Ed Sullivan
Sullivan in 1955
Born	Edward Vincent Sullivan (1901-09-28)September 28, 1901 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	October 13, 1974(1974-10-13) (aged 73) New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Television host Writer
Years active	1932–1973
Spouse	Sylvia (m. 1930–1973)

Edward Vincent "Ed" Sullivan (September 28, 1901 – October 13, 1974) was an American entertainment writer and television host, best known as the presenter of the TV variety show The Ed Sullivan Show. The show was broadcast from 1948 to 1971 (a total of 23 years), which made it one of the longest-running variety shows in U.S. broadcast history.^[1]

In 1996, Ed Sullivan was ranked #50 on TV Guide's "50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time".^[2]

Early life and career[link]

Sullivan was born in New York City, New York, the son of Elizabeth F. (née Smith) and Peter Arthur Sullivan, a customs house employee.^[3] He was of Irish descent.^[4] A former boxer, Sullivan began his media work as a newspaper sportswriter for The New York Evening Graphic.^[5] When Walter Winchell, one of the original gossip columnists and the most powerful entertainment reporter of his day, left the newspaper for the Hearst syndicate, Sullivan took over as theatre columnist. His theatre column was later carried in The New York Daily News. His column, 'Little Old New York', concentrated on Broadway shows and gossip, as Winchell's had and, like Winchell, he also did show business news broadcasts on radio. Again echoing Winchell, Sullivan took on yet another medium in 1933 by writing and starring in the film Mr. Broadway, which has him guiding the audience around New York nightspots to meet entertainers and celebrities. Sullivan soon became a powerful starmaker in the entertainment world himself, becoming one of Winchell's main rivals, setting the El Morocco nightclub in New York as his unofficial headquarters against Winchell's seat of power at the nearby Stork Club. Sullivan continued writing for The News throughout his broadcasting career and his popularity long outlived that of Winchell.

Television[link]

Sullivan with Cole Porter on Toast of the Town in 1952.

In 1948, the CBS network hired Sullivan to do a weekly Sunday night TV variety show, Toast of the Town, which later became The Ed Sullivan Show. Debuting in June 1948, the show was broadcast from CBS Studio 50, at 1697 Broadway (at 53rd Street) in New York City, which in 1967 was renamed the Ed Sullivan Theater (and is now the home of The Late Show with David Letterman).^[6]

Television critics gave the new show and its host poor reviews.^[7] Harriet Van Horne alleged that "he got where he is not by having a personality, but by having no personality." (The host wrote to the critic, "Dear Miss Van Horne: You bitch. Sincerely, Ed Sullivan."^[8]) Sullivan had little acting ability; in 1967, 20 years after his show's debut, Time magazine asked "What exactly is Ed Sullivan's talent?"^[8] His mannerisms on camera were so awkward that some viewers believed the host suffered from Bell's palsy.^[8] Time in 1955 stated that Sullivan resembled

a cigar-store Indian, the Cardiff Giant and a stone-faced monument just off the boat from Easter Island. He moves like a sleepwalker; his smile is that of a man sucking a lemon; his speech is frequently lost in a thicket of syntax; his eyes pop from their sockets or sink so deep in their bags that they seem to be peering up at the camera from the bottom of twin wells.^[7]

The magazine concluded, however, that "Yet, instead of frightening children, Ed Sullivan charms the whole family."^[7] Sullivan appeared to the audience as an average guy who brought the great acts of show business to their home televisions. ("Ed Sullivan will last", comedian Fred Allen said, "as long as someone else has talent",^[7] and frequent guest Alan King said "Ed does nothing, but he does it better than anyone else in television."^[8]) He had a newspaperman's instinct for what the public wanted, and programmed his variety hours with remarkable balance. There was something for everyone.^[7] A typical show would feature a vaudeville act (acrobats, jugglers, magicians, etc.), one or two popular comedians, a singing star, a hot jukebox favorite, a figure from the legitimate theater, and for the kids, a visit with puppet "Topo Gigio, the little Italian mouse." The bill was often international in scope, with many European performers augmenting the American artists.^[8]

Sullivan had a healthy sense of humor about himself and permitted—even encouraged—impersonators such as John Byner, Frank Gorshin, Rich Little and especially Will Jordan to imitate him on his show. Johnny Carson also did a fair impression, and even Joan Rivers imitated Sullivan's unique posture. The impressionists exaggerated his stiffness, raised shoulders, and nasal tenor phrasing, along with some of his commonly used introductions, such as "And now, right here on our stage...", "For all you youngsters out there...", and "a really big shew" (his pronunciation of the word "show"). Will Jordan portrayed Sullivan in the films I Wanna Hold Your Hand, The Buddy Holly Story, The Doors, Mr. Saturday Night, Down with Love, and in the 1979 TV movie Elvis.^[9]

In 1963, Ed Sullivan appeared as himself in the film Bye Bye Birdie.

Sullivan, the starmaker[link]

Ed Sullivan congratulates Izhak Perlman after a concert at Tel-Aviv, in 1958.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Sullivan was a respected starmaker because of the number of performers that became household names after appearing on the show. He had a knack for identifying and promoting top talent and paid a great deal of money to secure that talent for his show.

When Elvis Presley became popular, Sullivan was wary of the singer's bad-boy style and said that he would never invite Presley on his program. However, Presley became too big a name to ignore, and Sullivan scheduled him to appear on September 8, 1956. In August, however, Sullivan was injured in an automobile accident that occurred near his country home in Southbury, Connecticut. Sullivan had to take a medical leave from the series and missed the Elvis Presley show. Charles Laughton wound up introducing Presley on the Sullivan hour.^[10] After Sullivan got to know Presley personally, he made amends by telling his audience, "This is a real decent, fine boy."^[11]

Sullivan's failure to scoop the TV industry with Presley made him determined to get the next big sensation first. In 1964, he achieved that with the first live American appearance of The Beatles, on February 9, 1964, the most-watched program in TV history to that point and still one of the most-watched programs of all time.^[12] The Beatles appeared three more times on the Sullivan show in person, and submitted filmed performances later. Sullivan struck up such a rapport with the Beatles that he agreed to introduce them at their momentous Shea Stadium concert on August 15, 1965. The Dave Clark Five, heavily promoted as having a "cleaner" image than the Beatles, made 13 appearances on the Sullivan show, more than any other UK group.

Unlike many shows of the time, Sullivan asked that most musical acts perform their music live, rather than lip-synching to their recordings. Some of these performances have recently been issued on CD.^[13] Examination of performances show that exceptions were made, as when a microphone could not be placed close enough to a performer for technical reasons. An example was B.J. Thomas' 1969 performance of "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head", in which actual water was sprinkled on him as a special effect. In 1969, Sullivan presented the Jackson 5 with their first single "I Want You Back", which ousted the B. J. Thomas song from the top spot of Billboard's pop charts.

Sullivan, shown here dressed up in a clown suit, hosted the 1972 special Clownaround.

Sullivan appreciated African American talent. He paid for the funeral of dancer Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson out of his own pocket. He also defied pressure to exclude African American musicians from appearing on his show. One of Sullivan's favorite and most frequent acts was The Supremes, who appeared 17 times on the show, helping to pave the way for other Motown acts to appear on the show such as The Temptations, The Four Tops, and Martha and the Vandellas.

At a time when television had not yet embraced country and Western music, Sullivan was adamant about featuring Nashville performers on his program. This insistence paved the way for shows such as Hee Haw and variety shows hosted by country singers like Johnny Cash and Glen Campbell.

