Jack Warner
Born	Jacob Warner (1892-08-02)August 2, 1892 London, Ontario, Canada
Died	September 9, 1978(1978-09-09) (aged 86) Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Film executive
Years active	1927–1972
Spouse	Irma Solomons (1916–1935) Ann Page (1936–1978)

Jack Leonard "J. L." Warner (August 2, 1892 – September 9, 1978), born Jacob Warner in London, Ontario, was a Canadian American film executive who was the president and driving force behind the Warner Bros. Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Warner’s career spanned some forty-five years, its duration surpassing that of any other of the seminal Hollywood studio moguls.^[1]

As co-head of production at Warner Bros. Studios, he worked with his brother, Sam Warner, to procure the technology for the film industry's first talking picture.^[2] After Sam's death, Jack clashed with his surviving older brothers, Harry and Albert Warner. He assumed exclusive control of the film production company in the 1950s, when he secretly purchased his brothers' shares in the business after convincing them to participate in a joint sale of stocks.^[3]

Although Warner was feared by many of his employees and inspired ridicule with his uneven attempts at humor, he earned respect for his shrewd instincts and toughmindedness.^[1] He recruited many of Warner Bros.'s top stars^[4] and promoted the hard-edged social dramas for which the studio became known.^[5] Given to decisiveness, Warner once commented, "If I'm right fifty-one percent of the time, I'm ahead of the game."^[1]

Throughout his career, he was viewed as a contradictory and enigmatic figure.^[6] Although he was a staunch Republican, Warner encouraged film projects that promoted the agenda of Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal.^[5] He opposed European fascism and criticized Nazi Germany well before America's involvement in World War II.^[7] An opponent of Communism, after the war Warner appeared as a friendly witness before the House Un-American Activities Committee, voluntarily naming screenwriters who had been fired as suspected Communists or sympathizers.^[8] Despite his controversial public image, Warner remained a force in the motion picture industry until his retirement in the early 1970s.^[9]

Early years[link]

Jack Warner was born in London, Ontario, Canada in 1892. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Poland who spoke mainly Yiddish. Jack was the fifth surviving son of Benjamin Warner^[10] a cobbler from Krasnosielc, Poland (then located in the Russian Empire) and his wife, the former Pearl Leah Eichelbaum.^[11] Following their marriage in 1876, the couple had three children in Poland, one of whom died at a young age.^[12] One of the surviving children was Jack's eldest brother, Hirsch (later Harry).^[13] The Warner family had occupied a "hostile world", where the "night-riding of cossacks, the burning of houses, and the raping of women were part of life's burden for the Jews of the 'shtetl'".^[14] In 1888, in search of a better future for his family and himself, Benjamin made his way to Hamburg, Germany, and then took a ship to America.^[13] The Warner surname was perhaps originally "Wonsal"^[11] or "Wonskolaser"^[15] Upon arriving in New York City, Benjamin introduced himself as "Benjamin Warner", and the surname "Warner" remained with him for the rest of his life.^[10] Pearl Warner and the couple's two children joined him in Baltimore, Maryland, less than a year later. In Baltimore, the couple had five more children, including Abraham (later known as Albert) and Sam Warner.^[16]

Benjamin Warner's decision to move to Canada in the early 1890s was inspired by a friend's advice that he could make an excellent living bartering tin wares with trappers in exchange for furs.^[17] Their sons Jack and David were born in Ontario.^[11][17] After two arduous years in Canada, Benjamin and Pearl Warner returned to Baltimore, bringing along their growing family.^[18] Two more children, Sadie and Milton, were added to the household there.^[11] In 1896, the family relocated to Youngstown, Ohio, following the lead of Harry Warner, who established a shoe repair shop in the heart of the emerging industrial town.^[19] Benjamin worked with his son Harry in the shoe repair shop until he secured a loan to open a meat counter and grocery store in the city's downtown area.^[20]

Jack spent much of his youth in Youngstown. He observed in his autobiography that his experiences there molded his sensibilities. Warner wrote: "J. Edgar Hoover told me that Youngstown in those days was one of the toughest cities in America, and a gathering place for Sicilian thugs active in the Mafia. There was a murder or two almost every Saturday night in our neighborhood, and knives and brass knuckles were standard equipment for the young hotheads on the prowl."^[21] Warner claimed that he briefly belonged to a street gang based at Westlake's Crossing, a notorious neighborhood located just west of the city's downtown area.^[22] Meanwhile, he received his first taste of show business in the burgeoning steel town, singing at local theaters and forming a brief business partnership with another aspiring "song-and-dance man".^[23] During his brief career in vaudeville, he officially changed his name to Jack Leonard Warner.^[24] Jack's older brother Sam disapproved of these youthful pursuits. "Get out front where they pay the actors," Sam Warner advised Jack. "That's where the money is."^[25]

Professional career[link]

Early business ventures[link]

In Youngstown, the Warner brothers took their first tentative steps into the entertainment industry. In the early 20th century, Sam Warner formed a business partnership with another local resident and "took over" the city's Old Grand Opera House, which he used as a venue for "cheap vaudeville and photoplays".^[26] The venture failed after one summer. Sam Warner then secured a job as a projectionist at Idora Park, a local amusement park. He convinced the family of the new medium's possibilities and negotiated the purchase of a Model B Kinetoscope from a projectionist who was "down on his luck".^[27] The purchase price was $1,000,^[28] and Jack Warner contributed $150 to the venture by pawning a horse, according to his obituary.^[29]

The enterprising brothers screened a well-used copy of The Great Train Robbery throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania before renting a vacant store in New Castle, Pennsylvania.^[30] This makeshift theatre, called the Bijou, was furnished with chairs borrowed from a local undertaker.^[28][31] Jack, who was still living in Youngstown at the time, arrived on weekends "to sing illustrated song-slides during reel changes".^[31] In 1906, the brothers purchased a small theater in New Castle, which they called the Cascade Movie Palace. They maintained the theater until moving into film distribution in 1907.^[32] That year, the Warner brothers established the Pittsburgh-based Duquesne Amusement Company, a distribution firm that proved lucrative until the advent of Thomas Edison's Motion Picture Patents Company (also known as the Edison Trust), which charged distributors exorbitant fees.^[33] In 1909, Harry agreed to bring Jack into the family business; he sent his younger brother to Norfolk, Virginia, where Jack assisted Sam in the operation of a second film exchange company.^[34] Later that year, the Warners sold the family business to the General Film Company for "$10,000 in cash, $12,000 in preferred stock, and payments over a four-year period for a total of $52,000"^[35] (equivalent to $1,345,067 today).

