name	Moon
director	Duncan Jones
producer	Stuart FeneganTrudie Styler
writer	Nathan ParkerDuncan Jones
starring	Sam RockwellKevin SpaceyDominique McElligottRobin Chalk
music	Clint Mansell
cinematography	Gary Shaw
editing	Nicolas Gaster
studio	Stage 6 Films
distributor	Sony Pictures Classics
released
runtime	97 minutes
country
language	English
budget	$5 million
gross	$9,760,104 }}

''Moon'' is a 2009 British science fiction drama film about a man who experiences a personal crisis as he nears the end of a three-year solitary stint mining helium-3 on the far side of the Earth's moon. It is the feature debut of director Duncan Jones. Sam Rockwell stars as the employee Sam Bell, and Kevin Spacey voices his robot companion, GERTY. ''Moon'' premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and was released in selected theatres in New York and Los Angeles on 12 June 2009. The release was expanded to additional theatres in the United States and Toronto on both 3 and 10 July and was released in the United Kingdom on 17 July.

This film was the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) winner of the 2009 award for the Best British Independent Film. Director Duncan Jones was also awarded the BIFA Douglas Hickox Award.

The film was also nominated for two BAFTAs at the 2010 awards. It won the award for "Outstanding Debut by a British writer, director or producer".

Plot

Lunar Industries employee Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) is contracted to work for three years at the largely automated "Sarang" lunar base ("sarang" means "love" in Korean and is written in hangeul on the walls of the base), with only an artificial intelligence assistant named GERTY (voiced by Kevin Spacey) for company. His job is to oversee the automated harvesters which extract helium-3 from the lunar regolith. He periodically sends full canisters to Earth, where the helium-3 is used to generate much-needed clean fusion energy. Chronic communications satellite problems limit him to occasional recorded messages to and from his wife Tess (Dominique McElligott), who was pregnant with their daughter Eve when he left.

Two weeks before he is to return to Earth, Sam begins to hallucinate, briefly seeing a teenage girl on the station. During a routine rover excursion to retrieve a full canister from one of the harvesting machines, he sees a figure standing on the lunar surface. Distracted, he crashes his rover into the harvester and starts losing air. Sam hurriedly puts on his helmet before losing consciousness.

Sam awakens in the base infirmary, with GERTY asking if he remembers the accident which put him there. Sam does not, but GERTY assures him that this is not uncommon. Sam's suspicions are aroused when he eavesdrops on a live communication between GERTY and Lunar Industries executives and learns that GERTY has been instructed not to allow him outside the base. A message informs him that rescue team "Eliza" is on the way to repair the damaged harvester.

Sam sabotages a gas pipe in the base to convince GERTY to allow him outside to check for "micro-meteoroid damage". He heads for the damaged harvester and finds someone barely alive in the crashed rover: himself. Sam brings the person back to the base, where GERTY identifies both him and the injured person as Sam Bell.

The two Sams struggle to come to grips with each other's existence, each believing the other to be a clone. Eventually they are forced to realize they are ''both'' clones after GERTY confirms as much, also revealing that the "accident" the second Sam recovered from is simply part of the standard clone awakening process, and that their memories of Tess and Eve are implants taken from the real Sam Bell.

Exploring outside, the Sams find a series of antennas jamming communication with Earth. The injured Sam becomes progressively weaker, forcing him to return to base after he vomits blood and, later, loses a tooth. With GERTY's assistance he discovers video logs of previous clones working and becoming increasingly ill, with symptoms including hair loss and spontaneous bleeding. Ultimately the clones are shown getting into what they are told is a "hibernation" pod for the journey home, which instead incinerates them once they are asleep. After some searching, the two Sams find a previously unsuspected lower level, which houses an extensive cache of unawakened clones.

The sick Sam then takes a rover beyond the range of the jamming and calls home. Obscuring his videophone's camera, he is shocked when his daughter Eve, now 15 years old, answers. He learns that Tess died "some years ago". Before Eve can get her father to deal with her mysterious caller, Sam hangs up.

With the "rescue" team only hours away, the Sams know that they will be killed if they are both found at the base. The healthy Sam proposes sending the sick one back to Earth in a helium delivery vessel, reasoning that he is the more deserving since he "did the three years". He gets GERTY to start awakening another clone to put in the damaged rover to take the sick Sam's place. However, the sick Sam insists that the healthy Sam go instead while he returns to the rover to die, with the third clone left to man the station when the rescue team shows up.

GERTY points out that its records must be erased for the scheme to work; it gets the healthy Sam to wipe its memory by rebooting it. Before leaving, the second Sam also redirects a harvester to crash into a jammer antenna to ensure that all new clones can freely communicate with Earth. The helium-3 delivery vehicle containing Sam launches for Earth, and is seen by the sick Sam in his final moments, giving him the solace of knowing that his clone had made it off the Mining Base.

Newscast voice-overs in many languages detail the consequences of Sam's return to Earth: Lunar Industries' stock price crashes following accusations of criminal activities, and "Clone 6" gives testimony at a Board of Directors meeting in Seattle.

Cast

Sam Rockwell as Sam Bell

Kevin Spacey as the voice of GERTY

Dominique McElligott as Tess Bell

Kaya Scodelario as Eve Bell

Benedict Wong as Lunar Industries' Thompson

Matt Berry as Lunar Industries' Overmeyers

Malcolm Stewart as 'The Technician'

Robin Chalk as Sam Bell Clone (body double)

Production

''Moon'' is the first feature film directed by commercial director Duncan Jones, who co-wrote the script with Nathan Parker. The film was specifically written as a vehicle for actor Sam Rockwell. The film pays homage to the films of Jones' youth, such as ''2001: A Space Odyssey'' (1968), ''Silent Running'' (1972), ''Solaris'' (1972), ''Alien'' (1979), ''Outland'' (1981), and ''THX 1138'' (1971). Jones described the intent, "[We] wanted to create something which felt comfortable within that canon of those science fiction films from the sort of late seventies to early eighties." The director spoke of his interest in the lunar setting: "for me, the Moon has this weird mythic nature to it... There is still a mystery to it. As a location, it bridges the gap between science-fiction and science fact. We (humankind) have been there. It is something so close and so plausible and yet at the same time, we really don't know that much about it." The director described the lack of romance in the Moon as a location, citing images from the Japanese lunar orbiter SELENE, "It's the desolation and emptiness of it... it looks like some strange ball of clay in blackness... Look at photos and you'll think that they're monochrome. In fact, they're not. There simply are no primary colours." Jones referenced the photography book ''Full Moon'' by Michael Light in designing the look of the film.

''Moon'''s budget was $5 million. The director took steps to minimise production costs, such as keeping the cast small and filming in a studio. ''Moon'' was produced at Shepperton Studios, London, England, where it was filmed in 33 days. Jones preferred using models instead of digital animation. Jones worked with Bill Pearson, the supervising model maker on ''Alien'', to help design the lunar rovers and helium-3 harvesters in the film. The moon base was created as a full 360-degree set, measuring long and approximately wide. The film's robot, GERTY, was designed to be bound to an overhead rail within the mining base since its mechanical tether was critical to the story's plot. The visual effects were provided by Cinesite, which has sought cut-price deals with independent films. Since Jones had an effects background with commercials, he drew on his past experiences in creating special effects within a small budget.

Reception

Release

International sales for ''Moon'' are handled by the ''Independent'' sales company. Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group acquired distribution rights to the film for English-speaking territories. Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group was considering making ''Moon'' a straight-to-video release: however, after ''Moon'' premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival in January 2009, Sony Pictures Classics decided to handle this film's theatrical release for Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group. Sony Pictures Classics distributed the film in the United States in cinemas, beginning with screenings in selected cinemas in New York and Los Angeles on 12 June. The film's British premiere was held on 20 June 2009 at the Cameo Cinema in Edinburgh as part of the 63rd Edinburgh International Film Festival. Jones was present at the screening along with other key crew members. The full UK release was on 17 July. The Australian release was on 8 October.

Box office

''Moon'' grossed £700,394 from its domestic release, $3,370,366 from its U.S. release and $9,760,104 worldwide.

