Condition or Conditions may refer to:

Logic

Logical conditional

Necessary and sufficient condition, condition of another means that the former statement is true if and only if the latter is true

Computer programming

Conditions, a generalization of exceptions in exception-handling

Condition (SQL), a filtering mechanism in relational-database queries

Condition variable, a synchronization primitive

Other

Living conditions

Medical condition, the state of one's health

State of being

Status effect, a condition in computer gaming

The Condition number, a measure of a matrix in digital computation

In Contract law, part of covenants, conditions and restrictions

''Conditions'' (album), an album by The Temper Trap

''Conditions'' (magazine), a lesbian feminist literary annual

Conditions (Russia), part of the constitution of Russia, signed by Anna of Russia in 1730

Diazepam, by the trade name ''Condition''

See also

Conditional (disambiguation)

Conditioner (disambiguation)

Conditioning (disambiguation)

cs:Podmínka de:Kondition fr:Condition ko:조건 ja:条件 no:Tilstand simple:Condition ur:Condition zh:条件

name	Eddie Izzard
birth name	Edward John Izzard
birth date	February 07, 1962
birth place	Colony of Aden, Aden Protectorate (now Aden, Yemen)
medium	Stand-up, Television, Film, Stage
nationality	British
active	1987–present
genre	Improvisational comedy,Observational comedy
subject	World history, Celebrities, Religion, Language, Sex
influences	Monty Python, Billy Connolly, Lenny Bruce, Steve Martin, Richard Pryor, Spike Milligan
influenced	Harry Hill, Dara Ó Briain, Demetri Martin, Hal Sparks
notable work	''Live at the Ambassadors'' ''Definite Article'' ''Dress to Kill'' ''Glorious'' ''Circle'' ''Lenny Bruce'' in ''Lenny'' ''Wayne Malloy/Doug Rich'' in ''The Riches'' ''Roman Nagel'' in ''Ocean's Thirteen'' ''Erich Fellgiebel'' in ''Valkyrie'' ''Mr. Kite'' in ''Across the Universe''
website	eddieizzard.com

}}

Edward John "Eddie" Izzard (born 7 February 1962) is an English stand-up comedian and actor. His comedy style takes the form of rambling, whimsical monologue and self-referential pantomime.

Izzard's works include stand-up sets ''Unrepeatable'', ''Definite Article'', ''Glorious'', ''Dress to Kill'', ''Circle'', ''Sexie'' and ''Stripped''. He had a starring role in the television series ''The Riches'' as Wayne Malloy and has appeared in many motion pictures such as ''Ocean's Twelve'', ''Ocean's Thirteen'', ''Mystery Men'', ''The Cat's Meow'', ''Across the Universe'', The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, and ''Valkyrie''.

He has cited his main comedy role model as Monty Python, and John Cleese once referred to him as the "Lost Python". In 2009, he completed 43 marathons in 51 days for Sport Relief in spite of having no prior history of long distance running.

He is also known for his transvestism.

Early life

Izzard was born in Aden, Yemen, then the Colony of Aden in the Aden Protectorate. He was the younger son of British parents Dorothy Ella, a midwife and nurse, and Harold John Izzard, an accountant who was working in Aden with British Petroleum. A year after his birth, the family moved to Bangor in Northern Ireland and lived there until he was five. The family then moved to Skewen in South Wales where his mother died of cancer when Izzard was six and his brother Mark was eight. Following his mother's death, Izzard attended boarding schools: St John's School in Porthcawl, St. Bede's Preparatory School, and Eastbourne College.

Career

Early career

Izzard began to toy with comedy at the University of Sheffield with partner and student friend Rob Ballard. After leaving his accountancy degree course, he and Ballard took their act to the streets, often in Covent Garden. After his split with Ballard, Izzard spent a great deal of the early 1980s working as a street performer in Europe and the United States. He then moved his act into the stand-up comedy venues of Britain. His first gig was at the Banana Cabaret in Balham, London. In 1987, he made his first stage appearance at The Comedy Store, London. In 1989, he met actress Sarah Townsend who was running a Fringe venue at the Edinburgh Festival. He refined his material throughout the 1980s, and in the early 1990s he finally began earning some measure of recognition through his improvisation, in part at his own club "Raging Bull" in Soho.

Success as a comedian

In 1991, Izzard got a spot on the Fry and Laurie produced AIDS benefit ''Hysteria 3,'' where he did his "Wolves" sketch, which broke him into the mainstream comedy circuit and television. His resultant stand-up work brought him British Comedy Awards in 1993 (for ''Live at the Ambassadors''), a part in "Filth" which was a stand up presentation by left-wing sympathetic comedians in aid of raising money for the Terence Higgins Trust in 1994, and 1996 (for ''Definite Article'').

