Name	Miami
Settlement type	City
Nickname	The Magic City, The Gateway to the Americas, Capital of Latin America
Image seal	Escudo de Miami.svg
Map caption	Location in Miami-Dade County and the state of Florida
Pushpin map	USA2
Pushpin map caption	Location in the United States
Mapsize1	250px
Map caption1	U.S. Census Bureau map showing city limits
Coordinates region	US-FL
Subdivision type	Country
Subdivision name	:United States
Subdivision type1	State
Subdivision name1	Florida
Subdivision type2	County
Subdivision name2	Miami-Dade
Government type	Mayor-Commissioner Plan
Leader title	Mayor
Leader name	Tomás Regalado (I)
Leader title1	City Manager
Leader name1	Tony Crapp, Jr
Leader title2	City Attorney
Leader name2	Julie O. Bru
Leader title3	City Clerk
Leader name3	Priscilla Thompson
Established title	Settled
Established date	1825
Established title2	Incorporated
Established date2	July 28, 1896
Named for	Mayaimi
Area magnitude	1 E8
Unit pref	Imperial
Area total sq mi	55.27
Area land sq mi	35.68
Area water sq mi	19.59
Area urban sq mi	1116.1
Area metro sq mi	6137
Population as of	2009
Population total	399,457 (42nd)
Pop est as of	2010
Population density km2
Population density sq mi	12139.5
Population metro	5547051 (5th)
Population urban
Population blank1 title	Demonym
Population blank1	Miamian
Timezone	EST
Utc offset	-5
Timezone dst	EDT
Utc offset dst	-4
Elevation footnotes
Elevation ft	6
Postal code type	ZIP Code
Postal code	33101-33102, 33107, 33109-33112, 33114, 33116, 33119, 33121-33122, 33124-33170, 33172-33190, 33193-33197, 33199, 33122, 33131, 33133-33134, 33138-33139, 33142-33143, 33145, 33147, 33155-33157, 33161, 33165-33166, 33169, 33180, 33183, 33196, 33199
Area code	305, 786
Blank name	FIPS code
Blank info	12-45000
Blank1 name	GNIS feature ID
Blank1 info	0295004
Website	http://www.miamigov.com/home/
Footnotes	}}

Miami ( or ) is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625. The 42nd largest city proper in the United States, with a population of 399,457, it is the principal, central, and most populous city of the South Florida metropolitan area, the most populous metropolis in the Southeastern United States. According to the US Census Bureau, Miami's metro area is the seventh most populous and fifth-largest urban area in the United States, with an estimated population of 5,547,051 in 2009.

Miami is a major center and a leader in finance, commerce, culture, media, entertainment, the arts, and international trade. In 2010, Miami ranked seventh in the United States in terms of finance, commerce, culture, entertainment, fashion, education, and other sectors. It ranked thirty-third among global cities.

In 2008, ''Forbes'' magazine ranked Miami "America's Cleanest City", for its year-round good air quality, vast green spaces, clean drinking water, clean streets and city-wide recycling programs. According to a 2009 UBS study of 73 world cities, Miami was ranked as the richest city in the United States, and the world's fifth-richest city in terms of purchasing power.

Downtown Miami and South Florida are home to the largest concentration of international banks in the United States, and is home to many large companies both nationally and internationally. The Civic Center is a major center for hospitals, research institutes, medical centers, and biotechnology industries.

For more than two decades, the Port of Miami, known as the "Cruise Capital of the World" has been the number one cruise passenger port in the world, accommodating some of the world's largest cruise ships and operations, and is currently the busiest in both passenger traffic and cruise lines.

History

The Miami area was first inhabited for more than one thousand years by the Tequestas, but was later claimed for Spain in 1566 by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés. A Spanish mission was constructed one year later in 1567. In 1836, Fort Dallas was built, and the Miami area subsequently became a site of fighting during the Second Seminole War.

Miami holds the distinction of being "the only major city in the United States conceived by a woman, Julia Tuttle," who was a local citrus grower and a wealthy Cleveland native. The Miami area was better known as "Biscayne Bay Country" in the early years of its growth. Some published reports described the area as a promising wilderness. The area was also characterized as "one of the finest building sites in Florida." The Great Freeze of 1894–95 hastened Miami's growth, as the crops of the Miami area were the only ones in Florida that survived. Julia Tuttle subsequently convinced Henry Flagler, a railroad tycoon, to expand his Florida East Coast Railroad to the region, for which she became known as "the mother of Miami." Miami was officially incorporated as a city on July 28, 1896 with a population of just over 300.

Miami prospered during the 1920s with an increase in population and infrastructure but weakened after the collapse of the Florida land boom of the 1920s, the 1926 Miami Hurricane and the Great Depression in the 1930s. When World War II began, Miami, well-situated due to its location on the southern coast of Florida, played an important role in the battle against German submarines. The war helped to expand Miami's population; by 1940, 172,172 people lived in the city. After Fidel Castro rose to power in 1959, many Cubans sought refuge in Miami, further increasing the population. In the 1980s and 1990s, various crises struck South Florida, among them the Arthur McDuffie beating and the subsequent riot, drug wars, Hurricane Andrew, and the Elián González uproar. Nevertheless, in the latter half of the 20th century, Miami became a major international, financial, and cultural center.

Miami and its metropolitan area grew from just over one thousand residents to nearly five and a half million residents in just 110 years (1896–2006). The city's nickname, ''The Magic City'', comes from this rapid growth. Winter visitors remarked that the city grew so much from one year to the next that it was like magic.

Economy

Financial and business capital

Miami is one of the most important financial centers in the United States. It is a major center of commerce, finance, and boasts a strong international business community. According to the ranking of world cities undertaken by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group & Network (GaWC) and based on the level of presence of global corporate service organizations, Miami is considered a "Beta− world city". Miami is ranked 20th worldwide in GDP, and 11th in the United States.

Several large companies are headquartered in or around Miami, including but not limited to: Akerman Senterfitt, Alienware, Arquitectonica, Arrow Air, Bacardi, Benihana, Brightstar Corporation, Burger King, Celebrity Cruises, Carnival Corporation, Carnival Cruise Lines, CompUSA, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company, Espírito Santo Financial Group, Fizber.com, Greenberg Traurig, Holland & Knight, Inktel Direct, Interval International, Lennar, Navarro Discount Pharmacies, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Perry Ellis International, RCTV International, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Ryder Systems, Seabourn Cruise Line, Sedano's, Telefónica USA, TeleFutura, Telemundo, Univision, U.S. Century Bank, Vector Group and World Fuel Services. Because of its proximity to Latin America, Miami serves as the headquarters of Latin American operations for more than 1400 multinational corporations, including AIG, American Airlines, Cisco, Disney, Exxon, FedEx, Kraft Foods, LEO Pharma Americas, Microsoft, Yahoo, Oracle, SBC Communications, Sony, Symantec, Visa International, and Wal-Mart.

Television and music production

Miami is a major television production center, and the most important city in the U.S. for Spanish language media. Univisión, Telemundo and TeleFutura have their headquarters in Miami, along with their production studios. The Telemundo Television Studios produces much of the original programming for Telemundo, such as their telenovelas and talk shows. In 2011, 85% of Telemundo's original programming was filmed in Miami. Miami is also a major music recording center, with the Sony Music Latin and Universal Music Latin Entertainment headquarters in the city, along with many other smaller record labels. The city also attracts many artists for music video and film shootings.

Real estate development

Since 2001, Miami has been undergoing a large building boom with more than 50 skyscrapers rising over built or currently under construction in the city. Miami's skyline is ranked third most impressive in the U.S., behind New York City and Chicago, and 19th in the world according to the Almanac of Architecture and Design. The city currently has the eight tallest (as well as thirteen of the fourteen tallest) skyscrapers in the state of Florida, with the tallest being the Four Seasons Hotel & Tower.

During the mid-2000s, the city witnessed its largest real estate boom since the Florida land boom of the 1920s. During this period, the city had well over a hundred approved high-rise construction projects in which 50 were actually built. In 2007, however, the housing market crashed and stopped any future projects. This rapid high-rise construction, has led to fast population growth in the city's inner neighborhoods, primarily in Downtown, Brickell and Edgewater, with these neighborhoods becoming the fastest-growing areas in the city. The Miami area ranks 8th in the nation in foreclosures. In 2011, Forbes Magazine named Miami the second most miserable city in the United States due to its high foreclosure rate and past decade of corruption among public officials.

International trade

Miami International Airport and the Port of Miami are among the nation's busiest ports of entry, especially for cargo from South America and the Caribbean. The Port of Miami is the world's busiest cruise port, and MIA is the busiest airport in Florida, and the largest gateway between the United States and Latin America. Additionally, the city has the largest concentration of international banks in the country, primarily along Brickell Avenue in Brickell, Miami's financial district. Due to its strength in international business, finance and trade, many international banks have offices in Downtown such as Espírito Santo Financial Group, which has its U.S. headquarters in Miami. Miami was also the host city of the 2003 Free Trade Area of the Americas negotiations, and is one of the leading candidates to become the trading bloc's headquarters.

As of 2011, the Port of Miami accounts for 176,000 jobs and has an annual economic impact in Miami of $18 billion. It is the 11th-largest cargo container port in the United States. In 2010, a record 4.33 million passengers traveled through the Port of Miami. One in seven of all the world’s cruise passengers start from Miami.

Tourism

Tourism is also an important industry in Miami. Along with finance and business, the beaches, conventions, festivals and events draw over 38 million visitors annually into the city, from across the country and around the world, spending $17.1 billion. The Art Deco District in South Beach, is reputed as one of the most glamorous in the world for its nightclubs, beaches, historical buildings, and shopping. Annual events such as the Sony Ericsson Open, Art Basel, Winter Music Conference, South Beach Wine & Food Festival, and Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Miami attract millions to the metropolis every year.

Industry, science and environment

Miami is the home to the National Hurricane Center and the headquarters of the United States Southern Command, responsible for military operations in Central and South America. In addition to these roles, Miami is also an industrial center, especially for stone quarrying and warehousing. These industries are centered largely on the western fringes of the city near Doral and Hialeah.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2004, Miami had the third highest incidence of family incomes below the federal poverty line in the United States, making it the third poorest city in the USA, behind only Detroit, Michigan (ranked #1) and El Paso, Texas (ranked #2). Miami is also one of the very few cities where its local government went bankrupt, in 2001. However, since that time, Miami has experienced a revival: in 2008, Miami was ranked as "America's Cleanest City" according to ''Forbes'' for its year-round good air quality, vast green spaces, clean drinking water, clean streets and city-wide recycling programs. In a 2009 UBS study of 73 world cities, Miami was ranked as the richest city in the United States (of four U.S. cities included in the survey) and the world's fifth-richest city, in terms of purchasing power.

Geography

At only of land area, Miami has the smallest land area of any major U.S. city with a metro area of at least 2.5 million people. The city proper is home to less than 1 in 13 residents of South Florida. Additionally, 52% of Miami-Dade County's population doesn't live in any incorporated city.

Miami and its suburbs are located on a broad plain between the Florida Everglades to the west and Biscayne Bay to the east that also extends from Florida Bay north to Lake Okeechobee. The elevation of the area never rises above and averages at around above mean sea level in most neighborhoods, especially near the coast. The highest undulations are found along the coastal Miami Rock Ridge, whose substrate underlies most of the eastern Miami metropolitan region. The main portion of the city lies on the shores of Biscayne Bay which contains several hundred natural and artificially created barrier islands, the largest of which contains Miami Beach and South Beach. The Gulf Stream, a warm ocean current, runs northward just off the coast, allowing the city's climate to stay warm and mild all year.

Geology

The surface bedrock under the Miami area is called ''Miami oolite'' or ''Miami limestone''. This bedrock is covered by a thin layer of soil, and is no more than thick. Miami limestone formed as the result of the drastic changes in sea level associated with recent glaciations or ''ice ages''. Beginning some 130,000 years ago the Sangamonian Stage raised sea levels to approximately above the current level. All of southern Florida was covered by a shallow sea. Several parallel lines of reef formed along the edge of the submerged Florida plateau, stretching from the present Miami area to what is now the Dry Tortugas. The area behind this reef line was in effect a large lagoon, and the Miami limestone formed throughout the area from the deposition of oolites and the shells of bryozoans. Starting about 100,000 years ago the Wisconsin glaciation began lowering sea levels, exposing the floor of the lagoon. By 15,000 years ago, the sea level had dropped to 300 to below the contemporary level. The sea level rose quickly after that, stabilizing at the current level about 4000 years ago, leaving the mainland of South Florida just above sea level.

