name	Sir Michael Caine
birth name	Maurice Joseph Micklewhite
birth date	March 14, 1933
birth place
occupation	Actor, author
years active	1953–present
spouse	Patricia Haines(m. 1955–1962; divorced)Shakira Baksh(m. 1973–present)
children	Dominique Caine (b. 1956)Natasha Caine (b. 1973)
relatives	Stanley Caine (brother)
website	}}

Sir Michael Caine, CBE (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite; 14 March 1933) is an English actor.

Caine is one of two actors nominated for an Academy Award for acting in every decade from the 1960s to 2000s, the other one being Jack Nicholson. In 2000, Caine was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his contribution to cinema.

Early life

Caine was born in St Olave's Hospital, Rotherhithe, Southwark in South East London, the son of Ellen Frances Marie (née Burchell; 1900-1989), a cook and charwoman, and Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, a fish market porter. His father had Irish and Irish Traveller ancestry and was a Catholic, though Caine was brought up in his Protestant mother's religion.

Caine grew up in Southwark, South London, and during the Second World War he was evacuated to North Runcton near King's Lynn in Norfolk. After the war, when his father was demobilised, the family was rehoused by the council in Marshall Gardens at the Elephant and Castle in a pre-fabricated house made in Canada, as much of London's housing stock had been damaged during the Blitz in 1940-41.

The prefabs, as they were known, were intended to be temporary homes while London was rebuilt, but we ended up living there for eighteen years and for us, after a cramped flat with an outside toilet, it was luxury.

In 1944, he passed his eleven plus exam, winning a scholarship to Hackney Downs Grocers' School. After a year there he moved to Wilson's Grammar School in Camberwell (now Wilson's School in Wallington, South London), which he left at sixteen after gaining a School Certificate in six subjects. He then worked briefly as a filing clerk and messenger for a film company in Victoria Street and the film producer Jay Lewis in Wardour Street. From 1952, when he was called up to do his national service, until 1954, he served in the British Army's Royal Fusiliers, first at the BAOR HQ in Iserlohn, Germany and then on active service during the Korean War. Caine has said he would like to see the return of national service to help combat youth violence, stating: "I'm just saying, put them in the Army for six months. You're there to learn how to defend your country. You belong to the country. Then when you come out, you have a sense of belonging rather than a sense of violence."

Career

1950s

Caine's acting career began at the age of 20 in Horsham, Sussex when he responded to an advertisement in ''The Stage'' for an assistant stage manager who would also perform small walk-on parts for the Horsham-based Westminster Repertory Company who were performed at the Carfax Electric Theatre. Adopting the stage name "Michael Scott", In July 1953 he was cast as the drunkard Hindley in the Company's production of ''Wuthering Heights''. He moved to the Lowestoft Repertory Company in Suffolk for a year when he was 22. It was here that he met his first wife. He has described the first nine years of his career as "really, really brutal."

When his career took him to London after his provincial apprenticeship, his agent informed him that there was already a Michael Scott treading the boards in London and that he had to come up with a new name immediately. Speaking to his agent from a telephone box in Leicester Square, London, he looked around for inspiration, noted that ''The Caine Mutiny'' was being shown at the Odeon Cinema, and decided to change his name to "Michael Caine". (Humphrey Bogart was his "screen idol" and he would later play a part originally intended for Bogie in John Huston's ''The Man Who Would Be King''.) He has joked in interviews that had he looked the other way, he would have ended up as "Michael One Hundred and One Dalmatians". In 1959, he was Peter O'Toole's understudy in Lindsay Anderson's West End staging of Willis Hall's ''The Long and the Short and the Tall''. He took over the role when O'Toole left to make ''Lawrence of Arabia'' (1960) and went on to a four-month tour of Britain and Ireland. He was cast in the 1956 movie ''A Hill in Korea'' partly because of his Korean War experience, to serve as both actor and technical adviser. His co-stars included Stanley Baker and Robert Shaw.

1960s

A big break came for Caine when he was cast as Meff in James Saunders' Cockney comedy ''Next Time I'll Sing To You'', when this play was presented at the New Arts Theatre in London on 23 January 1963. Scenes from the play's performance were featured in the April 1963 issue of ''Theatre World'' magazine.

When this play moved to the Criterion in Piccadilly with Michael Codron directing, he was visited backstage by Stanley Baker, his co-star in ''A Hill In Korea'', who told him about the part of a Cockney corporal in his upcoming film ''Zulu'', a film Baker was producing and starring in. Baker told Caine to visit the director, Cy Endfield, who informed him that he already had given the part that Baker had tipped Caine for to James Booth, a fellow Cockney who was Caine's friend, because he looked more Cockney than Caine did. Endfield then told the 6'2" Caine that he did not look like a Cockney but like an officer, and offered him a screen test for the role of a snobbish, upper class officer after Caine assured him that he could do a posh accent. Caine believes Enfield offered him, a Cockney, the role of an aristocrat as, being American, he did not have the endemic British class prejudice. Though he tested poorly, Endfield gave him the part that would make him a film star.

Location shooting for ''Zulu'' took place 14 weeks in Natal, South Africa in 1963. According to his 2011 autobiography ''The Elephant to Hollywood'', Caine had been signed to a seven-year contract by Joseph E. Levine, whose Embassy Films was distributing ''Zulu''. After the return of the cast to England and the completion of the film, Levine released him from the contract, telling him, "I know you're not, but you gotta face the fact that you look like a queer on screen." Levine gave his contract to his ''Zulu'' co-star James Booth.

Subsequently, Caine's agent got him cast in the BBC production ''Hamlet at Elsinore'' (1964) as Horatio in support of Christopher Plummer's Hamlet. Horatio was the only classical role Caine, who had never received dramatic training, would ever play.

Caine wrote, "...I decided that if my on-screen appearance was going to be an issue, then I would use it to bring out all Horatio's ambiguous sexuality."

After dozens of minor TV roles, Caine finally entered the public eye as the upper class British Army officer Gonville Bromhead in ''Zulu''. This proved paradoxical, as Caine was to become notable for using a regional accent, rather than the Received Pronunciation hitherto considered proper for film actors. At the time, Caine's working class Cockney, just as with the Beatles' Liverpudlian accents, stood out to American and British audiences alike.

''Zulu'' was closely followed by two of his best-known roles: the spy Harry Palmer in ''The Ipcress File'' (1965), and the womanising title character in ''Alfie'' (1966). He went on to play Palmer in a further four films, ''Funeral in Berlin'' (1966), ''Billion Dollar Brain'' (1967), ''Bullet to Beijing'' (1995) and ''Midnight in Saint Petersburg'' (1995). Caine made his first film in the United States in 1966, after an invitation from Shirley MacLaine to play opposite her in ''Gambit.'' During the first two weeks, whilst staying at the Beverly Hills Hotel, he met long term friends John Wayne and agent "Swifty" Lazar.

1970s

After working on ''The Italian Job'' with Noël Coward, and a solid role as RAF fighter pilot Squadron Leader Canfield in the all-star cast of ''Battle of Britain'' (both 1969), Caine played the lead in ''Get Carter'' (1971), a British gangster film. Caine was busy with successes including ''Sleuth'' (1972) opposite Laurence Olivier, and ''The Man Who Would Be King'' (1975) co-starring Sean Connery and directed by John Huston (which he has stated will be the film he wishes to be remembered for after his death). In 1976 he appeared in the screen adaptation by Tom Mankiewicz of the Jack Higgins novel ''The Eagle Has Landed'' as ''Oberst'' (Colonel) Kurt Steiner, the commander of a Luftwaffe paratroop brigade disguised as Polish paratroopers, whose mission was to kidnap or kill the then-British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, alongside co-stars Donald Sutherland, Robert Duvall, Jenny Agutter and Donald Pleasence. Subsequently in 1978, he starred in ''The Silver Bears'', an adaptation of Paul Erdman's (1974) novel of the same name. Caine also was part of an all-star cast in ''A Bridge Too Far'' (1977).

1980s

By the end of the decade, he had moved to the United States, but his choice of roles was often criticisedhe admitted to and has since made many self-deprecating comments about taking parts, strictly for the money, in numerous films he knew to be bad, despite working with Hollywood's highly regarded directors such as Irwin Allen, Richard Fleischer, Michael Ritchie and Oliver Stone. Caine was averaging two films a year, but these included such failures as the BAFTA Award-nominated ''The Magus'' (1968), the Academy Award-nominated ''The Swarm'' (1978), ''Ashanti'' (1979) (which he claimed were the worst three films of all the other worst films he ever made), ''Beyond the Poseidon Adventure'' (1979), ''The Island'' (1980), ''The Hand'' (1981) and a reunion with his ''Sleuth'' co-star Laurence Olivier in ''The Jigsaw Man'' (1982).

Although Caine also took better roles, including a BAFTA-winning turn in ''Educating Rita'' (1983), and an Oscar-winning one in ''Hannah and Her Sisters'' (1986) and a Golden Globe-nominated one in ''Dirty Rotten Scoundrels'' (1988), he continued to appear in notorious duds like the thinly veiled skin flick ''Blame It on Rio'', the Dick Clement and Ian Le Frenais comedy ''Water'' and the critical-commercial flop ''Jaws: The Revenge'' (1987) (in which he had mixed feelings about the production and the final cut) and ''Bullseye!'' (1990); his appearing in so many films that did not meet with critical or box office acclaim made him the butt of numerous jokes on the subject. Of the former, Caine famously said (primarily about ''Jaws: The Revenge'') "I have never seen the film, but by all accounts it was terrible. However I have seen the house that it built, and it is terrific." All these film failures later became cult films among his fans today. His other successful films (critically and/or financially) were the 1978 Academy Award-winning ''California Suite'', the 1980 Golden Globe-nominated slasher film ''Dressed to Kill'', the 1981 war film ''Escape to Victory'', the 1982 film ''Deathtrap'', and the 1986 Academy Award-nominated ''Mona Lisa''. He also starred in ''Without a Clue'', portraying Sherlock Holmes.

1990s

The 1990s were a lean time for Caine, as he found good parts harder to come by. A high point came when he played Ebenezer Scrooge in the critically acclaimed ''The Muppet Christmas Carol'' (1992), which he considers to be one of his most memorable roles. He played the beleaguered stage director Lloyd Dallas in the film adaptation of ''Noises Off'' (1992). He also played a villain in the Steven Seagal film ''On Deadly Ground'' (1994). He was in two straight to video Harry Palmer sequels and a few television films. However, Caine's reputation as a pop icon was still intact, thanks to his roles in films such as ''The Italian Job'' and ''Get Carter''. His performance in 1998's ''Little Voice'' was seen as something of a return to form, and won him a Golden Globe Award. Better parts followed, including ''The Cider House Rules'' (1999), for which he won his second Oscar.