Critical reception

The film currently holds a 90% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 173 reviews, and holds an 8.0 rating on IMDb, ranking in the 'Top Rated "Sci-Fi" Titles'. ''Moon'' received positive reviews at the Sundance Film Festival. Damon Wise of ''The Times'' praised Jones' "thoughtful" direction and Rockwell's "poignant" performance. Wise wrote of the film's approach to the science fiction genre, "Though it uses impressive sci-fi trappings to tell its story—the fabulous models and moonscapes are recognisably retro yet surprisingly real—this is a film about what it means, and takes, to be human." Duane Byrge of ''The Hollywood Reporter'' applauded screenwriter Nathan Parker's "sharp [and] individualistic" dialogue and the way in which Parker combined science fiction and Big Brother themes. Byrge also believed that cinematographer Gary Shaw's work and composer Clint Mansell's music intensified the drama. Byrge wrote, "Nonetheless, ''Moon'' is darkened by its own excellencies: the white, claustrophobic look is apt and moody, but a lack of physical action enervates the story thrust." The critic felt mixed about the star's performance, describing him as "adept at limning his character's dissolution" but finding that he did not have "the audacious, dominant edge" for the major confrontation at the end of the film. ''Empire'' magazine praised Rockwell's performance, including it in '10 Egregious Oscar Snubs - The worthy contenders that the Academy overlooked' feature and referred to his performance as "one... of the best performances of the year."

Roger Ebert gave the film 3½ stars out of 4, saying, "''Moon'' is a superior example of that threatened genre, hard science-fiction, which is often about the interface between humans and alien intelligence of one kind of or other, including digital. John W. Campbell Jr., the godfather of this genre, would have approved. The movie is really all about ideas. It only seems to be about emotions. How real are our emotions, anyway? How real are we? Someday I will die. This laptop I'm using is patient and can wait."

Reception from the scientific community

''Moon'' was screened as part of a lecture series at NASA's Space Center Houston, at the request of a professor there. "He'd been reading online that we'd done this film about Helium-3 mining and that's something that people at NASA are working on," says Jones. "We did a Q&A; afterward. They asked me why the base looked so sturdy, like a bunker, and not like the kind of stuff they are designing that they are going to transport with them. I said 'Well, in the future I assume you won't want to continue carrying everything with you, you'll want to use the resources on the moon to build things' and a woman in the audience raised her hand and said, 'I'm actually working on something called Mooncrete, which is concrete that mixes lunar regolith and ice water from the moon's polar caps.'"

Awards and nominations

; BAFTA Awards 2010

Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film - nominated

Carl Foreman award for special achievement by a British director, writer or producer in their first feature film

; British Independent Film Awards 2009

Best British Independent Film

Douglas Hickox Award for Duncan Jones

Best Actor nomination for Sam Rockwell (nomination)

Best Director nomination for Duncan Jones (nomination)

Best Screenplay nomination for Nathan Parker (nomination)

Technical Achievement, Original Score nomination for Clint Mansell (nomination)

Technical Achievement, Production Design nomination for Tony Noble (nomination)

; Chlotrudis Awards 2010

Best Actor nomination for Sam Rockwell (nomination)

Best Production (nomination)

; Fantastic'Arts 2010

Special Prize

Critics' Prize

; Hugo Awards 2010

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

Sequels

Jones is planning a follow-up graphic novel, titled ''Mute'', which will serve as an epilogue to ''Moon''. Should the project progress to a film, "Sam has agreed to do a little cameo in the next film," says Jones, who ultimately hopes to complete a trilogy of films set in the same fictional universe.

References

External links

Category:2009 films Category:British films Category:English-language films Category:2000s science fiction films Category:British science fiction films Category:Cloning in fiction Category:Directorial debut films Category:Hugo Award Winners for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form Category:Moon-related films Category:Solitude in fiction Category:Sony Pictures Classics films

bg:Луна (филм) ca:Moon da:Moon (film) de:Moon (Film) es:Moon (película) eo:Luno (filmo) fr:Moon (film) ko:더 문 id:Moon (film) it:Moon (film) hu:Hold (film) nl:Moon (film) ja:月に囚われた男 no:Moon pl:Moon (film) pt:Moon (filme) ru:Луна 2112 sv:Moon (film) zh:月球 (电影)

name	Clint Mansell
background	non_performing_personnel
birth name	Clinton Darryl Mansell
birth date	January 07, 1963
origin	Coventry, England
genre	ClassicalContemporary classicalElectronicAlternative
occupation	Musician, Composer
years active	1981–present
associated acts	Pop Will Eat Itself
website	clintmansell.com
notable instruments	}}

Clinton Darryl "Clint" Mansell, (born 7 January 1963) is an English musician, composer, and former lead singer and guitarist of the band Pop Will Eat Itself.

After the disbanding of Pop Will Eat Itself in 1996, Mansell was introduced to film scoring when his friend, director Darren Aronofsky, hired him to score his debut film, ''π''. Mansell then wrote the score for the next Aronofsky film, ''Requiem for a Dream'', which has been well received. Its main composition "Lux Æterna" has become extremely popular, appearing in a wide variety of advertisements and film trailers.

Mansell's composition for ''The Fountain'' was nominated for Best Original Score at the 64th Annual Golden Globe Awards. His other notable film scores include ''Moon'', ''Smokin' Aces'', ''The Wrestler'', and ''Black Swan''.

Career

Pop career

Mansell was the lead singer and guitarist of the British band Pop Will Eat Itself. When PWEI signed to Nothing Records, Mansell became friends with Trent Reznor, and he also performed back-up vocals on the 1999 album ''The Fragile'' by Nine Inch Nails.

Soundtrack composer

Mansell's score for Darren Aronofsky's ''π'' was followed up by his score for Aronofsky's next film, ''Requiem for a Dream'', which became a cult hit. Since their first collaboration in 1996, Mansell has composed the music to every Aronofsky film.

Other notable achievements include the theme for the film ''The Hole'', the music for the pilot episode of ''CSI: NY'', and the score for Aronofsky's later films ''The Fountain'', which was nominated for Best Original Score in the 64th Annual Golden Globe Awards, and ''The Wrestler''. Mansell has also contributed the score to HBO's Voyeur. The song was also used as the base theme for the song "Throw It Up" by Lil Jon. His most recent work has been on the soundtrack for ''Black Swan'' in 2010.

Mansell has garnered a cult following for his soundtrack work, so much that ''Smokin' Aces'' director Joe Carnahan admits to receiving "blatant threats" when the soundtrack was released without much of Mansell's score for the film.

Film trailers

The trailer for ''The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers'' contained a rearranged version of the track "Lux Æterna", using a full orchestra and choir. The piece, named "Requiem for a Tower", was recorded especially for the trailer. The orchestration was arranged by Simone Benyacar, Dan Nielsen, and Veigar Margeirsson.

"Lux Æterna" has since become popular, with both the original and the "Requiem for a Tower" version having appeared in a wide variety of advertisements and trailers, including the trailer for the Red Sox–Yankees games in the 2007 Major League Baseball season, and trailers for the films ''Zathura'', ''The Da Vinci Code'', ''Sunshine'', ''Babylon A.D.'' and the TV series ''Lost'' and ''Top Gear''. It was also used on Sky Sports News and as the theme for ''Soccer Saturday'' from 2007-2009. In 2006, the theme was used in EuroSport LIVE trailers. The theme was also used by ''America's Got Talent'' as an introduction of the judges before being changed slightly. The new variant is now a regular piece on the show.

The piece "Death Is the Road to Awe" from the score for ''The Fountain'' was featured in a trailer for the 2007 film ''I Am Legend'', and the trailer for the film ''The Mist'', as well as the trailer for the film ''Frost/Nixon'', and toward the end of 2007 The Final Cut trailer for ''Blade Runner''.

