Coordinates	15°48′00″N47°54′00″N
name	Dr. Seuss
pseudonym	Dr. Seuss, Theo LeSieg, Rosetta Stone, Theophrastus Seuss
birth name	Theodor Seuss Geisel
birth date	March 02, 1904
birth place	Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
death date	September 24, 1991
death place	San Diego, California, U.S.
alma mater	Dartmouth College
occupation	Writer, cartoonist, animator, book publisher, artist
nationality	American
genre	Children's literature
notableworks	''The Cat in the Hat''''Green Eggs and Ham''''One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish''''How the Grinch Stole Christmas!''''Fox in Socks''''Horton Hears a Who!''
spouse	Helen Palmer Geisel (1927–1967)Audrey Stone Dimond (1968–1991)
website	http://www.seussville.com/
signature	Dr Seuss signature.svg }}

Theodor Seuss Geisel (; March 2, 1904 – September 24, 1991) was an American writer, poet, and cartoonist most widely known for his children's books written under the pen names Dr. Seuss, Theo LeSieg and, in one case, Rosetta Stone.

He published 46 children's books, which were often characterized by imaginative characters, rhyme, and frequent use of trisyllabic meter. His most celebrated books include the bestselling ''Green Eggs and Ham'', ''The Cat in the Hat'', ''One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish'', ''Horton Hatches the Egg'', ''Horton Hears a Who!'', and ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas!''. Numerous adaptations of his work have been created, including 11 television specials, three feature films, a Broadway musical and four television series. He won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1958 for ''Horton Hatches the Egg'' and again in 1961 for ''And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street''.

Geisel also worked as an illustrator for advertising campaigns, most notably for Flit and Standard Oil, and as a political cartoonist for ''PM'', a New York City newspaper. During World War II, he worked in an animation department of the U.S Army, where he wrote ''Design for Death'', a film that later won the 1947 Academy Award for Documentary Feature.

Geisel's birthday, March 2, has been adopted as the annual date for National Read Across America Day, an initiative on reading created by the National Education Association.

Life and career

Theodor Seuss Geisel was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, to Theodor Robert and Henrietta (Seuss) Geisel. His father, the son of German immigrant parents, managed the family brewery and later supervised (1931–1960) Springfield's public park system. Mulberry Street in Springfield, made famous in Dr. Seuss' first children's book ''And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street!'' is less than a mile southwest of his boyhood home on Fairfield Street.

College

Geisel attended Springfield's Classical High School, and entered Dartmouth College in fall 1921 as a member of the Class of 1925. At Dartmouth, he joined the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and the humor magazine ''Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern,'' eventually rising to the rank of editor-in-chief.

While at Dartmouth, Geisel was caught drinking gin with nine friends in his room. As a result, Dean Craven Laycock insisted that he resign from all extracurricular activities, including the college humor magazine. To continue work on the ''Jack-O-Lantern'' without the administration's knowledge, Geisel began signing his work with the pen name "Seuss". His first work signed as "Dr. Seuss" appeared after he graduated, six months into his work for ''The Judge'' where his weekly feature ''Birdsies and Beasties'' appeared. Geisel was encouraged in his writing by professor of rhetoric W. Benfield Pressey, whom he described as his "big inspiration for writing" at Dartmouth.

After Dartmouth, he entered Lincoln College, Oxford, intending to earn a Doctor of Philosophy in English literature. At Oxford, he met his future wife, Helen Palmer; he married her in 1927, and returned to the United States without earning a degree.

Earliest post-college publications

He began submitting humorous articles and illustrations to ''Judge,'' ''Life,'' ''Vanity Fair,'' and ''Liberty.'' One notable "Technocracy Number" made fun of the technocracy movement and featured satirical rhymes at the expense of Frederick Soddy. The July 16, 1927 issue of the ''The Saturday Evening Post'' published his first cartoon under the name Seuss. He became nationally famous from his advertisements for Flit, a common insecticide at the time. His slogan, "Quick, Henry, the Flit!" became a popular catchphrase. Geisel supported himself and his wife through the Great Depression by drawing advertising for General Electric, NBC, Standard Oil, and many other companies. In 1935, he wrote and drew a short-lived comic strip called ''Hejji.''

In 1937, while Geisel was returning from an ocean voyage to Europe, the rhythm of the ship's engines inspired the poem that became his first book, ''And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street!''. It was rejected 27 times (numbers will vary). Geisel wrote three more children's books before World War II, two of which are, atypically for him, in prose.

World War II-era work

As World War II began, Geisel turned to political cartoons, drawing over 400 in two years as editorial cartoonist for the left-leaning New York City daily newspaper, ''PM.'' Geisel's political cartoons, later published in ''Dr. Seuss Goes to War,'' denounced Hitler and Mussolini and were highly critical of non-interventionists ("isolationists"), most notably Charles Lindbergh, who opposed US entry into the war. One cartoon depicted all Japanese Americans as latent traitors or fifth-columnists, while at the same time other cartoons deplored the racism at home against Jews and blacks that harmed the war effort. His cartoons were strongly supportive of President Roosevelt's handling of the war, combining the usual exhortations to ration and contribute to the war effort with frequent attacks on Congress (especially the Republican Party), parts of the press (such as the New York Daily News, Chicago Tribune and Washington Times-Herald), and others for criticism of Roosevelt, criticism of aid to the Soviet Union, investigation of suspected Communists, and other offenses that he depicted as leading to disunity and helping the Nazis, intentionally or inadvertently.

In 1942, Geisel turned his energies to direct support of the U.S. war effort. First, he worked drawing posters for the Treasury Department and the War Production Board. Then, in 1943, he joined the Army and was commander of the Animation Dept of the First Motion Picture Unit of the United States Army Air Forces, where he wrote films that included ''Your Job in Germany,'' a 1945 propaganda film about peace in Europe after World War II, ''Our Job in Japan,'' and the ''Private Snafu'' series of adult army training films. While in the Army, he was awarded the Legion of Merit. ''Our Job in Japan'' became the basis for the commercially released film, ''Design for Death'' (1947), a study of Japanese culture that won the Academy Award for Documentary Feature. ''Gerald McBoing-Boing'' (1950), which was based on an original story by Seuss, won the Academy Award for Animated Short Film.

Later years

After the war, Geisel and his wife moved to La Jolla, California. Returning to children's books, he wrote many works, including such favorites as ''If I Ran the Zoo'', (1950), ''Horton Hears a Who!'' (1954), ''Horton Hatches the Egg'' (1954), ''If I Ran the Circus'' (1956),''The Cat in the Hat'' (1957), ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas'' (1957) and ''Green Eggs and Ham'' (1960). Although he received numerous awards throughout his career, Geisel won neither the Caldecott Medal nor the Newbery Medal. Three of his titles from this period were, however, chosen as Caldecott runners-up (now referred to as Caldecott Honor books): ''McElligot's Pool'' (1937), ''Bartholomew and the Oobleck'' (1939), and ''If I Ran the Zoo'' (1950). Dr Seuss also wrote the musical and fantasy film ''The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T,'' which was released in 1953. The movie was a critical and financial failure, and Geisel never attempted another feature film. During the 1950s he also published a number of illustrated short stories, mostly in RedBook Magazine. Some of these were later collected (in volumes such as ''The Sneetches and Other Stories'' or reworked into independent books (''If I Ran the Zoo''). A number have never been reprinted since their original appearances.

In May 1954, ''Life'' magazine published a report on illiteracy among school children, which concluded that children were not learning to read because their books were boring. Accordingly, William Ellsworth Spaulding, the director of the education division at Houghton Mifflin who later became its Chairman, compiled a list of 348 words he felt were important for first-graders to recognize and asked Geisel to cut the list to 250 words and write a book using only those words. Spaulding challenged Geisel to "bring back a book children can't put down." Nine months later, Geisel, using 236 of the words given to him, completed ''The Cat in the Hat.'' It was described as a ''tour de force'' by some reviewers-—it retained the drawing style, verse rhythms, and all the imaginative power of Geisel's earlier works, but because of its simplified vocabulary could be read by beginning readers. ''The Cat in the Hat'' and subsequent books written for young children achieved significant international success and they remain very popular today. In 2009 ''Green Eggs and Ham'' sold 540,366 copies, ''The Cat in the Hat'' sold 452,258 copies, and ''One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish'' (1960) sold 409,068 copies—outselling the majority of newly published children's books.

Geisel went on to write many other children's books, both in his new simplified-vocabulary manner (sold as Beginner Books) and in his older, more elaborate style. The Beginner Books were not easy for Geisel and reportedly took him months to complete.

On October 23, 1967, suffering from a long struggle with illnesses including cancer, as well as emotional pain over her husband's affair with Audrey Stone Dimond, Geisel's wife, Helen Palmer Geisel, committed suicide. Geisel married Dimond on June 21, 1968. Though he devoted most of his life to writing children's books, Geisel had no children of his own. He would say, when asked about this, "You have 'em; I'll entertain 'em."

Death and posthumous honors

Geisel died of throat cancer on September 24, 1991, after several years of poor health, in San Diego, California. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered. On December 1, 1995, four years after his death, UCSD's University Library Building was renamed Geisel Library in honor of Geisel and Audrey for the generous contributions they made to the library and their devotion to improving literacy.

While living in La Jolla, the United States Postal Service and others frequently confused Geisel with another La Jolla resident, Dr. Hans Suess. Their names have been linked together posthumously: the personal papers of Hans Suess are housed in the Geisel Library at UC San Diego.

In 2002, the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden opened in his birthplace of Springfield, Massachusetts; it features sculptures of Geisel and of many of his characters. On May 28, 2008, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver announced that Geisel would be inducted into the California Hall of Fame, located at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts. The induction ceremony took place December 15 and his widow Audrey accepted the honor in his place. On March 2, 2009, the web search engine Google temporarily changed its logo to commemorate Geisel's birthday (a practice it often follows for various holidays and events). At his alma mater, Dartmouth, where over 90% of incoming first-year students participate in pre-registration Dartmouth Outing Club trips into the New Hampshire wilderness, it is traditional for students returning from the trips to overnight at Dartmouth's Moosilauke Ravine Lodge, where they are served green eggs and ham for breakfast in honor of Dr. Seuss. Dr. Seuss's honors include two Academy awards, two Emmy awards, a Peabody award, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal, and the Pulitzer Prize.

Pen names and pronunciations

Geisel's pen name is regularly pronounced , an anglicized pronunciation inconsistent with his German surname. He himself noted that it rhymed with "voice" (his own pronunciation being ) and Alexander Liang (his collaborator on the Dartmouth ''Jack-O-Lantern'') wrote of him:

:You’re wrong as the deuce :And you shouldn’t rejoice :If you’re calling him Seuss. :He pronounces it Soice.

Geisel switched to the anglicized pronunciation because it "evoked a figure advantageous for an author of children’s books to be associated with—Mother Goose" and because most people used this pronunciation.

For books that Geisel wrote and others illustrated, he used the pen name "Theo LeSieg" ("LeSieg" is "Geisel" spelled backward).

Political views

Geisel was a liberal Democrat and a supporter of President Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal. His early political cartoons show a passionate opposition to fascism, and he urged to oppose it, both before and after the entry of the United States into World War II. His cartoons tended to regard the fear of communism as overstated, finding the greater threat in the Dies Committee and those who threatened to cut the US' "life line" to Stalin and Soviet Russia, the ones carrying "our war load".

