Circle, National Society of Film Critics, and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (tying with Billy Bob Thornton). Murray decided to take a turn towards more dramatic roles. Murray then experienced a resurgence in his career as a dramatic actor, taking on roles in ''Wild Things'', ''Cradle Will Rock'', ''Hamlet'' (as Polonius), and ''The Royal Tenenbaums''.

In 2003, he garnered considerable acclaim for Sofia Coppola's ''Lost in Translation'', and went on to earn a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA Award, and an Independent Spirit Award, as well as Best Actor awards from a number of film critic organizations. He was considered a favorite to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, although Sean Penn ultimately won the award for his performance in ''Mystic River''. In an interview included on the ''Lost in Translation'' DVD, Murray states that this is his favorite movie in which he has appeared. Also in 2003, he appeared in a short cameo for the movie ''Coffee and Cigarettes'', in which he played himself "hiding out" in a local coffee shop.

During this time, Murray still appeared in comedic roles such as ''Charlie's Angels'' and ''Osmosis Jones''. In 2004, he provided the voice of Garfield in ''Garfield: The Movie'', and again in 2006 for ''Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties''. In 2004, he made his third collaboration with Wes Anderson in ''The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou''. His dramatic role in Jim Jarmusch's ''Broken Flowers'' was also well received.

In 2005, Murray announced that he would take a break from acting, as he had not had the time to relax since his new breakthrough in the late 1990s. He did return to the big screen, however, for brief cameos in Wes Anderson's ''The Darjeeling Limited'' and in ''Get Smart'' as Agent 13, the agent in the tree. In 2008, he played an important role in the post-apocalyptic film ''City of Ember'', and in 2009, played himself in a cameo role in the zombie comedy ''Zombieland''.

Murray provided the voice for the character Mr. Badger for the 2009 animated film ''Fantastic Mr. Fox''. Though there was speculation that he might return to the Ghostbusters franchise for the rumored ''Ghostbusters 3'', he dispelled such speculation in a recent interview with GQ. In March 2010, Bill Murray appeared on ''Late Show with David Letterman'' and talked about his return to ''Ghostbusters III'', stating "I'd do it only if my character was killed off in the first reel". In an interview with Coming Soon, Murray said: "You know, maybe I should just do it. Maybe it'd be fun to do." In the interview, when asked "Is the third Ghostbusters movie happening? What's the story with that?", Bill Murray replied, "It's all a bunch of crock." Despite this comment, later reports by Dan Aykroyd and Stefano Paginini suggest the movie is well underway, and the script has already been approved.

Golf-related work

Murray is an avid golfer who often plays in celebrity tournaments. His 1999 book ''Cinderella Story: My Life in Golf'', part autobiography and part essay, expounds on his love of the game. In 2002, he and his brothers starred in the Comedy Central series, ''The Sweet Spot'', which chronicled their adventures playing golf. ''Caddyshack'', one of Murray's earliest film roles, has him playing assistant greens-keeper Carl Spackler who lives in the golf course's tool shed. The title of his book is derived from a scene he played in ''Caddyshack'', narrating his own golf fantasy (which was listed as #92 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes list).

Murray's love for golf is displayed in ''Space Jam'' and ''Zombieland''.

On February 13, 2011, Murray, playing with tournament champion D.A. Points, won the Pro-Am championship at the '' AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am''.

Outside of show business

He is a partner with his brothers in Murray Bros. Caddy Shack, a restaurant located near St. Augustine.

He is a part-owner of the St. Paul Saints independent minor-league baseball team and occasionally travels to Saint Paul, Minnesota to watch the team's games. He also owns part of the Charleston RiverDogs, Hudson Valley Renegades, and the Brockton Rox. He invested in a number of other minor league teams in the past, including the Utica Blue Sox, Fort Myers Miracle, Salt Lake Sting (APSL) and Salt Lake City Trappers. He was also a part-owner of the Auburn Astros (now the Auburn Doubledays) in Auburn, New York.

Being very detached from the Hollywood scene, Murray does not have an agent or manager and reportedly only fields offers for scripts and roles using a personal telephone number with a voice mailbox that he checks infrequently. This practice has the downside of sometimes preventing him from taking parts that he had auditioned for and was interested in, such as that of Sulley in ''Monsters, Inc.'', Bernard Berkman in ''The Squid and the Whale'', Frank Ginsburg in ''Little Miss Sunshine'' and Willy Wonka in ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.'' He also regretted losing the chance to play Eddie Valiant in ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' when he heard that he was considered for the role, which he says he would have definitely accepted.

Personal life

During the filming of ''Stripes'', Murray married Margaret Kelly on Super Bowl Sunday in Las Vegas on January 25, 1981. Later, they re-married in Chicago for their families. Margaret gave birth to two sons, Homer (born 1982) and Luke (born 1985). In April 2011, Luke was named an Assistant Coach at Towson University, located outside of Baltimore, MD. Following Murray's affair with Jennifer Butler, the couple divorced in 1996. In 1997, he married Butler. Together, they have four sons: Caleb (born January 11, 1993), Jackson (born October 6, 1995), Cooper " The Ram" (born January 27, 1997), and Lincoln (born May 30, 2001). Butler filed for divorce on May 12, 2008, accusing Murray of domestic violence, infidelity, and sex, drug and alcohol addiction. Their divorce was finalized on June 13, 2008.

Murray has homes in Los Angeles, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, Charleston, South Carolina, and Rockland County, New York, just outside of New York City. He enjoys a warm glass of 2% milk before bed.

During the 2000 presidential campaign, Murray supported Green Party candidate Ralph Nader.

Murray is a fan of Chicago pro sports teams, especially the Chicago Cubs, Chicago Bears, and the Chicago Bulls. (He was once a guest color commentator for a Cubs game during the 80s.) He also is a Michael Jordan fan and has made cameo appearances in ''Space Jam'' and Jordan documentaries. Murray is an avid Quinnipiac University basketball fan, where his son served as head of basketball operations. Murray is a regular fixture at home games. He cheered courtside for the Illinois Fighting Illini's game against the University of North Carolina in the NCAA Basketball Tournament's championship game in 2005. He is a fixture at home games of those teams when in his native Chicago. After traveling to Florida during the Cubs playoff run to help "inspire" the team (Murray told Cubs slugger Aramis Ramírez he was very ill and needed two home runs to give him the hope to live), he was invited to the champagne party in the Cubs' clubhouse when the team clinched the NL Central in late September 2007, along with fellow actors John Cusack, Bernie Mac, James Belushi, and former Cubs legend Ron Santo. Murray appeared in Santo's documentary, ''This Old Cub''.

