Look up race in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Race may refer to:

Classifications[link]

• Race (biology), classification of flora and fauna
• Race (fantasy), classification of species in the fantasy genre
• Race (human classification), classification of human beings

Social[link]

• Social interpretations of race

Competition[link]

• Racing, a competition of speed
• RACE (automobile association)
• Race – The Official WTCC Game, a computer game
• The Race (yachting race)

Surnames[link]

• Harley Race (* 1943), US-American wrestler, coach and promoter
• Hugo Race, Australian musician
• Janice Race, US-American, former comic book editor for DC Comics
• John Abner Race (1914–1983), US-American politician
• Steve Race (1921-2009), British musician and radio personality

Film and television[link]

• The Race (2002 film) (Le raid), a French film starring Josiane Balasko
• Race (2007 film), an animated sci-fi film
• Race (2008 film), a Bollywood thriller
• The Race (2009 film), a film starring Colm Meaney
• Race (2011 film), a Malayalam thriller
• The Race (TV series), a 2006 UK reality programme

TV episodes

• "The Race" (The Goodies)
• "The Race" (Joe 90)
• "The Race" (Seinfeld)

Literature[link]

• The Race (novel), by Richard North Patterson
• Race (play), by David Mamet
• The Race (Worldwar), fictional aliens in the works of Harry Turtledove
• Colonel Race, an Agatha Christie character

Music[link]

• The Race (band), a UK indie rock band
• "The Race" (Wiz Khalifa song)
• "The Race" (Yello song)
• "The Race", a song by Cajun Dance Party from The Colourful Life

Science and technology[link]

• Race condition, a computer programming error
• RACE encoding, an ASCII encoding syntax
• Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service
• Rapid Amplification of cDNA Ends, a molecular biology technique

Other uses[link]

• Race (bearing), a part of a mechanical device
• RACE (container)
• Mill race, the channel of a stream
• Tidal race, a fast-moving tide passing through a constriction

See also[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Race

• All pages beginning with "Race"
• All pages with titles containing "Race"

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Alan Gordon Partridge OBE (Honour Removed) is a fictional radio and television presenter portrayed by English comedian Steve Coogan and invented by Coogan, Armando Iannucci, Stewart Lee and Richard Herring for the BBC Radio 4 programme On The Hour. A parody of both sports commentators and chat show presenters, among others, the character has appeared in two radio series, three television series and numerous TV and radio specials, including appearances on BBC's Comic Relief, which have followed the rise and fall of his career.

Character[link]

This section relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications. Please add citations from reliable sources. (April 2009)

Whereas many of his personality defects are apparent in his appearances in shows such as The Day Today and Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge, it is largely from I'm Alan Partridge onwards that his creators began to explore his personality in depth, and most of the observations that follow originated in that show.

Personality[link]

Partridge is characterised as an insecure, superficial and narcissistic 'wally', concerned largely with status, the level of his public profile and, to a lesser extent, the ostentatious possessions this allows him to acquire (such as his beloved Rover and Lexus cars and Bang & Olufsen stereo systems). Despite being a broadcaster, Partridge is a socially incompetent and awkward character prone to one-upmanship, embarrassing social faux pas and displays of deep insensitivity to social norms. His thoughtlessness and selfish lack of interest in anything beyond his own objectives exposes an unsympathetic character that is disliked and privately lampooned by many of those with whom he comes into contact. Among Partridge's few friends are Lynn Benfield, his put-upon and long-suffering personal assistant whom he regularly humiliates, and Michael, an emotionally tortured ex-soldier from Newcastle upon Tyne. It is notable, however, that he treats even these people with little more than disdain despite expecting complete loyalty from them in return; in the first series of I'm Alan Partridge he does not even seem to be on first-name terms with Michael (who exclusively addressed him as Mr Partridge throughout the two series). Bizarrely, he appears to have a close friendship with Bill Oddie, who even sends Alan Christmas presents. Partridge is otherwise depicted as being unable to forge genuine friendships or connections with other people (who are, seemingly without exception, repelled by his unpleasant and self-absorbed personality).

Attraction[link]

Partridge is depicted as being a sexually repressed and prudish man, uncomfortable and awkward with overt (or even subtle) displays of sexual or romantic feelings, or what he views as being ‘perverted’ sexual practices. He is particularly disconcerted by homosexuality, and despite describing himself as "homosceptic" at one point appears to entertain homoerotic or bisexual tendencies. This is the subject of numerous running gags in I’m Alan Partridge, in particular his numerous efforts to deny his interest in Bangkok "lady-boys" (whom he describes as ‘fascinating creatures’ whilst insisting that he is merely confused by them and not attracted to them) and a recurrent gag in which he will daydream about performing an erotic dance in a peephole Pringle jumper and a vulcanised rubber thong for a selection of men (usually those who can help further his career in some way, such as BBC Chief of Programming Tony Hayers). He is also quite misogynistic, displaying a tendency to objectify and patronise women (who usually view him with some disdain). Despite this, in the second series of I’m Alan Partridge he manages to sustain a romantic relationship with Sonja, a scatterbrained 33-year-old immigrant from Ukraine who is quite devoted to him. Even this relationship, however, is marked by Alan’s open contempt for her, and it is apparent that her affection towards him is largely unreturned and that his relationship with her is mainly based on the boost to his ego that their 14-year age gap provides (which he is frequently heard boasting about).

Family[link]

No member of Partridge’s family is shown on any of the series that he appears in; however, his dysfunctional relationship with them informs much of the background of the show. In his early appearances, Alan was married to Carol; although never-seen on screen, she can be heard in the mock documentary 'Knowing Knowing Me, Knowing You' that accompanies the BBC Radio 4 series of 'Knowing Me, Knowing You' first broadcast in 1993. Their relationship appeared to be under a lot of strain. In the Christmas special Knowing Me, Knowing Yule, Alan attributed his rash and erratic behaviour to the fact that Carol had left him on Christmas Eve. By the time of I'm Alan Partridge, Alan and Carol are divorced, and while Alan lives in a Travel Tavern, Carol remains in their home with her new boyfriend, who Alan describes unflatteringly as "a narcissistic sports pimp" who apparently enjoys protein drinks. During their marriage, Alan and Carol had two children — Fernando (apparently named after the song by ABBA) and Denise — neither of whom is ever seen or heard on-screen. During the run of Knowing Me, Knowing You, Alan states that Fernando is studying Politics at Christ's College, Cambridge. The next references to Alan's children are made in I'm Alan Partridge, in which Fernando hangs up on one of Alan's rambling go-nowhere telephone conversations, and in which a staff member at the Travel Tavern mentions that Denise has an oddly similar appearance to Alan. It is also revealed that Denise has a pierced navel, and that Fernando seems to spend much of his time in bed with a succession of girlfriends. The final mention of Alan's children is an offhand comment in the second episode of the second series of I'm Alan Partridge, in which Alan glibly states that he has access to his children, but that they have no desire to see him.

Ambitions[link]

Outside of his all-consuming quest to be on television, his various appearances often demonstrate that Partridge does not possess a particularly rich or detailed personal life. In I’m Alan Partridge in particular, he is often shown to occupy himself with pointless or needless tasks, seemingly just to give himself something to do. This is particularly evident in the first series episode "Basic Alan", over the course of which he walks to a petrol station to buy 12 bottles of windscreen washer fluid for no apparent reason, spends time driving repeatedly around a ring road and purchases a packet of tungsten-tipped screws which he states he has no intention of ever using. Most of the interests he is depicted as having show him as out of touch with modern society in general; he describes Paul McCartney's band Wings as "the band The Beatles could have been". In "Towering Alan" he claims to have a broad taste in music; he is a fan of Kate Bush, the Electric Light Orchestra, UB40, Def Leppard and particularly ABBA, the music of which is a recurrent theme in Knowing Me, Knowing You. In the second series episode "I Know What Alan Did Last Summer" he enthusiastically plays "air-bass" to the Gary Numan song "Music for Chameleons", and in "Never Say Alan Again" is seen drumming along inside his Lexus to the theme of Return of the Saint which he plays at full volume insensitively at the cemetery whilst having given his assistant Lynn ten minutes to commemorate the anniversary of her mother's passing. The few hobbies he is depicted as indulging in include driving, rambling, birdwatching and collecting celebrity memorabilia.

Political views[link]

Partridge is politically conservative, and his favourite newspaper is the Daily Mail, a right-leaning publication which he claims is "arguably the best newspaper in the world" in the episode Bravealan. He is very pro-law and has a strong stance on criminality, viewing hoodlums and miscreants as "sub-human scum". He also favours the death penalty for treason and murder. Despite these professed views, he appears to have no strong moral compunctions; in one episode he exploits an "all you can fit on a plate" breakfast deal at the Travel Tavern by bringing in a slightly larger plate of his own, a "scam" of which the staff are in fact fully aware but tolerate with amusement. Alan is not a fan of the modern obsession with health and safety, stating on one occasion that political correctness had "gone mad" after being told that naked flames are not permitted on the forecourt of his local petrol station, thus curtailing his plans for a barbecue there. He has admiration for former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and believes she was betrayed by her own party when she was forced out of Downing Street, and in 1997 claimed that the Referendum Party had "more integrity than the whole of the other political parties put together."^[1]

He has commented on the troubles in Northern Ireland stating that he believes both Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness to be very clever men, though that he does not trust either of them as he believes Adams looks like a deputy headmaster and McGuinness looks like a clown without make-up. He displays ignorance over the issues that unfolded in Ireland, once chastising the Irish over the potato famine with the remark, "at the end of the day, they will pay the price for being a fussy eater", and also completely misunderstanding the lyrics to Sunday Bloody Sunday by U2, believing the song to "really encasuplated the frustrations of a Sunday" (both of these conversations happened in front of two Irish television producers in To Kill A Mocking Alan). Alan once caused a security alert at Choristers Country Club by booking a room under the name "The Real IRA".

Fictional biography[link]

Early years and career[link]

Within his fictional world, Partridge was born to Dorothy Partridge on 2 April 1955 in King's Lynn, Norfolk, England, and spent his childhood in Norwich. He was often bullied at school, as we find out in an episode of the original Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge radio show when Alan is hypnotised and regressed to his childhood, and reveals he was called "Smelly Alan Fartridge" by classmate Stephen McCoombs - happily for Partridge now McCoombs has back problems and lives on disability benefits. He claims in his autobiography that this was infantile humour that any self-respecting comedian would have dismissed and that he was particularly sensitive to hygiene issues and if there were anything he did smell of, it would have been Radox and Colgate. In the second series of I'm Alan Partridge, Alan recounts a story about a time he was once caned for having a chalk penis drawn on the back of his school blazer by another student, an incident about which he still feels bitter. The same student also dropped Alan's swimming trunks into a urinal one day at school, despite Alan being his scout pack leader. He appears to have had a lonely childhood, and in a 'Rural Alan' special feature (found on the DVD release of Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge) recounts how he would ramble about the Norfolk countryside in solitude, singing his favourite pop songs.

After passing two A-levels Partridge attended the (fictional) East Anglia Polytechnic. He later married Carol, who gave birth to Alan's son Fernando and daughter Denise. Carol left Alan for a fitness instructor (whom Alan claims to be an "idiot" and a "narcissistic sports pimp"), and took the children with her.

Radio career[link]

Alan worked his way upwards from a position as a DJ on Radio Smile on St Luke's hospital radio, until he left, after arguments with patients. He then began presenting the drive time Traffic Buster show on Radio Norwich, where he stayed for five years and was named sports reporter of the year in 1988. He then became a presenter on the BBC's Scoutabout programme, where he entered into the top eight of BBC sports reporters. Alan soon garnered a slot presenting sports news on BBC Radio 4's On the Hour programme (1991) presented by Chris Morris. On that show Alan suffered from a severe lack of any sporting knowledge and developed a notable talent for mixed and/or nonsensical metaphors.

Alan got his first starring role in 1992 as host of BBC Radio 4's Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge (a spoof chat show with fictional guests). A typical question was "You've just published your autobiography. What's that about?" He managed to offend people on his show who would then attempt to disgrace the host. During his tenure on the show, Alan hit a child genius, unknowingly took cocaine, bribed rent boys, lost his wife's car in a bet, was openly homophobic, forced the resignation of a junior government minister and, in the series finale, his guest Lord Morgan of Glossop died of an apparent heart attack.

There was also a one off spoof-documentary about the show called Knowing, Knowing Me, Knowing You. It provided a behind-the-scenes look at how the show was put together and the antagonism between Alan and those who worked for him, as well as giving insight into the problems with his marriage to Carol.

[edit] The Day Today

On The Hour transferred to television as The Day Today in 1994, where Alan continued as the inept sports reporter ("This is Sports Desk... I'm Alan Partridge"). Here he bungled his way through a feature on the 1994 FIFA World Cup, gave a colourful report on the previous sporting season, made a complete mess of reporting the recent horse racing tournament, and was beaten up by a female martial-arts instructor.