Formation of Warner Bros.[link]

The Warner brothers pooled their resources and moved into film production in 1910.^[36] Then, in 1912, they lent their support to filmmaker Carl Laemmle's Independent Motion Picture Company, which challenged the monopolistic control of the Edison Trust. That same year, Jack Warner acquired a job as a film splicer in New York,^[37] where he assisted brother Sam with the production of the film, Dante's Inferno.^[38] Despite the film's success at the box office, Harry Warner remained concerned about the economic threat presented by the Edison Trust. He subsequently broke with Laemmle and sent Jack to establish a film exchange in San Francisco, while Sam did the same in Los Angeles.^[39] The brothers were soon poised to exploit the expanding California movie market.^[40] In 1917, Jack was sent to Los Angeles to open another film exchange company.^[41] Their first opportunity to produce a major film came in 1918, when they purchased the film rights for My Four Years in Germany, a bestselling novel that condemned German wartime atrocities. The film proved to be a commercial and critical success,^[42] and the four brothers were able to establish a studio in California.^[43] In the new studio, Jack became co-head of production along with his older brother, Sam.^[44] In this capacity, the two brothers secured new scripts and story lines, managed film production, and looked for ways to reduce production costs.^[42]

Hollywood movie studios, 1922

Warner Bros. followed up the success of My Four Years in Germany with a popular serial titled The Tiger's Claw in 1919. That same year, the studio was less successful in its efforts to promote Open Your Eyes, a tract on the dangers of venereal disease that featured Jack Warner's sole screen appearance.^[45] During this period, the studio earned few profits;^[46] and in 1920, the Warners secured a bank loan to settle outstanding debts.^[46] Shortly thereafter, the Warners relocated their production studio from Culver City, California, to Hollywood, where they purchased a lot on the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Bronson Avenue.,^[47] known today as Sunset Bronson Studios. The new location and upgraded facilities did not significantly improve the studio's image, which remained defined by its low-budget comedies and racy films on declining morality.^[48]

The studio discovered a trained German Shepherd named Rin Tin Tin in 1923. The canine made his debut in Where the North Begins, a film about an abandoned pup who is raised by wolves and befriends a fur trapper.^[49] According to one biographer, Jack Warner's initial doubts about the project were quelled when he met Rin Tin Tin, "who seemed to display more intelligence than some of the Warner comics."^[49] Rin Tin Tin proved to be the studio's most important commercial asset until the introduction of sound.^[50] Screenwriter Darryl F. Zanuck produced several scripts for Rin Tin Tin vehicles and, during one year, wrote more than half of the studio's features.^[51] Between 1928 and 1933, Zanuck served as Jack Warner's right-hand man and executive producer, a position whose responsibilities included the day-to-day production of films.^[52] Despite the success of Rin Tin Tin and other projects, however, Warner Bros. was unable to compete with Hollywood's "Big Three" – Paramount, Universal, and First National studios.^[53]

In 1925, the studio expanded its operations and acquired the Brooklyn-based theater company, Vitagraph.^[54] Later that year, Sam Warner urged his brother, Harry, to sign an agreement with Western Electric to develop a series of talking "shorts" using the newly developed Vitaphone technology.^[55] Sam died of pneumonia in 1927 (just before the premiere of the first feature-length talking picture, The Jazz Singer),^[56] and Jack became sole head of production.^[57] Sam's death left Jack unconsolable. One biographer writes, "Throughout his life, Jack had been warmed by Sam's sunshiny optimism, his thirst for excitement, his inventive mind, his gambling nature. Sam had also served as a buffer between Jack and his stern eldest brother, Harry.^[58] In the years to come, Jack ran the Warner Bros. Burbank studio with an iron hand. Following his brother's death, he became increasingly difficult to deal with and inspired the resentment of many of his employees.^[59]

As the family grieved over Sam's sudden passing, the success of The Jazz Singer helped establish Warner Bros. as a major studio. While Warner Bros. invested only $500,000 in the film, the studio reaped $3 million in profits.^[60] Hollywood's five major studios, which controlled most of the nation's movie theaters, initially attempted to block the growth of "talking pictures".^[61] In the face of such organized opposition, Warner Bros. produced 12 "talkies" in 1928 alone.^[61] The following year, the newly formed Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized Warner Bros. for "revolutionizing the industry with sound".^[62]

Despite Warner Bros.'s new prosperity, Jack kept a tight rein on costs. He placed the studio's directors on a quota system, and decreed a flat, low-key lighting style to make the sets look cheaper than they were.

Depression era[link]

The studio emerged relatively unscathed from the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and produced a broad range of films, including "backstage musicals," "crusading biopics," "swashbucklers," and "women's pictures." As Thomas Schatz observed, this repertoire was "a means of stabilizing marketing and sales, of bringing efficiency and economy into the production of some fifty feature films per year, and of distinguishing Warners' collective output from that of its competitors".^[63] Warner Bros. became best known, however, for its hard-hitting social dramas, whose production Jack Warner tended to support. These included gangster classics such as Little Caesar and The Public Enemy as well as the critically acclaimed I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, starring Paul Muni.^[64] Some of these films reflected a surprising (albeit temporary) shift in Warner's political outlook. By 1932, despite his longstanding association with the Republican Party, he openly supported Democratic presidential candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt, staging a "Motion Picture and Electrical Parade Sports Pageant" at L.A. Stadium in Roosevelt's honor. This development foreshadowed an "era in which Warner would recruit the most New Dealish (often simultaneously the most left-wing) writers".^[5]

During this period, Warner took an active role in recruiting talent. To furnish Warner Bros. with much needed "star power", he raided contract players from rival studios, in some cases offering to double their salaries. This strategy yielded three leading stars from Paramount Studios – William Powell, Kay Francis, and Ruth Chatterton.^[65] In 1929, Warner persuaded British stage and screen actor George Arliss to play the title role in a remake of the 1921 United Artists film, Disraeli, a project that turned out to be a box-office hit.^[66] Then, in 1930, he spotted future stars James Cagney, Joan Blondell, and Frank McHugh in the cast of a New York play called Penny Arcade.^[67] Although Cagney turned out to be Warner's greatest prize, he was also the studio executive's biggest professional challenge.^[68] During his frequent arguments with Warner, Cagney often resorted to screaming the Yiddish obscenities he learned during his upbringing in the Hell's Kitchen district of New York City.^[69][70] According to a 1937 Fortune magazine article, Warner's most intense contract disputes involved Cagney, "who got sick of being typed as a girl-hitting mick and of making five pictures a year instead of four."^[70]

The studio's executive producer, Darryl F. Zanuck, resigned during a contract dispute with Harry Warner in 1933.^[71] According to a 1933 letter that Jack wrote to Will H. Hays, then president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, Zanuck requested a higher salary and "indicated his desire to raise the salaries of the actors and personnel in the motion pictures we were producing".^[71] That year, Zanuck established 20th Century Studios, which merged with Fox Film Corporation in 1935.^[72] Longtime producer for the studio, Hal B. Wallis, took over as the studio's executive producer.^[73] Warner, however, denied Wallis the sweeping powers enjoyed by Zanuck, and the result was a decentralization of creative and administrative control that often created confusion at the studio.^[74] Under the new system, each picture was assigned a supervisor who was usually plucked from the ranks of the studio's screenwriters.^[75] Although Warner Bros. maintained a high rate of production throughout the 1930s, some pictures showed an uneven quality that reflected "not only the difficulty of shifting to a supervisory system but also the consequences of dispersing authority into the creative ranks".^[75]

Meanwhile, Jack Warner's role in production became somewhat limited. After acquiring a creative property, he often had little to do with a film's production until it was ready for preview.^[76] Nevertheless, Warner could be heavyhanded in his dealings with employees, and he was "merciless in his firings."^[1] Film director Gottfried Reinhardt claimed that Warner "derived pleasure" from humiliating subordinates.^[77] "Harry Cohn was a sonofabitch," Reinhardt said, "but he did it for business; he was not a sadist. [Louis B.] Mayer could be a monster, but he was not mean for the sake of meanness. Jack was."^[77]

