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Charter Telephone service van

Charter Communications is an American company providing cable television, high-speed Internet, and telephone services to more than 4.7 million customers in 25 states. By revenues, it is the fourth-largest cable operator in the United States, behind Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Cox Communications,^[2] and by residential subscriber lines it is the tenth largest telephone provider.^[3] It is headquartered in Town and Country, Missouri.^[4][5][6][7]

History[link]

Charter Communications incorporated in Delaware in 1993. Through a series of acquisitions as well as internally financed growth, the company served 1 million customers in 1998, 3.9 million in 1999, and 6.8 million in 2002.

Four former executives received criminal indictments in 2005 for accounting fraud related primarily to the inflation of cable subscriber numbers. The company has been under financial pressure; its stock peaked at $27.75 per share in November 1999, before falling to under $1 in 2002.^[8] On September 14, 2010 Charter Class A common stock was relisted on NASDAQ under the symbol "CHTR",^[9] and as of Dec 1, 2010 the 52 Wk High/ Low is $39.99/$29.10.^[10]

In 2006, Charter accelerated sales of cable telephone services using Broadband Telephony technology.^{[citation needed]}

On March 28, 2009, Charter Communications filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Charter emerged from bankruptcy, Nov. 30, 2009.^[11]

Call Centers[link]

On May 2, 2006, Charter announced it will shut down seven of its call centers in the United States. The call centers closing are in the following locations:

• St. Louis, Missouri Video Customer Care Center (July 31, 2006) (Converted into a Charter Telephone service call center)
• Bay City, Michigan (September 2006) (Converted into a Charter Dispatch center)
• Birmingham, Alabama (December 2006) (Converted into a Charter Dispatch center)
• Ft. Worth, Texas (December 1, 2006) (Closed)
• Irwindale, California (December 2009) (Reopen)
• Newtown, Connecticut (March 2007) (Closed; now open)
• Kingsport, Tennessee (March 2007) (Converted to a dispatch center and is being moved)
• Amherst, Nova Scotia (December 2010) (Third Party, Teletech, closed)

As centers close, an increasing number of calls are being outsourced. Current^[when?] outsource centers are located in Cainta, Philippines; Panama City, Panama; Mexico City, Mexico; London, Ontario; Trenton, Ontario; Winnipeg, Manitoba; and Brasília, Brazil.

Orders completed online or through retail partners with Charter Communication are directed to a call center located in Tempe, Arizona, operated by Teletech (Direct Alliance). This call center has inbound/outbound sales agents, as well as online chat agents.

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Charter-owned call centers are located in St. Louis, Missouri (telephone service support center); Greenville, South Carolina; Vancouver, Washington; Fond du Lac, Wisconsin; Walker, Michigan; Rochester, Minnesota; Worcester, Massachusetts and Louisville, Kentucky (the largest call center enterprise-wide) with Heathrow, Florida handling the bulk of video, high-speed data, and telephone billing and customer service contacts. Each of the remaining centers are becoming increasingly specialized for particular lines of service or customer issues. In contrast, in the fourth quarter of 2007, Louisville call-center employees, who had been handling callers with Internet issues, were told to prepare for cross-training in video support.^{[citation needed]}

Acquisitions/Divestitures[link]

Parts of this article (those related to this section) are outdated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. Please see the talk page for more information. (March 2009)

November 1999: Charter went public after more than ten major acquisitions in one year:.^[12]

• Added 68,000 subscribers in Southern California with the purchase of four cable systems from American Cable Entertainment of Stamford, Connecticut.
• Acquired 400,000 InterMedia Partners subscribers, primarily in the Southeast. As part of the deal Charter would turn over about 140,000 of its subscribers to TCI^{[disambiguation needed ]} in cable system swap.
• Merged with Marcus Cable.
• Acquired cable systems serving 460,000 subscribers from Rifkin Acquisition Partners and InterLink Communications.
• Acquired 173,000 subscribers, mostly in central Massachusetts, from New Jersey-based Greater Media Inc.
• Acquired Renaissance Media Group, a New York partnership serving 130,000 customers near New Orleans, western Mississippi, and Jackson, Tennessee.
• Acquired New Jersey-based Helicon Cable Communications. The systems served about 171,000 customers in eight states in the Southeast and Northeast.
• Acquired Avalon Cable TV, adding 260,000 subscribers primarily in Michigan and Massachusetts.
• Acquired Vista Broadband Communications in Smyrna, Georgia, adding 30,000 more customers.
• Acquired Falcon Cable TV of Los Angeles. Falcon was the eighth largest cable operator in the United States with about one million subscribers in 27 states in primarily non-urban areas.
• Acquired Fanch Communications Inc. of Denver. Fanch had 547,000 subscribers in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Wisconsin.
• Acquired Bresnan Communications systems in Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Nebraska, adding 690,000 subscribers