The act that appeared most frequently through the show's run was the Canadian comedy duo of Wayne & Shuster, making 67 appearances between 1958 and 1969.

Sullivan also appeared as himself on other television programs, including an April 1958 episode of the Howard Duff and Ida Lupino CBS sitcom, Mr. Adams and Eve. On September 14, 1958 Sullivan appeared on What's My Line? as a mystery guest, and showed his comedic side by donning a rubber mask. In 1961, Sullivan was asked by CBS to fill in for an ailing Red Skelton on The Red Skelton Show. Sullivan took Skelton's roles in the various comedy sketches; Skelton's hobo character "Freddie the Freeloader" was renamed "Eddie the Freeloader."

Personality[link]

There was another side to Sullivan: he could be very quick to take offense if he felt he had been crossed, and could hold a grudge for a long time. This could sometimes be seen as a part of his TV personality. Jackie Mason, Bo Diddley, Buddy Holly, and The Doors became intimately familiar with Sullivan's negative side.

On November 20, 1955, Bo Diddley was asked by Sullivan to sing Tennessee Ernie Ford's hit "Sixteen Tons". Diddley sensed the choice of song would end his career then and there, and instead sang his #1 hit "Bo Diddley". He was banned from the show.

Buddy Holly and the Crickets had first appeared on the Sullivan show in 1957, singing two songs and making a favorable impression on Sullivan. He invited the band to make another appearance in January 1958. Sullivan thought their record hit "Oh, Boy!" was too raucous and ordered Holly to substitute another song. Holly had already told his hometown friends in Texas that he would be singing "Oh, Boy!" for them, and told Sullivan as much. Sullivan was unaccustomed to having his instructions disobeyed. When the band was summoned to the rehearsal stage on short notice, only Holly was in their dressing room. Sullivan said, "I guess The Crickets are not too excited to be on The Ed Sullivan Show," to which Holly, still annoyed by Sullivan's attitude, replied, "I hope they're damn more excited than I am." Sullivan, already bothered by the choice of songs, was now even angrier. He cut the Crickets' act from two songs to one, and when introducing them mispronounced Holly's name, so it came out vaguely as "Buddy Hollett." In addition, Sullivan saw to it that the microphone for Holly's electric guitar was turned off. Holly tried to compensate by singing as loudly as he could. The band was received so well that Sullivan was forced to invite them back for a third appearance. Holly's response was that Sullivan did not have enough money. Footage of the performance survives; photographs taken that day show Sullivan looking angry and Holly smirking and perhaps ignoring Sullivan.

In 1963, Bob Dylan was set to appear on the show, but network censors rejected the song he wanted to perform, "Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues", as potentially libelous to the John Birch Society. Refusing to perform a different song, Dylan walked off the set at dress rehearsal. Sullivan, who had approved the song at a previous rehearsal, backed Dylan's decision. The incident resulted in accusations against the network of engaging in censorship. This was not the first incident of apparent network censorship on Sullivan's show. In 1956, Sullivan flew to Europe and was able to film an interview with Ingrid Bergman, Yul Brynner, and Helen Hayes on the set of the film Anastasia. When he arrived home, Sullivan learned he would not be able to air the Bergman material from it.^[10]

Jackie Mason was banned from the series in October 1964 (the ban was removed a year and a half later, and Mason made his final appearance on the show). During a taping of Mason's monologue Sullivan, off camera, gestured that Mason should wrap things up, as the show was suddenly shown live following an abbreviated address by President Lyndon Johnson, which was expected to preempt the entire show.^[14] The nervous Mason told the audience, "I'm getting two fingers here!" and made his own frantic hand gesture: "Here's a finger for you!" Videotapes of the incident are inconclusive as to whether Mason's upswept hand was intended to be an indecent gesture, but Sullivan's body language immediately afterward made it clear that he was convinced of it, despite Mason's panic-stricken denials later.^[15] Sullivan later invited Mason back for a return engagement, but the notoriety of the "finger" incident lingered with the studio audience.

When The Byrds performed on December 12, 1965, David Crosby got into a shouting match with the show's director. They were never asked to return.^[16][17]

On January 15, 1967 The Rolling Stones were told to change the chorus of "Let's Spend the Night Together" to "Let's spend some time together". Lead singer Mick Jagger complied, but deliberately called attention to this censorship by rolling his eyes and mugging when he uttered the new words.^[18] Shortly, after the performance, the Stones went backstage, and came back on stage, dressed in Nazi uniforms with swastikas, which caused an angry Sullivan to tell them to go back to their dressing rooms and change back into their performing outfits, however, the Stones left the studio and Sullivan banned the group from ever appearing on his show again.^{[19][Full citation needed][page needed]} Nonetheless, the Stones appeared on the show one final time on November 23, 1969.^[20]

The Doors were banned on September 17, 1967 after they were asked to remove the lyric "Girl, we couldn't get much higher" from their song "Light My Fire" (CBS censors believed that it was too overt a reference to drug use). The band was asked to change the lyric to "girl we couldn't get much better". Morrison sang the original lyric.^[21]

Moe Howard of the Three Stooges recalled in 1975 that Sullivan had a memory problem of sorts: "Ed was a very nice man, but for a showman, quite forgetful. On our first appearance, he introduced us as the Three Ritz Brothers. He got out of it by adding, 'who look more like the Three Stooges to me'."^[22] Joe DeRita, who worked with the Stooges after 1959, had commented that Sullivan had a personality "like the bottom of a bird cage."^[23]

Diana Ross later recalled Sullivan's forgetfulness during the many occasions The Supremes performed on his show. In a 1995 appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman (which is filmed in Ed Sullivan Theater), Ross stated, "he could never remember our names. He called us 'the girls'." ^[24][25]

In a 1990 press conference Paul McCartney recalled meeting Sullivan again in the early 1970s. Sullivan apparently had no idea who McCartney was. McCartney tried to remind Sullivan that he was one of The Beatles but Sullivan obviously could not remember and, nodding and smiling, simply shook McCartney's hand and left.

Politics[link]

Sullivan, like many American entertainers, was pulled into the Cold War fervor of the late 1940s and 1950s. In 1949, Sullivan booked dancer Paul Draper to appear on Toast of the Town. However, Draper’s scheduled appearance in January 1950 was met with opposition from Hester McCullough, a woman who involved herself in the hunt for subversives. McCullough accused Draper of sympathizing with the communist party, and although Draper denied the accusation, McCullough demanded that Sullivan’s lead sponsor, the Ford Motor Company, cancel Draper’s appearance. Despite McCullough’s protest, Draper was a guest on Toast of the Town, as was originally scheduled. After the program was broadcast, Ford received over a thousand angry letters and telegraphs in response to Draper’s appearance. Consequently, Sullivan was obligated to write a letter of apology to Ford’s advertising agency, Kenyon & Eckhardt, promising to never again move forward with such a controversial guest. Meanwhile, Draper was forced to move to Europe to earn a living.^[26]

Another guest who never appeared on the show because of the controversy surrounding him was legendary African-American singer-actor Paul Robeson, who, at the time of the Draper incident, was undergoing his own troubles with the industry's hunt for supposed Communist sympathizers.

