}} Orenthal James "O. J." Simpson (born July 9, 1947), nicknamed "The Juice", is a retired American collegiate and professional football player, football broadcaster, actor, and convicted felon.

Originally attaining a public profile in sports as a running back at the collegiate and professional levels, Simpson was the American Football League's Buffalo Bills' first overall pick in the 1969 Common Draft, and the first professional football player to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season, a mark he set during the 1973 season. While five other players have passed the 2,000 rush yard mark he stands alone as the only player to ever rush for more than 2,000 yards in a 14-game season (professional football changed to a 16-game season in 1978). He also holds the record for the single season yards-per-game average which stands at 143.1 ypg. Simpson was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985. He also had successful careers in acting and sports commentary.

In 1995, Simpson was acquitted of the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman after a lengthy, internationally publicized criminal trial – the ''People v. Simpson''. A 1997 judgment against Simpson for their wrongful deaths was awarded in civil court, and to date he has paid little of the $33.5 million judgment. His book, ''If I Did It'' (2006), which purports to be a first-person fictional account of the murders had he actually committed them, was withdrawn by the publisher just before its release. The book was later released by the Goldman family.

In September 2007, Simpson was arrested in Las Vegas, Nevada, and charged with numerous felonies, including armed robbery and kidnapping. In 2008, he was found guilty and sentenced to 33 years imprisonment, with a minimum of 9 years without parole. He is currently serving his sentence at the Lovelock Correctional Center in Lovelock, Nevada.

Early life

Simpson was born in San Francisco, the son of Eunice (née Durden; October 23, 1921 – San Francisco, California, November 9, 2001), a hospital administrator, and Jimmy Lee Simpson (Arkansas, January 29, 1920 – San Francisco, California, June 9, 1986), a chef and bank custodian. Simpson's maternal grandparents were from Louisiana. His aunt gave him the name Orenthal, which supposedly was the name of a French actor she liked. Simpson has one brother, Melvin Leon "Truman" Simpson, and one living sister, Shirley Simpson-Baker, and one deceased sister, Carmelita Simpson-Durio. As a child, Simpson developed rickets and wore braces on his legs until the age of five. His parents separated in 1952.

At Galileo High School in San Francisco, Simpson played for the school football team, the Galileo Lions. From 1965 to 1966, Simpson was a student at City College of San Francisco, a member of the California Community College system. He played both offense (running back) and defense (defensive back) and was named to the Junior College All-American team as a running back.

Football

University of Southern California

Simpson gained an athletic scholarship to the University of Southern California where he played running back in 1967 and 1968. Simpson led the nation in rushing in 1967 when he ran for 1,451 yards and scored 11 touchdowns. He also led the nation in rushing the next year with 355 carries for 1,709 yards.

In 1967, he starred in the 1967 USC vs. UCLA football game and was a Heisman Trophy candidate as a junior, but he did not win the award. His 64 yard touchdown run in the 4th quarter tied the game, with the PAT the margin of victory. This was the biggest play in what is regarded as one of the greatest football games of the 20th century.

Another dramatic touchdown in the same game is the subject of the Arnold Friberg oil painting, ''O.J. Simpson Breaks for Daylight.'' Simpson also won the Walter Camp Award in 1967 and was a two-time consensus All-American. He ran in the USC sprint relay quartet that broke the world record at the NCAA track championships in Provo, Utah in June 1967.

In 1968, he rushed for 1,709 yards and 22 touchdowns, earning the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Award, and the Walter Camp Award that year. He still holds the record for the Heisman's largest margin of victory, defeating the runner-up by 1,750 points. In the 1969 Rose Bowl where No. 2 USC faced No. 1 Ohio State, Simpson ran for 171 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown run in a 16–27 loss.

Professional football

Simpson was drafted by the AFL's Buffalo Bills, who got first pick in the 1969 AFL-NFL Common Draft after finishing 1–12–1 in 1968. Early in his professional football career, Simpson struggled on poor Buffalo teams, averaging only 622 yards per season for his first three.

He first rushed for more than 1,000 yards in 1972, gaining a total of 1,251. In 1973, Simpson rushed for a record 2,003 yards, becoming the first player ever to pass the 2,000-yard mark, and scored 12 touchdowns. Simpson gained more than 1,000 rushing yards for each of his next three seasons. From 1972 to 1976, Simpson averaged 1,540 rushing yards per (14 game) season, 5.1 yards per carry, and he won the NFL rushing title four times. Simpson had the best game of his career during the Thanksgiving game against the Detroit Lions on November 25, 1976, when he rushed for a then record 273 yards on 29 attempts and scoring two touchdowns.

29 at SD NYJ PHI BAL at MIA KC at NO CIN MIA at BAL at ATL NE at NYJ

Week !! Team !! Carries !! Yards !! Average
1	at NE	|	250	8.6
2	|	22	103	4.7
3	|	24	123	5.1
4	|	27	171	6.3
5	|	22	166	7.5
6	|	14	55	3.9
7	|	39	157	4.0
8	|	20	79	4.0
9	|	20	99	5.0
10	|	20	120	6.0
11	|	15	124	8.3
12	|	24	137	5.7
13	|	22	219	10.0
14	|	34	200	5.9
! 1973 !! TOTAL !! 332 !! 2,003 !! 6.0

Simpson's 1977 season in Buffalo was cut short by injury. Before the 1978 season, the Bills traded Simpson to the San Francisco 49ers for a second round draft pick, where he played two unremarkable seasons.

Simpson gained 11,236 rushing yards, placing him 2nd on the NFL's all-time rushing list; he now stands at 17th. He was named NFL Player of the Year in 1973, and played in six Pro Bowls. He was the only player in NFL history to rush for over 2,000 yards in a 14 game season and he's the only player to rush for over 200 yards in six different games in his career. Simpson was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985, his first year of eligibility.

