Look up Bloom, bloom, blooming, or blooms in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Bloom or blooming may refer to:

Science and nature[link]

• Bloom, one or more flowers on a flowering plant
• Algal bloom, a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in an aquatic system
• Bloom (bloomery) (sponge iron), a porous mass of iron and slag produced in a bloomery
• Bloom, a collective noun for a large group of jellyfish
• Bloom (casting), a semi-finished metal casting
• Bloom (shader effect), a graphics effect used in modern 3D computer games
• Bloom (test), a test to measure the strength of a gel or gelatin
• Bloom filter, a probabilistic method to find a subset of a given set
• Blooming (directed-energy weapon), an effect of laser beams and particle beams in air
• Thermal blooming, an atmospheric effect on high-energy laser beams
• Active_pixel_sensor or Charge-coupled device overload aka bloom, property of CMOS or CCD image sensors, causes charge from the potential well of one pixel to overflow
• Bloom syndrome, autosomal recessive human genetic disorder that predispose patient to a wide variety of cancer
• Epicuticular wax bloom, a whitish haze due to small crystals of wax, occurring on the surface of many fruits
• Wax bloom, an efflorescence of wax or stearic acid affecting materials such as crayons, oil pastels, and wax-based coloured pencils
• Bloom, pigment migration from wetter to drier surfaces of a watercolor painting
• Saponification bloom, a chalky white efflorescence on an old oil painting
• Bloom Energy Server, a home solid oxide fuel cell manufactured by the Bloom Energy company
• Bloom Festival, a gardening show

Places[link]

• Bloom, Kansas, United States
• Blooming, Oregon
• Bloom, Wisconsin, United States, a town
• Bloom City, Wisconsin, United States, an unincorporated community
• Bloom Township (disambiguation), multiple places in the United States:

Music[link]

• Bloom, by Billy Pilgrim, 1995
• Bloom (Audio Adrenaline album), 1996
• Bloom (Beach House album), 2012
• Bloom (Gabriel & Dresden album), 2004
• Bloom (Jeff Coffin album), 2005
• Bloom (Eric Johnson album), 2005
• Bloom (Lou Rhodes album), 2007
• Blooming (album), album by Ami Suzuki, 2010
• Bloom, album by G.NA, 2012
• Bloom (song) by Gigolo Aunts, 1991

Entertainment[link]

• Bloom (novel), a 1998 science fiction novel by Wil McCarthy
• Bloom (film), award winning Irish film
• Bloom (Winx Club), a fictional character from the Winx Club animated series
• Bloom (software), a generative music application for the iPhone and iPod Touch
• Bloom County, American comic strip by Berkeley Breathed
• Club Blooming, a football (soccer) club and academy from Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia
• The Brothers Bloom, a 2009 movie

Businesses[link]

• Bloom (store), a U.S. supermarket chain operated by Food Lion LLC
• Bloom Brothers Department Stores, a defunct chain of department stores in Pennsylvania and Maryland
• Bloom Cigar Company, a Pittsburgh cigar store
• Bloom's restaurant, England's longest-standing kosher restaurant
• Bloom Energy Server, a solid oxide fuel cell

Other uses[link]

• "Blooming", a less offensive version of the term Bloody
• Chocolate bloom, the appearance of a white, mouldy-looking film on chocolate

People bearing surname Bloom[link]

• Adam Bloom (born 1971), English comedian
• Allan Bloom (1930–1992), American philosopher and author
• Alan Bloom (plantsman) (1906–2005), English nurseryman
• Andy Bloom (born 1973), American Olympic shot putter
• Benjamin Bloom (1913–1999), American educator
• Bill Bloom American songwriter and musician (born 1948)
• Bobby Bloom (1945–1974), American singer songwriter best known as one hit wonder for "Montego Bay" in 1970
• Claire Bloom (born 1931), British actor
• David Bloom (1963–2003), NBC journalist
• Davis Bloome, fictional character in the TV series Smallville
• Harold Bloom (born 1930), American literary critic
• Harry Bloom (1913–1981), South African novelist and activist
• Howard Bloom (born 1943), American author
• Jeremy Bloom (born 1982), American athlete
• John Bloom (businessman) (born 1931), British entrepreneur
• Leopold Bloom, fictional character in James Joyce's Ulysses
• Lily Bloom, French actress
• Luka Bloom (born 1955), Irish musician
• Matt Bloom (born 1972), American wrestler
• Molly Bloom, fictional character in James Joyce's Ulysses
• Moses Bloom (1833–1893), Jewish American politician, former mayor of Iowa City
• Orlando Bloom (born 1977), English actor
• Rube Bloom (1902–1976), American composer
• Steve Bloom (born 1953), Photographer
• Ursula Bloom (1892–1984), English writer
• Verna Bloom (born 1939), American actress, best known for role in Animal House

