Lakshmi (Sanskrit: लक्ष्मी '','' , Gujarati: લક્ષ્મી, Tamil: இலட்சுமி ''Latchumi'', Telugu: లక్ష్మి, Lakshmi) or Lakumi (Kannada: ಲಕುಮಿ) is the Hindu goddess of wealth, prosperity (both material and spiritual), light, wisdom, fortune, fertility, generosity and courage; and the embodiment of beauty, grace and charm. Representations of Lakshmi are also found in Jain monuments. Also called Mahalakshmi, she is said to bring good luck, and is believed to protect her devotees from all kinds of misery and money-related sorrows.

Lakshmi in Sanskrit is derived from its elemental form ''lakS'', meaning "to perceive or observe". This is synonymous with ''lakṣya'', meaning "aim" or "objective". In Hindu sacred texts, the Vedas call Mahalakshmi ''Lakshyayidhi Lakshmihi'' which means she is the one who has the object and aim of uplifting mankind.

Mahalakshmi is called ''Shri'' or ''Thirumagal'' (திருமகள் in Tamil; శ్రీ మహా లక్ష్మి in Telugu) because she is endowed with six auspicious and divine qualities, or Gunas, and also because she is the source of strength even to Lord Narayana. She is the consort of Vishnu and married Rama (in her incarnation as Sita) and Krishna (as Radha and later Rukmini). All the wives of Krishna were forms of Lakshmi.

In Durga Puja in Bengal, Lakshmi is considered to be a daughter of Durga along with her sister Saraswati and her brothers Ganesha and Karthikeya.

Evolution and legends

In Hinduism, Devas (gods) and asuras (demons) were both mortal at one time. Amrit, the divine nectar that would grant immortality, could be obtained only by churning the Kshirsagar (Ocean of Milk). The devas and asuras both sought immortality and decided to churn the Kshirsagar. With the devas on one side and the asuras on the other, the samudra manthan commenced. Vishnu incarnated as Kurma, the tortoise, on whom was placed a mountain as a churning pole; Vasuki, the great venom-spewing serpent, was wrapped around it and used to churn the ocean. A host of divine celestial objects came up during the churning. Among these, was the goddess Lakshmi, the daughter of the king of the milky ocean. The last to come up was the amrita. With this, the avatar of Kurma, the tortoise, ended. Vishnu then took up the form of a beautiful maiden to distract the asuras and gave immortality to the devas.

Mahalakshmi has always existed. Her appearance from samudra manthan is her main manifestation only. Mahalakshmi was also born to the great sage Bhrigu, and she is therefore also called Bhargavi. Mahalakshmi is also the sister of the great guru Sukracharya as well as the great planet Chandra. Each time Vishnu descends on earth as an avatar, He is accompanied by an avatar of Lakshmi.

The moon (chandra) also appeared from the ocean during the churning, making it her brother. Alakshmi, the goddess of misfortune, is Lakshmi's elder sister. According to the Vishnu Purana, Lakshmi is the daughter of Bhrigu and Khyaati and resided in Swarga, but, due to the curse of Durvasa, she left Swarga and made Ksheersagara her home.

The etymology and meanings of the word ''lakshmi'' is given in Monier Williams' ''Sanskrit–English Dictionary'' compiled in the 19th century in British India.

# laksmIka meaning a mark, sign, or token is in Rik Veda x, 71, 2 and Nirukta iv, 10. # laksmi ( with or without pAp'I ) is a bad sign or an impending misfortune referred to Atharva Veda and Apasthambha Shrauta Suutra. # In older Sanskrit, it is usually used with "p'uNyA" meaning a good sign, good fortune, prosperity, success, or happiness in Atharva Veda. # Laksmi personifies wealth, riches, beauty, loveliness, grace, charm, splendour, and lustre in Mahabharata. # Laksmi as a noun is a goddess of fortune and beauty (frequently in the later mythology identified with Śrī and regarded as the wife of or ). # According to Sir Monier Williams, "Religious thought and life in India", 45, 40-43 she sprang with other precious things from the foam of the ocean when churned by the gods and demons for the recovery of the . She appeared with a lotus in her hand, whence she is also called Padmā. # According to another legend, she appeared at the creation floating over the water on the expanded petals of a lotus flower; she is also variously regarded as wife of Sūrya, as wife of Prajā-pati, as wife of Dharma and mother of Kāma, as sister or mother of and , as wife of Datt^atreya, as one of the nine Śaktis of , as a manifestation of , as identified with in Bharat^aśrama, and with Sītā, wife of Rāma, and with other women.

Explanation of Mahalakshmi

Mahalakshmi is the presiding Goddess of the Middle episode of Devi Mahatmya. Here, she is depicted as Devi in her universal form as Shakti. The manifestation of the Devi to kill Mahishasura is formed by the effulgences of all the gods. The Goddess is described as eighteen-armed, bearing a string of beads, battle axe, mace, arrow, thunderbolt, lotus, bow, water pot, cudgel, lance, sword, shield, conch, bell, wine cup, trident, noose and the discus ''sudarsana''. She has a complexion of coral and is seated on a lotus. She is known as Ashta Dasa Bhuja Mahalakshmi.

She is seen in two forms, Bhudevi and Sridevi, both either side of Sri Venkateshwara or Vishnu. Bhudevi is the representation and totality of the material world or energy, called the aparam Prakriti, in which she is called Mother Earth. Sridevi is the spiritual world or energy, called the Param Prakriti. Most people are mistaken that they are separate beings although they are one, Lakshmi. Lakshmi is the power of Lord Vishnu.

Mahalakshmi's presence is also found on Lord Sri Venkateswara (at Tirumala) or Vishnu's chest, at the heart. Lakshmi is the embodiment of love, from which devotion to God or Bhakti flows from. It is through Love/Bhakti or Lakshmi that the atma or soul is able to reach God or Vishnu. Lakshmi plays a special role as the mediator between her husband Lord Vishnu and His worldly devotees. While Vishnu is often conceived of as a stern, easily perturbed patriarch, Lakshmi represents a more soothing, warm and approachable mother figure who willingly intervenes in the lives of devotees on His behalf. Often, it is Lakshmi who acts as the advocate for the request of a given mortal. When asking Vishnu for grace or the forgiveness of sins, Hindus often approach Him through the intermediary presence of Lakshmi. She is also the personification of the spiritual energy, called Kundalini, within us and the universe. Also, she embodies the spiritual world, also known as Vaikunta, the abode of Lakshmi-Narayana or Vishnu, or what would be considered Heaven in Vaishnavism. She is also the divine qualities of God and the soul. Lakshmi is the embodiment of God's superior spiritual feminine energy, or the Param Prakriti, which purifies, empowers and uplifts the individual. Hence, she is called the Goddess of Fortune. Due to her motherly feelings and being the consort of Narayan (Supreme Being), she is believed as the Mother of the Universe.

Epithets

Lakshmi has many names. She is known to be very closely associated with the lotus, and her many epithets are connected to the flower, such as:

* Prakruti - Mahalakshmi is the very personification of nature, the centre the all of the manifested and the unmanifested.

Vikruti - Mahalakshmi is the multi-faceted Nature, who assumes many forms, known by numerous names, yet is attributeless.

Vidya - Mahalakshmi is the very personification of Wisdom.

''Padma'': lotus dweller

''Kamala'': lotus dweller

''Padmapriya'': One who likes lotuses

''Padmamaladhara devi'': One who wears a garland of lotuses

''Padmamukhi'': One whose face is as beautiful as a lotus

''Padmakshi'': One whose eyes are as beautiful as a lotus

''Padmahasta'': One who holds a lotus

''Padmasundari'': One who is as beautiful as a lotus

''Vishnupriya'': One who is the beloved of Vishnu

''Ulkavahini'': One who rides an owl

Her other names include: Manushri, Chakrika, Kamalika, Lalima, Kalyani, Nandika, Rujula, Vaishnavi, Narayani, Bhargavi, Sridevi, Chanchala, Bhumi Devi, Jalaja, Madhavi, Sujata, Shreya and Aiswarya. She is also referred to as Jaganmaatha ("Mother of the Universe") in Shri Mahalakshmi Ashtakam. Rama and Indira are popular.

Iconography

Lakshmi is described as bestowing coins of prosperity and flanked by elephants signifying her royal power. However, in some texts, she has an owl as her vahana. Her expression is always calm and loving. The lotus also symbolizes the fertile growth of organic life, as the world is continually reborn on a lotus growing out of Vishnu's navel.