Simpson acquired the nickname "Juice" as a play on "O. J.", an informal abbreviation for "Orange Juice". "Juice" is also a colloquial synonym for electricity or electrical power, and hence a metaphor for any powerful entity; the Bills' offensive line at Simpson's peak was nicknamed "The Electric Company."

Acting

Even before his retirement from football and in the NFL, Simpson embarked on a successful film career with parts in films such as the television mini-series ''Roots'', and the dramatic motion pictures ''The Cassandra Crossing'', ''Capricorn One'', ''The Klansman'', ''The Towering Inferno'', and the comedic ''Back to the Beach'' and ''The Naked Gun'' trilogy. In 1979, he started his own film production company, Orenthal Productions, which dealt mostly in made-for-TV fare such as the family-oriented ''Goldie and the Boxer'' films with Melissa Michaelsen and ''Cocaine and Blue Eyes'', the pilot for a proposed detective series on NBC. NBC was considering whether to air ''Frogmen'', another series starring Simpson, when his arrest canceled the project.

Simpson's amiable persona and natural charisma landed him numerous endorsement deals. He was a spokesman for the Hertz rental car company. He would be depicted running through airports, as if to suggest he was back on the football field. Simpson was also a longtime spokesman for Pioneer Chicken and owned two franchises, one of which was destroyed during the 1992 Los Angeles riots; as well as HoneyBaked Ham, the pX Corporation, and Calistoga Water Company's line of Napa Naturals soft drinks. He also appeared in comic book ads for Dingo cowboy boots.

Besides his acting career, Simpson worked as a commentator for ''Monday Night Football'' and ''The NFL on NBC''. He also appeared in the audience of ''Saturday Night Live'' during its second season and hosted an episode during its third season.

Family life

On June 24, 1967, Simpson married Marguerite L. Whitley. Together they had three children: Arnelle L. Simpson (born December 4, 1968), Jason L. Simpson (born April 21, 1970) and Aaren Lashone Simpson (born September 24, 1977). In August 1979, Aaren drowned in the family's swimming pool a month before her second birthday Simpson and Whitley were also divorced that same year.

On February 2, 1985, Simpson married Nicole Brown. They had two children, Sydney Brooke Simpson (born October 17, 1985) and Justin Ryan Simpson (born August 6, 1988), and were divorced in 1992.

Nicole Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman were murdered on June 12, 1994. Simpson was charged with their deaths and subsequently acquitted of all criminal charges in a controversial criminal trial. In the unanimous jury findings of a civil court case in February 1997, Simpson was found liable for the wrongful death of Ronald Goldman and battery of Nicole Brown.

Legal history

Criminal trial for murder

In 1989, Simpson pleaded no contest to a domestic violence charge and was separated from Nicole Brown, to whom he was paying child support. On June 12, 1994 Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman were found dead outside Brown's condominium. Simpson was charged with their murders. On June 17, after failing to turn himself in, he became the object of a low-speed pursuit in a white Ford Bronco SUV that interrupted coverage of the 1994 NBA Finals. The pursuit, arrest, and trial were among the most widely publicized events in American history. The trial, often characterized as "the trial of the century," culminated on October 3, 1995 in a jury verdict of not guilty for the two murders. The verdict was seen live on TV by more than half of the U.S. population, making it one of the most watched events in American TV history. Immediate reaction to the verdict was notable for its division along racial lines: polls showed that most African-Americans felt that justice had been served by the "not guilty" verdict, while most white Americans did not. O. J. Simpson's defense counsel included Johnnie Cochran, Robert Kardashian, and F. Lee Bailey.

Wrongful death civil trial

On February 5, 1997 a civil jury in Santa Monica, California unanimously found Simpson liable for the wrongful death of and battery against Goldman, and battery against Brown. Daniel Petrocelli represented plaintiff Fred Goldman, Ronald Goldman's father. Simpson was ordered to pay $33,500,000 in damages. However, California law protects pensions from being used to satisfy judgments, so Simpson was able to continue much of his lifestyle based on his NFL pension. In February 1999, an auction of Simpson's Heisman Trophy and other belongings netted almost $500,000. The money went to the Goldman family.

A 2000 ''Rolling Stone'' article reported that Simpson still made a significant income by signing autographs. He subsequently moved from California to Miami. In Florida, a person's residence cannot be seized to collect a debt under most circumstances. The Goldman family also tried to collect Simpson's NFL pension of $28,000 a year but failed to collect any money.

On September 5, 2006, Goldman's father took Simpson back to court to obtain control over his "right to publicity" for purposes of satisfying the judgment in the civil court case. On January 4, 2007, a Federal judge issued a restraining order prohibiting Simpson from spending any advance he may have received on a canceled TV and book deal. The matter was dismissed before trial for lack of jurisdiction. On January 19, 2007, a California state judge issued an additional restraining order, ordering Simpson to restrict his spending to "ordinary and necessary living expenses".

On March 13, 2007, a judge prevented Simpson from receiving any further compensation from a canceled book deal and TV interview. He ordered the bundled book rights to be auctioned. In August 2007, a Florida bankruptcy court awarded the rights to the book to the Goldman family to partially satisfy an unpaid civil judgment. The book was renamed ''If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer'', with the word "If" reduced in size to make it appear that the title was "I Did It: Confessions of the Killer", and comments were added to the original manuscript by the Goldman family, author Pablo Fenjves, and prominent investigative journalist Dominick Dunne. The author was listed as the Goldman family.

