Name	Sophocles
Birth date	497/496 BC
Birth place	Colonus
Death date	406/405 BC
Death place	Athens
Occupation	Playwright
Children	}}

Sophocles (; , ''Sophoklēs'', ; 497/6 BC – winter 406/5 BC) is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than those of Euripides. According to the ''Suda'', a 10th century encyclopedia, Sophocles wrote 123 plays during the course of his life, but only seven have survived in a complete form: ''Ajax'', ''Antigone'', ''Trachinian Women'', ''Oedipus the King'', ''Electra'', ''Philoctetes'' and ''Oedipus at Colonus''. For almost 50 years, Sophocles was the most-fêted playwright in the dramatic competitions of the city-state of Athens that took place during the religious festivals of the Lenaea and the Dionysia. He competed in around 30 competitions, won perhaps 24, and was never judged lower than second place. Aeschylus won 14 competitions, and was sometimes defeated by Sophocles, while Euripides won only 4 competitions.

The most famous tragedies of Sophocles feature Oedipus and Antigone: they are generally known as the Theban plays, although each play was actually a part of a different tetralogy, the other members of which are now lost. Sophocles influenced the development of the drama, most importantly by adding a third actor, thereby reducing the importance of the chorus in the presentation of the plot. He also developed his characters to a greater extent than earlier playwrights such as Aeschylus.

Life

Sophocles, the son of Sophilus, was a wealthy member of the rural ''deme'' (small community) of Colonus Hippius in Attica, which was to become a setting for one of his plays, and he was probably born there. He was born a few years before the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC: the exact year is unclear, although 497/6 is the most likely. Sophocles' first artistic triumph was in 468 BC, when he took first prize in the Dionysia theatre competition over the reigning master of Athenian drama, Aeschylus. According to Plutarch the victory came under unusual circumstances. Instead of following the usual custom of choosing judges by lot, the archon asked Cimon and the other ''strategoi'' present to decide the victor of the contest. Plutarch further contends that following this loss Aeschylus soon left for Sicily. Although Plutarch says that this was Sophocles' first production, it is now thought that his first production was probably in 470 BC. ''Triptolemus'' was probably one of the plays that Sophocles presented at this festival.

At the age of 16, Sophocles was chosen to lead the paean (a choral chant to a god), celebrating the Greek victory over the Persians at the Battle of Salamis. He was elected as one of ten strategoi, high executive officials that commanded the armed forces, as a junior colleague of Pericles. Sophocles was born into a wealthy family (his father was an armour manufacturer) and was highly educated. Early in his career, the politician Cimon might have been one of his patrons, although if he was there was no ill will borne by Pericles, Cimon's rival, when Cimon was ostracized in 461 BC In 443/2 he served as one of the ''Hellenotamiai'', or treasurers of Athena, helping to manage the finances of the city during the political ascendancy of Pericles. According to the ''Vita Sophoclis'' he served as a general in the Athenian campaign against Samos, which had revolted in 441 BC; he was supposed to have been elected to his post as the result of his production of ''Antigone''.

In 420 he welcomed and set up an altar for the image of Asclepius at his house, when the deity was introduced to Athens. For this he was given the posthumous epithet ''Dexion'' (receiver) by the Athenians. He was also elected, in 413 BC, one of the commissioners who responded to the catastrophic destruction of the Athenian expeditionary force in Sicily during the Peloponnesian War.

Sophocles died at the age of ninety or ninety-one in the winter of 406/5 BC, having seen within his lifetime both the Greek triumph in the Persian Wars and the bloodletting of the Peloponnesian War. As with many famous men in classical antiquity, his death inspired a number of apocryphal stories. The most famous is the suggestion that he died from the strain of trying to recite a long sentence from his ''Antigone'' without pausing to take a breath. Another account suggests he choked while eating grapes at the Anthesteria festival in Athens. A third holds that he died of happiness after winning his final victory at the City Dionysia. A few months later, a comic poet, in a play titled ''The Muses'', wrote this eulogy: "Blessed is Sophocles, who had a long life, was a man both happy and talented, and the writer of many good tragedies; and he ended his life well without suffering any misfortune." According to some accounts however his own sons tried to have him declared incompetent near the end of his life; he is said to have refuted their charge in court by reading from his as yet unproduced ''Oedipus at Colonus''. One of his sons, Iophon, and a grandson, also called Sophocles, also became playwrights.

Sophocles as ''erastês''

It was common in fifth-century Greece for men of the upper classes to cultivate sexual relationships with adolescent boys. Sophocles is one of those who is recorded as being a participant in a relationship between an ''erastês'' ("lover") and ''eromenos'' ("beloved").

Athenaeus reports two stories, one, in which Sophocles steals a kiss from the boy sitting next to him, and another in which he has sex with a boy outside the walls of Athens, after which the boy takes his cloak. According to Plutarch, when he caught Sophocles admiring a boy Pericles rebuked him for neglecting his duty as a ''strategos''. Sophocles' sexual appetite reportedly lasted well into old age. In ''The Republic'' (1.329b-329c) Plato says that when he finally succumbed to impotence, Sophocles was glad to be free of his "raging and savage beast of a master."

In yet another account, a satirical one by Machon. this time involving a hetaira, we are told that, "Demophon, Sophocles' minion, when still a youth had Nico, already old and surnamed the she-goat; they say she had very fine buttocks. One day he begged of her to lend them to him. 'Very well,' she said with a smile, — 'Take from me, dear, what you give to Sophocles.'"