See also[link]

• Blum (disambiguation)
• Bloombase Technologies
• Bloomberg (disambiguation)
• Bloomfield (disambiguation)
• Blumenthal (disambiguation)
• Bloomer (disambiguation)

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

Butch Vig
Butch Vig in Madison's Smart Studios recording studio in 2010, recording the Muse song 'Neutron Star Collision'
Background information
Birth name	Bryan David Vig
Also known as	Nevermind Man
Born	(1955-08-02) 2 August 1955 (age 56)
Origin	Viroqua, Wisconsin, U.S.
Genres	Rock, alternative rock, grunge
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, record producer, remixer
Instruments	Drums
Years active	1978–present
Labels	Geffen, A&E, Atlantic
Associated acts	Garbage, Firetown, Spooner

Bryan David Vig, best known as Butch Vig (born on August 2, 1955) is an American musician and record producer, best known internationally as the drummer of the Madison, Wisconsin-based alternative rock band Garbage and the producer of diamond-selling album Nevermind by Nirvana.^[1]

A native of Wisconsin, Vig had been based in Madison for much of his career, from studying at the University of Wisconsin, to performing in local bands Spooner and Fire Town, and then to setting up his own recording studio, Smart Studios, in the town.^[2] After becoming well known as a producer, he returned to performing with Garbage, who sold 17 million records over a ten-year period. Vig returned to producing full-time once Garbage was put on hiatus.

Now a resident of the Silverlake district of Los Angeles, Vig is married to his second wife, Beth Halper, a former DreamWorks A & R executive, and they have a daughter, Bo Violet.

In 2012 Butch Vig ranked number nine in NME's Top 50 Greatest Producers Ever.^[3]

Life and career[link]

Early life[link]

Butch Vig was born Bryan David Vigorson to Dr. DeVerne and Betty Vigorson, a music teacher,^[4] in Viroqua, Wisconsin.^[2] Vig has two siblings, Chris and Lisa.^[4] Vig acquired the nickname Butch as a child, due to the severe crew cut his father gave him.^[2] Vig studied piano for six years. After seeing The Who perform on The Smothers Brothers, he swapped his piano for a $60 drum kit.^[2]

Moving to Madison, Vig enrolled at the University of Wisconsin to study film direction, where he first met Steve Marker. Vig contributed several soundtrack pieces to low-budget films, including one song on Slumber Party Massacre, a Hollywood B-movie. While in Madison, Vig joined a number of garage pop bands, including Eclipse, and in 1978 formed Spooner with Duke Erikson, Dave Benton, Jeff Walker and Joel Tappero. Spooner founded their own label, Boat Records to issue their own recordings, including their 1979 debut EP, "Cruel School", and releases for around twenty local acts.^[2]

In 1984, Vig and Marker founded Smart Studios in Madison, while still performing drums in Spooner at night and driving a taxi cab during the day. When Spooner lost momentum, Vig formed a band called First Person with Marker and Phil Davis and a side-project called Fire Town featuring Davis and Erikson. Fire Town quickly became Vig's priority, and after their first album were signed to Atlantic Records. Atlantic hired producer Michael Fondelli to work with Fire Town on their second album. While the sessions did not do well, and the resulting record sank, Vig learned a lot of production techniques from the process. Vig also briefly worked with metal band Marseille, recording keyboards for their album Touch The Night.^[5] Fire Town split, and Vig reformed Spooner for a final album before Vig's production work became a full-time career for him.^[2]

Production career[link]

Vig's first high-profile production work was in 1991, when he produced The Smashing Pumpkins' Gish and Nirvana's Nevermind. Vig incorporated overdubs and vocal doubletracking, whereas Nirvana's previous album, Bleach (produced by Jack Endino) had a more "lo-fi" sound. Kurt Cobain originally refused to double-track his vocals and guitars but Vig reportedly got him to comply by saying "John Lennon double-tracked". Cobain would later criticize Vig for the album's slickness, although this might be due to Andy Wallace's mixing of the album.^[6] Cobain said that "Butch Vig...recorded the album perfectly," in a 1993 MTV interview. Billy Corgan welcomed Vig's elaborate production on The Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream. This album met with great commercial and critical reception, also breaking another indie band into the mainstream. Vig also produced two critically lauded Sonic Youth's albums, 1992's Dirty^[7] and 1994's Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star.