Alleged confession

Mike Gilbert, a memorabilia dealer and former agent and friend of Simpson, wrote a book titled ''How I Helped O.J. Get Away with Murder: The Shocking Inside Story of Violence, Loyalty, Regret and Remorse''. He states that Simpson had smoked marijuana, took a sleeping pill and was drinking beer when he allegedly confided at his Brentwood home weeks after his trial what happened the night of June 12, 1994. According to Gilbert, Simpson said, "If she hadn't opened that door with a knife in her hand...she'd still be alive." Gilbert claimed Simpson had confessed. However, Simpson's current lawyer, Yale Galanter, said none of Gilbert's claims are true and that Gilbert is "a delusional drug addict who needs money. He has fallen on very hard times. He is in trouble with the Internal Revenue Service."

Miscellaneous legal troubles

The State of California claims Simpson owes $1.44 million in past due taxes. A tax lien was filed in his case on September 1, 1999.

In February 2001, Simpson was arrested in Miami-Dade County, Florida for simple battery and burglary of an occupied conveyance for allegedly yanking the glasses off another motorist during a traffic dispute 3 months earlier. If convicted, Simpson faced up to 16 years in prison. He was put on trial and quickly acquitted on both charges in October 2001.

Simpson's Miami home was searched by the FBI on December 4, 2001 on suspicion of ecstasy possession and money laundering. The FBI had received a tip that O.J. Simpson was involved in a major drug trafficking ring after 10 other suspects were arrested in the case. Mr. Simpson's home was thoroughly searched for two hours, yet no illegal drugs were ever discovered. No arrest or formal charges ever stemmed from this incident. However, investigators uncovered equipment capable of broadcasting pirated satellite television signals which eventually led to Simpson being sued in federal court.

On July 4, 2002, O.J. Simpson was arrested in Miami-Dade County, Florida for speeding through a Manatee Zone and failing to comply with proper boating regulations. His attorney, Yale Galanter, was able to get the misdemeanor boating regulation charge dropped and Simpson only had to pay a fine for the speeding infraction.

In March 2004, satellite television network DirecTV, Inc. accused Simpson in a Miami federal court of using illegal electronic devices to pirate its broadcast signals. The company later won a $25,000 judgment, and Simpson was ordered to pay $33,678 in attorney's fees and costs.

Las Vegas robbery

Coordinates	29°57′53″N90°4′14″N
name	Orenthal James Simpson
motive	Personal gain
charge	Robbery, kidnapping, coercion, conspiracy
conviction	October 3, 2008
conviction penalty	Up to 33 years in state prison, eligible for parole after nine years
conviction status	Incarcerated at Lovelock Correctional Center, Nevada
children	}}

In September 2007, a group of men led by Simpson entered a room at the Palace Station hotel-casino and took sports memorabilia at gunpoint, which resulted in Simpson being questioned by police. Simpson admitted to taking the items, which he said had been stolen from him, but denied breaking into the hotel room; he also denied that he or anyone else carried a gun. He was released after questioning.

Two days later, however, Simpson was arrested and initially held without bail. Along with three other men, Simpson was charged with multiple felony counts, including criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, assault, robbery, and using a deadly weapon. Bail was set at $125,000, with stipulations that Simpson have no contact with the co-defendants and that he surrender his passport. Simpson did not enter a plea.

By the end of October 2007, all three of Simpson's co-defendants had plea bargained with the prosecution in the Clark County, Nevada court case. Walter Alexander and Charles H. Cashmore accepted plea agreements in exchange for reduced charges and his testimony against Simpson and three other co-defendants, including testifying that guns were used in the robbery. Co-defendant Michael McClinton told a Las Vegas judge that he too would plead guilty to reduced charges and testify against Simpson that guns were used in the robbery. After the hearings, the judge ordered that Simpson be tried for the heist.

Simpson's preliminary hearing, to decide whether he would be tried for the charges, occurred on November 8, 2007. He was held over for trial on all 12 counts. Simpson pleaded not guilty on November 29. Court officers and attorneys announced on May 22, 2008, that long questionnaires with at least 115 queries would be given to a jury pool of 400 or more. Trial was reset from April to September 8, 2008.

In January 2008, Simpson was taken into custody in Florida and flown to Las Vegas where he was incarcerated at the county jail for allegedly violating the terms of his bail by attempting to contact Clarence "C.J." Stewart, a co-defendant in the trial. District Attorney David Roger of Clark County, provided District Court Judge Jackie Glass with data that Simpson had violated terms of bail. The hearing on this bail issue was on January 16, 2008. Clark County District Court Judge Jackie Glass raised Simpson's bail to US$250,000 and ordered that he remain in county jail until 15 percent of the bail, in cash, was paid. Simpson posted bond that evening and returned to Miami the next day.

Simpson and his co-defendant were found guilty of all charges on October 3, 2008. On October 10, 2008, O. J. Simpson's counsels moved for new trial (trial de novo) on grounds of judicial errors (two African-American jurors were dismissed) and insufficient evidence. Galanter announced he would appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court if Judge Glass denied the motion. The attorney for Simpson's co-defendant, C.J. Stewart, petitioned for a new trial, alleging Stewart should have been tried separately, and cited perceived misconduct by the jury foreman, Paul Connelly.

Simpson faced a possible life sentence with parole on the kidnapping charge, and mandatory prison time for armed robbery. On December 5, 2008, Simpson was sentenced to a total of 33 years in prison with the possibility of parole in about 9 years. On September 4, 2009, the Nevada Supreme Court denied a request for bail during Simpson's appeal. In October 2010, the Nevada Supreme Court affirmed his convictions. He is now serving his sentence as Nevada Department of Corrections inmate #1027820 at the Lovelock Correctional Center.