Warner's management style frustrated many studio employees. Comedian Jack Benny, who once worked at Warner Bros., quipped, "Jack Warner would rather tell a bad joke than make a good movie";^[78] Warner frequently clashed with actors and supposedly banned them from the studio's executive dining room, with the explanation, "I don't need to look at actors when I eat."^[79] The studio executive did, however, win the affection of a few film personalities. Among these was Bette Davis, one of the studio's leading stars, who once fled to England to secure release from her contract.^[80] In later years, Davis defended Warner against rumors of sexual impropriety when she wrote: "No lecherous boss was he! His sins lay elsewhere. He was the father. The power. The glory. And he was in business to make money."^[29] Davis revealed that, after the birth of her child, Warner's attitude toward her became warm and protective. "We became father and child, no question about it." she said. "He told me I didn't have to come back to work until I really felt like it. He was a thoughtful man. Not many nice things were said about him."^[1] Warner also earned the gratitude and affection of Errol Flynn. In 1935, the studio head personally selected Flynn for the title role of Captain Blood, even though Flynn was an unknown actor at the time.^[81] In 1936, following the success of another costume epic, The Charge of the Light Brigade, Warner tore up Flynn's contract and signed him to a long-term deal that doubled his weekly salary.^[82]

Pre-war and war years[link]

As the 1930s came to an end, both Jack and Harry Warner became increasingly alarmed over the rise of Nazism.^[83] As Bernard F. Dick observed, the Warners, "as sons of Polish Jews who fled their homeland because of anti-Semitic pogroms ... had a personal interest in exposing Nazism." Moreover, the attraction to films critical of German militarism had a long history with the Warners that predated their production in 1918 of My Four Years in Germany. In 1917, while still in distribution, the Warners had secured the rights for War Brides, a film that featured Alla Nazimova as "a woman who kills herself rather than breed children for an unidentified country whose army looks suspiciously Teutonic."^[84]

Beyond this, Jack Warner was shaken by the 1936 murder of studio salesman Joe Kaufman, who was beaten to death by Nazi stormtroopers in Berlin.^[85][86] Warner later described the incident in the following terms: "Like many an outnumbered Jew he was trapped in an alley. They [Nazi hoodlums] hit him with fists and clubs and then kicked the life out of him with their boots and left him dying there."^[87] Hence, while other Hollywood studios sidestepped the issue, fearing domestic criticism and the loss of European markets, Warner Bros. produced films openly critical of Germany's fascist government. In 1939, the studio released Confessions of a Nazi Spy, starring Edward G. Robinson. The film project, which was recommended to Jack Warner by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, drew on the real-life experiences of agent Leon Turrou, who had worked as an undercover agent.^[83] Despite legal ramifications preventing the use of actual names, the studio aimed for an "aura of authenticity", and Hal Wallis initially recommended eliminating credits to give the film "the appearance of a newsreel."^[88] Confessions of a Nazi Spy was widely attacked. Critic Pare Lorentz wrote, "The Warner brothers have declared war on Germany with this one." The German ambassador responded by issuing a protest to U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull, and German dictator Adolf Hitler, who screened the film at Berchtesgaden, was outraged.^[89] Meanwhile, the studio received stern warnings from U.S. lawmaker Martin Dies about defaming a "friendly country."^[90]

Initially, the studio bowed to pressure from the Roosevelt Administration, the Hays Office, and isolationist lawmakers to desist from similar projects. Jack Warner announced that the studio would release no more "propaganda pictures" and promptly ordered the shelving of several projects with an anti-Nazi theme.^[91] In time, however, Warner Bros. produced more films with anti-Nazi messages, including Underground and All Through the Night. In 1940, the studio produced shorts that dramatically documented the devastation wrought by the German bombing raids on London. Meanwhile, the studio celebrated the exploits of the Royal Canadian Air Force, with films such as Captains of the Clouds.^[92] In 1941, Warner also produced the influential pro-war film Sergeant York.^[93] Contemporary reports that Jack Warner had banned the use of the German language throughout the company's Burbank studio were denied by studio representatives, who indicated this move would have prevented scores of studio employees from communicating with each other.^[94]

At the start of American participation in the war, like other studio heads, Jack Warner was commissioned a lieutenant colonel in the Army of the United States.^[95][96]

In 1943, Warner, at the advice of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, produced a film adaption of the controversial book Mission to Moscow;^[97] a film intended to inspire public support for the uneasy military alliance the United States had with the Soviet Union.^[98] Later, while testifying before the House Un-American Activities Committee on October 27, 1947,^[99] Warner dismissed Cold War allegations that the film was subversive, arguing that Mission to Moscow was produced "only to help a desperate war effort and not for posterity."^[100] After the film's lackluster release, the Republican National Committee accused Warner of releasing the film as "New Deal propaganda."^[101]

In line with the Warner brothers' early opposition to Nazism, Warner Bros. produced more pictures about the war than any other studio, covering every branch of the armed services.^[102] In addition, the studio produced patriotic musicals such as This is the Army and Yankee Doodle Dandy.^[102]

Postwar era[link]

Jack Warner responded grudgingly to the rising popularity of television in the late 1940s.^[103] Initially, he tried to compete with the new medium, introducing gimmicks such as 3-D films, which soon lost their appeal among moviegoers.^[104] In 1954, Warner finally engaged the new medium, providing ABC with a weekly show, Warner Bros. Presents.^[105] The studio followed up with a series of Western dramas, such as Maverick, Bronco, and Colt .45.^[106] Within a few years, Warner, accustomed to dealing with actors in a high-handed manner, provoked hostility among emerging TV stars like James Garner, who filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. over a contract dispute.^[107] He was angered by the perceived ingratitude of television actors, who evidently showed more independence than film actors, and this deepened his contempt for the new medium.^[108] Following his deal with ABC, Warner also made his son, Jack Jr., head of the company's new television department.^[109]

During this period, Warner showed little foresight in his treatment of the studio's cartoon operation. Animated characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig, while embraced by cartoon lovers, "were always stepchildren at Warner Bros."^[110] As biographer Bob Thomas wrote, "Jack Warner...considered cartoons no more than an extraneous service provided to exhibitors who wanted a full program for their customers."^[110] In 1953, during a rare meeting between the Warners and the studio's cartoon makers, Jack confessed that he didn't "even know where the hell the cartoon studio is", and Harry added, "The only thing I know is that we make Mickey Mouse," a reference to the flagship character of a competing company, Walt Disney Productions.^[111] Several years later, Jack sold all of the 400 cartoons Warner Bros. made before 1948 for $3,000 apiece. As Thomas noted, "They have since earned millions, but not for Warner Bros."^[112]

Jack Warner's tumultuous relationship with his brother, Harry, worsened in February 1956, when Harry learned of Jack's decision to sell the Warner Bros.'s pre-1950 sound films to Associated Artists Productions (soon to merge with United Artists Television) for the modest sum of $21 million.^[113] (The deal did not include the black-and-white Looney Tunes films, the first Merrie Melodie film, Lady, Play Your Mandolin!, and the color cartoons released between August 1, 1948, and the close of 1949. The black-and-white cartoons and the silent films were sold to Guild Films under license of Sunset Productions, which was established by Warners as its television subsidiary in the same manner as Columbia Pictures' Screen Gems, and the aforementioned 1948–1949 color cartoons remained with Warner Brothers).^[114] "This is our heritage, what we worked all our lives to create, and now it is gone," Harry exclaimed, upon hearing of the deal.^[113] The breach between Jack and Harry widened later that year. In July 1956, Jack, Harry, and Albert announced they were putting Warner Bros. on the market.^[3] Jack, however, secretly organized a syndicate that purchased control of the company.^[115] By the time Harry and Albert learned of their brother's dealings, it was too late.^[3] Jack, as the company's largest stockholder, appointed himself as the new company president.^[116] Shortly after the deal was closed, Jack Warner announced that the company and its subsidiaries would be "directed more vigorously to the acquisition of the most important story properties, talents, and to the production of the finest motion pictures possible".^[117] The two brothers had often argued, and earlier in the decade, studio employees claimed they saw Harry chase Jack through the studio with a lead pipe, shouting, "I'll get you for this, you son of a bitch" and threatening to kill him.^[118] This subterfuge, however, proved too much for Harry; he never spoke to Jack again.^[3] When Harry Warner died on July 27, 1958, Jack avoided the funeral and departed for his annual vacation at Cap d'Antibes.^[119] Asked to respond to his brother's death, Jack said, "I didn't give a shit about Harry."^[120] At the same time, Jack took pride in the fact that U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent him a letter of condolence.^[120]