In 2003, Vig worked with AFI to produce their first major label album with DreamWorks, Sing the Sorrow. Vig worked with Jimmy Eat World on their sixth album, Chase This Light, released in October 2007. He is also working on soundtracks for two new movies. His first production for an English band was 2008's All or Nothing by The Subways. He also worked with Tom Gabel of Against Me! on his solo EP, Heart Burns. Shirley Manson, lead singer of Garbage, revealed in a Carson Daly interview that Vig would be producing the eighth studio album by Green Day, 2009's 21st Century Breakdown, which later won a Grammy Award in the category of Best Rock Album. Recently, Vig has been partnered in duties by his engineer and mixer Billy Bush who also worked on Garbage's albums and live tours.

Butch Vig composed and produced the soundtrack for the film The Other Side.

In 2009 Vig recorded two new tracks for the long awaited greatest hits release by the Foo Fighters, most notably the single "Wheels" and ultimately produced their April 2011 follow-up, Wasting Light.

In 2010 Vig produced the latest Muse single, "Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)," which was featured on the Twilight Saga: Eclipse soundtrack.

Garbage[link]

Vig stated that one of the reasons he started Garbage with Marker and Erikson was to drift away from the all the work he got after Nirvana - "By the time I'd done 'Nevermind,' I'd recorded -- I swear to God -- 1,000 bands that were just guitar-bass-drums. I was reading about all these other records that I was getting excited about -- like Public Enemy using a sampler in the studio -- and I just decided I wanted to do a bit of a U-turn."^[8] Afterwards, they hired Scottish singer Shirley Manson and began composing together.^[1]

Garbage released a string of increasingly successful singles in 1995–1996, including "Stupid Girl" and "Only Happy When It Rains". Their debut album, Garbage, was an unexpected smash, selling over 4 million copies and certified double platinum in the UK, United States and Australia. Garbage won the Breakthrough Artist award at the 1996 MTV Europe Music Awards.^[9] The band then spent two years working on follow-up album, Version 2.0, which topped the charts in the UK upon its 1998 release and the following year was nominated for two Grammy Awards, Album of the Year and Best Rock Album. Version 2.0 went on to match the sales of its predecessor. Garbage followed this up by performing and co-producing the theme song to the nineteenth James Bond movie The World Is Not Enough.^[10]

Despite being named one of Rolling Stone's Top 10 Albums of The Year,^[11] Garbage's 2001 third album Beautiful Garbage failed to match the commercial success achieved by its predecessors.^[12] Garbage quietly disbanded in late 2003, but regrouped to complete fourth album Bleed Like Me in 2005, peaking at a career-high #4 in the U.S.^[13] The band cut short their concert tour in support of Bleed Like Me announcing an "indefinite hiatus",^[14] emphasizing that they had not broken up, but wished to pursue personal interests.^[15] In 2006, Vig returned to producing while Manson worked on a solo album (as yet unreleased). Garbage ended their hiatus in 2007,^[16] and released greatest hits retrospective Absolute Garbage. Worldwide, the band have sold over 17 million albums.^[17] The band got back together in 2010 and began recording their new album, Not Your Kind of People, which was released internationally on May 14 2012.

Discography[link]

Production career[link]

Remix work

Butch Vig has remixed songs for the following artists: Against Me!, Ash, Beck, The Cult, Depeche Mode, EMF, Fun Lovin' Criminals, House of Pain, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Alanis Morissette, Nine Inch Nails, Michael Penn, Galexia, M.O.P, U2 as well as his own band Garbage.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Butch Vig

• Butch Vig at the Internet Movie Database
• Official website Garbage
• Butch Vig on Charlie Rose

Jamie xx
Jamie xx performing at the Classic Car Club in Shoreditch, London on 22 September 2011
Background information
Birth name	Jamie Smith
Origin	London, England
Genres	Indie pop, electronic music, post-dubstep
Occupations	Producer, remix artist, DJ
Instruments	Sampler, drums, steel drums, turntable, personal computer, percussion
Years active	2005–present
Labels	XL Recordings, Young Turks
Associated acts	The xx, Gil Scott-Heron, Drake, Noah "40" Shebib, Florence and the Machine, Adele, Rihanna
Website	www.jamiexx.com

Jamie Smith (known by the stage name Jamie xx) is an English music producer and remix artist, who gained fame both as solo act and as a member of the London-based band The xx.