Geisel's cartoons also called attention to the early stages of the Holocaust and denounced discrimination in the USA against African Americans and Jews. Geisel himself experienced anti-Semitism: in his college days, he was mistaken for a Jew and denied entry into conservative social circles, although he was actually of German ancestry and a practicing Christian.

Geisel supported the Japanese American internment during World War II. His treatment of the Japanese and of Japanese Americans, whom he often failed to differentiate between, has struck many readers as a moral blind spot. On the issue of the Japanese, he is quoted as saying:

After the war, though, Geisel overcame his feelings of animosity, using his book ''Horton Hears a Who!'' (1954) as an allegory for the Hiroshima bombing and the American post-war occupation of Japan, as well as dedicating the book to a Japanese friend.

In 1948, after living and working in Hollywood for years, Geisel moved to La Jolla, California. It is said that when he went to register to vote in La Jolla, some Republican friends called him over to where they were registering voters, but Geisel said, "You, my friends, are over there, but I am going over here [to the Democratic registration]."

In his books

Though Geisel made a point of not beginning the writing of his stories with a moral in mind, stating that "kids can see a moral coming a mile off," he was not against writing about issues; he said that "there's an inherent moral in any story," and he remarked that he was "subversive as hell."

Many of Geisel's books express his views on a remarkable variety of social and political issues: ''The Lorax'' (1971), about environmentalism and anti-consumerism; ''The Sneetches'' (1961), about racial equality; ''The Butter Battle Book'' (1984), about the arms race; ''Yertle the Turtle'' (1958), about Hitler and anti-authoritarianism; ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas'' (1957), criticizing the materialism and consumerism of the Christmas season; and ''Horton Hears a Who!'' (1950), about anti-isolationism and internationalism. Shortly before the end of the 1972–1974 Watergate scandal, in which United States president Richard Nixon resigned, Geisel converted one of his famous children's books into a polemic. "Richard M. Nixon, Will You Please Go Now!" was published in major newspapers through the column of his friend Art Buchwald.

The line "A person's a person, no matter how small!!" from ''Horton Hears a Who!'' has grown, despite the objections of Geisel's widow, into widespread use on the pro-life side of the issue. While Geisel preferred to let his work speak for itself, in 1986 when the line first started being used by the pro-life movement, Geisel, who would speak out to protect his characters from exploitation, demanded a retraction and received one. In its original context it is unrelated to abortion issues.

Although Geisel's books teach children about so many social problems, his works for children do not speak to feminist issues. His longer children's stories included few important female characters, and it is difficult for them to be called positive portrayals. The most prominent female characters are Gertrude McFuzz (who is vanity personified, although she does learn her lesson at the end of the story) and Mayzie, the very irresponsible bird who laid the egg in Horton Hatches the Egg. The most positive female character in the works is probably Sally in The Cat in the Hat, but she says few words.

==Poetic meters== Geisel wrote most of his books in anapestic tetrameter, a poetic meter employed by many poets of the English literary canon. This is often suggested as one of the reasons that Geisel's writing was so well-received.

Anapestic tetrameter consists of four rhythmic units, anapests, each composed of two weak beats followed by one strong beat; often, the first weak syllable is omitted, or an additional weak syllable is added at the end. An example of this meter can be found in Geisel's "Yertle the Turtle", from ''Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories'':

:"And today the Great Yertle, that Marvelous he :Is King of the Mud. That is all he can see."

The consistency of his meter was one of his hallmarks; the many imitators and parodists of Geisel are often unable to write in strict anapestic tetrameter, or are unaware that they should, and thus sound clumsy in comparison.

Some books by Geisel that are written mainly in anapestic tetrameter also contain many lines written in amphibrachic tetrameter, such as these from ''If I Ran the Circus'':

:"All ready to put up the tents for my circus. :I think I will call it the Circus McGurkus.

:"And NOW comes an act of Enormous Enormance! :No former performers performed this performance!"

Geisel also wrote verse in trochaic tetrameter, an arrangement of a strong beat followed by a weak beat, with four units per line (for example, the title of ''One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish''). The formula for trochaic meter permits the final weak position in the line to be omitted, which facilitates the construction of rhymes.

Geisel generally maintained trochaic meter only for brief passages, and for longer stretches typically mixed it with iambic tetrameter, which consists of a weak beat followed by a strong, and is generally considered easier to write. Thus, for example, the magicians in ''Bartholomew and the Oobleck'' make their first appearance chanting in trochees (thus resembling the witches of Shakespeare's ''Macbeth''):

:"Shuffle, duffle, muzzle, muff"

then switch to iambs for the oobleck spell:

:"Go make the Oobleck tumble down :On every street, in every town!"

Artwork

Geisel's earlier artwork often employed the shaded texture of pencil drawings or watercolors, but in children's books of the postwar period he generally employed the starker medium of pen and ink, normally using just black, white, and one or two colors. Later books such as ''The Lorax'' used more colors.

Geisel's figures are often rounded and somewhat droopy. This is true, for instance, of the faces of the Grinch and of the Cat in the Hat. It is also true of virtually all buildings and machinery that Geisel drew: although these objects abound in straight lines in real life, for buildings, this could be accomplished in part through choice of architecture. For machines, for example, ''If I Ran the Circus'' includes a droopy hoisting crane and a droopy steam calliope.

Geisel evidently enjoyed drawing architecturally elaborate objects. His endlessly varied (but never rectilinear) palaces, ramps, platforms, and free-standing stairways are among his most evocative creations. Geisel also drew elaborate imaginary machines, of which the Audio-Telly-O-Tally-O-Count, from ''Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book'', is one example. Geisel also liked drawing outlandish arrangements of feathers or fur, for example, the 500th hat of ''Bartholomew Cubbins'', the tail of ''Gertrude McFuzz'', and the pet for girls who like to brush and comb, in ''One Fish Two Fish''.

Geisel's images often convey motion vividly. He was fond of a sort of ''voilà'' gesture, in which the hand flips outward, spreading the fingers slightly backward with the thumb up; this is done by Ish, for instance, in ''One Fish Two Fish'' when he creates fish (who perform the gesture themselves with their fins), in the introduction of the various acts of ''If I Ran the Circus'', and in the introduction of the Little Cats in ''The Cat in the Hat Comes Back''. He was also fond of drawing hands with interlocked fingers, which looked as though the characters were twiddling their thumbs.

Geisel also follows the cartoon tradition of showing motion with lines, for instance in the sweeping lines that accompany Sneelock's final dive in ''If I Ran the Circus''. Cartoonist's lines are also used to illustrate the action of the senses (sight, smell, and hearing) in ''The Big Brag'' and even of thought, as in the moment when the Grinch conceives his awful idea.

For over 60 years, Dr. Seuss’s illustrations brought a visual realization to his fantastic and imaginary worlds. However, his artistic talent went far beyond the printed page, as in his Secret Art works – the paintings and sculptures he did at night for himself that he rarely exhibited during his lifetime. Seuss always dreamed of sharing these works with his fans and had entrusted his wife, Audrey, to carry out his wishes once he was gone. Audrey, too, believed the work deserved further recognition and that Ted himself would one day be evaluated not only as an author, but also as an artist in his own right. In 1997, this dream was realized when The Art of Dr. Seuss project was launched. For the first time in history, collectors were able to see and acquire lithographs, serigraphs and sculptures reproduced from Geisel’s original drawings and paintings. In her introduction to the collection Audrey Geisel wrote, “I remember telling Ted that there would come a day when many of his paintings would be seen and he would thus share with his fans another facet of himself – his private self. That day has come. I am glad.” This historic project has opened the world’s eyes to the unique artistic talent of Dr. Seuss and, as such, galleries, museums and collectors have helped make Audrey Geisel’s promise, and Dr. Seuss’s dream, a reality. Now, just 15 years after Ted passed away, these artworks have toured to leading galleries and museums across the world, establishing Seuss as a significant artist of the 20th century. Today limited edition prints and sculptures of Dr. Seuss artworks can now be found at galleries along side the works of Rembrandt, Picasso and Miro.

Recurring images

Geisel's early work in advertising and editorial cartooning produced sketches that received more perfect realization later in the children's books. Often, the expressive use to which Geisel put an image later on was quite different from the original.

An editorial cartoon of July 16, 1941 depicts a whale resting on the top of a mountain, as a parody of American isolationists, especially Charles Lindbergh. This was later rendered (with no apparent political content) as the Wumbus of ''On Beyond Zebra'' (1955). Seussian whales (cheerful and balloon-shaped, with long eyelashes) also occur in ''McElligot's Pool'', ''If I Ran the Circus'', and other books. Another editorial cartoon from 1941 shows a long cow with many legs and udders, representing the conquered nations of Europe being milked by Adolf Hitler. This later became the Umbus of ''On Beyond Zebra.'' The tower of turtles in a 1942 editorial cartoon prefigures a similar tower in ''Yertle the Turtle.'' This theme also appeared in a ''Judge'' cartoon as one letter of a hieroglyphic message, and in Geisel's short-lived comic strip ''Hejji.'' Geisel once stated that Yertle the Turtle ''was'' Adolf Hitler.

Little cats A B and C (as well as the rest of the alphabet) who spring from each other's hats appeared in a Ford ad.

The connected beards in ''Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?'' appear frequently in Geisel's work, most notably in ''Hejji,'' which featured two goats joined at the beard, ''The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T,'' which featured two roller-skating guards joined at the beard, and a political cartoon in which Nazism and the America First movement are portrayed as "the men with the Siamese Beard."

Geisel's earliest elephants were for advertising and had somewhat wrinkly ears, much as real elephants do. With ''And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street!'' (1937) and ''Horton Hatches the Egg'' (1940), the ears became more stylized, somewhat like angel wings and thus appropriate to the saintly Horton. During World War II, the elephant image appeared as an emblem for India in four editorial cartoons. Horton and similar elephants appear frequently in the postwar children's books. While drawing advertisements for Flit, Geisel became adept at drawing insects with huge stingers, shaped like a gentle S-curve and with a sharp end that included a rearward-pointing barb on its lower side. Their facial expressions depict gleeful malevolence. These insects were later rendered in an editorial cartoon as a swarm of Allied aircraft (1942), and again as the Sneedle of ''On Beyond Zebra,'' and yet again as the Skritz in ''I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew.''

There are many examples of creatures who arrange themselves in repeating patterns, such as the "Two and fro walkers, who march in five layers", and the Through-Horns Jumping Deer in ''If I Ran the Circus'', and the arrangement of birds which the protagonist of ''Oh, The Places You'll Go!'' walks through, as the narrator admonishes him to "...always be detrous and deft, and never mix up your right foot with your left."

Publications

Over the course of his long career, Geisel wrote over 60 books. Though most were published under his well-known pseudonym, Dr. Seuss, he also authored over a dozen books as Theo LeSieg and one as Rosetta Stone. As one of the most popular children's authors of all time, Geisel's books have topped many bestseller lists, sold over 222 million copies, and been translated into more than 15 languages. In 2000, ''Publishers Weekly'' compiled a list of the best-selling children's books of all time; of the top 100 hardcover books, 16 were written by Geisel, including ''Green Eggs and Ham'', at number 4, ''The Cat in the Hat'', at number 9, and ''One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish'', at number 13. In the years after his death in 1991, two additional books were published based on his sketches and notes: ''Hooray for Diffendoofer Day!'' and ''Daisy-Head Mayzie''. ''My Many Colored Days'', originally written in 1973, was posthumously published in 1996. More recently, seven stories originally published in magazines during 1950 and 1951 will be released in a collection entitled ''The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories'' in September 2011.

