A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions.

Traditionally, throughout the 20th century and into the 21st, these were published in newspapers, with horizontal strips printed in black-and-white in daily newspapers, while Sunday newspapers offered longer sequences in special color comics sections. There were more than 200 different comic strips and daily cartoon panels in American newspapers alone each day for most of the 20th century, for a total of at least 7,300,000 episodes.

Strips are written and drawn by a comics artist or cartoonist. As the name implies, comic strips can be humorous (for example, "gag-a-day" strips such as ''Blondie'', ''Bringing Up Father'', ''Marmaduke'' and ''Pearls Before Swine'').

Starting in the early 1930s, comic strips expanded from their mirthful origins to feature adventure stories, as seen in ''Popeye'', ''Captain Easy'', ''Buck Rogers'', ''Tarzan'' and ''The Adventures of Tintin''. Soap-opera continuity strips such as ''Judge Parker'' and ''Mary Worth'' gained popularity in the 1940s. All are called, generically, comic strips, though cartoonist Will Eisner has suggested that "sequential art" would be a better name.

In the UK and the rest of Europe, comic strips are also serialized in comic book magazines, with a strip's story sometimes continuing over three pages or more. Comic strips have appeared in American magazines such as ''Liberty'' and ''Boys' Life'' and also on the front covers of magazines, such as the ''Flossy Frills'' series on ''The American Weekly'' Sunday newspaper supplement.

History

Storytelling using a sequence of pictures has existed through history. One medieval European example in textile form is the Bayeux Tapestry. Printed examples emerged in 19th-century Germany and in 18th-century England, where some of the first satirical or humorous sequential narrative drawings were produced. William Hogarth's 18th century English cartoons include both narrative sequences, such as ''A Rake's Progress'', and single panels.

The Biblia pauperum ("Paupers' Bible"), a tradition of picture Bibles beginning in the later Middle Ages, sometimes depicted Biblical events with words spoken by the figures in the miniatures written on scrolls coming out of their mouths—which makes them to some extent ancestors of the modern cartoon strips.

The first newspaper comic strips appeared in America in the late 19th century. ''The Yellow Kid'' is usually credited as the first. However, the art form combining words and pictures evolved gradually, and there are many examples of proto-comic strips.

The Swiss teacher, author and caricature artist Rodolphe Toepffer (Geneva, 1799–1846) is considered the father of the modern comic strips. His illustrated stories such as ''Histoire de M. Vieux Bois'' (1827), first published in the USA in 1842 as ''The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck'' or ''Histoire de Monsieur Jabot'' (1831), inspired subsequent generations of German and American comic artists. In 1865, the German painter, author and caricaturist Wilhelm Busch created the strip ''Max and Moritz'', about two trouble-making boys, which had a direct influence on the American comic strip. ''Max and Moritz'' was a series of severely moralistic tales in the vein of German children's stories such as ''Struwwelpeter'' ("Shockheaded Peter"); in one, the boys, after perpetrating some mischief, are tossed into a sack of grain, run through a mill and consumed by a flock of geese. ''Max and Moritz'' provided an inspiration for German immigrant Rudolph Dirks, who created the ''Katzenjammer Kids'' in 1897. Familiar comic-strip iconography such as stars for pain, sawing logs for snoring, speech balloons and thought balloons originated in Dirks' strip.

Hugely popular, ''Katzenjammer Kids'' occasioned one of the first comic-strip copyright ownership suits in the history of the medium. When Dirks left William Randolph Hearst for the promise of a better salary under Joseph Pulitzer, it was an unusual move, since cartoonists regularly deserted Pulitzer for Hearst. In a highly unusual court decision, Hearst retained the rights to the name "Katzenjammer Kids", while creator Dirks retained the rights to the characters. Hearst promptly hired Harold Knerr to draw his own version of the strip. Dirks renamed his version ''Hans and Fritz'' (later, ''The Captain and the Kids''). Thus, two versions distributed by rival syndicates graced the comics pages for decades. Dirks' version, eventually distributed by United Feature Syndicate, ran until 1979.

In America, the great popularity of comics sprang from the newspaper war (1887 onwards) between Pulitzer and Hearst. ''The Little Bears'' (1893–96) was the first American comic with recurring characters, while the first color comic supplement was published by the ''Chicago Inter-Ocean'' sometime in the latter half of 1892. On January 31, 1912, Hearst introduced the nation's first full daily comic page in his ''New York Evening Journal''.

In China, with its traditions of block printing and of the incorporation of text with image, experiments with what became ''lianhuanhua'' date back to 1884.

Newspapers

Newspaper comic strips come in two different types: daily strips and Sunday strips. Most newspaper comic strips are syndicated; a syndicate hires people to write and draw a strip and then distributes it to many newspapers for a fee. A few newspaper strips are exclusive to one newspaper. For example, the ''Pogo'' comic strip by Walt Kelly originally appeared only in the ''New York Star'' in 1948 and was not picked up for syndication until the following year.

In the United States, a daily strip appears in newspapers on weekdays, Monday through Saturday, as contrasted with a Sunday strip, which typically only appears on Sundays. Daily strips usually are printed in black and white, and Sunday strips are usually in color. However, a few newspapers have published daily strips in color, and some newspapers have published Sunday strips in black and white. The two conventional formats for newspaper comics are strips and single gag panels. The strips are usually displayed horizontally, wider than they are tall. Single panels are square, circular or taller than they are wide. Strips usually, but not always, are broken up into several smaller panels with continuity from panel to panel. A horizontal strip can also be used for a single panel with a single gag, as seen occasionally in Mike Peters' ''Mother Goose and Grimm''.

During the 1930s, the original art for a daily strip could be drawn as large as 25 inches wide by six inches high. As strips have become smaller, the number of panels have been reduced.

The popularity and accessibility of strips meant they were often clipped and saved; authors including John Updike and Ray Bradbury have written about their childhood collections of clipped strips. Often posted on bulletin boards, clipped strips had an ancillary form of distribution when they were faxed, photocopied or mailed. The ''Baltimore Sun'''s Linda White recalled, "I followed the adventures of ''Winnie Winkle'', ''Moon Mullins'' and ''Dondi'', and waited each fall to see how Lucy would manage to trick Charlie Brown into trying to kick that football. (After I left for college, my father would clip out that strip each year and send it to me just to make sure I didn’t miss it.)"

Proof sheets were the means by which syndicates provided newspapers with black-and-white line art for the reproduction of strips (which they arranged to have colored in the case of Sunday strips). Michigan State University Comic Art Collection librarian Randy Scott describes these as "large sheets of paper on which newspaper comics have traditionally been distributed to subscribing newspapers. Typically each sheet will have either six daily strips of a given title or one Sunday strip. Thus, a week of ''Beetle Bailey'' would arrive at the ''Lansing State Journal'' in two sheets, printed much larger than the final version and ready to be cut apart and fitted into the local comics page." Comic strip historian Allan Holtz described how strips were provided as mats (the plastic or cardboard trays in which molten metal is poured to make plates) or even plates ready to be put directly on the printing press. He also notes that with electronic means of distribution becoming more prevalent printed sheets "are definitely on their way out."

Cartoon panels

Single panels usually, but not always, are not broken up and lack continuity. The daily ''Peanuts'' is a strip, and the daily ''Dennis the Menace'' is a single panel. J. R. Williams' long-run ''Out Our Way'' continued as a daily panel even after it expanded into a Sunday strip, ''Out Our Way with the Willets''. Jimmy Hatlo's ''They'll Do It Every Time'' was often displayed in a two-panel format with the first panel showing some deceptive, pretentious, unwitting or scheming human behavior and the second panel revealing the truth of the situation.

Early daily strips were large, often running the entire width of the newspaper, and were sometimes three or more inches high. Initially, a newspaper page included only a single daily strip, usually either at the top or the bottom of the page. By the 1920s, many newspapers had a comics page on which many strips were collected together. Over decades, the size of daily strips became smaller and smaller, until by the year 2000, four standard daily strips could fit in an area once occupied by a single daily strip.

NEA Syndicate experimented briefly with a two-tier daily strip, ''Star Hawks'', but after a few years, ''Star Hawks'' dropped down to a single tier.

In Flanders, the two-tier strip is the standard publication style of most daily strips like ''Spike and Suzy'' and ''Nero''. They appear Monday through Saturday; until 2003 there were no Sunday papers in Flanders. In the last decades, they have switched from black and white to color.

Sunday comics

Sunday newspapers traditionally included a special color section. Early Sunday strips, such as ''Thimble Theatre'' and ''Little Orphan Annie'', filled an entire newspaper page, a format known to collectors as full page. Sunday pages during the 1930s and into the 1940s often carried a secondary strip by the same artist as the main strip. No matter whether it appeared above or below a main strip, the extra strip was known as the topper, such as ''The Squirrel Cage'' which ran along with ''Room and Board'', both drawn by Gene Ahern.

During the 1930s, the original art for a Sunday strip was usually drawn quite large. For example, in 1930, Russ Westover drew his ''Tillie the Toiler'' Sunday page at a size of 17" × 37". In 1937, the cartoonist Dudley Fisher launched the innovative ''Right Around Home'', drawn as a huge single panel filling an entire Sunday page.

Full-page strips were eventually replaced by strips half that size. Strips such as ''The Phantom'' and ''Terry and the Pirates'' began appearing in a format of two strips to a page in full-size newspapers, such as the ''New Orleans Times Picayune'', or with one strip on a tabloid page, as in the ''Chicago Daily News''. When Sunday strips began to appear in more than one format, it became necessary for the cartoonist to allow for rearranged, cropped or dropped panels. During World War II, because of paper shortages, the size of Sunday strips began to shrink. After the war, strips continued to get smaller and smaller because of increased paper and printing costs. The last full-page comic strip was the ''Prince Valiant'' strip for 11 April 1971.

Comic strips have also been published in Sunday newspaper magazines. Russell Patterson and Carolyn Wells' ''New Adventures of Flossy Frills'' was a continuing strip series seen on Sunday magazine covers. Beginning January 26, 1941, it ran on the front covers of Hearst's ''American Weekly'' newspaper magazine supplement, continuing until March 30 of that year. Between 1939 and 1943, four different stories featuring Flossy appeared on ''American Weekly'' covers.

Sunday comics sections employed offset color printing with multiple print runs imitating a wide range of colors. Printing plates were created with four or more colors—traditionally, the CMYK color model: cyan, magenta, yellow and "K" for black. With a screen of tiny dots on each printing plate, the dots allowed an image to be printed in a halftone that appears to the eye in different gradations. The semi-opaque property of ink allows halftone dots of different colors to create an optical effect of full-color imagery.

Underground comic strips

The decade of the 1960s saw the rise of underground newspapers, which often carried comic strips, such as ''Fritz the Cat'' and ''The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers''. ''Zippy the Pinhead'' initially appeared in underground publications in the 1970s before being syndicated. ''Bloom County'' and ''Doonesbury'' began as strips in college newspapers under different titles, and later moved to national syndication. Underground comic strips covered subjects that are usually taboo in newspaper strips, such as sex and drugs. Many underground artists, notably Vaughn Bode, Dan O'Neill, Gilbert Shelton and Art Spiegelman went on to draw comic strips for magazines such as ''Playboy'', ''National Lampoon'' and Pete Millar's ''CARtoons''. Jay Lynch graduated from undergrounds to alternative weekly newspapers to ''Mad'' and children's books.

Webcomic

''Webcomics'', also known as ''online comics'' and ''internet comics'', are comics that are available to read on the Internet. Many are exclusively published online, while some are published in print but maintain a web archive for either commercial or artistic reasons. Two of the most popular are ''Penny Arcade'', focused primarily on video gaming, and ''User Friendly'', which bases its humor on the Internet and other computer-user issues. The majority of traditional newspaper comic strips have some Internet presence. King Features Syndicate and other syndicates often provide archives of recent strips on their websites. Some, such as Scott Adams, creator of ''Dilbert'', include an email address in each strip.

Conventions and genres

Most comic strip characters do not age throughout the strip's life, but in some strips, like Lynn Johnston's award-winning ''For Better or For Worse'', the characters age as the years pass. The first strip to feature aging characters was ''Gasoline Alley''.

The history of comic strips also includes series that are not humorous, but tell an ongoing dramatic story. Examples include ''The Phantom'', ''Prince Valiant'', ''Dick Tracy'', ''Mary Worth'', ''Modesty Blaise'' and ''Tarzan''. Sometimes these are spin-offs from comic books, for example ''Superman'', ''Batman'' and ''The Amazing Spider-Man''.

A number of strips have featured animals ('funny animals') as main characters. Some are non-verbal (''Marmaduke'', ''The Angriest Dog in the World''), some have verbal thoughts but are not understood by humans, (''Garfield'', Snoopy in ''Peanuts''), and some can converse with humans (''Bloom County'', ''Calvin and Hobbes'', ''Mutts'', ''Citizen Dog'', ''Buckles'', ''Get Fuzzy'', ''Pearls Before Swine'' and ''Pooch Cafe''). Other strips are centered entirely on animals, as in ''Pogo'' and ''Donald Duck''. Gary Larson's ''The Far Side'' was unusual, as there were no central characters. Instead ''The Far Side'' used a wide variety of characters including humans, monsters, aliens, chickens, cows, worms, amoebas and more. John McPherson's ''Close to Home'' also uses this theme, though the characters are mostly restricted to humans and real-life situations. Wiley Miller not only mixes human, animal and fantasy characters, he does several different comic strip continuities under one umbrella title, ''Non Sequitur''. Bob Thaves's ''Frank & Ernest'' began in 1972 and paved the way for some of these strips as its human characters were manifest in diverse forms — as animals, vegetables, and minerals.

