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Question mark
Punctuation apostrophe ( ’ ' ) brackets ( [ ], ( ), { }, ⟨ ⟩ ) colon ( : ) comma ( , ، 、 ) dash ( ‒, –, —, ― ) ellipsis ( …, ..., . . . ) exclamation mark ( ! ) full stop/period ( . ) guillemets ( « » ) hyphen ( ‐ ) hyphen-minus ( - ) question mark ( ? ) quotation marks ( ‘ ’, “ ”, ' ', " " ) semicolon ( ; ) slash‌/stroke‌/solidus ( /,  ⁄  ) Word dividers space ( ) ( ) ( ) interpunct ( · ) General typography ampersand ( & ) at sign ( @ ) asterisk ( * ) backslash ( \ ) bullet ( • ) caret ( ^ ) dagger ( †, ‡ ) degree ( ° ) ditto mark ( 〃 ) inverted exclamation mark ( ¡ ) inverted question mark ( ¿ ) number sign‌/pound‌/hash ( # ) numero sign ( № ) obelus ( ÷ ) ordinal indicator ( º, ª ) percent, per mil ( %, ‰, ‱ ) pilcrow ( ¶ ) prime ( ′, ″, ‴ ) section sign ( § ) tilde ( ~ ) underscore‌/understrike ( _ ) vertical bar‌/broken bar‌/pipe ( ¦, | ) Intellectual property copyright symbol ( © ) registered trademark ( ® ) service mark ( ℠ ) sound recording copyright ( ℗ ) trademark ( ™ ) Currency currency (generic) ( ¤ ) currency (specific) ( ₳ ฿ ₵ ¢ ₡ ₢ ₠ $ ₫ ৳ ₯ € ƒ ₣ ₲ ₴ ₭ ℳ ₥ ₦ ₧ ₱ ₰ £ ₹ ₨ ₪ ₸ ₮ ₩ ¥ ៛ ) Uncommon typography asterism ( ⁂ ) tee ( ⊤ ) up tack ( ⊥ ) index/fist ( ☞ ) therefore sign ( ∴ ) because sign ( ∵ ) interrobang ( ‽ ) irony punctuation ( ؟ ) lozenge ( ◊ ) reference mark ( ※ ) tie ( ⁀ ) Related diacritical marks whitespace characters non-English quotation style ( « », „ ” ) In other scripts Chinese punctuation
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The question mark (?; also known as an interrogation point, interrogation mark, question point, query or eroteme),^[1] is a punctuation mark that replaces the full stop (period) at the end of an interrogative sentence in English and many other languages. The question mark is not used for indirect questions. The question mark character is also often used in place of missing or unknown data.

History[link]

According to a 2011 discovery by a Cambridge manuscript expert, Syriac was the first language to use a question mark in the form of a vertical double dot.^[2] Lynne Truss attributes an early form of the question mark to Alcuin of York.^[3] Truss describes the punctus interrogativus of the late 8th century as "a lightning flash, striking from right to left".^[4] (The punctuation system of Aelius Donatus, current through the Early Middle Ages, used only simple dots at various heights.)

This earliest question mark was a decoration of one of these dots, with the "lightning flash" perhaps meant to denote intonation (or a tilde or titlo, named after the Latin word titulus, as in “ ·~ ”, like those wavy and more or less slanted marks used in lots of medieval texts for denoting various things such as abbreviations, and that would become later various diacritics or ligatures or modified letters used in the Latin script), and perhaps associated with early musical notation like neumes.^[5][6] Over the next three centuries this pitch-defining element (if it ever existed) seems to have been forgotten, so that the Alcuinesque stroke-over-dot sign (with the stroke sometimes slightly curved) is often seen indifferently at the end of clauses, whether they embody a question or not.

In the early 13th century, when the growth of communities of scholars (universities) in Paris and other major cities led to an expansion and streamlining of the book-production trade,^[7] punctuation was rationalised by assigning Alcuin's stroke-over-dot specifically to interrogatives; by this time the stroke was more sharply curved and can easily be recognised as the modern question-mark.

The symbol is also sometimes^[8] thought to originate from the Latin quaestiō (that is, qvaestio), meaning "question", which was abbreviated during the Middle Ages to qo. The lowercase q was written above the lowercase o, and this mark was transformed into the modern symbol. However, evidence of the actual use of the Q-over-o notation in medieval manuscripts is lacking; if anything, medieval forms of the upper component seem to be evolving towards the q-shape rather than away from it.

The origin of the question mark.

A diagram showing the evolution of the question mark.

In other languages and scripts[link]

Opening and closing question marks[link]

Opening and closing question marks

In some languages, such as Spanish, typography since the 18th century has required opening and closing question marks,^[9] as in "¿Qué hora es?" (What time is it?); an interrogative sentence or phrase begins with an inverted question mark (¿) and ends with the question mark (?). This orthographical rule is often disregarded in quick typing, although its omission is always considered a mistake.

Armenian, Greek question mark[link]

In Armenian the question mark ( ՞ ) takes the form of an open circle and is placed over the last vowel of the question word. It is defined in Unicode at U+055E ՞ armenian question mark.

In Greek and Church Slavonic, the question mark is a semicolon. The regular Latin semicolon can be used U+003B ; semicolon. Although it exists a separate character U+037E ; greek question mark, the regular semicolon is well used.

Mirrored question mark[link]

Mirrored question mark in Arabic and Persian

In Arabic and languages that use Arabic script and were influenced by the Arabic language such as Persian and Urdu, which are written from right to left, the question mark ؟ is mirrored right-to-left from the English question mark. (Some browsers may display the character in the previous sentence as a forward question mark due to font or text directionality issues). Hebrew is also written right-to-left, but it uses a question mark that appears on the page in the same orientation as the Roman-alphabet question mark.^[10]

In Unicode, two encodings are available: U+061F ؟ arabic question mark (HTML: ؟ With Bidi code AL: Right-to-Left Arabic) and U+2E2E ⸮ reversed question mark (HTML: ⸮ With bi-directional code Other Neutrals).

Fullwidth question mark[link]

The question mark is also used in modern writing in Chinese, and Japanese, although it is not strictly necessary in Japanese. Usually it is written as fullwidth form in Chinese and Japanese, in Unicode: U+FF1F ？ fullwidth question mark.

In other scripts[link]

Some other scripts have a specific question mark:

• U+1367 ፧ ethiopic question mark
• U+A60F ꘏ vai question mark
• U+2CFA ⳺ coptic old nubian direct question mark and U+2CFB ⳻ coptic old nubian indirect question mark

Stylistic variants[link]

French usage must include a space before the question mark (for example, "Que voulez-vous boire ?").^[11]

In typography, some stylistic variants and combinations are available:

• U+2047 ⁇ double question mark
• U+FE56 ﹖ small question mark
• U+2048 ⁈ question exclamation mark
• U+2049 ⁉ exclamation question mark
• U+203D ‽ interrobang

Rhetorical question mark[link]

The rhetorical question mark or percontation point was invented by Henry Denham in the 1580s and was used at the end of a rhetorical question; however, its use died out in the 17th century. It was the reverse of an ordinary question mark, so that instead of the main opening pointing back into the sentence, it opened away from it.^[12] This character can be represented using the reversed question mark (⸮) found in Unicode as U+2E2E. The percontation point is analogous to the Irony mark, but these are very rarely seen.

Rhetorical questions in some (informal) situations can use a bracketed question mark, e.g. "Oh, really(?)", for example in 888 subtitles.^[13]

The question mark can also be used as a meta-sign to signal uncertainty regarding what precedes. It is usually put between brackets (?). The uncertainty may concern either a superficial (such as unsure spelling) or a deeper truth (real meaning) level.

Computing[link]

In computing, the question mark character is represented by ASCII code 63 (0x3F hexadecimal), and is located at Unicode code-point U+003F. The full-width (double-byte) equivalent, ？, is located at Unicode code point U+FF1F.

The question mark is often utilized as a wildcard character: a symbol that can be used to substitute for any other character or characters in a string. In particular "?" is used as a substitute for any one character as opposed to the asterisk, "*", which can be used as a substitute for zero or more characters in a string. The inverted question mark (¿) corresponds to Unicode code-point 191 (U+00BF), and can be accessed from the keyboard in Microsoft Windows on the default US layout by holding down the Alt key and typing either 1 6 8 (ANSI) or 0 1 9 1 (Unicode) on the numeric keypad. In GNOME applications, it can be entered by typing the hexadecimal Unicode character while holding down both ctrl and shift, i.e.: ctrl+shift+BF. In recent XFree86 and X.Org incarnations of the X Window System, it can be accessed as a compose sequence of two straight question marks, i.e. pressing <Compose> ? ? yields ¿. In the Mac OS, option+shift+? produces an inverted question mark.

The question mark is used in ASCII renderings of the International Phonetic Alphabet, such as SAMPA in place of the glottal stop symbol, ʔ, (which resembles "?" without the dot), and corresponds to Unicode code point U+0294, Latin letter glottal stop.