At various times Geisel also wrote books for adults that used the same style of verse and pictures: ''The Seven Lady Godivas'' (1937; reprinted 1985), which included nude depictions; ''You're Only Old Once!'' (written in 1987 when Geisel was 83) which chronicles an old man's journey through a clinic, a satire of the inefficiency of clinics and his last book (written a year before his death) ''Oh, The Places You'll Go!'', a popular gift for graduating students.

Adaptations

For most of his career, Geisel was reluctant to have his characters marketed in contexts outside of his own books. However, he did allow for the creation of several animated cartoons, an art form in which he himself had gained experience during the Second World War, and gradually relaxed his policy as he aged.

The first adaptation of one of Geisel's works was a cartoon version of ''Horton Hatches the Egg'', animated at Warner Brothers in 1942. Directed by Robert Clampett, it was presented as part of the Looney Tunes series, and included a number of gags not present in the original narrative, including a fish committing suicide and a Katharine Hepburn imitation by Maisie.

In 1959, Geisel authorized Revell, the well-known plastic model-making company, to make a series of "animals" that snapped together rather than being glued together, and could be assembled, disassembled and re-assembled "in thousands" of ways. The series was called the "Dr. Seuss Zoo" and included Gowdy the Dowdy Grackle, Norval the Bashful Blinket, Tingo the Noodle Topped Stroodle and Roscoe the Many Footed Lion. The basic body parts were the same and all were interchangeable, and so it was possible for children to combine parts from various characters in essentially unlimited ways in creating their own animal characters (Revell encouraged this by selling Gowdy, Norval and Tingo together in a "Gift Set" as well as individually). Revell also made a conventional glue-together "beginner's kit" of The Cat in the Hat.

In 1966, Geisel authorized the eminent cartoon artist Chuck Jones, his friend and former colleague from the war, to make a cartoon version of ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas''; Geisel was credited as a co-producer, along with Jones, under his real name, "Ted Geisel." The cartoon, narrated by Boris Karloff, who also provided the voice of the Grinch, was very faithful to the original book, and is considered a classic by many to this day; it is often broadcast as an annual Christmas television special. In 1970, an adaptation of ''Horton Hears a Who!'' was directed by Chuck Jones for Warner Bros. Pictures.

From 1971 to 1983, Geisel wrote seven Warner Bros. specials, which were produced by Warner Bros. Pictures and aired on CBS: ''Horton Hatches the Egg'' (1971), ''Dr. Seuss on the Loose'' (1977), and ''The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat'' (1983). Several of the specials were nominated for and won multiple Academy Awards.

A Soviet paint-on-glass-animated short film called ''Welcome'' (an adaptation of ''Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose'') was made in 1986. The last adaptation of Geisel's works before he died was ''The Butter Battle Book'', a television special based on the book of the same name, directed by adult animation legend Ralph Bakshi. Geisel himself called the special "the most faithful adaptation of his work."

After Geisel died of cancer at the age of 87 in 1991, his widow Audrey Geisel was placed in charge of all licensing matters. She approved a live-action feature film version of ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas'' starring Jim Carrey, as well as a Seuss-themed Broadway musical called ''Seussical,'' and both premiered in 2000. ''The Grinch'' has had limited engagement runs on Broadway during the Christmas season, after premiering in 1998 (under the title ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas'') at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, where it has become a Christmas tradition. In 2003, another live-action film was released, this time an adaptation of ''The Cat in the Hat'' that featured Mike Myers as the title character. Audrey Geisel was vocal in her dislike of the film, especially the casting of Myers as the Cat in the Hat, and stated that there would be no further live-action adaptations of Geisel's books. However, an animated CGI feature film adaptation of ''Horton Hears a Who!'' was approved, and was eventually released on March 14, 2008, to critical acclaim.

Four television series have been adapted from Geisel's work. The first, ''Gerald McBoing-Boing'', was an animated television adaptation of Geisel's 1951 cartoon of the same name and lasted three months between 1956 and 1957. The second, ''The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss,'' was a mix of live-action and puppetry by Jim Henson Television, the producers of The Muppets. It aired for one season on Nickelodeon in the United States, from 1996 to 1997. The third, ''Gerald McBoing-Boing,'' is a remake of the 1956 series. Produced in Canada by Cookie Jar Entertainment, it ran from 2005 to 2007. The fourth, ''The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!'', produced by Portfolio Entertainment Inc., began on August 7, 2010 in Canada and September 6, 2010 in the United States and is currently still showing.

Geisel's books and characters are also featured in Seuss Landing, one of many islands at the Islands of Adventure theme park in Orlando, Florida. In an attempt to match Geisel's visual style, there are reportedly "no straight lines" in Seuss Landing.

References

Further reading

Documentary aired on the Public Television System.

External links

Seussville site Random House

New York Times obituary

Dr. Seuss biography on Lambiek Comiclopedia

The Register of Dr. Seuss Collection UC San Diego

The Advertising Artwork of Dr. Seuss UC San Diego

''Dr. Seuss Went to War:'' A Catalog of Political Cartoons UC San Diego

Dr. Seuss' Commencement Speech Lake Forest College

Dr. Seuss / Theodor Geisel artwork can be viewed at American Art Archives web site

A Tale of Two Cartoonists, Hugh Turley, Hyattsville Life and Times, April 2009

Cartoon of John Haynes Holmes. By ''Dr.Seuss''

Category:1904 births Category:1991 deaths Category:American children's writers Category:American editorial cartoonists Category:American illustrators Category:American military personnel of World War II Category:American poets Category:American writers of German descent Category:Children's poets Category:First Motion Picture Unit personnel Category:Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal winners Category:People from Springfield, Massachusetts Category:Recipients of the Legion of Merit Category:Requests for audio pronunciation Category:United States Army Air Forces officers Category:Writers from California Category:Writers from Massachusetts Category:Writers who illustrated their own writing

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Coordinates	15°48′00″N47°54′00″N
Name	Seussical
Music	Stephen Flaherty
Lyrics	Lynn Ahrens
Book	Lynn AhrensStephen Flaherty
Basis	The stories of Dr. Seuss
Productions	2000 Boston tryout 2000 Broadway 2002 1st USA Tour 2003 2nd USA Tour 2007 Off Broadway
Awards	}}

''Seussical'' (Broadway marketing title, ''Seussical the Musical'') is a musical by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty based on the books of Dr. Seuss that debuted on Broadway in 2000. The play's story is a rather complex amalgamation of many of Seuss's most famous books. After a Broadway run, the production spawned two US national tours and a UK tour. It has become a favorite for school, community and regional theatres.

Productions

Pre-Broadway

In a reading in New York City, Eric Idle played the Cat in the Hat, and was credited at the time for contributions to the story line. In the Toronto workshop in 1999, Andrea Martin played the Cat in the Hat. The musical had its out-of-town tryout in Boston, Massachusetts at the Colonial Theatre in September 2000.

Broadway

''Seussical'' opened on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on November 30, 2000. Directed by Frank Galati with choreography by Kathleen Marshall; though uncredited, Kathleen Marshall's brother Rob Marshall was hired to direct the show when it returned from Boston to Broadway; the original Broadway cast included David Shiner as the Cat in the Hat, Kevin Chamberlin as Horton, and Anthony Blair Hall as Jojo. It also featured Janine LaManna as Gertrude McFuzz and Michelle Pawk as Mayzie LaBird, with Stuart Zagnit as the Mayor of Whoville, Alice Playten as the Mayor's wife, Sharon Wilkins as the Sour Kangaroo and Erick Devine as General Genghis Khan Schmitz also appearing. Throughout the run, there were many celebrity Cat in the Hat replacements, including Rosie O'Donnell and Cathy Rigby.

The production received lukewarm reviews, with critics focusing on the huge cast of characters and unsympathetic plotlines. The Broadway production closed on May 20, 2001 after 198 performances and 34 previews.

US tours

Following the Broadway production, there were two US National tours. The first, in 2002-03, starred Cathy Rigby, and the second toured in 2003-04.

The script for the first tour was extensively reworked after the poor showing on Broadway. This resulted in the removal or reworking of several songs. The biggest change involves Jojo, who is initially an anonymous boy who thinks up The Cat in the Hat when he finds a strange hat at center stage. The Cat helps the boy create the Seussian universe and the rest of the story. The Cat later shoves the boy into the story, making him play the role of Jojo. There is also additional dialogue, as well as the deletion of some songs and their reprises.

It is this version of the musical that is currently rented by the leasing company, and has enjoyed some success in regional and children's theater companies across the country.

Off-Broadway

A 90-minute Off Broadway production was staged at the Lucille Lortel Theatre from July 19, 2007 through August 17, 2007 by Theatreworks USA, directed and choreographed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge and starring Shorey Walker as The Cat in the Hat. This production was downscaled from the first USA tour.

One-Act Versions

Another one-act version of the show, ''Seussical The Musical, Jr'' is designed for performances by junior high or middle school students, and part of the MTI "Jr." series. The Junior version of Seussical was changed from the full-length Broadway version to make it shorter, in one act, and more accessible for younger actors.

A one-act version of the show was reworked with the permissions of the playwrights in 2004. The "Theatre for Young Audience" version contains significant changes, including reducing the cast to 12 actors and removing the entire military subplot.

Seuss Books Used

The overarching plot of the show mirrors that of ''Horton Hears a Who!'', centering on Horton the elephant's endeavors to protect the people of Who-ville, who live on a tiny speck of dust. It also features characters and scenarios from many other Seuss books, including the Butter Side Uppers / Downers from ''The Butter Battle Book'', Gertrude McFuzz, and, in addition to a music number based on its original story, The Cat in the Hat also acts an "your host and MC" -- sometimes being an outside observer, a narrator and devil's advocate throughout the show, briefly leaping into the action on several occasions to create conflict and keep the story moving. In all, the following Seuss books have some minor characters and/or settings incorporated into the show:

''Horton Hears a Who!

''How the Grinch Stole Christmas''

''The Lorax''

''Green Eggs and Ham''

''Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories ''

''Horton Hatches the Egg''

''I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew''

''McElligot's Pool''

''Hunches in Bunches''

''If I Ran the Circus''

''The Butter Battle Book''

''Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!''

''The Cat in the Hat''

''The Sneetches and Other Stories''

''Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?''

''Oh, the Places You'll Go!''

''One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish''

Due to the elimination of songs such as "The Military", "Havin' A Hunch" and "Message from The Front" and phrases and sections of other songs, "Seussical Jr." only uses the books Horton Hears a Who!, Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, The Cat in the Hat, If I Ran the Circus, McElligot's Pool, Green Eggs and Ham, Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories, Horton Hatches the Egg, I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew.

Plot

''This synopsis describes the full length Broadway version.''

;Act I ("Overture") The "The Cat in the Hat", acting as narrator, sits on a bare stage, save for an odd multi-colored circle background ("Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!").

