A name is a word or term used for identification. Names can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. A personal name identifies a ''specific'' unique and identifiable individual person, and may or may not include a middle name. The name of a specific entity is sometimes called a proper name (although that term has a philosophical meaning also) and is a proper noun. Other nouns are sometimes, more loosely, called names; an older term for them, now obsolete, is "general names".

The use of personal names is not unique to humans. Dolphins also use symbolic names, as has been shown by recent research. Individual dolphins have distinctive whistles, to which they will respond even when there is no other information to clarify which dolphin is being referred to.

Caution must be exercised when translating, for there are ways that one language may prefer one type of name over another. A feudal naming habit is used sometimes in other languages: the French sometimes refer to Aristotle as "le Stagirite" from one spelling of his place of birth, and English speakers often refer to Shakespeare as "The Bard", recognizing him as a paragon writer of the language. Finally, claims to preference or authority can be refuted: the British did not refer to Louis-Napoleon as Napoleon III during his rule.

Etymology

The word "name" comes from Old English ''nama''; akin to Old High German (OHG) and Sanskrit ''namo'', Latin ''nomen'', and Greek ''ὄνομα'' (''onoma''), possibly from the Proto-Indo-European language (PIE): *nomn-.

In mythology

In Arthurian mythology, part of the code of honor and chivalry practiced by knights was that a knight who lost a duel must reveal his name to the victor. It was considered a breach of honor or decorum to reveal one's name ''before'' combat. A frequent topos in the legends is that a defeated knight would, after revealing his name, ask the victor what his name was: if the victor turned out to be a much stronger and more famous knight (e.g. one of Arthur's knights) the loser actually saved face, because he was beaten by a knight already held to be stronger than him, and thus there was no shame in defeat. However, if a strong and powerful knight was defeated, and the victor turned out to be a relatively unknown and not particularly strong knight, it was a grave humiliation.

As a result of this pattern, it was considered extremely odd within the rules of Arthurian society when a knight refused to take off his helmet or reveal his identity, even after he had won a duel. Sometimes this happened because the victorious knight simply did not know his own name, as was the case with Lancelot and Percival during their early careers. This inability to reveal their own names even in victory led many to assume incorrectly that they were trying to insult the vanquished.

A major exception to the rule was Sir Gawain: Gawain considered himself to be the greatest of his uncle Arthur's knights; he felt that his honor was so great that he did not need to hide his name before a duel. Thus at the opening of any duel Gawain would openly announce "I am Gawain", as he expected never to be defeated and so it would not diminish his honor to reveal his name.

In religious thought

In the ancient world, particularly in the ancient near-east (Israel, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Persia) names were thought to be extremely powerful and to act, in some ways, as a separate manifestation of a person or deity. This viewpoint is responsible both for the reluctance to use the proper name of God in Hebrew writing or speech, as well as the common understanding in ancient magic that magical rituals had to be carried out "in [someone's] name". By invoking a god or spirit by name, one was thought to be able to summon that spirit's power for some kind of miracle or magic (see Luke 9:49, in which the disciples claim to have seen a man driving out demons using the name of Jesus.) This understanding passed into later religious tradition, for example the stipulation in Catholic exorcism that the demon cannot be expelled until the exorcist has forced it to give up its name, at which point the name may be used in a stern command which will drive the demon away.

Biblical names

In the Old Testament, the names of individuals are meaningful; for example, Adam is named after the "earth" (Adamah) from which he was created. (Genesis 2)

A change of name indicates a change of status. For example, the patriarch Abram and his wife Sarai are renamed "Abraham" and "Sarah" when they are told they will be the father and mother of many nations (Genesis 17:4, 17:15). Simon was renamed Peter when he was given the Keys of Heaven. (Gospel of Matthew 16).

Throughout the Bible, characters are given names at birth that reflect something of significance or describe the course of their lives. For example: ''Solomon'' meant peace, and the king with that name was the first whose reign was without warfare. Likewise, Joseph named his firstborn son Manasseh (Hebrew: "causing to forget") as a gesture of forgiveness to his brothers for selling him into slavery.

Biblical Jewish people did not have surnames which were passed from generation to generation. However, they were typically known as the child of their father. For example: דוד בן ישי (David ben Yishay) meaning, David, son of Jesse. In a sense, they used their fathers' first names as their own last names, a practice done by most Muslims today. Similar to Jewish names, the "ben" is in place by "bin" or "ibn" for males, "binte", "binti" or "ibnu" for females to Muslims. Sometimes, names include "Al-", "Ali-", "-allah", "-lah/-llah" or "-ullah" as it means "a servant to God" or "God's servant". They would sometimes indicate the place they or their child live in.

Talmudic attitudes

The Babylonian Talmud maintains that names exert a mystical influence over their bearers, and a change of name is one of four actions that can avert an evil heavenly decree, that would lead to punishment after one's death. Rabbinical commentators differ as to whether the name's influence is metaphysical, connecting a person to their soul, or bio-socio-psychological, where the connection affects his personality, appearance and social capacities. The Talmud also states that all those who descend to Gehenna will rise in the time of Messiah. However, there are three exceptions, one of which is he who calls another by a derisive nickname.

Technical names for names

+ Names for names	! Name of a... !! Name of name
! Person	Anthroponym
! Place	Toponym
! Body of water	Hydronym
! Ethnic group	Ethnonym
! False name	Pseudonym
! Author writing under an assumed name	Pen name or pseudonym
! Item named after a person	Eponym
! Other names	-onym#Words that end in -onym

Naming convention

:''For Wikipedia's own naming conventions see [[Wikipedia:Article titles'' A naming convention is an attempt to systematize names in a field so they unambiguously convey similar information in a similar manner.

Several major naming conventions include:

In astronomy, planetary nomenclature

In classics, Roman naming conventions

In computer programming, identifier naming conventions

In computer networking, computer naming schemes

In the sciences, systematic names for a variety of things

Naming conventions are useful in many aspects of everyday life, enabling the casual user to understand larger structures.

Street names within a city may follow a naming convention; some examples include:

In Manhattan, roads that cross the island from east to west are called "Streets". Those that run the length of the island (North-South) are called "Avenues". Manhattan streets and avenues are numbered, with "1st Street" being near the southern end of the island, and "219th Street" being near the northern end, while "1st Avenue" is near the eastern edge of the island and "12th Avenue" near the western edge.

In Ontario, numbered concession roads are East-West whereas "lines" are North-South routes.

In San Francisco at least three series of parallel streets are alphabetically named, e.g. ''Irving, Judah, Kirkham, Lawton, Moraga, Noriega, Ortega, Pacheco, Quintara, Rivera, Santiago, Taraval, Ulloa, Vicente, Wawona''.

The same tendency is seen in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, where Arlington Street is followed by roads to the west running parallel to it and named Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth, Exeter, Fairfield, Gloucester, and Hereford.

In Washington, DC, east-west streets towards the south (toward the Potomac River) are lettered A, B, C,..., omitting J to avoid confusion on street signs and addresses, but after these are exhausted to the north, the streets are named with simple words in alphabetical order, omitting a few letters such as "x". The first cycle of names consists all of one-syllable words; then followed by a cycle of two-syllable words; then followed by a cycle of three-syllable words, and before these are exhausted, Maryland is reached. (Washington has north-south streets that are numbered, going from west to east.)

In Montgomery, Alabama, the old major avenues are named for the Presidents of the United States, in their order of entering office, omitting John Quincy Adams. Hence, these streets are Washington Ave., Adams Ave., Jefferson Ave., Madison Ave., Monroe Ave., Jackson Ave., but not much farther than that. This was just the old plan from a long time ago, and it was eventually dropped. For example, there is not a Buchanan Ave., a Lincoln Ave., or a Johnson Ave.

In Brampton, Ontario, different sections of town all have streets starting with the same letter and the alphabetical order reflects chronology.

In Phoenix, Arizona, roads east of Central Avenue are termed streets while those west are avenues. A similar system applies in Nashville, Tennessee, but only to the numbered avenues and streets, west and east of the Cumberland River respectively, all of which run roughly north-south.

Large corporate, university, or government campuses may follow a naming convention for rooms within the buildings to help orient tenants and visitors. Otherwise, rooms may be numbered in some kind of a rational scheme.

Parents may follow a naming convention when selecting names for their children. Some have chosen alphabetical names by birth order. In some East Asian cultures, it is common for one syllable in a two syllable given name to be a generation name which is the same for immediate siblings. In many cultures it is common for the son to be named after the father or a grandfather. In certain African cultures, such as in Cameroon, the eldest son gets the family name for his given name, also, giving names such as "Thomas Thomas" (but the names are not European names like this one).

In other cultures, the name may include the place of residence, or the place of birth. The Roman naming convention denotes social rank.

Products may follow a naming convention. Automobiles typically have a binomial name, a "make" (manufacturer) and a "model", in addition to a model year, such as a 2007 Chevrolet Corvette. Sometimes there is a name for the car's "decoration level" or "trim line" as well: e.g., Cadillac Escalade EXT ''Platinum'', after the precious metal. Computers often have increasing numbers in their names to signify the next generation.

Courses at schools typically follow a naming convention: an abbreviation for the subject area and then a number ordered by increasing level of difficulty.

Many numbers (e.g. bank accounts, government IDs, credit cards, etc.) are not random but have an internal structure and convention. Virtually all organizations that assign names or numbers will follow some convention in generating these identifiers. Airline flight numbers, space shuttle flight numbers, even phone numbers all have an internal convention.

Brand names

The process of developing a name for a brand or product is heavily influenced by marketing research and strategy to be appealing and marketable. The brand name is often a neologism or pseudoword, such as Kodak or Sony.

Literary names

In fiction, proper names of people or places are often unique to the work in which they appear. Although, within the work of fiction proper, the name may nonetheless be said to have a certain ethnic origin, the name itself may not actually exist. For example, the character of Ororo Munro (Storm of the X-Men franchise) is of African descent. Her first name, however is not an authentic African name. Names may also be created to either represent ethnic neutrality or corruption of a name with the passage of time. This is a common technique used by science fiction and fantasy writers who may also employ alternate spellings of existing names. Also, many science fiction operates on the premise that racial and ethnic boundaries will cease to exist in the future thus producing names that appear to be mixes of different ethnic sources. Yoshiyuki Tomino (creator of the anime Mobile Suit Gundam) is notable for creating character names that are unusual, exotic, and sometimes silly sounding. Examples include Char Aznable (which is actually based on a real person), Bright Noa, Quess Paraya, and Marvel Frozen. The science fiction writer Isaac Asimov has also created names which may or may not be variants or corruptions of existing or ancient names. Examples include Dors Venabili, R. Daneel Olivaw, and Giskard Reventlov. The Star Wars and Dune franchises contains many character names that juggle existing names with created ones; Leia Organa, Ben Kenobi, Paul Atreides, Vladimir Harkonnen.

Name Generator

A name generator is a program that uses language rules or word combining techniques to generate a list of names. Some common ones include finding your Jedi or stripper name.