After the Draper incident, Sullivan began to work closely with Theodore Kirkpatrick of the anti-communist Counterattack newsletter. Sullivan would check with Kirkpatrick if a potential guest had some "explaining to do" about his politics. Sullivan wrote in his June 21, 1950 New York Daily News column that "Kirkpatrick has sat in my living room on several occasions and listened attentively to performers eager to secure a certification of loyalty."^[27] Jerome Robbins, in his PBS American Experience biography, claimed that he was forced to capitulate to the House Un-American Activities Committee, identifying eight Communist sympathizers and disgracing himself among his fellow artists, allegedly because Sullivan threatened to reveal Robbins's homosexuality to the public.

Later years and death[link]

In the fall of 1965, CBS began televising the weekly programs in color. Although the Sullivan show was seen live in the Central and Eastern time zones, it was taped for airing in the Pacific and Mountain time zones. Most of the taped programs (as well as some early kinescopes) were preserved, and excerpts have been released on home video.

By 1971, the show's ratings had plummeted. In an effort to refresh their lineup, CBS cancelled the program along with some of its other longtime shows. Sullivan was angered by this so greatly that he refused to do a final show, although he remained with the network in various other capacities and hosted a 25th anniversary special in 1973.

In early September 1974, X-rays revealed that Sullivan had advanced esophageal cancer. Only his family was told, however, and as the doctors gave Sullivan very little time, the family chose to keep the diagnosis from him. Sullivan, still believing his ailment to be yet another complication from a long-standing battle with ulcers, died five weeks later, on October 13, 1974, at New York's Lenox Hill Hospital.^[28] His funeral was attended by 3,000 at St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York on a cold, rainy day. Sullivan is interred in a crypt at the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York.

Personal life[link]

Sullivan was engaged to champion swimmer Sybil Bauer, but she died of cancer in 1927 at the age of 23.^[29] He was married to the former Sylvia Weinstein from April 28, 1930, until her death on March 16, 1973. They had one daughter, Betty Sullivan (who married the Ed Sullivan Show's producer, Bob Precht). Sullivan was in the habit of calling Sylvia after every program to get her immediate critique.

Sullivan has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6101 Hollywood Blvd.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Leonard, John, The Ed Sullivan Age, American Heritage, May/June 1997, Volume 48, Issue 3
• Nachman, Gerald, Ed Sullivan, December 18, 2006.
• Maguire, James, Impresario: The Life and Times of Ed Sullivan, Billboard Books, 2006
• Bowles, Jerry, A Thousand Sundays: The Story of the Ed Sullivan Show, Putnam, 1980
• Barthelme, Donald, "And Now Let's Hear It for the Ed Sullivan Show!" in Guilty Pleasures, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1974

External links[link]

Biography portal

• The Official Ed Sullivan Show Website
• Ed Sullivan at the Internet Movie Database
• Ed Sullivan at TVGuide.com
• Overview of Ed Sullivan's life
• The Ed Sullivan Show – Rock 'n' Roll Classics

Joan Rivers
Rivers in 2010
Birth name	Joan Alexandra Molinsky
Born	(1933-06-08) June 8, 1933 (age 79) Brooklyn, New York City New York, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, television, film
Nationality	American
Years active	1950–present
Spouse	James Sanger (1955) Edgar Rosenberg (1965–1987; his death)
Website	"joan.co". http://www.joan.co/.

Joan Alexandra Molinsky (born June 8, 1933), better known by her stage name Joan Rivers, is an American television personality, comedian, and actress. She is known for her brash manner; her loud, raspy voice with a heavy New York accent; and her numerous cosmetic surgeries. Rivers' comic style relies heavily on her ability to poke fun at herself and other Hollywood celebrities.

Early life[link]

Joan Rivers was born Joan Alexandra Molinsky in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants Beatrice (née Grushman; January 6, 1906 – October 1975) and Meyer C. Molinsky (December 7, 1900 – January 1985).^[1][2] She was raised in Brooklyn, New York, and her family later moved to Larchmont, in Westchester County, New York. She attended Connecticut College between 1950 and 1952 and graduated from Barnard College in 1954 with a bachelor-of-arts degree in English literature^[3] and anthropology. Before entering show business, Rivers worked at various jobs such as a tour guide at Rockefeller Center,^[4] a writer/proofreader at an advertising agency^[4] and as a fashion consultant at Bond Clothing Stores.^[5] During this period, the agent Tony Rivers advised her to change her name, so she chose Joan Rivers as her stage name.^[6]

Career[link]

Early career[link]

During the late 1950s, Rivers appeared in a short-run play, Driftwood, playing a lesbian with a crush on a character played by a then-unknown Barbra Streisand. The play ran for six weeks.^[7] In 1961, Rivers briefly performed on stage in Chicago at The Second City comedy club. Rivers performed in numerous comedy clubs in the Greenwich Village area of New York City in the early 1960s, including The Bitter End and The Gaslight Cafe,^[8] before making her first appearances as a guest on the TV program The Tonight Show originating from New York, hosted at the time by Jack Paar.^[9]

By 1965, Rivers had a stint on Candid Camera as a gag writer and participant; she was "the bait" to lure people into ridiculous situations for the show. She also made her first appearance on The Tonight Show with new host Johnny Carson, on February 17, 1965.^[10] During the same decade, Rivers made other appearances on The Tonight Show as well as The Ed Sullivan Show, while hosting the first of several talk shows. She had a brief role in The Swimmer (1968), starring Burt Lancaster. A year later, she had a short-lived syndicated daytime talk show; Johnny Carson was her first guest.^[11] In the middle of the 1960s, she released at least two comedy albums, The Next to Last Joan Rivers Album^[12] and Joan Rivers Presents Mr. Phyllis & Other Funny Stories.^[13]

By the 1970s, Rivers was appearing on various television comedy and variety shows, including The Carol Burnett Show and a semi-regular stint on Hollywood Squares. From 1972 to 1976, she narrated The Adventures of Letterman, an animated segment for The Electric Company. In 1973, Rivers wrote the TV movie The Girl Most Likely to..., a black comedy starring Stockard Channing. In 1978, Rivers wrote and directed the film Rabbit Test, starring her friend Billy Crystal. During the same decade, she was the opening act for singer Helen Reddy on the Las Vegas Strip. In July 1970, Joan performed as the opening act for Sergio Franchi during an acclaimed appearance at the Mill Run Theater in Chicago.^[14] Joan also was the opening act for Sergio Franchi (three year contract) at the MGM Grand Hotel from 1974-1976.^[15][16] Joan became a Las Vegas Strip headliner herself in the 1980s.

1980s–1990s[link]

Rivers has spoken of her primary Tonight Show life as having been Johnny Carson's daughter, a reference to his longtime mentoring of her and, during the 1980s, establishing her as his regular guest host by August 1983. It was not her only work, however. On April 9, 1983, she hosted Saturday Night Live.^[17] In the same period, she released a best-selling comedy album on Geffen Records, What Becomes a Semi-Legend Most? The album reached No. 22 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album.^[18]

Autograph with famous catchphrase, about 1983

Also in 1984, Rivers published a best-selling humor book, The Life and Hard Times of Heidi Abramowitz, a mock memoir of her brassy, loose comedy character. A television special based on the character, a mock tribute called Joan Rivers and Friends Salute Heidi Abramowitz, was not successful with the public.

The decade was controversial for Rivers. She sued female impersonator Frank Marino for $5,000,000 in 1986, after discovering he was using her real stand-up material in the impersonation of her that he included in his popular Las Vegas act. The two comics reconciled, even appearing together on television in later years.^[19]

Also in 1986 came the move that cost Rivers her longtime friendship with Carson, who had first hired her as a Tonight Show writer. The soon-to-launch Fox Television Network announced that it was giving her a late night talk show, The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers.^[20] The new network planned to broadcast the show 11:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time, making her a Carson competitor. Carson claimed he learned of the show from Fox and not from Rivers herself. In 2008, during an interview with Dr. Pamela Connolly on television's Shrink Rap, Rivers claimed she did call Carson, but he hung up on her at once and repeated the gesture when she called again.