In computer programming, the symbol "?" has a special meaning in many programming languages. In C-descended languages, "?" is part of the ?: operator, which is used to evaluate simple boolean conditions. In C# 2.0, the "?" modifier and the "??" operator are used to handle nullable data types. In the POSIX syntax for regular expressions, such as the one used in Perl and Python, ? stands for "zero or one instance of the previous subexpression", i.e. an optional element. In certain implementations of the BASIC programming language, the "?" character may be used as a shorthand for the "print" function; in others (notably the BBC BASIC family), "?" is used to address a single-byte memory location. In OCaml, the question mark precedes the label for an optional parameter. In Scheme, as a convention, symbol names ending in ? are used for predicates such as odd?, null?, and eq?. Similarly, in Ruby, method names ending in ? are used for predicates.

In many web browsers and other computer programs, "?" is used to show a character not found in the program's character set. This commonly occurs for apostrophes and quotation marks when they are written with software that uses its own proprietary non-standard code for these characters, such as Microsoft's Smart Quotes. Some fonts will instead use the Unicode Replacement Glyph (U+FFFD, �), which is commonly rendered as a white question mark in a black diamond (see replacement character).

The generic URL syntax allows for a query string to be appended to a resource location in a web address so that additional information can be passed to a script; the query mark, ?, is used to indicate the start of a query string. A query string is usually made up of a number of different field/value pairs, each separated by the ampersand symbol, &, as seen in this URL:

http://www.example.com/login.php?username=test&password=blank

Here, a script on the page login.php on the server www.example.com is to provide a response to the query string containing the pairs "username"-"test" and "password"-"blank".

Games[link]

In algebraic chess notation, "?" denotes a bad move, and "??" a blunder, "?!" a dubious move and "!?" an interesting move. For details of all of the chess punctuation see punctuation (chess).

In Scrabble, a question mark indicates a blank tile.^[14]

Mathematics[link]

In mathematics, "?" commonly denotes Minkowski's question mark function. In equations, it can mean "questioned" as opposed to "defined".

• U+225F ≟ questioned equal to
• U+2A7B ⩻ less-than with question mark above
• U+2A7C ⩼ greater-than with question mark above

Medicine[link]

A question mark is used in English medical notes to suggest a possible diagnosis. It facilitates the recording of a doctor’s impressions regarding a patient’s symptoms and signs. For example, for a patient presenting with left lower abdominal pain, a differential diagnosis might include ?Diverticulitis (read as 'Query Diverticulitis').

See also[link]

• Exclamation mark
• Interrobang
• Irony point
• Terminal punctuation

Notes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Question mark

• The question mark and indirect questions

This article describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. Please help rewrite it to explain the fiction more clearly and provide non-fictional perspective. (October 2009)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2012)

Dr. Evil (b. Douglas Powers) is a fictional character, played by Mike Myers in the Austin Powers film series. He is the antagonist of the movies, and Austin Powers' nemesis. He is a parody of James Bond villains, primarily Donald Pleasence's Ernst Stavro Blofeld (as featured in You Only Live Twice). Dr. Evil routinely hatches schemes to terrorize and take over the world, and is typically accompanied by his cat Mr. Bigglesworth and his sidekick Mini-Me, a dwarf clone of himself.

Background[link]

According to his own account in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, delivered in a group therapy session with his estranged son Scott, Dr. Evil's upbringing went as follows:

The details of my life are quite inconsequential ... Very well, where do I begin? My father was a relentlessly self-improving boulangerie owner from Belgium with low-grade narcolepsy and a penchant for buggery. My mother was a 15-year-old French prostitute named Chloe with webbed feet. My father would womanize; he would drink. He would make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark. Sometimes, he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy. The sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament ... My childhood was typical: summers in Rangoon ... luge lessons ... In the spring, we'd make meat helmets ... When I was insolent I was placed in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds — pretty standard, really. At the age of 12, I received my first scribe. At the age of 14, a Zoroastrian named Vilmer ritualistically shaved my testicles. There really is nothing like a shorn scrotum — it's breathtaking ... I suggest you try it.^{[citation needed]}

TV versions skipped the last three lines and replaced it with

When I was 18 I went to evil medical school. At age 25 I took up tap dancing. I wanted to be a quadruple threat: an actor, dancer ...^{[citation needed]}

In the second film, he went on the Jerry Springer show to talk to Scott. In the deleted scene Jerry asked him to open up to his son, at first he refused, but then started to say very bizarre facts about himself. Like how when he was on a bus he willed himself a menstrual cycle, he loves toe cleavage, he named his left testicle piss and his right testicle vinegar, he was the first person to use quotation fingers, he slept in a horse, he once made a marzipan voodoo effigy of the Fonz while in a coma after smoking some Bolivian prayer hash at Sammy Davis Jr's house, and that he's the Princess of Canada.

In the third Austin Powers film, Goldmember, Dr. Evil claims that his adopted mother was the love-slave of the Belgian baker rather than a prostitute.

In Goldmember, Nigel Powers reveals that Dr. Evil is Austin Powers' twin brother and that his real name is Douglas ("Dougie") Powers. He explains that Douglas and Austin were separated as babies following a car explosion, and that he thought that only Austin had survived. Dougie was raised by Belgians, which is what made him so complex and evil. Interestingly, despite the fact that he cites his home town is Bruges, which is situated in the Dutch-speaking Flemish Region of Belgium, he claims to not know how to speak "Freaky-Deaky Dutch", instead speaking French, the main language of southern Belgium.

He also attended the British Intelligence Academy with Austin (along with Basil Exposition and Number 2), and is angered that Austin won the "International Man of Mystery" award, while he, the academy's best student, was overlooked.

In the first film, Dr. Evil is an internationally known criminal genius cryogenically frozen in 1967 and reawakened in 1997. Like Austin Powers, he faces challenges in acclimating to the new period (although he has his staff, who remained behind, to help him).

He often places his little finger near his mouth, especially when excited or to emphasize a statement. Although expanded upon, this signature move may have been taken from "Number 12 Looks Just Like You," an episode of The Twilight Zone in which Dr. Rex uses the same gesture several times. Although the idiosyncrasy was intended to be a humorous "signature move" for Evil, the only apparent reason for Rex's use of it was to differentiate him from several other characters (played by the same actor) who were intentionally physically identical to him.

Evil also repetitively uses the euphemism frickin'. He occasionally uses unnecessary finger quotes around now-familiar technical terms such as laser.

The scar on his face is a reference to similar scars on early 20th century movie villains such as several portrayed by Erich von Stroheim (as well as a homage to Donald Pleasence as Blofeld in You Only Live Twice). This type of scar is usually a remnant of Mensur fencing, an activity in which elite European student groups participate. In Goldmember it is revealed that he has a tattoo on his buttocks that reads "E. Diddy" and he also claimed to have three testicles. Dr. Evil also tends to get angry when he is referred to as "Mr. Evil" and then proceeds to say that "didn't spend six years in evil medical school to be called 'Mister', thank you very much!"

In theAustin Powers films, Mike Myers wore blue colored-contacts for the role of Dr. Evil, though his eyes were a more icy-blue in Goldmember.

Entourage[link]

Dr. Evil employs a diverse and highly stereotypical group of minions.

Frau Farbissina[link]

Perhaps closest to Dr. Evil is his assistant, Frau Farbissina, founder of the militant wing of the Salvation Army. ("Farbissina" is German/Yiddish for "embittered".) In the second film, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, after imbibing some of Austin Powers' mojo Dr. Evil becomes temporarily irresistible and they have sex. However, this leads to an uncomfortable morning-after encounter. In the closing credits she is revealed to be Scott's mother. (In the first film, it is asserted that Scott was created via Dr. Evil's frozen semen, thought it is assumed that in traveling back through time he altered this particular event.) In Goldmember, Farbissina and Dr. Evil also kiss while he is in prison; although the two enjoyed it (despite having been established as a lesbian in the previous movie), the purpose was to transfer a key to Evil so that he could escape. She is probably a parody of either the character Rosa Klebb in the James Bond movie From Russia with Love, or that of Irma Bunt from On Her Majesty's Secret Service. She does not appear to age as she looked the same in the 1960s as she did in the 1990s, which was used for comedic effect in the film. Dr. Evil meets the younger Number Two and comments 'You look so healthy and youthful.' Farbissina's voice is heard offscreen and Dr. Evil turns and says, 'And Frau, you look so ...' as the audience is shown she has not changed at all, leading Dr. Evil to finish with '... ri-ght'.

