Coordinates

39°44′21″N104°59′5″N

{{infobox television | show name

What's My Line? | image | caption ''What's My Line?'' title card from the final syndicated season (1974–1975) | format Game show | runtime 22–25 minutes | producer Mark GoodsonBill Todman | presenter John Charles Daly (1950–1967)Wally Bruner (1968–1972)Larry Blyden (1972–1975) | narrated Lee Vines (1950–1955)Hal Simms (1955–1961)Ralph Paul (1961)Johnny Olson (1961–1972)Chet Gould (1973–1975) | starring Arlene FrancisDorothy Kilgallen (1950–1965)Louis Untermeyer (1950–1951)Hal Block (1950–1953)Bennett Cerf (1951–1971)Steve Allen (1953–1954)Fred Allen (1954–1956)Soupy Sales (1968–1975) | country United States | network CBS (1950–1967)Syndicated (1968–1975) | picture_format Black-and-white (1950–1966)Color(1966–1975) | audio_format Monaural | first_aired | last_aired September 3, 1975 | status Ended | num_seasons 25 | num_episodes CBS: 876Syndicated: 1,315Total: 2,191 | related ''I've Got a Secret'' }}

''What's My Line?'' is a panel game show which originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, with several international versions and subsequent U.S. revivals. The game tasked celebrity panelists with questioning contestants in order to determine their occupations. It is the longest-running game show in the history of U.S. prime time network television. Hosted by John Charles Daly and with panelists Dorothy Kilgallen, Arlene Francis, and Bennett Cerf, ''What's My Line?'' won three Emmy Awards for "Best Quiz or Audience Participation Show," in 1952, 1953 and 1958 and Golden Globe for Best TV Show in 1962.

After its cancellation by CBS in 1967, it returned in syndication as a daily production which ran from 1968 until 1975. There have been several international versions, radio versions, and a live stage version.

Original CBS series (1950–1967)

Produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS Television, the show was initially called ''Occupation Unknown''. The original series, which was usually broadcast live, debuted on Thursday February 2, 1950 at 8:00 p.m. ET. After airing alternate Wednesdays, then alternate Thursdays, finally on October 1, 1950 it had settled into its weekly Sunday 10:30 p.m. ET slot where it would remain until the end of its network run on September 3, 1967.

From May 20, 1952 to July 1, 1953, a CBS Radio version of ''What's My Line?'' was produced on Tuesday nights with the same host and panel as the TV version. The radio version is notable for the only appearances of Marlene Dietrich and Marlon Brando.

Hosts and panelists

The original series was hosted by veteran radio and television newsman John Charles Daly. Eamonn Andrews (host of the British version), Clifton Fadiman, and Bennett Cerf substituted on the four occasions Daly was unavailable.

The show featured a panel of four celebrities who questioned the contestants. On the initial program of February 2, 1950, the panel was former New Jersey governor Harold Hoffman, columnist Dorothy Kilgallen, poet Louis Untermeyer, and psychiatrist Richard Hoffman. For the majority of the show’s run the panel consisted of Kilgallen, Random House publisher and co-founder Bennett Cerf, actress Arlene Francis and a fourth guest panelist. During the show’s earliest period the panel generally consisted of Kilgallen, Francis, Untermeyer and comedy writer Hal Block with Cerf replacing Untermeyer in 1951 and comedian Steve Allen replacing Block in 1953. Steve Allen left to launch The Tonight Show in 1954 and was replaced by comedian Fred Allen who remained on the panel until his death in 1956. After Kilgallen's death in 1965 the two remaining seats on the panel were never filled regularly again. The most frequent guest panelist was Arlene Francis' husband Martin Gabel, who appeared 112 times.

Regular announcers included Lee Vines (1950–1955), Hal Simms (1955–1961), Ralph Paul (1961), and Johnny Olson (1961–1967).

Game play

''What’s My Line?'' was a guessing game in which four panelists attempted to determine the line (occupation), or in the case of a famous "mystery guest" the identity, of the contestant. Panelists were required to probe by asking only questions which could be answered "yes" or "no". A typical episode featured two standard rounds (sometimes a third, and very rarely a fourth) plus one mystery guest round. On the occasions on which there were two mystery guests, the first would usually appear as the first contestant.

Standard rounds

For the first few seasons, the contestant would first meet the panel up close, for a casual “inspection”, and the panel was allowed one initial "wild guess.” However, beginning in 1955 Daly simply greeted, then seated the contestant who instead met the panel at the end of the game. The contestant's line was then revealed to the studio and television audiences, and Daly would tell the panel whether the contestant was salaried or self-employed, and later in the series, dealt in a product or service.

A panelist chosen by Daly would begin the game. If he received a “yes” answer he continued questioning, but if he received a “no,” questioning passed to the next panelist and $5 was added to the prize. The amount of the prize was tallied by Daly who flipped one of 10 cards on his desk. A contestant won the top prize of $50 by giving ten "no" answers, or if time ran out, with Daly flipping all the cards. As Daly occasionally noted, "10 flips and they (the panel) are a flop!". At the end of the show's run, Daly explained that the maximum payout of $50 ensured the game was played only for enjoyment, and that there could never be even the appearance of impropriety. Later in the series, Daly would throw all the cards over with increasing frequency and arbitrariness, evidence the prize was secondary to game play.

Panelists had the option of passing to the next panelist and they could also request a "conference," in which they had a short time to openly discuss ideas about occupations or lines of questioning.

Panelists adopted some basic binary search strategies, beginning with broad questions, such as whether the contestant worked for a profit-making or non-profit organization, or whether the product was alive (in the animal sense), worn, or ingested. To increase the probability of “yes” answers they would often phrase questions in the negative starting with "Is it something other than..." or "Can I rule out..."

The show popularized the phrase "Is it bigger than a breadbox?", first posed by Steve Allen on January 18, 1953 then refined over subsequent episodes. Soon, other panelists were asking this question as well. On one occasion the guest was a man who made breadboxes. It was correctly guessed by Allen after Kilgallen asked "Is it bigger than a breadbox" and Daly could not restrain his laughter.

Mystery guest round

The final round of an episode involved blindfolding the panel for a celebrity "mystery guest" (originally called "mystery challengers" by Daly), that the panel had to identify by name, rather than occupation. In the early years of the show, the questioning was the same as it was for regular contestants, but starting with the April 17, 1955 show, panelists were only allowed one question per turn. Mystery guests usually came from the entertainment world, either stage, screen, television or sports. When Mystery guests came from other walks of life, or non-famous contestants who the panel but not the studio audience might know, they were usually played as standard rounds. However, the panel might be blindfolded, or the contestant might sign in simply as "X", depending on whether he would be known by name or sight.

Mystery guests would usually attempt to conceal their identities with disguised voices, much to the amusement of the studio audience. According to Cerf, the panel could often determine the identity of the mystery guest early, as they knew which celebrities were in town, or which major movies or plays were about to open. On those occasions, to provide the audience an opportunity to see the guest play the game, the cast would typically allow questioning to pass around at least once before coming up with the correct guess.

Sometimes, two mystery guest rounds were played in an episode, with the additional round usually as the first round of the episode.

Style

''What's My Line?'' is known for its attention to manners and class. In its early years, business suits and street dresses were worn by the host and panelists, but by 1953, the men wore black suits with bow ties (a few guests in fact wore tuxedos) while female panelists donned formal gowns and often gloves. Exceptions to this dress code were on the broadcasts immediately following the deaths of Fred Allen and Dorothy Kilgallen, in which the male cast members wore straight neckties and the women ordinary dresses instead of evening gowns.

The game followed a line of formality and adherence to rules. Although using first names at other points, Daly usually addressed using surnames when passing the questioning to a particular panelist. He would also amiably chide the panel if they began a conference without first asking him.

However, even with such formality, Daly was not above trading ''bon mots'' with the panelists during the game and Bennett Cerf would often attempt to make a pun of his name. Occasionally Daly would amiably one-up Cerf if he felt the pun was of lesser quality. Cerf also played a myriad of games with Daly's full name (John Charles Patrick Croghan Daly) reciting it correctly only a handful of times over the course of the series.

Often Daly would need to clarify a potentially confusing question, but his penchant for verbose replies often left panelists more confused than before (which Danny Kaye once parodied as a panelist). On more than one occasion, Daly "led the panel down the garden path," a favorite phrase used when the panel was misled by an answer.

Production practices

On-camera

The program began with Daly and panel entering from off-stage as they were introduced. Prior to 1954, both panelists and host began the program in their seats, but this was changed responding to letters asking what panelists looked like away from their seats. The first panelist would be introduced by the announcer following the show's introduction, and each panelist would introduce the next in turn, with the last introducing Daly. During his tenure, Hal Block sat in the final seat and began the practice of introducing Daly with a pun. Upon his departure, Bennett Cerf took over this position and expanded these introductions, often telling long jokes which he tied to Daly in some way.

To begin a round, Daly would invite the contestant to "come in and sign in, please" which by 1960 evolved to the more familiar "enter and sign in, please." The contestant entered by writing his or her name on a small sign-in board. Daly would then usually ask where the guest lived and, with a woman, if she should be addressed as "Miss" or "Mrs." Early in the show's run, the panel was allowed to inspect contestants, studying their hands, or label on their suit or asking them to make a muscle.

While ostensibly a game show, if there was time, it was also was an opportunity to conduct interviews. ''Line''’s sister show, ''I've Got a Secret'' (and later the syndicated version of WML) engaged in the practice of contestants demonstrating their talents. However, despite frequent requests by the panel (particularly Arlene Francis) such demonstrations rarely occurred as according to executive producer Gil Fates, Daly was not fond of this practice.

Sponsors

After the first four episodes, the show gained its initial sponsor: Stopette spray deodorant made by Jules Montenier, Inc. This involved featuring the product in the show's opening, on the front of the panel's desk, above the sign-in board, and on Daly’s scorecards. Bennett Cerf explained that Dr. Montenier was ultimately ruined by his refusal to abandon or share sponsorship as the show entered new markets and became too expensive. After Dr. Montenier sold Stopette to Helene Curtis, the series was sponsored by a variety of companies which were either regular or rotating. Sponsors were accorded the same exposure on the set as Stopette. Near the end of its run, sponsors would be introduced in the opening title and given commercials during the show, but would not be displayed on the set.

Behind the scenes

Unknown to the public, mystery guests were paid $500 as an appearance fee, whether they won or lost the game. This was in addition to the maximum $50 game winnings, which guests sometimes donated to charity. Guest panelists were paid $750 as an appearance fee. The regular panelists were under contract and were paid "much more," according to Fates. Bennett Cerf explained that when he became a permanent member of the program, he was paid $300 per week, and by the end of the series, they were being paid "scandalous" amounts of money.

The final CBS network show

CBS announced in early 1967 that a number of game shows, including ''What's My Line?'', were to be cancelled at the end of the season. Bennett Cerf wrote that the network decided that game shows were no longer suitable for prime time, and that the news was broken by the ''New York Times'' before anyone involved with the show was notified.

The 876th and final CBS telecast of ''What's My Line?'' aired on September 3, 1967; it was highlighted by clips from past telecasts, a visit by the show's first contestants, and the final "mystery guest," who was John Daly himself. Daly had always been the emergency mystery guest in case the scheduled guest was unable to appear on the live broadcast, but this had never occurred. Mark Goodson, Bill Todman and Johnny Olson appeared on-camera as well.

Ratings

1950-51: not in the top 30 1951-52: not in the top 30 1952-53: #20 1953-54: #28 1954-55: not in the top 30 1955-56: not in the top 30 1956-57: #27 1957-58: not in the top 30 1958-59: not in the top 30 1959-60: #27 1960-61: not in the top 30 1961-62: not in the top 30 1962-63: #13 1963-64: #25 1964-65: not in the top 30 1965-66: not in the top 30 1966-67: not in the top 30

Syndicated revival (1968–1975)

With the end of the original ''What's My Line?'' Goodson-Todman struck a deal with CBS' syndication arm (now Viacom) to syndicate a new weekday videotaped edition. This version became a staple of local stations' afternoon and early evening schedules, especially from the 1971-72 season onward, when the FCC forced networks to cede one half-hour to their affiliates. The Prime Time Access Rule was intended to permit local stations to produce news and public affairs programming, but instead they turned to programs like ''WML'', as practically all stations outside the largest markets found it unprofitable to produce their own shows locally.

Wally Bruner was the original host and was succeeded by Larry Blyden in 1972. Arlene Francis and comedian Soupy Sales were regular panelists and Bennett Cerf continued to make frequent appearances. Other panelists included Alan Alda, his father Robert Alda, Joanna Barnes, Dr. Joyce Brothers, Bert Convy, Joel Grey, Elaine Joyce, Ruta Lee, Meredith MacRae, Henry Morgan, Gene Rayburn, Nipsey Russell, Gene Shalit and Dana Valery.

The revival was considered by producers a merger of ''What's My Line?'' and its 1950s spinoff, ''I've Got a Secret'', which resulted in noticeable changes from the original. As with ''Secret'', contestants frequently demonstrated their skill or product after the game. Dollar signs for "no" answers were replaced by sequential numbers. Mystery guest rounds were no longer scored and simply ended with a correct guess or when time ran out. Added was a new game, "Who's Who?", in which four audience members, selected before the show, stood on stage with four occupations indicated on cards and panelists would attempt to place the correct occupations with the contestants.

The set, designed by veteran Goodson-Todman art director Ted Cooper, was predominantly blue and featured walls behind panel and host areas tiled with illustrations representing various occupations. The final 1974–1975 season used a set by Ron Baldwin and was red and yellow with blue walls with scattered question marks. Also, the hosts and panelists discontinued formal dress. However, the color animated intro of the final CBS season was reused for the main title sequence from 1968 to 1974.

Johnny Olson continued as announcer until 1972, after which a succession of guest announcers were used including Wayne Howell, Dennis Wholey, Bob Williams, Jack Haskell, and Chet Gould, with Gould eventually taking over full-time in early 1973.

In 1971, Bennett Cerf died during the show's run. Stations continued to air shows where he was a panelist resulting in confusion among some fans, who were seeing "new" episodes with Cerf, long after hearing about his death. At the time, syndication involved tape sharing between stations airing series, with some having to air episodes later than others. This prompted producer Gil Fates, who recalled the situation in his book, ''What's My Line?: TV's Most Famous Panel Show'', to send a form letter response to fans who had written complaining about the late Bennett Cerf's failure to disappear, some saying the television stations were using poor taste. Fates explained that Cerf indeed had died, but television was practicing a time-honored tradition of celebrating one's work long after their passing. As he wrote in his book, Fates knew, but did not tell viewers, about the production costs that would have gone to waste had his company acceded to the demands, some coming from station managers, to scrap the Cerf tapes.

The syndicated version ran for 1,315 episodes. In the fall of 1975 the final tapings aired in most parts of North America.

Larry Blyden, informed of the program's termination, was offered a job hosting a new Goodson-Todman game show, Show-Offs. He was killed in a car accident in Morocco at the age of 49, a few weeks after taping the pilot.

New versions of ''WML'' were planned as early as 1981, and in recent years Harry Anderson was announced as host of a 2000 revival. None of these revivals ever made it to air.

It was during the run of the syndicated version that Woody Allen parodied ''What's My Line?'' in his 1972 film ''Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex'', with the segment "What Are Sex Perverts?" featuring a gameshow called ''What's My Perversion?'' Appearing as panelists were Robert Q. Lewis, who had been a panelist on the original ''What's My Line?'', and Pamela Mason, who had been a mystery guest.

After ''What's My Line?''

25th anniversary special

In early 1975, with production of the syndicated version of the series on break, the show's staff went through the annual process of selling the syndication rights to TV stations across North America. That year, there were not enough takers to justify further production. Just days after disbanding their technical crew, Goodson and Todman pitched the idea of a retrospective network special to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the program's CBS debut. The programming department at CBS turned down the idea but ABC bought it. The special was broadcast by ABC on May 28, 1975, and is currently available for viewing at The Paley Center for Media.

In producing the special, the only existing records of the original series on kinescope film were removed from storage and brought to a Manhattan editing facility that Goodson-Todman Productions rented. There, company employees Gil Fates, Bob Bach, Pamela Usdan and Bill Egan worked round-the-clock for three days to compile the 90-minute special under deadline pressure from ABC network official Bob Shanks. In the process of viewing and editing the films for the special, they accidentally damaged or destroyed several kinescope films which spanned the entire run of the original series, including a few that did not make the final cut of the retrospective. In addition, some unspooled film remained on the floor after the group's rented time at the facility ran out. An April 1967 episode featuring Candice Bergen as the mystery guest was lost in its entirety, as was a June 1967 episode featuring both Betty Grable and F. Lee Bailey. Other episodes sustained only partial damage, such as a 1965 episode that is mainly damaged during the mystery guest appearance of Marian Anderson.

''That's My Line''

In 1980, Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions, creators of ''What’s My Line?'', produced ''That's My Line'' which also highlighted the unusual occupations of ordinary people. However, the show was developed as a reality show and had no panel or game elements. ''What’s My Line?'' announcer Johnny Olson was the announcer for the show which ran for 2 seasons on CBS.

Live stage version (2004–present)

From November 2004 to July 2006, Jim Newman and J. Keith van Straaten produced one-hour live stage versions of the show at the ACME Comedy Theatre in Los Angeles, California, titled ''What's My Line? — Live On Stage''. The Los Angeles version of the live show went on hiatus when van Straaten relocated to New York, then resumed in June 2007.

The production debuted in New York at the Barrow Street Theatre on March 24, 2008 for an announced run of six shows. The show is now an authorized production as it is licensed by FremantleMedia, the owners of ''What's My Line?''. As of April 12, 2008 the New York mystery guests have been George Wendt, Moby, and Tony Roberts. Panelists have included Michael Riedel, Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Frank DeCaro, Jonathan Ames, and original TV version veterans Betsy Palmer and Julia Meade. The first guest on the New York show (#75 in the production overall) was Pat Finch, who was the first guest on the first CBS episode.

In Los Angeles, panelists have included Carlos Alazraqui, Alison Arngrim, E.G. Daily, Andy Dick, Paul Goebel, Danny Goldman, Annabelle Gurwitch, Mariette Hartley, Elaine Hendrix, Marty Ingels, Cathy Ladman, David L. Lander, Kate Linder, Ann Magnuson, Jayne Meadows, Lee Meriwether, Patt Morrison, Rick Overton, Jimmy Pardo, Lisa Jane Persky, Nancy Pimental, Greg Proops, Mink Stole, Nicole Sullivan, Marcia Wallace, Matt Walsh, Len Wein, Wil Wheaton, Gary Anthony Williams, Debra Wilson, April Winchell, and Andy Zax.