Lakshmi is worshipped daily, but special focus is given in the month of October. Her worship ceremonies include people offering food and sweets, chanting her 108 names, prayers repeated, and devotional songs being sung.

A 1400-year-old rare granite sculpture of Goddess Lakshmi has been recovered at the Waghama village along the Jehlum in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir.

Secondary manifestations

Ashta Lakshmi (Sanskrit: अष्टलक्ष्मी,, lit. "eight Lakshmis") are a group of eight secondary manifestations of Lakshmi, who preside over eight sources of wealth and thus represent the powers of Shri-Lakshmi. Actually, Mahalakshmi presides over eighteen forms of wealth, ten of which are the eight great siddhis called AshtaSiddhis, the spiritual knowledge or Gnana, and teaching or imparting the spiritual knowledge to the entire world without any class difference.

Mahalakshmi is also known to preside over 16 forms of worldly wealth excluding Ashta siddhis, gnana and imparting gnana. They are as follows: Fame; Knowledge; Courage and Strength; Victory; Good Children; Valor; Gold, Gems and Other Valuables; Grains in abundance; Happiness; Bliss; Intelligence; Beauty; Higher Aim, High Thinking and Higher Meditation; Morality and Ethics; Good Health; Long Life.

+Ashta Lakshmi	आदि लक्ष्मी (ఆది లక్ష్మి; ಆದಿ ಲಕ್ಷ್ಮಿ)		The First manifestation of Lakshmi
धान्य लक्ष्मी (ధాన్య లక్ష్మి; ಧಾನ್ಯ ಲಕ್ಷ್ಮಿ)		Granary wealth
धैर्य लक्ष्मी (ధైర్య లక్ష్మి; ಧೈರ್ಯ ಲಕ್ಷ್ಮಿ)		Wealth of courage
गज लक्ष्मी (గజ లక్ష్మి; ಗಜ ಲಕ್ಷ್ಮಿ)		Elephants, symbols of wealth
सन्तान लक्ष्मी (సంతాన లక్ష్మి; ಸಂತಾನ ಲಕ್ಷ್ಮಿ)		Wealth of continuity, progeny
विजय लक्ष्मी (విజయ లక్ష్మి; ವಿಜಯ ಲಕ್ಷ್ಮಿ)		Wealth of victory
विद्या लक्ष्मी (విద్యా లక్ష్మి; ವಿದ್ಯಾ ಲಕ್ಷ್ಮಿ)		Wealth of knowledge and education
धन लक्ष्मी (ధన లక్ష్మి; ಧನ ಲಕ್ಷ್ಮಿ)		Monetary wealth

The type of Ashta Lakshmis differ with every yuga and thus one would not find uniformity in the names of Ashta lakshmis in Hindu sacred texts. There are more than crores manifestations of Mahalakshmi; without her nothing in this world would survive as she forms the basis of the entire gamut of creation. Without her grace there will be nothing to eat, no air to breathe, no progeny in continuation etc. At a minor level, one cannot survive without monetary wealth in this wide world, if one has not developed spiritualism. Even if one were to beg, one would not get even a dime without the grace of Mahalskhmi. It is only through the grace of Mahalakshmi that even the King of Gods, Devandra, gained wealth, when He was cursed by the famous sage Dhurvasa for disrespecting the garland offered to Him.

Mahalkshmi is said to exist in several other forms. The most famous amonsgt them are Sridevi, Bhoodevi, and Neeladevi. The famous Vaishnavite saint Aandaal, who was born in Srivilliputhur about 5050 years ago, is an incarnation of Mahalakshmi herself. Sridevi represents moveable assets, called Chanchala in Sanskrit. Bhoodevi represents immoveable assets (Achanchala). It is because of this that mountains in India are prefixed with Achanachala, for example, Arunachala, Himachala etc. The term chanchala also denotes fickleness, which is why people are not always wealthy. Everything in this world operates only with the grace of Mahalakshmi.

Celebration in Hindu society

Hindus worship Lakshmi the most on Diwali, the festival of lights. According to tradition, people would put small oil lamps outside their homes on Diwali in hopes Lakshmi will come to bless them.

The prefix ''Sri'' (also spelled ''Shri'', pronounced as shree) translates as "one who takes delight in". Therefore, Sri Lakshmi, means wealth of any kind. Any thing that need be affluent gets the auspicious prefix or suffix ''Lakshmi'', or ''Sri'', such as Rajya Lakshmi (Wealth of Empire), Shanti Sri (Wealth of Peace), etc. In modern India, common titles standing in for the English ''Mr.'' and ''Mrs.'' are ''Shri'' (also ''Sri'' or ''Shree'') and ''Shrimati'' (also ''Srimati'' or ''Shreemati''), as in ''Sri desai'' or ''Srimati shanti''.

In Uttarakhand, after the worship of the goddess on Diwali night, the shankha, or conch, is not blown. This is because the shankha is also from the ocean like the goddess herself, so it is given a day of rest.

Karaveera Nivasini Mahalakshmi, also known as Ambabai, is the patron goddess of Kolhapur city, Maharashtra.

Bengal

In Bengal, Lakshmi is worshiped in autumn when the moon is full, the brightest night of the year. It is believed that she showers wealth on this night. She, along with her mount, the great white owl, descends to Earth and takes away the darkness of poverty, stagnation, anger, and laziness from our lives. Her vahana owl represents royalties, penetrating sight and intelligence. It serves as her mount over which she has full control. Lakshmi is also referred to as ''pranadayini''("giver of vital life-sustaining energy") who can turn a dull thing full of life.

Appearance

Lakshmi is depicted in a red costume, which represents continuous activity, or in a golden costume, representing fulfillment. She wears ornaments full of gold and a golden ruby-studded crown. Her hair is long, dark and wavy. Her complexion is golden, representing a boon-giver. She shows the abhaya mudra or the gyan mudra with her right hand and holds a potful of gold in her left arm and paddy sheaf in her left hand.

She is related to the chakras of the solar plexus and the heart.

In the Sri Vaishnava philosophy, Sri (Lakshmi) is honored as the ''Iswarigm sarva bhootanam'', i.e., the supreme goddess and not just the goddess of wealth.

Orissa

Manabasa Gurubara

With the harvest brought home, the farmers feel greatly satisfied with the yield. After six months of toil in the field, they fill the granaries with the blessings of Lakshmi. So, the whole month of Mrigashīrsha (December–January) is spent in worshiping the goddess. All the rituals connected with the festival ''Manabasa Gurubara'' or ''Lakshmi Puja'' are done by housewives. On each Thursday of the month, the houses are plastered with cow dung, and the floors are decorated with beautiful floral designs drawn with rice powder mixed with water, called jhoti. Footprints are painted from the doorstep to the place of worship, as if Goddess Lakshmi has entered the house. The roofs are decorated with flower garlands and festoons woven out of paddy stalks.

Main ritual

After a purification bath in the morning, the homemakers worship the goddess, not through an image, but significantly through paddy measures. Different rice cakes and ''Khiri'' (rice soup prepared with milk and sugar) are prepared in every household and are offered to the deity and then eaten by all.

Legend

In the evening, the Laxmi Puran, in which an interesting story is told, is read or recited. Once Shreeya, worshiped Lakshmi by observing this festival. Moved by her devotion, Lakshmi left her permanent abode, the temple that is inside the campus of the temple of Lord Jagannatha, and visited Shreeya's house. When Lord Balabhadra, the elder brother of Lord Jagannatha, came to know about this, she was declared defiled and was not allowed to come back into the temple. Lakshmi was deeply hurt and went to her father, Sagara.

When Lakshmi went out of the temple, all wealth in the temple started vanishing. Later, Balabhadra and Jagannatha could not find food to sustain themselves. They came out of the temple in the attire of Brahmin beggars in search of food. Ultimately, They landed at the door of Lakshmi. Balabhadra apologised for the mistake, and all of them returned to the temple.

The ''Purana'' ultimately teaches all to pay extreme regards to Lakshmi, and the person who disregards her is sure to fall on evil days. This means that wealth should be well protected and properly used, for misuse of wealth is sure to make a person suffer.

Gaja

Gaja Lakshmi Puja is celebrated in the Sharad Purnima, the full-moon day in the Oriya month of ''Aswina''(September–October). This autumn festival is one of the most popular and important festivals of Orissa.