Filmography

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- |rowspan=2|1968 |''Ironside'' |Onlooker – uncredited |TV Episode – "Price Tag Death" |- |''Dragnet 1969'' |Student |TV |- |1969 |''Medical Center'' |Bru Wiley |TV Episode "The Last 10 Yards" |- |1971 |''Why?'' |The Athlete |short film |- |1972 |''Cade's County'' |Jeff Hughes |TV Episode "Blackout" |- |1973 |''Here's Lucy'' |Himself |(TV series) episode "The Big Game" |- |rowspan=3|1974 |''The Klansman'' |Garth | |- |''O. J. Simpson: Juice on the Loose'' |Himself | TV documentary |- |''The Towering Inferno'' |Jernigan | |- |rowspan=2|1976 |''The Cassandra Crossing'' |Haley | |- |''Killer Force'' |Alexander | |- |rowspan=2|1977 |''A Killing Affair'' |Woodrow York |TV |- |''Roots'' |Kadi Touray | |- |1978 |''Capricorn One'' |Cmdr. John Walker | |- |rowspan=2|1979 |''Firepower'' |Catlett | |- |''Goldie and the Boxer'' |Joe Gallagher |TV (executive producer) |- |1980 |''Detour to Terror'' |Lee Hayes |TV (executive producer) |- |1981 |''Goldie and the Boxer Go to Hollywood'' |Joe Gallagher |TV (executive producer) |- |1983 |''Cocaine and Blue Eyes'' |Michael Brennen |TV (executive producer) |- |1984 |''Hambone and Hillie'' |Tucker | |- |1985–1991 |''1st & Ten'' |T.D. Parker |Five episodes |- |rowspan=2|1987 |''Back to the Beach'' |Man at Airport |Uncredited |- |''Student Exchange'' |Soccer Coach |TV |- |1988 |''The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!'' |Detective Nordberg | |- |1989 |''In the Heat of the Night'' |Councilman Lawson Stiles |TV episode "Walkout" |- |1991 |''The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear'' |Detective Nordberg | |- |rowspan=2|1993 |''CIA Code Name: Alexa'' |Nick Murphy | |- |''No Place to Hide'' |Allie Wheeler | |- |rowspan=2|1994 |''Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult'' |Detective Nordberg | |- |''Frogmen'' |John 'Bullfrog' Burke |unaired TV movie |- |2006 |''Juiced with O. J. Simpson'' |Himself |TV pay-per-view |- |}

See also

List of American Football League players

Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame

References

External links

Member ''Pro Football Hall of Fame:'' profile

O.J. Simpson Profile at USC Legends

Civil and criminal trials

Nevada Department of Corrections, Inmate Detail Record

TruTV's O.J. Simpson Case File

CNN – Judge allows new shoe photo in Simpson trial – Jan. 6, 1997

MSNBC – Man behind Simpson guilty verdict – Updated: 8:32 p.m. ET June 13, 2004

O.J. Simpson civil trial index

O.J. Simpson Verdict Ten Years Later (PBS Frontline streaming video)

FindLaw: O.J. Simpson's 2007 Las Vegas criminal charges

CNN, Timeline

CNN, Motion for New Trial, October 10, 2008

}}

Category:1947 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century American criminals Category:Actors from California Category:African American film actors Category:African American players of American football Category:All-American college football players Category:American burglars Category:American Conference Pro Bowl players Category:American people convicted of assault Category:American Football League All-Star players Category:American football running backs Category:American kidnappers Category:American prisoners and detainees Category:American robbers Category:American television sports announcers Category:Buffalo Bills (AFL) players Category:City College of San Francisco alumni Category:College football announcers Category:College Football Hall of Fame inductees Category:Heisman Trophy winners Category:History of Los Angeles, California Category:National Football League announcers Category:National Football League first overall draft picks Category:National Football League 10,000 yard rushers Category:National Football League players with multiple rushing titles Category:NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team Category:People acquitted of murder Category:People from San Francisco, California Category:Prisoners and detainees of Nevada Category:Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees Category:San Francisco 49ers players Category:USC Trojans football players Category:People associated with Direct Sales

ar:أو جاي سيمبسون bar:O. J. Simpson da:O.J. Simpson de:O. J. Simpson es:O.J. Simpson eo:O. J. Simpson fr:O. J. Simpson ko:O. J. 심슨 hr:O.J. Simpson io:O. J. Simpson id:O. J. Simpson it:Orenthal James Simpson he:או. ג'יי. סימפסון lv:O. Dž. Simpsons hu:O. J. Simpson nl:O.J. Simpson ja:O・J・シンプソン no:O.J. Simpson pl:O.J. Simpson pt:O. J. Simpson ru:Симпсон, О. Джей simple:O. J. Simpson sh:O.J. Simpson fi:O. J. Simpson sv:O.J. Simpson ta:ஓ. ஜே. சிம்சன் uk:О. Джей Сімпсон zh:O·J·辛普森

OJ Simpson trial may refer to:

O. J. Simpson murder case, Simpson's 1995 criminal trial for murder

* O. J. Simpson murder case#Civil trial, the civil trial against Simpson for wrongful death, stemming from the murder case

O. J. Simpson robbery case, Simpson's 2008 criminal trial for robbery and kidnapping

Coordinates	29°57′53″N90°4′14″N
Name	Nicole Brown Simpson
Birth date	May 19, 1959
Birth place	Frankfurt, West Germany
Death date	June 12, 1994
Death place	Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Death cause	Murder
Resting place	Ascension CemeteryLake Forest, California
Residence	Los Angeles, California
Other names	Nicole Brown
Education	Rancho Alamitos High School (Freshman/Sophomore Year)Dana Hills High School (Junior/Senior Year)
Home town	Laguna Beach, California, U.S.
Spouse	O. J. Simpson (February 2, 1985–1992)
Children	Sydney Brooke SimpsonJustin Ryan Simpson
Parents	Juditha Anne and Louis Hezekiel Brown }}

Nicole Brown Simpson (May 19, 1959 – June 12, 1994) was a former wife of professional football player O. J. Simpson.