As a Chicago native, Murray appeared at the 50th annual Chicago Air & Water Show in August 2008. He performed a tandem jump with the U.S. Army Parachute Team Golden Knights. He was the M.C. for Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival on July 28, 2007, where he dressed in various guises of Clapton as he appeared through the years. He was MC again in 2010. Also because of his roots in the Chicago area, the founders of Housing Opportunities and Maintenance for the Elderly (H.O.M.E.) Michael and Lilo Salmon, were able to contact him through his former sister-in-law for support. In 1987 he made a sizeable donation to assist in the development and building of the Nathalie Salmon House. This home has been able to provide affordable housing for low-income seniors. Michael and Lilo Salmon credited him as performing "miracles" for them.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1975	''Tarzoon: Shame of the Jungle''	Reporter	Voice Only: English Language Version
1976	''Next Stop, Greenwich Village''	Nick Kessel	Uncredited
1977–1980	''Saturday Night Live''	Various	(73 episodes)Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program
1978	''[[All You Need Is Cash''	"Bill Murray the K"	Parody of radio host Murray the K
		Tripper Harrison	Nominated — Genie Award for Best Performance by a Foreign Actor
''Mr. Mike's Mondo Video''	Man on the street
	''Where the Buffalo Roam''
''Caddyshack''	Carl Spackler
1981		John Winger
1982	''Tootsie''	Jeff Slater
	''Ghostbusters''		Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
	Bus Conductor
	Larry Darrell	Also Writer
1986		Arthur Denton
	''She's Having a Baby''	Himself	Cameo
''Scrooged''	Francis Xavier "Frank" Cross	Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Actor
1989	''Ghostbusters II''
1990	''Quick Change''	Grimm	Also Director/Producer
1990	''Hamlet''	Polonius
1991	''What About Bob?''	Bob Wiley	Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance
		Phil Connors	Nominated — Saturn Award for Best ActorNominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance
''Mad Dog and Glory''	Frank Milo
1994		Bunny Breckinridge
		Ernie McCracken
	Jack Corcoran
''Space Jam''	Himself
1997	''The Man Who Knew Too Little''	Wallace Ritchie
	''Wild Things''	Kenneth Bowden
	Herman Blume	American Comedy Awards
1999	''[[Cradle Will Rock''	Tommy Crickshaw
2000		John Bosley
	''Osmosis Jones''	Frank Detorre
''The Royal Tenenbaums''	Raleigh St. Clair	Nominated — Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
		Bob Harris	BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading RoleBoston Society of Film Critics Award for Best ActorChicago Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorGolden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or ComedyIndependent Spirit Award for Best Lead MaleLos Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNational Society of Film Critics Award for Best ActorNew York Film Critics Circle Award for Best ActorOnline Film Critics Society Award for Best ActorSan Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best ActorSatellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or ComedySeattle Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorSoutheastern Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorToronto Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorVillage Voice Film Poll - Best Lead PerformanceWashington D.C. Area Film Critics Association for Best ActorNominated — Academy Award for Best ActorNominated — Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNominated — Chlotrudis Award for Best ActorNominated — Irish Film and Television Award for Best International ActorNominated — London Film Critics Circle Award for Best ActorNominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Performance - MaleNominated — Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best ActorNominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
''Coffee and Cigarettes''	Himself/Waiter	Segment "Delirium"
	''Garfield: The Movie''		Voice Only
''The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou''	Steve Zissou	Nominated — Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best CastNominated — Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
	''Broken Flowers''	Don Johnston	Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
	The Writer
2006	''Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties''		Voice Only
2007	''The Darjeeling Limited''	The Businessman
		Agent 13
''City of Ember''	Mayor Cole
	''The Limits of Control''	American
	Clive Badger	Voice Only
''Zombieland''	Himself	Scream Award for Best CameoNominated—MTV Movie Award for Best WTF Moment
2010		Frank Quinn	Nominated —	Farmer Jimmy/Peter Grant/Old Man Jake
Labman/Easter Bunny	Voice Only
2012	''[[Moonrise Kingdom">Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards 2010
2010		Happy Shannon
	rowspan="2"	Farmer Jimmy/Peter Grant/Old Man Jake
Labman/Easter Bunny	Voice Only
2012	''[[Moonrise Kingdom''	TBA

Songs inspired by Murray's life

Bill Murray is unique in that there are several songs currently available that were inspired by his acting career, all of which were released later in his life over the course of recent years.

Terrible People, an indie rock band from Phoenix, Arizona made a music video for their single ''"Bill Murray"'' off their LP ''"Wireless Generation"'', casting comedian Jim Tavaré in the lead role as a zombie (referencing Zombieland) The band claims each lyric in the song alludes to different iconic roles Murray has played over the years. - Released in 2011.

Gorillaz released a single and music video for their song "Bill Murray" off their album, ''D-Sides''. - Released in 2007.

Sweatshop Union has a hip-hop EP named ''"The Bill Murray,"'' - Released in 2011.

Dan Aux and Youx titled an electronic instrumental for Murray from their EP ''"Fire House 1"'' - Released in 2010.

Smokey Smelko raps about a Cadillac on ''"Bill Murray"'' from his LP ''"Pink Eagle"'' - Released in 2008.

Trey Green's rock song from his LP ''"The Awesomeness"'', titled ''"Bill Murray, Philosopher"'' is based in part on his role in Groundhog Day. - Released in 2010.

The Anatomy of Frank's recorded a singled called ''"Bill Murray"'' off of their EP ''"Relax, There's Nothing Here But Old Pictures"]'' - Released in 2011

Her Candane recorded a single entitled ''"Chevy Chase Is Good, But He's No Bill Murray."'' off their ''"No Battle!"'' LP - Released in 2006.

Lindsay Weidmann recorded a song called ''"Bill Murray, We Got To Hurry."'' for her LP ''Quasi-Erotic Dreams of Famous Middle Aged Actors]'' - Released in 2010.

The Gifthorse also released a movie reference inspired single called ''"Bill Murray"'' on their ''Self-Titled LP'' - Released in 2008.

Papa Razzi and the Photogs recorded a song called ''"Bill Murray Is My Idol"'' - Released in 2010.

References

External links

"The Films of Bill Murray", video compilation of film clips, 5 minutes

Streaming audio interview from 1988 (18 minutes)

USA Today Article detailing Murray's house party crashing

''Entertainment Weekly'' interview

''GQ'' interview

Meatballs Movie Website

Terrible People - Bill Murray (Music Video)

Category:1950 births Category:Actors from Chicago, Illinois Category:American comedians of Irish descent Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American Roman Catholics Category:American comedians Category:American film actors Category:American voice actors Category:American screenwriters Category:American television actors Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:Best Actor BAFTA Award winners Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Independent Spirit Award winners Category:Living people Category:People from Illinois Category:People from Wilmette, Illinois Category:Second City alumni

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name	James Bond
author	Ian Fleming
country	United Kingdom
language	English
subject	Spy fiction
genre	Action/Suspense
publisher	Jonathan Cape
pub date	1953–present
followed by	}}

James Bond 007 is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. The fictional British Secret Service agent has also been used in the longest running and most financially successful English-language film franchise to date, starting in 1962 with ''Dr. No''.

After Fleming's death in 1964, subsequent James Bond novels were written by Kingsley Amis, John Gardner, Raymond Benson, Sebastian Faulks and Jeffery Deaver. Moreover, Christopher Wood novelised two screenplays, Charlie Higson wrote a series on a young James Bond, John Pearson wrote an authorised biography, while other writers have authored unofficial versions of the character.

There have been 22 films in the Eon Productions series to date, the most recent of which, ''Quantum of Solace'', was released on 31 October 2008 (UK). In addition there has been an American television adaptation and two independent feature productions. Apart from films and television, James Bond has also been adapted for many other media, including radio plays, comic strips and video games.

The Eon Productions films are generally termed as "official", by fans of the series, originating with the purchase of the James Bond film rights by producer Harry Saltzman in the early 1960s.