.name domains

According to Verisign, the .name top-level domain name (TLD) is designed for individuals to create a presence and make online communications easy and accessible. Not exclusive to registrars, social networking and community sites may also offer .name registration to their members and customers as a value-added service to help establish an individual identity online.

Ethnic names

Arabic name

Bulgarian name

Chinese name

Dutch name

Family name

Finnish name

French name

German name

Germanic name

Greek name

Hebrew name

Hungarian name

Icelandic name

Indian name

Indonesian name, including single-word names

Japanese name

Javanese name

Korean name

Mongolian name

Pakistani name

Polish name

Russian name

Saint Thomas Christian names

Slavic names

Spanish name

Vietnamese name

Zimbabwean names

See also

Anthroponymy

Given name

List of adjectival forms of place names

List of most common surnames

Most popular given names

Name at birth

Name letter effect

Nickname

Number names

Onomastics

Palindromic name, such as Anna, Bob, Eve, Hannah, Nan, and Otto.

Patronymic

Personal name

Personally identifiable information

Popular cat names

Posthumous name

Proper name

Regnal name

Surname

Temple name

Unisex name

References

Further reading

"Names" by Sam Cumming, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP), a philosophical dissertation on the syntax and semantics of names

Matthews, Elaine; Hornblower, Simon; Fraser, Peter Marshall, ''Greek Personal Names: Their Value as Evidence'', Proceedings of The British Academy (104), Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 0197262163

Name and Form - from Sacred Texts Buddhism

External links

Kate Monk's Onomastikon (Dictionary of Names) or Kate Monk's Onomastikon Names over the world throughout the history

The etymology of first names

Meaning of Names The etymology of first names

Category:Philosophical logic Category:Lexicography Category:Nomenclature Category:Concepts in logic

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Name	Yolanda Adams
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Yolanda Adams
Alias	First Lady of Modern Gospel
Birth date	August 27, 1961
Origin	Houston, Texas,United States
Genre	Gospel, urban gospel
Occupation	Singer, songwriter, music producer, actress, radio host
Years active	1979 – present
Label	Sound of Gospel (1987-1989)Tribute/Benson (1991-1996)Verity (1996-1998) Elektra (1998-2004)Atlantic (2004-2007)Columbia (2007-2009) N-House Music Group (2011-Present)
Website	YolandaAdamsLive.com }}

Yolanda Adams (born Yolanda Yvette Adams on August 27, 1961) is an American Grammy- and Dove-award-winning Gospel music singer and radio show host. As of September 2009, she had sold 4.5 million albums since 1991 in the United States, according to SoundScan.

On December 11, 2009 Billboard Magazine named her the #1 Gospel Artist of the last decade. In the same chart, her album "Mountain High...Valley Low" was acknowledged as the best gospel album.

Life

The oldest of six siblings, Adams was raised in Houston, Texas. She graduated from Sterling High School in Houston in 1979. After graduating from Texas Southern University, she began a career as a schoolteacher and part-time model in Houston, Texas. Eventually she gave up teaching to perform full-time as a lead singer.

Musical career

Beginnings

Adams first attracted the attention of Thomas Whitfield and Sound of Gospel Records as a lead singer with Houston's Southeast Inspirational Choir affiliated with the Church of God in Christ, under the direction of Carl Preacher, Brenda Waters, and Shirley Joiner. The choir released the single in 1982 "For My Liberty" with Adams as the featured vocalist. In 1986, Adams was featured on the Edwin Hawkins Music and Arts Seminar Choir release "Give Us Peace", with a performance titled "My Trust Lies In You". Later, she signed a recording contract with Sound of Gospel which yielded her first album ''Just As I Am'' in 1987. In 1990, she was discovered by producer/keyboardist Ben Tankard, signed to his independent label Tribute Records and released ''Through The Storm''. Tankard's goal with Tribute Records during this time was to develop an audience for a smoother gospel/jazz sound. He featured Yolanda's jazzy vocals on his album and concept video single " You Bring Out The Best In Me " on his 1994 release " Play Me In Your Key ". The collaboration received positive response from gospel,jazz and "quiet storm" formats.

One year later, Adams followed with ''Save the World'', which included her first signature song "The Battle Is The Lord's". Her next release was 1995's ''More Than A Melody'', which featured more production work from Tankard with contributions from O'Landa Draper, and BeBe Winans. The single "Gotta Have Love," from that album featuring Tony Terry on background vocals, gained mainstream notoriety and was her first single and music video. ''Yolanda... Live In Washington'', released the following year, featured versions of material from her first three albums. The footage from this recording was released as a collection of two videos on VHS initially, and later as a single set on DVD and CD. During this time Tribute Records' parent company Diadem Music Group, merged with Benson Music Group which was eventually bought by New York based Zomba/Verity Records.

''Songs from the Heart'' was her final release for Verity Records and included "Only Believe" which was popular songs on contemporary radio. The album also included "Still I Rise," a dedication to Rosa Parks which was inspired by the Maya Angelou poem of the same name.

Mainstream breakthrough

Adams' first significant attention outside the urban contemporary gospel arena came with the release of ''Mountain High... Valley Low'' in 1999 on Elektra Records. Several mainstream artists and producers helped in the production of this album including Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (Janet Jackson, Boyz II Men), James "Big Jim" Wright (Mariah Carey, Nicole C. Mullen), Warryn Campbell (Mary Mary, Brandy), and Keith Thomas (BeBe & CeCe Winans). The album went 2X Platinum in 2000 and won her a Grammy Award. Notable singles from the album include ''Yeah''", "Fragile Heart", and "Open My Heart". "Fragile Heart", was dedicated to the memory of Adams' long time road manager who died in 1998.

In 2000, Adams released a Christmas album, and in 2001 she released a live album (''The Experience''). ''The Experience'' netted Adams a second Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album. ''Believe'', which included the hit "Never Give Up" was released in 2001 and reached gold status according to the RIAA. She would later go on to perform this song at "''The Salute to Gospel Music''" at the White House during President George W. Bush's administration. In 2001, Adams also released a compilation CD entitled ''The Divas Of Gospel''; it included the legendary Grammy Award Winner Albertina Walker, who is considered the "queen of gospel music."

Adams recorded a song for the 2003 film, ''Honey'' titled "I Believe" that played during the last scene in the final dance.

Adams was also a judge for the 2nd annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.

Day by Day

After nearly four years without releasing an album, Adams returned in 2005 with ''Day By Day''. Although charting higher than ''Mountain High...Valley Low'' on the Billboard 100 and Billboard R&B; Albums chart, it did not receive RIAA certification. The album featured the singles "Be Blessed," "Someone Watching Over You," "This Too Shall Pass", and "Victory" (which was prominently featured in the movie ''The Gospel'').

After ending her long association with Atlantic Records, Atlantic released a greatest hits collection entitled ''The Best of Me'' in May 2007.

Adams signed with Columbia Records in 2007. Columbia released ''What a Wonderful Time'', her second holiday collection, in October 2007. "Hold On" was released as the lead single.

Morning Radio Show and Book Release

After the release of "What a Wonderful Time", Adams embarked on the radio market with her "The Yolanda Adams Morning Show." The show proved to be a huge success, taking over 26 markets in just two years. Currently, the show is heard in 39 markets.

On December 25, 2009, Adams performed on BET's ''The Mo'Nique Show'', where she sang "Already Alright," from her 1999 ''Mountain High...Valley Low'' album. Mo'Nique stated that the song is one of her favorites.

In 2010, Adams released her first book, "Points of Power." The book is based on one of the segments of her radio show under the same title.

Yolanda Adams appeared on the 2011 BET Honors to sing her signature song "The Battle Is the Lord's" in honor of Cicely Tyson. Later, she appeared at the 53rd Grammy Awards where she took part in a tribute to Aretha Franklin, along with Jennifer Hudson, Christina Aguilera, Florence Welch from Florence and the Machine, and Martina McBride. Adams performed Spirit in the Dark - Franklin's classic from 1970. On several occasions, Franklin stated that she "especially loved" Yolanda's performance. On May 29, 2011, Yolanda sang at the prestigious National Memorial Day Concert in Washington, DC to honor the U.S. soldiers.

Becoming

Adams' eleventh studio album, highly anticipated "Becoming" was released on 3 May 2011. The new single, "Be Still" debuted on Tuesday, 19 April on the Yolanda Adams Morning show. Becoming was released by Walmart as an exclusive deals.

Book release

Adams released her first book ''Points of Power'' in 2010. It is a Christian book in reference to living a pure, spirit-filled Christian life.

''The Yolanda Adams Morning Show'' on radio

Show name	The Yolanda Adams Morning Show
Italic title	no
Format	Comedy, talk, urban contemporary gospel
Runtime	approx. 4 hours
Starring	Yolanda Adams
Country
Last aired	Present
Website	and TheYolandaAdamsMorningShow.com }}

Adams is the host of ''The Yolanda Adams Morning Show'', which currently airs on Urban Gospel stations owned by Radio One.

''Morning Show'' cities and affiliates as of 7/21/2009

{|class="wikitable collapsible collapsed sortable" ! City !! Station ! Frequency !! Notes |- | Atlanta, Georgia || WPZE || FM 102.5 || |- | Augusta, Georgia || WTHB || AM 1550 FM 96.9 || |- | Bowman, South Carolina || WSPX || FM 94.5 || |- | Charlotte, North Carolina || WPZS || FM 100.9 || |- | Charleston, South Carolina || WTUA || FM 106.1 || |- | Columbia, South Carolina || WFMV || FM 95.3 || |- | Cleveland, Ohio || WJMO || AM 1300 || |- | Columbus, Georgia || WEAM-FM || FM 100.7 || |- | Columbus, Ohio || WJYD || FM 106.3 || |- | Florence, South Carolina || WPDT || FM 105.1 || |- | Greenville, North Carolina || WLGT || FM 98.3 || |- | Houston, Texas || KROI || FM 92.1 || |- | Indianapolis, Indiana || WTLC || AM 1310 || |- | Meridian, Mississippi || WHYL || AM 1450 || |- | Nashville, Tennessee || WNSG || AM 800 || |- | New Orleans, Louisiana || WPRF || FM 94.9 || |- | New York, New York || WLIB || AM 1190 || |- | Norfolk, Virginia || WVSP-FM || FM 94.1 || |- | Orlando, Florida || WOKB || AM 1680 || |- | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania || WPPZ || FM 103.9 || |- | Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina || WNNL || FM 103.9 || |- | Richmond, Virginia || WPZZ || FM 104.7 || |- | Rocky Mount, North Carolina || WEED || AM 1390 || |- | Sacramento, California || KRJY || AM 1240 || |- | Savannah, Georgia || WSSJ || FM 100.1 || |- | Summerton, South Carolina || WLJI || FM 98.3 || |- | Starkville, Mississippi || WAJV || FM 98.9 || |- | Washington, D.C. || WPRS-FM || FM 104.1 || |}

Personal life

In 1997, Yolanda Adams married former NFL player Tim Crawford. The couple divorced in August 2004 after seven years. Adams and Crawford had one daughter, Taylor. Adams served as a spokesperson for the FILA Corporation's ''Operation Rebound'', a program that addressed the concern of inner city schoolchildren.