Beneath the plain lies the Biscayne Aquifer, a natural underground source of fresh water that extends from southern Palm Beach County to Florida Bay, with its highest point peaking around the cities of Miami Springs and Hialeah. Most of the South Florida metropolitan area obtains its drinking water from this aquifer. As a result of the aquifer, it is not possible to dig more than beneath the city without hitting water, which impedes underground construction. For this reason, the mass transit systems in and around Miami are elevated or at-grade.

Most of the western fringes of the city extend into the Everglades, a subtropical marshland located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida. This causes occasional problems with local wildlife such as alligators venturing into Miami communities and major highways.

In terms of land area, Miami is one of the smallest major cities in the United States. According to the US Census Bureau, the city encompasses a total area of . Of that area, is land and is water. That means Miami comprises over 400,000 people in a mere , making it one of the most densely populated cities in the United States, along with New York City, San Francisco, and Chicago among others. Miami is located at .

Climate

Miami has a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen climate classification ''Am'') with hot and humid summers and short, warm winters, with a marked drier season in the winter. Its sea-level elevation, coastal location, position just above the Tropic of Cancer, and proximity to the Gulf Stream shapes its climate. With January averaging , winter features mild to warm temperatures; cool air usually settles after the passage of a cold front, which produces much of the little amount of rainfall. Lows sometimes fall below , but very rarely below . Highs generally range between . The wet season begins some time in May, ending in mid-October. During this period, temperatures are in the mid 80s to low 90s (29–35 °C), accompanied by high humidity, though the heat is often relieved by afternoon thunderstorms or a sea breeze that develops off the Atlantic Ocean, which then allow lower temperatures, but conditions still remain very muggy. Much of the year's of rainfall occurs during this period.

Extremes range from on Feb 3, 1917 to on July 21, 1940. Miami has never recorded an accumulation of snow, and has only once recorded snow flurries, on January 19, 1977.

Hurricane season officially runs from June 1 through November 30, although hurricanes can develop beyond those dates. The most likely time for Miami to be hit is during the peak of the Cape Verde season which is mid-August through the end of September. Although tornadoes are uncommon in the Miami area, a tornado struck the city in 1925 and again in 1997.

Neighborhoods

Miami is partitioned into many different sections, roughly into North, South, West and Downtown. The heart of the city is Downtown Miami and is technically on the eastern side of the city. This area includes Brickell, Virginia Key, Watson Island, and the Port of Miami. Downtown is South Florida's central business district, and Florida's largest and most influential central business district. Downtown has the largest concentration of international banks in the U.S. along Brickell Avenue. Downtown is home to many major banks, courthouses, financial headquarters, cultural and tourist attractions, schools, parks and a large residential population. East of Downtown, across Biscayne Bay is South Beach. Just northwest of Downtown, is the Civic Center, which is Miami's center for hospitals, research institutes and biotechnology with hospitals such as Jackson Memorial Hospital, Miami VA Hospital, and the University of Miami's Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine.

The southern side of Miami includes Coral Way, The Roads and Coconut Grove. Coral Way is a historic residential neighborhood built in 1922 connecting Downtown with Coral Gables, and is home to many old homes and tree-lined streets. Coconut Grove was established in 1825 and is the location of Miami's City Hall in Dinner Key, the Coconut Grove Playhouse, CocoWalk, many nightclubs, bars, restaurants and bohemian shops, and as such, is very popular with local college students. It is a historic neighborhood with narrow, winding roads, and a heavy tree canopy. Coconut Grove has many parks and gardens such as Villa Vizcaya, The Kampong, The Barnacle Historic State Park, and is the home of the Coconut Grove Convention Center, as well as many of the country's most prestigious private schools, and numerous historic homes and estates.

The western side of Miami includes Little Havana, West Flagler, and Flagami, and is home to many of the city's traditionally immigrant neighborhoods. Although at one time a mostly Jewish neighborhood, today western Miami is home to immigrants from mostly Central America and Cuba, while the west central neighborhood of Allapattah is a multicultural community of many ethnicities.

The northern side of Miami includes Midtown, a district with a great mix of diversity with many West Indians, Hispanics, European Americans, bohemians, and artists. Edgewater, and Wynwood, are neighborhoods of Midtown and are made up mostly of high-rise residential towers and are home to the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. The wealthier residents usually live in the northeastern part, in Midtown, the Design District, and the Upper East Side, with many sought after 1920s homes and home of the MiMo Historic District, a style of architecture originated in Miami in the 1950s. The northern side of Miami, also has notable African American and Caribbean immigrant communities such as Little Haiti, Overtown (home of the Lyric Theater), and Liberty City.

Culture

Entertainment and performing arts

Miami is home to many entertainment venues, theaters, museums, parks and performing arts centers. The newest addition to the Miami arts scene is the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, the second-largest performing arts center in the United States after the Lincoln Center in New York City, and is the home of the Florida Grand Opera. Within it are the Ziff Ballet Opera House, the center's largest venue, the Knight Concert Hall, the Carnival Studio Theater and the Peacock Rehearsal Studio. The center attracts many large scale operas, ballets, concerts, and musicals from around the world and is Florida's grandest performing arts center. Other performing arts venues in Miami include the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts, Coconut Grove Playhouse, Colony Theatre, Lincoln Theatre, New World Symphony House, Actor's Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre, Jackie Gleason Theatre, Manuel Artime Theater, Ring Theatre, Playground Theatre, Wertheim Performing Arts Center, the Fair Expo Center and the Bayfront Park Amphitheater for outdoor music events.

The city attracts a large number of musicians, singers, actors, dancers, and orchestral players. Miami has numerous orchestras, symphonies and performing art conservatories. Some of these include the Florida Grand Opera, Frost School of Music, Miami City Ballet, Miami Conservatory, Miami Wind Symphony, New World School of the Arts, New World Symphony Orchestra, as well as the music, theater and art schools of the city's many universities and schools.

The city is home to numerous museums as well, many of which are in Downtown. These include the Bass Museum, Coral Gables Museum, Frost Art Museum, Historical Museum of Southern Florida, Jewish Museum of Florida, Lowe Art Museum, Miami Art Museum, Miami Children's Museum, Miami Science Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art, Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, Wolfsonian-FIU Museum and the Miami Cultural Center, home of the Miami Main Library.

Miami is also a major fashion center, home to models and some of the top modeling agencies in the world. Miami is also host to many fashion shows and events, including the annual Miami Fashion Week and the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Miami held in the Wynwood Art District. Miami is also the home of the world's largest art exhibition, dubbed the "Olympics of Art", Art Basel Miami Beach. The event is held annually in December, and attracts thousands of visitors from around the world.

Parks

Miami's tropical weather allows for year-round outdoors activities. The city has numerous marinas, rivers, bays, canals, and the Atlantic Ocean, which make boating, sailing, and fishing popular outdoors activities. Biscayne Bay has numerous coral reefs which make snorkeling and scuba diving popular. There are over 80 parks and gardens in the city. The largest and most popular parks are Bayfront Park and Bicentennial Park (located in the heart of Downtown and the location of the American Airlines Arena and Bayside Marketplace), Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Key Biscayne (Crandon Park and Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park), Tropical Park, Peacock Park, Morningside Park, Virginia Key, and Watson Island.

Other popular cultural destinations in the area include Jungle Island, Zoo Miami, Miami Seaquarium, Coral Castle, St. Bernard de Clairvaux Church, and the Charles Deering Estate.

Music

Miami music is varied. Cubans brought the conga and rumba to Miami from their homelands instantly popularizing it in American culture. Dominicans brought bachata, and merengue, while Colombians brought vallenato and cumbia, and Brazilians brought samba. West Indians and Caribbean people have brought reggae, soca, kompa, zouk, calypso, and steel pan to the area as well.

In the early 1970s, the Miami disco sound came to life with TK Records, featuring the music of KC and the Sunshine Band, with such hits as "Get Down Tonight", "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty" and "That's the Way (I Like It)"; and the Latin-American disco group, Foxy (band), with their hit singles "Get Off" and "Hot Number". Miami-area natives George McCrae and Teri DeSario were also popular music artists during the 1970s disco era. The Bee Gees moved to Miami in 1975 and have lived here ever since then. Miami-influenced, Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine, hit the popular music scene with their Cuban-oriented sound and had huge hits in the 1980s with "Conga" and "Bad Boys".

Miami is also considered a "hot spot" for dance music, Freestyle, a style of dance music popular in the 80's and 90's heavily influenced by Electro, hip-hop, and disco. Many popular Freestyle acts such as Pretty Tony, Debbie Deb, Stevie B, and Exposé, originated in Miami. Indie/folk acts Cat Power and Iron & Wine are based in the city, while alternative hip hop artist Sage Francis, electro artist Uffie, and the electroclash duo Avenue D were born in Miami, but musically based elsewhere. Also, ska punk band Against All Authority is from Miami, and rock/metal bands Nonpoint and Marilyn Manson each formed in neighboring Fort Lauderdale. Popular Cuban American female recording artist, Ana Cristina, was born in Miami in 1985, and became the first Hispanic person in history to perform the "Star Spangled Banner" at a presidential inauguration.

The 80's and 90's also brought the genre of high energy Miami Bass to dance floors and car subwoofers throughout the country. Miami Bass spawned artists like 2 Live Crew (featuring Uncle Luke), 95 South, Tag Team, 69 Boyz, Quad City DJ's, and Freak Nasty. Examples of these songs are "Whoomp! (There It Is)" by Tag Team in 1993, "Tootsee Roll" by 69 Boyz in 1994, and "C'mon N' Ride It (The Train)" by the Quad City DJ's in 1996. These songs all reached the top 10 in the pop charts and gave Miami Bass a new commercial success.

Miami is also home to a vibrant techno and dance scene and hosts the Winter Music Conference, the largest dance event in the world, Ultra Music Festival and many electronica music-themed celebrations and festivals. Along with neighboring Miami Beach, Miami is home to nightclubs such as Space, Mansion, Parkwest, Ink, and Cameo. The city is known to be part of clubland, along with places such as Mykonos, Ibiza and Ayia Napa.

There are also several rap and hip hop artists out of Miami. They include Trick Daddy, Trina, Pitbull, Pretty Ricky, DJ Khaled, Flo-Rida, Jackie-O, Rick Ross, DJ Laz, and the Miami Bass group 2 Live Crew.

Media

Miami has one of the largest television markets in the nation and the second largest in the state of Florida. Miami has several major newspapers, the main and largest newspaper being ''The Miami Herald''. ''El Nuevo Herald'' is the major and largest Spanish-language newspaper. Both ''The Miami Herald'' and ''El Nuevo Herald'' are Miami's and South Florida's main, major and largest newspapers and are both headquartered in Downtown Miami in Herald Plaza.

Other major newspapers include ''Miami Today'', headquartered in Brickell, ''Miami New Times'', headquartered in Midtown, ''Miami Sun Post'', ''South Florida Business Journal'', ''Miami Times'', and ''Biscayne Boulevard Times''. An additional Spanish-language newspapers, ''Diario Las Americas'' also serve Miami. ''The Miami Herald'' is Miami's primary newspaper with over a million readers and is headquartered in Downtown in Herald Plaza. Several other student newspapers from the local universities, such as the oldest, the University of Miami's ''The Miami Hurricane'', Florida International University's ''The Beacon'', Miami-Dade College's ''The Metropolis'', Barry University's ''The Buccaneer'', amongst others. Many neighborhoods and neighboring areas also have their own local newspapers such as the ''Aventura News'', ''Coral Gables Tribune'', ''Biscayne Bay Tribune'', and the ''Palmetto Bay News''.

A number of magazines circulate throughout the greater Miami area, including ''Miami Monthly,'' Southeast Florida's only city/regional; ''Ocean Drive,'' a hot-spot social scene glossy, and ''South Florida Business Leader.''

Miami is also the headquarters and main production city of many of the world's largest television networks, record label companies, broadcasting companies and production facilities, such as Telemundo, TeleFutura, Galavisión, Mega TV, Univisión, Univision Communications, Inc., Universal Music Latin Entertainment, RCTV International and Sunbeam Television. In 2009, Univisión announced plans to build new production studios in Miami, dubbed 'Univisión Studios'. Univisión Studios will be headquartered in Miami, and will produce programming for all of Univisión Communications' television networks.

Miami is the twelfth largest radio market and the seventeenth largest television market in the United States. Television stations serving the Miami area include: WAMI (Telefutura), WBFS (My Network TV), WSFL (The CW), WFOR (CBS), WHFT (TBN), WLTV (Univision), WPLG (ABC), WPXM (ION), WSCV (Telemundo), WSVN (Fox), WTVJ (NBC), WPBT (PBS), and WLRN (also PBS).

Cuisine

The cuisine of Miami is a reflection of its diverse population, with a heavy influence especially from Caribbean cuisine and from Latin American cuisine. By combining the two with American cuisine, it has spawned a unique South Florida style of cooking known as Floribbean cuisine. Floribbean cuisine is widely available throughout Miami and South Florida, and can be found in restaurant chains such as Pollo Tropical.