Creation and inspiration

Commander James Bond, (CMG, RNVR) is an intelligence officer of the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS; commonly known as MI6). He was created in January 1952 by British journalist Ian Fleming while on holiday at his Jamaican estate, Goldeneye. The hero was named after the American ornithologist James Bond, a Caribbean bird expert and author of the definitive field guide book ''Birds of the West Indies.'' Fleming, a keen birdwatcher, had a copy of Bond's field guide at Goldeneye. Of the name, Fleming once said in a ''Reader's Digest'' interview, "I wanted the simplest, dullest, plainest-sounding name I could find, 'James Bond' was much better than something more interesting, like 'Peregrine Carruthers.' Exotic things would happen to and around him, but he would be a neutral figure — an anonymous, blunt instrument wielded by a government department."

Nevertheless, news sources speculated about real spies or other covert agents after whom James Bond might have been modelled or named, such as Sidney Reilly or William Stephenson, best-known by his wartime intelligence codename of Intrepid. Although they are similar to Bond, Fleming confirmed none as the source figure, nor did Ian Fleming Publications nor any of Fleming's biographers, such as John Pearson or Andrew Lycett. Historian Keith Jeffery speculates in his authorised history of MI6, that Bond may be modelled on Fleming's close friend, Bill "Biffy" Dunderdale, a MI6 agent whose sophisticated persona and penchant for pretty women and fast cars closely matches that of Bond.

James Bond's parents are Andrew Bond, from village of Glencoe (Argyll, Scotland), and Monique Delacroix, from Yverdon (Vaud, Switzerland). Their nationalities were established in ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service.'' Fleming emphasised Bond's Scottish heritage in admiration of Sean Connery's cinematic portrayal, whereas Bond's mother is named after a Swiss fiancée of Fleming's. A planned, but unwritten, novel would have portrayed Bond's mother as a Scot. Ian Fleming was a member of a prominent Scottish banking family. Although John Pearson's fictional biography of Bond gives him a birth date on 11 November (Armistice Day) 1920, the books themselves are inconsistent on the matter. In ''Casino Royale'', he is said to have bought a car in 1933 and to have been an experienced gambler before World War II. Two books later, in ''Moonraker'', he is said to be in his mid-thirties; the setting of this book can be no earlier than 1954 as it refers to the South Goodwin Lightship, which was lost in that year. There is a further reference to Bond's age in ''You Only Live Twice'', when Tanaka tells him he was born in the Year of the Rat (1924/25 or 1912/13). The books were written over a 12-year period during which Bond's age, when mentioned, thus varies, but is usually around 40. In the novel ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service,'' Bond's family motto is found to be ''Orbis non sufficit'' ("The world is not enough"). The novel also states that the family that used this motto may not necessarily be the same Bond family from which James Bond came.

After completing the manuscript for ''Casino Royale'', Fleming allowed his friend (and later editor) William Plomer to read it. Plomer liked it and submitted it to Jonathan Cape, who did not like it as much. Cape finally published it in 1953 on the recommendation of Fleming's older brother Peter, an established travel writer.

Most researchers agree that James Bond is a romanticised version of Ian Fleming, himself a jet-setting womaniser. Both Fleming and Bond attended the same schools, preferred the same foods (scrambled eggs and coffee), maintained the same habits (drinking, smoking, wearing short-sleeve shirts), shared the same notions of the perfect woman in looks and style, and had similar naval career paths (both rising to the rank of naval Commander). They also shared similar height, hairstyle, and eye colour. Some suggest that Bond's suave and sophisticated persona is based on that of a young Hoagy Carmichael. In ''Casino Royale'', Vesper Lynd remarks, "Bond reminds me rather of Hoagy Carmichael, but there is something cold and ruthless." Likewise, in ''Moonraker'', Special Branch Officer Gala Brand thinks that Bond is "certainly good-looking . . . Rather like Hoagy Carmichael in a way. That black hair falling down over the right eyebrow. Much the same bones. But there was something a bit cruel in the mouth, and the eyes were cold."

Fleming did admit to being partly inspired by a story recounted to him which took place during his service in the Naval Intelligence Division of the Admiralty. The incident is depicted in ''Casino Royale,'' when Ralph Izzard finds himself involved in a card game, playing poker against covert Nazi intelligence agents at a casino in Pernambuco, Brazil.

Novels and related works

Ian Fleming novels

In February 1952, Ian Fleming began writing his first James Bond novel. At the time, Fleming was the foreign manager for Kemsley Newspapers, owners of ''The Daily Express'' in London. Upon accepting the job, Fleming asked for two months' yearly vacation in his contract—time spent writing in Jamaica. Between 1953 and his death in 1964, Fleming published twelve novels and one short-story collection (a second collection was published posthumously).

Fleming had long planned to become an author and whilst serving in the Naval Intelligence Division during World War II he had told a friend, "I am going to write the spy story to end all spy stories." Fleming used his experiences of his espionage career and all other aspects of his life as inspiration when writing.

Casino Royale (novel)>Casino Royale''

Live and Let Die (novel)>Live and Let Die''

Moonraker (novel)>Moonraker''

Diamonds Are Forever (novel)>Diamonds Are Forever''

From Russia, with Love (novel)>From Russia, with Love''

Dr. No (novel)>Dr. No''

Goldfinger (novel)>Goldfinger''

For Your Eyes Only (short story collection)>For Your Eyes Only'' – short stories

Thunderball (novel)>Thunderball''

The Spy Who Loved Me (novel)>The Spy Who Loved Me''

On Her Majesty's Secret Service (novel)>On Her Majesty's Secret Service''

You Only Live Twice (novel)>You Only Live Twice''

The Man with the Golden Gun (novel)>The Man with the Golden Gun''

*1966 ''Octopussy and The Living Daylights'' – short stories

Post-Fleming novels

After Fleming's death a continuation novel, Colonel Sun, was written by Kingsley Amis (as Robert Markham) and published in 1968. Although a novelisations of two of the films appeared in print - ''James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me'' and ''James Bond and Moonraker'', both written by screenwriter Christopher Wood - the series of novels did not continue until the 1980s.

In 1981 John Gardner, picked up the series with ''Licence Renewed'', publishing 16 books in total. Gardner moved the series into the 1980s, although retained the ages of the characters as they were when Fleming had left them. In 1996, Gardner retired from writing James Bond books due to ill health and he was replaced by Raymond Benson, who was the first American author of James Bond. Benson wrote six James Bond novels, three novelisations, and three short stories.

In July 2007, it was announced that Sebastian Faulks had been commissioned to write a new Bond novel to commemorate Fleming's 100th Birthday. The book — titled ''Devil May Care'' – was published on 27 May 2008. Ian Fleming Publications Ltd. the commissioned best-selling thriller writer Jeffery Deaver who wrote ''Carte Blanche'', which was published on May 26, 2011.

Young Bond

The ''Young Bond'' series of novels was begun in 2005, by Charlie Higson. Between 2005 and 2008 5 books were published, with the first Young Bond novel, ''SilverFin'' being released as a graphic novel on October 2, 2008 by Puffin Books.