Charter also began swapping customers with other systems to improve the geographic clustering of its systems. In December 1999 it signed a letter of intent with AT&T to swap 1.3 million cable subscribers in St. Louis as well as in Alabama, Georgia, and Missouri.^[12]

On March 22, 2006, Charter announced that it would sell cable systems serving approximately 43,000 customers in Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah to Orange Broadband Holding Company (since renamed Baja Broadband).^[13]

Charter also sold cable systems in West Virginia and Virginia to Cebridge Connections (now known as Suddenlink Communications) and cable systems in Kentucky and Illinois to New Wave Communications.^[14]

On October 14, 2008, an article appeared in the Fairmont, Minnesota Sentinel (Fairmont Sentinel), reporting that Charter is selling parts of their system to Midcontinent Communications, including its Bemidji, Minnesota and International Falls, Minnesota offices. Starting February 1, 2009 Midcontinent Communications took over some Charter's cable system in Minnesota including Balaton, Bemidji, Canby, Ely, Fairmont, International Falls, Littlefork, Sherburn, and surrounding communities. Other areas in Minnesota would have sold to Comcast, but the deal fell through.^[15]

On October 22, 2010, announced completion of the sale of cable systems serving approximately 65,000 customers in seven states to Cobridge Communications, LLC. The 36 head ends acquired by Cobridge are located in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, Ohio and Texas. As a result of this sale, Charter no longer operates in Arkansas and Ohio.^[16]

Bankruptcy[link]

On February 12, 2009, Charter Communications announced that it planned to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on or before April 1, 2009. The action would allow Charter to pay its debt obligations, and cancel its obligations to shareholders.^[17] Private equity firm Apollo Management expected to own most of Charter's shares after the bankruptcy.^[18] Charter filed for a prearranged bankruptcy on March 28, 2009. The company expects the financial restructuring to reduce its debt by $8 billion, as well as adding $3 billion of new investment, and refinancing other debt. On November 30, 2009, its bankruptcy plan was approved, which extinguished its stock and cut approximately $8 billion in debt.^[19] That day, Charter emerged from bankruptcy despite many of its creditors' objections over its bankruptcy plan.^[20]

Awards and recognition[link]

PCWorld in 2011 awarded charter with numerous fastest ISP awards. Charter has recently upgraded their internet speed tiers giving most customers a free upgrade in speed twice during the 2011 business year.^[21]

In 2009 Charter won a CableFax TopOps award for its Day of Service, aka DOS, team that answers calls from customers on the day that a technician is scheduled to arrive at their home. DOS team members are highly trained agents that answer questions about services and ensure that the customer has the best possible experience with their service technician.^[22]

In December 2007, Charter was recognized by CableWorld Magazine as "2007 Multi-System Operator of the Year." According to the magazine, the company was selected for this award based on "rapidly expanding its telephone footprint to take advantage of the triple-play offering; developing a consistent, data-driven marketing plan; and addressing its nearest-term debt maturities."^[23] During the spring of 2008, Charter was honored with third place among companies with over 2,000 employees in the annual "Best Places to Work in St. Louis" competition, sponsored by the St. Louis Business Journal., based on the response of Charter employees in the area to an online survey created and managed by the Journal.^[24]

Criticism[link]

Better Business Bureau reports^[25]:

"BBB has determined that Charter Communications Inc meets BBB accreditation standards, which include a commitment to make a good faith effort to resolve any consumer complaints."