Cuban immigrants in the 1960s brought the Cuban sandwich, medianoche, Cuban espresso, and croquetas, all of which have grown in popularity to all Miamians, and have become symbols of the city's varied cuisine. Today, these are part of the local culture, and can be found throughout the city in window cafés, particularly outside of supermarkets and restaurants. Restaurants such as Versailles restaurant in Little Havana is a landmark eatery of Miami. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, and with a long history as a seaport, Miami is also known for its seafood, with many seafood restaurants located along the Miami River, and in and around Biscayne Bay. Miami is also the home of restaurant chains such as Burger King, Tony Roma's and Benihana.

Accent

In Miami, a unique accent, commonly called the "Miami accent", is widely spoken. It developed mostly by second- or third-generation Hispanics, mostly Cuban-Americans, whose first language was English. It is very similar to accents in the Northeast, but contains a rhythm and pronunciation heavily influenced by Spanish.

Sports

Miami's main four sports teams are the Miami Dolphins, the NFL team, Miami Heat, the NBA team, Florida Marlins, the MLB team, and the Florida Panthers, the NHL team. As well as having all four major professional teams, Miami is also home to Miami FC, Miami Tropics, the Sony Ericsson Open for professional tennis, numerous greyhound racing tracks, marinas, jai alai venues, and golf courses.

The Miami Heat is currently the only major professional sports team that plays its games within Miami's city limits at the American Airlines Arena. The team recently won the 2006 NBA Finals, winning the series 4-2 over the Dallas Mavericks. The Miami Dolphins and the Florida Marlins both play their games in Miami Gardens. The Orange Bowl, a member of the Bowl Championship Series, hosts their college football championship games at Sun Life Stadium. The stadium has also hosted the Super Bowl; the Miami metro area has hosted the game a total of nine times (four Super Bowls in Dolphin Stadium, including Super Bowl XLI and five at the Miami Orange Bowl), tying New Orleans for the most games. In 2009, construction began on a new ballpark for the Florida Marlins within the city limits of Miami on the site of the old Orange Bowl stadium. The ballpark is expected to open in 2012 and the team's name is expected to be changed to the Miami Marlins.

Miami FC, Florida's only professional soccer team, plays at Tropical Park Stadium. Miami signed world-famed soccer player Romario in March 2006 to a one year deal. The Florida Panthers NHL team plays in neighboring Broward County at the BankAtlantic Center in the city of Sunrise. Miami is also home to Paso Fino horses, where competitions are held at Tropical Park Equestrian Center.

Miami is also the home of many college sports teams. The two largest are the University of Miami Hurricanes, whose football team formerly played at the Miami Orange Bowl from 1937 until 2008, moving to Sun Life Stadium subsequently, and Florida International University Golden Panthers whose football team plays at FIU Stadium.

A number of defunct teams were located in Miami, including the Miami Floridians (ABA), Miami Matadors (ECHL), Miami Manatees (WHA2), Miami Gatos (NASL), Miami Screaming Eagles (WHA), Miami Seahawks (AAFC), Miami Sol (WNBA), Miami Toros (NASL), Miami Tropics (SFL), Miami Tropics (ABA), and the Miami Hooters (Arena Football League). The Miami Fusion, a defunct Major League Soccer team played at Lockhart Stadium in nearby Broward County.

+ Miami professional sports teams
!Club	!Sport	!League	!Venue	!League Championships
Miami Dolphins			Sun Life Stadium	Super Bowl (2)	Super Bowl VII>VII 1972 – defeated Washington Redskins, 14-7	Super Bowl VIII>VIII 1973 – defeated Minnesota Vikings, 24-7
Florida Panthers		National Hockey League	BankAtlantic Center	none
Miami Heat	Basketball	National Basketball Association	American Airlines Arena	NBA Finals (1)	2006 NBA Finals>2006 – defeated Dallas Mavericks, series 4-2
Florida Marlins	Baseball		Sun Life StadiumMiami Ballpark (2012)	World Series (2)	1997 World Series>1997 – defeated Cleveland Indians, series 4-3	2003 World Series>2003 – defeated New York Yankees, series 4-2
Miami FC	Soccer		Tropical Park Stadium	none

+ Miami college sports teams			!Football	!Footballvenue	!Basketball	!Basketballvenue	!Conference	!National Championships(Most Recent)
University of Miami		[[Sun Life Stadium		BankUnited Center	Atlantic Coast Conference	align=center>30 (2001 – Football & Baseball)
Florida International University		[[FIU Stadium		U.S. Century Bank Arena	Sun Belt Conference	align=center
Barry University	–	–	Barry basketball	[[Health & Sports Center	Sunshine State Conference
Nova Southeastern University	–	–			[[Sunshine State Conference	align=center

Notable people

Demographics

!Year !

style="text-align:center;" colspan="3"	Miami population
City proper!! Metro area
1900	1,681	N/A
1910	5,471
1920	29,549
1930	110,637
1940	172,172
1950	249,276
1960	291,688
1970	334,859
1980	346,865
1990	358,548
2000	362,470
2010	399,457

Miami is the 42nd most populous city in the U.S. The Miami metropolitan area, which includes Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, had a combined population of more than 5.5 million people, ranked seventh largest in the United States, and is the largest metropolitan area in the Southeastern United States. As of 2008, the United Nations estimates that the Miami Urban Agglomeration is the 44th-largest in the world. As of the census of 2000, there were 362,470 people, 134,198 households, and 83,336 families residing in the city. The population density was 10,160.9 per square mile (3,923.5/km²). There were 148,388 housing units at an average density of 4,159.7 per square mile (1,606.2/km²) or a density of 7 units per acre.

As of 2010, the ethnic composition of Miami was as follows:

{| id="toc" style="float: left; margin-right: 2em; width: 39%; font-size: 75%;" cellspacing="3" !colspan="3"|Miami Demographics |- |2010 Census||Miami||Miami-Dade County||Florida |- |Total population||399,457||2,496,435||18,801,310 |- |Population, percent change, 2000 to 2010||+10.2%||+10.8%||+17.6% |- |Population density||11,135.9/sq mi||1,315.5/sq mi||350.6/sq mi |- |White or Caucasian (including White Hispanic)||72.6%||73.8%||75.0% |- |(Non-Hispanic White or Caucasian)||11.9%||15.4%||57.9% |- |Black or African-American||19.2%||18.9%||16.0% |- |Hispanic or Latino (of any race)||70.0%||65.0%||22.5% |- |Asian||1.0%||1.5%||2.4% |- |Native American or Native Alaskan||0.3%||0.2%||0.4% |- |Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian||0.0%||0.0%||0.1% |- |Two or more races (Multiracial)||2.7%||2.4%||2.5% |- |Some Other Race||4.2%||3.2%||3.6% |}

As of 2000, in terms of national origin and/or ethnic origin, 34.1% of the populace was Cuban, while 5.6% of the city's population was Nicaraguan, 5.5% of the population was Haitian, 3.3% of the population was Honduran, 1.7% of all residents were Dominican, and 1.6% of the population was Colombian. In 2004, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) ranked Miami first in terms of percentage of residents born outside of the country it is located in (59%), followed by Toronto (50%).

In 2009, there were 158,297 households out of which 26.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.6% were married couples living together, 18.7% have a female head of household with no husband present, and 37.9% were non-families. 30.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.25. The age distribution was 21.7% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 30.3% from 25 to 44, 22.1% from 45 to 64, and 17.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 98.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.3 males.

In 2009, the median income for a household in the city was $29,812, and the median income for a family was $33,814. The per capita income for the city was $19,846. About 21.7% of families and 26.3% of the population were below the poverty line.

Miami's explosive population growth has been driven by internal migration from other parts of the country, primarily up until the 1980s, as well as by immigration, primarily from the 1960s to the 1990s. Today, immigration to Miami has slowed significantly and Miami's growth today is attributed greatly to its fast urbanization and high-rise construction, which has increased its inner city neighborhood population densities, such as in Downtown, Brickell, and Edgewater, where one area in Downtown alone saw a 2,069% increase in population in the 2010 Census. Miami is regarded as more of a multicultural mosaic, than it is a melting pot, with residents still maintaining much of, or some of their cultural traits. The overall culture of Miami is heavily influenced by its large population of Hispanics, and Blacks, mainly from the Caribbean islands.

Today, the Miami area has a sizable community of citizens, illegal immigrants, and permanent residents, of Americans, Argentines, , Bahamians, Barbadian, Bolivians, Brazilians, Canadians, Chileans, Chinese, Colombians, Costa Ricans, Cubans, Dominicans, Ecuadorans, French, Germans, Greeks, Guatemalans, Guayanese, Haitians, Hondurans, Jamaicans, Koreans, Indians, Italians, Mexicans, Nicaraguans, Panamanians, Peruvians, Russians, Salvadoran, Spanish, Trinidadians and Tobagonians, Turks, South Africans, Venezuelans, and Puerto Ricans. While commonly thought of as a city mainly of Latino and Black Caribbean immigrants, the Miami area is home to large French, French Canadian, German, Italian, and Russian communities. The communities have grown to a prominent place in Miami and its suburbs, creating ethnic enclave neighborhoods such as Little Buenos Aires, Little Haiti, Little Havana, Little Managua, Little Brazil, Little Moscow, Little San Juan, and Little Tel Aviv.

Languages

As of 2000, speakers of Spanish as their first language accounted for 66.75% of residents, English by 25.45%, Haitian Creole by 5.20%, and French speakers comprised 0.76% of the population. Other languages that were spoken throughout the city include Portuguese at 0.41%, German at 0.18%, Italian at 0.16%, Arabic at 0.15%, Chinese at 0.11%, and Greek at 0.08% of the population. Miami also has one of the largest percentage populations in the U.S. that have residents who speak first languages other than English at home (74.55%).

Due to the increase in Spanish-speaking residents, by 2008 some English-speakers felt marginalized due to difficulties in conducting business.

Civic engagement

Organizations such as the Miami-Dade Salvation Army and its iconic Red Kettle Christmas Campaign, Hands On Miami, City Year Miami, Human Services Coalition of South Florida, and Citizens for a Better South Florida, among many other organizations have been working to engage Miamians in volunteerism.

Government

The government of the City of Miami (proper) uses the council-manager system. The city commission consists of five commissioners, are elected from single member districts. The city commission constitutes the governing body with powers to pass ordinances adopt regulations and exercise all powers conferred upon the city in the city charter.The mayor is elected at large and appoints a city manager. The City of Miami is governed by Mayor Tomás Regalado and 5 City commissioners which oversee the five districts in the City. It holds regular meetings in the City Hall of Miami located in ''3500 Pan American Drive Miami, Florida 33133'' in the neighborhood of Coconut Grove on Dinner Key.

City council

Tomás Regalado – Mayor of the City of Miami

Wifredo "Willy" Gort – City of Miami Commissioner, District 1

Marc Sarnoff – City of Miami Commissioner, District 2

Frank Carollo – City of Miami Commissioner, District 3

Francis Suarez – City of Miami Commissioner, District 4

Richard P. Dunn – City of Miami Commissioner, District 5

City management

(See City infobox)

Education

Public schools

Public schools in Miami are governed by Miami-Dade County Public Schools, which is the largest school district in Florida and the fourth-largest in the United States. As of September 2008 it has a student enrollment of 385,655 and over 392 schools and centers. The district is also the largest minority public school system in the country, with 60% of its students being of Hispanic origin, 28% Black or West Indian American, 10% White (non-Hispanic) and 2% non-white of other minorities. Miami is home to some of the nation's best high schools, such as Design and Architecture High School, ranked the nation's best magnet school, MAST Academy, Coral Reef High School, ranked 20th-best public high school in the U.S., Miami Palmetto High School, and the New World School of the Arts. M-DCPS is also one of a few public school districts in the United States to offer optional bilingual education in Spanish, Haitian Creole, and Mandarin Chinese.

Private schools

Miami is home to several prestigious Roman Catholic, Jewish and non-denominational private schools. The Archdiocese of Miami operates the city's Catholic private schools, which include: St. Hugh Catholic School, St. Agatha Catholic School, St. Theresa School, Immaculata-Lasalle High School, Our Lady of Lourdes Academy, Monsignor Edward Pace High School, Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart, Archbishop Curley-Notre Dame High School, St. Brendan High School, amongst numerous other elementary and high schools.

All-boy Catholic college preparatory schools are Christopher Columbus High School and Belen Jesuit Preparatory School; which are one of the top Catholic high school's in the nation.

Non-denominational private schools in Miami are Ransom Everglades, Palmer Trinity School, Gulliver Preparatory School, and Miami Country Day School. Other schools in the outlying areas include Samuel Scheck Hillel Community Day School, Dade Christian School, and Westminster Christian School.