The goddess of wealth is worshiped for one day and, in some places, it is celebrated for seven to ten days. The festival is religiously celebrated by the business community in Orissa. All over Orissa, richly decorated and beautifully made images of Gaja Lakshmi are installed. The festival instills a spirit of holiness and sanctity into the whole community, so much so that people of other faiths participate in it with abundant warmth and sincerity. In Orissa, this festival, also known as Kumar Purnima, falls on the full moon - Purnima. Girls and boys wear new clothes and generally have a good time with family and friends.

In the early morning, the girls, after their purification baths, wear new garments and make food offerings to the sun. They observe fasting for the day. In the evening, when the moon rises, they again make food offerings of a special variety and eat it after the rituals are over.

It is a festival of rejoicing for the girls; all of them sing and dance. The songs are of a special nature. They play a kind of game known as ''puchi'' and other country games.

Worship

There are innumerable slokas in praise of Mahalakshmi. Some of the most famous prayers for worshipping her are "Sri Mahalakshmi Ashtakam", "Sri Lakshmi Sahasaranama Sthothra" by Sanathkumara, "Sri Stuti" by Sri Vedantha Desikar, Sri Lakshmi Stuti By Indra, "Sri Kanakadhara Sthothra" by Sri Aadhi Shankaracharya, "Sri Chatussloki" by Sri Yamunacharya, "Sri Lakshmi Sloka" by Bhagavan Sri Hari Swamiji and Sri Sukta which is contained in the Vedas. The famous Lakshmi Gayathri Sloka, "Om Mahalakshmichae Vidmahe sri Vishnupathinichae Dhi-Mahi Thanno Lakshmi Prachodayat", is a powerful prayer contained in the Vedic Sri Sukta, which when chanted every day 108 times is known to grace the chanter with immediate grace of the Goddess within 90 days.

There is another famous prayer pronounced by the great sage Agastya: "Agastya Lakshmi Stotra". Although Mother Lakshmi is worshiped as the goddess of fortune, when she is worshiped with Narayana, the worshiper is blessed with not only wealth but also peace and prosperity. They can be worshiped in forms, such as Lakshmi Narayana, Lakshmi Narasimha, Sita Rama, Radha Krishna, or Vithal Rukmini.

Another, lesser known, form (more precisely - expansion) of Lakshmi is worshiped in Karnataka as Hattilakamma, a furious form of Lakshmi and her two younger sisters Doddamma and Chikamma called Jalgeramma which are a form of Durga. Here people offer blood to these bloodthirsty goddesses and use their hands to smear the blood on walls. It is believed that by doing so all the desires are fulfilled with in time as they desired

Mantra

Sanskrit: ॐ श्रीं ह्रीं क्लीं त्रिभुवन महालक्ष्म्यै अस्माकम् दारिद्र्य नाशय प्रचुर धन देहि देहि क्लीं ह्रीं श्रीं ॐ

English transliteration: oṃ śrīṃ hrīṃ klīṃ tribhuvana mahālakṣmyai asmākam dāridrya nāśaya pracura dhana dehi dehi klīṃ hrīṃ śrīṃ oṃ

Respect for money

In many areas of India it is customary that, out of respect, when a person's foot accidentally touches money (which is considered as a manifestation of Lakshmi) or another person's leg, it will be followed by an apology in the form of a single hand gesture (Pranāma) with the right hand, where the offending person first touches the object with the finger tips and then the forehead and/or chest. This also counts for books and any written material, which are considered as a manifestation of the goddess of knowledge Saraswati.

Temples

Mahalakshmi Temple Dahanu

Ashtalakshmi Kovil, Chennai

Ashtalakshmi Temple, Hyderabad

Mahalakshmi Temple, Kolhapur

Mahalakshmi Temple, Mumbai

Sri Mahalakshmi Temple, Goravanahalli near Bangalore

Mahalakshmi temple, Brazil

See also

Ashta Lakshmi

Deepalakshmi

Doddagaddavalli

Hindu goddess

Laxminarayan

Star of Lakshmi

References

Further reading

''Hindu Goddesses: Vision of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Traditions'' (ISBN 81-208-0379-5) by David Kinsley

''Lakshmi Puja and Thousand Names'' (ISBN 1-887472-84-3) by Swami Satyananda Saraswati

External links

Laksmi Sadhana Vidhi

Mahalaxmi Temple, Ambabai Temple, Kolhapur

MahaLakshmi Puja

Category:Buddhist mythology Category:Female buddhas and supernatural beings Category:Fortune goddesses Category:Hindu goddesses Category:Sanskrit words and phrases Category:Shaktism

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name	Lakshmi Mittal
birth date	June 15, 1950
birth place	Sadulpur, Rajasthan, India
residence	London, United Kingdom
nationality	Indian
known for	King of Steel, Steel tycoon
ethnicity	Marwari
citizenship	India
alma mater	St. Xavier's College, Calcutta (B.Com.)
occupation	Chairman & CEO of ArcelorMittalDirector of Goldman SachsOwner of Karrick LimitedCo-owner ofQueens Park Rangers F.C.
net worth	US$ 20.7 billion (2012)
children	Vanisha MittalAditya Mittal
religion	Hinduism
awards
website	}}

Lakshmi Niwas Mittal (born 15 June 1950) is an Indian steel magnate. He is the chairman and chief executive officer of ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaking company.

Mittal is the richest man in India, Asia and the United Kingdom, and second in Europe and is presently the 6th richest individual in the world with a personal wealth of . He is the 44th "most powerful person" of the 68 individuals named in Forbes's Most Powerful People list. His daughter Vanisha Mittal's wedding was second the most expensive in the recorded history of the world.

Mittal is an independent director of Goldman Sachs, member of Board of Directors to Goldman Sachs Media/Film IP Group, member of the Board of Directors of European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, World Steel Association, Foreign Investment Council in Kazakhstan, the International Investment Council in South Africa, the Investors' Council to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the World Economic Forum’s International Business Council, the World Steel Association's Executive Committee, the Presidential International Advisory Board of Mozambique and the International Iron and Steel Institute’s Executive Committee.

He also presently serves as a board council member of the Prime Minister of India's Global Advisory Council of Overseas Indians. and members in the Advisory Board of the Kellogg School of Management, Executive Board at Indian School of Business and St. Xavier's College, Calcutta Alumni Association, London Chapter.

In 2006, ''Financial Times'' named him "Person of the Year". In 2007, ''Time'' magazine included him in their "100 most influential persons in the world".

Early life and career

Lakshmi Narayan Mittal alias Lakshmi Niwas Mittal was born into a Hindu Indian Marwari business family in Churu district of Rajasthan, India. His family moved from (Rajgarh)Sadulpur, Rajasthan to Calcutta in West Bengal. Mittal has two siblings (brothers) named Pramod Mittal and Vinod Mittal. He graduated from St. Xavier's College, Calcutta with a Bachelor of Commerce degree in business and accounting. While out of college, Mittal turned to his family’s steel business which he helped run until a falling out with his father, mother, and brother. After this Mittal branched into his own business with the purchase of a plant located in Indonesia in 1976. It was this purchase which led to the creation of Arcelor Mittal. His father, Mohan Lal Mittal, ran a steel business, Nippon Denro Ispat. Until the 1990s, the family's main assets in India were a cold-rolling mill for sheet steels in Nagpur and an alloy steels plant near Pune. Today, the family business, including a large integrated steel plant near Mumbai, is run by Lakshmi's brothers, Pramod and Vinod, but Lakshmi has no connection with it.

Mittal started his career working in the family's steel making business in India, and in 1976, when the family founded its own steel business, he set out to establish its international division, beginning with the buying of a run-down plant in Indonesia. Shortly afterwards he married Usha, the daughter of a well-to-do moneylender. In 1976, due to differences with his father, mother and brothers,branched out on his the LNM Group, and he has been responsible for the development of its businesses ever since. Mittal Steel is a global steel producer with operations in 14 countries.

Philanthropy

After witnessing India win only one medal, bronze, in the 2000 Summer Olympics, and one medal, silver, at the 2004 Summer Olympics, Mittal decided to set up Mittal Champions Trust with US$9 million to support 10 Indian athletes with world-beating potential. In 2008, Mittal awarded Abhinav Bindra with Rs. 1.5 Crore (Rs. 15 million), for getting India its first individual Olympic gold medal in shooting.

For ''Comic Relief 2007'', he matched the money raised (~£1 million) on the celebrity special BBC programme, ''The Apprentice''.

In 2002, Lakshmi Niwas Mittal and Usha Mittal foundation and the Government of Rajasthan partnered together to establish a university named the LNM Institute of Information Technology (LNMIIT) in Jaipur as an autonomous non-profit organization.