The Sixties[link]

In the 1960s, Warner kept pace with rapid changes in the industry and played a key role in developing films that were commercial and critical successes. In February 1962, he purchased the film rights for the Broadway musical, My Fair Lady, paying an unprecedented $5.5 million. The previous owner, CBS director William S. Paley, set terms that included 50 percent of the distributor's gross profits "plus ownership of the negative at the end of the contract."^[121] Despite the "outrageous" purchase price, and the ungenerous terms of the contract, the deal proved lucrative for Warner Bros., securing the studio $12 million in profits. Warner was criticized for choosing a non-singing star, Audrey Hepburn, to play the leading role of Eliza Doolittle, and indeed that year's Academy Award for Best Actress went to Julie Andrews, who had played Eliza on Broadway and the London Stage, for Mary Poppins, while Audrey Hepburn was not even nominated. However, the film won the best-picture Academy Award for 1964.^[122]

In 1965, Warner surprised many industry observers when he purchased the rights to Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Edward Albee's searing play about a destructive marriage.^[123] From the beginning, the project was beset by controversy. Ernest Lehman's script, which was extremely faithful to Albee's play, stretched the U.S. film industry's Production Code to the limit.^[124] Jack Valenti, who just assumed leadership of the Motion Picture Association of America, recalled that a meeting with Warner and studio aide Ben Kalmenson left him "uneasy".^[125] "I was uncomfortable with the thought that this was just the beginning of an unsettling new era in film, in which we would lurch from crisis to crisis without any suitable solution in sight," Valenti wrote.^[125] Meanwhile, Lehman and the film's director, Mike Nichols, battled with studio executives and exhibitors who insisted that the film be shot in color rather than black and white.^[126] These controversies soon faded into the background while Jack Warner challenged the validity of the production code by publicly requiring theaters showing the film to post an "Adults only" label and restrict tickets sales accordingly. At this, the MPAA, wary of a repeat of the embarrassment it had trying to censor the highly acclaimed film, The Pawnbroker, gave in and approved the film as a special exception because of its quality, which led to other filmmakers to challenge the code themselves even more aggressively^[127] . Upon its release, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was embraced by audiences and critics alike. It secured 13 nominations from the Academy including one for Best Picture of 1966.^[128]

Despite these achievements, Jack grew weary of making films, and he sold a substantial amount of his studio stock to Seven Arts Productions on November 14, 1966.^[129] Some observers believed that Ben Kalmenson, Warner Bros.'s executive vice president, persuaded Warner to sell his stock so that Kalmenson could assume leadership of the studio.^[130] Warner, however, had personal reasons for seeking retirement. His wife, Ann, continually pressured him to "slow down", and the aging studio head felt a need to put his affairs in order.^[130] Warner sold his 1.6 million shares of studio stock shortly after producing the film adaptation of Lerner & Loewe's Camelot.^[131] The sale yielded, after capital gains taxes, about $24 million^[9] (equivalent to $167,281 million today). Eight months after the sale, Warner quipped, "Who would ever have thought that a butcher boy from Youngstown, Ohio, would end up with twenty-four million smackers in his pocket?"^[9] At the time of the sale, Warner had earned the distinction of being the second chief to also serve as company president, after Columbia Pictures' Harry Cohn.

Warner's decision to sell came at a time when he was losing the formidable power that he once took for granted. He had already survived the dislocations of the 1950s, when other studio heads – including Louis B. Mayer, David O. Selznick, and Samuel Goldwyn – were pushed out by stockholders who "sought scapegoats for dwindling profits".^[132] Structural changes that occurred in the industry during this period ensured that studios would become "more important as backers of independent producers than as creators of their own films", a situation that left little room for the traditional movie mogul.^[132] By the mid-1960s, most of the film moguls from the Golden Age of Hollywood had died, and Warner was regarded as one of the last of a dying breed. Evidence of Warner's eroding control at Warner Bros. included his failure to block production of the controversial but highly influential film, Bonnie and Clyde, a film project he initially "hated".^[133] Similarly, as producer of the film adaptation of Camelot, Warner was unable to persuade director Joshua Logan to cast Richard Burton and Julie Andrews in the leading roles. Instead, Logan selected Richard Harris and Vanessa Redgrave, a move that contributed to the project's critical – and commercial – failure.^[134] Warner officially retired from his studio in 1969.^[135]

After Warner Bros.[link]

Warner remained active as an independent producer until the early 1970s. to run some of the company's distributions and exhibition division.^[136] Among his last productions was another film adaptation of a Broadway musical, 1776.^[137] Before the film's release, Warner showed a preview cut to U.S. President Richard Nixon, who recommended substantial changes, including the removal of two songs that struck him as veiled criticisms of the ongoing Vietnam War.^[138] Without consulting the film's director, Peter H. Hunt, Warner ordered the film re-edited.^[138] In November 1972, the film opened to enthusiastic audiences at Radio City Music Hall, but it fared poorly in theaters.^[138] Faced with a polarized political climate, few Americans were drawn to "a cheery exercise in prerepublic civics".^[139] Warner's efforts to promote the film were sometimes counterproductive. During an interview with talk show host Merv Griffin, the elderly producer engaged in a lengthy tirade against "pinko communists". This proved to be Warner's first and last television interview.^[140]

Personal life[link]

On October 14, 1914, Warner married Irma Solomons, the adolescent daughter of one of San Francisco's pioneer Jewish families. Irma Warner gave birth to the couple's only child, Jack M. Warner on March 27, 1916. Jack Warner named the child after himself, disregarding an Ashkenazi Jewish custom that children should not be named after living relatives. Although his son bore a different middle initial, he "has been called Junior all his life".^[141] The marriage ended in 1935, when Warner left his wife for another woman, Ann Page. Together, Warner and Ann had a daughter named Barbara.^[142][143] Irma Warner sued her husband for divorce (a scandalous move at the time) on the grounds of desertion. Jack's older brother, Harry, reflected the Warner family feelings about the marriage when he exclaimed, "Thank God our mother didn't live to see this". Warner married Ann after the divorce. The Warners, who took Irma's side in the affair, refused to accept Ann as a family member.^[144] In the wake of this falling out, Jack's relationship with his son, Jack Warner Jr., also became strained.^[145]

In the late 1950s, Warner was almost killed in a car accident that left him in a coma for several days. On August 5, 1958, after an evening of baccarat at the Palm Beach Casino in Cannes, Warner's Alfa Romeo roadster swerved into the path of a coal truck on a stretch of road located near the seaside villa of Prince Aly Khan.^[146] Warner was thrown from the car, which burst into flames upon impact. Shortly after the accident, his son, Jack Jr., joined other family members in France, where the unconscious studio head was hospitalized. In an interview with reporters, Jack Jr. suggested that his father was dying. Then, during a visit to his father's hospital room, the young man offended Ann Warner, whom he largely blamed for his parents' divorce.^[147] When Warner regained consciousness, he was enraged by reports of his son's behavior, and their "tenuous" relationship came to an end.^[148] On December 30, 1958, Jack Jr. was informed, by Jack Sr.'s lawyer Arnold Grant, that the elder Warner had released him from the company.^[149] When he attempted to report for work, studio guards denied him entry.^[150] The two men never achieved a reconciliation, and Jack Jr. is not mentioned in his father's 1964 autobiography.^[151]