Colleges and universities

Colleges and universities in and around Miami:

Barry University (private)

Carlos Albizu University (private)

Florida International University (FIU) (public)

Florida Memorial University (private)

Johnson and Wales University (private)

Keiser University (private)

Manchester Business School (satellite location, UK public)

Miami Culinary Institute (public)

Miami Dade College (public)

Miami International University of Art & Design (private)

Nova Southeastern University (private)

St. Thomas University (private)

Talmudic University (private)

University of Miami (private)

Overall, amongst Miamians 25 years and older, 67% had a high school diploma, and 22% had a bachelors degree or higher.

In 2011, Miami was ranked as the sixth most-read city in the U.S. with high book sales.

Professional training programs

Miami is also home to both for-profit and nonprofit organizations that offer a range of professional training and other, related educational programs. Per scholas, for example is a nonprofit organization that offers free professional certification training directed towards successfully passing CompTIA A+ and Network+ certification exams as a route to securing jobs and building careers.

Transportation

Airports

Miami International Airport, serves as the primary international airport of the Greater Miami Area. One of the busiest international airports in the world, Miami International Airport caters to over 35 million passengers a year. Identifiable locally, as well as several worldwide authorities, as MIA or KMIA, the airport is a major hub and the single largest international gateway for American Airlines, the world's second-largest passenger air carrier. Miami International is the busiest airport in Florida, and is the United States' second-largest international port of entry for foreign air passengers behind New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, and is the seventh-largest such gateway in the world. The airport's extensive international route network includes non-stop flights to over seventy international cities in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

Alternatively, nearby Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport also serves commercial traffic in the Miami area. Opa-locka Airport in Opa-locka and Kendall-Tamiami Airport in an unincorporated area serve general aviation traffic in the Miami area.

Port of Miami

Miami is home to one of the largest ports in the United States, the Port of Miami. It is the largest cruise ship port in the world. The port is often called the "Cruise Capital of the World" and the "Cargo Gateway of the Americas". It has retained its status as the number one cruise/passenger port in the world for well over a decade accommodating the largest cruise ships and the major cruise lines. In 2007, the port served 3,787,410 passengers. Additionally, the port is one of the nation's busiest cargo ports, importing 7.8 million tons of cargo in 2007. Among North American ports, it ranks second only to the Port of South Louisiana in New Orleans in terms of cargo tonnage imported/exported from Latin America. The port is on and has 7 passenger terminals. China is the port's number one import country, and Honduras is the number one export country. Miami has the world's largest amount of cruise line headquarters, home to: Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, and Royal Caribbean International.

On May 24, 2010, construction began on the $1 billion Miami port tunnel that will serve the Port of Miami.

Public transportation

Public transportation in Miami is operated by Miami-Dade Transit and SFRTA, and includes commuter rail (Tri-Rail), heavy-rail rapid transit (Metrorail), an elevated people mover (Metromover), and buses (Metrobus). Miami has Florida's highest transit ridership as about 17% of Miamians use transit on a daily basis.

Miami's heavy-rail rapid transit system, Metrorail, is an elevated system comprising 22 stations on a 22-mile (36-km)-long line. Metrorail runs from the western suburbs of Hialeah and Medley through the Civic Center, Downtown, Brickell, Coconut Grove, Coral Gables, South Miami and ends in the southern suburban neighborhood of Kendall; construction on a direct Metrorail connection to Miami International Airport began in 2009 with expected passenger service beginning in early 2012. A free, elevated people mover, Metromover, operates 21 stations on three different lines in Downtown, with a station at roughly every two blocks of Downtown and Brickell. Several expansion projects are being funded by a transit development sales tax surcharge throughout Miami-Dade County.

Tri-Rail, a commuter rail system operated by the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA), runs from Miami International Airport northward to West Palm Beach, making eighteen stops throughout Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.

Construction is currently underway on the Miami Intermodal Center and Miami Central Station, a massive transportation hub servicing Metrorail, Amtrak, Tri-Rail, Metrobus, Greyhound Lines, taxis, rental cars, MIA Mover, private automobiles, bicycles and pedestrians adjacent to Miami International Airport. Completion of the Miami Intermodal Center is expected to be completed by winter 2011, and will serve over 150,000 commuters and travelers in the Miami area. Phase I of Miami Central Station is scheduled to begin service in the spring of 2012, and Phase II in 2013.

Two new light rail systems, Baylink and the Miami Streetcar, have been proposed and are currently in the planning stage. BayLink would connect Downtown with South Beach, and the Miami Streetcar would connect Downtown with Midtown.

Rail

Miami is the southern terminus of Amtrak's Atlantic Coast services, running two lines, the Silver Meteor and the Silver Star, both terminating in New York City. The Miami Amtrak Station is located in the suburb of Hialeah near the Tri-Rail/Metrorail Station on NW 79 St and NW 38 Ave. Current construction of the Miami Central Station will move all Amtrak operations from its current out-of-the-way location to a centralized location with Metrorail, MIA Mover, Tri-Rail, Miami International Airport, and the Miami Intermodal Center all within the same station closer to Downtown. The station is expected to be completed by 2012.

Florida High Speed Rail was planned to connect Miami with Orlando and Tampa in a single line, but was canceled in 2011.

Road

Miami's road system is based along the numerical "Miami Grid" where Flagler Street forms the east-west baseline and Miami Avenue forms the north-south meridian. The corner of Flagler Street and Miami Avenue is in the middle of Downtown in front of the Downtown Macy's (formerly the Burdine's headquarters). The Miami grid is primarily numerical so that, for example, all street addresses north of Flagler Street and west of Miami Avenue have "NW" in their address. Because its point of origin is in Downtown which is close to the coast, therefore, the "NW" and "SW" quadrants are much larger than the "SE" and "NE" quadrants. Many roads, especially major ones, are also named (e.g., Tamiami Trail/SW 8th St), although, with a few notable exceptions (e.g., Coral Way), the number is in more common usage among locals.

All streets and avenues in Miami-Dade County follow the Miami Grid, with a few exceptions, most notably Coral Gables, Hialeah, and Miami Beach. Some neighborhoods, such as The Roads, is thusly named because its streets run off the Miami Grid in a 45-degree angle, and therefore all named roads.

Miami-Dade County is served by four Interstate Highways (I-75, I-95, I-195, I-395) and several U.S. Highways including U.S. Route 1, U.S. Route 27, U.S. Route 41, and U.S. Route 441.

Some of the major Florida State Roads (and their common names) serving Miami are:

SR 112 (Airport Expressway): Interstate 95 to MIA

SR 821 (The HEFT or Homestead Extension of the Florida Turnpike): SR 91/Miami Gardens to U.S. Route 1/Florida City)

SR 826 (Palmetto Expressway): Golden Glades Interchange to U.S. Route 1/Pinecrest

SR 836 (Dolphin Expressway): Downtown to SW 137th Ave via MIA

SR 874 (Don Shula Expressway): 826/Bird Road to Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike/Kendall

SR 878 (Snapper Creek Expressway): SR 874/Kendall to U.S. Route 1/Pinecrest & South Miami

SR 924 (Gratigny Parkway) Miami Lakes to Opa-locka

Miami has six major causeways that span over Biscayne Bay connecting the western mainland, with the eastern barrier islands along the Atlantic Ocean. The Rickenbacker Causeway is the southernmost causeway and connects Brickell to Virginia Key and Key Biscayne. The Venetian Causeway and MacArthur Causeway connect Downtown with South Beach. The Julia Tuttle Causeway connects Midtown and Miami Beach. The 79th Street Causeway connects the Upper East Side with North Beach. The northernmost causeway, the Broad Causeway, is the smallest of Miami's six causeways, and connects North Miami with Bal Harbour.

In 2007, Miami was identified as having the rudest drivers in the United States, the second year in a row to have been cited, in a poll commissioned by automobile club AutoVantage. Miami is also consistently ranked as one of the most dangerous cities in the United States for pedestrians.

Bicycling

In recent years, the city government under Mayor Manny Diaz, has taken an ambitious stance in support of bicycling in Miami for both recreation and commuting. Every month, the city hosts "Bike Miami", where major streets in Downtown and Brickell are closed to automobiles, and left open for pedestrians and bicyclists. The event began in November 2008, and has doubled in popularity from 1,500 participants to about 3,000 in the October 2009 Bike Miami. This is the longest running such event in the U.S. In October 2009, the city also approved an extensive 20-year plan for bike routes and paths around the city. The city has begun construction of bike routes as of late 2009, and ordinances requiring bike parking in all future construction in the city is now mandatory as of October 2009.

In 2010, Miami was ranked No.44 most bike-friendly city in the U.S. according to ''Bicycling Magazine''.

Walkability

A 2011 study by Walk Score ranked Miami the eighth most walkable of fifty largest cities in the United States.

In popular culture

In film and television

Miami is a center for television and film production. The city has acted as the backdrop for many movies, and many television shows, telenovellas, and awards shows have been set or filmed in Miami. In the mid-2000s, Miami started to become a popular backdrop for reality television shows. Additionally, Miami is a major center, worldwide, for Spanish-language television and film production.

In music

See ''Miami_(disambiguation)#Music''

Miami has inspired the names of musical groups as well as of numerous albums and song titles. For example, the late country singer Keith Whitley (1955–1989) sang a song called "Miami, My Amy", about a special woman from Miami; the song is one of his biggest hits to this day.

In video games

The video games, ''Grand Theft Auto: Vice City'' (which became one of the best selling video games in history) and ''Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories'', take place in Vice City, a fictional city inspired by Miami, which includes some of the same architecture and geography. The game also includes characters who speak Haitian Creole and Spanish, as do many people found in Miami.

Sister cities

Amman, Jordan (since 1995) Ankara, Turkey Bogotá, Colombia (since 1971) Buenos Aires, Argentina (since 1979) Cochabamba, Bolivia Havana, Cuba (since 1926) Kagoshima, Japan (since 1990) Lima, Peru (since 1977) Managua, Nicaragua (since 1991) Murcia, Spain Palermo, Italy (since 2001) Port-au-Prince, Haiti (since 1991) Qingdao, People's Republic of China (since 2005) Salvador, Brazil (since 2006) Santiago, Chile (since 1986) Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (since 1987) Varna, Bulgaria

See also

List of people from Miami

List of tallest buildings in Miami

Miami Fire Department

Miami Police Department

Miami port tunnel

National Register of Historic Places listings in Miami, Florida

Notes

External links

City of Miami – Official Site

City of Miami Government

Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau

U.S. Census Bureau – Census 2000 Demographic Profile Highlights for City of Miami

Category:Cities in Miami-Dade County, Florida Category:County seats in Florida Category:Bermuda Triangle Category:Port cities in Florida Category:Seaside resorts in Florida Category:Populated places established in 1896 Category:Populated places in Florida with Hispanic majority populations Category:Tropics

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Lt. Horatio Caine is a fictional character in the CBS crime drama ''CSI: Miami'', portrayed by David Caruso. He is currently head of the crime lab, under the rank of Lieutenant of the MDPD.

Fictional character biography

Born in 1957, Caine's parents named him after author Horatio Alger. Before he moved to Miami, Caine worked in New York City as detective with the NYPD. It was there that he killed the man who murdered his mother: his own father. In 1995, while on the job, he was stabbed while investigating a case in which children were locked in closets while their parents were murdered. The perpetrator, Walter Resden, harbored a deep grudge against Caine, collecting the blood from the stabbing and preserving it for 10 years in order to frame him for the murder of Caine's girlfriend, Rachel Turner.

After his arrival in Florida, Horatio joined the Miami-Dade Police as a homicide detective but later transferred to the bomb squad, where he was mentored by Al Humphries, an older cop whom Caine highly respected and considered a good friend; Humphries was later killed after accidentally triggering a bomb he was attempting to disarm. Horatio worked undercover as "John Walden" in Pensacola, Florida for sometime during the early 1990s (this is the date given on the show, despite the fact it was previously understood on the show that Horatio worked in New York until at least 1995). During his time there, he dated a woman he believed to be named Julia Eberlie, and the two conceived a son named Kyle. Horatio would not be aware of Kyle's existence for another sixteen years. Sometime later he returns to Miami and to being a detective, in "Out Of Time" he references previously working on the bomb squad. Finally, Caine moved to the Crime Lab, accepting a promotion to lieutenant, which earned him the animosity of Sergeant Rick Stetler, who was also vying for the rank. When veteran CSI Megan Donner went on personal leave following the death of her husband, Horatio became the permanent head of the lab. Caine is known for regularly wearing sunglasses; one of his trademarks is to put them on prior to making a dramatized remark.