Mystery guests have included Ed Begley, Jr., Stephen Bishop, Mr. Blackwell, LeVar Burton, Brett Butler, José Canseco, Drew Carey, Andy Dick, Michael and Kitty Dukakis, Hector Elizondo, Nanette Fabray, Peter Falk, Bruce Jenner, Larry King, Kathy Kinney, Bruno Kirby, Tara Lipinski, Lisa Loeb, Shelley Long, Leonard Maltin, Rose Marie, Wink Martindale, Sally Struthers, Rip Taylor, Judy Tenuta, Alan Thicke, Dick Van Patten, Lindsay Wagner, Wil Wheaton, Noah Wyle, and Sean Young.

Panelists and guests who appeared on the original TV versions and on the stage version include Shelley Berman, Lee Meriwether, radio commentator Michael Jackson, Jayne Meadows, Nanette Fabray, Joanna Barnes, Julie Newmar, Margaret O'Brien, and Marty Ingels. Usually when such a veteran appears, there is a pristine-quality DVD screening of the original kinescope on a plasma screen. Non-celebrities include the lifelong Los Angeles-area resident who challenged the panel with her line, afterward reminiscing how 43 years earlier she had traveled to New York, where Arlene Francis identified her as a meter maid. A clip from the kinescope was played.

In addition, the show has featured relatives of the original cast: Jill Kollmar (daughter of Dorothy Kilgallen and Richard Kollmar), Nina Daly (daughter of John Charles Daly), and Vinton Cerf (co-inventor of the Internet and distant cousin of Bennett Cerf). It also included a segment in which Vint Cerf's son Bennett (named after the panelist) appeared as a guest.

Episode status

All of the original series' episodes were recorded via kinescope onto film, but networks in the early 1950s sometimes destroyed such recordings to recover the silver content from the film. CBS regularly recycled ''What's My Line?'' kinescopes until July 1952, when Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, having realized it was occurring, offered to pay the network for a film of every broadcast. As a result, only about ten episodes exist from the first two years of the series, including the first three broadcasts.

The existing kinescope films (now digitized) have subsequently rerun on television. The series has been seen on GSN at various times.

Some episodes of the CBS radio version of the 1950s are available to visitors to the Paley Center for Media in New York City and Beverly Hills, CA. Others are at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., where procedures to access them are more complicated.

Alpha Video released a DVD containing 4 episodes on February 26, 2008. This is an unofficial release of public domain episodes, and it's unclear if an official release will occur.

International versions

Brazil

The Brazilian version of ''What's My Line?'' was called ''Adivinhe o que ele Faz?'' ("Guess What He Does?") and was hosted by Heloísa Helena. On December 16, 1956 Helena appeared as a contestant on the American version.

Canada (French-speaking)

''Chacun son Metier'' ("To Each His Job" or "To Each His Trade") ran from 1954 to 1959 and was hosted by Louis Morisset.

On January 23, 1955 panelist Nicole Germain appeared as a contestant in the first round on the American version, then sat on the panel next to Bennett Cerf for the second round.

On January 18, 1959, near the end of the Canadian run, host Morisset appeared as a contestant on the American version.

Germany

''Was bin ich?'' ("What am I?") ran on ARD (First German Television) from 1955 to 1958 with Robert Lembke (a Bavarian) as host. Lembke was head of the news division of the public Bavarian Broadcasting Establishment ''Bayerischer Rundfunk'' (BR) at the time and had bought the rights to the series during a visit to the BBC in 1954.

The best-known panel consisted of district attorney Hans Sachs, actress Marianne Koch, TV announcers Annette von Aretin and Anneliese Fleyenschmidt, and Guido Baumann, head of the Swiss radio and TV station DRS.

Guests received 5 Deutschmarks (DM) for each "no" answer and the panel was allowed 10 "no" answers. Prize money was given in a porcelain piggy bank, and Lembke used to insert a 5 DM coin into the Bank's slot for each "no", producing a loud, characteristic sound. In relation to this, Lembke's most famous line "Welches Schweinderl hättens denn gern?" ("Which piggy would you like to have?", spoken in Lembke's strong Bavarian accent), which referred to differently-colored piggy banks.

The series returned from 1961 and ran until Lembke's unexpected death in 1989. The series returned as a weekly program on Kabel 1 from 1999 to 2005. and hosted by Björn Hergen Schimpf. The panel consisted of entertainer/comedians Herbert Feuerstein and Tanja Schumann, talk-show host Vera Int-Veen, and former German minister of labour and social affairs Norbert Blüm.

Lithuania

The Lithuanian version began in late 2010 under the name "Kas tu toks?" (Who Are You?). It is broadcast on Lietuvos Rytas Television.

South Korea

The South Korean version began in 1956 by the South Korean government and run as a non-profit organization. On July 28, 1963 a panelist from this version, Miss Keun Oh Kim, appeared as a contestant on the American version.

Spain

The Spanish version was called ''Adivine su vida'' and ran from 1960–1961.

United Kingdom

A British version aired on BBC TV from 16 July 1951 to May 1963.

The host (called "chairman") on the premiere was Gilbert Harding, who was replaced by Eamonn Andrews for the remainder of the run. Regular panelists included Harding, Lady Isobel Barnett, Barbara Kelly, David Nixon and Cyril Fletcher, while Katie Boyle, Jerry Desmonde, Ghislaine Alexander, Marghanita Laski, and Elizabeth Allan were among the others.

There was also a radio version for British listeners on Radio Luxembourg. As Andrews and Harding had exclusive contracts with the BBC, their places were taken by Peter Martyn (later Bernard Braden) and Richard Attenborough. Original-series regulars Nixon, Barnett and Kelly also appeared.

The series returned, on BBC2 with David Jacobs as host, from 23 August 1973 to 18 May 1974. Regular panelists were William Franklyn, Lady Isobel Barnett, Kenneth Williams, and Anna Quayle; later in the run, Quayle was replaced by Nanette Newman.

Eamonn Andrews returned to host a revival on ITV from 26 March 1984 with John Benson as announcer. This version aired at night and, although mainly recorded, some episodes were screened live. Taped episodes may be identified as opening with "Tonight from London it's time for ''What's My Line?"'', while those broadcast live began with "Live from London". Regular panelists included Angela Rippon, Ernie Wise, George Gale, Jeffrey Archer, Barry Sheene and novelist Jilly Cooper. After Andrews died in 1987, actress Penelope Keith assumed the role of chairperson.

The programme aired for a further two series from 1989 to 28 August 1990 with Rippon as host. The Keith and Rippon episodes were taped and screened in ITV's daytime schedule.

The show was revived by ITV from 19 September 1994 to 3 December 1996 hosted by Emma Forbes. A special one-off edition hosted by Hugh Dennis was produced for BBC Four in 2005, as part of a season about British culture in the decade following World War II, along with an episode of the original series, from 5 October 1957.

Venezuela

The Venezuelan version was called ''Mi Trabajo y Yo'' (roughly, "My Job and I"). On December 24, 1961 the director and moderator of this version, Jacques Lemoine, appeared as a contestant on the American version.

References

External links

UK Gameshows: ''What's My Line?''

UK Whirligig: ''What's My Line?''

''What's My Line?'' — Live On Stage

Category:1950 television series debuts Category:1975 television series endings Category:1950s American television series Category:1960s American television series Category:1970s American television series Category:1951 British television programme debuts Category:American game shows Category:BBC television game shows Category:Black-and-white television programs Category:CBS network shows Category:Emmy Award winning programs Category:English-language television series Category:First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Category:ITV television programmes Category:Panel games Category:Television series by Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions

de:Was bin ich? es:What's My Line? pt:What's My Line? fi:What's My Line?

Coordinates	39°44′21″N104°59′5″N
Alias	Steven James Williams"Stone Cold" Steve AustinThe Ringmaster Stunning Steve
Birth name	Steven James Anderson
Birth date	December 18, 1964
Birth place	Victoria, Texas, U.S.
Occupation	Actor And Professional Wrestler
Yearsactive	1989–present
Spouse	Kathryn Burrhus (1990–1992)Jeannie Clark (1992–1999)Debra Marshall (2000–2003)
Website	}}

Steve Austin (born Steven James Anderson; December 18, 1964, later and formerly Steven James Williams), better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American film and television actor and retired professional wrestler currently signed to WWE. Austin wrestled for several well-known wrestling promotions such as World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and most famously, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), which later became World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 2002. Billed as "The Most Popular Superstar in WWE History", he gained significant mainstream popularity in the WWF during the mid-to-late 1990s as "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, a disrespectful, beer-drinking antihero who routinely defied his boss, Vince McMahon. This defiance was often shown by Austin flipping off McMahon and incapacitating him with the ''Stone Cold Stunner'', his finishing move. McMahon inducted Austin into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009.

Austin held nineteen championships throughout his professional wrestling career, and is recognized by WWE as a six-time World Champion, having held the WWF Championship on six occasions, and the fifth Triple Crown Champion. He was also the winner of the 1996 King of the Ring tournament, as well as the 1997, 1998 and 2001 Royal Rumbles. He was forced to retire from in ring competition in early 2003 due to a series of knee and neck injuries sustained throughout his career. Throughout the rest of 2003 and 2004, he was featured as the Co-General Manager and "Sheriff" of ''Raw''. Since 2005, he has continued to make occasional appearances. In 2011, Steve Austin returned to WWE to host the reality series ''Tough Enough''.

Early life

Austin was born Steven James Anderson in Victoria, Texas. After his father left the family, his mother, Beverly, re-married to Ken Williams, and Austin adopted his stepfather's surname, and spent most of his childhood in Edna, Texas After attending high school, Austin got a football scholarship at Wharton County Junior College, followed by a full scholarship at North Texas State University.

Professional wrestling career

name	"Stone Cold" Steve Austin
names	"Stone Cold" Steve Austin The Ringmaster"Stunning" Steve Austin"Superstar" Steve Austin
height
weight
birth date	December 18, 1964
birth place	Austin, Texas
resides	Los Angeles, California
billed	Victoria, Texas
trainer	Chris Adams
debut	May 11, 1989
retired	March 30, 2003 }}

World Championship Wrestling (1991–1995)

After some time, Austin decided to become a professional wrestler and enrolled at the wrestling school run by Chris Adams, whose school was run out of the Dallas Sportatorium where he was wrestling for World Class Championship Wrestling. Austin made his debut in World Class in 1989 under his real name, but was later given the name "Steve Austin" by Memphis-area booker Dutch Mantel. Austin's run in Memphis was part of the merger between World Class and the Continental Wrestling Association out of Memphis, with the combined company known as the United States Wrestling Association. Austin would eventually return to Dallas and feud with Adams, with Percy Pringle and Jeannie Adams (Adams' real-life former wife and Austin's girlfriend at the time) as his valets. It was during this time Austin adopted the "Stunning" nickname that followed him to WCW.

Austin left WCCW after its final folding in 1990 and signed with WCW the next year. He was originally paired with a valet named Vivacious Veronica, but was later joined by Jeannie Adams, known as "Lady Blossom". Just weeks after his debut, Austin defeated Bobby Eaton for his first WCW World Television Championship on June 3, 1991. Later that year, Austin joined Paul E. Dangerously's Dangerous Alliance. Austin lost the WCW Television Championship to Barry Windham in a two out of three falls match on April 27, 1992. He regained the title from Windham on May 23.

Austin enjoyed a second lengthy reign before losing to Ricky Steamboat on September 2, 1992. The Dangerous Alliance disbanded shortly thereafter. At Halloween Havoc, he replaced Terry Gordy, teaming with "Dr. Death" Steve Williams to wrestle Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham for the unified WCW and NWA World Tag Team title. The teams wrestled to a thirty-minute time limit draw.

In January 1993, Austin formed a tag team known as The Hollywood Blonds with Brian Pillman. They won the WCW World Tag Team Championship on March 3, defeating Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas. The Hollywood Blonds held the title for five months. At ''Clash of the Champions XXIII'' the Blonds faced Ric Flair and Arn Anderson in a two-out-of-three-falls tag Team title match. Flair and Anderson defeated the Blonds, but were not awarded the title as one fall had been determined by a disqualification. At ''Clash of the Champions XXIV'', Austin and Pillman were scheduled to defend their title against Anderson and Paul Roma. An injured Pillman, however, was replaced by Steven Regal. Austin and Regal lost to Anderson and Roma. With Pillman still injured, Austin joined Colonel Robert Parker's Stud Stable. After Pillman returned, Austin betrayed and defeated him in a singles match at ''Clash of the Champions XXV''.

At Starrcade, in a two-out-of-three-falls match, Austin defeated Dustin Rhodes in two straight falls to win the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship. Austin lost the title to Ricky Steamboat on August 24, 1994. Austin was scheduled to face Steamboat in a rematch for the title at Fall Brawl, but Steamboat was unable to wrestle due to a back injury, and Austin was awarded the title by forfeit. His second reign as US Champion ended just minutes later when he lost to Steamboat's replacement, Jim Duggan in a match that lasted thirty-five seconds. Austin unsuccessfully challenged Duggan for the United States Championship at both Halloween Havoc 1994 and ''Clash of the Champions XXIX''. After returning from a knee injury in early 1995, Austin took part in a tournament for the vacant WCW United States Heavyweight title, where he defeated Duggan via count-out in the first round, but lost to Randy Savage in the quarterfinals.

Extreme Championship Wrestling (1995)

In 1995, Austin was fired by WCW Vice President Eric Bischoff, after suffering a triceps injury, while wrestling on a Japanese tour; Bischoff and WCW did not see Austin as a 'marketable' wrestler. Austin described his opinion on being fired over the phone as Eric Bischoff having taken the coward's way out. Eventually, Austin was contacted by Paul Heyman of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), who had managed him in WCW. Heyman hired Austin to do in-ring interviews, as he still had not recovered from his injury enough to wrestle. While in ECW, Austin used the platform to develop his future "Stone Cold" persona as well as a series of vignettes running down WCW in general and Bischoff in particular.

While with ECW, Austin was known as "Superstar" Steve Austin. He had a match with The Sandman and feuded with Mikey Whipwreck. Whipwreck, who was the ECW World Heavyweight Champion at the time, defeated Austin at November to Remember. The Sandman defeated Steve Austin and Whipwreck in a Triple Threat match at December to Dismember in 1995 for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship. Heyman would later state that he had wanted Austin to win the ECW Title, but Austin had refused because he felt he was more effective "as the hunter, rather than the hunted."

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (1995–present)

The Ringmaster (1995–1996)

In late 1995, Austin joined the WWF after Kevin Nash and Jim Ross helped convince WWE's owner Vince McMahon to hire him. Initially, Austin wrestled as "The Ringmaster" and was managed by Ted DiBiase, who awarded him with the Million Dollar Championship. Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Savio Vega at in his first WrestleMania appearance, at WrestleMania XII. During this time, Austin shaved his head bald. At In Your House: Beware of Dog, Austin lost a "Caribbean Strap match" to Vega. In accordance to the pre-match stipulations, DiBiase was forced to leave the WWE, giving Austin the opportunity to forge his own path. Austin later told announcer Dok Hendrix (Michael P.S. Hayes) that he had purposely lost the match in order to rid himself of DiBiase, who was headed for rival promotion World Championship Wrestling (WCW).

Austin 3:16 and rise to superstardom (1996–1997)

Austin's genuine rise to superstardom began at the 1996 King of the Ring. Austin began using his trademark finishing maneuver, the Stone Cold Stunner; with this new technique, he won the King of the Ring tournament. After defeating Marc Mero in the semi-finals, Austin defeated Jake "The Snake" Roberts in the finals. At the time, Roberts was portraying a born-again Christian, so after the match, Austin cut a now famous promo during his coronation, telling Roberts, ''"You sit there and you thump your Bible, and you say your prayers, and it didn't get you anywhere! Talk about your psalms, talk about John 3:16... Austin 3:16 says I just whupped your ass!"''. "Austin 3:16" ultimately became one of the most popular catch phrases in wrestling history, and subsequently the slogan became one of the best-selling t-shirts in WWE merchandise history. Austin spoke about Bret Hart constantly and taunted him relentlessly. Hart finally accepted Austin's challenge and returned to the WWF in October 1996. At Survivor Series, in a match to determine the number-one contender to the WWF Championship, Hart pinned Austin in a match which helped create the foundations for the eventual year-long feud between the two. The match came hot on the heels of an incident broadcast live on ''Raw'', which saw Austin "break into" Brian Pillman's house, with Pillman holding a gun. During the 1997 Royal Rumble match, Austin was originally eliminated by Bret Hart, but the officials did not see it, and he snuck back into the ring and eliminated Hart by throwing him over the ropes, winning the match himself. This led to the first-ever pay-per-view main event of Austin's WWF career at In Your House 13: Final Four, after Shawn Michaels suffered a knee injury and left the WWF Championship suddenly vacant. Austin was eliminated early from the four-way match at In Your House 13 for the title after injuring his own knee, but was involved in the finish which saw Hart win his fourth WWF Championship, which he lost the next night on ''Raw'' to Sycho Sid due to Austin's interference, continuing his feud with Hart. At WrestleMania 13, Hart defeated Austin in a 'Submission' match with Ken Shamrock as a special referee. During the match, Austin had been cut and was bleeding profusely from his face, but he still refused to tap out when Hart locked in his Sharpshooter. Austin finally passed out from blood loss, still held in the Sharpshooter, and lost the match. Hart, after the bell, continued to assault Austin, who despite his wounds refused any assistance back to the locker room, thus turning Hart heel and Austin babyface in a rare double-turn. Austin eventually got his revenge on Hart in the main event of In Your House 14: Revenge of the 'Taker, in a match to determine the number-one contender to The Undertaker's WWF Championship. Austin won when Hart was disqualified due to assistance from The British Bulldog, earning him a title match against The Undertaker at In Your House 15: A Cold Day In Hell. Austin faced Hart once again in a street fight on the April 21 episode of ''Raw'', injuring his opponent's leg with a steel chair during the bout. The match was ultimately awarded to Hart when Austin refused to let go of his own Sharpshooter. He proceeded to beat Hart while on a stretcher in the back of an ambulance. At A Cold Day In Hell, Austin had The Undertaker down with the Stunner, but while distracted with a timely interference by Brian Pillman, Stone Cold's old tag partner, Undertaker nailed Austin with a Tombstone Piledriver and achieved the victory.

During this time, Austin found a way to win the WWF Tag Team Championship on two separate occasions. On May 25, 1997, Austin and Shawn Michaels defeated Owen Hart and The British Bulldog for the title. They held the title until July 14, before Michaels was forced to vacate due to an injury. That same night a tournament was held to determine who would face Austin and a partner of his choosing for the vacant championship. Hart and Bulldog won the tournament, with Austin refusing to pick a partner and choosing to wrestle the former tag team champions by himself. Late in the match, a debuting Dude Love came out to offer assistance and Austin became a two-time tag team champion. Austin continued his feud with the Hart family, becoming embroiled in a heated rivalry with Owen Hart, who pinned a distracted Austin and secured victory for The Hart Foundation in the ten-man Tag Team match main event of In Your House 16: Canadian Stampede, where Austin was partnered with Ken Shamrock, Goldust, and The Legion of Doom.