Relationship with O. J. Simpson

Brown met O. J. Simpson in June 1977 while working as a waitress at a Beverly Hills nightclub, ''Daisy''. Although he was still married to his first wife Marguerite, Simpson and Brown began dating. Simpson and Marguerite divorced in March 1980. Brown and Simpson were married on February 2, 1985, five years after his retirement from professional football. They had two children together, Sydney Brooke (born October 17, 1985) and Justin Ryan Simpson (born August 6, 1988). The marriage lasted seven years, during which Simpson pleaded no contest to spousal abuse in 1989. Brown filed for divorce in 1992 citing "irreconcilable differences".

In his hypothetical memoir ''If I Did It'', Simpson describes Brown as having a dual personality-- one caring and another reflexively hostile. Simpson depicts Brown as often emotionally abusive and states that Brown would continuously argue with him, often over irrelevant and pointless things. Simpson also describes Brown as a habitual user of illegal drugs. Book ghostwriter/co-writer Pablo Fenjves later described Simpson's views as self-delusion.

Murder

She was murdered at her home in Los Angeles, California, along with her friend Ronald Goldman. O. J. Simpson, her ex-husband, was arrested and found not guilty of murdering both her and Goldman in a controversial criminal trial. He was later found liable for the deaths in a civil suit brought by the families of the two victims.

After murder

In 1996, after the conclusion of the Orenthal James Simpson murder case, a judge granted Simpson's petition to give him full custody of the children. Brown's parents continued unsuccessfully to fight for custody of Sydney and Justin.

In 1994, Nicole Brown's sister Denise established The Nicole Brown Charitable Foundation to help victims of domestic violence.

References

External links

Court TV's complete coverage of the O. J. Simpson murder case

Nicole Brown Foundation

Category:1959 births Category:1994 deaths Category:American murder victims Category:Deaths by stabbing Category:Military brats Category:O. J. Simpson murder case Category:People from Frankfurt Category:People murdered in California Category:Unsolved murders in the United States

de:Nicole Brown Simpson es:Nicole Brown Simpson fr:Nicole Brown Simpson id:Nicole Brown Simpson hu:Nicole Brown Simpson no:Nicole Brown Simpson pt:Nicole Brown Simpson ru:Браун-Симпсон, Николь sh:Nicole Brown Simpson

Demetri Martin (born May 25, 1973) is an American comedian, actor, artist, musician, writer and humorist. Martin is best known for his work as a stand-up comedian, contributor on ''The Daily Show'' and for his Comedy Central show ''Important Things with Demetri Martin''.

Early life

Demetri Martin was born to a Greek American family in New York City, New York, and grew up in Toms River, New Jersey. He is the son of Lillian, a nutritionist, and Dean C. Martin, now deceased, a Greek Orthodox priest. Martin graduated from Yale University in 1995. Although he was accepted into Harvard Law School, he went to New York University School of Law after he received a full scholarship.

Career

In 2001, Martin caught his first big break in stand-up comedy when he appeared on Comedy Central's stand-up showcase ''Premium Blend''. At the 2003 Edinburgh Festival Fringe he won the Perrier award with his show ''If I...''. The show was turned into a British television special in 2004. From 2003 to 2004, Martin wrote for ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien''. In 2004, Martin had his own ''Comedy Central Presents'' stand-up special. His special was divided into three parts. In the first, he performed in traditional stand-up comedy fashion. In the second segment, he used humorous drawings as visual aids, which would serve either as the punchline or a background. During the third segment, he played a guitar and put on a pseudo-play where he would strum his guitar while alternating between playing harmonica and talking; some of his comedian friends dressed as fairies and dragons acted according to the story he was telling, detailing the magical land where his jokes came from. Martin's mother and grandmother also appeared.

Since late 2005, he has been credited as a contributor on ''The Daily Show'', on which he has appeared as the named "Senior Youth Correspondent" and on which he hosts a segment called "Trendspotting". He has used this segment to talk about so-called hip trends among youth such as hookahs, wine, guerilla marketing and Xbox 360. A piece about social networking featured his profile on MySpace. On March 22, 2007, Demetri made another appearance on ''The Daily Show'', talking about the Viacom lawsuit against Google and YouTube.

He has recorded a comedy CD/DVD titled ''These Are Jokes'', which was released on September 26, 2006. This album also features ''Saturday Night Live'' member Will Forte and stand-up comedian Leo Allen.

Martin returned to ''The Daily Show'' on March 22, 2006, as the new Youth Correspondent, calling his segment "Professional Important News with Demetri Martin". In 2007, he starred in a Fountains of Wayne music video for "Someone to Love" as Seth Shapiro, a character in the song. He also starred in the video for the new Travis single "Selfish Jean", in which he wears multiple t-shirts with lyrics written on them.

On September 2, 2007, Martin appeared on the season finale of the HBO series ''Flight of the Conchords''. He appeared as a keytar player named Demetri.

He also had a part in the movie ''The Rocker'' (2008) starring Rainn Wilson. Martin played the part of the videographer when the band in the movie was making their first music video.

In 2009, he hosted and starred in his own television show called Important Things With Demetri Martin on Comedy Central. Later in June, it was announced his show had been renewed for a second season. The second season premiered, again on Comedy Central, on February 4, 2010. Martin has stated that ''Important Things'' will not return for a third season.

Prior to completing work on his second season, Martin starred in the comedy-drama film ''Taking Woodstock'' (2009), directed by Ang Lee, which premiered at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. In the film Martin plays Elliot Tiber, a closeted gay artist who has given up his ambitions in the city to move upstate and help his old-world Jewish family run their Catskill Mountains motel. The film is based on the book written by Tiber.

On April 25, 2011, Martin released his first book, titled ''This Is a Book by Demetri Martin''.

Martin was slated to portray Paul DePodesta as Oakland Athletics assistant GM to Billy Beane in the 2011 movie ''Moneyball'', however was dropped and Jonah Hill took his place in the movie.

