Coordinates	40°42′15.0″N73°55′4.0″N
Name	Samuel
Venerated in	JudaismChristianityIslam
Titles	Prophet, Seer
Major shrine	Tomb of Samuel, Jerusalem
Prayer attrib	}}

Samuel (; ''Samouēl''; ; Arabic: صموئيل ''Ṣamuʼeel''; Strong's: ''Shemuwel'') is a leader of ancient Israel in the Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. He is also known as a prophet and is mentioned in the Qur'an.

His status, as viewed by rabbinical literature, is that he was the last of the Hebrew Judges and the first of the major prophets who began to prophesy inside the Land of Israel. He was thus at the cusp between two eras.

According to the text of the Books of Samuel, he also anointed the first two kings of the Kingdom of Israel: Saul and David.

Biblical account

The main account of Samuel's life comes from the book bearing his name in the Hebrew Bible / Old Testament.

Family

Samuel's mother was Hannah and his father was Elkanah. Hannah, at the beginning of the narrative, is barren and childless, like Abraham's wife Sarah. Hannah prays to God for a child. Eli who is sitting at the foot of the doorpost in the sanctuary at Shiloh, sees her apparently mumbling and thinks Hannah is drunk, but is soon assured of her motivation and sobriety. Eli was, according to the Books of Samuel, the name of a priest of Shiloh, and one of the last Israelite Judges before the rule of kings in ancient Israel. He blesses her after she promises the child to God. Subsequently Hannah becomes pregnant; her child is Samuel. After he is weaned, she leaves him in Eli's care.

Elkanah is Samuel's father and lives at Ramah (1 Sam. 1:19; 2:11; comp. 28:3), in the district of Zuph. His genealogy is also found in a pedigree of the Kohathites (1 Chron. 6:3-15) and in that of Heman, his great-grandson (ib. vi. 18-22). According to the genealogical tables, Elkanah was, a Levite, a fact otherwise not mentioned in the books of Samuel. The fact that Elkanah, a Levite, was denominated an Ephraimite is analogous to the designation of a Levite belonging to Judah (Judges 17:7, for example).

Name

According to , Hannah named Samuel in memory of her requesting a child from God and God listening. Samuel is translated as ''Heard of God'' or possibly as a sentence "God has heard" (from 'Shama', heard and 'El', God — with "Shama" as the verb and "El" as the subject). Samuel in the Hebrew root word is "sha’al" which is mentioned seven times in 1 Samuel 1 and once as "sha’ul" (1:28), which is Saul’s name in Hebrew. Coogan suggests that Saul’s birth narrative was transferred to Samuel by the Deuteronomistic Historians.

Calling

One night, around the age of 13 (maturity), Samuel heard a voice calling his name. He initially assumed it was coming from Eli and went to Eli to ask what he wished to say. Eli, however, sent Samuel back to sleep. After a few times Eli told Samuel that the voice was God's, and instructed Samuel on how to respond. Once Samuel responded God told him that the wickedness of the ''sons of Eli'' had resulted in their dynasty being condemned to destruction. Eli asked Samuel to honestly recount to him what he had been told, and upon receiving the communication merely said that God should do what seems right to himself.

Leader

During Samuel's youth at Shiloh the Philistines inflicted a decisive defeat against the Israelites at Eben-Ezer (), placed the land under Philistine oppression, and took the sanctuary's Ark for themselves. (Some modern textual scholars consider that the ''Song of Moses'', believed to be originally distinct from the surrounding text of Deuteronomy and not written by Moses, may in reality have been written in response to the theological implications of this disastrous defeat, possibly by Samuel himself.)

This was decades before the Israelites began to be ruled by a king. After 20 years of such oppression, Samuel, who had gained national prominence as a prophet, summoned the people to Mizpah (one of the highest hills in the land), where he organized them into an army, and led them against the Philistines. The Philistines, having marched to Mizpah to attack the newly amassed Israelite army, were soundly defeated and fled in terror. The retreating Philistines were slaughtered by the Israelites, which the Bible portrays positively. The text then states that Samuel erected a large stone at the battle site as a memorial, and there ensued a long period of peace thereafter.

Textual criticism

National prophet, local seer

Some authors see the biblical Samuel as combining descriptions of two distinct roles:

A ''seer'', based at Ramah, and seemingly known scarcely beyond the immediate neighbourhood of Ramah (Saul, for example, not having heard of him, with his servant informing him of his existence instead). In this role, Samuel is associated with the bands of musical ''ecstatic'' roaming prophets (''shouters'' - ''neb'im'') at Gibeah, Bethel, and Gilgal, and some traditional scholars have argued that Samuel was the founder of these groups. At Ramah, Samuel secretly anoints Saul, after having met him for the first time, while Saul was looking for his father's lost donkeys, and treated him to a meal.

A prophet, based at Shiloh, who went throughout the land, from place to place, with unwearied zeal, reproving, rebuking, and exhorting the people to repentance. In this role, Samuel acted as a (biblical) judge, publicly advising the nation, and also giving private advice to individuals. Eventually Samuel delegates this role to his sons, based at Beersheba, but they behave ''corruptly'' and so the people, facing invasion from the Ammonites, persuade Samuel to appoint a king. Samuel reluctantly does so, and anoints Saul in front of the entire nation, who had gathered to see him.

Textual scholars suggest that these two roles come from different sources, which later were spliced together to form the Book(s) of Samuel. The oldest is considered to be that which marks Samuel as the local ''seer'' of Ramah, who willingly anoints Saul as King in secret, while the latter is that which presents Samuel as a national figure, who begrudgingly anoints Saul as King in front of a national assembly. This later source is generally known as the ''republican source'', since here, and elsewhere, it denigrates the actions and role of the monarchy (particularly those of Saul) and favours religious figures, in contrast to the other main source – the ''monarchial source'' – which treats the monarchy favourably. Theoretically if we had the ''monarchial source'' we would see Saul appointed king by public acclamation, due to his military victories, and not by cleromancy involving Samuel. Another difference between the sources is that the ''republican source'' treats the ''shouters'' as somewhat independent from Samuel () rather than having been led by him (). The passage () in which Samuel is described as having exercised the functions of a (biblical) judge, during an annual circuit from Ramah to Bethel to Gilgal (the ''Gilgal'' between Ebal and Gerizim) to Mizpah and back to Ramah, is thought by textual scholars to be a redaction aimed at harmonizing the two portrayals of Samuel.

The Book(s) of Samuel variously describe Samuel as having carried out sacrifices at sanctuaries, and having constructed and sanctified altars. According to the Mitzvot only Aaronic priests and/or Levites (depending on the Mitzvah) were permitted to perform these actions, and simply being a nazarite or prophet was insufficient. The books of Samuel and Kings offer numerous examples where this rule is not followed by kings and prophets, but some textual scholars look elsewhere seeking a harmonization of the issues. In the Book of Chronicles, Samuel is described as a Levite, rectifying this situation; however textual scholars widely see the Book of Chronicles as an attempt to redact the Book(s) of Samuel and of Kings to conform to later religious sensibilities. Since many of the Mitzvot themselves are thought to postdate the Book(s) of Samuel (according to the documentary hypothesis), Chronicles is probably making its claim based on religious bias. The Levitical genealogy of is not historical, according to modern scholarship.

The Deuteronomistic Historians' Portrait of Samuel

The Deuteronomistic Historians, who redacted the Former Prophets (Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings), idealized Samuel as a figure who is larger than life like Joshua. Samuel is a priest even though he is not of the tribe of Levi from his childhood. Samuel is a judge who leads the military like in the Book of Judges and also who exercises judicial functions. In 1 Sam 12:6-17, the Deuteronomic Historians composed a speech of Samuel that puts him as the judge sent by God to save Israel. In 1 Samuel 9:6-20, Samuel is seen as a local “seer.” The Deuteronomistic Historians preserved this view of Samuel while contributing him as “the first of prophets to articulate the failure of Israel to live up to its covenant with God.” For the Deuteronomistic Historians, Samuel was extension of Moses and continuing Moses’ function as a prophet, judge, and a priest which made historical Samuel uncertain.

Samuel's retirement and death

In , just before his retirement, Samuel gathers the people to an assembly at Gilgal, and gives them a ''farewell speech'', in which he emphasises how prophets and judges were more important than kings, how kings should be held to account, and how the people should not fall into ''idol worship'', or worship of Asherah or of Baal; Samuel threatens that God would subject the people to foreign invaders should they disobey. This is seen by some people as a deuteronomic redaction; being that archaeologically sees that Asherah was still worshipped in Israelite households well into the 6th century. However, the Bible is clear in 1 Kings 11:5, 33, and 2 Kings 23:13 that the Israelites fell into Asherah worship later on.

Samuel then went into retirement, though he reappears briefly in the two accounts of why Saul's dynasty lost divine favour (parts of and ), essentially acting, according to scholars, as the narrator's mouthpiece. Apart from being the individual who anoints David as king, a role Samuel is abruptly summoned to take, he does not appear any further in the text until his own death at his hometown Ramah (, ), where he is buried (cf. , , and ). According to classical rabbinical sources, this was at the age of fifty-two.

Samuel's death, however, is not completely the end of his appearance in the narrative. In the passage concerning Saul's visit to the Witch of Endor, ascribed by textual scholars to the ''republican source'', Samuel is temporarily raised from the dead so that he can tell Saul his future. Many Christian interpretations of this event portray Samuel's appearance as being a deception from Satan, or even a demon in disguise. There are other interpretations which say that Saul and the witch having been frightened by his appearance, and Samuel as having been composed, classical rabbinical sources argue that Samuel was terrified by the ordeal, having expected to be appearing to face God's judgement, and had therefore brought Moses with him (to the land of the living) as a witness to his adherence to the mitzvot.

Perspectives on Samuel

Judaism

According to the Book of Jeremiah, and one of the Psalms (), Samuel had a high devotion to God. Classical Rabbinical literature adds that he was more than an equal to Moses, God speaking directly to Samuel, rather than Samuel having to attend the tabernacle to hear God. Samuel is also described by the Rabbis as having been extremely intelligent; he argued that it was legitimate for laymen to slaughter sacrifices, since the Halakha only insisted that the priests ''bring the blood'' (cf , Zebahim 32a). Eli, who was viewed negatively by many Classical Rabbis, is said to have reacted to this logic of Samuel by arguing that it was technically true, but Samuel should be put to death for making legal statements while Eli (his mentor) was present.

Samuel is also treated by the Classical Rabbis as a much more sympathetic character than he appears at face value in the Bible; his annual circuit is explained as being due to his wish to spare people the task of having to journey to him; Samuel is said to have been very rich, taking his entire household with him on the circuit so that he didn't need to impose himself on anyone's hospitality; when Saul fell out of God's favour, Samuel is described as having grieved copiously and having prematurely aged.

Christianity

For Evangelical Christians Samuel is considered to be a Prophet, Judge, and wise Leader of Israel, and treated as an example of fulfilled commitments to God. On the Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar, his feast day is August 20. He is commemorated as one of the Holy Forefathers in the Calendar of Saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church on July 30. In the Coptic Orthodox Church, the commemoration of the departure of Samuel the Prophet is celebrated on 9 Paoni.