Warner made no pretense of faithfulness to his wife, Ann, and kept a series of mistresses throughout the 1950s and 1960s.^[152] The most enduring of these "girlfriends" was an aspiring actress named Jackie Park, who bore a "startling" resemblance to Warner's second wife.^[153] The relationship was in its fourth year when Ann Warner pressed her husband to terminate the affair.^[152] Although Ann did once have an affair with studio actor Eddie Albert in 1941, she was much more devoted to the marriage by contrast.^[154] In the 1960s, she insisted that, despite his reputation for ruthlessness, Jack Warner had a softer side. In a note to author Dean Jennings, who assisted Warner on his 1964 autobiography, My First Hundred Years in Hollywood, Ann Warner wrote: "He is extremely sensitive, but there are few who know that because he covers it with a cloak."^[155]

Political views[link]

An ardent Republican, Jack Warner nevertheless supported Franklin D. Roosevelt in the early 1930s.^[5] Later in the decade, he made common cause with opponents of Nazi Germany, overlooking ideological differences with those who held leftist political views.^[7] In 1947, however, Warner served as a "friendly witness" for the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), thereby lending support to allegations of a "Red" infiltration of Hollywood.^[8] Warner felt that Communists were responsible for the studio's month-long strike that occurred in the fall of 1946,^[156] and on his own initiative, he provided the names of a dozen screenwriters who were dismissed because of suspected Communist sympathies, a move that effectively destroyed their careers.^[157] Former studio employees named by Warner included Alvah Bessie, Howard Koch, Ring Lardner Jr., John Howard Lawson, Albert Maltz, Robert Rossen, Dalton Trumbo, Clifford Odets, and Irwin Shaw.^[158] As one biographer observed, Warner "was furious when Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Paul Henreid and John Huston joined other members of the stellar Committee for the First Amendment in a flight to Washington to preach against the threat to free expression".^[157] Lester D. Friedman noted that Warner's response to the HUAC hearings was similar to other Jewish studio heads who "feared that a blanket equation of Communists with Jews would destroy them and their industry".^[159]

Warner publicly supported Richard Nixon during the 1960 presidential election and paid for full-page ads in The New York Times "to proclaim why Nixon should be elected".^[160] In the wake of Nixon's loss to John F. Kennedy, however, the studio head made arrangements to attend a fundraiser at the Los Angeles Palladium in honor of the president-elect.^[160] Several weeks later, Warner received a phone call from the new chief executive's father, Joseph P. Kennedy, and within a short time, Warner Bros. purchased the film rights for Robert Donovan's book, PT 109, a bestseller concerning John Kennedy's exploits during World War II.^[161] "I don't think President Kennedy would object to my friendship with Dick Nixon," Warner said later. "I would have voted for both of them if I could. You might think this is a form of fence-straddling, but I love everybody."^[162] In the late 1960s, he emerged as an outspoken proponent of the Vietnam War.^[140]

Death and legacy[link]

By the end of 1973, those closest to Warner became aware of signs that he was becoming disoriented.^[140] Shortly after losing his way in the building that housed his own office, Warner retired.^[163] In 1974, the former studio chief suffered a stroke that left him blind and enfeebled. During the next several years, he gradually lost the ability to speak and became unresponsive to friends and relatives.^[164] Finally, on August 13, 1978, Warner was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Hospital, where he died of a heart inflammation (edema) on September 9.^[29] He was 86 years old.^[165] A funeral service was held at the Wilshire Boulevard Temple, the synagogue to which many members of the Warner family belonged.^[166][167] He was interred at Home of Peace Cemetery in East Los Angeles, California.^[167]

Jack Warner left behind an estate estimated at $15 million.^[168] Much of the Warner estate, including property and memorabilia, was bequeathed to his widow, Ann. Warner, however, left $200,000 to his estranged son, Jack Jr., perhaps in an effort to discourage him from contesting the will.^[168] In the days following Warner's death, newspaper obituaries recounted the familiar story of "the four brothers who left the family butcher shop for nicklelodeons" and went on to revolutionize American cinema.^[169] A front-page story in Warner's adopted hometown of Youngstown featured accounts of the family's pre-Hollywood struggles in Ohio, describing how Jack Warner drove a wagon for his father's business when he was only seven years old.^[29] The late movie [mogul] was widely eulogized for his role in "shaping Hollywood's 'Golden Age'".^[29]

Several months after Warner's death, a more personal tribute was organized by the Friends of the Libraries at the University of Southern California.^[169] The event, called "The Colonel: An Affectionate Remembrance of Jack L. Warner", drew Hollywood notables such as entertainers Olivia de Havilland and Debbie Reynolds, and cartoon voice actor Mel Blanc.^[170] Blanc closed the event with a rendition of Porky Pig's famous farewell, "A-bee-a-bee-a-bee–that's all, folks."^[170] In recognition of his contributions to the motion picture industry, Jack Warner was accorded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 6541 Hollywood Boulevard.^[171] He is also represented on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto, which honours outstanding Canadians from all fields.^[172]

See also[link]

• Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Behlmer, Rudy (1985). Inside Warner Bros. (1935–1951). New York: Viking Press. ISBN 0-670-80478-9
• Buhle, Paul; Wagner, Dave (2002). Radical Hollywood: The Untold Story Behind America's Favorite Movies. New York: The New Press. ISBN 1-56584-718-0
• Ceplair, Larry; Englund, Steven (1980). The Inquisition in Hollywood: Politics in the Film Community, 1930–1960. Garden City, NY: Anchor Press/ Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-12900-9
• Corey, Melinda; Ochoa, George (2002). The American Film Institute Desk Reference. New York: Dorling Kindersley Publishing. ISBN 0-7894-8934-1
• David, Saul (1981). The Industry: Life in the Hollywood Fast Lane. New York: Times Books. ISBN 0-8129-0971-2
• Dick, Bernard F. (1985). The Star-Spangled Screen: The American World War II Film. Lexington, KY: The University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-1531-0
• Friedman, Lester D. (1982). Hollywood's Image of the Jew. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co. ISBN 0-8044-2219-2
• Gabler, Neal (1988). An Empire of Their Own: How the Jews Invented Hollywood. Crown. ISBN 0-385-26557-3. 
• Schatz, Thomas (1988). The Genius of the System: Hollywood Filmmaking in the Studio Era. New York: Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-394-53979-6
• Schickel, Richard; Perry, George (2008). You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story. Philadelphia: Running Press. ISBN 0-7624-3418-X
• Sperling, Cass Warner; Millner, Cork; Warner, Jack Jr. (1998). Hollywood Be Thy Name: The Warner Brothers Story. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-0958-2
• Thomas, Bob (1990). Clown Prince of Hollywood: The Antic Life and Times of Jack L. Warner. New York: McGraw-Hill Publishing Company. ISBN 0-07-064259-1
• Warner, Jack; Jennings, Dean (1964). My First Hundred Years in Hollywood an Autobiography . New York: Random Books

External links[link]

• Jack Warner at the Internet Movie Database

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 2012)

"The Man" is a slang phrase that may refer to the government or to some other authority in a position of power. In addition to this derogatory connotation, it may also serve as a term of respect and praise.