Charter Communications currently has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau of Eastern Missouri & Southern Illinois, which consists of Charter's home territory of Greater St. Louis and the Illinois Metro East regions.^[25] Though Charter Communications has not always had the best reporting in the past.^[26] PCWorld also ranked Charter's cable Internet service as worst among 14 major Internet service providers.^[27] In addition, Charter High-Speed is rated 19 out of 22 cable ISPs on dslreports.com,^[28] and Consumer Reports indicated in their February 2008 issue that Charter's television/Internet/telephone bundle collectively is the worst of all major national carriers.^[29][30]

It was reported by Tony Bradle on about.com that Charter Communications redirected error pages and Windows Live Search results to a Charter search page without notifying customers. Users may opt out of redirection by clicking a link from the Charter search page; however, the opt-out link installs a cookie on the customer's computer, so deleting cookies will require the user to opt out again.^[31]

It has been reported that on Monday, January 21, 2008, during a routine sweep of inactive accounts, Charter accidentally deleted the email accounts of approximately 14,000 customers; even worse, the removed data are now irretrievable. An initial report stated that the company would not compensate users in any way, but the company since decided to give a $50 account credit to each user affected.^[32][33] In May 2008, Charter announced that it planned to monitor websites visited by its high-speed Internet customers via a partnership with targeted advertising firm NebuAd.^[34][35] After customers voiced their concerns, Charter changed its mind in June.^[36]

Coverage[link]

August 2008, Charter Communications announced an agreement to carry the Big Ten Network, applicable to all customers.^[37]

In December 2008, WFAA-TV, the ABC affiliate in Dallas–Fort Worth, reported that beginning January 1, 2009, Charter would no longer carry its signal due to a breakdown in negotiations. Charter quickly replied that a resolution to the issue was not out of the question.^[38]

In December 2008, WCNC-TV, the NBC affiliate in Charlotte, North Carolina, reported that as of December 31, 2008 Charter would no longer carry its signal due to a breakdown in negotiations.^[39] In December 2008, KMOV-TV Channel 4, the CBS affiliate in Saint Louis, Missouri, reported that it would no longer be available to Charter subscribers starting December 31.^[40] Prior to that, only the standard definition signal for KMOV was available on Charter cable.

The cable operator would have lost access to all of the stations owned by Belo Corporation. However, an agreement was reached days before the shutdown date.^[41]

In May 2009, Comcast was able to meet an agreement with NFL Network, in which the NFL Network agreed to lower their asking price per subscriber. The higher asking price has been a problem with being carried with other cable networks. Roger Goodell is looking at resolving differences with other cable providers, to include Charter Communications, to allow carriage of this channel.^[42]

On August 2011, Charter Communications and NFL Network announced that the two had reached a new, long-term agreement to carry the NFL Network in time for the 2011 season.^[43][44]

Charter company timeline[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2008)

• 1993: Company was started by three executives â€” Barry Babcock, Jerald Kent, and Howard Wood, former executives of Cencom Cable Television in St. Louis, Missouri.
• 1995: Paid about $300 million for a controlling interest in Crown Media and acquired Cable South.
• 1997: Charter and EarthLink joined forces to deliver high-speed Internet access through cable modems to Charter's customers in California.
• 1998: Paul Allen bought a controlling interest.
• 1998: Paid $2.8 billion to acquire Dallas-based cable company Marcus Cable.
• 1999: Company went public, trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange.
• 2000: Bought select AT&T cable markets, including Reno, Nevada and the City of St. Louis.
• 2001: MSN and Charter signed an agreement to offer MSN content and services to Charter's broadband customers.
• 2001: Received awards, including the Outstanding Corporate Growth Award from the Association for Corporate Growth, the R.E. "Ted" Turner Innovator of the Year Award from the Southern Cable Telecommunications Association, and the Fast 50 Award for Growth from the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association.
• 2002: The United States Department of Justice investigated the company, leading to the indictment of four former executives for improper financial reporting.
• 2004: Settled a class action lawsuit concerning the questionable financial reporting.
• 2008: Acquired the cable television franchise and service for the Cerritos and Ventura, California area from WAVE Broadband.
• 2008: Charter stock failed to meet NASDAQ standards and was given warning to comply by October 13 or request an extension.^[45]
• 2009: Filed to reorganize under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code.
• 2009: Completed financial restructuring and emerged from bankruptcy.^[46]
• 2010: Paul Allen stepped down as chairman and from board of directors' seat, but remains the largest single shareholder.
• 2010: Charter signs multi-year deal with Tivo to deliver content via its platform^[47]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Charter.com—Charter Communications
• Charter.net—For Charter High-Speed customers
• Charterphone.com - For Charter Telephone customers
• CharterBusiness.com - For Charter Business customers
• Chartertv.com — CCIN
• CharterMedia.com - For Charter Media customers
• Charter Latino
• Live It With Charter® Rewards program
• Support.Charter.com - For basic questions concerning charter services,
• Associated Press, April 23, 2005, "Charter Communications executives sentenced in accounting schemes", detnews.com
• BusinessWeek, May 29, 2006: "Charter: Cable's Sucker Stock", businessweek.com
• Charter Filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection, finance.yahoo.com