In 1996, he got a part in his first United States-produced film, ''The Secret Agent,'' where he met and befriended Robin Williams. Williams already knew of Izzard's act, and discussed bringing his act to the United States. As a result, Izzard took ''Definite Article'' on a successful stint in New York City in the same year, and as a support act to Williams took ''Dress to Kill'' to San Francisco in 1998. His U.S. breakthrough came in 1999, when ''Dress to Kill'' was shown on the American television channel HBO, about a year or so after he performed the show on tour in the USA, UK and France. Suddenly, America was aware of Izzard, and the show went on to earn him two Emmy Awards in 2000 (for performance and writing).

In 1999, after complaints that his act recycled jokes appearing on his DVDs, the BBC's consumer programme ''Watchdog'' investigated Izzard's live act. Izzard explained that like most comedy performers, he used some of his most successful routines in each show. Nonetheless, Izzard was issued a warning by the Department of Trade and Industry. Since then, Izzard has rarely performed his stand-up act on television, saying that it uses up material at too high a rate, whereas stage material can be continually re-used in front of different audiences for several months.

In 2005, Izzard used his rambling style to provide the voice-over for the British government's television advertisements promoting recycling. The tagline of the ads was "Recycle. The possibilities are endless!" Izzard also performed on stage with Scottish musician Midge Ure at Live8 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He played the piano on the song "Vienna".

In January 2006, the U.S. television network FX announced the production of a new drama series called ''The Riches'' (formerly ''Low Life''). Izzard and British actress Minnie Driver star as a married couple, Wayne and Dahlia Malloy, who have been part of a caravan of con-artist Irish travellers swindling their way across the U.S. with their children. After finding another family killed in a car accident, the Malloys assume their identities and start a new life as law-abiding suburbanites in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The youngest son has shown a preference for wearing girls' clothing, leading to some speculation that the role was based upon Izzard's experiences. Izzard has stated in several interviews that the character of Sam had been given transvestite tendencies long before he was cast as Wayne Malloy, but he has contributed his perspective to keep the character believable.

Theatrical, TV and film appearances

In 1994, Izzard made his West End drama debut as the lead in the world premiere of David Mamet's ''The Cryptogram'' with Lindsay Duncan, in the production at London's Comedy Theatre. The success of that role led to his second starring role in David Beaird's black comedy ''900 Oneonta''. In 1995, he portrayed the title character in Christopher Marlowe's ''Edward II''.

In 1998 Izzard appeared briefly on stage with the Monty Python team in ''The American Film Institute's Tribute to Monty Python'' (also referred to as ''Monty Python Live at Aspen''). He walked on stage with the five surviving Pythons and he was summarily escorted off by Eric Idle and Michael Palin as he attempted to participate in a discussion about how the group got together.

Izzard portrayed comedian Lenny Bruce in the 1999 production of Julian Barry's 1971 play ''Lenny''. In 2001, he replaced Clive Owen in Peter Nichols' 1967 play ''A Day in the Death of Joe Egg'' at the Comedy Theatre. Izzard and Victoria Hamilton then repeated their lead roles when the show was brought to Broadway in 2003, with The Roundabout Theatre Company production. The revival received four Tony Award nominations including Best Revival of a Play, Best Leading Actor and Actress for its stars Izzard and Hamilton in their Broadway debuts, and Best Direction for Laurence Boswell. In June 2010, Izzard replaced James Spader in the role of Jack Lawson in David Mamet's play ''Race'' on Broadway.

Izzard has appeared in numerous films, starting with 1996's ''The Secret Agent''. He has appeared as several real-life individuals, including Charlie Chaplin in ''The Cat's Meow'', actor Gustav von Wangenheim in ''Shadow of the Vampire'' and General Erich Fellgiebel in ''Valkyrie''. Other roles have included Mr. Kite in ''Across the Universe'', Lussurioso in ''Revengers Tragedy'' and criminal expert Roman Nagel in ''Ocean's Twelve'' and ''Ocean's Thirteen''. Voice work has included the titular It in ''Five Children and It'', Nigel in ''The Wild'' and the mouse warrior Reepicheep in ''The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.'' He said in 2009 that he would not be reprising his role as Reepicheep and the role was ultimately played by Simon Pegg in ''The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader''.

Izzard appeared in the BBC science fiction miniseries ''The Day of the Triffids'' based on the 1951 novel, alongside Jason Priestley, Vanessa Redgrave, Joely Richardson, Dougray Scott and Brian Cox. He played Dr. Hatteras, a skeptical psychology professor, in the Showtime series ''United States of Tara''.

