Look up victor in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Victor (sometimes spelled Viktor) is a male given name.

People[link]

Roman Catholics[link]

Popes:

• Saint Pope Victor I (died 199)
• Pope Victor II (c. 1018-1057)
• Blessed Pope Victor III (c. 1026-1087)

Antipopes:

• Antipope Victor IV (1138)
• Antipope Victor IV (1159–1164)

Bishops of Chur:

• Victor I, Bishop of Chur, seventh century
• Victor II, Bishop of Chur, eighth century
• Victor III, Bishop of Chur (died on or before 836)

Saints:

• Victor Maurus (died c. 303), also known as Victor the Moor and Victor of Milan
• Victor of Marseilles (died c. 290)
• Viktor of Xanten (died in the fourth century)

Places[link]

• Several towns in the United States:
  • Victor, Colorado, a near-ghost town near Cripple Creek
  • Victor, Idaho
  • Victor, Iowa
  • Victor, Montana
  • Victor, New York
  • Victor, South Dakota
• Vítor, Peru, a village in Arequipa Region, Peru

Fiction[link]

Films[link]

• Victor Victoria, a 1982 musical comedy about a woman masquerading as man impersonating a woman
• Victor (film), a 1993 French short movie by François Ozon
• Victor (2008 film), a 2008 television film about Canadian swimmer Victor Davis

Characters[link]

• Victor Frankenstein, title character of Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein
• Viktor (Underworld), from the Underworld film series
• Victor, a Hispanic Engine from Thomas and Friends
• Victor (mascot), the logo and mascot for the Just for Laughs comedy festival
• Victor Sullivan, a character from the Uncharted video game series
• Victor Von Doom, a Fantastic Four supervillain
• Victor Mancha, an android and protagonist of the Runaways comic book series
• Victor Triumph, an ancient robot and protagonist in John C. Wright's Children of Chaos trilogy
• Victor Stone, a cyborg and long standing member of the Teen Titans
• Victor (Dollhouse), from Joss Whedon's Dollhouse
• Victor Criss, a bully in Steven King's Novel It.
• Victor, an underling of criminal mastermind Gustavo Fring in the series Breaking Bad
• Victor von Gerdenheim, from the Darkstalkers video game series
• Viktor Reznov, from the Call of Duty: World At War and Call of Duty: Black Ops video games
• Victor, a goat from Ed, Edd n Eddy
• Victor (gargoyle), one of the supporting characters from Disney's 1996 animated feature, The Hunchback of Notre Dame
• Viktor Krum, Bulgarian Wizard from Harry Potter
• Victor "Vector" Perkins, the main antagonist of the 2010 animated film Despicable Me
• Victor the Cleaner, a professional killer and evidence remover in the film Nikita

Military[link]

• The Victor class submarine, NATO designation of a class of submarines of the Soviet Union
• The Handley Page Victor aircraft
• Pobednik ("The Victor"), a monument in Belgrade dedicated to Serbian soldiers in World War I

Music[link]

• Victor (album), a solo album by Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson
• "Victor", a song from the 1979 album Eat to the Beat by American New Wave group Blondie

Businesses[link]

• Victor Talking Machine Company, early 20th century American recording company
• Victor Entertainment, Japanese record label, JVC subsidiary
• Victor Interactive Software, the video game development branch of Victor Entertainment
• Victor Technologies (formerly Sirius Systems Technology), a computer manufacturer in the early 1980s
• Victor Technology, a U.S.-based supplier of calculators

Other[link]

Vítor from Salamanca.

• Vitor, a symbol of the victory of Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War^{[citation needed]}
• Victor, a motorcycle from TVS Motors, India
• Victor, the letter "V" in the NATO phonetic alphabet
• Victor (formerly Empire Ben), a tugboat in service in Australia from 1951 to 1985 when she was preserved in Geelong

See also[link]

• Victoria (disambiguation)
• Victorinus (disambiguation)
• Saint-Victor (disambiguation), various places in France
• Victory (disambiguation)

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.

Victor Ortiz
Ortiz in 2011
Statistics
Nickname(s)	Vicious
Rated at	Light Welterweight Welterweight
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Reach	70 in (178 cm)
Nationality	American
Born	(1987-01-31) January 31, 1987 (age 25) Garden City, Kansas, U.S.
Stance	Southpaw
Boxing record
Total fights	34
Wins	29
Wins by KO	22
Losses	3
Draws	2
No contests	0

Victor Ortiz (born January 31, 1987) is an American professional boxer of Mexican descent.^[1] He is a former WBC Welterweight Champion.^[2]

He was previously in the light welterweight division, where he held the USBA & NABO titles.^[3] Ortiz, with a crowd-pleasing, aggressive style, two-fisted power and boyish charm, was made the 2008 ESPN Prospect of the Year.^[4]

He is currently rated as one of the "top three" welterweight boxers in the world by most sporting news and boxing websites, including The Ring,^[5] BoxRec.com,^[6] and ESPN.^[7]

The first loss and the two draws on Ortiz's record are not counted as significant due to the fact the loss came by way of disqualification in the first round for knocking Corey Alarcon cold with an uppercut off a clinch. The first of two draws was a first-round technical draw in January 2007, when Ortiz faced Marvin Cordova Jr., when an accidental head-butt opened a cut on Ortiz's forehead and rendered him unable to continue.^[4] The second draw was a controversial one against Lamont Peterson, as ESPN.com and HBO unofficial scorer Harold Lederman both had it 97-91 in favor for the 23-year-old Ortiz.^[8]

Early life[link]

Ortiz was born and raised in Garden City, Kansas, the second of three children of Mexican immigrant parents. When he was seven years old, Ortiz's mother abandoned his family for a relationship with another man. Shortly thereafter, Ortiz began boxing at the insistence of his father, an alcoholic who often beat his children following his wife's departure.^[9] In an interview, Victor said, "I hated that lady. I drew her a card once with a little rose on it and I gave it to her. She just threw it down and said 'What do I want that shit for?' That's when I picked up boxing. Then my Dad started screwing up, drinking."^[10]