Adaptations

Films

The Eon films

In the late 1950s, Eon Productions guaranteed the film adaptation rights for every 007 novel except for ''Casino Royale'' (those rights were recovered in 1999). In 1962, the first adaptation ''Dr. No'' was made, which featured Sean Connery as 007. Connery starred in six more films after his initial portrayal (including 1983's ''Never Say Never Again'', which was not part of the Eon series). George Lazenby replaced Connery (for one film) before the latter's last Eon film Diamonds Are Forever, after which the part was played by Roger Moore (for seven films), Timothy Dalton (for two films), Pierce Brosnan (for four films) and Daniel Craig (two films to 2008). As of 2008, there have been 22 films in the Eon series. The 21st film, ''Casino Royale'', with Daniel Craig as James Bond, premiered on 14 November 2006, with the film going on general release in Asia and the Middle East the following day. Notably, it is the first Bond film to have been released in China. The second James Bond film to feature Craig is ''Quantum of Solace'', which gets its title from a short story of the same name by Ian Fleming (''For Your Eyes Only'', 1960), but shares no similarities with the plot.

In April 2010, Eon Productions suspended development of ''Bond 23'' indefinitely due to MGM's crippling debt and uncertain future. Prior to this suspension, Craig was expected to return to the franchise for a third time. On 11 January 2011, MGM sent out a press releasing announcing the 23rd Bond film, starring Daniel Craig, will be released on 9 November 2012. The press release reveals that "Sam Mendes [is] directing [the] screenplay written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and John Logan."

The film series has grossed over $4 billion (£2 billion) (nearly $11 billion when adjusted for inflation) worldwide, making it the highest grossing film series ever. The 22nd and newest movie in the series, ''Quantum of Solace'', was released in the UK on 31 October 2008. As of 9 November 2008, global box office totals for ''Quantum of Solace'' were almost $161 million (£103 million), placing the Bond series ahead of the ''Harry Potter'' film series even when not adjusting for inflation.

Franchise Count	Title	!Year	Actor	Director	!Total Box Office *	!Budget *	!Inflation Adjusted Total Box Office *†
		1962		rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"
		1963
		1964
		1965	style="text-align:center;"
			1967
		1969
		1971
		1973
		1974
		1977
		1979
		1981	rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;"
	''Octopussy''	1983
		''A View to a Kill''	1985
	''The Living Daylights''	1987
	''Licence to Kill''	1989
	''GoldenEye''	1995
	''Tomorrow Never Dies''	1997
	''The World Is Not Enough''	1999
	''Die Another Day''	2002
		2006
	''Quantum of Solace''	2008
	''Bond 23''	2012
Totals	''Films 1–22''

* ''All figures are in US Dollars'' † ''Figures are inflated to 2008 dollars as of 24 March 2008 figures based on the Consumer Price Index.''

Non-Eon films

In 1967, ''Casino Royale'' was adapted into a spoof Bond film starring David Niven as Sir James Bond 007 and Ursula Andress as Vesper Lynd. David Niven, had, in fact, been Ian Fleming's preference for the part of James Bond. Eon Productions, however, chose Sean Connery. David Niven is the only James Bond actor who is mentioned by name in the text of two of Fleming's James Bond novels. In ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'', Bond visits an exclusive ski resort and is told that David Niven is a frequent visitor and in ''You Only Live Twice'' Kissy Suzuki mentions him as the only man who had been kind to her in her brief foray to Hollywood. Ursula Andress is also mentioned in the text of ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' as being present at the ski resort.

A legal loophole allowed Kevin McClory to release a remake of ''Thunderball'' titled ''Never Say Never Again'' in 1983. The film, featuring Sean Connery as Bond, is not part of the Eon James Bond series of films because it is not part of the Bond film franchise from Eon Productions and United Artists, although it is currently owned by United Artists parent MGM. Its original theatrical release in October 1983 actually created a situation in which two Bond movies were playing in cinemas at the same time, as the Eon Bond film, ''Octopussy'' was still playing in cinemas. Since then, MGM has bought the name "James Bond", preventing a repeat of this episode.

Title	Year	Actor	Director	!Total Box Office *	!Budget *	!Inflation Adjusted Total Box Office *†
	1967	David Niven
''Never Say Never Again''	1983	Sean Connery	Irvin Kershner
Totals

* ''All figures are in US Dollars'' † ''Figures are inflated to 2008 dollars as of 24 March 2008 figures based on the Consumer Price Index.''

Television programmes

In 1954, CBS paid Ian Fleming for the rights to adapt ''Casino Royale'' into a one hour television adventure as part of their ''Climax!'' series. However, Barry Nelson played a CIA agent named Jimmy Bond, Clarence Leiter was a British agent played by Michael Pate and Peter Lorre was Le Chiffre.

According to Andrew Pixley's notes to ''Danger Man'' Original soundtrack, Ian Fleming collaborated with Ralph Smart to bring James Bond to television, but dropped out taking his creation with him. Ralph Smart went on to develop ''Danger Man'' with Patrick McGoohan who would later turn down the opportunity to play James Bond.

The 1973 BBC documentary ''Omnibus: The British Hero'' featured Christopher Cazenove playing a number of such title characters (e.g. Richard Hannay and Bulldog Drummond), including James Bond in dramatised scenes from ''Goldfinger'' – notably featuring the hero being threatened with the novel's circular saw, rather than the film's laser beam — and ''Diamonds Are Forever''.

A TV cartoon series James Bond Jr. was produced in 1991 with Corey Burton in the role of the young James Bond.

Radio programmes

In 1956, Bob Holness starred in a South African radio adaptation of ''Moonraker'', making him the second actor to portray James Bond.

In 1990, a radio adaptation of ''You Only Live Twice'' was produced starring Michael Jayston.

Radio adaptations featuring Toby Stephens have been produced, with ''Dr. No'' in 2008 and ''Goldfinger'' in 2010.

Actors

Cultural impact

James Bond has long been a household name and remains a huge influence within the genre. The ''Austin Powers'' series by writer, producer and comedian Mike Myers, and other parodies such as ''Johnny English'' (2003), ''Bons baisers de Hong Kong'', ''OK Connery'', the "Flint" series starring James Coburn as Derek Flint, the "Matt Helm" movies starring Dean Martin, and ''Casino Royale'' (1967) are testaments to Bond's prominence in popular culture.

The Bond series also received many homages and parodies in popular media. The 1960s TV imitations of James Bond such as ''I Spy'', ''Get Smart'', ''Charles Vine'', ''Matt Helm'' and ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' went on to become popular successes in their own right, the last having enjoyed contributions by Fleming towards its creation: the show's lead character, "Napoleon Solo", was named after a character in Fleming's novel ''Goldfinger''; Fleming also suggested the character name April Dancer, which was later used in the spin-off series ''The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.'' A reunion television movie, ''The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' (1983), is notable for featuring a cameo by George Lazenby as James Bond in tribute to Fleming (for legal reasons, the character was credited as "JB").

George Lucas has said on various occasions that Sean Connery's portrayal of Bond was one of the primary inspirations for the Indiana Jones character, a reason Connery was chosen for the role of Indiana's father in the third film of that series.

His association with Aston Martin sports cars has helped further boost the brand's already strong image and popularity since Bond (then played by Sean Connery) first drove an Aston Martin in Goldfinger in 1964. A poll by Lloyds TSB in September 2010 revealed that Aston Martin was the most desired brand of "dream" car in Britain.