In 9th season finale Horatio is shot down, and co-worker Natalia Boa Vista is kidnapped and put in the trunk of a car by Randy North, a man helped convicted felon Jack Toller after was threatened to lose his kids by Toller. While Randy is pointing a gun at Natalia's face, she is trying to talk him out of doing something bad. North said "That's what everybody has told me!", and then closes the trunk with Natalia inside and pushes it off the pier. After North pushes the car away, Horatio gains ability to attempt to shoot North, but was unsuccessful. Horatio is unable to stand and attempt stop the car with Natalia inside. Natalia uses her cell phone to call for help, but nobody answers as water drips over her. Natalia and Horatio's status is unknown until the Season 10 premiere on September 25th.

Head of the day shift crime lab

In the CSI continuum, Caine is a day shift supervisor at the Miami-Dade crime lab, a forensic analyst and former homicide detective and bomb squad officer (his forensic specialty is arson and explosion evidence). He is very protective of his team, who affectionately call him "H." He is very concerned about the reputation of his lab, and takes great care to keep them clean, perhaps because of his experience with his tarnished younger brother, Ray. When his staff fall under suspicion in several episodes ("One of Our Own", "Internal Affairs"), he immediately jumps in their defense, especially from IA investigator Rick Stetler, and tries his best to prove their innocence.

Past events

Unlike his counterpart in Las Vegas, now former CSI Supervisor Gil Grissom (''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation''), he is a commissioned police officer, and thus carries a badge and gun. A superb marksman, Caine doesn't hesitate to use deadly force when needed. He is also an ardent advocate of the death penalty for particularly heinous crimes, and doesn't think twice about threatening suspects with it in such cases. In the first two seasons, Caine carried a Beretta Cougar on the job. Since the beginning of season three, he has been shown carrying a SIG-Sauer P229. He is very insistent on gun maintenance, especially since team member Tim Speedle was killed in a shootout after his gun misfired because of the lack of maintenance. In fact, one of the reasons for Caine's nearly on-the-spot selection of Officer Ryan Wolfe as Tim Speedle's replacement (in episode 303, "Under the Influence") is Wolfe's compulsive care of his firearm due to OCD.

He is later forced to fire Wolfe, as the younger CSI compromised himself during the course of the investigation due to his gambling debts and lack of honesty regarding the situation (episode 522, "Burned"). Wolfe also previously violated protocol. Caine indicates a willingness to allow Wolfe to redeem himself, however, and possibly allow him to return to the team after reviewing all the files from his previous cases (episode 523, "Kill Switch").

At the end of Season 2 (episode 223, "MIA/NYC — Nonstop"), Caine travels to New York City in pursuit of a murder suspect and meets Detective Mac Taylor and his team, inaugurating the first season of ''CSI: NY''. Caine later reunites with Detective Taylor and the New York CSIs to track down and arrest the murderer, Henry Darius, who would be extradited to Florida to face the death penalty (''CSI: Miami'' episode 407, "Felony Flight," ''CSI: NY'' episode 207, "Manhattan Manhunt"). This appearance would make Horatio Caine the first character to appear at least once in all three CSI shows.

He has many recurring enemies throughout the series, from serial killer Walter Resden to abusive Internal Affairs Agent Rick Stetler to corrupt judge Joseph Ratner. Some he thought put away for good come back to haunt him. Clavo Cruz, serving a life sentence for murdering a woman (episode 201, "Blood Brothers," episode 315, "Identity"), escapes custody in a dramatic rocket attack on a courthouse (superficially injuring coroner Alexx Woods). Cruz then kidnaps a court stenographer and forces Horatio to bring him $1 million dollars in exchange for her location. It is all a set-up, however, and Caine and Delko are ambushed on the roof of a parking garage. Though Horatio shoots down one man and escapes without injury, Delko is critically wounded even as Caine fires at the fleeing gunmen (episode 514, "No Man's Land"). Horatio eventually forces Cruz out of hiding by removing all his avenues of escape. Cruz approaches Horatio outside the Miami-Dade Crime Lab, and Caine kills Clavo with a single shot to the chest (episode 515, "Man Down").

Caine finds himself targeted by the son of Argento, a crime lord whom he helped put in jail some years earlier. After Caine's vehicle is vandalized, the young man smugly denies culpability. Horatio walks headlong into a trap and is shot at by the son. However, the rounds from his gun were replaced with blanks, Caine leaves without injury and the son is arrested afterward (episode 602, "Cyber-lebrity").

In the episode "Bone Voyage", when Raymond Langston comes to help Horatio and his team, he mentions about deceased CSI Warrick Brown, and asks Langston to tell Catherine Willows that he is sorry for their loss.

Recent events

In the end of the Season 8 finale, he receives a shocking message from the man he arrested. The message said: "THEY ALL FALL DOWN". In the Season 9 premiere, he rushes to the crime lab, fearing for the team's lives. When he got out of the elevator, he finds everyone down and Eric still awake. Eric then tells him to shoot the window for oxygen. After Horatio does so, everyone gets up, except for Jesse Cardoza, who died during his fall. Horatio then tries to comfort the devastated Natalia Boa Vista, who unsuccessfully attempted to revive him. Horatio then joins the team on a game of basketball, in honor of Jesse at the end of the episode after they find the killer.

In "See No Evil" a large prison break occurs and one of the inmates (Joe LeBrock) states that they were planning on targeting Caine.

In the episode "Manhunt", he and the team track down Memmo Fierro, the man who was serving time for killing Marisol (Horatio's wife and Eric's sister) after he is one of the eight people who broke out in the previous episode. Memmo (under orders of Antonio Riaz of the Mala Noche) had shot Marisol then blocked the ambulance, trying to get Caine to come out, forcing the ambulance to drive over a center median (at the hospital, a doctor states that the car was worse than the bullet). Both the shooting and the blocking proved fatal to Marisol. At the end of the episode, Memmo takes a hostage, his daughter's social worker. Eric has a clear shot of him, but Horatio tells him not to shoot him in front of Memmo's daughter. After Memmo sees his daughter, he leaves with the hostage, who is later found dead.

In "Happy Birthday" Horatio is seen driving at the beginning of the episode with a bouquet of flowers on the passenger seat and leaves Eric a message on his phone asking him to take over for him a while so he can run an errand. He is distracted by a pedestrian who informs him a pregnant woman has been assaulted on the side of the road. Leaving his errand behind, he helps the woman and spends the rest of the episode looking for the people who did this to her while the mother and the baby are fighting for their life back in the hospital. At the end the episode the mother gives birth to a baby girl and we see Horatio at Marisol's grave and tells her the baby is "beautiful just like you". He then wishes her happy birthday.

In "Last Stand", Memmo returns with a gang of drug cartels, and Caine lays a trap for him, alone. Caine kicks Memmo multiple times and holds him at gunpoint. Memmo states to him that killing his wife was not personal, but Caine responds it was to him. Memmo asks if what Caine is doing is "righteous" and if he is at peace with his decision. Caine responds he is, and places him under arrest, and waits for backup to arrive.

Category:CSI: Miami characters Category:Fictional American people of Irish descent Category:Fictional Miami-Dade Police Department detectives Category:Fictional scientists Category:Fictional orphans Category:Fictional New York City Police Department detectives Category:Fictional police lieutenants

bs:Horatio Caine es:Horatio Caine fr:Horatio Caine hr:Horatio Caine it:Horatio Caine nl:Horatio Caine pl:Horatio Caine pt:Horatio Caine fi:Horatio Caine

name	Zac Efron
birth name	Zachary David Alexander Efron
birth date	October 18, 1987
birth place	San Luis Obispo, California
occupation	Actor, singer
yearsactive	2002–present }}

Zachary David Alexander "Zac" Efron (born October 18, 1987) is an American actor. He began acting professionally in the early 2000s and became known to young audiences after his roles in the Disney Channel Original Movie ''High School Musical'', the WB series ''Summerland'', and the 2007 film version of the Broadway musical ''Hairspray''. In 2007, before the release of ''High School Musical 2'', ''Rolling Stone'' declared him the "poster boy for tweenyboppers" and featured him in their late August 2007 issue. Efron has since starred in the films ''17 Again'', ''Me and Orson Welles'', and ''Charlie St. Cloud'', and is due to star in ''New Year's Eve'' and ''The Lucky One''.

Early life

Background

Efron was born in San Luis Obispo, California, and later moved to Arroyo Grande, California. His father, David Efron, is an electrical engineer at a power station, and his mother, Starla Baskett, is a former secretary who worked at the same power plant. Efron has a younger brother, Dylan, and had, as he described it, a "normal childhood" in a middle class family. He is an agnostic, having never been religious. His surname, "Efron", means "lark" in Hebrew (his paternal grandfather was Jewish).

Efron has said that he would "flip out" if he got a "B" and not an "A" in school, and has also described himself as having been a class clown. His father encouraged him to begin acting when he was 11 years old. Efron subsequently appeared in theater productions at his high school, worked in the theater The Great American Melodrama and Vaudeville, and began taking singing lessons. He performed in shows such as ''Gypsy''; ''Peter Pan; or, The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up''; ''Little Shop of Horrors''; and ''The Music Man''. He was recommended to an agent in Los Angeles by his drama teacher, Robyn Metchik (the mother of actors Aaron Michael Metchik and Asher Metchik). Efron was later signed to the Creative Artists Agency.

Education

Efron graduated from Arroyo Grande High School in 2006 and was then accepted into the University of Southern California, but has deferred his enrollment to work on film projects. He also attended Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts, a community college located in Santa Maria, California, which provided him with the opportunity to perform as a "young player" during the years of 2000 and 2001.

Career

Early work

In 2002, Efron began to appear in guest roles on several television series, including ''Firefly'', ''ER'', and ''The Guardian''. He portrayed Cameron Bale on the now-cancelled WB series ''Summerland''. Originally introduced as a recurring character, Efron became a regular cast member on the show in the second season in 2004, starring opposite the likes of Kay Panabaker, Lori Loughlin and Jesse McCartney. Since appearing in ''Summerland'', he has also had guest roles on the shows ''CSI: Miami'', ''NCIS'', ''The Suite Life of Zack & Cody'' and ''The Replacements''. In 2003, Efron starred in the Lifetime original television movie ''Miracle Run''. He played Steven Morgan, one of two autistic twins. For his performance, he was nominated for a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Movie, Mini-series or Special — Supporting Young Actor. In 2005, he played a main character in Hope Partlow's music video for her song "Sick Inside." Also in 2005, he played horse-loving Patrick McCardle in ''The Derby Stallion'', where his character wants to beat the town bully at the steeple chase race.

Breakthrough

In 2006, Efron starred in the Disney Channel original movie ''High School Musical'' as Troy Bolton, a popular student and captain of the basketball team. The film, which he initially made with "low expectations", helped Efron gain recognition among teenage audiences as both an actor and a singer, even though his singing voice was overdubbed. As a result, he placed as high as #4 on the IMDBPro's STARMeter for the week of January 29, 2006. In August 2006, Efron won a Teen Choice Award in the Breakout Star and the TV — Choice Chemistry categories, shared with Vanessa Hudgens. The film's cast, along with Efron, toured Sydney, Australia, London, England, and other locations to promote the film.

Shortly after ''High School Musical'' aired, on February 4, 2006, Efron debuted with two simultaneous charted songs on Billboard Hot 100 from the film: "Get'cha Head in the Game" and "Breaking Free", a duet with Hudgens. On the following week's chart, Efron had five simultaneous song credits from ''High School Musical'': "Get'cha Head in the Game", "Start of Something New", "What I've Been Looking For: Reprise", "We're All in This Together" and "Breaking Free." "We're All in This Together" was credited to the whole ''High School Musical'' cast. "Breaking Free", at the time, made the fastest climb in the history of the Billboard charts, from #86 to #4 between the two weeks; the record was beaten by Beyoncé and Shakira's "Beautiful Liar". Efron also appeared in the 2006 ''Disney Channel Games'' as captain of the Red Team.

Efron's singing talents were disputed when it was revealed that Drew Seeley's voice was blended with his on the soundtrack of ''High School Musical''. An August 23, 2007 interview in ''Rolling Stone'' magazine revealed that he had been cast in ''High School Musical'' after the songs were written, and the songs (written for a tenor) were somewhat out of his baritone vocal range.

2007 – present

On April 7, 2007, Efron appeared in an episode of ''Punk'd''. Efron also starred in the music video for Vanessa Hudgens's single "Say OK", in which he played her love interest. The video aired on March 16, 2007 on the Disney Channel. That year, he was named one of ''People'' magazine's 100 Most Beautiful People in 2007. A picture and short profile of him was in the section "Coming of Age". In it, he related how he was always the shortest kid in school (as of August 2007, he was 5'8") and was teased for the "huge gap" in his teeth.