[edit] Knowing Me, Knowing You

The transition to television was to be a success for Alan and was swiftly followed by a television version of Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge. The format was largely the same as the radio show, with the addition of a house band under the directorship of Glen Ponder (played by musical comedian Steve Brown). In the sixth episode, Alan accidentally shot dead one of his guests (Forbes McAllister) on air while examining one of Lord Byron's duelling pistols. He was cleared of any wrongdoing by an internal BBC investigation. The show featured an Alan Partridge tie and blazer badge set which, like the Alan Partridge face mask, was produced but never marketed - instead the famous "Tie and Blazer Badge Set" was included as part of a Boxed Set of videos released towards the end of the 1990s.

In reality, KMKYWAP was a huge success; in the fictional world of Alan Partridge, it suffered from terrible ratings. This was because of "poor scheduling" (The show was aired at the same time as the News at Ten^{[disambiguation needed ]}) and Alan's PA, Lynn, claimed that "the ratings started poorly and went downhill from there". In the end the show was taken off the air at the end of the first series.

In 1995, Alan hosted a Christmas special of KMKYWAP, humorously titled Knowing Me, Knowing Yule. One of his guests was the (fictional) director of programming at the BBC, Tony Hayers (later to become Alan's nemesis, played by David Schneider). Alan, with a characteristic lack of subtlety, was seen probing for a new series of KMKYWAP. However, the show was an unmitigated disaster for Alan, as his attempt at product placement was blatantly exposed, and the show climaxed with Alan punching both a man in a wheelchair and Tony Hayers (twice) with his hand inside a roast partridge. After punching Hayers for the first time, Partridge begged "please don't take my chat away from me", then after punching him a second time declared "I'll never work in broadcasting again". Mick Hucknall of Simply Red then played the show out. It was clearly the beginning of the end of his time at BBC television. He was "kept on the books", as it were, for a short while, but after a particularly harrowing meeting with Hayers at the BBC cafeteria (which involved assault by cheese) he was left in no doubt that his BBC TV career was over.

[edit] I'm Alan Partridge

Partridge next appeared in I'm Alan Partridge (1997), a look behind the scenes of his rapidly failing career. In this television series, he is seen having gained a slot on the fictional Radio Norwich. He continues to cause offence, this time mainly to his listeners. He also has a bad relationship with his colleague Dave Clifton (played by Phil Cornwell), Alan occasionally insults him while introducing him on his show (for example in ‘Alan Attraction’ Alan says "Here's a man who indeed won't be killing anyone with syphilis"). However Dave usually gets the better of Alan except in ‘Basic Alan’ where he tells Dave to "fuck off" after he torments him over a recent incident with a traffic cone, Dave is stunned by this and lays into Alan by claiming that "dead-air is a crime and that it is terrible that he has to fill it with swearing on his show". Alan's comeback refers to the correct time (7.01am) and that it is Dave's show and he is merely a guest whom Dave has failed to control, he then says "Read the smallprint on your cone-tract". By this stage in his life Alan had been kicked out by his wife and, after wandering around a John Menzies for five hours in a state of depressed homelessness, Alan had been forced to take up residence in the equally fictional Linton Travel Tavern, which he chose because it is "equidistant between London and Norwich". The first episode featured Alan meeting Tony Hayers, begging for a new series on the BBC. Hayers was not impressed, and Alan had to wrap up his production company Peartree Productions (a reference to the Christmas Carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas"), firing all its staff including Jill (whom he had feelings for and had one-night stand with; albeit unsuccessful). During his time at the Linton Travel Tavern, we discovered more about Alan's failed marriage, his children and his obsession with "Bangkok Chick Boys". In ‘Watership Alan’ he was crushed by a dead cow after insulting farmers on his show. And in ‘To Kill a Mocking Alan’ he was nearly kidnapped by his "number one fan", a crazed lunatic called Jed Maxwell.

In the final episode, Tony Hayers died after a fall from a roof, and one of Alan's old friends, Chris Feather, took over as head of programmes at the BBC. However, at the decisive moment when the new executive was about to sign a five-year contract, he keeled over and died, forcing Alan to forge the dead man's signature.

The programme itself is not presented as a documentary, but during the in-character commentary on the DVD release, Alan explains that it is in fact a "post-documentary"; all the events depicted in the series took place, but everyone in the show, apart from himself and his personal assistant Lynn Benfield (played by Felicity Montagu), were actors hired to portray them "after they had actually occurred".

Alan's next appearance was in a 1999 half-hour special filmed for Comic Relief in which Alan started to lose the plot, foreshadowing his mental breakdown in the second series of I'm Alan Partridge. A simulcast between BBC Two and Radio Norwich, Alan appears incoherent and incapable of keeping track of the format of his own show. A second Comic Relief appearance followed in 2001, showing him interviewing a boxing manager, played by Peter Kay. Eventually, this resulted in Alan taking on one of the boxers in the ring and being beaten by the boxer, the manager and his friend Michael.

Coogan was apparently reluctant to continue playing the character, but returned for a second series of I'm Alan Partridge in 2002.

In the second series Alan was temporarily living in a caravan while waiting for his new house to be built. Despite his five-year contract with the BBC, Alan claims to his old school teacher "Sweaty" Frank Raphael in ‘The Talented Mr. Alan’ that there was "bad blood" between them and they were "bitter bastards" plus every profession has its "shits", so they had to let him go.

Alan returned to radio, securing the "third best slot on Radio Norwich", presenting Norfolk Nights, a big leap from his former timeslot of 4am to 7am, when he presented Up With the Partridge. Alan also presents a military-based quiz show called Skirmish on the (fictional) cable station UK Conquest, and has a deal with Meteor Productions to make the Crash! Bang! Wallop!... What a Video/Scum on the Run series of car-crash videos.

In the period from his time at the Linton Travel Tavern to his residence in the temporary "static home", Alan suffered a mental breakdown and put on weight, or as he put it, was "clinically fed up" and "repellent to women for two years". This collapse culminated in Alan driving a Vauxhall Vectra to Dundee in his bare feet while gorging himself on Toblerone (in a similar incident, Alan recounts throwing all his tax receipts off a ferry). However, by 2002, his life was firmly back on track, save for the odd glitch. He even had a Ukrainian girlfriend called Sonja, who was 33 years old — 14 years younger than himself (a point Alan emphasises with the smug exclamation, "Cashback!"). This period in Alan's life is documented in his autobiography Bouncing Back, which Alan claims has been described as "lovely stuff" by entertainer Shakin' Stevens.

Memorable moments of this series include Alan dry-vomiting his way through a speech about fireplaces after impaling his foot on a spiked fence; mistakenly getting involved with swingers; attacking a six-foot stuffed Beefeater bear; his summing up the entire opening of The Spy Who Loved Me in less than a minute during a failed attempt at a 24-hour Bondathon; Lynn's baptism at her Baptist church and, of course, the sad pulping of his autobiography which, despite taking up four weeks of his life to write, simply wasn't selling well (partly because every anecdote ended with the phrase "Needless to say, I had the last laugh".) Unfortunately, Alan tells us, it seems the public was more concerned with buying gangster autobiographies like Bad Slags.

The second series saw a move away from the drier and more realistic style of the first, a move that was at odds with more recent sitcoms, most notably The Office. This led to it being less well received than the first. Surprisingly, producer and co-writer of the series, Armando Iannucci states in the commentary to his own DVD of The Armando Iannucci Shows, that he had recently re-watched the second series of I'm Alan Partridge, and describes it as "terrible". On the DVD commentary of the second series of I'm Alan Partridge, Steve Coogan appears surprised at the over-the-top style he used to play Alan in the 2002 series, calling it "big acting".

Steve Coogan's profile on the BBC Comedy website talks of another series featuring Alan Partridge, entitled I'm Still Alan Partridge.^[2] However this was in fact the provisional title for I'm Alan Partridge series 2.

[edit] Anglian Lives

In 2003, Alan again returned to our screen in a half-hour special of Anglian Lives (also known as "Anglian Alan"), a fictional regional BBC show. This was presented by Ray Woollard (Peter Baynham, who had appeared previously in 'I'm Alan Partridge' as the voice box using executive from the boat holiday company in 'Watership Alan') and "Digital Dave", and was basically a sycophantic look at Alan's career, past and present; the credits listed it as being executively produced by Alan himself. It shed more detail on Alan's hatred of London, his Toblerone addiction, and his future.

[edit] Steve Coogan as Alan Partridge and Other Less Successful Characters: Live

In October 2008 Alan returned as part of the tour "Steve Coogan is Alan Partridge and other less successful characters". Alan is now a life coach and claims to have helped such celebrities as Ross Kemp, Vinnie Jones, Jeremy Kyle, and the Cheeky Girls. Also, in a recent interview, Coogan confirmed that Partridge would return at some stage, for either a film or a Television special.^[3]

Mid Morning Matters with Alan Partridge[link]

In August 2010, it was reported that Alan Partridge would make a comeback series online for lager giant Fosters.^[4] On 8 October 2010, it was announced that the new show, entitled Alan Partridge's Mid Morning Matters, would premiere on 5 November 2010 on Foster's comedy site, http://www.fostersfunny.co.uk . In a press release, Steve Coogan announced, in character:

"I am delighted to announce that after years as a regional broadcaster on North Norfolk Digital my groundbreaking radio segment, Mid Morning Matters, will now be accessible to a potential audience of billions via the World Wide Web (www).

That it has taken Foster’s to help realise my dream of joining the information superhighway is a damning indictment of the established broadcasters whose shabby treatment of me on Sept 10th 2001 was frankly shabby. I made dozens of calls the next day, all of which were ignored.

My appreciation must go to Armando Iannucci and Baby Cow for ignoring the lies, God bless them. In the meantime I look forward to “hanging out ‘n’ chillin” with the MySpace generation."^[5]

After the six episodes aired online, in December 2010, Armando Iannucci confirmed on Twitter that "there will be 6 more Alan Partridge Mid Morning Matters starting in February." This series started on February 4, 2011, as episode 7, and ran every Friday until episode 12 on March 11, 2011.

In Mid Morning Matters Alan again works as a disc jockey, this time on the fictional station 'North Norfolk Digital'. He is occasionally joined by 'Side-kick Simon', played by Tim Key, who after Episode 10 is fired due to Alan's gradual dislike towards him. Alan is noticeably annoyed when he discovers that Simon had started guesting as a side-kick on another radio show (a late night comedy show). Much of the comedy surrounding Simon was his failure to grasp political correctness on sensitive issues which Alan would have to cover for when Simon slipped. After his departure Alan recruits a new side-kick, 'Zoe' and quickly develops a crush on her. In the twelfth and final episode of Mid Morning Matters, Zoe reveals she is going travelling for three months much to Alan's disappointment. The episode ends with a shot through the window into the recording booth as Zoe hugs Alan and gives him a kiss on the cheek; there is no sound and it is unknown what Alan has said to warrant this reaction. This is a rare low key ending to an Alan Partridge series with the high point culminating in Episode 10 when Alan scolds Side-kick Simon following a practical joke on Alan.

In Episode 3, released on 18 November 2010, Alan invites listeners to vote for "simply the best of Norfolk" (who is the best person Norfolk has produced?) in which he makes reference to Bernard Matthews ("he is tantalisingly close to producing the ten-pence turkey, now there's a thought..."). Matthews died a week later on 25 November 2010.

Following the series, Alan appeared again as part of the Red Nose Day 2011 set for a one-off show akin to the Mid Morning Matters arrangement, and here Side-kick Simon reappears in his former capacity. Here, Alan interviews a nun over whom he sneezes blood by mistake. The series was written by Steve Coogan, Rob Gibbons, Neil Gibbons and Armando Iannucci.

On 4 October 2011 co-writer Neil Gibbons announced on his Twitter feed that a second series of Mid Morning Matters was in development.^[6] On 10 November 2011 it was reported that the rights to the current and future series of Mid Morning Matters were to be acquired by Sky to be shown on subscriber-only channel Sky Atlantic.^[7]

[edit] I, Partridge: We Need to Talk About Alan

On 22 July 2011, Armando Iannucci announced on his Twitter feed that "Alan Partridge [had] delivered his autobiography to the publishers".^[8] The book was published in the UK by HarperCollins on 29 September 2011, and is entitled I, Partridge: We Need to Talk About Alan. It is available in hardcover and paperback, as well as in CD and downloadable audio and ePub formats, and is also set to be published in Australia on 1 November 2011 and in Canada on 1 December 2011.^[9] Alan Partridge promoted his autobiography on ITV's The Jonathan Ross Show show on 1 October 2011.^[10] It was met with positive reviews and was a commercial success, compared to his fictional last book 'Bouncing Back' which was panned by critics and didn't sell well.^[11][12][13]

The Alan Partridge Movie[link]

In August 2004 a small piece appeared in the Metro newspaper which claimed that: "Steve Coogan got the green light from a US studio to play the spoof DJ on the big screen." Coogan reportedly said: "It's always been my plan to make Alan go global. It's what he lives for really, not just doing the show on Radio Norwich." Other sources confirm the film will be going ahead and ITV has reported that Victoria Beckham will be playing a "demanding diva" in the film. Coogan has since denied that Beckham will appear.