Music

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The "James Bond Theme" was written by Monty Norman and was first orchestrated by the John Barry Orchestra for 1962's ''Dr. No'', although the actual authorship of the music has been a matter of controversy for many years. In 2001, Norman won £30,000 in libel damages from the British paper ''The Sunday Times'', which suggested that Barry was entirely responsible for the composition.

Barry did go on to compose the scores for eleven Bond films in addition to his uncredited contribution to ''Dr. No'', and is credited with the creation of "007", used as an alternate Bond theme in several films, as well as the popular orchestrated theme "On Her Majesty's Secret Service." Both the "James Bond Theme" and "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" have been remixed a number of times by popular artists, including Art of Noise, Moby, Paul Oakenfold, and the Propellerheads. The Beatles used a portion of the "Bond theme" in the introduction of their song "Help" as released on the American version of the "Help" LP. The British/Australian string quartet also named bond (purposely in lower case) recorded their own version of the theme, entitled "Bond on Bond."

Barry's legacy was followed by David Arnold, in addition to other well-known composers such as Chris Minear and Corbin Ott and record producers such as George Martin, Bill Conti, Michael Kamen, Marvin Hamlisch and Éric Serra. Arnold is the series' current composer of choice and composed the score for the 22nd Bond film, ''Quantum of Solace''.

A Bond film staple are the theme songs heard during their title sequences sung by well-known popular singers (which have included Tina Turner, Paul McCartney and Wings, Sheryl Crow and Tom Jones, among many others). Shirley Bassey performed three themes in total. After ''Doctor No'', ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' is the only Bond film with a solely instrumental theme, though Louis Armstrong's ballad "We Have All the Time in the World", which serves as Bond and his wife Tracy's love song and whose title is Bond's last line in the film, is considered the unofficial theme. Likewise, although the credit sequence to ''From Russia with Love'' features an instrumental version of the film's theme, another version, with lyrics sung by Matt Monro, can be partially heard within the film itself, and is featured on the film's soundtrack album.

The themes usually share their names with their film. "Nobody Does It Better", the theme for ''The Spy Who Loved Me'', was the first Bond theme not to share its title with that of the movie, although the words "the spy who loved me" do appear in the lyrics. The song is featured in both credit sequences of the film, and in orchestral form throughout. "Nobody Does It Better" was nominated for an Academy Award for "Best Original Song" of 1977, but lost to the theme song to ''You Light Up My Life''. Hamlisch's score for the film was also nominated for an Oscar, but lost to John Williams' score for ''Star Wars''.

The only other Bond themes to be nominated for an Academy Award for best song are "Live and Let Die", written by Paul and Linda McCartney and performed by their band Wings, and "For Your Eyes Only", written by Bill Conti and Michael Leeson and performed by Sheena Easton, though a few of John Barry's scores have been nominated.

The only Bond theme to reach number one on the pop charts in the U.S. was Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill".

The only singer, to date, to appear within a title sequence is Sheena Easton during ''For Your Eyes Only''. The only singer of a title song to appear as a character within the film itself, to date, is Madonna, who appeared (uncredited) as fencing instructor Verity, as well as contributing the theme for ''Die Another Day''. The title sequence in ''Die Another Day'' is notable, however, for being the only one in which the visuals actually serve to further the plot of the film itself, as opposed to being merely a montage or collage of abstract images related to the film or to the larger James Bond mythos.

The theme song from ''Quantum of Solace'' is Alicia Keys and Jack White's "Another Way to Die", which is the first James Bond theme song to be a duet. It is also the fourth theme song not to reference the name of the movie in its lyrics.

In 1998, Barry's music from ''You Only Live Twice'' was adapted into the hit song "Millennium" by producer and composer Guy Chambers for British recording artist Robbie Williams. The music video features Williams parodying James Bond, and references other Bond films such as ''Thunderball'' and ''From Russia with Love''. It should also be noted that the video was filmed at Pinewood Studios, where most of the Bond films have been made.

In 2004 the Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps won the Drum Corps International World Championship with "007," using the music of James Bond as composed by David Arnold. The Cavaliers performed selections from ''GoldenEye'', ''Die Another Day'' ("Hovercraft Theme" and "Welcome to Cuba"), and ''Tomorrow Never Dies''.

Burt Bacharach's score for 1967's ''Casino Royale'' included "The Look Of Love", nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song, has become a standard for its era, with the biggest-selling version recorded by Sérgio Mendes and Brasil '66 (#4 on the Billboard pop charts in 1968). It was heard again in ''Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery'', which was to a degree inspired by ''Casino Royale''.

Video games

In 1983, the first Bond video game, developed and published by Parker Brothers, was released for the Atari 2600, the Atari 5200, the Atari 800, the Commodore 64, and the ColecoVision. Since then, there have been numerous video games either based on the films or using original storylines.

Bond video games, however, did not reach their popular stride until 1997's revolutionary ''GoldenEye 007'' by Rare for the Nintendo 64. Subsequently, virtually every Bond video game has attempted to copy the accomplishments and features of ''GoldenEye 007'' to varying degrees of success; even going so far as to have a game entitled ''GoldenEye: Rogue Agent'' that had little to do with either the video game ''GoldenEye 007'' or the film of the same name. Bond himself plays only a minor role in which he is "killed" in the beginning during a 'virtual reality' mission, which served as the first level of the game.

Since acquiring the licence in 1999, Electronic Arts has released eight games, five of which have original stories, including the popular ''Everything or Nothing'', which broke away from the first-person shooter trend that started with ''GoldenEye 007'' (including the games "Agent Under Fire" and "Nightfire") and instead featured a third-person perspective. It also featured well known actors including Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, John Cleese and Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, although several previous games have used Brosnan's likeness as Bond. In 2005, Electronic Arts released a video game adaptation of ''From Russia with Love'', another game in the same vein as ''Everything or Nothing''. This was the second game based on a Connery Bond film (the first was a 1980s text adventure adaptation of ''Goldfinger'') and the first to allow the player to play as Bond with the likeness of Sean Connery. Connery himself recorded new voice-overs for the game, the first time the actor had played Bond in twenty-two years.

In 2006, Activision secured the licence to make Bond-related games, briefly sharing but effectively taking over the licence from EA. The deal became exclusive to Activision in September 2007. Activision studio Treyarch has released the new James Bond game "Quantum of Solace" a movie tie in of "Casino Royale" and "Quantum of Solace" it (not unlike "Goldeneye 007") is a first person shooter and it does include a new 'dashing to cover' and 'cover fire' third person game play.

In relation to the twenty-first film in the series Sony Ericsson released a Casino Royale edition of their K800i mobile phone. In this edition, a Java ME game loosely based on the movie was included. Vodafone has also published a game for the same platform called ''007: Hoverchase'' and developed by IOMO.

Activision released a reimagining of the N64 ''GoldenEye 007'', which was released for the Wii and DS in 2010. A number of changes are present in the game, most notable being Daniel Craig playing Bond, rather than Pierce Brosnan, who was Bond in the original game, and the film.