In the Jungle of Nool, where Horton the Elephant is bathing ("Our Story Begins"), he hears a strange noise coming from a speck of dust. He rescues the speck and places it on a clover to guard ("Horton Hears a Who"). The other animals mock him, except for Gertrude McFuzz, who admires his compassion and begins to fall in love with him ("Biggest Blame Fool"). Horton hears the mysterious voice again, which belongs to the Mayor of "Who", a dust-speck planet covered with microscopic inhabitants called Whos. The Cat in the Hat zooms in on the dust speck as the Whos are revealed. The Mayor and the Whos reveal their planet is so small and fragile they are constantly threatened with death, and beg Horton to help protect. His resolve strengthened, Horton promises he will guard the dust speck ("Here on Who")

The mayor's son, Jojo, is scolded for thinking "thinks", imaginary thoughts which disrupt his school classes and anger his teachers ("A Day For The Cat In The Hat"). Although he tries not to think thinks, he starts to imagine his tub is McElligot's pool where his thinks soon spiral out of control ("It's Possible") and cause time to fly. Frustrated, the Mayor and his wife agree to "lay down the law" but are unsure of just how to discipline their son ("How to Raise a Child"). After receiving a brochure, they decide to send him to a military school run by a misguided warmonger named General Genghis Khan Schmitz, who is preparing to go to war with those who eat their bread butter side down ("The Military").

Horton meets Jojo, with whom he bonds as a fellow social outcast ("Alone in the Universe"). The next day, Gertrude (whose feelings for Horton are still strong) laments that her tail only has one feather, believing its sorry sight is the reason Horton is not noticing her ("The One Feather Tail of Miss Gertrude McFuzz"). Mayzie La Bird, whose tail is enormous and dazzling, advises Gertrude to obtain pills from Doctor Dake, which Mayzie promises will make her tail "almost as amazing" as hers ("Amayzing Mayzie/Amayzing Gertrude"). Gertrude is so excited about her tail, she overdoses.

Horton is ambushed by a group of mischievous monkeys, the Wickersham Brothers ("Monkey Around") who steal the clover and give it to an eagle, Vlad Vladikoff, who drops it into a large patch of identical clovers ("Chasing the Whos"). The Cat in the Hat freezes the action and delivers an ironically cheery tune about how fortunate the audience is not to be the Whos ("How Lucky You Are"). Horton looks for the clover, while Gertrude tries to attract his attention. Horton, however, is so intently focused on his mission he does not notice her, and a dejected Gertrude retreats to take more pills ("Notice Me, Horton"). Mayzie LaBird, who has just been abandoned by her lover and left with an egg, interrupts Horton's search and begs him to sit on it so she can take an afternoon off ("How Lucky You Are" (Reprise)). Horton reluctantly agrees, and Mayzie flies away, never to return. As winter approaches, Horton is captured by hunters. Gertrude makes an attempt to rescue him, but the size and weight of her new tail prevents her from flying ("Horton Sits on the Egg").

;Act II ("Entr'acte") ("Our Story Resumes") Horton is transported to New York City ("Egg, Nest and Tree") and auctioned off to the circus ("The Circus McGurkus"), lamenting his sorry state ("The Circus On Tour"). Mayzie is lazing about in Palm Beach, where she admits she tires of the monotony of sunbathing ("Mayzie in Palm Beach"). She decides to attend the Circus, where she reunites with Horton and the egg. Horton pleads for her to take it back, but Mayzie refuses, and gives the egg to Horton to keep forever ("Amayzing Horton"). Alone with the egg, a sorrowful Horton vows to nurture it himself ("Alone in the Universe" (Reprise)) and sings a lullaby about a magical world called ''Solla Sollew''

On Christmas Day, Jojo and his fellow cadets are deployed to fight in the Butter Battle. Jojo finally confronts General Schmitz, declaring his belief in the immorality of the war and deserting the army. However, he causes an explosion which is thought to have destroyed him ("Green Eggs and Ham" ("Transition to Butter Battle)"). Jojo's parents learn of his alleged death ("A Message From The Front") at the Christmas Pageant. The Cat in the Hat, however, reenacts the scene, so the audience sees that Jojo is actually alive, but lost in some dark place far from Whoville ("Lost in Whoville"). Jojo forgives the Cat in the Hat for his perceived offenses, taking his advice and trusting his hunches to lead him back home. He and his parents share a joyful embrace ("Havin' a Hunch").

At the Circus, Gertrude reappears and frees a bewildered Horton. She has swallowed her pride, got her tail feathers plucked, and flew across the world to rescue Horton and find the Whos' clover ("All For You"). Ecstatic that the Whos are finally safe, Horton begins to fall in love with Gertrude. However, their happiness is crushed as the Sour Kangaroo and the Wickersham Brothers drag Horton back to the Jungle of Nool, and put him on trial for the crimes of "talking to a speck of dust and loitering on an egg". Gertrude and Horton make a stand at the trial, but in vain; Yertle the Turtle orders the clover to be boiled in a kettle of beezlenut oil. Aghast, Horton begs the Whos to shout to prove their existence, which nearly fails until Jojo comes up with a "think": the word "YOPP" whose peculiar sound is just enough to reach the jungle creatures' ears ("The People Versus Horton the Elephant"). The court acquits Horton and the Sour Kangaroo repents, swearing that she will help Horton protect the Whos. In Whoville, Jojo is honored as "Thinker Non-Stop" and finally wins the appreciation of his parents.

The egg hatches, and a tiny "Elephant-Bird" emerges. Horton panics, realizing he can't handle flying progeny, but Gertrude promises him that as Horton "teaches him earth", she will "teach him sky". They agree to raise the child together ("Alone in the Universe" (Reprise)). The Cat in the Hat sums things up ("Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!" (Reprise)), "Green Eggs and Ham".

Songs

;Act 1

Overture—Orchestra

Oh, The Thinks You Can Think! -- The Cat in the Hat and the Company

Horton Hears A Who!* -- Bird Girls, Horton the Elephant and Citizens of the Jungle of Nool

Biggest Blame Fool—Sour Kangaroo, Horton the Elephant, Wickersham Brothers, Bird Girls, Gertrude McFuzz, Mayzie LaBird, Yertle the Turtle, Citizens of the Jungle of Nool Jojo and The Cat in the Hat

Here On Who—The Mayor, Mrs. Mayor, The Grinch, Whos, and Horton the Elephant

A Day for the Cat in the Hat—The Cat in the Hat, Jojo, and Cat's Helpers

It's Possible (In McElligot's Pool)* -- JoJo, The Cat in the Hat and Fish

How To Raise A Child—The Mayor and Mrs. Mayor

The Military—General Genghis Khan Schmitz, The Mayor of Whoville, Mrs. Mayor, JoJo and Cadets

Alone In The Universe—Horton and JoJo

The One Feather Tail of Miss Gertrude McFuzz—Gertrude

Amayzing Mayzie--Mayzie LaBird, Gertrude, and the Bird Girls

Amazing Gertrude— Gertrude, and Bird Girls

Monkey Around—Wickersham Brothers and Horton the Elephant

Chasing the Whos* -- Horton the Elephant, Sour Kangaroo, Bird Girls, Wickersham Brothers, The Cat in the Hat, Vlad Vladikoff and Whos

How Lucky You Are—The Cat in the Hat, Whos

Notice Me, Horton—Gertrude McFuzz and Horton the Elephant

'' How Lucky You Are (Reprise) -- Mayzie LaBird, Horton

'' '''Horton Sits on the Egg—Full Company

;Act 2

Entr'acte—Orchestra #

The Circus McGurkus-- The Cat in the Hat, Circus Performers, and Circus Animals #

The Circus on Tour-- Horton, Circus Performers, and Circus Animals #

Egg, Nest, and Tree* -- Sour Kangaroo, Bird Girls, Wickersham Brothers, The Cat in the Hat, Jungle creatures, Cat's Helpers and Hunters

Mayzie in Palm Beach—Mayzie LaBird, The Cat in the Hat and Horton

Amayzing Horton-Mayzie LaBird and Horton

Alone in the Universe (Reprise) - Horton

Solla Sollew—Horton the Elephant, The Circus McGurkus Animals and Performers, The Mayor, Mrs. Mayor and JoJo

The Butter Battle-- General Genghis Khan Schmitz, Jojo, and Cadets #

The Who Christmas Paegeant-- The Grinch, Whos, and Mr. and Mrs. Mayor #

A Message From the Front-- General Genghis Khan Schmitz, Cadets, and Mr. and Mrs. Mayor #

Havin' a Hunch* -- The Cat in the Hat, JoJo, Hunches and Cat's Helpers

All For You—Gertrude, Horton and Bird Girls

The People Versus Horton The Elephant*— Company minus Mayzie LaBird

Finale / Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! -- Full Company

Curtain Call / Green Eggs And Ham—Full Company

=Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and Dr. Seuss

#=Not on the Official Broadway Recording

''Seussical the Musical'' is available as karaoke accompaniment tracks in at least 2 editions.

Principal characters

The Cat in the Hat, the mischievous, imaginative, comedic narrator of the show who also doubles as several other minor characters.

Horton the Elephant, a thinker, the outsider, caring, gentle,

JoJo, a thinker, the son/daughter of The Mayor and Mrs. Mayor, he/she often gets into trouble for thinking.

Gertrude McFuzz, the loyal bird-neighbor of Horton, she loves him but is shy due to having only one feather for a tail.

Mayzie LaBird, a pompous and show-all bird (known for her rather flirtatious ways) who tells Gertrude to take pills so her tail will grow longer, forcing Horton to love her (Gertrude).

Sour Kangaroo, the brash kangaroo who tells all that Horton is a fool for thinking there are people living on a dust speck. She is always seen with her younger kangaroo in her pouch.

Young Kangaroo, the daughter of the Sour Kangaroo-usually played by a child or a puppet; always in mother's pouch and very stubborn; "Humphf!" is her trademark

The Mayor of Whoville, the Mayor of Whoville, the father of JoJo.

Mrs. Mayor, The Mayor's wife, the mother of JoJo.

General Genghis Khan Schmitz, the general of the Academy, leads JoJo to war.

Other characters

The Grinch, makes a cameo in the song "Here On Who" and "The Whos' Christmas Pageant" as The Grinch

The Bird Girls, a type of Greek chorus of birds that are Mayzie's friends.

The Wickersham Brothers, 3 mischievous monkeys who steal Horton's clover from him.

Judge Yertle the Turtle, makes a small cameo in the trial scene, as the judge.

Marshal of the court, bailiff in the trial scene. Can also be played by the Cat in the Hat.

Vlad Vladikoff, a black-bottomed eagle who takes Horton's clover.

Cindy Lou Who, makes a small cameo in the song "The Whos Christmas pageant"

Max the Dog, makes a small cameo in the song "The Whos Christmas pageant"

Who Children #1-4, each have small cameo appearances in the song "The Whos Christmas pageant"

Hunches, visual representations of Jojo's thoughts or hunches

The Fish, the fish that Jojo imagines are in McElligot's Pool

The Whos, all of the citizens of Whoville other than Jojo and Mr and Mrs.Mayor (ensemble)

The Jungle Creatures, all of the creatures of the Jungle of Nool other than the principal cast (ensemble)

The Hunters, They hunt and take Horton to the ship to the circus, sometimes doubled with the Wickersham Brothers.