Social and political influence

The comics have long held a distorted mirror to contemporary society, and almost from the beginning have been used for political or social commentary. This ranged from the right-wing views of ''Little Orphan Annie'' to the unabashed liberalism of ''Doonesbury''. ''Pogo'' used animals to particularly devastating effect, caricaturing many prominent politicians of the day as animal denizens of Pogo's Okeefenokee Swamp. In a fearless move, Pogo's creator Walt Kelly took on Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s, caricaturing him as a bobcat named Simple J. Malarkey, a megalomaniac who was bent on taking over the characters' birdwatching club and rooting out all undesirables. Kelly also defended the medium against possible government regulation in the McCarthy era. At a time when comic books were coming under fire for supposed sexual, violent and subversive content, Kelly feared the same would happen to comic strips. Going before the Congressional subcommittee, he proceeded to charm the members with his drawings and the force of his personality. The comic strip was safe for satire.

During the early 20th century, comic strips were widely associated with publisher William Randolph Hearst, whose papers had the largest circulation of strips in the United States. Hearst was notorious for his practice of yellow journalism, and he was frowned on by readers of ''The New York Times'' and other newspapers which featured few or no comic strips. Hearst's critics often assumed that all the strips in his papers were fronts for his own political and social views. Hearst did occasionally work with or pitch ideas to cartoonists, most notably his continued support of George Herriman's ''Krazy Kat''. An inspiration for Bill Watterson and other cartoonists, ''Krazy Kat'' gained a considerable following among intellectuals during the 1920s and 1930s.

Some comic strips, such as ''Doonesbury'' and ''The Boondocks'', may be printed on the editorial or op-ed page rather than the comics page because of their regular political commentary. For example, the August 12, 1974 ''Doonesbury'' strip awarded a 1975 Pulitzer Prize for its depiction of the Watergate scandal. ''Dilbert'' is sometimes found in the business section of a newspaper instead of the comics page because of the strip's commentary about office politics, and Tank McNamara often appears on the sports page because of its subject matter.

Publicity and recognition

The world's longest comic strip is long and on display at Trafalgar Square as part of the London Comedy Festival. The London Cartoon Strip was created by 15 of Britain's best known cartoonists and depicts the history of London.

The Reuben, named for cartoonist Rube Goldberg, is the most prestigious award for U.S. comic strip artists. Reuben awards are presented annually by the National Cartoonists Society (NCS).

Today's strip artists, with the help of the NCS, enthusiastically promote the medium, which is considered to be in decline due to fewer markets and ever-shrinking newspaper space. One particularly humorous example of such promotional efforts is the Great Comic Strip Switcheroonie, held in 1997 on April Fool's Day, an event in which dozens of prominent artists took over each other's strips. ''Garfield''’s Jim Davis, for example, switched with ''Blondie''’s Stan Drake, while Scott Adams (''Dilbert'') traded strips with Bil Keane (''The Family Circus''). Even the United States Postal Service got into the act, issuing a series of commemorative stamps marking the comic-strip centennial in 1996.

While the Switcheroonie was a one-time publicity stunt, for one artist to take over a feature from its originator is an old tradition in newspaper cartooning (as it is in the comic book industry). In fact, the practice has made possible the longevity of the genre's more popular strips. Examples include ''Little Orphan Annie'' (drawn and plotted by Harold Gray from 1924 to 1944 and thereafter by a succession of artists including Leonard Starr and Andrew Pepoy), and ''Terry and The Pirates'', started by Milton Caniff in 1934 and picked up by George Wunder.

A business-driven variation has sometimes led to the same feature continuing under a different name. In one case, in the early 1940s, Don Flowers' ''Modest Maidens'' was so admired by William Randolph Hearst that he lured Flowers away from the Associated Press and to King Features Syndicate by doubling the cartoonist's salary, and renamed the feature ''Glamor Girls'' to avoid legal action by the AP. The latter continued to publish ''Modest Maidens'', drawn by Jay Allen in Flowers' style.

Issues in U.S. newspaper comic strips

}} As newspapers change, the changes have affected comic strips.

Size

In the early decades of the 20th century, all Sunday comics received a full page, and daily strips were generally the width of the page. ''Calvin and Hobbes'' creator Bill Watterson has written extensively on the issue, arguing that size reduction and dropped panels reduce both the potential and freedom of a cartoonist. After a lengthy battle with his syndicator, Watterson won the privilege of making half page-sized Sunday strips where he could arrange the panels any way he liked. Many newspaper publishers and a few cartoonists objected to this, and some papers continued to print ''Calvin and Hobbes'' at small sizes. One newspaper, the ''Reading Eagle'', still displays many strips in the largest available size.

Format

In an issue related to size limitations, Sunday comics are often bound to rigid formats that allow their panels to be rearranged in several different ways while remaining readable. Such formats usually include throwaway panels at the beginning, which some newspapers will omit for space. As a result, cartoonists have less incentive to put great efforts into these panels.

In the early 20th century, it was commonplace for strips to have lengthy adventure stories spanning weeks or months. The "Monarch of Medioka" story in Floyd Gottfredson's ''Mickey Mouse'' comic strip ran from September 8, 1937 to May 2, 1938. By the 1950s, syndicators were abandoning adventure stories and urging cartoonists to switch to simple daily gags.

The writing style of comic strips changed as well after the war. With an increase in the number of college-educated readers, there was a shift away from slapstick comedy and towards more cerebral humor. Slapstick and visual gags became more confined to Sunday strips, because as ''Garfield'' creator Jim Davis put it, "Children are more likely to read Sunday strips than dailies."

Second author

Many older strips are no longer drawn by the original cartoonist, who has either died or retired. A cartoonist, paid by the syndicate, or sometimes a relative of the original cartoonist continues writing the strip, a tradition that became commonplace in the early half of the 20th century. ''Hägar the Horrible'' and ''Frank and Ernest'' are both drawn by the sons of the creators. Some strips which are still in affiliation with the original creator are produced by small teams or entire companies, such as Jim Davis' ''Garfield'' and Lynn Johnston's ''For Better or for Worse''.

This act is commonly criticized by, primarily modern, cartoonists including Watterson and ''Pearls Before Swine'''s Stephan Pastis. The issue was in fact addressed in six consecutive ''Pearls'' strips in 2005. Charles Schulz, of ''Peanuts'' fame, requested that his strip not be continued by another cartoonist after his death. He also rejected the idea of hiring an inker or letterer, comparing it to a golfer hiring a man to make his putts. Schulz's family has honored his wishes and refused numerous proposals by syndicators to continue Peanuts with a new author.

The problems cited with attaining a second cartoonist state that the second cartoonist is generally less funny or compelling than the creator, and that the new cartoonist does not have the same style of writing or understand the characters as well. Also, some claim that continuing such strips stops newer cartoonists from breaking through.

Censorship

Starting in the late 1940s, the national syndicates which distributed newspaper comic strips subjected them to very strict censorship. ''Li'l Abner'' was censored in September 1947 and was pulled from papers by Scripps-Howard. The controversy, as reported in ''Time'', centered on Capp's portrayal of the U.S. Senate. Said Edward Leech of Scripps, "We don't think it is good editing or sound citizenship to picture the Senate as an assemblage of freaks and crooks... boobs and undesirables."

Because historically comics have been considered mostly for children, they have a significantly more rigid censorship code than other media. Stephan Pastis has lamented that the "unwritten" censorship code is still "stuck somewhere in the 1950s." Generally, comics are not allowed to include such words as "damn", "sucks", "screwed" and "hell", although there have been exceptions such as the September 22, 2010 Mother Goose and Grimm in which an elderly man says, "This nursing home food sucks," and a pair of ''Pearls Before Swine'' comics from January, 2011 with a character named Ned using the word "crappy". Naked backsides and shooting guns cannot be shown, according to ''Dilbert'' cartoonist Scott Adams. Such comic strip taboos were detailed in Dave Breger's book ''But That's Unprintable'' (Bantam, 1955).

Many issues such as sex, narcotics and terrorism cannot or can very rarely be openly discussed in strips, although there are exceptions, usually for satire, as in ''Bloom County''. This led some cartoonists to resort to double entendre or dialogue children do not understand, as in Greg Evans' ''Luann''. Young cartoonists have claimed commonplace words, images and issues should be allowed in the comics. Some of the taboo words and topics are mentioned daily on television and other forms of visual media. Web comics and comics distributed primarily to college newspapers are much freer in this respect.

See also

Biblia pauperum

Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum

Comics Studies

List of cartoonists

List of newspaper comic strips

Military humor comic strips

References

Further reading

Blackbeard, Bill, ed. ''The Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics''. (1977) Smithsonian Institution Press/Harry N. Abrams

Castelli, Alfredo. ''Here We Are Again''

Goulart, Ron. ''Encyclopedia of American Comics''

Goulart, Ron. ''The Funnies''

Goulart, Ron. ''The Adventurous Decade''

Horn, Maurice. ''The World Encyclopedia of Comics''. (1976) Chelsea House, (1982) Avon.

Horn, Maurice. ''The World Encyclopedia of Cartoons''

Horn, Maurice. ''100 Years of American Newspaper Comics''

Koenigsberg, Moses. ''King News'', Moses Koenigsberg

Mott, Frank Luther. ''American Journalism''

Robbins, Trina. ''A Century of Women Cartoonists''

Robbins, Trina and Yronwode, Cat. ''Women and the Comics''

Robinson, Jerry. ''The Comics''

Sheridan, Martin. ''Comics And Their Creators''

Tebbell. ''The Compact History of the American Newspaper''

Strickler, Dave. ''Syndicated Comic Strips and Artists''

Watson, Elmo Scott. ''A History of Newspaper Syndicates in the United States'', Elmo Scott Watson

Waugh, Coulton. ''The Comics''

External links

National Cartoonists Society

Funny comic strips

Leiffer, Paul, and Hames Ware, eds. The Comic Strip Project. WebCitation archive.

Comic Art Collection at the University of Missouri

Category:Comics formats

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Coordinates	53°24′″N23°30′″N
name	Serge Gainsbourg
background	solo_singer
birth name	Lucien Ginsburg
alias	Julien GrixGainsbarre
birth date	April 02, 1928
death date	March 02, 1991
origin	Paris, France
instrument	Piano, guitar, bass, clavinet, accordion, harmonica
genre	Adult contemporary, jazz, funk, reggae, French rock, French pop, electronic, New Wave, yé-yé
occupation	poetsinger-songwriteractordirector
years active	1957–1991
label	Mercury/Universal Records
website	Serge Gainsbourg
notable instruments	}}

Serge Gainsbourg, born Lucien Ginsburg (; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French singer-songwriter, actor and director. Gainsbourg's extremely varied musical style and individuality make him difficult to categorize. His legacy has been firmly established, and he is often regarded as one of the world's most influential popular musicians.

Biography

Personal life

He was born Lucien Ginsburg in Paris, France, the son of Russian Jewish parents, Joseph Ginsburg (28 December 1898, Kharkov (Ukraine) – 22 April 1971) and Olga Bessman (1894 – 16 March 1985), who fled to France after the 1917 Russian Revolution. He had a twin sister, Liliane. His childhood was profoundly affected by the occupation of France by Nazi Germany, during which he and his family, as Jews, were forced to wear the yellow star and eventually flee Paris. Before he was 30 years old, Gainsbourg was a disillusioned painter, but earned his living as a piano player in bars.

He first married Elisabeth "Lize" Levitsky on 3 November 1951, and divorced her in 1957. He married a second time on 7 January 1964, to Françoise-Antoinette "Béatrice" Pancrazzi (b. 28 July 1931), with whom he had two children: a daughter named Natacha (b. 8 August 1964) and a son, Paul (born in spring 1968, after Serge had got back together with Béatrice). They divorced in February 1966.

In late-1967, he had a short but ardent love affair with Brigitte Bardot to whom he dedicated the song and album ''Initials BB''.

In mid-1968, Gainsbourg fell in love with the much younger English singer and actress Jane Birkin, whom he met during the shooting of the film ''Slogan''. They married some time afterwards. In 1971 they had a daughter, the actress and singer Charlotte Gainsbourg. Birkin left him in 1980.

Birkin remembers the beginning of her affair with Gainsbourg: he first took her to a nightclub, then to a transvestite club and afterwards to the Hilton hotel, where he passed out in a drunken stupor. Birkin left Gainsbourg when pregnant with her third daughter, Lou, by the film director Jacques Doillon, whom she later married.

His last partner was Bambou (Caroline Paulus, grandchild of General Friedrich Paulus). In 1986 they had a son, Lucien (best known as Lulu).

Early work

His early songs were influenced by Boris Vian and were largely in the vein of old-fashioned ''chanson''. Very early, however, Gainsbourg began to move beyond this and experiment with a succession of different musical styles: jazz early on, pop in the 1960s, funk, rock and reggae in the 1970s, and electronica in the 1980s.

Many of his songs contained themes with a morbid or sexual twist in them. An early success, "Le Poinçonneur des Lilas", describes the day in the life of a Paris Métro ticket man whose job it is to stamp holes in passengers' tickets. Gainsbourg describes this chore as so monotonous that the man eventually thinks of putting a hole into his own head and being buried in another.

More success began to arrive when, in 1965, his song "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" was the Luxembourg entry in the Eurovision Song Contest. Performed by French teen and charming singer France Gall, it won first prize. The song was recorded in English as "A Lonely Singing Doll" by British teen idol Twinkle.

His next song for Gall, "Les Sucettes" ("Lollipops"), caused a scandal in France: Gainsbourg had written the song with double-meanings and strong sexual innuendo, of which the singer was apparently unaware when she recorded it. Whereas Gall thought that the song was about a girl enjoying lollipops, it was really about oral sex. The controversy arising from the song, although a big hit for Gall, threw her career off-track in France for several years.