Islam

Samuel is also a revered prophet and seer in the Islamic faith. The narrative of Samuel in Muslim literature focuses specifically on his birth and the anointing of Saul. Other elements from his narrative are in accordance with the narratives of other prophets of Israel, as exegesis recounts Samuel's preaching against idolatry. Although he is mentioned in the Qur'an, his name is not given but he is instead referred to as "a Prophet". According to Islamic history, the Israelites, after the time of the prophet Moses, wanted a king to rule over their country. Thus, God sent the prophet Samuel to anoint Saul as the first king for the Israelites. The Qur'an states:

The Qur'an goes onto state that a king was anointed by the prophet, whose name was ''Talut'' (Saul in the Hebrew Bible). However, it states that the Israelites mocked and reviled the newly appointed king, as he was not wealthy from birth. But, in sharp contrast to the Hebrew Bible, the Qur'an praises Saul greatly, and mentions that he was gifted with great spiritual and physical strength. In the Qur'anic account, Samuel prophesies to the children of Israel, telling them that the sign of Saul's kingship will be that the Ark of the Covenant will come back to the Israelites:

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See also

Biblical judges

Books of Samuel

Book of Samuel the Seer

List of names referring to El

Midrash Samuel

Tomb of Samuel

References

Category:Prophets of Islam Category:Judges of ancient Israel Category:Hebrew Bible people Category:Old Testament saints Category:People celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendar Category:11th-century BC biblical rulers Category:Books of Samuel Category:Muslim saints

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Coordinates	40°42′15.0″N73°55′4.0″N
alt	An African-American man is at the centre of the image looking to the left and smiling. He is wearing a hat, glasses, a white jacket and a black t-shirt that says "MoFo".
birth date	December 21, 1948
birth place	Washington, D.C., United States
occupation	Actor, producer
years active	1972–present
birth name	Samuel Leroy Jackson
spouse
website	www.samuelljackson.com }}

Samuel Leroy Jackson (born December 21, 1948) is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film ''Goodfellas'' before meeting his mentor, Morgan Freeman, and the director Spike Lee. After gaining critical acclaim for his role in ''Jungle Fever'' in 1991, he appeared in films such as ''Patriot Games'', ''Amos & Andrew'', ''True Romance'' and ''Jurassic Park''. In 1994, he was cast as Jules Winnfield in ''Pulp Fiction'', and his performance received several award nominations and critical acclaim.

Jackson has since appeared in over 100 films including ''Die Hard with a Vengeance'', ''The 51st State'', ''Jackie Brown'', ''Unbreakable'', ''The Incredibles'', ''Black Snake Moan'', ''Shaft'', ''Snakes on a Plane'', as well as the ''Star Wars'' prequel trilogy and small roles in Quentin Tarantino's ''Kill Bill Vol. 2'' and ''Inglourious Basterds''.

He played Nick Fury in ''Iron Man'', ''Iron Man 2'', ''Thor'', ''Captain America The First Avenger'' and '''' the first two of a nine-film commitment as the character for the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise. Jackson's many roles have made him one of the highest grossing actors at the box office. Jackson has won multiple awards throughout his career and has been portrayed in various forms of media including films, television series, and songs. In 1980, Jackson married LaTanya Richardson, with whom he has one daughter, Zoe.

Early life

Jackson was born in Washington, D.C. He grew up as an only child in Chattanooga, Tennessee with his mother, Elizabeth Jackson (née Montgomery), who was a factory worker and later a supplies buyer for a mental institution, and his maternal grandparents and extended family. His father lived away from the family, in Kansas City, Missouri, and later died from alcoholism; Jackson had only met his father twice during his life. Jackson attended several segregated schools and graduated from Riverside High School in Chattanooga. Between the third and twelfth grades, he played the French horn and trumpet in the school orchestra. Initially intent on pursuing a degree in marine biology, he attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. After joining a local acting group to earn extra points in a class, Jackson found an interest in acting and switched his major. Before graduating in 1972, he co-founded the "Just Us Theatre".

Civil Rights Movement involvement

After the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., Jackson attended the funeral in Atlanta as one of the ushers. Jackson then flew to Memphis to join an equal rights protest march. In a ''Parade'' interview Jackson revealed: "I was angry about the assassination, but I wasn’t shocked by it. I knew that change was going to take something different — not sit-ins, not peaceful coexistence." In 1969, Jackson and several other students held members of the Morehouse College board of trustees (including a nearby Martin Luther King, Sr.) hostage on the campus, demanding reform in the school's curriculum and governance. The college eventually agreed to change its policy, but Jackson was charged with and eventually convicted of unlawful confinement, a second-degree felony. Jackson was then suspended for two years for his criminal record and his actions (although he would later return to the college to earn his Bachelor of Arts in Drama in 1972). While he was expelled, Jackson was employed as a social worker in Los Angeles. Jackson decided to return to Atlanta, where he met with Stokely Carmichael, H. Rap Brown, and others active in the Black Power movement. Jackson revealed in the same ''Parade'' interview that he began to feel empowered with his involvement in the movement, especially when the group began buying guns. However, before Jackson could become involved with any significant armed confrontation, his mother sent him to Los Angeles after the FBI told her that he would die within a year if he remained with the Black Power movement.

Acting career

1970s–1980s

Jackson initially majored in marine biology at Morehouse College before switching to architecture. He later settled on drama after taking a public speaking class and appearing in a version of ''The Threepenny Opera''. After these initial roles, Jackson proceeded to move from Atlanta to New York City in 1976 and spent the next decade appearing in stage plays such as ''The Piano Lesson'' and ''Two Trains Running'', which both premiered at the Yale Repertory Theater. At this point in his early career, Jackson developed alcoholism and cocaine addictions, resulting in him being unable to proceed with the two plays as they continued to Broadway (actors Charles S. Dutton and Anthony Chisholm took his place). Throughout his early film career, mainly in minimal roles in films such as ''Coming to America'' and various television films, Jackson was mentored by Morgan Freeman. He also played a minor role in the 1990 Martin Scorsese film ''Goodfellas'' as real-life Mafia associate Stacks Edwards and also worked as a stand-in on ''The Cosby Show'' for Bill Cosby.

1990s

While completing these films, Jackson's drug addiction had worsened. After previously overdosing on heroin several times, Jackson gave up the drug in favor of cocaine. After seeing the effects of his addiction, his family entered him into a New York rehab clinic. When he successfully completed rehab, Jackson appeared in ''Jungle Fever'', as a crack cocaine addict, a role which Jackson called cathartic as he was recovering from his addiction. Jackson commented on the transition, "It was a funny kind of thing. By the time I was out of rehab, about a week or so later I was on set and we were ready to start shooting." The film was so acclaimed that the 1991 Cannes Film Festival created a special "Supporting Actor" award just for him. After this role, Jackson became involved with multiple films, including the comedy ''Strictly Business'', dramas ''Juice'' and ''Patriot Games'', and then moved on to two other comedies: ''National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1'' (his first starring role) and ''Amos & Andrew''. Jackson then worked with director Steven Spielberg, appearing in ''Jurassic Park''.

After a turn as the criminal Big Don in the 1993 Tarantino-penned ''True Romance'' directed by Tony Scott, Tarantino contacted Jackson for the role of Jules Winnfield in ''Pulp Fiction''. Jackson was surprised to learn that the part had been specifically written for him, "To know that somebody had written something like Jules for me. I was overwhelmed, thankful, arrogant — this whole combination of things that you could be, knowing that somebody's going to give you an opportunity like that." Although ''Pulp Fiction'' was Jackson's thirtieth film, the role made him internationally recognized and he received praise from critics. In a review by ''Entertainment Weekly'', his role was commended: "As superb as Travolta, Willis, and Keitel are, the actor who reigns over ''Pulp Fiction'' is Samuel L. Jackson. He just about lights fires with his gremlin eyes and he transforms his speeches into hypnotic bebop soliloquies." For the Academy Awards, Miramax Films pushed for the supporting actor nomination for Jackson (although he had about the same screen time as Travolta, who was nominated for best actor). For his performance, Jackson received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. In addition, Jackson received a Golden Globe nomination and a BAFTA Best Supporting Actor award win.

After ''Pulp Fiction'', Jackson received multiple scripts to play his next role: "I could easily have made a career out of playing Jules over the years. Everybody's always sending me the script they think is the new ''Pulp Fiction''." With a succession of poor-performing films such as ''Kiss of Death'', ''The Great White Hype'', and ''Losing Isaiah'', Jackson began to receive poor reviews from critics who had praised his performance in ''Pulp Fiction''. This ended with his involvement in the two successful box office films ''A Time To Kill'', where he depicted a father who is put on trial for killing two men who raped his daughter, and ''Die Hard with a Vengeance'', starring alongside Bruce Willis in the third installment of the ''Die Hard'' series. For ''A Time to Kill'', Jackson earned a NAACP Image for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture and a Golden Globe nomination for a Best Supporting Actor.

Quickly becoming a box office star, Jackson continued with three starring roles in 1997. In ''187'' he played a dedicated teacher striving to leave an impact on his students. He received an Independent Spirit award for Best First Feature alongside first-time writer/director Kasi Lemmons in the drama ''Eve's Bayou'', for which he also served as executive producer. He joined up again with director Quentin Tarantino and received a Berlin Film Festival Silver Bear for Best Actor and a fourth Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of arms merchant Ordell Robbie in ''Jackie Brown''. In 1998, he worked with other established actors such as Sharon Stone and Dustin Hoffman in ''Sphere'' and Kevin Spacey in ''The Negotiator'', playing a hostage negotiator who resorts to taking hostages himself when he is falsely accused of murder and embezzlement. In 1999, Jackson starred in the horror film ''Deep Blue Sea'', and as Jedi Master Mace Windu in George Lucas' ''Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace''. In an interview, Jackson claimed that he did not have a chance to read the script for the film and did not learn he was playing the character Mace Windu until he was fitted for his costume (he later said that he was eager to accept any role, just for the chance to be a part of the ''Star Wars'' saga).

2000s

Film roles

On June 13, 2000, Jackson was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame which can be found at 7018 Hollywood Blvd. He began the next decade in his film career as a Marine colonel put on trial in ''Rules of Engagement'', co-starred with Bruce Willis for a third time in the supernatural thriller ''Unbreakable'', and starred in the 2000 remake of the 1971 film ''Shaft''. Jackson's sole film in 2001 was ''The Caveman's Valentine'', where he played a homeless musician in a murder thriller. The film was directed by Kasi Lemmons, who previously worked with Jackson in ''Eve's Bayou''. In 2002, he played a recovering alcoholic attempting to keep custody of his kids while fighting a battle of wits with Ben Affleck's character in ''Changing Lanes''. He returned for ''Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones'', seeing his minor supporting role develop into a major character. Mace Windu's purple lightsaber in the film was the result of Jackson's suggestion; he wanted to be sure that his character would stand out in a crowded battle scene. Jackson then acted as a NSA agent alongside Vin Diesel in ''xXx'' and a kilt-wearing drug dealer in ''The 51st State''. In 2003, Jackson again worked with John Travolta in ''Basic'' and then as a police sergeant alongside Colin Farrell in the television show remake ''S.W.A.T.'' A song within the soundtrack was named after him, entitled ''Sammy L. Jackson'' by Hot Action Cop. Jackson also appeared in HBO's documentary Unchained Memories, as a narrator along many other stars like Angela Bassett and Whoopi Goldberg. He uses terminology such as paddy rollers (which can be seen on the slave patrol page) when reading his narration.