The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers turned out to be flecked by tragedy. When Rivers challenged Fox executives, who wanted to fire her husband Edgar Rosenberg as the show's producer, the network fired them both. On May 15, 1987, three months later, Rosenberg committed suicide in Philadelphia; Rivers blamed the tragedy on his "humiliation" by Fox.^[21] Fox attempted to continue the show with a new name (The Late Show) and rotating guest hosts.

A year after the Late Show debacle, Rivers was a guest on TV's Pee-Wee's Playhouse Christmas Special. By 1989, she tried another daytime TV talk show, The Joan Rivers Show,^[22] which ran for five years and won her an Emmy in 1990 for outstanding talk show host.^[23]

In 1994, Rivers and daughter Melissa first hosted the E! Entertainment Television pre-awards show for the Golden Globe Awards.^[24] Beginning in 1995, they hosted the annual E! Entertainment Television pre-awards show for the Academy Awards.^[24] Beginning in 1997, Rivers hosted her own radio show on WOR in New York City.

Rivers also appeared as one of the center square occupants on the 1986-89 version of The Hollywood Squares, hosted by John Davidson.

2000–present[link]

By 2003, Rivers had left her E! red-carpet show for a three-year contract (valued between $6–8 million) to cover award-show red-carpet shows for the TV Guide Channel.^[25]

Joan Rivers poses for a photograph at the Pierre Hotel, May 24, 2001

Rivers appeared in three episodes of the TV show Nip/Tuck during its second, third and seventh season playing herself.^[26][27][28] Rivers appears regularly on television's The Shopping Channel (in Canada) and QVC (in both the United States and the UK), promoting her own line of jewelry under brand name "The Joan Rivers Collection". She was also a guest speaker at the opening of the American Operating Room Nurses' 2000 San Francisco Conference. Both Joan and Melissa Rivers are frequent guests on Howard Stern's radio show, and Joan Rivers often appears as a guest on UK panel show 8 out of 10 Cats.

Rivers was one of only four Americans invited to the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles on April 9, 2005.^[29]

In 2006, Rivers was featured on the adult animated show, Drawn Together as Princess Clara's vagina that had received too much plastic surgery. Clara's 'vajoana' often repeated the phrase "who are you wearing, who are you wearing?".

On August 16, 2007, Rivers began a two-week workshop of her new play, with the working title "The Joan Rivers Theatre Project," at The Magic Theatre in San Francisco.^[30] On December 3, 2007, Rivers performed in the Royal Variety Show 2007 at the Liverpool Empire Theatre, England, with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip present.

In January 2008, Rivers became one of 20 hijackers to take control of the Big Brother house in the UK for one day in spin-off TV show Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack. On June 24, 2008, Rivers appeared on NBC-TV’s show Celebrity Family Feud and competed with her daughter, Melissa against Ice-T and Coco.

Joan Rivers performing in her show at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Rivers and daughter Melissa were contestants in 2009 on the second Celebrity Apprentice. Throughout the season, each celebrity raised money for a charity of his or her choice; Rivers selected God's Love We Deliver.^[31] After a falling out with poker player Annie Duke, following Melissa's on-air firing (elimination) by Donald Trump, Rivers left the green room telling Clint Black and Jesse G. James that she would not be in the next morning. Rivers later returned to the show and on May 3, 2009, she became a finalist in the series. The other finalist was Duke.^[32][33] On the season finale, which aired live on May 10, Joan was announced the winner and hired to be the 2009 Celebrity Apprentice.

Rivers was featured on the show Z Rock as herself and was also a special so-called pink-carpet presenter for the 2009 broadcast of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade. She was also roasted in a Comedy Central special, taped on July 26, 2009, and aired on August 9, 2009. From August 2009, Joan began starring in the new reality TV series How'd You Get So Rich? on TV Land.

Joan performing at a London Udderbelly event in 2009

A documentary film about Rivers, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, premiered at the San Francisco International Film Festival at the Castro Theatre on May 6, 2010.

In 2011, Rivers appeared in a commercial for Go Daddy, which debuted during the broadcast of Super Bowl XLV.^[34]

Joan and her daughter Melissa Rivers premiered the new show Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best on WE tv. The series follows Joan moving to California to be closer to her family. She moves in with daughter Melissa while searching for a home of her own. It was recently revealed that WE TV has ordered a new season consisting of 10 episodes premiering in January 2012.

In 2011, Rivers was featured as herself in Season 2 of Louis C.K.'s self-entitled show Louie, where she performed on-stage.

Personal life[link]

Rivers' first marriage was in 1955 to James Sanger,^[35] the son of a Bond Clothing Stores merchandise manager. The marriage lasted six months^[36] and was annulled on the basis that Sanger did not want children and had not informed Rivers before the wedding.^[37] Her second marriage was on July 15, 1965^[38] to Edgar Rosenberg, who committed suicide in 1987. Their only child, Melissa Warburg Rosenberg (now known as Melissa Rivers), was born on January 20, 1968. She has one grandson, Melissa's son Cooper (born Edgar Cooper Endicott on December 1, 2000)^[39] who is featured with his mother and grandmother in the WE tv series Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best?^[40]

In her book, Bouncing Back (1997), she described how she developed bulimia and contemplated suicide. Eventually, she recovered with counseling and the support of her family.

In 2002, Rivers told the Montreal Mirror that she was a Republican.^[41]

Rivers is open about her multiple cosmetic surgeries and has been a patient of plastic surgeon Steven Hoefflin since 1983. Her first procedure, an eye lift, was performed in 1965 as an attempt to further her career.^[42]

Awards[link]

• In 1990, Rivers won the Daytime Emmy Award (a TV citation) for Outstanding Talk Show Host. The same year, a star in her name was placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.^[43]

Books[link]

• Having a Baby Can Be a Scream (1974, Self-Help/Humour)
• The Life and Hard Times of Heidi Abromowitz (1984, Humour)
• Enter Talking (1986, Autobiography)
• Still Talking (1991, Autobiography)
• Jewelry by Joan Rivers (1995, Non-Fiction)
• Bouncing Back: I've Survived Everything ... and I Mean Everything ... and You Can Too! (1997, Autobiography/Self-Help)
• From Mother to Daughter: Thoughts and Advice on Life, Love and Marriage (1998, Self-Help)
• Don’t Count the Candles: Just keep the Fire Lit! (1999, Self-Help)
• Men Are Stupid...And They Like Big Boobs: A Woman's Guide to Beauty Through Plastic Surgery (2008, Non-Fiction)
• Murder at the Academy Awards (R): A Red Carpet Murder Mystery (2009, Fiction)
• I Hate Everyone...Starting With Me (2012, Humour)

Filmography[link]