Comic strips and comic books

In 1957 the ''Daily Express'', a newspaper owned by Lord Beaverbrook, approached Ian Fleming to adapt his stories into comic strips. After initial reluctance by Fleming who felt the strips would lack the quality of his writing, agreed and the first strip ''Casino Royale'' was published in 1958. Since then many illustrated adventures of James Bond have been published, including every Ian Fleming novel as well as Kingsley Amis's ''Colonel Sun'', and most of Fleming's short stories. Later, the comic strip produced original stories, continuing until 1983.

Titan Books is presently reprinting these comic strips in an ongoing series of graphic novel-style collections; by the end of 2005 it had completed reprinting all Fleming-based adaptations as well as ''Colonel Sun'' and had moved on to reprinting original stories.

Several comic book adaptations of the James Bond films have been published through the years, as well as numerous original stories.

Most recently, a thinly veiled version of Bond (called only "Jimmy" to avoid copyright issues) appeared in ''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier''. In this story, Bond is the villain; he chases the heroic duo of Mina Murray and Allan Quatermain across London, aided by disguised versions of Bulldog Drummond ("Hugo Drummond") and Emma Peel ("Miss Night"). Jimmy is portrayed as an unpleasant incompetent servant of the US who only pretends to work with Britain.

Characters

The James Bond series of novels and films have a plethora of allies and villains. Bond's superiors and other officers of the British Secret Service are known by letters, such as M and Q. In the novels, Bond has employed two secretaries, Loelia Ponsonby and Mary Goodnight, who in the films typically have their roles and lines transferred to M's secretary, Miss Moneypenny. Occasionally Bond is assigned to work a case with his good friend, CIA agent Felix Leiter.

Throughout both the novels and the films there have only been a handful of recurring characters. Some of the more memorable ones include Bill Tanner, Rene Mathis, Jack Wade, Jaws and recently Charles Robinson. J.W. Pepper is also a recurring character.

Vehicles and gadgets

Exotic espionage equipment and vehicles are very popular elements of James Bond's literary and cinematic missions. These items often prove critically important to Bond in successfully completing his missions.

Fleming's novels and early screen adaptations presented minimal equipment such as the booby-trapped attaché case in ''From Russia with Love''. In ''Dr. No'', Bond's sole gadgets were a Geiger counter and a wristwatch with a luminous (and radioactive) face. The gadgets, however, assumed a higher profile in the 1964 film ''Goldfinger''. The film's success encouraged further espionage equipment from Q Branch to be supplied to Bond. In the opinion of critics, some Bond films have included too many gadgets and vehicles, such as 1979's science fiction-oriented ''Moonraker'' and 2002's ''Die Another Day''.

James Bond's cars have included the Aston Martin DB5, V8 Vantage (80s), V12 Vanquish and DBS (00s); the Lotus Esprit; the BMW Z3, BMW 750iL and the BMW Z8. Bond's most famous car is the silver grey Aston Martin DB5, first seen in ''Goldfinger''; it later features in ''Thunderball'', ''GoldenEye'', ''Tomorrow Never Dies'', and ''Casino Royale''. The films have used a number of different Aston Martin DB5s for filming and publicity, one of which was sold in January 2006 at an auction in Arizona for $2,090,000 to an unnamed European collector. That specific car was originally sold for £5,000 in 1970.

In Fleming's books, Bond had a penchant for "battleship grey" Bentleys, while Gardner awarded the agent a modified Saab 900 Turbo (nicknamed the Silver Beast) and later a Bentley Mulsanne Turbo.

In the James Bond film adaptations, Bond has been associated with several well-known watches, usually outfitted with high-tech features not found on production models. The Rolex Submariner, one of the few recurring models, was worn by Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, and Timothy Dalton's versions of James Bond. Roger Moore also sported a number of digital watches by Pulsar and Seiko. Pierce Brosnan's and Daniel Craig's James Bonds were both devotees of the Omega Seamaster. The selection of James Bond's watch has been a matter of both style and finance, as product placement agreements with the watch manufacturers have frequently been arranged.

Bond's weapon of choice in the beginning of ''Dr. No'' is an Italian-made Beretta 418 .25 calibre, later replaced by the German-made Walther PPK, chambered in 7.65 mm (a peculiar choice, as Valentin Zukovsky remarks in ''GoldenEye'': the PPK as found in the U.S. and Western Europe is most commonly chambered in .380 ACP). The PPK was used in every subsequent film and became his signature weapon until the ending of ''Tomorrow Never Dies'', when Bond upgraded to the Walther P99. He has subsequently used the P99 pistol in ''Tomorrow Never Dies'', ''The World Is Not Enough'', ''Die Another Day'', and ''Casino Royale''. Strangely, Bond resumed use of the PPK in ''Quantum of Solace'', the direct sequel of ''Casino Royale''.

See also

Shaken, not stirred

Sir Fitzroy MacLean, 1st Baronet

The Battle for Bond

9007 James Bond Asteroid named after the character

References

External links

; Official sites:

James Bond Official Website

Ian Fleming Publications Official Website

Young Bond Official Website

Pinewood Studios – home of Bond

Pinewood Studios Albert R. Broccoli 007 Stage Official Website

Ian Fleming's 'Red Indians' – 30AU – Literary James Bond's Wartime unit

;Unofficial sites:

007James – The Site's Bond, James Bond

MI6 – The Home of James Bond

Licensed to Kill – The fan compendium

Category:Characters in British novels of the 20th century Category:Fictional Scottish people Category:Fictional secret agents and spies Category:Media franchises Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1953

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Name	Mike Shinoda
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Michael Kenji Shinoda
Born	February 11, 1977
Origin	Agoura Hills, California, U.S.
Instrument	Vocals, rapping, guitar, keyboard, piano, samples, organ, percussion
Genre	Alternative rock, nu metal, alternative hip hop, rap rock, rap, rap metal
Occupation	Musician, singer-songwriter, lyricist, composer, rapper, vocalist, guitarist, pianist, producer, graphic designer, visual artist
Years active	1996–present
Label	Machine Shop/Warner Bros.
Associated acts	Linkin Park, Fort Minor, Styles of Beyond, Apathy, Cypress Hill, Jay-Z, Lupe Fiasco, Skylar Grey
Website	MikeShinoda.com
Notable instruments	PRS GuitarsIbanez GuitarsGibson GuitarsFender Guitars }}

Michael Kenji "Mike" Shinoda (, born February 11, 1977) is an American musician, record producer, and artist. He is best known as the rapper, principal songwriter, keyboardist, vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Linkin Park, along with his co-frontman and lead singer Chester Bennington, and as a solo rapper in his side-project, Fort Minor. He also provides artwork, production, and mixing for both groups.

Life and career

Early life

Shinoda was born and raised in the Los Angeles suburb of Agoura Hills. His father is Japanese American, and his mother is a Russian American. He also has a younger brother, Jason. Shinoda attended Parkman Elementary and Lindero Canyon Middle School.

As per his mother's wishes, Shinoda began his classical piano training with lessons around the age of six, his enthusiasm eventually growing. At the age of thirteen, he expressed the desire to move toward playing jazz, blues, and even hip-hop. During his middle school and high school years, he added the guitar and, eventually, rap-style vocals to his repertoire.

After his teens, Mike Shinoda's rap interests found a source of encouragement in Brad Delson, with whom he started to write and record songs in a makeshift studio set up in his bedroom. Shinoda attended Agoura High School with Linkin Park bandmates Brad Delson and Rob Bourdon as well as with members of the band Hoobastank. By the end of high school, Bourdon had become involved in their musical ventures. The trio formed the band Xero, and began to make a more serious attempt to pursue a career in the music industry.