Ortiz' father also abandoned the family five years after their mother left, which forced Ortiz and his five siblings into the Kansas foster care system. Ortiz was twelve years old at the time.^[11] When he won the Kansas Golden Gloves Championship, he was dealing drugs (ecstasy and marijuana). Then Ortiz saw his image in the newspaper after winning the Golden Gloves and it moved him. Ortiz said, "The photo came out all over Kansas and that's when it hit me... I realized that I didn't need to be involved with selling drugs in order to make something of myself. I said screw this. I don't need all this crap or this guilt." His older sister would become a legal adult in 2002 and moved to Denver, Colorado. Ortiz and his younger brother left Kansas and moved in with her.^[12]

Amateur career[link]

While training at a Salvation Army Red Shield Community Center,^[13] he was noticed by former heavyweight boxing contender Ron Lyle, who had become a supervisor at the center. In 2003, Lyle guided Ortiz to a Junior Olympics tournament, where, at the age of sixteen, he won the 132-pound weight division with a perfect 5-0 record. This time, he was noticed by another former boxer, Roberto Garcia, who had held the IBF Super Featherweight Championship during the 1990s and whose father was the trainer of Fernando Vargas.^[14]

Move to California[link]

Though Garcia was based in Oxnard, California, he offered to train Ortiz, who accepted and moved from Colorado to California, where he began training at Oxnard's famous La Colonia Youth Boxing Club. Garcia later became Ortiz's legal guardian, and Ortiz graduated from Pacifica High School. At age seventeen, Ortiz reached the United States Olympic boxing trials in the 132-pound weight class, where he was eliminated in the final stages (The weight class was instead won by Vicente Escobedo).

Ortiz turned professional later in 2004 while still only seventeen years of age. When he reached the age of eighteen in 2005 and became a legal adult, he gained custody of his younger brother, who is now a college student. Ortiz continues to reside in Ventura, California.^[15][16][17]

Victor Ortiz boxed at The Garden City Boxing club where he was trained by five trainers who all worked together to get him ahead in his boxing career. His original trainers included Ignacio "Buck" Avilia, Manuel Rios, Antonio Orozco Sr., Juan M. Aldana Jr. and Alfred Ritz. He won the Ringside National Title in 2001 and 2002 and the National Jr. Olympics in 2002.^{[citation needed]}

Professional career[link]

Light Welterweight[link]

Victor Ortiz media workout at Westside Boxing Club in LA on June 24, 2009

After turning professional, Ortiz easily won his first seven fights against weak opposition. However, on June 3, 2005, Ortiz was controversially disqualified in the first round of a bout against unknown Corey Alarcon in Oxnard. After having already knocked Alarcon down once in the round, Ortiz knocked him down again shortly after referee David Denkin ordered the fighters to separate from a clinch. Alarcon stayed down for the count and was awarded the fight based on Denkin's judgment that Ortiz's knockout punch had been an illegal punch during a break.^[18]

Following the fight with Alarcon, Ortiz continued to win and had built a record of 18-1-1 as of August 30, 2007, when he fought his first well-known opponent, Emmanuel Clottey of Ghana, in only his second bout scheduled for ten rounds. Ortiz defeated Clottey by technical knockout in the tenth and final round.^[19] Three months later, Ortiz followed up on his victory with another knockout win, this time in the first round of a ten-round bout against former junior welterweight titlist Carlos Maussa of Colombia.^[20]

On September 13, 2008, Ortiz fought his first bout scheduled for twelve rounds, against Roberto David Arrieta of Argentina. Ortiz knocked Arrieta down in the second, fourth and fifth rounds and won by technical knockout in the fifth round.^[21] At the end of 2008, ESPN named Ortiz the boxing prospect of the year.

On March 7, 2009, Ortiz fought his first bout televised on HBO World Championship Boxing against Mike Arnaoutis of Greece, who had fought top-ten light welterweight contenders such as Juan Urango, Ricardo Torres and Kendall Holt without ever having been knocked out.^[22] However, Ortiz scored a technical knockout of Arnaoutis in the second round.

On June 27, 2009, Ortiz faced Marcos Rene Maidana (25-1-0) of Argentina in Los Angeles for the Interim WBA Light Welterweight title. Ortiz entered the fight with an eight-fight knockout streak.^[23] Maidana, a dangerous puncher, had won 25 of his 26 previous bouts by knockout. The only previous blemish on his record at that point was a close split decision loss to WBA Champion Andriy Kotelnik.^[24] Both Ortiz and Maidana were knocked down in the first round. Ortiz knocked Maidana to the canvas twice in the second round. Ortiz suffered a cut in the 5th round and was knocked down in the 6th round. The fight was stopped when the ringside physician would not let Ortiz continue to fight.^[25]

Comeback[link]

Before the Maidana fight, Ortiz fired Roberto Garcia and Garcia's father. Ortiz expressed how the Garcias constantly humiliated him through derogatory speech but would then hire Garcia's brother Danny.^[26] After recovering from a broken wrist and switching trainers, Ortiz announced his return fight would be on HBO Boxing After Dark.^[27][28] On December 12, 2009, Ortiz bounced back from the defeat he suffered vs Maidana to stop Antonio Díaz, who failed to answer the bell for the seventh round.^[29] Ortiz then fought Hector Alatorre on February 25, 2010 winning by TKO in the tenth and final round.