At SummerSlam, Austin and Owen Hart faced each other with Hart's Intercontinental Championship on the line and an added stipulation that Austin would have to kiss Hart's buttocks if he lost. During the match Hart botched a piledriver and dropped Austin on his head, resulting in a legitimate broken neck and temporary paralysis for Austin. As Hart stalled by baiting the audience, Austin managed to crawl over and pin Hart using a roll-up to win the Intercontinental Championship. A visibly injured and dazed Austin was helped to his feet by a number of referees and led to the back. Due to the severity of his neck injury, Austin was forced to relinquish both the Intercontinental Championship and the Tag Team Championships. Austin was sidelined until Survivor Series. However, in the interim he made several appearances, one being at Bad Blood where he was involved in the finish of a match between Hart and Faarooq, which was the final match in a tournament for the Intercontinental Championship. Austin hit Faarooq with the Intercontinental Championship belt while the referee's back was turned, causing Hart to win the match. Austin's motive was to keep the Intercontinental Championship around Hart's waist, as demonstrated when he interfered in Hart's matches on the October 20 and 27 episodes of ''Raw''. Austin regained the Intercontinental Championship from Hart at Survivor Series.

With Hart out of the way, Austin set his sights on The Rock, who stole Austin's belt on the November 17 episode of ''Raw'' after Austin suffered a beating by his Nation of Domination stablemates. In the weeks to come, The Rock began declaring himself to be "the best damn Intercontinental Champion" ever. The Rock kept possession of the belt until D-Generation X: In Your House, when Austin defeated him to 'retain' the title and get his belt back. As Austin had used his pickup truck to aid in his victory, McMahon ordered him to defend the title against The Rock the next night on ''Raw''. In an act of defiance after forfeiting the title to The Rock, Austin tossed the belt into a New Hampshire river.

Feuding with Mr. McMahon (1997–1999)

On September 22, 1997, on the first-ever ''Monday Night Raw'' to be broadcast from Madison Square Garden, Owen Hart was giving a speech to the fans in attendance. During his speech, Austin entered the ring with five NYPD officers following, and assaulted Hart. As it looked Austin was going to fight the officers, Vince McMahon ran into the ring to lecture Austin about why he couldn't be "physically" able to compete. After telling McMahon that he respects the fact that he and the WWF cared, Austin attacked McMahon with a Stone Cold Stunner, leaving McMahon in shock. Austin was then arrested on charges of trespassing, assault, and assaulting a police officer. This marked the beginning of the Austin-McMahon rivalry.

With Bret Hart's departure for WCW, Austin and Shawn Michaels were the top superstars in the company. Austin won the 1998 Royal Rumble, lastly eliminating The Rock. The next night on ''Raw'', Austin interrupted Vince McMahon in his presentation of Mike Tyson, who was making a special appearance, over the objection of McMahon referring to Tyson as "the baddest man on the planet." Austin flipped off Tyson, which led to Tyson shoving Austin much to McMahon's embarrassment, who began to publicly disapprove of the prospect of Austin as his champion. Tyson was later announced as "the special enforcer" for the main event at WrestleMania XIV, although he appeared to be aligning himself with WWF Champion Shawn Michaels' stable D-Generation X. This led to Austin's WWF Championship match against Michaels at WrestleMania XIV, which he won with help from Tyson, who turned on DX by making the deciding three-count against Michaels, and later hit HBK with his knock-out punch. In fact Shawn Michaels had suffered two herniated discs and another completely crushed at the hands of The Undertaker in a Casket match at the Royal Rumble. This victory ushered in the Austin Era, and with it, The Attitude Era. On the ''Raw'' after Austin won the WWF Title, Vince McMahon presented him with a new title belt and warned Austin that he did not approve of his rebellious nature and that things could be done "the easy way or the hard way." Austin gave his answer in the form of another Stunner. This led to a segment a week later where Austin had pledged a few days prior in a meeting to "play ball" with McMahon, appearing in a suit and tie, with a beaming McMahon taking a picture of himself and his new corporate champion. The entire thing was a ruse by Austin who in the course of the segment proceeded to tear off the suit, tell McMahon it was the last time he would see Austin dressed like this, punch his boss in the "corporate grapefruits," and take another picture of the two of them while McMahon was doubled over in pain. In April 1998, it appeared Austin and McMahon were going to battle out their differences in an actual match, but the match was declared a no-contest when Dude Love made an appearance. This led to a match between Dude Love and Austin at Unforgiven: In Your House, where Austin hit McMahon with a steel chair, then the following month they had a rematch at Over the Edge: In Your House for the WWF Championship. Austin managed to retain the title despite McMahon acting as the referee and his "Corporate Stooges" (Gerald Brisco and Pat Patterson) as timekeeper and ring announcer, respectively.

McMahon continued to do everything he could to ruin Austin, and he finally scored a big victory for his side at the 1998 King of the Ring tournament. There, Austin lost the WWF Championship to Kane in a First Blood match. Austin further infuriated McMahon by winning back the championship the next night on ''Raw''. Austin also emerged victorious against The Undertaker at SummerSlam. In response, McMahon set up a Triple Threat match at Breakdown: In Your House, where The Undertaker and Kane pinned Austin at the same time. McMahon decided to vacate the WWF Championship and award it based on a match between The Undertaker and Kane, in which Austin was the guest referee. Austin refused to count for either man and attacked both towards the end of the match. McMahon later fired him, although Austin got revenge by kidnapping McMahon and dragging him to the middle of the ring at "gunpoint," which ended up being a toy gun with a scroll that read "Bang! 3:16." Also the segment was very "embarrassing" to McMahon as it showed he was so scared that he urinated his pants. Stone Cold was later re-signed by Shane McMahon. In the semifinals of the Survivor Series tournament to award the vacant WWF championship, Austin lost to Mankind, after Shane double-crossed Austin. The next night on ''Raw'', Judge Mills Lane ruled that The Rock had to defend his newly won WWF Championship against Austin that night. The Undertaker interfered and hit Austin with a shovel, earning Austin a disqualification victory, but The Rock kept the championship. At Rock Bottom: In Your House, Steve Austin defeated The Undertaker in a Buried Alive match after Kane Tombstoned The Undertaker into the grave. With this victory, Austin qualified for the 1999 Royal Rumble.

Austin's next definitive chance to exact revenge on Mr. McMahon came during the 1999 Royal Rumble match. On ''Raw'', McMahon drew Austin's entry number with the obvious intention of screwing him over. Austin drew entry number one, while McMahon drew number two thanks to WWF Commissioner Shawn Michaels. During the Rumble match, McMahon slipped out of the ring and into the crowd as Austin chased him down. It turned out to be a trap as McMahon led Austin into the lobby restroom where he was ambushed by members of The Corporation. Austin was injured and taken away in an ambulance. With Austin gone and not in the Rumble match, McMahon joined the announce table in calling the match. Later on, however, Austin returned in an ambulance and re-entered the Royal Rumble, delivering a Stunner to the Big Boss Man and eliminating him. With the assistance of the Corporation and a last minute interference from The Rock, Austin was eliminated by McMahon himself, and McMahon won the 1999 Royal Rumble. With McMahon turning down his number-one contender spot against The Rock, WWF Commissioner Michaels awarded Austin the title shot during ''Raw'' the next night. At St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Stone Cold got a one-on-one match against McMahon in a Steel Cage match, with the WWF Championship opportunity at WrestleMania XV at stake. During the match, Paul Wight made his debut, breaking through from under the ring and attacking Austin. Wight's attack propelled Austin into the side of the cage forcing the cage to give way and dropping Austin to the floor first, making him the victor. Austin defeated The Rock at WrestleMania XV for his third WWF Championship.

Austin faced The Rock in a rematch at Backlash, in which Shane McMahon was the referee. During the match, Vince McMahon approached the ring, only to hand Austin back his 'Smoking Skull' belt and take Shane out of the proceedings. Austin won the match when another referee made the count. The Undertaker, however, won the WWF Championship from Austin at Over the Edge. Due to events revolving around Vince McMahon, Stephanie and Linda McMahon made Stone Cold the Chief Executive Officer of the company. Vince and Shane McMahon challenged Austin to a Handicap Ladder match at King of the Ring with the CEO title on the line, which the duo of father and son won. The next night on ''Raw'', however, Austin made it clear that while he was the CEO of the company, he could have a title shot at any time and place to be determined by himself. Austin made the WWF Championship match that night on ''Raw'' and defeated The Undertaker to win his fourth WWF Championship. However, after he won it, The Undertaker came and hit him with the title belt, leading to a First Blood match between the two at Fully Loaded where Mr. McMahon stipulated that if Austin lost he would never be able to wrestle for the WWF Championship again, and if Austin won, he would never see McMahon again. Austin won after interference from X-Pac, hitting The Undertaker with a TV camera and gave McMahon a goodbye Stone Cold Stunner. Austin held on to the WWF Championship until SummerSlam when he lost it to Mankind in a Triple Threat match also featuring Triple H. Austin would get his rematch at No Mercy against Triple H but lost after The Rock accidentally struck him with a sledgehammer that was meant for Triple H. When Survivor Series rolled around, Triple H was still champion. Austin was booked into a Triple Threat match for the WWF Championship against Triple H and The Rock. However, Austin was run down by a car in the parking lot. The Big Show would replace Austin in the match and would win the WWF Championship. What followed was neck surgery by Dr. Lloyd Youngblood and a nine-month rehabilitation with the car angle as his reason for leaving. In reality, Austin had needed neck surgery since the Owen Hart incident in 1997.

Return and heel turn (2000–2001)

Austin appeared at Backlash 2000, attacking Triple H and Vince McMahon to help The Rock reclaim the WWF Championship. At Unforgiven, Austin made his official return. The company, meanwhile, tried to find out who ran him down at Survivor Series the previous year. Rikishi finally admitted to being the driver because "he did it for the people." At No Mercy, Austin was back to face Rikishi in a No Holds Barred match. During the match, Austin motioned he was going to drive his truck into Rikishi, who by that time was a bloody mess. Before he could, he was stopped by officials, the match being deemed no-contest and Austin was (kayfabe) arrested and later bailed by Commissioner Mick Foley. During a handicap match against Rikishi and Kurt Angle, Triple H came down with the apparent intention of teaming with Austin. After clearing the ring, Triple H smashed his sledgehammer over Austin's head, and revealed it was actually him behind the whole scheme, devised to shield the WWF Championship from Austin and end his career. At Survivor Series, Triple H had plotted to run Austin down again during their match (thus repeating the events of the previous year's Survivor Series) but his plot failed when Austin lifted Triple H's automobile with a forklift, then let it drop 20 feet, causing Triple H to shout "Holy shit!" just before the car was released. Also, in the year 2000, Stone Cold Steve Austin competed in a 6 man Hell in a Cell match at Armageddon for the WWF Championship, against Triple H, the Undertaker, Rikishi, Kurt Angle and The Rock. In the end, Stone Cold Steve Austin gave The Rock a Stunner and was about to pin him when Triple H came in the way and got a stunner. But Kurt Angle took advantage of the situation and pinned The Rock and picked up the victory, hence retaining the WWF Championship. After the match, Stone Cold Steve Austin delivered a stunner to Kurt Angle, while he was celebrating his victory.

Austin won his third Royal Rumble in January 2001, last eliminating Kane. His rivalry against Triple H ended at No Way Out in a Three Stages of Hell match, with Triple H beating Austin two falls to one. Then, at WrestleMania X-Seven, Austin turned heel by hitting The Rock with a steel chair several times to win the WWF Championship. After the match, Austin shook hands and shared a beer with Vince McMahon. With the victory, Austin became a five-time WWF Champion. The next night on ''Raw'', after teasing a quick face turn, the heel turn continued. He also altered his character considerably over the next few months, in a deliberate turn from the rebellious and anti-establishment character beloved by the fans, Austin became a whiny, temperamental prima donna who would complain incessantly when he felt he was not getting the respect from the fans and wrestlers that he deserved. He also developed an infatuation with McMahon, going to great lengths to impress him and even going so far as to hugging him and bringing him presents. McMahon, though visibly uncomfortable and wary by the attention, was still grateful to have Austin with him instead of against him. During a cage match with The Rock in a rematch for the title, Triple H came down to the ring with a sledgehammer and together with Austin viciously attacked The Rock and put him out of action. Austin further cemented his heel turn the following Thursday on Smackdown! when, during an interview with Jim Ross about his actions at WrestleMania, thought Ross was denouncing their friendship and then proceeded to attack and brutally assault Ross. Austin and Triple H became a team and called themselves The Two-Man Power Trip.

Austin and Triple H were the top heels in the company, and feuding with The Undertaker and Kane. After defeating Kane and The Undertaker for the WWF Tag Team Championship at Backlash2001, they held the Tag Team Titles, the WWF Championship (Austin), and the WWF Intercontinental Championship (Triple H) all at once. At Judgment Day2001, Triple H lost his Intercontinental Title to Kane. Then, the following night on ''Raw'', Austin and Triple H wrestled against Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit with the Tag Team Titles on the line. Midway through the match, Triple H tore his quadriceps muscle. As planned, the team lost the Tag Team Titles at the end of the match when Triple H accidentally hit Austin in the stomach with a sledgehammer, but the injury to Triple H, which kept him out for the remainder of the year, forced the WWF to go in another direction. Austin had a minor injury for a month.

The Invasion (2001)

Austin was paired with Kurt Angle and feuded against Jericho and Benoit. This culminated with a Triple Threat match at King of the Ring, in which Austin faced the former tag team champions. Although WCW's Booker T interfered, Austin scored the victory and retained his championship. The feud ended at that point, as Benoit had neck surgery after the match, sidelining him for the following year.

In July 2001, with Benoit out for surgery, the Austin/Jericho feud was dropped without a mention. With the Rock still away making movies, the WWF desperately rushed out the plans for The Invasion. As The Invasion storyline began and progressed, McMahon was watching helplessly as his empire crumbled around him due to The Alliance luring more and more talent away from the WWF, and his biggest allies, Austin and Angle, were too busy sucking up to him and bickering amongst themselves to successfully counter the Alliance. Austin made it known that he was against teaming with Angle, whom Austin saw as both a threat to his WWF Championship, as well as an annoying tag-along. A frustrated McMahon appealed to Austin to return to his old Texas Rattlesnake persona, even imploring him to give him a Stone Cold Stunner. Though intending to fire up Austin, it backfired and only seemed to hurt the feelings of Austin, as he promptly left the arena, dejected. But the week before InVasion, the old Stone Cold Steve Austin "returned," delivering Stunners to the Alliance members. This was all part of the setup for a swerve at the event, where Austin betrayed the WWF team and partner Angle to help the Alliance win, as Austin assumed leadership of the group. The reason why Austin did this was that he felt McMahon was grooming Angle to take over his spot, and that he himself was "unappreciated" when McMahon insisted he return to the old Austin. This turned him heel once more.

Austin lost and regained the WWF Championship in a feud with Angle, who was put over by Austin as a threat. Austin lost the title to Angle at Unforgiven before regaining it on the October 8, 2001 episode of ''Raw''. In a swerve, Angle joined the Alliance just before Survivor Series. As the Invasion angle dragged on, it was ultimately decided to bring the plot line to an end with Austin and a group of ECW and WCW wrestlers facing The Rock and a group of WWF wrestlers at the Survivor Series. Austin and his team lost after Angle betrayed him, thus ending the Invasion angle. The next night on Raw, as McMahon was about to award Angle with the WWF Championship for actions at Survivor Series, Ric Flair came out and announced that he owned half of the WWF. Austin came out and attacked Angle and McMahon, taking back the WWF Championship. Austin then had a beer bash with Flair, turning Austin face once again. Austin would hold the WWF Championship for another month before losing it to Chris Jericho at Vengeance 2001 due to interference from Booker T. Jericho defeated both The Rock and Austin consecutively that night, winning the WCW World Title and later the WWF Title and combining them to create the unprecedentedWWF Undisputed Championship. After that, Austin continued another feud with Booker T. In one angle, Austin defeated Booker T in an unofficial grocery store fight.

Issues with Bookings and Creative Teams (2002)

Beginning 2002, although Austin's character remained with the WWF's most popular wrestlers as top face, his upcoming story lines in the build-up to WrestleMania were somewhat questionable compared to those of his previous years. In the 2002 Royal Rumble, Triple H made his long-awaited return from injury, with he and Austin two of the last four participants in the ring along with Kurt Angle and Mr Perfect. Austin was eliminated by Kurt Angle, however he shortly went back in the ring and hit all three with a steel chair. A few days later on ''Raw'' he defeated Kurt Angle to earn a shot at Chris Jericho's WWF Undisputed Championship at ''No Way Out 2002''.

In the build-up to No Way Out, McMahon had re-signed the New World Order, who started a feud with him after (kayfabe) Austin refused a beer gift. Problems in the backstage creativity were however then seemingly beginning to surface. Austin was reported as being unhappy regarding Hulk Hogan's return to the WWF, and was reported as refusing to lose to Hogan in a proposed match at WrestleMania X8, while Hogan reportedly told McMahon the same regarding losing to Austin. Consequently, the match was re-billed as The Rock defeating Hogan, whilst Austin defeated Scott Hall, climaxing his feud with the nWo.

In a surprise altercation the next night on ''Raw'', Austin refused to show up and took a week-long break without the company's consent, claiming exhaustion. McMahon claimed his actions caused fury among fans who had paid to see him that night. Austin returned on the April 1, 2002 episode of ''Raw'', the first of the new "brand extension" era. The show was centered on which show he would sign with, and he ultimately chose Raw. Austin entered a feud with The Undertaker that resulted in a number-one contender's match for the WWE Undisputed Championship at Backlash 2002, which Austin lost despite having his foot on the rope when he was pinned. He would later be betrayed by Big Show, who went on to rejoin the nWo, and Ric Flair. Austin then defeated Big Show and Flair in a handicap match at Judgment Day.

Departure from WWE

In an interview on WWE television by telephone in May 2002, Austin stunned the company and fans by launching a verbal attack on the direction the company was heading in and slated the creative team for not using him the way he felt they previously did. The commentators struggled to keep Austin's opinions on a neutral wavelength, leading to the WWE apologising to fans for the outburst and stated it was not part of Austin's current or upcoming storylines. McMahon responded a week later on the same show playing down the outburst, claiming that Austin was merely the type of wrestler who was occasionally difficult to work with.

The WWE rehired Eddie Guerrero for Austin to feud with, while also prepping Austin for a feud with Brock Lesnar. Austin, however, vetoed any matches that would result in him losing to Lesnar and ultimately walked out of the company. Austin later explained that he thought hot-shotting a rookie made Austin look weak and did not give Lesnar a proper stage for such a big win over a star of the magnitude that Austin held.

Further fanning the flames amongst Austin's growing number of detractors was a well-publicized domestic dispute incident between Austin and his wife Debra.