v t e Cable, satellite, and other specialty television providers in the United States Cable Adams Cable Advanced Cable Communications Astound Broadband Atlantic Broadband Armstrong Telephone Company Allegiance Communications Blue Ridge Communications Bright House Networks Broadstripe Buckeye CableSystem Cable One Cablevision Champion Broadband Charter Cobridge Communications Comcast Cox Communications Emery Telcom FairPoint Communications GCI Hargray Insight Knology MCV Broadband Mediacom Midcontinent Communications Northland Cable Television OneLink RCN Satview Broadband Service Electric SRT Suddenlink Time Warner Cable Truvista Communications US Cable Wave Broadband Western Broadband Windjammer Communications WOW! Xfinity (Comcast) Satellite Claro DirecTV (Channels) Dish Network (Channels) Glorystar GlobeCast HITS IPTV Claro Hawaiian Telcom NEP Datastream TV Sky Angel (Channels) SureWest U-verse (AT&T) Fiber FiOS (Verizon) (Channels) FiOptics (Cincinnati Bell) Defunct cable TV Adelphia Alameda Power and Telecom AT&T Broadband MediaOne/Continental Cablevision Tele-Communications Inc. Bresnan Communications Graceba Total Communications Jones Intercable King Videocable Marcus Cable NPG Cable Paragon Cable Precis Communications Rapid Communications UA-Columbia Cablevision Defunct satellite AlphaStar PrimeStar USSB Voom Defunct IPTV VDC Qwest Choice TV Defunct terrestrial USDTV Americas Canada Europe Africa, Asia, and Oceania United States

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (May 2010)

Heather Urich (née Menzies), born December 3, 1949 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a Canadian-born actress who moved to California via Florida at the age of 11. She enrolled at the Falcon Studio’s University of the Arts, in Hollywood. Her first professional role at the age of 13 was on My Three Sons. Directly after that, Urich auditioned for and won the role of Louisa Von Trapp in The Sound of Music.

Urich again worked with Julie Andrews in the film Hawaii and, at 16, traveled across the country to star in the Broadway play We Have Always Lived In The Castle with Shirley Knight. The production opened at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C., and showed for a lengthy run at the Ethel Barrymore Theater in New York City.

Heather guest starred in several television series throughout the 1970s and '80s and did several television pilots and movies for television, including Tail Gunner Joe with Peter Boyle and James Dean: Portrait of a Friend with Stephen McHattie, Michael Brandon and Amy Irving. She starred in the popular cult favorite SSSSSSS with Strother Martin and Dirk Benedict, in the series Logan's Run with Gregory Harrison, and in the film Piranha with Bradford Dillman.

Heather met her husband, Robert Urich, while acting with him in a Libby’s Corned Beef Hash commercial. Heather guest starred with Urich in S.W.A.T., Vega$ and Spenser For Hire, as well as many other television shows and a theatrical film, Endangered Species. The couple also co-starred in theatrical productions, including The Hasty Heart, a production at the Burt Reynold's Playhouse, in Jupiter, Florida. The play achieved substantial acclaim, including a run at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, in Washington, DC, with President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan in attendance. Menzies and Urich were married 27 years, until his death in 2002 from synovial sarcoma, a type of cancer.