Discography

1987: ''Just as I Am''

1991: ''Through the Storm''

1993: ''Save the World''

1995: ''More Than A Melody''

1997: ''Live in Washington''

1998: ''Songs from the Heart''

1999: ''Mountain High...Valley Low''

2000: ''Christmas With Yolanda Adams''

2001: ''Believe''

2002: ''The Experience''

2005: ''Day By Day''

2007: ''What a Wonderful Time''

2011: ''Becoming''

Awards

In total, Adams has won four Grammy Awards, sixteen Stellar Gospel Music Awards, four of the Gospel Music Association's Dove Awards, one American Music Award, seven NAACP Image Awards, one Soul Train Music Award, and three BET Awards.

References

External links

yolandaadamslive.com Official Website

theyolandaadamsmorningshow.com Official Radio Show web site

Category:1961 births Category:American female singers Category:American Christians Category:American Pentecostals Category:Members of the Church of God in Christ Category:Radio One (company) Category:American gospel singers Category:American radio personalities Category:Columbia Records artists Category:People from Houston, Texas Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Texas Southern University alumni Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:Living people

de:Yolanda Adams fr:Yolanda Adams pl:Yolanda Adams fi:Yolanda Adams sv:Yolanda Adams

Name	Trey Songz
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Tremaine Aldon Neverson
Alias
Born	November 28, 1984Petersburg, Virginia, United States
Instrument	Vocals, keyboards, sampler
Genre	R&B;, Hip-hop
Occupation	Singer–songwriter, record producer, actor
Years active	2004–present
Label	Atlantic, Songbook
Associated acts	Drake, Troy Taylor, Twista, Juvenile, Bun B, Rick Ross, Plies
Website	www.treysongz.com }}

Tremaine "Trey" Aldon Neverson (born November 28, 1984), better known by his stage name Trey Songz, is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer and actor. His debut album, ''I Gotta Make It'', was released in 2005, while his second album, ''Trey Day'', was released in 2007. His third album, ''Ready'', was released in 2009 while his fourth studio album, ''Passion, Pain & Pleasure'', was released on September 14, 2010.

Life and career

1984–2004: Early life

Songz was born Tremaine Aldon Neverson on November 28, 1984, in Petersburg, Virginia. Raised as a military brat, Songz did not have aspirations to have a musical career as a child due to his shyness, saying "Singing wasn't a reality for me, until other people started noticing I sounded good." He recognized his vocal abilities at the age of 14 in 1998. Reluctant to sing, he began performing with encouragement by friends and family in high school. Record producer Troy Taylor discovered Songz during a talent show in 2000, which led him to signing a recording contract with Atlantic Records in 2002. After graduating from high school in 2002, Songz moved to New Jersey to begin recording his debut album, though recording didn't actually begin until 2003.

2004–2006: ''I Gotta Make It''

While recording his debut album in 2004, Songz released multiple mixtapes under the alias ''Prince of Virginia''. One of the mixtapes featured an "answer track" to R. Kelly's "Trapped in the Closet", entitled "Open the Closet". The song gave Trey some notoriety. His debut album, ''I Gotta Make It'' was released on July 26, 2005. It debuted at #20 on the ''Billboard'' 200, selling 40,000 copies in its first week of sales. It has sold 300,000 records in the US, but was never certified by the RIAA. Songz's debut single, ''Gotta Make It'', featuring Twista, was released in March 2005 and reached #87 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and #21 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs. It garnered success in the R&B;/urban community but failed to make a mark in mainstream music. The album's second and final single, ''Gotta Go'', was released in July 2005 and reached #67 on the Hot 100 and #11 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming even more successful than his debut single in the R&B;/urban community and in the mainstream community. After promotion for his debut concluded, he was featured on the lead single from Twista's fifth album, ''The Day After''. The single, "Girl Tonite", reached #14 on the Hot 100 and #3 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming a huge hit.

2007–2008: ''Trey Day''

In mid-2006, Songz began work on a follow-up album to his debut with longtime collaborator Troy Taylor and also employed hitmakers Bryan-Michael Cox, Danja, Stargate (production team) and R. Kelly to help create the album. Trey aimed for the album to be more mainstream-oriented than his debut album. His second studio album, ''Trey Day'', was released on October 2, 2007. The album reached #11 on the ''Billboard'' 200, selling 73,000 copies in its first week. It has since sold 400,000 records in the US, becoming his second album not to be certified by the RIAA. The album was going to be released on May 8, 2007, but was continually delayed in order for a successful single to precede the album, as the lead single failed to impact charts. His second album was preceded by the lead single, "Wonder Woman", which was released in February 2007. It reached #54 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart, but failed to impact the Hot 100. Because of the single's failure, his second album was delayed from May 2007 to October 2007. The album's second single, "Can't Help but Wait", was released in August 2007 and was released to promote his second album and the film ''Step Up 2 the Streets'' soundtrack as a single for it. The single reached #14 on the Hot 100, and #2 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It became Songz's first Top 20 hit on the Hot 100, and helped to boost his second album's sales. The single was also nominated for Best Male R&B; Vocal Performance at the 2008 50th Grammy Awards. The third single from the album, "Last Time", was released in January 2008 and reached #69 on the Hot 100, and #9 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The fourth and final single from the album, "Missin' You", was released in May 2008, but failed to chart completely. In mid-2008, Songz was nominated for a BET Award for Best Male R&B; Artist but didn't win the award.

2009–2010: ''Ready''

In late 2008, Trey began work on his third studio album with Bryan-Michael Cox, Sean Garrett, Stargate and Troy Taylor and aimed for the record to be more mature than his first two. Before releasing his third album, Songz released a mixtape titled ''Anticipation'' in June 2009 through his blog, which featured songs from his third album. Another mixtape from Trey was released in the summer of 2009, called ''Genesis''. ''Genesis'' was a collection of Trey Songz's first recordings when he was fifteen years old and was released to show his fans the dedication that he had to making a record when he was young. Trey released his third studio album, ''Ready'', on August 31, 2009. The album reached #3 on the ''Billboard'' 200, selling 131,000 copies in its first week. These are his best first week sales to date and the album was his first to reach the Top 10 on the Billboard 200. The album has since sold over 800,000 records in the US, earning a Gold certification from the RIAA in February 2010, becoming his first album to be certified by the RIAA. The lead single from the album, "I Need a Girl", was released in April 2009 and reached #5 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop songs chart and #59 on the Hot 100, becoming an R&B;/urban hit but not a mainstream hit. A promotional single, "Successful", featuring rapper Drake, was released in June 2009 and reached #17 on the Hot 100, becoming Songz's third Top 20 hit. The single also served as the second and final single from Drake's EP, ''So Far Gone''. The second official single from his third album, "LOL Smiley Face", featuring Soulja Boy Tell 'Em and Gucci Mane, was released in August 2009 and reached #51 on the Hot 100 and #12 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The third single from the album, "I Invented Sex", featuring Drake, was released in October 2009 and reached #42 on the Hot 100 but #1 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming his first single to top that chart. Like the first two singles from the album, it achieved success in the R&B;/urban community but only some mainstream success. charted within the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and topped the R&B; chart. The fourth single from the album, "Say Aah", featuring rapper Fabolous, was released in January 2010 and reached #9 on the Hot 100 and #3 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The single has become Trey's highest charting single on the Hot 100 and one of his most successful singles on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The fifth and final single from the album, "Neighbors Know My Name", was released in February 2010 and reached #43 on the Hot 100 and #4 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart. A sixth single, "Yo Side of the Bed", was going to be released in June 2010, but its release was canceled due to unknown reasons. A music video, featuring singer Keri Hilson, was filmed and released, however. Songz was also the opening act for Jay-Z on his Jay-Z Fall Tour in late 2009. The album was nominated for Best Contemporary R&B; Album at the 52nd Grammy Awards in 2010, but lost to Beyoncé's ''I Am... Sasha Fierce''. On April 1, 2010, he recorded an episode of MTV Unplugged, which aired on April 26, 2010. A documentary-series about Trey, ''Trey Songz: My Moment'', began in June 2010 to positive reviews and high ratings. The 10-part series will end in August 2010 and follows Trey during his time as opening act on Jay-Z's Jay-Z Fall Tour in late 2009.

2010–2011: ''Passion, Pain & Pleasure''

Songz's fourth studio album, ''Passion, Pain & Pleasure'', was released on September 14, 2010. Trey began work on the album in early 2010 with Sean Garrett, Troy Taylor and Stargate and has stated that the album will be his most personal to date. The album was completed in July 2010. The album's lead single, "Bottoms Up", featuring female rapper Nicki Minaj, was released on July 27, 2010 and has reached number twenty-four on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart and was shared enough on Facebook to appear as a trending video on ItsTrending. Its video was filmed on July 31, 2010 and is pending release. Trey also filmed the video for the album's second single, "Can't Be Friends", on August 1, 2010. "Can't Be Friends" was released as the album's second single in August 2010. Songz embarked on the ''Passion, Pain & Pleasure Tour'' on August 6, 2010 with singer Monica. The tour is his first headlining tour to date and consists of shows in venues that seat 3,000 to 5,000 people. Songz also contributed the song "Already Taken" to the ''Step Up 3D'' soundtrack, which was released on July 27, 2010. He filmed a video for the song, which was released in July 2010. The leading lady in the video is former girlfriend and professional dancer Helen Gedlu. Songz appeared at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010. Songz performed at BET Awards 2011 which broadcasted on June 26, 2011.

In July 2011, he was cast in ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D'' as Ryan, the male lead role.

2011-Present: Chapter 5

On August 18th, 2011, It was announced Songz will be working on his fifth studio titled ''Chapter 5''. In a interview Trey said The album, which will act as the follow-up to ‘Passion, Pain, & Pleasure’, is said to be nearing completion. He also carried on to say "It’s my sixth year in the game so I’ve been here for a while now. You can expect the best me you’ve ever heard. I don’t have any release dates in mind right now but I’m just making music and enjoying myself in the studio and having fun. When I get to a place where I feel comfortable saying a date or all of that, people will definitely know. I have a few dream collaborations on that album that I want, but they say if you blow out your candle and make a wish you can’t tell people what you ask for or it won’t come true."