Future plans

Martin sold his movie concept ''Will'' to DreamWorks; he is expected to play a key supporting role. He will play the lead in the film ''Moon People'', a pitch that he sold to Columbia Pictures.

Martin also signed a blind script deal with CBS in October 2010 to produce, write, and star in his own television series.

After CBS was shown the pilot for the series, they decided not to air it.

On August 11, 2011, Fox ordered a presentation of a new animated show they might air.

''If I''

''If I'' is a Perrier Comedy Award-winning comedy one-man show written and performed by Demetri Martin at the 2003 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. It was also aired on British television as a special. The show is an autobiographical examination of Martin's life, as seen through various definitions of the word "if."

The title of the special comes from a lengthy palindromic poem that Martin wrote; the words "if I" are at the center of the poem.

Comedic style

Martin is known for being an unconventional stand-up comic. He uses one-liners and drawings on a "large pad", as well as accompanying his jokes with music on either guitar, harmonica, piano, keyboard, glockenspiel, toy bells, ukulele, or tambourine, sometimes all at once. He has cited comedian Steven Wright as an important influence (both use deadpan one-liners in their acts) and he is also a fan of Bill Cosby.

Personal life

According to a July 2011 interview on the WTF with Marc Maron podcast, Demetri had a short-lived marriage to a girl he knew from high school. They began dating after high school and got married when he was in NYU Law School and she was attending NYU Medical School. He was aged 25 and in the end of his marriage when his stand-up career began.

He is extremely allergic to nuts and peanuts.

Martin moved to Santa Monica, California in 2009.

Filmography

''Invite Them Up'' (2005)

''These Are Jokes'' (2006)

''Demetri Martin. Person.'' (2007)

''Important Things with Demetri Martin (2009-2010)

Filmography and television work

''If I'' ''12:21'' ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' "''Someone to Love (Fountains of Wayne song) ''Flight of the Conchords (TV series) ''The Rocker (film) ''Paper Heart'' ''Post Grad'' ''Taking Woodstock'' ''Important Things with Demetri Martin'' ''Take Me Home Tonight (film) ''Contagion (film) ''Conan_(TV_series)

Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
2002	''Analyze That''	Personal Assistant
2003	|	Himself	British television special, also writer
2004	|	Himself	short film, also writer
2004	|	Himself	1 episode, series writer
2007	Someone to Love''" ||	Seth Shapiro	''Fountains of Wayne'' music video
2007	Flight of the Conchords'' ||	Demetri	Season 1, Episode 12
2008	The Rocker'' ||	Kip (a music video producer)
2009	|	Himself
2009	|	Ad Exec
2009	|	Elliot Tiber
2009–2010	|	Himself / Various	writer, series creator, executive producer, and composer
2011	Take Me Home Tonight'' ||	Carlos
2011	Contagion'' ||	Dr. David Eisenberg
2011	Conan'' ||	Himself	guest

Written works

''This Is a Book'', April 2011, .

Awards and nominations

AwardPerrier Comedy AwardEmmy Awards Shared with Mike Sweeney (writer)Writers Guild of America Award Shared with Mike Sweeney (writer)Barry Award (for comedy)

Year	|	For	Category	Result	Other notes
2003	|	''If I''		Won	At the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
2004	|	''Late Night with Conan O'Brien''	Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Program	Nominated	Mike Sweeney (head writer), Chris Albers, Jose Arroyo, Andy Blitz, Kevin Dorff, Daniel J. Goor, Michael Gordon, Brian Kiley, Michael Koman, Brian McCann, Guy Nicolucci, Conan O'Brien, Allison Silverman, Robert Smigel, Brian Stack, Andrew Weinberg
2005	|	''Late Night with Conan O'Brien''	Comedy/Variety (Including Talk) - Series	Won	Mike Sweeney (head writer), Chris Albers, Jose Arroyo, Andy Blitz, Kevin Dorff, Daniel J. Goor, Michael Gordon, Brian Kiley, Michael Koman, Brian McCann, Guy Nicolucci, Conan O'Brien, Allison Silverman, Robert Smigel, Brian Stack, Andrew Weinberg
2006	Barry Award ||	''Dr. Earnest Parrot Presents Demetri Martin''		Won	Award for best show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival

References

External links

Interview from November, 2006, in Onion AV Club

Interview from October 2006, in The DePaulia

Article, in ''The Scotsman''

Article, in ''Gelf Magazine''

Interview by Brian M. Palmer

MP3 Audio Interview on ''The Sound of Young America'' public radio show and podcast

Interview Believer Mag

New Jersey Monthly Magazine

Fresh Air, NPR.org

Category:1973 births Category:Actors from New Jersey Category:Actors from New York City Category:American comedians Category:American comedy musicians Category:American comedy writers Category:American film actors Category:American humorists Category:American people of Greek descent Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American television actors Category:American television writers Category:Living people Category:New York University alumni Category:Writers from New Jersey Category:Writers from New York City Category:Writers Guild of America Award winners Category:Yale University alumni Category:The Daily Show correspondents and contributors

cs:Demetri Martin da:Demetri Martin de:Demetri Martin fr:Demetri Martin gl:Demetri Martin it:Demetri Martin ru:Мартин, Деметри simple:Demitri Martin fi:Demetri Martin sv:Demetri Martin

Coordinates	29°57′53″N90°4′14″N
name	Andy Rooney
birth name	Andrew Aitken Rooney
birth date	January 14, 1919
birth place	Albany, New York, U.S.
occupation	Writer, humorist, television personality
nationality	American
period	1949–present
citizenship	United States
alma mater	Colgate University
spouse	Marguerite Rooney (1942-2004, her death)
children	Brian, Emily, Martha, Ellen
influences	Harry Reasoner, Mike Wallace, E. B. White
awards	{{awd|awardEmmy| year2003 |titleLifetime Achievement| year2 1980| title2 "Tanks"| year3 1980| title3 "Grain"| year4 1978| title4 "Who Owns What in America"| year5 1968| title5 "Black History: Lost, Stolen, or Strayed"}}

| signature = | website = | portaldisp = }} Andrew Aitken "Andy" Rooney (born January 14, 1919) is an American radio and television writer. He is most notable for his weekly broadcast "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney," a part of the CBS News program ''60 Minutes'' since 1978.