Works and legacy

Among Sophocles' earliest innovations was the addition of a third actor, which further reduced the role of the chorus and created greater opportunity for character development and conflict between characters. Aeschylus, who dominated Athenian playwrighting during Sophocles' early career, followed suit and adopted the third character into his own work towards the end of his life. Aristotle credits Sophocles with the introduction of ''skenographia'', or scenery-painting. It was not until after the death of the old master Aeschylus in 456 BC that Sophocles became the pre-eminent playwright in Athens.

Thereafter, Sophocles emerged victorious in dramatic competitions at 18 Dionysia and 6 Lenaia festivals. In addition to innovations in dramatic structure, Sophocles' work is also known for its deeper development of characters than earlier playwrights. His reputation was such that foreign rulers invited him to attend their courts, although unlike Aeschylus who died in Sicily, or Euripides who spent time in Macedon, Sophocles never accepted any of these invitations. Aristotle used Sophocles' ''Oedipus the King'' in his ''Poetics'' (c. 335 BC) as an example of the highest achievement in tragedy, which suggests the high esteem in which his work was held by later Greeks.

Only two of the seven surviving plays can be dated securely: ''Philoctetes'' (409 BC) and ''Oedipus at Colonus'' (401 BC, staged after Sophocles' death by his grandson). Of the others, ''Electra'' shows stylistic similarities to these two plays, which suggests that it was probably written in the latter part of his career. ''Ajax'', ''Antigone'' and ''The Trachiniae'' are generally thought to be among his early works, again based on stylistic elements, with ''Oedipus the King'' coming in Sophocles' middle period. Most of Sophocles' plays show an undercurrent of early fatalism and the beginnings of Socratic logic as a mainstay for the long tradition of Greek tragedy.

The Theban plays

The Theban plays consist of three plays: ''Oedipus the King'' (also called ''Oedipus Tyrannus'' or ''Oedipus Rex''), ''Oedipus at Colonus'' and ''Antigone''. All three plays concern the fate of Thebes during and after the reign of King Oedipus. They have often been published under a single cover. Sophocles, however, wrote the three plays for separate festival competitions, many years apart. Not only are the Theban plays not a true trilogy (three plays presented as a continuous narrative) but they are not even an intentional series and contain some inconsistencies among them. He also wrote other plays having to do with Thebes, such as the ''Epigoni'', of which only fragments have survived.

Subjects

Each of the plays relates to the tale of the mythological Oedipus, who killed his father and married his mother without knowledge that they were his parents. His family is fated to be doomed for three generations.

In ''Oedipus the King'', Oedipus is the protagonist. Oedipus' infanticide is planned by his parents, Laius and Jocasta, to avert him fulfilling a prophecy; in truth, the servant entrusted with the infanticide passes the infant on through a series of intermediaries to a childless couple, who adopt him not knowing his history. Oedipus eventually learns of the Delphic Oracle's prophecy of him, that he would kill his father and marry his mother; Oedipus attempts to flee his fate without harming his parents (at this point, he does not know that he is adopted). Oedipus meets a man at a crossroads accompanied by servants; Oedipus and the man fought, and Oedipus killed the man. (This man was his father, Laius, not that anyone apart from the gods knew this at the time). He becomes the ruler of Thebes after solving the riddle of the sphinx and in the process, marries the widowed Queen, his mother Jocasta. Thus the stage is set for horror. When the truth comes out, following from another true but confusing prophecy from Delphi, Jocasta commits suicide, Oedipus blinds himself and leaves Thebes, and the children are left to sort out the consequences themselves (which provides the grounds for the later parts of the cycle of plays).

In ''Oedipus at Colonus'', the banished Oedipus and his daughters Antigone and Ismene arrive at the town of Colonus where they encounter Theseus, King of Athens. Oedipus dies and strife begins between his sons Polyneices and Eteocles.

In ''Antigone'' the protagonist is Oedipus' daughter, Antigone. She is faced with the choice of allowing her brother Polyneices' body to remain unburied, outside the city walls, exposed to the ravages of wild animals, or to bury him and face death. The king of the land, Creon, has forbidden the burial of Polyneices for he was a traitor to the city. Antigone decides to bury his body and face the consequences of her actions. Creon sentences her to death. Eventually, Creon is convinced to free Antigone from her punishment, but his decision comes too late and Antigone commits suicide. Her suicide triggers the suicide of two others close to King Creon: his son, Haemon, who was to wed Antigone, and his wife who commits suicide after losing her only surviving son.

Composition and inconsistencies

The plays were written across thirty-six years of Sophocles' career and were not composed in chronological order, but instead were written in the order ''Antigone'', ''Oedipus the King'', and ''Oedipus at Colonus''. Nor were they composed as a ''trilogy'' - a group of plays to be performed together, but are the remaining parts of three different groups of plays. As a result, there are some inconsistencies: notably, Creon is the undisputed king at the end of ''Oedipus the King'' and, in consultation with Apollo, single-handedly makes the decision to expel Oedipus from Thebes. Creon is also instructed to look after Oedipus' daughters Antigone and Ismene at the end of ''Oedipus the King''. By contrast, in the other plays there is some struggle with Oedipus' sons Eteocles and Polynices in regard to the succession. In ''Oedipus at Colonus'', Sophocles attempts to work these inconsistencies into a coherent whole: Ismene explains that, in light of their tainted family lineage, her brothers were at first willing to cede the throne to Creon. Nevertheless, they eventually decided to take charge of the monarchy, with each brother disputing the other's right to succeed. In addition to being in a clearly more powerful position in ''Oedipus at Colonus,'' Eteocles and Polynices are also culpable: they condemn their father to exile, which is one of his bitterest charges against them.