Discography

''I Gotta Make It'' (2005)

''Trey Day'' (2007)

''Ready'' (2009)

''Passion, Pain & Pleasure'' (2010)

''Chapter 5'' (TBA)

Filmography

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;" !style="background:#B0C4DE;"|Year !style="background:#B0C4DE;"|Title !style="background:#B0C4DE;"|Role !style="background:#B0C4DE;"|Notes |- |2008 |''Queen of Media'' |DJ I.V. |film |- |2009 |''Lincoln Heights'' |Himself |Episode: "Relative Unknown" |- |2010 |''Preacher's Kid (film)'' |small role |- |2010 |''When I Was 17'' |Himself |Interview-like show, about what he did when he was 17 |- |2010 |''Trey Songz: My Moment'' |Himself |Interview-Documentary show, following him around on tour with Jay-Z. |}

Awards and nominations

{|class="wikitable" !Year !Award !Result |- |rowspan="3"|2008 |BET Award for Best Male R&B; Artist | |- |Grammy Award for Best Male R&B; Vocal Performance for "Can't Help but Wait" | |- |Ozone Award for Best R&B; Artist | |- |rowspan="1"|2009 |Soul Train Awards for Best Collaboration "Successful" | |- |rowspan="5"|2010 |Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B; Album for "Ready" | |- |BET Award for Best Male R&B; Artist | |- |BET Award for Best Collaboration for "Say Ahh" w/ Fabolous | |- |BET Award for Best Collaboration for "Successful" w/ Drake | |- |BET Award for Viewer's Choice for "Say Ahh" w/ Fabolous | |- |rowspan="2"|2011 |BET Award for Best Male R&B; Artist | |- |BET Award for Coca-Cola's Viewer's Choice for "Bottom's Up" | |}

References

External links

Official website

Category:1984 births Category:African American actors Category:African American musicians Category:African American singers Category:American actors Category:American rhythm and blues singers Category:American tenors Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:Living people Category:Military brats Category:People from Petersburg, Virginia Category:Musicians from Virginia

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Name	Hugh Laurie
Birth name	James Hugh Calum Laurie
Birth date	June 11, 1959
Birth place	Oxford, England, UK
Alma mater	Cambridge University Eton College
Occupation	Actor, comedian, musician, writer
Years active	1981–present
Spouse	(2 sons, 1 daughter) }}

James Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE (born 11 June 1959), better known as Hugh Laurie , is an English actor, voice artist, comedian, writer, musician, recording artist, and director. He first became well known in the media as one half of the Fry and Laurie double act, along with his friend and comedy partner Stephen Fry, whom he joined in the cast of ''Blackadder'' and ''Jeeves and Wooster'' from 1987 until 1999. Since 2004, he has played Dr Gregory House, the protagonist of ''House'', for which he received two Golden Globe awards, two Screen Actors Guild awards and several Emmy nominations.

Laurie has also featured in films, including ''Sense and Sensibility'' (1995), adapted by and starring Emma Thompson, Disney's ''101 Dalmatians'' (1996), ''The Borrowers'' (1997), ''Flight of the Phoenix'' (2004), ''Monsters vs. Aliens'' (2009), and the three ''Stuart Little'' films.

As of August 2010, Laurie is the highest paid actor in a drama series on US television. He has been listed in the 2011 ''Guinness Book of World Records'' as the highest paid actor ever in a TV Drama—earning US$ 700,000 per episode in ''House''—and for being the most watched leading man on television.

Early life and education

Laurie was born in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England. The youngest of four children, Laurie has an older brother named Charles and two older sisters named Susan and Janet. He had a somewhat strained relationship with his mother, Patricia (née Laidlaw). His father, Ran Laurie, was a medical doctor who also won an Olympic gold medal in the coxless pairs (rowing) at the 1948 London Games.

Although Laurie was brought up in the Presbyterian church as a child, he has declared: "I don't believe in God, but I have this idea that if there were a God, or destiny of some kind looking down on us, that if he saw you taking anything for granted he'd take it away." He was brought up in Oxford and attended the Dragon School. He later went on to Eton and then to Selwyn College, Cambridge, where he studied for a degree in archeology and social anthropology. While at Cambridge he was a member of Footlights, the university dramatic club that has produced many well known actors and comedians, and he was club president in 1981. He was also a member of the Hermes Club and the Hawks' Club.

Like his father, Laurie was an oarsman at school and university; in 1977, he was a member of the junior coxed pair that won the British national title before representing Britain's Youth Team at the 1977 Junior World Rowing Championships. In 1980, Laurie and his rowing partner, J. S. Palmer, were runners-up in the Silver Goblets coxless pairs for Eton Vikings rowing club. Later, he also achieved a Blue while taking part in the 1980 Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. Cambridge lost that year by 5 feet. During this time Laurie was training for up to 8 hours a day and was on course to become an Olympic standard rower. Laurie is a member of Leander Club, one of the oldest rowing clubs in the world.

Forced to abandon rowing during a bout of glandular fever (mononucleosis), he joined the Cambridge Footlights, which has been the starting point for many successful British comedians. There he met Emma Thompson, with whom he had a romantic relationship; the two remain good friends. She introduced him to his future comedy partner, Stephen Fry. Laurie, Fry and Thompson later parodied themselves as the ''University Challenge'' representatives of "Footlights College, Oxbridge" in "Bambi", an episode of ''The Young Ones'', with the series' co-writer Ben Elton completing their team. In 1980–81, his final year at university, besides rowing, Laurie was also president of the Footlights, with Thompson as vice-president. They took their annual revue, ''The Cellar Tapes'', to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and won the first Perrier Comedy Award. The revue was written principally by Laurie and Fry, and the cast also included Thompson, Tony Slattery, Paul Shearer and Penny Dwyer.

Acting career

The Perrier Award led to a West End transfer for ''The Cellar Tapes'' and a television version of the revue, broadcast in May 1982. It resulted in Laurie, Fry and Thompson being selected, along with Ben Elton, Robbie Coltrane and Siobhan Redmond to write and appear in a new sketch comedy show for Granada Television, ''Alfresco'', which ran for two series.

Fry and Laurie went on to work together on various projects throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Among them were the ''Blackadder'' series, written by Ben Elton and Richard Curtis, starring Rowan Atkinson, with Laurie in various roles, but most notably Prince George and Lieutenant George. Other projects followed, of which one was their BBC sketch comedy series ''A Bit of Fry & Laurie''; another project was ''Jeeves and Wooster'', an adaptation of P. G. Wodehouse’s stories, in which Laurie played Jeeves’s employer, the amiable twit Bertie Wooster. He and Fry worked together at various charity stage events, such as ''Hysteria! 1, 2 & 3'' and Amnesty International’s ''The Secret Policeman’s Third Ball'', Comic Relief TV shows and the variety show ''Fry and Laurie Host a Christmas Night with the Stars''. They collaborated again on the film ''Peter's Friends'' and came together for a retrospective show in 2010 titled ''Fry and Laurie Reunited''.

Laurie starred in the Thames Television film "Letters from a Bomber Pilot" (1985) directed by David Hodgson. This was a serious acting role, the film being dramatised from the letters home of Pilot Officer J.R.A. "Bob" Hodgson, a pilot in RAF Bomber Command, who was killed in action in 1943.

Laurie appeared in the music videos for the 1986 single "Experiment IV" by Kate Bush, and the 1992 single "Walking on Broken Glass" by Annie Lennox, in full Georgian-period costume, a toned-down version of his Prince George character from ''Blackadder the Third'', opposite John Malkovich, similarly reprising his role of the Vicomte Valmont from ''Dangerous Liaisons''.

Laurie’s later film appearances include ''Sense and Sensibility'' (1995), adapted by and starring Emma Thompson; the Disney live-action film ''101 Dalmatians'' (1996), where he played Jasper, one of the bumbling criminals hired to kidnap the puppies; Elton’s adaptation of his novel ''Inconceivable'', ''Maybe Baby'' (2000); ''Girl From Rio''; the 2004 remake of ''The Flight of the Phoenix''; and the three ''Stuart Little'' films.

In 1996, Laurie’s first novel, ''The Gun Seller'', an intricate thriller laced with Wodehouseian humour, was published and became a best-seller. He has since been working on the screenplay for a movie version and on a second novel, ''The Paper Soldier''. In 1998, Laurie had a brief guest-starring role on ''Friends'' in "The One with Ross's Wedding, Part Two".

Since 2002, Laurie has appeared in a range of British television dramas, guest-starring that year in two episodes of the first season of the spy thriller series ''Spooks'' on BBC One. In 2003, he starred in and also directed ITV's comedy-drama series ''fortysomething'' (in one episode of which Stephen Fry appears). In 2001, he voiced the character of a bar patron in the ''Family Guy'' episode "One If by Clam, Two If by Sea". Laurie voiced the character of Mr. Wolf in the cartoon ''Preston Pig''. He was a panellist on the first episode of ''QI'', alongside Fry as host. In 2004, Laurie guest-starred as a professor in charge of a space probe called ''Beagle'', on ''The Lenny Henry Show''.

Laurie's fame expanded to the American public in 2004, when he first starred as the acerbic physician specialising in diagnostic medicine, Dr Gregory House in the popular Fox medical drama ''House''. For his portrayal, Laurie assumes an American accent. Laurie was in Namibia filming ''Flight of the Phoenix'' and recorded the audition tape for the show in the bathroom of the hotel, the only place he could get enough light. His US accent was so convincing that executive producer Bryan Singer, who was unaware at the time that Laurie is English, pointed to him as an example of just the kind of compelling American actor he had been looking for. Laurie also adopts the accent between takes on the set of ''House'', as well as during script read-throughs, although he used his native accent when directing the ''House'' episode "Lockdown".

Laurie was nominated for an ''Emmy Award'' for his role in ''House'' in 2005. Although he did not win, he did receive a Golden Globe in both 2006 and 2007 for his work on the series and the Screen Actors Guild award in 2007 and 2009. Laurie was also awarded a large increase in salary, from what was rumoured to be a mid-range five-figure sum to $350,000 per episode. Laurie was not nominated for the 2006 Emmys, apparently to the outrage of Fox executives, but he still appeared in a scripted, pre-taped intro, where he parodied his ''House'' character by rapidly diagnosing host Conan O'Brien and then proceeded to grope him as the latter asked him for help to get to the Emmys on time. He would later go on to speak in French while presenting an Emmy with Dame Helen Mirren, and has since been nominated in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. Laurie's success on the show extends to the financial: in August 2010, ''TV Guide'' identified him as the highest-paid actor in a drama, saying he's paid over $400,000 per episode.

Laurie was initially cast as Perry White, the editor of the ''Daily Planet'', in Singer's film ''Superman Returns'' but had to bow out of the project because of his involvement in ''House''. In July 2006, Laurie appeared on Bravo!'s ''Inside the Actors Studio'', where he also performed one of his own comic songs, "Mystery", accompanying himself on the piano. He hosted NBC's ''Saturday Night Live'', in which he appeared in drag in a sketch about a man (Kenan Thompson) with a broken leg who accuses his doctor of being dishonest. Laurie played the man’s wife.

In August 2007, Laurie appeared on BBC Four's documentary ''Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out'', filmed in celebration of Fry’s 50th birthday.

In 2008, Laurie appeared as Captain James Biggs in ''Street Kings'', opposite Keanu Reeves and Forest Whitaker, and then in 2009 as the eccentric Dr. Cockroach, PhD in DreamWorks' ''Monsters vs. Aliens''. He also hosted ''Saturday Night Live'' for the second time on the Christmas show in which he sang a medley of three-second Christmas songs to close his monologue.

