A kasbah (Arabic: "القصبة") or Qassabah is a type of medina, Islamic city, or fortress (citadel).

It was a place for the local leader to live and as a defense when the city was under attack. A kasbah has high walls which usually have no windows. Sometimes, they were built on the top of hill to make them easier to defend. Some of them were also placed near the entrance of harbors.

Having a kasbah built was a sign of wealth of some families in the city. Almost all cities had their kasbah, this building being something necessary for the city to survive. When colonization started in 1830, in northern Algeria, there were a great number of kasbahs that lasted for more than 100 years.

The word kasbah may also be used to describe the old part of a city, in which case it has the same meaning as a medina quarter. The Spanish word alcazaba is a cognate naming the equivalent building in Andalusia or Moorish Spain. In Portuguese, it derived into the word alcáçova. In Turkish the word kasaba refers to a settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city.

See also

Bab Ksiba

Kasbah of the Udayas, in Rabat, Morocco

Casbah in Algiers, Algeria

Battle of Port Lyautey

Alcazaba

External links

Facebook Group on the Kasbah

Category:Maghreb Category:Islamic architecture Category:Medieval defences

ar:القصبات المغاربية cs:Kasba de:Kasbah el:Κάσμπαχ eo:Kasbaho fr:Casbah hr:Kazba it:Qasba he:קסבה hu:Kasbah nl:Kasba no:Kasbah pl:Kasba sk:Kasba sr:Казба sv:Kasbah uk:Казба

name	Lindsay Lohan
background	solo_singer
birth date	July 02, 1986
birth place	New York City
genre	Pop rock
occupation	Actress, singer, fashion designer, model
years active	1989–present
label	Casablanca, Universal Motown
website	}}

Lindsay Lohan (; born July 2, 1986) is an American actress, pop singer and model. She began her career as a child fashion model before making her motion picture debut in Disney's 1998 remake of The Parent Trap at the age of 11. Lohan gained further fame between 2003 and 2005 with leading roles in the films Freaky Friday, Mean Girls and Herbie: Fully Loaded, subsequently appearing in independent films including Robert Altman's A Prairie Home Companion and Emilio Estevez's Bobby.

Her career was interrupted in 2007 as two driving under the influence (DUI) incidents and three visits to rehabilitation facilities led to the loss of several movie deals. Resuming her career, she guest starred in the TV series Ugly Betty in 2008, starred in the 2009 comedy Labor Pains, and appeared in Robert Rodriguez's Machete in 2010. Lohan launched a second career in pop music in 2004 with the album Speak and followed up with A Little More Personal (Raw) in 2005. She has attracted significant publicity, particularly surrounding her personal life.

Life and career

Early life and education

Lohan was born on July 2, 1986, in New York City and grew up in Merrick and Cold Spring Harbor on Long Island, New York. She is the eldest child of Donata "Dina" (née Sullivan) and Michael Lohan. Lindsay has three younger siblings, all of whom have been models or actors: Michael Jr. (who appeared with Lindsay in The Parent Trap), Aliana ("Ali"), and Dakota ("Cody"), the youngest Lohan child. Lohan is of Irish and Italian heritage and was raised as a Catholic. Her maternal family were "well known Irish Catholic stalwarts" and her great-grandfather, John L. Sullivan, was a co-founder of the Pro-life Party in Long Island. Lohan attended Cold Spring Harbor High School, where she did well in science and mathematics until grade 11 when she started homeschooling.

Lohan's parents have a turbulent history. They married in 1985, separated when she was three, and later reunited. They separated again in 2005 and finalized their divorce in 2007. Her father, Michael, is a former Wall Street trader who has been in trouble with the law on several occasions, while her mother, Dina, is a former singer and dancer.

1989–2002: Early career and The Parent Trap

Lohan began her career as a child model with Ford Models at the age of three. She modeled for Calvin Klein Kids and Abercrombie kids, and appeared in over 100 television commercials, including those for Pizza Hut and Wendy's, as well as a Jell-O spot with Bill Cosby. By the age of 10, when Lohan played Alexandra "Alli" Fowler in the series Another World, Soap Opera Magazine said she was already considered a show-business veteran.