Ortiz vs. Campbell

Ortiz was victorious in a unanimous decision victory over Nate Campbell on May 15 at Madison Square Garden on the Undercard of Amir Khan vs. Paulie Malignaggi. Ortiz, 23, was quicker, more active and landed heavier shots throughout the fight. Campbell, 38, did not seem to have much steam on his punches on the few occasions that he landed anything solid. He also appeared troubled all fight by Ortiz's southpaw style and straight left hand as he followed Ortiz around. Ortiz scored a knockdown on a short right hand, although it also looked like he shoved Campbell.^[30]

Ortiz vs. Harris

On September 18, 2010 Victor faced former WBA Light Welterweight Champion Vivian Harris on the Shane Mosley vs. Sergio Mora undercard at Staples Center.^[31] He was on ESPN's SportsNation to promote the fight with Harris. Victor landed 25-of-54 power punches. He dropped Harris with both hands and landed some nasty power punches. That short right really showed off the unique power possessed by Ortiz. Ortiz knocked Harris down three times in the second round en route to a knock out win with :45 seconds left in the third round.^[32]

Ortiz vs. Peterson

On the undercard of Amir Khan vs. Marcos Maidana, Ortiz faced former title challenger Lamont Peterson on December 11 at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. Peterson went down for the first time from a right hand that finished a four-punch combination. Peterson got up quickly and did not appear hurt. But he was moments later from another punch and he grabbed on to Ortiz as they tumbled to the mat. But when the fight resumed, Ortiz was on Peterson again and knocked him hard into the ropes, which held him up and caused referee Vic Drakulich to call the second knockdown of the round with about 30 seconds to go. One judge scored the bout a win for Peterson and the other two remaining judges scoring the bout a draw; the fight will go down on record as a draw. This was despite those who were in attendance saying that Ortiz clearly won the fight.^[33]

Welterweight[link]

Ortiz vs. Berto I & II[link]

Ortiz fought Andre Berto for the WBC Welterweight title on April 16, 2011 at the Foxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket. Hailed as the early pick for the fight of the year, Ortiz won the fight by unanimous decision over Berto. They both came out aggressively, then just over a minute into the round, Ortiz landed a shot behind Berto’s head and Berto went down. Berto and Ortiz exchanged knockdowns in their fights with both of them going down twice. Both fighters were hurt in that fight. However, Berto took a lot of punishment while against the ropes and looked to be exhausted after the 6th. Ortiz had his way from the 7th on and only had to worry about an occasional big punch from Berto. The judges scored the match 115-110, 114-112 and 114-111 all for the new WBC Welterweight Champion.^[34]

Ortiz will face Berto, whose first thrilling slugfest in April was one of the best fights of the year, once again. The fight, which had been in discussion for weeks, was originally supposed to take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on February 11, 2012. The fight was postponed to June 30, 2012, due to Berto rupturing his biceps in training and being unable to meet the original date. On May 20, 2012 Berto failed an anti-doping test, testing positive for nalondrone. Although Berto denied having ever taken the substance intentionally, the rematch was cancelled and Light Welterweight Champion Josesito Lopez was chosen to take his place.

Star Power[link]

On June 7, 2011, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. announced via twitter that he and Ortiz had an agreement to fight on September 17, 2011.^[35] The fight was for Ortiz's WBC Welterweight belt.^[36] Mayweather, ten years older than Ortiz, fought Ortiz after a 16-month hiatus from boxing.

The fight took place at MGM Grand Garden Arena. From round one, Mayweather used his speed, skills and accurate right hand to tag Ortiz repeatedly. Mayweather seemed in control through the first three rounds (judges scores: 30-27, 30-27, 29-28 for Mayweather), but in the fourth round, Ortiz found some success, landing a few shots and stinging Mayweather before bulling him into the corner. Then Ortiz rammed Mayweather in the face with an intentional headbutt, busting open a cut on the inside and outside of Mayweather's mouth. Referee, Joe Cortez, immediately called timeout and docked Ortiz a point for the blatant foul. Ortiz—seemingly acknowledging his wrongdoing—hugged Mayweather in the corner and even appeared to kiss him. Cortez motioned the fighters back together to resume the fight. But with Cortez looking away from the fighters, Mayweather unloaded a left hook and a flush right hand to Ortiz's face. Ortiz dropped and was unable to beat Cortez's count as the crowd of 14,687 were furious at the ruined fight.^[37]

"In the ring, you have to protect yourself at all times," Mayweather said. "After it happened, we touched gloves and we were back to fighting and then I threw the left hook and right hand after the break. You just gotta protect yourself at all times."^[38]

Joe Cortez commented post-fight, saying, "Time was in. The fighter needed to keep his guard up. Mayweather did nothing illegal."

Professional record[link]