Other plays

Other than the three Theban plays, there are four surviving plays by Sophocles: ''Ajax'', ''The Trachiniae'', ''Electra'', and ''Philoctetes'', the last of which won first prize.

''Ajax'' focuses on the proud hero of the Trojan War, Telamonian Ajax, who is driven to treachery and eventually suicide. Ajax becomes gravely upset when Achilles’ armor is presented to Odysseus instead of himself. Despite their enmity toward him, Odysseus persuades the kings Menelaus and Agamemnon to grant Ajax a proper burial.

''The Trachiniae'' (named for the Trachinian women who make up the chorus) dramatizes Deianeira's accidentally killing Heracles after he had completed his famous twelve labors. Tricked into thinking it is a love charm, Deianeira applies poison to an article of Heracles' clothing; this poisoned robe causes Heracles to die an excruciating death. Upon learning the truth, Deianeira commits suicide.

''Electra'' Corresponds roughly to the plot of Aeschylus' ''Libation Bearers''. It details how Electra and Orestes' avenge their father Agamemnon's murder by Clytemnestra and Aegisthus.

''Philoctetes'' retells the story of Philoctetes, an archer who had been abandoned on Lemnos by the rest of the Greek fleet while on the way to Troy. After learning that they cannot win the Trojan War without Philoctetes' bow, the Greeks send Odysseus and Neoptolemus to retrieve him; due to the Greeks' earlier treachery, however, Philoctetes refuses to rejoin the army. It is only Heracles' deus ex machina appearance that persuades Philoctetes to go to Troy.

Fragmentary plays

Fragments of ''Ichneutae'' (''Tracking Satyrs'') were discovered in Egypt in 1907. These amount to about half of the play, making it the best preserved satyr play after Euripides' ''Cyclops'', which survives in its entirety. Fragments of the ''Epigoni'' were discovered in April 2005 by classicists at Oxford University with the help of infrared technology previously used for satellite imaging. The tragedy tells the story of the second siege of Thebes. A number of other Sophoclean works have survived only in fragments, including:

:* ''Aias Lokros'' (''Ajax the Locrian'') :* ''Akhaiôn Syllogos'' (''The Gathering of the Achaeans'') :* ''Aleadae'' (''The Sons of Aleus'') :* ''Creusa'' :* ''Eurypylus'' :* ''Hermione'' :* ''Inachos'' :* ''Lacaenae'' (''Lacaenian Women)'' :* ''Manteis'' or ''Polyidus'' (''The Prophets'' or ''Polyidus'') :* ''Nauplios Katapleon'' (''Nauplius' Arrival'') :* ''Nauplios Pyrkaeus'' (''Nauplius' Fires'') :* ''Niobe'' :* ''Oeneus'' :* ''Oenomaus'' :* ''Poimenes'' (''The Shepherds'') :* ''Polyxene'' :* ''Syndeipnoi'' (''The Diners'', or, ''The Banqueters'') :* ''Tereus'' :* ''Thyestes'' :* ''Troilus'' :* ''Phaedra'' :* ''Triptolemus'' :* ''Tyro Keiromene'' (''Tyro Shorn'') :* ''Tyro Anagnorizomene'' (''Tyro Rediscovered'').

Sophocles' view of his own work

There is a passage of Plutarch's tract ''De Profectibus in Virtute 7'' in which Sophocles discusses his own growth as a writer. A likely source of this material for Plutarch was the ''Epidemiae'' of Ion of Chios, a book that recorded many conversations of Sophocles. This book is a likely candidate to have contained Sophocles' discourse on his own development because Ion was a friend of Sophocles, and the book is known to have been used by Plutarch. Though some interpretations of Plutarch's words suggest that Sophocles says that he imitated Aeschylus, the translation does not fit grammatically, nor does the interpretation that Sophocles said that he was making fun of Aeschylus' works. C. M. Bowra argues for the following translation of the line: "After practising to the full the bigness of Aeschylus, then the painful ingenuity of my own invention, now in the third stage I am changing to the kind of diction which is most expressive of character and best."

Here Sophocles says that he has completed a stage of Aeschylus' work, meaning that he went through a phase of imitating Aeschylus' style but is finished with that. Sophocles' opinion of Aeschylus was mixed. He certainly respected him enough to imitate his work early on in his career, but he had reservations about Aeschylus' style, and thus did not keep his imitation up. Sophocles' first stage, in which he imitated Aeschylus, is marked by "Aeschylean pomp in the language". Sophocles' second stage was entirely his own. He introduced new ways of evoking feeling out of an audience, like in his ''Ajax'' when he is mocked by Athene, then the stage is emptied so that he may commit suicide alone. Sophocles mentions a third stage, distinct from the other two, in his discussion of his development. The third stage pays more heed to diction. His characters spoke in a way that was more natural to them and more expressive of their individual character feelings.

Notes

See also

Theatre of ancient Greece

References

] }}

Beer, Josh (2004). ''Sophocles and the Tragedy of Athenian Democracy''. Greenwood Publishing. ISBN 0313289468

Freeman, Charles. (1999). ''The Greek Achievement: The Foundation of the Western World''. New York: Viking Press. ISBN 0670885150

Hubbard, Thomas K. (2003). ''Homosexuality in Greece and Rome: a Sourcebook of Basic Documents''.