Comic style

Izzard's style is heavily influenced by Monty Python, especially in his use of a stream-of-consciousness delivery that jumps between topics as he free associates on stage. He does not generally work from a script, owing to his dyslexia. Instead, he interrupts himself with new joke ideas, the characters he portrays turn into other characters, and he nonchalantly leaps from topic to topic. This often results in brief pauses in the routine which he fills with 'so, yeah', and other verbal tics that have become his trademarks. Thinking aloud is also part of Izzard's ongoing attempt to make the process of writing the show itself part of the humour. As he put it in a 2004 interview with ''The Guardian'', "It's the oral tradition. Human beings have been doing it for thousands of years". He frequently notes the reaction to a joke midstream by pretending to write on his hand ("Should be funnier"; "Lost them there"; "They didn't believe me"; "They didn't follow, never do that again", "never link those two[references] together ever again.") He asks the audience questions and verbally engages with hecklers.

Among Izzard's comic talents are mimicry and mime. He portrays God as an authority figure using the voice of James Mason and casts Sean Connery as Noah; these impersonations appear in many of his performances. Izzard also imitates activities such as sawing wood, vacuum cleaning, and mowing the lawn, anthropomorphising the machines with accents and personalities. Successful impressions, such as his Scottish clarinet teacher, Mrs. Badcrumble, become running gags which recur in different shows. He tackles topics both contemporary and historic, including frequent re-imaginings of historical events which result in scenes like 'Cake or Death: Church of England runs the Inquisition', or 'Jesus Ministers to the Dinosaurs'.

When asked about his comedy style by George Stroumboulopoulos, host of CBC Television's talk show, ''The Hour'', Izzard described his use of history by saying,

"I just talk complete bullshit. The history, the politics, I noticed that no one was using history, so there's a lot of history lying about the place, and it's all free, and it's on Wikipedia! You know, I use Wikipedia like a crazy idiot, now. Then I take all this stuff, and I regurgitate it into a weird angle".

In 2008, in his ''Stripped'' tour, Izzard began using Wikipedia itself as part of his stand-up act, reading from a live copy of an article and mocking Wikipedia's self-referential editorial style.

Traditionally, Izzard has focused on the creative possibilities of thinking through absurd situations in real time. He also turns much of the attention on himself and his personality, including his cross-dressing ("It is my manifest destiny to wear a dress on all seven continents"). Contemporary pop culture (Harry Potter, ''Star Wars'', etc.) is also a frequent subject, brought up both to critique its weaknesses and to enhance his anecdotes.

His bent towards the surreal even went so far as to produce a sitcom called Cows in 1997 for Channel 4, a live action comedy with actors dressed in cowsuits.

Transvestism

Izzard started to freely talk about his transvestism in venues like Edinburgh Festival as early as 1992. In his show, ''Dress to Kill'', Izzard describes himself as an "executive", "action" and "professional" transvestite, as "a male tomboy" rather than a drag queen or a "weirdo" transvestite (he cites J. Edgar Hoover and Hermann Göring as examples of the latter). He regularly cross-dresses both on and off stage and makes it clear that cross-dressing is, for him, neither a part of his performance nor a sexual fetish. He remarks in his show ''Unrepeatable'', "Women wear what they want and so do I". According to Izzard, "Most transvestites fancy women". He dismisses claims that he is a male homosexual, saying he is "a straight transvestite or a male lesbian". He has also described himself as "a lesbian trapped in a man's body", transgender, and "a complete boy plus half a girl".

Activism

Izzard has engaged in campaigning work. He is especially well-known as a pro-European Union campaigner supporting the further integration of the UK into the EU. In May 2005 he appeared on the BBC's political debate show ''Question Time'', describing himself as a 'British-European', comparing this with other cultural identities such as 'African-American'. As part of his integration campaigning, he was one of the first people to spend a euro in London. This pan-European approach has influenced his work: he regularly performs in French, in which he is fluent, and occasionally in German, in addition to English. In July 2003, Izzard received an honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England for "pro-Europe campaigning", "his contribution to promoting modern languages and tolerance of other cultures and lifestyles" and for having "transcended national barriers" with his humour.

He has also campaigned unsuccessfully against the closure of the departments of Drama and Languages, Linguistics and Translation at the University of East Anglia, although the department of Drama was later reprieved. In 1998, Izzard was named in a list of the biggest private financial donors to the Labour Party. He appeared in a party political broadcast for the Labour Party in the run up to the 2005 general election. He donated nearly £10,000 to the party in 2008, appeared again in a party political broadcast for the 2009 European election and again in a 2010 election video entitled 'Brilliant Britain'. Izzard appeared in literature to support changing the British electoral system from first-past-the-post to alternative vote for electing Members of Parliament to the House of Commons in the Alternative Vote referendum in 2011.