In 2009, Laurie returned to guest star in another ''Family Guy'' episode, "Business Guy", parodying Gregory House and himself assuming an American accent.

In 2010, Laurie filmed an independent feature called ''The Oranges'' and played piano on a track of ''Meat Loaf's'' CD ''Hang Cool Teddy Bear''.

In 2010, Laurie guest starred in ''The Simpsons'' "Treehouse of Horror XXI" as Roger, a castaway who is planning a murder scheme on a ship during Homer and Marge's second honeymoon.

Music career

From the age of six, Laurie took piano lessons with a Mrs. Hare. He plays the piano, guitar, drums, harmonica and saxophone. He has displayed his musical talents in episodes of several television series, most notably ''A Bit of Fry & Laurie'', ''Jeeves and Wooster'', ''House'' and when he hosted ''Saturday Night Live'' in October 2006. He is a vocalist and keyboard player for the Los Angeles charity rock group Band From TV. Additionally, following Meat Loaf's appearance in the ''House'' episode "Simple Explanation," Laurie played piano as a special guest on the song "If I Can't Have You" from Meat Loaf's 2010 album ''Hang Cool Teddy Bear''.

On episodes of ''House'' he has played several classic rock 'n roll instruments including Gibson Flying V and Les Paul guitars. His character has a Hammond B-3 organ in his home and on one episode performed the introduction to Procol Harum's classic "Whiter Shade of Pale". Laurie appears as a scientist/doctor in the pop video to accompany Kate Bush's song ''Experiment IV''. On 1 May 2011, Laurie and a jazz quintet closed the 2011 Cheltenham Jazz Festival to great acclaim.

On 15 May 2011 Laurie was the subject of the ITV series ''Perspectives'', explaining his love for the music of New Orleans and playing music, from his album ''Let Them Talk'', at studios and live venues in the city itself. He was the subject of PBS Great Performances ''Let them Talk'', also about New Orleans jazz, first broadcast on September 30, 2011.

Personal life

Laurie's mother, Patricia (née Laidlaw), died from motor neurone disease in Oxfordshire at the age of 73 in 1989, when Laurie was 30. According to Laurie, it took her two years to die, and she suffered "painful, plodding paralysis" while being cared for by Laurie's father, whom he called "the sweetest man in the whole world".

Laurie married theatre administrator Jo Green in June 1989 in Camden, London. They live in Belsize Park, London with sons Charlie and Bill and daughter Rebecca. They had planned to move the whole family to Los Angeles in 2008 due to the strain of being mostly separated for 9 months each year, but ultimately decided against it. Charlie had a cameo in ''A Bit of Fry & Laurie'' in the last sketch of the episode entitled ''Special Squad'', as baby William (whom Stephen and Hugh begin to "interrogate" about "what he's done with the stuff", calling him a scumbag and telling him that he's been a very naughty boy) during his infancy, while Rebecca had a role in the film ''Wit'' as five-year-old Vivian Bearing.

Lauries's best friend is long time comedy partner Stephen Fry, who was best man at his wedding and is godfather to his children. Laurie is good friends with his ''House'' co-star Robert Sean Leonard and continues his friendship with actress Emma Thompson.

On 23 May 2007 Laurie was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2007 New Year Honours List, for his services to drama, by Queen Elizabeth II.

Laurie has periodically struggled with severe clinical depression, and continues to receive regular treatment from a psychotherapist. He stated in an interview that he first concluded he had a problem while driving in a charity demolition derby in 1996, during which he realised that driving around explosive crashes caused him to be neither excited nor frightened, but instead bored. "Boredom," he commented in an interview on ''Inside the Actors Studio'', "is not an appropriate response to exploding cars."

Laurie admires the writings of P.G. Wodehouse, explaining in a 27 May 1999 article in ''The Daily Telegraph'' how reading Wodehouse novels had saved his life.

Laurie is an avid motorcycle enthusiast. He has two motorcycles, one at his London home and one at his Los Angeles home. His bike in the United States is a Triumph Bonneville, his "feeble attempt to fly the British flag".

Discography

Albums

On 26 July 2010, it was announced that Laurie would be releasing a blues album after signing a contract with Warner Bros. The album, called ''Let Them Talk'', was released in France on 18 April 2011 and in Germany on 29 April. The album features collaborations from well known artists such as Tom Jones, Irma Thomas, and Dr. John.

Year

Album details

Peak chart positions

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2011

''[[Let Them Talk">Music recording sales certifications

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2011

''[[Let Them Talk''

* Released: 18 April 2011

* Label: Warner Bros.

Music download>digital download

Argentine Chamber of Phonograms and Videograms Producers>ARG: Gold

British Phonographic Industry>UK: Gold

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chartpositions	Album
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		164	47
	-	-

Other charting songs

Year	Single	Charts	Album
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	style="text-align:left;"	92	—	—
	—	58	39
	67	—	—

Appearances

Year	Song	Album

Filmography

{|class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 1981 | '''' | various characters | also writer |- | 1983 | ''Alfresco'' | various characters | also writer |- | 1983 | '''' | Max Belhavenvarious characters | |- | 1984 | '''' | Lord Monty | episode: "Bambi" |- | 1985 | '''' | Pilot Officer Bob Hodgson | Thames Television film |- | 1985 | ''Plenty'' | Michael | |- | 1985 | ''Mrs. Capper's Birthday'' | Bobby | |- | 1985 | ''Happy Families'' | Jim | |- | 1986 | ''Blackadder II'' | Simon Partridge (also known as Mr Ostrich & Farters Parters)Prince Ludwig the Indestructible | |- | 1987 | ''Filthy Rich & Catflap'' | N'Bend | |- | 1987 | ''Blackadder the Third'' | George, Prince of Wales, The Prince Regent | |- | 1988 | ''Blackadder's Christmas Carol'' | Prince GeorgeLord Pigmot (future) | |- | 1989–1995 | '''' | various characters | also writer |- | 1989 | ''Blackadder Goes Forth'' | Lt. the Honourable George Colhurst St. Barleigh | |- | 1989 | ''Strapless'' | Colin | |- | 1989 | '''' | Waiter | |- | 1990–1993 | ''Jeeves and Wooster'' | Bertie Wooster | |- | 1992 | ''Peter's Friends'' | Roger Charleston | |- | 1993 | ''All or Nothing at All'' | Leo Hopkins | television film |- | 1993–1995 | '''' | Squire Trelawney | voice |- | 1994 | '''' | Uncle | television film |- | 1995 | ''Sense and Sensibility'' | Mr. Palmer | |- | 1996 | ''Tracey Takes On...'' | Timothy Bugge | season 1 |- | 1996 | ''101 Dalmatians'' | Jasper | |- | 1997 | ''Spiceworld'' | Poirot | |- | 1997 | '''' | Police Officer Oliver Steady | |- | 1997 | '''' | Tarquin | voice |- | 1998 | ''Friends'' | Gentleman on the Plane | Episode: "The One with Ross's Wedding", season 4 episode 23 |- | 1998 | '''' | Harrap, a Barrister | |- | 1998 | '''' | Pierre, The King's Advisor | |- | 1998 | ''Cousin Bette'' | Baron Hector Hulot | |- | 1999 | ''Blackadder: Back & Forth'' | Viscount George Bufton-Tufton/Georgius | |- | 1999 | ''Stuart Little'' | Mr. Frederick Little | |- | 2000 | ''Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)'' | Dr. Lawyer | episode: "Mental Apparition Disorder" |- | 2000 | ''Maybe Baby'' | Sam Bell | |- | 2000 | ''Carnivale'' | Cenzo |Voice |- | 2001 | ''Chica de Río'' | Raymond Woods | alternate title: ''Girl from Rio'' |- | 2001 | ''Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows'' | Vincente Minnelli | |- | 2001 | ''Family Guy'' | Bar patron | voiceepisode: "One If by Clam, Two If by Sea" |- | 2001 | ''Discovering the Real World of Harry Potter'' | Narrator | voice |- |2001 | Second Star to the Left – A Christmas Tale |Archie | voicework |- | 2002 | ''The strange case of Penny Allison'' | Various characters | |- | 2002 | ''Stuart Little 2'' | Mr. Frederick Little | |- | 2002 | ''Spooks'' | Jools Siviter | |- | 2003 | ''The Young Visiters'' | Lord Bernard Clark | |- | 2003 | ''Fortysomething'' | Paul Slippery | |- | 2003 | ''Stuart Little: The Animated Series' | Mr. Frederick Little (Voice) | episode: "The Meatloaf Bandit" |- | 2004–present | ''House'' | Dr. Gregory House | lead actoralso directed episode: ''Lockdown'' |- | 2004 | ''Fire Engine Fred'' | | |- | 2004 | ''Flight of the Phoenix'' | Ian | |- | 2005 | ''Valiant'' | Wing Commander Gutsy | voice |- | 2005 | '''' | Doctor No. 5 | |- | 2006 | ''Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild'' | Mr. Frederick Little | voice |- | 2006, 2008 | ''Saturday Night Live'' | Hostvarious characters | season 32, episode 4season 34, episode 11 |- | 2008 | ''Street Kings'' | Captain Biggs | |- | 2009 | ''Monsters vs. Aliens'' | Dr. Cockroach, PhD | voice |- | 2009 | ''Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space'' | Dr. Cockroach, PhD | voice |- | 2010 | ''Family Guy'' | Gregory House/himself | voiceepisode: "Business Guy" |- | 2010 | '''' | Roger | voiceepisode: "Treehouse of Horror XXI" |- | 2010 | ''Fry and Laurie Reunited'' | himself | |- | 2011 | ''Hop'' | Mr. Bunny | voice |- | 2011 | ''The Oranges'' | David Walling | |- | 2011 | ''Later... with Jools Holland'' | himself | Performed "You Don't Know My Mind" and "Swanee River" (both from his album ''Let Them Talk'' ) |- | 2011 | ''Arthur Christmas'' | Steve | voice |}

Awards

All of the following are nominations or wins for Laurie's role on ''House'':

;Emmy Awards

2005 – Nominated – Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

2007 – Nominated – Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

2008 – Nominated – Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

2009 – Nominated – Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

2010 – Nominated – Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

2011 – Nominated – Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

;Golden Globe Awards 2005 – Winner – Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama

2006 – Winner – Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama

2007 – Nominated – Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama

2008 – Nominated – Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama

2009 – Nominated – Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama

2010 – Nominated – Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama

;Satellite Awards

2005 – Winner – Outstanding Actor in a Series, Drama

2006 – Winner – Outstanding Actor in a Series, Drama

2007 – Nominated – Outstanding Actor in a Series, Drama

;Screen Actors Guild Awards

2006 – Nominated – Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series

2007 – Winner – Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series

2008 – Nominated – Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series

2009 – Winner – Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series

2010 – Nominated – Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series

2011 – Nominated – Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series

;Television Critics Association

2005 – Winner – Individual Achievement in Drama

2006 – Winner – Individual Achievement in Drama

2007 – Nominated – Individual Achievement in Drama

;Teen Choice Award

2006 – Nominated – TV Actor: Drama

2007 – Winner – TV Actor: Drama

People's Choice Awards

2008 – Winner – Favorite Male TV Star

2009 – Winner – Favorite Male TV Star

2010 – Winner – Favorite TV Drama Actor

2011 – Winner – Favorite TV Drama Actor

2011 – Winner – Favorite TV Doctor

Other Awards

2011 - Winner – GQ Music Man Of The Year

Writing

Hugh Laurie has written one full-length novel, ''The Gun Seller'', which has undergone multiple printings from several publishers. His second novel, ''Paper Soldiers'' (US: ''The Paper Soldier''), was scheduled for September 2009, but has yet to appear.