According to reviews gathered by Rotten Tomatoes, in 2004 Jackson starred in both his lowest and highest ranked films in his career. In the thriller ''Twisted'', Jackson played a mentor to Ashley Judd. The film garnered a 2% approval rating on the website, with reviewers calling his performance "lackluster" and "wasted". He then lent his voice to the computer-animated film ''The Incredibles'' as the superhero Frozone. The film received a 97% approval rating, and Jackson's performance earned him an Annie Award nomination for Best Voice Acting. He then went on to do a cameo in another Quentin Tarantino film, ''Kill Bill, Vol. 2''.

In 2005, he began with the sports drama, ''Coach Carter'', where he played a coach (based on the actual coach Ken Carter) dedicated to teaching his players that education is more important than basketball. Although the film received mixed reviews, Jackson's performance was praised despite the film's storyline. Bob Townsend of the ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' commended Jackson's performance, "He takes what could have been a cardboard cliche role and puts flesh on it with his flamboyant intelligence." Jackson also returned for two sequels: ''XXX: State of the Union'', this time commanding Ice Cube, and the final ''Star Wars'' prequel film, ''Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith''. His last film for 2005 was ''The Man'' alongside comedian Eugene Levy. On November 4, 2005, he was presented with the Hawaii International Film Festival Achievement in Acting Award.

On January 30, 2006, Jackson was honored with a hand and footprint ceremony at Grauman's Chinese Theater; he is the seventh African American and 191st actor to be recognized in this manner. He next starred opposite actress Julianne Moore in the box office bomb ''Freedomland'', where he depicted a police detective attempting to help a mother find her abducted child while quelling a citywide race riot. Jackson's second film of the year, ''Snakes on a Plane'', gained cult film status months before it was released based on its title and cast. Jackson's decision to star in the film was solely based on the title. To build anticipation for the film, he also cameoed in the 2006 music video "Snakes on a Plane (Bring It)" by Cobra Starship. On December 2, 2006, Jackson won the German Bambi Award for International Film, based on his many film contributions. In December 2006, Jackson starred in ''Home of the Brave'', as a doctor returning home from the Iraq War.

On January 30, 2007, Jackson was featured as narrator in Bob Saget's direct-to-DVD ''Farce of the Penguins''. The film was a spoof of the box office success ''March of the Penguins'' (which was narrated by Morgan Freeman). Also in 2007, he portrayed a blues player who imprisons a young woman (Christina Ricci) addicted to sex in ''Black Snake Moan'', and the horror film ''1408'', an adaptation of the Stephen King short story. In 2008, Jackson reprised his role of Mace Windu in the CGI film, ''Star Wars: The Clone Wars'', followed by ''Lakeview Terrace'' where he played a racist cop who terrorizes an interracial couple. In November of the same year, he starred along with Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes (who both died prior to the film's release) in ''Soul Men''. In 2008, he portrayed the villain in ''The Spirit'', which was poorly received by critics and the box office. In 2009, he again worked with Quentin Tarantino when he narrated several scenes in the World War II film, ''Inglourious Basterds''. In 2010, he starred in the drama ''Mother and Child'' and portrayed an interrogator who attempts to locate several nuclear weapons in the direct-to-video film ''Unthinkable''. Alongside Dwayne Johnson, Jackson again portrayed a police officer in the opening scenes of the comedy ''The Other Guys''. He also co-starred with Tommy Lee Jones for a film adaptation of ''The Sunset Limited''.

Throughout Jackson's career, he has appeared in many films alongside mainstream rappers. These include Tupac Shakur (''Juice''), Queen Latifah (''Juice''/''Sphere''), Method Man (''One Eight Seven''), LL Cool J (''Deep Blue Sea''/''S.W.A.T.''), Busta Rhymes (''Shaft''), Eve (''xXx''), Ice Cube (''xXx: State of the Union''), Xzibit (''xXx: State of the Union''), David Banner (''Black Snake Moan''), and 50 Cent (''Home of the Brave''). Additionally, Jackson has appeared in four films with actor Bruce Willis (National Lampoon's ''Loaded Weapon 1'', ''Pulp Fiction'', ''Die Hard with a Vengeance'', and ''Unbreakable'') and the actors were slated to work together in ''Black Water Transit'' before both dropped out.

Television and other roles

In addition to films, Jackson also appeared in several television shows, a video game, music videos, as well as audiobooks. Jackson had a small part in the Public Enemy music video for "911 Is a Joke". Jackson voiced several television show characters including the lead role in the anime series, ''Afro Samurai'', in addition to a recurring part as the voice of Gin Rummy in several episodes of the animated series ''The Boondocks''. He guest-starred as himself in an episode of the BBC/HBO sitcom ''Extras''. He voiced the main antagonist, Officer Frank Tenpenny, in the video game ''Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas''. Jackson also hosted a variety of awards shows. Thus far, he has hosted the MTV Movie Awards (1998), the ESPYs (1999, 2001, 2002, and 2009), and the Spike TV Video Game Awards (2005, 2006, and 2007). In November 2006, he provided the voice of God for ''The Bible Experience'', the New Testament audiobook version of the Bible. He was given the lead role because producers believed his deep, authoritative voice would best fit the role. He further expanded his audio book legacy by then reading the Audible.com production of the number one Amazon.com best seller ''Go the Fuck to Sleep''. For the Atlanta Falcons 2010 season, Samuel L. Jackson portrayed Rev. Sultan in the Falcons "Rise Up" commercial to help improve tickets sales.

Upcoming films

Jackson has several upcoming film projects between 2010 and 2012. In 2001, Jackson gave his consent for Marvel Comics to design their "Ultimate" version of the character Nick Fury after his likeness. In the 2008 film ''Iron Man'', he made a cameo as the character in a post-credit scene. In February 2009, Jackson signed on to a nine-picture deal with Marvel which would see him appear as the character in ''Iron Man 2'', ''Thor'', ''Captain America: The First Avenger'', and ''The Avengers'' as well as any other sequels they would produce.

He will appear in Quentin Tarantino's upcoming film, ''Django Unchained''. Jackson is involved two other projects, titled ''The Samaritan'' and ''Arena''. He is also set to produce a live-action movie of ''Afro Samurai'', and is assuming the role of Sho'nuff in a remake of ''The Last Dragon''.

Box office performance

Jackson has said that he chooses roles that are "exciting to watch" and have an "interesting character inside of a story", and that in his roles he wanted to "do things [he hasn't] done, things [he] saw as a kid and wanted to do and now [has] an opportunity to do". Throughout the 1990s, A.C. Neilson E.C.I., a box office tracking company, determined that Jackson appeared in more films than any other actor which grossing $1.7 billion domestically. For all the films in his career, where he is featured as a leading actor or supporting co-star, his films have grossed a total of $2.81 to $4.91 billion at the North American box office, placing him as the seventh (as strictly lead) or the second highest-grossing movie star (counting supporting roles) of all time; behind only that of voice actor Frank Welker. In August 2007, Jackson stated in an interview that he wanted to play a small role in George Lucas's ''Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'' so that he could keep his box office position over Harrison Ford. The 2009 edition of ''The Guinness World Records'', which uses a different calculation to determine film grosses, stated that Jackson is the world's highest grossing actor, having earned $7.42 billion in 68 films.

Personal life

Jackson married actress LaTanya Richardson in 1980, whom he met while attending Morehouse College. In 2009, the couple started their own charitable organization to help support education. The couple, who live in Los Angeles, California, have a daughter, Zoe, born in 1982. She works as a sports channel producer.

Jackson has revealed in an interview that he sees every one of his movies in theaters with paying customers claiming that "Even during my theater years, I wished I could watch the plays I was in — while I was in them! I dig watching myself work." He also enjoys collecting the action figures of the characters he portrays in his films, including Jules Winnfield, Shaft, Mace Windu, and Frozone. He is a comic book and anime fan.

Jackson is bald, but enjoys wearing unusual wigs in his films. Jackson has reflected on his decision to go bald: "I keep ending up on those bald is beautiful lists. It's cool. You know, when I started losing my hair it was during the era when everybody had lots of hair. ... All of a sudden I felt this big hole in the middle of my afro, I couldn't face having a comb over so I had to quickly figure what the haircut for me was." His first bald role was in ''The Great White Hype''. Jackson usually gets to pick his own hairstyles for each character he portrays. Although he did poke fun at his baldness the first time he appeared bald on ''The Tonight Show'', explaining that he had to shave his head for one role, but then he kept receiving more and more roles afterward, and had to keep shaving his head so wigs could be made for him. Laughingly, he ended the tale by lamenting to Jay Leno, "The only way I'm gonna have time to grow my hair back, is if I'm not workin'!".

Jackson enjoys playing golf, a game he has been reported to have become very proficient at. Jackson has a clause in his film contracts that allows him to play golf during production. He has played in the Gary Player Invitational charity golf tournament to assist golf icon Gary Player raise funds for needy children in South Africa. He stated that the golf course is the only place where he "can go dressed as a pimp and fit in perfectly". He also became a Liverpool F.C. fan after filming ''The 51st State'' in Liverpool. Jackson, a known lover of Ireland, also supports a Dublin based football team Bohemian F.C.

Jackson campaigned during the 2008 Democratic Primary for then Illinois Senator Barack Obama in Texarkana, Texas. He said "Barack Obama represents everything I was told I could be growing up. I am a child of segregation. When I grew up and people told me I could be president, I knew it was a lie. But now we have a representative... the American Dream is a reality. Anyone can grow up to be a president."

Filmography

References

Bibliography

Further reading

Dils, Tracey E. ''Samuel L. Jackson (Black Americans of Achievement)''. Chelsea House Publications, 1999. ISBN 0-7910-5282-6.

External links

Official site of Samuel L. Jackson

Extensive biography of Samuel L. Jackson

Category:1948 births Category:Actors from Tennessee Category:Actors from Washington, D.C. Category:African American actors Category:African American film actors Category:African Americans' rights activists Category:African American television actors Category:American voice actors Category:BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:Independent Spirit Award winners Category:Living people Category:Morehouse College alumni Category:People from Chattanooga, Tennessee Category:People from Washington, D.C. Category:People self-identifying as substance abusers Category:People self-identifying as alcoholics

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Coordinates	40°42′15.0″N73°55′4.0″N
Name	Samuel Barber
Background	non_performing_personnel
Birth name	Samuel Osborne Barber II
Born	March 09, 1910West Chester, Pennsylvania, United States
Death date	January 23, 1981
Occupation	composer
Years active	}}

Samuel Osborne Barber II (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer of orchestral, opera, choral, and piano music. His ''Adagio for Strings'' is his most popular composition and widely considered a masterpiece of modern classical music. He was twice awarded the Pulitzer Prize for music, for his opera ''Vanessa'' and his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra. His ''Knoxville: Summer of 1915'', a work for soprano and orchestra, was an acclaimed setting of prose by James Agee.