Scott Evil[link]

Dr. Evil carries on a strained relationship with his son Scott. Dr. Evil liquidates their therapy group, accusing them of being "insolent". Scott is also known for pointing out Dr. Evil's incompetence and immaturity as well as obvious mistakes and flaws in Dr. Evil's plans. For instance, when Dr. Evil asks why Austin Powers always foils their plans, Scott says "Because you never kill him when you have the chance and you're a big dope". Dr. Evil mocks Scott and ignores his corrections, which often leads to failure. Scott later grows more "evil", thus losing his hair; this gains his father's respect momentarily, especially after Scott provides him a pool filled with "frickin' sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their frickin' heads". When Dr. Evil switches sides to help Austin save the world, Scott takes over as the head of the evil organization.

Number 2[link]

Number 2 is the leader of Dr. Evil's industrial empire, Virtucon. A natural businessman, Number 2 is often more concerned about the financial aspects of world domination than the world domination itself. In each successive film, Number 2 has devised various schemes and ventures which would not only garner massive profits for - and expand the power-base of - the Virtucon empire, but would do so legitimately, leaving the authorities with little excuse for apprehending Dr. Evil (such as shifting their resources towards investing in Starbucks). Evil, however, refuses to heed Number 2's advice and has often made Number 2 suffer for his insolence, claiming that his strategies in bringing in legitimately-obtained income are insulting to the ideals of an evil empire. In the first film Number 2 tries to do a deal with Austin, causing Dr. Evil to try sending him into flames. However he returns in the next film. He helps Dr. Evil adjust to the new era, such as explaining the financial differences. Number 2 is a parody of Emilio Largo from the James Bond film Thunderball, second in command of The SPECTRE terrorist organization.

Mr. Bigglesworth[link]

Mr. Bigglesworth is a fictional cat belonging to Dr. Evil. He was originally similar to Blofeld's cat, a typical white Persian cat from the James Bond movie series.

He was forced to escape hastily with Dr. Evil in a cryogenic capsule, but lost all of his fur due to an error in the thawing out process.

Mr. Bigglesworth has since that time been bald, played by a Sphynx cat named Ted NudeGent. Dr. Evil's miniature clone, Mini-Me, has a tiny cat called "Mini Mr. Bigglesworth", presumably^{[citation needed]} also a clone of Mr. Bigglesworth. One of Doctor Evil's lines in the movie to Mini Me is "No Mini Me, we do not gnaw on our kitty." In the third installment of the franchise, Austin Powers in Goldmember, Mr. Bigglesworth is not seen once in the entire length of the film, except for promotional shots, the school flashback to when he still had hair as a kitten, where he was played by a 12-week-old kitten named Chloe.^[1] He was in a deleted scene in which Dr. Evil describes what it is like to hold a hairless cat - "like holding somebody's ass."

To illustrate his importance, Dr. Evil states in the first movie: "When Dr. Evil gets angry, Mr. Bigglesworth gets upset. And when Mr. Bigglesworth gets upset, people DIE!"

Fat Bastard[link]

Fat Bastard is an immensely obese henchman hailing from Scotland, weighing a metric ton. His extreme size endows Fat Bastard with super-human strength as exhibited by his prowess in the Sumo ring from Goldmember. This makes him a formidable enemy for Austin Powers. Fat Bastard is noted for his foul temper, his frequent flatulence, his vulgar and revolting bad manners and his unusual eating habits, which include cannibalism, more specifically a taste for human infants (which he calls "the other other white meat") or anything that looks like a baby, e.g. midgets/dwarves, by which even Dr. Evil is grossed out. Fat Bastard was originally in the employ of the British Ministry of Defence as a guard, but his resentment of being told to lose weight caused him to defect, and he stole Austin's mojo while he was in cryostasis in 1969. Fat Bastard appears at the end of Austin Powers in Goldmember, having lost most of his girth, claiming he lost "180 lbs" (contradicting the notion he weighed a metric ton) and attributing the loss to the "Subway diet", though he complains about the excess skin (notably around his neck, in the "shape of a vagina") left over from the weight loss.

Random Task[link]

Dr. Evil's handyman extraordinaire is Random Task, a Korean ex-wrestler whose personality and assassination style is a parody to that of Oddjob from Goldfinger, except he throws his shoe instead of his hat. His names themselves are synonyms of 'odd' and 'job'. Task repetitively cracks his neck and it is often his job to silently move dead bodies away and move Dr. Evil's chair. Random Task attempts to kill Austin in his Honeymoon suite unsuccessfully as Austin uses the Swedish-made penis enlarger pump on him before Vanessa Kensington breaks a bottle of champagne over his head to subdue him. His unconscious but broadly-grinning body is then placed on a trolley and pushed along the corridor of the hotel.

Patty O'Brien[link]

Patty O'Brien is an ex-Irish assassin who is extremely superstitious, leaving a keepsake from his good-luck charm bracelet on the body of every victim he kills. Apparently Scotland Yard has been trying to get a hold of that bracelet for some time. O'Brien explains in his Irish accent: "They're always after me lucky charms!", a reference to an American breakfast cereal television ad. Dr. Evil and Frau insult O'Brien revealing his voice to sound like the Leprechaun mascot from the Lucky Charms advertisement. However, O'Brien does not understand the reference. O'Brien attempts to assassinate Austin by choking him with his bracelet in the bathroom stall, but Austin drives his head into the toilet, drowning him. Patty's charms on his bracelet actually look like the marshmallows found in Lucky Charms cereal. He is a parody of Donald "Red" Grant from the 007 film From Russia With Love.

Mustafa[link]

Mustafa is a Crimean Tatar and another notable assistant, for he designs the cryogenic freezing process that preserves Dr. Evil for 30 years. In 1969, two years after the 1960s Dr. Evil was frozen, Mustafa is caught by the 1990s Austin Powers (who had followed 90's Dr. Evil through time) and is forced to answer questions on the location of 90's Dr. Evil's hideout (as it turns out, he can't help but answer any question that is asked to him three times). He is silenced by Mini-Me before he can reveal his boss's location and is nearly killed when he falls down a cliff. He survives, however, but breaks both his legs, and he pleads for someone to help him while at the bottom of the cliff. In 1997, he sees to it that the 90's Dr. Evil is thawed out, but he is dumped into an incineration chamber after he learns that the cryogenic freezing process has left Mr. Bigglesworth completely furless. He survives this as well, and calls for help after saying that he's in "quite a lot of pain". Dr. Evil sends a henchman down to shoot him to death. The first shot hits him in the arm, which only causes Mustafa to complain, before a second shot quiets him. Mustafa is still alive and has found employment working for Scott Evil.

Mini-Me[link]

The second film introduces Dr. Evil's clone, Mini-Me, who is 1/8 his size but twice as evil. Dr. Evil considers him more of a real son than Scott, provoking the latter's jealousy. As revealed by Myers in the audio commentary for the 2nd film, Mini-Me is a parody of the character Majai, from the film The Island of Dr. Moreau, as played by 2'4" actor Nelson de la Rosa, whose sole purpose in that film is to follow Marlon Brando's Dr. Moreau character around and copy his every move, even dressing identically to Brando in every scene. Majai never speaks in the film, and simillarly, Mini-Me does not speak either. Any comparison to Herve Villechaize's "Nick-Nack" character from The Man with the Golden Gun is merely coincidental.

Other assistants[link]

In the opening few minutes of the first film, Dr. Evil has four henchmen, namely Jurgen, Generalisimo, Rita, and Don Luigi, who are all executed because of their failure to kill Austin Powers. Rita was the final person to be killed. There are also unnamed henchmen who, in The Spy Who Shagged Me and Goldmember, witness Austin and Felicity and Austin and Mini-Me, respectively, perform rather mundane tasks which look depraved, as the henchmen are observing their silhouettes through a tent or screen (making it appear that Felicity is pulling objects out of Austin's bottom where she is actually pulling them out of a bag, or Austin's genitalia, which is really Mini-Me's arm, tossing him an apple).

Lairs[link]

The Space Needle in Seattle

Parodying the many Bond villains, Dr. Evil inhabits a sequence of elaborate lairs.

In Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery, Dr. Evil's first lair is underground in the Nevada desert, outside Las Vegas; an obvious homage to Diamonds Are Forever.

Following a successful investment by Number 2, Dr. Evil's lair in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me is atop the Space Needle in Seattle, portrayed to be the Starbucks headquarters; later, it is housed first in a volcano with Dr. Evil's face carved into it on a Caribbean island (an homage to both You Only Live Twice and Live and Let Die), and then on the moon (the film's final villainous homage, to Moonraker). He also has a spaceship that looks like a penis.

For the third film, Austin Powers In Goldmember, Dr. Evil has a new lair behind the famous Hollywood sign and a submarine lair, shaped like himself (an homage to Karl Stromberg's Liparus tanker in The Spy Who Loved Me).

Schemes[link]

Dr. Evil's projects for world domination are often named after pop culture trademarks (Death Star, The Alan Parsons Project, Preparation H) and he is often unaware of the accidental pun. For example, when Dr. Evil says he will turn the moon into a "Death Star" (said with finger quotes), Scott laughs and calls him "Darth". Scott also coughs and mutters "Rip-off!" After a slight pause, his father says, "Bless you."