The phrase "the Man is keeping me down" is commonly used to describe oppression. The phrase "stick it to the Man" encourages resistance to authority, and essentially means "fight back" or "resist", either openly or via sabotage.^[1]

History[link]

The earliest recorded use^{[citation needed]} of the term "the Man" in the American sense dates back to a letter written by a young Alexander Hamilton in September 1772, when he was 15. In a letter to his father James Hamilton, published in the Royal Dutch-American Gazette, he described the response of the Dutch governor of St. Croix to a hurricane that raked that island on August 31, 1772. "Our General has issued several very salutary and humane regulations and both in his publick and private measures, has shewn himself the Man." ^{[2][dubious – discuss]} In the Southern U.S. states, the phrase came to be applied to any man or any group in a position of authority, or to authority in the abstract. From about the 1950s the phrase was also an underworld code word for police, the warden of a prison or other law enforcement or penal authorities.

It was also used as a term for a drug dealer in the 1950s and 1960s and can be seen in such media as Curtis Mayfield's "No Thing On Me", William Burroughs's novel Naked Lunch, and in the Velvet Underground song "I'm Waiting for the Man", in which Lou Reed sings about going to Uptown Manhattan, specifically Lexington Avenue and 125th Street, to buy heroin.

The use of this term was expanded to counterculture groups and their battles against authority, such as the Yippies, which, according to a May 19, 1969 article in U.S. News and World Report, had the "avowed aim ... to destroy 'The Man', their term for the present system of government". The term eventually found its way into humorous usage, such as in a December 1979 motorcycle ad from the magazine Easyriders which featured the tagline, "California residents: Add 6% sales tax for The Man."

In present day, the phrase has been popularized in commercials and cinema, featuring particularly prominently as a recurring motif in the 2003 film School of Rock.^[3][4][5][6]

Use as praise[link]

The term has also been used as an approbation or form of praise. This may refer to the recipient's status as the leader or authority within a particular context, or it might be assumed to be a shortened form of a phrase like "He is the man (who is in charge)." One example of this usage dates to 1879 when Otto von Bismarck commented, referring to Benjamin Disraeli's pre-eminent position at the Congress of Berlin, "The old Jew, he is the man."^{[7][dubious – discuss]}

In more modern usage, it can be a superlative compliment ("you da man!") indicating that the subject is currently standing out amongst his peers even though they have no special designation or rank, such as a basketball player who is performing better than the other players on the court. It can also be used as a genuine compliment with an implied, slightly exaggerated or sarcastic tone, usually indicating that the person has indeed impressed the speaker but by doing something relatively trivial.

See also[link]

• Absentee landlord
• Big Brother (Nineteen Eighty-Four)
• New World Order (conspiracy theory)
• Ruling class
• The Establishment
• Power elite
• Corrections officer
• YTMND

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Lighter, J.E. (Ed.). (1997). Random House Dictionary of American Slang. New York: Random House.

Please expand this article. Some suggested sources are given hereafter. More information might be found in a section of the talk page. (June 2011)

Sepp Blatter
Sepp Blatter in 2009
8th President of FIFA
Incumbent
Assumed office 8 June 1998
Preceded by	João Havelange
Personal details
Born	Joseph S. Blatter (1936-03-10) 10 March 1936 (age 76) Visp, Valais, Switzerland
Nationality	Swiss
Spouse(s)	Graziella Bianca (m. 2002–2004)
Children	Corinne Blatter[citation needed]
Residence	Zurich, Switzerland
Alma mater	University of Lausanne

Joseph S. Blatter^[1] (born 10 March 1936), commonly known as Sepp ("Giuseppe") Blatter, is a Swiss football administrator, who serves as the 8th and current President of FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association). He was elected on 8 June 1998, succeeding João Havelange. He was re-elected as President in 2002, 2007 and 2011.

Despite winning four terms as President, Blatter has often been dogged by controversy and allegations of corruption. His tenure has seen controversy over allegations of financial mismanagement and the acceptance of bribes resulting in Qatar's successful 2022 World Cup bid. Blatter personally has attracted criticism from the media, senior football figures and players^[2] due to several controversial statements. These include suggesting that female football players should wear tighter shorts to appear more attractive to men, that Latin American countries would 'applaud' John Terry for having an extramarital affair, that homosexuals should 'refrain from any sexual activity' while attending the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and that on-field racism could be corrected with a 'handshake'.^[3] Blatter also received criticism for not postponing his 2011 election in which his term as FIFA President was extended through 2015, despite the fact that all other candidates for the role had been suspended or withdrew. Prior to his election as FIFA President, Blatter was a senior FIFA official for 23 years. In his earlier professional life, Blatter held a variety of senior management positions in several Swiss organizations.

Early life and career[link]

Blatter was born in Visp, Canton Valais, Switzerland. He studied in Sion, Switzerland, before he received a degree in business and economics from the University of Lausanne in 1959.

Blatter has had a long and varied career, including posts such as Head of Public Relations of the Valaisan Tourist Board in his native Switzerland, as well as General Secretary of the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation. He was Director of Sports Timing and Relations of Longines S.A., and was involved in the organization of the 1972 and 1976 Olympic Games. ^[4][5][6]

FIFA[link]

Since 1975, Blatter has been working at FIFA, first as Technical Director (1975–1981), then General Secretary (1981–1998), before his election as FIFA President in 1998. He was re-elected as head of FIFA in 2002, and was re-elected unopposed for another four years on 31 May 2007, even though only 66 of 207 FIFA members nominated him.^[7]

1998 election[link]

Sepp Blatter's 1998 election to the presidency of FIFA over UEFA President Lennart Johansson occurred amidst much controversy.^[8][9] Blatter's 2002 candidacy has been marked with rumours of financial irregularities and backroom dealings,^[10] culminating with direct accusations of bribery, by a third party, made in the British press by Farra Ado, vice-president of the Confederation of African Football and president of the Somali Football Federation, who claimed to have been offered $100,000 to vote for Blatter in 1998.^[11]

Allegations of financial mismanagement[link]

Amidst internal divisions, FIFA's secretary-general Blatter's deputy and former protégé Michel Zen-Ruffinen drew up a 30-page dossier outlining allegations of financial mismanagement within the organisation.^[12][13] The dossier alleged that the collapse of FIFA's marketing partner ISL had led to losses of up to $100m under Blatter's management. The allegations were backed by Johansson,^[14] and the dossier was handed to the Swiss authorities, but they cleared Blatter of any wrong doing and FIFA had to pay all the costs.^[15] An internal investigation within FIFA was halted by Blatter because members of it broke confidentiality agreements.^[16] This questionable behaviour led him to remove Zen-Ruffinen from office immediately before the FIFA World Cup 2002.