Circus Performers, these are the acts from "Circus McGurkus". They range from clowns to animals to gymnasts.

Missing Subplots

The Lorax is the only character to be removed from the show. He was in the first tryout of 27 August 2000. The Lorax had its own song and lines and its storyline from the book was also put in. The Lorax's part was after "Havin' A Hunch", where Jojo is left on his own after The Cat in The Hat leaves him. Then Jojo is surrounded by several black figures who tell the story about the Lorax. Jojo talks to the Lorax through a phone, first he has a croaky devilish voice in a sort of hut, but then shouts and jumps out in green and white clothing with an Irish clover in the middle. He then begins to sing and dance in an energetic song.

In ''Seussical Jr.'' The entire Military subplot was removed to make the story fit to children more, which resulted in the General Genghis Khan Schmitz character being completely removed. Because of this, the songs "The Military", "Havin' A Hunch" and "Message from The Front" were also removed. Also, ''Seussical Jr.'' is a one-act musical. Jojo is a smaller role in the Junior version since the military subplot was removed.

Awards and nominations

2001 Tony Award Best Actor in a Musical -- Kevin Chamberlin (nominee)

2001 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actor in a Musical—Kevin Chamberlin (nominee)

2001 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical—Janine LaManna (nominee)

2001 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Music—Music by Stephen Flaherty (nominee)

;Lucille Lortel Award (2008)

Outstanding Revival (nominee)

Outstanding Choreography (nominee)

Outstanding Costume Design, Tracy Christensen (nominee)

;Drama League Award (2008)

Outstanding Revival of a Musical (nominee)

References

External links

''Seussical'' at the Internet Theatre Database

''Seussical'' at Music Theatre International

''Seussical: Theatre for Young Audiences Version'' at Music Theatre International

Seussical Audition Advice & Show Information from MusicalTheatreAudition.com

New York Times Article on the Theatre For Young Audiences version

Seussical the Musical Lyrics

Category:Broadway musicals Category:2000 musicals Category:Dr. Seuss

Coordinates	15°48′00″N47°54′00″N
name	Zac Efron
birth name	Zachary David Alexander Efron
birth date	October 18, 1987
birth place	San Luis Obispo, California, U.S.
occupation	Actor, singer
years active	2002–present }}

Zachary David Alexander "Zac" Efron (born October 18, 1987) is an American actor and singer. He began acting professionally in the early 2000s and became known with his lead roles in the Disney Channel Original Movie ''High School Musical'', the WB series ''Summerland'', and the 2007 film version of the Broadway musical ''Hairspray''. Efron has since starred in the films ''17 Again'', ''Me and Orson Welles'', ''Charlie St. Cloud'', ''New Year's Eve'', and ''The Lucky One''.

In 2007, ''Rolling Stone'' declared him the "poster boy for tweenyboppers" and featured him in their late August 2007 issue.

Early life

Background

Efron was born in San Luis Obispo, California, and later moved to Arroyo Grande, California. His father, David Efron, is an electrical engineer at a power station, and his mother, Starla Baskett, is a former secretary who worked at the same power plant. Efron has a younger brother, Dylan, and had, as he has described it, a "normal childhood" in a middle class family. He is an agnostic, having never been religious. His surname, "Efron", means "lark" in Hebrew (his paternal grandfather was Jewish).

Efron has said that he would "flip out" if he got a "B" and not an "A" in school, and has also described himself as having been a class clown. His father encouraged him to begin acting when he was 11 years old. Efron subsequently appeared in theater productions at his high school, worked in the theater The Great American Melodrama and Vaudeville, and began taking singing lessons. He performed in shows such as ''Gypsy''; ''Peter Pan; or, The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up''; ''Little Shop of Horrors''; and ''The Music Man''. He was recommended to an agent in Los Angeles by his drama teacher, Robyn Metchik (the mother of actors Aaron Michael Metchik and Asher Metchik). Efron was later signed to the Creative Artists Agency.

Education

Efron graduated from Arroyo Grande High School in 2006 and was then accepted into the University of Southern California, but has deferred his enrollment to work on film projects. He also attended Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts, a community college located in Santa Maria, California, which provided him with the opportunity to perform as a "young player" during the years of 2000 and 2001.

Career

Early work

In 2002, Efron began to appear in guest roles on several television series, including ''Firefly'', ''ER'', and ''The Guardian''. He portrayed Cameron Bale on the now-cancelled WB series ''Summerland''. Originally introduced as a recurring character, Efron became a regular cast member on the show in the second season in 2004, starring opposite the likes of Kay Panabaker, Lori Loughlin and Jesse McCartney. Since appearing in ''Summerland'', he has also had guest roles on the shows ''CSI: Miami'', ''NCIS'', ''The Suite Life of Zack & Cody'' and ''The Replacements''. In 2003, Efron starred in the Lifetime original television movie ''Miracle Run''. He played Steven Morgan, one of two autistic twins. For his performance, he was nominated for a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Movie, Mini-series or Special — Supporting Young Actor. In 2005, he played a main character in Hope Partlow's music video for her song "Sick Inside." Also in 2005, he played horse-loving Patrick McCardle in ''The Derby Stallion'', where his character wants to beat the town bully at the steeple chase race.

Breakthrough

In 2006, Efron starred in the Disney Channel original movie ''High School Musical'' as Troy Bolton, a popular student and captain of the basketball team. The film, which he initially made with "low expectations", helped Efron gain recognition among teenage audiences as both an actor and a singer, even though his singing voice was overdubbed. As a result, he placed as high as #4 on the IMDBPro's STARMeter for the week of January 29, 2006. In August 2006, Efron won a Teen Choice Award in the Breakout Star and the TV — Choice Chemistry categories, shared with Vanessa Hudgens. The film's cast, along with Efron, toured Sydney, Australia, London, England, and other locations to promote the film.

Shortly after ''High School Musical'' aired, on February 4, 2006, Efron debuted with two simultaneous charted songs on Billboard Hot 100 from the film: "Get'cha Head in the Game" and "Breaking Free", a duet with Hudgens. On the following week's chart, Efron had five simultaneous song credits from ''High School Musical'': "Get'cha Head in the Game", "Start of Something New", "What I've Been Looking For: Reprise", "We're All in This Together" and "Breaking Free." "We're All in This Together" was credited to the whole ''High School Musical'' cast. "Breaking Free", at the time, made the fastest climb in the history of the Billboard charts, from #86 to #4 between the two weeks; the record was beaten by Beyoncé and Shakira's "Beautiful Liar". Efron also appeared in the 2006 ''Disney Channel Games'' as captain of the Red Team.

Efron's singing talents were disputed when it was revealed that Drew Seeley's voice was blended with his on the soundtrack of ''High School Musical''. An August 23, 2007 interview in ''Rolling Stone'' magazine revealed that he had been cast in ''High School Musical'' after the songs were written, and the songs (written for a tenor) were somewhat out of his baritone vocal range.

2007–present

On April 7, 2007, Efron appeared in an episode of ''Punk'd''. Efron also starred in the music video for Vanessa Hudgens's single "Say OK", in which he played her love interest. The video aired on March 16, 2007 on the Disney Channel. That year, he was named one of ''People'' magazine's 100 Most Beautiful People in 2007. A picture and short profile of him was in the section "Coming of Age". In it, he related how he was always the shortest kid in school (as of August 2007, he was 5'8") and was teased for the "huge gap" in his teeth.

In 2006, Efron was cast as Link Larkin in a film version of ''Hairspray'' released on July 20, 2007. Efron performed all of his own vocals in the role, which was filmed in Toronto, Ontario, from September 5 to December 2, 2006. He cut and dyed his hair dark brown and gained about 15 pounds for the role. His performance and the film received positive reviews. Efron was not able to perform with his fellow castmates in ''High School Musical: The Concert'' because of commitments on the film ''Hairspray''. Drew Seeley took over for him.

''High School Musical 2'' was released in August 2007. Additionally, Lycos reported searches for Efron surged by 81%. The film set a new record, becoming the most watched basic cable program in U.S. history, with 17.2 million viewers. Efron also appeared on the cover of the August 2007 edition of ''Rolling Stone''. The article about him revealed that he hoped to someday play an action hero. Efron presented the 2007 Teen Choice Award for "Favorite Movie" along with Queen Latifah, and later that year, he co-hosted the Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards with The Veronicas on October 10 in Sydney.

In early 2008, Efron was cast in the lead role in the film ''Me and Orson Welles''. Based on Robert Kaplow's novel of the same name, the story, set in 1937 New York, tells of a teenager hired to star in Orson Welles' production of ''Julius Caesar'', where he becomes attracted to a career-driven production assistant. The film was shot in the Isle of Man, London and New York, during February — April 2008. It was introduced to North America via the Toronto Film Festival on September 5, 6, and 11, 2008 and was released in 2009. Efron was also scheduled to star in Paramount's musical remake of the film ''Footloose'', and has said that he would like to add his "own little bit of flair" to the role originated by Kevin Bacon. In March 2009, he dropped out of the film. Efron was quoted as saying that while it was a promising gig, he left the project because he "was looking for a new challenge, and this was another musical."

Efron reprised his role in ''High School Musical 3: Senior Year'', which was theatrically released on October 24, 2008. His next role was in 2009's ''17 Again'', a high school-set comedy-drama produced by Adam Shankman and based on a pitch by Jason Filardi; the plot involved an adult who is transformed into a 17-year old (played by Efron).

On April 8, 2009, Efron's participation in a comedic short video entitled "Zac Efron's Pool Party" for the website Funny Or Die was released for public viewing. On April 11, 2009, Efron hosted an episode of ''Saturday Night Live''. In early June 2009 it was confirmed that Efron would be making a guest appearance during the sixth season of HBO's comedy series ''Entourage''. Efron starred in a series of advertisements, along with Kristen Bell and Sean Combs, promoting the 2010 MTV Movie Awards and the host, Aziz Ansari. In 2009, he signed on to play title character in the movie ''Charlie St. Cloud''. The film was released on July 30, 2010.

Efron was second on ''People''s 2011 Most Beautiful list. That year, he appeared in Garry Marshall's ''New Year's Eve'', which did well on the box-office despite receiving many negative reviews from critics. In 2012, he voiced Teg Wiggins in ''The Lorax'' and starred in ''The Lucky One'', a film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' novel of the same name. He will co-star in ''The Paperboy'' with Nicole Kidman.

Upcoming roles

Efron has been slated to star in the title role of the live-action adaptation of the ''Jonny Quest'' cartoons. Additional projects include ''Einstein Theory'' and an adaptation of ''Fire'', by Image Comics. On February 11, 2011, it was reported that Efron will star in the action romance ''Charlie Countryman''. He is also set to star in and produce the American remake of Swedish crime film ''Easy Money''.

Personal life

150px|thumb|right|Efron with Vanessa Hudgens at the 81st Academy Awards, 2009 Efron was on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list in 2008 as number 92 with estimated earnings of $5.8 million from June 2007 to June 2008. As of April 5, 2009, his personal wealth equaled about $10 million. ''People'' magazine said in 2007 that Efron and Vanessa Hudgens began dating in 2005 during the filming of ''High School Musical'', although ''Us'' magazine said, after the two broke up in December 2010, that they "met in 2005 while making the first ''High School Musical'' flick, and became a romantic item about two years later."