On June 3, following the dispute with Debra, Austin made his last appearance for WWE on Raw. After Austin no-showed the episode of ''Raw'' the following week, his storylines were dropped.

Austin walked out again publicly stating he felt bad storylines were presented to him by the creative team. This time his departure was for good. McMahon, along with longtime Austin supporter and real-life friend Jim Ross, buried Austin on WWE programming, referring to him as "taking his ball and going home" because he wasn't getting his way, whilst also explaining to the fans that neither he nor Ross were able to persuade Austin to change his mind. McMahon insisted that Austin owed an apology to all the fans across the world, especially those who paid solely to see him that night. McMahon toasted to Austin's career with a beer thanking him for all his hard work nonetheless. The Rock also made an appearance on Raw despite being drafted to Smackdown!, and announced his frustrations towards Austin.

Austin's merchandise continued to sell greatly in the weeks following his departure, however with no sign of a return likely to be seen, the company stopped marketing his character, his merchandise, and removed his profile from WWE.com.

This period was documented in an episode of ''WWE Confidential''.

Return to WWE and retirement (2003–2004)

For the remainder of 2002, Austin kept a low profile and did not make any public appearances in or out of wrestling. It was reported however by the end of the year, Austin and McMahon met and resolved their differences. He then agreed to return to the company in early 2003.

In an interview with WWE Raw Magazine, he announced deep regret over the situation that led to his departure and the way in which he'd left, and deeper regret over inaccurate speculation regarding his alleged grudges held against other WWE wrestlers, claiming he had no problem with Scott Hall rejoining the company, although he admitted he still held strong reservations about his singles match with Hall at WrestleMania only lasting 7 minutes and felt build-up to the match did not live up to his or Hall's fans expectations, and was angered by speculation suggesting he disagreed with Kevin Nash re-joining the company, insisting he and Nash have always been good friends. He confessed he had a major rift with Paul Levesque's (Triple H's) role in the company upon his return in 2002, but insisted as of 2003 they resolved their issues. In addition, he claimed a brief dispute with Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) was resolved quickly upon his return, and that none of his disputes with the talent roster continued or played the major part in his departure.

In February, Austin returned at No Way Out in a short match against Eric Bischoff. Austin would wrestle only one match between then and WrestleMania in another short match against Bischoff on ''Raw'' but was then defeated by The Rock at WrestleMania XIX, who returned about the same time as a smug, "sell out" villain, which, ultimately, became Austin's last official match in WWE. It was also revealed later in the documentary "The Mania Of Wrestlemania" (Based around the Wrestlemania 19 event) that the letters O.M.R were put on his jacket for his match against The Rock symbolically meaning "One More Round"

The night after on ''Raw'', Bischoff (kayfabe) "fired" Austin on medical grounds. The next morning, Austin gave an interview on wwe.com announcing his retirement from wrestling, although he stated that he and Vince McMahon had reached an agreement seeing him only appear in non-wrestling roles on a weekly basis. In reference to Bischoff firing him on Raw that week, he said that although firing was for storyline purposes, he admitted the medical problems read out on ''Raw'' were real and mainly related back to his injury sustained at SummerSlam 1997 in a match with Owen Hart, and had begun to seriously plague him since late 2001. He confessed wrestling against the advice of his doctors up to his departure in 2002, which forced him to quit wrestling, and cited this as the sole reason as to why he suddenly departed, with doctors advising an awkward or violent move performed on him could have resulted in Austin being permanently disabled or resulting in death.

The following week, Austin began his non-wrestling career with the WWE and began a fresh storyline when he was brought back by Linda McMahon as the Co-General Manager of Raw. He continued this storyline for the remainder of the year, still showing wrestling moves including the Stone Cold Stunner and several exchanges of punches and kicks, although limiting regularity of these being performed. On the November 17, 2003 edition of ''Raw'', Austin was "fired" from Raw as the result of a stipulation in a match at Survivor Series where Austin's hand-picked team of wrestlers failed to beat Bischoff's team of wrestlers. Austin quickly returned to WWE television before the end of 2003 when he was part of the WWE Tribute to the Troops taped live in front of U.S. troops in Iraq, posing and stunning Mr. McMahon. He finally came back on ''Raw'' on December 29 as its "Sheriff", giving a Stone Cold Stunner to Eric Bischoff and rehiring Shawn Michaels, who had just been "fired" by Bischoff.

Austin appeared on and off as 2004 began, culminating in him being the special guest referee for the notorious match between Brock Lesnar and Goldberg at WrestleMania XX in which fans cheered for Austin and jeered both Lesnar and Goldberg due to both men announcing their departures from the company following the event. Then, on April 17, WWE put out a press release on their website claiming that Steve Austin and WWE were unable to settle long-running contract disputes and had again parted ways.

Hall of Famer (2005-present)

Austin made his first appearance on WWE programming in a year at WrestleMania 21 where he was confronted by "Rowdy" Roddy Piper in ''Piper's Pit'' until Carlito interrupted to insult both. This resulted in Carlito receiving a Stone Cold Stunner from Austin and Piper throwing him out of the ring. The segment ended with Austin and Piper celebrating with beer until Austin gave Piper a Stone Cold Stunner as well. He then appeared on the following nights Raw.

At ECW One Night Stand Austin came to the ring following the show's main event. Wearing a Las Vegas Outlaws (of the failed XFL) jersey, Austin came to the ring to give The Sandman a beer which he had asked for. However, Austin invited the whole locker room to the ring for a Beer Bash. However, before the bash he demanded the WWE Crusaders come to the ring for a fight. Tazz came to the ring, which started the brawl. After Taz applied the Tazzmission to Kurt Angle the brawl ended. ECW stood alone in the ring after throwing all of the Crusaders out of the ring. Mick Foley (as Cactus Jack) then dragged Eric Bischoff to the ring. The Dudley Boyz gave him a Dudley Death Drop, followed by Chris Benoit giving him a Diving Headbutt, Rey Mysterio followed that with a 619. When Austin then asked Bischoff about his feelings on the night, he responded with "Fuck ECW", which prompted Austin to give Bischoff a stunner. As the Dudley Boyz took Bischoff outside, and loaded him onto a WWE production truck, the remaining ECW Originals took part in a "beer bash" as the show went off the air. He was on Raw the following night.

Then, at ''WWE Homecoming'', Austin again returned to ''Raw'', delivering Stunners to all four members of the McMahon family. An angle including Jim Ross being fired led to a match in which Austin agreed to face Ross's replacement, Jonathan Coachman, at Taboo Tuesday, with the stipulation of Ross regaining his announcing job if Austin were to win and Austin losing his own job if he lost the match. Austin hurt his back prior to the match, and could not wrestle unless he was heavily medicated, so the match was cancelled. To explain away his failure to appear at Taboo Tuesday, Vince McMahon said on ''Raw'' that Austin had been involved in an accident, thus preventing him from competing. Batista substituted for Austin defeating The Coach along with Vader and Goldust. The stipulation was dropped due to Austin not competing.

Austin returned to WWE briefly to face John "Bradshaw" Layfield in a beer drinking contest at the March 5, 2006 edition of ''Saturday Night's Main Event''. Austin won by disqualification as he saw JBL cheating by pouring the beer down his clothes. Austin gave a stunner to JBL and then celebrated with the Stone Cold beer salute. Austin then inducted Bret Hart into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 1, 2006.

Austin returned to WWE programming (appearing on ''Raw'', ''ECW'', and ''SmackDown!'') in March 2007, partially to promote his starring role in the release of WWE Films' production, ''The Condemned''. On March 31, 2007, Austin inducted his friend Jim Ross into the WWE Hall of Fame. At WrestleMania 23, Austin, as a special guest referee, officiated the match between Bobby Lashley and Umaga. The stipulation for the match was that if Lashley lost, Donald Trump's head would be shaved, and if Umaga lost, Mr. McMahon's head would suffer the same fate. In the course of the event, Austin delivered stunners to Umaga, Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon, and Donald Trump. Lashley eventually won the match, and Trump, Austin and Lashley then shaved Mr.McMahon's head on live TV. Stone Cold ended by stunning McMahon as well as Donald Trump and toasting beers. He then appeared in a video on the June 11 edition of ''Raw'' as part of "Mr. McMahon's Appreciation Night", where he shared his thoughts on his past feuds with McMahon.

Austin appeared on the August 18, 2007 edition of ''Saturday Night's Main Event'', as a possible illegitimate child of Mr. McMahon and stunned McMahon and Jonathan Coachman. Austin appeared at SummerSlam where he was the replacement for Matt Hardy to battle Montel Vontavious Porter in a Beer Drinking Contest. The match ended in a no contest after Austin handed a beer to MVP and gave him the Stone Cold Stunner. Austin made another appearance at Cyber Sunday, where he guest refereed a World Heavyweight Championship match between the champion Batista, and the challenger The Undertaker. Batista walked out the champion after delivering a Batista Bomb to The Undertaker.On the November 5, 2007 edition of ''Raw'', Austin made an appearance to confront Santino Marella for criticizing ''The Condemned''. The argument ended as Marella received a Stone Cold Stunner from Austin, who then walked backstage only to return with a Budweiser beer truck to hose down Marella and his valet Maria with beer. On December 10, 2007 during the ''Raw 15th Anniversary Spectacular'', Austin returned after Vince McMahon received the mandible claw from Mankind and a chokeslam from The Undertaker for proclaiming himself "the greatest Raw superstar of all time." Shortly after, McMahon received a Stone Cold Stunner(which as of 2011, would be the last one McMahon would take, because in July 2011, McMahon was told by his doctors not to take anymore "bumps") as Austin called out all WWE stars in attendance to the ring to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Raw. The show closed as Austin, Triple H and Hornswoggle poured beer on McMahon, who was knocked out outside the ring.

On October 26, 2008, at Cyber Sunday, Austin was the special guest referee during a match between Batista and Chris Jericho for the World Heavyweight Championship. In between the match Stone Cold told a fleeing Jericho that if he was counted out or disqualified, Batista would win the title. During the course of the match, Batista accidentally knocked Austin down. When Austin recovered, Randy Orton, who had come out as the third referee, knocked Austin back down, only to receive a Stone Cold Stunner when Austin recovered. Eventually Batista won the match by hitting his signature Batista Bomb on Chris Jericho, leading Austin to give the three count, making Batista the new World Heavyweight Champion.

On January 12, 2009, edition of ''Raw'', Austin was announced to be the first member of the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2009. He was inducted by his long-term on-screen rival Vince McMahon, who referred to Austin as "The Greatest WWE Superstar of all time." During the induction, there were "''one more match''" chants, to which Austin said he was officially closing the door on his wrestling career and starting a new chapter in his life. At WrestleMania XXV, Austin was introduced alongside the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2009. After the introductions, Austin's theme music hit, and he re-entered the ringside area wearing a vintage "Austin 3:16" shirt driving an ATV. He then enjoyed his trademark beer bash with the fans.

Austin returned to the company on the March 15, 2010 episode of Raw as its guest host. On that episode of ''Raw'' he moderated a contract signing between Vince McMahon and Bret Hart for their match at WrestleMania XXVI. In the same episode Austin met up backstage with his longtime rival Shawn Michaels, who asked Austin whether he believed that Michaels could end the Undertaker's undefeated WrestleMania streak in their upcoming match. Austin replied "Hell yeah I think you can beat the Undertaker, but I don't think you're going to, The streak is going to go 18-0". Michaels lost the match extending the Undertaker's streak to 18-0 and forcing Michaels to retire.

On the 900th episode of "Raw"; which took place on August 30, 2010; the intro and theme for Stone Cold Steve Austin were shown. However, this was only a trick by fellow wrestler CM Punk who was attempting to prove a point about what the Straight Edge Society believed was a disturbing history of the WWE. Steve Austin did not actually make an appearance on this night. In early 2011, Austin was announced as the head trainer and host for the revival of ''WWE Tough Enough''. On the March 7 edition of ''Raw'', Austin interrupted the contract signing of the special guest referee to the Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler match at WrestleMania XXVII, originally scheduled to be John "Bradshaw" Layfield. After stunning Layfield, Austin signed the contract instead and became the official guest referee for the scheduled match. Although Lawler won by submission, the anonymous Raw General Manager reversed the decision and disqualified Lawler, claiming that Austin had "overstepped his authority". He appeared on Raw the following night with the cast from Tough Enough, while also getting into an altercation with The Miz and Alex Riley

On April 7, 2011, Austin gave an Interview where he talked about his return, filming Tough Enough and the respect he has for CM Punk. Austin was asked about a return to the ring and said that he felt that if he had to, he had two more years in him and could still do a full-time schedule. However, he then stated that he was happy with where he was at in life and wanted to be able to hunt and fish 10–20 years from now and be able to do it pain free.

On the June 6th edition of Raw, Austin appeared live alongside old rival Vince McMahon to declare Andy Leavine as the winner of Tough Enough. He also served as the Special Guest Referee in the evening's tag team main event, John Cena and Alex Riley vs. The Miz and R-Truth. The end of the match came as a result of Austin hitting the infamous Stone Cold Stunner on The Miz, which was followed by an Attitude Adjustment from Cena and then the pinfall victory. However, the Anonymous Raw General Manager chimed in and the GM's ringside mouthpiece Michael Cole announced that since Austin had abused his authority as referee, The Miz and R-Truth win via disqualification. Austin did not take kindly to the GM overturning his decision and Cole also received a Stunner, which was followed with another Attitude Adjustment courtesy of Cena. Austin and Cena closed the show, celebrating with a beer bash.

Austin was the special guest GM on the 3-hour All-Star edition of Monday Night Raw, eminating live from the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (or simply Nassau Coliseum) in Long Island, New York, where all Superstars and Divas have performed. Also in his special guest GM time, He destroyed the GM Laptop by running over it with his ATV. This is the second time the GM Laptop was destroyed since Edge destroyed it on September 27, 2010.

He also announced that the next week of Raw (June 20, 2011, also the Raw after Capitol Punishment); eminating live from the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, Maryland; will be another 3-hour show where the WWE Universe takes the authority to choose the opponent or stipulation of a match. He then announced that the show is named "Power to the People".

Television and film career

Steve Austin filmed guest roles on ''Celebrity Deathmatch'' and ''Nash Bridges'', where he played Detective Jake Cage. His motion picture debut was in a supporting role as Guard Dunham in the 2005 remake of ''The Longest Yard''. Austin had his first starring film role, as Jack Conrad, a dangerous convict awaiting execution in a Salvadoran prison, who takes part in a illegal deathmatch game that is being broadcast to the public in the 2007 thriller ''The Condemned''. In 2010, Austin appeared in the film ''The Expendables'' as Dan Paine, the bodyguard and right hand man for the primary antagonist of the film. This role featured Austin working alongside other action stars such as Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, and Randy Couture. It has been suggested by Bruce Willis that he will return for a sequel of The Expendables.

Filmography

Film

{|class="wikitable" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- | 2005 || ''The Longest Yard'' || Guard Dunham || |- | 2007 || ''The Condemned'' || Jack Conrad || Produced by WWE Films |- | 2009 || ''Damage'' || John Brickner ||rowspan=2|Direct-to-video |- | rowspan="3"| 2010 || ''The Stranger || The Stranger |- | ''The Expendables'' || Dan Paine || |- | ''Hunt to Kill'' || Jim Rhodes ||rowspan=5|Direct-to-video |- | rowspan="2"| 2011 || ''Knockout'' || Dan |- | ''Tactical Force'' || Tate |- | rowspan="2"|2012 ||''Recoil'' || John Varrett |- | ''The Package'' || Thomas Boyette |- |}

Television

{|class="wikitable" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- | 1998–2002 || ''Celebrity Deathmatch'' || Himself || 4 seasons |- | 1999 || ''Teen Choice Awards'' || Himself || |- | 1999–2000 || ''Nash Bridges'' || Detective Jake Cage || Six episodes |- | 2000 || ''Dilbert'' || Judge ||rowspan=2|One episode |- | 2005 || ''The Bernie Mac Show'' || Himself |- | 2010 || ''Chuck'' || Hugo Panzer || Two episodes |- | 2011 || ''Tough Enough || Host/head trainer || |}

Personal life

Austin dated Kathryn Burrhus throughout high school and college, and the two married on November 24, 1990. Nonetheless, Austin pursued a relationship with Jeannie Clark ("Lady Blossom"), with whom he was working. His marriage to Burrhus was quickly annulled on August 7, 1992, and Austin and Clark married on December 18, 1992. Together, they have two daughters, Stephanie (born in 1992) and Cassidy (born in 1996). He also adopted Jade, Clark's daughter with former husband Chris Adams. Jade is also married to professional wrestler Adam Windsor. Austin and Clark divorced on May 10, 1999 and their daughters live in Southend-on-Sea, England with Clark, while Jade lives in America with her husband and son.

In December 2007, the ''Wrestling Observer'' newsletter reported that "Stone Cold" Steve Austin legally changed his real name (Steven Williams) to his wrestling name Steve Austin. Austin currently resides in Los Angeles, California and Tilden, Texas.

Marriage to Debra Marshall

On September 13, 2000, Austin married WWE Diva Debra Marshall. On June 15, 2002 police were called to their residence in San Antonio, Texas. They found a hysterical Marshall with bruises. Austin had left the house and was asked by police not to return. On August 14, 2002, Austin was arrested and charged with domestic abuse. He pled no contest on November 25, 2002 and was given a year's probation, a $1,000 fine, and ordered to carry out eighty hours of community service. Marshall would later claim that Austin was a steroid user and this incident was the result of roid rage. Austin filed for divorce from Marshall on July 22, 2002 and the divorce was finalized on February 5, 2003. On June 29, 2007, Marshall told ''Fox News'' that Austin beat her three times. She also stated that WWE put a gag order on her so she would not reveal that Stone Cold hit her, as it would cost the company millions of dollars. The WWE did not respond to her allegations.