On 20 July 2006, he received an honorary doctorate in Letters from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Sheffield, where he spent one year on an Accounting and Financial Management course in the early 80s. During his time at the University he established the now-defunct Alternative Productions Society in the Union of Students with the aim of promoting fringe-based arts. On 4 March 2010 he was elected as the Honorary President of the University of Sheffield Union of Students.

On 7 July 2007, Izzard was one of the presenters from the London leg of Live Earth. During an interview for the 2008 Stripped tour, Izzard spoke about becoming more active in European politics as well as running for political office in Europe within the next decade. Izzard added a stop in New Orleans during his 2008 ''Stripped'' tour. All proceeds from the performance of 23 June 2008 were donated to Neighborhood Housing Services of New Orleans.

Marathons

On 27 July 2009, with only 5 weeks' training and no significant prior history of running, Izzard began seven weeks of back-to-back marathon runs (with Sundays off) across the UK to raise money for Sport Relief. He ran from London to Cardiff, to Belfast, to Edinburgh, and back to London carrying flags of England, Scotland or Wales depending on which country he was in, and carried a self-designed green flag bearing a white dove when in Northern Ireland. The blog Eddie Iz Running was a document of his road running marathon, in which he ran 43 marathons in 51 days. He completed the run on 15 September 2009, after having run at least 27 miles each day, 6 days a week for 7 weeks straight, covering more than 1,100 miles across the UK.Izzard received a special award at BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2009 for his achievements.

Izzard ran his final marathon in five hours and 30 seconds, narrowly outside his projected time. However, had he not stopped and waited 20 minutes for his film crew to catch up with him he could have finished well under his target time. In March 2010, Izzard took part in the Sport Relief Mile event.

Following the completion of the marathon runs, Izzard has started training to take part in an Ironman Triathlon, saying he has become fascinated with fitness "because there's no point in throwing away all that training".

Personal life

During his ''Stripped'' tour, Izzard said he realised he was an atheist. "I was warming the material up in New York, where one night, literally on stage, I realised I didn’t believe in God at all. I just didn’t think there was anyone upstairs."

He keeps his romantic life private, saying one of the reasons is due to the wishes of his companions not wanting to become content for his show. Izzard dated Sarah Townsend, the director of the documentary ''Believe: The Eddie Izzard Story'', whom he first met while she was running a Fringe venue at the Edinburgh Festival in 1989.

Izzard speaks French and has performed stand up in French during his shows. He also speaks German and used it in the 2001 film ''All the Queen's Men''.

Critical reception

On 18 March 2007, Izzard was listed as number 3 of the 100 Greatest British National Comedians (just behind Peter Kay at number 2 and Billy Connolly at number 1) as part of British television station Channel 4's ongoing ''100 Greatest...'', series. However in the 2010 updated version of the list he was ranked 5th In a 2005 poll to find ''The Comedian's Comedian'', Izzard was voted amongst the top 20 greatest comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders. He was number 75 in Comedy Central's ''100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time''.

During the 1999 television special ''It's... the Monty Python Story'', which Izzard hosted, John Cleese said Izzard was the "Lost Python"; Izzard furthered that idea via his substitution for Graham Chapman in public performance of Python material with the rest of the original members of the troupe. He also made a cameo appearance in the Python reunion interview ''Monty Python Live At Aspen''.

In 2008, Izzard received the James Joyce Award of the Literary and Historical Society of UCD, Dublin, Ireland. In March 2010, the Students Union of the University of Sheffield overwhelmingly elected him their honorary President.

Discography and appearances

Stand-up

''Live at the Ambassadors'' (15 November 1993)

''Unrepeatable'' (14 March 1994)

''Definite Article'' (21 October 1996)

''Glorious'' (17 November 1997)

''Dress to Kill'' (9 November 1998)

''Circle'' (18 November 2002)

''Sexie'' (26 November 2003)

''Stripped'' (23 November 2009)

Stage

''900 Oneonta'' (1994)

''The Cryptogram'' (1994)

''Edward II'' (1995)

''Lenny'' (1999)

''A Day in the Death of Joe Egg'' (2001–2002, 2003)

''Trumbo'' (2003)

''Race'' (2010)

Filmography

''The Oncoming Storm'' (1995) as Luthor Keeton

''The Secret Agent'' (1996) as Vladimir

''Velvet Goldmine'' (1998) as Jerry Devine

''The Avengers'' (1998) as Bailey

''Mystery Men'' (1999) as Tony P

''The Criminal'' (1999) as Peter Hume

''Circus'' (2000) as Troy

''Shadow of the Vampire'' (2000) as Gustav von Wangenheim

''The Cat's Meow'' (2001) as Charlie Chaplin

''All the Queen's Men'' (2001) as Tony Parker

''Revengers Tragedy'' (2002) as Lussurioso

''Alien Invasion'' (2003) as Brik

''Blueberry'' aka ''Renegade'' (2004) as Prosit

''Five Children and It'' (2004) as It (voice)