In 2009, Lakshmi Niwas Mittal and Usha Mittal foundation along with Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan founded the Usha Lakshmi Mittal Institute of Management in New Delhi.

Criticism and allegations

PHS

Lakshmi Mittal successfully employed Marek Dochnal's consultancy to influence Polish officials in the privatization of PHS steel group, which was Poland's largest. Dochnal was later arrested for bribing Polish officials on behalf of Russian agents in a separate affair.

In 2007, Polish government said it wants to renegotiate the 2004 sale to Arcelor Mittal.

Slave-labour allegations and questionable safety records

Employees of Mittal have accused him of "slave labour" conditions after multiple fatalities in his mines. During December 2004, twenty-three miners died in explosions in his mines in Kazakhstan caused by faulty gas detectors.

Mr. Mittal has been accused of running a series of coal mines in Kazakistan with abhorrent safety records. Between 2004 and 2007, the lax standards were responsible for the deaths of 91 coalminers and the subject of a criminal investigation. Witnesses to a 2006 explosion, which claimed the lives of 41 people, maintain that, despite the plumes of flammable gas, managers at the mines pushed the employees to work so that they could meet their production as well as other targets. One employee even told the Times, "The pressures local managers put us under to meet targets so that they can collect their bonuses are more and more stressful. We are being exploited like animals." Former miner turned trade unionist Pavel Shumkin even claimed, "The miners all agree: compared with life now under Mittal, for them everything was better in Soviet times."

The Mittal Affair: "Cash for Influence"

In 2002, Plaid Cymru MP Adam Price obtained a letter written by Tony Blair to the Romanian Government in support of Mittal's LNM steel company, which was in the process of bidding to buy Romania's state-owned steel industry. This revelation caused controversy, because Mittal had given £125,000 to the British Labour Party the previous year. Although Blair defended his letter as simply "celebrating the success" of a British company, he was criticised because LNM was registered in the Dutch Antilles and employed less than 1% of its workforce in the UK. LNM was a "major global competitor of Britain's own struggling steel industry".

Blair's letter hinted that the privatisation of the firm and sale to Mittal might help smooth the way for Romania's entry into the European Union. It also had a passage, removed just prior to Blair's signing of it, describing Mittal as "a friend".

Queens Park Rangers

Recently, Mittal had emerged as a leading contender to buy and sell Barclays Premiership clubs Wigan and Everton. However on 20 December 2007 it was announced that the Mittal family had purchased a 20 per cent shareholding in Queens Park Rangers football club joining Flavio Briatore and Mittal's friend Bernie Ecclestone. As part of the investment Mittal's son-in-law, Amit Bhatia, took a place on the board of directors. The combined investment in the struggling club sparked suggestions that Mittal might be looking to join the growing ranks of wealthy individuals investing heavily in English football and emulating other similar benefactors such as Roman Abramovich.

On 19 February 2010, Flavio Briatore resigned as QPR chairman, and sold further shares in the club to Ecclestone, making Ecclestone the single largest shareholder.

Environmental damage

Mittal purchased the Irish Steel plant based in Cork from the government for a nominal fee of £1 m. Three years later in 2001, it was closed, leaving 400 people redundant. Subsequent environmental issues at the site have been a cause for criticism. The Government tried to sue in the High Court to have him pay for the clean-up of Cork Harbour but failed. The clean up was expected to cost €70m.

Personal life

His residence at 18-19 Kensington Palace Gardens--which was purchased from Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone in 2004 for £57 million (US$128 million)--made it the world's most expensive house at the time. Mittal's house in Kensington, London is decorated with marble taken from the same quarry that supplied the Taj Mahal. The extravagant show of wealth has been referred to as the "Taj Mittal". It has 12 bedrooms, an indoor pool, Turkish baths and parking for 20 cars.

Mittal bought No. 9A Palace Greens, Kensington Gardens, formerly the British Philippines embassy, at £70 million in 2008 for his daughter Vanisha Mittal Bhatia Bhatia who is married to Amit Bhatia a businessman and a philanthropist.

Mittal owns three prime properties collectively worth £500 million on the "Billionaire's Row" at Kensington Palace Gardens.

In 2005, he also bought a colonial bungalow for $30 million at No. 22, Aurangzeb Road in New Delhi, India, the most exclusive street in the city occupied by embassies and millionaires, and rebuilt it as a house.

Awards and Honours

! Year of Award or Honor !! Name of Award or Honor !! Awarding Organization
2010	"Dostyk" 1
2008	Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award	Forbes.
2007	Padma Vibhushan	President of India.
2007	Grand Cross of Civil Merit	Government of Spain.
2007	Dwight D. Eisenhower Global Leadership Award	Business Council for International Understanding.
2007	Fellowship	King's College London.
2004	European Businessman of the Year	Forbes.
2004	Entrepreneur of the Year	Wall Street Journal.
2004	8th honorary Willy Korf Steel Vision Award	American Metal Market and World Steel Dynamics.
1996	Steel Maker of the Year	New Steel.

2007: He was the commencement speaker of class of 2007's MBA commencement at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Bibliography

Tim Bouquet and Byron Ousey - ''Cold Steel'' (Little, Brown, 2008).

Yogesh Chabria - ''Invest The Happionaire Way'' (CNBC - Network18, 2008).

Navalpreet Rangi-''Documentary Film''( The Man With A Mission, 2010).

See also

ArcelorMittal Orbit

Arcelor Mittal

Marwaris

References

External links

Profile at ArcelorMittal

Profile at Forbes

Profile at ''BBC News''

Article on Mittal with background on Arcelor takeover bid - ''Time''

Lakshmi Mittal collected news and commentary at ''The Bloomberg Businessweek''

Lakshmi Mittal collected news and commentary at ''The Times of India''

BBC - ""Glimpsing a Fairytale Wedding"" - BBC News

''Mittal Steel Cleveland Works''

Article on Mittal Family purchase of Escada - Bloomberg

Category:1950 births Category:Living people * Category:Businesspeople in steel Category:Fellows of King's College London Category:Indian billionaires Category:Indian businesspeople Category:Indian expatriates in the United Kingdom Category:Indian Hindus Category:Indian emigrants to the United Kingdom Category:Indian vegetarians Category:Labour Party (UK) people Category:Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan Category:Political scandals in the United Kingdom Category:People from Churu district Category:St. Xavier's College, Calcutta alumni Category:Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management alumni Category:University of Calcutta alumni Category:Rajasthani people Category:People from Westminster (district) Category:Marwari people

ar:لاكشمي ميتال bn:লক্ষ্মী মিত্তাল bg:Лакшми Митал bs:Lakshmi Mittal cs:Lakšmí Mittal da:Lakshmi Mittal de:Lakshmi Mittal es:Lakshmi Mittal fr:Lakshmi Mittal gl:Lakshmi Mittal gu:લક્ષ્મી મિત્તલ ko:락슈미 미탈 hi:लक्ष्मी मित्तल id:Lakshmi Mittal it:Lakshmi Mittal kn:ಲಕ್ಷ್ಮಿ ಮಿತ್ತಲ್‌ lv:Lakšmi Mitāls lb:Lakshmi Mittal ml:ലക്ഷ്മി മിത്തൽ mr:लक्ष्मीनिवास मित्तल my:လက်ခ်ရှမီ မစ်တယ်လ် nl:Lakshmi Mittal ja:ラクシュミー・ミッタル no:Lakshmi Mittal pl:Lakshmi Mittal pt:Lakshmi Mittal ro:Lakshmi Mittal ru:Миттал, Лакшми sr:Лакшми Митал fi:Lakshmi Mittal sv:Lakshmi Mittal ta:இலட்சுமி மித்தல் te:లక్ష్మి నారాయణ్ మిత్తల్ tr:Lakshmi Mittal uk:Міттал Лакшмі vi:Lakshmi Mittal zh:拉克希米·米塔尔

name	Anuradha Paudwal
background	solo_singer
birth date	October 27, 1954
instrument	Vocalist
genre	playback singing, bhajans
occupation	Singer
years active	1973–present }}

Anuradha Paudwal is a popular playback singer in Bollywood in India. She has sung songs in Hindi, Marathi, Oriya, and Nepali.

Biography

She studied at Xavier's College in Mumbai. She was married to the late Arun Paudwal, who worked with music director S. D. Burman as his assistant. Her singing career started in 1973 with the movie, Abhimaan, (starring Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan) in which she sang a ''Shloka'' (a Sanskrit verse). In the same year she also made her Marathi film debut with "Yashoda" (music by Datta Davjekar). In 1974, she brought out a record of Non-film Marathi songs or "''bhav geeten''" which became very popular.