In April 2005, Coogan's production firm Baby Cow announced that an Alan Partridge movie was in the pipeline.^[14][15] It was later revealed the film would involve an al-Qaeda siege. Due to the sensitivities of such a storyline after the 7 July 2005 London bombings, the project was put on hold,^[16] but in November 2007, further details of the film were released.^[17]

The plot of the film involved Alan Partridge attempting another comeback from local radio, only to have his ambitions thwarted when Middle Eastern terrorists hijack the BBC offices. Coogan had written some dialogue, but has said he is not sure whether he wants to revisit his most famous creation. "Part of me wants to do it, and other things," he said in an interview.^[18] Playwright Patrick Marber, whose early collaborations with Coogan included The Day Today and being the principal writer of both radio and TV versions of Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge, has also been working on the script, but the pair put their plans on hold following the London bombings, for fear the screenplay would appear in bad taste. Actress Felicity Montagu, who plays Partridge's PA Lynne, said last year^[when?]: "There was a lot of talk about it, but then the London bombings happened and it got put to one side. I'm sure Steve will write an Alan Partridge film eventually. But for the moment I don't think it's happening."^{[citation needed]}

In 2005, Armando Iannucci, who helped Coogan create Partridge, said he did not want to be involved in any movie spin-off, saying: "Steve wants to do an Alan Partridge film, but I couldn't bear to go through that again. For me, the idea of spending two more years in a room with that voice is more than I can take". However, in more recent interviews, Iannucci has been more positive about the idea and it is expected that both he and Peter Baynham will be involved in writing the film.

Armando Iannucci revealed in late March 2010 that Alan won’t be travelling to the USA as the rumours have suggested though: “At the moment we’re just deciding whether we should (make an Alan Partridge movie) and the ideas we’ve come up with are very much Alan in the UK and his ideas of what he could be. We don’t see Alan, for example getting Simon Cowell’s spot on American Idol and going over there. That’s too good for Alan. Alan’s future is always brighter in his head than it is in the real world. I think Alan harbours this distortion that, with reality TV bringing back your Keith Chegwins and your Tony Blackburns and so on that his time will come, but it hasn’t come, he hasn’t had that call.” ^[19]

Armando Iannucci confirmed in July 2010 that a film is definitely in the works and that Steve and himself have "now agreed a story for the film. It's NOT Alan goes to America." ^[20]

In November 2011 Peter Baynham said that the movie is happening next year.^[21]

The movie's screenplay is currently being written by Steve Coogan, Armando Iannucci, Rob Gibbons and Neil Gibbons - plus Peter Baynham - with the storyline completed in January 2012. ^[22]

In spring 2012, Armando Iannucci stated that the as-yet-untitled film would be shooting later in the year, released in 2013, and would be directed by Declan Lowney.^[23]

Other activity[link]

In 2004 Coogan also gave an interview with Now magazine, and when asked "Is it true that you're killing off Alan Partridge?", Coogan replied: "No, not at all. What's he up to at the moment? Well, I'd say he's being cryogenically preserved next to Walt Disney. Don't worry. When the day comes that I feel like I need to do something else with him, I'll defrost him and make him funny again."

In November 2008, Coogan stated that he has some ideas for what to do with Partridge next on TV and that he's glad to be well known for playing him, despite it over-shadowing most of his other ventures. "As a character he's given me the opportunity to play lots of other characters and to have other opportunities in film and television. So I can't resent him really. And I enjoy playing him, performing him because it's very comfortable. It's like putting on an old jacket".^[24]

List of appearances[link]

• On the Hour (BBC Radio 4, series) 1991
• On the Hour (BBC Radio 4, series) 1992
• Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge (BBC Radio 4, series) 1992
• Knowing, Knowing Me, Knowing You (BBC Radio 4, spoof documentary) 1992
• The Day Today (BBC Two, spoof news series) 1994
• Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge (BBC Two) 1994
• A Christmas Ramble (BBC Two, spoof documentary) 1994
• Comic Relief (BBC One, with John Thomson) 1995
• Knowing Me Knowing Yule with Alan Partridge (BBC Two, Christmas special) 1995
• The Big Snog (Live show in support of gay rights) 1996
• I'm Alan Partridge (BBC Two, series) 1997
• Clive Anderson: All Talk (BBC One, spoof interview) 1997
• Election Night Armistice (BBC Two, political satire show) 1997
• Brit Awards (ITV, presenting award for Best Video to the 'not unattractive' All Saints) 1998
• Steve Coogan Live: The Man Who Thinks He's It (Live show) 1998
• Stephen Fry's "Live from the Lighthouse" (Channel 4, spoof interview with Simon Pegg as an AIDS charity worker and Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher) 1998
• Comic Relief (BBC Two, half-hour special featuring Bryan Ferry; Partridge sings a Kate Bush medley) 1999
• Comedy Awards (performing a duet with Elton John) 2000
• Comic Relief (BBC One, featuring Peter Kay) 2001
• I'm Alan Partridge (BBC Two, series) 2002
• Anglian Lives (BBC Two, spoof career retrospective - also featuring Peter Baynham) 2003
• Cream of British Comedy (Live Show, as well as the live show a DVD was released includes Radio Norwich extras such as Alan meets Roger Daltrey) 2005
• Comic Relief (BBC One, monologue; KMKY-style (fictional) interview featuring Simon Pegg as the Milky Bar Kid) 2005
• Steve Coogan as Alan Partridge and Other Less Successful Characters: Live (Live tour, Alan was a featured character in Coogan's 2008 live tour, where he has become a life coach) 2008
• Mid Morning Matters with Alan Partridge (Foster's Funny/Sky Atlantic, New Alan Partridge web/TV series) 2010-present
• Comic Relief Mid Morning Matters (BBC One, Comic Relief Special of Mid Morning Matters) 2011
• The Jonathan Ross Show (ITV1, Spoof Interview with Jonathan Ross promoting his autobiography) 2011
• The Richard Bacon Show (BBC Radio 5Live, Spoof Interview with Richard Bacon promoting his autobiography) 2011
• Under 1 Roof (Charity show appearance) 2011

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Alan Partridge

• Alan Partridge at BBC Online
• British Sitcom Guide

Peter Cook
Cook (left) with Dudley Moore in 1974
Born	Peter Edward Cook (1937-11-17)17 November 1937 Torquay, Devon, England
Died	9 January 1995(1995-01-09) (aged 57) Hampstead, London, England
Occupation	Comedian, satirist, writer
Years active	1958–1994
Spouse	Wendy Snowden (1963–1971) Judy Huxtable (1973–1989) Lin Chong (1989–1995)

Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English satirist, writer and comedian. An extremely influential figure in modern British comedy, he is regarded as the leading light of the British satire boom of the 1960s. Cook has been described by Stephen Fry as "the funniest man who ever drew breath", although his work was also controversial.^[1] Cook was closely associated with anti-establishment comedy which emerged in Britain and the United States in the late 1950s.

Early life[link]

Cook was born at his parents' house "Shearbridge", in Middle Warberry Road, Torquay, Devon. He was the only son and eldest of the three children of Alexander Edward (Alec) Cook (1906–1984), a colonial civil servant, and his wife Ethel Catherine Margaret, née Mayo (1908–1994). He was educated at Radley College and Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he studied French and German. As a student, Cook initially intended to become a career diplomat like his father, but Britain "had run out of colonies", as he put it. Although politically largely apathetic, particularly in later life when he displayed a deep distrust of politicians of all hues, he did join the Cambridge University Liberal Club.^[2]

It was at Pembroke that Cook performed and wrote comedy sketches as a member of the Cambridge Footlights Club, of which he became president in 1960. His hero was fellow Footlights writer and Cambridge magazine writer David Nobbs.^[3]

Whilst still at university, Cook wrote for Kenneth Williams, for whom he created an entire West End comedy revue called One Over the Eight, before finding prominence in his own right in a four-man group satirical stage show, Beyond the Fringe, with Jonathan Miller, Alan Bennett and Dudley Moore.

The show became a great success in London after being first performed at the Edinburgh Festival and included Cook impersonating the Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan. This was one of the first occasions satirical political mimicry had been attempted in live theatre and it shocked audiences. During one performance, Macmillan was in the theatre and Cook departed from his script and attacked him verbally.^[4]

Career[link]

1960s[link]

In 1961 Cook opened the Establishment club at 18 Greek Street in Soho in central London, presenting fellow comedians in a nightclub setting, including American Lenny Bruce. Cook said it was a satirical venue modelled on "those wonderful Berlin cabarets... which did so much to stop the rise of Hitler and prevent the outbreak of the Second World War";^[5] as a members-only venue it was outside the censorship restrictions. Cook befriended and supported Australian comedian and actor Barry Humphries, who began his British solo career at the club. Humphries said in his autobiography, My Life As Me, that he found Cook's lack of interest in art and literature off-putting. Cook's chiselled looks and languid manner led Humphries to observe that whereas most people take after their father or mother, Cook seemed more like an aunt. Dudley Moore's jazz trio played in the basement of the club during the early 1960s.

In 1962, the BBC commissioned a pilot for a television series of satirical sketches based on the Establishment club, but it was not picked up straight away and Cook went to New York for a year to perform in Beyond The Fringe on Broadway. When he returned, the pilot had been refashioned as That Was The Week That Was and had made a star of David Frost, something Cook resented. The 1960s satire boom was closing and Cook said that Britain would "sink into the sea under the weight of its own giggling".^{[citation needed]} He complained that Frost's success was based on copying Cook's own stage persona and that his only regret in life had been once saving Frost from drowning.^{[citation needed]} Around this time, Cook provided financial backing for the satirical magazine Private Eye, supporting it through difficult periods, particularly in libel trials. Cook invested his own money and solicited investment from his friends. For a time, the magazine was produced from the premises of the Establishment club. In 1963, Cook married Wendy Snowden; the couple had two daughters, Lucy and Daisy, but the marriage ended in 1970.

Cook expanded television comedy with Eleanor Bron, John Bird and John Fortune. His first regular television spot was on Granada Television's Braden Beat with Bernard Braden, where he featured his most enduring character: the static, dour and monotonal E.L. Wisty, whom Cook had conceived for Radley College's Marionette Society.

Cook's comedy partnership with Dudley Moore led to Not Only... But Also. This was intended by the BBC for Moore's music, but Moore invited Cook to write sketches and appear with him. Using few props, they created dry and absurd television which lasted for three series between 1965 and 1970. Cook played characters such as Sir Arthur Streeb-Greebling and the two men created their Pete and Dud alter egos. Other sketches included "Superthunderstingcar", a parody of the Gerry Anderson marionette TV shows, and Cook's pastiche of 1960s trendy arts documentaries – satirised in a parodic TV segment on Greta Garbo.

When Cook learned a few years later that the videotapes of the series were to be wiped, a common practice at the time, he offered to buy the recordings from the BBC but was refused because of copyright issues. He suggested he could purchase new tapes so that the BBC would have no need to erase the originals, but this was also turned down. Of the original programmes, only eight of the twenty-two episodes still survive complete. A compilation of six half-hour programmes, The Best of What's Left of Not Only...But Also was shown on television and has been released on both VHS and DVD.

With The Wrong Box (1966) and Bedazzled (1967) Cook and Moore began to act in films together. Directed by Stanley Donen, the underlying story of Bedazzled is credited to Cook and Moore and its screenplay to Cook. A comic parody of Faust, it stars Cook as George Spigott (The Devil) who tempts Stanley Moon (Moore), a frustrated, short-order chef, with the promise of gaining his heart's desire – the unattainable beauty and waitress at his cafe, Margaret Spencer (Eleanor Bron) – in exchange for his soul, but repeatedly tricks him. The film features cameo appearances by Barry Humphries as Envy and Raquel Welch as Lust. Moore composed the soundtrack music and co-wrote (with Cook) the songs performed in the film. His jazz trio backed Cook on the theme, a parodic anti-love song, which Cook delivered in a monotonous deadpan voice and included his familiar put-down, "You fill me with inertia."

In 1968, Cook and Moore briefly switched to ATV for four one-hour programmes entitled Goodbye Again, based on the Pete and Dud characters. They ignored suggestions from the director and cast. Sketches were drawn out to fill the running time. With no interest in the show, Cook's increasing alcoholism led him to become reliant on cue cards and he ended up garbling the script, forcing Moore to ad-lib. The show was not a popular success, owing in part to the publication of the ITV listings magazine, TV Times, being suspended because of a strike. John Cleese was a cast member.

1970s[link]

In 1970, Cook took over a project initiated by David Frost for a satirical film about an opinion pollster who rises to become President of Great Britain. Under Cook's guidance, the character became modelled on Frost. The film, The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer, was not a success, although the cast contained notable names.

Cook became a favourite of the chat show circuit but his own effort at hosting one for the BBC in 1971, Where Do I Sit?, was said by the critics to have been a disappointment. He was replaced after only two episodes by Michael Parkinson, the start of Parkinson's career as a chat show host. Parkinson later asked Cook what his ambitions were. Cook replied "[...] in fact, my ambition is to shut you up altogether."