Dr. Evil varies in how real he makes his threats out to be. When he makes his threat of causing all of the volcanoes in the world to erupt at once, all he does is display his machinery, something of an homage to Thunderball. When he makes the threat of "Death Star", he "demonstrates" the power of his laser by showing the President and the cabinet footage of the White House being destroyed. After the President and the cabinet realize they're still alive, he says "Well actually that was just footage from the movie Independence Day, but the real laser would be a lot like that". With his threat of flooding the world, he shows that the tractor beam is real by pulling down a satellite that looks like a pair of breasts.

A Dr. Evil impersonator.

Dr. Evil seems to have a problem in general with understanding money, especially regarding the modern American economy and inflation. In the first film, he intends to hold the world ransom for one million dollars, but doesn't understand that isn't as large a sum of money as it was in the 1960s, because of inflation, and the demand causes the U.N. to burst out laughing. In the second film, Dr. Evil goes back to 1969 and plans to hold the world ransom for $100 billion, and when he tells the amount to the President, he receives a similar reaction as in the first film when the President and his cabinet laugh at him. In the second film, Dr. Evil says, "Why make trillions when we can make ... BILLIONS?" not knowing that trillions are a thousand times larger than billions. In the third movie, he demands "1 billion, gagillion, fafillion, shabolubalu million illion yillion ... yen." This time his demand is met with simple confusion from the world leaders. In his first film his other idiotic schemes include a threat to destroy the ozone layer and make a scandal of Prince Charles' marriage, humorously unaware that these were both major issues recently and have since subsided.

One of Dr. Evil's greatest desires is to have "frickin' sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their frickin' heads," and is disappointed when he can't have the sharks because of laws on endangered species. Instead, Number 2 gives him mutated sea bass, which Dr. Evil grudgingly accepts, muttering "well, it's a start" (they were ill-tempered, as the bass do manage to eat the head of one unfortunate henchman hired by Dr. Evil). Scott however, manages to get him said sharks in the third film as a father-son gift.

Dr. Evil can't resist cracking puns at his own work (he says his submarine lair is "long and hard and full of seamen"). As with Auric Goldfinger, he creates models of his plans, worried that they are too complicated for his minions to understand. He also cares nothing for the companies (Virtucon, Starbucks, Hollywood Talent Agency) that fund his plans, ignoring all suggestions from Number 2 on how to increase the profit of such companies. Although he was impressed that Number 2's Hollywood Talent Agency was able to recruit celebrities such as George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Parody[link]

The James Bond films[link]

Just as Austin Powers lampoons James Bond, Dr. Evil parodies several James Bond villains. The first is Ernst Stavro Blofeld, as portrayed by Donald Pleasence in the film You Only Live Twice. (Curiously, Pleasence was a regular to the Halloween movie series, whose villain is named Michael Myers.) Blofeld has a white Persian cat, parodied by Dr. Evil's Mr. Bigglesworth.

Dr. Evil also wears clothing with a strong resemblance to Julius No, played by Joseph Wiseman, from the film Dr. No, specifically gray Nehru Jacket jumpsuits and similar anti-radiation suits. Some aspects, including some of his quotes and his henchman Random Task, parody elements from Goldfinger.

While Dr. Evil is primarily a send-up of the 1960s Sean Connery-era Bond villains, the 1970s Roger Moore-era also gets skewered: the interior of Dr. Evil's space station in The Spy Who Shagged Me resembles Hugo Drax's space station from Moonraker, and the film's title spoofs The Spy Who Loved Me. Dr. Evil has three testicles, as is proven in Goldmember when he checks to see that "they're all there" following a rather painful blow to his groin. This is most likely a nod to James Bond villain Francisco Scaramanga from 1974's The Man with the Golden Gun, who has three nipples. Mini-Me may also be another reference to Scaramanga, who has a dwarf servant named Nick Nack.

Others[link]

Some of Dr. Evil's facial and vocal expressions are allegedly patterned after Lorne Michaels, producer of television's Saturday Night Live, where Myers worked for a number of years. Most notably, Dr. Evil's statement "throw me a frickin' bone here, people," was supposedly something Michaels said many times at script meetings for SNL. As Dr. Evil, Myers occasionally affects an Ontario accent, reflecting his (and Michaels') upbringing.

In popular culture[link]

• Jamaican dancehall artist Craig "Leftside" Parks took up the stage name "Dr. Evil," "toasting" (rapping) with the same vocal pattern as the character. He is now known as "Mr. Evil". He was most notable for a song named "More Punany". When Brick FM, a Scottish radio station, broadcast the song and got investigated by Ofcom, they claimed Punany was The heated Italian cheese sandwich, when it was meant as the slang word for the Vagina. The regulator was unimpressed and said it considered regulatory action against Brick FM. Ofcom Ruling Over Brick FM's Offensive Broadcast Causes Hilarity Within Media
• In World of Warcraft, an important raid instance named Naxxramas has Mr. Bigglesworth, a cat which appears at the beginning of the instance. Upon killing the cat, that master of the instance will curse you and promise to punish you dearly. Also in a goblin's quest named A Goblin in Shark's Clothing, ^[2] you have control of a robotic shark and one of your moves fires a laser beam with the description stating, "every shark needs a freakin' laser beam!"^[3]
• Kim Jong-il was referred to as the real life Dr. Evil.^[4]
• When Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom was apprehended on January 21, 2012, UK paper The Daily Mail referred to him as 'Dr. Evil'.^[5]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Dr. Evil

• Dr. Evil at the Internet Movie Database

Elliott Smith
Smith performing in Los Angeles, February 2003.
Background information
Birth name	Steven Paul Smith
Born	(1969-08-06)August 6, 1969 Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.
Died	October 21, 2003(2003-10-21) (aged 34) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres	Lo-fi, indie rock, indie folk
Occupations	Musician
Instruments	Guitar, vocals, piano, clarinet, bass guitar, harmonica, drums. Melodica
Years active	1991–2003
Labels	Virgin/Caroline, Cavity Search, Kill Rock Stars, Suicide Squeeze, DreamWorks, ANTI-, Domino
Associated acts	Heatmiser, Quasi, Mary Lou Lord, Pete Krebs, No. 2
Website	sweetadeline.net

Steven Paul "Elliott" Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and resided for a significant portion of his life in Portland, Oregon, where he first gained popularity. His primary instrument was the guitar, but he was also proficient at piano, clarinet, bass guitar, drums, and harmonica. Smith had a distinctive vocal style characterized by his "whispery, spiderweb-thin delivery"^[1] and use of multi-tracking to create vocal layers, textures, and harmonies.

After playing in the rock band Heatmiser for several years, Smith began his solo career in 1994 with releases on the independent record labels Cavity Search and Kill Rock Stars. In 1997 he signed a contract with DreamWorks Records, for which he recorded two albums. Smith rose to mainstream prominence when his song "Miss Misery"—included in the soundtrack for the film Good Will Hunting—was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Original Song category in 1998.

Smith suffered from depression, alcoholism, and drug addiction, and these topics often appear in his lyrics. At age 34, he died in Los Angeles, California from two stab wounds to the chest.^[2] The autopsy evidence was inconclusive as to whether the wounds were self-inflicted.^[3] At the time of his death, Smith was working on his sixth studio album, From a Basement on the Hill, which was posthumously released.

Early life[link]

Steven Paul Smith was born at the Clarkson Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska, the only child to Gary Smith, a student at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and Bunny Kay Berryman, an elementary school music teacher. His parents divorced when he was six months old, and Smith moved with his mother to Duncanville, Texas. Much later in his life, Smith got a tattoo of a map of Texas on his upper arm and said, "I didn't get it because I like Texas, kind of the opposite. But I won't forget about it, although I'm tempted to because I don't like it there."^[4]

Smith endured a difficult childhood^[5] and a troubled relationship with his stepfather Charlie Welch.^[6] Later in life, Smith would come to believe that he had been sexually abused by Welch at a young age.^[7] He reflected the impact of this part of his life in the lyrics of "Some Song": "Charlie beat you up week after week, and when you grow up you're going to be a freak."^[6] The name "Charlie" also appeared in the lyrics for "Flowers for Charlie" and "No Confidence Man". The family was a part of the Community of Christ through much of Smith's childhood,^[8] but eventually began attending services at a local Methodist Church. Smith felt that going to church did little for him, except make him "really scared of Hell".^[9] In a 2001 interview, he stated, "I don't necessarily buy into any officially structured version of spirituality. But I have my own version of it".^[10]

At the age of nine, Smith began playing the piano, and at 10 began learning guitar on a small acoustic guitar bought for him by his father.^[11] At this age he also composed an original piano piece, "Fantasy", which won him a prize at an arts festival.^[12] Many of the people on his mother's side of the family were non-professional musicians; his grandfather was a Dixieland drummer and his grandmother sang in a glee club.^[12]