Gainsbourg arranged other Gall songs and LPs that were characteristic of the late 1960s psychedelic styles, among them Gall's ''1968'' album. Another of Serge's songs "Boum Bada Boum" was entered in by Monaco in the 1967 contest, sung by Minouche Barelli; it came fifth. He also wrote hit songs for other artists, such as "Comment Te Dire Adieu" for Françoise Hardy.

In 1969, he released "Je t'aime... moi non plus", which featured explicit lyrics and simulated sounds of female orgasm. The song appeared that year on an LP, ''Jane Birkin/Serge Gainsbourg''. Originally recorded with Brigitte Bardot, it was released with future girlfriend Birkin when Bardot backed out. While Gainsbourg declared it the "ultimate love song," it was considered too "hot"; the song was censored or banned from public broadcast in numerous countries, and in France even the toned-down version was suppressed. The Vatican made a public statement citing the song as offensive. However, despite or perhaps because of all the controversy, it sold well and charted within the top ten in many European countries.

The seventies

''Histoire de Melody Nelson'' was released in 1971. This concept album, produced and arranged by Jean-Claude Vannier, tells the story of a Lolita-esque affair, with Gainsbourg as the narrator. It features prominent string arrangements and even a massed choir at its tragic climax. The album has proven influential with artists such as Air, David Holmes, Jarvis Cocker, Beck and Dan the Automator.

In 1975, he released the album ''Rock Around the Bunker'', a rock album written entirely on the subject of the Nazis. Gainsbourg used black comedy, as he and his family suffered during World War II. While a child in Paris, Gainsbourg had worn the yellow badge as the mark of a Jew. ''Rock Around the Bunker'' belonged in the mid-1970s "retro" trend.

The next year saw the release of another major work, ''L'Homme à tête de chou'' (''Cabbage-Head Man''), featuring the new character Marilou and sumptuous orchestral themes. Cabbage-Head Man is one of his nicknames, as it refers to his ears. Musically, ''L'homme à tête de chou'' turned out to be Gainsbourg's last LP in the English rock style he had favoured since the late 1960s. He would go on to produce two reggae albums recorded in Jamaica (1979 and 1981) and two electronic funk albums recorded in New York (1984 and 1987).

In Jamaica in 1978 he recorded "Aux Armes et cetera", a reggae version of the French national anthem "La Marseillaise", with Robbie Shakespeare, Sly Dunbar, and Rita Marley. This song earned him death threats from right-wing veterans of the Algerian War of Independence who were opposed to certain lyrics. Bob Marley was furious when he discovered Gainsbourg made his wife Rita Marley sing erotic lyrics. In the 1980s, near the end of his life, Gainsbourg became a regular figure on French TV. His appearances seemed devoted to his controversial sense of humour and provocation. In March 1984, he burned a 500 French franc bill on television to protest against heavy taxation. He would show up drunk and unshaven on stage: in April 1986, in Michel Drucker's live Saturday evening show with the American singer Whitney Houston, he exclaimed to the host (in English, and when this was not translated, in French), "I want to fuck her". The same year, in another talk show interview, he appeared alongside Catherine Ringer, a well known singer who had appeared in pornographic films. Gainsbourg shouted, "You're nothing but a filthy whore, a filthy, fucking whore". Ringer scolded back, "Look at you, you're just a bitter old alcoholic. I used to admire you but these days you've become a disgusting old parasite".

By December 1988, while a judge at a film festival in Val d'Isère, he was extremely intoxicated at a local theatre where he was to do a presentation. While on stage he began to tell an obscene story about Brigitte Bardot and a champagne bottle, only to stagger offstage and collapse in a nearby seat. Subsequent years saw his health deteriorate. He had to undergo liver surgery, but denied any connection to cancer or cirrhosis. His appearances and releases became sparser as he had to rest and recover in Vezelay. During these final years, he released ''Love on the Beat'', a controversial electronic album with mostly sexual themes in the lyrics, and his last studio album, ''You're Under Arrest'' presented more synth-driven songs.

His songs became increasingly eccentric during this period, ranging from the anti-drug "Aux Enfants de la Chance" to the highly controversial duet with his daughter Charlotte named "Lemon Incest". This translates as ''"Inceste de citron"'', a wordplay on ''"un zeste de citron"'' (a lemon zest). The title demonstrates Gainsbourg's love for puns – another example of which is ''Beau oui comme Bowie'', a song he gave to Isabelle Adjani.

Film work

In 1960 Gainsbourg co-starred with Rhonda Fleming in the Italian film, ''La Rivolta Degli Schiavi'' "The Revolt of The Slaves" as Corvino, the Roman Emperor Massimiano's evil henchman.

During his career, he wrote the soundtracks for more than 40 films. In 1996, he received a posthumous César Award for Best Music Written for a Film for ''Élisa'', along with Zbigniew Preisner and Michel Colombier.

He directed four movies: ''Je t'aime... moi non plus'', ''Équateur'', ''Charlotte For Ever'' and ''Stan The Flasher.''

He made a brief appearance with Jane Birkin in 1980 in ''Egon Schiele Exzess und Bestrafung'', a film by Herbert Vesely, and also starred at "Les Chemins de Katmandou", with Jane Birkin.

Writing

Gainsbourg wrote a novel entitled ''Evguénie Sokolov''.

Death and legacy

Gainsbourg died on 2 March 1991 of a heart attack. He was buried in the Jewish lot of the Montparnasse Cemetery, in Paris. His funeral brought Paris to a standstill, and French President François Mitterrand said of him, "He was our Baudelaire, our Apollinaire... He elevated the song to the level of art." His home at the well-known address rue de Verneuil is still covered in graffiti and poems.

Since his death, Gainsbourg's music has reached legendary stature in France. His lyrical brilliance in French has left an extraordinary legacy. His music, always progressive, covered many styles: jazz, ballads, mambo, lounge, reggae, pop (including adult contemporary pop, kitsch pop, yé-yé pop, '80s pop, pop-art pop, prog pop, space-age pop, psychedelic pop, and erotic pop), funk, disco, calypso, Africana, bossa nova, and rock and roll. He has gained a following in the English-speaking world with many non-mainstream artists finding his arrangements highly influential.

One of the most frequent interpreters of Gainsbourg's songs was British singer Petula Clark, whose success in France was propelled by her recordings of his tunes. In 2003, she wrote and recorded ''La Chanson de Gainsbourg'' as a tribute to the composer of some of her biggest hits.

His lyrics are collected in the volume ''Dernières nouvelles des étoiles''.

Film adaptation

A feature film titled ''Gainsbourg (Vie héroïque)'' was released in France in January 2010, which is based on the graphic novel by the writer-director of the film, Joann Sfar. Gainsbourg is portrayed by Eric Elmosnino and Kacey Mottet Klein.

Covers and tributes

In 1964, Gainsbourg himself did covers of Babatunde Olatunji's drum-heavy tunes "Kiyakiya (Why Do You Run Away?)", "Akiwowo (Chant to the Trainman)" and "Jin-go-lo-ba" which are featured on Olatunji's acclaimed ''Drums of Passion'' LP (1959). They appeared, with new French lyrics but otherwise identical in rhythm, melody and overall sound, as "Joanna", "New York – U.S.A." and "Marabout", respectively, on the "Gainsbourg Percussions" album – without any credit given to Olatunji.

One of the celebrating events of the Year of France in Brazil was a concert in September 2009 called "Gainsbourg Imperial", an event celebrating the music of Serge Gainsbourg. It was performed by Brazilian Samba Big Band Orquestra Imperial, having French maestro Jean-Claude Vannier, English singer Jane Birkin and Brazilian musician and singer Caetano Veloso as special guests.

Belinda Carlisle covered "Bonnie and Clyde" and "Contact" on her 2007 French language album ''Voila''.

Giddle & Boyd (Giddle Partridge and Boyd Rice) covered "Bonnie and Clyde" on their 2008 EP ''Going Steady with Peggy Moffitt''.

The first English-language version of a Gainsbourg song was Dionne Warwick's 1965 version of "Mamadou".

Australian rock musician Mick Harvey released two CDs of Gainsbourg's songs translated into English. Of particular note is "To All the Lucky Kids (Aux Enfants De La Chance)" on ''Pink Elephants''.

Gainsbourg's song "Bonnie and Clyde" is featured in the burlesque show scene of ''Rush Hour 3'' and in the romantic film ''Laurel Canyon'' starring Christian Bale and Kate Beckinsale.

American indie rock band Luna included a cover of "Bonnie and Clyde" as a hidden track on their 1995 album ''Penthouse,'' and their 2001 ''Luna Live album'' features a live performance of the song.

Swedish band Sambassadeur covers "La Chanson de Prevert" in French on their self-titled debut album.

Okkervil River covers "Je suis venu te dire que je m'en vais" in English ("I Came Here to Say I'm Going Away").

Arcade Fire covered "Poupée de cire, poupée de Son" and also released it as a split 7" single with LCD Soundsystem.

Beirut often covers "La Javanaise" in their live sets and it is included in the live album Live at the Music Hall of Williamsburg (2009).

Australian pop singer-songwriter Kylie Minogue extensively sampled his duet with Brigitte Bardot "Bonnie and Clyde" on the song "Sensitized" off her 2007 album ''X''. In 2003, she sampled "Je t'aime... moi non plus" in a modified version of her song "Breathe" (which originally did not contain any samples) for a special one-off live performance at the Hammersmith Apollo in promotion of her album ''Body Language''.

French rapper MC Solaar sampled "Bonnie and Clyde" in his song "Nouveau Western" on his 1994 album ''Prose Combat''. Renegade Soundwave released "Renegade Soundwave" with the same sample at the same time.

Irish musician David Holmes covered "Cargo Culte" in his song "Don't Die Just Yet" on his 1997 album ''Let's Get Killed''.

American emcee Princess Superstar sampled the melody of the songs "Melody" and "Cargo Culte" in the song "You Get Mad At Napster" on her album ''Princess Superstar Is''.

The Welsh comedy-rap band Goldie Lookin Chain extensively sampled the title track of Gainsbourg's ''Cannabis'' film soundtrack for their single "Your Missus Is a Nutter".

In 1997 Tzadik records released a tribute to Gainsbourg in their Great Jewish Composers series. The album includes covers by John Zorn, Medeski, Martin and Wood, Mike Patton, Fred Frith, Ikue Mori, Marc Ribot and Cyro Baptista.

On the HBO show ''Flight of the Conchords'', the sequence for the song "A Kiss is Not a Contract" is a tribute to Gainsbourg's video for "Ballade de Melody Nelson".

The track "Serge" on The Herbaliser's album ''Take London'' is about a chance encounter with Gainsbourg 3 days before his death.

Black Grape's "A Big Day in the North" is based on a sample taken from ''Initials B.B.'' and also features samples from "Ford Mustang".

In the film ''High Fidelity'', when a pair of punks steals from Rob Gordon's record store, one of the things they stole was a Serge Gainsbourg record.

American hip hop duo The Beatnuts sampled "Melody" on their track "Superbad" off their album ''The Beatnuts LP''.

Nick Cave sang a duet of "I love you nor do I" with his long time girlfriend Anita Lane. So did Barry Adamson with Anita in 1993 on his release ''The Negro inside Me'' with "Je t'aime ... Moi non plus".

Trumpet player Erik Truffaz did a jazz remake of "Je t'aime, moi non plus".

Australian Psychedelic band Tame Impala covered "Bonnie and Clyde" in their 2011 tour of Europe.

American hip hop band De La Soul sampled "Les Oubliettes" and "En Melody" on their second album De La Soul Is Dead released in 1991.

In 2005, the album Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited was released by Virgin Records. The album consisted of specially-recorded English-language cover versions of Gainsbourg's songs, recorded by artists as diverse as Franz Ferdinand, Portishead, Placebo, Marc Almond, Michael Stipe, Cat Power, Karen Elson, Jarvis Cocker, Kid Loco, Faultline, Françoise Hardy, Tricky, Marianne Faithfull, Sly and Robbie, Gonzales, Feist, Dani, Trash Palace, The Rakes, The Kills, Carla Bruni, James Iha, Kazu Makino, Nina Persson and Nathan Larson.