Lohan remained in the role for a year, before leaving to star in Disney's 1998 family comedy The Parent Trap, a remake of the 1961 movie. She played dual roles of estranged twins who try to reunite their long-divorced parents, played by Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson. The film earned $92 million worldwide, and critic Kenneth Turan called Lohan "the soul of this film as much as Hayley Mills was of the original", going on to say that "she is more adept than her predecessor at creating two distinct personalities". The film won Lohan a Young Artist Award for best performance in a feature film as well as a three-film contract with Disney.

At the age of 14, Lohan played Bette Midler's daughter in the pilot episode of the short-lived series, Bette, but resigned her role when the production moved from New York to Los Angeles. She also starred in two Disney television movies: Life-Size opposite Tyra Banks in 2000, and Get a Clue in 2002.

2003–04: Freaky Friday, Mean Girls and Speak

Lohan starred as Anna Coleman alongside Jamie Lee Curtis in the 2003 family comedy Freaky Friday. At Lohan's own initiative, her character was rewritten and changed from a Goth style to be more relatable. Critic Roger Ebert wrote that Lohan "has that Jodie Foster sort of seriousness and intent focus beneath her teenage persona". Freaky Friday earned Lohan the award for Breakthrough Performance at the 2004 MTV Movie Awards and, as of 2010, it remains her most commercially successful film, earning $160 million worldwide as well as an 88% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Aiming to become a triple threat—actor, singer and dancer, similar to Ann-Margret and Marilyn Monroe—Lohan began showcasing her singing through her acting. For the Freaky Friday soundtrack, she sang the closing theme, "Ultimate", as well as recording four songs for the Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen soundtrack. Producer Emilio Estefan, Jr. signed Lohan to a five-album production deal in 2002. Two years later, Lohan signed a recording contract with Casablanca Records, headed by Tommy Mottola.

In 2004, Lohan starred in two lead roles. The first, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen—Lohan's first role in a film that was not a remake—earned a domestic box office total of $29 million, with Brandon Gray of Box Office Mojo commenting that it was "well above expectations as it was strictly for young girls". The film overall, however, did not meet with critical acclaim. Robert K. Elder of Metromix wrote that, "though still a promising star, Lohan will have to do a little penance before she's forgiven for Confessions".

The teen comedy Mean Girls was Lohan's first movie independent of Disney. The film was a critical and commercial success, grossing $129 million worldwide and, according to Brandon Gray, "cementing her status as the new teen movie queen", while Steve Rhodes wrote that "Lohan dazzles us once more. The smartly written script is a perfect match for her intelligent brand of comedy." Lohan received four awards at the 2004 Teen Choice Awards for Freaky Friday and Mean Girls, including Breakout Movie Star. Mean Girls also earned her two awards at the 2005 MTV Movie Awards, Best Female Performance and Best On-Screen Team along with several other cast members.

Lohan, then 17, became the youngest-ever host of the MTV Movie Awards in 2004. Following Mean Girls, which was scripted by Tina Fey and featured several alumni of Saturday Night Live, Lohan hosted the show three times between 2004 and 2006, as well as hosting the 2006 World Music Awards.

Speak, Lohan's debut album, was released in December 2004, peaking at number four on the Billboard 200 and earning Platinum certification by early 2005. Lohan cowrote six of the twelve songs on the album. The album was praised by Linda McGee of RTÉ, who awarded it 4 out of 5 stars and commented that "Speak opens with all the raw emotion and teenage angst that you'd expect from an artist of Lohan's age" and that, "while her vocals are not sensational, their gritty edge keeps Lohan more than afloat throughout this album" as well as comparing the album to the early music of Avril Lavigne. Allmusic, however, awarded it 2 out of 5 stars and claimed the album "feels more like a byproduct of an overdriven, overamplified celebrity culture than an actual album". Though primarily a pop album, Speak was introduced with the single "Rumors". Described by Rolling Stone as "a bass-heavy, angry club anthem", "Rumors" details Lohan's complaints with the paparazzi and eventually earned a Gold certification in the United States.

While shooting Herbie: Fully Loaded in 2004, Lohan was hospitalized with a kidney infection brought on by stress in her personal life and of recording her first album while the film was in production, prompting Vanity Fair to label it Lohan's "first disastrous shoot". The magazine also described how Lohan terminated the promotional tour and was de-emphasized on the movie poster due to "un-Disney-like behavior". Lohan began dating actor Wilmer Valderrama in 2004, guest-starring in an episode of That '70s Show, of which Valderrama was a regular. According to Vanity Fair, the breakup with Valderrama contributed to Lohan's issues during the shooting of Herbie: Fully Loaded.