At 14, Smith moved from Texas to Portland, Oregon, to live with his father, who was then working as a psychiatrist, along with his step-mother and two half sisters. It was around this time that Smith first began using drugs, including alcohol, with friends as well as experimenting with recording for the first time, borrowing a four-track recorder.^[12] During high school, Smith played clarinet in the school band and also played guitar, piano and sang in the bands Stranger Than Fiction^[6] and A Murder of Crows,^[13] billed as either Steven Smith or "Johnny Panic".^[14] He graduated from Lincoln High School as a National Merit Scholar.^[15]

After graduation, Smith began calling himself "Elliott", saying that he thought "Steve" sounded too much like a "jock" name, and that "Steven" sounded "too bookish".^[15] According to friends, he had also used the pseudonym "Elliott Stillwater-Rotter" during his time in the band Murder of Crows.^[16] Biographer S. R. Shutt speculates that it was either inspired by Elliott Avenue, a street that Smith had lived on in Portland, or that it was suggested by his then-girlfriend. A junior high acquaintance of Smith speculates that it was so as not to be confused with Steve Smith, the drummer of Journey.^[17]

Career[link]

1991–1993: Heatmiser[link]

Smith graduated from Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1991 with a degree in philosophy and political science. "Went straight through in four years," he explained to Under the Radar in 2003. "I guess it proved to myself that I could do something I really didn't want to for four years. Except I did like what I was studying. At the time it seemed like, 'This is your one and only chance to go to college and you had just better do it because some day you might wish that you did.' Plus, the whole reason I applied in the first place was because of my girlfriend, and I had gotten accepted already even though we had broken up before the first day." After he graduated he "worked in a bakery back in Portland with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and legal theory."^[11]

While at Hampshire, Smith formed the band Heatmiser with classmate Neil Gust.^[18] After graduating from Hampshire, the band added drummer Tony Lash and bassist Brandt Peterson and began performing around Portland in 1992. The group released the albums Dead Air (1993) and Cop and Speeder (1994) as well as the Yellow No. 5 EP (1994) on Frontier Records, and were then signed to Virgin Records to release what became their final album, Mic City Sons (1996).

Around this time, Smith and Gust worked a number of odd jobs around Portland, including installing drywall, spreading gravel, transplanting bamboo trees and painting the roof of a warehouse with heat reflective paint. The pair were also on unemployment for some time, which they considered an "artist grant".^[19]

Smith had begun his solo career while still in Heatmiser, and the success of his first two releases created distance and tension with his band.^[19] Heatmiser disbanded prior to Mic City Sons' release, prompting Virgin to put the album out inauspiciously through its independent arm, Caroline Records. A clause in Heatmiser's record contract with Virgin meant that Smith was still bound to it as an individual. The contract was later bought-out by DreamWorks prior to the release of his album, XO.

[edit] 1994: Roman Candle

	"Condor Ave" noicon Sample of Elliott Smith's "Condor Ave" from Roman Candle (1994), reported to have been written when he was around 17 years old,[6] showing Smith's early songwriting style and lo-fi sound.
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His first release, Roman Candle (1994), came about when Smith's girlfriend at the time convinced him to send a tape of "the most recent eight songs that [he’d] recorded on borrowed four-tracks and borrowed guitar" to Cavity Search Records.^[19] Owner Christopher Cooper immediately requested to release the entire album of songs, which surprised Smith, as he was only expecting a deal for a seven-inch record.^[20] Regarding the record, Smith said "I thought my head would be chopped off immediately when it came out because at the time it was so opposite to the grunge thing that was popular... The thing is that album was really well-received, which was a total shock, and it immediately eclipsed [Heatmiser] unfortunately."^[19]

Smith felt his solo songs were not representative of the music Heatmiser was making: "The idea of playing [my music] for people didn't occur to me... because at the time it was the Northwest—Mudhoney and Nirvana—and going out to play an acoustic show was like crawling out on a limb and begging for it to be sawed off." ^[21]

The instrumentation of the recordings was primarily acoustic guitar, occasionally accompanied by brief electric guitar riffs or a small drum set played with brushes. Only the final track, an instrumental titled "Kiwi Maddog 20/20" (a reference to the low-end fortified wine), had full band instrumentation.

One of Smith's first solo performances was at the now-defunct Umbra Penumbra on September 17, 1994. Only three songs from Roman Candle were performed, with the majority of the ten-song set being B-sides, Heatmiser tunes, and unreleased tracks.^[22] Soon after this performance, he was asked to open for Mary Lou Lord on a week-long U.S. tour. Several more short tours followed, and Smith helped her record one of his songs "I Figured You Out", which he once called "a stupid pop song [written] in about a minute" that he discarded for sounding "like the fucking Eagles."^[23] Despite this, Smith continued to perform the song live until his death in 2003.

[edit] 1995–1996: Elliott Smith and Either/Or

	"Pictures of Me" noicon Sample of Elliott Smith's "Pictures of Me" from Either/Or (1997) showing his style of vocal harmony through multi-tracking. The track also showcases the album's expanded instrumentation, with all instruments being played by Smith.
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In 1995, Smith's self-titled album was released on Kill Rock Stars; the record featured a similar style of recording to Roman Candle, but with hints of growth and experimentation. Though the majority of the album was recorded by Smith alone, friend and The Spinanes vocalist Rebecca Gates sang harmony vocals on "St. Ides Heaven", and Heatmiser guitarist Neil Gust played guitar on "Single File". Several songs made reference to drugs, but Smith explained that he used the theme of drugs as a vehicle for conveying dependence rather than the songs being about drugs specifically.^[24] Looking back, Smith felt that the album's pervasive mood gave him "a reputation for being a really dark, depressed person," and said that he later made a conscious move toward more diverse moods in his music.^[25]

Elliott Smith performing live in New York City, 1997.

In 1996, filmmaker Jem Cohen recorded Smith playing acoustic songs for the short film Lucky Three: An Elliott Smith Portrait. Two of these songs would appear on his next album, Either/Or, which was another Kill Rock Stars release. Either/Or came out in 1997 to favorable reviews.^[26] The album found Smith venturing further into full instrumentation, with several songs containing bass guitar, drums, keyboards, and electric guitars, all played by Smith. The album title was derived from the two-volume book of the same name by Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, whose works generally deal with themes such as existential despair, angst, death, and God.

By this time, Smith's already-heavy drinking was now being compounded with use of anti-depressants.^[27] At the end of the Either/Or tour, some of his close friends staged an intervention in Chicago,^[27] but it proved ineffective.^[5] Shortly after, he relocated from Portland to Brooklyn.^[28]

1997–1998: "Miss Misery" and the Oscars[link]

In 1996, Smith was tapped by director and fellow Portland resident Gus Van Sant to be a part of the soundtrack to his film, Good Will Hunting. Smith recorded an orchestral version of "Between the Bars" with composer Danny Elfman for the movie. Smith also contributed a new song, "Miss Misery," and three previously-released tracks ("No Name #3", from Roman Candle, and "Angeles" and "Say Yes", from Either/Or). The film was a commercial and critical success, and Smith was nominated for an Academy Award for "Miss Misery". Not eager to step into the limelight, he only agreed to perform the song at the ceremony after the producers informed him that his song would be played live that night—either by him or another musician of their choosing.^[19]

On March 5, 1998, Smith made his network television debut on Late Night With Conan O'Brien performing "Miss Misery" solo on acoustic guitar.^[29] A few days later, wearing a white suit, he played an abridged version of the song at the Oscars, accompanied by the house orchestra. James Horner and Will Jennings won the award that night for best song with "My Heart Will Go On" (sung by Celine Dion) from the film Titanic. Smith did not voice disappointment about not winning the award.^[30]

Smith commented on the surrealism of the Oscars experience: "That's exactly what it was, surreal... I enjoy performing almost as much as I enjoy making up songs in the first place. But the Oscars was a very strange show, where the set was only one song cut down to less than two minutes, and the audience was a lot of people who didn't come to hear me play. I wouldn't want to live in that world, but it was fun to walk around on the moon for a day."^[31]

[edit] 1998–2000: XO and Figure 8

In 1998, after the success of Either/Or and "Miss Misery", Smith signed to a bigger record label, DreamWorks Records. Around the same time, Smith fell into depression, speaking openly of considering suicide,^[27] and on at least one occasion^[5] made a serious attempt at ending his own life.^[32] While in North Carolina, he became severely intoxicated and ran off a cliff. He landed on a tree, which badly impaled him but broke his fall.^[5] When questioned about his suicide attempt, he told an interviewer, "Yeah, I jumped off a cliff, but let's talk about something else."^[28]

Christopher Cooper, head of Cavity Search Records (which released Roman Candle), said about this time in Smith's life: "I talked him out of thinking that he wanted to kill himself numerous times when he was in Portland. I kept telling him that he was a brilliant man, and that life was worth living, and that people loved him."^[27] Pete Krebs also agreed: "In Portland we got the brunt of Elliott's initial depression... Lots of people have stories of their own experiences of staying up with Elliott 'til five in the morning, holding his hand, telling him not to kill himself."^[28]