Discography

Albums

1958: ''Du chant à la une''

1959: ''N° 2''

1961: ''L'Étonnant Serge Gainsbourg''

1962: ''N° 4''

1963: ''Confidentiel''

1964: ''Percussions''

1967: ''Anna''

1968: ''Serge Gainsbourg – Brigitte Bardot: Bonnie & Clyde'' (compilation)

1968: ''Initials B.B.'' (compilation)

1969: ''Jane Birkin/Serge Gainsbourg''

1970: ''Cannabis'' (instrumental)

1971: ''Histoire de Melody Nelson''

1973: ''Vu de l'extérieur''

1975: ''Rock around the bunker''

1976: ''Je t'aime... moi non plus – Ballade de Johnny-Jane'' (instrumental)

1976: ''L'Homme à la tête de chou''

1977: ''Madame Claude''

1977: ''Goodbye Emmanuelle'' (instrumental)

1979: ''Aux armes et cætera''

1980: ''Je vous aime'' (only 3 pieces sung by Gainsbourg)

1980: ''Enregistrement public au Théâtre Le Palace'' (live)

1981: ''Mauvaises nouvelles des étoiles''

1984: ''Love On The Beat''

1986: ''Live (Casino de Paris)''

1986: ''Putain de film ! – B.O.F. Tenue de soirée''

1987: ''You're Under Arrest''

1988: ''Le Zénith de Gainsbourg'' (live)

1994: ''De Gainsbourg à Gainsbarre'' (11 CD box set)

Tribute albums and posthumous releases

1997: ''Great Jewish Music: Serge Gainsbourg'' (tribute album)

1997: ''Comic Strip''

2001: ''Gainsbourg Forever'' (integral box set)

2001: ''Le Cinéma de Gainsbourg'' (box set)

2001: ''I Love Serge: Electronicagainsbourg'' (remix album)

2005: ''Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited'' (tribute album)

2008: ''Classé X'' (compilation)

Singles

"Black Trombone" (1962)

"La Javanaise" (1963)

"Couleur Café" (1964)

"New York U.S.A." (1964)

"Les Sucettes" (1966)

"Hold Up" (1967)

"Initials B.B." (1967)

"Bonnie and Clyde" (1968) (Brigitte Bardot et Serge Gainsbourg)

"Je t'aime... moi non plus" (1969) (Jane Birkin avec Serge Gainsbourg)

"La Décadanse" (1971) (Jane Birkin et Serge Gainsbourg)

"Je suis venu te dire que je m'en vais" (1973)

"L'Homme à Tête de Chou" (1976)

"Marilou" (1976)

"Sea, Sex and Sun" (1978)

"Aux armes et caetera" (1979)

"Lola Rastaquouère" (1979)

"Dieu fumeur de havanes" (1980) (Catherine Deneuve & Serge Gainsbourg)

"Sorry Angel" (1984)

"Lemon Incest" (1985) (Charlotte & Gainsbourg)

"You're Under Arrest" (1987)

"Mon légionnaire" (1987)

"Requiem pour un con" (1991)

"Élisa" (1995)

"La Noyée"

;Singles written for other artists

"Les Incorruptibles" (1965) – Petula Clark

"Poupée de cire, poupée de son" (1965) – France Gall

"Baby Pop" (1966) – France Gall

"Comment te dire adieu?" (1968) – Françoise Hardy

"Dis-lui toi que je t'aime" (1990) – Vanessa Paradis

"White and Black Blues" (1990) – Joëlle Ursull (lyrics by Gainsbourg)

"La Gadoue" (1995) – Jane Birkin

Notes

References

''Serge Gainsbourg: View From The Exterior'' by Alan Clayson (1998). Sanctuary. ISBN 9781860742224

''Serge Gainsbourg: A Fistful of Gitanes'' by Sylvie Simmons (2002). Da Capo Press. ISBN 9780306811838

External links

Serge Gainsbourg official site A tribute website to Serge Gainsbourg

The lyrics of Serge Gainsbourg in English

Category:Cabaret singers Category:French agnostics Category:French-language singers Category:French male singers Category:French poets Category:French singer-songwriters Category:Writers from Paris Category:French people of Russian descent Category:French Jews Category:Jewish poets Category:Eurovision Song Contest winners Category:Mercury Records artists Category:Jewish songwriters Category:Jewish singers Category:Twin people from France Category:1928 births Category:1991 deaths Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Category:Burials at Montparnasse Cemetery

ca:Serge Gainsbourg cs:Serge Gainsbourg da:Serge Gainsbourg de:Serge Gainsbourg es:Serge Gainsbourg eo:Serge Gainsbourg eu:Serge Gainsbourg fr:Serge Gainsbourg id:Serge Gainsbourg it:Serge Gainsbourg he:סרז' גינסבורג la:Sergius Gainsbourg lt:Serge Gainsbourg hu:Serge Gainsbourg nl:Serge Gainsbourg ja:セルジュ・ゲンスブール no:Serge Gainsbourg nn:Serge Gainsbourg oc:Serge Gainsbourg pl:Serge Gainsbourg pt:Serge Gainsbourg ro:Serge Gainsbourg ru:Серж Генсбур sk:Serge Gainsbourg sr:Serž Gensbur fi:Serge Gainsbourg sv:Serge Gainsbourg tr:Serge Gainsbourg

Coordinates	53°24′″N23°30′″N
name	Mireille Darc
birth name	Mireille Aigroz
birth date	May 15, 1938
birth place	Toulon, France
occupation	Actress
website	mireille-darc.com }}

Mireille Darc (; born May 15, 1938) is a French model and actress. She was Alain Delon's longtime co-star and companion. She appeared as a lead character in Jean-Luc Godard's 1967 film ''Week End''. Darc is a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur and Commandeur of the Ordre national du Mérite

Early life and Career

Born Mireille Aigroz in Toulon, France, she attended the Conservatory of Dramatic Arts (Conservatoire d'art dramatique de Toulon) in Toulon, and went to Paris in 1959. Her debut came in 1960 in Claude Barma's ''La Grande Brétèche''. Her first leading role came in 1961 with Jean Prat's "Hauteclaire." She starred as Christine in ''Le Grand Blond avec une chaussure noire'' and ''Le Retour du Grand Blond'' and alongside Alain Delon in several films: ''L'Homme pressé'', ''Pouic-Pouic'', ''Les Bons Vivants'', ''Mort d'un pourri'', ''Madly'', ''Jeff'', ''Les Seins de glace'', ''Il était une fois un flic'', ''Borsalino'' and 2003's television series ''Frank Riva''.

In the 1980s her career was interrupted by open-heart surgery following a car accident, in which she was seriously injured, and her separation from Alain Delon after fifteen years together. She quit her film career, but returned to television in the 1990s.

In 2006, Jacques Chirac awarded Darc the Légion d'honneur.

Theatre

Neil SimonNeil SimonPeter UstinovCurzio Malaparte

Year !! Play!! Author !! Director !! Theatre
2007	''Sur la route de Madison''	Robert James Waller	Anne Bourgeois
1984	''Chapitre II''	|	Pierre Mondy	Théâtre Edouard VII
1965	''Pieds nus dans le parc''	|	Pierre Mondy	Théâtre de la Madeleine
1964	''Photo-Finish''	|	Peter Ustinov	Théâtre des Ambassadeurs
1962	''Les Femmes aussi ont perdu la guerre''	|	Raymond Gérôme	Théâtre des Mathurins

Filmography

Feature Films

Jacques Dupont (director)

Year !! Film !! Director !! Role
1986	''La Vie dissolue de Gérard Floque''	Georges Lautner	Jocelyne Domange
1984	''Réveillon chez Bob''	Édouard Molinaro
1983	''Si elle dit oui... je ne dis pas non''	Claude Vital
1983	''L'Été de nos 15 ans''	Marcel Jullian
1982	''Jamais avant le mariage''	Daniel Ceccaldi
1981	''Pour la peau d'un flic''	Alain Delon
1978	''Les Ringards''	Robert Pouret
1977	''Mort d'un pourri''	Georges Lautner
1977	''L'Homme pressé''	Édouard Molinaro
1977	''Les Passagers''	Serge Leroy
1976	''L'Ordinateur des pompes funèbres''	Gérard Pirès
1975	''Le Téléphone rose''	Edouard Molinaro
1974	''OK patron''	Clau Vital
1974	''Les Seins de glace''	Georges Lautner
1974	''Le Retour du grand blond''	Yves Robert
1974	''Dis-moi que tu m'aimes''	Michel Boisrond
1974	''Borsalino & Co''	Jacques Deray
1973	''La Valise''	Georges Lautner
1973	''Il n'y a pas de fumée sans feu''	André Cayatte
1972	''Le Grand Blond avec une chaussure noire''	Yves Robert
1972	''Il était une fois un flic''	Georges Lautner
1971	''Laisse aller, c'est une valse''	Georges Lautner
1971	''Fantasia chez les ploucs''	Gérard Pirès
1970	''Elle boit pas, elle fume pas, elle drague pas mais... elle cause !''	Michel Audiard
1970	''Borsalino''	Jacques Deray
1969	''Madly''	Roger Kahane
1969	''Jeff''	Jean Herman
1969	''Gonflés à bloc''	Ken Annakin
1968	''Summit (Un corps, une nuit)''	Giorgio Bontempi
1968	''Fleur d'oseille''	Georges Lautner
1967		Jean-Luc Godard
1967	''La Grande Sauterelle''	Georges Lautner
1967	''La Blonde de Pékin''	Nicolas Gessner
1966	''Zarabanda bing bing (Barbouze chérie)''	José María Forqué
1966	''Ne nous fâchons pas''	Georges Lautner
1966	''Du rififi à Paname''	Denys de La Patellière
1966	''À belles dents''	Pierre Gaspard-Huit
1965	''Les Bons Vivants (Un Grand Seigneur)''	Gilles Grangier et Georges Lautner
1965	''Galia''	Georges Lautner
1964	''Les Durs à cuire''	Jacques Pinoteau
1964	''Les Barbouzes''	Georges Lautner
1964	''La chasse à l'homme''	Edouard Molinaro
1963	''Pouic-Pouic''	Jean Girault
1963	''Monsieur''	Jean-Paul Le Chanois
1963	''Les Veinards''	Philippe de Broca, Jean Girault et Jacques Pinoteau
1963	''Des pissenlits par la racine''	Georges Lautner
1962	''Virginie''	Jean Boyer
1961	''Les Nouveaux Aristocrates''	Francis Rigaud
1961	''La Bride sur le cou''	Roger Vadim
1961	''¿Pena de muerte?''	José María Forn
1960	''Mourir d'amour''	José Bénazéraf et Dany Fog
1960	''Les distractions''	Jacques Dupont || Maïa

Short Films

Year !! Film !! Director !! Role
1962	''Lettres de Provins''	Jean Dasque	Voice only
1960	''La Revenante''	Jacques Poitrenaud

As Director

Year !! Film !! Featuring
1989	''La Barbare''	Murray Head

Voxography

Year !! Film !! Role
1963	''L’Ile aux Filles Perdues''	Marisa Belli
1963	''Foudres sur Babylone''	Jose Greci
1962	''L’Effroyable secret du Dr Hichcock''	Barbara Steele
1961	''Soliman le Magnifique''	Georgia Moll
1961	''Les Vikings Attaquent''	Franca Bettoja
1961	''Le Boucanier des Iles'' ( Il Giustiziere dei Mari )	Marisa Belli
1960	''L'Esclave du Pharaon''	Vira Silenti
1960	''Les Légions de Cléopâtre''	Linda Cristal
1960	''Le Géant de Thessalie''	Ziva Rodann
1960	''Toryok la furie des Barbares''	Ljubica Jovic
1958	''La Charge des Cosaques''	Georgia Moll

Bibliography

2008 ''Mon Père''

2005 ''Tant que battra mon coeur'' (Autobiography)

1982 ''Jamais avant le mariage''

References

External links

Mireille Darc Official Site

Category:1938 births Category:Living people Category:People from Toulon Category:French film actors Category:French female models Category:Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Category:Commandeurs of the Ordre national du Mérite

cs:Mireille Darcová de:Mireille Darc fr:Mireille Darc it:Mireille Darc lb:Mireille Darc hu:Mireille Darc ja:ミレーユ・ダルク oc:Mireille Darc pl:Mireille Darc ro:Mireille Darc ru:Дарк, Мирей

Coordinates	53°24′″N23°30′″N
name	The Comic Strip
medium	Television, Stand up
nationality	British
genre	Sketch comedy
active	1982 - 2005
influences	Monty Python
notable work	''The Comic Strip Presents...'' (1982 - 2005)
current members	Adrian EdmondsonDawn FrenchRik MayallNigel PlanerPeter RichardsonJennifer Saunders }}

The Comic Strip is a group of British comedians, known for their television series ''The Comic Strip Presents...''. The core members are Adrian Edmondson, Dawn French, Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer, Peter Richardson and Jennifer Saunders, with frequent appearances by Keith Allen, Robbie Coltrane and others.

Early history

Most of the group started performing at the Comedy Store in London, before setting up their own premises called the Comic Strip in a nearby Soho strip club under the Raymond Revue Bar. The lineup consisted of three double-acts: Edmondson and Mayall under the name "20th Century Coyote", Planer and Richardson ("The Outer Limits"), and French and Saunders. The other regulars were Arnold Brown, an older standup comic who did not fit so obviously into the alternative comedy scene, and Alexei Sayle, who acted as compere.

Comic Strip founder Peter Richardson prompted members to sign a contract to signify their attachment to the group. While the performers gained more exposure, actors such as Jack Nicholson and Robin Williams turned up to watch.

The show came to the attention of Jeremy Isaacs, head of the new Channel 4. Peter Richardson negotiated a deal with the channel for six self-contained half-hour films, using the group as actors rather than standup performers. Almost simultaneously, the BBC signed Edmondson, Mayall, Planer and Sayle to star in ''The Young Ones'', a sitcom in the same anarchic style as the Comic Strip. Richardson was initially to have been involved too (in the role of Mike, ultimately played by Christopher Ryan), but dropped out due to clashes between him and the show's producer, Paul Jackson. With ''The Comic Strip Presents...'', Richardson had creative control.

Television

The Comic Strip Presents...

show name	The Comic Strip Presents...
format	Short film
picture format	4:316:9
runtime	30 minutes
creator	Peter Richardson
writer	Peter RichardsonPete Richens
country	United Kingdom
starring	Adrian EdmondsonDawn FrenchRik MayallNigel PlanerPeter RichardsonJennifer Saunders
channel	Channel 4BBC 2
first aired	2 November 1982
last aired	28 December 2005
num series	5
num episodes	41 List of The Comic Strip Presents... episodes
director	Peter Richardson }}

''The Comic Strip Presents...'' debuted on 2 November 1982, the opening night of Channel 4. Each episode was prefixed by an animated lead-in consisting of the words "The Comic Strip Presents" accompanied by a soundtrack consisting of a drum machine and a Farfisa organ, together with a bomb labeled "Have a nice day", falling towards a map. In the early episodes the map was of a section of north Dorset and southern Wiltshire, centred on the town of Shaftesbury.