In April 2012 the Council of Europe published a report which stated it would be “difficult to imagine” that Blatter would have been unaware of “significant sums” paid to unnamed FIFA officials by ISSM/ISL in connection with lucrative contracts for World Cup television rights and the subsequent bankruptcy and collapse of ISL in 2001.^[17] The Council of Europe report will be considered by over 300 parliamentarians from the 47 Council of Europe member states in Strasbourg.^[18]

Women's football[link]

Blatter incurred criticism from female footballers in 2004 when he suggested that women should "wear tighter shorts and low cut shirts... to create a more female aesthetic" and attract more male fans, remarks that were ridiculed in the press.^[19]

Criticises referee, skips ceremony[link]

In the 2006 FIFA World Cup, after a controversial second-round match between Portugal and the Netherlands, which saw referee Valentin Ivanov issue a record 16 yellow cards and four red cards, Blatter was said to have lambasted the officiating referee, and said that Ivanov should have given himself a yellow card for his poor performance as a referee.^[20] However, he later regretted his words and promised to officially apologise to Ivanov.^[21] This apology was never given, and the referee was removed from further officiating.^[21] During the 2006 FIFA World Cup final in Germany, Blatter's absence during the prize-podium event was noted and criticized in international media. It was claimed that the reason Blatter did not attend was because he was upset that Italy won instead of France.^[22] Blatter later apologised and said the reason he had shunned the presentation ceremony was because he was afraid of being whistled.^[22]

Foreign 'over-representation' on club teams[link]

Blatter appeared to incur much criticism during 2007 and 2008 for his apparent persistence in attempting to change European Union employment law regarding the number of foreign players football clubs can field at any one time. His plans are to set a restriction to five foreign players and having six players from the said team's own nationality. Blatter believes this would help the countries' national sides by having more national players playing in their leagues. Blatter has often referred to the English Premier League as one of the major problems in football and uses it as an example, due to the influence of foreign players, coaches and owners in the top teams.^{[23][24][25][26][27]}

Dismisses technological assistance[link]

The criticism attracted by Blatter's refusal to allow goal-line technology or video replays intensified following the controversial Lampard disallowed goal in the match between England and Germany on 27 June 2010.^[28] Two days later, Blatter stated that he deplored the "evident referee mistakes" in the England v Germany and Mexico v Argentina matches, and apologised to the English Football Association and the Mexican Football Federation (the two organizations directly concerned by the referees' mistakes), acknowledging that Lampard had indeed scored against Germany and that Tévez's goal against Mexico had been scored from an offside position. He added: "It is obvious that after the experiences so far at this World Cup it would be a nonsense not to re-open the file on goal-line technology. [...] We will come out with a new model in November on how to improve high level referees. [...] I cannot disclose more of what we are doing but something has to be changed."^[29][30]

World Cup's chosen sites[link]

Blatter with Barack Obama and Jack Warner. In the vote for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups, U.S President Barack Obama said that FIFA made "the wrong decision" in awarding Qatar the tournament in 2022.^[31]

It was reported that Blatter had "cut an unofficial deal with UEFA head Michel Platini" to ensure Europe would receive the 2018 World Cup, such that if the non-European bids did not withdraw from 2018 "they will find themselves frozen out and not given any backing by the FIFA High Command, damaging their chances of being serious contenders for the second tournament."^[32]

Eleven bids were submitted in March 2009 covering 13 nations. Mexico and Indonesia withdrew. Five of the remaining nine bids -- South Korea, Qatar, Japan, Australia and the United States -- were only for the 2022 World Cup, while all the others were bidding for both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.^[33] However, since all of the bids for the 2018 World Cup were from European nations, and FIFA's rules dictate that countries belonging to confederations that hosted either of the two preceding tournaments are not eligible to host,^[34] the bids of England, Russia, Netherlands/Belgium and Spain/Portugal were forced to be for 2018 only.

Controversy came in the British press when Russia was awarded the 2018 event, with England receiving just two of their 'promised' votes; this controversy was dismissed by Blatter as the English showing themselves to be "bad losers".^[35] The awarding of the 2022 games to Qatar was also controversial; the illegality of homosexuality in the nation caused Blatter to joke that "I would say they [gay fans] should refrain from any sexual activities",^[36] which brought condemnation from retired professional basketball player John Amaechi and gay rights groups.^[37]

2011 FIFA presidential election[link]

Blatter (right) with Luis Suárez, the MVP of the 2011 Copa America.

In 2011, elections were scheduled for the FIFA presidency, in which Blatter was again the incumbent candidate, running for a fourth consecutive term. The ChangeFIFA organisation, on 29 March 2011, endorsed former Chilean defender and for 3 years running South American Footballer of the Year Elias Figueroa as candidate for the presidency, urging national federations to nominate him^[38], but, subsequently, Figueroa decided not to accept the nomination, stating that "in such a short period of time" he could not develop a case "worthy of the magnitude and importance of such a distinguished job"^[38]

The vote took place at the 61st FIFA Congress in Zurich.^[39] The only other candidate, Mohammed bin Hammam of Qatar, withdrew from the presidential race on 28 May, just before the vote.^[39] Bin Hammam had supported Blatter's 1998 and 2002 presidential campaigns, but admitted that he had fallen out with Blatter over issues within the FIFA Executive Committee.^[40] The FIFA ethics committee that investigated bribery claims against Bin Hammam and CONCACAF head Jack Warner announced that Blatter will not face an investigation into claims that he knew of the bribery and did nothing about it, due to a lack of evidence.^[41]

Blatter criticised the International Olympic Committee (IOC), stating FIFA manage their finances "like a housewife", after the IOC announced it would look into allegations of corruption against Issa Hayatou, president of the Confederation of African Football.^[42]

There being no other nominations, Sepp Blatter ran unopposed in the 2011 FIFA elections. On 1 June, Blatter was re-elected president for a fourth term, with 186 of the 203 votes in his favour. In his campaign, Blatter had stipulated that, if re-elected in 2011, he would not run again for president.^[43][44]

Changes to the game made under Blatter[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (June 2010)

Blatter at the 2014 FIFA Announcement in 2007

• The silver goal replaced the golden goal rule in extra time of play-off matches. Under the golden goal rule, the match ends immediately if one side scores in extra time. The silver goal rule states that the match will end at the half-time period in extra time if one team is leading – otherwise the match will continue until the end of the extra time period. Some fans believe that this rule change makes the game less exciting, while others felt that the game is more fair as a result. The new rule was first applied in the Euro 2004 competition, but it has since been discontinued along with golden goal. All competitions have now reverted to the traditional extra time rules, i.e. they must play the full amount of extra time, no matter what the score is.
• Since the 2002 World Cup, the current World Cup champion no longer automatically qualifies for the next World Cup finals, as was the case for the champions of all 16 previous World Cups.^[45]
• National associations must now enforce immediate suspensions of all players sent off during a game, even if television replays offer compelling evidence of a player's innocence. In particular, Blatter insists that a referee's judgement must be seen as final and that mistakes are part of the game. The FA, however, has refused to follow this directive, and allows appeals against straight red cards (though not those resulting from two yellows).
• Under Blatter, starting in 2004, the game implemented the booking of players who remove their shirts after scoring a goal, as well as those who are guilty of 'over-zealous celebrations'. The rationale for this rule change is that football is a global sport, and thus the sensibilities of conservative nations and spectators must be respected.
• In 2007, Blatter decided that no football matches will be played above 2500 metres (8200 ft) above sea level. This number was revised to 3000 metres (9840 feet) on 26 June 2007. The move had consequences for the Bolivia national football team, whose stadium (Estadio Hernando Siles) is located more than 3000 metres above sea level. The next day, FIFA also announced a special exemption for the Estadio Hernando Siles, allowing the stadium to continue holding World Cup qualifying matches.