2000s

In the 2000s, Caine appeared in ''Miss Congeniality'' (2000), ''Last Orders'' (2001), ''The Quiet American'' (2002), for which he was Oscar-nominated, and others that helped rehabilitate his reputation. Several of Caine's classic films have been remade, including ''The Italian Job'', ''Get Carter'', ''Alfie'' and ''Sleuth''. In the 2007 remake of ''Sleuth'', Caine took over the role Laurence Olivier played in the 1972 version and Jude Law played Caine's original role. Caine also starred in ''Austin Powers in Goldmember'' (2002) as Austin's father and in 2003 he co-starred with Robert Duvall in ''Secondhand Lions''. In 2005, he was cast as Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred Pennyworth in the first production of the new ''Batman'' film series. In 2006, he appeared in the films ''Children of Men'' and ''The Prestige''. In 2007 he appeared in ''Flawless'', while in 2008 he reprised his role as Alfred in Christopher Nolan's critically acclaimed ''Batman'' sequel, ''The Dark Knight'' as well as starring in the British drama ''Is Anybody There?'', which explores the final days of life.

It was reported by ''Empire'' magazine that Caine had said that ''Harry Brown'' (released on 13 November 2009) would be his last lead role. Caine later declared (in the ''Daily Mirror'') that he had been misquoted by the magazine.

2010s

Caine had a cameo appearance in Christopher Nolan's science fiction thriller, ''Inception''. He voiced Finn McMissile in Pixar's 2011 film ''Cars 2'' and also voiced a supporting role in the animation, ''Gnomeo and Juliet''. He also starred in the 2012 film ''Journey 2: The Mysterious Island'', as Josh Hutcherson's character's grandfather; the film also featured Dwayne Johnson and Vanessa Hudgens. Caine will reprise his role as Alfred Pennyworth in the Batman sequel, ''The Dark Knight Rises'', due for release in mid 2012. Filming has begun at Wollaton Hall, Wollaton, Nottinghamshire, England.

Awards and honours

Caine has been Oscar-nominated six times, winning his first Academy Award for the 1986 film ''Hannah and Her Sisters'', and his second in 1999 for ''The Cider House Rules'', in both cases as a supporting actor.

He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1992 Queen's Birthday Honours, and in the 2000 New Year Honours he was knighted as ''Sir Maurice Micklewhite CBE''. On 5 January 2011, he was made a Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by France's culture minister, Frédéric Mitterrand.

In 2008, he was awarded the prize for Outstanding Contribution to Showbusiness at the Variety Club Awards.

In popular culture

Caine is a popular subject for impressionists and mimics, having a voice and manner of speaking that are distinctive, yet fairly easy to imitate. Most Caine impressions include the catchphrase "Not a lot of people know that." Peter Sellers initiated this when he appeared on BBC1's ''Parkinson'' show on 28 October 1972 and said: "Not many people know that. This is my Michael Caine impression. You see, Mike's always quoting from the ''Guinness Book of Records''. At the drop of a hat he'll trot one out. 'Did you know that it takes a man in a tweed suit five and a half seconds to fall from the top of Big Ben to the ground?' Now there's not many people who know that!". The line had been used earlier in Spike Milligan's script for ''The Last Goon Show of All'', performed on 5 October 1972. In 1983, Caine was given the line to say as an in-joke in the film ''Educating Rita''. The line has also been parodied, along with its impression, in the British sketch comedy show, ''Harry Enfield's Television Programme'', with Paul Whitehouse as a stalking neighbourhood character called Michael Paine, who introduced himself with the line "My name is Michael Paine, and I am a nosy neighbour." Caine himself parodied the phenomenon in an interview with Michael Parkinson, imitating others' impressions of him and including the catchphrase.

Personal life

Caine lives in Leatherhead, Surrey, and is patron to the Leatherhead Drama Festival. He has also lived in North Stoke, Oxfordshire, Clewer near Windsor, Berkshire, Lowestoft in Suffolk and Chelsea Harbour in London. In addition, Caine owns a unit at the Apogee in Miami Beach, Florida. He still keeps a small flat near where he grew up in South East London. Caine has published two volumes of memoirs, ''What's It All About?'' in 1992 and "The Elephant to Hollywood" in 2010.

He was married to actress Patricia Haines from 1955 to 1958. They had a daughter, Dominique (who was named after the heroine of the novel ''The Fountainhead'' by Ayn Rand). He dated Bianca Jagger in 1968. Caine has been married to actress and model Shakira Baksh since 8 January 1973. They met after Caine saw her appearing in a Maxwell House coffee commercial and a friend gave him her telephone number. They have a daughter, Natasha Haleema.

Some time after his mother died, Caine and his younger brother, Stanley, learned they had an elder half-brother, named David. He suffered from severe epilepsy and had been kept in Cane Hill Mental Hospital his entire life. Although their mother regularly visited her first son in the hospital, even her husband did not know the child existed. David died in 1992.

Trivia books written by Caine include ''Not Many People Know That!'', ''And Not Many People Know This Either!'', ''Michael Caine's Moving Picture Show'' and ''Not A Lot of People Know This is 1988''. Proceeds from the books went to the National Playing Fields Association (now Fields In Trust) of which Caine was a prominent supporter.

Unlike many actors who adopt their stage name for everyday use, Caine still uses his real name when he is not working.

Caine was called up for national service in the British Army in 1951 when he was aged 18 and was deployed to South Korea to help in the aftermath of the North Korean invasion. He served as part of the Royal Fusiliers. He said he had gone into it feeling sympathetic to communism, coming as he did from a poor family. But he has said the experience left him permanently repelled.

Politics

Caine has been open about his political views. He left Britain in the 1970s, citing the 82% tax levied on top earners by the Labour government of the time, but returned to Britain several years later when taxes were lowered:

"I decided not to become a tax exile, so I stayed in Britain, but they kept putting the tax up, so I'd do any old thing every now and then to pay the tax, that was my tax exile money. I realised that's not a socialist country, it's a communist country without a dictator, so I left and I was never going to come back. Maggie Thatcher came in and put the taxes back down and in the end, you know, you don't mind paying tax. What am I going to do? Not pay tax and drive around in a Rolls Royce, with cripples begging on the street like you see in some countries?"

"I voted for Maggie Thatcher because I thought we needed a change from that long period of socialism; I voted for Tony Blair because we had a great long period of Conservatism."

In 2009, Caine openly criticised the Labour government's proposed new 50% tax on top earners:

"The Government has taken tax up to 50 per cent and if it goes to 51 I will be back in America. They have reached their limit with me and that's what will happen to a lot of people. You know how much they made out of that high taxation all those years ago? Nothing. But they sent a mass of incredible brains to America. We've got 3.5 million layabouts laying about on benefits, and I'm 76, getting up at 6 am to go to work to keep them. Let's get everybody back to work so we can save a couple of billion and cut tax, not keep sticking it on."

"You're saying to poor people, 'let's tax those rich gits' and I understand that. You slice up the cake, give everyone a chance, but don't destroy the people that are making the bloody cake! I really believe about taking care of people, I don't mind paying tax. It's how the government spends my tax that I detest, really detest, because I see the waste. More money than all our income tax is spent on benefits. Now you tell me there is nothing wrong with that system."

Caine also stated in 2009 that he was likely to vote for the Conservatives again:

"I'll probably vote Conservative. I mean, we're in a terrible state whichever way you look at it, socially, financially and politically, so just give the other guy a chance. I don't know what Cameron's going to do, but in the end you vote out of desperation. You just have to have someone new and see what happens."

Following the launch of his film ''Harry Brown'', Caine called for the reintroduction of national service in the UK to give young people "a sense of belonging rather than a sense of violence".

During the run up to the 2010 General Election, Caine publicly endorsed the Conservative Party, despite claiming to have supported New Labour in 1997. He appeared with David Cameron for the Conservative leader's launch of a civilian non-compulsory 'National Service' for teenagers.

Musical career

Caine is a fan of chill-out music and has compiled a mix CD called ''Cained'', which was released in 2007 by UMTV. According to Michael Caine, he met Elton John and was discussing musical tastes, when Caine claimed that he had been creating chillout mix tapes as an amateur for years. Also in music, Caine provided vocal samples for the band Madness for their 1984 hit "Michael Caine" as his daughter was a fan. He has sung in film roles as well, including for the musical film, ''The Muppet Christmas Carol''.

Filmography, awards and nominations

References

External links

in 2010

"The Films of Michael Caine" compilation of film clips, 4 minutes

PLAY DIRTY/Caine Special on Location in Spain

Martyn Palmer, "Double act: Michael Caine and Jude Law (lunch and discussion)", ''The Times'', 17 November 2007

Charlie Rose video interview 3 February 2003

IGN.com interview 18 March 2003

200 years of Michael Caine's family tree

Category:1933 births Category:20th-century actors Category:21st-century actors Category:Actors awarded British knighthoods Category:Actors from London Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:Best Actor BAFTA Award winners Category:Best Miniseries or Television Movie Actor Golden Globe winners Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Best Supporting Actor Academy Award winners Category:British Army personnel of the Korean War Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Category:English film actors Category:English people of Irish descent Category:English television actors Category:Knights Bachelor Category:Living people Category:People educated at Wilson's School, Wallington Category:People from Camberwell Category:People from Leatherhead Category:People from South Oxfordshire (district) Category:People from Southwark Category:Royal Fusiliers soldiers

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name	Strange Case of Dr Jekylland Mr Hyde
author	Robert Louis Stevenson
country	United Kingdom
language	English
subject
genre
publisher	Longmans, Green & co.
release date	5 January 1886
media type
pages
isbn	N/A
preceded by
followed by	}}

''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is the original title of a novella written by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson that was first published in 1886. The original pronunciation of Jekyll was "Jeekul" which was the pronunciation used in Stevenson's native Scotland. The work is commonly known today as ''The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde,'' ''Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'', or simply ''Jekyll & Hyde.'' It is about a London lawyer named John Gabriel Utterson who investigates strange occurrences between his old friend, Dr Henry Jekyll, and the misanthropic Edward Hyde.

The work is commonly associated with the rare mental condition often spuriously called "split personality", where within the same body there exists more than one distinct personality. In this case, there are two personalities within Dr Jekyll, one apparently good and the other evil; completely opposite levels of morality. The novella's impact is such that it has become a part of the language, with the very phrase "Jekyll and Hyde" coming to mean a person who is vastly different in moral character from one situation to the next.