He and Moore fashioned sketches from Not Only....But Also and Goodbye Again with new material into the stage revue called Behind the Fridge. This show toured Australia in 1972 before transferring to New York in 1973, re-titled as Good Evening. Cook frequently appeared on and off stage the worse for drink. Nonetheless, the show proved very popular and it won Tony and Grammy Awards. When it finished, Moore stayed in the U.S. to pursue his film acting ambitions in Hollywood. Cook returned to Britain and in 1973 he married the actress and model Judy Huxtable.

Later, the more risqué humour of Pete and Dud went farther on long-playing records as "Derek and Clive". The first recording was initiated by Cook to alleviate boredom during the Broadway run of Good Evening, and it used material conceived years before for the two characters but considered too outrageous. One of these audio recordings was also filmed, and tensions between the duo are seen to rise. Chris Blackwell circulated bootleg copies to friends in the music business. The popularity of the recording convinced Cook to release it commercially, although Moore was initially reluctant, fearing that his rising fame as a Hollywood star would be undermined. Two further Derek and Clive albums were released, the last accompanied by a film.

In 1978 Cook appeared on British music series Revolver as the manager of a ballroom where emerging punk and new wave acts played. For some groups, these were their first appearances on television. Cook's acerbic commentary was an aspect of the programme.

In 1979 Cook recorded comedy-segments as B-sides to the Sparks 12-inch singles "Number One In Heaven" and "Tryouts For The Human Race". The main songwriter Ron Mael often started off a banal situation in his lyrics, and then went at surreal tangents in the style of Cook and S.J. Perelman.

[edit] Consequences album

Cook played multiple roles on the 1977 concept album Consequences, written and produced by former 10cc members Kevin Godley and Lol Creme. A mixture of spoken comedy and progressive rock with an environmental subtext, Consequences started as a single that Godley and Creme planned to make to demonstrate their invention, an electric guitar effect called the Gizmo, which they developed in 10cc. The project grew into a triple LP boxed set. The comedy sections were originally intended to be performed by a cast including Spike Milligan and Peter Ustinov, but Godley and Creme eventually settled on Cook once they realised he could perform most parts himself.

The storyline centres on the impending divorce of ineffectual Englishman Walter Stapleton (Cook) and his French wife Lulu (Judy Huxtable). While meeting their lawyers – the bibulous Mr Haig and overbearing Mr Pepperman (both played by Cook) – the encroaching global catastrophe interrupts proceedings with bizarre and mysterious happenings, which seem to centre on Mr Blint (Cook), a musician and composer living in the flat below Haig's office, to which it is connected by a large hole in the floor.

Although it has since developed a cult following due to Cook's presence, Consequences was released as punk was sweeping the UK and proved a resounding commercial failure, savaged by critics who found the music self-indulgent. The script and story have evident connections to Cook's own life – his then wife Judy Huxtable, plays Walter's wife. Cook's struggles with alcohol are mirrored in Haig's drinking, and there is a parallel between the fictional divorce of Walter and Lulu and Cook's own divorce from his first wife. The voice and accent Cook used for the character of Stapleton are similar to Cook's Beyond the Fringe colleague, Alan Bennett, and a book on Cook's comedy, How Very Interesting, speculates that the characters Cook plays in Consequences are caricatures of the four Beyond The Fringe cast members – the alcoholic Haig represents Cook, the tremulous Stapleton is Bennett, the parodically Jewish Pepperman is Miller, and the pianist Blint represents Moore.^[6]

Amnesty International performances[link]

Cook appeared at the first three fund-raising galas staged by humourists John Cleese and Martin Lewis on behalf of Amnesty International. The benefits were dubbed The Secret Policeman's Balls though it wasn't until the third show in 1979 that the title was used. He performed on all three nights of the first show in April 1976, A Poke in the Eye (with a Sharp Stick), as an individual performer and as a member of the cast of Beyond The Fringe, which reunited for the first time since the 1960s. He also appeared in a Monty Python sketch, taking the place of Eric Idle. Cook was on the cast album of the show and in the film, Pleasure At Her Majesty's. He was in the second Amnesty gala in May 1977, An Evening Without Sir Bernard Miles. It was retitled The Mermaid Frolics for the cast album and TV special. Cook performed monologues and skits with Terry Jones.

In June 1979, Cook performed all four nights of The Secret Policeman's Ball – teaming with John Cleese. Cook performed a couple of solo pieces and a sketch with Eleanor Bron. He also led the ensemble in the finale – the "End Of The World" sketch from Beyond The Fringe.

In response to a barb in The Daily Telegraph that the show was recycled material, Cook wrote a satire of the summing-up by Mr Justice Cantley in the trial of former Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe, a summary thought by some to show bias in favour of Thorpe. Cook performed it that same night (Friday 29 June – the third of the four nights) and the following night. The nine-minute opus, "Entirely a Matter for You," is considered by many fans and critics to be one of the finest works of Cook's career. Cook and show producer Martin Lewis brought out an album on Virgin Records entitled Here Comes the Judge: Live of the live performance together with three studio tracks that further lampooned the Thorpe trial.^[7][8]

Although unable to take part in the 1981 gala, Cook supplied the narration over the animated opening title sequence of the 1982 film of the show. With Lewis, he wrote and voiced radio commercials to advertise the film in the UK. He also hosted a spoof film awards ceremony that was part of the world première of the film in London in March 1982.

Following Cook's 1987 stage reunion with Moore for the annual U.S. benefit for the homeless, Comic Relief (not related to the UK Comic Relief benefits), Cook repeated the reunion for a British audience by performing with Moore at the 1989 Amnesty benefit The Secret Policeman's Biggest Ball.

1980s[link]

In 1980, partly spurred by Moore's growing film star status, Cook moved to Hollywood and appeared as an uptight English butler to a wealthy American woman in a short-lived U.S. television sitcom The Two of Us, also making cameo appearances in a couple of undistinguished films. In 1980, Cook starred in the LWT special Peter Cook & Co. The show included comedy sketches, including a Tales of the Unexpected parody "Tales Of The Much As We Expected". This involved Cook as Roald Dahl, explaining his name had been Ronald before he dropped the "n". The cast included John Cleese, Rowan Atkinson, Beryl Reid, Paula Wilcox and Terry Jones.

In 1983 Cook played the role of Richard III in the first episode of Blackadder, "The Foretelling", which parodies Laurence Olivier's portrayal. He narrated the short film "Diplomatix" by Norwegian comedy trio Kirkvaag, Lystad and Mjøen, which won the "Special Prize of the City of Montreux" at the Montreux Comedy Festival in 1985.^[9] In 1986 he partnered Joan Rivers on her UK talk show. He appeared as Mr Jolly in 1987 in The Comic Strip Presents' Mr Jolly Lives Next Door, playing an assassin who covers the sound of his murders by playing Tom Jones records. Cook appeared in The Princess Bride that year as the "Impressive Clergyman". Also that year he spent time working with Martin Lewis on a political satire about the 1988 U.S. presidential elections for HBO, but the script went unproduced. Lewis suggested Cook team with Moore for the U.S. Comic Relief telethon for the homeless. The duo reunited and performed their "One Leg Too Few" sketch.

In 1988, Cook appeared as a contestant on the improvisation comedy show, Whose Line Is It Anyway? Cook was declared the winner, his prize being to read the credits in the style of a New York cab driver – a character he'd portrayed in Peter Cook & Co.

Cook occasionally called in to Clive Bull's night-time phone-in radio show on LBC in London. Using the name "Sven from Swiss Cottage", he mused on love, loneliness and herrings in a mock Norwegian accent. Jokes included Sven's attempts to find his estranged wife, in which he often claimed to be telephoning the show from all over the world, and his hatred of the Norwegian obsession with fish. While Bull was clearly aware that Sven was fictional he did not learn Sven's real identity until later.

Revival[link]

In late 1989 Cook married for the third time, to Malaysian-born property developer Chiew Lin Chong in Torbay, Devon. She provided him with some stability in his personal life and he reduced his drinking, to the extent that for a time he was teetotal. He lived alone in a small 18th century house in Perrins Lane, Hampstead, once owned by H.G. Wells, while his wife kept her own property only 100 yards away.

Cook returned to the BBC as Sir Arthur Streeb-Greebling for an appearance with Ludovic Kennedy in A Life in Pieces. The 12 interviews saw Sir Arthur recount his life based on the Twelve Days of Christmas. Unscripted interviews with Cook as Streeb-Greebling and satirist Chris Morris were recorded in late 1993 and broadcast as Why Bother? on BBC Radio 3. Morris described them:

On 17 December 1993, Cook appeared on Clive Anderson Talks Back as four characters – biscuit tester and alien abductee Norman House, football manager and motivational speaker Alan Latchley, judge Sir James Beauchamp and rock legend Eric Daley. The following day he appeared on BBC2 performing links for Arena's "Radio Night". He also appeared, on 26 December, in the 1993 Christmas special of One Foot in the Grave ("One Foot in the Algarve"), playing a muckraking tabloid journalist. Before the end of the next year his mother died, and Cook returned to heavy drinking.

Death[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Cook died on 9 January 1995, aged 57, having suffered a gastrointestinal haemorrhage (a direct result of severe liver damage) in the intensive-care unit of the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, North London. Days earlier he had been taken in and announced, "I feel a bit poorly". Dudley Moore attended Cook's memorial service in London in May 1995 and he and Martin Lewis presented a two-night memorial for Cook in Los Angeles the following November, to mark what would have been Cook's 58th birthday.

Legacy[link]

Cook is universally acknowledged as the main influence on British comedians who followed him from amateur dramatic clubs of British universities to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and then to the radio and television. On his death some critics choose to see Cook's life as tragic, in so far as the brilliance of his youth had not been sustained in his later years. However, Cook himself always maintained that he had no ambitions at all for sustained success. He assessed happiness by his friendships and his enjoyment of life. Eric Idle and Stephen Fry^[11] said Cook had not wasted his talent but rather that the newspapers had tried to waste him.

Several friends honoured him with a dedication in the closing credits of Fierce Creatures (1997), a comedy film written by John Cleese about a zoo in peril of being closed. It starred Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline and Michael Palin. The dedication displays photos and the lifespan dates of Peter Cook and of British naturalist/humorist Gerald Durrell.^[12]

In 1999 the minor planet 20468 Petercook, in the main asteroid belt, was named after him.^[13]

Ten years after his death, Cook was ranked at number one in the Comedians' Comedian, a poll of 300 comics, comedy writers, producers and directors throughout the English-speaking world.^[14] Channel 4 broadcast Not Only But Always, a television film dramatising the relationship between Cook and Moore, with Rhys Ifans portraying Cook. At the 2005 Edinburgh Festival Fringe a play, written by Chris Bartlett and Nick Awde, examined the relationship from Moore's view, Pete and Dud: Come Again. Tom Goodman-Hill played Cook.

At the 2007 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Goodbye – the (after)life of Cook & Moore by Jonathan Hansler and Clive Greenwood was presented at the Gilded Balloon. The play imagined the newly dead Moore meeting Cook in Limbo, also inhabited by other comic actors with whom they had worked, including Peter Sellers, Tony Hancock, Frankie Howerd and Kenneth Williams. In May 2009 the play was seen again in London's West End at the Leicester Square Theatre (formerly "The Venue" and home to Pete and Dud: Come Again) with Jonathan Hansler as Cook, Adam Bampton Smith as Moore and Clive Greenwood as everyone else.

A green plaque was unveiled by Westminster City Council and the Heritage Foundation at the site of the Establishment club on 15 February 2009.^[15]

Filmography[link]

• The Wrong Box (1966): Morris Finsbury
• Alice in Wonderland (1966): Mad Hatter
• Bedazzled (1967): George Spiggott/The Devil
• A Dandy in Aspic (1968): Prentiss
• Monte Carlo or Bust (released in the US as Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies) (1969): Maj. Digby Dawlish
• The Bed-Sitting Room (1969): Inspector
• The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer (1970): Michael Rimmer
• The Adventures of Barry McKenzie (1972): Dominic
• Find the Lady (1976): Lewenhak
• The Hound of the Baskervilles (1978): Sherlock Holmes
• Derek and Clive Get the Horn (1979): Clive
• Yellowbeard (1983): Lord Percy Lambourn
• Supergirl (1984): Nigel
• Whoops Apocalypse (1986): Sir Mortimer Chris
• The Princess Bride (1987): The Impressive Clergyman
• Without A Clue (1988): Norman Greenhough
• Getting It Right (1989): Mr. Adrian
• Great Balls of Fire! (1989): First English Reporter
• Black Beauty (1994): Lord Wexmire

Amnesty

• Pleasure at Her Majesty's (1976)
• The Mermaid Frolics (1977)
• The Secret Policeman's Ball
• The Secret Policeman's Private Parts (1981)
• The Best of Amnesty: Featuring the Stars of Monty Python (1999)

UK chart singles:-

• "The Ballad of Spotty Muldoon" (1965)
• "Goodbye-ee" (1965) with Dudley Moore

Further reading[link]

• Harry Thompson (1998). Biography of Peter Cook. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-64969-0. 
• Peter Cook and Dudley Moore (2003). Dud and Pete: The Dagenham Dialogues. Methuen. ISBN 978-0-413-77347-0. 
• Robert Hewison (1983). Footlights!: A Hundred Years of Cambridge Comedy. Methuen London Ltd. ISBN 0-413-51150-2. 
• Roger Wilmut (1980). From Fringe to Flying Circus: Celebrating a Unique Generation of Comedy 1960–1980. Eyre Methuen Ltd. ISBN 0-413-46950-6. 
• Peter Cook Appreciation Society (2006). How Very Interesting!: Peter Cook's Universe And All That Surrounds It. Snowbooks. ISBN 1-905005-23-7. 
• Alexander Games (1999). Pete & Dud: An Illustrated Biography. Andre Deutsch. ISBN 0-233-99642-7. 
• Wendy Cook (2006). So Farewell Then: The Biography of Peter Cook. HarperCollins Entertainment. ISBN 0-00-722893-7. 
• Lin Cook (2003). Something Like Fire: Peter Cook Remembered. Arrow Books. ISBN 0-09-946035-1. 
• Chris Bartlett and Nick Awde (2006). Pete and Dud: Come Again. Methuen Drama. ISBN 0-413-77602-6. 
• William Cook (2003). Tragically I was an only twin: the complete Peter Cook. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-31891-X ISBN 0-09-944325-2. 
• Judy Cook with Angela Levin (2008). Loving Peter: My Life with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. Piatkus. ISBN 978-0-7499-0966-6. 