''The Gun Seller'' UK (HB) (William Heinemann Ltd (May 1996)) ISBN 0-434-00297-6 (PB) (William Heinemann Ltd (May 1996)) ISBN 0-434-00375-1

* (PB) (Arrow Books Ltd (November 2000); New Ed (October 2004)) ISBN 0-09-941927-0 & ISBN 0-09-946939-1

''The Gun Seller'' US (HB) (Soho Press (May 1997)) ISBN 1-56947-087-1 (PB) (Mandarin (March 1997)) ISBN 0-7493-2385-X

* (PB) (Washington Square Press (November 1998)) ISBN 0-671-02082-X

''Paper Soldiers'' UK (PB) (Michael Joseph (24 September 2009)) ISBN 0-7181-4391-4

''The Paper Soldier'' US (HB) (Michael Joseph (27 September 2009)) ISBN 0-7181-4390-6

* (PB) (Penguin Books (28 September 2009)) ISBN 0-14-028210-6

References

External links

Hugh Laurie interview with the Guardian

Hugh Laurie Interview with the Daily Telegraph

Hugh Laurie interview with Time Out

Hugh "Laurie 'snubbed' after US success" – BBC News

Hugh Laurie at Emmys.com

Category:1959 births Category:Living people Category:English comedians Category:English film actors Category:English pianists Category:English atheists Category:English male singers Category:English blues singers Category:English blues musicians Category:English novelists Category:English screenwriters Category:English television actors Category:English voice actors Category:Alumni of Selwyn College, Cambridge Category:Cambridge University Boat Club rowers Category:Members of Leander Club Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire Category:Old Dragons Category:Old Etonians Category:Warner Bros. Records artists Category:People from Oxford Category:Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (television) winners Category:Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series Screen Actors Guild Award winners Category:British atheists

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name	Stephen Fry
birth name	Stephen John Fry
birth date	August 24, 1957
birth place	Hampstead, London, England
occupation	Actor, comedian, author, journalist, broadcaster, film director
nationality	British
years active	1981–present
partner	Daniel Cohen (1995–2010)
alma mater	Queens' College, Cambridge
parents	Alan John Fry Marianne Eve Fry (née Newman)
religion	None (atheist)
title	President of Mind (2011-present) Patron of the Lip Theatre Company Patron of the Norwich Playhouse theatre Vice President of The Noël Coward Society Honorary fellow of Queens' College, Cambridge Honorary fellow of Cardiff University Honorary president of the Cambridge University Quiz Society Rector of the University of Dundee (1992-1998)
influences	Oscar Wilde, P. G. Wodehouse, Evelyn Waugh, Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson , Douglas Adams, Rowan Atkinson
website	http://www.stephenfry.com
signature	Stephen Fry signature.svg

Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also included Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson and Tony Slattery. With Hugh Laurie, as the comedy double act Fry and Laurie, he co-wrote and co-starred in ''A Bit of Fry & Laurie'', and the duo also played the title roles in ''Jeeves and Wooster''.

As a solo actor, Fry played the lead in the film ''Wilde'', was Melchett in the BBC television series ''Blackadder'', starred as the title character Peter Kingdom in the ITV series ''Kingdom'', and is the host of the quiz show ''QI''. He also presented a 2008 television series ''Stephen Fry in America'', which saw him travelling across all 50 U.S. states in six episodes. Fry has a recurring guest role as Dr. Gordon Wyatt on the Fox crime series ''Bones''.

Apart from his work in television, Fry has contributed columns and articles for newspapers and magazines, and has written four novels and two volumes of autobiography, ''Moab Is My Washpot'' and ''The Fry Chronicles''. He also appears frequently on BBC Radio 4, starring in the comedy series ''Absolute Power'', being a frequent guest on panel games such as ''Just a Minute'', and acting as chairman for ''I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue'', where he was one of a trio of hosts who succeeded the late Humphrey Lyttelton. Fry is also known in the UK for his audiobook recordings, particularly as reader for all seven ''Harry Potter'' novels.

Early life

Fry was born in Hampstead, London, on 24 August 1957, the son of Marianne Eve Fry (née Newman) and Alan John Fry, who was an English physicist and inventor. His maternal grandparents, Martin and Rosa Neumann, were Hungarian Jewish immigrants from Šurany, which is now in Slovakia, and his mother's aunt and cousins died in Auschwitz. Fry grew up in the village of Booton near Reepham, Norfolk, having moved from Chesham, Buckinghamshire at a young age.

Fry briefly attended Cawston Primary School, Cawston, Norfolk, described later in his 1997 book ''Moab Is My Washpot'', before going on to Stouts Hill Preparatory School at the age of seven, and then to Uppingham School, Rutland, where he joined Fircroft house. He was expelled from Uppingham when he was 15, and subsequently from Paston School.

At 17, after leaving Norfolk College of Arts and Technology, Fry absconded with a credit card stolen from a family friend, was arrested in Swindon, and as a result spent three months in Pucklechurch Prison on remand.

Following his release he resumed education at City College Norwich, promising administrators that he would study rigorously to sit the Cambridge entrance exams. He passed well enough to gain a scholarship to Queens' College, Cambridge. At Cambridge, Fry joined the Cambridge Footlights, appeared on ''University Challenge'', and gained a degree in English literature. It was at the Footlights that Fry met his future comedy collaborator Hugh Laurie.

Career

Television

Fry's career in television began with the 1982 broadcasting of ''The Cellar Tapes'', the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue which was written by Fry, Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson and Tony Slattery. The revue caught the attention of Granada Television, who, keen to replicate the success of the BBC's ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'', hired Fry, Laurie and Thompson to star alongside Ben Elton in ''There's Nothing to Worry About!.'' A second series, re-titled ''Alfresco'', was broadcast in 1983 and a third in 1984; it established Fry and Laurie's reputation as a comedy double act. In 1983, the BBC offered them their own show, which became ''The Crystal Cube'', a mixture of science fiction and mockumentary that was axed after the first episode. Undeterred, Fry and Laurie appeared in an episode of ''The Young Ones'' in 1984, and Fry in Ben Elton's 1985 series, ''Happy Families''. In 1986 and 1987 Fry and Laurie also performed sketches on the LWT/Channel 4 show ''Saturday Live''.

Forgiving Fry and Laurie for ''The Crystal Cube'', the BBC commissioned a sketch show in 1986 that was to become ''A Bit of Fry & Laurie''. The programme ran for 26 episodes spanning four series between 1986 and 1995, and was very successful. During this time Fry starred in ''Blackadder II'' as Lord Melchett, made a guest appearance in ''Blackadder the Third'' as the Duke of Wellington, then returned to a starring role in ''Blackadder Goes Forth'' as General Melchett. In 1988, he became a regular contestant on the popular improvisational comedy radio show ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?''. However, when it moved to television, he only appeared three times: twice in the first series and once in the ninth.

Between 1990 and 1993, Fry starred as Jeeves (alongside Hugh Laurie's Bertie Wooster) in ''Jeeves and Wooster'', 23 hour-long adaptations of P.G. Wodehouse's novels and short stories.

In 1998 BBC Two aired a Malcolm Bradbury adaptation of the Mark Tavener 1989 novel, ''In the Red'' with Fry taking the part of the Controller of BBC Radio 2.

In 2000, Fry played the role of Professor Bellgrove in the BBC serial ''Gormenghast'' which was an adaptation of the first two novels of Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast series.

In 2010 he filmed a cameo role in ''Ros na Rún'', an Irish language soap opera broadcast in Ireland, Scotland and the United States. Fry learned Irish for the role. He also came together with Laurie for a retrospective of their partnership titled ''Fry and Laurie Reunited''.

In 2010 Fry took part in a Christmas series of Short Films called 'Little Crackers'. Fry's short is based on a story from his childhood at school.

''QI''

In 2003, Fry began hosting the TV game show ''QI'' (Quite Interesting), a British comedy panel game television quiz show. ''QI'' was created and co-produced by John Lloyd, and features permanent panellist Alan Davies. ''QI'' has the highest viewing figures for any show on BBC Four and UKTV G2 (now Dave). In 2006, Fry won the Rose d'Or award for "Best Game Show Host" for his work on the series.

Other series

A foray into documentary-making has seen Fry fronting the Emmy Award-winning ''The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive'' in 2006, and in 2007 a documentary on the subject of HIV and AIDS, ''HIV and Me''. Also in 2006, he appeared in the genealogy series ''Who Do You Think You Are?'', tracing his family tree to discover his Jewish ancestry. His six-part travel series ''Stephen Fry in America'' began on BBC One on 12 October 2008. In May 2008, it was announced that a five-part companion series, ''More Fry in America'', had been commissioned for BBC Four; it was to feature in-depth essays excluded from the first series due to time constraints. No further information about the project has since been released.

Fry has also been involved in nature documentaries, having narrated ''Spectacled Bears: Shadow of the Forest'' for the BBC ''Natural World'' series in 2008. In the television series ''Last Chance to See'', Fry together with zoologist Mark Carwardine sought out endangered species, some of which were featured in Douglas Adams and Carwardine's 1990 book/radio series of the of the same name. The resulting programmes were broadcast in 2009.

From 2007 to 2009, Fry appeared in and was executive producer for the legal drama ''Kingdom'', which ran for three series on ITV1. He has also taken up a recurring guest role as psychiatrist Dr. Gordon Wyatt in the popular American drama ''Bones''.

On 7 May 2008, Fry gave a speech as part of a series of BBC lectures on the future of public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, which he later recorded for a podcast.

Fry narrates the English language version of the Spanish children's animated series ''Pocoyo''. Fry appeared on ''Room 101'' in 2001, in episode 10 of series 6.

Film

Having made his film debut in the 1985 film ''The Good Father'', Fry had a brief appearance in ''A Fish Called Wanda'' (in which he is knocked out by Kevin Kline, who is posing as an airport security man) and then appeared in the lead role for Kenneth Branagh's ''Peter's Friends'' in 1992. In the 1994 romantic comedy film ''I.Q.'', he played the role of James Moreland. Portraying Oscar Wilde (a man of whom he had been a fan since the age of 13) in the 1997 film ''Wilde'', he fulfilled to critical acclaim a role that he has said he was "born to play". A year later, Fry starred in David Yates' small independent film ''The Tichborne Claimant'', and in 2001 he played the detective in Robert Altman's period costume drama, ''Gosford Park''. In the same year he also appeared in the Dutch film ''The Discovery of Heaven'', directed by Jeroen Krabbé and based on the novel by Harry Mulisch.