In 2006, Efron was cast as Link Larkin in a film version of ''Hairspray'' released on July 20, 2007. Efron performed all of his own vocals in the role, which was filmed in Toronto, Ontario, from September 5 to December 2, 2006. He cut and dyed his hair dark brown and gained about 15 pounds for the role. His performance and the film received positive reviews. Efron was not able to perform with his fellow castmates in ''High School Musical: The Concert'' because of commitments on the film ''Hairspray''. Drew Seeley took over for him. ''High School Musical 2'' was released in August 2007. Additionally, Lycos reported searches for Efron surged by 81%. The film set a new record, becoming the most watched basic cable program in U.S. history, with 17.2 million viewers. Efron also appeared on the cover of the August 2007 edition of ''Rolling Stone''. The article about him revealed that he hoped to someday play an action hero. Efron presented the 2007 Teen Choice Award for "Favorite Movie" along with Queen Latifah, and later that year, he co-hosted the Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards with The Veronicas on October 10 in Sydney.

In early 2008, Efron was cast in the lead role in the film ''Me and Orson Welles''. Based on Robert Kaplow's novel of the same name, the story, set in 1937 New York, tells of a teenager hired to star in Orson Welles' production of ''Julius Caesar'', where he becomes attracted to a career-driven production assistant. The film was shot in the Isle of Man, London and New York, during February — April 2008. It was introduced to North America via the Toronto Film Festival on September 5, 6, and 11, 2008 and was released in 2009. Efron was also scheduled to star in Paramount's musical remake of the film ''Footloose'', and has said that he would like to add his "own little bit of flair" to the role originated by Kevin Bacon. In March 2009, he dropped out of the film. Efron was quoted as saying that while it was a promising gig, he left the project because he "was looking for a new challenge, and this was another musical."

Efron reprised his role in ''High School Musical 3: Senior Year'', which was theatrically released on October 24, 2008. His next role was in 2009's ''17 Again'', a high school-set comedy-drama produced by Adam Shankman and based on a pitch by Jason Filardi; the plot involved an adult who is transformed into a 17-year old (played by Efron).

On April 8, 2009, Efron's participation in a comedic short video entitled "Zac Efron's Pool Party" for the website Funny Or Die was released for public viewing. On April 11, 2009, Efron hosted an episode of ''Saturday Night Live''. In early June 2009 it was confirmed that Efron would be making a guest appearance during the sixth season of HBO's comedy series ''Entourage''.

Efron starred in a series of advertisements, along with Kristen Bell and Sean Combs, promoting the 2010 MTV Movie Awards and the host, Aziz Ansari. In 2009, he signed on to play title character in the movie ''Charlie St. Cloud''. The film was released on July 30, 2010.

Efron was second on ''People''s 2011 Most Beautiful list.

Upcoming roles

Efron is slated to star in the title role of the live-action adaptation of the ''Jonny Quest'' cartoons. Additional projects include ''Einstein Theory'' and an adaptation of ''Fire'', by Image Comics. On February 11, 2011, it was reported that Efron will star in the action romance ''Charlie Countryman''. He is also set to star in and produce the American remake of Swedish crime film ''Easy Money''.

Personal life

Efron owns an apartment in Los Angeles, California. On January 15, 2008, he was hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for an emergency appendectomy. Efron was also on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list in 2008, as number 92 with an estimated earning of $5.8 million from June 2007 to June 2008. As of April 5, 2009, his personal wealth equaled about $10 million. ''People'' magazine said in 2007 that Efron and Vanessa Hudgens began dating in 2005 during the filming of ''High School Musical'', although ''Us'' magazine said, after the two broke up in December 2010, that they "met in 2005 while making the first ''High School Musical'' flick, and became a romantic item about two years later."

Filmography

+ Films	Year	Title	Role
2003	''Melinda's World''	Stuart Wasser
2003	''''	Pete Laemke
2004	''Miracle Run''	Steven Morgan
2004	''Triple Play''	Harry Fuller
2005	''''	Patrick McCardle
2006	''If You Lived Here, You'd be Home Now''	Cody
2006	''High School Musical''	Troy Bolton
2007		Link Larkin
2007	''High School Musical 2''	Troy Bolton
2008	''High School Musical 3: Senior Year''	Troy Bolton
2009		Mike O'Donnell (teen)
2009	''Me and Orson Welles''	Richard Samuels
2010		Charlie St. Cloud
2011		Paul
2012	''''	Logan Thibault
2012	''''	Ted
2012	''''	TBA

+ Television	Year	Title	Role	Episode
2002		Young Simon Tam
2003	''''	Luke Tomello	"Without Consent"
2003		Bobby Neville	"Dear Abby"
2005		Cameron Bale	16 episodes
2005	''CSI: Miami''	Seth Dawson
2005	''''	Davey Hunkerhoff	"Davey Hunkerhoff / Ratted Out"
2006		Pizza Delivery Guy	"Pilot"
2006	''''	Trevor	"Odd Couples"
2006		Danny	"Deception"
2008	''Robot Chicken''	Billy Joel	"Tell My Mom"
2009	''Robot Chicken''	Harry Potter	"I Love Her"
2009	''Saturday Night Live''	Himself	2 episodes
2009		Himself	"Security Briefs"
2010	''Robot Chicken''	Anakin Skywalker	"Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III"

Awards and Nominations

! Year !! Award !! Category !! Work !! Result
2005	Young Artist Awards	Best Performance in a TV Movie, Miniseries or Special - Supporting Young Actor	''Miracle Run''
		Choice TV: Chemistry (shared with Vanessa Hudgens)		rowspan="3"
Choice TV: Breakout Star
	Movie Star - Male	''Himself''
	Young Artist Awards	Best Performance in a TV Movie, Miniseries or Special (Comedy or Drama) - Leading Young Actor	''High School Musical''
Young Hollywood Awards	One to Watch		rowspan="6"
Teen Choice Awards	Choice Other: Hottie - Male
Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards	Fave Movie Star
Nickelodeon UK Kids' Choice Awards	Best TV Actor	''High School Musical''
Family Television Awards	Best Actor	''High School Musical 2''
Satellite Awards	Best Original Song (shared with Queen Latifah, Nikki Blonsky and Elijah Kelley)	''Come So Far (So Far to Go)''
	TV Star - Male	''Himself''
		Best Song (shared with Queen Latifah, Nikki Blonsky and Elijah Kelley)	''Come So Far (So Far to Go)''
	rowspan="2"	rowspan="3"
Palm Springs International Film Festival
		''You Can't Stop the Beat''
Favorite Star under 35	''Himself''	rowspan="4"
Screen Actors Guild Awards
Grammy Awards		rowspan="2"
Empire Awards
MTV Movie Awards	Breakthrough Performance
ASTRA Awards	Favourite International Personality or Actor	''High School Musical 2''	rowspan="3"
	Choice Other: Male Hottie
Choice Other: Red Carpet Fashion Icon - Male
Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards	Fave Movie Star	rowspan="4"
	TV Star
		Breakthrough Performer of the Year
	Best Male Performance
Best Kiss (shared with Vanessa Hudgens)	rowspan="2"
	Choice Movie: Liplock (shared Vanessa Hudgens)
Choice Movie: Actor - Music/Dance
Choice Music: Album - Soundtrack (shared with ''High School Musical 3: Senior Year'' Cast)	''High School Musical 3: Senior Year (soundtrack)''
Choice Movie: Actor - Comedy	rowspan="5"	rowspan="3"
Choice Movie: Rockstar Moment
Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards	Fave Movie Star
	Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards	Favorite Movie Actor	rowspan="5"
MTV Movie Awards	Best Male Performance
	Choice Summer: Movie Actor
Choice Other: Male Hottie
Choice Other: Smile
Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards	Cutest Couple (shared with Vanessa Hudgens)	rowspan="3"
	Best TV Star - Male
	People's Choice Awards''	Favorite Movie Star Under 25	rowspan="2"
MTV Movie Awards	Best Male Performance
Teen Choice Awards	Choice Other: Red Carpet Fashion - Icon	''Himself''

Discography

Soundtracks

''Hairspray'' (2007)

''High School Musical 2'' (2007)

''High School Musical 3: Senior Year'' (2008)

Charted songs

Year	Single	Peak chart positions				Album
		! style="width:35px;"	! style="width:35px;"	! style="width:35px;"	! style="width:35px;"
		—	—	96	—
style="text-align:left;"	6	6	20	20
	46	35	65	—
	31	28	26	86
style="text-align:left;"	—	95	89	—
	34	31	40	—
	65	46	55	—
	style="text-align:left;"	68	41	41	92
style="text-align:left;"	108	—	—	96
style="text-align:left;"	119	—	—	—
	98	—	—	84
	101	—	—	72

References

External links

Zac Efron at TV Guide

Category:1987 births Category:Actors from California Category:American agnostics Category:American child actors Category:American child singers Category:American film actors Category:American people of Jewish descent Category:American television actors Category:Arroyo Grande, California Category:Living people Category:People from San Luis Obispo, California

af:Zac Efron ar:زاك إيفرون bs:Zac Efron bg:Зак Ефрон ca:Zac Efron cs:Zac Efron cy:Zac Efron da:Zac Efron de:Zac Efron et:Zac Efron el:Ζακ Έφρον es:Zac Efron eu:Zac Efron fa:زک افران fr:Zac Efron ga:Zac Efron gl:Zac Efron gan:扎·艾弗欒 ko:잭 에프론 hy:Զաք Էֆրոն hr:Zac Efron io:Zac Efron id:Zac Efron is:Zac Efron it:Zac Efron he:זאק אפרון jv:Zac Efron kl:Zac Efron ka:ზაკ ეფრონი la:Zacharias Efron lv:Zaks Efrons hu:Zac Efron arz:زاك إيفرون ms:Zac Efron nl:Zac Efron ja:ザック・エフロン no:Zac Efron nn:Zac Efron pl:Zac Efron pt:Zac Efron ro:Zac Efron ru:Эфрон, Зак sq:Zac Efron simple:Zac Efron sl:Zac Efron sh:Zac Efron fi:Zac Efron sv:Zac Efron tl:Zac Efron th:แซค แอฟรอน tr:Zac Efron uk:Зак Ефрон vi:Zac Efron zh-yue:碩克艾佛朗 zh:柴克·艾弗隆

position	Power forward/Center
height ft	7
height in	0
weight lb	250
number	16
team	Los Angeles Lakers
nationality	Spanish
birth date	July 06, 1980
birth place	Barcelona, Spain
draft round	1
draft pick	3
draft year	2001
draft team	Atlanta Hawks
career start	1998
years1	1998–2001 | team1 Barcelona (Spain)
years2	– | team2 Memphis Grizzlies
years3	–present | team3 Los Angeles Lakers
highlights	2× NBA Champion (2009, 2010) NBA Rookie of the Year () 4× NBA All-Star (2006, 2009–2011) All-NBA Second Team () 2× All-NBA Third Team (–) NBA All-Rookie First Team () FIBA World Championship MVP (2006) EuroBasket MVP (2009) Spanish King's Cup MVP (2001) Spanish League Finals MVP (2001) All-Euroleague Second Team (2001) 7× European Player of the Year * 2× FIBA Europe Player of the Year (2008–2009) * 2× Mister Europa Player of the Year (2004, 2009) * 3× Euroscar Player of the Year (2008–2010) }}

}}

Pau Gasol Sáez () (born July 6, 1980) is a Spanish professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was born to Marisa Sáez and Agustí Gasol, and he spent his childhood in Spain. Gasol was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in the 2001 NBA Draft, but his rights were traded to the Memphis Grizzlies, with whom he won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. He currently holds the Memphis Grizzlies franchise records for career games played, minutes played, field goals made and attempted, free throws made and attempted, offensive, defensive, and total rebounds, blocked shots, turnovers, and points. After seven seasons with the team, Gasol was traded to the Lakers on February 1, 2008. His younger brother, Marc Gasol, who was involved in that trade, is also a professional basketball player for the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA.

Early career

FC Barcelona (1998–2001)

Pau Gasol was born in Barcelona. He began playing basketball with his school team called Alvirne, and he eventually signed with Cornellà. When he was sixteen, he began playing for Barcelona's junior team. He also won both the 1998 Albert Schweitzer Tournament and the 1998 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship. After moving to the senior team of Barcelona, Gasol played just 25 total minutes in the Spanish ACB League 1998–99 season, and averaged 13.7 minutes per game in the ACB the next year. However, in his final season in the ACB, Gasol averaged 12.4 points and 5.8 rebounds in 24.7 minutes per game. Barcelona was victorious in the Spanish National Cup championship game in 2001, and Gasol was named Most Valuable Player. After entering the NBA Draft, Gasol was selected third overall in the first round in the 2001 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks, who traded his draft rights to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for Shareef Abdur-Rahim.