However, some readers have argued that the "dual personalities" interpretation is overly-simplistic. Jekyll himself notes that a person may be divided into many more than two distinct personalities — he expects that researchers in the future will discover that a person is made up of many different selves. In his discussion of the novel, Vladimir Nabokov argues that the "good versus evil" view of the novel is misleading, as Jekyll himself is not, by Victorian standards, a morally good person.

Another popular interpretation is the "civilized versus animalistic" approach. Other readers have argued even further that the split between Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde represents the civilized and the animalistic version of the same person. The description of Hyde as an almost prehuman creature and his actions that occur without thought, suggests that Hyde is more animal than man. Dr Jekyll on the other hand, can be seen as existing in a constant state of repression, with the only thing controlling his urges being the possible consequences imposed by civilized society.

''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' was an immediate success and is one of Stevenson's best-selling works. Stage adaptations began in Boston and London and soon moved all across England and then towards his home Scotland within a year of its publication and it has gone on to inspire scores of major film and stage performances.

Stevenson had long been intrigued by the idea of how personalities can affect a human and how to incorporate the interplay of good and evil into a story. While still a teenager, he developed a script for a play on Deacon Brodie, which he later reworked with the help of W. E. Henley and saw produced for the first time in 1882. In early 1884 he wrote the short story "Markheim", which he revised in 1884 for publication in a Christmas annual. One night in late September or early October 1885, possibly while he was still revising "Markheim," Stevenson had a dream, and upon wakening had the intuition for two or three scenes that would appear in the story. "In the small hours of one afternoon," says Mrs Stevenson, "I was awakened by cries of horror from Louis. Thinking he had a nightmare, I woke him. He said angrily, 'Why did you wake me? I was dreaming a fine bogey tale.' I had awakened him at the first transformation scene ..."

Lloyd Osbourne, Stevenson's stepson, remembers "I don't believe that there was ever such a literary feat before as the writing of ''Dr Jekyll''. I remember the first reading as if it were yesterday. Louis came downstairs in a fever; read nearly half the book aloud; and then, while we were still gasping, he was away again, and busy writing. I doubt if the first draft took so long as three days".

As was customary, Mrs Stevenson would read the draft and offer her criticisms in the margins. Louis was confined to bed at the time from a haemorrhage. Therefore, she left her comments with the manuscript and Louis in the toilet. She said that in effect the story was really an allegory, but Louis was writing it as a story. After a while Louis called her back into the bedroom and pointed to a pile of ashes: he had burnt the manuscript in fear that he would try to salvage it, and in the process forced himself to start again from nothing, writing an allegorical story as she had suggested. Scholars debate whether he really burnt his manuscript; there is no direct factual evidence for the burning, but it remains an integral part of the history of the novella.

Stevenson re-wrote the story in three to six days. A number of later biographers have alleged that Stevenson was on drugs during the frantic re-write; for example, William Gray's revisionist history ''A Literary Life'' (2004) said he used cocaine, while other biographers said he used ergot. However, the standard history, according to the accounts of his wife and son (and himself), says he was bed-ridden and sick while writing it. According to Osbourne, "The mere physical feat was tremendous and, instead of harming him, it roused and cheered him inexpressibly". He continued to refine the work for four to six weeks after the initial re-write.

''The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' was initially sold as a paperback for one shilling in the UK and one dollar in the U.S. The American publisher issued the book on 5 January 1886, four days before the first appearance of the UK edition issued by Longmans; Scribner's published 3000 copies, only 1250 of them bound in cloth. Initially stores would not stock it until a review appeared in ''The Times'', on 25 January 1886, giving it a favourable reception. Within the next six months, close to forty thousand copies were sold. The book's success was probably due more to the "moral instincts of the public" than any perception of its artistic merits; it was widely read by those who never otherwise read fiction, quoted in pulpit sermons and in religious papers. By 1901 it was estimated to have sold over 250,000 copies.

Characters

Dr Henry Jekyll / Mr Edward Hyde

Dr Jekyll, a "large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty", occasionally feels he is battling between the good and evil within himself, thus leading to the struggle between his dual personalities of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. He has spent a great part of his life trying to repress evil urges that were not fitting for a man of his stature. He creates a potion in an attempt to mask this hidden evil within his personality. However in doing so Jekyll is transformed into the smaller, younger, cruel, remorseless, evil Edward Hyde. Dr Jekyll has many friends and has a friendly personality, but as Mr Hyde, he becomes mysterious and violent. As time goes by, Mr Hyde grows in power. After taking the potion repetitively, he no longer relies upon it to unleash his inner demon i.e. his alter ego. Eventually, Mr Hyde grows so strong that Dr Jekyll becomes reliant on the potion to remain himself.

Stevenson never says exactly what Hyde takes pleasure in on his nightly forays, generally saying that it is something of an evil and lustful nature; thus it is in the context of the times, abhorrent to Victorian religious morality. Hyde may have been reveling in activities that were not appropriate to a man of Jekyll's stature, such as engaging with prostitutes or burglary. However, it is Hyde's violent activities that seem to give him the most thrill, driving him to attack and murder Sir Danvers Carew without apparent reason, making him a hunted outlaw throughout England.

Realizing he will soon be Hyde forever, Jekyll leaves behind a testament; pointing out that while Jekyll often felt like a charlatan, Hyde felt like a "genuine man" years younger and far more energetic than his more "sociable" self. He also states in his final confession that although Hyde knew people recoiled from him, he did not.

Dr Hastie Lanyon

A late friend of Jekyll's, Hastie Lanyon disagrees with his "scientific" concepts, which Lanyon describes as "...too fanciful". He is the first person to whom Hyde's identity is revealed (Hyde transforms himself back into Jekyll in Lanyon's presence). Dr Lanyon helps Utterson solve the case, when he describes the letter given to him by Jekyll. When Lanyon witnesses the transformation process, (and subsequently hears Jekyll's private confession, made to him alone), Lanyon becomes critically ill and later dies of shock. As an embodiment of Victorian rationalism, materialism, and skepticism, Lanyon serves as a foil to Jekyll.

Mr Gabriel John Utterson

Gabriel John Utterson, a lawyer and loyal friend of Jekyll's (and Lanyon's), is the character the narrator focuses on, and follows in Utterson's quest to discover the identity of Hyde. Utterson is described as a measured, and at all times emotionless, bachelor — who nonetheless seems believable, trustworthy, tolerant of the faults of others, and indeed genuinely likeable. However, Utterson is not immune to guilt, as, while he is quick to investigate and judge the faults of others even for the benefit of his friends, Stevenson hints he has old secrets: "he was humbled to the dust by the many ill things he had done". Whatever these secrets may be, he does not partake in gossip or other views of the upper class out of respect for his fellow man. Often the last remaining friend of the down-falling, he finds an interest in others' downfalls, which creates a spark of interest not only in Dr Jekyll but also regarding Mr Hyde. He comes to the conclusion that human downfall results from indulging oneself in topics of interest; as a result of this line of reasoning, he lives life as a recluse and "dampens his taste for the finer items of life". Mr Utterson concludes that Dr Jekyll, conversely, lives life as he wishes to, by enjoying his occupation.

Poole

Poole is Dr Jekyll's butler who, upon noticing the reclusiveness and changes of his master, goes to Mr Utterson with the fear that his master has been murdered and his murderer, Mr Hyde, is residing in the chambers. Poole serves Jekyll faithfully, and attempts to do a good job and be loyal to his master. Yet events finally drive him into joining forces with Utterson to discover the truth.

Richard Enfield

Richard Enfield is Mr Utterson's distant relative and is a well known 'man about town', suggesting a certain sexual licentiousness — this may be evidenced that he first sees Hyde at about 3am in an episode that is well documented as Hyde running over a little girl. He is the person who mentions to the lawyer the actual personality of Jekyll's heir, Mr Hyde. Enfield witnessed Hyde running over a little girl in the street recklessly, and the group of witnesses, with the girl's parents and other residents, force Hyde into writing a cheque for the girl's family. Enfield discovers that the cheque was signed by Dr Jekyll. The cheque is found to be genuine. He says that Hyde is disgusting looking, but finds himself stumped when asked to describe the man. Perhaps it is Hyde's personality and mannerisms that distinguish him from his fellow human beings, making it impossible for them to identify with such a character.

Inspector Newcomen

This Scotland Yard inspector is joined by Mr Utterson, after the murder of Sir Danvers Carew. They explore Hyde's loft in Soho and discover evidence of his depraved life.

Sir Danvers Carew

A kind, white haired, old man and important Member of Parliament. He was killed in the streets of London, on the night of October 18 (sometime between 11pm and 2am by the testimony of the maid), by Mr Hyde in a murderous rage. He was 70 years old. He was however carrying on his person, at the time of his death, a letter addressed to Gabriel Utterson. As a result the police subsequently interviewed Utterson with regard to the murder. Although there is no clear reason for his murder, Carew openly greets Hyde immediately prior to the killing. Coupled with this, both characters have a direct link to Utterson.

A Maid

After the death of Sir Danvers Carew, a maid, whose employer Mr Hyde had once visited, is the only person to have witnessed the murder committed by Hyde.

Plot

In London, John Gabriel Utterson, a prosecutor, is on his weekly walk with his relative Richard Enfield, who proceeds to tell him of an encounter he had seen some months ago while coming home late at night from Cavendish Place. The tale describes a sinister figure named Mr Hyde who tramples a young girl, disappears into a door on the street, and re-emerges to pay off her relatives with 10 pounds in gold and a cheque signed by a respectable gentleman — Dr Henry Jekyll, a client and friend of Utterson's — for 100 pounds. Jekyll having recently and suddenly changed his will to make Hyde beneficiary, Utterson is disturbed and concerned about this development, and makes an effort to seek out Hyde. This is instilled by Utterson's fear that Hyde is blackmailing Dr Henry Jekyll for his money. Upon finally managing to encounter Hyde, Utterson is amazed by how ugly the man seems, as if deformed; though Utterson cannot say why exactly how this is so or why it is, Hyde seems to provoke an instinctive feeling of revulsion in him. Much to Utterson's surprise, Hyde willingly offers Utterson his address. After one of Jekyll's dinner parties, Utterson stays behind to discuss the matter of Hyde with Jekyll. Utterson notices Jekyll turning pale, yet he assures Utterson that everything involving Hyde is in order and to be left alone.