''Romance & Cigarettes'' (2004) as Gene Vincent

''Ocean's Twelve'' (2004) as Roman Nagel

''The Aristocrats'' (2005) as Himself

''The Wild'' (2006) as Nigel (voice)

''My Super Ex-Girlfriend'' (2006) as Professor Bedlam

''Ocean's Thirteen'' (2007) as Roman Nagel

''Across the Universe'' (2007) as Mr. Kite

''The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian'' (2008) as Reepicheep (voice)

''Igor'' (2008) as Dr. Schadenfreude (voice)

''Valkyrie'' (2008) as Erich Fellgiebel

''Rage'' (2009) as Tiny Diamonds

''Every Day'' (2009) as Garrett

''The Other Side'' (2009) as Dean Bellamy

''Believe: The Eddie Izzard Story'' (2009) as Himself

''Cars 2'' (2011) as Miles Axelrod

''Snow White and the Huntsman'' (2012) as Tiberius

TV appearances

''Barf Bites Back (Amnesty International Gala)'' (1991) – ITV

''Open Fire'' (1994)

''Have I Got News for You'' (1994, 1995 and 1996) – BBC Two

''Aristophanes: The Gods are Laughing'' (1995)

''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' (1995)

''Tales from the Crypt'' (1996) – HBO

''Clive Anderson Talks Back'' (1996)

''Inspector Derrick'' (1997)

''Channel Izzard'' (1997)

''The Roseanne Show'' (1998)

''Rex the Runt'' (1998) – BBC

''Shooting Stars'' (1998) – BBC

''Parkinson'' (3 times)

''Dennis Miller Live'' (1999) – HBO

''Python Night – 30 Years of Monty Python'' (1999) – BBC

''Good News Week'' (2000) – Network 10

''Mongrel Nation'' (2002) – Discovery Channel

''The Caroline Rhea Show'' (2002)

''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' (2002, 2004 and 2007)

''The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien'' (2009)

''40'' (2003) – Channel 4

''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' (2003, 2008) NBC

''QI'' (Unaired pilot- 2002 or 2003, and 2010)

''Top Gear'' (2004) – BBC Two

''Last Call with Carson Daly'' (2005)

''The Sharon Osbourne Show'' (2006)

''Late Show with David Letterman'' (6 times)

''Late Late show with Craig Kilborn'' (4 times)

''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' (2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)

''The Henry Rollins Show'' (2006)

''The Paul O'Grady Show'' (2009)

''The Secret Policeman's Ball'' (2006)

''Kitchen'' (2007) – five

''Comedy Cuts'' (interview) (2007)

''The Hour'' (2007)

''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' (2007 and 2009)

''The Daily Show'' (2000, 2003 and 2007)

''The Riches'' (2007–2008)

''The Secret Policeman's Ball'' (2008)

''The Graham Norton Show'' (2008)

''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' (2009)

''Kevin Pollak's Chat Show'' (2009)

''BBC Sports Personality of the Year'' (2009 award winner)

''The Day of the Triffids'' (2009)

''Marathon Man'' (2010)

''The Simpsons'' episode ''To Surveil with Love'' (2010)

''Chelsea Lately'' (2010)

''United States of Tara'' (2011)

''Alan Carr: Chatty Man'' (2011)

Video game

''102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue'' – Sgt. Tibbs the Cat (voice)

Future projects

Eddie Izzard said in a personal appearance (for his biopic ''Believe'') that he is currently putting together a script for a movie as a conclusion to ''The Riches''. He said the plan is to "pick up exactly where we left off, and we think we're going to make a film of the next bit". As of 24 May 2010 there are no indications that this film will ever be made, leaving ''The Riches'' without a conclusion.

He has announced for future tours that a dollar out of each ticket sale will be appropriated to supplying Africa with contraceptives and other means of sexual protection.

See also

Cross-dressing in film and television

References

External links

Official web site

BBC America – Eddie Izzard

Interview with Izzard – ''The Observer'', 3 October 2004

''It's stupid and I love it – the Goon Show and me'' – ''The Guardian'', 14 February 2005.