Heather also appeared in the nude pictorial "Tender Trapp" in the August 1973 issue of Playboy. Heather is an ovarian cancer survivor and lives in Utah with her three adopted children, Ryan (30), Emily (28), and Allison (11). She also has two grandchildren, Michelle (born 2004) and Lana (born 2005).

She works with the Urich Fund for Sarcoma Research at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Filmography[link]

• The Sound of Music (1965)
• Hawaii (1966)
• How Sweet It Is! (1968)
• Hail, Hero! (1969)
• The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969)
• Sssssss (1973)
• Red, White and Busted (1975)
• Piranha (1978)
• Endangered Species (1982)

Television[link]

• "The Farmer's Daughter" (1964)
• "Dragnet" (1967) as Ann Flynn
• "Marcus Welby, M.D." (1969)
• "The High Chaparral" (1969)
• "To Rome With Love" (1970)
• "Bonanza" (1970)
• "The Smith Family" (1971)
• "Alias Smith and Jones" (1971)
• "Love, American Style" (1971) Segment: "Love and the Motel Mixup"
• "Man in the Middle" (1972)
• "The Bob Newhart Show" (1973)
• "Doctor Dan" (1974)
• "S.W.A.T." (1975)
• "James Dean" (1976)
• "Barnaby Jones" (1976)
• "Logan's Run" (1977–1978) as Jessica
• "The Love Boat" (1978)
• "Captain America" (1979)
• "Vega$" (1979–1981) as Charlotte Henderson
• "Gavilan" (1982)
• "T.J. Hooker" (1984)
• "Spenser: For Hire" (1987)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official site
• Heather Menzies at the Internet Movie Database
• Heather Menzies at the Internet Broadway Database
• Sound Of Music Kids - Where are they now

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Its only attribution is to IMDb, which may not be a reliable source for biographical information. Please help by adding additional, reliable sources for verification. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2009)

Kimberly "Kym" Karath (born August 4, 1958 in Los Angeles, California, U.S.) is an American actress, best known for her role as Gretl in The Sound of Music.

Career[link]

Karath started her career at the age of three, appearing in Spencer's Mountain with Henry Fonda and Veronica Cartwright in 1963 (she would subsequently work with Veronica's younger sister Angela Cartwright in The Sound of Music). In 1964 she was seen in The Thrill of It All with Doris Day and Good Neighbor Sam with Jack Lemmon.

Karath is best remembered for her role in The Sound of Music, where she played the youngest child, Gretl Von Trapp. She won her role when she marched in to meet Robert Wise the director, with a portfolio under her arm and declared: "I've been in three films already, I'm exactly who you're looking for."

During her appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Julie Andrews was asked about working with the Von Trapp children. She replied, "They were all lovely. However, the youngest one (Karath) was probably the most difficult for me, because she was just a tad heavy in those days. Today, she is this amazing gorgeous looking Monroe-esque young lady."

After The Sound of Music Karath primarily appeared in American television, including appearances in The Brady Bunch and Lost in Space. She remains friends with the other 'Von Trapp' children today, and in 2000 she went back to Salzburg with them, filming a documentary about the making of the film.

She is still currently working with them in new upcoming films.

Personal life[link]

Although Karath was born in the States, her family was actually Greek. Her original surname was Karathanasis, but then it was changed to Karath by her father. She has an older sister, Francie, who auditioned for the eldest Von Trapp child in The Sound of Music, a role that eventually went to Charmian Carr.

Karath graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in Humanities, and shortly after that she moved to Paris, France where she studied art history and modeled as well. At the age of 26, she married Philippe L'Equibec; they have a son, Eric.

Karath has said she still is not fond of the water after nearly drowning^{[citation needed]} in the boat scene in The Sound of Music, as she could not swim.