In 1976, she got her break as a playback singer in Hindi films with Kalicharan (starring Shatrughan Sinha and Reena Roy). Her first solo was in the movie, ''Aap Beati'', (starring Hema Malini and Shashi Kapoor). Laxmikant-Pyarelal were the music-composer duo for that movie. She also occasionally sang songs for composers Rajesh Roshan (''Des Pardes''), Jaidev (''Dooriyan'', ''Laila Majnu''), Kalyanji Anandji (''Kalaakar'', ''Vidhaata''), and Usha Khanna (''Souten'', ''Sajan Bina Suhagan'').

Anuradha apparently never received any formal training in classical music, stating in an interview, "I have not received any formal training in classical music. I have tried many times, but it has never worked out. I learnt a little here and a little there, but ultimately, I just practiced for many hours listening to Lataji".

Anuradha gained recognition with her popular numbers for the movie, Hero, for composers Laxmikant-Pyarelal. Her collaboration with Laxmikant-Pyarelal produced more success with songs for ''Meri Jung'' ("O Mere Kwabon Ke"), ''Batwara'' ("Thaare Vaaste Re Dola-Tu Maaro Kaun Lage"), ''Nagina'' and many more.''Ram Lakhan'' saw Laxmikant-Pyarelal giving three major hit songs to Anuradha. Their association ended with ''Tezaab'' where she sang two good numbers for them - "Kehdo Ki Tum" and "Hum Tumko Dilbar Kyon Maane".

Following this she collaborated with movie producer, Gulshan Kumar, and began a success streak with the movies, Lal Dupatta Malmal Ka, Tezaab, Aashiqui and Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin. She along with Gulshan Kumar were instrumental in getting many unknown playback singers to the fore, including Kumar Sanu, Udit Narayan, Abhijeet, Sonu Nigam. New Music directors, including her husband Arun Paudwal, were introduced to the music world. Nadeem-Shravan, Anu Malik, Anand-Milind, Nikhil Vinay and Amar Utpal all collaborated with T-Series (Gulshan Kumar's music label) and started a new era of melody in Bollywood. She has sung over 2000 songs til now from the start of her career. Most of her duets have been with Udit Narayan, Kumar Sanu, Mohammed Aziz. She sang some songs with Kishore Kumar, Mohammed Rafi and also with her female co-singers; Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Alka Yagnik, Kavita Krishnamurthy and Sadhana Sargam. Her other notable songs were also for the famous duo Shiv-Hari, for the movie "Sahebaan". She has also sung for R.D. Burman in her initial days and actually convinced him to make songs for Gulshan Kumar's label in his last days and the song "Aja Meri Jaan" set to one of the background score of R.D.Burman from ''Saagar'' is still popular. She also sang beautiful duets with her co-singers from Tamil Nadu and Kerala, notably S. P. Balasubrahmanyam and K. J. Yesudas.

Controversies

Anuradha has had her share of controversies as well. She was one of the rare singers to bloom during the reign of the Mangeshkar sisters in the Bollywood music industry. She was also under much controversy when she dubbed the songs of Alka Yagnik in the film "Dil". This also caused rifts between Anand-Milind and Alka Yagnik, thereby causing them to not collaborate for 2 years. Later in 1998, Anuradha Paudwal dubbed the songs of Alka Yagnik once again for the film Itihaas, this time under the music direction of Dilip Sen-Sameer Sen. However, Alka Yagnik, protested, to which the music company, T-Series was forced to include both versions of the same song, one in the voice of Alka Yagnik and the other in the voice of Anuradha Paudwal. She further went to dub Lata Mangeshkar's song in "Radha Ka Sangam" citing that her voice suited the heroine better. Anu Malik, a smaller name then, who had composed the soundtrack of ''Radha Ka Sangam'', protested against this move.

At her peak, Anuradha announced that henceforth she would sing exclusively for "T-Series", and concentrated on devotional songs and "cover-version" albums. T-Series used her attractive and pleasing looks to good effect in numerous Bhajan and promotional videos. She was the first playback singer whose face featured on music covers more than the film's actors. She sang for T-series for some time and then went into a sabbatical. After about five years, she restarted her playback career. She sang a few hit songs for her old music directors but the reception for her comeback was mild.

Although Anuradha has significantly cutback in singing for films, she has continued on with her popularity for singing devotional songs and creating devotional albums, which ultimately remains her forte. She has collaborated with Pandit Jasraj on his "Geet Govind , many devotional albums with Anup Jalota. Her voice is well suited on devotional numbers.

Marathi

Anuradha sang in a number of Marathi movies including the memorable ''Disate Majalaa'', ''Raja Lalakaari'', and ''Kaalyaa Maatita Maatitaa''. Most of these movies had music by the duo of Anil-Arun, Arun being her husband, who collaborated with Anil Mohile to form a pair.

Bollywood Songs

Awards and recognition

1986: Filmfare Award for "Mere Mann Bajaa Mridang" from ''Utsav''.

1990: National Film Award for "He Ek Reshami" from ''Kalat Nakalat''

1991: Filmfare Award for "Nazar Ke Saamne" from ''Aashiqui''.

1992: Filmfare Award for "Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahi" from ''Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin''.

1993: Filmfare Award form "Dhak Dhak Karne Laga" from ''Beta''.

2011: Mother Teresa Award for Lifetime Achievement

References

External links

List of Hindi movies with songs by Anuradha Paudwal

Bio at HindiLyrix.com

Category:1954 births Category:Living people Category:Bollywood playback singers Category:Indian female singers Category:Marathi playback singers Category:Filmfare Awards winners Category:Kannada playback singers Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:Marathi-language singers

es:Anuradha Paudwal fr:Anuradha Paudwal hi:अनुराधा पौडवाल mr:अनुराधा पौडवाल bn: অনুরাধা পারুয়াল

Name	Padma Lakshmi
Place	Kerala, India
Birth name	Padma Parvati Lakshmi
Birth date	September 01, 1970
Birth place	Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Height
Measurements	34-22-35
Haircolor	Black
Eyecolor	Brown
Spouse	Salman Rushdie (2004–2007)
Website	http://www.padmalakshmi.com }}

Padma Parvati Lakshmi (; born September 1, 1970) is an Indian American cookbook author, actress, model and television host. Her debut cookbook ''Easy Exotic'' won her the "Best First Book" award at the 1999 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. She has been the host of the US reality television program ''Top Chef'' since season two in 2006, for which she received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program. In 2010, ''Top Chef'' won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program.

Early life

Padma Lakshmi was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India in a Hindu Iyengar Brahmin family. Her father was a Pfizer executive and her mother Vijaya, the first wife of her father, was a nurse who specialized in suicide prevention. Her mother tongue is Tamil. She grew up shuttling between her grandparents in Chennai and her mother in New York. She is her parents' only child from this marriage. Her parents separated when she was age one. They divorced a year later. Both parents later remarried, and Lakshmi has a younger paternal half-brother and half-sister. The latter formerly worked as an actress and classical dancer but is now pursuing a career with children with special needs. In an interview in ''The Guardian'', Lakshmi said, "My father had quit his job as an executive at Pfizer to manage her career. That was kind of like rubbing salt in the wound. I didn't understand why he wanted that relationship with her, and not with me."

In 1984, when she was 14 years old, Padma was in a car accident in Malibu, California, causing an injury to her right arm that required surgery, which left a 7-inch scar between her elbow and shoulder. The incident happened on a Sunday afternoon as Padma was being driven home from a Hindu temple in Malibu. She remembers a flash of orange, looking over to see the large car upon her. Padma describes the event in the April 2001 edition of ''Vogue'', saying, "Being in a car crash was like an exhilarating hallucination, an unbelievable moment that oddly remains one of the most beautiful images in my memory." The car left Padma with injuries that included a fractured right hip and a shattered upper right arm.

Education

Lakshmi went to Workman High School, in the City of Industry, California. She is a 1992 graduate of Clark University, in Worcester, Massachusetts, where she received a B.A., with Honors, in Theatre Arts.

She speaks English, Tamil, Hindi, Italian and Spanish.

Career

Modeling

Lakshmi's career began at age 18, when during a study trip in her college years she was discovered by a modeling agent in Madrid, Spain while sitting in a café. As she has stated, "I was the first Indian model to have a career in Paris, Milan and New York. I'm the first one to admit that I was a novelty." Lakshmi managed to pay off her college loans while working as a model and actress.