Smith's first release for DreamWorks was later that year. Titled XO, it was conceived and developed while Smith wrote it out over the winter of 1998, night after night seated at the bar in Luna Lounge, it was produced by the team of Rob Schnapf and Tom Rothrock. XO also contained some instrumentation from Los Angeles musicians Joey Waronker and Jon Brion. It contained a more full-sounding, baroque pop sound than any of his previous efforts, with songs featuring a horn section, Chamberlins, elaborate string arrangements, and even a drum loop on the song "Independence Day". His familiar double-tracked vocal and acoustic guitar style were still apparent while his somewhat personal lyrical style survived. The song "Waltz #2" even touches upon the abusive tendencies of his stepfather toward himself and his mother with lines like "XO, mom, it's ok, it's alright, nothing's wrong."The album went on to peak at number 104 on the Billboard 200^[33] and number 123 on the UK Album Charts,^[34] while selling 400,000 copies^[35] (more than double that of each of his two Kill Rock Stars releases), becoming the best-selling release of his career.^[36] Smith's backing band during most of this period was the Portland-based group Quasi, consisting of former bandmate Sam Coomes on bass guitar and Coomes's ex-wife Janet Weiss on drums. Quasi also performed as the opening act at many shows on the tour, with Smith sometimes contributing bass guitar, guitar, or backing vocals. On October 17, 1998, Smith appeared on Saturday Night Live and performed "Waltz #2." His backing band for this appearance was John Moen, Jon Brion, Rob Schnapf, and Sam Coomes.

In response to whether the change to a bigger record label would influence his creative control, Smith said, "[S]ometimes people look at major labels as simply money-making machines, they're actually composed of individuals who are real people, and there's a part of them that needs to feel that part of their job is to put out good music."^[37] Smith also claimed in another interview that he never read his reviews for fear that they would interfere with his songwriting.^[38]

	"Son of Sam" noicon Sample of Elliott Smith's "Son of Sam", the first single from Figure 8 (2000) showing Smith's continuing development of a "more sonically detailed"[39] and lush sound.
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Smith relocated from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1999,^[28] taking up residence at a cabin in the Silver Lake section of town.^[40] That fall, his cover of The Beatles' "Because" was featured in the end credits of DreamWorks' Oscar-winning drama American Beauty, and also appeared on the film's soundtrack album.

The final album Smith completed in his lifetime, Figure 8, was released on April 18, 2000. It featured the return of Rothrock, Schnapf, Brion, and Waronker, and was partially recorded at Abbey Road Studios in England, with an obvious Beatles influence in the songwriting and production. The album garnered very favorable reviews,^[41] peaking at number 99 on the Billboard 200^[42] and 37 on the UK Album Charts.^[34] The album garnered praise for its power pop style and complex arrangements, described as creating a "sweeping kaleidoscope of layered instruments and sonic textures."^[39] However, some reviewers felt that Smith's trademark dark and melancholy songwriting had lost some of its subtlety, with one reviewer likening some of the lyrics to "the self-pitying complaints of an adolescent venting in his diary."^[43]

Album art and promotional pictures from the period showed Smith looking cleaned-up and put-together. An extensive tour in promotion of the record ensued, bookended by television appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Late Show with David Letterman. However, Smith's condition began to deteriorate as he had become addicted to heroin either towards the end of or just after the Figure 8 tour.^[5]

2001–2002: Addiction and scrapped recordings[link]

Smith performing in New York City in 2003

Around the time he began recording his final album, Smith began to display signs of paranoia, often believing that a white van followed him wherever he went.^[44] He would have friends drop him off for recording sessions almost a mile away from the studio, and to reach the location he would trudge through hundreds of yards of brush and cliffs. He started telling people that DreamWorks was out to get him: "Not long ago my house was broken into, and songs were stolen off my computer which have wound up in the hands of certain people who work at a certain label. I've also been followed around for months at a time. I wouldn't even want to necessarily say it's the people from that label who are following me around, but it was probably them who broke into my house."^[19] During this period, Smith hardly ate, subsisting primarily on ice cream. He would go for several days without sleeping, and then sleep for an entire day.

A follow-up to Smith's 2000 album was originally planned to happen with Rob Schnapf, but their sessions were abandoned. Smith also began distancing himself from manager Margaret Mittleman, who had handled him since the Roman Candle days.^[5] He finally began recording a new album with only himself and Jon Brion as producers sometime during 2001. The pair had recorded a substantial amount of music for the album, when Brion confronted Smith about his drug and alcohol abuse.^[45] Their friendship promptly ended, and Smith scrapped all of their work up until that point. He later said: "There was even a little more than half of a record done before this new one that I just scrapped because of a blown friendship with someone that made me so depressed I didn't want to hear any of those songs. He was just helping me record the songs and stuff, and then the friendship kind of fell apart all of a sudden one day. It just made it kind of awkward being alone in the car listening to the songs."^[19]

When Brion sent a bill for the abandoned sessions to DreamWorks, executives Lenny Waronker and Luke Wood scheduled a meeting with Smith to determine what went wrong with the sessions. The singer voiced what he believed to be intrusion upon his personal life from the label, as well as poor promotion for the Figure 8 album. The talks proved to be fruitless, and soon after, Smith sent a message to the executives, stating that if they did not release him from his contract, he would take his own life.^[5] In May 2001, Smith set out to re-record the album, mostly on his own, but with some help from David McConnell of Goldenboy. McConnell told Spin that, during this time, Smith would smoke over $1,500 worth of heroin and crack per day, would often talk about suicide, and on numerous occasions tried to give himself an overdose. Steven Drozd of The Flaming Lips and Scott McPherson played a few drum tracks, Sam Coomes contributed some bass guitar and backing vocals, but almost every other instrument was recorded by Smith.

One of the few highlights for Smith in 2001 was inclusion of his song "Needle in the Hay" in Wes Anderson's dark comedy The Royal Tenenbaums.^[46] The song plays during a suicide attempt. Smith was originally supposed to contribute a cover of The Beatles' "Hey Jude" for the film, but when he failed to do so in time, Anderson had to use The Mutato Muzika Orchestra's version of the track instead.^[47] Anderson would later say that Smith "was in a bad state" at the time.^[47]

Smith's live performances during 2001 and 2002 were infrequent, typically in the Pacific Northwest or Los Angeles. A review of his December 20, 2001, show at Portland's Crystal Ballroom stated concern over his appearance and performance: his hair was uncharacteristically greasy and long; his face was bearded and gaunt; and during his songs he exhibited alarming signs of "memory-loss and butterfingers".^[48] The crowd would often have to shout out the lyrics (and in some cases, guitar chords) when Smith could not think of them.^[49]

In the first of only three concerts performed in 2002, Smith co-headlined Northwestern University's A&O Ball with Wilco on May 2 in Chicago.^[50] He was onstage for nearly an hour, but failed to complete a single song.^[7] He claimed that his poor performance was due to his left hand having fallen asleep, and told the audience it felt "like having stuff on your hand and you can't get it off."^[7] Smith's performance was reviewed as "undoubtedly one of the worst performances ever by a musician"^[51] and an "excruciating...nightmare".^[52] A reporter for the online magazine Glorious Noise made the statement, "[I]t would not surprise me at all if Elliott Smith ends up dead within a year."^[53]

On November 25, 2002, Smith was involved in a brawl with the Los Angeles Police Department at a Flaming Lips/Beck concert.^[54] Smith later said he was defending a man he thought the police were harassing. Assuming that Smith was homeless, the officers allegedly beat and arrested him and his girlfriend, Jennifer Chiba. The two spent the night in jail. Smith's hand and back were injured in the incident, causing him to cancel a number of shows.^[19] Wayne Coyne, lead singer of The Flaming Lips and a friend of Smith's, stated concern over Smith's appearance and actions, saying that he "saw a guy who had lost control of himself. He was needy, he was grumpy, he was everything you wouldn't want in a person. It's not like when you think of Keith Richards being pleasantly blissed out in the corner."^[55]

[edit] 2003: Reemergence and From a Basement on the Hill

Smith had attempted to go to rehab several times, but found that he was unable to relate to the popular treatments for addicts that use a Twelve-Step Program basis for treatment. "I couldn't do the first step...I couldn't say what you were supposed to say and mean it."^[19] In 2002, Smith went to the Neurotransmitter Restoration Center in Beverly Hills to start a course of treatment for his drug addiction. In one of his final interviews, he spoke about the center, "What they do is an IV treatment where they put a needle in your arm, and you're on a drip bag, but the only thing that's in the drip bag is amino acids and saline solution. I was coming off of a lot of psych meds and other things. I was even on an antipsychotic, although I'm not psychotic."^[19]

Two sold-out solo acoustic concerts at Hollywood's Henry Fonda Theater, on January 31 and February 1, 2003 saw Smith attempting to reestablish his credibility as a live performer,^[56] yielding mixed results. Before the show, Smith scrawled "Kali – The Destroyer" (the Hindu goddess associated with time and change) in large block letters with permanent ink on his left arm, which was visible to the crowd during the performance.^[57][58] On several songs he was backed by a stripped-down drum kit played by Robin Peringer (of the band 764-HERO), and on one track, members of opening band Rilo Kiley contributed backing vocals. Smith would play only one more concert in his adopted hometown, three months later at The Derby.