The first episode was "Five Go Mad in Dorset", a parody of The Famous Five. It was written by Peter Richardson and Pete Richens, who wrote most of the early episodes. "Five Go Mad..." drew anger from some viewers for the way it mercilessly satirised a children's classic, although the Enid Blyton estate had given permission for the broadcast. A meeting was called to discuss the group's future with Channel 4, after complaints from viewers.

The final episode of the first series was to have been a spoof chat show called "Back to Normal with Eddie Monsoon" (referred to as "An Evening with Eddie Monsoon" by some sources). However, it was never produced, as it was considered too vulgar even for the "alternative" Channel 4, not to mention possibly libelous. The script – which, uniquely for the Comic Strip, was written as a collaboration by the entire cast – was later published, along with the rest of the series, in book form.

A second series of seven episodes followed in 1983-84, including "Five Go Mad On Mescalin", a sequel to the first episode, and the newly-written "Eddie Monsoon – A Life?", a spoof documentary on the life and times of the title character, an obscene, drunken television host (played by Adrian Edmondson). Michael White, the theatre impresario and Rocky Horror Show producer who had been brought in by Richardson as executive producer on the series, appeared in this episode as Monsoon's producer, who had been responsible for axing Eddie's television comeback show – called ''Back to Normal with Eddie Monsoon''. The reasons given for the cancellation (e.g. "the things you said about Burt Reynolds") are presumably the same problems that led to the real "Back to Normal..." being dropped by Channel 4. (The name Eddie Monsoon – a corruption of "Edmondson" – was later used by Jennifer Saunders, Adrian Edmondson's wife, for her character in ''Absolutely Fabulous''.)

There then followed a four-year wait until the next series, during which the group made two feature films - ''The Supergrass'' (1985) and ''Eat the Rich'' (1987) - as well as three one-off ''Comic Strip Presents...'' episodes. The first of these, "The Bullshitters", was a parody of television spy and detective shows such as ''The Professionals''. It was not broadcast under the Comic Strip name, partly because of the original group only Richardson appears (he is the only performer to appear in every single episode), and partly because co-star and co-writer Keith Allen did not want to be so closely associated with the group.

The third series was broadcast in 1988, and some episodes had longer running times, mostly around 50 minutes. Five of the six episodes (all except "Funseekers") were given a limited theatrical release. They included "The Strike", which won the Golden Rose of Montreux; "More Bad News", a sequel to "Bad News Tour" showing the band reforming after five years to play at Castle Donington; and "Mr. Jolly Lives Next Door", written by Mayall and Edmondson in the violent style of their sitcoms ''Filthy Rich and Catflap'' and ''Bottom'', which featured Peter Cook as a psychotic contract killer (the eponymous Mr. Jolly) and Nicholas Parsons. Peter Richardson and Pete Richens only contributed one episode to the third series, allowing cast members such as Planer and Sayle to get their ideas on screen.

By now the show had proved a hit, and several notable stars appeared in later productions, including Leslie Phillips, Miranda Richardson, Lionel Jeffries, Nicholas Parsons, Peter Capaldi, Kate Bush, Richard Vernon, Ruby Wax, Graham Crowden, Paul McCartney, Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Elvis Costello, and Benjamin Zephaniah (as a Rastafarian police van driver) and several musical acts, particularly from the Bad News series which was also aided by Queen guitarist Brian May, such as Def Leppard and Marillion.

BBC and after

In 1990, the series transferred to BBC2. By now, all the regulars (with the exception of Peter Richardson) had become more famous for their own shows, and more recurring performers such as Gary Beadle, Phil Cornwell, Steve O'Donnell, Mark Caven, Sara Stockbridge and Doon Mackichan were brought in. Rik Mayall was contracted to ITV's ''The New Statesman'', and was only able to appear in two of the BBC productions ("GLC", and the Comic Relief special "Red Nose of Courage"). Richardson and Richens took over the bulk of the writing again, and Richardson also took over as director, having previously directed the two feature films, as well as ''The Strike''. The six-part 1990 series was followed by three individual specials in 1992, and a final six episodes in 1993.

Return to Channel 4

In 1998 the original team reunited and returned to Channel 4 for a one-off special, ''Four Men In A Car''. This was followed in 2000 by a sequel, ''Four Men In A Plane''. After another long hiatus, another 60-minute one-off, "Sex Actually", was made in 2005. It starred Sheridan Smith (''Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps'') and Tamer Hassan (''Layer Cake'') alongside several of the regular cast members. ''Four Men in a Car'' was notable for being the first broadcast on either television or radio, to involve Rik Mayall since his quad bike accident. Permission was thus given by Mayall's family to show the special.

Peter Richardson, who has built his career as a writer-director with the TV series ''Stella Street'' and films such as ''Churchill: The Hollywood Years'', has not ruled out the possibility of a whole new series of ''The Comic Strip Presents...'' featuring younger cast members.

In June 2011, a casting call went out for a new hour-long episode, starring most of the original team. This was followed by an announcement that the Comic Strip is to produce a one-off special entitled ''The Hunt for Tony Blair'', starring Stephen Mangan as Blair and Robbie Coltrane as Inspector Hutton. The one-off show will also include Jennifer Saunders as Margaret Thatcher as well as Harry Enfield, Rik Mayall and a host of others.

Video and DVD releases

In 1986 Virgin Video released various episodes of the programme dating between 1982-4, which have now become rare. The 1988 series was released on video the same year by Palace Video, each episode having its own video. The only existing episode of the BBC series on video is "GLC", which Polygram Video released with "The Strike" in 1994. When the Virgin and Palace Video videos went out of print in 1990, the rights were transferred to Polygram Video. After three years all the Channel 4 episodes of The Comic Strip were released on video.

''Eat the Rich'' (1987) has not been released on DVD in the UK. ''Eat the Rich'' is available as a Region 1 (American) DVD and a Region 2 (German) DVD.

A nine-disc Region 2 DVD set, ''The Comic Strip Presents: The Complete Collection'' was released in July 2005 (and re-released in August 2007). This included all the Channel 4 and BBC episodes (finally canonising ''The Bullshitters'' as a Comic Strip episode) plus ''The Supergrass'' across eight discs, but not ''Eat the Rich'' (due to rights issues), and was released too early to include ''...Sex Actually''. The ninth disc includes a retrospective documentary from 2005, Julien Temple's 1981 film ''The Comic Strip'' (which retroactively lays a strong claim to being the actual first 'episode'), and the two Comic Strip episodes of the 1998 documentary series ''First On Four''. Across the new and archive documentaries are featured interviews with every single key Comic Strip member.

The DVD set contains new, slightly shorter, re-edited versions of 'South Atlantic Raiders' (both parts) and 'Four Men In A Car', in addition to featuring the 90-minute re-edit of 'The Supergrass' (the original VHS release having been almost 20 minutes longer). The DVD re-editing was a deliberate creative decision, with the work undertaken by Peter Richardson himself alongside editor Geoff Hogg, though the decision was a controversial one with fans of the series.

List of Comic Strip episodes

02/11/82 ''War'' ''The Beat Generation'' ''Bad News ''Summer School'' ''Five_Go_Mad_in_Dorset#Five_Go_Mad_on_Mescalin ''Dirty Movie'' ''Susie'' ''A Fistful of Travellers' Cheques'' ''Gino: Full Story and Pics'' ''Eddie Monsoon – A Life?'' ''Slags'' ''The Bullshitters: Roll Out The Gunbarrel'' ''The Supergrass'' ''Consuela, or The New Mrs Saunders'' ''Private Enterprise'' ''Eat the Rich (film) ''The Strike'' ''Bad News ''Mr Jolly Lives Next Door'' ''The Yob'' ''Didn't You Kill My Brother?'' ''Funseekers'' ''South Atlantic Raiders'' ''South Atlantic Raiders: Argie Bargie!'' ''GLC: The Carnage Continues...'' ''Oxford'' ''Spaghetti Hoops'' ''Les Dogs'' ''Red Nose of Courage'' ''The Crying Game'' ''Wild Turkey'' ''Detectives on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown'' ''Space Virgins from Planet Sex'' ''Queen of the Wild Frontier'' ''Gregory: Diary of a Nutcase'' ''Demonella'' ''Jealousy'' ''Four Men in a Car'' ''Four Men in a Plane'' ''…Sex Actually'' ''The Hunt for Tony Blair

# !! Episode !! Tx Date !! Writers !! Directors !! Featuring
colspan="6" style="background-color:#cfcfef"	Series 1 (1982–83)
01	''Five Go Mad in Dorset''	|	Richardson, Richens	Bob Spiers	Coltrane, Edmondson, French, Peacock, Richardson, Saunders + Ronald Allen
02	|	03/01/83	Richardson, Richens	Bob Spiers	Coltrane, Edmondson, French, Mayall, Peacock, Planer, Richardson, Saunders
03	|	17/01/83	Richardson, Richens	Bob Spiers	Allen, Coltrane, Edmondson, French, Mayall, Peacock, Planer, Richardson, Saunders
04	Bad News Tour'' ||	24/01/83	Edmondson	Sandy Johnson (director)>Sandy Johnson	Edmondson, French, Mayall, Planer, Richardson, Saunders
05	|	31/01/83	French	Sandy Johnson	Coltrane, Edmondson, French, Mayall, Planer, Richardson, Saunders
colspan="6" style="background-color:#cfcfef"	Series 2 (1983–84)
06	Five Go Mad on Mescalin'' ||	02/11/83	Richardson, Richens	Bob Spiers	Coltrane, Edmondson, French, Peacock, Richardson, Saunders + Ronald Allen
07	|	07/01/84	Edmondson, Mayall	Sandy Johnson	Coltrane, Edmondson, French, Mayall, Planer, Richardson, Saunders
08	|	14/01/84	Richardson, Richens	Bob Spiers	Coltrane, Edmondson, French, Pellay (aka Pillay), Planer, Richardson, Saunders
09	|	21/01/84	Mayall, Richardson, Richens	Bob Spiers	Allen, Edmondson, French, Mayall, Peacock, Planer, Richardson, Saunders
10	|	28/01/84	Richardson, Richens	Bob Spiers	Allen, Coltrane, Edmondson, French, Mayall, Peacock, Pellay (aka Pillay), Richardson, Saunders + Arnold Brown
11	|	04/02/84	Edmondson	Sandy Johnson	Edmondson, French, Richardson, Saunders
12	|	11/02/84	Saunders	Sandy Johnson	Edmondson, French, Planer, Richardson, Saunders
colspan="6" style="background-color:#cfcfef"	Special (1984)
13	|	03/11/84	Richardson, Allen	Stephen Frears	Allen, Coltrane, Pellay (aka Pillay), Richardson + Kevin Allen
colspan="6" style="background-color:#cfcfef"	Feature Film (1985)
14	|		Richardson, Richens	Peter Richardson	Allen, Coltrane, Edmondson, French, Peacock, Pellay (aka Pillay), Planer, Richardson, Saunders, Sayle
colspan="6" style="background-color:#cfcfef"	Specials (1986)
15	|	01/01/86	French, Saunders	Stephen Frears	Edmondson, French, Mayall, Richardson, Saunders
16	|	02/01/86	Edmondson	Adrian Edmondson	Edmondson, French, Mayall, Planer, Richardson, Saunders
colspan="6" style="background-color:#cfcfef"	Feature Film (1987)
17	Eat the Rich'' ||		Richardson, Richens	Peter Richardson	Coltrane, Edmondson, French, Mayall, Pellay (aka Pillay), Planer, Richardson, Saunders
colspan="6" style="background-color:#cfcfef"	Series 3 (1988)
18	|	20/02/88	Richardson, Richens	Peter Richardson	Allen, Coltrane, Edmondson, French, Mayall, Peacock, Planer, Richardson, Saunders, Sayle + Kevin Allen, Ronald Allen
19	More Bad News'' ||	27/02/88	Edmondson	Adrian Edmondson	Edmondson, French, Mayall, Planer, Richardson, Saunders
20	|	05/03/88	Edmondson, Mayall, Rowland Rivron	Stephen Frears	Edmondson, French, Mayall, Richardson, Saunders + Peter Cook
21	|	12/03/88	Allen, Peacock	Ian Emes	Allen, Edmondson, Richardson
22	|	19/03/88	Sayle, David Stafford, Pauline Melville	Bob Spiers	Richardson, Sayle + Kevin Allen
23	|	26/03/88	Planer, Doug Lucie	Baz Taylor	Allen, Planer, Richardson + Kevin Allen, Kathy Burke
colspan="6" style="background-color:#cfcfef"	Series 4 (1990)
24	|	01/02/90	Richardson, Richens	Peter Richardson	Coltrane, Edmondson, French, Planer, Richardson, Saunders + Kathy Burke, Lenny Henry
25	|	08/02/90	Richardson, Richens	Peter Richardson	Coltrane, Edmondson, French, Planer, Richardson, Saunders + Kevin Allen, Ronald Allen, Kathy Burke
26	|	15/02/90	Richardson, Richens	Peter Richardson	Allen, Coltrane, Edmondson, French, Mayall, Planer, Richardson, Saunders + Kevin Allen, Gary Beadle
27	|	22/02/90	Richardson, Richens	Peter Richardson	Edmondson, French, Planer, Richardson, Saunders + Ronald Allen, Lenny Henry
28	|	01/03/90	Richardson, Richens	Peter Richardson	Allen, French, Planer, Richardson, Saunders, Sayle + Tim McInnerny
29	|	08/03/90	Richardson, Richens	Peter Richardson	Allen, Edmondson, Peacock, Richardson, Sayle + Kevin Allen, Gary Beadle, Kate Bush, Tim McInnerny, Miranda Richardson
colspan="6" style="background-color:#cfcfef"	Specials (1992)
30	|	09/04/92	Richardson, Richens	Peter Richardson	Allen, Coltrane, Edmondson, French, Mayall, Planer, Richardson, Saunders, Sayle + Phil Cornwell, Mark Caven, and Doon Mackichan
31	|	05/05/92	Richardson, Allen	Peter Richardson, Keith Allen	Allen, Planer, Richardson + Gary Beadle, Phil Cornwell, Doon Mackichan and Mark Caven.
32	|	24/12/92	Richardson, Richens	Peter Richardson	Richardson, Saunders + Gary Beadle, Phil Cornwell, Ruby Wax
colspan="6" style="background-color:#cfcfef"	Series 5 (1993)
33	|	22/04/93	Richardson, Allen	Peter Richardson, Keith Allen	Allen, Richardson + Kevin Allen, Gary Beadle, Jim Broadbent, Phil Cornwell, Doon Mackichan and Mark Caven.
34	|	29/04/93	Richardson, Richens	Peter Richardson, Keith Allen	Allen, Coltrane, Edmondson, French, Richardson, Saunders + Kevin Allen, Gary Beadle, Phil Cornwell, Doon Mackichan , Mark Caven, Miranda Richardson
35	|	06/05/93	Richardson, Richens	Peter Richardson	Richardson, Sayle + Gary Beadle
36	|	13/05/93	Richardson, Richens	Peter Richardson	Allen, Edmondson, Planer, Richardson, Mark Caven, Phil Cornwell, Doon Mackichan
37	|	20/05/93	Paul Bartel, Barry Dennen	Paul Bartel	Allen, Coltrane, Edmondson, Planer, Richardson, Saunders + Miranda Richardson
38	|	27/05/93	Coltrane, Morag Fullarton	Robbie Coltrane	Coltrane, Planer, Richardson, Saunders, Peter Capaldi, Kevin Allen, Gary Beadle, Kathy Burke, Miranda Richardson
colspan="6" style="background-color:#cfcfef"	Special (1998)
39	|	12/04/98	Richardson, Richens	Peter Richardson	Edmondson, French, Mayall, Planer, Richardson, Saunders
colspan="6" style="background-color:#cfcfef"	Special (2000)
40	|	04/01/00	Richardson, Richens	Peter Richardson	Edmondson, Mayall, Planer, Richardson
colspan="6" style="background-color:#cfcfef"	Special (2005)
41	|	28/12/05	Richardson, Richens	Peter Richardson	Mayall, Planer, Richardson + Phil Cornwell, Doon Mackichan, Sheridan Smith
colspan="6" style="background-color:#cfcfef"	Special (2011)
42	|	tbc	Richardson, Richens	Peter Richardson	Coltrane, Mayall, Saunders + Stephen Mangan, Harry Enfield