Career[link]

2007 - 2009[link]

Smith's musical career began in 2007 when he joined The xx accompanying old school friends Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim, Baria Qureshi of the Elliott School in London, notable for alumni including Hot Chip, Burial and Four Tet.^[1] He first used the stage name Jamie xx in July 2009 in a promotional mix for the band's début album xx released on the FACT mix series of the FACT Magazine.^[2] The mixtape was compiled by Jamie Smith and featured amongst others four tracks credited to Jamie xx - one own production and three remixes. The xx album went on to become platinum in the UK.^[3] Afterward, Jamie Smith went on to do more remix work for artists like Florence + The Machine, Adele, Jack Peñate and Glasser.^[4]

2010- Present[link]

In late 2010, a Jamie xx remix of the song "NY Is Killing Me" from Gil Scott-Heron's last album I'm New Here aired on radio stations across the UK and Europe. The remix of "I'll Take Care Of U" followed in January 2011. Both singles drew the attention of the general public and the critics. They set the way for a 13-track remix album entitled We're New Here, produced entirely by Jamie xx and credited to "Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx". The album was released on February 21, 2011 on the XL Records label, but a full album preview could be streamed on the website of The Guardian as early as February 14.^[5] We're New Here received positive critical acclaim and was named "masterpiece in its own right" by BBC's Ele Beattie.^[6]

On June 6, 2011 the two-track self-produced single "Far Nearer"/"Beat For" was released. The song "Far Nearer" was selected Best New Track by Pitchfork Media,^[7] and the double A-side single charted at #128 in the UK singles chart.^[8] Later the same year, Smith produced the title track off Drake's second album, Take Care, which features pop singer Rihanna. In addition, Smith helped create several reworks for Radiohead's song "Bloom" which were released on a remix album entitled TKOL RMX 1234567.

Discography[link]

[edit] With The xx

Solo Work[link]

Singles[link]

Albums[link]

Remixes[link]

References[link]

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (August 2011)

Parov Stelar aka Marcus Füreder (born November 27, 1974) is a musician^[1] who lives and works in Linz, Austria. He performs with his band — the Parov Stelar Band — and as a DJ worldwide. Parov Stelar is the head of Etage Noir Recordings.^[2]

Biography[link]

After gaining experience as a DJ at nightclubs during the mid-late 1990s, Parov Stelar got involved in producing and publishing in 2000 for the first time.

After early works under the pseudonym Plasma and his real name, and also being a partner of the label Bushido Recordings, in 2004 he started producing under the pseudonym Parov Stelar. In the same year he founded his own label: Etage Noir Recordings.

His first release, for Etage Noir, "KissKiss EP" and the soon after released LP  "Rough Cuts", provided him immediate breakthrough on the international electronic music scene. His specific approach to music production, combined with a proven sense of sound aesthetics, led to massive reaction of audience and colleagues all around the world, giving him reputation as the founder of a new genre: "electro swing" ^[3]

The following albums Seven and Storm, Shine and latest the double album Coco, as well as numerous singles and remixes made Parov Stelar one of the most wanted and successful artists of his kind. Parov Stelar's tracks have been used on more than 700 compilations (for example: Hôtel Costes, Buddha Bar, Electro Swing) and have been the soundtrack for numerous TV ads, TV shows, TV series and movies. In 2012, his retro-song "Booty Swing" was featured in the US television advertising campaign entitled "Just the Right Amount of Wrong" for the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas resort and casino.^[4]

The Parov Stelar Band[link]

After starting as a solo artist and gaining initial success, in 2005 Parov Stelar decided to expand his on-stage music with a full band. This collaboration with four (later five) musicians noticeably influenced his work. Since that time, the Parov Stelar Band has increased in popularity.