Scoring credits

''Pi'', 1998

''Requiem for a Dream'', 2000

''World Traveler'', 2001

''The Hole'', 2001

''Knockaround Guys'', 2001

''Rain'', 2001

''Abandon'', 2002

''Murder by Numbers'', 2002

''Sonny'', 2002

''The Hire: Ticker'', 2002

''11:14'', 2003

''Suspect Zero'', 2004

''Sahara'', 2005

''Doom'', 2005

''The Fountain'', 2006

''Trust the Man'', 2006

''Smokin' Aces'', 2006

''Wind Chill'', 2007

''In The Wall'', 2007

''Definitely, Maybe'', 2008

''The Wrestler'', 2008

''Blood: The Last Vampire, 2009

''Moon'', 2009

''L'affaire Farewell'', 2009

''The Rebound'', 2010

''Black Swan'', 2010

''Last Night'', 2010

''Faster'', 2010

''United'', 2011

''Mass Effect 3'', 2012 (TBA)

References

External links

Mansell at Yahoo Movies

Mansell at Rotten Tomatoes

Interview focusing on Pop Will Eat Itself

The Wrestler Score review

Two and a Half Questions with Clint Mansell on Headphone Commute (2009)

Category:1963 births Category:British indie rock musicians Category:English film score composers Category:Living people Category:People from Coventry

ar:كلينت مانسيل bg:Клинт Мансел cs:Clint Mansell de:Clint Mansell et:Clint Mansell el:Κλιντ Μάνσελ es:Clint Mansell fa:کلینت منسل fr:Clint Mansell it:Clint Mansell he:קלינט מנסל hu:Clint Mansell nl:Clint Mansell ja:クリント・マンセル pl:Clint Mansell pt:Clint Mansell ru:Мэнселл, Клинт simple:Clint Mansell sk:Clint Mansell fi:Clint Mansell sv:Clint Mansell th:คลินต์ แมนเซลล์ uk:Клінт Менсел

name	Eric "Butterbean" Esch
birth name	Eric Scott Esch
other names	Butterbean
nationality	American
birth date	August 03, 1965
birth place	Bay City, Michigan, United States
fighting out of	Jasper, Alabama
height
weight lb	420
reach in	78
style	Boxing
stance	Orthodox
team	American Top Team Team Butterbean
trainer	Murray Sutherland
years active	2003 – present (MMA)
box win	77
box kowin	58
box loss	8
box koloss	1
box draw	4
kickbox win	3
kickbox kowin	2
kickbox loss	4
kickbox koloss	2
mma kowin	6
mma subwin	11
mma koloss	1
mma subloss	7
mma draw	1
boxrec	14536
k-1	17
sherdog	9394 }}

Eric Scott Esch (born August 3, 1966) is an American heavyweight boxer, kickboxer, Profesional Wrestler, and mixed martial artist commonly referred to as Butterbean.

He is the former IBA Super-Heavyweight Champion and also held the WAA Heavyweight title. His combined professional fight record currently stands at 97 wins with 67 knockouts, 20 losses and 5 draws. Butterbean currently resides in Jasper, Alabama where he owns a restaurant, Mr Bean BBQ.

Fighting career

Boxing

Known as the "King of the 4 rounders", Butterbean developed a cult following after he burst onto the Toughman Contest scene in Texarkana, AR before entering the world of professional boxing in 1994. He was a five time World Toughman Heavyweight Champion with a record of 56-5 with 36 knockouts (not counted towards pro career). It has been said that he got his nickname when he had to go on a diet (consisting mostly of chicken and butterbeans) to meet the Toughman 400-pound weight limit.

Butterbean is a very popular fighter, having more televised matches than most professionals. He stated in an interview with BoxingInsider: "It took off pretty quick (his popularity), my second pro fight was on national TV—it don’t happen like that, normally you get 15, 20 fights and then you get a TV fight unless you’re very fortunate. Tyson, his second pro fight wasn’t on TV. He probably had five or six, seven fights before he got on TV. Me, my second pro fight was televised, it was on a Jed Hearns undercard. Then a couple more fights and I’m on TV again, and every fight since then was televised. It just don’t happen like that. I’ve probably had more televised fights than any world champion out there.".

While a majority of his opponents were technically limited club-level fighters early in his career, he did move up the ranks to win the IBA Super-Heavyweight Championship on April 12, 1997 (which he never lost before relinquishing the title). Butterbean faced former WBC and IBF World Champion 52 year old Larry Holmes in 2002, and while Holmes won a unanimous 10-round decision, Butterbean was credited with a controversial knockdown in the final round. Holmes fought a fight on points, playing on his reach advantage, fearful of Butterbean’s knockout punch. Butterbean was quoted as saying: “How am I a successful boxer, I'm over 300 lbs and balding? ”.". This was one of only three fights in a 109 fight career that was scheduled for more than four rounds. Esch's most recent title shot came on October 15, 2005 when he lost a split decision against George Linberger for the NABC Super-Heavyweight title (whom Esch had beaten in March 2000 in his final defense of the IBA title, taking Linberger's WAA Heavyweight title). On March 9, 2007, Esch defeated Joe Siciliano at the Palladium. That same night, Esch's son, Brandon "Babybean", lost in his professional debut against Matthew Eckerly.

Esch lost via 1st round KO for the EBF title against Mark Potter at the Syndicte Nightclub in Blackpool, England on the 14th September 2008. This fight has not been recorded on boxrec.com or any other site of the same nature, as Potter was not licensed at the time.

On October 3, 2009 Esch lost a four round split decision to Harry Funmaker whom he earlier beat on two occasions. After the bout he announced his retirement.

Kickboxing

Butterbean ventured into the sport of kickboxing in 2003. His first bout was a 1st round knockout of two-time K-1 World Champion Yusuke Fujimoto at K-1 Beast. Esch lost a controversial decision to Amada, as quoted “Amada, he’s tough. He’s more of a boxer than a kicker, I beat him pretty good, but they gave the decision to him. It was his hometown, his home country. After the fight he ended up in the hospital and I was fine”. Esch was scheduled to take on Bob Sapp one week later, but Sapp’s management pulled out of the fight after watching the Esch – Amada fight. Butterbean said “They (Sapp’s management) found out that Amada went to the hospital and canceled the next week. They looked at the damage I installed on Amada”. Most recently he beat Bo Lam Moon in the first round by KO. His record currently stands at 3 wins 4 losses.

Mixed martial arts

Butterbean holds the current Elite 1 MMA Super Heavyweight Title as of May 2011.

Butterbean's previous fighting experiences led him to venture into mixed martial arts. At K-1 Premium 2003 on December 31, 2003, Butterbean lost his first MMA bout to 155-pound Japanese fighter Genki Sudo via tap out to a heel hook. Esch regrouped, going 6-0-1 in appearances in King of the Cage, Gracie Fightfest, and Rumble on the Rock including a TKO stoppage of Cabbage Correira. Esch returned to Japan with the PRIDE Fighting Championships on August 26, 2006 to compete at Bushido 12 against Ikuhisa Minowa, a 185-pound fighter, to whom he lost via armbar at 4:25 of round one. Less than two months later, Butterbean was scheduled to fight K-1 legend Mark Hunt at Pride FC's first North American show on October 21, 2006. Due to an injury Hunt sustained in training, Esch was matched up against Irish-American professional wrestler and mixed martial artist Sean O'Haire, whom he defeated via knockout at 30 seconds in the first round.

Besides his two submission losses to much smaller opponents (Genki Sudo and Ikuhisa Minowa), Butterbean's only other loss came to then Cage Rage World Heavyweight Champion Rob Broughton. On February 10, Butterbean rebounded by knocking out James Thompson 43 seconds into the first round at Cage Rage 20. Butterbean then defeated Zuluzinho via submission at PRIDE 34 on April 8, 2007. Although he's been overweight throughout his career, at the time of the fight, Esch weighed an astonishing 407 pounds (185 kg) to match his opponent's weight, who also weighs 185 kg but is 8 inches (20 centimeters) taller.

Butterbean's next fight was on July 14 against current Cage Rage World Heavyweight Champion Tengiz Tedoradze at Cage Rage 22, losing via TKO. Global Fighting Championships had scheduled a main event bout between Esch and Ruben Villareal for their inaugural event, but the event was canceled when half the scheduled matchups could not take place due to medical issues (Esch vs Villareal was the only viable main event). He was then scheduled to fight Jimmy Ambriz as the main event of Xcess Fighting's debut card, but was a no show for the weigh-in citing scheduling conflicts. Esch most recently defeated Tom Howard by submission around 4:47 in the first round in an exhibition in his hometown of Jasper, Alabama. His youngest son Caleb (19) lost that night, whilst his oldest son Brandon "Babybean" Esch (22) making his Pro MMA debut won, via 22 second TKO.