A year passes uneventfully. One night, a servant girl witnesses Hyde beat a man to death with a heavy cane — MP Sir Danvers Carew, also a client of Utterson. The police contact Utterson, who suspects Hyde of the murder. He leads the officers to Hyde's apartment, feeling a sense of foreboding amid the eerie weather (the morning is dark and wreathed in fog). When they arrive at the apartment, the murderer has vanished, but they find half of the cane (described as being made of a strong wood but broken due to the beating) left behind a door. It is revealed to have been given to Jekyll by Utterson. Shortly thereafter, Utterson again visits Jekyll, who now claims to have ended all relations with Hyde. Jekyll shows Utterson a note, allegedly written to Jekyll by Hyde, apologizing for the trouble he has caused him and saying goodbye. That night, however, Utterson's clerk points out that Hyde's handwriting bears a remarkable similarity to Jekyll's own.

For a few months, Jekyll reverts to his former friendly and sociable manner, as if a weight has been lifted from his shoulders. Later, Jekyll suddenly begins to refuse visitors, and Dr Hastie Lanyon, a mutual acquaintance of Jekyll and Utterson, dies suddenly of shock after receiving information relating to Jekyll. Before his death, Lanyon gives Utterson a letter, with instructions that he not open it until after Jekyll's death or disappearance. Utterson goes out walking with Enfield, and they see Jekyll at a window of his laboratory; the three men begin to converse, but a look of horror suddenly comes over Jekyll's face, and he slams the window and disappears. Soon afterward, Jekyll's butler, Mr Poole, visits Utterson in a state of desperation and explains that Jekyll has secluded himself in his laboratory for several weeks. Utterson and Poole travel to Jekyll's house through empty, windswept, sinister streets; once there, they find the servants huddled together in fear. They go to see the laboratory where they hear that the voice coming from inside is not the voice of Jekyll and the footsteps are light not the heavy footsteps of the Doctor. After arguing for a time, the two of them resolve to break into Jekyll's laboratory.

Inside, they find the body of Hyde, wearing Jekyll's clothes and apparently dead from suicide. They find also a letter from Jekyll to Utterson promising to explain the entire mystery. Utterson takes the document home, where first he reads Lanyon’s letter and then Jekyll's. The first reveals that Lanyon’s deterioration and eventual death were caused by the shock of seeing Mr Hyde drink a potion and, as a result of doing so, metamorphose into Dr Jekyll. The second letter explains that Jekyll, seeking to separate his good side from his darker impulses, discovered a way to transform himself periodically into a creature free of conscience, this being Mr Hyde. The transformation was incomplete, however, in that it created a second, evil identity, but did not make the first identity purely good. At first, Jekyll reports, he delighted in becoming Hyde and rejoiced in the moral freedom that the creature possessed. Eventually, however, he found that he was turning into Hyde involuntarily in his sleep, even without taking the potion.

At this point, Jekyll resolved to cease becoming Hyde. One night, however, the urge gripped him too strongly, and after the transformation he immediately rushed out and violently killed Sir Danvers Carew. Horrified, Jekyll tried more adamantly to stop the transformations, and for a time he proved successful by engaging in philanthropic work. At a park, he considers how good a person he has become as a result of his deeds (in comparison to others), believing himself redeemed. However, before he completes his line of thought, he looks down at his hands and realizes that he has suddenly once again become Mr Hyde. This was the first time that an involuntary metamorphosis had happened in waking hours. Far from his laboratory and hunted by the police as a murderer, Hyde needed Lanyon's help to get his potions and become Jekyll again; when he undertook the transformation in Lanyon's presence, the shock of the sight instigated Lanyon's deterioration and death. Meanwhile, Jekyll returned to his home, only to find himself ever more helpless and trapped as the transformations increased in frequency and necessitated even larger doses of potion in order to reverse themselves. It was the onset of one of these spontaneous metamorphoses that caused Jekyll to slam his laboratory window shut in the middle of his conversation with Enfield and Utterson.

Eventually, the potion began to run out, and Jekyll was unable to find a necessary ingredient to make more. Ironically, Jekyll learns that this most necessary ingredient was in the first instance of his experiments, sullied. He assumes that subsequent supplies are pure and thus lacking the quality that makes the potion successful for his experiments. His ability to change back from Hyde into Jekyll slowly vanished. Jekyll writes that even as he composes his letter he knows that he will soon become Hyde permanently, and he wonders if Hyde will face execution for his crimes or choose to kill himself. Jekyll notes that, in either case, the end of his letter marks the end of the life of Dr Jekyll. He ends the letter saying "I bring the life of that unhappy Henry Jekyll to an end". With these words, both the document and the novel come to a close.

Analysis

This story represents a concept in Victorian culture, that of the inner conflict of humanity's sense of good and evil. In particular the novella has been interpreted as an examination of the duality of human nature (that good and evil exists in all), and that the failure to accept this tension (to accept the evil or shadow side) results in the evil being projected onto others. Paradoxically in this argument, evil is actually committed in an effort to extinguish the perceived evil that has been projected onto the innocent victims. In Freudian Theory the thoughts and desires banished to the unconscious mind motivate the behavior of the conscious mind. If someone banishes all evil to the unconscious mind in an attempt to be wholly and completely good, it can result in the development of a Mr Hyde-type aspect to that person's character. This failure to accept the tension of duality is related to Christian theology, where Satan's fall from Heaven is due to his refusal to accept that he is a created being (that he has a dual nature) and is not God. This is why in Christianity, pride (to consider oneself as without sin or without evil) is the greatest sin, as it is the precursor to evil itself; it also explains the Christian concept of evil hiding in the light. The novella has also been noted as "one of the best guidebooks of the Victorian era" because of its piercing description of the fundamental dichotomy of the 19th century "outward respectability and inward lust," as this period had a tendency for social hypocrisy.

Various direct influences have been suggested for Stevenson's interest in the mental condition that separates the sinful from moral self. Among them are the Biblical text of Romans (7:20 "Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it."); the split life in the 1780s of Edinburgh city councillor Deacon William Brodie, master craftsman by day, burglar by night; and James Hogg's novel ''The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner'' (1824), in which a young man falls under the spell of the devil.

Literary genres which critics have applied as a framework for interpreting the novel include religious allegory, fable, detective story, sensation fiction, doppelgänger literature, Scottish devil tales and gothic novel. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde has been the influence for The Hulk, Two-Face and the general superhero genre for the story's ties to a double life.

The duality in the novella has led to a variety of different interpretations. These include readings which see the work as being a Victorian morality tale of unleashed sexual depravity or an allegory for the necessarily double life of the Victorian homosexual. A common interpretation sees the novella's duality as representative of Scotland and the Scottish character. On this reading the duality represents the national and linguistic dualities inherent in Scotland's relationship with the wider Britain and the English language respectively, and also the repressive effects of the Calvinistic church on the Scottish character. A further parallel is also drawn with the city of Edinburgh itself, Stevenson's birthplace, which consists of two distinct parts: the old medieval section historically inhabited by the city's poor, where the dark crowded slums were rife with all types of crime, and the modern Georgian area of wide spacious streets representing respectability.

Adaptations

There are dozens of stage and film adaptations of the novella; over 123 film versions alone, not including stage and radio versions. The most well-known adaptation is the musical stage version, known as ''Jekyll & Hyde.'' The musical is quite different than the original novella, as it introduces two romantic interests of Jekyll. However, there have been no major adaptations to date that remain faithful to Stevenson's original. Most omit the figure of Utterson, telling the story from Jekyll's and Hyde's viewpoint (as well as using the same actor for both roles) — thus eliminating entirely the mystery aspect of the true identity of Hyde, which was the story's twist ending and not the basic premise that it is today. In addition, almost all adaptations introduce a romantic element which does not exist in the original story.

References

Bibliography

Borinskikh L.I. (1990c). ‘The method to reveal a character in the works of R.L.Stevenson [The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde]’/. In *** (ed.) The Problem of character in literature. Tchelyabinsk: Tchelyabinsk State University. Pp. 31–32. [in Russian, German and Hindi].

Richard Dury, ed. (2005). ''The Annotated Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde''. ISBN 88-7544-030-1, over 80 pages of introduction material, extensive annotation notes, 40 pages of derivative works and extensive bibliography.

Paul M. Gahlinger, M.D., Ph.D. (2001). Illegal Drugs: A Complete Guide to their History, Chemistry, Use, and Abuse. Sagebrush Medical Guide. Pg 41. ISBN 0-9703130-1-2.

Kathrine Linehan, ed. (2003). ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde''. Norton Critical Edition, contains extensive annotations, contextual essays and criticisms. ISBN 0-393-97465-0

Warlock was Dr Jekyll prototype ''BBC News''

External links

''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' from Internet Archive. Many antiquarian illustrated editions.

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''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' at LibriVox (audiobooks)

"The Beast Within", Freudian fable, sexual morality tale, gay allegory — the novella has inspired as many interpretations as it has film adaptations. By James Campbell, ''The Guardian'', December 13, 2008

Category:Short stories by Robert Louis Stevenson Category:1886 short stories Category:Novellas Category:Novels set in London Jekyll, Henry Jekyll Category:Fictional English people Category:Gothic novels Category:Victorian novels

ar:قضية الدكتور جيكل والسيد هايد الغريبة bn:ডক্টর জেকিল অ্যান্ড মিস্টার হাইড be-x-old:Дзіўная гісторыя доктара Джэкіла і містэра Гайда bg:Странният случай с доктор Джекил и мистър Хайд ca:L'estrany cas del Dr. Jekyll i Mr. Hyde cs:Podivný případ Dr. Jekylla a pana Hyda cy:The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde da:Dr. Jekyll og Mr. Hyde de:Der seltsame Fall des Dr. Jekyll und Mr. Hyde el:Δόκτωρ Τζέκιλ και κύριος Χάιντ es:El extraño caso del doctor Jekyll y el señor Hyde eu:Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde fa:دکتر جکیل و آقای هاید fr:L'Étrange Cas du docteur Jekyll et de M. Hyde ko:지킬 박사와 하이드 씨 id:Kasus Aneh Dr Jekyll dan Tuan Hyde it:Lo strano caso del dottor Jekyll e del signor Hyde he:המקרה המוזר של ד"ר ג'קיל ומר הייד ms:Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde nl:The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde ja:ジキル博士とハイド氏 no:Dr. Jekyll og Mr. Hyde pa:ਡਾਕਟਰ ਜੈਕਿਲ ਅਤੇ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਹਾਈਡ pl:Doktor Jekyll i pan Hyde (nowela) pt:Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde ru:Странная история доктора Джекила и мистера Хайда simple:The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde fi:Tohtori Jekyll ja Mr. Hyde sv:Dr. Jekyll och Mr. Hyde tr:Dr. Jekyll ve Mr. Hyde (roman) uk:Дивна історія доктора Джекіла і містера Хайда zh:化身博士

Clint Holmes (born 9 May 1946), is a singer-songwriter and Las Vegas entertainer. He was born in Bournemouth, England, the son of an African-American jazz musician and a white English opera singer. He was raised in Farnham, New York, a suburb of Buffalo as a child.