Izzard interviewed by Bono – ''The Independent'', 16 May 2006

Venus Zine Staff Picks: Eddie Izzard, Dress to Kill

Eddie Izzard Category:1962 births Category:People from Aden Category:Drama Desk Award winners Category:English atheists Category:English buskers Category:English comedians Category:English film actors Category:English voice actors Category:English television actors Category:English stand-up comedians Category:Cross-dressers Category:Living people Category:Old Eastbournians Category:Emmy Award winners Category:People educated at Oakleigh House School

ar:إدي آيزارد de:Eddie Izzard es:Eddie Izzard fa:ادی ایزارد fr:Eddie Izzard gv:Eddie Izzard id:Eddie Izzard it:Eddie Izzard he:אדי איזרד hu:Eddie Izzard nl:Eddie Izzard ja:エディー・イザード no:Eddie Izzard nn:Eddie Izzard pl:Eddie Izzard ru:Иззард, Эдди simple:Eddie Izzard fi:Eddie Izzard sv:Eddie Izzard tr:Eddie Izzard

Name	Miss America
Size	250px
Formation	1921
Type	Scholarship Pageant
Headquarters	Linwood, New Jersey
Location	United States
Leader title	CEO
Leader name	Art McMaster
Website	Official website }}

The Miss America pageant is a long-standing competition which awards scholarships to young women from the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. The winner of the national pageant is awarded the title of "Miss America" for one year.

The pageant originated as a beauty contest in 1921, but now prefers to avoid this term since Swimsuit and Evening Wear compose 35 percent of the overall score used to judge contestants. The pageant began in Atlantic City, New Jersey and was held there each year in September through 2004 (except for the year 2001, when it was held on October 14).

In January 2006 the pageant moved to its new home and time in Las Vegas, Nevada. The pageant presents itself as a "scholarship pageant," and the primary prizes for the winner and her runners-up are scholarships to the institution of her choice. The Miss America Scholarship program, along with its local and state affiliates, is the largest provider of scholarship money to young women in the world, and in 2006 made available more than $45 million in cash and scholarship assistance. Since most of the contestants are college graduates already, or on the verge of graduating, most of their prize money is devoted to graduate school or professional school, or to pay off student loans for courses already taken. The Miss America Scholarship Program, along with its State and Local affiliates, is the largest provider of college scholarships for women in the United States.

The current Miss America is Teresa Scanlan, from Gering, Nebraska, who won the title on January 15, 2011.

History

The Miss America competition originated on September 7, 1921, as a two-day beauty contest in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The event that year was still called the Atlantic City Pageant, and the winner of the grand prize, the 3-foot Golden Mermaid trophy, was not called "Miss America" until 1922, when she re-entered the pageant. The pageant was initiated in an attempt to keep tourists in Atlantic City after the Labor Day weekend. The mayor at the time, Edward L. Bader, was a strong advocate of the idea.

In 1935, Talent was added to the competition. At the time, non-white women were barred from competing, a restriction that was codified in the pageant's "Rule number seven," which stated that "contestants must be of good health and of the white race." No African American women participated until 1970, although African Americans did appear in musical numbers as far back as 1923, when they were cast as slaves. Until at least 1940, contestants were required to complete a biological questionnaire tracing their ancestry.

In the early years of the pageant, a beauty competition of the women wearing bathing suits was the main event. Yolande Betbeze, Miss America 1951, refused to pose for publicity pictures while wearing a swimsuit, citing that she wanted to be recognized as a serious opera singer. Catalina swimwear, one of the Miss America sponsors, withdrew and created the Miss USA/Universe pageants.

The 1955 pageant was the first to be televised; the winner was Lee Meriwether. Contestants from the same state have won the title of Miss America in consecutive years several times. This has occurred with contestants from Pennsylvania (1935 and 1936), Mississippi (1959 and 1960), and Oklahoma (2006 and 2007). Mary Katherine Campbell, Miss Columbus, Ohio, won in both 1922 and 1923, and was also first runner-up in 1924. The rules were changed to limit an entrant to participating in only one year.

The pageant has been nationally televised since 1954. It peaked in the early 1960s, when it was repeatedly the highest-rated program on American television. It was seen as a symbol of the United States, with Miss America often being referred to as the female equivalent of the President. The pageant stressed conservative values; contestants were not expected to have ambitions beyond being a good wife (there is also a Mrs. America pageant). Since the 1980s seven black women have been crowned Miss America.

With the rise of feminism and the civil rights movement the pageant became a target of protests, and its audience began to fade. The 1968 protest, in which a group of feminists on the Atlantic City boardwalk crowned a live sheep Miss America and threw various beauty accoutrements, such as bras, into a trash can, shocked many people. People who knew about the plans, but did not know that the bras were not burned, started the story that feminists "burned bras." The brochure distributed at the protest, "No More Miss America", was later canonized in feminist scholarship. In the 1970s it began to change, admitting blacks and encouraging a new type of professional woman. This was symbolized by the 1974 victory of Rebecca Ann King, a law student who publicly supported legalization of abortion in the United States while Miss America.