With Mean Girls, Lohan's public profile was raised significantly and paparazzi began following her. She spent several years living out of hotels in Los Angeles, of which two years were spent at Chateau Marmont. In late 2007, after settling down in more permanent residence, she explained that she spent so much time in hotels because she "didn't want to be alone" but that "it wasn't a way of life ... not very consistent." Lohan has had a series of car accidents that have been widely reported, with minor crashes in August 2004, October 2005, and November 2006, when Lohan suffered minor injuries because a paparazzo who was following her for a photograph hit her car. Police called the crash intentional, but prosecutors said there was not enough evidence to file criminal charges.

2005: Herbie: Fully Loaded and A Little More Personal (Raw)

Lohan returned to Disney in 2005 for Herbie: Fully Loaded, the fifth film in the series with the anthropomorphic car Herbie. Fully Loaded earned $144 million worldwide and received mixed reviews. Stephen Holden of The New York Times called Lohan "a genuine star who ... seems completely at home on the screen", while James Berardinelli wrote that, "as bright a starlet as she may be, Lohan ends up playing second fiddle to the car." In 2005, Lohan became the first person to have a My Scene celebrity doll released by Mattel. She also voiced herself in the animated direct-to-DVD film My Scene Goes Hollywood, based on the series of dolls.

Lohan's second album, A Little More Personal (Raw), was released in December 2005, debuting at number 20 on the Billboard 200 chart, falling under the top 100 within six weeks. Lohan cowrote six of the twelve songs on the album. Slant Magazine called the album "contrived ... for all the so-called weighty subject matter, there's not much meat on these bones." The album was certified Gold in early 2006. The music video for the album's first single, "Confessions of a Broken Heart (Daughter to Father)", was directed by Lohan and featured the acting debut of her sister, Ali Lohan. The video was a dramatization of the pain Lohan says her family has suffered at the hands of her father. It was Lohan's first song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 57.

Lohan's parents legally separated in December 2005 and finalized their divorce in 2007. Lohan spoke in 2007 about her childhood: "I feel like a second parent in the sense that I helped raise my family...I was put between my mother and father a lot. Well, I would put myself between them to try and keep the peace, and I felt good doing that." Despite the conflicts, Lohan calls herself "a family girl" and has spoken very fondly of her family, including her father. However, in 2007 and again in 2008 she stated that she was no longer in contact with him, describing his unpredictable behavior as hard to deal with. In November 2009, her father released recordings of private phone calls with and about Lohan to the media. She commented on Twitter: "I haven't had a real relationship w/Michael Sr. in years."

Lohan's next widely released film, the romantic comedy Just My Luck, opened in May 2006 and, according to Variety, earned Lohan over $7 million. The opening weekend box office takings of $5.7 million "broke lead actress Lindsay Lohan's winning streak" according to Brandon Gray. The film received poor reviews and earned Lohan her first Golden Raspberry nomination for worst actress.

2006–07: Independent movies and career interruptions

Following Just My Luck, Lohan focused on smaller roles in more mature, independent movies. Robert Altman's ensemble comedy A Prairie Home Companion, in which Lohan co-stars with Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin, had a limited release in June 2006. Peter Travers wrote for Rolling Stone that "Lohan rises to the occasion, delivering a rock-the-house version of 'Frankie and Johnny'". Co-star Streep said of Lohan's acting: "She's in command of the art form" and "completely, visibly living in front of the camera". The Emilio Estevez drama Bobby was released in theaters in November 2006. Lohan received favorable comments for her performance, particularly a scene opposite Sharon Stone. As part of the Bobby ensemble cast, Lohan was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award and won an award for Ensemble Acting at the Hollywood Film Festival where she also won a Breakout Award for her work in 2006. Lohan's next appearance was in Chapter 27 as a John Lennon fan who befriends Mark David Chapman (Jared Leto) on the day he murders Lennon. Filming finished in early 2006, but was not released until March 2008 due to difficulties in finding a distributor. In May 2007, the drama Georgia Rule, in which Lohan stars alongside Felicity Huffman and Jane Fonda, was released. Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly wrote that "Lohan hits a true note of spiteful princess narcissism". During filming in 2006, Lohan was hospitalized, her representative saying "she was overheated and dehydrated". At the time Lohan was going through a breakup with restaurant owner Harry Morton. This contributed to her problems on the set according to Allure. In a letter that was made public, studio executive James G. Robinson called Lohan "irresponsible and unprofessional". He mentioned "various late arrivals and absences from the set" and that "we are well aware that your ongoing all night heavy partying is the real reason for your so-called 'exhaustion'." Co-star Fonda later commented that "when she showed up on the set, she was always great."