NBA career

Memphis Grizzlies (2001–2008)

In Gasol's first season with the Grizzlies, he won the Rookie of the Year Award, and was named to the All-Rookie first team. He averaged 17.6 points and 8.9 rebounds per game, and was also the only team member to play in all 82 games that season. Gasol led the team in scoring (19.0 points per game) in his second year with the team, and for the second year in a row, played in all 82 games. Gasol missed the first game of his career, during his third year, with a foot injury on April 5, 2004, which snapped his string of 240 consecutive games played. He grabbed the 1,500th rebound of his career on November 12, 2003, against the Orlando Magic and scored his 3,000th career point on October 31, 2003, against the Boston Celtics. Despite having 22 points in Game 4 against the San Antonio Spurs, the highest by a Memphis players in the playoffs, his team was eliminated in the first round, not winning a single game against San Antonio. This was both the Grizzlies and Gasol's first trip to the NBA Playoffs. He scored 31 points and blocked four shots on January 11, 2005, against the Indiana Pacers to earn 5,000 points and 500 blocks in his career, becoming the 10th fastest player to reach 5,000 points/500 blocks since 1973–74. He also helped his team make it to the playoffs for the second time in his career, but they were eliminated in the first round and did not win a single game against the Phoenix Suns.

In his fifth year with the team, he became the franchise’s all-time leading rebounder on March 24 against the New York Knicks when he grabbed his 3,072nd rebound in a Grizzlies uniform. He made 29 consecutive free throw attempts from January 24 to January 28, tying the second best mark in Grizzlies history, including two straight games going 12–12 from the line, tying the best single-game mark in franchise history. Gasol and the Grizzlies returned to the playoffs for the third time in his and his team's history. Once again, they were eliminated in the first round and did not win a single game against the Dallas Mavericks.

On February 9, 2006, making his first appearance, Gasol was selected to play in the 2006 NBA All-Star Game in Houston, Texas as a reserve center for the Western Conference. At the time, he was one of four players ranked among Western Conference forwards in the top ten in points, rebounds, assists and blocked shots. He was the first Spanish basketball player as well as the first Grizzlies player to ever make it to the All-Star Game.

Gasol missed the first 23 games of the 2006-07 NBA season due to a broken foot suffered near the end of Spain's semifinal win over Argentina in the 2006 FIBA World Championship. He would go on to be named Most Valuable Player of the tournament, which Spain won. He had a season-high 34 points (most by a Grizzly that season), and eight rebounds and tied a career-high and franchise record with eight blocks on January 29 against the Sacramento Kings, and surpassed Shareef Abdur-Rahim as the franchise's all-time leader in free throw attempts on January 31 against the Dallas Mavericks. He became the all-time franchise leader in field goals made on February 6 against the Houston Rockets, and became the all-time franchise leader in minutes played on February 7 at Dallas. He surpassed Shareef Abdur-Rahim (7,801 points) as the Grizzlies' all-time leading scorer on March 7, 2007, against the Toronto Raptors (7,809 points at the time). On January 24, 2007, Gasol recorded his second career triple-double against the hosting Utah Jazz, garnering 17 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists. He also registered 2 blocks and one steal.

Los Angeles Lakers (2008–present)

On February 1, 2008, Gasol was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers along with a 2010 second round draft pick for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, the rights to Marc Gasol (Pau's younger brother), and 2008 and 2010 first round draft picks. Albeit, there has been a bit of controversy surrounding the trade. Chris Wallace denied in an ESPN article that he had been ordered by owner Michael Heisley to make the Grizzlies more attractive to a potential buyer. Heisley has been trying to sell the franchise for two years. Wallace said, "No one put pressure on me to do this, and Michael Heisley has actually been reluctant to move Pau." He also said that they had been "trolling" the waters for a while and dealt with a number of teams. He selected the Lakers deal because "it didn't get any better than this." When Gasol departed the Grizzlies, he held twelve franchise records, including games played, minutes played, field goals made and attempted, free throws made and attempted, offensive, defensive, and total rebounds, blocked shots, turnovers, and points. Per game statistics, he leads Memphis in defensive and total rebounds along with blocked shots. On February 5, he made his first Lakers appearance in a game against the New Jersey Nets, during which he scored 24 points and had 12 rebounds in a 105–90 win over the Nets. On March 14, Gasol sprained his ankle in a game against the New Orleans Hornets, stepping on the foot of teammate Vladimir Radmanović in the first quarter. Gasol was expected to miss the remaining three games of the Lakers' road trip after x-rays came up negative. Gasol returned to the starting lineup on April 2 against the Portland Trail Blazers and played nearly thirty-two minutes, registering 10 points, six rebounds and seven assists. He admitted to feeling limited with the swelling in his ankle still present. Gasol helped the Lakers finish the regular season with the best record in the Western Conference (57–25), with him in the starting lineup the Lakers went 22–5. Kobe Bryant has also stated that playing with Gasol clicked from the start.

In the Lakers' opening game of the playoffs, he contributed 36 points, 16 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 blocked shots. When the Lakers swept the Denver Nuggets in the first round, it was Gasol's first trip to the second round in four tries. His previous team, the Grizzlies, did not make it to the playoffs for the second year in a row. He contributed 17 points and 13 rebounds in Game 6 against the Utah Jazz to help the Lakers advance to the conference finals. On May 31, he recorded a career high 19 rebounds in a series-clinching win against the San Antonio Spurs, and he became the first Spaniard to reach the NBA Finals. Gasol scored 14.7 points per game on .532 shooting in the 2008 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics, which was below his scoring average of 18.9 during the regular season, However, he led the Lakers in rebounding with 10.2 per game throughout the championship series, up from his regular-season average of 8.4. Los Angeles lost in six games against Boston in the Finals, including a 131–92 loss in Game 6. During the 2008 NBA Playoffs, Gasol was the second leading Laker in points (16.9), rebounds (9.3) and assists per game (4.0). He was the leader in blocks per game (1.90) and was tied with Lamar Odom with the most postseason double-doubles (10).

Gasol earned his second All-Star appearance as a reserve for the Western Conference squad during the 2008-2009 NBA season, his first as a Laker. He was also named Western Conference Player of the Month after helping the Lakers to an 11–2 record for the month of February that included road wins over Boston and Cleveland. He finished the regular season with averages of 18.9 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1 block per game. Gasol then won his first NBA championship ring when the Lakers defeated the Orlando Magic in the 2009 NBA Finals.

On December 24, 2009 Gasol signed a 3-year extension with the Lakers worth $64.7 million.

Gasol earned his third All-Star appearance as a reserve for the Western Conference and finished the regular season with averages of 18.3 points, 11.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.7 blocks. In Game 6 of the first round, Gasol grabbed 18 rebounds and his last-second putback eliminated the Oklahoma City Thunder. In the conference semifinals against the Utah Jazz, he averaged 23.5 points and 14.5 rebounds. In Game 7 of the NBA Finals, Gasol scored 19 points, (6–16 FGM-A, 7–13 FTM-A) grabbed 18 rebounds and recorded two blocks as the Lakers repeated as champions.

Challenged by Lakers' coach Phil Jackson to be more assertive while Bryant recovered from offseason knee surgery, Gasol started the season's first week averaging 25.3 points on 52.5 percent shooting, 10.3 rebounds, and five assists per game as the Lakers started 3–0. He was named Western Conference Player of the Week. Unfortunately,the 40 minutes per night he averaged over the first month of the season seemed to take a toll on Pau. By early December, Pau was complaining about fatigue and his numbers were beginning to falter. However, once Andrew Bynum came back into the fold, taking up a few of Pau's minutes, Gasol seemed settle in to a more comfortable position. He earned his third straight All-Star selection and his season averages of 19 points and 10 rebounds are nearly identical to what he's put up as a Laker the previous three seasons. Pau's play also merited him All-NBA ''second team'' honors for the first time in his career. In the playoffs Gasol's average of 13 points on 42% shooting over 10 games and lack of aggression had the Lakers team suffering all the more for it, getting swept out of the playoffs by the Mavs in the second round. Gasol had the worst post season performance of his career. Lakers Hall of Famer and ESPN analyst Magic Johnson cited Gasol as a possible trade option for the Lakers to acquire Magic center Dwight Howard. Gasol ignored the false reports about his relationship status with his girlfriend as the cause of his poor performance and has accepted the criticism of his play as valid.

Player profile

Gasol is very athletic and quick for a 7-footer (213 cm), and primarily plays the power forward and center positions. He has often been compared to fellow European players Toni Kukoč and Dirk Nowitzki, holding career averages of 18.8 points and 9.0 rebounds. He is a refined scorer in the post and midrange; his overall game is near-ambidextrous and makes it difficult for opposing teams to defend. Gasol uses a variety of midrange jumpers, hook shots, up-and-under moves, and shot fakes to score very efficiently. Gasol's normal jumpshot range extends to 20 feet. In addition, his foot speed relative to his size allows him to run the fast break and finish effectively. He is also a skilled passer for a big man, earning 3.2 assists per game over his career. Defensively, he is an above-average shot blocker with a career average of 1.7 blocks per game. Before being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2007–08 season, he had played exclusively with the Memphis Grizzlies from 2001–2008. When he was traded to the Lakers, he maintained the same number on his jersey, still playing with the number 16. In his career, Gasol has never been ejected. Gasol scored his 10,000th point in a game against the Jazz on the 2nd of January 2009. He finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in the win.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|- | align="left" | 2001–02 | align="left" | Memphis | 82 || 79 || 36.7 || .518 || .200 || .709 || 8.9 || 2.7 || .5 || 2.1 || 17.6 |- | align="left" | 2002–03 | align="left" | Memphis | 82 || 82 || 36.0 || .510 || .100 || .736 || 8.8 || 2.8 || .4 || 1.8 || 19.0 |- | align="left" | 2003–04 | align="left" | Memphis | 78 || 78 || 31.5 || .482 || .267 || .714 || 7.7 || 2.5 || .6 || 1.7 || 17.7 |- | align="left" | 2004–05 | align="left" | Memphis | 56 || 53 || 32.0 || .514 || .167 || .768 || 7.3 || 2.4 || .7 || 1.7 || 17.8 |- | align="left" | 2005–06 | align="left" | Memphis | 80 || 80 || 39.2 || .503 || .250 || .689 || 8.9 || 4.6 || .6 || 1.9 || 20.4 |- | align="left" | 2006–07 | align="left" | Memphis | 59 || 59 || 36.2 || .538 || .273 || .748 || 9.8 || 3.4 || .5 || 2.1 || 20.8 |- | align="left" | 2007–08 | align="left" | Memphis | 39 || 39 || 36.7 || .501 || .267 || .819 || 8.8 || 3.0 || .4 || 1.4 || 18.9 |- | align="left" | 2007–08 | align="left" | L.A. Lakers | 27 || 27 || 34.0 || .589 || .000 || .789 || 7.8 || 3.5 || .5 || 1.6 || 18.8 |- | align="left" | 2008–09 | align="left" | L.A. Lakers | 81 || 81 || 37.0 || .567 || .500 || .781 || 9.6 || 3.5 || .6 || 1.0 || 18.9 |- | align="left" | 2009–10 | align="left" | L.A. Lakers | 65 || 65 || 37.0 || .536 || .000 || .790 || 11.3 || 3.4 || .6 || 1.7 || 18.3 |- | align="left" | 2010–11 | align="left" | L.A. Lakers | 82 || 82 || 37.0 || .529 || .333 || .823 || 10.2 || 3.3 || .6 || 1.6 || 18.8 |-class="sortbottom" | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 731 || 725 || 35.9 || .522 || .224 || .751 || 9.1 || 3.2 || .5 || 1.7 || 18.8 |-class="sortbottom" | align="left" | All-Star | align="left" | | 4 || 0 || 19.0 || .563 || .000 || .889 || 8.25 || 1 || .3 || .75 || 11.0

Playoffs

|- | align="left" | 2004 | align="left" | Memphis | 4 || 4 || 33.5 || .571 || .000 || .900 || 5.0 || 2.5 || 1.0 || 1.5 || 18.3 |- | align="left" | 2005 | align="left" | Memphis | 4 || 4 || 33.3 || .488 || 1.000 || .500 || 7.5 || 2.5 || .5 || 1.8 || 21.3 |- | align="left" | 2006 | align="left" | Memphis | 4 || 4 || 39.5 || .433 || .000 || .767 || 6.8 || 3.0 || .5 || 1.2 || 20.3 |- | align="left" | 2008 | align="left" | L.A. Lakers | 21 || 21 || 39.8 || .530 || .000 || .692 || 9.3 || 4.0 || .5 || 1.9 || 16.9 |- | align="left" | 2009 | align="left" | L.A. Lakers | 23 || 23 || 40.5 || .580 || .000 || .714 || 10.8 || 2.5 || .8 || 2.0 || 18.3 |- | align="left" | 2010 | align="left" | L.A. Lakers | 23 || 23 || 39.7 || .539 || .000 || .759 || 11.1 || 3.5 || .4 || 2.1 || 19.6 |- | align="left" | 2011 | align="left" | L.A. Lakers | 10 || 10 || 35.8 || .420 || .500 || .800 || 7.8 || 3.8 || .4 || 1.7 || 13.1 |-class="sortbottom" | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 89 || 89 || 38.9 || .527 || .286 || .737 || 9.6 || 3.3 || .6 || 1.9 || 17.9