Biography

Early years

Barber was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania, the son of Marguerite McLeod (née Beatty) and Samuel Le Roy Barber. At a very early age, Barber became profoundly interested in music, and it was apparent that he had great musical talent and ability. At the age of nine he wrote to his mother:

He wrote his first musical at the early age of 7 and attempted to write his first opera at the age of 10. He was an organist at the age of 12. When he was 14, he entered the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, where he studied piano, composition, and voice.

Barber was born into a comfortable, educated, social, and distinguished Irish-American family. His father was a physician, and his mother was a pianist. His aunt, Louise Homer, was a leading contralto at the Metropolitan Opera and his uncle, Sidney Homer, was a composer of American art songs. Louise Homer is known to have influenced Barber's interest in voice. Through his aunt, Barber had access to many great singers and songs.

Barber began composing seriously in his late teenage years. Around the same time, he met fellow Curtis schoolmate Gian Carlo Menotti, who became his partner in life as well as in their shared profession. At the Curtis Institute, Barber was a triple prodigy in composition, voice, and piano. He soon became a favorite of the conservatory's founder, Mary Louise Curtis Bok. It was through Mrs. Bok that Barber was introduced to his lifelong publisher, the Schirmer family. At the age of 18, Barber won the Joseph H. Bearns Prize from Columbia University for his Violin Sonata (now lost or destroyed by the composer).

Middle years

From his early to late twenties, Barber wrote a flurry of successful compositions, launching him into the spotlight of the classical music world. Many of his compositions were commissioned or first performed by such famous artists as Vladimir Horowitz, Eleanor Steber, Raya Garbousova, John Browning, Leontyne Price, Pierre Bernac, Francis Poulenc, and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. When Barber was 28, his ''Adagio for Strings'' was performed by the NBC Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Arturo Toscanini in 1938, along with his first ''Essay for Orchestra''. The Adagio had been arranged from the slow movement of Barber's String Quartet, Op. 11. Toscanini had only rarely performed music by American composers before (an exception was Howard Hanson's Second Symphony, which he conducted in 1933). At the end of the first rehearsal of the piece, Toscanini remarked, "Semplice e bella" (simple and beautiful).

Barber served in the Army Air Corps in World War II, where he was commissioned to write his Second Symphony, a work he later suppressed. (It was released in a "Vox" recording by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andrew Schenck). Composed in 1943, the symphony was originally titled ''Symphony Dedicated to the Air Forces'' and was premiered in early 1944 by Serge Koussevitsky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Barber revised the symphony in 1947, which was published by G. Schirmer, and recorded the following year by the New Symphony Orchestra of London conducted by the composer, but Barber subsequently destroyed the score in 1964. It was reconstructed from the instrumental parts. According to another source, however, it was precisely the parts to the symphony that Barber had torn up. Hans Heinsheimer was an eyewitness, and reported that he accompanied Barber to the publisher's office where they collected all the music from the library and Barber "tore up all these beautifully and expensively copied materials with his own hands" Doubt has been cast on this story, however, on grounds that Heinsheimer, as an executive at G. Schirmer, would have allowed Barber into the Schirmer offices to watch him "rip apart the music that his company had invested money in publishing".

Barber won the Pulitzer Prize twice: in 1958 for his first opera ''Vanessa,'' and in 1963 for his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra.

Later years

Barber spent many years in isolation after the harsh rejection of his third opera ''Antony and Cleopatra''. He suffered from depression, and was also beset by alcoholism. The opera was written for and premiered at the opening of the new Metropolitan Opera House on September 16, 1966. After this setback, Barber continued to write music until he was almost 70 years old. Barber's music in his later years would be lauded as reflective and contemplative, but without the morbidity or unhappiness of other composers who knew they had a limited time to live. The ''Third Essay for Orchestra'' (1978) was his last major work.

Barber died of cancer in 1981 in New York City at the age of 70. He was buried in Oaklands Cemetery in his hometown of West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Achievements and awards

Barber was the recipient of numerous awards and prizes including the Rome Prize (the American version of the Prix de Rome), two Pulitzers, and election to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1961.

Barber was initiated, as a full collegiate member, into the Zeta Iota chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia music fraternity at Howard University in 1952.

In addition to composing, Barber was active in organizations that sought to help musicians and music. He was president of the International Music Council of UNESCO, where he did much to bring into focus and ameliorate the conditions of international musical problems. One of the first American composers to visit Russia (which was then a constituent republic of the Soviet Union), Barber was influential also in the successful campaign of composers against ASCAP, helping composers increase the share of royalties they receive from their compositions.

Music

Orchestral music

Barber played and studied the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and was an adherent of Johannes Brahms, from whom he learned how to compress profound emotions into small modules of highly charged musical expression (Cello Sonata, 1932).

In 1933, after reading the poem "Prometheus Unbound" by Percy Bysshe Shelley, Barber composed the tone poem ''Music for a Scene from Shelley'', Op. 7. In 1935, when the work was premiered at Carnegie Hall, it was the first time the composer heard one of his orchestral works performed publicly.

Barber's compositional style has been lauded for its musical logic, sense of architectural design, effortless melodic gift, and direct emotional appeal. This was evident in the Overture to ''The School for Scandal'' (1931) and ''Music for a Scene from Shelley'' (1933). These were characteristics of his music throughout his lifetime.

Through the success of his Overture to ''The School for Scandal'' (1931), ''Music for a Scene from Shelley'' (1933), ''Adagio for Strings'' (1938); (First) ''Symphony in One Movement'' (1936), (First) ''Essay for Orchestra'' (1937) and Violin Concerto (1939), Barber garnered performances by the world's leading conductors – Eugene Ormandy, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Bruno Walter, Charles Münch, George Szell, Artur Rodziński, Leopold Stokowski, and Thomas Schippers.

His compositions later included polytonality (Second Symphony, 1944); atonality (''Medea'', 1946, ''Prayers of Kierkegaard'', 1954); Twelve-tone technique (''Nocturne'', 1959 and the Piano Sonata, 1949); and jazz (''Excursions'', 1944; and ''A Hand of Bridge'', 1959).

Among his finest works are his four concertos, one each for Violin (1939), Cello (1945) and Piano (1962), and also the neoclassical ''Capricorn Concerto'' for flute, oboe, trumpet and string orchestra. All of these works are rewarding for the soloists and public alike, as all contain both highly virtuosic and beautiful writing, often simultaneously. The latter three have been unfairly neglected until recent years, when there has been a reawakening of interest in the expressive possibilities of these masterpieces.

Barber's final opus was the ''Canzonetta'' for oboe and string orchestra (1979/1981).

Piano

The four piano "bagatelles" ''Excursions'', Op. 20, (1942–44), was his first and only venture into Americana music. Its elements of boogie-woogie, blues, theme and variations on a cowboy song, and hoedown are not typical of Barber's generally more classical style. In 1949, Barber wrote his keyboard masterpiece Piano Sonata, which has maintained a prominent position in the concert repertoire since its premiere. The ''Nocturne for Piano (Homage to John Field),'' Op. 33, is another respected piece which he composed for the instrument.

Opera

Barber's life partner Gian Carlo Menotti, whom he had met at Curtis, supplied the libretto (text) for Barber's opera, ''Vanessa.'' Using his vocal training, in 1956 Barber played and sang the score to the Metropolitan Opera's General Manager, Rudolf Bing, who accepted the work. It premiered in January 1958. The title role was written for Sena Jurinac but she cancelled six weeks before the opening, to be replaced by Eleanor Steber, with whom the role has become closely identified. ''Vanessa'' won the 1958 Pulitzer Prize and gained acclaim as the first American grand opera.

Menotti also contributed the libretto for Barber's chamber opera ''A Hand of Bridge''. Barber's ''Antony and Cleopatra'' was commissioned to open the new Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center in 1966. The elaborate production designed by Franco Zeffirelli was plagued with technical disasters; it also overwhelmed and obscured Barber's music, which most critics derided as uncharacteristically weak and unoriginal. The critical rejection of music that Barber considered to be among his best sent him into a deep depression. In recent years, a revised version of ''Antony and Cleopatra'', for which Menotti provided collaborative assistance, has enjoyed some success.

Vocal

Barber's background, deeply rooted in singing (including studies with Emilio de Gogorza), his love of poetry, and his intimate knowledge and appreciation of the human voice, inspired his vocal writing. Barber's most famous vocal compositions, ''Knoxville: Summer of 1915'' (to words by James Agee) and ''Dover Beach'' (to the poem by Matthew Arnold), were greatly successful. Their critical acclaim has made a powerful case for Barber as one of the twentieth century's most accomplished composers for the voice.

In honor of Barber's influence on American music, on October 19, 1974, he was awarded the prestigious University of Pennsylvania Glee Club Award of Merit. This award was established in 1964 "to bring a declaration of appreciation to an individual each year who has made a significant contribution to the world of music and helped to create a climate in which our talents may find valid expression."

In September 1992, soprano Cheryl Studer, baritone Thomas Hampson, the preeminent Samuel Barber pianist John Browning and the Emerson String Quartet recorded the complete songs of Samuel Barber (with the exception of ''Knoxville: Summer of 1915'') at the Brahms-Saal of the famous Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. The Deutsche Grammophon (catalogue 435 867–2) set has become a classic of American song on record.

Violin

In 1939 Philadelphia industrialist Samuel Simeon Fels commissioned Barber to write a violin concerto for Fels' ward, Iso Briselli, a graduate from the Curtis Institute of Music the same year as Barber, 1934. The Barber biographies written by Nathan Broder (1954) and Barbara B. Heyman (1992) discuss the genesis of the concerto during the period of the violin concerto's commission and subsequent year leading up to the first performance. Heyman interviewed Briselli and others familiar with the history in her publication. In late 2010, previously unpublished letters written by Fels, Barber, and Albert Meiff (Briselli's violin coach in that period) from the Samuel Simeon Fels Papers archived at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania became available to the public.