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Peter Cook

• Peter Cook at the Internet Movie Database
• The Establishment
• Mr Blint's Attic
• Tribute to Peter Cook, with texts and commentary
• Good Evening, a Peter Cook Fansite incl. Gallery
• The BBC Guide to Comedy: Not Only...But Also
• Missing-Episodes.com
• One Leg Too Few, script for one of Cook and Moore's most famous and oft-performed sketches.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2011)

Dudley Moore
Moore at the 43rd Emmy Awards, 25 August 1991
Born	Dudley Stuart John Moore (1935-04-19)19 April 1935 London, UK
Died	27 March 2002(2002-03-27) (aged 66) Plainfield, New Jersey, U.S.
Cause of death	Pneumonia
Occupation	Actor, comedian, musician
Years active	1961–2002
Spouse	Suzy Kendall (1968–72) Tuesday Weld (1975–80) Brogan Lane (1988–91) Nicole Rothschild (1994–98)

Dudley Stuart John Moore, CBE (19 April 1935 – 27 March 2002) was an English actor, comedian, composer and musician.

Moore first came to prominence as one of the four writer-performers in the ground-breaking comedy revue Beyond the Fringe in the early 1960s, and then became famous as half of the highly popular television double-act he formed with Peter Cook.

His fame as a comedy film actor was later heightened by success in hit Hollywood films such as 10 with Bo Derek and Arthur in the late 1970s and early 1980s, respectively. He received an Oscar nomination for the latter role. He was frequently referred to in the media as "Cuddly Dudley" or "The Sex Thimble", a reference to his short stature and reputation as a "ladies' man".

Early life[link]

Moore was born in Charing Cross Hospital, London, the son of Ada Francis (née Hughes), a secretary, and John Moore, a railway electrician. He was brought up in Dagenham, Essex. He was notably short: 5 ft 2.5 in (1.588 m) and was born with club feet that required extensive hospital treatment and which, coupled with his diminutive stature, made him the butt of jokes from other children. His right foot responded well to corrective treatment and had straightened itself by the time he was six, but his left foot became permanently twisted and consequently his left leg below the knee was withered. Seeking refuge from his problems, he became a choirboy at the age of six and took up piano and violin. He rapidly developed into a highly talented pianist and organist and was playing the pipe organ at church weddings by the age of 14. He attended Dagenham County High School (now The Sydney Russell School) where he received musical tuition from a dedicated teacher, Peter Cork. Cork became a friend and confidant to Moore, corresponding with him until 1994.

Moore's musical talent won him an organ scholarship to Magdalen College, Oxford. While studying music and composition there, he also performed with Alan Bennett in the Oxford Revue. Bennett then recommended him to the producer putting together Beyond the Fringe, a comedy revue, where he was to first meet Peter Cook. Beyond the Fringe was at the forefront of the 1960s satire boom and after success in Britain it transferred to the United States, where it was also a hit.

During his university years, Moore took a great interest in jazz and soon became an accomplished jazz pianist and composer. He began working with such leading musicians as John Dankworth and Cleo Laine. In 1960, he left Dankworth's band to work on Beyond the Fringe. During the 1960s he formed the Dudley Moore Trio (with drummer Chris Karan and bassists Pete McGurk and later Peter Morgan). Moore's admitted principal musical influences were Oscar Peterson and Errol Garner. In an interview he recalled the day he finally mastered Garner's unique left-hand strum and was so excited that he walked around for several days with his left hand constantly playing that cadence. His early recordings included "My Blue Heaven", "Lysie Does It", "Poova Nova", "Take Your Time", "Indiana", "Sooz Blooz", "Baubles, Bangles & Beads", "Sad One for George" and "Autumn Leaves". The trio performed regularly on British television, made numerous recordings and had a long-running residency at Peter Cook's London nightclub, The Establishment.

Moore composed the soundtracks for the films Bedazzled, Inadmissible Evidence, Staircase and Six Weeks, among others.

Career[link]

Partnership with Peter Cook[link]

Moore (right) with Peter Cook in 1974

After following the Establishment to New York City, Moore returned to the UK and was offered his own series on the BBC, Not Only... But Also (1965). It was commissioned specifically as a vehicle for Moore, but when he invited Peter Cook on as a guest, their comedy partnership was so notable that it became a permanent fixture of the series. Cook and Moore are most remembered for their sketches as two working-class men, Pete and Dud, in macs and cloth caps, commenting on politics and the arts, but they fashioned a series of one-off characters, usually with Moore in the role of interviewer to one of Cook's upper-class eccentrics. The pair developed an unorthodox method for scripting the material by using a tape recorder to tape an ad libbed routine that they would then have transcribed and edited. This would not leave enough time to fully rehearse the script so they often had a set of cue cards. Moore was famous for "corpsing" — the programmes often went on live, and Cook would deliberately make him laugh in order to get an even bigger reaction from the studio audience. Regrettably, many of the videotapes and film reels of these seminal TV shows were later erased by the BBC (an affliction which wiped out large portions of other British television productions as well, such as Doctor Who), although some of the soundtracks (which were issued on record) have survived. Moore and Cook co-starred in the film Bedazzled (1967) with Eleanor Bron, and also had tours called Behind the Fridge and Good Evening.

In 2009 it came to light that at the time three separate British police forces had wanted them to be prosecuted under obscenity laws for their comedy recordings made during the late 1970s under the pseudonyms Derek and Clive. Shortly following the last of these, Derek and Clive – Ad Nauseam, Moore made a break with Cook, whose alcoholism was affecting his work, to concentrate on his film career. When Moore began to manifest the symptoms of the disease that eventually killed him (progressive supranuclear palsy), it was at first suspected that he too had a drinking problem. Two of Moore's early starring roles were the titular drunken playboy Arthur and the heavy drinker George Webber in 10. Dudley Moore also plays a short role in the 1995 feature CASPER.

Later career[link]

In the late 1970s, Moore moved to Hollywood, where he appeared in Foul Play (1978) with Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase. The following year saw his break-out role in Blake Edwards's 10, which he followed up with the movie Wholly Moses! The latter was not a major success.

Moore played Watson to Cook's Holmes in 1978's Hound of the Baskervilles. Moore was noteworthy as a comic foil to Sir Henry and played three other roles: one in drag and one as a one-legged man. Moore also played the piano for the entire score and appears at the start and end of the film as a flamboyant and mischievous pianist. Moore also scored the film.

In 1981, Moore appeared as the lead in the comedy Arthur, an even bigger hit than 10, which also starred Liza Minnelli and Sir John Gielgud. It was both commercially and critically successful; Moore received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor whilst Gielgud won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as Arthur's stern but compassionate manservant. Moore lost to Henry Fonda (for On Golden Pond). He did, however, win a Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy. In 1984, Moore had another hit, starring in the Blake Edwards directed Micki + Maude, co-starring Amy Irving. This won him another Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy.

His subsequent films, including Arthur 2: On the Rocks, a sequel to the original, and an animated adaptation of King Kong, were inconsistent in terms of both critical and commercial reception; Moore eventually disowned the former. In later years, Cook would wind up Moore by claiming he preferred Arthur 2: On the Rocks to Arthur.

In addition to acting, Moore continued to work as a composer and pianist, writing scores for a number of films and giving piano concerts, which were highlighted by his popular parodies of classical favourites. In addition, Moore collaborated with the conductor Sir Georg Solti to create a 1991 television series, Orchestra!, which was designed to introduce audiences to the symphony orchestra. He later worked with the American conductor Michael Tilson Thomas on a similar television series from 1993, Concerto!, likewise designed to introduce audiences to classical music concertos. He also appeared as Ko-Ko in a Jonathan Miller production of The Mikado in Los Angeles in March 1988.

In 1987, Moore was interviewed for the New York Times by the music critic Rena Fruchter, herself an accomplished pianist. They became close friends. At that time Moore's film career was already on the wane. He was having trouble remembering his lines, a problem he had never previously encountered (for this reason he was fired from Barbra Streisand's film The Mirror Has Two Faces).^[1] He opted to concentrate on the piano, and enlisted Fruchter as an artistic partner. They performed as a duo in the U.S. and Australia. However, his disease soon started to make itself apparent there as well, as his fingers would not always do what he wanted them to do. Symptoms such as slurred speech and loss of balance were misinterpreted by the public and the media as a sign of drunkenness. Moore himself was at a loss to explain this. He moved into Fruchter's family home in New Jersey and stayed there for five years, but this, however, placed a great strain both on her marriage and her friendship with Moore, and she later set him up in the house next door.

Moore was deeply affected by the death of Peter Cook in 1995, and for weeks would regularly telephone Cook's home in London just to get the telephone answering machine and hear his friend's voice. Moore attended Cook's memorial service in London and at the time many people who knew him noted that Moore was behaving strangely and attributed it to grief or drinking. In November 1995, Moore teamed up with friend and humorist Martin Lewis in organising a two-day salute to Cook in Los Angeles that Moore co-hosted with Lewis.

Moore is the main subject of the play Pete and Dud: Come Again, by Chris Bartlett and Nick Awde. Set in a chat-show studio in the 1980s, it focuses on Moore's comic and personal relationship with Peter Cook and how their careers took off after the split of the partnership.

Entrepreneur[link]

Moore co-owned a fashionable restaurant in Venice, California (1980s–2000). The restaurant was named 72 Market Street Oyster Bar and Grill. Moore played piano in the restaurant whenever he dropped by the premises.

Personal life[link]

Moore was married and divorced four times: to actresses Suzy Kendall, Tuesday Weld (by whom he had a son, Patrick, in 1976), Brogan Lane and Nicole Rothschild (one son, Nicholas, born in 1995).

He maintained good relationships with Kendall particularly, and also Weld and Lane. However, he expressly forbade Rothschild to attend his funeral. At the time his illness became apparent, he was going through a difficult divorce from Rothschild, despite sharing a house in Los Angeles with her and her previous husband.

Moore dated and was a favourite of some of Hollywood's most attractive women, including Susan Anton. In 1994, Moore was arrested after Rothschild claimed he had beaten her before that year's Oscars; she later withdrew her charges.

Illness and death[link]

In September 1997 Moore underwent quadruple heart bypass surgery in London, and subsequently suffered four minor strokes.

In June 1998, Nicole Rothschild was reported to have told an American television show that Moore was "waiting to die" due to a serious illness, but these reports were denied by Suzy Kendall.^[2]

On 30 September 1999, Moore announced that he was suffering from the terminal degenerative brain disorder progressive supranuclear palsy, some of whose early symptoms were so similar to intoxication that he had been accused of being drunk, and that the illness had been diagnosed earlier in the year.^[3]

He died on 27 March 2002, as a result of pneumonia, secondary to immobility caused by the palsy, in Plainfield, New Jersey. Rena Fruchter was holding his hand when he died, and she reported his final words were, "I can hear the music all around me." Moore was interred in Hillside Cemetery in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. Fruchter later wrote a memoir of their relationship (Dudley Moore, Ebury Press, 2004).

In December 2004, the Channel 4 television station in the United Kingdom broadcast Not Only But Always, a TV movie dramatising the relationship between Moore and Cook, although the principal focus of the production was on Cook. Around the same time the relationship between the two was also the subject of a stage play called Pete and Dud: Come Again.

Honours and awards[link]

In June 2001, Moore was appointed a Commander of the Order of The British Empire (CBE). Despite his deteriorating condition, he attended the ceremony, mute and wheelchair-bound, at Buckingham Palace to collect his honour.^[1]

Filmography[link]

Discography[link]

UK chart singles[link]

• "Goodbye-ee" (1965), Peter Cook and Dudley Moore
• "The L.S. Bumble Bee" (1967), Peter Cook and Dudley Moore
• "Song for Suzy" (1972), Dudley Moore Trio – upbeat jazz.