Filmography

+ Films	! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
2003	''Melinda's World''	Stuart Wasser
2003	''''	Pete Laemke
2004	''Miracle Run''	Steven Morgan
2004	''Triple Play''	Harry Fuller
2005	''''	Patrick McCardle
2006	''If You Lived Here, You'd be Home Now''	Cody
2006	''High School Musical''	Troy Bolton	Nickelodeon UK Kids' Choice Award for Best TV ActorTeen Choice Award for Choice TV: Breakout StarTeen Choice Award for Choice TV: Chemistry (shared with Vanessa Hudgens)Nominated-Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Movie, Miniseries or Special (Comedy or Drama) - Leading Young Actor
2007		Link Larkin	Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast (shared with ''Hairspray'' Cast)Hollywood Film Award for Ensemble of the Year (shared with ''Hairspray'' Cast)MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough PerformanceNickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Award for Fave Movie StarPalm Springs International Film Festival for Ensemble Cast (shared with ''Hairspray'' Cast)People's Choice Award for Favorite Song from a Soundtrack (shared with ''Hairspray'' Cast)Teen Choice Award for Choice Other: Hottie - MaleYoung Hollywood Award for One to WatchNominated-Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Song (shared with Queen Latifah, Nikki Blonsky & Elijah Kelley)Nominated-Empire Award for Best Soundtrack (shared with ''Hairspray'' Cast)Nominated-Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media (shared with ''Hairspray'' Cast)Nominated-People's Choice Award for Favorite Star Under 35Nominated-Satellite Award for Best Original Song (shared with Queen Latifah, Nikki Blonsky & Elijah Kelley)Nominated-Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture (shared with ''Hairspray'' Cast)
2007	''High School Musical 2''	Troy Bolton	Bravo Otto for TV Star - MaleCMA Wild and Young Award for Best Single International (shared with Vanessa Hudgens)Family Television Award for Best ActorNominated-ASTRA Award for Favourite International Personality or ActorNominated-Teen Choice Award for Choice Other: Male Hottie
2008	''High School Musical 3: Senior Year''	Troy Bolton	CMA Wild and Young Award for Best Actor InternationalCMA Wild and Young Award for Most Popular Celebrity InternationalMTV Movie Award for Best Male PerformanceNickelodeon Kids' Choice Award for Fave Movie StarShoWest Award for Breakthrough Performer of the YearTeen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Actor Music/DanceNominated-MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (shared with Vanessa Hudgens)Nominated-Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Liplock (shared with Vanessa Hudgens)Nominated-Teen Choice Award for Choice Music: Album - Soundtrack (shared with ''High School Musical 3: Senior Year'' Cast)
2009		Mike O'Donnell (teen)	Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Award for Fave Movie StarTeen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Actor - ComedyTeen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Rockstar MomentNominated-CMA Wild and Young Award for Best Actor InternationalNominated-MTV Movie Award for Best Male PerformanceNominated-Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actor
2009	''Me and Orson Welles''	Richard Samuels
2010		Charlie St. Cloud	People's Choice Award for Favorite Movie Star Under 25Nominated-CMA Wild and Young Award for Best Actor InternationalNominated-MTV Movie Award for Best Male PerformanceNominated-Teen Choice Award for Choice Other: Male HottieNominated-Teen Choice Award for Choice Other: SmileNominated-Teen Choice Award for Choice Summer: Movie ActorNominated-Teen Icon Award for Iconic Actor
2011		Paul	Nominated-
+ Television	Year	Title	Role	Episode
2002		Young [[Simon Tam">Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screen Couple/Ensemble
2012		Nat
2012	''''	Ted Wiggins	Voice role
2012	''''	Logan Thibault
2012	''''	TBA

+ Television	Year	Title	Role	Episode
2002		Young [[Simon Tam
2003	''''	Luke Tomello	"Without Consent"
2003		Bobby Neville	"Dear Abby"
2004-2005		Cameron Bale	Lead role; 16 episodes
2005	''CSI: Miami''	Seth Dawson
2005	''''	Davey Hunkerhoff	"Davey Hunkerhoff / Ratted Out"
2006		Pizza Delivery Guy	"Pilot"
2006	''''	Trevor	"Odd Couples"
2006		Danny	"Deception"
2008	''Robot Chicken''	Billy Joel	"Tell My Mom"
2009	''Robot Chicken''	Harry Potter	"I Love Her"
2009	''Saturday Night Live''	Himself	2 episodes
2009		Himself	"Security Briefs"
2010	''Robot Chicken''	Anakin Skywalker	"Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III"

Other awards and nominations

! Year !! Award !! Category !! Work !! Result
2008	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Other: Red Carpet Fashion Icon - Male
	Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards	Cutest Couple (shared with Vanessa Hudgens)	rowspan="3"
	Best TV Star - Male
2011	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Other: Red Carpet Fashion - Icon

Discography

Soundtracks

''High School Musical'' (2006)

''Hairspray'' (2007)

''High School Musical 2'' (2007)

''High School Musical 3: Senior Year'' (2008)

Charted songs

Year	Single	Peak chart positions								Album
		! style="width:35px;"	! style="width:35px;"	! style="width:35px;"	! style="width:35px;"	! style="width:35px;"	! style="width:35px;"	! style="width:35px;"	! style="width:35px;"
		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	96
style="text-align:left;"	6	20	5	—	61	9	—	20
	46	—	—	—	—	—	—	65
	31	86	54	—	—	12	75	26
style="text-align:left;"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	89
	34	—	—	—	—	—	—	40
	65	—	—	—	—	—	—	55
	style="text-align:left;"	68	80	72	18	—	42	64	41
style="text-align:left;"	108	96	—	—	—	—	—	—
style="text-align:left;"	119	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	98	84	—	—	—	—	—	—
	101	72	—	—	—	—	—	—

References

External links

Zac Efron at TV Guide

Category:1987 births Category:Actors from California Category:American agnostics Category:American child actors Category:American child singers Category:American film actors Category:American people of Jewish descent Category:American television actors Category:American voice actors Category:Arroyo Grande, California Category:Living people Category:Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts alumni Category:People from San Luis Obispo, California

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Coordinates	15°48′00″N47°54′00″N
Name	Taylor Swift
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Taylor Alison Swift
Birth date	December 13, 1989
Birth place	Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Instrument	Vocals, guitar, ganjo, piano, ukulele
Genre	Country pop, pop, country, dance-pop
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, actress
Years active	2006–present
Label	Big Machine
Associated acts	Nathan Chapman, Liz Rose
Website	150pxTaylor Swift's signature }}

Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American country pop singer-songwriter, musician and actress.

In 2006, she released her debut single "Tim McGraw", then her self-titled debut album, which was subsequently certified multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. In November 2008, Swift released her second album, ''Fearless'', and the recording earned Swift four Grammy Awards, including the Album of the Year, at the 52nd Grammy Awards. ''Fearless'' and ''Taylor Swift'' finished 2008 at number-three and number-six respectively, with sales of 2.1 and 1.5 million. ''Fearless'' topped the ''Billboard'' 200 for 11 non-consecutive weeks. Swift was named ''Artist of the Year'' by ''Billboard'' Magazine in 2009. Swift released her third album ''Speak Now'' on October 25, 2010, which sold 1,047,000 copies in its first week.

In 2008, her albums sold a combined four million copies, making her the best-selling musician of the year in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. ''Forbes'' ranked Swift 2009's 69th-most powerful celebrity with earnings of $18 million, 2010's 12th-most powerful celebrity with earnings of $45 million and 2011's 7th-most powerful celebrity with earnings of $45 million, too. Swift was ranked the 38th Best Artist of the 2000s by ''Billboard''. In January 2010 Nielsen SoundScan listed Swift as the most successful digital artist in music history with over 34.3 million digital tracks sold. On June 2011, renowned site The Boot named Swift and Carrie Underwood ''The Country Royalty'', as they were the only female country artists to be ranked on ''Rolling Stone'' Queens of Pop list. , she has sold over 20 million albums and 34.3 million singles worldwide. She has been listed in the 2012 ''Guinness Book Of World Records'' as the Fastest Selling Digital Album by a Female Artist for her album ''Speak Now'', and Most Simultaneous U.S. Hot 100 Hits by a Female Artist. In 2011, ''Billboard'' named her woman of the year.

Early life

Swift was born on December 13, 1989, in Reading, Pennsylvania, and raised in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. She is the daughter of Andrea Gardner (née Finlay), a homemaker who previously worked in finance, and Scott Kingsley Swift, a stockbroker. Her maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay (née Moehlenkamp), was an opera singer. Swift has a younger brother, Austin. She grew up on a Christmas-tree farm.

When Swift was in fourth grade, she won a national poetry contest with a three-page poem, "Monster in My Closet". At the age of ten, a computer repairman showed her how to play three chords on a guitar, sparking her interest in learning the instrument. Afterwards, Swift wrote her first song, "Lucky You". When Swift was 12, she devoted an entire summer to writing a 350-page novel, which remains unpublished. She began writing songs regularly and used it as an outlet to help her with her pain from not fitting in at school. Swift was a victim of bullying, and spent her time writing songs to express her emotions. She also started performing at local karaoke contests, festivals, and fairs.

Swift began to regularly visit Nashville, Tennessee, and work with local songwriters. When she was 14, her family relocated to Nashville. Her first major show was a well-received performance at the Bloomsburg Fair. In Tennessee, Swift attended Hendersonville High School, but was subsequently homeschooled for her junior and senior years. In 2008, she earned her high school diploma.

Swift's greatest musical influence is Shania Twain. Her other influences include LeAnn Rimes, Tina Turner, Dolly Parton, and Swift's grandmother. Although her grandmother was a professional opera singer, Swift's tastes always leaned more toward country music. In her younger years, she developed a love for Patsy Cline and Dolly Parton. She also credits the Dixie Chicks for demonstrating the impact that one can have by "stretching boundaries".

Music career

2000–2005: musical beginnings

At age 11, Swift made her first trip to Nashville, hoping to obtain a record deal by distributing a demo tape of her singing with karaoke songs. She gave a copy to every label in town, but was rejected. After Swift returned to Pennsylvania, she was asked to sing at the US Open tennis tournament, where her rendition of the national anthem received much attention.

When Swift was 15, she rejected RCA Records because the company wanted to keep her on an artist development deal. After performing at Nashville's songwriters' venue, The Bluebird Café, she caught the attention of Scott Borchetta, who signed her to his newly formed record label, Big Machine Records. At age 14, she became the youngest staff songwriter ever hired by the Sony/ATV Tree publishing house.