Awards & honors

FC Barcelona

Spanish King's Cup Champion (2000)

Most Valuable Player of the Spanish King's Cup (2001)

Spanish League Champion (2001)

Spanish League Finals MVP (2001)

All-Euroleague Second Team (2001)

NBA

2× NBA Champion (2009, 2010)

NBA Rookie of the Year (2002)

All-NBA Second Team selection (2011)

2× All-NBA Third Team selection (2009, 2010)

4× NBA All-Star (2006, 2009, 2010, 2011)

European Player of the Year awards

7× European Player of the Year:

* 2x Mr. Europa (2004, 2009)

* 3x Euroscar Award (2008, 2009, 2010)

* 2x FIBA Europe Player of the Year (2008, 2009)

Spanish national team

Gold medal at the FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship (1998)

Gold medal at the FIBA Under-19 World Championship (1999)

Bronze medal at the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship (2000)

Bronze medal at the EuroBasket 2001

Silver medal at the EuroBasket 2003

Gold medal at the 2006 FIBA World Championship

Most Valuable player of the 2006 FIBA World Championship

Silver medal at the EuroBasket 2007

Silver medal at 2008 Olympic Basketball Tournament

Gold medal at the EuroBasket 2009

Personal life

Gasol's mother, Marisa, was a medical doctor, and his father, Agustí, was a nurse administrator. When Pau was born, his family was living in Cornellà, but he was born in Barcelona, at Sant Pau Hospital, where both of his parents worked. When he was six years old, his family moved to another Barcelona suburb, Sant Boi de Llobregat, where he spent the remainder of his childhood. His parents moved to the Memphis suburb of Germantown, Tennessee after he signed with the Grizzlies, and enrolled his younger brothers Marc and Adrià in Lausanne Collegiate School in Memphis. They planned to move to the Los Angeles area when Pau was traded to the Lakers, with Agustí accepting a job with a health-care company in that area; although the Grizzlies obtained the rights to Marc's services as part of the trade, he was expected to re-sign with his Spanish team Akasvayu Girona. However, when Marc decided to sign with the Grizzlies, their parents chose to stay in Germantown. Agustí now works from home for the same company, while Marisa now volunteers at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Gasol was never interested in football, but loved basketball. The first sport he played was actually rugby, before switching to basketball. He is described as "a family boy and the perfect student, a tad shy, and a bit of a joker."

He originally did not want to make sports his career. On the day that Magic Johnson announced his HIV-positive status in 1991, the 11-year-old Gasol, who had heard the news in school, decided that he wanted to be a doctor and find a cure for AIDS. He enrolled in medical school at the University of Barcelona, but left as his basketball career at FC Barcelona advanced. He remains strongly interested in medicine. Gasol regularly visits Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles, a standard stop for athletes making charitable visits in the L.A. area, but does not limit his business to visiting young patients. On one visit, he asked a group of doctors well-informed questions about their treatment of children with scoliosis. In April 2010, Gasol was scheduled to sit in on a spinal surgery, wearing surgical scrubs, with Dr. David Skaggs, the hospital's chief of orthopedic surgery. Skaggs has said, "We talk to him now almost like he is a surgical colleague."

Gasol canceled his original plans to observe a surgery when he came down with a low-grade fever the day before the operation, not wishing to risk infecting anyone at the hospital. He was able to reschedule his observation for June 2010, witnessing Skaggs lead a team operating on a 13-year-old girl from Colorado with scoliosis.

Gasol also has a broad range of intellectual and cultural interests. He has taught himself Italian and French to go along with his childhood languages of Catalan and Spanish plus English. He and Kobe Bryant speak to one another during games in Spanish to keep opponents from knowing their plans. Gasol also regularly reads historical novels, plays the works of French classical composers on his keyboard, and attends concerts and operas; he is a friend of Spanish tenor Plácido Domingo, and often visits him backstage after performances.

His younger brother Marc, who is tall and , is also a professional basketball player, currently playing for the Memphis Grizzlies. Marc was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers, 48th overall, in the 2007 NBA Draft and his rights were traded to the Memphis Grizzlies, as part of the deal that sent Gasol to the Lakers. Their youngest brother Adrià played for Lausanne's basketball team; his coach at Lausanne said, "He's built like Pau, with a mean streak like Marc," although he is not yet considered a major basketball prospect.

Gasol denied false reports that he had broken up with his girlfriend, Silvia Lopez Castro, in the exit interviews after his poor performance in the 2011 NBA Playoffs.

See also

List of National Basketball Association career blocks leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff blocks leaders

Notes

External links

Official site Pau Gasol on Facebook /

NBA.com Profile

Pau Gasol Player Profile (InterBasket)

Pau Gasol video in Herois

Pau Gasol story on Hoopsworld.com

Pau Gasol Fan Forum

Pau Gasol Player Profile (ACB)

Pau Gasol Italian Fan Site

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Category:1980 births Category:Living people Category:Atlanta Hawks draft picks Category:Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Category:Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Category:Catalan basketball players Category:Centers (basketball) Category:FC Barcelona Bàsquet players Category:Forwards (basketball) Category:Liga ACB players Category:Los Angeles Lakers players Category:Memphis Grizzlies players Category:Olympic basketball players of Spain Category:Olympic medalists in basketball Category:Olympic silver medalists for Spain Category:Power forwards (basketball) Category:Spanish expatriate basketball people in the United States Category:Sportspeople from Barcelona

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Name	David Caruso
Birth date	January 07, 1956
Birth place	Forest Hills, Queens, New York, U.S.
Birth name	David Stephen Caruso
Occupation	ActorProducer
Years active	1980–present
Spouse	Cheri Maugans (1979–1984)Rachel Ticotin (1984–1987)}}

David Stephen Caruso (born January 7, 1956) is an American film and television actor and producer, best known for his role of Lieutenant Horatio Caine on the TV series ''CSI: Miami''. The role that gained him initial significant recognition was the role of Det. John Kelly on the ABC crime drama ''NYPD Blue''.

Early life

Caruso was born in Forest Hills Gardens, Queens, New York, the son of Joan, a librarian, and Charles Caruso, a magazine and newspaper editor. He is of Irish and Italian (Sicilian) descent and was raised as a Roman Catholic. Caruso attended Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Catholic School, in Forest Hills. He later attended Archbishop Molloy High School in nearby Briarwood, graduating in 1974.

Career

1980s

His first film appearance was in the 1980 film ''Getting Wasted'' as "Danny". Caruso then spent most of the next decade in film supporting roles, appearing in such films as ''First Blood'', ''An Officer and a Gentleman'', ''Blue City'', ''Thief of Hearts'', and ''China Girl''. Caruso also appeared in ''Twins'' and ''Hudson Hawk'' (1991). Caruso credits his role as Daniels, "the cadet who nearly drowned," in ''Officer and a Gentleman'' as what got him noticed. In television he had a recurring role as Tommy Mann, the gang leader of "The Shamrocks", on ''Hill Street Blues'' in the early 1980s. He also had a two-episode appearance on the television series ''Crime Story'' which ran from 1986 to 1988 on NBC. In 1984, Caruso portrayed U.S. Olympian James Connolly in the NBC miniseries ''The First Olympics: Athens, 1896''.

1990s

Caruso had supporting roles in the crime films ''King of New York'' (1990) and ''Mad Dog and Glory'' (1992). While filming 1991's ''Hudson Hawk'', Caruso employed method acting, refusing to talk to anyone on set because his character, Kit-Kat, was mute having had his tongue bitten off.

Caruso's first significant role was in 1993 as Detective John Kelly on the series ''NYPD Blue'', for which Caruso won a Golden Globe Award. In addition, ''TV Guide'' named Caruso as one of the six new stars to watch in the 1993–94 season.

Caruso made news by leaving the highly rated show the following year (only four episodes into the second season) after failing to obtain the raise he wanted. He was unable to establish himself as a leading-man in movies despite starring in the crime thriller ''Kiss of Death'', which was critically well-received but did not perform well financially. He also appeared in ''Jade'' (1995), which flopped critically and at the box office. In a 2010 issue of ''TV Guide'', Caruso's decision to leave ''NYPD Blue'' was ranked #6 on a list of TV's ten biggest "blunders". In the first episode of ''South Park'', ("Cartman Gets an Anal Probe") Kyle tells his brother Ike to "do your impersonation of David Caruso's career" to get Ike to jump out of a spaceship.

In 1997, Caruso returned to television as a New York City-based federal prosecutor in the short-lived CBS law drama series, ''Michael Hayes'', which aired for one season.

2000s

Caruso returned to film with a supporting role as Russell Crowe's mercenary associate in the movie ''Proof of Life'' in 2000. In 2001, he had a lead role in the horror film ''Session 9.''

Since 2002, he has starred as Lt. Horatio Caine in the popular ''CSI'' spin-off series ''CSI: Miami''. He was the first actor in the franchise to appear as the same character on all three ''CSI'' programs. On ''CSI: Miami'', Caruso is known for frequently using one-liners at the beginning of each episode. Many of these include him putting on his trademark sunglasses mid-sentence, then walking off-screen just as the main theme starts (finishing move). On an episode of the ''Late Show with David Letterman'' that aired on March 8, 2007, comedian Jim Carrey professed to being a fan of the show and went on to satirically impersonate Caruso. Carrey asked for an "intense close-up" from the camera, spoke in a deep voice and put sunglasses on. David later said in an interview with CBS that he was impressed with the impersonation.

Personal life

Caruso has a daughter, Greta (born June 1, 1984), with his second wife, Rachel Ticotin. In 1994, (according to court record) ex-girlfriend Paris Papiro filed a palimony suit. Caruso paid an undisclosed sum in early 1995. He and former girlfriend Liza Marquez have two children together: a son, Marquez Anthony (born September 15, 2005), and daughter, Paloma Raquel (born October 16, 2007). In April 2009, Marquez filed papers suing Caruso for fraud, breach of their settlement agreement and emotional distress. He currently lives in Los Angeles and Miami with his girlfriend, Amina Islam.

In March 2009, an Austrian woman was placed in custody in Tyrol, Austria, on charges of stalking Caruso; she had twice failed to appear in court to answer the charges before fleeing to Mexico; following her deportation from Mexico, Austrian officials took her into custody to await trial on the stalking charges.

Selected filmography

''Getting Wasted'' (1980) as Danny

''Without Warning'' (1980) as Tom

''An Officer and a Gentleman'' (1982) as Topper Daniels

''First Blood'' (1982) as Deputy Mitch

''Hill Street Blues'' (1981–1983) as Tommy Mann (the leader of The Shamrocks gang)

''TJ Hooker'' (1983; episode "Requiem for a Cop" as Jennings)

''Thief of Hearts'' (1984) as Buddy Calamara

''The First Olympics: Athens, 1896'' (1984) as James Connolly (TV miniseries)

''Blue City'' (1986) as Joey Rayford

''China Girl'' (1987) as Mercury

''Twins'' (1988) as Al Greco

''King of New York'' (1990) as Dennis Gilley

''Hudson Hawk'' (1991) as Kit Kat

''Mad Dog and Glory'' (1992) as Mike

''NYPD Blue'' (1993–1994) as Det. John Kelly

''Kiss of Death'' (1995) as Jimmy Kilmartin

''Jade'' (1995) as David Corelli

''Michael Hayes'' (1997) as Michael Hayes

''Body Count'' (1997) as Hobbs

''Proof of Life'' (2000) as Dino

''Session 9'' (2001) as Phil

''Black Point'' (2001) as John Hawkins

''CSI: Miami'' (2002–Present) as Lt. Horatio Caine

''CSI: NY'' (2005) as Lt. Horatio Caine

''Rehab'' (2010–2011) as Producer

References

External links

David Caruso Bio at CBS - CSI: Miami

David Caruso Television

Caruso Art

Lexicon Digital Communications

Category:1956 births Category:Living people Category:Actors from New York Category:American film actors Category:American businesspeople Category:American television actors Category:Archbishop Molloy High School alumni Category:Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (television) winners Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American people of Italian descent Category:American people of Sicilian descent Category:People from Forest Hills, Queens Category:American Roman Catholics

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