Youth

Andrew Rooney was born in Albany, New York, the son of Walter Scott Rooney (1888–1959) and Ellinor (née Reynolds) Rooney (1886–1980). He attended The Albany Academy, and later attended Colgate University in Hamilton in Upstate New York, where he was initiated into the Sigma Chi fraternity, until he was drafted into the U.S. Army in August 1941. Rooney began his career in newspapers while in the Army when, in 1942, he began writing for ''Stars and Stripes'' in London during World War II. He later published a memoir, ''My War'' (1995) about his war reporting. In addition to recounting firsthand several notable historical events and people (like the entry into Paris, the concentration camps, etc.), Rooney describes how it shaped his experience both as a writer and reporter.

In February 1943, flying with the Eighth Air Force, he was one of six correspondents who flew on the first American bombing raid over Germany. Later, he was one of the first American journalists to visit the Nazi concentration camps near the end of World War II, and one of the first to write about them. During a segment on Tom Brokaw's "The Greatest Generation," Rooney confessed that he had been opposed to World War II because he was a pacifist. He recounted that what he saw in those concentration camps made him ashamed that he had opposed the war and permanently changed his opinions about whether "just wars" exist.

CBS career

Rooney joined CBS in 1949, as a writer for ''Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts'', when Godfrey was at his peak on CBS radio and TV. It opened the show up to a variety of viewers. The program was a hit, reaching number one in 1952, during Rooney's tenure with the program. It was the beginning of a close life-long friendship between Rooney and Godfrey. He wrote for Godfrey's daytime radio and TV show ''Arthur Godfrey Time''. He later moved on to ''The Garry Moore Show'', which became a hit program. During the same period, he wrote for CBS News public affairs programs such as ''The 20th Century''.

According to CBS News's biography of him, "Rooney wrote his first television essay, a longer-length precursor of the type he does on ''60 Minutes'', in 1964, 'An Essay on Doors.' From 1962 to 1968, he collaborated with another close friend, the late CBS News correspondent Harry Reasoner — Rooney writing and producing, Reasoner narrating — on such notable CBS News specials as 'An Essay on Bridges' (1965), 'An Essay on Hotels' (1966), 'An Essay on Women' (1967), and 'The Strange Case of the English Language' (1968). 'An Essay on War' (1971) won Rooney his third Writers Guild Award. In 1968, he wrote two CBS News specials in the series 'Of Black America', and his script for 'Black History: Lost, Stolen, or Strayed' won him his first Emmy." Rooney also wrote the script for the 1975 documentary ''FDR: The Man Who Changed America''.

In the 1970s, Rooney wrote and appeared in several prime-time specials for CBS, including ''In Praise of New York City'' (1974), the Peabody Award-winning ''Mr. Rooney Goes to Washington'' (1975), ''Mr. Rooney Goes to Dinner'' (1976), and ''Mr. Rooney Goes to Work'' (1977). Transcripts of these specials, as well as of some of the earlier collaborations with Reasoner, are contained in the book ''A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney''. Another special, ''Andy Rooney Takes Off'', followed in 1984.

''A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney''

Rooney's "end-of-show" segment on ''60 Minutes,'' "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney" (originally "Three Minutes or So With Andy Rooney"), began in 1978 as a summer replacement for the debate segment "Point/Counterpoint" featuring Shana Alexander and James Kilpatrick. The segment proved popular enough with viewers that beginning in the fall of 1978, it was seen in alternate weeks with the debate segment. At the end of the 1978-79 season, "Point/Counterpoint" was dropped altogether.

In the segment, Rooney typically offers satire on a trivial everyday issue, such as the cost of groceries, annoying relatives, or faulty Christmas presents. Rooney's appearances on "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney" often include whimsical lists (e.g., types of milk, bottled water brands, car brands, sports mascots, etc.). In recent years, his segments have become more political as well. Despite being best known for his television presence on ''60 Minutes'', Rooney has always considered himself a writer who incidentally appears on television behind his famous walnut table, which he made himself.

Rooney's shorter television essays have been archived in numerous books, such as ''Common Nonsense'', which came out in 2002, and ''Years of Minutes'', released in 2003. He pens a regular syndicated column for Tribune Media Services that runs in many newspapers in the United States, and which has been collected in book form. He has won three Emmy Awards for his essays, which now number close to 1,000. He was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Emmy in 2003. Rooney's renown has made him a frequent target of parodies and impersonations by a diverse group of comedic figures, including Frank Caliendo, Rich Little and Beavis.

Views

He has claimed on ''Larry King Live'' to have a liberal bias, stating, "There is just no question that I, among others, have a liberal bias. I mean, I'm consistently liberal in my opinions." Though in a controversial 1999 book Rooney self-identified as agnostic, Rooney has, as of 2008, come out as an atheist. Over the years many of his editorials have poked fun at the concept of God and organized religion. Increased speculation on this was brought to a head by a series of comments he made regarding Mel Gibson's film ''The Passion of the Christ'' (2004).

Though Rooney has been called Irish-American, he once said "I'm proud of my Irish heritage, but I'm not Irish. I'm not even Irish-American. I am American, period."

In 2005, when four people were fired at CBS News perhaps because of the Killian documents controversy, Rooney said, "The people on the front lines got fired while the people most instrumental in getting the broadcast on escaped." Others at CBS had "kept mum" about the controversy.