After his 34th birthday on August 6, 2003, he gave up alcohol, caffeine, red meat, refined sugar, and his longtime (sometimes abused) regimen of psychiatric medication.^[5] Director Mike Mills had been working with Smith during his final years and described Smith's troubles and apparent recovery: "I gave the script to him, then he dropped off the face of the earth...he went through his whole crazy time, but by the time I was done with the film, he was making From a Basement on the Hill and I was shocked that he was actually making music."^[59]

	"Shooting Star" noicon Sample of Elliott Smith's "Shooting Star" appearing on the posthumously released From a Basement on the Hill (2004) showing a dissonant passage on distorted guitar, an example of Smith's experimentation with different sounds and a "more noisy" style before he died.
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With things improving for Smith after several troubled years, he began experimenting with noise music and worked on his girlfriend Jennifer Chiba's iMac with the intent of learning how to record with computers, noting that it was the only method with which he was still unfamiliar.^[19] Smith jokingly labeled his experimental way of recording "The California Frown" (a play on the Beach Boys' "California Sound").^[60] He said of the songs, "They're kind of more noisy with the pitch all distorted. Some are more acoustic, but there aren't too many like that. Lately I've just been making up a lot of noise."^[19]

He was also in the process of recording songs for the Thumbsucker soundtrack,^[61] including Big Star's "Thirteen", and Cat Stevens' "Trouble".^[59] In August 2003, Suicide Squeeze Records put out a limited-edition vinyl single for "Pretty (Ugly Before)", a song that Smith had been playing since the Figure 8 tour. Steve Hanft described the last six months of Smith's life as being "like the light at the end of the tunnel" and was convinced that Smith was clean and recovered.^[62]

Death[link]

Smith died on October 21, 2003, at age 34 from two stab wounds to the chest.^[2] At the time of the stabbing, he was at his Lemoyne Street home in Echo Park, California,^[63] where he lived with his girlfriend, Jennifer Chiba. According to Chiba, the two were arguing,^[35] and she locked herself in the bathroom to take a shower.^[64] Chiba heard him scream, and upon opening the door, saw Smith standing with a knife in his chest. She pulled the knife out, after which he collapsed and she called 9-1-1. Smith died in the hospital with the time of death listed as 1:36 p.m. A possible suicide note, written on a Post-it, read, "I'm so sorry—love, Elliott. God forgive me."^[2] The coroner's report had the name Elliott misspelled as "Elliot," however "a coroner's official told TSG that Smith's first name was misspelled in the report," not on the Post-it note.^[2]

While Smith's death was originally reported as a suicide, the official autopsy report released in December 2003 left open the question of possible homicide.^[2]

According to Pitchfork Media, record producer Larry Crane reported on his Tape Op message board that he had planned to help Smith mix his album in mid-November. Crane wrote, "I hadn't talked to Elliott in over a year. His girlfriend, Jennifer, called me [last week] and asked if I'd like to come to L.A. and help mix and finish [Smith's album]. I said yes, of course, and chatted with Elliott for the first time in ages. It seems surreal that he would call me to finish an album and then a week later kill himself. I talked to Jennifer this morning, who was obviously shattered and in tears, and she said, 'I don't understand, he was so healthy.'"^[65]

The coroner's report revealed that no traces of illegal substances or alcohol were found in his system at the time of his death, but did find prescribed levels of antidepressant, anxiolytic and ADHD medications in his system, including Clonazepam, Mirtazapine, Atomoxetine and Amphetamine.^[66] Also, no hesitation wounds were found on Smith, a trait typical of suicide by self infliction.^[35] With his death not being officially declared a suicide, journalist Alyson Camus noted numerous discrepancies and contradictions in the case that suggest foul play.^[67][68][69] However, the authorities do not seem to be investigating the case further.^[70]

Smith's body was cremated.^[71] No public burial site or memorial was ever formally announced.

Reaction[link]

The memorial outside Solutions Audio in Los Angeles, California in August 2006.

Shortly after Smith's death, a fan memorial was initiated outside Solutions Audio (4334 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California), the site at which the cover of the Figure 8 album was shot. Farewell messages to Smith were written on the wall, and flowers, photos, candles, and empty bottles of alcohol mentioned in Smith's songs were left.^[72] Since then, the wall has been repeatedly tagged by gang signs,^[73][74] and, despite having been repainted to its original state in February 2008 and promises from Solutions' owner to maintain the site, the wall became largely covered by unrelated graffiti.^[75][76][77] In August 2011, in honor of Smith's 42nd birthday, members of the music & arts collective FMLY restored the mural, adding a black and white stencil of Smith resembling the photo on the Figure 8 album cover.^[78]

Memorial concerts were held in several cities in the United States and the United Kingdom.^[60] A petition was soon put forth with intent to make part of the Silver Lake area a memorial park in Smith's honor. It received over 10,000 signatures, but no plans to establish the park have been announced.^[60] A memorial plaque located inside Smith's former high school, Lincoln High, was hung in July 2006.^[79] The plaque has the line "I'm never gonna know you now, but I'm gonna love you anyhow," from Smith's song "Waltz #2".

Since Smith's death, many musical acts have paid him tribute. Songs in tribute to, or about Smith have been released by Bright Eyes ("Reinvent The Wheel"), Beck ("Broken Drum" on "Guero"), Pearl Jam ("Can't Keep" on the Live at Benaroya Hall concert album),^[80] Rilo Kiley ("Ripchord" and "It Just Is" on More Adventurous),^[81] Sparta ("Bombs and Us"),^[60] Third Eye Blind ("There's No Hurry To Eternity," originally titled "Elliott Smith," on the Live from Nowhere, Volume 2 compilation),^[82] Ben Folds ("Late" on Songs for Silverman),^[83] Brad Mehldau ("Sky Turning Grey (for Elliott Smith)" on Highway Rider), Rhett Miller ("The Believer" on The Believer),^[84] Earlimart ("Heaven Adores You" on Treble and Tremble),^[85], Joan As Police Woman ("We Don't Own It" on Real Life),^[86] and Pete Yorn ("Bandstand in the Sky" on Nightcrawler, a song jointly dedicated to Jeff Buckley). Several tribute albums have been released since his death, including Christopher O'Riley's Home to Oblivion: An Elliott Smith Tribute.

On July 30, 2004, Jennifer Chiba filed a lawsuit against the Smith family for 15% of his earnings (over $1 million),^[87] claiming that she and Smith lived as "husband and wife",^[88] that the singer pledged to take care of her financially for the rest of her life, and that she worked as his manager and agent from around 2000 until his death.^[89] A state labor commissioner ruled her claim as manager to be invalid, as she had worked as an "unlicensed talent agent" under California's Talent Agencies Act. The case made it to the California appellate court in October 2007, but was defeated 2–1; Chiba could potentially appeal the case to the Supreme Court of California.^[90]

Posthumous releases[link]

From a Basement on the Hill, almost four years in production, was released on October 19, 2004, by ANTI- Records (a part of Epitaph Records). With Smith's family in control of his estate, they chose to bring in Rob Schnapf and Smith's ex-girlfriend Joanna Bolme to sort through the recordings and mix the album. Although Smith had voiced his desire for it to be a double album or a regular album with a bonus disc, it was not clear if it would have been possible for him to release it that way had he completed it.^[19] As completed by Schnapf and Bolme, it was released as a 15-track single album. Many songs from the sessions (later leaked onto the Internet) were not included, such as "True Love", "Abused", "Stickman", and "Suicide Machine" (a reworking of the Figure 8-era unreleased instrumental, "Tiny Time Machine").^[45] There has been unconfirmed speculation that Smith's family made the decision not to include some songs on the record.^[45][91]

Elliott Smith and the Big Nothing, a biography by Benjamin Nugent, was rushed to publication and hit stores shortly after From a Basement on the Hill, barely beyond the first anniversary of the musician's death. Smith's family, as well as Joanna Bolme, Jennifer Chiba, Neil Gust, Sam Coomes, and Janet Weiss, all declined to be interviewed. It contained interviews with Rob Schnapf, David McConnell, and Pete Krebs. The book received mixed reviews, with Publishers Weekly remarking that while "Nugent manages to patch together the major beats of Smith's life, he can offer little meaningful insight."^[92]

On May 8, 2007, a posthumous two-disc compilation album entitled New Moon was released by Kill Rock Stars. The album contained 24 songs recorded by Smith between 1994 and 1997 during his tenure with the label that were not included on albums, as well as a few early versions and previously released B-sides. In the United States, the album debuted at number 24 on the Billboard 200, selling about 24,000 copies in its first week.^[93] The record received favorable reviews^[94] and was Metacritic's 15th best-reviewed album of 2007.^[95] A significant portion of the proceeds from album sales are to go to Outside In, a social service agency for low-income adults and homeless youth in Portland, Oregon.^[96]

On October 25, 2007, a book titled Elliott Smith was released by Autumn de Wilde,^[97] which consists of photographs, handwritten lyrics and "revealing talks with Smith's inner circle."^[98] De Wilde was responsible for the Figure 8 sleeve art, making a landmark and de facto Smith memorial of the Solutions Audio mural. A five-song CD featuring previously unreleased live recordings of Smith performing acoustically at Club Largo in Los Angeles was included in the release.