Johnson, Marguerite & Terry Ryan (2005). ''Sexuality in Greek and Roman Society and Literature: a Sourcebook''. Routledge. ISBN 0415173310, 9780415173315

Lloyd-Jones, Hugh (ed.) (1994). ''Sophocles. Ajax. Electra. Oedipus Tyrannus''. Harvard University Press.

Minghella, Anthony (1987). First episode of BBC's Inspector Morse mentioned Sophocles as the "murderer."

Lucas, Donald William (1964). ''The Greek Tragic Poets''. W.W. Norton & Co.

Plato. ''Plato in Twelve Volumes'', Vols. 5 & 6 translated by Paul Shorey. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1969.

Schultz, Ferdinand (1835). ''De vita Sophoclis poetae commentatio''.‎ Phil. Diss., Berlin.

Scullion, Scott (2002). ''Tragic dates'', Classical Quarterly, new sequence 52, pp. 81–101.

Sommerstein, Alan Herbert (2002). ''Greek Drama and Dramatists''. Routledge. ISBN 0415260272

Sommerstein, Alan Herbert (2007). "General Introduction" pp.xi-xxix in Sommerstein, A.H., Fitzpatrick, D. and Tallboy, T. ''Sophocles: Selected Fragmentary Plays: Volume 1''. Aris and Phillips. ISBN 0856687669

Sophocles. ''Sophocles I: Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone''. 2nd ed. Grene, David and Lattimore, Richard, eds. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1991.

Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. "Macropaedia Knowledge In Depth." The New Encyclopaedia Britannica Volume 20. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 2005. 344-346.

External links

Works by Sophocles at the Internet Archive

Works by Sophocles at the Perseus Digital Library (Greek and English)

Films based on Sophocles plays

SORGLL: Sophocles, Electra 1126-1170; read by Rachel Kitzinger

Category:Ancient Greek dramatists and playwrights Category:Ancient Athenians Category:5th-century BC Greek people Category:5th-century BC writers Category:496 BC births Category:406 BC deaths Category:Tragic poets

ar:سوفوكليس an:Sofocles az:Sofokl bn:সফোক্লিস zh-min-nan:Sophocles be:Сафокл be-x-old:Сафокл bar:Sophokles bs:Sofokle br:Sofokles bg:Софокъл ca:Sòfocles cs:Sofoklés cy:Soffocles da:Sofokles de:Sophokles et:Sophokles el:Σοφοκλής es:Sófocles eo:Sofoklo eu:Sofokles fa:سوفوکل hif:Sophocles fr:Sophocle fy:Sofokles ga:Sophocles gl:Sófocles gan:所霍利茲 ko:소포클레스 hy:Սոփոկլես hr:Sofoklo id:Sophokles is:Sófókles it:Sofocle he:סופוקלס ka:სოფოკლე kk:Софокл sw:Sophokles mrj:Софокл la:Sophocles lv:Sofokls lt:Sofoklis hu:Szophoklész mk:Софокле ml:സോഫക്കിൾസ് arz:سوفوكليس mwl:Sófocles mn:Софокл my:ဆောဖကလီ nl:Sophokles ja:ソポクレス no:Sofokles nn:Sofokles oc:Sofòcles uz:Sofokl pnb:سوفوکلیز pl:Sofokles pt:Sófocles kaa:Sofokles ro:Sofocle qu:Sophoklís rue:Софокл ru:Софокл sah:Софокл sq:Sofokliu simple:Sophocles sk:Sofokles sl:Sofoklej sr:Софокле sh:Sofokle fi:Sofokles sv:Sofokles tl:Sopokles ta:சாஃபக்கிளீசு tt:Софокл tg:Сафокл tr:Sofokles uk:Софокл ur:سوفوکلیز vi:Sophocles vo:Sophokles war:Sophocles yo:Sophocles bat-smg:Sofuoklis zh:索福克勒斯

name	Juliet Stevenson
birth date	October 30, 1956
birth place	Kelvedon, Essex, England
domesticpartner	Hugh Brody (1993-present)
children	Rosalind Hannah Brody (b. 1994) Gabriel Jonathan Brody (b. 2000)
occupation	Actor
yearsactive	1980–present }}

Juliet Anne Virginia Stevenson, CBE (born 30 October 1956) is an English actor of stage and screen.

Early life

Stevenson was born in Kelvedon, Essex, England, the daughter of Virginia Ruth (née Marshall), a teacher, and Michael Guy Stevenson, an army officer. Stevenson's father was in the army and was posted to a new place every two and a half years. When Stevenson was nine, she attended Berkshire's Hurst Lodge boarding school. She was educated at the independent St Catherine's School in Bramley, near Guildford in Surrey, and at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). Stevenson was part of 'new wave’ of actors to emerge from the Academy. Others included Jonathan Pryce, Bruce Payne, Alan Rickman, Anton Lesser, Kenneth Branagh, Imelda Staunton, and Fiona Shaw. This led to a stage career starting in the early 1980s with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Career

Although she has gained fame through her television and film work, and has often undertaken roles for BBC Radio, she is best known as a stage actor. Significant stage roles include her lead performance as Anna in the UK premiere of ''Burn This'' in 1990, and as Paulina in ''Death and the Maiden'' in 1991. For the latter, she was awarded the 1992 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress.