Philosophy[link]

Blatter with Joe Biden in Johannesburg during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Blatter campaigned to put Africa on the map of FIFA World Cup venues

Blatter has been involved in a wide range of humanitarian projects. Since his election as FIFA president in 1998, he has participated in several campaigns aiming to increase public awareness of children's rights and to bring football to less privileged regions of the world, ensuring its contribution to social advancement. Blatter considers football to provide a "basic education, character formation and fighting spirit, allied with respect and discipline", and which potentially allows better understanding among the peoples of the world. "Football for all, all for football" – is said to be his motto.^[46]

Honours[link]

Sepp Blatter has received the following awards:

• Recipient of the 'Global Award for Peace' awarded by the International Amateur Athletic Association.^[47]
• Liberian Humane Order of African Redemption^[48]
• Honorary title of 'Datuk Seri' from the Sultan of Pahang and former President of the Asian Football Confederation, Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Joseph "Sepp" Blatter

• FIFA President's page on official website of FIFA
• Excerpt from 'Foul' by Andrew Jennings
• 2002 Observer article outlining criticism of Blatter
• TIME Europe article on Zen-Ruffinen's allegations

Russell Nigel Latapy (born 2 August 1968) is a Trinidad and Tobago retired footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, and a current manager.

In a senior career which spanned more than 20 years at both club and international level, he played in Portugal (eight years with three clubs, namely Porto) and Scotland (11 seasons in representation of four teams, including Rangers and Falkirk).

Latapy gained nearly 80 caps for the Trinidad and Tobago national team, appearing at the 2006 World Cup.

Early life[link]

Born in Port of Spain, Latapy was first noted playing organised football as an under–10. As a youth he played in the Trinidad and Tobago Secondary School's Football League and was called to the national under-16 and under-19 football teams.

When he was 19 years old, Latapy had an opportunity to attend Florida International University, but he chose to continue with his football career. This decision was supported by his mother despite the fact that in the 1980s very few Trinidadians were noted to have had careers in football that allowed them to earn a decent living.^[1]

Club career[link]

Portugal[link]

In 1990, aged 22, after playing in his country and Jamaica, Latapy moved to Portugal and signed for Académica de Coimbra, playing four years in the second division. During his spell in Coimbra, he appeared in nearly 150 official games, and scored 18 goals in his last two seasons combined, but the club failed to win promotion. He also credited coach Vítor Manuel as one of the coaches he admired the most.^[1]

Latapy's performances with Académica saw him recruited by F.C. Porto. Under Bobby Robson, he helped to the conquest of back-to-back national championships, being used regularly in his second year (26 games, five goals). Also, he earned the distinction of being the first Trinidadian to play in the UEFA Champions League.^{[2][dead link]}

In the 1996 summer, Latapy signed with city neighbours Boavista FC. On 29 October, he scored twice in a 5–0 home win against FC Dinamo Tbilisi for the season's UEFA Europa League (5–1 on aggregate), and was also part of the squad that won the campaign's Portuguese Cup, even though he did not play in the final against S.L. Benfica (3–2).

Scotland[link]

In the 1998 off-season, Latapy was recruited by manager Alex McLeish to join Scottish First Division outfit Hibernian. He quickly became a fan favorite at his new club and earned numerous team accolades, including two Player of the Year awards and a Scottish Division 1 Player of the Year award; he also contributed with six goals in 23 games in an eventual promotion to the Premier League, as champions.

Despite his contributions to the team, Latapy was sacked from Hibernian early in 2001 after a night that began with him socialising with countryman and Manchester United player Dwight Yorke, and ended with him being charged by police for drunk driving. The incident represented a breach of the code of conduct for Hibernian players, who were forbidden to drink for 48 hours before a match.^[3][4] It was around this time that Latapy and Yorke both quit international football after being dropped from the starting lineup by national coach Renê Simões, after the two players failed to show up for a training session.^[5]

Following his dismissal from Hibernian, Latapy was signed by national powerhouse Rangers, who were managed by Dick Advocaat. He failed to reproduce his previous form at Ibrox Stadium, even when McLeish replaced the Dutch at the helm of the club - the new manager expressed a desire to field younger players, Latapy was 34; in addition to his age, the player's hard partying tendencies also did little to put him in the coach's good graces, and he eventually left the club early in 2003.^[4][6]

Latapy finished the 2002–03 season with fellow league club Dundee United. In the summer, he was brought to Falkirk by manager John Hughes, his former teammate at Hibs, who tracked him down in Portugal.^[7] The veteran started strong, scoring 14 league goals in his first two seasons combined and being essential as the team returned to the top flight in 2005, as champions; in the process, he was again named the competition's Player of the Year.

The Bairns once again retained their top division status in 2008–09, but Latapy only appeared in three games. He left the club in January 2009 at nearly 41 years of age, having appeared in 194 official games (29 goals), and signing with Caledonia AIA in his homeland.^[8]

Latapy was inducted into the 'Falkirk Hall of Fame' on 29 November 2008. To mark this occasion the club hosted a 'Russell Latapy Day'.^[9] Previously, in the 2006–07 season, he started his coaching career, acting as Hughes' assistant, and holding that position until he left the club.

In October 2011, at 43, Latapy came out of retirement to sign for East of Scotland Football League club Edinburgh City, ahead of its Scottish Cup tie against Irvine Meadow.^[10]

International career[link]

Latapy's debut for Trinidad and Tobago was on 30 October 1988, in a 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Honduras, a 0–0 home draw.^[11] He was part of the squad known as the Strike Squad whom, needing only one point in its last game to qualify for the finals in Italy, was defeated 0–1 at home by the United States.^[12]

In 2005, after four years without one single appearance, Latapy returned to the national team following the intervention of his friend Yorke - who had done the same the previous year - and FIFA vice president Austin "Jack" Warner.^[13] His first match in his second spell was a 3–2 home win against Guatemala in which he scored, and he took part in a further five games in the 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign, including both matches in the decisive playoffs against Bahrain, with the Soca Warriors qualifying to the FIFA World Cup for the first time in its history.

Latapy's input in the finals in Germany consisted of 25 minutes in the 0–2 loss against Paraguay, in an eventual group stage exit.^[14] The national team returned to a hero's welcome at Piarco International Airport in Trinidad and, in recognition of their achievements, each member of the team was awarded Trinidad and Tobago's second highest honour, the Chaconia Medal in gold, and TT$1,000,000.^[15] He then became assistant to new manager Francisco Maturana and, following the Colombian's resignation, was appointed his successor.^[16]

On 13 January 2011, it was confirmed by the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation that Latapy would cease his duties as national team manager, as it failed to qualify to the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup as well as to reach the final in its regional Caribbean Cup. In his 23 games in charge, he recorded nine wins, 11 losses and three draws.^[17]

Honours[link]

Club[link]

Boavista

• Taça de Portugal: 1996–97^[18]
• Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 1997^[18]

Porto

• Primeira Liga: 1994–95, 1995–96^[18]

Hibernian

• Scottish First Division: 1998–99^[18]

Rangers

• Scottish League Cup: 2001–02

Falkirk

• Scottish First Division: 2004–05^[18]
• Scottish Challenge Cup: 2004–05^[18]

Individual[link]

• T&T Footballer of the Year in 1983, 1985, 1989, 1996^[18]
• Scottish Premier League: Player of the Month August 2006^[18][19]
• Scottish First Division: Player of the Year 1998–99, 2004–05^[18]
• Scottish First Division: Player of the Month April 2004^[18]
• Hibernian Player of the Year in 1998–99, 1999–00^[18]
• T&T Chaconia Medal Silver (World Cup squad) in 1989^[18]
• T&T Humming Bird Medal Gold (for Sport) in 1996^[18]
• Edinburgh Evening News Sports Personality of the Year in 1999^[18]
• T&T Olympic Committee Sports Personality of the Year in 2000^[18]
• Nominated for FIFA World Player of the Year in 2000^[18]
• Nominated for the BBC Scotland's Off The Ball Overseas Player of the Year in 2004^[18]

References[link]