Notable compositions

For a full list of works with opus number and some without, see List of compositions by Samuel Barber

''Dover Beach'' (Medium Voice and String Quartet) (Op. 3, 1931)

''The School for Scandal'' (Overture) (Op. 5, 1931)

Cello Sonata (Op. 6, 1932)

''Music for a Scene from Shelley'' (Op. 7, 1933)

(First) ''Symphony in One Movement'' (Op. 9, 1936)

''Adagio for Strings'' (arr. of String Quartet, mov’t 2) (Op. 11, 1938)

''Essay for Orchestra'' (Op. 12, 1937)

Violin Concerto (Op. 14, 1939)

''Reincarnations'' for mixed chorus, (Op. 16, 1939–1940); words by Antoine Ó Raifteiri in translation by James Stephens

''Second Essay for Orchestra'' (Op. 17, 1942)

''Excursions'' (Op. 20, 1942–44)

''Capricorn Concerto'' (Op. 21, 1944)

Cello Concerto (Op. 22, 1945)

''Medea (Ballet)'' (Op. 23, 1946)

''Knoxville: Summer of 1915'' (Soprano & Orchestra) (Op. 24, 1948)

Sonata for Piano (Op. 26, 1949)

''Hermit Songs'' (Op. 29, 1953)

''Prayers of Kierkegaard'' (Soprano, Choir & Orchestra) (Op. 30, 1954)

''Summer Music for Wind Quintet'' (Op. 31, 1956)

''Vanessa'' (opera) (Op. 32, 1957)

''A Hand of Bridge'' (Chamber opera) (Op. 35, 1959)

''Toccata Festiva'' (Organ and Orchestra) (Op. 36, 1960)

Piano Concerto (Op. 38, 1962)

''Antony and Cleopatra'' (Op. 40, opera, 1966, rev. 1974)

Popular culture

''Adagio for Strings'' is a string-orchestra version of the slow movement from Barber's only string quartet. It was broadcast as part of a radio tribute following the death of US president, Franklin D. Roosevelt and at the funeral of Princess Grace of Monaco. It was used by French film composer, Georges Delerue, as part of his score, in the opening and various other passages of ''Platoon'' (1986), a film directed by Oliver Stone about the Vietnam War and in the film, ''Lorenzo's Oil'', starring Nick Nolte and Susan Sarandon. It is the soundtrack of the movie ''The Elephant Man'' (1980) directed by David Lynch. During its depiction of the final moments of Merrick's (The Elephant Man) life, the film uses "Adagio for Strings". It has also been remixed quite popularly by electronic dance artist DJ Tiesto and a choral version served as the theme to the real-time strategy game ''Homeworld''.

Notes

Reference and further reading

Broder, Nathan. 1954. ''Samuel Barber''. New York: G. Schirmer. Reprinted Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1985. ISBN 0313249849.

Heinsheimer, Hans W. 1968. "The Composing Composer: Samuel Barber". ''ASCAP Today'' 2:7.

Henahan, Donal. 1975. "Juilliard Rehabilitating 'Antony and Cleopatra'". ''New York Times'' (February 8).

Heyman, Barbara B. 1992. ''Samuel Barber: The Composer and His Music''. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195090581.

Károlyi, Ottó. 1996. ''Modern American Music: From Charles Ives to the Minimalists''. London: Cygnus Arts; Madison [N.J.]: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. ISBN 9780838637258 (cloth); ISBN 9781900541008 (pbk).

Lee, Douglas A. 2002. ''Masterworks of 20th-Century Music: The Modern Repertory Of The Symphony Orchestra''. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-93846-5

Mostovoy, Marc. 2010. "Iso Briselli, Samuel Barber, and thbe Violin Concerto, op. 14: Facts and Fiction". Iso Briselli website. (Accessed December 6, 2010)

Schenck, Andrew. 1988. Booklet notes. ''Samuel Barber: Symphony No. 2; Music for a Scene from Shelley; Overture to The School for Scandal; First Essay; Adagio for Strings''. The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Schenck, cond. CD recording. Stradivari Classics SCD 8012. Hackensack, NJ: Special Music Company.

Simmons, Walter. 2004. ''Voices in the Wilderness: Six American Neo-Romantic Composers''. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0810848848. Paperback reprint edition, Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2006. ISBN 0-8108-5728-6.

Smith, Patricia Juliana. 2002. "Barber, Samuel". ''glbtq: An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Culture'', edited by Claude J. Summers. Chicago: glbtq, Inc.

Staubrand, Jens. 2009. ''Kierkegaard International Bibliography: Music Works and Plays: Appendix: About The Seducers Diary and the Illness and Death of Søren Kierkegaard'', new edition. Copenhagen: Eget Forlag; i kommission hos Forlaget Underskoven. ISBN 978 87 92259 91 2.

Valente, Erasmo. 1983. "A Spoleto rinasce Cleopatra". ''L’unità'' (June 27).

Wade, Graham. 2003. ''A Concise Guide to Understanding Music''. Pacific, MO: Mel Bay Publications. ISBN 9780786649815.

Warrack, John Hamilton, and Ewan West. 1992. ''The Oxford Dictionary of Opera''. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-869164-5

Wright, Jeffrey Marsh II. 2010. "The Enlisted Composer: Samuel Barber's Career 1942–1945". PhD diss. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

External links

Biography

Heyman, Barbara B (1992). Samuel Barber: The Composer and His Music. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195090586

Wittke, Paul. Samuel Barber. G. Schirmer Inc.

Homepage of ''Capricorn'', the French Samuel Barber Society. (In English and French)

Article "Barber, A Composer Between Two Worlds", by the Capricorn Society on American Center France

Samuel Osborne Barber. IHAS. PBS.

Smith, Patricia. Barber, Samuel. glbtq.com

"Samuel Barber", ''Fyne Times''

Other

''Frédéric Chopin and Samuel Barber'' – ArtsEditor.com opinion article, 2010.

Audio and Video

Anne Akiko Meyers performs the Barber Violin Concerto

Cheryl Studer sings Samuel Barber in recital, November 27, 2003

Art of the States: Samuel Barber

Video of Erika's aria from ''Vanessa'', "Must the Winter Come So Soon?", sung by Mary Gayle Greene

In the BBC Discovering Music: Listening Library

Category:20th-century classical composers Category:American classical composers Category:Opera composers Category:Pulitzer Prize for Music winners Category:Guggenheim Fellows Category:LGBT musicians from the United States Category:1910 births Category:1981 deaths Category:Grammy Award winners Category:LGBT composers Category:Curtis Institute of Music alumni Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

an:Samuel Barber bg:Самюъл Барбър ca:Samuel Barber cs:Samuel Barber da:Samuel Barber de:Samuel Barber et:Samuel Barber es:Samuel Barber eu:Samuel Barber fa:ساموئل باربر fr:Samuel Barber fy:Samuel Barber hr:Samuel Barber id:Samuel Barber it:Samuel Barber he:סמואל בארבר ka:სემიუელ ბარბერი la:Samuel Barber nl:Samuel Barber ja:サミュエル・バーバー no:Samuel Barber pl:Samuel Barber pt:Samuel Barber ru:Барбер, Сэмюэл sl:Samuel Barber sh:Samuel Barber fi:Samuel Barber sv:Samuel Barber tl:Samuel Barber tr:Samuel Barber uk:Самюел Барбер zh:塞缪尔·巴伯

Aline Barros (born October 7, 1976) is a Brazilian Christian singer. She began singing as a child. Barros has participated in programs on Brazilian television with Xuxa, Hebe Camargo, Luciana Gimenez, Gilbert Barros, Raul Gil, Eliana, Carla Perez, and others.

Biography

Born in Rio de Janeiro on October 7, 1976, Aline Kistenmacker Barros was recognized by the Brazilian secular media for her beautiful voice, and invited to participate as a guest on several television programs. Aline Barros is considered one of the most well-known and important singers in the field of Brazilian segment gospel. Barros is most well-known in Latin America. She is married to Gilmar Santos, a former soccer player. They have a son named Nicolas Giorgi Barros, born in 2005. She sang with Integrity Music singers Don Moen and Paul Wilbur.

References

External links

alnebarros.com.br

alinebarros.art.br

louvorsemfonteiras.org.br

Transcription of the interview with Aline Barros

Category:1976 births Category:Living people Category:Brazilian evangelicals Category:Brazilian female singers Category:Brazilian singers Category:Latin Grammy Award winners

es:Aline Barros pt:Aline Barros

Coordinates	40°42′15.0″N73°55′4.0″N
pseudonym	Andrew Belis
birth name	Samuel Barclay Beckett
birth date	April 13, 1906
birth place	Foxrock, Dublin, Ireland
death date	December 22, 1989
death place	Paris, France
occupation	Novelist, playwright, poet, theatre director, essayist
nationality	Irish
genre	Drama, fiction, poetry, screenplays
movement	Modernism
languages	English, French
influences	Dante Alighieri, Arnold Geulincx, James Joyce, Marcel Proust, Jean Racine, Arthur Schopenhauer, J.M Synge, W.B. Yeats, Seán O'Casey, Oscar Wilde, Marquis de Sade, René Descartes, Laurence Sterne, Democritus, John Milton, Immanuel Kant, Bishop Berkeley
influenced	Theodor W. Adorno, Edward Albee, Paul Auster, Alain Badiou, John Banville, Gilles Deleuze, Donald Barthelme, William S. Burroughs, Italo Calvino, Marina Carr, J. M. Coetzee, Don DeLillo, Philip K. Dick, Michel Foucault, Václav Havel, Eugene Ionesco, B. S. Johnson, Sarah Kane, Derek Mahon, David Mamet, Bruce Nauman, Jim Norton, Edna O'Brien, Jamie O'Neill, Damian Pettigrew, Harold Pinter, Alberto Ruy-Sánchez, Sam Shepard, Tom Stoppard, Cormac McCarthy
notableworks	''Murphy'' (1938) ''Molloy'' (1951) ''Malone Dies'' (1951) ''The Unnamable'' (1953) ''Waiting for Godot'' (1953) ''Watt'' (1953) ''Endgame'' (1957) ''Krapp's Last Tape'' (1958) ''How It Is'' (1961)
awards	}}

Samuel Barclay Beckett (13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human culture, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.

Beckett is widely regarded as among the most influential writers of the 20th century. Strongly influenced by James Joyce, he is considered one of the last modernists. As an inspiration to many later writers, he is also sometimes considered one of the first postmodernists. He is one of the key writers in what Martin Esslin called the "Theatre of the Absurd". His work became increasingly minimalist in his later career.

Beckett was awarded the 1969 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his writing, which—in new forms for the novel and drama—in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation". He was elected Saoi of Aosdána in 1984.

Life and career

Early life and education

The Becketts were members of the Church of Ireland. The family home, Cooldrinagh in the Dublin suburb of Foxrock, was a large house and garden complete with tennis court built in 1903 by Samuel's father William. The house and garden, together with the surrounding countryside where he often went walking with his father, the nearby Leopardstown Racecourse, the Foxrock railway station and Harcourt Street station at the city terminus of the line, all feature in his prose and plays. Beckett's father was a quantity surveyor and his mother a nurse.

Samuel Beckett was born on Good Friday, 13 April 1906 to William Frank Beckett, a 35 year old Civil Engineer, and May Barclay (also 35 at Beckett's birth); they had married in 1901. Beckett had one older brother, Frank Edward Beckett (born 1902). At the age of five, Beckett attended a local playschool, where he started to learn music, and then moved to Earlsfort House School in the city centre near Harcourt Street. In 1919, Beckett went to Portora Royal School in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh (which Oscar Wilde had also attended). A natural athlete, Beckett excelled at cricket as a left-handed batsman and a left-arm medium-pace bowler. Later, he was to play for Dublin University and played two first-class games against Northamptonshire. As a result, he became the only Nobel laureate to have an entry in ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', the "bible" of cricket.