Filmography[link]

• All My Children (1970) TV series as Kristen (unknown episodes, 1988)
• Midnight Offerings (1981) (TV) as Monique
• Archie Bunker's Place as Pretty Girl (1 episode, 1980)
• The Waltons as Mabel (1 episode, 1973)
• The Brady Bunch as Kerry Hathaway (1 episode, 1972)
• Family Affair as Barbara (3 episodes, 1966–1971)
• Lost in Space as Princess (1 episode, 1966)
• Lassie as Kathy Vaughn (1 episode, 1966)
• Dr. Kildare (2 episodes, 1966)
• My Three Sons as Pammy (1 episode, 1965)
• Peyton Place as Susan (1 episode, 1965)
• The Sound of Music (1965) as Gretl
• Good Neighbor Sam (1964) as Denise Bissel
• The Thrill of It All (1963) as Maggie Boyer
• Spencer's Mountain (1963) (uncredited) as Pattie-Cake Spencer

References[link]

External links[link]

• Kym Karath at the Internet Movie Database

Adam Schiff
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 29th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2003
Preceded by	Henry Waxman
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 27th district
In office January 3, 2001 â€“ January 3, 2003
Preceded by	James E. Rogan
Succeeded by	Brad Sherman
California State Senator
In office 1996–2001
Personal details
Born	(1960-06-22) June 22, 1960 (age 52) Framingham, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Eve Schiff
Children	Alexa Schiff Elijah Schiff
Residence	Burbank, California, U.S.
Alma mater	Harvard University Stanford University
Occupation	Attorney
Religion	Judaism

Adam Bennett Schiff (born June 22, 1960) is the U.S. Representative for California's 29th congressional district. He has served in Congress since 2001. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district, which was numbered as the 27th District during his first term, includes Alhambra, Altadena, San Gabriel, Burbank, Glendale, South Pasadena, Temple City, Monterey Park, and Pasadena.

In 2007, he became a member of the House Appropriations Committee. He is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition.^[1]

Early life, education and career[link]

He was born in Framingham, Massachusetts to a traditional Jewish family. He received a political science degree from Stanford University and a law degree from Harvard University. He was a lawyer, working as an assistant prosecutor in the Los Angeles branch of the U.S. Attorney's Office. He was a member of the California State Senate, serving as the chair of that body's judiciary committee during his one term.

California Senate[link]

During his tenure in the California Senate, Schiff authored Senate Bill 1847, Chapter 1021. Signed into law in 1998, this created the Pasadena Blue Line Authority, which continued work on the stalled then-Blue Line light rail extension to Pasadena, which would later be named the Gold Line instead.

U.S. House of Representatives[link]

Committee assignments[link]

• Committee on Appropriations
  • Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
  • Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs

Caucuses[link]

• Co-chair of the Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus
• Co-founded the Democratic Study Group on National Security
• Co-founded the Congressional Caucus for Freedom of the Press
• House Democracy Assistance Commission

Armenian Genocide[link]

Schiff has also been a leading voice in Armenian-American issues; he claims to have over 70,000 Armenian-Americans in his district.^[2][3] He has strongly pushed for signing of the US House Resolution 106 recognizing the Armenian Genocide. On October 11, 2007, the resolution sponsored by Schiff was approved by the House Foreign Affairs Committee.^[4] Turkey's prime minister said that approval of the resolution would endanger U.S.-Turkey relations.^[5] The resolution was again approved by the House Foreign Affairs Committee on March 4, 2010 by a 23-22 margin.^[6]

Political campaigns[link]

Schiff was elected in 2000, defeating Republican incumbent Jim Rogan. The district had once been a Republican stronghold, but had been trending Democratic since the early 1990s. In what was the most expensive House race ever at the time^[7] (several elections in 2006^[8] and 2008^[9] later eclipsed it), Schiff unseated Rogan, taking 53 percent of the vote to Rogan's 44 percent. He became only the second Democrat to represent this district since its creation in 1913 (it was the 9th District from 1913 to 1933, the 11th District from 1933–43, the 20th District from 1943 to 1975, the 22nd District from 1975 to 1993, and the 27th District from 1993 to 2003).