Esch has said he has fought his final US fight, and will be fully retired soon, after other international obligations are completed.

Butterbean was due to take on Tank Abbott at the Alababma Pride event on 29 Sept 2009, but Abbott pulled out at last minute.

On September 18, 2010, Esch was defeated by Mariusz Pudzianowski by submission due to strikes at KSW XIV. After several exchanges of strikes on the feet, Pudzianowski attacked and took Esch down, proceeding to throw numerous punches from side control in a ground-and-pound attack. Esch, unable to get to his feet, submitted at just 1:15 into the first round.

Esch was next scheduled to take on up and coming super heavyweight Deon West at the “LFC 43: Wild Thang” MMA internet pay-per-view on 12/10/2010. The main event of LFC 43: After a heated contest, Deon did not rise for the third round. Butterbean humbled Deon West via TKO at 5:00 of Round 2.

Elite 1 MMA announced that former boxer turned Mixed Martial Artist Eric “Butterbean” Esch will take his 16-8 MMA record to Moncton, New Brunswick on May 7 to face Dean Storey (0-0 MMA; 8-16-2 Boxing) for the Elite 1 MMA Super Heavyweight Title.

Butterbean (Eric Esch) defeated Dean Storey at Elite 1 MMA: High Voltage on May 7th 2011 in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada to claim the promotions super heavyweight title. With the win, Butterbean runs his MMA record to 17-8-1, and is now on a two fight win streak. He knocked out Storey 24 seconds into the 2nd round. Esch credits his recent lack of weight as contributing to his recent two outstanding wins. “A lot of people don't realize that I lost a lot of weight recently," he said. "A year ago, I was over 500 pounds. It's not like I'm a big eater. I never have been a big eater. Everybody thought I was because of my size. I found out a year ago my thyroid was messed up. My body wasn't working right so I couldn't lose weight. I'm training, watching my diet and my thyroid is no longer a problem since I started taking medication. I'm losing six to eight pounds per week now. I've lost almost one foot and a half around me in the past year. The lowest I've been since age 12 was 300 pounds. My goal is to get back down to 300 pounds." Esch, 44, figures he has one year left in the fight game. "I still have fun," he said. "I don't fight anywhere near as much as I used to. I'm down to four or five fights per year now compared to 12-15 in the past. I've accomplished pretty much everything I want in the fight game." Esch likes to consider himself different than most fighters. "After the fight, I'll shake hands with the fans and sign autographs," he said. "A lot of fighters think as soon as the fight is over they can go home and realistically that's all they have to do. I enjoy being nice to the fans. My reward is when people tell me they enjoyed watching me fight. The fans are what make it worthwhile. If it wasn't for the fans, I would be done."

On October 7 2011 the legend Butterbean will take on the popular and undefeated Montreal boxer Eric Barrak who has decided to try his hand at MMA. Barrack just finished up a two fight contract with Montreal’s SP Promotion and is looking to move up in the heavyweight boxing ranks, but is well suited for the MMA fight game with his raw power and quick reflexes. He has finished four of his five professional fights by way of 1st round stoppage. Facing Barrak is the king of the four rounders, Eric Esch, better known to the fight world as Butterbean. Always entertaining, Butterbean is a former IBA super heavyweight boxing champion and exclusively fights MMA now. The show also features Patrick Cote, Crafton Wallace, Steve Bosse, and Houston Alexander.

Professional Wrestling

Butterbean made his independent wrestling debut at the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center in Birmingham, AL on March 28th, 2009 at the ImagiCon horror movie, sci-fi movie, and comic book convention and was victorious against rapper/professional wrestler/film maker/actor Anthony "One Man Kru" Sanners via pinfall after smashing him with a vicious 400 lb. elbow drop.

Butterbean won the Pro Wrestling Syndicate Heavyweight Championship on May 29, 2009 after defeating Trent Acid. Butterbean lost the belt to Kevin Matthews on May 8, 2010 in White Plains, NY.

Butterbean has appeared twice in WWF events competing in boxing matches. In 1997, at the In Your House 19: D-Generation X pay-per-view event, he defeated Marc Mero (former Golden Gloves champion) via disqualification in a worked match. Two years later, Butterbean defeated "Toughman" Bart Gunn in a legitimate shootfight at WrestleMania XV, defeating the Brawl For All champion with ease, knocking him out in 27 seconds.

On April 1st, 2011, Butterbean teamed with his Walker County Sheriff Deputy partner Adam Hadder to take on Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake and One Man Kru in a tag-team match at the Battle Against Drugs charity benefit which was taped for Butterbean's reality show Big Law.

Media appearances

Big Law: Deputy Butterbean

Esch is a reserve deputy sheriff in his hometown of Jasper, Alabama. He's the star in a new reality television documentary called Big Law Deputy Butterbean which will debut on the Investigation Discovery channel in August 2011. "They came to me wanting to do a reality documentary on my restaurant and I was in the process of closing my restaurant down," he said. "I said 'If you want something interesting and fun to watch, follow us on our drug busts in the sheriff's department.' They agreed people would be interested in this."They started following us, filming it and documenting us actually making the busts. You arrest somebody and say 'Look, if you don't want to go to jail you've got to help us bust a bigger guy.' We make a bigger bust from that. The whole goal is to get people on file and lessen the number of criminals on the streets."

Season 1 of Big Law Deputy Butterbean has already been filmed."I think this show is going to prove that people really care about the communities they lived in," said Esch. "There's going to be more people calling (the police station) saying 'Hey, this guy is doing this crime. You should look into it.' We want people to step forward and help the police clean up our communities."

Movies

Butterbean appeared in the film ''Jackass: The Movie'', where he fought Johnny Knoxville in a department store. Knoxville was floored by Esch and received several stitches in his head after the encounter (the camera catches Knoxville snoring). Knoxville stated that Esch is actually quite friendly outside of the ring, despite his fearsome ringside demeanor.

Butterbean also appeared in the film ''Chairman of the Board'' as the Museum Security Guard with the "chia hair", a fact that is pointed out on the DVD commentary by the movie's star Scott "Carrot Top" Thompson.

Television

Butterbean appeared on Adult Swim's Squidbillies where he sang the national anthem, and ended up beating up a fan for not taking off his hat.

Butterbean also appeared on CMT's Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling television show, on Team Beefcake.

Butterbean was referenced on NBC's "Parenthood". The episode aired on October 5, 2010 and was titled "Date Night."

Radio

On July 16, 2005, Butterbean fought Dominic Dieter of Rover's Morning Glory, in downtown Cleveland, Ohio in a bout billed as "War on the Shore".

Video games

Butterbean was featured as the cover character as well as the final boss character in the EA Sports title ''Toughman Contest'' released in July 1995 for the Sega Genesis and Sega 32X. He also appeared as a playable character in all of the EA Sports boxing video games in the ''Knockout Kings'' series.

In the 2007 PC game ''The Witcher'', the main character, Geralt of Rivia, can challenge a tavern fistfighter by the name of Butter Bean during the second chapter of the game. Butter Bean has a body structure similar to that of Eric Esch. The game also contains references to other fighters such as Andrew Golota.

Butterbean is a playable fighter in play now, legacy mode and online modes in EA's fifth installment of the Fight Night series Fight Night Champion.

Personal life

Eric was born in Bay City, Michigan. He is married and has three children: sons Brandon and Caleb, and daughter, Grace.