2006–2008: ''Taylor Swift''

Swift released her debut single, "Tim McGraw", in mid-2006, reaching No.6 on ''Billboard'' magazine's Hot Country Songs chart. Her self-titled debut album was later released on October 24, 2006. Debuting high on the ''Billboard'' 200, the album sold 39,000 copies during its first week. It peaked at No.1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums and No.5 on the ''Billboard'' 200. Her debut album spent eight consecutive weeks at the top of the Top Country Albums charts and remained at the top for 24 out of 91 weeks. The only other country artists this decade to achieve the number-one sales position for 20 weeks or more are The Dixie Chicks and Carrie Underwood. The music video for "Tim McGraw" won Swift an award for Breakthrough Video of the Year at the 2007 CMT Music Awards. Her pursuit of country music stardom was the subject of "GAC Short Cuts", a part-documentary, part-music-video series airing since the summer of 2006. On May 15, 2007, Swift performed "Tim McGraw" at the Academy of Country Music Awards. Swift has been an opening act for Tim McGraw and Faith Hill on their Soul2Soul 2007 tour. She has opened in the past for George Strait, Brad Paisley and Rascal Flatts as well. The second single from the ''Taylor Swift'' album, "Teardrops on My Guitar", was released February 24, 2007. In mid-2007, the song peaked at No.2 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart and No.33 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song was re-released with a pop remix that brought "Teardrops on My Guitar" to No.13 on the Hot 100 and No.11 on the Pop 100. In October 2007, Swift was awarded Songwriter/Artist of the Year by the Nashville Songwriters Assn. Intl., making her the youngest artist ever to win the award. Her third song off her debut album, "Our Song" spent six weeks at No.1 on the Country charts, peaked at No.16 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and rose to No.24 on the ''Billboard'' Pop 100. Swift recorded a holiday album, ''Sounds of the Season: The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection,'' which was released exclusively at Target in late 2007. Swift was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award in the category of Best New Artist, but lost to Amy Winehouse. Swift's successful single, "Picture to Burn", was the fourth single from her debut album. The song debuted and soon peaked at No.3 on the Billboard Country chart in spring 2008. left|upright|thumb|Swift performing at Yahoo HQ in 2007 "Should've Said No" became Swift's second No.1 single. In Summer 2008, Swift released ''Beautiful Eyes'', an EP sold exclusively at Wal-Mart. In its first week of release, the album sold 45,000 copies, debuting at No.1 on ''Billboard'''s Top Country Albums chart and No.9 on the ''Billboard'' 200. With her self-titled debut album sitting at No.2 during the same week, Swift became the first artist since 1997 to hold the Top 2 positions of the Top Country Albums chart. In October 2008, Swift performed a duet with best selling rock band Def Leppard in a taped show in Nashville, Tennessee, and their collaboration was up for both Performance of the Year and Wide Open Country Video of the Year at the CMT Music Awards in 2009.

2008–2010: ''Fearless'' and MTV VMA incident

Swift's second studio album, ''Fearless'', was released in the United States on November 11, 2008. The album debuted at No.1 on the ''Billboard'' 200 Album Chart. Its sales of 592,304 were the highest debut of any country artist in 2008. This is also the largest opening U.S. sales week in 2008 by a female artist in all genres of music, and the fourth biggest overall behind Lil Wayne, AC/DC and Coldplay. Its lead single "Love Story" became a hit on both the country and pop charts. During the first week of release, more than 129,000 of Swift's sales were sold digitally. This gives Swift the best online start for any country album in history. It also makes Swift the fourth biggest week for a digital album since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking them in 2004. Through its eighth week of release, ''Fearless'' has sold more than 338,467 downloads, making it the bestselling country album in digital history. In second place is Swift's debut ''Taylor Swift'' with sales of 236,046 downloads as of April 18, 2009. In its debut week, seven songs in total on ''Fearless'' were charted on ''Billboard'' Hot 100, tying Swift with Miley Cyrus for the most by a female artist in a single week. With "White Horse" charted at #13, this gave Swift her sixth top 20 debut of 2008, a calendar year record for any artist in the history of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Of the 13 tracks on ''Fearless'', 11 have already spent time on the Hot 100. "Change", a song from the album, was selected as part of a soundtrack supporting Team USA's efforts in the 2008 Summer Olympics. The song was also featured as part of the soundtrack of NBC's broadcast package of the Olympics. The lead single from the album, "Love Story", was released on September 12, 2008. The Fearless album includes the "Love Story" music video which is based on ''Romeo and Juliet''. The song has reached No.2 on iTunes Store Top Downloaded Songs and No.4 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Fifteen weeks after being added to pop radio, "Love Story" also became the first country crossover recording to hit number one on the Nielsen BDS CHR/Top 40 chart in the 16-year-history of the list, as well as number one on the Mediabase Top 40 Chart. The second single from ''Fearless'', "White Horse", was released on December 8, 2008. The music video for the song premiered on CMT on February 7, 2009. Though it missed the No.1 spot on Billboard's Hot Country Songs as of the week April 11, 2009, "White Horse" claimed the No.1 spot atop the USA Today/Country Aircheck chart (powered by Mediabase) in that week. "Forever & Always", another song from the album, was based on Swift's relationship with singer Joe Jonas. She was the first artist in the history of Nielsen SoundScan to have two different albums in the Top 10 on the year end album chart. It also was the first album by a female artist in country music history to log eight weeks at No.1 on The ''Billboard'' 200. In mid-January 2009, Swift became the first country artist to top the 2 million mark in paid downloads with three different songs. Swift is ''Billboard'''s Top Country Artist and Hot Country Songwriter of 2008; she is also country music's best-selling artist of 2008. Swift ranked seventh on Nielsen SoundScan Canada's top-10 selling artists across all genres in 2008. ''Fearless'' and ''Taylor Swift'' took the No.1 and No.2 slots on 2008 Year-End Canadian Country Albums Chart. Swift sang the Star-Spangled Banner at game three of the World Series in Philadelphia on October 25, 2008. In January 2009, Swift announced her North American Fearless Tour planned for 52 cities in 38 states and provinces in the US and Canada over the span of 6 months. The tour kicked off April 23 in Evansville, Indiana. In the same month, Swift made her first musical guest appearance on ''Saturday Night Live''. On February 8, 2009, Swift performed her song "Fifteen" with Miley Cyrus at the 51st Grammy Awards. As of the week ending February 8, 2009, Swift's single "Love Story" became the country song with the most paid downloads in history. Since the release of Swift's second album, ''Fearless'', she has released one new song "Crazier" for the soundtrack of the feature film ''Hannah Montana: The Movie''. At the 44th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, Swift picked up Album of the Year honors as a performer and producer for ''Fearless''. Swift is the youngest artist in history to win the ACM ''Album of the Year'' award. The Academy lauded her for career achievements including selling more albums in 2008 than any other artist in any genre of music, the breakthrough success of her debut album, and the worldwide crossover success of her No.1 single "Love Story". The Academy also cited Swift's contribution to helping country music attract a younger audience. As of late April 2009, Swift has sold more than 14 million downloads, as well as three Gold Mobile Ringtones. On April 28, 2009, Swift gave a free, private concert to students at Bishop Ireton High School, a small Catholic school in Alexandria, Virginia after the school won a national "TXT 2 WIN" contest from Verizon Wireless. The students sent over 19,000 text messages to Verizon during a roughly one month long contest. Swift played for about an hour during the school's field day, an annual day-long recess with games and activities. On October 8, 2009 Swift's official website announced that her sold-out Fearless Tour would return to North America for 37 additional dates in 2010.

Scheduled to perform on September 13, 2009, Swift attended the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. This was her first VMA performance, where she became the first country music artist to win an MTV Video Music Award. During the show, as Swift was on stage accepting the award for Best Female Video for "You Belong with Me," singer/rapper Kanye West came on stage and took the microphone from Swift, saying that Beyoncé's video for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", nominated for the same award, was "one of the best videos of all time," an action that caused the many audience members to boo West. He handed the microphone back to a stunned and reportedly upset Swift, who did not finish her acceptance speech. When Beyoncé later won the award for Best Video of the Year for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", she called Swift up on stage so that she could finish her acceptance speech. Following the awards show, West apologized for his verbal outburst in a blog entry (which was subsequently removed). He was criticized by various celebrities for the outburst, and even by President Barack Obama who called West a "jackass" in an "off the record" comment. He later posted a second apology on his blog and made his first public apology one day after the incident on the debut episode of ''The Jay Leno Show''. On September 15, 2009, Swift talked about the matter on ''The View'', where she said she was at first excited to see West on stage and then disappointed once he acted out. She said West had not spoken to her following the incident. Following her appearance on ''The View'', West contacted her to apologize personally; Swift said she accepted his apology. However, on November 8, 2010, in an interview with a Minnesota radio station, West seemed to recant a bit of his past apologies by attempting to describe the act at the 2009 awards show as "selfless" and downgrade the perception of disrespect it created. Swift would later perform a song at the 2010 VMA called "Innocent" which is about the incident and in the song she absolves West of his actions. On November 11, 2009, Swift became the youngest artist ever to win the Country Music Association Award for Entertainer of the year, and is one of only six women to win the Country Music Association's highest honor. On the chart week of November 14, 2009, Swift set a record for the most songs on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 by a female artist at the same time with eight singles from the re-release of her 2008 album ''Fearless'' namely five debut new songs in the top 30: "Jump Then Fall" at #10, "Untouchable" at #19, "The Other Side of the Door" at #22, "Superstar" at No.27 and "Come in With the Rain" at No.30 and three already-charted songs that were released as singles—"You Belong with Me" (#14), "Forever & Always" which re-entered the chart at #34, and "Fifteen" (#46). In addition, the song "Two Is Better Than One" by Boys Like Girls which features Swift, debuted at No.80 in the same issue. This gives Swift six debuts in one week, the biggest number of debuts by any female artist of all time. It also lifts the number of her simultaneously-charting songs to nine, setting another record for the biggest number of charting songs by the same female artist in the same week. When "Fifteen" reached No.38 on the chart week of November 21, 2009, Swift became the female artist with the most Top 40 singles this decade, surpassing Beyoncé. "Fifteen" became Swift's twentieth Top 40 single overall. "Two Is Better Than One" by Boys Like Girls and John Mayer's "Half of My Heart" both featured Swift, peaking at No.40 and No.25 respectively. The two songs are her 21st and 22nd Top 40 singles. ''Fearless'' was the best-selling album of 2009 in the US with more than 3.2 millions copies sold in that year. Swift claimed both the No.1 and No.2 positions atop Nielsen's BDS Top 10 Most Played Songs chart (all genres), with "You Belong With Me" and "Love Story," respectively. She also topped the all format 2009 Top 10 Artist Airplay chart with over 1.29 million song detections, and the Top 10 Artist Internet Streams chart with more than 46 million song plays.

2010–present: ''Speak Now''

Swift released the track "Today Was a Fairytale" as a digital download on iTunes on January 19, 2010. The song was featured on the soundtrack for the film ''Valentine's Day'', in which she made her feature-film acting debut. The song debuted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at No. 2, becoming her sixth Top 10 and 23rd Top 40 single on that chart. According to Nielsen SoundScan, with sales of "Today Was a Fairytale" more than 325,000 in its first week, Swift has broken the record for first-week download sales by a female artist. The song also debuted at number one on the Canadian Hot 100, making it Swift's first number one hit in Canada. In February 2010, Swift brought her Fearless Tour to 5 cities in Australia. Opening acts included Gloriana. In mid-July 2010, ''Billboard'' revealed that Swift's new album is called ''Speak Now''. It was released on October 25, 2010. She has written the album completely by herself in Arkansas, New York, Boston and Nashville with Nathan Chapman serving as co-producer. On Wednesday, August 4, 2010, the lead single from the album, "Mine," was leaked onto the internet. Big Machine Records decided to rush the release of the song to counteract the leak. Swift appeared at the 44th Annual Country Music Awards on November 10, 2010. In 2011, Swift visited Singapore as the first stop of the Asian leg of her first world tour. Hong Kong is the last stop of the Speak Now World Tour and Swift will begin the European and American leg afterwards. Swift's first live album, ''Speak Now World Tour: Live'', featuring all seventeen performances from the North American leg of her concert tour, is scheduled for a November 21, 2011 release. Many dates on the Speak Now World Tour were cancelled due to Swift suffering from bronchitis and was told she is unable to perform. Swift sold approximately 4,470,000 albums in the US in 2010 (more than any other artist) and sold 9.9 million digital tracks. She was ranked second on ''Rolling Stone'''s lists of Top 16 "Queen Of Pops" of the decade. Swift appeared on the ''Hamish & Andy'' show where she performed a new song called "Chaperone Dads", which is dedicated to a select group of her fans. The week following the release of her "Sparks Fly" video Swift jumped from nineteen to ten on the ''Billboard'''s Social 50. Swift has revealed that she has already written 25 songs for an untitled follow-up album to ''Speak Now'', set to release in the later part of 2012. She commented on them, "They’re sad. If I'm being honest."