References

External links

Peter Richardson TV

BBC Comedy Guide - The Comic Strip Presents...

British Film Institute Screen Online

An unofficial Comic Strip Presents Website

Category:British television comedy Category:Channel 4 television programmes Category:BBC television comedy Category:The Comic Strip Category:Working Title Films films Category:Television series by Working Title Television Category:1980s British television series Category:1990s British television series Category:2000s British television series Category:1982 in British television Category:1982 television series debuts Category:2005 television series endings

nl:The Comic Strip

Coordinates	53°24′″N23°30′″N
Honorific-prefix	The Right Honourable
Name	Tony Blair
Alt	A photograph of a man with greying hair speaking into a microphone and gesturing with his left hand
Office	Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Deputy	John Prescott
Term start	2 May 1997
Term end	27 June 2007
Predecessor	John Major
Successor	Gordon Brown
Office2	Leader of the Opposition
Monarch2	Elizabeth II
Primeminister2	John Major
Term start2	21 July 1994
Term end2	2 May 1997
Predecessor2	Margaret Beckett
Successor2	John Major
Office3	Leader of the Labour Party
Term start3	21 July 1994
Term end3	24 June 2007
Deputy3	John Prescott
Predecessor3	Margaret Beckett
Successor3	Gordon Brown
Office4	Shadow Home Secretary
Leader4	John Smith
Term start4	19 July 1992
Term end4	21 July 1994
Predecessor4	Roy Hattersley
Successor4	Jack Straw
Office5	Shadow Secretary of State for Employment
Leader5	Neil Kinnock
Term start5	13 May 1989
Term end5	19 July 1992
Predecessor5	Michael Meacher
Successor5	Frank Dobson
Office6	Shadow Secretary of State for Energy
Leader6	Neil Kinnock
Term start6	7 June 1988
Term end6	13 May 1989
Predecessor6	John Prescott
Successor6	Frank Dobson
Office7	Shadow Minister of State for Trade
Leader7	Neil Kinnock
Term start7	14 May 1987
Term end7	7 June 1988
Predecessor7	Bryan Gould
Successor7	Robin Cook
Office8	Member of Parliament for Sedgefield
Majority8	18,449 (44.5%)
Term start8	9 June 1983
Term end8	27 June 2007
Predecessor8	Constituency Created
Successor8	Phil Wilson
Birth date	May 06, 1953
Birth place	Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Birthname	Anthony Charles Lynton Blair
Party	Labour
Spouse	Cherie Booth(m. 1980–present, 4 children)
Relations	Leo Blair (father)William Blair (brother)
Children	Euan, Nicky, Kathryn, Leo
Residence	Connaught Square
Alma mater	St John's College, Oxford
Occupation	Envoy
Profession	Lawyer
Networth	£3 million est.
Religion	Roman Catholic (2007–present)
Website	Tony Blair Office }}

Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He resigned from all of these positions in June 2007.

Blair was elected Leader of the Labour Party in the leadership election of July 1994, following the sudden death of his predecessor, John Smith. Under his leadership, the party adopted the term "New Labour" and moved away from its traditional left wing position towards the centre ground. Blair subsequently led Labour to a landslide victory in the 1997 general election. At 43 years old, he became the youngest Prime Minister since Lord Liverpool in 1812. In the first years of the New Labour government, Blair's government implemented a number of 1997 manifesto pledges, introducing the minimum wage, Human Rights Act and Freedom of Information Act, and carrying out devolution, establishing the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales, and the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Blair's role as Prime Minister was particularly visible in foreign and security policy, including in Northern Ireland, where he was involved in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. From the start of the War on Terror in 2001, Blair strongly supported the foreign policy of US President George W. Bush, notably by participating in the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan and 2003 invasion of Iraq. Blair is the Labour Party's longest-serving Prime Minister, the only person to have led the Labour Party to three consecutive general election victories, and the only Labour Prime Minister to serve consecutive terms more than one of which was at least four years long.

He was succeeded as Leader of the Labour Party on 24 June 2007 and as Prime Minister on 27 June 2007 by Gordon Brown. On the day he resigned as Prime Minister, he was appointed the official Envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East. In May 2008, Blair launched his Tony Blair Faith Foundation. This was followed in July 2009 by the launching of the ''Faith and Globalisation Initiative'' with Yale University in the USA, Durham University in the UK and the National University of Singapore in Asia to deliver a postgraduate programme in partnership with the Foundation.

Background and family life

Blair was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on 6 May 1953, the second son of Leo and Hazel Blair (''née'' Corscadden). Leo Blair, the illegitimate son of two English actors, had been adopted as a baby by Glasgow shipyard worker James Blair and his wife, Mary. Hazel Corscadden was the daughter of George Corscadden, a butcher and Orangeman who moved to Glasgow in 1916 but returned to (and later died in) Ballyshannon in 1923, where his wife, Sarah Margaret (née Lipsett), gave birth to Blair's mother, Hazel, above her family's grocery shop. George Corscadden was from a family of Protestant farmers in County Donegal, Ireland, who descended from Ulster-Scots settlers who took their family name from Garscadden, now part of Glasgow.

Life as a child

Blair has one elder brother, Sir William Blair, a High Court judge, and a younger sister, Sarah. Blair spent the first 19 months of his life at the family home in Paisley Terrace in the Willowbrae area of Edinburgh. During this period, his father worked as a junior tax inspector whilst also studying for a law degree from the University of Edinburgh. In the 1950s, his family spent three and a half years in Adelaide, Australia, where his father was a lecturer in law at the University of Adelaide. The Blairs lived close to the university, in the suburb of Dulwich. The family returned to the UK in the late 1950s, living for a time with Hazel Blair's stepfather, William McClay, and her mother at their home in Stepps, near Glasgow. He spent the remainder of his childhood in Durham, England, where his father lectured at Durham University.

Education

After attending The Chorister School in Durham from 1961 to 1966, Blair boarded at Fettes College, a prestigious independent school in Edinburgh, during which time he met Charlie Falconer (a pupil at the rival Edinburgh Academy), whom he later appointed Lord Chancellor. He reportedly modelled himself on Mick Jagger. His teachers were unimpressed with him, his biographer John Rentoul, reported that "All the teachers I spoke to when researching the book said he was a complete pain in the backside and they were very glad to see the back of him." Blair was arrested at Fettes, having been mistaken for a burglar as he climbed into his dormitory using a ladder after having been out late.

After Fettes, Blair spent a year in London, where he attempted to find fame as a rock music promoter before reading jurisprudence at St John's College, Oxford. As a student, he played guitar and sang in a rock band called Ugly Rumours. During this time, he dated future ''American Psycho'' director Mary Harron.

He was influenced by fellow student and Anglican priest Peter Thomson, who awakened within Blair a deep concern for religious faith and left-wing politics. While Blair was at Oxford, his mother Hazel died of cancer, which greatly affected him. After graduating from Oxford in 1975 with a Second Class Honours BA in Jurisprudence, Blair became a member of Lincoln's Inn, enrolled as a pupil barrister, and met his future wife, Cherie Booth (daughter of the actor Tony Booth) at the law chambers founded by Derry Irvine (who was to be Blair's first Lord Chancellor), 11 King's Bench Walk Chambers. He appears in a number of reported cases, for example as in ''Nethermere (St Neots) Ltd v Gardiner'' where he represented employers unsuccessfully in an attempt to deny female factory workers holiday pay.

Marriage and children

Blair married Cherie Booth, a Roman Catholic and future Queen's Counsel, on 29 March 1980. They have four children: Euan, Nicholas, Kathryn, and Leo. Leo was the first legitimate child born to a serving Prime Minister in over 150 years—since Francis Russell was born to Lord John Russell on 11 July 1849. Blair was criticised when it was discovered that one child had received private tuition from staff at Westminster School. All four children have Irish passports, by virtue of Blair's mother Hazel.

Personal health

Blair suffered from chest pains on Sunday 19 October 2003 and underwent a cardioversion at Hammersmith Hospital.

Religious faith

In an interview with Michael Parkinson broadcast on ITV1 on 4 March 2006, Blair referred to the role of his Christian faith in his decision to go to war in Iraq, stating that he had prayed about the issue, and saying that God would judge him for his decision: "I think if you have faith about these things, you realise that judgement is made by other people … and if you believe in God, it's made by God as well."

A longer exploration of his faith can be found in an interview with ''Third Way Magazine''. There he says that "I was brought up as [a Christian], but I was not in any real sense a practising one until I went to Oxford. There was an Australian priest at the same college as me who got me interested again. In a sense, it was a rediscovery of religion as something living, that was about the world around me rather than some sort of special one-to-one relationship with a remote Being on high. Suddenly I began to see its social relevance. I began to make sense of the world".

At one point Alastair Campbell, Blair's director of strategy and communications, intervened in an interview, preventing the Prime Minister from answering a question about his Christianity, explaining, "We don't do God".

Cherie Blair's friend and "spiritual guru" Carole Caplin is credited with introducing her and her husband to various New Age symbols and beliefs, including "magic pendants" known as "BioElectric Shields". The most controversial of the Blairs' New Age practices occurred when on holiday in Mexico. The couple, wearing only bathing costumes, took part in a rebirthing procedure, which involved smearing mud and fruit over each others' bodies while sitting in a steam bath.

Later on, Blair questioned the Pope's attitude towards homosexuality, arguing that religious leaders must start "rethinking" the issue. He was later rebuked by Vincent Nichols, the new archbishop of Westminster, who said that Catholic thinking was 'rather different' from the kind promoted by the former prime minister.

On 22 December 2007, it was disclosed that Blair, who in 1996, had been reprimanded by Cardinal Basil Hume for receiving Holy Communion at Mass despite not being a Catholic, in contravention of canon law, had converted to the Catholic faith, and that it was "a private matter". He had informed Pope Benedict XVI on 23 June 2007 that he wanted to become a Catholic. The Pope and his advisors criticised some of Blair's political actions, but followed up with a reportedly unprecedented red-carpet welcome, which included Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, who would be responsible for Blair's Catholic instruction.

On 14 January 2009, Blair, upon a visit to the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., described, in the guest book, his home as being 'Jerusalem'. This was followed shortly after, on the occasion of his addressing of the National Prayer Breakfast, by his discussion of the issue of religion in the world and the Middle East peace process in his address and how he spends so much of his time in the Holy Land and in the Holy City. He reported his Palestinian guide as bemoaning the fate of his nation looking to heaven and saying “Moses, Jesus, Mohammed: why did they all have to come here?" For Blair the Holy City is "a good place to reflect on religion: a source of so much inspiration; an excuse for so much evil."

According to Alastair Campbell's diary, Blair often read the Bible before taking any important decisions. He states that Blair had a "wobble" and considered changing his mind on the eve of the bombing of Iraq in 1998.