Following the singer's death, the Smith estate licensed his songs for use in a number of film and television projects, such as One Tree Hill, The Girl Next Door, Georgia Rule, and Paranoid Park.

In a March 2009 interview, Larry Crane said that the estate of Elliott Smith was now "defunct" and all rights previously held by the singer are now in the control of "his parents."^[99] Crane went on to say that his parents own the rights to Smith's high school recordings, some of the Heatmiser material, all solo songs recorded up until his 1998 record deal with DreamWorks Records and From a Basement on the Hill.^[99] DreamWorks Records was acquired by Universal Music Group in 2003, and Interscope Records currently "owns all studio and live recording from Jan 1998 to his passing, except for the songs on From a Basement on the Hill."^[99]

In December 2009, Kill Rock Stars announced that it had obtained the rights to re-release Roman Candle and From a Basement on the Hill, originally released by Cavity Search and Anti-, respectively.^[100] Roman Candle will be remastered by Larry Crane.^[100] Along with the press release, Kill Rock Stars posted a previously unreleased track of Smith's, titled "Cecilia/Amanda", as a free download.^[100] Roman Candle and From a Basement on the Hill were re-released on April 6, 2010 in the US.^[101]

A compilation titled An Introduction to... Elliott Smith was released by Domino Records on November 1, 2010 in the UK and Kill Rock Stars on November 2 in the US.

There remain over a hundred unreleased tracks. Many have leaked on the internet.

Musical style and influences[link]

Smith respected and was inspired by many artists and styles, including Big Star,^[102] The Clash,^[12] The Who,^[102] Led Zeppelin,^[102]The Kinks,^[103] Pink Floyd,^[102] Rush,^[102] Elvis Costello,^[104] Television,^[105] Motown and flamenco records,^[12] AC/DC,^[106] Hank Williams,^[12] Scorpions,^[107] and Modest Mouse.^[108] Smith claimed to listen exclusively to selected albums (such as The Marble Index by Nico) for months.^[106] Sean Croghan, a former roommate of Smith's, said that the singer "listened almost exclusively to slow jams" in his senior year at college.^[107] Smith was also known to gain inspiration from novels, religion and philosophy. He liked classic literature, especially Samuel Beckett, T. S. Eliot, and Fyodor Dostoyevsky (and other Russian novelists).^[106]

Smith mentioned his admiration for Bob Dylan in several interviews, citing him as an early musical influence. He once commented: "My father taught me how to play "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right". I love Dylan's words, but even more than that, I love the fact that he loves words."^[10] Smith covered Dylan's "When I Paint My Masterpiece" several times in concert. Smith has also been compared to folk legend Nick Drake, due to his fingerpicking style and vocals. Darryl Cater of Allmusic called references to "the definitive folk loner" Drake, "inevitable",^[109] and Smith's lyrics have been compared to those in Drake's minimalist and haunting final album.^[110]

Smith was a dedicated fan of The Beatles (as well as their solo projects), once noting that he had been listening to them frequently since he was about "four years old"^[111] and also claimed that hearing The White Album was his original inspiration to become a musician.^[106] In 1998, Smith contributed a cover of the Beatles song "Because" to the closing credits and soundtrack of the film American Beauty. Although this was the only Beatles song that Smith ever officially released, he is known to have recorded at least two others ("Revolution" and "I'll Be Back"), and played many songs by both the band and the members' solo projects at live concerts.^[112]

Regarding his songwriting, Smith said:^[113]

Smith said that transitions were his favorite part of songs and that he preferred to write broader, more impressionistic music closer to pop rather than folk music.^[12] Smith compared his songs to stories or dreams, not purely confessional pieces that people could relate to.^[31] When asked about the dark nature of his songwriting and the cult following he was gaining, Smith said he felt it was merely a product of him writing songs that were strongly meaningful to him rather than anything contrived.^[31] Larry Crane, Smith's posthumous archivist, has said that he was surprised at the amount of "recycling of musical ideas" that he has encountered while cataloging the singer's private tapes:^[99] "I found songs recorded in high school reworked 15 years on. Lyrics became more important to him as he became older, and more time was spent working on them."^[99]

Selected discography[link]

References[link]

Footnotes

Bibliography

External links[link]

Find more about Elliott Smith on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Images and media from Commons
	Quotations from Wikiquote

Official sites

• SweetAdeline.net – Official Elliott Smith website
• Cavity Search Records
• Kill Rock Stars

Others

• Elliott Smith at Allmusic
• Elliott Smith discography at MusicBrainz
• Elliott Smith at the Internet Movie Database
• BBC obituary
• Elliott Smith collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive

Allen Kwela (born in Chesterville, Durban on September 11, 1939; died July 1, 2003) was a kwela and jazz guitarist from South Africa. He was raised around Durban where he herded cattle and learned music after making a tin guitar. He began in kwela with Spokes Mashiyane, but later branched into jazz. His 1984 work The Broken Strings of Allen Kwela received award nominations for jazz.^[1] He has been said to have become a "revered figure"^[2] and "legendary" in South African jazz.^[3] He died of asthma in 2003 and had a wife as well as four children.^[4]

References[link]

MF DOOM
MF Doom at the Hultsfred Festival 2011 in Sweden
Background information
Also known as	DOOM, King Geedorah, Metal Face, Metal Fingers, Viktor Vaughn, Zev Love X, Madvillain
Born	(1971-01-09) January 9, 1971 (age 41) London, United Kingdom
Origin	Long Island, New York
Genres	East Coast hip hop
Occupations	Rapper, hip hop producer
Instruments	Vocals, sampler, synthesizer, drum machine, Pro Tools
Years active	1988–1993 1997–present
Labels	Elektra (1988–1993) Sub Verse (1997–2003) Fondle 'Em (1997–2001) Metal Face (1997–present) Big Dada (2003) Naturesounds (2003–present) Rhymesayers (2004) Stones Throw (2004–present) Lex (2005–present)
Associated acts	KMD, Madvillain, Danger Doom, Madlib, MF Grimm, Ghostface Killah, J Dilla, Count Bass D, Aesop Rock, Jneiro Jarel, Gorillaz, Masta Ace, De La Soul
Website	Official website

Daniel Dumile (pronounced /ˈduːmɨleɪ/ DOO-mə-lay; born January 9, 1971) is a hip hop artist who has taken on several stage names in his career, most notably MF Doom, often stylized as MF DOOM, where the "MF" stands for metal face, but metal fingers when using his producing name. He has appeared in several collaborative projects such as Danger Doom (with Danger Mouse) and Madvillain (with Madlib).

History[link]

Early years with KMD[link]

Dumile was born on January 9, 1971, in London, England, the son of a Trinidadian mother and Zimbabwean father.^[1] He then moved with his family to New York and was raised in the city of Long Beach, New York on Long Island.

As Zev Love X, he formed the group KMD in 1988 with his younger brother DJ Subroc and another MC called Rodan. When Rodan left the group, Zev found another MC to replace Rodan named Onyx the Birthstone Kid.^[1] A&R rep Dante Ross learned of KMD through the hip hop group 3rd Bass, and signed the group to Elektra Records.^[2]

Dumile and KMD's recorded debut came on 3rd Bass's song "The Gas Face" from The Cactus Album,^[1] followed in 1991 with KMD's album Mr. Hood, which became a minor hit through its singles "Peachfuzz", "Who Me?" and heavy video play on cable TV's Yo! MTV Raps and Rap City.

Subroc was struck and killed by a car in 1993 while attempting to cross the Long Island Expressway before the release of a second KMD album, titled Black Bastards.^[1] The group was subsequently dropped from Elektra Records that same week. Before the release of the album, it was shelved due to controversy over its cover art,^[2] which featured a cartoon of a stereotypical pickaninny or sambo character being hung from the gallows.

With the loss of his brother, Dumile retreated from the hip hop scene from 1994 to 1997. He testifies to disillusionment and depression, living "damn near homeless, walking the streets of Manhattan, sleeping on benches.^[1][3]" In the late 1990s, he left New York City and settled in Atlanta. According to interviews with Dumile, he was also "recovering from his wounds" and swearing revenge "against the industry that so badly deformed him."^[1] Black Bastards had become bootlegged at the time, leading to Doom's rise in the underground hip hop scene.