After high school, Shinoda enrolled in the Art Center College of Design to study graphic design and illustration. It was here that he made the acquaintance of DJ and turntablist Joseph Hahn, who, along with Delson's college-mate Dave "Phoenix" Farrell, was soon added to Xero's line-up. It was also here that he experienced a form of identity crisis. Years later, in an interview he said:

"I think it was probably in college that I realized that there was a difference between Japanese and Japanese-American. That's important to realize. It's not the same thing and then eventually with Linkin Park, I toured in Japan. I've been there now I think four times. I remember the first time I went, how familiar it seemed, just getting out of the plane, it smelled like my aunt's house, in the airport, it smelled like Japan. I don't know if anybody else even noticed it but I walked out of the plane and thought this is definitely familiar to me, didn't even see anything yet. And then going to Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya, you just recognize things about the way people act, the small things that people do such as how you'll grab a piece of paper. There are things that are more obvious like taking somebody's business card with two hands. You don't do that in the States. When I saw somebody do that I went, "Oh yeah, my uncle always does that," you know. There are little things that culturally come from Japan but they also exist in Japanese American culture and it made me feel like the connection was there and I kind of hadn't realized how much of it was there."

Shinoda managed to graduate from college with a bachelor's degree in illustration a year in advance, securing himself a job as a graphic designer instantly. With his background as a graphic artist, Shinoda has taken it upon himself in designing all of Linkin Park's artwork with Hahn, and has even designed the album cover for Styles of Beyond's debut album, ''2000 Fold''. In later years he would go on to showcase his art skills; he had his debut art showcase (Diamonds Spades Hearts & Clubs) at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles in the time leading up to Linkin Park's album ''Minutes to Midnight''.

Linkin Park

Shinoda's band brought in second vocalist Chester Bennington, replacing Mark Wakefield. From the onset, Shinoda was closely involved in the technical aspects of the band's recordings, and over the subsequent releases that role continued to expand. Shinoda, with guitarist Brad Delson, engineered and produced the band's Hybrid Theory EP, and performed similar roles in the recording of the Hybrid Theory album. Mike executively organized and oversaw the band's remix album Reanimation (2002), contributing his own production remixes that he made in his home studio for "Crawling" and "Pushing Me Away." In his spare time, he produced and performed on a song by The X-Ecutioners entitled "It's Goin' Down."

On the second Linkin Park Warner Bros. studio release ''Meteora'' (2003) Shinoda continued to expand upon his duties as a musician and studio technician/engineer. Additionally, for the backbone of the album artwork, Shinoda collaborated with graffiti artist DELTA, graphic designer Frank Maddocks, and band-mate Joe Hahn.

By the release of the Linkin Park and Jay-Z 'mash-up' album ''Collision Course'' in 2004, Shinoda's involvement in the creation of the albums continued to grow. He produced and mixed the album, which won a Grammy Award for "best rap / song collaboration" in 2006.

The band released their next album, ''Minutes to Midnight'', on May 14, 2007. On this album, Shinoda shared a production credit with producer Rick Rubin, overseeing the musical evolution of the band's sound. This album was also the first time that Shinoda, best known for his rapping, sang a featured vocal. Mike sang in the songs "In Between" and the b-side song, "No Roads Left," as well as rapping and singing in the songs "Bleed It Out" and "Hands Held High." Despite the rarity of Shinoda-fronted singing tracks, music magazine Hit Parader ranked Mike at number 72 of the Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time. Mike and Rick Rubin again shared a production credit for Linkin Park's latest album, ''A Thousand Suns'', released on September 14, 2010.

Fort Minor

Shinoda formed a side project named "Fort Minor" between 2003 and 2004 because he could not demonstrate as much of his hip-hop background in Linkin Park. He explained the name of his project in an interview:

The debut album from Fort Minor, titled ''The Rising Tied'', was released on November 13, 2005, and includes guest appearances from Styles of Beyond, Lupe Fiasco, Common, Black Thought of The Roots, John Legend, Holly Brook, Jonah Matranga, Celph Titled, and features Jay-Z (Shawn Carter) as an executive producer.

For the NBA 2006–2007 season, "Remember the Name", the second single from ''The Rising Tied'', became the soundtrack for NBA Overtime on TNT. It was an NBA remix version, and remains the staple song for NBA on TNT to this day. Furthermore the Big East used "Remember the Name" as its theme song for the Big East Basketball Tournament in 2006.

He also scored a Top 10 smash with the surprise hit single "Where'd You Go", which peaked at #4 on Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Shinoda provided several original score selections to the 2005 MTV VMAs. Lil Jon also provided original music, but not on any of the same tracks

Fort Minor won an MTV VMA for "Best Ringtone" in 2006, and was featured in the following films and TV programs (2005–2006 and 2010): Entourage, Boston Legal, Gridiron Gang, Freedom Writers, Friday Night Lights (TV), The Karate Kid, and Numbers.

Shinoda has also continued his Fort Minor musical style in an executive producer role on the upcoming Styles Of Beyond album, "''Reseda Beach''" He is contributing music and vocals to the album, which was slated for release sometime in 2009. However, the album has not been released till date and Styles of Beyond is under hiatus.

Art and painting

Mike was the youngest of his graduating class from Art Center College of Design of Pasadena in 1998, with a Bachelor of Arts in Illustration. He has had a hand in most artistic facets of Linkin Park's imagery, including album artwork, band merchandise, web design, and on-stage production art.

During time off in 2003, he did a collaborative "remix" shoe for DC Shoes, remixing the "Clientele." He reworked the colors and materials for the shoe, and additionally designed all the packaging and print advertisements. The following year, he also designed a customizable Kid Robot "Munny" doll for a charity auction.

In 2004, Shinoda created a series of ten paintings which became the basis of the Fort Minor album ''The Rising Tied.'' That series became the backbone for the packaging of the album, and was featured in Shinoda's first public art show "Diamonds Spades Hearts & Clubs." In addition to the ten Fort Minor pieces, the show also featured thirteen more original works and five collaborative pieces. “Diamonds Spades Hearts & Clubs” opened at Gallery 1988 on Sunday, November 19, 2006.

Additionally in 2004, Shinoda started a college scholarship at Art Center College of Design to benefit future illustration and graphic design students. Named the Michael K. Shinoda Endowed Scholarship, it is awarded based on financial need and merit. The scholarship was awarded for the first time in 2006. The scholarship fund is made possible through the sale of his original artwork on his website, art shows and his DC Shoes projects.

2008 has proved to be a busy year thus far artistically for Mike. On July 11, Shinoda’s second public art show “Glorious Excess (BORN)” premiered at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. The show included nine new pieces, with an exclusive signing on opening night. The show served as part one of the “Glorious Excess” two-part series, with the second installment “Glorious Excess (DIES)” due at JANM at August 22, 2009.