Current instrumentation of the Parov Stelar Band[link]

• Max the Sax aka Markus Ecklmayr (sax)
• Jerry Di Monza (trumpet)
• Cleo Panther (vocals)
• Willie Larsson Jr. (drums)
• Michael Wittner (bass)
• Parov Stelar (programming)

Former members of the Parov Stelar Band[link]

• Beate Baumgartner (vocals)
• Gianna Charles (vocals)
• Andi Lettner (drums)
• Eva Klampfer (vocals)
• Stefan Hölzl (bass)
• Wolf Myer (drums)

DJ sets[link]

Parov Stelar's DJ sets include live performance by his band members Markus Ecklmayr (Max The Sax) (sax) and Jerry di Monza (trumpet).

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• 2001: Shadow Kingdom LP (2x12" Vinyl & CD, Bushido Recordings, as Plasma)
• 2004: Rough Cuts (CD, Etage Noir Recordings)
• 2005: Seven and Storm (CD, Etage Noir Recordings)
• 2007: Shine (CD, Etage Noir Recordings)
• 2008: Daylight (CD, Rambling Records)
• 2009: That Swing - Best Of (CD, Etage Noir Recordings)
• 2009: Coco (CD, Etage Noir Recordings)
• 2012: The Princess (CD, Etage Noir Recordings)

EPs[link]

• 2001: Shadow Kingdom EP (12" Vinyl, Bushido Recordings, as Plasma)
• 2002: Lo Tech Trash (12" Vinyl, Bushido Recordings, as Marcus Füreder)
• 2004: KissKiss (12" Vinyl, Etage Noir Recordings)
• 2004: Move On! (12" Vinyl, Etage Noir Recordings)
• 2004: Wanna get (12" Vinyl, Etage Noir Recordings)
• 2004: Primavera (12" Vinyl, Auris Recordings)
• 2005: Music I believe in (12" Vinyl, ~Temp Records, as Marcus Füreder)
• 2005: A Night In Torino (12" Vinyl, Etage Noir Recordings)
• 2005: Spygame (12" Vinyl, Etage Noir Recordings)
• 2006: Parov Stelar EP (12" Vinyl, Big Sur)
• 2006: Charleston Butterfly (12" Vinyl, Etage Noir Recordings)
• 2007: Jet Set EP (12" Vinyl, Etage Noir Special)
• 2007: Sugar (12" Vinyl, Etage Noir Recordings)
• 2008: The Flame Of Fame (12" Vinyl, Etage Noir Recordings)
• 2008: Libella Swing (12" Vinyl, Etage Noir Recordings)
• 2009: Coco EP (12" Vinyl, Etage Noir Recordings)
• 2010: The Phantom EP (12" Vinyl, Etage Noir Recordings)
• 2010: The Paris Swingbox EP (Etage Noir Recordings)
• 2011: La Fête EP (12" Vinyl, Etage Noir Recordings)
• 2012: Jimmy's Gang EP (Etage Noir Recordings)

Singles[link]

• 2000: "Synthetica/Stompin' Ground" (12" Vinyl, Bushido Recordings, as Marcus Füreder)
• 2001: "Guerrilla" (12" Vinyl, Bushido Recordings, as Marcus Füreder)
• 2004: "Get Up On Your Feet" (12" Vinyl, Sunshine Enterprises)
• 2005: "Faith" (Maxi-CD, Etage Noir Recordings)
• 2007: "Rock For / Love" (12" Vinyl, Etage Noir Recordings)
• 2007: "Shine" (Maxi-CD, Etage Noir Recordings)

Video clips[link]

• Seven (from the album Seven and Storm)
• Love (from the album Shine)
• Shine (from the album Shine)
• Matilda
• Coco
• Let's Roll
• The Phantom
• Jimmy´s Gang (from the album The Princess)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Parov Stelar at Discogs
• BBC music's review of his album Shine

Orlando Bloom
Bloom at the Venice Film Festival, 4 September 2005
Born	Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Bloom (1977-01-13) 13 January 1977 (age 35) Canterbury, Kent, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1994–present
Spouse	Miranda Kerr (2010–present)
Children	1

Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Bloom (born 13 January 1977) is an English actor. He had his break-through roles in 2001 as the elf-prince Legolas in The Lord of the Rings^[1] and in 2003 as blacksmith Will Turner in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series. He subsequently established himself as a lead in Hollywood films, including Elizabethtown and Kingdom of Heaven. He appeared in the ensemble films New York, I Love You, Sympathy for Delicious, and Main Street. Bloom made his professional stage debut in West End's In Celebration at the Duke of York's Theatre, St. Martin's Lane, which ended its run on 15 September 2007. On 12 October 2009, Bloom was named a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.