• Once Upon a Coffee House (1965)
• The Swimmer (1968)
• Rabbit Test (1978) (also director and writer)
• Uncle Scam (1981)
• The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)
• Les Patterson Saves the World (1987)
• Spaceballs (1987) (voice)
• Pee-Wee's Playhouse Christmas Special (1988)
• Look Who's Talking (1989) (voice)
• Public Enemy # 2 (1993)
• Serial Mom (1994)
• Napoleon (1995) (voice)
• Goosed (1999)
• The Intern (2000)
• Whispers: An Elephant's Tale (2000) (voice)
• The Making and Meaning of 'We Are Family' (2002) (documentary)
• Hip! Edgy! Quirky! (2002)
• Shrek 2 (2004) (voice)
• First Daughter (2004)
• The Last Guy on Earth (2007)
• Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (2010) (documentary)
• Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010) (uncredited)
• The Smurfs (2011) (uncredited)
• Tower Heist (2011) (uncredited)

Television work[link]

• That Show starring Joan Rivers (1968–69) (syndicated daytime talk show)^[11]
• The Electric Company (cast member from 1972–1977) (voice)
• Here's Lucy (1973)
• An Audience with Joan Rivers (1984)
• Joan Rivers: Can We Talk? (1986)
• The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers (host from 1986–1987)
• The New Hollywood Squares hosted by John Davidson (center square from 1988–1989)
• The Joan Rivers Show (1989–1993)
• How to Murder a Millionaire (1990)
• Lady Boss (1992)
• Tears and Laughter: The Joan and Melissa Rivers Story (1994)^[44]
• Can We Shop? (1995–present)
• Another World (cast member in 1997)
• E! True Hollywood Story: Joan Rivers (parody episode of show aired April 1, 2001)^[45]
• Jack Dee Live at the Apollo (cast member in 2004, guest host in 2007)
• Nip/Tuck (2004–2005–2010)^[46]
• The Joan Rivers Position (2004–2006)
• An Audience with Joan Rivers (2006)
• 8 out of 10 Cats (2006–2007)
• Joan Rivers: Before Melissa Pulls the Plug (2006)
• Dawn French's Girls Who Do Comedy (in-depth interview BBC 2006)
• The Graham Norton Show (2007)
• Straight Talk (2007)
• Shrink Rap (2008) – With Dr. Pamela Connolly – More4
• Celebrity Family Feud (2008)
• Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack (Celebrity Hijacker) (2008)
• Loose Women (2008)
• The Graham Norton Show (2008)
• Z Rock (2008) – Aunt Joan
• Spaceballs: The Animated Series (2008) (voice)
• Arthur (2008, 2010) (voice) – Bubby (Francine's Grandmother)
• Celebrity Apprentice (2009) – Herself
• How'd You Get So Rich? (2009) – Herself
• The Comedy Central Roast of Joan Rivers (2009) – Herself
• Celebrity Ghost Stories (2009) – Herself
• The Graham Norton Show (December 31, 2009)
• Celebrity Apprentice 3 (March 14, 2010)
• Fashion Police (September 10, 2010 – present)
• The Graham Norton Show (November 5, 2010)
• Joan and Melissa: Joan Knows Best (January 25, 2011 – present)
• Louie S02E04 – Joan (July 14, 2011) – Herself
• The Simpsons S23E08 – "The Ten-Per-Cent Solution" (December 4, 2011) (voice) – Annie Dubinsky

Theater work[link]

The following is a selected list of theater work performed by Rivers.

• Broadway Bound by Neil Simon (replacement for Kate, 1988, Broadhurst Theatre)^[47]
• Sally Marr and Her Escorts, a play suggested by the life of Lenny Bruce's mother (co-written with Erin Ladd Sanders and Lonny Price), May 1994, Helen Hayes Theatre, Broadway.
• Joan Rivers: A Work In Progress By A Life In Progress (February 2008, Geffen Playhouse)
• Joan Rivers: A Work In Progress By A Life In Progress (August 2008, Edinburgh Festival Fringe)
• Joan Rivers: A Work In Progress By A Life In Progress (September 2008, Leicester Square Theatre, London)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Joan Rivers

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Joan Rivers

• Official website
• Joan Rivers at the Internet Movie Database
• Joan Rivers at the Internet Broadway Database
• Joan Rivers at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• E! Entertainment Bio
• BroadwayWorld.com interview with Joan Rivers, February 19, 2009

Fidel Castro
Castro in 2003
First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba
In office October 3, 1965 – April 19, 2011
Deputy	Raúl Castro
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Raúl Castro
15th President of Cuba
In office December 2, 1976 – February 24, 2008*
Prime Minister	Himself
Vice President	Raúl Castro
Preceded by	Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado
Succeeded by	Raúl Castro
16th Prime Minister of Cuba
In office February 16, 1959 – February 24, 2008
President	Manuel Urrutia Lleó Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado Himself
Preceded by	José Miró Cardona
Succeeded by	Raúl Castro
7th and 23rd Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement
In office September 16, 2006 – February 24, 2008
Preceded by	Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Succeeded by	Raúl Castro
In office September 10, 1979 – March 6, 1983
Preceded by	Junius Richard Jayawardene
Succeeded by	Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
Personal details
Born	Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (1926-08-13) August 13, 1926 (age 85) Birán, Cuba
Political party	Communist Party of Cuba
Spouse(s)	Mirta Diaz-Balart (1948–1955) Dalia Soto del Valle (1980–present)
Relations	(siblings) Raúl Castro Enma Castro Agustina Castro Ramon Castro Ruz Angelita Castro
Children	Fidel Ángel Castro Diaz-Balart Alina Fernández-Revuelta Alexis Castro-Soto Alejandro Castro-Soto Antonio Castro-Soto Angel Castro-Soto Alex Castro-Soto Jorge Angel Castro Francisca Pupo
Alma mater	University of Havana
Profession	Lawyer
Religion	Deist[1]
Signature
*Acting presidential powers were transferred to Raúl Castro from July 31, 2006.

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (Spanish: [fiˈðel ˈkastro]; born August 13, 1926) is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011. Politically a Marxist-Leninist, under his administration the Republic of Cuba was converted into a one-party socialist state, with industry and business being nationalized under state ownership and socialist reforms implemented in all areas of society. On the international stage, he also served as the Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1979 to 1983 and 2006 to 2008.

Born the illegitimate son of a wealthy farmer, Castro became involved in leftist anti-imperialist politics while studying law at the University of Havana. Involving himself in armed rebellions against right-wing governments in the Dominican Republic and Colombia, he concluded that the U.S.-backed Cuban President Fulgencio Batista, who was widely seen as a dictator, had to be overthrown; to this end he led a failed armed attack on the Moncada Barracks in 1953. Imprisoned for a year, he traveled to Mexico, and with the aid of his brother Raúl Castro and friend Che Guevara, assembled a group of revolutionaries, the July 26 Movement. Returning with them to Cuba, he took a key role in the Cuban Revolution, leading a successful guerrilla war against Batista's forces, overthrowing him in 1959. Castro subsequently became Commander in Chief of the armed forces and shortly thereafter became Prime Minister. The United States was alarmed by his involvement in the overthrow of Batista and relationship with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, implementing an economic blockade of the island. U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower also ordered the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to overthrow him, which they unsuccessfully tried through multiple assassination attempts and the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961. To counter this threat, Castro forged an economic and military alliance with the Soviet Union and allowed them to place nuclear weapons on the island, leading to the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

Adopting Marxism-Leninism as his guiding ideology, in 1961 Castro proclaimed the socialist nature of the Cuban revolution, and in 1965 became First Secretary of the newly founded Communist Party, with all other parties being abolished. He then led the transformation of Cuba into a socialist republic, nationalizing industry, introducing free healthcare and education, and suppressing internal opposition. A keen internationalist, Castro introduced Cuban medical brigades who worked throughout the developing world, and aided foreign revolutionary socialist groups in the hope of toppling world capitalism, thereby involving Cuba in the Angolan Civil War and the Ogaden War between Ethiopia and Somalia. In 1976 he stepped down as Prime Minister to become President of both the Council of State and Council of Ministers. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Castro led Cuba into its economic "Special Period", before taking the country into the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas in 2006 and forging alliances with other nations in the Latin American "Pink Tide". Amidst failing health, in 2006 Castro transferred his responsibilities to Vice-President Raúl Castro, who was then elected President when Fidel stepped down in 2008.