Concerning the inspiration behind the Glorious Excess series, Mike stated that it:

"Got to a point where the pervasiveness of “celebrity news” concerned me. It seemed like it has jumped out of its niche into places where it doesn’t belong. I would be watching the news, and thinking, “of all the things going on in the world right now, why are they covering so-and-so’s breakup?” It didn’t make sense to me. Add to that the fact that I’m supposed to somehow “belong” to that celebrity group—and I really don’t feel like I do in a lot of ways—and you can see how the topic started to become really interesting to me. The Glorious Excess (BORN) show was my way of diving into those topics, trying to find answers. It follows a central “celebrity” character, who is filthy rich, slightly violent, and famous without any particular skill or talent."

Also in 2008, Mike partnered up with DC Shoes again on a second DC Remix Series project. The project would feature a "great juxtaposition of Mike's unique influences: accomplished artist versus recording-breaking musician, American upbringing versus Japanese heritage." The MS/DC limited edition remix has two different versions – Xander and Pride. Roughly 2000 pairs of the limited edition shoes were made available for purchase when the sneaker was released on August 1, 2008.

In an interview with Sneaker Freaker Magazine, Shinoda had this to say about the latest DC Shoe project:

"This remix is a little slimmer than most of DC’s skate shoes; the Xander feels almost like the skate shoes I grew up wearing in the late 80s. But the art brings it up to date—my work is laser-etched into the panels on the side of the shoe, and the sole is a clear gum sole with a koi fish pattern, and four-color artwork beneath. That way, when you’re walking, and your foot lifts up, it’s a little surprise under there. We also took the time to add extra padding and a satin inner lining to make it as comfortable as possible. They come with three pairs of lightly waxed laces instead of two, because I like to flip up the look sometimes. Each pair also comes with a booklet of my art."

Production

Shinoda produced The Rising Tied, the debut album by his side-project Fort Minor. He has also produced tracks for albums by Lupe Fiasco and Styles of Beyond, as well as producing or co-producing all of Linkin Park's non-studio albums, including ''Reanimation'', ''Hybrid Theory EP'', the collaborative EP with Jay-Z, ''Collision Course'', and for the first time producing a studio album in 2007, the group's third studio release ''Minutes to Midnight''. In 2004 Shinoda, with drumming assistance by his Linkin Park band mate Rob Bourdon, remixed "Enjoy the Silence" by Depeche Mode. Shinoda and Bourdon also worked together to create an instrumental piece entitled "Lockjaw" while previewing Digidesign's Pro Tools 8 software. Some other notable production credits include:

Styles of Beyond – "Marco Polo" (from the album ''2000 Fold'')

The X-Ecutioners – "It's Goin' Down" (from the album ''Built from Scratch'')

Depeche Mode – "Enjoy the Silence 04" (remixed and produced)

Lupe Fiasco – "The Instrumental" (from the album ''Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor'')

Styles of Beyond featuring Celph Titled – "You Cannot Fuck With This" (from the ''Razor Tag'' mixtape)

Styles of Beyond – "Hard [MS Remix]" (from the ''Razor Tag'' mixtape)

Styles of Beyond – "Second To None" (from the upcoming album ''Reseda Beach'')

"My December" – Linkin Park

"High Voltage" – Linkin Park

Reanimation – Linkin Park

"What I've Done (Distorted Remix)" – Linkin Park

Scored the 2005 MTV VMAs (contributed all original music)

"''Fort Minor: We Major''" Mixtape – including S.C.O.M., Bloc Party, Dolla, 100 Degrees, Spraypaint & Inkpens (feat. Lupe Fiasco and Ghostface Killah)

Busta Rhymes feat. Linkin Park – "We Made It" (co-produced with Cool & Dre)

"L.O.A.T.R." (M. Shinoda Remix) – Linkin Park

"Lockjaw" – Linkin Park

"Death to Analog" (Mike Shinoda Remix) – Julien-K (from the album ''Death To Digital'')

"New Divide" – Linkin Park

"Gold Guns Girls" (Mike Shinoda remix) – Metric

"Shoot First" – Apathy

"Resurrection" – Lupe Fiasco & Kenna

"Never Let Me Down" – Kenna

"Not Alone" – Linkin Park (From Download to Donate for Haiti, an initiative by Music For Relief)

Cypress Hill – "Carry Me Away" (from the album ''Rise Up'')

"Linkin Park: 8-Bit Rebellion!" – composed 8-bit soundtrack

"Issho Ni" for Download To Donate for Japan, a charity contribution for the 2011 Japan earthquake

Other musical activities

In 2005, Mike hosted the ''Rock Phenomenon'' Mixtape CD with DJ Vlad and Roc Raida. The CD is the first (and to date, only) in DJ Vlad's ''Rock Phenomenon'' series (which itself is a spin-off of Vlad's ''Rap Phenomenon'' Mixtape series), and features a Mash-Up of Linkin Park's ''Papercut'', and David Banner's ''Like a Pimp (Remix)''. The Mixtape was re-released on July 10, 2007, with new artwork.

In October 2008 Mike and Mark Wakefield, former vocalist of Linkin Park back when they were named Xero, recorded and released the song "Barack Your World" under the name White Pegacorn.

For the 2006 Grammy awards, Mike and Brad Delson assembled the mashup track of Numb/Encore and "Yesterday" by The Beatles to be performed live by Jay-Z, Linkin Park and Paul McCartney.

Mike scored the MTV VMAs in 2005. Lil’ Jon also contributed, but they did not collaborate; The tracks were separate. Mike was an honorary parade marshall in Los Angeles Nisei Week, 2005. Mike was awarded the Japanese American National Museum’s Award of Excellence in 2006.

Influences

Shinoda's musical influences and favorites include U2, The Police, Boogie Down Productions, Led Zeppelin, Nine Inch Nails, and Dr. Dre. As a visual artist his influences include Mark Ryden, Corey Sandelius, and Banksy.

Personal life

Mike Shinoda has been married to children's author Anna Hillinger since May 10, 2003. The couple have one child, a son named Otis Akio Shinoda. According to Shinoda, the Fort Minor song "Where'd You Go" was written for Anna.

In 2004 he was featured on an episode of ''Punk'd'' in which a fire hydrant was placed next to his Acura SUV during a pretend fire.

In an interview talking about his song "Kenji" from the ''Rising Tied'' album, he revealed that his father was born during the Second World War. Shinoda is a third generation Japanese American. His father was born in the United States and was interned during World War II. Regarding the “Glue” nickname: someone in the band called Mike “The Glue” saying he was the one that “held everything together.” The other nicknames (Spike Minoda, Cobra Holda) are just funny, nonsensical." In 2009, Mike received an Honorary Doctorate Of Humane Letters (H.D.L) from Art Center College Of Design. "I suppose this could also mean that my name at the top of the page should officially read: Michael Kenji “Mike” Shinoda, H.D.L." EWP honored Mike with a Visionary Award and dinner in 2010.

References

External links

Mike Shinoda's official website

Shinoda's official LPN page from LinkinPark.com

Mike Shinoda is interviewed by SUBvert magazine about his successful career

Category:1977 births Category:American heavy metal guitarists Category:American heavy metal singers Category:American rock guitarists Category:American keyboardists Category:American male singers Category:American rappers Category:American record producers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American rappers of Asian descent Category:American musicians of European descent Category:American musicians of Japanese descent Category:American people of Japanese descent Category:Linkin Park members Category:Living people Category:Musicians from California Category:Nu metal singers Category:People from the Greater Los Angeles Area

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