In the 1987 TV film ''Life Story'' (American title, ''The Race for the Double Helix''), Stevenson played the part of scientist Rosalind Franklin, for which she won a Cable Ace award. She is known for her leading role in the film ''Truly, Madly, Deeply'' (1991), and her roles in ''The Secret Rapture'' (1993), ''Emma'' (1996), ''Bend It Like Beckham'' (2002) and ''Mona Lisa Smile'' (2003). She has more recently starred in ''Pierrepoint'' (2006), ''Infamous'' (2006) as Diana Vreeland and ''Breaking and Entering'' (2006) as Rosemary, the therapist.

In 2009, she starred in ITV's ''A Place of Execution''. The role won her the Best Actress Dagger at the 2009 Crime Thriller Awards. She enjoys a thriving career as a book reader, and has recorded all of Jane Austen's novels as unabridged audiobooks, as well as a number of other classics, such as ''Lady Windermere’s Fan'', ''Hedda Gabler'', ''Stories from Shakespeare'', and ''To the Lighthouse''.

Personal life

Stevenson lives with anthropologist Hugh Brody, her partner since 1993. The couple have two children, both born in Camden, London: Rosalind Hannah Brody (born 1994) and Gabriel Jonathan Brody (born late 2000/early 2001). She is an atheist, but considers herself a spiritual and superstitious person. In 1992, she appeared in a political broadcast for the Labour Party. She has been a critic of the MMR vaccine, as well as a supporter of the discredited Andrew Wakefield, whose research was based on a sample of twelve children. In 2003, she appeared as the campaigning mother of an autistic child, alongside Hugh Bonneville (as Wakefield) in the 90-minute drama, ''Hear the Silence,'' based on this issue, while Stevenson vocally joined the campaign against the MMR vaccine. Wakefield's work has since been discredited; and the articles against the MMR vaccine recanted by ''The Lancet''.

Stage

Spirit in ''The Tempest'' with Alan Rickman, Royal Shakespeare Company (1978)

Iras/Octavia in ''Antony and Cleopatra'', with Jonathan Pryce and Patrick Stewart, Royal Shakespeare Company (1978)

Whore/Nun in ''Measure for Measure'', Royal Shakespeare Company (1978)

Caroline Thompson in ''The Churchill Play'' (1978)

Aphrodite/Artemis in ''Hippolytus'' (1978)

''Lovers and Kings'' (1978)

Widow/Curtis in ''The Taming of the Shrew'' (1978)

Yeliena in ''The White Guard'' (1978)

Miss Chasen in ''Once in a Lifetime'' (1978)

Lady Percy in ''Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2'', On Tour, Royal Shakespeare Company (1980)

Hippolyta/Titania in ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (1981)

Susan in ''The Witch of Edmonton'' (1981)

Clara Douglas in ''Money'', with Miles Anderson (1981)

Emma and Betsy, ''Other Worlds'', Royal Court Theatre, London (1983)

Isabella, ''Measure for Measure'', Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford Theatre (1984)

Polya, ''Breaking the Silence'', Royal Shakespeare Company, The Pit Theatre, London (1984)

Cressida, ''Troilus and Cressida'', Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford Theatre (1985)

Rosalind, ''As You Like It'', Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford Theatre (1985)

Madame de Tourvel, ''Les liaisons dangereuses'', Royal Shakespeare Company, The Pit Theatre (1986)

Yerma, ''Yerma'', National Theatre, later Cottesloe Theatre, both London (1987)

Hedda, ''Hedda Gabler'', National Theatre, later Olivier Theatre, London (1989)

Fanny, ''On the Verge'', Sadler's Wells Theatre, London (1989)

Anna, ''Burn This'', Hampstead Theatre, later West End Theatre, both London (1990)

Paulina, ''Death and the Maiden'', Theatre Upstairs, London, then Royal Court Theatre (1991). Olivier Award for Best Actress (1992)

Galactia, ''Scenes from an Execution'', Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles (1993)

''The Duchess of Malfi'', Greenwich Theatre/ Wyndham's Theatre, London (1995)

''The Caucasian Chalk Circle'', Royal National Theatre, London (1997)

Amanda in ''Private Lives'' with Anton Lesser, The National Theatre (1999)

''The Country'', Royal Court Theatre (2000)

''We Happy Few'', Gielgud Theatre, London (2004)

''The Alice Trilogy'', Royal Court Theatre (2005)

''The Seagull'', The National Theatre (2006)

''Duet for One'', London, stage revival, with Henry Goodman (2009)

''The Heretic'', Royal Court Theatre (2011)

Filmography

''The Mallens'' (1979) (TV)

''Maybury'' (1981) (TV)

''BBC Television Shakespeare'' ''Pericles, Prince of Tyre'' (1984) (TV)

''Antigone'' (1984) (TV)

''Oedipus at Colonus'' (1984) (TV)

''Life Story'' (1987) (TV)

''Drowning by Numbers'' (1988)

''Stanley Spencer'' (1988)

''Ladder of Swords'' (1989)

''Living with Dinosaurs'' (1989) (TV)

''The March'' (1990)

''Truly, Madly, Deeply'' (1991)

''In the Border Country'' (1991)

''Aimée'' (1991) (TV)

''A Doll's House'' (1992) (TV)

''Who Dealt?'' (1993) (TV)

''The Secret Rapture'' (1993)

''The Legends of Treasure Island'' (1993) (TV) (voice)

''The Trial'' (1993)

''The World of Eric Carle'' (1993) (TV) (voice)

''Verdi'' (1994) (TV) (voice)

''The Politician's Wife'' (1995) (TV)