Early political career

Blair joined the Labour Party shortly after graduating from Oxford in 1975. During the early 1980s, he was involved in Labour politics in Hackney South and Shoreditch, where he aligned himself with the "soft left" of the party. He unsuccessfully attempted to secure selection as a candidate for Hackney London Borough Council. Through his father-in-law, Tony Booth, he contacted Labour MP Tom Pendry to ask for help in pursuing a Parliamentary career. Pendry gave him a tour of the House of Commons and advised him to stand for selection as a candidate in a forthcoming by-election in the safe Conservative seat of Beaconsfield, where Pendry knew a senior member of the local party. Blair was chosen as the candidate; at the Beaconsfield by-election, he won only 10% of the vote and lost his deposit, but he impressed Labour Party leader Michael Foot and acquired a profile within the party. In contrast to his later centrism, Blair made it clear in a letter he wrote to Foot in July 1982, that he had "come to Socialism through Marxism" and considered himself on the left. The letter was eventually published in June 2006.

In 1983, Blair found the newly created constituency of Sedgefield, a notionally safe Labour seat near where he had grown up in Durham. The branch had not made a nomination, and Blair visited them. Several sitting MPs displaced by boundary changes were interested in securing selection to fight the seat. With the crucial support of John Burton, Blair won their endorsement; at the last minute, he was added to the short list and won the selection over Les Huckfield. Burton later became Blair's agent and one of his most trusted and longest-standing allies.

Blair's election literature in the 1983 UK general election endorsed left-wing policies that Labour advocated in the early 1980s. He called for Britain to leave the EEC, though he had told his selection conference that he personally favoured continuing membership. He also supported unilateral nuclear disarmament as a member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Blair was helped on the campaign trail by soap opera actress Pat Phoenix, his father-in-law's girlfriend. Blair was elected as MP for Sedgefield despite the party's landslide defeat in the general election.

In his maiden speech in the House of Commons on 6 July 1983, Blair stated, "I am a socialist not through reading a textbook that has caught my intellectual fancy, nor through unthinking tradition, but because I believe that, at its best, socialism corresponds most closely to an existence that is both rational and moral. It stands for cooperation, not confrontation; for fellowship, not fear. It stands for equality." The Labour Party is declared in its constitution to be a democratic socialist party rather than a social democratic party; Blair himself organised this declaration of Labour to be a socialist party when he dealt with the change to the party's Clause IV in their constitution.

Once elected, Blair's political ascent was rapid. He received his first front-bench appointment in 1984 as assistant Treasury spokesman. In May 1985, he appeared on BBC's Question Time, arguing that the Conservative Government's Public Order White Paper was a threat to civil liberties. Blair demanded an inquiry into the Bank of England's decision to rescue the collapsed Johnson Matthey Bank in October 1985 and embarrassed the government by finding a EEC report critical of British economic policy that had been countersigned by a member of the Conservative government. By this time, Blair was aligned with the reforming tendencies in the party (headed by leader Neil Kinnock) and was promoted after the 1987 election to the shadow Trade and Industry team as spokesman on the City of London. In 1987, he stood for election to the Shadow Cabinet, receiving 71 votes.

Blair became Shadow Home Secretary under John Smith. John Smith died suddenly in 1994 of a heart attack. Blair beat John Prescott and Margaret Beckett in the subsequent leadership election and became Leader of the Opposition. As is customary for the holder of that office, Blair was appointed a Privy Councillor.

Leader of the Labour Party

Blair announced at the end of his speech at the 1994 Labour Party conference that he intended to replace Clause IV of the party's constitution with a new statement of aims and values. This involved the deletion of the party's stated commitment to "the common ownership of the means of production and exchange", which was widely interpreted as referring to wholesale nationalisation. At a special conference in April 1995, the clause was replaced by a statement that the party is 'democratic socialist'. in spite of the continuing economic recovery and fall in unemployment that the Conservative government (led by John Major) had overseen since the end of the 1990–92 recession.

At the 1996 Labour Party conference, Blair stated that his three top priorities on coming to office were "education, education, and education".

Aided by the unpopularity of John Major's Conservative government (itself deeply divided over the European Union), "New Labour" won a landslide victory in the 1997 general election, ending 18 years of Conservative Party government, with the heaviest Conservative defeat since 1832.

During Smith's leadership of the Labour Party, there were discussions with Paddy Ashdown, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, about forming a coalition government if the next general election resulted in a hung parliament. After Blair became leader, these talks continued – despite virtually every opinion poll since late 1992 having shown Labour with enough support to form a majority. However, the scale of the Labour victory meant that there was ultimately never any need for a coalition.

Prime Minister

Blair became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 2 May 1997, serving concurrently as First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Labour Party. The 43-year old Blair became the youngest person to become Prime Minister since Lord Liverpool in 1812, at the age of 42. With victories in 1997, 2001, and 2005, Blair was the Labour Party's longest-serving prime minister, the only person to lead the party to three consecutive general election victories.

Northern Ireland

His contribution towards assisting the Northern Ireland Peace Process by helping to negotiate the Good Friday Agreement (after 30 years of conflict) was widely recognised. Following the Omagh Bombing on 15 August 1998, by members of the Real IRA opposed to the peace process, which killed 29 people and wounded hundreds, Blair visited the County Tyrone town and met with victims at Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast.

War on Terror

In his first six years in office Blair ordered British troops into battle five times, more than any other prime minister in British history. This included Iraq in both 1998 and 2003; Kosovo (1999); Sierra Leone (2000) and Afghanistan (2001).

From the start of the War on Terror in 2001, Blair strongly supported the foreign policy of George W. Bush, participating in the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan and 2003 invasion of Iraq. The invasion of Iraq was particularly controversial, as it attracted widespread public opposition and 139 of Blair's MPs opposed it. As a result, he faced criticism over the policy itself and the circumstances in which it was decided upon. Alastair Campbell described Blair's statement that the intelligence on WMDs was "beyond doubt" as his "assessment of the assessment that was given to him." In 2009, Blair stated that he would have supported removing Saddam Hussein from power even in the face of proof that he had no such weapons. Playwright Harold Pinter and former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad accused Blair of war crimes. Testifying before the Iraq Inquiry on 29 January 2010, Blair said Saddam was a "monster and I believe he threatened not just the region but the world." Blair said that British and American attitude towards Saddam Hussein had "changed dramatically" after 11 September attacks. Blair denied that he would have supported the invasion of Iraq even if he had thought Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction. He said he believed the world was safer as a result of the invasion. He also said that there was "no real difference between wanting regime change and wanting Iraq to disarm: regime change was US policy because Iraq was in breach of its UN obligations."

Relationship with Parliament

One of his first acts as Prime Minister was to replace the then twice-weekly 15-minute sessions of Prime Minister's Questions held on Tuesdays and Thursdays with a single 30-minute session on Wednesdays. In addition to PMQs, Blair held monthly press conferences at which he fielded questions from journalists and – from 2002 – broke precedent by agreeing to give evidence twice yearly before the most senior Commons select committee, The Liaison Committee. Blair was sometimes perceived as paying insufficient attention both to the views of his own Cabinet colleagues and to those of the House of Commons. His style was sometimes criticised as not that of a prime minister and head of government, which he was, but of a president and head of state—which he was not. Blair was accused of excessive reliance on spin. He is the first British Prime Minister to have been formally questioned by police, though not under caution, while still in office.

Events prior to resignation

As the casualties of the Iraq War mounted, Blair was accused of misleading Parliament, and his popularity dropped dramatically. The Labour party's overall majority in the 2005 general election was reduced to 66. As a combined result of the Blair-Brown pact, Iraq war and low approval ratings, pressure built up within the Labour party for Blair to resign. On 7 September 2006, Blair publicly stated he would step down as party leader by the time of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) conference held 10–13 September 2007, having promised to serve a full term during the previous general election campaign. On 10 May 2007, during a speech at the Trimdon Labour Club, Blair announced his intention to resign as both Labour Party leader and Prime Minister. At a special party conference in Manchester on 24 June 2007, he formally handed over the leadership of the Labour Party to Gordon Brown, who had been Chancellor of the Exchequer. The resulting Sedgefield by-election was won by Labour's candidate, Phil Wilson. Blair decided not to issue a list of Resignation Honours, making him the first Prime Minister of the modern era not to do so.

Policies

In 2001, Blair said, "We are a left of centre party, pursuing economic prosperity and social justice as partners and not as opposites". Blair has rarely applied such labels to himself, but he promised before the 1997 election that New Labour would govern "from the radical centre", and according to one lifelong Labour Party member, has always described himself as a social democrat. However, Labour Party backbenchers and other left wing critics typically place Blair to the right of centre. A YouGov opinion poll in 2005 also found that a small majority of British voters, including many New Labour supporters, place Blair on the right of the political spectrum. The ''Financial Times'' on the other hand has argued that Blair is not conservative, but instead a populist. The new Clause IV of the Labour Party's constitution defines the party as "Democratic Socialist".

Critics and admirers tend to agree that Blair's electoral success was based on his ability to occupy the centre ground and appeal to voters across the political spectrum, to the extent that he has been fundamentally at odds with traditional Labour Party values. Some left wing critics have argued that Blair has overseen the final stage of a long term shift of the Labour Party to the right, and that very little now remains of a Labour Left. There is also evidence that Blair's long term dominance of the centre has forced his Conservative opponents to shift a long distance to the left, in order to challenge his hegemony there.

Blair has raised taxes (but did not increase income tax for high-earners); introduced a minimum wage and some new employment rights (while keeping Margaret Thatcher's anti-trade union legislation); introduced significant constitutional reforms; promoted new rights for gay people in the Civil Partnership Act 2004; and signed treaties integrating Britain more closely with the EU. He introduced substantial market-based reforms in the education and health sectors; introduced student tuition fees; sought to reduce certain categories of welfare payments, and introduced tough anti-terrorism and identity card legislation. Under Blair's government the amount of new legislation increased which attracted criticism. Blair increased police powers by adding to the number of arrestable offences, compulsory DNA recording and the use of dispersal orders.

Environmental record

Blair has criticised other governments for not doing enough to solve global climate change. In a 1997 visit to the United States, he made a comment on "great industrialised nations" that fail to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Again in 2003, Blair went before the United States Congress and said that climate change "cannot be ignored", insisting "we need to go beyond even Kyoto." His record at home tends to say something different. Blair and his party have promised a 20% reduction in carbon dioxide but during his term the emissions rose. The Labour Party also claimed that by 2010 10% of the energy would come from renewable resources but in fact only 3% currently does.

In 2000 Blair "flagged up" 100 million euros for green policies and urged environmentalists and businesses to work together.

Foreign policy

Relationship with the United States

Along with enjoying a close relationship with Bill Clinton, Blair formed a strong political alliance with George W. Bush, particularly in the area of foreign policy. At one point, Nelson Mandela described Blair as "the U.S. foreign minister". Blair has also often openly been referred to as "Bush's poodle". Kendall Myers, a senior analyst at the State Department, reportedly said that he felt "a little ashamed" of Bush's treatment of the Prime Minister and that his attempts to influence U.S. policy were typically ignored: "It was a done deal from the beginning, it was a one-sided relationship that was entered into with open eyes... There was nothing, no payback, no sense of reciprocity".

For his part, Bush lauded Blair and the UK. In his post-11 September speech, for example, he stated that "America has no truer friend than Great Britain".

The alliance between Bush and Blair seriously damaged Blair's standing in the eyes of many British people. Blair argued it is in Britain's interest to "protect and strengthen the bond" with the United States regardless of who is in the White House. However, a perception of one-sided compromising personal and political closeness led to serious discussion of the term "Poodle-ism" in the UK media, to describe the "Special Relationship" of the UK government and Prime Minister with the US White House and President. A revealing conversation between Bush and Blair, with the former addressing the latter as "Yo, Blair" was recorded when they did not know a microphone was live at the G8 conference in Russia in 2006.

Middle East policy and links with Israel

According to comments in the book, ''Blair'', written by Anthony Seldon, Blair had a deep feeling for Israel, born in part from his faith. Blair has been a long time member of the pro-Israel lobby group Labour Friends of Israel.

In 1994, Blair met Michael Levy, later Lord Levy, a pop music mogul and fundraiser. Blair and Levy became close friends and tennis partners.

During his first visit to Israel, Blair thought the Israelis bugged him in his car. He also went on to claim that the Israeli prime minister was merely an "armour-plated bullshitter".

Levy ran the Labour Leader's Office Fund to finance Blair's campaign before the 1997 General Election and raised £12m towards Labour’s landslide victory, Levy was rewarded with a peerage, and in 2002, Blair appointed Levy as his personal envoy to the Middle East. Levy praised Blair for his 'solid and committed support of the State of Israel'. Tam Dalyell, while Father of the House of Commons, suggested in 2003 that Blair's foreign policy decisions were unduly influenced by a cabal of Jewish advisers, including Levy and Peter Mandelson.

Blair, on coming to office, had been 'cool towards the right-wing Netanyahu government'. After the election in 1999 of Ehud Barak, with whom Blair forged a close relationship, he became much more sympathetic to Israel. From 2001 Blair also built up a relationship with Barak's successor, Ariel Sharon, and responded positively to Arafat, whom he had met thirteen times since becoming prime minister and regarded as essential to future negotiations. In 2004, 50 former diplomats, including ambassadors to Baghdad and Tel Aviv, stated they had 'watched with deepening concern' at Britain following the U.S. into war in Iraq in 2003. They criticised Blair's support for the Road map for peace which included the retaining of Israeli settlements on the West Bank.