Castro is a controversial and highly divisive world figure, being lauded as a champion of anti-imperialism, humanitarianism, socialism and environmentalism by his supporters, but his critics have accused him of being a dictator whose authoritarian administration has overseen multiple human rights abuses both at home and abroad. A prolific author on various topics, he has had a significant influence on the politics of various individuals and groups across the world, including senior leaders like Nelson Mandela, Hugo Chávez and Evo Morales.

Early life[link]

Childhood and education: 1926–1945[link]

A letter written by the 14-year-old Castro, learning English, to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt — "My good friend Roosevelt." In the letter Castro expresses his joy at Roosevelt's re-election, states his age as "twelve years old" and writes, "If you like, give me a ten dollar bill green American, because never, I have not seen a ten dollar bill", signing the letter, "Thank you very much. Good by [sic]. Your friend, Fidel Castro."^[2]

Fidel's father, Ángel Castro y Argiz (1875–1956) was a Spaniard born to a poor peasant family in rural Galicia, Northwest Spain. Working as a manual laborer on local farms, in 1895 he was conscripted into the Spanish Army to fight in the Cuban War of Independence against the Cuban revolutionaries who wished to secede from the Spanish Empire. Wishing to gain greater influence in the Caribbean, the United States subsequently declared war on Spain, leading to the Spanish-American War of 1898, in which the U.S. seized control of Cuba, setting up their own government on the island. In 1902, the Republic of Cuba was proclaimed, however it remained only partially independent of the U.S., which retained economic and political dominance over it. For a time, Cuba enjoyed economic growth, and Ángel Castro decided to migrate there permanently in search of employment.^[3][4][5] Doing so, he undertook various jobs, eventually earning enough money to set up his own business growing sugar cane on a farm in Birán, near Mayarí in Oriente Province.^[4][5][6]

Ángel took a wife, María Luisa Argota, with whom he had two daughters, but they separated after several years and he began a relationship with a household servant who was thirty years his junior.^[7][8] This woman, Lina Ruz González (September 23, 1903 – August 6, 1963),^[9] came from an impoverished Cuban family of Canarian descent, but became Ángel's domestic partner, bearing him three sons and four daughters.^[7][10][11]

Fidel was Lina's third child, being born at his father's farm on August 13, 1926,^[7][12][13] and was given his mother's surname of Ruz rather than his father's because he had been born out of wedlock, something that carried a particular social stigma at the time.^[14][15] Although he was from a prosperous background, with his father's business proving ever more profitable, his father ensured that he grew up alongside the children of the farm's workforce, many of whom were Haitian economic migrants of African descent,^[8][16] something that Fidel would later relate prevented him from absorbing "bourgeois culture" at an early age.^[17] Aged six, Fidel, along with his elder siblings Ramón and Angela, was sent to live with their teacher in Santiago de Cuba, and it was here that the children dwelt in cramped conditions and in relative poverty, often failing to have enough to eat because of their tutor's poor economic situation.^[18][19] Aged eight, Fidel was then baptized into the Roman Catholic Church, although later gave up his faith in Christianity, becoming an atheist.^[18][20][21] Being baptized enabled Fidel to begin attending the La Salle boarding school in Santiago, but here he often got into trouble with the school authorities for misbehavior, and so he was instead sent to the privately-funded, Jesuit-run Dolores School in Santiago.^[22][23]

In 1945 he transferred to the more prestigious Jesuit-run El Colegio de Belén in Havana.^[24] Although Fidel took an interest in history and debating at Belén, he did not excel academically, instead devoting much of his time to playing sport, including swimming, mountain climbing, table tennis, athletics, basketball and baseball.^[25][26] Meanwhile, Ángel Castro finally dissolved his first marriage when Fidel was fifteen, allowing him to marry Fidel's mother; Fidel was formally recognized by his father when he was seventeen, when his surname was legally changed from Ruz to Castro.^[14][15]

University and early political activism: 1945–1947[link]

Grau and Prío, two Cuban presidents whose administrations were marked by corruption, political repression and obedience to U.S. interests. Castro protested against both of them whilst a student.

In late 1945, Castro began studying law at the University of Havana.^[27][28][29] Here he became immediately embroiled in the student protest movement, which in Cuba at that time was particularly volatile: under the regimes of center-left Cuban Presidents Gerardo Machado (1925–1933), Fulgencio Batista (1933–1944) and Ramón Grau (1944–1948) there had been a government crackdown on student protesters, with student leaders being killed or terrorized by violent gangs.^[30][31][32] This led to a form of gangsterismo culture within the university that was dominated by a variety of violent and often armed student groups who spent much of their time fighting one another and running criminal enterprises rather than opposing the government.^[33][34] Becoming surrounded by this gang culture, Castro focused on political objectives, unsuccessfully campaigning for the position of President of the Federation of University Students (FEU). To do so he put forward a platform of "honesty, decency and justice" and emphasized his opposition to political corruption, something that he increasingly associated with the involvement of the U.S. government in Cuban politics.^[35][36] He became passionate about anti-imperialism and opposing U.S. intervention in the Caribbean, joining the University Committee for the Independence of Puerto Rico and the Committee for Democracy in the Dominican Republic.^[37]

He was in contact with members of several student leftist groups at the time, including the Popular Socialist Party (Partido Socialista Popular – PSP), the Socialist Revolutionary Movement (Movimiento Socialista Revolucionaria – MSR) and the Insurrectional Revolutionary Union (Unión Insurrecional Revolucionaria – UIR), although did not adopt the Marxist ideas of the former and mistrusted some of MSR's connections to the Grau government. Castro had become critical of the corruption and violence of Grau's regime, delivering a public speech on the subject in November 1946 that earned him a place on the front page of several newspapers. Instead, it was to the UIR that he grew closest to, although whether he ever became a member or not has remained unknown.^[38][39] In 1947, Castro joined a newly founded socialist group, the Party of the Cuban People (Partido Ortodoxo), which had been formed by veteran politician Eduardo Chibás (1907–1951). A charismatic figure, Chibás attracted many Cubans with his message of social justice, honest government, and political freedom. The Partido Ortodoxo publicly exposed corruption and demanded governmental and social reform. Though Chibás lost the election, Castro, considering Chibás his mentor, remained committed to his cause, working fervently on his behalf.^{[40][41][42][43]}

Meanwhile, the student gang violence had escalated after Grau employed several prominent gang leaders, including members of the MSR, as officers in the police force, and Castro soon received a threat urging him to either leave the university and its political arena or be killed. He did not give in to the threat, instead carrying a gun and surrounding himself with friends who were similarly armed.^[44][45] Various accusations would arise in later years alleging that Castro carried out gang-related assassination attempts at this time, including of prominent UIR member Lionel Gómez, MSR leader Manolo Castro and university policeman Oscar Fernandez, but these are supported by "scant evidence" and remain unproven.^[46][47][48]

Latin American rebellions: 1947–1948[link]