In wrestling

Finishing moves

*As "Stone Cold" Steve Austin

*''Stone Cold Stunner'' (Seated three-quarter facelock jawbreaker, usually preceded by a kick to the midsection)

*As "Stunning" Steve Austin

*''Stun Gun'' (Flapjack dropped into a hangman)

*As The Ringmaster

*''Million Dollar Dream'' (Cobra clutch)

Signature moves

*As "Stone Cold" Steve Austin

*Back body drop

*Boston crab

*Catapult

*Clothesline

*Leapfrog body guillotine to an opponent draped over the second rope

*''Mudhole Stomp'' (Multiple stomps to the chest of a seated opponent in a corner, followed by the middle finger gesture to the opponent and finished with a final stomp)

*Pointed elbow drop, sometimes from the second or top rope

*Sleeper hold

*Spinebuster

*Stomp to the opponent's groin

*STF

**Suplex

**Superplex

*Texas piledriver

*Thesz press followed by multiple punches

*As "Stunning" Steve Austin

*''Hollywood and Vine'' (Standing figure four leglock)

*Knee drop

*Pointed elbow drop, sometimes from the second or top rope

**Schoolboy pin

*Sleeper hold

*Vertical suplex

Stables

*Dangerous Alliance

*Hollywood Blonds

*Million Dollar Corporation

*The Alliance

*The Power Trip

Managers

Paul E. Dangerously

Col. Robert Parker

Ted DiBiase

*Paul Bearer

*Debra

Nicknames

"The Texas Rattlesnake"

"The Bionic Redneck"

" Toughest Son of a Bitch in the WWF/E"

"Superstar"

"Stunning"

*"Stone Cold"

Entrance themes

*World Championship Wrestling

**As "Stunning" Steve Austin

***"Roman Love" (1991–1995)

*Extreme Championship Wrestling

**As "Superstar" Steve Austin

**"Jesus Christ Superstar" (1995)

*WWF/E

**As The Ringmaster

***"Ringmaster" by Jim Johnston (1996)

**As "Stone Cold" Steve Austin

***"Hell Frozen Over" by Jim Johnston (October 27, 1996 – October 4, 1998)

***"Glass Shatters" by Disturbed (September 24, 2000 – July 23, 2001; 2011 - Promos)

***"Rattlesnake" by Jim Johnston (2001)

***"Hell on Earth" by Jim Johnston (2001)

***"Paranoid" by Jim Johnston (2001)

***"Venomous" by Jim Johnston (August 6, 2001-November 29, 2001)

***"I Won't Do What You Tell Me" by Jim Johnston (October 11, 1998– April 27, 2000; December 3, 2001–present)

Championships and accomplishments

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

PWI Feud of the Year (1998, 1999) vs. Vince McMahon

PWI Match of the Year (1997) vs. Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13 in a Submission match

PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (2001)

PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (1998)

PWI Rookie of the Year (1990)

PWI Wrestler of the Year (1998, 1999, 2001)

PWI ranked #1 of the Top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1998 and 1999

PWI ranked #19 of the Top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI Years in 2003

Teen Choice Awards

*Choice Pro Wrestler (1999)

Texas Wrestling Federation

TWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with The California Stud

World Championship Wrestling

WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (2 times)

WCW World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brian Pillman

WCW World Television Championship (2 times)

NWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Brian Pillman

World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment

Million Dollar Championship (1 time)¹

WWF Championship (6 times)

WWF Intercontinental Championship (2 times)

WWF Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Shawn Michaels (1), Dude Love (1), The Undertaker (1) and Triple H (1)

King of the Ring (1996)

Royal Rumble (1997, 1998, 2001)

*Slammy Award for Freedom of Speech (1997)

*Fifth Triple Crown Champion

*WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2009)

*WWF CEO (kayfabe)

*WWE Co-General Manager

*WWE Sheriff

Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards

*5 Star Match (1992) with Rick Rude, Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton, and Larry Zbyszko vs. Dustin Rhodes, Nikita Koloff, Sting, Ricky Steamboat, and Barry Windham in a WarGames match at WrestleWar

*5 Star Match (1997) vs. Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13

*Best Box Office Draw (1998, 1999)

*Best Gimmick (1997, 1998)

*Best Heel (1996)

*Best Interviews (1996–1998, 2001)

*Best Non-Wrestler (2003)

Feud of the Year (1997)

Feud of the Year (1998, 1999)

Match of the Year (1997)

*Most Charismatic (1997, 1998)

*Rookie of the Year (1990)

Tag Team of the Year (1993)

*Wrestler of the Year (1998)

Worst Worked Match of the Year (1991)

*Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2000)

1 The Million Dollar Championship isn't an official championship recognized by World Wrestling Entertainment.

Bibliography

References

External links

Professional wrestling record for Steve Austin from The Internet Wrestling Database

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin WWE Hall of Fame profile

Steve Austin 2007 Interview on ''Sidewalks Entertainment''

Stone Cold Steve Austin in 'The Stranger'

Stone Cold Steve Austin in 'Damage'

Category:Article Feedback Pilot Category:1964 births Category:American film actors Category:American professional wrestlers Category:Fictional kings Category:Living people Category:North Texas Mean Green football players Category:People from Austin, Texas Category:People from San Antonio, Texas Category:People from Victoria, Texas Category:Professional wrestling executives Category:WWE Hall of Fame

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Coordinates	39°44′21″N104°59′5″N
name	Don Draper
series	Mad Men
portrayer	Jon Hamm
Birth date	1925
creator	Matthew Weiner
first	Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (1.01)
alias	"Don" (nickname) "Dick" (nickname) Richard Whitman (birth name)
occupation	Creative Director, Sterling Cooper (seasons 1-3); Founding Partner, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce (Seasons 4-present)
age	38
parents	Archibald Whitman (father; deceased) Abigail Whitman (step-mother; deceased) Evangeline (mother; deceased) "Uncle" Mac (stepfather; deceased)
siblings	Adam Whitman (half-brother; deceased)
spouse	Anna Draper (ex-wife)Betty Draper (ex-wife)
romances	Midge Daniels (ex-lover) Rachel Katz (née Menken) (ex-lover) Bobbie Barrett (ex-lover) Suzanne Farrell (ex-lover) Dr. Faye Miller (ex-girlfriend) Megan Calvet (fiancée)
children	Sally Draper (daughter with Betty Draper) Bobby Draper (son with Betty Draper) Gene Draper (son with Betty Draper)
relatives	}}

Donald Francis "Don" Draper is a fictional character and the protagonist of AMC's television series ''Mad Men''. He is portrayed by 2008 Golden Globe winner Jon Hamm. Until the third season finale, Draper was Creative Director of Manhattan advertising firm Sterling Cooper. He became a founding partner at a new firm, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, after he and his superiors abandoned their old agency in advance of an unwanted acquisition.

Draper's character is partially based on Draper Daniels, the creative head of the Leo Burnett advertising agency in Chicago in the 1950s who created the Marlboro Man campaign.

In 2009, the fictional Draper was named the most influential man in the world by ''Ask Men'' ahead of such real-life figures as Michael Phelps and Barack Obama.

Character biography

Most of the characters in the series know little, if anything, of Draper’s history and true identity; Harry Crane remarks in the third episode of the series, "Draper? Who knows anything about that guy? No one’s ever lifted that rock. He could be Batman for all we know." Clues are given through flashbacks, confessions, and clandestine visits to figures from his past.

The name "Don Draper" is an alias; his given name is Richard Whitman. Draper was born in Illinois, and his birth mother was a 22-year-old prostitute who died giving birth to him. He was subsequently taken in by his biological father Archibald "Archie" Whitman and stepmother Abigail.

When he was ten years old, his biological father was killed by a spooked horse that kicked him in the face during an electrical storm; Dick was a witness to this. Subsequently, Abigail, Dick and his half-brother Adam moved to western Pennsylvania (described by Draper as "coal country") and were raised by Abigail and a man referred to as "Uncle Mac."

His relationship with his family was apparently contentious - he revealed to his wife Betty that Archibald "beat the hell out of him" on a regular basis, and he "fantasized" about the day he could murder him. Abigail, meanwhile, made no effort to conceal Dick's past from him and referred to him as a "whore child." (When told of Abigail's death from stomach cancer by his half brother Adam, he simply says, "Good.") However, Don states during his confession to Betty regarding his past that Uncle Mac was "nice to him." He also appeared to be close to Adam, who was 11 years younger than he. When Adam seeks Don out, Don rebuffs his attempt and walks away. When Don later decides to speak and possibly reconcile with his younger brother, he discovers that Adam has hanged himself.

Korean War

When Dick was in his early 20s, he enlisted in the U.S. Army - he mentioned that he "ran away" to do so - and was sent to serve in the Korean War. He was put under the command of a Lieutenant Donald Draper, an engineer who was in charge of building a field hospital with only Whitman to assist him.

The two men were fired upon by enemy artillery and small arms fire; this leads to Lt. Draper being killed by a gasoline explosion, accidentally caused by Whitman, mangling his body beyond recognition. Seeing this, Whitman removed Lt. Draper's dog tags, switching them with his own.

Whitman, now believed to be Draper, awakens in the hospital, and is awarded the Purple Heart. He is then sent home with Lt. Draper's coffin (now believed to be Whitman's) to offer the Army's regrets to Whitman's survivors. He avoids meeting the Whitmans at the train station, but is spotted by Adam. Whitman makes his escape and begins his life as Don Draper.

Life as "Don Draper"

Draper is working as a used car salesman when he is tracked down by Anna Draper, the real Draper's widow. The two become close friends, though their contact is limited after Draper meets and marries Betty Hofstadt. After securing a legal divorce, he continues to support Anna, a piano teacher, financially. Their relationship evolves from confrontational to more supportive, and Don visits her during a trip to California for a few weeks in the later part of the second season to help clear his head. Don was deeply attached to Anna and regarded her as his closest confidante, regarding her as the only one who truly knows him, as they develop a brother-sister relationship. Anna dies of cancer in Season 4, which devastates Don.

Not many details have been provided as to how Don Draper became the creative director at Sterling Cooper. For some time, Draper was a used car salesman, and he was a salesman at a fur company and attended City College in New York City at night, though in Season 4 he reveals he did not finish high school. It was at this job that he met his future wife, Betty, who was working as a model at the time and did a photo shoot for the company. Roger Sterling claims that he "discovered" Draper in this job, and brought him to work at Sterling Cooper. In actuality, Don convinced Roger to share drinks and Roger became very drunk. The next day, Don reports to work at Sterling Cooper, explaining to Roger that he was "welcomed aboard" to have a job at Sterling Cooper. Roger, having been completely drunk, has no recollection and does not dispute Don's word, thus Don's account cannot be called into question. At some point Don and Betty marry, and move into a house at 42 Bullet Park Road, Ossining in Westchester County, New York.

Draper eventually became Creative Director, and then a junior partner, at Sterling Cooper. He is considered a great asset to the company as he has considerable talent for understanding the desires of others, and for effectively pitching and selling ideas. Because of this, he has occasionally been courted by other advertising firms. Although his true character remains mysterious and heavily guarded, almost everyone at the firm respects his talent. Among these is account executive Pete Campbell, who seems to view Draper as both a mentor and a hindrance to his advancement within the firm. When Campbell purposely takes a package addressed to Draper from his late, estranged brother Adam, Campbell discovers Draper’s true identity, subsequently attempting to blackmail Draper with this information. However, when Campbell confronts Draper in his office with what he's discovered, Don walks directly to senior partner Bert Cooper's office, with Campbell following behind incredulously. Once in Cooper's office, Campbell, getting in the first word, reveals Don's true identity to Cooper, who simply shrugs off the news, much to Campbell's astonishment. However, Cooper later uses the same information to compel Don to sign, under duress, a three-year employment contract.

Peggy Olson begins her career at Sterling Cooper as Draper's secretary, but with his support becomes a copywriter. He carefully but firmly nurtures her talent as she learns the process, although in the first season he makes sure she continues with her secretarial duties until promoting her in the episode "The Wheel". The relationship between Peggy and Don gradually evolves into one of mutual dependency and understanding. In Season 2, Don visits Peggy in the hospital after she gives birth and encourages her to move forward and forget it ever happened, assuring her that the incident will be kept a secret and won't affect her standing at the firm. Peggy bails Don out of police custody after a drunk-driving accident and allows his female companion to recuperate at her apartment. Don generally does not show her any favoritism, and aggressively shuts down her request for a pay raise (which she argues she should be given under emerging "equal pay for equal work" statutes), which leads her to seriously consider taking a job at another agency. However, he does treat her with as much respect as any of the male copywriters and often seems to rely on her talent. At the end of Season 3, when Don is planning on launching a new firm, he wants her to come with him. She initially refuses due to his presumptuous manner, but he eventually comes to her apartment and convinces her to join him, saying that if she didn't he would spend the rest of his life trying to hire her. In Season 4, Peggy is given more demanding assignments and greater responsibility as a copywriter at Don's new firm, and they develop a greater level of trust and comfort with each other both professionally and personally. In the season 4 episode "The Suitcase" we see Don go through a drunken breakdown after receiving word to call California, which he took to mean his confidant Anna Draper, who he knew was suffering from cancer at the time, had died. By the end of the episode's emotional journey he has confided in Peggy more about his past (his military service in Korea, having his father die in front of him) than anyone else at the agency to date.

Betty Draper was unaware of Don's past until she discovered a collection of photographs and other documents from his previous life which Don kept in a locked drawer in his desk. When Betty confronts Don and demands to know the truth, Don breaks down and reveals to her the secret of his true identity. Their marriage suffers another setback when Betty realizes, in the wake of John F. Kennedy's assassination, that she does not love or trust Don. She relocates to Nevada to file for divorce shortly thereafter. After being kicked out of the Draper family residence, Don moves into an apartment.

In December 1963, Don convinces Bert Cooper, Roger Sterling, and Lane Pryce, along with Peggy, Pete, Joan and Harry Crane, to leave Sterling Cooper rather than take their chances when they learn that their parent company is being purchased by rival firm McCann Erickson. They form the Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce agency, working out of a hotel suite before moving to the Time-Life Building.

Both in and out of the office, Don's life is an entanglement of boozing and sex with a large group of women he has met in business and social settings, including at least two secretaries (Allison and Megan), a stewardess (Shelly), an unemployed friend of a friend (Bethany), a teacher (Suzanne Farrell), a client (Rachel Menken), an artist (Midge Daniels), a waitress (Doris), a prostitute (Candace), a business consultant (Dr. Faye Miller), a nurse, a Hedonist (Joy), and the wife of the lead performer in the Utz campaign (Bobbie Barrett).

Personality

Despite his outward cynicism, Draper is portrayed as following a strict code of personal ethics, insisting on honesty, forthrightness and chivalry in his subordinates (if not always himself). He is extremely protective of people less confident than he; he warns Pete Campbell in the first episode ("Smoke Gets in Your Eyes") about his rude remarks to and about Peggy Olson, whom he has just met. During the episode "Six Month Leave," Draper admonishes several subordinates for mocking Freddy Rumsen's episode of urinary incontinence, a symptom of his alcoholism. Finally, in a fourth season episode Draper briefly scolds Ken Cosgrove in front of other employees for mocking a client with a severe stuttering problem.

Draper also adheres to a more strict code of business ethics than many of his colleagues. A second season arc has Draper upset about being told to drop the small local Mohawk Airlines client in favor of a chance at American Airlines. In Season 3, he is hesitant to sign a wealthy client eager to pour his fortune into promoting jai alai, a sport the client thinks will replace baseball as "America's game," Don knowing the client is about to squander his considerable fortune on a doomed enterprise.

He also becomes a confidante to Art Director Sal Romano, a closeted homosexual, whom Don sees in a compromising position in a Baltimore hotel during a fire evacuation. Although Don continues to keep the secret, he nonetheless expresses his distaste for Sal's sexual orientation; he fires him in Season 3 because the son of a prominent client is irate at Sal's refusal to accept his sexual advances in the film editing room.

It is also shown throughout different episodes that Don regrets how he treats his family. In the season three episode where Betty gives birth to their third child, he has a conversation with another man in the waiting room who says that he's going to be a better man for his wife and child. It is clear that Don feels exactly the same way.

On another family front, Don tends to dislike his father-in-law Eugene, but agrees to take the man into his home when he becomes unable to live on his own. On several occasions he shows more patience and understanding toward Eugene than does Betty.

Draper and women

Draper met his ex-wife Betty Draper (née Hofstadt) in her modeling days, surprising Betty by buying her the fur she wore on a photo shoot where he was in attendance; this gesture appears to be the start of their relationship. Betty and Don marry when she is in her early twenties, and she gave birth to their first child Sally soon after. A few years later, she gave birth to their first son, Bobby. In Season 3, Betty gave birth to a second son named Eugene after her recently-deceased father, with whom Don shared a mutually antagonistic relationship

Don cheats on Betty repeatedly throughout seasons one and two. In season one, Draper is involved with Midge, a pot-smoking beatnik and illustrator who works out of her small, dingy apartment. Midge's beatnik lifestyle and friends do not appeal to Don, but she offers him an escape from his high-pressure job. Don receives a bonus check of $2,500 from Sterling Cooper and asks her to vacation with him to Paris. However, Don changes his mind after realizing Midge is in love with a fellow beatnik, and instead stuffs the check into her blouse; he tells her to go buy a car with it and leaves. Don doesn't see her again until season four, when Midge pretends to run into Don, hoping to sell him a painting in order to help fund her heroin addiction. He agrees to visit her apartment, but after learning of her true intentions he purchases a painting and leaves.

Also during season one, Don pursues Rachel Menken. She is Jewish and the daughter of Abraham Menken, the elderly founder of upscale Menken's department store. Rachel, 28, is educated, sophisticated, and a savvy businesswoman, assisting her father in running the family business. Despite bickering with her during initial business meetings, Draper becomes close with her and eventually begins an affair with her. She ends their affair on November 8, 1960, the night the 1960 Presidential election results are being tabulated. She leaves on a cruise for Europe and suddenly marries a Jewish man sometime before the beginning of season 2.

In season two, Draper turns to an older woman, Bobbie Barrett. She is the wife of Jimmy Barrett, an insult comic loosely based on Rat Packer Joey Bishop, filming a commercial for one of Sterling Cooper's clients, Utz Potato Chips. They continue their affair, taking a trip to the beach at "Stony Brook" on Long Island, but their plans are interrupted by a car accident followed by his arrest for drunken driving. Unable to post bond with the cash on his person, Don reaches out to Peggy, who travels from Brooklyn to Long Island by car in the middle of the night, posts Don's bail, and later boards Bobbie until her injuries from the accident heal. Bobbie and Don continue their affair until "Maidenform", when Bobbie lets slip that Draper's previous mistresses have been talking about his sexual prowess. Don, who values his privacy highly, is aghast that his extramarital escapades are being gossiped about, and immediately ends the affair. Don must continue his professional relationship with Bobbie and Jimmy, and the four of them (including Betty) meet at The Stork Club for a night out. At the end of the evening, Jimmy reveals to Betty that their spouses have had an affair; A horrifed Betty confronts Don, but he repeatedly denies the accusations, which infuriates her.

Eventually, Betty appears willing to put the suspicion behind her, but when she coincidentally sees the commercial Jimmy made for Utz air on television, her anger is reignited. She calls her husband at work and tells him not to come home, whereafter Don moves into a hotel room and frequently sleeps in his office. Betty's father Eugene has another stroke, necessitating a visit from Betty, and to keep up appearances, the two of them pretend to be a happily married couple while staying at her father's home. In his growing senility, Eugene openly expresses his disdain for Don, saying, "He's got no people. You can't trust a man like that." After witnessing the rapid decline of her father, Betty seduces Don in the middle of the night, leading Don to believe that she has now forgiven him. When they arrive home, however, Betty tells a confused Don not to move back in. Betty later discovers that she is pregnant.