Early life[link]

Orlando Bloom was born in Canterbury, Kent, England, and has one sister, Samantha Bloom, who was born in 1975.

His mother, Sonia Constance Josephine (née Copeland), was born in the British section of Kolkata, India, the daughter of Betty Constance Josephine Walker and Francis John Copeland, who was a physician and surgeon. Through her, Bloom is a cousin of photographer Sebastian Copeland.^[2] Bloom's maternal grandmother's family lived in Tasmania, Australia, Japan, and India, and were of English descent, some of them having originally come from Kent.^[3] During his childhood, Bloom was told that his father was his mother's husband, Jewish South African-born anti-Apartheid novelist Harry Saul Bloom; however, when he was thirteen (nine years after Harry's death), Bloom's mother revealed to him that his biological father was actually Colin Stone, his mother's partner and family friend.^[3][4][5] Stone, the principal of the Concorde International language school,^[6] was made Orlando Bloom's legal guardian after Harry Bloom's death.^[5] Bloom is named after the 16th century composer Orlando Gibbons.^{[citation needed]}

Bloom was raised in the Church of England.^[7] As a child, he managed to get through The King's School Canterbury and St Edmund's School in Canterbury despite his dyslexia.^[5][8] He was encouraged by his mother to take art and drama classes.^[5] In 1993, he moved to London to follow a two year A Level course in Drama, Photography and Sculpture at Fine Arts College, Hampstead. He then joined the National Isa Youth Theatre, spending two seasons there and earning a scholarship to train at the British American Drama Academy.^[9] Bloom began acting professionally with television roles in episodes of Casualty and Midsomer Murders,^[5] and subsequently made his film debut in Wilde (1997), opposite Stephen Fry, before entering the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where he studied acting.

Career[link]

Bloom at the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest London premiere, July 2006

Bloom's first appearance on the screen was in a small part, as a rent boy, in the 1997 film Wilde. Two days after graduating from Guildhall in 1999,^[10] he was cast in his first major role, playing Legolas in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001–2003).^[9] He had originally auditioned for the part of Faramir, who does not appear until the second movie, but the director, Peter Jackson, cast him as Legolas instead. While shooting a scene, he broke a rib after falling off a horse, but eventually recovered and continued shooting.^[11] At the same time, Bloom also played a brief role in the war film Black Hawk Down as PFC. Todd Blackburn. In 2002, he was chosen as one of the Teen People "25 Hottest Stars Under 25" and was named People's hottest Hollywood bachelor in the magazine's 2004 list.^[9] All members of the cast of the Rings films were nominated for Best Ensemble Acting at the Screen Actors Guild Awards for three years in a row, finally winning in 2003 for the third film, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Bloom has also won other awards, including European Film Awards, Hollywood Festival Award, Empire Awards and Teen Choice Awards, and has been nominated for many others. Most of Bloom's box office successes have been as part of an ensemble cast.^[1]

Bloom next starred opposite Keira Knightley and Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which was a blockbuster hit during the summer of 2003. After the success of Pirates, Bloom next took to the screen as Paris, the man who effectively started the Trojan War, in the 2004 Spring blockbuster, Troy opposite Brad Pitt, Eric Bana and Peter O'Toole. He subsequently played the lead roles in Kingdom of Heaven and Elizabethtown (both 2005). In 2006, Bloom starred in sequel Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and in the independently made Haven, of which he was also executive producer. In the same year he was one of the guest stars in the sitcom Extras, in which he portrayed an exaggeratedly arrogant, narcissistic version of himself who had a great loathing for Johnny Depp (his co-star in Pirates of the Caribbean); Bloom pushed for Extras to go further by making his part unlikeable, and contributed to the gag about him admiring Depp out of sheer jealously, that Depp was far more talented than he was, not to mention rated higher than him on the 'top hottest' charts.^[12] Also in 2006, Bloom was the most searched male on Google News.^[5] As of May 2007, Bloom has appeared in four of the top 15 highest grossing films of all time.^[10]