Andy Rooney was briefly interviewed on HBO's ''Da Ali G Show'', where he became one of the only guests to be so annoyed by Ali G that he furiously ended the interview several minutes into it. Before ending the interview, he repeatedly corrected Ali G when he used "does" as the conjugation of the verb "to do" in the second-person singular when addressing Rooney. When Ali G said, "I think that's an English/American thing going on," Rooney replied, "No, no. That's English. The English language is very clear. I have fifty books on the English language if you'd like to borrow one." Near the beginning of the interview, Rooney misspelled his own last name as ''Runey'' when Ali G asked him how it was spelled.

Racial remarks

Andy Rooney wrote a column in 1992 that it was "silly" for Native-Americans to complain about team names like the Redskins saying, "The real problem is, we took the country away from the Indians, they want it back and we're not going to give it to them. We feel guilty and we'll do what we can for them within reason, but they can't have their country back. Next question."

In a recent column for ''Tribune'' media services, he wrote, "I know all about Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, but today's baseball stars are all guys named Rodriguez to me." Rooney later commented, "Yeah, I probably shouldn't have said it, [but] it's a name that seems common in baseball now. I certainly didn't think of it in any derogatory sense."

Rooney has always denied that he is a racist. In the 1940s, he was arrested after sitting in the back of a segregated bus in protest. Also, in 2008, Rooney applauded the fact that "the citizens of this country, 80 percent of whom are white, freely chose to elect a black man as their leader simply because they thought he was the best choice." He said that makes him proud, and that it proves that the country has "come a long way - a good way."

Suspension by CBS

In 1990, Rooney was suspended without pay for three months. It is believed that this punishment was for saying that "too much alcohol, too much food, drugs, homosexual unions, cigarettes [are] all known to lead... to premature death." He wrote an explanatory letter to a gay organization after being ordered not to do so. After only four weeks without Rooney, ''60 Minutes'' lost 20 percent of its audience. CBS management then decided that it was in the best interest of the network to have Rooney return immediately.

After Rooney's reinstatement, he made his remorse public:

Remarks on Kurt Cobain's suicide

In a 1994 segment, Rooney attracted controversy with his remarks on Kurt Cobain's suicide. He expressed his dismay that the death of Richard Nixon was overshadowed by Cobain's suicide, stating that he had never heard of Cobain nor his band, Nirvana. He went on to say that Cobain's suicide made him angry. "A lot of people would like to have the years left that he threw away," Rooney said. "What's all this nonsense about how terrible life is?" he asked, and he added, speaking rhetorically to a young woman who had wept at the suicide, "I'd love to relieve the pain you're going through by switching my age for yours." "What would all these young people be doing if they had real problems like a Depression, World War II or Vietnam?" "If he applied the same brain to his music that he applied to his drug-infested life, it's reasonable to think that his music may not have made much sense either." Later, Rooney admitted that he might have been "unfair" and apologized on air.

Family life

His wife, Marguerite "Margie" Rooney (née Howard), died in 2004 of heart failure, after 62 years of marriage. Rooney later wrote, "her name does not appear as often as it originally did [in my essays] because it hurts too much to write it." He has four children, including a daughter, Emily Rooney, who is a TV talk show host and former ABC News producer; she currently hosts a nightly Boston-area public affairs program, ''Greater Boston'', on WGBH. Emily's identical twin, Martha, is Chief of the Public Services Division at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland. The third daughter, Ellen, is a photographer based in London. His son, Brian Rooney, has been a correspondent for ABC since the 1980s.

Rooney currently lives in the Rowayton section of Norwalk, Connecticut and in Rensselaerville, New York, and is a longtime season ticket holder for the New York Giants.

Awards

2001 – Emperor Has No Clothes Award from the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Books

Books written by Rooney:

''A Few Minutes With Andy Rooney'', 1981 (ISBN 0-689-11194-0)

''The Complete Andy Rooney'', 1983 (ISBN 0-446-11219-4)

''And More by Andy Rooney'', 1985 (ISBN 0-517-40622-5)

''Pieces of My Mind'', 1986 (ISBN 0-689-11492-3)

''The Most of Andy Rooney'', 1986 (ISBN 0-689-11864-3)

''Word for Word'', 1988 (ISBN 0-399-13200-7)

''Not That You Asked...'', 1989 (ISBN 0-394-57837-6)

''Most of Andy Rooney'', 1990 (ISBN 0-88365-765-1)

''Sweet and Sour'', 1992 (ISBN 0-399-13774-2)

''My War'', 1997 (ISBN 0-517-17986-5)

''Sincerely, Andy Rooney'', 1999 (ISBN 1-891620-34-7)

''Common Nonsense'', 2002, (ISBN 1-58648-144-4)

''Years of Minutes'', 2003 (ISBN 1-58648-211-4)

''Out of My Mind'', 2006 (ISBN 1-58648-416-8)

''60 Years of Wisdom and Wit'', 2009 (ISBN 1-58648-773-6)

See also

List of newspaper columnists

References

External links

CBS Biography

Archive of previous "A Few Minutes..." segments

Andy Rooney Podcast among other CBS podcasts

Snopes.com on Rooney E-Mail Snopes.com's article on false e-mail claims

Potential Racialism from Rooney

Category:1919 births Category:American atheists Category:American humorists Category:American television journalists Category:American military personnel of World War II Category:American memoirists Category:Colgate University alumni Category:Commentators Category:American people of Irish descent Category:Living people Category:Recipients of the Bronze Star Medal Category:People from Albany, New York Category:People from Norwalk, Connecticut Category:United States Army soldiers Category:War correspondents

de:Andy Rooney id:Andy Rooney no:Andy Rooney pt:Andy Rooney fi:Andy Rooney zh:安迪·朗尼