In 2003, Fry made his directorial debut with ''Bright Young Things'', adapted by himself from Evelyn Waugh's ''Vile Bodies''. In 2001, he began hosting the BAFTA Film Awards, a role from which he stepped down in 2006. Later that same year, he wrote the English libretto and dialogue for Kenneth Branagh's film adaptation of ''The Magic Flute''.

Fry continues to make regular film appearances, notably in treatments of literary cult classics. He portrayed Maurice Woodruff in ''The Life and Death of Peter Sellers'', served as narrator in the 2005 film version of ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'', and in 2005 he appeared in both ''A Cock and Bull Story'', based on ''Tristram Shandy'', and as a non-conforming TV Presenter who challenges the fascist state in ''V for Vendetta''. In 2006, he played the role of gadget-master Smithers in ''Stormbreaker'', and in 2007 he appeared as himself hosting a quiz in ''St Trinian's''. In 2007, Fry wrote a script for a remake of ''The Dam Busters'' for director Peter Jackson.

In 2008, he participated in a film celebrating the 25th anniversary of GNU, ''Happy Birthday to GNU''. Fry was offered a role in ''Valkyrie'' but was unable to participate. Fry starred in the Tim Burton version of ''Alice in Wonderland'', as the voice of The Cheshire Cat. He will play Mycroft Holmes in the sequel to ''Sherlock Holmes'' directed by Guy Ritchie. In 2010, Fry provided the voice of Socrates the Lion in the environmental animated film ''Animals United''. He will portray the Master of Lake-town in the 2012 film adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Hobbit.''

Radio

Fry came to the attention of radio listeners with the 1986 creation of his supposed alter-ego, Donald Trefusis, whose "wireless essays" were broadcast on the BBC Radio 4 programme ''Loose Ends''. In the 1980s he starred as David Lander in four series of the BBC Radio 4 show ''Delve Special'', written by Tony Sarchet, which became a six part Channel 4 series ''This is David Lander'' in 1988. In 1988, Fry wrote and presented a six-part comedy series entitled ''Saturday Night Fry''; frequent radio appearances have ensued (notably on panel games ''Just a Minute'' and ''I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue''). In 2000, he began starring as Charles Prentiss in the Radio 4 comedy ''Absolute Power'', reprising the role for three further series on radio and two on television. In 2002, Fry voiced Winnie-the-Pooh and was one of the narrators in ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' and ''The House at Pooh Corner'', both written by A.A Milne. He presented a weekly, 20 x 120-minute series, "The Incomplete and Utter History of Classical Music", a 'witty guide' to the genre over the past 1,000 years, on Classic FM.

In 2007, he hosted ''Current Puns'', an exploration of wordplay, and ''Radio 4: This Is Your Life'', to celebrate the radio station's 40th anniversary. He also interviewed Tony Blair as part of a series of podcasts released by 10 Downing Street.

In February 2008, Fry began presenting podcasts entitled ''Stephen Fry's Podgrams'', in which he recounts his life and recent experiences. In July 2008, Fry appeared as himself in ''I Love Stephen Fry'', an ''Afternoon Play'' for Radio 4 written by former ''Fry and Laurie'' script editor Jon Canter.

Since August 2008 he has presented ''Fry's English Delight'', a series on BBC Radio 4 about the English language. As of 2011, it has been running for four series and 15 episodes.

In the summer 2009 series of ''I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue'', Fry was one of a trio of hosts replacing Humphrey Lyttelton (the others being Jack Dee and Rob Brydon).

He also lends his voice to the introduction and stings for Phill Jupitus' fortnightly podcast, ''The Perfect Ten''.

Theatre

Fry wrote a play entitled ''Latin! or Tobacco and Boys'' for the 1980 Edinburgh Festival, where it won the Fringe First prize. It had a revival in 2009 at London's Cock Tavern Theatre, directed by Adam Spreadbury-Maher. ''The Cellar Tapes'', the Footlights Revue of 1981, won the Perrier Comedy Award. In 1984, Fry adapted the hugely successful 1930s musical, ''Me and My Girl'', for the West End, where it ran for eight years. He was also cast in a lead role in Simon Gray's 1995 play, ''Cell Mates'', which he left three days into the West End run, pleading stage fright. He later recalled the incident as a hypomanic episode in his documentary on bipolar disorder. In 2007, Fry wrote a Christmas pantomime, ''Cinderella'', which ran at London's Old Vic Theatre. Fry is a long-time fan of the 1960s anarchic British musical comedy group, the ''Bonzo Dog Band'' and, particularly, of its eccentric front man, the late Vivian Stanshall. Fry helped to fund an ill-fated 1988 London re-staging of the Stanshall's acclaimed ''Stinkfoot, a Comic Opera'', written by Vivian and Ki Longfellow-Stanshall for the Bristol-based Old Profanity Showboat. Fry performed several of Stanshall's numbers as part of the Bonzo's 26 January 2006 reunion concert at the London Astoria. He also appears as a shiny New Millennium Bonzo on their post-reunion album, ''Pour l'Amour des Chiens'', including his reciting of a recipe for "Salmon Proust", playing a butler in "Hawkeye the Gnu", and voicing ads for the fictitious "Fiasco" stores.

Following three one-man shows in Australia, Fry announced a "sort of stand-up" performance at The Royal Albert Hall in London for September 2010.

Audio books

Stephen Fry has been the reader for the British versions of all of J.K.Rowling's ''Harry Potter'' series of audio books. He discussed this project in an interview with J.K. Rowling in 2005. Fry has also been the reader for Douglas Adams's ''The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy'' film tie-in edition. He has also made recordings of his own books, such as ''The Stars' Tennis Balls''; and works by Roald Dahl, Michael Bond, A. A. Milne, and Anthony Buckeridge.

Video games

Fry's distinctive voice has been featured in a number of video games, including an appearance as Reaver, a main character in Lionhead Studios games ''Fable II'' and ''Fable III'', and as the narrator in ''LittleBigPlanet'' and its sequel on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable. He also served as narrator on the first four ''Harry Potter'' games (''Philosopher's Stone'', ''Chamber of Secrets'', ''Prisoner of Azkaban'' and the ''Goblet of Fire'').

Advertisements

Fry has lent himself and his voice to many advertisements, starting with an appearance as "Count Ivan Skavinsky Skavar" in a 1982 advert for Whitbread Best Bitter. Fry has said in his memoirs that after receiving his payment for this work – £25,000 – he has never subsequently experienced "what one could call serious money troubles". He has since appeared in adverts for products such as Marks and Spencer, Twinings, Kenco, Vauxhall, Direct Line, Calpol, Heineken, Alliance & Leicester, After Eights, Trebor, Panama cigars and Orange Mobile.

Literature

Since the publication of his first novel, ''The Liar'' (1991), Fry has written three additional novels, several non-fiction works and two volumes of autobiography. ''Making History'' (1997) is partly set in an alternative universe where Adolf Hitler's father is made infertile and his replacement proves a rather more effective Führer. The book won the Sidewise Award for Alternate History. ''The Hippopotamus'' (1994) is about Edward (Ted/Tedward) Wallace and his stay at his old friend Lord Logan's country manor in Norfolk. ''The Stars' Tennis Balls'' (2000) is a modern retelling of ''The Count of Monte Cristo''. Fry's book, ''The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking the Poet Within'', is a guide to writing poetry.

When writing a book review for ''Tatler'', Fry wrote under a ''nom de plume'', Williver Hendry, editor of ''A Most Peculiar Friendship: The Correspondence of Lord Alfred Douglas and Jack Dempsey'', a field close to Fry's heart as an Oscar Wilde enthusiast. Once a columnist in ''The Listener'' and ''The Daily Telegraph'', he now writes a weekly technology column in the Saturday edition of ''The Guardian''. His blog attracted more than 300,000 visitors in its first two weeks of existence.

On 26 May 2009, Fry unveiled ''The Dongle of Donald Trefusis'', an audiobook series following the character Donald Trefusis (a character from Fry's novel ''The Liar'' and from the BBC Radio 4 series ''Loose Ends''), set over 12 episodes. After its release, it reached No. 1 on the UK Album Chart list.

On 2 January 2010 it was announced that Fry was "switching off his connections with the outside world" in order to complete a second volume of his autobiography.

Fry's use of the word "luvvie" in ''The Guardian'' on 2 April 1988 is given by the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' as the earliest recorded use of the word.

Football

On 13 August 2010, Fry joined the Board of Directors at Norwich City Football Club. A lifelong fan of "the Canaries" and regular visitor to Carrow Road, he said on being appointed "Truly this is one of the most exciting days of my life and I am as proud and pleased as I could be."

Twitter

Fry wields a considerable amount of influence through his use of the social networking site Twitter. He is frequently asked to promote various charities and causes, often inadvertently causing their websites to crash because of the sheer volume of traffic generated by his large number of followers, as Fry notes on his website: "Four thousand hits a second all diving down the pipeline at the same time for minutes on end." Fry uses his influence to recommend underexposed musicians and authors (which often see large increases in web hits and sales) and to spread contemporary issues in the world of media and politics, notably the dropping of an injunction against ''The Guardian'' and the lambasting of ''Daily Mail'' columnist Jan Moir over her article on deceased Boyzone member Stephen Gately.

In October 2009 Fry sparked debate amongst users again when he announced an intention to leave the social networking site after criticism from another user on Twitter. He retracted the intention the next day. In October 2010, Fry left Twitter for a few days following press criticism of a quote taken from an interview he had given, with a farewell message of "Bye bye". After returning, Fry explained that he had left Twitter to "avoid being sympathised with or told about an article I would otherwise never have got wind of".

In November 2009 Fry's Twitter account reached 1,000,000 followers. He commemorated the million followers milestone with a humorous video blog in which a 'Step Hen Fry' clone speaks from the year 2034 where MySpace, Facebook and Twitter have combined to form 'Twit on MyFace'.

In November 2010 Fry achieved 2,000,000 followers on Twitter. He welcomed his 2 millionth follower, mobijack, with a blog entry describing Fry's view of the pros and cons of this form of communication.

Acclaim

In 1995, Fry was presented with an honorary doctorate from the University of Dundee, which named their main Students' Association bar after his novel ''The Liar''. Fry is a patron of its Lip Theatre Company. He also served two consecutive terms—1992 to 1995 and 1995 to 1998—as the student-elected Rector of the University of Dundee. Fry is considered to have been one of the most popular rectors the University has had, and was noted for his work to promote the University and his efforts to represent its students on the University Court. Such was his popularity was unoppossed when he sought re-election to office in 1995, and by the time he completed his second term in office he had won the widespread admiration of the University's staff and students. He was awarded the AoC Gold Award in 2004, and was entered into their hall of fame. Fry was also awarded an honorary degree from Anglia Ruskin University of Cambridge, England in 2005. and was also made honorary president of the Cambridge University Quiz Society and honorary fellow of Queens' College, Cambridge. He is a Patron of the Norwich Playhouse theatre and a Vice President of The Noël Coward Society. Fry was the last person to be named Pipe Smoker of the Year before the award was discontinued. On 13 July 2010, he was made an honorary fellow of Cardiff University and on 28 January 2011 he was awarded an honorary doctorate at the University of Sussex for his work campaigning for people suffering from mental health problems, bipolar disorder and HIV.