Still, ratings flagged. In an attempt to create a younger image, Bert Parks, the pageant's famous emcee from 1955 to 1979, was dismissed. Parks had virtually become an American icon, singing the show's signature song, "There She Is, Miss America" as the newly-crowned Miss America took her walk down the ramp at the end of each year's pageant. His dismissal prompted public criticism; in protest, Johnny Carson organized a letter-writing campaign to reinstate Parks, but it was unsuccessful. Former TV Tarzan and host of ''Face the Music'', Ron Ely, hosted the pageant that year but was gone the next. Since Parks' departure, many have taken on the role of Miss America TV host. Since Ely, pageant hosts have included Regis Philbin and Kathie Lee Gifford, Gary Collins and Mary Ann Mobley (herself a former Miss America), Meredith Vieira, Boomer Esiason, Wayne Brady, Mario Lopez and James Denton. The 2011 pageant was hosted by Brooke Burke and Chris Harrison.

In 1984, Vanessa Williams became the first African-American woman to be crowned Miss America, but resigned from her duties in scandal. The job was subsequently filled by first runner-up Suzette Charles who carried out the remaining seven weeks as Miss America 1984. Both women are now included on the canonical list of Miss America laureates; Williams is officially designated Miss America 1984 and Charles is officially designated Miss America 1984b.

Many Miss America winners live on in relative obscurity, but Vanessa Williams has made an internationally prominent career as a singer selling millions of albums worldwide and achieving critical acclaim as an actress on stage, in film and on television. Others who have had prominent careers in show business include Bess Myerson, Mary Ann Mobley, Lee Meriwether, and Phyllis George. 1989 winner Gretchen Carlson went on to have a career in television journalism. 1973 winner Terry Meeuwsen went on to co-host the Christian talk show ''The 700 Club''. Myerson, who was the first (and to date only) Jewish Miss America, was selected in 1945, in the face of official antisemitism, including a request by pageant director Lenora Slaughter that she change her name to one less Jewish-sounding.

In the 1990s, the pageant was reformed into The Miss America Organization, a not-for-profit corporation with three divisions: the Miss America Pageant, a scholarship fund, and the Miss America foundation.

In 1991, for the 70th anniversary of the Miss America pagaent, Parks was brought on by host Gary Collins to sing "There She Is." It was the last time Parks performed this song live before his death the following year.

Since the pageant's peak in the early 1960s, its audience has eroded significantly. In 2004, when its audience fell to fewer than 10 million viewers (a huge drop from 33 million viewers just six years before), its broadcaster, ABC, decided to drop the pageant. "Broadcasters show data proving that the talent show and the interviews, the pageant's answers to feminist criticism, were the least popular portions of the pageant, while the swimsuit part still had the power to bring viewers back from the kitchen," said ''New York Times'' reporter Iver Peterson. "So pageant officials - who still require chaperons for contestants when they are in Atlantic City - are thinking about showing a little more."

In 2005 the pageant announced a new television agreement with MTV Networks' Country Music Television. In addition to the move to CMT, there was a switch in the pageant's schedule from September to January 21, 2006, and a move away from Atlantic City and Boardwalk Hall after 85 years to the Las Vegas Strip and the Theatre for the Performing Arts at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino. The show was hosted by James Denton, a star of the television show ''Desperate Housewives''. The pageant remained in Las Vegas for 2007 and was again broadcast on CMT. In March 2007, it was announced that CMT no longer chose to broadcast the pageant from 2008. Discovery Networks then picked up the pageant a few months after to air in January on TLC, along with an associated show, ''Countdown to the Crown'' which aired on Friday nights leading up to the actual 2009 pageant. On January 30, 2010, the pageant was again staged at Las Vegas's Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino. On January 29, 2010 TLC aired a one hour preview show at 10:00pm titled ''Miss America: Behind the Curtain'', which featured some of the contestants and some of the preliminary round competition. This show was hosted by Clinton Kelly and former Miss America Susan Powell and was rebroadcast at 7:00pm, one hour before the live (EST) pageant coverage on January 30. After 7 years, ABC resumed broadcasting the pageant on January 15, 2011.

Due to the altered schedule, Miss America 2005, Alabama's Deidre Downs, reigned for 16 months instead of the usual 12. She was only the second longest-reigning Miss America: in the early days of the pageant, Mary Katherine Campbell from Ohio won the pageant twice, in 1922 and again in 1923. Campbell was also first-runner-up in the 1924 pageant, and when the judge's scores revealed that she had almost won the crown a third time, the pageant created a new rule that a contestant may only win the title of Miss America once (but still allowed a contestant to compete more than once.) Later on, the rule was changed so that a contestant may only compete in the Miss America pageant once, whether or not she wins the title.

In the last 51 years of Miss America (through 2008), 27 winners have been blonde, 12 were brown-haired, 9 were black-haired, and 4 were red-haired. The average number of steps that a contestant takes during a pageant day is 8939, according to organizers. Several Miss Americas travel in excess of 20,000 miles a month making personal appearances. Many have earned over $100,000 in personal appearance fees during their reign.