29 Wins (22 knockouts, 7 decisions), 3 Losses (2 knockouts, 1 disqualification), 2 Draws[39]
Res.	Record	Opponent	Type	Rd., Time	Date	Location	Notes
N/A	N/A	Josesito Lopez	-	? (12)	06-23-2012	MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Loss	29-3-2	Floyd Mayweather Jr.	KO	4 (12), (2:59)	09-17-2011	MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada	Lost WBC Welterweight title.
Win	29-2-2	Andre Berto	UD	12	04-16-2011	Foxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket, Connecticut	Won WBC Welterweight title. The Ring magazine's "Fight of the Year" (2011)
Draw	28-2-2	Lamont Peterson	MD	10	12-11-2010	Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	28-2-1	Vivian Harris	KO	3 (10), (0:45)	09-18-2010	Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Win	27-2-1	Nate Campbell	UD	10	05-15-2010	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	26-2-1	Hector Alatorre	TKO	10 (10), (0:51)	02-25-2010	Club Nokia, Los Angeles, California
Win	25-2-1	Antonio Díaz	RTD	7 (10), (0:01)	12-12-2009	UIC Pavilion, Chicago, Illinois
Loss	24-2-1	Marcos Maidana	TKO	6 (12), (0:46)	07-27-2009	Staples Center, Los Angeles, California	For Interim WBA Light Welterweight title.
Win	24-1-1	Mike Arnaoutis	TKO	2 (12), (1:27)	04-07-2009	HP Pavilion, San Jose, California	Retained WBO NABO & won USBA Light Welterweight titles.
Win	23-1-1	Jeffrey Resto	TKO	2 (12), (1:19)	12-06-2008	MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada	Retained WBO NABO Light Welterweight title.
Win	22-1-1	Roberto Arrieta	TKO	5 (12), (2:25)	09-13-2008	MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada	Won vacant WBO NABO Light Welterweight title.
Win	21-1-1	Dario Esalas	KO	5 (10), (2:31)	05-05-2008	Home Depot Center, Carson, California
Win	20-1-1	Carlos Maussa	KO	1 (10), (1:47)	11-10-2007	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	19-1-1	Emmanuel Clottey	TKO	10 (10), (2:59)	08-30-2007	Grand Plaza Hotel, Houston, Texas
Win	18-1-1	Maximino Cuevas	KO	1 (10), (2:44)	07-29-2007	Cliff Castle Casino, Camp Verde, Arizona
Win	17-1-1	Tomas Barrientes	TKO	5 (8), (2:42)	04-14-2007	Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas
Draw	16-1-1	Marvin Cordova Jr.	TD	1 (8), (3:00)	01-19-2007	Dodge Arena, Phoenix, Arizona
Win	16–1	Yahir Aguiar	KO	2 (6), (1:32)	11-03-2006	Palo Duro Golf Club, Nogales, Arizona
Win	15–1	Alfred Kotey	UD	8	09-08-2006	Gilley's, Dallas, Texas
Win	14–1	Orlando Cantera	TKO	4 (8), (0:34)	06-23-2006	Palo Duro Golf Club, Nogales, Arizona
Win	13–1	Freddie Barrera	TKO	1 (8), (2:42)	04-31-2006	Activities Center, Maywood, California
Win	12–1	Nestor Rosas	KO	5 (8), (2:06)	02-10-2006	Roseland Ballroom, San Antonio, Texas
Win	11–1	Leroy Fountain	KO	4 (8), (1:27)	01-06-2006	Santa Ana Star Casino, Bernalillo, New Mexico
Win	10–1	Donnell Logan	TKO	2 (4), (2:10)	11-04-2005	Ventura Theatre, Ventura, California
Win	9–1	Kevin Carmody	UD	6	09-09-2005	Edgewater Hotel, Laughlin, Nevada
Win	8–1	Oliver Bolanos	UD	4	08-26-2005	Colonial Ballroom, Houston, Texas
Loss	7–1	Corey Alarcon	DQ	1 (6), (2:59)	06-03-2005	Performing Arts Center, Oxnard, California
Win	7–0	Rodney Jones	TKO	2 (4), (1:34)	04-05-2005	Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	6–0	Joel Ortega	TKO	1 (4), (1:32)	02-11-2005	Convention Center, San Diego, California
Win	5–0	Juan Patino	UD	4	11-26-2004	Plaza Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	4–0	Charles Hawkins	TKO	4 (4), (2:02)	10-08-2004	Edgewater Hotel & Casino, Laughlin, Nevada
Win	3–0	Lee De Leon	TKO	2(4), (2:35)	09-17-2004	Plaza Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	2–0	Alejandro Nungaray	UD	4	07-24-2004	Flamingo Hotel and Casino, Laughlin, Nevada
Win	1–0	Raul Montes	TKO	1 (4), (2:01)	06-04-2004	Plaza Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada	Ortiz's Professional Debut.

Titles in boxing[link]

Major World Titles:

• WBC Welterweight Champion (147 lbs)

Regional/International Titles:

• WBO NABO Light Welterweight Champion (140 lbs)
• USBA Light Welterweight Champion (140 lbs)

Boxing Style[link]

Ortiz is a right-hander who nevertheless chooses to fight from a southpaw stance. Ortiz has stated, "I’m naturally right-handed. Everything I do is right-handed. My power is just built on my left hand, somehow. Fighting left-handed was just more comfortable for me. I was just a better boxer that way. My defense was better, I didn’t get hit as much. I just developed myself into a left-hander. I don’t even like to switch to right-handed."

See also[link]

• List of left-handed boxers

References[link]

External links[link]

• Victor Ortiz Fight-by-Fight Career Record
• Victory: A Boxer's Story (Short Documentary Film about Victor Ortiz - 2005)
• Promoter page
• BoxingInsider.com interview with Vicious Victor Ortiz
• Victor Ortiz Audio Interview With Fans
• Victor Ortiz on Twitter
• Professional boxing record for Victor Ortiz from BoxRec

Victor Borge
Victor Borge in 1990
Born	(1909-01-03)3 January 1909 Copenhagen, Denmark
Died	23 December 2000(2000-12-23) (aged 91) Greenwich, Connecticut, United States
Occupation	Classical pianist, entertainer, comedian, humorist

Victor Borge ( /ˈbɔrɡə/ BOR-gə; 3 January 1909 – 23 December 2000),^[1] born Børge Rosenbaum, was a Danish and American comedian, conductor and pianist, affectionately known as The Clown Prince of Denmark,^[2] The Unmelancholy Dane,^[3] and The Great Dane.^[4]

Biography[link]

Early life and career[link]

Borge was born Børge Rosenbaum in Copenhagen, Denmark, into a Jewish family. His parents, Bernhard and Frederikke Rosenbaum, were both musicians—his father a violist in the Royal Danish Orchestra^[5] and his mother a pianist.^[6] Like his mother, Borge began piano lessons at the age of two, and it was soon apparent that he was a prodigy. He gave his first piano recital when he was eight years old, and in 1918 was awarded a full scholarship at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, studying under Olivo Krause. Later on, he was taught by Victor Schiøler, Liszt's student Frederic Lamond, and Busoni's pupil Egon Petri.