''Emma'' (1996)

''Stone, Scissors, Paper'' (1997) (TV)

''Cider with Rosie'' (1998) (TV)

''Trial by Fire'' (1999) (TV)

''Play'' (2000)

''The Search for John Gissing'' (2001)

''Christmas Carol: The Movie'' (2001) (voice)

''Nicholas Nickleby'' (2002)

''The Pact'' (2002) (TV)

''The One and Only'' (2002)

''Bend It Like Beckham'' (2002)

''The Road from Coorain'' (2002) (TV)

''Food of Love'' (2002)

''Mona Lisa Smile'' (2003)

''Hear the Silence'' (2003) (TV)

''Being Julia'' (2004)

''The Snow Queen'' (2005)

''Pierrepoint'' (2005)

''Red Mercury'' (2005)

''A Previous Engagement'' (2005)

''Streetlight'' (2006)

''Breaking and Entering'' (2006)

''Infamous'' (2006)

''And When Did You Last See Your Father?'' (2007)

''The Secret of Moonacre'' (2008)

''Dustbin Baby'' (2008)

''A Place of Execution'' (2008)

''Agatha Christie's Marple:Ordeal By Innocence'' (2008) (TV)

''Triage'' (2009)

''The Secret of Moonacre'' (2009)

''Desert Flower'' (2009)

''Law & Order: UK'' (2010) (TV)

''Accused'' (2010) (TV)

''Lewis'' "Old, Unhappy, Far Off Things" (2011) (TV)

''The Hour'' (2011) (TV)

Awards and Nominations

1992 Olivier Award Winner: Best Actress in a play for "Death and the Maiden"

1992 Bafta Nominated: Best Actress in a film for "Truly Madly Deeply"

1993 Bafta Nominated: Best Television Actress for "A Doll's House"

1996 Bafta Nominated: Best Television Actress for "The Politician's Wife"

2011 Bafta Nominated: Best Television Actress for "Accused"

Audio recordings, partial list

''Man and Superman'', BBC Audiobooks, 1998 (Broadcast on BBC-4 in 1996). Production featured Juliet Stevenson, Ralph Fiennes and Judi Dench. It also included an interview with the director, Sir Peter Hall

Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, Penguin Audiobooks, 1997

The Plague Tales, BDD, c. 1997

''When Love Speaks'' (2002, EMI Classics) - "Sonnet 128" ("How oft, when thou, my music...")

''The Thirteenth Tale'' by Diane Setterfield, Unabridged, Orion audiobook (2006)

''Northanger Abbey'' by Jane Austen. Unabridged, Naxos audiobook, 7 CDs (2006)

''Persuasion'' by Jane Austen. Unabridged, Naxos audiobook, 7 CDs (2007)

''Mansfield Park'' by Jane Austen. Unabridged, Naxos audiobook, 14 CDs (2007)

''Emma'' by Jane Austen. Unabridged, Naxos audiobook, 13 CDs (2007)

''Sense and Sensibility'' by Jane Austen, Naxos audiobook, Unabridged (2007)

''The Tenant of Wildfell Hall'' by Anne Brontë,

''I, Coriander'', by Sally Gardner,

''The King's General'', by Daphne du Maurier,

''An Unequal Marriage'', by Emma Tennant,

''From Shakespeare with Love'', by William Shakespeare, David Tennant (Narrator), Juliet Stevenson (Narrator), Anton Lesser (Narrator), Alex Jennings (Narrator)

Daphne Du Maurier Collection: ''Rebecca, Frenchman's Creek'' & ''My Cousin Rachel'' by Daphne du Maurier, Juliet Stevenson (Narrator), Daniel Massey (Narrator), Michael Maloney (Narrator)

'' A Room with a View,'' by E.M. Forster

''The London Tapes'', by Juliet Stevenson

''Alentejo Blue'' by Monica Ali, abridged (2006)

References

External links

Juliet Stevenson is a judge in the BBC World Service and British Council's International Playwriting Competition 2009

Juliet Stevenson: The Power of Story Telling

Category:Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Category:Audio book narrators Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:English atheists Category:English film actors Category:English radio actors Category:English stage actors Category:English television actors Category:English voice actors Category:People from Braintree (district) Category:Royal National Theatre Company members Category:Royal Shakespeare Company members Category:Shakespearean actors Category:1956 births Category:Living people Category:People educated at St Catherine's School, Bramley

de:Juliet Stevenson es:Juliet Stevenson fr:Juliet Stevenson it:Juliet Stevenson nl:Juliet Stevenson pl:Juliet Stevenson

Name	The Lord Sugar
Honorific-prefix	The Right Honourable
Honorific-suffix	Kt
Office	Member of the House of Lords
Term start	20 June 2009
Birthname	Alan Michael Sugar
Birth date	March 24, 1947
Birth place	Hackney, London,United Kingdom
Party	Labour
Nationality	British
Ethnicity	Jewish
Spouse
Children	2 sons, 1 daughter
Occupation	Entrepreneur
Residence	Chigwell, Essex, United Kingdom
Blank1	Net worth
Data1	£770 million(US$1.14 billion) }}

Alan Michael Sugar, Baron Sugar (born 24 March 1947) is a British entrepreneur, media personality and political advisor. From humble origins in the East End of London, Sugar now has an estimated fortune of £770m (US$1.14 billion), and was ranked 89th in the Sunday Times Rich List 2011. In 2007, he sold Amstrad, one of his large business ventures.