In 2006, Lohan attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Lohan, who has suffered from asthma since the age of two, is also a smoker. In early January 2007, production on the film I Know Who Killed Me was put on hold when Lohan underwent appendix surgery. Later in the month, Lohan admitted herself to the Wonderland Center rehabilitation facility. Lohan checked out on February 16, 2007 after completing a 30-day stay. During the stay she continued shooting the film, returning to the facility at night. Shortly thereafter, Lohan withdrew from a film adaptation of Oscar Wilde's A Woman of No Importance, her publicist stating that Lohan needed to "focus on getting better". Lohan was replaced in The Edge of Love in April 2007, shortly before filming was to begin, with the director citing "insurance reasons" and Lohan later explaining that she "was going through a really bad time then." In May 2007, Lohan first dated British TV personality Calum Best.

Lohan was then cast in the film Poor Things. On May 26, four days before production was set to start, she was arrested for DUI and subsequently re-entered rehab. The film's producers initially voiced support and production was put on hold. Lohan had lost control of her car and run the vehicle up a curb. Beverly Hills police also found what they preliminarily identified as a "usable" amount of cocaine in her car. After receiving treatment for minor injuries, Lohan was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence of alcohol. She subsequently entered the Promises Treatment Center rehabilitation facility, where she stayed for 45 days. Upon her release to outpatient care, Lohan was voluntarily fitted with a SCRAM bracelet to monitor her sobriety.

On July 24, 2007, three weeks before filming was scheduled to resume on Poor Things, Lohan was arrested for a second DUI and again returned to rehabilitation. Lohan refused a field sobriety test in Santa Monica and was taken to a police station where her blood alcohol level was found to be above the legal limit. While conducting a search, the police found a small amount of cocaine in her pocket. Lohan was booked on a felony charge of possession of cocaine and misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license. In August 2007, Lohan entered Cirque Lodge Treatment Center in Sundance, Utah for a third stint at rehabilitation, staying until discharge on October 5, 2007. Ultimately, Hollywood Reporter said, she "fell out of" the Poor Things production. Later in 2007, Lohan dated then snowboarder Riley Giles, whom she met during rehab.

In the wake of her second DUI arrest, Lohan withdrew from a scheduled appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in which she had been due to promote I Know Who Killed Me, a low-budget thriller-mystery in which she stars as a stripper with a dual personality. The film premiered to what Entertainment Weekly called "an abysmal $3.5 million". It earned Lohan a dual Razzie nomination for Worst Actress, with Lohan coming first and second, tying with herself.

Hollywood executives and industry insiders commented that it would be difficult for Lohan to find employment until she could prove that she was sober and reliable, citing possible issues with securing insurance. Robinson, the producer who previously criticized Lohan's work ethic on Georgia Rule, said that he would work with her again if she got the proper medical care, and went on to describe her as "one of the most talented young women in the movie business today."

On August 23, 2007, Lohan pleaded guilty to misdemeanor cocaine use and driving under the influence and was sentenced to one day imprisonment and 10 days' community service. She was also ordered to pay fines and complete an alcohol education program, and was given three years probation. Lohan released a statement in which she said "it is clear to me that my life has become completely unmanageable because I am addicted to alcohol and drugs". On November 15, 2007, Lohan served 84 minutes in jail. A sheriff spokesman cited overcrowding and the nonviolent nature of the crime as reasons for the reduced sentence. The probation was extended by an additional year in October 2009, following several instances in which Lohan failed to attend the court-ordered substance abuse treatment classes.