She has modeled for top designers such as Emanuel Ungaro, Ralph Lauren, and Alberta Ferretti and appeared in ad campaigns for Roberto Cavalli and Versus. She was a favorite model of the photographer Helmut Newton, whose photographs of her often highlighted the large scar on her right arm.

Lakshmi appeared on the covers of RedBook, Vogue India, FHM, ''Cosmopolitan'', ''L'Officiel India'', ''Asian Woman'', ''Avenue'', ''Industry Magazine'', ''Marie Claire (India Edition)'', ''Harper's Bazaar'', ''Town & Country'' and ''Newsweek''. Lakshmi also posed nude for the May 2009 issue of ''Allure'' magazine.

Cookbooks

Her first cookbook ''Easy Exotic'', a compilation of international recipes, was awarded Best First Book at the 1999 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards at Versailles. She was host of the Food Network series ''Padma's Passport'', which was part of the larger series ''Melting Pot'' in 2001, where Lakshmi cooked primarily vegetarian cuisines. She also hosted two one-hour specials on South India and Spain for the British culinary tourism show ''Planet Food'', broadcast on the Food Network in the U.S. and internationally on the Discovery Channels. Her second cookbook, ''Tangy, Tart, Hot and Sweet'', was released October 2, 2007.

Film and television

Lakshmi first role was in an Italian murder mystery ''Il figlio di Sandokan'' and her subsequent role in ''Caraibi (Pirates: Blood Brothers)'', a costume drama about 17th-century pirates got Lakshmi hooked on acting in 1999. She had a comical supporting role as the lip synching disco singer Sylk in the 2001 American movie ''Glitter'' with Mariah Carey. She starred with Amitabh Bachchan and Jackie Shroff in the 2003 Hindi action film ''Boom'' as Shiela Bardez, one of a trio of super models accused of stealing diamonds. She played the role of Geeta in Paul Mayeda Berges' 2005 film ''The Mistress of Spices''.

Lakshmi served as hostess of ''Domenica In'', Italy's top-rated television show in 1997. She made a 2002 guest appearance as alien princess Kaitaama in "Precious Cargo", the 37th episode of the science fiction TV series ''Star Trek: Enterprise''. Lakshmi portrayed Sean Bean's nemesis Madhuvanthi in the 2004-2005 TV series ''Sharpe's Challenge''. In 2006, Lakshmi appeared in ABC's TV series ''The Ten Commandments'' with Dougray Scott, Naveen Andrews, and Omar Sharif. She serves as lead host and judge on the television show ''Top Chef'', joining in 2006 during its second season, and was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program as co-host in 2007. Lakshmi was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program in 2009 for ''Top Chef''. The show won the Emmy for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program in 2010.

Lakshmi has expressed a desire to work in Tamil films in future, and stated she would love to meet Kamal Haasan.

Lakshmi made a guest appearance on the show ''30 Rock'' in 2009.

Music video

In 2009, Lakshmi starred in the Eels video for the song "That Look You Give That Guy" playing the love interest of Mark Oliver Everett.

Jewelry design

Combining her culinary and fashion style tastes, Lakshmi launched her first line of jewelry in 2009. Titled "Padma", the first collection consisted of forty pieces.

Personal life

On April 17, 2004, in New York City, Lakshmi married the novelist Salman Rushdie, twenty-three years her senior, to whom she was introduced at a party in 1999 hosted by the journalist and editor Tina Brown. On July 2, 2007, the couple filed for divorce. She is the model for one of the central characters — and love interests — in Rushdie's novel ''Fury'' (a novel dedicated to her as well).

On October 1, 2009, after years of struggling with endometriosis, a condition that causes pelvic pain and has been associated with infertility, Lakshmi confirmed that she was pregnant. Lakshmi also co-founded The Endometriosis Foundation of America, which is a nonprofit organization focused on increasing awareness, education, research, and legislative advocacy against the disease. On February 20, 2010, Lakshmi gave birth to a baby girl named Krishna Thea Lakshmi. Although the father's identity was not initially given, it was later revealed to be Adam Dell. In January 2011, Dell sued Lakshmi for sole custody of their daughter.

Although professing little interest in fashion, Lakshmi has written articles on style for the American edition of ''Vogue'' magazine, at Anna Wintour's request, and writes her own column on style in ''Harper's Bazaar'', following a commission from Editor Glenda Bailey.

Lakshmi was brought up as a vegetarian and has admitted that because of this, she sometimes becomes "squeamish" when sampling other cultural delicacies. In 2009, she starred in a television advertisement for the Carl's Jr. restaurant chain eating a Western Bacon Cheeseburger and in her second cookbook ''Tangy, Tart, Hot and Sweet'' she credits the chain with bringing her away from vegetarianism during her teenage years.

Padma Lakshmi has dated Princess Diana's ex-financier, Theodore 'Teddy' Forstmann. He has left undisclosed sum of money in a trust fund for Padma Lakshmi's two-year-old daughter, Krishna. It had been reported that despite not being her father, Forstmann had been, "....carrying out the role of father since the moment Krishna was delivered into his arms."

Selected filmography

''Domenica In'' ''Il Figlio di Sandokan'' ''Caraibi'' - ''Pirates: Blood Brothers '' ''Linda e il brigadiere'' ep: "Il fratello di Linda" ''Glitter (film) ''Star Trek: Enterprise'' episode: "Precious Cargo" ''Boom (2003 film) ''The Mistress of Spices (film) ''The Ten Commandments (2006) ''Top Chef'' ''30 Rock'' episode: "The Problem Solvers"

style="background:#B0C4DE;"	Year	Film	Type	Role
1995	Unzipped (film)>Unzipped''	Documentary (High Fashion)
1997	|	TV Series (Italy)	Host
1998	|	TV Series (Italian, Drama)
1999	|	TV Series (Italian, Adventure)	Malinche
rowspan=2	2000	|	TV Series (Italian, Comedy)	Indian Lady
''Planet Food''	Documentary (Cooking)
rowspan=2	2001	Glitter'' ||	Film (US, Drama)	Sylk
''Melting Pot: Padma's Passport''	TV Series (US, Cooking)
2002	|	Science fiction>Sci-Fi)	Kaitaama
2003	Boom'' ||	Film (Indian, Drama)	Shiela Bardez
2005	The Mistress of Spices'' ||	Film (Drama)	Geeta
rowspan=2	2006	The Ten Commandments'' ||	TV Series (US, Biblical)	Princess Bithia
''Sharpe (TV series)	Sharpe'' episode: "Sharpe's Challenge"	TV Series (Action/History/War)
2006–present	|	TV Series (US, Reality/Cooking)	Host / Judge
2009	|	TV Series (US, Comedy)	Herself

References

External links

Padma Lakshmi's official website showcasing her jewellery collection

Padma Lakshmi's MySpace

Padma's Bio

Top Chef Website

http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/season-5/about

Category:Indian female models Category:Actors of Indian descent Category:Indian emigrants to the United States Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States Category:Clark University alumni Category:American Hindus Category:Indian Hindus Category:Participants in American reality television series Category:1970 births Category:Living people Category:Tamil people Category:Cookbook authors Category:Top Chef

de:Padma Lakshmi fr:Padma Lakshmi kk:Падма Лакшми ml:പത്മ ലക്ഷ്മി pt:Padma Lakshmi ru:Лакшми, Падма fi:Padma Lakshmi ta:பத்மா லட்சுமி uk:Падма Лакшмі

name	Craig Ferguson
birth date	May 17, 1962
birth place	Glasgow, Scotland
medium	Stand-up, television, film, music, books
nationality	Scottish
active	1980–present
genre	Observational comedy, satire/political satire/news satire
subject	Everyday life, popular culture, self-deprecation, politics
website	''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson''
spouse	Anne Hogarth (1983–86) (divorced)Sascha Corwin (1998–2004) (divorced) 1 childMegan Wallace-Cunningham (2008–present) 1 child
notable work	Host of ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson''Nigel Wick on ''The Drew Carey Show''Glaswegian in ''One Foot in the Grave''Gobber in ''How to Train Your Dragon'' }}

Craig Ferguson (born 17 May 1962) is a Scottish-American television host, stand-up comedian, writer, actor, director, author, and producer. He is the host of ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'', an Emmy Award-nominated, Peabody Award-winning late-night talk show that airs on CBS. In addition to hosting that program and performing stand-up comedy, Ferguson has written two books: ''Between the Bridge and the River'', a novel, and ''American on Purpose'', a memoir. He became a citizen of the United States in 2008.