Borge played his first major concert in 1926 at the Danish concert-hall Odd Fellow Palæet (The Odd Fellow's Lodge building). After a few years as a classical concert pianist, he started his now famous "stand up" act, with the signature blend of piano music and jokes. He married American Elsie Chilton in 1933, the same year he debuted with his revue acts.^[7] Borge started touring extensively in Europe, where he began telling anti-Nazi jokes.

When the Nazis occupied Denmark during World War II, Borge was playing a concert in Sweden, and managed to escape to Finland.^[8] He traveled to America on the USS American Legion, the last neutral ship to make it out of Petsamo, Finland,^[9] and arrived 28 August 1940, with only 20 dollars (equal to $332 today), with $3 (equal to $49.77 today) going to the customs fee. Disguised as a sailor, Borge returned to Denmark once during the occupation to visit his dying mother.^[10]

Move to America[link]

Even though Borge did not speak a word of English upon arrival, he quickly managed to adapt his jokes to the American audience, learning English by watching movies. He took the name of Victor Borge, and, in 1941, he started on Rudy Vallee's radio show,^[11] but was hired soon after by Bing Crosby for his Kraft Music Hall.^[12]

From then on, fame rose quickly for Borge, who won Best New Radio Performer of the Year in 1942. Soon after the award, he was offered film roles with stars such as Frank Sinatra (in Higher and Higher). While hosting The Victor Borge Show on NBC beginning in 1946,^[13] he developed many of his trademarks, including repeatedly announcing his intent to play a piece but getting "distracted" by something or other, making comments about the audience, or discussing the usefulness of Chopin's "Minute Waltz" as an egg timer.^[14] Or he would start out with some well-known classical piece like Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" and suddenly move into a harmonically suitable pop or jazz tune like Cole Porter's "Night and Day" or "Happy Birthday to You".

Borge's style[link]

Among Borge's other famous routines is the "Phonetic Punctuation" routine, in which he recites a story, with full punctuation (comma, period, exclamation mark, etc.) as exaggerated onomatopoeic sounds.^[15] Another is his "Inflationary Language", where he incremented numbers embedded in words, whether they are visible or not ("once upon a time" becomes "twice upon a time", "wonderful" becomes "twoderful", "forehead" becomes "fivehead", "tennis" becomes "elevennis", "I ate a tenderloin with my fork and so on and so forth" becomes "'I nine an elevenderloin with my five'k' and so on and so fifth").^[16]

Borge used physical and visual elements in his live and televised performances. He would play a strange-sounding piano tune from sheet music, looking increasingly confused; turning the sheet upside down, he would then play the actual tune, flashing a joyful smile of accomplishment to the audience (he had, at first, been literally playing the actual tune upside down). When his energetic playing of another song would cause him to fall off the piano bench, he would open the seat lid, take out the two ends of an automotive seat belt, and buckle himself onto the bench, "for safety." Conducting an orchestra, he might stop and order a violinist who had played a sour note to get off the stage, then resume the performance and have the other members of the section move up to fill the empty seat while they were still playing. From off stage would come the sound of a gunshot. His musical sidekick in the 1950s, Leonid Hambro, was a well-known concert pianist. In 1968, classical pianist Şahan Arzruni joined him as his straight man, performing together on one piano a version of Liszt's Second Hungarian Rhapsody, considered a musical-comedic classic.^[17]

He also enjoyed interacting with the audience. Seeing an interested person in the front row, he would ask them, "Do you like good music?" or "Do you care for piano music?" After an affirmative answer, Borge would take a piece of sheet music from his piano and say, "Here is some", and hand it over. After the audience's laughter died down, he would say, "That'll be $1.95" (or whatever the current price might be). He would then ask whether the audience member could read music; if the member said yes, he would ask a higher price. If he got no response from the audience after a joke, he would often add "...when this ovation has died down, of course". The delayed punch line to handing the person the sheet music would come when he would reach the end of a number and begin playing the penultimate notes over and over, with a puzzled look. He would then go back to the person in the audience, retrieve the sheet music, tear off a piece of it, stick it on the piano, and play the last couple of notes from it.

Making fun of modern theater, he would sometimes begin a performance by asking if there were any children in the audience. There always were, of course. He would sternly order them out, then say, "We do have some children in here that means I can't do the second half in the nude. I'll wear the tie. (pause) The long one. (pause) The very long one, yes."^[18]

In his stage shows in later years, he would include a segment with opera singer Marilyn Mulvey. She would try to sing an aria, and he would react and interrupt, with such antics as falling off the bench in "surprise" when she hit a high note. He would also remind her repeatedly not to rest her hand on the piano. After the routine, the spotlight would fall upon Mulvey and she would sing a serious number with Borge accompanying in the background.

Later career[link]

The footstone of Victor Borge

Borge appeared on Toast of the Town hosted by Ed Sullivan several times during 1948. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States the same year. He started the Comedy in Music show at John Golden Theatre in New York City on 2 October 1953. Comedy in Music became the longest running one-man show in the history of theater with 849 performances when it closed on 21 January 1956, a feat which placed it in the Guinness Book of World Records.^[19]

Continuing his success with tours and shows, Borge played with and conducted orchestras including Chicago Symphony Orchestra,^[20] the New York Philharmonic^[21] and London Philharmonic.^[22] Always modest, he felt honored when he was invited to conduct the Royal Danish Orchestra at the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1992.

His later television appearances included his "Phonetic Punctuation" routine on The Electric Company in a filmed sketch; he would also use it on the record to follow during the "Punctuation" song. He appeared several times on Sesame Street^[23] and was a guest star during the fourth season^[24] of The Muppet Show.^[25]

Victor Borge continued to tour until his last days, performing up to 60 times per year when he was 90 years old.