Following a switch to Universal Motown, Lohan began working on a third album, tentatively titled Spirit in the Dark, in late 2007 and released "Bossy" in May 2008. In November 2008, Lohan stated that work on the new album had stalled and that she wanted to avoid the stress of working on movies and music at the same time. In February 2010, Ne-Yo, with whom Lohan had been collaborating, stated in an interview, "We were doing some stuff and then it just fell off and hasn't got back on. I'm not gonna hold my breath."

2008–09: Television appearances and fashion

In May 2008, Lohan made her first screen appearance since I Know Who Killed Me, on ABC's television series Ugly Betty. She guest starred in four episodes, spanning seasons two and three in 2008, as Kimmie Keegan, an old schoolmate of the protagonist Betty Suarez. Lohan made a cameo appearance in the drug themed music video for the May 2008 N*E*R*D song "Everyone Nose". Lohan has featured in various men's magazines. She was voted No.10 on the list of "100 Sexiest Women" by readers of FHM in 2005, No.13 in 2006, No.30 in 2007, and No.41 in 2008, while Maxim placed her third on its "Hot 100" list in 2006 and first in 2007. In a poll by The Daily Mirror in February 2010, Lohan was voted tenth on a list of "sexiest redheads ever". Lohan has been the face of Jill Stuart, Miu Miu, and Dooney & Bourke, as well as the 2008 Visa Swap British fashion campaign as well as being the face of Italian clothing company Fornarina for its Spring/Summer 2009 campaign. thumb|Lohan named her clothing collection [[6126 Collection|6126 after the birthdate of Marilyn Monroe (pictured) whom Lohan greatly admires]] Lohan has a long-lasting fascination with Marilyn Monroe going back to when she saw Niagara during The Parent Trap shoot. In the 2008 Spring Fashion edition of New York magazine, Lohan re-created Monroe's final photo shoot, known as The Last Sitting, including nudity, saying that the photo shoot was "an honor". The New York Times critic Ginia Bellafante found it disturbing, saying "the pictures ask viewers to engage in a kind of mock necrophilia. ... At 21 [Lohan] seems even older than Monroe, who was 36 in the originals ... [and] the photographs bear none of Monroe's fragility". In 2008, Lohan launched a clothes line, whose name 6126 was designed to represent Monroe's birth date (June 1, 1926). The line started with leggings, before expanding to a full collection, covering 280 pieces as of April 2010. In April 2009, Lohan released a self-tanning spray under the brand name Sevin Nyne in collaboration with Sephora. In September 2009, Lohan became an artistic adviser for the French fashion house Emanuel Ungaro; a collection by designer Estrella Archs with Lohan as adviser was presented in October, receiving a "disastrous" reception, according to Entertainment Weekly and New York. Lohan left the company in March 2010.

During the 2008 US presidential campaign, Lohan offered her services to Barack Obama's election effort, including hosting events aimed at young voters; but her offer was declined. An unnamed source within the Obama campaign told the Chicago Sun-Times that Lohan was "not exactly the kind of high-profile star who would be a positive for us." She nonetheless posted MySpace blogs with her opinions on the election, urging voters to support Obama, criticizing media coverage of vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, and describing Palin as homophobic, anti-abortion and anti-environmentalist. Lohan had previously expressed an interest in going to Iraq, during the Iraq War in 2006, on a USO tour with Hillary Clinton. Back in 2004, Lohan stated that she did not like to talk about politics in order to avoid alienating any part of her fanbase.

Lohan dated DJ Samantha Ronson in 2008 and 2009. Lohan co-hosted club events with Ronson and accompanied her when she was DJ-ing. Speaking about her sexual orientation, Lohan has said she is not a lesbian. When asked if she is bisexual, she responded "Maybe. Yeah", adding "I don't want to classify myself." In April 2009, following her breakup with Ronson, Lohan appeared in a skit on the comedy website Funny or Die. The self-deprecating video is a spoof of the personal ads on dating website eHarmony. It was viewed 2.7 million times in the first week and received favorable comments from the media.

In the 2009 comedy Labor Pains, Lohan plays a woman who pretends to be pregnant. During the shoot, Lohan's manager worked with the paparazzi to encourage the media to show her working, as opposed to partying. It was originally planned for a theatrical release, but instead appeared as a TV movie on the ABC Family cable channel in July 2009, "a setback for the star" according to Variety. The premiere received 2.1 million viewers, "better-than-average" for the channel according to E! Online. Joanna Weiss of The Boston Globe commented that Lohan "looks to be coasting through a part that requires little effort, anyway". Alessandra Stanley of the New York Times said "this is not a triumphant return of a prodigal child star. ... [Labor Pains] never shakes free of the heavy baggage Ms. Lohan brings to the role".