Jazz discography[link]

• From Beyond The Fringe (Atlantic Standard 2 017, 1966)
• The Dudley Moore Trio (Decca Records (LK UK) / London Records (US) PS558) 1969
• Dudley Moore plays The Theme From Beyond The Fringe and All That Jazz – Atlantic 1403 (1962)
• The World of Dudley Moore – Decca SPA 106
• The Other Side Of Dudley Moore - Decca LK 4732
• Genuine Dud – Decca LK 4788
• The Music of Dudley Moore – EMI Australia (Cube Records) TOOFA.14-1/2
• Dudley Down Under – Cube ICS 13
• Dudley Moore at the Wavendon Festival – Black Lion Records BLP 12151
• Smilin' Through – Cleo Laine & Dudley Moore – Finesse Records FW 38091
• Dudley Dell – Parlophone 45R 4772
• Strictly For The Birds – Cleo Laine & Dudley Moore – CBS A 2947
• The Theme From "Beyond The Fringe" & All That Jazz – Collectibles COL 6625
• Live From an Aircraft Hangar – Martine Avenue Productions MAPI 8486
• Songs Without Words – GRP/BMG LC 6713
• The First Orchestrations – Dudley Moore & Richard Rodney Bennett – Played by John Bassett and his Band – Harkit Records HRKCD 8054
• Jazz Jubilee – Martine Avenue Productions MAPI 1521

References[link]

Notes

Further reading

• Dudley Moore (1966). Originals. Arranged as Piano Solos Transcribed from the Decca L.P. 'The Other Side of Dudley Moore'. Essex Music.
• From Fringe to Flying Circus – 'Celebrating a Unique Generation of Comedy 1960–1980' – Roger Wilmut, Eyre Methuen Ltd, 1980
• Alexander Games (1999). Pete & Dud: An Illustrated Biography. Andre Deutsch. ISBN 0-233-99642-7. 
• Peter Cook and Dudley Moore (2003). Dud and Pete The Dagenham Dialogues. Methuen. ISBN 978-0-413-77347-0. 
• Chris Bartlett and Nick Awde (2006). Pete and Dud: Come Again. Methuen Drama. ISBN 0-413-77602-6. 
• Dudley Moore, Rena Fruchter, Ebury Press, 2004.
• Fallen Stars, Julian Upton, Headpress, 2004.

External links[link]

Biography portal

• "The Films of Dudley Moore", film clip compilation, 5 minutes

accessdate=2 September 2010}}

• Dudley Moore at the Internet Movie Database
• Obituary at CNN.com
• Radio 4 programme "Affectionately Dudley", 2006

Dale Earnhardt Sr.
Dale Earnhardt late 1990s
Born	(1951-04-29)April 29, 1951 Kannapolis, North Carolina
Died	February 18, 2001(2001-02-18) (aged 49) Daytona Beach, Florida[1]
Cause of death	Basilar skull fracture from crash in Turn 4 on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.
Achievements	Winston Cup Series Champion (1980, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994) 1998 Daytona 500 Champion Winston All-Star Race Winner (III, VI, IX) IROC Champion (1990, 1995, 1999, 2000)
Awards	NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year (1979) Named as one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers NASCAR Most Popular Driver (2001) 2002 Motorsports Hall of Fame Inductee 2006 International Motorsports Hall of Fame Inductee 2010 NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductee
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
677 race(s) run over 27 year(s)
Best finish	1st (1980, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994)
First race	1975 World 600 (Charlotte)
Last race	2001 Daytona 500 (Daytona)
First win	1979 Southeastern 500 (Bristol)
Last win	2000 Winston 500 (Talladega)
Wins Top tens Poles 76 428 22

Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Sr. (April 29, 1951 – February 18, 2001)^[1] was an American race car driver, best known for his involvement in stock car racing for NASCAR. Born to race car driver Ralph Lee Earnhardt, Earnhardt began his career in 1975 when he drove in the 1975 World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway as part of the Winston Cup Series (later the Sprint Cup Series).

During the course of his career, Earnhardt won a total of 76 races (including one Daytona 500 victory in 1998). He earned seven championships, which is tied for the most all time with Richard Petty. His aggressive driving style earned him the nickname "The Intimidator".

While driving in the 2001 Daytona 500, Earnhardt died of basilar skull fracture in a last-lap crash at Daytona International Speedway on February 18, 2001.^[2][3] He has been inducted into numerous halls of fame, including the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Early life and personal life[link]

Earnhardt was born in Kannapolis, North Carolina, on April 29, 1951, to Martha Coleman and Ralph Lee Earnhardt, who was then one of the best short-track drivers in North Carolina. Ralph won his one and only NASCAR Sportsman Championship in 1956 at Greenville Pickens Speedway in Greenville, South Carolina. Although Ralph did not want his son to follow in his footsteps, Earnhardt would not be persuaded to give up his dream of racing, dropping out of school to race. Ralph was a hard teacher for Earnhardt, and after Ralph died of a heart attack at his home in 1973, it took many years before Earnhardt felt as though he had finally "proven" himself to his father. Earnhardt had four siblings, Danny, Randy, Cathy, and Kaye.

When Earnhardt was 17, he married his first wife, Latane Brown, in 1968. Brown gave birth to Earnhardt's first son, Kerry Earnhardt, in 1969. They were subsequently divorced in 1970. In 1971, Earnhardt married his second wife, Brenda Gee (the daughter of NASCAR car builder Robert Gee), who gave birth to a daughter, Kelley King, in 1972, and a son, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., in 1974. Not long after Earnhardt, Jr. was born, Dale and Brenda divorced. Dale then married his last wife, Teresa Houston (niece of Nascar driver Tommy Houston) in 1982, who gave birth to their daughter, Taylor Nicole in 1988.

NASCAR career[link]

Early Winston Cup career[link]

Earnhardt began his professional career at the Winston Cup in 1975, making his debut at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina in the longest race on the Cup circuit, the World 600. Earnhardt drove an Ed Negre Dodge Charger(#8) and finished 22nd in the race, one place ahead of his future car owner, Richard Childress. Earnhardt competed in 8 more races until 1979, when he joined car owner Rod Osterlund Racing, in a season that included a rookie class of future stars – Earnhardt, Harry Gant and Terry Labonte.

In his rookie season, Earnhardt won one race at Bristol, captured four poles, had 11 Top 5 finishes, 17 Top 10 finishes, and finished 7th in the points standings, in spite of missing four races because of a broken collarbone, winning Rookie of the Year honors.

In his sophomore season, Earnhardt, now with 20-year old Doug Richert as his crew chief, began the season winning the Busch Clash. With wins at Atlanta, Bristol, Nashville, Martinsville, and Charlotte, Earnhardt won his first Winston Cup championship. To this day, Earnhardt is the only driver in NASCAR Winston Cup history to follow a Rookie of the Year title with a NASCAR Winston Cup Championship the next season. He was the third driver in NASCAR history to win both the Rookie of the Year and Cup Series championship in his career, joining David Pearson and Richard Petty. Only 5 drivers have joined this exclusive club since - Rusty Wallace, Alan Kulwicki, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, and Matt Kenseth.

1983 racecar

In 1981, after Osterlund sold his team to J.D. Stacy, Earnhardt left for Richard Childress Racing, and finished the season 7th in the points standings but winless. The following year, at Childress' suggestion, Earnhardt joined car owner Bud Moore for the 1982 and 1983 seasons driving the No. 15 Wrangler Jeans Ford Thunderbird (Earnhardt's only full-time Ford ride in his career). During the 1982 season, Earnhardt struggled. Although he won at Darlington, he failed to finish 15 races, and completed the season 12th in points, the worst of his career. He also suffered a broken knee cap at Pocono Raceway when he flipped after contact with Tim Richmond. In 1983, Earnhardt rebounded and won his first of 12 Twin 125 Daytona 500 qualifying races. Earnhardt won at Nashville and at Talladega, finishing eighth in the points standings.

Return to Richard Childress Racing[link]

After the 1983 season, Earnhardt returned to Richard Childress Racing, replacing Ricky Rudd in the #3. Rudd went to Bud Moore's No. 15, replacing Earnhardt. Wrangler sponsored both drivers at their respective teams. During the 1984 and 1985 seasons, Earnhardt visited victory lane six times, at Talladega, Atlanta, Richmond, Bristol (twice), and Martinsville, where he finished fourth and eighth in the season standings, respectively.

The 1986 season saw Earnhardt win his second career Winston Cup Championship and the first owner's championship for RCR. He won five races and had ten Top 5 and sixteen Top 10 finishes. Earnhardt successfully defended his championship the following year, visiting victory lane eleven times and winning the championship by 489 points over Bill Elliott. In the process, Earnhardt set a NASCAR modern era record of four consecutive wins and won five of the first seven races. In the 1987 season, Earnhardt earned his nickname "The Intimidator" after spinning out Elliott in the final segment of "The Winston", a non-points event now known as the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race. During this race, Earnhardt was briefly forced into the infield grass, but kept control of his car and returned to the track without giving up his lead — a maneuver now referred to as the "Pass in the Grass" even though Earnhardt actually didn't pass and couldn't have passed anyone for position as he was in the lead at the time.

The 1988 season saw Earnhardt racing with a new sponsor, GM Goodwrench, which replaced Wrangler Jeans. During this season Earnhardt garnered a second nickname, "The Man in Black", owing to the black paint scheme in which the No. 3 car was painted. He was also called "Darth Vader" more than once because of the black uniform and car, adding to his notoriety as a driver who would wreck any car he could not pass. He won three times in 1988, finishing third in the points standings behind Bill Elliott and Rusty Wallace. The following year, Earnhardt won five times, but a late spin out at North Wilkesboro arguably cost him the 1989 championship, as Rusty Wallace edged out Earnhardt for the championship.

1990s[link]

As part of a Winston No Bull 5 fan contest, Earnhardt drives a Bomb Lift Truck and attempts to load an AIM-120 advanced medium-range air-to-air missile (AMRAAM) missile as he competes in a load crew competition at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, September 2000. Coincidentally, this position on a load crew is known unofficially as a "Jammer Driver" or more officially as a Number 3 man.

The 1990 season started for Earnhardt with victories in the Busch Clash and his heat of the Gatorade Twin 125s. Near the end of the Daytona 500, he had a four-second lead when the final caution flag came out with a handful of laps to go. When the green flag waved, Earnhardt was leading Derrike Cope. On the final lap, Earnhardt ran over a piece of metal in the final turn, cutting a tire. Cope, in an upset, won the race while Earnhardt finished fifth. The No. 3 Goodwrench Chevy team took the flat tire that cost them the win and hung it on the shop wall as a reminder of how close they'd come to winning the Daytona 500. Earnhardt went on to win nine races this season and won his fourth Winston Cup title, beating Mark Martin by 26 points. Earnhardt also became the first repeat winner of the annual all-star race, The Winston.

The 1991 season saw Earnhardt win his fifth Winston Cup championship. He scored just four wins, but won the championship by 195 points over Ricky Rudd. One of his wins that year came at North Wilkesboro, in a race where Harry Gant had a chance to set a single-season record by winning his fifth consecutive race, breaking a record held by Earnhardt. Late in the race Gant lost his brakes, which gave Earnhardt the chance he needed to make the pass for the win and maintain his record.

Earnhardt's only win of the 1992 season came at Charlotte, in the Coca-Cola 600, ending a 13-race win streak by Ford teams. Earnhardt finished a career-low 12th in the points for the second time in his career, and the only time he had finished that low since joining RCR. Earnhardt still made the trip to the annual Awards Banquet with Rusty Wallace but did not have the best seat in the house. Wallace states he and Earnhardt had to sit on the backs of their chairs to see and Earnhardt said "This sucks, I could have gone hunting".^[4] At the end of the year, longtime crew chief Kirk Shelmerdine left to become a driver. Andy Petree took over as crew chief.

Hiring Petree turned out to be beneficial, as the No. 3 GM Goodwrench Chevy returned to the front in 1993. Earnhardt once again came close to a win at the Daytona 500, and dominated Speedweeks before finishing second to Dale Jarrett on a last-lap pass. Earnhardt scored six wins en route to his sixth Winston Cup title, including wins in the Coca-Cola 600 and The Winston at Charlotte, and the Pepsi 400 at Daytona. Earnhardt beat Rusty Wallace for the championship by 80 points.

Dale's 1994 racecar

In 1994, Earnhardt achieved a feat that he himself had believed to be impossible – he scored his seventh Winston Cup championship, tying the legendary Richard Petty. Earnhardt was very consistent, scoring four wins, and after Ernie Irvan was sidelined due to a near-deadly crash at Michigan (the two were neck-and-neck at the top of the points up until the crash), won title by over 400 points over Mark Martin. Earnhardt sealed the deal at Rockingham by winning the race over Rick Mast. Although Earnhardt continued to dominate in the seasons ahead, this would be his final NASCAR championship.

Earnhardt started off the 1995 season by finishing second in the Daytona 500 to Sterling Marlin. He won 5 races in 1995, including his first road course victory at Sears Point. He also won the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a win he called the biggest of his career. But in the end, Earnhardt lost the championship to Jeff Gordon by just 34 points.