Other endeavors[link]

Borge made several appearances on the long-running TV show What's My Line?, both as a celebrity panelist, and as a contestant with the occupation "poultry farmer"; Starting in the 1950s, as a businessman, Borge raised and popularized Rock Cornish hens.^[26]

Borge helped start several trust funds, including the Thanks to Scandinavia Fund,^[27] which was started in dedication to those who helped the Jews escape the German persecution during the war.^[28]

Aside from his musical work, Borge wrote three books, My Favorite Intermissions^[29] and My Favorite Comedies in Music^[30] (both with Robert Sherman), and the autobiography Smilet er den korteste afstand ("The Smile is the Shortest Distance") with Niels-Jørgen Kaiser.^[31]

Family[link]

He married his first wife, Elsie Chilton, in 1933. After divorcing Elsie, he married Sarabel Sanna Scraper in 1953, and they stayed married until her death at the age of 83 in September 2000.^[32]

Borge fathered five children (who occasionally performed with him): Ronald Borge and Janet Crowle with Elsie Chilton, and Sanna Feirstein, Victor Bernhard (Vebe) Jr., and Frederikke (Rikke) Borge with Sarabel.^[33]

Death[link]

Borge died in Greenwich, Connecticut, at the age of 91, after more than 75 years of entertaining. He died peacefully in his sleep a day after returning from a concert in Denmark. "It was just his time to go", Frederikke Borge said. "He's been missing my mother terribly."^[34] According to his wish, to mark his connection to both the United States and Denmark a part of Victor Borge's ashes is interred at Putnam Cemetery in Greenwich, with a replica of Danish icon The Little Mermaid sitting on a large rock at the gravesite, the other part in Western Jewish Cemetery (Mosaisk Vestre Begravelsesplads), Copenhagen, Denmark.^[35]

Legacy[link]

Borge received an honorary degree from Trinity College, Hartford in 1997.^[36]

When in 1998 the Royal Danish Orchestra celebrated its 550th anniversary, Borge was appointed an honorary member^[37] – at that time one of only 10 in the orchestra's history.^[38]

Borge received Kennedy Center Honors in 1999.^[39]

Victor Borge Hall,^[40] located in Scandinavia House in New York City, was named in Borge's honor in 2000, as was Victor Borges Plads ("Victor Borge Square") in Copenhagen in 2002.^[41] Celebrating Borge's Centennial in 2009 a statue was erected on the square.^[42]

Victor Borge: A Centennial Celebration[link]

From 23 January to 9 May 2009, the life of Borge was celebrated by The American-Scandinavian Foundation with "Victor Borge: A Centennial Celebration."

A television special about his life, 100 Years of Music and Laughter, aired on PBS on 14 March 2009.^[43]

Discography[link]

• Phonetic Punctuation Parts 1 and 2 (1945, Columbia Records 36911, 78 rpm)^[44][45]
• The Blue Serenade / A Lesson in Composition (1945, Columbia Records 36912, 78 rpm)^[44][45]
• Brahms’ Lullaby / Grieg Rhapsody (1945, Columbia Records 36913, 78 rpm)^[44]
• A Mozart Opera by Borge / All The Things You Are (1945, Columbia Records 36914, 78 rpm)^[44]
• A Victor Borge Program (1946, Columbia Album C-111, 4 discs 78 rpm – a set containing the four previous releases)^[46]
• Unstarted Symphony / Bizet's Carmen (1947, Columbia Records 38181, 78 rpm)^[47]
• Intermezzo / Stardust (1947, Columbia Records 38182, 78 rpm)^[47]
• Rachmaninoff's Concerto No. 2 / Inflation Language (1947, Columbia Records 38183, 78 rpm)^[47]
• Clair de Lune / Vuggevise (1947, Columbia Records 38184, 78 rpm)^[47]
• An Evening with Victor Borge (1948 Columbia Album C-161, 4 discs 78 rpm – a set containing the four previous releases)^[47]
• A Victor Borge Program (1951, Columbia Records CL-6013, 10'' LP)^[48]
• Comedy in Music, Vol. 1 (1954, Columbia Records CL-6292, 10'' LP)^[49]
• Comedy in Music, Vol. 2 (1954, Columbia Records CL-6293, 10'' LP)^[49]
• Comedy in Music (1954, Columbia Records CL-554, LP)^[50]
• Caught in the Act (1955, Columbia Records CL-646, LP)^[51]
• Brahms, Bizet and Borge (1955, Columbia Records CL-2538, 10'' LP)^[48]
• ½ Time På Dansk (1958, Fona 251 HI-FI, 10'' LP)^[52]
• The Adventures of Piccolo, Saxie and Company (1959, Columbia Records CL-1223, LP)^[48]
• The Adventures of Piccolo, Saxie and Company (1959, Coronet KLP 762, LP (AUS))^[53]
• Victor Borge Plays and Conducts Concert Favorites (1959, Columbia Records CL-1305/CS-8113, LP)^[54]
• Borge's Back (1962, MGM E/SE-3995P, LP)^[55]
• Borge's Back (1962, MGM CS-6055, LP (UK))^[56]
• Borgering on Genius (1962, MGM 2354029, LP – same material as Borge's Back)^[49]
• Great Moments of Comedy (1964, Verve V/V6 15044, LP – same material as Borge's Back)^[49]
• Victor Borge presents his own enchanting version of Hans Christian Andersen (1966, Decca DL7-34406 Stereo, LP)^[48]
• Comedy in Music (1972, CBS S 53140, LP)
• Victor Borge at His Best (1972, PRT Records COMP 5, 2 LPs)^[48]
• Victor Borge Live At The London Palladium (1972, Pye NSPL 18394, LP)^[57]
• My Favorite Intervals (1975, PYE NSPD 502, LP)^[48]
• 13 Pianos Live in Concert (1975, Telefunken-Decca LC-0366)
• Victor Borge 50 Års Jubilæum (1976, Philips 6318035, LP)
• Victor Borge Show (1977, CBS 70082, LP, in Danish)^[49]
• Victor Borge Live in der Hamburger Musikhalle (1978, Philips 6305 369, LP)
• Victor Borge Live (1978, Starbox LX 96 004 Stereo, LP)
• Victor Borge – Live(!) (1992, Sony Broadway 48482, CD)
• The Piano & Humor of the Great Victor Borge (1997, Sony Music Special Products 15312, 3 CDs)
• The Two Sides of Victor Borge (1998, GMG Entertainment, CD)
• Caught in the Act (1999, Collectables Records 6031, CD)
• Comedy in Music (1999, Collectables Records 6032, CD)
• Phonetically Speaking – And Don't Forget The Piano (2001, Jasmine 120, CD)
• En aften med Victor Borge (2003, UNI 9865861, CD)
• I Love You Truly (2004, Pegasus (Pinnacle) 45403, CD)
• Victor Borge King of Comedy (2006, Phantom 26540, CD)
• Verdens morsomste mand: alle tiders Victor Borge (2006, UNI 9877560, CD)
• Unstarted Symphony (2008, NAX-8120859, CD)
• Comedy in Music (2009, SHO-227, CD)