Holmes is perhaps best known for his #2 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart "Playground In My Mind" in 1973. The nursery rhyme-styled song features Holmes duetting with producer Paul Vance's son Philip (d. 13 December 2009) on the chorus. "Playground In My Mind" was written by Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss, released in the U.S. in July 1972 but did not reach the Hot 100 until 24 March 1973, where it stayed for 23 weeks. It was granted gold disc status by the R.I.A.A. on 3 July 1973. The single went one better in Canada, topping the ''RPM 100'' national singles charts there for three consecutive weeks in the same year (June 23 - July 7).

Initially a vocal music student at Fredonia State College, Holmes left school for the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. He spent his 3 year enlistment (1967–1969) with the elite United States Army Chorus, and then remained in the Washington, D.C. area to launch his civilian career, singing in nightclubs up and down the East Coast. Holmes was the announcer for ''The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers'' (1986–1988), the initial broadcast offering of the then-new Fox Broadcasting Company.

Holmes has been a Las Vegas show attraction since the early 1970s. In 2006, he closed his headlining show at Harrah's Las Vegas Casino, which renamed its main showroom for him. From 1990 to 1995, he hosted ''Honda Campus All-Star Challenge'' on the BET network, and, after the event became non-broadcast, continued to host the final matches through 2008. Most of Holmes' Vegas band members also appear in a locally popular R&B;/jazz group, Santa Fe and The Fat City Horns.

References

External links

Clint Holmes website

The Santa Fe and The Fat City Horns blogsite

Category:1946 births Category:Living people Category:African American singers Category:American game show hosts Category:American people of English descent Category:English people of African-American descent Category:English people of American descent Category:Musicians from New York Category:People from Bournemouth Category:People from Buffalo, New York Category:People from the Las Vegas Valley Category:United States Army soldiers Category:Epic Records artists Category:State University of New York at Fredonia alumni Category:Cancer survivors

birthname
birth date	January 28, 1936
birth place	Bronx, New York, U.S.
spouse	Arlene Alda (1957–present)
alma mater	Fordham University
occupation	Actor, author, activist, director, screenwriter
yearsactive	1958–present }}

Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo (born January 28, 1936), better known as Alan Alda, is an American actor, director, screenwriter, and author. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, he is best known for his role as Hawkeye Pierce in the TV series ''M*A*S*H''. He is currently a Visiting Professor at the State University of New York at Stony Brook School of Journalism and a member of the advisory board of The Center for Communicating Science.

In 1996, Alda was ranked #41 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time.

Family and early life

Alda was born Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo in The Bronx, New York City. His father, Robert Alda (born Alphonso Giuseppe Giovanni Roberto D'Abruzzo), was an actor and singer, and his mother, Joan Browne, was a former showgirl. His father was of Italian descent and his mother was of Irish ancestry. His adopted surname, "Alda," is a portmanteau of ''AL''phonso and ''D'A''bruzzo. When Alda was seven years old, he contracted Poliomyelitis. To combat the disease, his parents administered a painful treatment regimen developed by Sister Elizabeth Kenny that consisted of applying hot woolen blankets to his limbs and stretching his muscles. Alda attended Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, New York. In 1956, he received his Bachelor of Science degree in English from Fordham College of Fordham University in the Bronx, where he was a student staff member of its FM radio station, WFUV. Alda's half-brother, Antony Alda, was born the same year and would also become an actor.

During Alan Alda's junior year, he studied in Paris, acted in a play in Rome, and performed with his father on television in Amsterdam. After graduation, he joined the U.S. Army Reserve, and served a six-month tour of duty as a gunnery officer. A year after graduation, he married Arlene Weiss, with whom he has three daughters, Eve, Elizabeth Alda, and Beatrice Alda. He also has seven grandchildren, two of whom are aspiring actors. The Aldas have been longtime residents of Leonia, New Jersey. Alda frequented Sol & Sol Deli on Palisade Avenue in the nearby town of Englewood, New Jersey—a fact mirrored in his character's daydream about eating whitefish from the establishment, in an episode of ''M*A*S*H'' in which Hawkeye sustains a head injury.

Career

Early acting

Alda began his career in the 1950s, as a member of the Compass Players comedy revue. In 1966, he starred in the musical ''The Apple Tree'' on Broadway; he was nominated for the Tony Award as Best Actor in a Musical for that role.

Alda made his Hollywood acting debut as a supporting player in ''Gone are the Days!'' – a film version of the highly successful Broadway play ''Purlie Victorious'', which co-starred veteran actors Ruby Dee and her husband, Ossie Davis. Other film roles would follow, such as his portrayal of author, humorist, and actor George Plimpton in the film ''Paper Lion'' (1968), as well as ''The Extraordinary Seaman'' (1969), and the occult-murder-suspense thriller ''The Mephisto Waltz'', with actress Jacqueline Bisset. During this time, Alda frequently appeared as a panelist on the 1968 revival of ''What's My Line?''. He also appeared as a panelist on ''I've Got a Secret'' during its 1972 syndication revival.

''M*A*S*H'' Series (1972–83)

In early 1972, Alda auditioned for and was selected to play the role of "Hawkeye Pierce" in the TV adaptation of the 1970 film ''MASH''. He was nominated for 21 Emmy Awards, and won five. He took part in writing 19 episodes, including the finale, and directed 32. When he won his first Emmy Award for writing, he was so happy that he performed a cartwheel before running up to the stage to accept the award. He was also the first person to win Emmy Awards for acting, writing, and directing for the same series. Richard Hooker, who wrote the novel on which ''M*A*S*H'' was based, did not like Alda's portrayal of Hawkeye Pierce (Hooker, a Republican, had based Hawkeye on himself, whereas Alda and the show's writers took the character in a more liberal direction). Alda also directed the show's 1983 2½-hour series finale "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen", which remains the single most-watched episode of any television series. Alda is the only series regular to appear in all 251 episodes.

Alda commuted from Los Angeles to his home in New Jersey every weekend for 11 years while starring in ''M*A*S*H''. His wife and daughters lived in New Jersey, and he did not want to uproot his family to L.A., especially because he did not know how long the show would last.

Alan Alda, father Robert Alda, and half-brother Antony Alda appeared together in an episode of ''M*A*S*H'', "Lend a Hand", during Season 8. Robert had previously appeared in "The Consultant" in Season 3.

During the first five seasons of the series, the tone of "M*A*S*H" was largely that of a traditional "service comedy", in the vein of shows like "McHale's Navy". However, as the original writers gradually left the series, Alda gained increasing control, and by the final seasons had become a producer and creative consultant. Under his watch, ''M*A*S*H'' retained its comedic foundation, but gradually assumed a somewhat more serious tone, openly addressing political issues. As a result, the 11 years of ''M*A*S*H'' are generally split into two eras: the Larry Gelbart/Gene Reynolds "comedy" years (1972–1977), and the Alan Alda "dramatic" years (1977–1983).

In his 1981 autobiography, Jackie Cooper (who directed several early episodes) wrote that Alda concealed a lot of hostility beneath the surface, and that the two of them barely spoke to each other by the time Cooper’s directing of ''M*A*S*H'' ended.

During his ''M*A*S*H'' years, Alda made several game-show appearances, most notably in ''The $10,000 Pyramid'' and as a frequent panelist on ''To Tell the Truth''.

His favorite episodes of ''M*A*S*H'' are "Dear Sigmund" and "In Love and War".

Post-''M*A*S*H''

Alda's prominence in the enormously successful ''M*A*S*H'' gave him a platform to speak out on political topics, and he has been a strong and vocal supporter of women's rights and the feminist movement. He co-chaired, with former First Lady Betty Ford, the ERA Countdown campaign. In 1976, ''The Boston Globe'' dubbed him "the quintessential Honorary Woman: a feminist icon" for his activism on behalf of the Equal Rights Amendment. As a liberal and often progressive activist, he has been a target for some political and social conservatives.

Alda played Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman in the play ''QED'', which had only one other character. Although Peter Parnell wrote the play, Alda both produced and inspired it. Alda has also appeared frequently in the films of Woody Allen, and was a guest star five times on ''ER'', playing Dr. Kerry Weaver's mentor, Gabriel Lawrence. During the later episodes, it was revealed that Dr. Lawrence was suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. Alda also had a co-starring role as Dr. Robert Gallo in the 1993 TV movie ''And the Band Played On''.

During ''M*A*S*H'''s run and continuing through the 1980s, Alda embarked on a successful career as a writer and director, with the ensemble dramedy ''The Four Seasons'' being perhaps his most notable hit. ''Betsy's Wedding'' was his last directing credit to date. After ''M*A*S*H'', Alda took on a series of roles that either parodied or directly contradicted his "nice guy" image. His role as a pompous celebrity television producer in ''Crimes and Misdemeanors'' was widely seen as a self-parody, although Alda has denied this.

Recent work

In 1993 he co-starred with Woody Allen (also the director), Diane Keaton, and Anjelica Huston in the comedy/mystery Manhattan Murder Mystery. The four play a quartet of amateur crime solvers who become entangled in a murder plot possibly perpetrated by Keaton and Allen's neighbor. Alda's character is Ted, a playwright secretly in love with Keaton's character Carol, but who eventually falls for Huston's character Marcia.

In 1995, he starred as the President in Michael Moore's political satire/comedy film ''Canadian Bacon''. Around this time, rumors circulated that Alda was considering running for the United States Senate in New Jersey, but he denied this. In 1996, Alda played Henry Ford in ''Camping With Henry and Tom'', based on the book by Mark St. Germain.

Beginning in 2004, Alda was a regular cast member on the NBC program ''The West Wing'', portraying Republican U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Arnold Vinick, until the show's conclusion in May 2006. He made his premiere in the sixth season's eighth episode, "In The Room," and was added to the opening credits with the thirteenth episode, "King Corn." In August 2006, Alda won an Emmy for his portrayal of Arnold Vinick in the final season of ''The West Wing''.