Sugar is also notable for his time as chairman of Tottenham Hotspur from 1991 to 2001. He starred in the BBC TV series ''The Apprentice'', which has run to seven series. It has been broadcast annually from 2005 and is based upon the popular American US television show of the same name, featuring entrepreneur Donald Trump. He is the youngest of four children of Fay (1907–1994) and Nathan (1907–1987) Sugar. His father was a tailor in the East End garment industry.

When Sugar was a child, his family lived in a council flat. Because of his profuse, curly hair, he was nicknamed "Mopsy". He attended Northwold Primary School and then Brooke House Secondary School in Upper Clapton, Hackney, and made extra money by boiling and selling beetroot from a stall. In ''The Apprentice'' (2009), Sugar revealed "I was in the Jewish Lads Brigade, Stamford Hill Division, Trainee Bugler, but it didn't make me sell computers!" After leaving school at 16, he worked briefly for the Civil Service as a statistician at the Ministry of Education. He started selling car aerials and electrical goods out of a van he had bought with his savings of £100.

Personal life

Sugar met his wife Ann (née Simons) when he was 17. They married on 28 April 1968; they have two sons and a daughter. Sugar and his wife live in Chigwell, Essex. They celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary on 11 May 2008 in a party at their home, where Bruce Forsyth was the compere, Jackie Mason the comic and Sir Elton John played a set. His niece through marriage is actress Rita Simons, best known for playing Roxy Mitchell on the popular UK soap opera ''EastEnders''.

A collector of classic Rolls Royce and Bentley motor cars, Sugar owns a Rolls Royce Phantom with the number plate AMS1, which appears during all episodes of ''The Apprentice.'' A qualified pilot with 30 years experience, Sugar owns a Cirrus SR20 four-seat aircraft, based at Stapleford Airfield. During an attempted landing at Manchester City Airfield on 5 July 2008, Sugar suffered a crash in this aircraft due to wet soft field conditions. No injuries were sustained, although Sugar was said to be "very shaken". He is a fan of and the former owner of Tottenham Hotspur.

In February 2009, it was reported that Sugar had initiated legal proceedings against ''The Sun'' newspaper following a report that he had been named on a "hit list" of British Jews in response to Israel's ongoing military operation in Gaza. The threats are alleged to have been made by Glen Jenvey, the source of the original story in ''The Sun'', who posted to a Muslim website under a false identity.

Ventures

Amstrad

Sugar founded the electronics company Amstrad in 1968, the name being an acronym of his initials - ''Alan Michael Sugar Trading''. Despite this acronym, Sugar also trades under other business names, see below. By 1970, the first manufacturing venture was underway. He achieved lower production prices by using injection moulding plastics for hi-fi turntable covers, severely undercutting competitors who used vacuum-forming processes. Manufacturing capacity was soon expanded to include the production of audio amplifiers and tuners.

In 1980, Amstrad was listed on the London Stock Exchange and during the 1980s, Amstrad doubled its profit and market value every year. By 1984, recognising the opportunity of the home computer era, Amstrad launched an 8-bit machine Amstrad CPC 464. Although the CPC range were attractive machines, with CP/M-capability and a good BASIC interpreter, it had to compete with its arch-rivals, the more graphically complex Commodore 64 and the popular Sinclair ZX Spectrum, not to mention the highly sophisticated BBC Micro. Despite this, three million units were sold worldwide with a long production life of eight years. It inspired an East German version with Russian Z80 clone processors. In 1985, Sugar had another major breakthrough with the launch of the Amstrad PCW 8256 word processor which, although made of cheap components, retailed at over £300. In 1986 Amstrad bought the rights to the Sinclair computer product line and produced two more ZX Spectrum models in a similar style to their CPC machines. It also developed the PC1512, a PC compatible computer, which became quite popular in Europe and was the first in a line of Amstrad PCs.

At its peak, Amstrad achieved a stock market value of £1.2 billion,

On 31 July 2007 it was announced that broadcaster BSkyB had agreed to buy Amstrad for about £125m. At the time of the takeover, Sugar commented that he wished to play a part in the business, saying: "I turn 60 this year and I have had 40 years of hustling in the business, but now I have to start thinking about my team of loyal staff, many of whom have been with me for many years." On 2 July 2008 it was announced that Sugar was standing down from Amstrad as chairman, to focus solely on his other business interests.

Tottenham Hotspur

After a take-over battle with Robert Maxwell, Sugar teamed up with Terry Venables and bought Tottenham Hotspur football club in June 1991. Although Sugar's initial investment helped ease the financial troubles the club was suffering at the time, his treatment of Tottenham as a business venture and not a footballing one made him an unpopular figure among the Spurs fans. In Sugar's nine years as chairman, Tottenham Hotspur did not finish in the top six in the league and won just one trophy, the 1999 Football League Cup.

Sugar sacked Venables the night before the 1993 FA Cup Final, a decision which led to Venables' appealing to the high courts for reinstatement. A legal battle for the club took place over the summer, which Sugar won (see ''Re Tottenham Hotspur plc'' [1994] 1 BCLC 655). The decision to sack Venables angered many of Tottenham fans, and Sugar later said, "I felt as though I'd killed Bambi."