On December 23, 2011, Taylor announced via Twitter, "Something I've been VERY excited about for a VERY long time is going to be happening VERY soon." Several hours later, Taylor announced that she is featured on ''The Hunger Games'' Official Movie Soundtrack. Her song, entitled "Safe & Sound", was the first track released from the album. The song was co-written by The Civil Wars, who also co-recorded the song with Taylor. On January 8, 2012, Taylor was elected the fifth top artist (fourth female top artist) of all-time with the best-selling digital music tracks. Taylor has sold 41,821,000 million digital tracks as of the end of 2011 according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Songwriting style

Swift's lyrics are highly autobiographical; she has said that "If you listen to my albums, it’s like reading my diary." For example, the song "Forever & Always" was inspired by her relationship with Joe Jonas, while the song "Hey Stephen" was written about a boy whom she toured with in the past. "Fifteen" was written about her freshman year of high school. It has been said that her lyrics "can be tinged with acid: the quiet loner girl getting one over on the cheerleaders, or a caustic payback for the boy who dumped her." She has also indicated that she tries to write so her fans can relate to the lyrics, saying "My goal is to never write songs that my fans can't relate to." She parodied her confrontational style of songwriting during her appearance on ''Saturday Night Live''; during her opening monologue, she performed an original song that featured lines such as "You might think I'd bring up Joe, that guy who broke up with me on the phone/ Hey, Joe, I'm doing real well, tonight I'm hosting 'SNL'" referring to her highly publicized relationship with Joe Jonas.

The intensely personal nature of the songs has drawn her attention in the music industry. Swift once said, "I thought people might find them hard to relate to, but it turned out that the more personal my songs were, the more closely people could relate to them." Due to the autobiographical nature of her songs, some fans have researched the songs' origins. Swift once said, "Every single one of the guys that I’ve written songs about has been tracked down on MySpace by my fans." ''The New York Times'' described Swift as "one of pop's finest songwriters, country’s foremost pragmatist and more in touch with her inner life than most adults".

Other work

Acting

In 2008, Swift made her acting debut in Brad Paisley's music video "Online". In that same year Swift filmed a documentary for MTV entitled ''MTV's Once Upon a Prom'' and a documentary with Def Leppard for CMT entitled ''CMT Crossroads'', which premiered on November 7, 2008. Swift collaborated with the Jonas Brothers in their 3D Concert Film, ''Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience''. The film was released on February 27, 2009 in North America and brought in $12.7 million on its opening weekend. Swift made her primetime television acting debut on CBS's ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' "Turn, Turn, Turn" as Haley Jones on March 5, 2009 in the U.S. and Canada. The episode was watched by 20.8 million viewers. Swift made a cameo appearance in Kellie Pickler's music video "Best Days of Your Life". Swift also appeared in ''Hannah Montana: The Movie'' credited as herself. The film was released on April 10, 2009 in North America. The television show Dateline NBC showcased an hour on Swift on May 31, 2009. The episode titled ''Dateline NBC: On Tour With Taylor Swift'' included scenes from her tour bus, concert footage, and rehearsals. Swift both hosted and performed as the musical guest for the November 7, 2009 episode of ''Saturday Night Live''. In 2010, Swift made her feature film acting debut as Felicia in the film ''Valentine's Day''. For this role she won the Teen Choice Award for Movie Female Breakout. She has been cast to voice the role of Audrey in the animated film ''The Lorax'', set to be released in 2012. In January 2012, Swift was offered the role of Eponine in the film adaptation of the musical, ''Les Misérables''.

Cover model and recognition

Swift has been featured on the cover of a number of magazines. She has been a cover girl for ''Blender'', for which she was one of two country artists during the magazine’s fifteen year run to be a cover subject. She was included in ''People'''s annual "100 Most Beautiful People" 2008, 2009, and 2010 lists. Additionally, she was named number fifty-seven on ''Maxim's'' sexiest women of 2008, number fifty on the 2009 list and number thirty-one on the 2010 list. ''CosmoGirl'' voted Swift as the "2008 Girl of the Year". Swift was named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as one of "The RS 100: Agents of Change". She was nominated as a candidate for ''TIME''s "2009 The Time 100 Finalists" list, which is determined by online voting. ''People'' magazine named Swift one of 25 Most Intriguing People of 2009.

Merchandise

Jakks Pacific released a celebrity doll of Swift in late 2008. Swift has been the face of L.E.I. Jeans (Life Energy Intelligence) since 2008. Swift and the L.e.i. Clothing Line made a deal to create a line based on Swift's style of dressing, which will appear in Wal-Mart in the coming months. However, Swift said she does not want to be called a designer. Instead, she says she will inspire the clothing company's dress line based on her own style. "I don't look at it like I'm branching out as a designer... It's not the Taylor Swift designer line." In 2009, Swift became the National Hockey League's newest celebrity spokesperson. She appears in commercials for the Nashville Predators.

In May 2009, Swift filed a lawsuit (kept sealed until August 2010) against numerous sellers of unauthorized counterfeit merchandise bearing her name, likeness, and trademarks, where she demanded a trial by jury, sought a judgement for compensatory damages, punitive damages, three times the actual damages sustained, and statutory damages, and sought for recovery of her attorney's fees and prejudgement interest. Nashville's U.S. District Court granted an injunction and judgment against the sellers, who had been identified at Swift's concerts in several states. The court ordered merchandise seized from the defendants to be destroyed. On July 15, 2011, Swift's official website announced that she had partnered with Elizabeth Arden to launch a fragrance, which is to be released in October 2011. The fragrance's name, "Wonderstruck", is a reference to the song "Enchanted" featured on her ''Speak Now'' album. Swift is also working with American Greetings, Inc.

Philanthropy

On September 21, 2007, Swift helped launch a campaign to protect children from online predators. She has teamed up with Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen to combat internet sex crimes. The year-long campaign, in partnership with the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police, will distribute Internet safety information and materials to parents and students across the state. In early 2008, Swift donated the pink Chevy pick-up truck given to her by her record label to the children’s charity, the ''Victory Junction Gang''; in June 2008, Swift donated all the proceeds from her merchandise sales at the 2008 Country Music Festival to Red Cross, the ''Nashville Area Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund'' and the ''National American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund''.

Swift donated $100,000 to the Red Cross in Cedar Rapids, Iowa to help the victims of the Iowa flood of 2008. Swift has teamed up with Sound Matters to make listeners aware of listening "responsibly". Swift supports @15, a teen-led social change platform underwritten by Best Buy to give teens opportunities to direct the company's philanthropy through the newly-created @15 Fund. Swift's song, "Fifteen", is featured in this campaign. Swift lent her support to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal by joining the lineup at Sydney's Sound Relief concert, reportedly making the biggest contribution of any artist playing at Sound Relief to the Australian Red Cross. Swift donated her prom dress, which raised $1,200 for charity, to DonateMyDress.org. On November 20, 2009 after a live performance on BBC's Children in Need night Swift announced to Sir Terry Wogan she would donate £13,000 of her own money to the cause.

On December 13, Swift's own birthday, she donated $250,000 to various schools around the country which she had either attended or been involved with. Swift has donated a pair of her shoes – a gently-worn pair of black Betsey Johnson heels with her autograph on the sole – to the Wish Upon a Hero Foundation's Hero in Heels fundraiser for auction to raise money to benefit women with cancer.

In response to the May 2010 Tennessee floods, Swift donated $500,000 during a flood relief telethon hosted by WSMV, a Nashville television station.

On May 23, 2011, Taylor Swift transformed what was to have been the final dress rehearsal for the North American leg of her Speak Now tour into a benefit concert for victims of recent tornadoes in the United States southeast region. The concert in Nashville drew more than 13,000 people and raised more than $750,000 from proceeds from ticket sales, merchandise and other facets of the show. The benefit concert for tornado relief was subsequently honored at the 2011 Do Something Awards. In July 2011, Swift further aided to the cause by donating $250,000 to Alabama football coach Nick Saban's charity Nick's Kids to aid in the tornado relief efforts of West Alabama.

Personal life

In addition to her relationship with Joe Jonas, which ended in October 2008, Swift's dating history has included other celebrities: Taylor Lautner, for three months in 2009; and Jake Gyllenhaal, from late 2010 to early 2011. Swift has also been romantically linked to John Mayer. There has been speculation that the songs "Dear John" and "The Story of Us" from her album ''Speak Now'' are about Mayer. In October 2011, she revealed to Ellen Degeneres on her show ''Ellen'' that, "I don't even have, like, kind of a boyfriend. I don't have someone that I'm texting that is a guy that someday might be my boyfriend. There's like nothing going on right now."

In November 2011, Taylor adopted a Scottish fold kitten. She named her Meredith after the character Meredith Grey from the popular ABC drama ''Grey's Anatomy''. The kitten appeared in the official music video for Taylor's song ''Ours'' alongside Taylor and ''Friday Night Lights'' star Zach Gilford.

Filmography

>

! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
2007		Herself	Guest; Episode: Season 2 Finale
2008	''CMT Crossroads''	Herself	Episode: "Taylor Swift and Def Leppard"
2009	''Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience''	Herself
2009	''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation''	Haley Jones
2009	''Hannah Montana: The Movie''	Herself	Cameo
2009	''Saturday Night Live''	Herself	Host/Musical Guest
2009		Herself	Guest; Episode: Week 6 results
2010		Felicia	Movie acting debut
2010	''Taylor Swift: Journey to Fearless''	Herself	Main Role
2010		Herself	Guest; Episode: 200th episode
2012	''''	Audrey
2012	''Bruno the Robot''	Various

Discography

Albums

''Taylor Swift'' (2006)

''Fearless'' (2008)

''Speak Now'' (2010)

Awards and nominations

Tours

Fearless Tour (2009–10)

Speak Now World Tour (2011–2012)

References

External links

Category:1989 births Category:American child singers Category:American country banjoists Category:American country singer-songwriters Category:American female guitarists Category:American female singers Category:American film actors Category:American pianists Category:American pop singers Category:American television actors Category:Big Machine Records artists Category:Child pop musicians Category:English-language singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Pennsylvania Category:People from Reading, Pennsylvania Category:People from Wyomissing, Pennsylvania Category:Ukulele players

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