Earnhardt began 1996 with a repeat of 1993 – he dominated Speedweeks only to finish second in the Daytona 500 to Dale Jarrett for a second time. Earnhardt won early in the year, scoring consecutive victories at Rockingham and Atlanta. In late July in the DieHard 500 at Talladega, he was in the points lead and looking for his eighth title despite the departure of crew chief Andy Petree. Late in the race, Ernie Irvan lost control of his No. 28 Havoline Ford Thunderbird, igniting a frightening crash that saw Earnhardt's No. 3 Chevrolet hit the tri-oval wall nearly head-on at almost 200 miles per hour. After hitting the wall, Earnhardt's car flipped and slid across the track, in front of race-traffic. His car was hit in the roof and windshield, and the accident led NASCAR to mandate the "Earnhardt Bar", a metal brace located in the center of the windshield that reinforces the roof in case of a similar crash.

Rain-delays had canceled the live telecast of the race and most fans first learned of the accident during the night's sports newscasts. Video of the crash showed what appeared to be a fatal incident, but once medical workers arrived at the car, Earnhardt climbed out and waved to the crowd, refusing to be loaded onto a stretcher despite a broken collarbone, sternum, and shoulder blade. Many thought the incident would end his season early, but Earnhardt refused to give up. The next week at Indianapolis, he started the race but exited the car on the first pit stop, allowing Mike Skinner to take the wheel. When asked, Earnhardt said that vacating the No. 3 car was the hardest thing he'd ever done. The following weekend at Watkins Glen, he drove the No. 3 Goodwrench Chevrolet to the fastest time in qualifying, earning the "True Grit" pole. T-shirts emblazoned with Earnhardt's face were quickly printed up, brandishing the caption, "It Hurt So Good." Earnhardt led most of the race and looked to have victory in hand, but fatigue finally took its toll and Earnhardt ended up 6th, behind race winner Geoff Bodine. Earnhardt did not win again in 1996, but still finished 4th in the standings behind Terry Labonte, Jeff Gordon and Dale Jarrett. David Smith departed as crew chief of the No. 3 team and RCR at the end of the year for personal reasons, and was replaced by Larry McReynolds.

In 1997, Earnhardt went winless for only the second time in his career. The only (non-points) win came during Speedweeks at Daytona in the Twin 125-mile qualifying race, his record 8th straight win in the event. Once again in the hunt for the Daytona 500 with 10 laps to go, Earnhardt was taken out of contention by a late crash which sent his car upside down on the backstretch. Earnhardt hit the low point of his year when he blacked out early in the Mountain Dew Southern 500 at Darlington in September, causing him to hit the wall. Afterward, he was disoriented and it took several laps before he could find his pit stall. When asked, Earnhardt complained of double vision which made it difficult to pit. Mike Dillon (Richard Childress's son-in-law) was brought in to relieve Earnhardt for the remainder of the race. Earnhardt was evaluated at a local hospital and cleared to race the very next week, but the cause of the blackout and double vision was never determined. Despite no wins, the RCR team finished the season 5th in the final standings.

1998 saw Earnhardt win the Daytona 500 after not winning in the previous 19 attempts. Earnhardt began the season by winning his Twin 125-mile qualifier race for the ninth straight year. On race day, Earnhardt showed himself to be a contender early. Halfway through the race, however, it seemed that Jeff Gordon had the upper hand. But by lap 138, Earnhardt had taken the lead, and thanks to a push by teammate Mike Skinner, he was able to maintain it. Earnhardt made it to the to the caution checkered flag before Bobby Labonte. Afterwards, there was a large show of respect for Earnhardt, in which every crew member of every team lined pit road to shake his hand as he made his way to victory lane. Earnhardt then drove his No. 3 into the infield grass, starting a trend of post-race celebrations. He spun the car twice, throwing grass and leaving tire tracks in the shape of a No. 3 in the grass. Earnhardt then spoke about the victory, saying "I have had a lot of great fans and people behind me all through the years and I just can't thank them enough. The Daytona 500 is ours. We won it! We won it! We won it!" Unfortunately, the rest of the season did not go as well, and The Great American Race was his only victory that year. He slipped to 12th in the standings halfway through the season, and Richard Childress decided to make a crew chief change, taking Mike Skinner's crew chief Kevin Hamlin and putting him with Earnhardt while giving Skinner Larry McReynolds. Earnhardt was able to climb back to 8th in the final standings.

Before the 1999 season, fans began discussing Earnhardt's age and speculating that with his son, Dale Jr. getting into racing, Earnhardt might be contemplating retirement. Earnhardt swept both races for the year at Talladega, leading most observers to conclude that Earnhardt's talent had become limited to the restrictor plate tracks, which require a unique skill set and an exceptionally powerful car to win. But halfway through the year, Earnhardt began to show some of the old spark. In the August race at Michigan International Speedway, Earnhardt led laps late in the race and nearly pulled off his first win on a non-restrictor plate track since 1996.

One week later, he provided NASCAR with one of its most controversial moments. At the August Bristol race, Earnhardt found himself in contention to win his first short track race since Martinsville in 1995. When a caution came out with 15 laps to go, leader Terry Labonte got hit from behind by the lapped car of Darrell Waltrip. His spin put Earnhardt in the lead with 5 cars between him and Labonte with 5 laps to go. Labonte had four fresh tires and Earnhardt was driving on old tires, which made Earnhardt's car considerably slower. Labonte caught Earnhardt and passed him coming to the white flag, but Earnhardt drove hard into turn two, bumping Labonte and spinning him around. Dale went on to collect the win while spectators booed and made obscene gestures. "I didn't mean to turn him around, I just wanted to rattle his cage", Earnhardt said of the incident. Earnhardt finished 7th in the standings that year, and looked like a contender again.

In the 2000 season, Earnhardt had a resurgence, which some attributed to neck surgery he underwent to correct a lingering injury from his 1996 Talladega crash. He scored what many considered the two most exciting wins of the year – winning by .006 seconds over Bobby Labonte at Atlanta, then gaining seventeen positions in the final four laps to win at Talladega, claiming his only No Bull million dollar bonus. Earnhardt also enjoyed strong second-place runs at Richmond and Martinsville, tracks where he'd struggled through the late '90s. On the strength of these performances, Earnhardt took the No. 3 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet Monte Carlo to 2nd in the standings. However, poor performances at the road course of Watkins Glen, where he wrecked coming out of the chicane, a wreck with Chad Little while leading the spring race at Bristol, and mid-pack runs at intermediate tracks like Charlotte and Dover in a season dominated by the Ford Taurus in those tracks of Roush, Yates, and Penske, coupled with the extremely consistent Joe Gibb's No. 18 team with Bobby Labonte, denied Earnhardt the coveted eighth championship title.

Death[link]

This section relies largely or entirely upon a single source. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. Discussion about the problems with the sole source used may be found on the talk page. (April 2009)

In the weeks before the 2001 Daytona 500, Earnhardt elected not to attend the annual fan and media preview event, drawing vocal criticism from fellow driver Jimmy Spencer. On February 3 and 4, 2001, the first time in his career, Earnhardt participated in the Rolex 24 endurance race at Daytona, the event which kicks off Speedweeks at the track. His team, which also featured drivers Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Andy Pilgrim, and Kelly Collins, finished 4th overall and 2nd in class.^[5]

Ultimately, however, 2001 Speedweeks would be the first in many years that Earnhardt failed to win at least one race. In the first NASCAR-sanctioned event of Speedweeks, the Budweiser Shootout, Earnhardt finished second to Tony Stewart. Earnhardt was also denied victory in the Gatorade Twin 125 qualifying race in which he participated. Earnhardt had won every Twin 125 event he competed in during the 1990s, and was poised to win again in 2001 when Sterling Marlin pulled off a slingshot pass going down the backstretch, taking the victory away from Earnhardt.

On the morning of the 2001 Daytona 500, Earnhardt appeared confident and relaxed. When the race started, Earnhardt showed early promise, leading the race and maintaining a front-running position for most of the event.

A multi-car wreck on lap 173 eliminated several cars in spectacular fashion, including Jeff Gordon, Jerry Nadeau, Mark Martin, Jason Leffler, Ward Burton, Tony Stewart, Robby Gordon, Andy Houston, John Andretti and Bobby Labonte. Stewart, who had beaten Earnhardt in the Budweiser Shootout, had his car flip several times midair on the backstretch. The race was red flagged to clean up the wrecked cars, and when the race resumed, it was Earnhardt and DEI drivers Earnhardt Jr. and Michael Waltrip who were running up front. As the laps wound down, Waltrip was leading Earnhardt Jr. and Earnhardt.

On the front stretch, with three laps to go, Earnhardt made contact with Sterling Marlin's front right fender. Earnhardt's car wiggled but he kept control and he remained in third position. Marlin was known for having a fast car throughout the race, and Earnhardt repeatedly blocked his attempts at passing during the last few laps. With less than two laps remaining, Darrell Waltrip in the booth commented that "Sterling has beat the front end off of that old Dodge [Marlin's car] trying to get around Dale [Earnhardt]".

Heading into Turn 3 on the last lap, Earnhardt held third and was running in the middle lane of traffic. Marlin was behind him and running the bottom lane, while Rusty Wallace's navy blue #2 Miller Lite Ford was directly behind Earnhardt and Ken Schrader was above Earnhardt riding the high lane in his yellow #36 M&M's Pontiac.

On Turn 4, Marlin came into contact with the left rear on Earnhardt's vehicle. Earnhardt slid off the track's steep banking, onto the flat apron. Trying to correct at speed, he turned sharply up the track toward the outside retaining wall. Although it briefly looked as though Earnhardt was going to avoid hitting the wall, his car went right into Schrader's path. Schrader rammed into Earnhardt just behind the passenger door, causing Earnhardt's car to snap, rapidly changing the angle of his car toward the wall. When Schrader made contact, Earnhardt hit the wall nose-first at an estimated speed of 155 to 160 mph and was pushed down the track by Schrader.

Earnhardt's right-rear wheel assembly broke off the car on impact, and the passenger window broke out of the car. The hood pins severed and the hood opened, slamming back violently against the windshield. As Earnhardt was nose first on the wall, Schrader was pushing him along the wall. No other drivers ran into Earnhardt after he hit the wall, as Schrader was the only driver in the vicinity and all of the cars behind them were able to make it past without incident.

Despite heavy damage to both cars, to the casual observer, the crash (both in force and size) looked relatively minor compared to the multi-car wreck on the backstretch on lap 173 that had completely destroyed several cars, in particular Tony Stewart, who walked away with minor injuries after his car turned sideways and then flipped several times in mid-air and was hit by several other cars.

While Michael Waltrip raced toward the checkered flag to claim his first victory, with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. right behind him, Earnhardt, Sr.'s and Schrader's cars slid off the track's asphalt banking toward the infield grass just inside of turn four. Once the cars came to a stop, Schrader climbed out of his car, with minor injuries. He peered into Earnhardt's car, only to immediately jump back and signal for paramedics while Earnhardt, Jr. - who had finished in second place - rushed to the crash scene. Both of these images are etched into the minds of many racing fans.

As medical crews converged upon the crash scene, NASCAR on Fox reporter Jeanne Zelasko asked Schrader about Earnhardt's condition. "I don't know. I'm not a doctor, but I got the heck out of the way as soon as they got there," Schrader said. Earnhardt was taken to Halifax Medical Center by ambulance after being removed from his car. Hours later, at a press conference, NASCAR President Mike Helton announced Earnhardt's death: "This is undoubtedly one of the toughest announcements I've personally had to make. But after the accident in Turn 4 at the end of the Daytona 500, we've lost Dale Earnhardt."^[6]

Earnhardt was credited posthumously as having finished 12th in the race.

Aftermath[link]

Investigation[link]

Earnhardt's death was the catalyst for a number of changes in NASCAR. Following his death, there was a police investigation, as well as a NASCAR-sanctioned investigation. Nearly every detail of the event was made public, from the finding of a torn seatbelt inside Earnhardt's car to graphic descriptions of the injuries Earnhardt had suffered at the moment of impact. There were rumors that he did not have his seat belt on properly, as he liked to wear it loose so he could move around and not feel too constrained. The allegations of seatbelt failure led Bill Simpson to resign from the company bearing his name, which manufactured the seatbelts used in Earnhardt's car and nearly every other NASCAR driver's car.^[7]

NASCAR also made the use of the HANS device mandatory in all cars following Earnhardt's death. Until that point, use of the HANS device was optional, at the discretion of the drivers or teams. Earnhardt had refused to wear the device, arguing it was uncomfortable and ineffective. He was not using a HANS device on the day he died of a Basilar skull fracture. The HANS device is designed to prevent such injuries.

Several press conferences were held in the days following Earnhardt's death. Some angry fans of Dale Earnhardt wrote hate letters and death threats to Sterling Marlin, blaming him for causing the crash. Quickly thereafter, Michael Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who had finished first and second respectively, publicly and adamantly absolved Marlin of any responsibility.