Mixed martial arts record

|- | align="center" | N/A | align="center" | N/A | Sandy Bowman | align="center" | N/A | Prestige FC 3 | | align="center" | N/A | align="center" | N/A | Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada | |- | align="center" | N/A | align="center" | N/A | Eric Barrak | align="center" | N/A | Instinct MMA | | align="center" | N/A | align="center" | N/A | Montreal, Quebec, Canada | |- | Win |17-8-1|| Dean Storey | TKO (Punches) |Elite-1 MMA: Moncton | | 2 | 0:20 || Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada | |- | Win |16-8-1 | Deon West | TKO |LFC 43: Wild Thang |12/10/2010 | 2 | 5:00 | | |- | Loss |15-8-1 | Mariusz Pudzianowski | Submission (Strikes) |KSW XIV |09/18/2010 | 1 | 1:15 | | |- | Loss |15-7-1 | Jeff Kugel | Submission (Strikes) |XCC - Beatdown at the Ballroom 9 |03/06/2010 | 1 | 0:40 | | |- | Win |15-6-1 | Chris Cruit | Submission (Rear Naked Choke) |Moosin: God of Martial Arts |12/11/2009 | 1 | 1:38 | | |- | Win |14-6-1 | Tom Howard | Submission (Neck Crank) | Extreme Cage Fighting |09/09/2009 | 1 | 1:40 | | |- | Win |13-6-1 | Jefferson Hook | TKO (Punches) | LDIL - Lockdown in Lowell |06/26/2009 | 1 | ?:?? | | |- | Loss |12-6-1 | Pat Smith | Submission (Strikes) | YAMMA Pit Fighting |04/11/2008 | 1 | 3:17 | | |- | Loss |12-5-1 | Nick Penner | Submission (Kimura) | TFC: First Blood |12/28/2007 | 1 | 2:47 | | |- | Win |12-4-1 | Tom Howard | Submission (Armlock) | The Final Chapter MMA- A&A; Arena Jasper |12/01/2007 | 1 | 4:47 | | |- | Win |11-4-1 | Pete Sischo | Submission (Keylock) | Combat Warfare X |10/13/2007 | 3 | 2:35 | | |- | Loss |10-4-1 | Tengiz Tedoradze | TKO (Punches) | Cage Rage 22 |07/14/2007 | 1 | 4:26 | | |- | Win |10-3-1 | Zuluzinho | Submission (Keylock) | PRIDE 34 |04/08/2007 | 1 | 2:35 | | |- | Win |9-3-1 | James Thompson | KO (Punches) | Cage Rage 20 |02/10/2007 | 1 | 0:43 | | |- | Win |8-3-1 | Charles Hodges | KO (Punch) | PFC 1 - King of the Ring |01/18/2007 | 1 | 0:45 | | |- | Loss |7-3-1 | Rob Broughton | Submission (Punches) | Cage Rage 19 - Fearless |12/09/2006 | 2 | 3:43 | | |- | Win |7-2-1 | Sean O'Haire | TKO (Punches) | PRIDE 32 |10/21/2006 | 1 | 0:29 | | |- | Loss |6-2-1 | Ikuhisa Minowa | Submission (Armbar) | PRIDE Bushido 12 |08/26/2006 | 1 | 4:25 | |- | Win |6-1-1 | Rich Weeks | Submission (Choke) | Fightfest 5 - Korea vs USA |07/15/2006 | 1 | 1:29 | | |- | Win |5-1-1 | Matt Eckerle | Submission (Punches) | Fightfest 4 |05/20/2006 | 1 | 0:56 | | |- | Win |4-1-1 | Aaron Aguilera | Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) | ROTR 9 - Rumble on the Rock 9 |04/21/2006 | 2 | 1:15 | | |- | Win |3-1-1 | Leo Sylvest | Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) | Fightfest 2: Global Domination |04/14/2006 | 1 | 0:35 | | |- | Win |2-1-1 | Wesley Correira | TKO (Doctor Stoppage) | ROTR 8 - Rumble on the Rock 8 |01/20/2006 | 2 | 5:00 | | |- | Win |1-1-1 | Walley Keenboom | Submission | Fightfest 1: Royce Gracie Fightfest |12/09/2005 | 1 | 2:37 | | |- | Draw |0-1-1 | Michael Buchkovich | Draw | King of the Cage48: Payback |02/25/2005 | 2 | 5:00 | | |- | Loss |0-1 | Genki Sudo | Submission (Heel Hook) | K-1 Premium Dynamite!! |12/31/2003 | 2 | 0:41 | |

Kickboxing record

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: left;" | colspan="6" style="text-align:center;"|3 Wins - 4 Losses - 0 Draw (2 KO's) |- |style="background: #f0f0f0"|Date ||style="background: #f0f0f0"| Result||style="background: #f0f0f0"| Record ||style="background: #f0f0f0"| Opponent ||style="background: #f0f0f0"| Event ||style="background: #f0f0f0"| Method ||style="background: #f0f0f0"| Round, Time |- |07/29/2009 || Win ||3-4|| Bo Lam Moon || Moosin II || KO (Right punch) || Round 1 |- |08/09/2008 || Loss ||2-4|| Wesley Correira || K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Hawaii || KO (Left high kick) || Round 2 |- |07/29/2005 || Win ||2-3|| Marcus Royster || K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 in Hawaii || Decision 3-0 || Round 3 |- |06/26/2004 || Loss ||1-3|| Montanha Silva || K-1 Beast 2004 in Shizuoka || Decision 0-3 || Round 3 |- |03/14/2004 || Loss ||1-2|| Hiromi Amada || K-1 Beast 2004 in Niigata || Decision 0-3 || Round 3 |- |09/21/2003 || Loss ||1-1|| Mike Bernardo || K-1 Survival 2003 Japan Grand Prix Final || KO (Right High Kick) || Round 2, 1:01 |- |06/29/2003 || Win ||1-0|| Yusuke Fujimoto || K-1 Beast II 2003 || KO || Round 1, 1:02

References

External links

PRIDE Fighter Bio

K-1 Fighter Bio

Oct 30 2008 Audio Interview with In Your Head

Interview recap

Category:American boxers Category:American kickboxers Category:American mixed martial artists Category:Super heavyweight mixed martial artists Category:Heavyweight boxers Category:Super heavyweight kickboxers Category:People from Bay City, Michigan Category:People from Walker County, Alabama Category:Boxers from Alabama Category:Boxers from Michigan Category:Kickboxers from Alabama Category:Kickboxers from Michigan Category:Mixed martial artists from Alabama Category:Mixed martial artists from Michigan Category:1966 births Category:Living people

de:Eric Esch fr:Eric Esch it:Eric Esch ja:バタービーン pl:Eric Esch ru:Эш, Эрик fi:Eric Esch

name	Robert Pattinson
birth name	Robert Douglas Thomas Pattinson
birth date	May 13, 1986
birth place	London, England, UK
other names	Rob, R-Pattz, Spunk Ransom (nicknames)
occupation	Actor, model, musician, producer
yearsactive	2004–present
relatives	Lizzy Pattinson (sister)
signature	Robert Pattinson signature.svg }}

Robert Douglas Thomas Pattinson (born 13 May 1986) is an English actor, model, musician, and producer. Born and raised in London, Pattinson started out his career by playing the role of Cedric Diggory in ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire''. Later, he landed the leading role of Edward Cullen in the film adaptations of the ''Twilight'' novels by Stephenie Meyer, and came to worldwide fame. Pattinson was ranked as one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood based on 2009 earnings. In 2010, Pattinson was named one of ''TIME'' magazine's 100 Most Influential People in The World, and also in the same year ''Forbes'' ranked him as one of the most powerful celebrities in the world in the Forbes Celebrity 100.

Early life

Pattinson was born in London. His mother, Clare, worked for a modelling agency, and his father, Richard, imported vintage cars from the U.S. Pattinson has two elder sisters, singer Lizzy Pattinson, and Victoria Pattinson. Growing up in the Barnes suburb of London, he attended Tower House School until he was 12, and then The Harrodian School. He became involved in amateur theatre at the Barnes Theatre Company. He auditioned and was cast in a small role in ''Guys and Dolls''. He next auditioned for Thornton Wilder's ''Our Town'' and was cast as George Gibbs. He also played in ''Anything Goes'' and ''Macbeth''. He caught the attention of an acting agent in a production of ''Tess of the d'Urbervilles'' and began looking for professional roles.

Career

Modelling

Pattinson began modelling when he was twelve years old, but the number of jobs began to decrease only four years later. In December 2008 he blamed the lack of work as a model on his masculine appearance: "When I first started I was quite tall and looked like a girl, so I got lots of jobs, because it was during that period where the androgynous look was cool. Then, I guess, I became too much of a guy, so I never got any more jobs. I had the most unsuccessful modelling career." Pattinson appeared in the advertising campaign for Hackett's autumn 2007 collection.