Lohan was a guest judge on US TV style contest Project Runway sixth season premiere episode, which aired in August 2009.

Also in August 2009, Lohan's home was burglarized by The Bling Ring, a group of fashion-motivated burglars whose ringleader considered Lohan to be their ultimate conquest. Video surveillance of the burglary recorded at Lohan's home played a large role in breaking the case, which ultimately led to the arrests of the group's members.

2010–present

In the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake, Lohan gave fund-raising assistance to the British Red Cross in March 2010 to provide aid for the country. The same month, Lohan commenced legal proceedings in which she sought $100 million from financial services company E-Trade for a television advertisement that Lohan claimed invoked her likeness without her permission. On September 21, 2010, the parties announced they had reached a settlement in the case, the terms of which are confidential. She appeared on British comedy chat show Alan Carr: Chatty Man on March 11, 2010, during which she spoke about her fashion work and her fascination with Marilyn Monroe, and refused to answer questions from host Alan Carr about her sexuality.

Lohan narrated and presented the BBC Three documentary Lindsay Lohan's Indian Journey about human trafficking in India. The program was filmed during a week in India in December 2009 and aired in April 2010. An Indian charity group critiziced Lohan for a Twitter post where she appeared to take credit for one of their raids, but the BBC said it was a misinterpretation. A reviewer for The Times said that rather than highlight trafficking "the spotlight was effectively turned on Lohan and under it she wilted." A review in The Independent found it "very compelling" and said that the inclusion of Lohan was "definitely not a terrible choice. Just a very, very odd one." Lohan said the experience was "truly humbling" and "I hope my presence in India will bring awareness to the really important issues raised in making this film."

In April 2010 Lohan was cast as adult-film performer Linda Lovelace, star of Deep Throat, in the film Inferno. In November, while Lohan was in court mandated rehab, the offer was withdrawn with one producer saying it was impossible to insure her. The co-owner of Dina Lohan's production company said that Lohan had made the decision to leave the movie: "She was definitely not fired." He also said that she is "100 percent insurable." Lohan appears in one sketch in the movie Underground Comedy 2010 . She is dressed up as Marilyn Monroe, while still visibly wearing a SCRAM bracelet, and shoots at paparazzi photographers. As of September 2010, the movie was still seeking a distributor.

In May 2010, Lohan did not appear for a scheduled DUI progress report hearing. The judge issued a bench warrant for Lohan's arrest, but rescinded the warrant after Lohan's representatives posted bail. Lohan's lawyer said her passport was stolen while she attended the Cannes Film Festival in France. At a rescheduled hearing on May 24, 2010 Lohan was ordered to attend weekly alcohol education classes, wear an alcohol-monitoring bracelet, refrain from drinking alcohol, and undergo random weekly drug tests to remain free on bail.

In June 2010, Lohan made an appearance on the Bravo television series Double Exposure. She also gave an interview to The Sydney Morning Herald that month, telling the paper "I'm still young and I'm still learning but that doesn't mean that what they say is true, that I'm getting messed up and all this crazy stuff and that I'm constantly partying or whatever."

At a July 6 probation revocation hearing, the judge determined that Lohan had violated the terms of her probation and sentenced her to 90 days in jail, starting July 20; in addition, the judge ordered Lohan to check into an inpatient rehab program for three months after her release from jail. On July 20, Lohan appeared in court and was taken into custody to begin her jail term. She was released on August 2 after serving 14 days of the sentence. The short term served was due to a policy of early release of non-violent offenders to reduce jail overcrowding. She was immediately taken to an inpatient rehabilitation facility where she was expected to stay another 90 days. However, on August 24 Lohan was released after only 23 days. Her lawyer stated that "the treating doctors at UCLA felt she had done everything required of her there." Lohan continued with mandatory outpatient therapy but was able to resume work. She was ordered to submit to random drug and alcohol screenings and attend psychotherapy and behavior therapy twice a week, as well as five 12-step sessions a week. The judge said that any failure to attend the sessions or to pass the drug tests could result in a 30-day jail sentence. A new hearing was scheduled for November 1, until which time Lohan was required to remain in Los Angeles.