Judging

The following portions of the competition are what the contestants are judged on: #Personal Interview In the Personal Interview portion of the competition each contestant converses with the judges on a variety of topics, from frivolous trivia to serious political and social issues. The contestant is awarded points for being well spoken, polite, articulate, and confident. This competition is less known by the general public than other aspects of the pageant, since unlike the other three, it does not take place on a theater stage, nor is it usually televised. The Personal Interview counts for 25% of the contestant's overall score. #Talent In the Talent portion of the competition the contestant performs on stage before the judges and an audience. The most common talents are singing or dancing, but a variety of other talents may be exhibited at the contestant's choosing; some have demonstrated juggling, playing musical instruments, ventriloquism, quick-draw painting. The Talent portion of the competition counts for 35% of the contestant's overall score. #Lifestyle & Fitness in Swimsuit In the Swimsuit portion of the competition contestants walk on the stage in swimsuits and high-heeled shoes. The Miss America pageant regulates certain minimum standards of modesty the swimwear must comply with. Judging for this portion of the competition focuses on overall physical fitness, poise and posture. Until recently, the contestants were required to wear identical, somewhat dated, one-piece suits. In 1996 the pageant held a phone-in poll asking the public to weigh in on whether or not the Swimsuit competition should be continued. 87% of callers voted to retain the swimsuit portion. In 1997 the organization decided to allow contestants to choose their own more revealing two-piece suits, bikinis, or traditional one-piece suits. The Swimsuit competition counts for 15% of the contestant's overall score. #Evening Wear In the Evening Wear portion of the competition, the contestants are judged on poise and bearing as they walk across the stage. The Evening Wear portion of the competition counts for 20% of the contestant's overall score. #Onstage Question During the Evening Wear competition the contestants are asked a random question from a pre-determined list that they must then answer onstage with no preparation. Questions are topical and usually involve current events. The questions require the contestant to have knowledge of the event and provide an opinion. The Onstage Question counts for 5% of the contestant's total score

Short-lived section: A casual wear section was added to the Miss America competition in 2003, and was filtering down to state and local competitions; however, the "casual wear" section was canceled in 2006 and is no longer in use at any level of the Miss America Program.

Winners

Year	Miss America	State Represented
	Teresa Scanlan	Nebraska
	Caressa Cameron	Virginia
	Katie Stam	Indiana
	Kirsten Haglund
	Lauren Nelson
	Jennifer Berry
	Deidre Downs
	Ericka Dunlap
	Erika Harold
	Katie Harman
	Angela Perez Baraquio
	Heather French

Hosts

Bob Russell: 1940-1946, 1948–1950, 1954

Bert Parks: 1955-1979

~ and Bess Myerson: 1964-1967

~ and Phyllis George: 1975-1978

~ and Mary Ann Mobley: 1979

Ron Ely and Dorothy Benham: 1980-1981

Gary Collins: 1982-1991

~ and Mary Ann Mobley: 1985-1988

~ and Phyllis George: 1989-1991

Regis Philbin: 1992-1996

~ and Kathie Lee Gifford: 1992-1995

Eva LaRue and John Callahan: 1997

Boomer Esiason and Meredith Vieira: 1998

Donny and Marie Osmond: 1999-2000

Tony Danza: 2001

Wayne Brady: 2002

Tom Bergeron: 2003-2004

Chris Harrison: 2005, 2011

~ and Brooke Burke: 2011

James Denton: 2006

Mario Lopez 2007, 2009–2010

Mark Steines: 2008

Television broadcasters

ABC: 1954-1956

CBS: 1957-1965

NBC: 1966-1996

ABC: 1997-2005

CMT: 2006-2007

TLC: 2008-2010 ABC: 2011-2013

Homages and parodies

Sesame Street parodied the Miss America pageant as the "Letter Of The Day" pageant hosted by Guy Smiley; the five finalists were the vowels and the pageant winner was the letter E.

See also

List of Miss America winners by state

Miss America award winners

Miss America's Outstanding Teen

National Sweetheart - although not officially connected with the Miss America pageant, runners-up from Miss America's state pageants have been invited to the National Sweetheart pageant in Hoopeston, Illinois since the 1940s.

''Miss Congeniality'' (2000), movie with a parody of the pageant as the background ("Miss United States")

References

External links

Miss America 2011

Miss America official site

Photo Essay: America's Pageant A look back at more than 80 years of the Miss America competition on Time.com (a division of Time Magazine)

Pageant Almanac: Miss America

1968-69 No More Miss America protests

Audio Podcast special from Miss America 2006 - Episode #6, Episode #7, Episode #8: all include recordings of press conferences from that week

Category:1921 establishments in the United States Category:Lists of American people * Category:Scholarships in the United States America Category:Atlantic City, New Jersey

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