Filmography[link]

• Frk. Møllers Jubilæum (1937)
• Der var engang en Vicevært (1937)
• Alarm (1938)
• De tre måske fire (1939)
• Higher and Higher (1943)
• The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944) (unbilled)
• Victor Borge at Carnegie Hall (TV special, ABC) (1964)
• The Daydreamer (1966)
• The King of Comedy (1983)

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Gansing, Gunhild (1956) (in Danish). Om Victor Borge, verdens morsomste mand. Martin. http://books.google.com/books?id=QPVFHAAACAAJ. Retrieved 3 October 2010. 
• Borge, Victor; Sherman, Robert (August 1971). My favorite intermissions. Doubleday. http://books.google.com/books?id=93gfAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 3 October 2010. 
• Borge, Victor; Sherman, Robert (1980). Victor Borge's My favorite comedies in music. Dorset Press. ISBN 978-0-88029-807-0. http://books.google.com/books?id=R7rBAAAACAAJ. Retrieved 3 October 2010. 
• Borge, Victor; Kaiser, Niels-Jørgen (2001) (in Danish). Smilet er den korteste afstand -: erindringer. Gyldendal. ISBN 978-87-00-75182-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=RYlWAAAACAAJ. Retrieved 3 October 2010. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Victor Borge (1909–2000)

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Victor Borge

• Victor Borge at the Internet Movie Database
• Victor Borge at Find a Grave
• A Tribute to Victor Borge.
• A website dedicated to Victor Borge.
• Victor Borge and the Bosendorfer Imperial Pianos with images, video and sound files provided by his management
• Internet Archive: Victor Borge Collection

Victor Wooten
Wooten playing at the Belly Up in 2006.
Background information
Birth name	Victor Lemonte Wooten
Born	(1964-09-11) September 11, 1964 (age 47) Mountain Home, Idaho, U.S.
Genres	Jazz, jazz fusion, funk
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, producer, author
Instruments	Electric bass, upright bass, fiddle, cello, banjo
Years active	1980–present
Associated acts	Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, Steve Bailey, Vital Tech Tones, SMV, Greg Howe, Dave Matthews Band, Chick Corea Elektric Band
Website	www.victorwooten.com
Notable instruments
Fodera Monarch Fodera Monarch Yin-Yang (4 string) Steinberger bass guitars

Victor Lemonte Wooten (born September 11, 1964) is an American bass player, composer, author, and producer, and has been the recipient of five Grammy Awards.^[1]

Wooten has won the "Bass Player of the Year" award from Bass Player magazine three times in a row, and was the first person to win the award more than once.^[1] In addition to a solo career and collaborations with various artists, Wooten has been the bassist for Béla Fleck and the Flecktones since the group's formation in 1988.

In 2008, Wooten joined Stanley Clarke and Marcus Miller to record an album. The trio of bassists, under the name SMV, released Thunder in August 2008 and began a supporting tour the same month.^[2]

Wooten was also a judge for the 4th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.^[3]

Early life[link]

Born to Dorothy and Pete Wooten, Victor is the youngest of the five Wooten Brothers, the other four being Regi, Roy, Rudy and Joseph Wooten, all of whom are musicians. His brother Regi began to teach Victor to play bass when he was two, and by the age of six, Victor was playing in front of crowds with his brothers in their family band, The Wooten Brothers Band, and toured supporting Curtis Mayfield, among others.^[1] When his family moved east, they continued to hone their skills. His brothers began a residency at Busch Gardens. When his brother Roy asked if Victor could learn the fiddle to play with them on quick notice, he complied, adding another instrument to his repertoire.

Instruments[link]

Wooten playing his Steinberger headless bass guitar at the Belly Up in 2006.

Wooten is most often seen playing Fodera basses, of which he has a signature model.^[4] His most famous Fodera, a 1983 Monarch Deluxe he refers to as "number 1," sports a Kahler Tremolo System model 2400 bridge. Fodera's "Yin Yang" basses (co-designed by and created for Wooten) incorporates the Yin Yang symbol—which Wooten uses in various media—as a focal point of the top's design and construction. The symbol is created from two pieces of naturally finished wood (Ebony and Holly, for example), fitted together to create the Yin-Yang pattern.^[5]

Though Wooten's basses receive much attention, his most frequent and consistent response when asked by his fans about his equipment (or equipment in general) is that "the instrument doesn't make the music ... you do".^{[citation needed]} He'll often go on to state that the most important features to look for in a bass are comfort and playability. During a question and answer session at a 1998 concert, Wooten stated that "If you take a newborn baby and put them on the instrument, they're going to get sounds out of it that I can't get out of it, so we're all the best."^[6] This philosophy seems closely related to Wooten's approach to music in general, which is that music is a language. According to Wooten, while speaking or listening, one doesn't focus on the mouth as it is forming words; similarly, when a musician is playing or performing the focus shouldn't be on the instrument.