Acting

Pattinson had supporting roles in the made for television film ''Ring of the Nibelungs'' in 2004 and in director Mira Nair’s ''Vanity Fair'', although his scenes in the latter were deleted and only appear on the DVD version. In May 2005, he was slated to appear in the UK premiere of ''The Woman Before'' at the Royal Court Theatre, but was fired shortly before the opening night and was replaced by Tom Riley. Later that year he played Cedric Diggory in ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire''. For this role he was named that year's ''British Star of Tomorrow'' by ''The Times''. He has more than once been touted as the next Jude Law.

Pattinson played Edward Cullen in the film ''Twilight'', based on Stephenie Meyer's best-selling novel of the same name, which was released on 21 November 2008 in North America. According to ''TV Guide'', Pattinson was initially apprehensive about auditioning for the role of Edward Cullen, fearful that he would not be able to live up to the "perfection" expected from the character. He reprised his role as Edward Cullen in the ''Twilight'' sequels ''The Twilight Saga: New Moon'' and ''The Twilight Saga: Eclipse'', which was released 30 June 2010.

Pattinson had lead roles in the feature films ''Little Ashes'' (in which he plays Salvador Dalí), ''How to Be'' (a British comedy), and the short film ''The Summer House''.

In 2009, Pattinson presented at the 81st Academy Awards. On 10 November, Revolver Entertainment released the DVD ''Robsessed'', a documentary which details Pattinson's life and popularity.

In 2010, Pattinson executively produced and starred in the film ''Remember Me'', which was released on 12 March 2010. On 13 May 2010, Pattinson appeared on ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' for ''The Twilight Saga: Eclipse'' and also made an appearance on ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' on 18 May, which aired the following day. Pattinson attended the official worldwide red carpet premiere for ''The Twilight Saga: Eclipse'' on 24 June 2010 at the Los Angeles Nokia Theatre.

In 2011, he starred in ''Water for Elephants'', a film adaptation of the Sara Gruen novel of the same name, with Christoph Waltz and Reese Witherspoon.

He will play Georges Duroy in a film adaptation of the 1885 novel ''Bel Ami'', with Uma Thurman, which will be released in 2011. He will also appear in a theatre production for producer David Pugh.

Music

Pattinson plays guitar and piano, and composes his own music. He also appears as the singer of two songs on the ''Twilight'' soundtrack: "Never Think", which he co-wrote with Sam Bradley, and "Let Me Sign", which was written by Marcus Foster and Bobby Long. The songs were included in the film after director Catherine Hardwicke added Pattinson's recordings into an early cut without his knowledge, and he agreed that "one of them specifically, it really made the scene better. It was like it was supposed to be there." The soundtrack for the film ''How to Be'' features three original songs performed by Pattinson and written by composer Joe Hastings.

Aside from recording for the soundtracks, Pattinson has said, "I've never really recorded anything – I just played in pubs and stuff", and when asked about a professional music career, he said, "Music is my back-up plan if acting fails." In 2010, Pattinson was awarded the 'Hollywood's Most Influential Top Unexpected Musicians' award.

In the media

Pattinson was named one of the "Sexiest Men Alive" in 2008 and 2009 by ''People'' magazine. In 2009, he was also named the "Sexiest Man Alive" by ''Glamour''. ''Ask Men'' named Pattinson as one of the top 49 most influential men of 2009. In 2009, ''Vanity Fair'' named Pattinson "the most handsome man in the world" along with Angelina Jolie as the most beautiful woman in the world.

He was named one of ''Vanity Fair'''s "Top Hollywood Earners of 2009" with estimated earnings of $18 million in 2009.

In December 2009, Pattinson autographed a guitar to be auctioned off for charity. He also volunteered for the ''Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief'' in January 2010.

''GQ'' and ''Glamour'' both named him the "Best Dressed Man" of 2010, with ''GQ'' stating, "Extremely elegant and inspiring, the true essence of a contemporary man." In 2010, ''People'' also listed Pattinson in their "World's Most Beautiful" issue.

In 2010, Britain's ''The Sunday Times'' "Rich List" put him on its "list of young millionaires" in the UK, worth £13 million. ''Time'' magazine named him as one of 2010's 100 Most Influential People in The World. In June 2010, Pattinson was named by Forbes magazine the No.50 most powerful celebrity in the world with earnings $17 million. Due to Pattinson's rising fame, a wax statue of him was added to the Madame Tussauds collection in London and New York City. On 14 November 2010, Pattinson received two BBC Radio 1 Teen Awards, Best Dressed and Best Actor.

In 2011, Pattinson was No. 15 on ''Vanity Fair'''s "Hollywood Top 40" with earnings of $27.5 million in 2010.

Filmography

! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
2004		Rawdy Crawley	Only seen on DVD release
2004		Giselher	Television film
2005		Cedric Diggory
2006	''''	Toby Jugg	Television film
2007	''''	Daniel Gale	Television film
2007		Cedric Diggory	Cameo
2008	''How to Be''	Art
2008		Edward Cullen	Hollywood Film Award for New HollywoodMTV Movie Award for Breakthrough Performance MaleMTV Movie Award for Best Kiss MTV Movie Award for Best Fight People's Choice Award for Favourite On-Screen-Team Scream Award for Best Fantasy ActorTeen Choice Award for Choice HottieTeen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor DramaTeen Choice Award for Movie Liplock Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Rumble Nominated—Empire Award for Best NewcomerNominated—People's Choice Award for Favourite Movie ActorNominated—Scream Award for Best Ensemble Cast
2009	''Little Ashes''	Salvador Dalí
2009	''''	Edward Cullen	Russia's Georges Award for Best Foreign ActorNational Movie Award for Best PerformanceMTV Movie Award for Best Male PerformanceMTV Movie Award for Global SuperstarMTV Movie Award for Best Kiss Teen Choice Award for Movie Liplock Teen Choice Award for Movie chemistry Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor FantasyNominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice HottieNominated—Empire Award for Best ActorNominated—Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards for Cutest Couple Nominated—Razzie Award for Worst Supporting ActorNominated—Razzie Award for Worst Screen Couple (with Kristen Stewart)
2010		Tyler Hawkins
2010	''''	Edward Cullen	Teen Choice Award for Choice Summer Movie Star – MaleBrazilian Kids' Choice Award for Couple of the Year Scream Award for Best Fantasy ActorPeople's Choice Award for Favourite On-Screen-Team MTV Movie Award for Best Male PerformanceMTV Movie Award for Best Kiss MTV Movie Award for Best Fight Teen Choice Award for Choice VampireNominated—Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Award for Fave Kiss Nominated—People's Choice Award for Favorite Movie ActorNominated—People's Choice Award for Favorite Movie Star Under 25Nominated—Razzie Award for Worst Actor
2011		Jacob Jankowski
2011		Edward Cullen
2012		Georges Duroy	Awaiting release
2012		Edward Cullen	Post-production
2012		Eric Packer	Post-production

References

External links

Category:1986 births Category:Actors from London Category:English child actors Category:English film actors Category:English guitarists Category:English male models Category:English singer-songwriters Category:English stage actors Category:English television actors Category:Living people Category:Old Harrodians Category:People educated at Tower House School Category:People from Barnes, London

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name	Ellen DeGeneres
birth name	Ellen Lee DeGeneres
birth date	January 26, 1958
birth place	Metairie, Louisiana, United States
active	1981 – present
medium	Stand-up, television, film, books
nationality	American
subjects	Observational comedy, celebrity comedy, political comedy, family comedy, everyday life
influences	Steve Martin, Woody Allen, Bob Newhart, Johnny Carson
spouse	Portia de Rossi (2008–present)
domesticpartner	Anne Heche (1997–2000)Alexandra Hedison (2001–2004)

}}

Ellen Lee DeGeneres (; born January 26, 1958) is an American stand-up comedian, television host and actress. She hosts the syndicated talk show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show''.