In 2004, Alda portrayed conservative Maine Senator Owen Brewster in Martin Scorsese's Academy-Award winning film ''The Aviator'', in which he co-starred with Leonardo DiCaprio.

Throughout his career, Alda has received 31 Emmy Award nominations and two Tony Award nominations, and has won seven People's Choice Awards, six Golden Globe Awards, and three Directors Guild of America awards. However, it was not until 2005, after a long distinguished acting career, that Alda received his first Academy Award nomination, for his role in ''The Aviator''.

Alda also wrote several of the stories and poems that appeared in Marlo Thomas's ''Free to Be... You and Me'' television show.

Alda starred in the original Broadway production of the play ''Art'', which opened on March 1, 1998, at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. The play won the Tony Award for best original play.

Alda also had a part in the 2000 romantic comedy ''What Women Want'', as the CEO of the advertising firm where the main characters worked.

In the spring of 2005, Alda starred as Shelly Levene in the Tony Award-winning Broadway revival of David Mamet's ''Glengarry Glen Ross'', for which he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play. Throughout 2009 and 2010, he appeared in three episodes of ''30 Rock'' as Milton Greene, the biological father of Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin).

In 2011, Alda was scheduled to guest star on ''Law & Order: LA'', portraying former police and naval officer John Winters, the father of the former main character Rex Winters. It is unknown if he filmed his role before the series was redesigned and Rex Winters written off.

After the release of the movie ''Tower Heist'', Alda was devastated, when on December 7, 2011, he lost his idol and decades-long friend Harry Morgan, who played opposite Alda as Colonel Sherman T. Potter on ''M*A*S*H''. Upon Morgan's death, Alda released a statement: "We had just a wonderful time reminiscing. That was the last time I saw Harry."

Charitable work and other interests

Alda has done extensive charity work. He helped narrate a 2005 St. Jude's Children's Hospital produced one-hour special TV show ''Fighting for Life''. He and his wife, Arlene, are also close friends of Marlo Thomas, who is very active in fund-raising for the hospital her father founded. The special featured Ben Bowen as one of six patients being treated for childhood cancer at Saint Jude. Alda and Marlo Thomas had also worked together in the early 70s on a critically acclaimed children's album entitled ''Free to Be You and Me'', which featured Alda, Thomas and a number of other well-known character actors. This project remains one of the earliest public signs of his support of women's rights.

In 2005, Alda published his first round of memoirs, ''Never Have Your Dog Stuffed: and Other Things I've Learned''. Among other stories, he recalls his intestines becoming strangulated while on location in Chile for his PBS show ''Scientific American Frontiers'', during which he mildly surprised a young doctor with his understanding of medical procedures, which he had learned from ''M*A*S*H''. He also talks about his mother's battle with schizophrenia. The title comes from an incident in his childhood, when Alda was distraught about his dog dying and his well-meaning father had the animal stuffed. Alda was horrified by the results, and took from this that sometimes we have to accept things as they are, rather than desperately and fruitlessly trying to change them.

In 2006, Alda contributed his voice to a part in the audio book of Max Brooks' ''World War Z''. In this book, he voiced Arthur Sinclair Jr., the director of the United States Government's fictional "Department of Strategic Resources (DeStRes)".

His second memoir, ''Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself'', weaves together advice from public speeches he has given with personal recollections about his life and beliefs.

Alda also has an avid interest in cosmology, and participated in BBC coverage of the opening of the Large Hadron Collider, at CERN, Geneva, in September 2008.

After years of interviews, Alda helped inspire the creation of the The Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University in 2009. He remains on the advisory board as of 2012.

Alda has been an activist for feminism for many years.

Religious views

In the mentioned memoir, ''Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself'', Alda candidly describes how briefly, at one time in his life he realized that he had begun thinking like an agnostic or atheist, although he had been raised as a Roman Catholic:

For a while in my teens, I was sure I had it. It was about getting to heaven. If heaven existed and lasted forever, then a mere lifetime spent scrupulously following orders was a small investment for an infinite payoff. One day, though, I realized I was no longer a believer, and realizing that, I couldn’t go back. Not that I lost the urge to pray. Occasionally, even after I stopped believing, I might send off a quick memo to the Master of the Universe, usually on a matter needing urgent attention, like Oh, God, don’t let us crash. These were automatic expulsions of words, brief SOS messages from the base of my brain. They were similar to the short prayers that were admired by the church in my Catholic boyhood, which they called “ejaculations.” I always liked the idea that you could shorten your time in purgatory with each ejaculation; what boy wouldn’t find that a comforting idea? But my effort to keep the plane in the air by talking to God didn’t mean I suddenly was overcome with belief, only that I was scared. Whether I’d wake up in heaven someday or not, whatever meaning I found would have to occur first on this end of eternity.

Speaking further on agnosticism, Alda goes on to say:

I still don't like the word agnostic. It's too fancy. I'm simply not a believer. But, as simple as this notion is, it confuses some people. Someone wrote a ''Wikipedia'' entry about me, identifying me as an atheist because I'd said in a book I wrote that I wasn't a believer. I guess in a world uncomfortable with uncertainty, an unbeliever must be an atheist, and possibly an infidel. This gets us back to that most pressing of human questions: why do people worry so much about other people's holding beliefs other than their own?

Alda made these comments in an interview for the 2008 question section of the Edge Foundation website.

Awards and nominations

;Awards

Emmy Award for "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series" in 2006, for his portrayal of Senator & Presidential candidate Arnold Vinick in ''The West Wing''

Emmy Award for "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series" in 1980

Emmy Award for "Outstanding Writing in a Comedy or Comedy-Variety or Music Series" in 1979

Emmy Award for "Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series" in 1977

Emmy Award for "Best Lead Actor in a Comedy Series" in 1972

Emmy Award for "Actor of the Year – Series" in 1972

Golden Globe for "Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series – Musical/Comedy" in 1983

Golden Globe for "Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series – Musical/Comedy" in 1982

Golden Globe for "Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series – Musical/Comedy" in 1981

Golden Globe for "Best TV Actor – Musical/Comedy" in 1980

Golden Globe for "Best TV Actor – Musical/Comedy" in 1976

Golden Globe for "Best TV Actor – Musical/Comedy" in 1975

DGA Award for "Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series" in 1983

DGA Award for "Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series" in 1982

DGA Award for "Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series" in 1977

Drama Desk Award for "Outstanding Ensemble Performance" in 2005 for ''Glengarry Glen Ross''.

For contributions to the television industries, Alan Alda was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Became Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2006

Nominations

The audiobook version of ''Things I Overheard While Talking To Myself'' was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award in the category of Best Spoken Word Album.

Alda received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Senator Ralph Owen Brewster in Martin Scorsese's film ''The Aviator''.

Filmography

Film

''Gone Are the Days!'' (1963)

''Paper Lion'' (1968)

''The Extraordinary Seaman'' (1969)

''Jenny'' (1970)

''The Moonshine War'' (1970)

''The Mephisto Waltz'' (1971)

''To Kill a Clown'' (1972)

''Kill Me If You Can'' (1977)

''Same Time, Next Year'' (1978)

''California Suite'' (1978)

''The Seduction of Joe Tynan'' (1979)

''The Four Seasons'' (1981)

''Sweet Liberty'' (1986)

''A New Life'' (1988)

''Crimes and Misdemeanors'' (1989)

''Betsy's Wedding'' (1990)

''Whispers in the Dark'' (1992)

''Manhattan Murder Mystery'' (1993)

''Canadian Bacon'' (1995)

''Flirting with Disaster'' (1996)

''Everyone Says I Love You'' (1996)

''Murder at 1600'' (1997)

''Mad City'' (1997)

''The Object of My Affection'' (1998)

''Keepers of the Frame'' (1999)

''What Women Want'' (2000)

''The Aviator'' (2004)

''Resurrecting the Champ'' (2007)

''Diminished Capacity'' (2008)

''Flash of Genius'' (2008)

''Nothing But the Truth'' (2008)

''Tower Heist'' (2011)

''Wanderlust'' (2012)

Television

''The Phil Silvers Show'' (1958)

''Naked City'' (1962)

''The Doctors and the Nurses'' (1963)

''Route 66'' (1963)

''East Side/West Side'' (1963)

''The Trials of O'Brien'' (1963)

''That Was The Week That Was'' (1964–1965)

''Where's Everett'' (1966) (pilot)

''Coronet Blue'' (1967)

''Premiere'' (1968)

''Story Theatre'' (1971)

''Class of '55'' (1972)

''The Glass House'' (1972)

''M*A*S*H'' (1972–1983)

''Playmates'' (1972)

''Isn't It Shocking?'' (1973)

''Free to Be... You and Me'' (1974)

''6 Rms Riv Vu'' (1974)

''Kill Me If You Can'' (1977)

''The Four Seasons (TV pilot)'' 1984

''And the Band Played On'' (1993)

''Scientific American Frontiers'' (1993–2005)

''White Mile'' (1994)

''Jake's Women'' (1996)

''ER'' (1999)

''Club Land'' (2001)

''The Killing Yard'' (2001)

''The West Wing'' (2004–2006)

''30 Rock'' (2009–2011)

''The Human Spark'' (2010)

''Law & Order: Los Angeles'' (2011)

''The Big C'' (2011)

Stage

''Only in America'' (1959)

''Purlie Victorious'' (1961)

''A Whisper in God's Ear'' (1962)

''Fair Game for Lovers'' (1964)

''Cafe Crown'' (1964)

''The Owl and The Pussycat'' (1965)

''The Apple Tree'' (1966)

''Jake's Women '' (1992)

''Art'' (1998)

''QED'' (2001)

''The Play What I Wrote'' (2003)

''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (2005)

Voice acting

''Free To Be You And Me'' (1972) (various performances)

''World War Z'' (2006) (voice of Director Arthur Sinclair Jr.)