Don impulsively decides to join Campbell on a business trip to Los Angeles. In California, Don meets a mysterious European viscount with a 21-year-old daughter named Joy. Despite telling Campbell that the trip is strictly business, Don joins Joy and her "jet set" family of self-described nomads at their lavish vacation home in Palm Springs. He sleeps with her the same night. Joy is topless in the pool one night, attempting to seduce Don again, despite being surrounded by other relatives and even small children, around their large pool. Draper realizes that this "sexual freedom" is excessive, even for him, and seeks out his confidante, Anna Draper. Anna reassures Don that his loving Betty doesn't mean he has to tell her everything. Don then bathes in the Pacific Ocean in a symbolic baptismal gesture, and returns home to profess his love for Betty and ask her to take him back.

In season three, Don had an affair lasting several months with his daughter Sally's schoolteacher Suzanne Farrell. Their relationship builds slowly over several accidental meetings and conversations laden with innuendo. They finally consummate their relationship in September 1963. Don ends the affair with Suzanne on October 30, 1963. Thinking Betty and his children are out of town, he plans a weekend get-away with Suzanne. With Suzanne waiting out in the car, and intending only to go into the house for a suitcase, Don is stunned to find Betty at home. Before he can make his escape, however, Betty reveals she has found the key to the locked drawer in Don's desk in which he keeps a box of photographs and other evidence of his past life, as well as several hundred dollars in emergency escape funds, and has discovered he has been lying to her. She coerces him into telling her the truth about his past, and he confesses his real name and the details of his deception. Don never returns to the car where Suzanne awaits him, apparently for hours, before giving up and returning home. He calls her the next day to break things off, even though they have not been discovered, in an attempt to save his marriage. Betty later decides she can no longer be with Don and divorces him to be with Henry Francis.

Don's womanizing hits its peak during season four, which takes place in 1964-1965. At the beginning of season four in 1964, Don hires a prostitute to slap him around during sex. Roger's wife Jane Sterling also sets Don up with a young, beautiful friend named Betthany, thinking Don hasn't been on a date since his marriage ended. During one weekend of heavy drinking, Don goes to bed with one woman, blacks out, wakes up with a different woman in his bed, and has no idea what has happened. He continues to see the prostitute and pay her and even sets Lane up with her hooker friend one night in his apartment.

During a visit to San Pedro, California to visit Anna, he also tries to put the moves on Anna's 18-year-old niece, whom Don has known since she was a child. She refuses Don and instead tells him that her Anna is dying of cancer. The news rocks Don to his very core.

When Don goes home drunk after an office Christmas party, and he forgets the keys to his apartment and has Allison, his secretary, bring them over. He quickly seduces her that night on his couch. This later creates tension in their professional relationship when Don acts as if nothing happened. Confused and heartbroken over the affair, Allison decides she can no longer work for Don or the agency, she asks Don to write a letter of recommendation for her to another potential job. But when his insensitivity offends her, Allison becomes greatly upset. She throws a brass cigarette dispenser at Don and calls him "a bad person" before quitting her job and storming off in tears. Don is visibly shaken by the encounter, and Allison is replaced with an older secretary by Joan, who hints that she's aware of Don having seduced her. Don later tries to write a letter of apology to Allison but gives up on it. Allison is replaced by Ida Blankenship, Bert Cooper's former secretary, and shockingly, Roger Sterling's lover from many years prior. Blankenship is an old woman with a blunt and cantankerous manner who may occasionally annoy Don, but proves to be the secretary he needs, since she is old and unattractive. Ida later dies sitting up at her desk, shocking Don and the staff.

During season four, Don becomes friendly with Dr. Faye Miller, a consumer psychologist he frequently works with. At the beginning of 1965, before she dates Don, she informs him, "you'll be married by the end of the year." After fending off his gentlemanly advances on several occasions she begins a romantic relationship with him. During one of his existential crises, Don somewhat reveals his checkered past; she sympathizes with him and offers emotional support. Faye however warns Don that she is "not good with kids and is inexperienced around them." At the end of that same episode, Sally runs down the hall at SCDP after a tantrum, and falls down hard. Instead of running into her father's arms, she falls naturally into Don's new secretary, Megan's arms. Megan previously worked as the lobby receptionist but became Don's secretary after Blankenship's sudden death.

Don is no longer seeing prostitutes and seems to have settled down with Faye. Although Don seems to be in love with the classy and intelligent Faye, Megan suddenly seduces him in his office one night, telling him not to worry, she won't make a scene like Allison did. Megan doesn't seem all that interested in Don, she just knows that Don wants quick sex with no strings attached. When Faye's consulting firm can no longer work with SCDP, she is excited because she and Don can be "out in the open" now with their relationship during episode 12.

During the season four finale "Tomorrowland," Faye believes their relationship is stronger than ever. However, Don's ex-wife, Betty Francis, suddenly fires Carla, the children's nanny since birth, and Don has to scramble to find a full-time nanny for his three kids during their visit to California (to sign the "sold" papers for Don's house in San Pedro, which he bought for Anna in the 1950s). Don remembers how Sally fell into her arms several months previously, and decides to take Megan with him so she can take the three kids to Disneyland, and watch them at the hotel pool. When he goes to Anna's house one last time, Anna's niece says Anna left him her diamond solitaire engagement ring (the one given to her by the real Don Draper upon their engagement). Don looks at the ring and is very touched by Anna's gift to him. Don realizes that it was Anna's dying wish for Don to be happy and to marry again. He suddenly realizes that he and all his children are very relaxed with the 25-year-old Megan. Although Faye is very intelligent and beautiful, Don realizes that Megan is a better match for him because he "finally feels like himself" around her. He sleeps with Megan during the California trip and decides to propose with Anna's engagement ring, telling Megan that the ring is very special to him. Megan knows nothing about Anna or his past, just as Betty didn't either when she married Don around 1952. Megan accepts and Don returns to New York to let the partners and Joan know about his very sudden engagement. He telephones Faye and wants to meet her in person. Faye realizes that something is wrong and demands to know over the phone, rather than over coffee. Don shocks Faye by telling her he is engaged. Faye is shattered. Peggy Olsen, Don's one-time secretary, is flabbergasted. Don also informs his ex-wife Betty, as she is packing up the last moving box from their one-time marital home, that he is engaged. Don informs her it is his secretary, Megan. Betty realizes it was Megan who watched the kids in California and that she put the wheels in motion for Don's sudden engagement (because Carla, their house keeper/nanny was supposed to watch them on this trip, not Megan). Betty seems sad about Don's news because her marriage to the much-older Henry Francis has been rocky. Betty, Henry, and the children are moving to a new house in Rye.

Draper and vehicles

Don worked as a used-car salesman at the time Anna Draper found him, and on at least one occasion enjoyed the company of motorcyclists and hot rod enthusiasts while he was visiting Anna in Southern California. At the outset of the series, Don drives a 1959 Oldsmobile, then a 1960 Buick Electra 225 convertible. Later, Don wrecks an unassuming and utilitarian 1961 Dodge Polara, after which he is goaded by Roger Sterling into purchasing an ice blue & white 1962 Cadillac Coupe de Ville. Sterling tells him that the Cadillac was a sign that Don had 'arrived,' meaning that he had achieved success and/or recognition.

In popular culture

Don Draper is imitated by the character Abed in the show ''Community'' in Season 1, Episode 17, "Physical Education" while trying to learn to pick up women at the encouragement of his Spanish study group. He practices on friend Annie, who is portrayed by actress Alison Brie (who is a cast member of both ''Community'' and ''Mad Men'').

In Season 3 of the NBC sitcom ''30 Rock'' (Episode 19, "The Ones"), page Kenneth Parcell shouts out, "My real name is Dick Whitman!" as he is succumbing to a strawberry allergy. Jon Hamm appears on ''30 Rock'' as the recurring character Dr. Drew Baird.

The Don Draper character was also parodied in a skit on Saturday Night Live, in "Don Draper's Guide to Picking Up Women."

Don Draper was announced the "Number 1 Most Influential Man of 2009" in AskMen.com

In her Daily Beast article, Natasha Vargas-Cooper compared Don Draper's appeal as a combination of Cary Grant, Clark Gable, Humphrey Bogart, and John Wayne.

College Humor has created several videos and articles about Don Draper, exaggerating his dark attitude and elaborate speeches by putting him in everyday situations. They have portrayed him at college orientation, explaining the pop-up ad to a salesman, and giving presents to his children at Christmas.

Draper appeared with Conan O'Brien in the cold open of the first episode of O'Brien's current talk show, ''Conan''.

A still frame from "The Suitcase," a shot of Draper in tears after hearing confirmation of Anna's death, sparked an internet meme called "Sad Don Draper", in which the crying Draper is photoshopped into unlikely locations and images.

The Oatmeal drew a cartoon flowchart of how Don Draper solves his problems.

References

External links

"The Secret of Don Draper's Sex Appeal" by Natasha Vargas-Cooper - Daily Beast - July 22, 2010

"Articles of fandom" - PacificSticker - October 16, 2010

Draper, Donald Draper, Don Category:Fictional Korean War veterans Category:Fictional advertising executives Category:Fictional businesspeople Category:Fictional characters introduced in 2007

fr:Don Draper it:Don Draper he:דון דרייפר

Coordinates	39°44′21″N104°59′5″N
{{infobox musical artist|name	Rob Zombie
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Robert Bartleh Cummings
Also known as	Mr. Zombie
Born	January 12, 1965Haverhill, Massachusetts, U.S.
Instrument	Vocals, guitar, bass, keyboard
Genre	Heavy metal, alternative metal, groove metal, industrial metal
Occupation	Musician, songwriter, screenwriter, film director, film producer, programmer, music producer
Years active	1985–present
Spouse	Sheri Moon Net worth Over 19 billion
Label	Roadrunner/Loud & Proud
Associated acts	White Zombie, Alice Cooper, Powerman 5000, Marilyn Manson
Website	}}

Rob Zombie (born Robert Bartleh Cummings; January 12, 1965) is an American musician, film director, screenwriter and film producer. He founded the heavy metal band White Zombie and has been nominated three times as a solo artist for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance.

Zombie has also established a successful career as a film director, creating the movies ''House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects'', the 2007 remake of ''Halloween'', its sequel, and ''The Haunted World of El Superbeasto''. His next film will be the upcoming ''The Lords of Salem'' which is scheduled to premiere in theaters sometime in 2012.

Early life

Born Robert Bartleh Cummings in Haverhill, Massachusetts, he was the first of two sons. His younger brother Michael David Cummings was born on August 25, 1968, and is better known as Spider One, the frontman of alternative metal group Powerman 5000.

Recording career

White Zombie (1985–1998)

Based in New York, White Zombie was originally a noise rock band in the vein of fellow New York band Sonic Youth and Texas experimental punk band Butthole Surfers. White Zombie was known for combining heavy-metal music with driving guitar riffs (as on "Super-Charger Heaven"), overlayed with lyrics heavily influenced by horror films and pseudo-Satanic imagery. Unlike other metal bands of the 1990s, White Zombie was almost exclusively a "fantasy" band, writing songs not about life but about the surreal. Following their signing to Geffen Records, White Zombie achieved commercial success, with a double and triple platinum album and a large number of their songs featured in movies and TV shows (notably ''Beavis and Butthead'' and ''Millennium''). The group officially disbanded in 1998 shortly after the release of lead singer Rob Zombie's solo album ''Hellbilly Deluxe''. In a 2008 interview to promote the release of ''Let Sleeping Corpses Lie'', Rob Zombie made it clear that a reunion with his White Zombie bandmates was unlikely, saying, "I don't want fans to think it's the beginning of anything." Cummings legally changed his name to Rob Zombie, his former stage name, in 1996.

Solo career (1998–present)

In 1996, Zombie collaborated with Alice Cooper on the song "Hands of Death (Burn Baby Burn)" for the ''X-Files'' tie-in CD ''Songs in the Key of X''. It was Zombie's first work outside of White Zombie. The song was nominated for a Grammy for Best Metal Performance the same year.

In 1997, Zombie contributed a song entitled "The Great American Nightmare" for the Howard Stern movie, ''Private Parts''. Since January 6, 1999, it has been the opening theme for Stern's radio show.

''Hellbilly Deluxe''

Zombie formed his own solo band in 1998. Drummer John Tempesta came directly from White Zombie, and was joined by Mike Riggs on guitar and Rob "Blasko" Nicholson on bass. They recorded and released Zombie's debut solo album, ''Hellbilly Deluxe'', in 1998, produced by Scott Humphrey. The album was a success, selling three million copies domestically. This album contained the hit singles "Dragula", "Living Dead Girl" and "Superbeast".

Zombie toured extensively to promote the album, then released ''American Made Music to Strip By'' in 1999, an album of remixes from ''Hellbilly Deluxe''.

''The Sinister Urge''

Zombie released ''The Sinister Urge'' in 2001 (the title taken from a 1961 Ed Wood film), again produced by Scott Humphrey. This release contained the singles "Never Gonna Stop (The Red Red Kroovy)", "Feel So Numb" and "Demon Speeding". While the album still featured Zombie's signature heavy metal sound, it was also more experimental than ''Hellbilly Deluxe'', including brass instruments on "(Go To) California." The album has been certified platinum.

In 2003, Zombie released his first greatest hits album ''Past, Present & Future'', containing hit songs both from his solo band and White Zombie. It also featured covers (The Commodores' "Brick House" and The Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop") and unreleased songs ("Two-Lane Blacktop" and "Girl on Fire").

After a 2002–2003 world tour, Mike Riggs and John Tempesta left Zombie to form a similar band, Scum of the Earth. This put plans for another tour or new album on hold. Instead, between 2003 and 2005, Zombie directed and released two horror films, ''House of 1000 Corpses'' and ''The Devil's Rejects''.

''Educated Horses''

In 2005, Zombie returned to the music world by recruiting former Marilyn Manson guitarist, John 5, and former Alice Cooper drummer, Tommy Clufetos. Blasko and Humphrey remained, and the five began recording ''Educated Horses''. Released in 2006, ''Educated Horses'' is a break from Zombie's usual style. In contrast to the heavy metal sound of his first two albums, ''Horses'' features a more alternative metal sound. The single "Foxy Foxy" can be described as his most mainstream and "party-going" song. The other two singles, "Let It All Bleed Out" and "American Witch", featured his signature heavy metal sound. Also, for the first time, Zombie steered away from including horror references in the artwork and songs. Even his physical appearance is less of a persona (Zombie is dressed in regular clothes on the album cover, and his dreadlocks are gone). However, the songs "Seventeen Year Locust" and "The Scorpion Sleeps" do concern themselves with creepy-crawlies. Following the release of the album, Zombie toured the U.S. with Lacuna Coil.

''20th Century Masters: Millennium Collection: The Best of Rob Zombie'' was also released in 2006 by his label, Geffen Records. It contains songs similar to his first greatest hits album, but there are also songs on this release from ''Educated Horses''.

On May 31, 2006, Zombie was joined onstage by guitarist Slash (Guns N' Roses, Velvet Revolver), Gilby Clarke (formerly of Guns N' Roses) on rhythm guitar, Scott Ian of Anthrax on bass, Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe on drums and special guest Ace Frehley of Kiss also on lead guitar. The occasion was a one-time supergroup tribute to Kiss for the first annual VH1 Rock Honors award show. They played one song, "God of Thunder," before handing it off to the honoree. Zombie then went on tour with Ozzy Osbourne.

Blasko, Zombie's bass player, left the band shortly before the American Witch Tour (the second leg of the tour to promote ''Educated Horses''), to play bass with Ozzy Osbourne. To fill in, Zombie hired Piggy D. of Amen and Wednesday 13 fame as a permanent replacement.

In 2007 Zombie released ''Zombie Live'', which was supposed to be accompanied by a live DVD and picture booklet. So far, only the CD has surfaced.

''Hellbilly Deluxe 2''

Zombie's follow-up to ''Educated Horses'' was still unnamed as of May 2008. Zombie posted an update on his website, stating: "Well, we have for the first time ever written more songs than we need for an album. Everything isn't 100% finished, but everything is moving along great. No release date yet." In August 2008, a new instrumental song entitled "Tyrannosaurus Rex", featuring John 5 on guitar, was uploaded onto Zombie's MySpace music page. In an interview published in December 2008, Zombie spoke about his new band lineup (John 5, Piggy D., and Tommy C), and how happy he was with his new band members, saying, "I've never had a band that I could call my good friends until now. " Meanwhile, also in December 2008, Zombie's new single "War Zone" was featured in the soundtrack to ''Punisher: War Zone''.

Rob Zombie appeared on ''The Howard Stern Show'' on August 18, 2009, saying the new album was complete, although he had not yet set a title, and was scheduled for release on November 10. That release date would later move to November 17, according to his MySpace blog. Eventually, the release date would be pushed back to February 2010.

On October 3, Zombie posted a link to preview the track "Sick Bubblegum" on his Twitter page. The first single "What?" was released on October 13. Zombie released the next new song, "Burn" for Rock Band, as well as two old tracks, "Dragula" and "Superbeast" on October 27. They are available via Xbox Live and PlayStation Network as well as the Rock Band online store.

On October 29, 2009, Zombie began the Hellbilly Deluxe 2 World Tour in support of his album ''Hellbilly Deluxe 2: Noble Jackals, Penny Dreadfuls and the Systematic Dehumanization of Cool'', despite the fact it was not to be released until over three months later.

Zombie has commented that ''Hellbilly Deluxe 2'' may be his last physical record release due to the growing popularity of iTunes and other methods of music downloading, but stated he will continue to make music. ''Hellbilly Deluxe 2'' was set to be his last album released through Geffen Records, but in late October, Zombie announced that he had signed to Roadrunner Records and will instead be releasing ''Hellbilly Deluxe 2'' under that label in early 2010.

On January 22, he announced that he would be touring with Alice Cooper for the "Gruesome Twosome" tour.

Tommy Clufetos recently left the band to perform with Ozzy Osbourne on drums. He replaced drummer Mike Bordin who is on tour with his current band Faith No More. Joey Jordison has since replaced Clufetos and was announced to be drumming with Zombie for his upcoming summer tour dates. Rob Zombie was bothered that Clufetos was the second member to leave his solo band and join Osbourne after bassist Rob "Blasko" Nicholson left in 2006. Zombie commented, "If my guys that I have wanna go play with other people, that's fine; I don't own them. But I think there's ways to do things in a respectful way and there's ways to just be shitty, and I feel that the way things have gone down lately has been pretty shitty."

Rob Zombie performed at Edgefest in Little Rock, Arkansas as the co-headliner along with Godsmack on May 8, 2010. He also played on the main stage on the second day of the Rock on the Range festival in Columbus, Ohio on May 23. It was widely reported that much of the crowd left after his performance, despite the fact that Limp Bizkit was still scheduled to take the stage.