DeGeneres has hosted both the Academy Awards and the Primetime Emmys. As a film actress, she starred in ''Mr. Wrong'', appeared in ''EDtv'' and ''The Love Letter'', and provided the voice of Dory in the Disney-Pixar animated film ''Finding Nemo'', for which she was awarded a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress, the first and only time a voice performance won a Saturn Award. She was a judge on ''American Idol'' for one year, having joined the show in its ninth season. She also starred in two television sitcoms, ''Ellen'' from 1994 to 1998 and ''The Ellen Show'' from 2001 to 2002. During the fourth season of ''Ellen'' in 1997, DeGeneres came out publicly as a lesbian in an appearance on ''The Oprah Winfrey Show''. Shortly afterwards, her character Ellen Morgan also came out to a therapist played by Winfrey, and the series went on to explore various LGBT issues including the coming out process. She has won thirteen Emmys and numerous other awards for her work and charitable efforts.

In November 2011, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton named her a Special Envoy for Global AIDS Awareness.

Early life and education

DeGeneres was raised in Metairie, Louisiana, the daughter of Elizabeth Jane DeGeneres (née Pfeffer), a speech therapist, and Elliott Everett DeGeneres, an insurance agent. She has one brother, Vance DeGeneres, who is a producer and musician. She is of French, English, German and Irish descent. DeGeneres was raised as a Christian Scientist until the age of thirteen. In 1973 DeGeneres's parents filed for separation and were divorced the following year. Shortly after, Betty Jane remarried Roy Gruessendorf, who worked as a salesman. Betty Jane and Ellen moved with Gruessendorf from the New Orleans area to Atlanta, Texas. Vance stayed with their birth father.

DeGeneres graduated from Atlanta High School in May 1976, after completing her first years of high school at Grace King High School in Metairie, Louisiana. She moved back to New Orleans to attend the University of New Orleans, where she majored in communication studies. After one semester, she left school to do clerical work in a law firm with her cousin Laura Gillen. She also held a job selling clothes at the chain store the Merry-Go-Round at the Lakeside Shopping Center. Other working experiences included J.C. Penney, being a waitress at TGI Friday's and another restaurant, a house painter, a hostess, and a bartender. She relates much of her childhood and career experiences in her comedic work.

Ancestry

On a February 9, 2011 episode of ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'', DeGeneres told her studio audience via a letter from the New England Genealogical Society that she is Kate Middleton's 15th cousin via their shared common ancestor Thomas Fairfax.

Stand-up comedy

DeGeneres started performing stand-up comedy at small clubs and coffee houses. By 1981 she was the emcee at Clyde's Comedy Club in New Orleans. DeGeneres cites Woody Allen and Steve Martin as her main influences at this time. In the early 1980s she began to tour nationally, being named Showtime's ''Funniest Person in America'' in 1982. In 1986 she appeared for the first time on the ''Tonight Show'' with Johnny Carson, who likened her to Bob Newhart. When Carson invited her over for an onscreen chat after her performance, she became the first comedienne in the show's history to be treated this way.

Film career

Early screen work

Television and film work in the late 1980s and early 1990s included roles on television in ''Open House'' and in the film ''Coneheads''.

''Ellen's Energy Adventure''

DeGeneres starred in a series of films for a show named ''Ellen's Energy Adventure'', which is part of the Universe of Energy attraction and pavilion at Walt Disney World's Epcot. The film also featured Bill Nye, Alex Trebek, Michael Richards, and Jamie Lee Curtis. The show revolved around DeGeneres's falling asleep and finding herself in an energy-themed version of ''Jeopardy!'', playing against an old rival, portrayed by Curtis, and Albert Einstein. The next film had DeGeneres hosting an educational look at energy, co-hosted with Nye. The ride first opened on September 15, 1996, as ''Ellen's Energy Crisis'' but was quickly renamed to the more positive-sounding ''Ellen's Energy Adventure''.

Television career

''Ellen'' (1994–1998)

DeGeneres's comedy material became the basis of the successful 1994–1998 sitcom ''Ellen'', named ''These Friends of Mine'' during its first season. The ABC show was popular in its first few seasons due in part to DeGeneres's style of observational humor; it was often referred to as a "female ''Seinfeld''."

''Ellen'' reached its height of popularity in February 1997, when DeGeneres made her homosexuality public on ''The Oprah Winfrey Show''. Subsequently her character on the sitcom came out of the closet in April to her therapist, played by Oprah Winfrey, revealing that she is gay. The coming-out episode, titled "The Puppy Episode", was one of the highest-rated episodes of the show. Later episodes of the series did not match its popularity, and after declining ratings, the show was canceled. DeGeneres returned to the stand-up comedy circuit, and later re-established herself as a successful talk show host.

''The Ellen Show''

DeGeneres returned to series television in 2001 with a new CBS sitcom, ''The Ellen Show''.

''The Ellen DeGeneres Show''

DeGeneres launched a daytime television talk show, ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' in September 2003. Amid a crop of several celebrity-hosted talk shows surfacing at the beginning of that season, such as those of Sharon Osbourne and Rita Rudner, her show has consistently risen in the Nielsen ratings and received widespread critical praise. It was nominated for 11 Daytime Emmy Awards in its first season, winning four, including Best Talk Show. The show has won 25 Emmy Awards in its first three seasons on the air. DeGeneres is known for her dancing and singing with the audience at the beginning of the show and during commercial breaks. She often gives away free prizes and trips to her studio audience with the help of her sponsors.

DeGeneres celebrated her thirty-year class reunion by flying her graduating class to California to be guests on her show in February 2006. She presented Atlanta High School with a surprise gift of a new electronic LED marquee sign.

In May 2006, DeGeneres made a surprise appearance at the Tulane University commencement in New Orleans. Following George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton to the podium, she came out in a bathrobe and furry slippers. "They told me everyone would be wearing robes," she said. Ellen then went on to make another commencement speech at Tulane in 2009.

The show broadcast for a week from Universal Studios Orlando in March 2007. Skits included DeGeneres going on the Hulk Roller Coaster Ride and the Jaws Boat Ride.

In May 2007, DeGeneres was placed on bed rest due to a torn ligament in her back. She continued hosting her show from a hospital bed, tended to by a nurse, explaining "the show must go on, as they say." Guests sat in hospital beds as well.

On May 1, 2009, DeGeneres celebrated her 1000th episode, featuring celebrity guests such as Oprah, Justin Timberlake, and Paris Hilton, among others.

''American Idol''

On September 9, 2009, it was confirmed that DeGeneres would replace Paula Abdul as a judge of the ninth season of ''American Idol''. Her role started after the contestant auditions, at the beginning of "Hollywood Week". It is reported that DeGeneres also signed a contract to be a judge on the show for at least five seasons. She made her ''American Idol'' debut on February 9, 2010.

On July 29, 2010, DeGeneres and Fox executives announced that the comedienne would be departing from the series after one season. In a statement, DeGeneres said that the series "didn't feel like the right fit for me".

Award shows

2001 Emmy Awards

DeGeneres received wide exposure on November 4, 2001 when she hosted the televised broadcast of the Emmy Awards. Presented after two cancellations due to network concerns that a lavish ceremony following the September 11, 2001 attacks would appear insensitive, the show required a more somber tone that would also allow viewers to temporarily forget the tragedy. DeGeneres received several standing ovations for her performance that evening, which included the line: "What would bug the Taliban more than seeing a gay woman in a suit surrounded by Jews?"

In August 2005, DeGeneres hosted the 2005 Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony held on September 18, 2005. This was three weeks after Hurricane Katrina, making it the second time she hosted the Emmys following a national tragedy. She also hosted the Grammy Awards in 1996 and in 1997.

79th Academy Awards

On September 7, 2006, DeGeneres was selected to host the 79th Academy Awards ceremony, which took place on February 25, 2007. This makes her the first openly gay or lesbian person to have hosted the event. During the Awards show, DeGeneres said, "What a wonderful night, such diversity in the room, in a year when there's been so many negative things said about people's race, religion, and sexual orientation. And I want to put this out there: If there weren't blacks, Jews and gays, there would be no Oscars, or anyone named Oscar, when you think about that." Reviews of her hosting gig were positive, with one saying, "DeGeneres rocked, as she never forgot that she wasn't just there to entertain the Oscar nominees but also to tickle the audience at home." Regis Philbin said in an interview that "the only complaint was there's not enough Ellen."