Bibliography

References

External links

''Never Have Your Dog Stuffed'' and ''Things I Learned While Talking To Myself'' - Alan Alda books Website

Bio on ''Scientific American Frontiers''

Military Service

Alan Alda Discusses Science, Improv and Richard Feynman at USC's Annenberg School]

Interview with Alda on NPR's ''Fresh Air'' (September 21, 2005)

Alan Alda's Charity Work

Performance ''Working in the Theatre'' seminar video at American Theatre Wing.org, April 1992

Alan Alda Interview at Archive of American Television

Category:1936 births Category:Actors from New York City Category:American agnostics Category:American feminists Category:American film actors Category:American film directors Category:American memoirists Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American people of Italian descent Category:American television actors Category:American television directors Category:American television writers Category:American writers of Italian descent Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (television) winners Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Category:Fordham University alumni Category:Living people Category:People from Leonia, New Jersey Category:People from the Bronx Category:People from White Plains, New York Category:People with poliomyelitis Category:United States Army officers

ar:ألن ألدا cs:Alan Alda da:Alan Alda de:Alan Alda es:Alan Alda fr:Alan Alda gv:Alan Alda id:Alan Alda it:Alan Alda he:אלן אלדה la:Alanus Alda hu:Alan Alda nl:Alan Alda ja:アラン・アルダ no:Alan Alda pl:Alan Alda pt:Alan Alda ro:Alan Alda ru:Алан Алда simple:Alan Alda sh:Alan Alda fi:Alan Alda sv:Alan Alda tl:Alan Alda

name	James Earl Jones
birth date	January 17, 1931
birth place	Arkabutla, Mississippi, United States
occupation	Actor
spouse	Julienne Marie (divorced)Cecilia Hart (1982–present)
yearsactive	1953–present
website	}}

James Earl Jones (born January 17, 1931) is an American actor. He is well known for his distinctive bass voice and for his portrayal of characters of substance, gravitas and leadership. Since his Broadway debut in 1957, Jones has spent more than five decades as "one of America's most distinguished and versatile actors" and has been termed "one of the greatest actors in American history." On November 12, 2011, Jones received an Honorary Academy Award.

Early life

Childhood

James Earl Jones was born in Arkabutla, Mississippi, son of Robert Earl Jones (1910–2006), an actor, boxer, butler, and chauffeur who left the family shortly after James Earl's birth, and his wife Ruth (Connolly) Jones, a teacher and maid. Jones and his father reconciled many years later. Jones was raised by his maternal grandparents, farmers John Henry and Maggie Connolly. He is multiracial, with African, Irish, and Native American ancestry.

Jones describes his grandmother, Maggie, as "the most racist person I have ever known", thus forcing him to develop his own independent thinking. His grandmother was of Cherokee, Choctaw, and black ancestry.

He moved to his grandparents' farm in Jackson, Michigan when he was five, but the transition was traumatic and he developed a stutter so severe he refused to speak. When he moved to Brethren, Michigan in later years, a teacher at the Brethren schools helped him over his stutter. He remained functionally mute for eight years, until he entered high school. He credits his English teacher, Donald Crouch, who discovered he had a gift for writing poetry, with helping him end his silence. Crouch believed forced public speaking would help Jones gain confidence and insisted he recite a poem in class every day. "I was a stutterer. I couldn't talk. So my first year of school was my first mute year, and then those mute years continued until I got to high school."''

Education

After being educated at the Browning School for boys in his high school years and graduating from Brethren High School in Brethren, Michigan, Jones attended the University of Michigan where he was a pre-med major. He joined the Reserve Officer Training Corps, and excelled. He felt comfortable within the structure of the military environment, and enjoyed the camaraderie of his fellow cadets in the Pershing Rifles Drill Team and Scabbard and Blade Honor Society. During the course of his studies, Jones discovered he was not cut out to be a doctor. Instead he focused himself on drama, with the thought of doing something he enjoyed, before, he assumed, he would have to go off to fight in the Korean War. After four years of college, Jones graduated from the University in 1955.

Military

With the war intensifying in Korea, Jones expected to be sent to the war as soon as he received his commission as a second lieutenant. As he waited for his orders, he worked as a part-time stage crew hand at the Ramsdell Theatre in Manistee, Michigan, where he had earlier performed. Jones was commissioned in mid 1953 and reported to Fort Benning to attend Basic Infantry Officers School. He then attended through Ranger School and received his Ranger Tab (although he stated during an interview on the BBC's ''The One Show'' screened on November 11, 2009 that he "washed out" of Ranger training). He was initially to report to Fort Leonard Wood, but his unit was instead sent to establish a cold weather training command at the Camp Hale near Leadville, Colorado. His battalion became a training unit in the bitter cold weather and the rugged terrain of the Rocky Mountains. Jones was promoted to first lieutenant prior to his discharge. He then moved to New York, where he studied at the American Theatre Wing, working as a janitor to support himself.

Film and stage career

Early career

Jones began his acting career at the Ramsdell Theatre in Manistee, Michigan. In 1953 he was a stage carpenter. During the 1955–1957 seasons he was an actor and stage manager. He performed his first portrayal of Shakespeare’s ''Othello'' in this theater in 1955.

Stage roles

Jones is an accomplished stage actor; he has won Tony awards in 1969 for ''The Great White Hope'' and in 1987 for ''Fences''. He has acted in many Shakespearean roles: ''Othello'', ''King Lear'', Oberon in ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', Abhorson in ''Measure for Measure'', and Claudius in ''Hamlet''. He received Kennedy Center Honors in 2002.

On April 7, 2005, James Earl Jones and Leslie Uggams headed the cast in an African-American Broadway revival version of ''On Golden Pond'', directed by Leonard Foglia and produced by Jeffrey Finn.

In February 2008, he starred on Broadway as Big Daddy in a limited-run, all-African-American production of Tennessee Williams's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama ''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'', directed by Debbie Allen and mounted at the Broadhurst Theatre.

In November 2009, James reprised the role of Big Daddy in ''Cat On A Hot Tin Roof'' at the Novello Theatre in London's West End. This production also stars Sanaa Lathan as Maggie, Phylicia Rashad as Big Mamma, and Adrian Lester as Brick.

In October 2010, Jones returned to the Broadway stage in Alfred Uhry's ''Driving Miss Daisy'' along with Vanessa Redgrave at the Golden Theatre.

In November 2011, Jones starred in ''Driving Miss Daisy'' in London's West End, and on November 12 Jones received his honorary Oscar in front of the audience at the Wyndham's Theatre, which was presented to him by Ben Kingsley.

Film roles

His first film role was as a young and trim Lt. Lothar Zogg, the B-52 bombardier in ''Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb'' in 1964. His first big role came with his portrayal of boxer Jack Jefferson in the ''The Great White Hope'' a reprise of the role he had performed on Broadway play, which was based on the life of boxer Jack Johnson. For his role, Jones was nominated Best Actor by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, making him the second African-American male performer (following Sidney Poitier) to receive a nomination.

In the early 1970s, James appeared with Diahann Carroll in a film called ''Claudine'', the story of a woman who raises her six children alone after two failed marriages and one "almost" marriage. Ruppert, played by Jones, is a garbage man who has deep problems of his own. The couple somehow overcomes each other's pride and stubbornness and get married.

Jones also played the villain Thulsa Doom in ''Conan the Barbarian'', "Few Clothes" Johnson in John Sayles ''Matewan'', the author Terence Mann in ''Field of Dreams'', the feared neighbor Mr. Mertle in ''The Sandlot'', King Jaffe Joffer in ''Coming to America'', Reverend Stephen Kumalo in ''Cry, the Beloved Country'', Raymond Lee Murdock in ''A Family Thing'', and Vice Admiral James Greer in ''The Hunt for Red October'', ''Patriot Games'', and ''Clear and Present Danger'', among many others.

Jones is also well known as the voice of Darth Vader in the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy. Darth Vader was portrayed in costume by David Prowse in the original trilogy, with Jones dubbing Vader's dialogue in postproduction due to Prowse's strong West Country accent being unsuitable for the role. At his own request, he was originally uncredited for the release of the first two films (he would later be credited for the two in the 1997 re-release):

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Although uncredited, Jones' voice is briefly heard as Darth Vader at the conclusion of ''Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith''. When specifically asked whether he had supplied the voice, possibly from a previous recording, Jones told ''New York Newsday'': "You'd have to ask Lucas about that. I don't know." However, on the issue of the voice, the commentary on the DVD release states that, while it will always be uncredited, any true ''Star Wars'' fan "should know the answer".

Jones reprised his role as the voice of Vader several times: he is credited in the movie ''Robots'' with the voice of Darth Vader from a voice module. Playing the king of Zamunda in the comedy ''Coming to America'', he echoed four Darth Vader phrases. He also vocally appeared as Vader in the comedy film ''The Benchwarmers'' and the video games ''Star Wars: Monopoly'' and ''Star Wars: The Interactive Video Board Game''. Jones' voice is also used for the Jedi Training Academy attraction at Disneyland and at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Jones returned as Vader for the video game: ''Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars''. Jones also reprised his role as Vader in the new Disney attraction; ''Star Tours: The Adventures Continue''.

Other voiceover work

His other voice roles include Mufasa in the 1994 animated Disney film ''The Lion King'' and its direct-to-video sequel, ''The Lion King II: Simba's Pride''. Archive recordings from the film would later be used for the English version of the 2005 video game ''Kingdom Hearts II'', since Jones himself was unable to reprise the role. He also voiced the Emperor of the Night in ''Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night''.

In 1990, Jones performed voice work for the Simpsons Halloween episode "Treehouse of Horror", in which he was the narrator for the Simpsons' version of Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven". In 1992, Jones was often seen as the host on the video tele-monitor for the Sea World resort in Orlando, Florida.

In 1996, he recited the classic baseball poem Casey at the Bat, with the accompaniment of arranger/composer Steven Reineke and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra

He also has done the CNN tagline, "This is CNN", as well as "This is CNN International", and the Bell Atlantic tagline, "Bell Atlantic: The heart of communication". When Bell Atlantic became Verizon, Jones used the tagline greeting of "Welcome to Verizon" or "Verizon 411" right before a phone call would go through. The opening for NBC's coverage of the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics; "the Big PI in the Sky" (God) in the computer game ''Under a Killing Moon''; a Claymation film about The Creation; and several other guest spots on ''The Simpsons''.

Television roles

Jones has the unusual distinction of being the only actor to win two Emmys in the same year, in 1991 as Best Actor for his role in ''Gabriel's Fire'' and as Best Supporting Actor for his work in ''Heat Wave''.

Jones portrayed the older version of author Alex Haley, in the television mini-series ''Roots: The Next Generations''; the GDI's commanding general James Solomon in the live-action sequences of the video game ''Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun''; and widowed police officer Neb Langston in the television program ''Under One Roof'', for which he received an Emmy nomination. He also appeared in television and radio advertising for Verizon Business DSL and Verizon Online DSL from Verizon Communications.

Jones appeared in the 1963–1964 television season in an episode of ABC's drama series about college life, ''Channing'', starring Jason Evers and Henry Jones. He appeared on the soap opera ''Guiding Light''. He portrayed Thad Green on ''Mathnet'', a parody of ''Dragnet''.