Sugar appointed seven managers in his time at Spurs. The first was Peter Shreeves, followed by the dual management team of Doug Livermore and Ray Clemence, former Spurs midfielder Osvaldo Ardiles, and up and coming young manager Gerry Francis. In 1997 Sugar stunned the footballing world by appointing the relatively unknown Swiss manager Christian Gross. Gross lasted 9 months as Spurs finished in 14th place in 1998, and began the next season with just 3 points from their opening three games. Sugar next appointed George Graham, a former player and manager of bitter rivals Arsenal. Despite his earning Tottenham's first trophy in 8 years, the Spurs fans never warmed to Graham, partly because of his Arsenal connections. They disliked the negative, defensive style of football which he had Spurs playing; fans claimed it was not the "Tottenham way". In June 2007, Sugar sold his remaining shares to ENIC for £25 million, ending his 16 year association with the club. He has described his time at Tottenham as "a waste of my life".

Amsair

Amsair Executive Aviation was founded in 1993, and is run by Sugar's son Daniel. As with Amstrad, the name Amsair is an acronym taken from the initials of Sugar's name "Alan Michael Sugar Air." Amsair operates a large Cessna fleet, and one Embraer Legacy 650 with the registration G-SUGA, offering business and executive jet charters.

Amsprop

Amsprop is an investment firm owned by Sugar and controlled by his son Daniel. In September 2006 it bought the IBM South Bank building from private investors for £115 million. The IBM Centre occupies a prime site between the river and Upper Ground east of the National Theatre and west of ITV's London Television Centre. IBM's lease runs for another eight years. The trade press speculates that the site is likely to present a major redevelopment opportunity. This was featured in the last episode of the 2007 series of the Apprentice UK on the 13 June that year, with the final two contestants planning to build a unique property that would be symbolic in the London skyline.

Simon Ambrose, winner of the 2007 series of The Apprentice, started working for Amsprop Estates after the series finished. However, in April 2010, he was reported to be leaving to start his own venture.

Viglen Ltd

Sugar is the owner (and Chairman of the board) of Viglen Ltd, an IT services provider catering primarily to the education and public sector. Following the sale of Amstrad PLC to BSkyB, Viglen is now Sugar's sole IT establishment.

Amscreen

Sugar is Chairman of Amscreen, a company run by his eldest son Simon Sugar, specialising in selling advertising space on digital signage screens that it provides to retailers, medical centres and leisure venues.

''Apprentice'' winner Yasmina Siadatan works there, selling into the NHS.

TV appearances

''The Apprentice''

Sugar became the star of the BBC reality show ''The Apprentice'' which has had one series broadcast each year from 2005, in the same role as Donald Trump in the US version. Sugar fires a candidate each week until one candidate is left, who is then employed in his company.

As a condition for appearing in the third series, Sugar placed a requirement that the show be more business-orientated rather than just entertainment and that he should be portrayed in a less harsh light, to counter his somewhat belligerent reputation.

On 11 June 2008, Lee McQueen was crowned as Sugar's new apprentice, over Claire Young. For the final task, along with Alex Wotherspoon and Helene Speight, they had to produce a new men's fragrance in two groups of two. Lee and Claire won the task over the other two finalists and Lee went on to be chosen by Sugar to be his new Apprentice, in May 2010, saw the introduction of Junior Apprentice which was also a success featuring contestants in the 16-19 age category.

Other appearances

In May 2008, Sugar made an appearance on ''An Audience Without Jeremy Beadle'' to pay tribute to Jeremy Beadle as they were close friends and both appeared on a celebrity special of ''Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?'' in 2005.

In January 2009, Fiona Bruce presented a BBC Two documentary entitled ''The Real Sir Alan''. Also in 2009, Sugar appeared in television advertisements for investment bank NS&I; and The Learning and Skills Council talking about apprenticeships.

In May 2011, Sugar presented ''Lord Sugar Tackles Football'', a documentary looking into the financial woes of English football.

Honours and philanthropy

Sugar was knighted in 2000 for services to business. He holds two honorary Doctorates of Science degrees, awarded in 1988 by City University and in 2005 by Brunel University. He is a philanthropist for charities such as Jewish Care and Great Ormond Street Hospital, and donated £200,000 to the British Labour Party in 2001. On 5 June 2009 it was reported that Sugar had been offered a peerage by Prime Minister Gordon Brown as part of a new enterprise role in his government,

Controversy

Sex discrimination law

Sugar has been accused of having an "outdated" attitude towards women. Sugar is quoted as saying, "These laws are counter-productive for women, that's the bottom line. You're not allowed to ask, so it's easy – just don't employ them. It will get harder to get a job as a woman."

See also

What You See Is What You Get (book)

References

Further reading

David Thomas, "''Alan Sugar - the Amstrad Story''" (1991), paperback ISBN 978-0-330-31900-3.

Alan Sugar, "''The Apprentice: How to get hired not fired''"

Alan Sugar, "''What You See Is What You Get: My Autobiography''" (2010), hardback ISBN 978-0-230-74933-7.

External links

Amstrad website

Amsair website

Amscreen website

BBC's The Apprentice

Category:1947 births Category:Living people Category:BBC people Category:Civil servants in the Department of Education (United Kingdom) Category:English atheists Category:English aviators Category:English businesspeople Category:English football chairmen and investors Category:English Jews Category:English television personalities Category:Knights Bachelor Category:Labour Party (UK) life peers Category:People from Hackney Category:People from Upper Clapton Category:The Apprentice (UK TV series) Category:Tottenham Hotspur F.C. directors and chairmen

ca:Alan Sugar cy:Alan Sugar da:Alan Michael Sugar de:Alan Sugar fr:Alan Sugar pl:Alan Sugar fi:Alan Sugar