In 2006 Blair was criticised for his failure to immediately call for a ceasefire in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. ''The Observer'' newspaper claimed that at a cabinet meeting before Blair left for a summit with Bush on 28 July 2006, a significant number of ministers pressured Blair to publicly criticise Israel over the scale of deaths and destruction in Lebanon. Blair was criticised for his solid stance alongside U.S. President George W. Bush on Middle East policy.

In March 2010 the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments revealed that 14 months after resigning as Prime Minister, Blair had served as a paid business consultant to an oil firm with interests in Iraq. The news raised concerns that he had profited financially from contacts he made during the Iraq war.

Relationship with media

Rupert Murdoch

Blair was reported to have been supported by Rupert Murdoch the founder of the News Corporation organisation. In 1995, while leader of the Opposition, Blair disclosed in the Commons register of interests that he was a guest of Murdoch when he flew to meet him in Hayman Island.

Contacts with UK media proprietors

A Cabinet Office freedom of information response, released the day after Blair handed over power to Gordon Brown, documents Blair having various official phone calls and meetings with Rupert Murdoch of News Corporation and Richard Desmond of ''Northern and Shell Media''.

The response includes contacts "clearly of an official nature" in the specified period, but excludes contacts "not clearly of an official nature." No details were given of the subjects discussed. In the period between September 2002 and April 2005, Blair and Murdoch are documented speaking 6 times; three times in the 9 days before the Iraq war, including the eve of the 20 March US and UK invasion, and on 29 January, 25 April and 3 October 2004. Between January 2003 and February 2004, Blair had three meetings with Richard Desmond; on 29 January and 3 September 2003 and 23 February 2004.

The information was disclosed after a three and a half year battle by the Liberal Democrats' Lord Avebury.

After taking office in 1997, Blair gave particular prominence to his press secretary, who became known as the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (the two roles have since been separated). Blair's first PMOS was Alastair Campbell, who served in that role from May 1997 to 8 June 2001, after which he served as the Prime Minister's Director of Communications and Strategy until his resignation on 29 August 2003 in the aftermath of the Hutton Inquiry.

Relationship with Labour Party

Blair's apparent refusal to set a date for his departure was criticised by the British press and Members of Parliament. It has been reported that a number of cabinet ministers believed that Blair's timely departure from office would be required to be able to win a fourth election. Some ministers viewed Blair's announcement of policy initiatives in September 2006 as an attempt to draw attention away from these issues.

Blair forged friendships with several conservative European leaders, including Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, Angela Merkel of Germany and more recently Nicolas Sarkozy of France.

Gordon Brown

After the death of John Smith in 1994, Blair and his close colleague Gordon Brown (they shared an office at the House of Commons) were both seen as possible candidates for the party leadership. They agreed not to stand against each other, it is said, as part of a supposed Blair-Brown pact. Brown, who considered himself the senior of the two, understood that Blair would give way to him: opinion polls soon indicated, however, that Blair appeared to enjoy greater support among voters. Their relationship in power became so turbulent that (it was reported) the deputy prime minister, John Prescott, often had to act as "marriage guidance counsellor".

During the 2010 election campaign Blair publicly endorsed Gordon Brown's leadership, praising the way he had handled the financial crisis.

Post-Prime Ministerial career

Diplomacy

On 27 June 2007, Blair officially resigned as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after ten years in office, and he was officially confirmed as Middle East envoy for the United Nations, European Union, United States, and Russia. Blair originally indicated that he would retain his parliamentary seat after his resignation as Prime Minister came into effect; however, on being confirmed for the Middle East role he resigned from the Commons by taking up an office of profit. President George W. Bush had preliminary talks with Blair to ask him to take up the envoy role. White House sources stated that "both Israel and the Palestinians had signed up to the proposal". In May 2008, Blair announced a new plan for peace and for Palestinian rights, based heavily on the ideas of the Peace Valley plan.

During the first nine days of the 2008–2009 Israel-Gaza conflict, Blair was allegedly spotted at the opening of the Armani store at Knightsbridge. Aides said he had been in phone contact with other world leaders since the fighting began.

Private sector

In January 2008, it was confirmed that Blair would be joining investment bank JPMorgan Chase in a "senior advisory capacity" and that he would advise Zurich Financial Services on climate change. Some sources have claimed that his role at JP Morgan will pay more than $1m a year. This additional salary will contribute to annual earnings of over £7m.

Blair also gives lectures and earns up to US$250,000 for a 90-minute speech. Yale University announced on 7 March 2008 that Blair will teach a course on issues of faith and globalisation at the Yale Schools of Management and Divinity as a Howland distinguished fellow during the 2008–09 academic year.

Blair's links with, and receipt of an undisclosed sum from, UI Energy Corporation, a Korean company with oil interests in northern Iraq, have also been subject to media comment in the UK.

Speculation places his personal wealth at £60 million, mostly earned since his tenure as Prime Minister, and owns nine properties around the world. In July 2010 it was reported that his personal security guards claimed £250,000 a year in expenses from the tax payer, Foreign Secretary William Hague said; "we have to make sure that [Blair's security] is as cost-effective as possible, that it doesn't cost any more to the taxpayer than is absolutely necessary".

Tony Blair Associates

Blair has established ''Tony Blair Associates''. This firm will "allow him to provide, in partnership with others, strategic advice on a commercial and ''pro bono'' [free] basis, on political and economic trends and governmental reform."

European Council president speculation

In 2009, there there was speculation in the media that Blair was open to the idea of becoming the first President of the European Council, a post created in the Treaty of Lisbon that would come into force in 2009, if successfully ratified. Gordon Brown added his support, but noted that it was premature to discuss candidates before the treaty was approved. A spokesman for Blair did not rule out him accepting the post, but said that he was concentrating on his current role in the Middle East. Blair was later invited to speak on European issues at a rally of President Sarkozy 's party, the Union for a Popular Movement, on 12 January 2008, which fuelled speculation further.

There was opposition to Blair's candidacy for the job. In the UK, the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats both said they would oppose Blair. In Germany, the leader of the Free Democrats, Guido Westerwelle, said that he preferred a candidate from a smaller European country. The Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Jean-Claude Juncker emerged as a rival to Blair's candidacy and had the backing for many of the smaller European member states. In November 2009, the Belgian PM Herman Van Rompuy was named President of the European Council.

Charity

On 14 November 2007, Blair launched the Tony Blair Sports Foundation, which aims to "increase childhood participation in sports activities, especially in the North East of England, where a larger proportion of children are socially excluded, and to promote overall health and prevent childhood obesity." On 30 May 2008, Blair launched the Tony Blair Faith Foundation as a vehicle for encouraging different faiths to join together in promoting respect and understanding, as well as working to tackle poverty. Reflecting Blair's own faith but not dedicated to any particular religion, the Foundation aims to "show how faith is a powerful force for good in the modern world". "The Foundation will use its profile and resources to encourage people of faith to work together more closely to tackle global poverty and conflict," says its mission statement.

In February 2009, he applied to set up a charity called the Tony Blair Africa Governance Initiative, the application was approved in November 2009.

Memoirs

In March 2010, it was reported that Blair's memoirs, titled ''The Journey'', would be published in September 2010. In July 2010 it was announced the memoirs would be retitled ''A Journey''. It was announced on 16 August 2010 that Blair would give the £4.6 million advance and all royalties from his memoirs to a sports centre for badly injured soldiers. The book was published on 1 September and within hours of its launch had become the fastest-selling autobiography of all time. On 3 September Blair gave his first live interview since publication on ''The Late Late Show'' in Ireland, with protesters lying in wait there for him. On 4 September Blair was confronted by 200 anti-war and hardline Irish nationalist demonstrators before the first book signing of his memoirs at Eason's bookstore on O'Connell Street in Dublin, with angry activists chanting "war criminal" and that he had "blood on his hands", and clashing with Irish Police (Garda Síochána) as they tried to break through a security cordon outside the Eason's store. Blair was pelted with eggs and shoes, and encountered an attempted citizen's arrest for war crimes. Social networking media have been used to protest Blair's policies and legacy of unjustified and criminal war on Iraq

Portrayals and cameo appearances

Appearances

Blair made an animated cameo appearance as himself in ''The Simpsons'' episode, "The Regina Monologues" (2003) He has also appeared himself at the end of the first episode of The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard, a British TV series about an unknown housewife becoming Prime Minister. On 14 March 2007, Blair appeared as a celebrity judge on ''Masterchef goes Large'' after contestants had to prepare a three course meal in the Downing Street kitchens for Blair and Bertie Ahern. On 16 March 2007, Blair featured in a comedy sketch with Catherine Tate, who appeared in the guise of her character Lauren Cooper from ''The Catherine Tate Show''. The sketch was made for the BBC Red Nose Day fundraising programme of 2007. During the sketch, Blair used Lauren's catchphrase "Am I bovvered?".

Portrayals

Michael Sheen has portrayed Blair three times, in the films ''The Deal'' (2003), ''The Queen'' (2006), and ''The Special Relationship'' (2009). Blair was portrayed by Robert Lindsay in the TV programme ''A Very Social Secretary'' (2005), and reprised the role in ''The Trial of Tony Blair'' (2007). He was also portrayed by James Larkin in ''The Government Inspector'' (2005), and by Ioan Gruffudd in ''W.'' (2008).

Blair in fiction and satire

When Blair resigned as Prime Minister, Robert Harris, a former Fleet Street political editor, dropped his other work to write ''The Ghost''. The CIA-influenced British Prime Minister in the book is said to be a thinly disguised version of Blair. In November 2007 it was announced that Roman Polanski was to direct the film version of the novel, and would be writing the script with Harris. The film was released in February 2010 in the US. Polanski's film saw Pierce Brosnan portray former-Prime Minister Adam Lang, and dramatises Blair's relationship with the United States, as well as the possibility of war crime charges.

Titles and honours

Styles from 1983 election

Mr Anthony Charles Lynton Blair MP (1983–1994)

''The Rt Hon'' Anthony Charles Lynton Blair MP (1994–2007)

''The Rt Hon'' Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (2007–present)

Honours

Privy Councillor (1994)

Congressional Gold Medal (2003)

Honorary Doctor of Law (LL.D.) from Queen's University Belfast (2008)

Presidential Medal of Freedom (2009)

Dan David Prize (2009)

Liberty Medal (2010)

In May 2007, before his resignation, it was reported that Blair would be offered a knighthood in the Order of the Thistle, owing to his Scottish connections (rather than the Order of the Garter, which is usually offered to former Prime Ministers). No such move has been made since, and Blair has reportedly indicated that he does not want the traditional knighthood or peerage bestowed on former prime ministers.

On 22 May 2008, Blair received an honorary law doctorate from Queen's University Belfast, alongside former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, for distinction in public service and roles in the Northern Ireland peace process.

On 13 January 2009, Blair was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush. Bush stated that Blair was given the award "in recognition of exemplary achievement and to convey the utmost esteem of the American people" and cited Blair's support for the War on Terror and his role in achieving peace in Northern Ireland as two reasons for justifying his being presented with the award.

On 16 February 2009, Blair was awarded the Dan David Prize by Tel Aviv University for "exceptional leadership and steadfast determination in helping to engineer agreements and forge lasting solutions to areas in conflict". He was awarded the prize in May 2009.

On 13 September 2010, Blair was awarded the Liberty Medal at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was presented by former President Bill Clinton, and is awarded annually to men and women of courage and conviction who strive to secure the blessings of liberty to people around the globe.

Works

Blair, Tony (2010). ''A Journey'' Random House, ISBN 009192555X OCLC Number 657172683 London

Blair, Tony (2002). ''The Courage of Our Convictions'' Fabian Society, ISBN 0-7163-0603-4 London

Blair, Tony (2000). ''Superpower: Not Superstate? (Federal Trust European Essays)'' Federal Trust for Education & Research, ISBN 1-903403-25-1 London

Blair, Tony (1998). ''The Third Way: New Politics for the New Century'' Fabian Society, ISBN 0-7163-0588-7 London

Blair, Tony (1998). ''Leading the Way: New Vision for Local Government'' Institute for Public Policy Research, ISBN 1-86030-075-8 London

Blair, Tony (1997). ''New Britain: My Vision of a Young Country'' Basic Books, ISBN 0-8133-3338-5 New York

Blair, Tony (1995). ''Let Us Face the Future'' Fabian Society, ISBN 0-7163-0571-2 London

Blair, Tony (1994). ''What Price Safe Society?'' Fabian Society, ISBN 0-7163-0562-3 London

Blair, Tony (1994). ''Socialism'' Fabian Society, ISBN 0-7163-0565-8 London

See also

Bush-Blair memo

Blair Ministry

Blairism

'Cash for Honours' scandal

Cultural depictions of Tony Blair

Impeach Blair campaign

Labour Party leadership election, 2007

Politics of the United Kingdom

Tony Blair Faith Foundation‎

Electoral history of Tony Blair

Notes

Further reading

Miscellany

Blair, T. (2004) "Blair, The Right Hon. A. C. L." from ''Who's Who'', 156th ed., London: A & C Black

Halsbury's Laws of England (2004), reference to impeachment in volume on Constitutional Law and Human Rights, paragraph 416

''The Queen'' (2006 film)

External links

Tony Blair's post-Downing Street official website

Tony Blair Faith Foundation

A Day in the Life an on-line documentary by Tony Blair on life as Prime Minister, at number-10.gov.uk

at www.pm.gov.uk

The Blair Years—Timeline at ''BBC News''

Special Report – The Blair years 1997–2007 at ''BBC News''

Official video showing Tony Blair celebrating 100 years of the Scout movement at Downing St

Hansard – Prime Ministers Question Time, 27 June 2007 – Official transcript of Tony Blair's final appearance in the Commons containing a mix of day to day business, tributes, quips and light hearted put downs.

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