In 1969, Jones participated in making test films for a proposed children's television series called ''Sesame Street''; these shorts, combined with animated segments, were shown to groups of children to gauge the effectiveness of the then-groundbreaking ''Sesame Street'' format. As cited by production notes included in the DVD release ''Sesame Street: Old School 1969–1974'', the short that had the greatest impact with test audiences was one showing bald-headed Jones counting slowly to ten. This and other segments featuring Jones were eventually aired as part of the ''Sesame Street'' series itself when it debuted later in 1969 and Jones is often cited as the first celebrity guest on that series, although a segment with Carol Burnett was the first to actually be broadcast.

He has played lead characters on television in three series. First, he appeared on the short-lived CBS police drama ''Paris,'' which aired during autumn 1979. That show was notable as the first program on which Steven Bochco served as executive producer. The second show aired on ABC between 1990 and 1992, the first season being titled ''Gabriel's Fire'' and the second (after a format revision), ''Pros and Cons''.

In both formats of that show, Jones played a former policeman wrongly convicted of murder who, upon his release from prison, became a private eye. In 1995, Jones starred in ''Under One Roof'' as Neb Langston, a widowed African-American police officer sharing his home in Seattle with his daughter, his married son with his children, and Neb's newly adopted son. The show was a mid-season replacement and lasted only six weeks.

From 1989 to 1993, Jones served as the host of the children's TV series ''Long Ago and Far Away''.

In 1996, James guest starred in the CBS drama ''Touched by an Angel'' as the Angels of Angels in the episode "Clipped Wings". In 1998, Jones starred in the widely acclaimed syndicated program ''An American Moment'' (created by James R. Kirk and Ninth Wave Productions). Jones took over the role left by Charles Kuralt, upon Kuralt's death. He also made a cameo appearance in a penultimate episodes of ''Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'' and has guest-starred on such sitcoms as NBC's ''Frasier'' and ''Will & Grace'', CBS's ''Two and a Half Men'', and the WB drama ''Everwood''. Jones also lent his voice for a narrative part in the Adam Sandler comedy, ''Click'', released in June 2006. His voice is also used to create an audio version of the King James New Testament.

Personal life

Jones has been married to actress Cecilia Hart since 1982. They have one child, Flynn Earl Jones. He was previously married to American actress/singer Julienne Marie (born March 21, 1937, Toledo, Ohio); they had no children.

Awards

Academy Awards

1971 Best Actor in a Leading Role – ''The Great White Hope'' (Nominated)

2011 Academy Honorary Award

Emmy Awards

1964 Outstanding Lead Actor – Miniseries or a Movie/''East Side/West Side'' (Nominated)

1990 Outstanding Supporting Actor – Miniseries or a Movie/''By Dawn's Early Light'' (Nominated)

1991 Outstanding Lead Actor – Drama Series/''Gabriel's Fire''

1991 Outstanding Supporting Actor – Miniseries or a Movie/''Heat Wave''

1994 Outstanding Guest Actor – Drama Series/''Picket Fences'' (Nominated)

1995 Outstanding Supporting Actor – Drama Series/''Under One Roof'' (Nominated)

1997 Outstanding Guest Actor – Comedy Series/''Frasier'' (Nominated)

1999 Outstanding Performer – Children's Special

2004 Outstanding Guest Actor – Drama Series/''Everwood'' (Nominated)

Golden Globe Awards

1971 New Star of the Year – Actor/''The Great White Hope''

1971 Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama/''The Great White Hope'' (Nominated)

1975 Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy/''Claudine'' (Nominated)

1991 Best Actor in a Drama Series/''Gabriel's Fire'' (Nominated)

1992 Best Actor in a Drama Series/''Pros and Cons'' (Nominated)

Independent Spirit Awards

1987 Best Supporting Male/''Matewan'' (Nominated)

Screen Actors Guild Awards

1996 Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role/''Cry, the Beloved Country'' (Nominated)

2009 Life Achievement Award

Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Play

1969 Best Leading Actor in a Play/''The Great White Hope''

1987 Best Leading Actor in a Play/''Fences''

2005 Best Leading Actor in a Play/''On Golden Pond'' (Nominated)

Other awards

1991 Common Wealth Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Dramatic Arts

1992 National Medal of Arts

2011 Eugene O'Neill Theater Center Monte Cristo Award Recipient

Filmography

''Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb'' (1964)

''The Comedians in Africa'' (1967)

''The Comedians'' (1967)

''End of the Road'' (1970)

''King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis'' (1970)

''The Great White Hope'' (1970)

''Malcolm X'' (1972)

''The Man'' (1972)

''Claudine'' (1974)

''The Cay'' (1974 one-hour TV drama)

''The UFO Incident'' (1975 TV-movie)

''The River Niger'' (1976)

''The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings'' (1976)

''Swashbuckler'' (1976)

''Deadly Hero'' (1976)

''The Greatest'' (1977)

''Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope'' (1977) (voice of Darth Vader)

''Exorcist II: The Heretic'' (1977)

''The Greatest Thing That Almost Happened'' (1977)

''The Last Remake of Beau Geste'' (1977)

''A Piece of the Action'' (1977)

''Jesus of Nazareth'' (1977)

''Black Theater: The Making of a Movement'' (1978)

''Star Wars Holiday Special'' (1978 TV special) (voice of Darth Vader)

''Roots: The Next Generations'' (1979 TV miniseries)

''Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980) (voice of Darth Vader)

''Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones'' (1980 TV miniseries)

''The Creation'' (1981)

''The Bushido Blade'' (1981)

''The Flight of Dragons'' (1982) (voice of Ommadon)

''Conan the Barbarian'' (1982)

''Blood Tide'' (1982)

''Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi'' (1983) (voice of Darth Vader)

''Allen Boesak: Choosing for Justice'' (1984)

''Faerie Tale Theatre'' "Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp" (1984)

''City Limits'' (1985)

''Soul Man'' (1986)

''Gardens of Stone'' (1987)

''Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold'' (1987)

''My Little Girl'' (1987)

''Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night'' (1987) (voice of the Emperor of the Night)

''Matewan'' (1987)

''Terrorgram'' (1988) (voice)

''Coming to America'' (1988)

''Three Fugitives'' (1989)

''Field of Dreams'' (1989)

''Best of the Best'' (1989)

''By Dawn's Early Light'' (1990)

''Convicts'' (1990)

''The Hunt for Red October'' (1990)

''A World Alive'' (1990)

''The Ambulance'' (1990)

''Grim Prairie Tales'' (1990)

''Heatwave'' (1990)

''True Identity'' (1991)

''Scorchers'' (1991)

''The Second Coming'' (1992)

''Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama'' (1992)

''Patriot Games'' (1992)

''Freddie the Frog'' (1992)

''Sneakers'' (1992)

''Dreamrider'' (1993)

''Sommersby'' (1993)

''The Sandlot'' (1993)

''Excessive Force'' (1993)

''The Meteor Man'' (1993)

''Law & Order'' (1993) (Horace McCoy)

''Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult'' (1994)

''Africa: The Serengeti'' (1994)

''Clean Slate'' (1994)

''The Vernon Johns Story'' (1994)

''The Lion King'' (1994) (voice of Mufasa)

''Clear and Present Danger'' (1994)

''Countdown to Freedom: 10 Days That Changed South Africa'' (1994)

''Jefferson in Paris'' (1995)

''Judge Dredd'' (1995)

''Cry, The Beloved Country'' (1995)

''A Family Thing'' (1996)

''Looking for Richard'' (1996)

''Good Luck'' (1996)

''Gang Related'' (1997)

''What the Deaf Man Heard'' (1997)

''Stargate SG-1'' (1997) ''

''New York... Come Visit the World'' (1998)

''Primary Colors'' (1998)

''Merlin'' (1998)

''The Lion King II: Simba's Pride'' (1998 Direct-to-video) (voice of Mufasa)

''Summer's End'' (1999)

''Our Friend, Martin'' (1999) (voice of Daddy King)

''On the Q.T.'' (1999)

''Undercover Angel'' (1999)

''The Annihilation of Fish'' (1999)

''Fantasia 2000'' (1999)

''Ennis' Gift'' (2000)

''Antietam: A Documentary Drama'' (2000)

''The Papp Project'' (2001)

''Feast of All Saints'' (2001)

''Black Indians: An American Story'' (2001)

''Finder's Fee'' (2001)

''Recess Christmas: Miracle on Third Street'' (2001)

''Muhammad Ali: Through the Eyes of the World'' (2001)

''Disney's American Legends'' (2002)

''Will and Grace'' (2003) (As Himself Season 6 episode 4)

''The Great Year'' (2004)

''Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson'' (2004)

''Robots'' (2005) (voice)

''Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith'' (2005) (voice)

''The Reading Room'' (2005)

''The Sandlot 2'' (2005)

''Malcolm X: Prince of Islam'' documentary (2006) (narration only)

''The Benchwarmers'' (2006)

''Scary Movie 4'' (2006)

''Click'' (2006) (voice) (As Himself)

''The Trail of Tears: Cherokee Legacy'' (2006)

''Earth'' (2007) (voice)

''Two and a Half Men'' (2008) (As Himself)

''Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins'' (2008)

''House'' "The Tyrant" (2009) Dibala

''Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey'' (2009) (voice)

''Jack and the Beanstalk'' (2010) (voice)

''Gimme Shelter'' (2012)

Other voice acting

''Kingdom Hearts II'' (2006) (archived audio, voice)

''Disneyland Hollywood Studios'' (2008) (voice)

Footnotes

References

Jones, James Earl, and Penelope Niven. ''James Earl Jones: Voices and Silences'' (Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1993) ISBN 0-684-19513-5

Lifetime Honors – National Medal of Arts

External links

James Earl Jones at Internet Off-Broadway Database

TonyAwards.com Interview with James Earl Jones

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof All African-American production website

James Earl Jones at Emmys.com

Category:1931 births Category:African American film actors Category:African American stage actors Category:African American television actors Category:African American voice actors Category:Actors from Michigan Category:Actors from Mississippi Category:American soap opera actors Category:Academy Honorary Award recipients Category:Daytime Emmy Award winners Category:Drama Desk Award winners Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Living people Category:People from Manistee County, Michigan Category:People from Tate County, Mississippi Category:Obie Award recipients Category:Recipients of the Ranger tab Category:Shakespearean actors Category:Tony Award winners Category:United States Army officers Category:United States National Medal of Arts recipients Category:University of Michigan alumni Category:American people of African descent Category:American people of Cherokee descent Category:American people of Choctaw descent Category:American people of Irish descent Category:Audio book narrators

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