Before his career as a late-night television host, Ferguson was best known in the United States for his role as the office boss, Nigel Wick, on ''The Drew Carey Show'' from 1996 to 2003. He also wrote and starred in three films, directing one of them.

Early life

Ferguson was born in the Stobhill Hospital in the Springburn district of Glasgow, Scotland to Robert and Janet Ferguson, and raised in nearby Cumbernauld, growing up "chubby and bullied". When he was six months old, he and his family moved from their Springburn apartment to a council house in Cumbernauld. They lived there as Glasgow was re-housing many people following damage to the city from World War II. Ferguson attended Muirfield Primary School and Cumbernauld High School. At age sixteen, Ferguson dropped out of Cumbernauld High School and began an apprenticeship to be an electronics technician at a local factory of American company Burroughs Corporation.

His first visit to the United States was as a teenager to visit an uncle who lived on Long Island, near New York City. When he moved to New York City in 1983, he worked in construction in Harlem. Ferguson later became a bouncer at a nightclub, Save the Robots.

Career

British career

Ferguson's experience in entertainment began as a drummer in a rock band called Exposure. He then joined a punk band called The Bastards from Hell. The band, later renamed "Dreamboys", and fronted by vocalist Peter Capaldi, performed regularly in Glasgow from 1980 to 1982. Ferguson credits Capaldi for inspiring him to try comedy.

After a nerve-wrecking, knee-knocking first appearance, he decided to create a character that was a "parody of all the über-patriotic native folk singers who seemed to infect every public performance in Scotland." The character, "Bing Hitler" (actually coined by Capaldi as Ferguson started with the monogram of "Nico Fulton" but admittedly later stole the name for his "own nefarious ends"), premiered in Glasgow, and subsequently became a hit at the 1986 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. A recording of his stage act as Bing Hitler was made at Glasgow's Tron Theatre and released in the 1980s; a Bing Hitler monologue ("A Lecture for Burns Night") appears on the compilation cassette ''Honey at the Core.''

Ferguson's first television appearance was as Confidence on BBC sitcom ''Red Dwarf'' during the episode "Confidence and Paranoia".

Ferguson made his starring television debut in ''The Craig Ferguson Show'', a one-off comedy pilot for Granada Television, which co-starred Paul Whitehouse and Helen Atkinson-Wood. This was broadcast throughout the UK on 4 March 1990, but was not made into a full series.

He has also found success in musical theatre. Beginning in 1991, he appeared on stage as Brad Majors in the London production of ''The Rocky Horror Show'', alongside Anthony Head, who was playing Dr. Frank-N-Furter at the time. In 1994, Ferguson played Father MacLean in the highly controversial production of ''Bad Boy Johnny and the Prophets of Doom'' at the Union Chapel in London. The same year, he appeared again at the Edinburgh Fringe, as Oscar Madison in ''The Odd Couple'', opposite Gerard Kelly as Felix and Kate Anthony as Gwendolin Pidgeon, who is now much better known as Aunty Pam in ''Coronation Street''; the play, which was relocated to 1990s Glasgow, later toured Scotland.

After enjoying success at the Edinburgh Festival, Ferguson appeared on ''Red Dwarf'', STV's ''Hogmanay Show'', his own show ''2000 Not Out'', and the 1993 ''One Foot in the Grave'' Christmas special ''One Foot in the Algarve.''

In 1993, Ferguson presented his own series on Scottish archaeology for Scottish Television entitled ''Dirt Detective.'' He travelled throughout the country examining archaeological history, including Skara Brae and Paisley Abbey.

U.S. career

After cancellation of his show ''The Ferguson Theory'', Ferguson moved to Los Angeles in 1994. His first U.S. role was as baker Logan McDonough on the short-lived 1995 ABC comedy ''Maybe This Time'', which starred Betty White and Marie Osmond.

His breakthrough in the U.S. came when he was cast on ''The Drew Carey Show'' as the title character's boss, Mr. Wick, a role that he played from 1996 to 2003. He played the role with an over-the-top posh English accent "to make up for generations of English actors doing crap Scottish accents." In his comedy special "A Wee Bit O' Revolution", he specifically called out James Doohan's portrayal of Montgomery Scott on Star Trek as the foundation of his "revenge". (At the end of one episode, though, Ferguson broke the fourth wall and began talking to the audience at home in his regular Scottish accent.) His character was memorable for his unique methods of laying employees off, almost always "firing Johnson", the most common last name of the to-be-fired workers. Even after leaving the show in 2003, he remained a recurring character on the series for the last two seasons, and was part of the 2-part series finale in 2004.

During production of ''The Drew Carey Show'', Ferguson devoted his off-time as a cast member to writing, working in his trailer on set in-between shooting his scenes. He wrote and starred in three films: ''The Big Tease'', ''Saving Grace'', and ''I'll Be There'', which he also directed and for which he won the Audience Award for Best Film at the Aspen, Dallas and Valencia film festivals. He was named Best New Director at the Napa Valley Film Festival. These were among other scripts that, "... in the great tradition of the movie business, about half a dozen that I got paid a fortune for but never got made." His other acting credits in films include ''Niagara Motel'', ''Lenny the Wonder Dog'', ''Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events'', ''Chain of Fools'', ''Born Romantic'', ''The Ugly Truth'', ''How to Train Your Dragon'', ''Kick-Ass'' and ''Winnie the Pooh''.

Ferguson has been touring the United States and Canada with a stand-up comedy show, and performed at Carnegie Hall on 23 October 2010.

''The Late Late Show''

In December 2004, it was announced that Ferguson would be the successor to Craig Kilborn on CBS's ''The Late Late Show''. His first show as the regular host aired on 3 January 2005. By May 2008, Ben Alba, an American television historian and an authority on U.S. talk shows, said Ferguson "has already made his mark, taking the TV monologue to new levels with an underlying story. But he is only just starting ... He is making up his own rules: It's the immigrant experience."

''The Late Late Show'' averaged 2.0 million viewers in its 2007 season, compared with 2.5 million for ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien''. In April 2008, ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' beat ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' for weekly ratings (1.88 million to 1.77 million) for the first time since the two shows went head-to-head with their respective hosts.

By the end of 2009, Craig Ferguson topped Jimmy Fallon in the ratings with Ferguson getting a 1.8 rating/6 share and Fallon receiving a 1.6 rating/6 share.

Ferguson's success on the show has led at least one "television insider" to say he is the heir apparent to take over David Letterman's role as host of ''The Late Show''.

Television and appearances

Craig Ferguson has made guest appearances on ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'', ''Late Show with David Letterman'', ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'', ''Rachael Ray'', ''Countdown with Keith Olbermann'', ''The Howard Stern Show'', ''The Daily Show'', ''The View'', ''Loveline'', ''Real Time with Bill Maher'', ''The Soup'', ''The Talk'' and ''The Dennis Miller Show''. He also co-hosted ''Live with Regis & Kelly'' with Kelly Ripa.

On 4 January 2009 Ferguson was a celebrity player on ''Million Dollar Password''.

thumb|Ferguson in April 2008 In 2009, Ferguson made a cameo live-action appearance in the episode "We Love You, Conrad" on ''Family Guy''. Ferguson hosted the 32nd annual People's Choice Awards on 10 January 2006. ''TV Guide'' magazine printed a "Cheers" (Cheers and Jeers section) for appearing on his own show that same evening. From 2007 to 2010, Ferguson hosted the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular on 4 July, broadcast nationally by CBS. Ferguson was the featured entertainer at the 26 April 2008 White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington, DC.

Ferguson co-presented the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama with Brooke Shields in 2008. He has done voice work in cartoons, including being the voice of Barry's evil alter-ego in the "With Friends Like Steve's" episode of ''American Dad''; in ''Freakazoid!'' as Roddy MacStew, Freakazoid's mentor; and on ''Buzz Lightyear of Star Command'' as the robot vampire NOS-4-A2. Most recently, he was the voice of Susan the boil on ''Futurama'', which was a parody of Scottish singer Susan Boyle. He makes stand-up appearances in Las Vegas and New York City. He headlined in the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal and in October 2008 Ferguson taped his stand up show in Boston for a Comedy Central special entitled ''A Wee Bit o' Revolution'', which aired on 22 March 2009.

British television comedy drama ''Doc Martin'' was based on a character from Ferguson's film ''Saving Grace'' – with Ferguson getting writing credits for 12 episodes. On 6 November 2009 Ferguson appeared as himself in a ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' special titled ''SpongeBob's Truth or Square''. He hosted Discovery Channel's 23rd season of ''Shark Week'' in 2010. Ferguson briefly appeared in Toby Keith's ''"Red Solo Cup"'' music video released on 10 October 2011.