Early writings

Beckett studied French, Italian, and English at Trinity College, Dublin from 1923 to 1927 (one of his tutors was the eminent Berkeley scholar A. A. Luce). Beckett graduated with a BA, and—after teaching briefly at Campbell College in Belfast—took up the post of ''lecteur d'anglais'' in the École Normale Supérieure in Paris. While there, he was introduced to renowned Irish author James Joyce by Thomas MacGreevy, a poet and close confidant of Beckett who also worked there. This meeting had a profound effect on the young man. Beckett assisted Joyce in various ways, one of which was research towards the book that became ''Finnegans Wake''.

In 1929, Beckett published his first work, a critical essay entitled "Dante... Bruno. Vico.. Joyce". The essay defends Joyce's work and method, chiefly from allegations of wanton obscurity and dimness, and was Beckett's contribution to ''Our Exagmination Round His Factification for Incamination of Work in Progress'' (a book of essays on Joyce which also included contributions by Eugene Jolas, Robert McAlmon, and William Carlos Williams). Beckett's close relationship with Joyce and his family cooled, however, when he rejected the advances of Joyce's daughter Lucia owing to her progressing schizophrenia. Beckett's first short story, "Assumption", was published in Jolas's periodical ''transition''. The next year he won a small literary prize with his hastily composed poem "Whoroscope", which draws on a biography of René Descartes that Beckett happened to be reading when he was encouraged to submit.

In 1930, Beckett returned to Trinity College as a lecturer, though he soon became disillusioned with the post. He expressed his aversion by playing a trick on the Modern Language Society of Dublin: he read a learned paper in French on a Toulouse author named Jean du Chas, founder of a movement called Concentrism; Chas and Concentrism, however, were pure fiction, having been invented by Beckett to mock pedantry. When Beckett resigned from Trinity at the end of 1931, his brief academic career was terminated. He commemorated it with the poem "Gnome", which was inspired by his reading of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's ''Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship'' and eventually published in the ''Dublin Magazine'' in 1934:

Beckett travelled in Europe. He spent some time in London, where in 1931 he published ''Proust'', his critical study of French author Marcel Proust. Two years later, following his father's death, he began two years' treatment with Tavistock Clinic psychoanalyst Dr. Wilfred Bion, who took him to hear Carl Jung's third Tavistock lecture, an event which Beckett still recalled many years later. The lecture focused on the subject of the "never properly born"; aspects of it became evident in Beckett's later works, such as ''Watt'' and ''Waiting for Godot''. In 1932, he wrote his first novel, ''Dream of Fair to Middling Women'', but after many rejections from publishers decided to abandon it (it was eventually published in 1993). Despite his inability to get it published, however, the novel served as a source for many of Beckett's early poems, as well as for his first full-length book, the 1933 short-story collection ''More Pricks Than Kicks''.

Beckett published a number of essays and reviews, including "Recent Irish Poetry" (in ''The Bookman'', August 1934) and "Humanistic Quietism", a review of his friend Thomas MacGreevy's ''Poems'' (in ''The Dublin Magazine'', July–September 1934). They focused on the work of MacGreevy, Brian Coffey, Denis Devlin and Blanaid Salkeld, despite their slender achievements at the time, comparing them favourably with their Celtic Revival contemporaries and invoking Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot, and the French symbolists as their precursors. In describing these poets as forming "the nucleus of a living poetic in Ireland", Beckett was tracing the outlines of an Irish poetic modernist canon.

In 1935—the year that Beckett successfully published a book of his poetry, ''Echo's Bones and Other Precipitates''—Beckett worked on his novel ''Murphy''. In May, he wrote to MacGreevy that he had been reading about film and wished to go to Moscow to study with Sergei Eisenstein at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography in Moscow. In mid-1936, he wrote to Sergei Eisenstein and Vsevolod Pudovkin to offer himself as their apprentices. Nothing came of this, however, as Beckett's letter was lost owing to Eisenstein's quarantine during the smallpox outbreak, as well as his focus on a script re-write of his postponed film production. Beckett, meanwhile, finished ''Murphy'' and then, in 1936, departed for extensive travel around Germany, during which time he filled several notebooks with lists of noteworthy artwork that he had seen and noted his distaste for the Nazi savagery that was overtaking the country. Returning to Ireland briefly in 1937, he oversaw the publication of ''Murphy'' (1938), which he translated into French the following year. He fell out with his mother, which contributed to his decision to settle permanently in Paris (where he settled permanently following the outbreak of World War II in 1939, preferring, in his own words, "France at war to Ireland at peace"). His was soon a known face in and around Left Bank cafés, where he strengthened his allegiance with Joyce and forged new ones with artists Alberto Giacometti and Marcel Duchamp, with whom he regularly played chess. Sometime around December 1937, Beckett had a brief affair with Peggy Guggenheim, who nicknamed him "Oblomov" (after the character in Ivan Goncharov's novel).

In January 1938 in Paris, Beckett was stabbed in the chest and nearly killed when he refused the solicitations of a notorious pimp (who, ironically, went by the name of Prudent). Joyce arranged a private room for Beckett at the hospital. The publicity surrounding the stabbing attracted the attention of Suzanne Dechevaux-Dumesnil, who knew Beckett slightly from his first stay in Paris; this time, however, the two would begin a lifelong companionship. At a preliminary hearing, Beckett asked his attacker for the motive behind the stabbing; Prudent replied: "Je ne sais pas, Monsieur. Je m'excuse" ("I do not know, sir. I'm sorry"). Beckett eventually dropped the charges against his attacker—partially to avoid further formalities, partly because he found Prudent likeable and well-mannered. Beckett occasionally recounted the incident in jest.

World War II

Beckett joined the French Resistance after the 1940 occupation by Germany, in which he worked as a courier. On several occasions over the next two years was nearly caught by the Gestapo. In August 1942, his unit was betrayed and he and Suzanne fled south on foot to the safety of the small village of Roussillon, in the Vaucluse ''département'' in the Provence Alpes Cote d'Azur region. There he continued to assist the Resistance by storing armaments in the back yard of his home. During the two years that Beckett stayed in Roussillon he indirectly helped the Maquis sabotage the German army in the Vaucluse mountains, though he rarely spoke about his wartime work in later life.

Beckett was awarded the Croix de guerre and the Médaille de la Résistance by the French government for his efforts in fighting the German occupation; to the end of his life, however, Beckett would refer to his work with the French Resistance as "boy scout stuff". While in hiding in Roussillon, he continued work on the novel ''Watt'' (begun in 1941 and completed in 1945, but not published until 1953, though an extract had appeared in the Dublin literary periodical ''Envoy'').

Fame: novels and the theatre

In 1945, Beckett returned to Dublin for a brief visit. During his stay, he had a revelation in his mother’s room: his entire future direction in literature appeared to him. Beckett had felt that he would remain forever in the shadow of Joyce, certain to never best him at his own game. His revelation prompted him to change direction and to acknowledge both his own stupidity and his interest in ignorance and impotence:

"I realized that Joyce had gone as far as one could in the direction of knowing more, [being] in control of one’s material. He was always adding to it; you only have to look at his proofs to see that. I realized that my own way was in impoverishment, in lack of knowledge and in taking away, in subtracting rather than in adding."

Knowlson argues that "Beckett was rejecting the Joycean principle that knowing more was a way of creatively understanding the world and controlling it ... In future, his work would focus on poverty, failure, exile and loss – as he put it, on man as a 'non-knower' and as a 'non-can-er.'" The revelation "has rightly been regarded as a pivotal moment in his entire career." Beckett fictionalised the experience in his play ''Krapp's Last Tape'' (1958). While listening to a tape he made earlier in his life, Krapp hears his younger self say "clear to me at last that the dark I have always struggled to keep under is in reality my most...", at which point Krapp fast-forwards the tape (before the audience can hear the complete revelation). Beckett later explained to Knowlson that the missing words on the tape are "precious ally".

In 1946, Jean-Paul Sartre’s magazine ''Les Temps Modernes'' published the first part of Beckett’s short story "''Suite''" (later to be called "''La fin''", or "The End"), not realizing that Beckett had only submitted the first half of the story; Simone de Beauvoir refused to publish the second part. Beckett also began to write his fourth novel, ''Mercier et Camier'', which was not published until 1970. The novel presaged his most famous work, the play ''Waiting for Godot'', which was written not long afterwards. More importantly, the novel was Beckett’s first long work that he wrote in French, the language of most of his subsequent works, including the poioumenon "trilogy" of novels: ''Molloy'', ''Malone Dies'' and ''The Unnamable''. Despite being a native English speaker, Beckett wrote in French because—as he himself claimed—it was easier for him thus to write "without style".

Beckett is most famous for his play ''Waiting for Godot'' (1953). In a much-quoted article, the critic Vivian Mercier wrote that Beckett "has achieved a theoretical impossibility—a play in which nothing happens, that yet keeps audiences glued to their seats. What's more, since the second act is a subtly different reprise of the first, he has written a play in which nothing happens, twice." Like most of his works after 1947, the play was first written in French with the title ''En attendant Godot''. Beckett worked on the play between October 1948 and January 1949. He published it in 1952 and it premièred in 1953; an English translation appeared two years later. The play was a critical, popular, and controversial success in Paris. It opened in London in 1955 to mainly negative reviews, but the tide turned with positive reactions from Harold Hobson in ''The Sunday Times'' and, later, Kenneth Tynan. In the United States, it flopped in Miami and had a qualified success in New York City. After this, the play became extremely popular, with highly successful performances in the US and Germany. It is frequently performed today.

Beckett translated all of his works into English himself, with the exception of ''Molloy'', for which he collaborated with Patrick Bowles. The success of ''Waiting for Godot'' opened up a career in theatre for its author. Beckett went on to write a number of successful full-length plays, including ''Endgame'' (1957), the ''Krapp's Last Tape'' (1958, written in English), ''Happy Days'' (1961, also written in English), and ''Play'' (1963). In 1961, Beckett received the International Publishers' Formentor Prize in recognition of his work, which he shared that year with Jorge Luis Borges.

Later life and death

The 1960s was a period of change for Beckett, both on a personal level and as a writer. In 1961, he married Suzanne in a secret civil ceremony in England (its secrecy due to reasons relating to French inheritance law). The success of his plays led to invitations to attend rehearsals and productions around the world, leading eventually to a new career as a theatre director. In 1956, he had his first commission from the BBC Third Programme for a radio play, ''All That Fall''. He continued writing sporadically for radio and extended his scope to include cinema and television. He began to write in English again, although he also wrote in French until the end of his life.

From the late 1950s until his death, Beckett had a relationship with Barbara Bray, a widow who worked as a script editor for the BBC. Knowlson wrote of them: "She was small and attractive, but, above all, keenly intelligent and well-read. Beckett seems to have been immediately attracted by her and she to him. Their encounter was highly significant for them both, for it represented the beginning of a relationship that was to last, in parallel with that with Suzanne, for the rest of his life".

In October 1969 while on holiday in Tunis with Suzanne, Beckett heard that he had won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Anticipating that her intensely private husband would be saddled with fame from that moment on, Suzanne called the award a "catastrophe". While Beckett did not devote much time to interviews, he sometimes met the artists, scholars, and admirers who sought him out in the anonymous lobby of the Hotel PLM St. Jacques in Paris near his Montparnasse home.