In 2010, Schiff defeated Tea Party backed Republican John Colbert for a 6th term.^[10]

Personal life[link]

Schiff has settled in Burbank, California with his wife Eve and two children, Alexa and Elijah.^[11]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikisource has original works written by or about: Adam B. Schiff

• U.S. Congressman Adam Schiff official U.S. House site
• Adam Schiff for U.S. Congress official campaign site
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs

Jonathan Goldsmith
at Susan G. Komen's 8th Annual Fashion For The Cure (September 24, 2009)
Born	Jonathan Goldsmith (1938-09-26) September 26, 1938 (age 73) New York City, New York, U.S.
Residence	Manchester, Vermont
Other names	Jonathan Lippe
Alma mater	Boston University
Occupation	The Most Interesting Man in the World
Years active	1962–present
Home town	New York City, New York
Spouse	Barbara Goldsmith (2006)

Jonathan Goldsmith (born September 26, 1938) is an American actor and The Most Interesting Man in the World. He began his career on the New York stage, then started a career in film and television. He appeared in several TV shows in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. He is best known for appearing in television commercials for Dos Equis beer, beginning in 2007, as the character The Most Interesting Man in the World, in which he speaks with a distinctive deep voice inspired by his deceased sailing partner and friend Fernando Lamas.^[1]

Biography[link]

Early years[link]

Jonathan Goldsmith was born on September 26, 1938, in New York. His mother was a Conover model and his father was a track coach at James Monroe High School. He was raised Jewish.^[2][3] Goldsmith left home at 17 to attend Boston University^[4] to pursue a career in acting.

Career[link]

To advance his acting career, Goldsmith moved to California from New York in 1966.^[5] Like many aspiring actors, he found it difficult to gain enough acting work to survive and wound up working various jobs, including driving a garbage truck and working in construction, to help make ends meet.^[5]

During his early years in film, Goldsmith performed as "Jonathan Lippe", having taken the name of his stepfather at the age of six.^[5] He subsequently changed his professional name back to his birth name, later recalling, "It always made me feel bad for my father, who never caused me any grief about it.... As my career grew and my son was born, I changed my name back to my real name, Goldsmith, so my father could enjoy his son's success and have a grandson to carry his name as well."^[5]

Goldsmith first established himself as an actor in Western films, with 25 such appearances.^[5] In the 1976 film The Shootist, Goldsmith played a villain who was shot between the eyes by hero John Wayne, who fired blood capsules from a special pellet gun at pointblank range into Goldsmith's face for seven painful takes.^[5]

Goldsmith also made guest appearances on 45 television series, including Adam-12, Knight Rider, CHiPs, Eight Is Enough, The Rockford Files, Hawaii Five-O, Barnaby Jones, MacGyver, Murder, She Wrote, Charlie's Angels, Manimal, The Fall Guy, Dynasty, T.J. Hooker, Hardcastle and McCormick, Magnum, P.I., Knots Landing, The A-Team, as well as a few made-for-TV movies. His longest run in a television series was on Dallas, in which he appeared 17 times.

In the 1980s Goldsmith started network marketing businesses (waterless car wash products) Dry Wash & Guard, and also SPRINT which was successful enough to allow him to "retire" from the Hollywood scene; he and his wife purchased an estate in the Sierras. He and his wife later separated, and he moved onto a large sailboat moored in Marina del Rey. As of 2011 he and second wife Barbara (who was his agent when he obtained the Dos Equis role) are moving to a house in the area of Manchester, Vermont.^[6]

Advertising work[link]

Beginning in April 2007 and continuing through 2011, Goldsmith had been featured in a high profile television ad campaign, promoting Dos Equis beer.^[7] The campaign, which transformed Goldsmith into "the most interesting man in the world", has been credited for helping to fuel a 15.4 percent sales increase for the brand in America in 2009 and also made him into a very popular meme.^[5]

He was seen most recently as a celebrity phone answerer on Comedy Central's Night of Too Many Stars, hosted by Jon Stewart, on 21 October 2010.

Charity work[link]

Goldsmith supported the S.A.B.R.E Foundation,^[8] whose mission is to protect and preserve the Siberian Tiger.

Goldsmith’s other charitable causes are Free Arts for Abused Children,^[9] which pairs artists with children in protective custody, and the Stella Link Foundation,^[10] a group calling attention to child sex trafficking in Cambodia.

Footnotes[link]

External links[link]

• Jonathan Goldsmith at the Internet Movie Database
• PopEater: The Dos Equis 'Most Interesting Man In The World' Speaks