Rob Zombie finished recording four new songs in July 2010 with John 5, Piggy D, and Joey Jordison. The new music, expected to be released in September 2010, was described by Zombie as "some of the fastest and heaviest tracks we have recorded in a long, long time." Former White Zombie member, and drummer for Rob Zombie's first two studio albums, John Tempesta was rumored to have recorded at least one song titled "Loving the Freaks" for this release. While Rob Zombie did confirm that this collaboration was planned, his schedule was too busy and these recording sessions never took place. Working with Tempesta again in the future was not ruled out. These newly recorded tracks were incorporated into a special edition reissue of ''Hellbilly Deluxe 2'' which was released on September 28, 2010.

For the first time in 12 years, Zombie will return to the United Kingdom to play a string of six dates in support of ''Hellbilly Deluxe 2''.

On March 4, 2011, Rob Zombie said that he would record a CD after he completes his upcoming film ''The Lords of Salem''.

Rob Zombie will embark on a North American tour with Slayer and Exodus called "Hell on Earth" tour starting July 20 and ending on August 6.

On April 22, 2011 on Zombie's official Twitter account, it was announced that his new drummer is ex-Marilyn Manson drummer and former John 5 bandmate, Ginger Fish.

Other projects

Rob Zombie sung alongside his brother, Spider One, on Powerman 5000's song "Blast Off to Nowhere" on their 1999 breakthrough album ''Tonight the Stars Revolt!''

Zombie supplied the vocals for Drowning Pool's song "Man Without Fear" for the soundtrack to the 2003 film ''Daredevil''.

Zombie is featured as a backing vocalist on "Floyd" from Lynyrd Skynyrd's 2009 album ''God & Guns''.

On May 23, 2010 Zombie's new comic book series about a fictitious horror host, ''Whatever Happened To Baron Von Shock?'', began. The first print sold out in less than a week.

On March 14, 2011, praising him for inventing the rock show, glam rock, and punk rock, Zombie inducted Alice Cooper into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Film and television

Film career

''House of 1000 Corpses'' was Rob Zombie's directorial debut and his first horror film. Zombie wrote the screenplay as well as directing the film. It took four years to make (1999–2003), and was finally released by Lion's Gate Films in 2003, after Stacy Snider, then-head of Universal Pictures, sold the film to them. It featured a great deal of violence and gore. The movie told the tale of a group of unlucky teenagers who stumble upon the Firefly Family, a family of sadistic and vicious murderers. The film was shot in a surreal and over-the-top style that alternated between dark and campy humor. The film was mostly panned by critics but has gained a cult following.

The ''House of 1000 Corpses''' sequel, ''The Devil's Rejects'', which Zombie also wrote and directed, showcased a much different style. Whereas ''House'' aimed at being more gory and bizarre, ''Rejects'' was darkly comedic and gritty. Released in 2005, ''Rejects'' had the Firefly Family on the run from the law and a particularly vengeful sheriff whose brother had been murdered by them in the first film. It had a better critical reception than ''Corpses''. Zombie contributed to the 2007 exploitation film ''Grindhouse'', by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino by directing a faux trailer, called ''Werewolf Women of the S.S.'', starring his wife, exploitation veterans Udo Kier and Sybil Danning, and Nicolas Cage, who appeared free for fun.

Zombie next wrote and directed ''Halloween'', a reimagining of the 1978 classic that was released August 31, 2007. Although it was a success and opened at number #1 at the box office with $26 million, it registered only 26% at Rotten Tomatoes. It would go on to gross over $78 million, his biggest hit yet and the highest grossing ''Halloween'' film of all time.

Zombie is the executive producer of the animated film ''The Haunted World of El Superbeasto'', based upon his comic book series, ''The Adventures of El Superbeasto'' (which appeared in his ''Spookshow International'' comic book). The film was released directly to DVD on September 22, 2009. It features the voices of Tom Papa, Paul Giamatti, Zombie's wife Sheri Moon, and Rosario Dawson.

Zombie directed a sequel to ''Halloween'' entitled ''Halloween II'', which was released on August 28, 2009. Filming began on February 23, 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia with Tyler Mane returning as Michael Myers. Zombie will next be directing a new movie for Dimension Films known as ''Rob Zombie's Tyrannosaurus Rex''. In an interview at Comic Con 2009 with his younger brother Spider One of Powerman 5000, Zombie stated that his album would be released in October, followed by a tour.

''Variety'' Magazine announced the weekend before the release of ''Halloween II'' that Zombie will be directing a remake of the 1950s/1980s films ''The Blob''. Zombie will also create a new comic called "Whatever Happened to Baron Von Shock?", which will be released by Image Comics in late 2010.

On October 3, 2009 received the Filmmaker of the Year title of the Chiller-Eyegore Awards.

In December 2009 he announced an interest to direct an episode of ''CSI''. On January 13, 2010, Associated Press reported that Rob Zombie's ''CSI: Miami'' episode will air March 1. He shot the part of the series with the full cast of the series and casted for minor roles Michael Madsen, Malcolm McDowell, William Forsythe, ZZ Top's leader Billy Gibbons and his wife, Sheri Moon Zombie.

Rob Zombie and Universal Studios presents the Halloween Horror Nights – Rob Zombie Film Competition as part of the Halloween Horror Nights 2010.

Rob Zombie also was a guest host on WWE Raw.

On September 22, 2010, it was announced that Rob Zombie's next film project would be entitled ''The Lords of Salem''.

On February 21, 2011, he announced in an interview that he will start filming ''Tyrannosaurus Rex'' after he finishes ''Lords of Salem''. The remake of ''The Blob'' will no longer be directed by Zombie.

Rumors circulated that Zombie would direct ''The Dirt'', a movie about Mötley Crüe. However, on his Twitter page on March 4, 2011, Zombie explained that he will not be directing ''The Dirt''. Instead, he said, "I am not. I am directing ''The Lords of Salem''. Recording a CD after that."

''Tyrannosaurus Rex'' is not a dead project, he explained in an interview: "It’ll happen eventually. I don’t have a deal for it, but that was supposed to be my movie I did after ''Halloween'' and then it never happened. For some reason in the last six months or so, everybody seems incredibly interested in it again. So the goal is to make that the next movie after ''The Lords of Salem''. I don’t know if it will be, because it’s such a weird business. But ''Tyrannosaurus Rex'' has always been my pet project that I’ve always wanted to make. It’s the movie I’ve been dying to make forever."

Music video direction

Rob has directed all of his own music videos as well as all White Zombie music videos except for "Welcome to Planet Motherfucker", "Black Sunshine" and "Thunderkiss '65". Zombie has contributed to other artists directing music videos such as Ozzy Osbourne's "Dreamer", Powerman 5000's "Tokyo Vigilante #1" and Black Label Society's "Stillborn" among others.

As a guest

Rob Zombie has appeared as a guest on several talk shows including ''Late Night with David Letterman'' (several times), ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' (twice), ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'', ''The Howard Stern Show'', ''The Opie and Anthony Show'', ''That Metal Show'', ''The Nerdist Podcast'', ''Criss Angel: Mindfreak'' (2005 episode "Buried Alive") and even ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'' (while he was in White Zombie).

Zombie also made a few guest appearances in movies, including ''Airheads'' (with White Zombie on stage playing "Feed the Gods") and the voice of Dr. Karl (on the phone) in the movie ''Slither''. He did a few voiceovers for cartoons such as the voice of Ichthultu, a creature from an alternate universe in ''Justice League Unlimited'' and Dr. Curt Connors ("The Lizard") in ''Spider-Man: The New Animated Series''. Rob Zombie appeared as the guest host for the June 28th edition of ''WWE Monday Night RAW''.

Zombie supplied music for the ''Twisted Metal III'' and ''Twisted Metal 4'' soundtracks, and even appeared as a playable character in ''Twisted Metal 4''. Zombie's song "Dragula" was used in the ''Jet Grind Radio'' soundtrack.

Rob Zombie was the celebrity guest on the Oct 31, 2010 (Halloween Special) episode of ''Extreme Makeover: Home Edition''.

Personal life

On Halloween day of 2002, Zombie married longtime girlfriend Sheri Moon, whom he also frequently features in all of his horror films.

They currently live in Woodbury, Connecticut and Los Angeles, California.

Zombie is also an avid ice hockey fan, specifically of the Los Angeles Kings.

Collaborations

Rob Zombie has cast certain actors in more than one of his films.

!	House of 1000 Corpses>House of1000 Corpses''	The Devil's Rejects>The Devil'sRejects''	Halloween (2007 film)>Halloween''	Halloween II (2009 film)>Halloween 2''	The Haunted World of El Superbeasto>The Haunted Worldof El Superbeasto''	Lords of Salem (film)>Lords ofSalem''	! ''Tyrannosaurus Rex''
Brad Dourif
Leslie Easterbrook
Ken Foree
Sid Haig
Chris Hardwick
Danielle Harris
Tyler Mane
Malcolm McDowell
Matthew McGrory
Sheri Moon
Bill Moseley
Scout Taylor-Compton
Tom Towles
Danny Trejo

Filmography

;Feature-length films

''House of 1000 Corpses'' (2003) (director, writer)

''The Devil's Rejects'' (2005) (director, producer and writer)

''Halloween'' (2007) (director, producer and writer)

''Halloween II'' (2009) (director, producer and writer)

''Lords of Salem'' (2012) (director, producer and writer)

''Tyrannosaurus Rex '' (TBA)

;Animated films

''The Haunted World of El Superbeasto'' (2009) (director, producer and writer)

;TV work

''Pee-wee's Playhouse'' (production assistant, unknown episodes)

''Headbangers Ball'' (guest, numerous episodes)

''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'' (guest, 1 episode, 1997)

''CSI: Miami'' (director, 1 episode, 2010)

''WWE Raw'' (Raw Guest Host, 1 episode, 2010)

''Extreme Makeover Home Edition'' (Guest, Season 8 - Episode 6, 2010)

;Other

''Metal: A Headbanger's Journey'' as himself (interview)

''Werewolf Women of the SS'' (2007)

;TV Commercial

''Woolite Commercial: "Torture"'' (director, 2011)

Discography

White Zombie

''Soul-Crusher'' (1987)

''Make Them Die Slowly'' (1989)

''La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol. 1'' (1992)

''Astro Creep: 2000 – Songs of Love, Destruction and Other Synthetic Delusions of the Electric Head'' (1995)

Solo

''Hellbilly Deluxe'' (1998)

''The Sinister Urge'' (2001)

''Educated Horses'' (2006)

''Hellbilly Deluxe 2'' (2010)

Composer

''Twisted Metal III'' (1998) (video game)

''Gran Turismo 2'' (1999) (video game)

Solo band members

;Current

Rob Zombie – vocals (1997–current)

John 5 – guitar, backing vocals (2005–current)

Piggy D. – bass guitar, backing vocals (2006–current)

Ginger Fish - drums, percussion (2011-current)

;Former

Mike Riggs – guitar (1997–2003)

John Tempesta – drums, percussion, vocals (1997–2004)

Blasko – bass guitar, vocals (1997–2006)

Tommy Clufetos – drums, percussion (2005–2010)

Joey Jordison – drums, percussion (2010–2011)

References

Discovering "The Haunted World of El Superbeasto" With Rob Zombie

External links

ZombieFAQ

Category:1965 births Category:American film directors Category:American heavy metal singers Category:American male singers Category:American music video directors Category:American vegetarians Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Massachusetts Category:People from Boston, Massachusetts Category:People from Haverhill, Massachusetts Category:Pratt Institute alumni Category:Rob Zombie members Category:White Zombie members Category:Horror film directors Category:American baritones

bg:Роб Зомби cs:Rob Zombie da:Rob Zombie de:Rob Zombie et:Rob Zombie es:Rob Zombie eo:Rob Zombie fa:راب زامبی fr:Rob Zombie it:Rob Zombie lt:Rob Zombie hu:Rob Zombie nl:Rob Zombie ja:ロブ・ゾンビ no:Rob Zombie pl:Rob Zombie pt:Rob Zombie ru:Роб Зомби sco:Rob Zombie simple:Rob Zombie sk:Rob Zombie fi:Rob Zombie sv:Rob Zombie th:ร็อบ ซอมบี uk:Роб Зомбі

Coordinates	39°44′21″N104°59′5″N
Name	A Tribe Called Quest
Background	group_or_band
Origin	Jamaica, Queens, New York, USA
Genre	Hip hop, jazz rap, alternative hip hop
Years active	1985–19982006–present
Label	Jive
Associated acts	Native Tongues, Consequence, De La Soul, Leaders of the New School, Black Sheep, Jungle Brothers, Busta Rhymes, Mobb Deep
Website	atribecalledquest.com
Current members	Q-Tip (1988–1998, 2006–present)Phife Dawg (1988–1998, 2006–present)Ali Shaheed Muhammad (1988–1998, 2006–present)Jarobi White (1988–1990, 2006–present) }}

A Tribe Called Quest is an American hip hop group, formed in 1985, and is composed of rapper/producer Q-Tip (Kamaal Ibn John Fareed, formerly Jonathan Davis), rapper Phife Dawg (Malik Taylor), and DJ/producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad. A fourth member, rapper Jarobi White, left the group after their first album but rejoined in 2006. Along with De La Soul, the group was a central part of the Native Tongues Posse, and enjoyed the most commercial success out of all the groups to emerge from that collective. Their innovative fusing of hip hop and jazz has had a lasting impact on hip hop music, helping to expand the art of hip hop production. Many of their songs, such as "Bonita Applebum", "Can I Kick It?", "I Left My Wallet in El Segundo", "Scenario", "Check the Rhime", "Jazz (We've Got)", "Award Tour" and "Electric Relaxation" are regarded as classics.

They released five albums between 1990 and 1998. The first three LPs were highly acclaimed, but the group disbanded in 1998. In 2006, the group reunited and toured the U.S., and planned to release an album after some works in the studio. The group is regarded as iconic pioneers of alternative hip hop music, having helped to pave the way for innovative hip hop artists. John Bush of Allmusic called them "the most intelligent, artistic rap group during the 1990s," while the editors of About.com ranked them #4 on their list of the "25 Best Rap Groups of All Time." In 2005, A Tribe Called Quest received a Special Achievement Award at the ''Billboard'' R&B; Hip-Hop Awards in Atlanta. In 2007, the group was formally honored at the 4th VH1 Hip Hop Honors.

Biography

History

Q-Tip and Phife Dawg were childhood friends that had grown up together in Queens, New York. Initially, Q-Tip had been performing as a solo artist (MC Love Child), occasionally teaming up with Muhammad as a rapper/DJ duo. Although the pair frequently made demos with Phife (as Crush Connection), the sports enthusiast was still courting ambitions of playing professional basketball, and remained somewhat reluctant to become a full member of the group, only later relenting after Jarobi also joined, thus making the group a quartet. The group's final name was coined in 1988 by the Jungle Brothers, who attended the same high school as Tribe. Q-Tip made two separate appearances on the Jungle Brothers' classic debut album, ''Straight Out the Jungle''; the songs "Black Is Black" and "In Time", respectively. Afrika Baby Bam of the group introduced Q-Tip to De La Soul when he took the aspiring artist along to a studio session for the recording of the remix for the group's song "Buddy". Produced by Prince Paul, the remix of "Buddy" was to be an all-round Native Tongue affair, and the eccentric producer encouraged Q-Tip to contribute to the now-classic record.

In early 1989 they signed a demo deal with Geffen Records and produced a five song demo which included later album tracks including "Description Of A Fool", "I Left My Wallet in El Segundo" and "Can I Kick It?". Geffen however, decided against offering the group a full-fledged recording contract and the group was granted permission to shop for a deal elsewhere while retaining the Geffen financed songs.

After receiving lucrative offers for multi-album deals from a variety of labels both big and small, the group showed early savvy in opting for a modest deal offered by Jive Records, then known as an independent rap label that specialized in and owed its success to building careers of artists like Boogie Down Productions and Too Short, and for placing emphasis on longevity, and paying attention to grass-roots fan bases.

''People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm''

In less than a year, and under the management of DJ Red Alert, the group released their first single, "Description of a Fool", to a lukewarm reception, and without a music video in advance of their debut album ''People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm''. Similar to De La Soul's ''3 Feet High and Rising'', ''People's Instinctive Travels'' was marked by a playful lyrical approach (as on the call-and-response inspired "Can I Kick It?"), light-hearted content (safe sex, vegetarianism, youthful experiences), and to a lesser extent, an idiosyncratic sense of humor, free from much of the posturing of both hardcore hip hop, and the more left-wing aspects of conscious hip hop. Also of note, was the album's sample material, largely based around jazzy loops and snippets from artists such as Cannonball Adderley, Roy Ayers, Lou Reed, Rotary Connection, and Les McCann. Through these samples, the group employs the use of horns, Rhodes, bass guitar and vibes.

Although now critically acclaimed, at the time of its inception ''People's Instinctive Travels'' was met with mixed enthusiasm. Greg Tate of ''The Village Voice'' called the album "upliftingly dope" and "so sweet and lyrical, so user-friendly. You could play it in the background when you're reading Proust." ''The Source'' also gave it a positive reception, even awarding it a five-mic rating - the magazine's highest possible rating. It was only the third album ever to receive this rating. However, Chuck Eddy of ''Rolling Stone'' wrote that the album "is one of the least ''danceable'' rap albums ever" and he went on to say "it's impossible to imagine how people will put this music to use."

The album largely offended the record buying public, and for the time being the group remained in the shadows of their Native Tongue brethren, Jungle Brothers, and De La Soul. It would gain some momentum only after the release of the singles "Bonita Applebum", "Can I Kick It?", and the group's later commercial success, eventually going gold six years after its release. After the release of the album, Jarobi left the lineup for personal reasons.The group soon changed its management from DJ Red Alert to Chris Lighty.

''The Low End Theory''

Following ''People's Instinctive Travels'', the group continued to gather a loyal fan base through touring and guest appearances such as on De La Soul's "A Roller Skating Jam Named "Saturdays"". "Check the Rhyme" was the lead single from the group's landmark second album, ''The Low End Theory'', released on September 24, 1991. Based around a sample from Average White Band's "Love Your Life", the song largely established the now familiar tag-team interplay between Q-Tip and Phife, as until then, most of the group's songs had only featured vocals by Q-Tip.

The two MCs, known for their engaging, and free-wheeling lyrical styles, began to focus on a range of social issues, from date rape ("The Infamous Date Rape") to consumerism ("Skypager"). The songs were noticeably shorter, more abrupt, and bass-heavy. Guests on the album included Leaders of the New School (which included Busta Rhymes), Brand Nubian, and Vinia Mojica. By now, the group had mastered their pursuits of rare records from which to sample or gain ideas and inspiration. Their innovative sampling, layering, and structuring of jazz records led many critics to label their style as jazz rap - a term which Q-Tip disapproved of, as although he felt it described groups such as Stetsasonic quite well, it misinterpreted Tribe themselves, who (aside from the song "Jazz (We've Got)") did not base most of their songs around the topic of jazz.