Suzanne died on 17 July 1989. Confined to a nursing home and suffering from emphysema and possibly Parkinson's disease, Beckett died on 22 December of the same year. The two were interred together in the Cimetière du Montparnasse in Paris and share a simple granite gravestone that follows Beckett's directive that it should be "any colour, so long as it's grey."

Works

Beckett's career as a writer can be roughly divided into three periods: his early works, up until the end of World War II in 1945; his middle period, stretching from 1945 until the early 1960s, during which period he wrote what are probably his best-known works; and his late period, from the early 1960s until Beckett's death in 1989, during which his works tended to become shorter and his style more minimalist.

Early works

Beckett's earliest works are generally considered to have been strongly influenced by the work of his friend James Joyce. They are erudite and seem to display the author's learning merely for its own sake, resulting in several obscure passages. The opening phrases of the short-story collection ''More Pricks than Kicks'' (1934) affords a representative sample of this style:

It was morning and Belacqua was stuck in the first of the canti in the moon. He was so bogged that he could move neither backward nor forward. Blissful Beatrice was there, Dante also, and she explained the spots on the moon to him. She shewed him in the first place where he was at fault, then she put up her own explanation. She had it from God, therefore he could rely on its being accurate in every particular.

The passage makes reference to Dante's ''Commedia'', which can serve to confuse readers not familiar with that work. It also anticipates aspects of Beckett's later work: the physical inactivity of the character Belacqua; the character's immersion in his own head and thoughts; the somewhat irreverent comedy of the final sentence.

Similar elements are present in Beckett's first published novel, ''Murphy'' (1938), which also explores the themes of insanity and chess (both of which would be recurrent elements in Beckett's later works). The novel's opening sentence hints at the somewhat pessimistic undertones and black humour that animate many of Beckett's works: "The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new". ''Watt'', written while Beckett was in hiding in Roussillon during World War II, is similar in terms of themes but less exuberant in its style. It explores human movement as if it were a mathematical permutation, presaging Beckett's later preoccupation—in both his novels and dramatic works—with precise movement.

At this time Beckett began to write creatively in the French language. In the late 1930s, he wrote a number of short poems in that language and their sparseness—in contrast to the density of his English poems of roughly the same period, collected in ''Echo's Bones and Other Precipitates'' (1935)—seems to show that Beckett, albeit through the medium of another language, was in process of simplifying his style, a change also evidenced in ''Watt''.

Middle period

After World War II, Beckett turned definitively to the French language as a vehicle. It was this, together with the "revelation" experienced in his mother's room in Dublin—in which he realized that his art must be subjective and drawn wholly from his own inner world—that would result in the works for which Beckett is best remembered today.

During the 15 years subsequent to the war, Beckett produced four major full-length stage plays: ''En attendant Godot'' (written 1948–1949; ''Waiting for Godot''), ''Fin de partie'' (1955–1957; ''Endgame''), ''Krapp's Last Tape'' (1958), and ''Happy Days'' (1961). These plays—which are often considered, rightly or wrongly, to have been instrumental in the so-called "Theatre of the Absurd"—deal in a very blackly humorous way with themes similar to those of the roughly contemporary existentialist thinkers. The term "Theatre of the Absurd" was coined by Martin Esslin in a book of the same name; Beckett and ''Godot'' were centerpieces of the book. Esslin claimed these plays were the fulfillment of Albert Camus's concept of "the absurd"; this is one reason Beckett is often falsely labeled as an existentialist (this is based on the assumption that Camus was an existentialist, though he in fact broke off from the existentialist movement and founded his own philosophy). Though many of the themes are similar, Beckett had little affinity for existentialism as a whole.

Broadly speaking, the plays deal with the subject of despair and the will to survive in spite of that despair, in the face of an uncomprehending and incomprehensible world. The words of Nell—one of the two characters in ''Endgame'' who are trapped in ashbins, from which they occasionally peek their heads to speak—can best summarize the themes of the plays of Beckett's middle period: "Nothing is funnier than unhappiness, I grant you that. ... Yes, yes, it's the most comical thing in the world. And we laugh, we laugh, with a will, in the beginning. But it's always the same thing. Yes, it's like the funny story we have heard too often, we still find it funny, but we don't laugh any more."

Beckett's outstanding achievements in prose during the period were the three novels ''Molloy'' (1951), ''Malone meurt'' (1951; ''Malone Dies'') and ''L'innommable'' (1953: ''The Unnamable''). In these novels—sometimes referred to as a "trilogy", though this is against the author's own explicit wishes—the prose becomes increasingly bare and stripped down. ''Molloy'', for instance, still retains many of the characteristics of a conventional novel (time, place, movement, and plot) and it makes use of the structure of a detective novel. In ''Malone Dies'', however, movement and plot are largely dispensed with, though there is still some indication of place and the passage of time; the "action" of the book takes the form of an interior monologue. Finally, in ''The Unnamable'', almost all sense of place and time are done abolished and the essential theme seems to be the conflict between the voice's drive to continue speaking so as to continue existing and its almost equally strong urge towards silence and oblivion. Despite the widely held view that Beckett's work, as exemplified by the novels of this period, is essentially pessimistic, the will to live seems to win out in the end; witness, for instance, the famous final phrase of ''The Unnamable'': 'I can't go on, I'll go on'.

After these three novels, Beckett struggled for many years to produce a sustained work of prose, a struggle evidenced by the brief "stories" later collected as ''Texts for Nothing''. In the late 1950s, however, he created one of his most radical prose works, ''Comment c'est'' (1961; ''How It Is''). This work relates the adventures of an unnamed narrator crawling through the mud while dragging a sack of canned food. It was written as a sequence of unpunctuated paragraphs in a style approaching telegraphese: "You are there somewhere alive somewhere vast stretch of time then it's over you are there no more alive no more than again you are there again alive again it wasn't over an error you begin again all over more or less in the same place or in another as when another image above in the light you come to in hospital in the dark" Following this work, it would be almost another decade before Beckett produced a work of non-dramatic prose. ''How It Is'' is generally considered to mark the end of his middle period as a writer. In 1959 he contributed to the British arts review X (magazine) with ''L'Image''.

Late works

Throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s, Beckett's works exhibited an increasing tendency—already evident in much of his work of the 1950s—towards compactness. This has led to his work sometimes being described as minimalist. The extreme example of this, among his dramatic works, is the 1969 piece ''Breath'', which lasts for only 35 seconds and has no characters (though it was likely intended to offer ironic comment on ''Oh! Calcutta!'', the theatrical revue for which it served as an introductory piece).

In his theatre of the late period, Beckett's characters—already few in number in the earlier plays—are whittled down to essential elements. The ironically titled ''Play'' (1962), for instance, consists of three characters immersed up to their necks in large funeral urns. The television drama ''Eh Joe'' (1963), which was written for the actor Jack MacGowran, is animated by a camera that steadily closes in to a tight focus upon the face of the title character. The play ''Not I'' (1972) consists almost solely of, in Beckett's words, "a moving mouth with the rest of the stage in darkness". Following from ''Krapp's Last Tape'', many of these later plays explore memory, often in the form of a forced recollection of haunting past events in a moment of stillness in the present. They also deal with the theme of the self confined and observed, with a voice that either comes from outside into the protagonist's head (as in ''Eh Joe'') or else another character comments on the protagonist silently, by means of gesture (as in ''Not I''). Beckett's most politically charged play, ''Catastrophe'' (1982), which was dedicated to Václav Havel, deals relatively explicitly with the idea of dictatorship. After a long period of inactivity, Beckett's poetry experienced a revival during this period in the ultra-terse French poems of ''mirlitonnades'', with some as short as six words long. These defied Beckett's usual scrupulous concern to translate his work from its original into the other of his two languages; several writers, including Derek Mahon, have attempted translations, but no complete version of the sequence has been published in English.

Beckett's prose pieces during the late period were not so prolific as his theatre, as suggested by the title of the 1976 collection of short prose texts ''Fizzles'' (which the American artist Jasper Johns illustrated). Beckett experienced something of a renaissance, however, with the novella ''Company'' (1980), which continued with ''Ill Seen Ill Said'' (1982) and ''Worstward Ho'' (1984), which was later collected in ''Nohow On''. In these three "'closed space' stories", Beckett continued his preoccupation with memory and its effect on the confined and observed self, as well as with the positioning of bodies in space, as the opening phrases of ''Company'' make clear: "A voice comes to one in the dark. Imagine." "To one on his back in the dark. This he can tell by the pressure on his hind parts and by how the dark changes when he shuts his eyes and again when he opens them again. Only a small part of what is said can be verified. As for example when he hears, You are on your back in the dark. Then he must acknowledge the truth of what is said."

In the hospital and nursing home where he spent his final days, Beckett wrote his last work, the 1988 poem "What is the Word" ("Comment dire"). The poem grapples with an inability to find words to express oneself, a theme echoing Beckett's earlier work, though possibly amplified by the sickness he experienced late in life.

Collaborators

Billie Whitelaw

Billie Whitelaw worked with Beckett for 25 years on such plays as ''Not I'', ''Eh Joe'', ''Krapp's Last Tape'', and ''Footfalls''. She first met Beckett in 1963. In her autobiography she describes their first meeting in 1963 was "trust at first sight". Beckett went on to write many of his experimental theatre works for her. She came to be regarded as his muse, the "supreme interpreter of his work", perhaps most famous for her role as the mouth in ''Not I''. She said of the play ''Rockabye'': "I put the tape in my head. And I sort of look in a particular way, but not at the audience. Sometimes as a director Beckett comes out with absolute gems and I use them a lot in other areas. We were doing ''Happy Days'' and I just did not know where in the theatre to look during this particular section. And I asked, and he thought for a bit and then said, 'Inward' ". She said of her role in ''Footfalls'': "I felt like a moving, musical Edvard Munch painting and, in fact, when Beckett was directing ''Footfalls'' he was not only using me to play the notes but I almost felt that he did have the paintbrush out and was painting." "Sam knew that I would turn myself inside out to give him what he wanted", she explained; "With all of Sam's work, the scream was there, my task was to try to get it out." She stopped performing his plays in 1989 when he died.

Jocelyn Herbert

The seminal English stage designer Jocelyn Herbert was a close friend and influence on Beckett until his death. She worked with him on such plays as ''Happy Days'' (their third project) and ''Krapp's Last Tape'' at the Royal Court Theatre. Beckett said that Herbert became his closest friend in England: "She has a great feeling for the work and is very sensitive and doesn't want to bang the nail on the head. Generally speaking, there is a tendency on the part of designers to overstate, and this has never been the case with Jocelyn."