As well as playing electric bass (both fretted and fretless) and the double bass, Victor also played the cello in high school. He still plays cello occasionally with the Flecktones. This is the instrument to which he attributes his musical training.

Discography[link]

Religious beliefs[link]

While Wooten considers himself a spiritual individual, he is not a part of any particular religion. He believes that, "God is too big for any one religion."^[7]

Bibliography[link]

• The Music Lesson: A Spiritual Search for Growth Through Music, ISBN 978-0-425-22093-1, Penguin Group, 2008

References[link]

External links[link]

• Victor Lemonte Wooten - official website
• Victor Lemonte Wooten Intervew with Anil Prasad of Innerviews
• Live performance photographs
• Interview from honesttune.com
• The Music Lesson website
• The Bass Vault
• Bass/Nature Camp
• Victor Wooten artist page at Guitar Video Channel

Victor Wanyama

Personal information
Full name	Victor Wanyama
Date of birth	(1991-06-25) 25 June 1991 (age 21)
Place of birth	Nairobi, Kenya
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position	Defensive Midfielder / Centre Back
Club information
Current club	Celtic
Number	67
Youth career
2006–2008	JMJ Youth Academy
2006	Nairobi City Stars
2006–2007	AFC Leopards
2007–2008	Helsingborg
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2008–2011	Beerschot AC	50	(2)
2011–	Celtic	29	(4)
National team‡
2009–	Kenya	16	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13 May 2012. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 29 February 2012

Victor Mugabe Wanyama (locally /mʊˈgɑβɛ wɑŋɑmɑ/; born 25 June 1991) is a Kenyan footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or a centre back for Scottish Premier League side Celtic and the Kenya national team.

Career[link]

Youth career[link]

Wanyama attended Kamukunji High School, which fields a successful football team. Upon leaving High School he also played with JMJ Academy for three years during which time he also joined Kenyan Premier League clubs Nairobi City Stars and AFC Leopards.^[1] In 2007 he joined Allsvenskan club Helsingborgs IF but after the departure of his brother McDonald Mariga to Serie A side Parma in 2008, Wanyama returned to Kenya.

Beerschot AC[link]

After a successful trial, Wanyama signed for Beerschot AC on a four-year contract in summer 2008. He made his debut in a League match at the end of the 2008-09 season. In September 2009, he was fined €100 and given a three-match suspension for a violent tackle on Matias Suarez of Anderlecht.^[2]

In the summer of 2010 Scottish Premier League club Celtic attempted to sign Wanyama but Beerschot did not allow him to leave. Russian Club CSKA Moscow also attempted to sign him, but they failed as well.^[3]

Wanyama scored his first goal for Beerschot on 11 December 2010, a 77th minute equaliser against Westerlo. In April 2011, he received another 3 match suspension after video evidence showed he had elbowed Brecht Dejaeghere of K.V. Kortrijk.^[4]

Celtic[link]

On 9 July 2011, Wanyama officially completed a £900,000 move to Celtic, who had failed to sign him a year earlier.^[5] He scored his first Celtic goal on the 8th of July 2011. He signed a four-year contract and in doing so became the first ever Kenyan to play in the SPL. Wanyama chose 67 as his squad number to honour the Lisbon Lions, Celtic's 1967 European Cup Final winning team.^[6][7] Wanyama made his Celtic debut in a 1-0 loss to St. Johnstone on 21 August 2011. He played in central defence rather than his favoured central midfield role.^[8] He came on as a late substitute in a 4–0 win over Motherwell,^[9] and then played for the whole second half in a 2–0 Scottish League Cup win over Ross County.^[10] On 29 September, he started in Celtic's 1–1 draw with Italian team Udinese in the Europa League. This was his first European match for the club.^[11] On 10 December, Wanyama scored his first goal for Celtic in a 1-0 win over Hearts at Celtic Park, a tremendous 25-yard strike which hit the top corner.^[12] His performances during December earned him the Scottish Premier League young player of the month award.^[13] He scored his second Celtic goal on 2 January 2012 in a 3-0 win against Dunfermline at East End Park.^[14] Wanyama then scored in Celtic's 2-1 win against Dundee United at Celtic Park and in the 4-0 victory against Hearts at Tynecastle.

Style of play[link]

Wanyama quickly became a fans favourite at Celtic due to his consistency. He is a robust midfielder who can also play in defence. Wanyama is able to pass the ball, hold up the play with his strength, tackle and has a general calmness on the ball.^[15]

International career[link]

Wanyama made his debut for the Kenyan national team in May 2007, aged just 15 in a friendly against Nigeria. However, it was not an official FIFA licensed friendly, so does not count towards official international caps.^[1]

Wanyama currently has 15 international caps, scoring once. He also played in all six of Kenya's 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

Career statistics[link]

As of 13 May 2012^[16][17]

Honours[link]

Club[link]

Celtic

• Scottish Premier League: 2011–12

Personal[link]

• SPL Young Player of the Month: December 2011^[18]

Personal life[link]

Wanyama comes from a very sporting family, his brother is Inter Milan midfielder McDonald Mariga currently on loan at Parma from Internazionale, his father Noah Wanyama was a former footballer for AFC Leopards in the 1980s and his sister is a professional Basketball player in Kenya. He is managed by ExtraTime S.L. and has a boot sponsorship deal with Nike.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Victor Wanyama at National-Football-Teams.com
• Victor Wanyama on Twitter