Bloom at the location filming of The Three Musketeers in Würzburg, Germany, 2010

Bloom then again portrayed Will Turner in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, released on 24 May 2007. Bloom, who had intended to become a stage actor after graduating from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, had stated that he would to like to leave films for a time and instead appear in stage roles,^[9] and is "avidly looking for the right sort of material that [he] can do something with"^[13] and go "back to basics".^[14] During the summer of 2007, he appeared in a London revival of In Celebration, a play by David Storey.^[14][15] His character was one of three brothers returning home for their parents' 40th wedding anniversary.^[16] On 24 August 2007, he made his first ever TV commercial appearance on late-night Japanese TV, promoting the Uno brand of cosmetics maker Shiseido. A "one night only", 2-minute version of the Sci-Fi themed commercial kicked off the product's marketing campaign.^[17] In 2008 he signed on to play a small role in the British film An Education^[18] but dropped out to take the lead in Johnny To's film Red Circle.^[19] Also in 2009, he was one of many stars to appear in New York, I Love You, which contained twelve short films in one. His most recent film role is in The Three Musketeers opposite Milla Jovovich, Logan Lerman, Matthew Macfadyen, Ray Stevenson, Luke Evans, Juno Temple and Christoph Waltz, released in 2011.

Bloom will reprise his role as Legolas in The Hobbit, Peter Jackson's two-part prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy.^[20]

Personal life[link]

Bloom in 2008

Relationships[link]

Bloom met American actress Kate Bosworth outside a coffee shop in 2002, where he was introduced to her by a mutual friend. He met her again at the premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers later that year. The two had an "on-and-off relationship"^[21] from 2002 until splitting up in September 2006.^[22][23]

In late 2007, Bloom began dating Australian model Miranda Kerr.^[24] The couple's engagement was announced on 21 June 2010.^[25] Kerr released a statement on 22 July 2010 announcing that she and Bloom had married in "an intimate ceremony."^[26] On 19 August 2010, Kerr announced that she was four months pregnant with the couple's first baby.^[27] Kerr gave birth to a son, Flynn Christopher Blanchard Copeland Bloom, on 6 January 2011 in Los Angeles.^[28][29][30]

Other interests[link]

Bloom has said that he tries "not to exclude [himself] from real life as much as possible".^[5] He is a Manchester United fan and lives in London.^[31] During filming in Morocco for Kingdom of Heaven, Bloom rescued and adopted a dog, Sidi (a black Saluki mix with a white mark on his chest).^[32] Bloom is a practising Buddhist.^[10] In 2004, he became a full member of Soka Gakkai International, a lay Buddhist association affiliated with the teachings of Nichiren.^[33][34] Bloom has also been a part of Global Green, an environmental company, since the early 2000s.^[1] As part of his environmental involvement, he has renovated his London home to use solar panels, incorporate recycled materials, and utilise energy efficient lightbulbs.^[1][5] Bloom has been approached by UNICEF to act as an international ambassador.^[1]

Bloom has a tattoo of the English word "nine" on his right wrist, written in letters of the fictional Tengwar Elvish script, a reference to his involvement in the Lord of the Rings and the fact that his character was one of the nine members of the Fellowship of the Ring. The other actors of "The Fellowship" (Sean Astin, Sean Bean, Billy Boyd, Ian McKellen, Dominic Monaghan, Viggo Mortensen, and Elijah Wood) got the same tattoo with the exception of John Rhys-Davies whose stunt double got the tattoo instead.^[35] Bloom also has a tattoo of a sun on his lower, left abdomen, which he got at the age of 15 just before moving to London.

Bloom has sustained several injuries: he broke his left arm and cracked his skull three times, broke his nose while playing rugby union, broke his right leg skiing in Switzerland, broke his left leg in a motorbike crash, broke his right wrist while snowboarding.^[10] He also broke his back when he slipped trying to reach a roof terrace of a friend's house and fell three floors.^[36]

On 12 February 2009, Bloom actively participated in the 'Australia Unites' fundraiser to raise support for the victims of the Australian bushfires on 7 February 2009.^[37]

On 13 July 2009, four hooded teenagers broke into the Hollywood Hills home of Orlando Bloom and stole nearly half a million dollars worth of possessions. The burglars, dubbed the "Bling Ring", targeted the homes of young celebrities. Most of Bloom's stolen items have been retrieved.^[38]

On 12 October 2009, Bloom was named a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. He has been involved in the organisation since 2007 and has visited schools and villages in Nepal in support of sanitation and education progammes.^[39]

On 15 November 2008, Bloom participated in a test drive in Moscow celebrating the 60th anniversary of Land Rover.^[40]

Accolades[link]

On 13 July 2010, Bloom was presented with an Honorary Degree from the University of Kent at Canterbury Cathedral.^[41]

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]