Legacy

Of all the English-language modernists, Beckett's work represents the most sustained attack on the realist tradition. He opened up the possibility of theatre and fiction that dispense with conventional plot and the unities of time and place in order to focus on essential components of the human condition. Václav Havel, John Banville, Aidan Higgins, Tom Stoppard, and Harold Pinter have publicly stated their indebtedness to Beckett's example. He has had a wider influence on experimental writing since the 1950s, from the Beat generation to the happenings of the 1960s and after. In an Irish context, he has exerted great influence on poets such as John Banville, Derek Mahon, Thomas Kinsella, as well as writers like Trevor Joyce and Catherine Walsh who proclaim their adherence to the modernist tradition as an alternative to the dominant realist mainstream.

Many major 20th-century composers, including Luciano Berio, György Kurtág, Morton Feldman, Pascal Dusapin, Scott Fields, Philip Glass, Roman Haubenstock-Ramati and Heinz Holliger have created musical works based on his texts. Beckett's work was also an influence on many visual artists, including Bruce Nauman, Douglas Gordon, Alexander Arotin, and Avigdor Arikha; Arikha,as well as some short film makers, like Leila Newton-Fox,has been inspired by his play 'Endgame' created a short film 'Stalemate'. In addition to being inspired by Beckett's literary world, also drew a number of portraits of Beckett and illustrated several of his works.

Beckett is one of the most widely discussed and highly prized of 20th-century authors, inspiring a critical industry to rival that which has sprung up around James Joyce. He has divided critical opinion. Some early philosophical critics, such as Sartre and Theodor Adorno, praised him, one for his revelation of absurdity, the other for his works' critical refusal of simplicities; others such as Georg Lukács condemn for 'decadent' lack of realism. American critic Harold Bloom pays attention to his atheism of Anglican source, compared with James Joyce's, former Catholic bent, noting:

As for Christianity and ''Waiting for Godot'', Beckett was [...] definitive: «Christianity is a mithology with wich I am perfectly familiar and so I use it. But not in this case.» It is always worth remembering that Beckett more than shared Joyce's distaste for Christianity and for Ireland. Both men chose unbelief and Paris.

Since Beckett's death, all rights for performance of his plays are handled by the Beckett estate, currently managed by Edward Beckett (the author's nephew). The estate has a controversial reputation for maintaining firm control over how Beckett's plays are performed and does not grant licenses to productions that do not adhere strictly to the writer's stage directions.

Historians interested in tracing Beckett's blood line were, in 2004, granted access to confirmed trace samples of his DNA to conduct molecular genealogical studies to facilitate precise lineage determination.

Some of the best-known pictures of Beckett were taken by photographer John Minihan, who photographed him between 1980 and 1985 and developed such a good relationship with the writer that he became, in effect, his official photographer. Some consider one of these to be among the top three photographs of the 20th century. It was the theater photographer John Haynes, however, who took possibly the most widely reproduced image of Beckett: it is used on the cover of the Knowlson biography, for instance. This portrait was taken during rehearsals of the San Quentin Drama Workshop at the Royal Court Theatre in London, where Haynes photographed many productions of Beckett's work.

On 10 December 2009, the newest bridge across the River Liffey in Dublin was opened and named the Samuel Beckett Bridge in his honour. Reminiscent of a harp on its side, it was designed by the celebrated Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, who had also designed the James Joyce Bridge further upstream opened on Bloomsday (16 June) 2003. Attendees at the official opening ceremony included Beckett’s niece Caroline Murphy, his nephew Edward Beckett, poet Seamus Heaney and Barry McGovern.

Honours and awards

Croix de guerre (France)

Médaille de la Résistance (France)

1959 honorary doctorate from Trinity College, Dublin

1961 International Publishers' Formentor Prize (shared with Jorge Luis Borges).

1968 Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

1969 Nobel Prize for Literature.

Selected works by Beckett

Dramatic works

Theatre

''Eleutheria'' (1940s; published 1995)

''Waiting for Godot'' (1953)

''Act Without Words I'' (1956)

''Act Without Words II'' (1956)

''Endgame'' (1957)

''Krapp's Last Tape'' (1958)

''Rough for Theatre I'' (late 1950s)

''Rough for Theatre II'' (late 1950s)

''Happy Days'' (1961)

''Play'' (1963)

''Come and Go'' (1965)

''Breath'' (1969)

''Not I'' (1972)

''That Time'' (1975)

''Footfalls'' (1975)

''A Piece of Monologue'' (1980)

''Rockaby'' (1981)

''Ohio Impromptu'' (1981)

''Catastrophe'' (1982)

''What Where'' (1983)

Radio

''All That Fall'' (1957)

''From an Abandoned Work'' (1957)

''Embers'' (1959)

''Rough for Radio I'' (1961)

''Rough for Radio II'' (1961)

''Words and Music'' (1961)

''Cascando'' (1962)

Television

''Eh Joe'' (1965)

''Beginning To End'' with Jack MacGowran (1965)

''Ghost Trio'' (1975)

''... but the clouds ...'' (1976)

''Quad I + II'' (1981)

''Nacht und Träume'' (1982)

''Beckett Directs Beckett'' (1988/92) The San Quentin Drama Workshop

Cinema

''Film'' (1965)

Prose collections and longer works

Novels

''Dream of Fair to Middling Women'' (1932; published 1992)

''Murphy'' (1938)

''Watt'' (1945; published 1953)

''Mercier and Camier'' (1946; published 1974)

''Molloy'' (1951)

''Malone Dies'' (1951)

''The Unnamable'' (1953)

''How It Is'' (1961)

Novellas

''The Expelled'' (1946)

''The Calmative'' (1946)

''The End'' (1946)

''The Lost Ones'' (1971)

''Company'' (1980)

''Ill Seen Ill Said'' (1981)

''Worstward Ho'' (1983)

''As the Story was Told'' (1990)

Stories

''More Pricks Than Kicks'' (1934)

''First Love'' (1945)

''Stories and Texts for Nothing'' (1954)

''Fizzles'' (1976)

''Stirrings Still'' (1988)

Non-fiction

''Proust'' (1931)

''Three Dialogues'' (with Georges Duthuit and Jacques Putnam) (1949)

''Disjecta'' (1929–1967)

''L'Image'' (1959)

''Dante...Bruno. Vico..Joyce''

Poetry collections

''Whoroscope'' (1930)

''Echo's Bones and other Precipitates'' (1935)

''Collected Poems in English'' (1961)

''Collected Poems in English and French'' (1977)

''What is the Word'' (1989)

''Selected Poems 1930–1989'' (2009)

Translation collections and long works

''Anna Livia Plurabelle'' (James Joyce, French translation by Beckett and others) (1931)

''Negro: an Anthology'' (Nancy Cunard, editor) (1934)

''Anthology of Mexican Poems'' (Octavio Paz, editor) (1958)

''The Old Tune'' (Robert Pinget) (1963)

''What Is Surrealism?: Selected Essays'' (André Breton) (various short pieces in the collection)

References

Further reading

Beckett editions

''As the Story was Told: Uncollected and Later Prose''. London: Calder Publications, 1990

''Collected Poems in English and French''. New York: Grove Press, 1977.

''Endgame and Act Without Words''. New York: Grove Press, 1958.

''How It Is''. New York: Grove Press, 1964.

''More Pricks than Kicks''. New York: Grove Press, 1972.

''Murphy''. New York: Grove Press, 1957.

''Nohow On: Company, Ill Seen Ill Said, Worstward Ho''. Ed. S.E. Gontarski. New York: Grove Press, 1996.

''Three Novels: Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable''. New York: Grove Press, 1995.

''Waiting for Godot: A Tragicomedy in Two Acts''. New York: Grove Press, 1954.

Other

Ackerley, C. J. and S. E. Gontarski, ed. (2004). ''The Grove Companion to Samuel Beckett.'' New York: Grove Press

Badiou, Alain (2003). ''On Beckett'', transl. and ed. by Alberto Toscano and Nina Power. London: Clinamen Press.

Bair, Deirdre (1978). ''Samuel Beckett: A Biography''. Vintage/Ebury ISBN 009980070-5.

Casanova, Pascale (2007). ''Beckett. Anatomy of a Literary Revolution''. Introduction by Terry Eagleton. Londres / New York : Verso Books

Caselli, Daniela. ''Beckett's Dantes: Intertextuality in the Fiction and Criticism''. ISBN 0719071569.

Cronin, Anthony (1997). ''Samuel Beckett: The Last Modernist''. New York: Da Capo Press

Esslin, Martin (1969). ''The Theatre of the Absurd.'' Garden City, NY: Anchor Books

Fleming, Justin (2007). ''Coup d'État & Other Plays'' ''Burnt Piano''. Xlibris

Fletcher, John (2006). ''About Beckett''. Faber and Faber, London ISBN 9780571230112.

Gussow, Mel. "Samuel Beckett Is Dead at 83; His 'Godot' Changed Theater." ''The New York Times'', 27 December 1989.

Harvey, Robert (2010), "Witnessness: Beckett, Levi, Dante and the Foundations of Ethics". Continuum. ISBN 9781441124241

Igoe, Vivien (2000). ''A Literary Guide to Dublin''. Methuen Publishing ISBN 0413691209.

Kelleter, Frank (1998). ''Die Moderne und der Tod: Edgar Allan Poe–T. S. Eliot–Samuel Beckett.'' Frankfurt/Main: Peter Lang

Knowlson, James (1997). ''Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett''. New York: Grove Press

Mercier, Vivian (1977). ''Beckett/Beckett''. Oxford University Press ISBN 0192812696.

Murray, Christopher, ed. (2009). ''Samuel Beckett: Playwright & Poet''. New York: Pegasus Books ISBN 9781605980027

O'Brien, Eoin. ''The Beckett Country''. ISBN 0571146678.

Ricks, Christopher (1995). ''Beckett's Dying Words''. Oxford University Press ISBN 0192824074.

Ryan, John, ed. (1970). ''A Bash In The Tunnel''. Brighton: Clifton Books, 1970. Essays on James Joyce by Beckett, Flann O’Brien & Patrick Kavanagh

Simpson, Alan (1962). ''Beckett and Behan and a Theatre in Dublin''. Routledge and Kegan Paul

External links

The Irishman who Translated Mexican Poetry by Jaime Perales Contreras in Americas Magazine, Jan–Feb 2007

''Guardian'' Article by Peter Hall. 4 January 2003. "Godotmania". Accessed 2010-08-24

University of Texas online exhibition of Beckett at the Harry Ransom Center. Accessed 2010-08-24

"The Making of Samuel Beckett" by J.M. Coetzee. ''The New York Review of Books'' 30 April 2009. Accessed 2010-08-24

The Samuel Beckett Papers at Washington University in St. Louis. Accessed 2010-08-24

"Sam I Am – Beckett’s private purgatories" by Benjamin Kunkel in ''The New Yorker''. 7, August 2006. Accessed 2010-08-24

Keith Ridgway considers Beckett's ''Mercier and Camier''. "Knowing me, knowing you". ''The Guardian'' 19 July 2003 Accessed 2010-08-24

The Beckett International Foundation, University of Reading. Accessed 2010-08-24

The Samuel Beckett Society Accessed 2010-08-24

''The Journal of Beckett Studies''. Edinburgh University Press. Accessed 2010-08-24

Nick Mount on Samuel Beckett's ''Waiting For Godot''. Video lecture. University of Toronto. Accessed 2010-08-24

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