DeGeneres was nominated for an Emmy Award as host of the Academy Awards broadcast.

2007 Writers Guild strike

DeGeneres, like many actors who are also writers, is a member of both the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) and the Writers Guild of America (WGA). Thus, although DeGeneres verbally supported the 2007 WGA strike, she did not support it when she crossed the picket line the day after the strike began. Her representatives said she was competing with other first-run syndicated shows during the competitive November sweeps period, and that she could not break her contracts or risk her show's losing its time slot. As a show of solidarity with the strikers, DeGeneres omitted her monologue during the strike, typically written by WGA writers. The WGA condemned her while the AFTRA defended her.

Other ventures

Voice acting

DeGeneres lent her voice to the role of Dory, a fish with short-term memory loss, in the summer 2003 hit animated Disney/Pixar film ''Finding Nemo''. The film's director, Andrew Stanton, claimed that he chose Ellen because she "changed the subject five times before one sentence had finished" on her show. For her performance as Dory, DeGeneres won the Saturn Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films for "Best Supporting Actress"; "Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie" from the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards; and the Annie Award from the International Animated Film Association for "Outstanding Voice Acting". She was also nominated for a Chicago Film Critics Association Award in the "Best Supporting Actress" category. She also provided the voice of the dog in the prologue of the Eddie Murphy feature film ''Dr. Dolittle''. Her win of the Saturn Award marked the first and only time the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films has given the acting award for a voice performance.

Commercial spokeswoman

In November 2004, DeGeneres appeared, dancing, in an ad campaign for American Express. Her most recent American Express commercial, a two-minute black-and-white spot in which she works with animals, debuted in November 2006 and was created by Ogilvy and Mather. In 2007, the commercial won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Commercial.

DeGeneres began working with Cover Girl Cosmetics in September 2008, for which she has been criticized, as her animal-friendly values clash with Procter and Gamble's (the maker of Cover Girl Cosmetics) animal testing. Her face is the focus of new Cover Girl advertisements starting in January 2009. The beauty campaign will be DeGeneres's first.

In Spring 2012, DeGeneres becomes the spokesperson for J.C. Penney in a tour and advertising campaign.

Eleveneleven

On May 26, 2010, Ellen announced on her show that she was starting her own record label entitled "eleveneleven". Ellen explained her choice of name, claiming that she often sees the number 11:11 when looking at her clocks, that she found Greyson on the 11th, and that the singer's soccer jersey has the number 11. She mentioned that she had been looking for videos of performances on YouTube to start her label. The acts thus far signed to the label are Greyson Chance, Tom Andrews, and Jessica Simpson.

Personal life

DeGeneres was in a relationship (1997–2000) with actress Anne Heche. From 2001 to 2004, DeGeneres and actress/director/photographer Alexandra Hedison were in a relationship. They appeared on the cover of ''The Advocate'' after their separation had already been announced to the media.

Since 2004, DeGeneres has had a relationship with Portia de Rossi. After the overturn of the same-sex marriage ban in California, DeGeneres announced on a May 2008 show that she and de Rossi were engaged, and gave de Rossi a three-carat pink diamond ring. They were married on August 16, 2008 at their home, with nineteen guests including their mothers. The passage of Proposition 8 cast doubt on the legal status of their marriage but a subsequent California Supreme Court judgment validated it because it occurred before November 4, 2008.

DeGeneres and de Rossi live in Beverly Hills, with three dogs and four cats, and both are vegan. DeGeneres served as campaign ambassador to Farm Sanctuary's Adopt-A-Turkey Project in 2010, asking people to start "a new tradition by adopting a turkey instead of eating one" at Thanksgiving.

On August 6, 2010, de Rossi filed a petition to legally change her name to Portia Lee James DeGeneres The petition was granted on September 23, 2010.

In her book ''Love, Ellen'', DeGeneres's mother Betty DeGeneres describes being initially shocked when her daughter came out as a lesbian, but has become one of her strongest supporters, an active member of Parents & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) and spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign's Coming Out Project.

In 2007, ''Forbes'' estimated DeGeneres's net worth at US$65 million.

She is a fan of the National Football League, and has shown particular support for the New Orleans Saints and the Green Bay Packers. In 2011, she attended a Saints practice dressed as Packers Hall of Famer Don Hutson.

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1990	''Arduous Moon''	Herself	Short film
1991	''Wisecracks''	Herself	Documentary
1993		Coach
1994		Herself	Short film
		Herself	Short film
	Martha Alston
	''Goodbye Lover''	Sgt. Rita Pompano
	Prologue Dog
	''EDtv''	Cynthia
	Janet Hall
	''Pauly Shore Is Dead''	Herself
''Finding Nemo''	Dory	Voice
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1988	''Women of the Night''	Herself
1989		Margo Van Mete	Episode: "The Bad Seed" Episode: "Let's Get Physicals"
1992	''[[Laurie Hill">Annie Award
2004	''My Short Film''	Herself	Short film

Television

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1988	''Women of the Night''	Herself
1989		Margo Van Mete	Episode: "The Bad Seed" Episode: "Let's Get Physicals"
1992	''[[Laurie Hill''	Nancy MacIntyre	Episode: "Pilot" Episode: "The Heart Thing" Episode: "Walter and Beverly"
1994–1998
1995		Dr. Whitman
1998	''Mad About You''	Nancy Bloom
	''Ellen DeGeneres: The Beginning''	Herself	Comedy special
''If These Walls Could Talk 2''	Kal	Segment: "2000"
2001		Operator	Segment: "Reaching Normal"
2001	''Will & Grace''	Sister Louise
2001–2002	''The Ellen Show''	Ellen Richmond
	''Ellen DeGeneres: Here and Now''	Herself	Comedy special
''MADtv''	Herself
2003–present	''The Ellen DeGeneres Show''	Herself	TV show
	''E! True Hollywood Story''	Herself
	Herself
2005		Herself
	''Ellen's Really Big Show''	Herself
''Sesame Street''	Herself	Episode: "The Tutu Spell" ''(uncredited)''
''Forbes 20 Richest Women in Entertainment''	Herself
''The Bachelorette''	Herself
2007–2008	''American Idol''	Herself	Episode: "Idol Gives Back
2008	''Ellen's Even Bigger Really Big Show''	Herself	Comedy special
	''Ellen's Bigger, Longer & Wider Show''	Herself	Comedy special
	Guest Judge
2010	''[[American Idol''	Judge
2010	''The Simpsons''	Herself	Episode: "Judge Me Tender"

Discography

Year	Album	Notes
1996	''Ellen Degeneres: Taste This''	Stand-up comedy Live CD

Awards and honors

;Daytime Emmy Awards

Outstanding Talk Show, ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' – 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2011

Outstanding Talk Show Host, ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' – 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008

Outstanding Special Class Writing, ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' – 2005, 2006, 2007

;Emmy Awards

Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series, ''Ellen:'' "The Puppy Episode" – 1997

;People's Choice Awards

Favorite Funny Female Star – 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008

Favorite Talk Show Host – 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010

Favorite Yes I Chose This Star – 2008

;Kids' Choice Awards

Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie – 2004

; Tulane University President's Medal 2009

; Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards 2000 Lucy Award, actor, If These Walls Could Talk 2, in recognition of her excellence and innovation in her creative works that have enhanced the perception of women through the medium of television.

Bibliography

References

External links

The Ellen DeGeneres Show's official website

Category:1958 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century actors Category:21st-century actors Category:Actors from Louisiana Category:American film actors Category:American Christian Scientists Category:American people of English descent Category:American people of French descent Category:American people of German descent Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American philanthropists Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American television actors Category:American television talk show hosts Category:American vegans Category:Annie Award winners Category:Daytime Emmy Award winners Category:Emmy Award winners Category:GLAAD Media Awards winners Category:Lesbian actors Category:LGBT comedians from the United States Category:LGBT rights activists from the United States Category:LGBT television personalities from the United States Category:People from New Orleans, Louisiana Category:Reality television judges Category:Saturn Award winners Category:University of New Orleans alumni Category:Women comedians

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