Literature

Ferguson's novel ''Between the Bridge and the River'' was published on 10 April 2006. Ferguson appeared at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, as well as other author literary events. "This book could scare them", Ferguson said. "The sex, the violence, the dream sequences and the iconoclasm. I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with that. I understand that. It was very uncomfortable to write some of it." ''Publishers Weekly'' called it "a ''tour de force'' of cynical humor and poignant reverie, a caustic yet ebullient picaresque that approaches the sacred by way of the profane." His novel ''Between the Bridge and the River'' is dedicated to his son and to his grandfather, Adam. Ferguson revealed in an interview that he is writing a sequel to the book, to be titled "The Sphynx of the Mississippi". He also stated in a 2006 interview with David Letterman that he intends for the book to be the first in a trilogy.

Ferguson signed a deal with HarperCollins to publish his memoirs. The book, entitled ''American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot'', focuses on "how and why [he] became an American" and covers his years as a punk rocker, dancer, bouncer and construction worker as well as the rise of his career in Hollywood as an actor and comic. It went on sale 22 September 2009 in the United States. On 1 December 2010 the audiobook version was nominated for a Best Spoken Word Album Grammy.

In July 2009, Jackie Collins was a guest on ''The Late Late Show'' to promote her new book ''Married Lovers''. Collins said that a character in her book, Don Verona, was based on Ferguson because she was such a fan of him and his show.

Personal life

As mentioned on ''The Late Late Show'' on 3 August 2009, Ferguson holds an FAA Private Pilot's License issued 31 July 2009. Ferguson announced on the 8 April 2011 broadcast that he is pursuing an instrument rating.

Ferguson is a fan of Scottish football team Partick Thistle F.C. as well as the British television show ''Doctor Who''. He has three tattoos: his latest, the Join, or Die political cartoon on his right forearm; a Ferguson family crest with the Latin motto ''Dulcius ex asperis'' ("Sweeter out of [or from] difficulty") on his upper right arm in honour of his father; and the Ingram family crest on his upper left arm in honour of his mother. He has often stated that his ''Join, or Die'' tattoo is to signal his patriotism.

Family

In an episode of ''The Late Late Show'' that aired 8 December 2008, a somber Ferguson talked about his mother, Janet (3 August 1933 – 1 December 2008). He ended the program by playing her favourite song, "Rivers of Babylon" by Boney M.

Ferguson has two sisters (one older and one younger) and one older brother. His elder sister's name is Janice and his brother's name is Scott. His younger sister, Lynn Ferguson Tweddle, is also a successful comedienne, presenter, and actress, perhaps most widely known as the voice of Mac in the 2000 stop-motion animation film ''Chicken Run''. She is currently a writer on ''The Late Late Show''.

Ferguson has married three times and divorced twice as a result of what he describes as "relationship issues". His first marriage was to Anne Hogarth from 1983 to 1986, during which time they lived in New York. From his second marriage (to Sascha Corwin, founder and proprietor of Los Angeles' SpySchool), he has one son, Milo Hamish Ferguson, born in 2001. He and Corwin share custody of Milo, and live near each other in Los Angeles. On 21 December 2008, Ferguson married art dealer Megan Wallace-Cunningham in a private ceremony on her family's farm in Chester, Vermont. Ferguson announced 14 July 2010 on Twitter that they were expecting a child. He wrote: "Holy crackers! Mrs F is pregnant. How did that happen? ... oh yeah I know how. Another Ferguson arrives in 2011. The world trembles." The child, a boy named Liam James, was born 31 January 2011.

Alcoholism

A recovering alcoholic, Ferguson has been sober since 18 February 1992. Because of this, he declared he wouldn't mock Britney Spears' much-publicized alcohol problems in 2007. He said he had considered committing suicide on Christmas Day 1991, but when offered a drink by a friend for celebrating the holiday, he was distracted from jumping off Tower Bridge in London as he had planned.

Citizenship

Holding dual citizenship, Ferguson is both a naturalized citizen of the United States and a British citizen.

During 2007, Ferguson, who at the time held only British citizenship, used ''The Late Late Show'' as a forum for seeking honorary citizenship from every state in the U.S. He has received honorary citizenship from Nebraska, Arkansas, Virginia, Montana, North Dakota, New Jersey, Tennessee, South Carolina, South Dakota, Nevada, Alaska, Texas, Wyoming, Pennsylvania and Indiana, and was "commissioned" as an admiral in the tongue-in-cheek Nebraska Navy. Governors Jon Corzine (New Jersey), John Hoeven (North Dakota), Mark Sanford (South Carolina), Mike Rounds (South Dakota), Rick Perry (Texas), Sarah Palin (Alaska) and Jim Gibbons (Nevada) sent letters to him that made him an honorary citizen of their respective states. He received similar honors from various towns and cities, including Ozark, Arkansas; Hazard, Kentucky; and Greensburg, Pennsylvania.

Ferguson became an American citizen on 1 February 2008 and broadcast the taking of his citizenship test as well as his swearing in on ''The Late Late Show''.

Filmography

+ Film
! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1992	''The Bogie Man''
1998	''Modern Vampires''	Richard
1999	''The Big Tease''	Crawford Mackenzie	Writer
2000		Melander Stevens
2000	''Born Romantic''	Frankie
2000		Matthew Stewart	Writer
2002	''Life Without Dick''	Jared O'Reilly
2002	''Prendimi l'anima'' (''The Soul Keeper'')	Richard Fraser
2003		Paul Kerr	Director, Writer
2004	''Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events''	Person of Indeterminate Gender
2004	''Lenny the Wonder Dog''	Dr. Wagner
2005		Fisherman
2006	''Niagara Motel''	Phillie
2007		Ted Truman
2008	''Craig Ferguson: A Wee Bit O' Revolution''
2009		Himself
2010	''The Hero of Color City''
2010		Gobber	Voice only
2010		Himself
2011			Voice only
2011	''Totally Framed''	Jeffrey Stewart
2012		Lord Macintosh	Voice only
2012		David	Post-production
2014	''How to Train Your Dragon 2''	Gobber	Voice only

+Television
! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1988	''Red Dwarf''	Confidence
1989	''The Big Gig''	Himself	Regular Comic
1993	''One Foot in the Grave''	Glaswegian beach bully	Christmas Special "One foot in the Algarve"
1994	''The Dirt Detective: A History of Scotland''	Travel documentary series	Host
1994	''The Ferguson Theory''	Himself	Host
1995–1996	''Maybe This Time''	Logan McDonough	18 episodes
1995–1997	''Freakazoid!''	Roddy MacStew	7 episodes
1996–2004	''The Drew Carey Show''	Nigel Wick	170 episodes
2000	''Buzz Lightyear of Star Command''	NOS 4 A2	Voice only, 5 episodes
2005		Oliver Davies	1 episode
2005–present	''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson''	Himself	Host
2006	''American Dad!''	Evil Barry	Voice only, Episode: ''With Friends Like Steve's''
2009	''Family Guy''	Himself	Episode: ''We Love You, Conrad''
2009	''SpongeBob's Truth or Square''	Himself	TV movie
2010	''Futurama''	Susan Boil	Episode: ''Attack of the Killer App''
2010	''Shark Week''	Himself	Host
2010	''Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon''	Gobber	Voice only, TV short film

Bibliography

Comedy specials

''A Wee Bit o' Revolution''. Comedy Central. 2009.

''Does This Need to Be Said?'' EPIX, Comedy Central. 2011.

Discography

''Live At The Tron'' (as Bing Hitler). Jammy Records. 1986. Catalogue number JRLP 861.

References

External links

Craig Ferguson on Twitter

Craig Ferguson Interview on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos

Craig Ferguson and Megan Wallace Cunningham

''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson''

Category:1962 births Category:American aviators Category:American comedians Category:American film actors Category:American memoirists Category:American novelists Category:American people of Scottish descent Category:American screenwriters Category:American television actors Category:American television talk show hosts Category:American voice actors Category:Living people Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States Category:People from Glasgow Category:People self-identifying as alcoholics Category:Scottish comedians Category:Scottish emigrants to the United States Category:Scottish memoirists Category:Scottish novelists Category:Scottish screenwriters Category:Scottish television actors Category:People from Cumbernauld Category:Actors from New York City Category:Actors from Los Angeles, California Category:Scottish male comedians

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