Helping to gain exposure was a performance of the single "Scenario" with Leaders of the New School on ''The Arsenio Hall Show'' at the time, at the height of its popularity. The performance was particularly memorable for the expressive energy of Busta Rhymes, and his famous "raow! raow! Like a dungeon dragon!" line. Around this time, the group also began to make experimental and visually stylish music videos, one of the most memorable of which is the black-and-white promo clip for "Jazz (We've Got)", a duration of which is delegated to the song "Buggin' Out". This part of the video changes from black and white to color, and features the group members wearing prosthetics that make their eyeballs appear to be bulging out, relating to the song's theme about undergoing stressful situations.

Production wise, the album was a more confident effort than their debut, featuring less of a reliance on drum loops, and contributions from jazz great Ron Carter on upright bass. The album was produced by A Tribe Called Quest along with production from Skeff Anselm (co-production by A Tribe Called Quest), on two tracks. Producer Pete Rock also created the original rough draft version for "Jazz (We've Got)", and A Tribe Called Quest then recreated it. In contrast to most of the hip hop albums released in the early 90s, which featured rough beats that run at relatively fast tempos, such as the Bomb Squad-produced ''Amerikkka's Most Wanted'', or the slow menacing funk beats of Dr. Dre's ''The Chronic'', ''The Low End Theory'' featured low-key, bass-heavy, and plodding beats which emphasized the pensive nature of the record. The recording sessions and mixing for the album was handled by renown record engineer Bob Power at Greene Street Studios, and Soundtrack Studios, in New York City.

On its release, the album was met with a bevy of praises. ''Rolling Stone'' said of the album: "Each time Q-Tip rhymes over Carter's bass lines, the groove just gets deeper." The publication also named it #154 among the Best 500 Albums of All Time, and also as one of the Essential Recordings of the 90's. Further praises were given by ''Spin'' who listed it among the 90 Greatest Albums of the '90s. The praises continue to the present day with Allmusic calling it "one of the best hip-hop albums in history", and "a record that sounds better with each listen." Pop Matters music editor Dave Heaton has this to say about the album:

Among the accolades awarded to the album were:

5 Mic Album award from ''The Source'' (1990)

#2 in ''Ego Trip'''s ''Hip Hop's 25 Greatest Albums by Year 1980-98'' (1999)

#53 in ''Blender'''s ''100 Greatest American Albums of All time'' (2002)

#56 in Pitchfork Media's ''Top 100 Favorite Records of the 1990s'' (2003)

#154 in ''Rolling Stone'''s ''Best 500 Albums of All Time'' (2003)

Spin Magazine

* #32 in ''Top 90 Albums of the 90s'' (1999)

* #38 in ''Top 100 Albums of the Last 20 Years'' (2005)

* #87 in ''100 Alternative Albums'' (1995)

Propelled by "Scenario", and positive word of mouth, ''The Low End Theory'' performed very well on the charts, being RIAA-certified gold on February 19, 1992 (it reached platinum status by 1995). It exceeded all expectations, most of all for an album that offered little to no concessions towards the mainstream. In the aftermath of their unqualified success, the group once again hit the road and contributed the song "Hot Sex" to the soundtrack for the Eddie Murphy vehicle ''Boomerang'', in 1992.

Interrupting the proceedings was an encounter with new jack swing group Wreckx-N-Effect (W-N-E), who had taken an exception to some lines in the song "Jazz (We've Got)". Viewed as a premier new jack swing group, W-N-E had misinterpreted the following couplets by Phife as a sideway diss:

: I'm all into my music cuz it's how I make papes : Tryin' to make hits, like Kid Capri mix tapes : Me sweat another? I do my own thing : Strictly hardcore tracks, not a new jack swing

The misunderstanding resulted in a melee in which Q-Tip sustained an injury to one of his eyes. Thus, during the shooting of the promo clip for "Hot Sex", he wore a ski mask to cover up the abrasion. Soon after, Q-Tip was chosen to play the part of Markell, Janet Jackson's ill-fated partner, in the John Singleton-directed drama ''Poetic Justice'', which also starred Tupac Shakur. The minor part would nevertheless showcase Q-Tip's natural flair for acting and he would later receive offers for more diverse supporting roles. This film also allowed for a friendship to blossom between Q-Tip and Jackson, and the pair would go on to collaborate on her song "Got 'Til It's Gone", from her album ''The Velvet Rope'', in 1997.

During the ascendancy of ATCQ, other Native Tongue members were experiencing career-lows. The Jungle Brothers, once the trailblazers of the collective, were now becoming disaffected with their label due to the under-promotion of their previous effort. In addition, they distanced themselves from the collective, and their music began to lean towards the emerging, European-influenced trip hop sub-genre. However, ATCQ appeared to be maintaining an ongoing relationship with De La Soul.

''Midnight Marauders''

Trugoy of De La Soul appeared on the refrain of "Award Tour", the group's lead single from their third album ''Midnight Marauders'', released on November 9, 1993. Coming on the heels of ''The Low End Theory'', the album was highly anticipated and many were anxious to see if the group could maintain their artistic integrity in light of their commercial success. Boosted by their raised profile, "Award Tour" became the group's highest charting single to date, and helped to land the album within the US Top Ten. The critics proved to be as enthusiastic about the new set as the fans were. ''Entertainment Weekly'' said the album "sounds as fresh as their first... rappers Phife and Q-Tip manage to hold attention without resorting to gun references or expletives..." NME called it their "most complete work to date" Likewise, ''Melody Maker'' said "A Tribe Called Quest have expanded their vision with a lyrical gravitas and a musical lightness of touch that has hitherto eluded them across a whole album". The album was voted #21 by ''The Village Voice'' in that year's Pazz & Jop Critics Poll.

Musically, ''Midnight Marauders'' built upon many of the ideas that were present on ''The Low End Theory'', although the results were noticeably different, and the music was more immediate. Whereas ''Theory'' had been an exercise in subdued minimalism, and simplicity, the grooves found on ''Marauders'' are mostly up tempo, and full of charging drums, suave basslines, melodious riffs, complementary horns, and catchy hooks, all delivered in an efficient 50 minute time frame. The intermittent voice of a tour guide (the titular 'midnight marauder') also serves to add further cohesion to the album.

The group was now famous for their unique choices of sample material on their albums and ''Midnight Marauders'' was no exception. Lead single "Award Tour" contained an infectiously sunny loop taken from Weldon Irvine's "We Gettin' Down". Irvine, a little known but well-respected jazz virtuoso was enthused to have been sought by the group and lent his assistance towards the sampling of the song. Another outside musician to contribute to the record was Raphael Saadiq (credited as Raphael Wiggins) of Tony! Toni! Toné!, on the song "Midnight". Aside from the aforementioned, producers Large Professor, and Skeff Anselm handled two tracks - "Keep It Rollin'" and "8 Million Stories" respectively, the former also rapping over his production.

Lyrically, the album benefited from an even more confident duo in Phife Dawg and Q-Tip, whose nimble verbal interplay is utilized to its fullest on songs like "Electric Relaxation" and "Oh My God". Opening song "Steve Biko (Stir It Up)" - which includes the lines "You know that I'm the rebel, throwin' out the wicked like God did the Devil" - is named after the slain South African human rights activist and political revolutionary Steve Biko. Some of the other topics on the album are police harassment and nocturnal activity ("Midnight"), religious faith ("God Lives Through"), and hip hop itself, as on the song "We Can Get Down" where Phife asks:

: How can a reverend preach, when a rev can't define : The music of our youth from 1979 : We rap about what we see, meaning reality : From people bustin' caps and like Mandela being free : Not every MC be with the negativity : We have a slew of rappers pushin' positivity

Another song, the sometimes controversial "Sucka Nigga", deals with the candid use of the word "nigga". In the song, Q-Tip notes the negative purpose of the word but subsequently emphasizes its subjective nature when he says:

: It means that we will never grow, you know the word dummy : Other niggas in the community think its crummy : But I don't, neither does the youth cause we : Em-brace adversity it goes right with the race : And being that we use it as a term of endearment : Niggas start to bug to the dome as where the fear went

The three singles for the album received memorable music videos, such as the one for second single "Electric Relaxation" which was shot in black and white, and takes place mostly in a diner. The song was the cause of an amusing mystery, as few people were certain of what is said during the hook, which is more or less mumbled out by Q-Tip (although there is now a consensus that the words are "relax yourself girl, ease that playin'"). The third single to be released was "Oh My God", the video for which showed the group in a neighborhood setting and surrounded by young fans. It also included a cameo by a typically manic Busta Rhymes. The group performed as one of a handful of rap acts at the 1994 Lollapalooza Festival, among acts such as The Smashing Pumpkins, Stereolab and The Verve.

Intermission and The Ummah

''Midnight Marauders'' remains A Tribe Called Quest's fastest-selling album; it was certified platinum on January 11, 1995, less than two years after its release (it had taken ''The Low End Theory'' about twice the amount of time to get such a certification). The album's success allowed the group a greater financial freedom and the members took a short break before the recording of their next album began. Q-Tip produced several tracks for other artists including "One Love" for Nas, "Illusions (Remix)" for Cypress Hill, and three tracks on the Mobb Deep album ''The Infamous''. He also went through a religious awakening and converted to Islam. Tragedy would strike when an improperly disposed cigarette at a house party escalated into a full-blown fire, burning down his home, a vast record collection, and many works in progress. Friends and producers like Pete Rock and Large Professor helped him building up a record collection by donating records to him.

Phife, who rapped on "Oh My God" that he owned "more condoms than TLC", made cameo appearances on that group's hugely successful album, ''Crazy Sexy Cool'', in 1994. He would also marry his fiancee and relocate to Atlanta, Georgia.

Ali Shaheed Muhammad worked on outside projects with artists such as D'Angelo (''Brown Sugar''), Shaquille O'Neal ("Where Ya At?"), and Gil Scott-Heron ("Don't Give Up"). The group contributed to ''The Show'' soundtrack in 1995, before returning the following year with their fourth album.

While on tour, Q-Tip's friend Amp Fiddler would introduce him to a young producer from Detroit named Jay Dee. The pair clicked immediately and Q-Tip took the talented newcomer under his wing, and introduced him to the rest of Tribe, who agreed to the idea of forming a production unit and having Jay Dee as member, albeit under the guise of "The Ummah" (Arabic for "the [worldwide] Muslim community"). The Ummah would now handle all the production on the rest of the group's albums, although they would credit the production crew whether a song was a team effort by the three or a solo work from one of the producers. This was also the case for remixes and outside production the three members worked on during the few years The Ummah was active.

''Beats, Rhymes and Life''

''Beats, Rhymes and Life'', the group's fourth album, was recorded during the turbulent East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry, which engulfed many rappers from both coasts and even some from in between. The group saw it fit to address these issues, a decision based partly on principle, but also probably based on the fact that, despite being from the East, they were well respected on both coasts. Cuts like "Get A Hold", and "Keep It Moving" contain references to the state of affairs, and are some of the most sober songs the group has ever recorded.

In addition to the heavier subject matter, The Ummah's production style was now a smoother (but darker) hybrid of the group's previous incarnations, where the snare possessed a much sharper crack on most tracks. Jay Dee, a big fan of the Tribe, appeared to have had a hand in re-shaping the sound, crafted in the shadow of ''The Low End Theory'', with songs like the plucky "Keep It Moving", or the disconcertingly unaccented "Wordplay". While these new beats fit the album's direction, another ingredient left many puzzled. Consequence, Q-Tip's cousin, and an aspiring rapper, was present on no less than six songs, including the second single "Stressed Out", which caused only Consequence to think he had been officially added to the lineup. This factor only magnified Phife's slightly reduced participation. After their breakup, Phife Dawg would reveal how he had begun to lose interest in recording as a part of the group by the fourth album:

The album shot straight to #1 in the charts and went gold by the end of the year; it would go platinum by 1998. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, as was the lead single, "1nce Again", which received a nomination for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. Critical reactions were largely divided but mostly positive. While some welcomed the new material, others found it to be a step below their past work. ''Rolling Stone'' called it "near-flawless", going on to say that "few hip-hop acts have so sharply captured the surreal quality that defines what it means to be African-American, a quality in which poker-faced humor and giddy tragedy play tag team with reality." ''The Source'' awarded it 4 out of 5 mics and called The Ummah "the most proficient in the rap game at using samples as instruments in themselves". Despite his apparent lack of motivation ''Spin'' thought Phife sounded "tougher and more playful than ever", while ''Melody Maker'' saw the album as "providing both their best and worst thus far", and "magnetic yet frustrating". In a 1998 farewell article in ''The Source'', Questlove, drummer for The Roots, summarized the album's partially frosty reception:

Following ''Beats, Rhymes and Life'', the group appeared on the ''Men in Black'' soundtrack with the song "Same Ol' Thing", and released, ''The Jam'', a 4-track EP which included the aforementioned song, "Mardi Gras At Midnight" (with Rah Digga) and two songs from ''Beats, Rhymes and Life'', "Get A Hold" and "Jam". 1997 also saw the first coming together of the three main Native Tongue groups since 1989, when the Jungle Brothers invited both Tribe and De La Soul to guest on "How Ya Want It We Got It", a cut from their album ''Raw Deluxe''. The Ummah continued producing for a diverse range of artists such as Janet Jackson, Keith Murray, Faith Evans, and Whitney Houston.

''The Love Movement'' and split

Prior to the unveiling of ''The Love Movement'', the group announced that it would be their last album together. Fans were surprised, as the breakdown had been kept discreet. In an interview with ''The Source'', the group cited their frustration with Jive Zomba as a significant factor in the breakup. Phife:

''The Love Movement'' was preceded by the fun-spirited "Find a Way"; a song memorable for its swirly otherworldly production and catchy staccato hook. It also received a stylish Paul Hunter-directed music video (the last video the group ever made). Musically, the somewhat somber tone of the previous album was largely absent and replaced by a familiar carefree optimism. Tracks like "Give Me", with Noreaga exemplify the group's approach for much of the album. Driven by a pulsing beat, the opening song "Start It Up" was perhaps even more minimal than anything found on ''The Low End Theory''. Likewise, "Against The World" relies on little more than crisply mixed down drums and a two note bassline. The theme of the album was firmly focused around the topic of love; love for oneself, love for another, love for mankind, love in the face of hate.

Critical reception for ''The Love Movement'' was fairly positive, although some factions viewed the album as too subtle to be thoroughly effective. ''Rolling Stone'', for example, remarked that "the mature, accomplished niceness of ''The Love Movement'' proves that the Tribe still have the skills – they're just short on thrills." The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, in 1999.

Solo ventures

Q-Tip

Under the management of Violator, Q-Tip launched a successful solo career, which saw two sizable hits ("Vivrant Thing", and "Breathe and Stop"), and the Gold-certified album ''Amplified'', released in 1999. Some saw Q-Tip's arguably radio-friendly material as pandering to the mainstream; something his former group was highly respected for avoiding during their run. The album was produced by Q-Tip and Jay Dee (as The Ummah), and DJ Scratch.

After ''Amplified'', Q-Tip changed directions and recorded 2002's ''Kamaal the Abstract'', an album which saw him in the role of singer and bandleader. Unlike his work with Tribe, or even his own solo work, ''Kamaal'' was constructed around live music, and "abstract" song concepts, all orchestrated by Q-Tip himself. Unfortunately, Arista Records refused to release the album, fearing it would be unmarketable coming from a rapper. Undeterred, Q-Tip recorded 2005's ''Open'', a slightly more accessible album, featuring contributions from André 3000, Common, and D'Angelo. Once again, the record was rejected by Arista, after which Q-Tip left the label. He subsequently signed to Motown/Universal and released the largely self-produced ''The Renaissance'' in late 2008.

Phife Dawg

Ironically, the most notable of Q-Tip's critics was Phife, who took his former partner to task on his solo album ''Ventilation: Da LP'', released in 2000. The Hi-Tek-produced lead single, "Flawless", contained the lines "Go 'head, play yourself with them ho-like hooks / sing ballads if it's all about the Maxwell look" (an allusion to Q-Tip's then afro hairstyle). ''Ventilation'' also included production by Jay Dee and Pete Rock. Q-Tip and Phife soon patched up their differences. Since then, Phife, who is diabetic, has maintained a relatively low-profile whilst recording his long delayed follow-up album, ''Songs In The Key Of Phife: Volume 1 (Cheryl's Big Son)''.

Ali Shaheed Muhammad

Teaming up with two other artists from former groups, Raphael Saadiq of Tony! Toni! Toné!, and Dawn Robinson of En Vogue, Ali Shaheed's next project was the "supergroup" Lucy Pearl. The group scored a huge hit single with "Dance Tonight", and a warm hit with "Don't Mess With My Man", and their one and only self-titled album was certified Gold a few months after its release in 2000. Following a dispute between Saadiq and Robinson, the latter left the group and was replaced by Joi, however this new incarnation would only last for the remainder of touring. Ali Shaheed then focused on developing a stable of artists, most of whom were showcased on his debut solo album ''Shaheedullah and Stereotypes'', released independently in 2004.

Reunion

The group first reunited on November 13, 2004, headlining the Rock the Bells concert held in the Angels Stadium parking lot in Anaheim, California. This was the night that Ol' Dirty Bastard died, and as such the group opened up with a 10-minute tribute set to the Wu-Tang Clan and continued a 2-hour highly energetic show.

In 2006, the group reunited and performed several sold-out concerts in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. A Tribe Called Quest was a co-headliner at the 2006 Bumbershoot festival in Seattle, but have not announced any plans to release a new album. The group is also appearing in 2K Sports' Bounce Tour promoting the ''NBA 2K7'' game and a remix of their song, "Lyrics to Go", which is included in the game. According to Phife, ATCQ plans to release an album since they owe Jive Records one more in their six album contract. The date of its release is still unconfirmed, and Phife has urged fans to hold on as the group does not wish to release an LP which might damage their reputation. Speaking about the possibility of a new album showing up soon, Phife said:

ATCQ was the headlining act in 2008 at the Rock the Bells series of concerts, and were also co-headliners on the 2010 Rock the Bells festival series, alongside Snoop Dogg and Wu-Tang Clan.

Film

The group is the subject of a 2011 documentary entitled ''Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest'', directed by Michael Rapaport.

Discography

Albums

1990: ''People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm''

1991: ''The Low End Theory''

1993: ''Midnight Marauders''

1996: ''Beats, Rhymes and Life''

1998: ''The Love Movement''

Compilations

1992: ''Revised Quest for the Seasoned Traveller''

1999: ''The Anthology''

2003: ''Hits, Rarities & Remixes''

2006: ''The Lost Tribes''

2008: ''The Best of A Tribe Called Quest

References

External links

A Tribe Called Quest - Official site

A Tribe Called Quest at Jive Records

A Tribe Called Quest at Discogs

Category:Alternative hip hop groups Category:American hip hop groups Category:East Coast hip hop groups Category:Musical groups established in 1988 Category:Native Tongues Posse

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