Richard Childress made a public pledge that the number 3 would never again adorn the side of a black car sponsored by GM Goodwrench. Childress, who currently holds the rights from NASCAR to the No. 3, has placed a moratorium on using it. Earnhardt's team was re-christened as the No. 29 team, with the same sponsor but with a new look (a reversed color scheme with white with black numerals and a black stripe on the bottom) for the following races at Rockingham and Las Vegas. For Atlanta, a new GM Goodwrench scheme was introduced, with angled red stripes and a thin blue pinstripe, resembling the Childress AC Delco Chevrolets driven in the Busch Series.

Childress' second-year Busch Series driver Kevin Harvick was named as Earnhardt's replacement driver, beginning with the race following Earnhardt's death held at the North Carolina Speedway. Special pennants bearing the No. 3 were distributed to everyone at the track to honor Earnhardt, and the Childress team wore blank uniforms out of respect, something which disappeared quickly and was replaced by the wearing of the GM Goodwrench Service Plus uniforms. The Earnhardt team car, the RCR number 29 Chevrolet driven by Kevin Harvick, still always displays the Earnhardt stylized number 3 on the "B" posts (metal portion on each side of the car to the rear of the front windows) above the number 29.

The rest of the 2001 season[link]

Fans took it upon themselves to begin honoring Earnhardt by holding three fingers aloft on the third lap of every NASCAR Cup race, and the television coverage of NASCAR on Fox and NASCAR on NBC went silent for each third lap from Rockingham to the following year's race there in honor of Earnhardt (and, after 9/11, in remembrance of those who perished that day). For the first three weeks after Earnhardt's death, on-track incidents brought out the caution flag on lap three. Three weeks after Earnhardt's death, Harvick scored his first career Cup win at Atlanta driving a car that had been prepared for Earnhardt. In the final lap of the 2001 Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500, Harvick beat Jeff Gordon by .006 seconds, the same margin that Earnhardt had won over Bobby Labonte at the same race a year prior, and the images of Earnhardt's longtime gas man, Danny "Chocolate" Myers, crying after the victory, Harvick's tire-smoking burnout on the frontstretch with three fingers held aloft outside the driver's window, and the Fox television call by Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds, and Darrell Waltrip, concluding with "Gordon got loose, but he (Harvick) is gonna get him though, it's Harvick! Harvick by inches!" are memorable to many NASCAR fans. The win was also considered cathartic for a sport whose epicenter had been ripped away.

Earnhardt was buried on his farm in Mooresville, North Carolina.

Other notable events include:

• Steve Park, driver of the No. 1 DEI Pennzoil Chevy Monte Carlo won the very next NASCAR Winston Cup race: The DuraLube 400 at North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham, NC held on February 26, 2001.
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. won in the next Cup race at Daytona: the Pepsi 400 on July 7, 2001. This led to an emotional celebration on the infield with driver Michael Waltrip (who finished in second place), whose victory at the Daytona 500 was vastly overshadowed. By coincidence, Earnhardt Jr. had finished in second place behind Waltrip in the Daytona 500.
• Las Vegas, the 3rd race of the 2001 season, was noted for the fact that Mike Skinner, Earnhardt's teammate at Richard Childress Racing, took over Earnhardt's slot in the No Bull 5 million dollar eligibility for this race since Earnhardt had qualified for the No Bull 5 prize after his final victory in the 2000 Winston 500 at Talladega. This is the only time that a switch of driver for the No Bull 5 has ever happened.
• Earnhardt was credited with finishing 57th in the final point standings in 2001, despite running one race. He also won the 2001 Most Popular Driver award at the end of the year in the awards' ceremony banquet. Bill Elliott bowed out of the running and encouraged the same fans that had put him up for the prestigious award 16 times to vote for the Man in Black.
• Earnhardt Jr. later went on to win the 2004 Daytona 500, three years after his father's death and six years to the day after his father won the 1998 Daytona 500. He also won the EA Sports 500 at Talladega that same year.
• As of 2010, Earnhardt is interred in a concrete memorial on his farm in Mooresville, North Carolina.
• In 2010, Dale Earnhardt was one of the five inductees in the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
• Two world class roller coasters have been named after Earnhardt; the most popular being Intimidator (roller coaster) at Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina, the other being Intimidator 305 located at Kings Dominion in Virginia.
• Every three years since Earnhardt's death, someone associated with Earnhardt has won the Daytona 500 (his son Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in 2004, Earnhardt's replacement driver Kevin Harvick in 2007, and Earnhardt Ganassi's Jamie McMurray in 2010.)

#3 Car[link]

Earnhardt in the No. 3 car

Earnhardt drove the No. 3 car for most of his career, spanning the early 1980s until his death in 2001. Although he had other sponsors during his career, his No. 3 is associated in fans' minds with his last sponsor, GM Goodwrench, and his last color scheme — a predominantly black car with bold red and silver trim. The black and red No. 3 continues to be one of the most famous logos in North American motor racing.

A common misconception is that Richard Childress Racing "owns the rights" to the No. 3 in NASCAR competition (fueled by the fact that Kevin Harvick's car has a little No. 3 as an homage to Earnhardt), but in fact no team owns the rights to this or any other number: However, according to established NASCAR procedures, RCR would have priority over other teams if and when the time came to reuse the number. RCR owns the stylized No. 3 logos used during Earnhardt's lifetime; however these rights may not prevent a future racing team from using a different No. 3 design. (Also, a new No. 3 team would most likely, in any case, need to create logos which fit with their sponsor's logos.)

In 2004, ESPN released a made-for-TV movie entitled 3: The Dale Earnhardt Story which used a new (but similarly colored) No. 3 logo. The movie was a sympathetic portrayal of Earnhardt's life, but the producers were sued for using the No. 3 logo. In December 2006, the ESPN lawsuit was settled, but details were not released to the public.

It is generally believed that current NASCAR owners have agreed never to use the No. 3 in Sprint Cup competition again, although this is not official NASCAR policy. Dale Earnhardt Jr. made two special appearances in 2002 in a No. 3 Busch Series car: these appearances were at the track where his father died (Daytona) and the track where his father made his first Winston Cup start (Charlotte). Earnhardt Jr. won the first of those two races, which was the season-opening event at Daytona. He also raced a No. 3 sponsored by Wrangler on July 2, 2010 for Richard Childress Racing at Daytona. In a green-white- checker finish he outran Joey Logano to win his second race in the 3.

Otherwise, the No. 3 was missing from the national touring series until September 5, 2009, when Austin Dillon, the 19-year-old grandson of Richard Childress debuted an RCR-owned No. 3 truck in the Camping World Truck Series.^[8] Austin Dillon and his younger brother Ty Dillon have been driving #3's in various lower level competitions for several years, including the Camping World East Series.^[9]

Richard Childress Racing entered the number 3 in the Daytona Truck race on 13 February 2010 painted identically to when Earnhardt drove it, but with Bass Pro Shops as a sponsor. It was driven by Austin Dillon. Oddly, the number 3 was involved in a wreck almost identical to that which took the life of Earnhardt: being spun out, colliding with another vehicle and being turned into the outside wall in turn number four.^[10] Dillon again returned to a number 3 marked racecar when he started 5th in the 2012 Daytona Nationwide Series opener in an Advocare sponsored black Chevrolet Impala.

Only the former International Race of Champions actually retired the No. 3, which they did in a rule change effective in 2004. Until the series folded in 2007, anyone wishing to use the No. 3 again had to use No. 03 instead.

In 2009, Tim McGraw released the song "Southern Voice;" the song makes reference to Earnhardt and the number 3 in the line "Number Three drove it."

In the movie Zombieland, Woody Harrelson's character, Tallahassee, draws a 3 on his car doors. He does this to pay homage to Earnhardt.

The Christian metalcore band The Devil Wears Prada have a song titled "Number Three, Never Forget" in honor of Dale Earnhardt.^{[11] [12]}

Legacy[link]

Earnhardt has a street in his hometown of Kannapolis named after him. Dale Earnhardt Boulevard (originally Earnhardt Road) is marked as Exit 60 off Interstate 85, northeast of Charlotte. Dale Earnhardt Drive is also the start of The Dale Journey Trail,^[13] a self-guided driving tour of landmarks in the lives of Dale and his family. A road between Kannapolis and Mooresville, near the headquarters of DEI, formerly NC 136, was switched with State Highway 3 which was in Currituck County by the North Carolina Department of Transportation. In addition, Exit 73 off Interstate 35W, one of the entrances to Texas Motor Speedway, is named "Dale Earnhardt Way".

In 2000, shortly before his death, Earnhardt became a part-owner of the minor league baseball team in Kannapolis, and the team was renamed the Kannapolis Intimidators shortly thereafter. After his death, the team retired the jersey number 3 in Earnhardt's honor, and a "3" flag flies beyond the left field wall during every game.

Atlanta Braves assistant coach Ned Yost was a friend of Earnhardt, and Richard Childress. When Yost was named Milwaukee Brewers manager, he changed jersey numbers, from No. 5 to No. 3 in Earnhardt's honor. (#3 is retired by the Braves in honor of outfielder Dale Murphy, so Yost could not make the change while in Atlanta.) When Yost was named Kansas City Royals assistant coach, he wore No. 2 for the 2010 season, even when he was named manager in May 2010, but for the 2011 season, he switched back to #3.

Between the 2004 and 2005 JGTC (subsequently renamed Super GT from 2005) season, Hasemi Sport competed in the series with a sole black G'Zox sponsored Nissan 350Z with the same number and letterset as Earnhardt on the roof.

During the April 29, 2006 – May 1, 2006 NASCAR weekend races at Talladega Superspeedway, the Dale Earnhardt Inc cars competed in identical special black paint schemes on Dale Earnhardt Day, held annually on his birthday, April 29. Martin Truex Jr won the Aaron's 312 in the black car, painted to reflect Earnhardt's Intimidating Black No. 3 NASCAR Busch Grand National series car. In the Nextel Cup race on May 1, No. 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 1 Martin Truex Jr., and No. 15 Paul Menard competed in cars with the same type of paint scheme.

On June 18, 2006 at Michigan for the 3M Performance 400 Dale Earnhardt Jr ran a special vintage Budweiser car to honor his father and his grandfather Ralph Earnhardt. He finished 3rd after rain caused the race to be cut short. The car was painted to resemble Ralph's 1956 dirt cars, and carried 1956-era Budweiser logos to complete the throwback look.

In the summer of 2007, Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI) with the Dale Earnhardt Foundation, announced it will fund an annual undergraduate scholarship at Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina for students interested in motorsports and automotive engineering. Scholarship winners are also eligible to work at DEI in internships.^[14] The first winner was William Bostic, a senior at Clemson majoring in mechanical engineering.^[15]

"Earnhardt Tower", a seating section at Daytona International Speedway, the track where Earnhardt was killed, was named in his honor.

In 2008, on the 50th anniversary of the first Daytona 500 race, DEI and RCR teamed up to make a special COT sporting Earnhardt's 1998 Daytona 500 paint scheme to honor the tenth anniversary of his Daytona 500 victory. In a tribute to all previous Daytona 500 winners, the winning drivers appeared in a lineup on stage, in chronological order. The redesigned No. 3 car stood in the infield, in the approximate position Earnhardt would have taken in the processional. The throwback car featured the authentic 1998-era design on a current-era car, a concept similar to modern throwback jerseys in other sports. The car was later sold in 1:64 and 1:24 scale models.

The Intimidator 305 roller coaster has been up and running since April 2010 at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia. Named after Earnhardt, the ride's trains will be modeled after Dale Earnhardt's black-and-red Chevrolet. ^[16] Another Intimidator was built at Carowinds, in Charlotte, NC.

During the third lap of the 2011 Daytona 500 (a decade since Earnhardt's death), the commentators on FOX fell silent while fans each raised three fingers in a similar fashion to the tributes throughout 2001.^[17]

Awards[link]

Dale Earnhardt's suit on display at the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame

• Awarded the Order of the Long Leaf Pine by North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt in 1994^[18]:634
• Inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 1994^[19]
• Earnhardt was named among NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998
• Earnhardt was posthumously named NASCAR's Most Popular Driver in 2001, the only time he received the award.
• He was posthumously inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2002.
• He was inducted in the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2006.
• Earnhardt was named Number 1 among ESPN's NASCAR's 20 Greatest Drivers in 2007 in front of Richard Petty.
• Inducted in the Inaugural Induction Class for the NASCAR Hall of Fame on May 23, 2010.

TV appearances[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Dale has appeared in movies and TV shows.

• Stroker Ace 1983
• Baseketball 1998
• Arli$$ 1998
• King of the Hill 1998
• The Fifty 1998

See also[link]

	Biography portal
	NASCAR portal

• Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
• Teresa Earnhardt, wife
• Dale Earnhardt, Jr., son
• Jeffrey Earnhardt, grandson
• Kerry Earnhardt, son
• Richard Childress Racing

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dale Earnhardt

• Dale Earnhardt Inc.
• Dale Earnhardt at the Internet Movie Database
• The Dale Trail, official tour of Earnhardt's Hometown of Kannapolis, NC
• Career statistics at racing-reference.info
• Orlando Sentinel article on the inquiries into the cause of death
• Sports Illustrated article on the controversy over Earnhardt's seat belt
• Earnhardt at The Crittenden Automotive Library includes full Win List, Statistics