In December 2006 he was ranked sixth for the BBC's Top Living Icon Award, was featured on ''The Culture Show'', and was voted ''Most Intelligent Man on Television'' by readers of ''Radio Times''. The ''Independent on Sunday'' Pink List named Fry the second most influential gay person in Britain in May 2007. He had taken the twenty-third position on the list the previous year. Later the same month he was announced as the 2007 ''Mind Champion of the Year'' That same year, ''Broadcast'' magazine listed Fry at number four in its "Hot 100" list of influential on-screen performers, describing him as a polymath and a "national treasure". He was also granted a lifetime achievement award at the British Comedy Awards on 5 December 2007 and the Special Recognition Award at the National Television Awards on 20 January 2010.

BBC Four dedicated two nights of programming to Fry on 17 and 18 August 2007, in celebration of his 50th birthday. The first night, comprising programs featuring Fry, began with a sixty-minute documentary entitled ''Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out''. The second night was composed of programs selected by Fry, as well as a 60-minute interview with Mark Lawson and a half-hour special, ''Stephen Fry: Guilty''. The weekend programming proved such a ratings hit for BBC Four that it was repeated on BBC Two on the 16th and 17 September 2007.

In 2011, he was the subject of Molly Lewis' song ''An Open Letter to Stephen Fry'', in which the singer jokingly offers herself to be the surrogate mother for his child. In February 2011, Fry was awarded the Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism by the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard University, the Harvard Secular Society and the American Humanist Association.

Views on religion

Fry has repeatedly expressed opposition to organised religion and has identified himself as an atheist, while declaring some sympathy for the ancient Greek belief in capricious gods. In his first autobiography he wrote, "I knew I couldn't believe in God, because I was fundamentally Hellenic in my outlook." He has accepted that religion can have positive effects, "Sometimes belief means credulity, sometimes an expression of faith and hope which even the most sceptical atheist such as myself cannot but find inspiring." In 2009 he and Christopher Hitchens participated in an "Intelligence Squared" debate in which they argued against Ann Widdecombe and Archbishop John Onaiyekan, who supported the view that the Catholic Church was a force for good. Fry and Hitchens argued that the church did more harm than good. Fry attacked the Catholic Church's teachings on sexuality and denounced its wealth.

On 15 September 2010, Fry, along with 54 other public figures, signed an open letter published in ''The Guardian'', stating their opposition to Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the United Kingdom being a state visit.

On 22 February 2011, Fry was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism by the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard University, joining a list of previous honorees including novelist Salman Rushdie, screenwriter Joss Whedon, and Mythbusters Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman.

Personal life

Fry struggled to keep his homosexuality secret during his teenage years at public school, and has claimed not to have engaged in sexual activity for 16 years from 1979 until 1995. When asked when he first acknowledged his sexuality, Fry quipped: "I suppose it all began when I came out of the womb. I looked back up at my mother and thought to myself, 'That's the last time I'm going up one of those.'" Fry was in a 14-year relationship with Daniel Cohen, which ended in 2010. Stephen Fry has stated that he is 90% homosexual, but has been attracted to women on occasion.

Fry has a home in London and another in Hollywood. He also has a home near King's Lynn, Norfolk. When in London, Fry drives a black TX4 London cab.

Fry was an active supporter of the Labour Party for many years, and appeared in a party political broadcast on its behalf with Hugh Laurie and Michelle Collins in November 1993. Despite this, he did not vote in the 2005 General Election because of the stance of both the Labour and Conservative parties with regard to the Iraq War. Despite his praising of the Blair/Brown government for social reform, Fry has been critical of the Labour Party's "Third Way" concept. Fry appeared in literature to support changing the British electoral system from first-past-the-post to alternative vote for electing Members of Parliament to the House of Commons in the Alternative Vote referendum in 2011.

He is on cordial terms with Prince Charles (despite a mild parody Fry performed in his role of King Charles I in the comedy programme ''Blackadder: The Cavalier Years''), through his work with the Prince's Trust. He attended the wedding of the Prince of Wales to Camilla Parker Bowles in 2005.

Fry is a friend of British comedian and actor (and ''Blackadder'' co-star) Rowan Atkinson and was best man at Atkinson's wedding to Sunetra Sastry at the Russian Tea Room in New York City. Fry was a friend of British actor John Mills.

His best friend is Hugh Laurie, whom he met while both were at Cambridge and with whom he has collaborated many times over the years. He was best man at Laurie's wedding and is godfather to all three of his children.

A fan of cricket, Fry has claimed to be related to former England cricketer C.B. Fry, and was recently interviewed for the ''Ashes Fever'' DVD, reporting on England's victory over Australia in the 2005 Ashes series. Regarding football, he is a supporter of Norwich City (as mentioned in ''Ashes Fever''), and is a regular visitor to Carrow Road. Fry's sister, Jo Crocker, was assistant director on ''Bright Young Things''.

He has been described as "deeply dippy for all things digital", claims to have bought the third Macintosh computer sold in the UK (his friend Douglas Adams bought the first two) and jokes that he has never encountered a smartphone that he has not bought. He counts Wikipedia among his favourite websites "because I like to find out that I died, and that I'm currently in a ballet in China, and all the other very accurate and important things that Wikipedia brings us all."

Fry has a long interest in Internet production, including his own website since 1997. His current site, ''The New Adventures of Mr Stephen Fry'', has existed since 2002 and has attracted many visitors following his first blog in September 2007, which comprised a 6,500 word "blessay" on smartphones. In February 2008, Fry launched his private podcast series, ''Stephen Fry's Podgrams'', and a forum, including discussions on depression and activities in which Fry is involved. The website content is created by Stephen Fry and produced by Andrew Sampson. Fry is also a supporter of GNU and the Free Software Foundation. For the 25th anniversary of the GNU operating system, Fry appeared in a video explaining some of the philosophy behind GNU by likening it to the sharing found in science. In October 2008, he began posting to his Twitter stream, which he regularly updates. On 16 May 2009, he celebrated the 500,000-follower mark: "Bless my soul 500k followers. And I love you all. Well, all except that silly one. And that's not you."

On 30 April 2008, Fry signed an open letter, published in ''The Guardian'' newspaper by some well known Jewish personalities, stating their opposition to celebrating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel. Furthermore, he is a signatory member of the British Jews for Justice for Palestinians organisation, which campaigns for Palestinian rights.

A year later, ''The Guardian'' published a letter from Fry addressing his younger self, explaining how his future is soon to unfold, reflecting on the positive progression towards gay acceptance and openness around him, and yet not everywhere, while warning on how "the cruel, hypocritical and loveless hand of religion and absolutism has fallen on the world once more".

Fry was among over 100 signatories to a statement published by Sense About Science on 4 June 2009, condemning British libel laws and their use to "severely curtail the right to free speech on a matter of public interest."

In February 2010, he was made a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association, stating: "it is essential to nail one’s colours to the mast as a humanist."

Poland controversy

On 6 October 2009, Fry was interviewed by Jon Snow on ''Channel 4 News'' as a signatory of a letter to British Conservative Party leader David Cameron expressing concern about the party's relationship with Poland's opposition national conservative Law and Justice party in the European Parliament. During the interview, he stated: The remark prompted a complaint from the Polish Embassy in London, an editorial in ''The Economist'' and criticism from British Jewish historian David Cesarani. Fry has since posted an apology in a six-page post on his personal blog, in which he stated:{{bquote|I offer no excuse. I seemed to imply that the Polish people had been responsible for the most infamous of all the death factories of the Third Reich. I didn't even really at the time notice the import of what I had said, so gave myself no opportunity instantly to retract the statement. It was a rubbishy, cheap and offensive remark that I have been regretting ever since.

I take this opportunity to apologise now. I said a stupid, thoughtless and fatuous thing. It detracted from and devalued my argument, such as it was, and it outraged and offended a large group of people for no very good reason. I am sorry in all directions, and all the more sorry because it is no one's fault but my own, which always makes it so much worse.}}

Atomic bombing survivor controversy

On an episode of the BBC comedy quiz program ''QI'', Fry brought up and other guests joked about the fate of Tsutomu Yamaguchi, who survived both atomic bombings of Japan, whom Fry termed "the unluckiest man in the world". As a result of this broadcast there was considerable criticism in Japan, the BBC made an apology, and Fry cancelled a trip to Japan.

Health

Fry has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, specifically stating he suffers from Cyclothymia, referring to it as "bipolar lite". He suffered a nervous breakdown in 1995 while appearing in a West End play called ''Cell Mates'' and subsequently walked out of the production, prompting its early closure and incurring the displeasure of co-star Rik Mayall and playwright Simon Gray. Mayall's comedy partner, Adrian Edmondson, made light of the subject in his and Mayall's second ''Bottom'' live show. After walking out of the production, Fry went missing for several days while contemplating suicide. He abandoned the idea and left the United Kingdom by ferry, eventually resurfacing in Belgium.

Fry has spoken publicly about his experience with bipolar disorder, which was also depicted in the documentary ''Stephen Fry: The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive''. In the programme, he interviewed other sufferers of the illness including Carrie Fisher, Richard Dreyfuss and Tony Slattery. Also featured were chef Rick Stein, whose father committed suicide, Robbie Williams, who talks of his experience with major depression, and comedienne/former mental health nurse Jo Brand. He is also involved with the mental health charity Stand to Reason.

In 2009, Fry lent his support to a campaign led by the human rights organisation Reprieve to prevent the execution of Akmal Shaikh, a British national who suffered from bipolar disorder, yet, despite calls for clemency, was executed in the People's Republic of China for drug trafficking.

In January 2008, he broke his arm while filming ''Last Chance to See'' in Brazil. He later explained in a podcast how the accident happened: while climbing aboard a boat, he slipped between it and the dock, and, while stopping himself from falling into the water, his body weight caused his right humerus to snap. The damage was more severe than first thought: the resulting vulnerability to his radial nerve—he was at risk of losing the use of his arm—was not diagnosed until he saw a consultant in the UK.

As the host of ''QI'', Fry has revealed that he is allergic to both champagne and bumble bee stings.

Appearing on ''Top Gear'' in 2009, Fry had lost a significant amount of weight, prompting host Jeremy Clarkson to ask jokingly, "Where's the rest of you?" Fry explained that he had shed a total of , attributing the weight loss to doing a lot of walking while listening to downloaded Audiobooks.

Fry is to , in height.

Business

In 2008, Fry formed SamFry Ltd, with long-term collaborator Andrew Sampson, to produce and fund new content, as well as manage his official website.

Bibliography

References

External links

Five Minutes With: Stephen Fry, interview with Matthew Stadlen for the BBC

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