In June 1947, Castro learned of a planned international expedition to invade the Dominican Republic and overthrow its right-wing president, Rafael Trujillo, a military general widely seen as a dictator who had overseen a system of "repressive brutality" through the use of a violent secret police which routinely murdered and tortured opponents.^[49] An ally of the United States, Trujillo angered many across the world when he ordered the Parsley Massacre that killed 20,000–30,000 impoverished Haitian migrants.^[50] Castro had become a heavy critic of Trujillo's regime, rising to the presidency of the University Committee for Democracy in the Dominican Republic, and decided to join the military expedition, which was led by General Juan Rodríguez, a Dominican exile, and supported by Grau's Cuban government which feared Trujillo's militaristic behavior.^[46][51][52] The invasion was carried out on July 29, 1947, by around 1,200 men, most of whom were exiled Dominicans or Cubans, although other volunteers came from across Latin America. However, both Dominican and U.S. intelligence had gained foreknowledge of the event, and it was soon quashed by the Dominican army and the Cuban government, who had been pressured by the U.S. to cease their support for it. Whilst Grau's government immediately arrested many of those involved, Castro managed to escape the police by jumping off of the naval frigate he was aboard and swimming to shore in the dark of night.^[53][54]

The botched mission only served to further Castro's opposition to the Grau administration, and returning to Havana, he took a leading role in the student protests that were centered against the killing of a high school pupil by government bodyguards.^[56][57] The protests, accompanied by a U.S.-imposed crackdown on those considered to be communists, led to violent clashes between protesters and police in February 1948, in which Castro was badly beaten.^[58] It was at this point that his public speeches took on a distinctively leftist slant, condemning the social and economic inequalities of Cuba under the Grau government, something that was in contrast to his former public criticisms, which had centered around condemning corruption and U.S. imperialism. Castro's biographer Leycester Coltman would later remark that "Castro was not yet expressing a Marxist viewpoint, but he was moving in that direction."^[59]

After a quick visit to Venezuela and Panama, in April 1948 Castro traveled to the city of Bogotá in Colombia with a number of other Cuban students on a trip sponsored by the government of Argentine President Juan Perón, whose anti-imperialist politics impressed Castro. Once there, the assassination of popular leftist leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán Ayala led to widespread rioting that came to be known as the Bogotazo. Leaving three thousand dead, the riots revolved around clashes between rightist Conservatives, who then controlled the country's government and who were backed by the army, and leftist Liberals who were supported by a number of Colombian socialist groups. Castro, along with his fellow Cuban visitors, joined in in support of the Liberal cause by stealing guns from a police station, but subsequent police investigations came to the conclusion that neither Castro nor any of the other Cubans had been involved in the killings.^{[60][61][62][63]}

Marriage and Marxism: 1948–1950[link]

Returning to Cuba, Castro became a prominent figure in the widespread protests against the government's attempts to raise bus fares, with buses being the only form of transport available to most students and workers.^[64][65] It was also in 1948 that Castro married Mirta Díaz Balart, a student from a wealthy Cuban family through whom he was exposed to the lifestyle of the Cuban elite. The relationship was a love match and was disapproved of by both of their families. Mirta's father gave them tens of thousands of dollars to spend in a three-month honeymoon in New York City, and the couple also received a U.S. $1,000 wedding gift from the military general and former president Fulgencio Batista, a friend of Mirta's family.^[66][67][68] That same year, Grau decided not to stand for re-election, and his party instead nominated Carlos Prío Socarrás as their presidential candidate. Prío would go on to win the election, becoming President of Cuba.^[69][70] However, he faced widespread protests when members of the MSR, which by this time was allied to the police force, assassinated Justo Fuentes, a "self-taught black man" and prominent member of the UIR who was a friend and ally of Castro's. In response, Prío agreed to try to quell the gangs, but found them to be too powerful to control.^[71]

Castro had begun to move further to the left in his political views, being influenced by the writings of prominent Marxists like Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels and Vladimir Lenin. He came to interpret the problems facing Cuba as being an integral part of capitalist society, or the "dictatorship of the bourgeoisie", rather than the failings of corrupt politicians. Coming to believe the Marxist idea that meaningful political change could only be brought about by a revolution led by the working class, Castro set about visiting Havana's poorest neighborhoods, witnessing the nation's huge social and racial inequalities, and became active in the University Committee for the Struggle against Racial Discrimination.^[73][74]

In September 1949, Mirta gave birth to a son, Fidelito, and so the couple moved to a larger flat in Havana.^[73] Despite the need to care for his family, Castro continued to put himself at risk, staying active in the city's political arena and joining a new organization, the September 30 Movement, which contained within it both communists and members of the Partido Ortodoxo. The group's purpose was to oppose the influence of the violent gangs within the university; despite his promises, President Prío had failed to control the situation, instead offering many of their senior members jobs in government ministries.^[75][76] Castro volunteered to deliver a speech for the Movement on November 13, in which he exposed the government's secret deals with the gangs and identified many of their key members. Attracting the attention of the national press, the speech angered the gangs, and Castro was forced to go into hiding, first in various rural areas and then in the U.S.^[75] Returning to Havana several weeks later, Castro lay low and focused on his university studies, graduating from university as a Doctor of Law in September 1950.^[74][75][77]

Career in law and politics: 1950–1952[link]

Now a Doctor of Law, Castro became a professional lawyer, founding his own legal partnership with two fellow leftist students, Jorge Azpiazu and Rafael Resende, whose intention was to focus on helping poor Cubans in asserting their rights. It was a financial failure, with its main client being a timber merchant who paid them in timber to furnish their office.^[78][79] Castro cared little for money or material goods, something his wife found difficult, particularly when their furniture was reposessed and their electricity cut off, in both instances because Castro had failed to pay his bills.^[80]

General Fulgencio Batista seized power in a military coup, postponed elections indefinitely and implemented right wing policies; he would widely be labelled a dictator and Castro would believe it necessary to oust him.

Castro remained active in politics, taking part in a high-school protest in Cienfuegos in November 1950 that involved students fighting a four-hour battle with police in protest at the Education Ministry's ban on the founding of student associations in schools. He was arrested and charged with using violence against police officers, but the magistrate later dismissed the charges.^[81] He also became an active member of the Cuban Peace Committee, a part of the international campaign led by British intellectual Betrand Russell to oppose western involvement in the Korean War.^[81] His hopes for Cuba still largely centered around Eduardo Chibás and his left wing Partido Ortodoxo; however Chibás had made a mistake when he accused Education Minister Aureliano Sánchez of purchasing a Guatemalan ranch with misappropriated funds, but was unable to substantiate his allegations. The government used this as an opportunity to go on the offensive against Chibás, accusing him of being a liar and a troublemaker. In 1951, while running for president again, Chibás shot himself in the stomach during a radio broadcast in an attempt to issue a "last wake-up call" to the Cuban people. Castro was present and accompanied him to the hospital where he died of his injuries.^{[82][83][84][85]}

Although his political views were further left than the Partido Ortodoxo, Castro believed that those parties on the far left, namely the PSP, were too unpopular to achieve a revolutionary leftist movement in Cuba, and for this reason remained in the Ortodoxo. Seeing himself as the heir to Chibás, Castro wanted to run for Congress in the June 1952 elections, but senior party members feared his radical reputation and refused to nominate him. Instead he gained the support of enough Ortodoxo members in Havana's poorest districts to be nominated as a candidate for the House of Representatives, and put all his energies into campaigning.^[86][87] It was at the time that Castro held a meeting with General Fulgencio Batista, the former president who had recently returned to politics by winning a seat in the Senate and founding the Unitary Action Party; although they both opposed the Prío administration, their meeting never got beyond "polite generalities" with no indication that they would later become bitter enemies.^[86]

The Ortodoxo had gained a considerable level of support, and there was a "fair chance that the Ortodoxos and Castro would both have succeeded in the election."^[88] However, this was quashed in March 1952 when General Batista seized power in a military coup, removing the widely discredited President Prío from office, who then fled to Mexico. Subsequently declaring himself president, Batista cancelled the planned presidential elections, describing his new system as "disciplined democracy": Castro, like many others, instead saw it as the establishment of a one-man dictatorship with no benefit to the Cuban populace.^[82][89][90] Although in his earlier democratic terms as president Batista had taken a center-left stance, he now moved to the right and went on to solidify his ties with the United States, severing diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, suppressing trade unions and persecuting socialist groups in Cuba.^[82][91] Intent on opposing the Batista administration, Castro brought several legal cases against them, arguing that Batista had committed sufficient criminal acts to warrant at least 100 years imprisonment and accusing various ministers of breaching labor laws. These came to nothing, leading Castro to begin thinking of alternative ways to oust the new government.^[92]

Cuban Revolution[link]

The Movement and the Moncada Barracks attack: 1952–1953[link]

Dissatisfied with the Ortodoxo's policy of non-violent opposition to Batista's regime, Castro formed a group known simply as "The Movement". Consisting of both a civil and a military committee, the former conducted political agitation through an underground newspaper, El Acusador (The Accuser), while the latter armed and trained recruits to take violent action against Batista. With Castro as the Movement's head, the organization was based upon a clandestine cell system, with each cell containing ten members, none of whom knew the whereabouts or activities of the other cells.^[94][95] A dozen individuals formed the nucleus of the movement, many of whom were also dissatisfied Ortodoxo members, although from July 1952 the Movement went on a recruitment drive, and within a year it had around 1,200 members, organized into over a hundred cells, with the majority of members coming from the poorer districts of Havana.^[96][97][98] Although Castro's political ideology was that of revolutionary socialism, he avoided an alliance with the communist PSP, fearing that this would frighten away the political moderates who were members of the Movement,^[99] but did keep in contact with some of the PSP's members, who included his brother and fellow conspirator Raúl.^[100] He would later relate that the members of the Movement were on the whole simply anti-Batista, and few had strong socialist or anti-imperialist views, something which Castro attributed to "the overwhelming weight of the Yankees' ideological and advertising machinery" which he felt had suppressed class consciousness amongst Cuba's working class.^[98]

Castro's Movement was not the only militant group that wanted to oust Batista. One of the Orthodoxo's founding members, the Professor of Philosophy Rafael García Bárcena, had founded the National Revolutionary Movement (Movimiento Nacional Revolucionaria – MNR). Consisting largely of middle-class members, it contrasted with Castro's predominantly working class support base. In March 1953, the MNR had planned to attack and seize control of the barracks at Camp Colombia, but police had been alerted to the plot, with the conspirators being rounded up and tortured. In all, fourteen people were sentenced to imprisonment for the attack.^{[101][102][103]} Meanwhile, Castro had been having similar ideas, stockpiling weapons in order to lead the armed wing of the Movement in an attack on the Moncada Barracks, a military garrison just outside Santiago de Cuba in Oriente. The plan was for Castro's members to dress in army uniforms and arrive at the base in cars on July 25, the festival of St James, when many of the officers would be on leave or celebrating in the nearby town. The rebels would then seize control of the barracks before the alarm could be raised, raid the armory and then escape before the army could bring in reinforcements.^[104] Supplied with a wealth of new weaponry, Castro believed that the Movement could arm local supporters and spark a revolution in Oriente, which was dominated by a population of impoverished cane-cutters. The plan was to then seize control of a radio station in Santiago, from which the Movement could broadcast their manifesto and promote widespread uprisings against Batista.^[105] In doing so, Castro's plan was directly emulating those of the 19th century Cuban independence fighters who had raided Spanish barracks, and in keeping with this Castro saw himself as the heir to independence leader and national hero José Martí, both leading national liberation struggles against foreign dominance.^[106][107]

Fidel Castro under arrest in July 1953 after the Moncada attack.

Castro had gathered together 165 members of the Movement to take part in the mission, 138 of which were stationed in Santiago, with the other 27 instead positioned in Bayamo. The majority of them were young men from Havana and Pinar del Río, and Castro ensured that, with the exception of himself, none of the volunteers had children.^[108] The plan had been carefully orchestrated, and Castro ordered his troops not to cause bloodshed unless they met armed resistance.^[109] The attack took place on July 26, 1953, but before it had even begun it ran into trouble; of the sixteen cars that had set out from Santiago, one broke down on the way and two others got separated from the main convoy. When they eventually reached the barracks, further problems arose and soon the alarm was raised by the guards, with most of the rebels being pinned down outside of the base by machine gun fire. Those that managed to get inside faced heavy resistance, and four of them were killed by gunfire before Castro, realizing that he was heavily outnumbered, ordered his men to retreat.^[110][111] In the attack, the rebels had suffered 6 fatalities and 15 other casualties, whilst the government forces had faced a heavier toll, with 19 dead and 27 wounded.^[112] Meanwhile, some of the other rebels had taken over a civilian hospital, but as the main attack on the barracks failed, government soldiers stormed the hospital, rounding up the rebels, before torturing them for information and finally summarily executing 22 of them without trial.^[112] Those rebels that had been able to escape, and who included both Fidel and his brother Raúl, had assembled at their base, the Siboney Farm, where some debated surrender, while others wished to flee to Havana. Accompanied by 19 comrades, Castro however decided to set out for the rugged Gran Piedra mountains several miles to the north, where they could establish a guerrilla base and continue their revolutionary activities.^{[113][114][115]}

In response to the Moncada attack, Batista's government ordered a violent crackdown on all dissent (orchestrated by both the army and the SIM police), declaring martial law and imposing strict censorship on the media. Government propaganda began broadcasting misinformation about the event, claiming that the rebels had murdered patients in the civilian hospital and asserting that the Movement was a communist group financed by the exiled President Prío (ignoring the fact that the latter was a fierce anti-communist). Despite this censorship, news and photographs soon spread of the army's use of torture and summary executions in Oriente, causing widespread public and even some governmental disapproval.^[116][117]

Arrest and trial: 1953[link]

Over the next few days all of the rebels hiding in the mountains were rounded up by government forces and transported to a prison north of Santiago, although Castro was not executed on the spot as many of his comrades had been.^[119][120] Believing that Castro had been incapable of planning the attack by himself, the government accused politicians from the Ortodoxo and communist PSP of being involved in masterminding the attack, and in all 122 defendants, amongst them Castro, were put on trial on September 21 at the Palace of Justice in Santiago.^[121][122] Although censored from reporting on it, journalists were permitted to attend the proceedings, which proved an embarrassment for the Batista administration. Acting as his own defense council, Castro convinced the three presiding judges to overrule the army's decision to keep all defendants handcuffed in court, before proceeding to argue that the charge with which they were all accused – of 'organizing an uprising of armed persons against the Constitutional Powers of the State' – was incorrect, for they had risen up not against the Constitutional Powers of the State but against Batista, who had seized power in an unconstitutional manner. When asked who was the intellectual author of the attack, Castro claimed that it was the long deceased national icon José Martí, before quoting some of Martí's works that justified uprisings against tyrannical regimes.^[123][124]