Robert Rodriguez's action exploitation film Machete opened on September 3, 2010. Lohan filmed her scenes for the movie in August and September 2009. She plays April, the spoiled daughter of a wealthy businessman. Her character takes drugs, is naked in much of her appearance and later dons a nuns habit while toting a machine gun. The Washington Post described Lohan's character as "a campier, trampier version of herself – or at least her tabloid image". Premiere.com said she was "terrible" while Variety called it "her best work in some time." Eric D. Snider from Film.com said all three main actresses in the film did "laughably flat performances" but also questioned if it was due to Rodriguez's direction. Because of her rehabilitation and legal engagements Lohan did not participate in promotion of the movie or appear at the L.A. premiere.

On September 24 Lohan's probation was revoked following a failed drug test. She spent part of the day in jail before being released on bail. A few days later she entered the Betty Ford Center, a drug and alcohol treatment center, where she remained on court order for three months until early January 2011.

On February 9, 2011, Lohan was charged with the theft of a necklace reported stolen from a jewelry store in January. She was sentenced to 120 days in prison and 480 hours of community service for misdemeanor theft and probation violation, to which she pled no contest. Due to jail overcrowding, Lohan served the sentence under house arrest, wearing a tracking ankle monitor, for 35 days between May 26 and June 29. While under house arrest, Lohan failed a random alcohol test. A judge decided it did not constitute a probation violation and Lohan would receive no additional punishment.

In April 2011, it was announced that Lohan has signed on to appear opposite John Travolta in the upcoming movie Gotti: Three Generations. She was cast to play Kim Gotti, wife of New York City mobster John Gotti Jr.. Production is planned to start in fall 2011. Lohan is also set to appear in Mob Street from the same production team, based on a screenplay by Chazz Palminteri.

Filmography

+ Film roles
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998		Hallie Parker / Annie James	Remake of the 1961 film of The Parent Trap (1961 film)
2000	[[Life-Size	Casey Stuart	Television film
2002	Get a Clue	Alexandra "Lexy" Gold	Disney Channel Original Movie
2003		Anna Coleman	Remake MTV Movie Award for Breakthrough Female Performance Teen Choice Award for Choice Hissy Fit Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Breakout Star Nominated—Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film – Leading Young Actress
2004	Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen	Mary Elizabeth "Lola" Cep
2004	Mean Girls	Cady Heron	MTV Movie Award for Best Female Performance MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Team Teen Choice Award for Choice Actress – Comedy Teen Choice Award for Choice Blush Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Breakout Star Nominated—Best Young ActressNominated—Kids Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actress Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Chemistry Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Liar
2005	Herbie: Fully Loaded	Maggie Peyton	Kids Choice Awards
2006		Ashley Albright	Nominated—[[Teen Choice Awards
2006		Lola Johnson
2006	[[The Holiday	Herself	Cameo appearance
2006		Diane Howser
2007	Georgia Rule	Rachel Wilcox
2007	I Know Who Killed Me	Aubrey Flemming / Dakota Moss
2008	Chapter 27	Jude Hanson
2009	Labor Pains	Thea Clayhill	ABC Family Original Movie
2010		April Booth
2011	Underground Comedy	Marilyn

+ Television
! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1996		Alli Fowler	Soap Opera
2000		Rose Midler	"Pilot" (Season 1, Episode 1)
2004	King of the Hill	Jenny Medina	"Talking Shop" (Season 8, Episode 22)
2005	That '70s Show	Danielle
2008	Ugly Betty	Kimmie Keegan	"[[Jump (Ugly Betty)

Discography

Speak (2004)

A Little More Personal (Raw) (2005)

Awards

References

; General

; Specific

External links

Category:1986 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century actors Category:21st-century actors Category:Actors from New York Category:American child actors Category:American child singers Category:American documentary filmmakers Category:American female models Category:American female singers Category:American film actors Category:American musicians of Irish descent Category:American musicians of Italian descent Category:American people of Italian descent Category:American pop singers Category:American pop singer-songwriters Category:American soap opera actors Category:American television actors Category:Motown artists Category:Musicians from New York City Category:People from Hempstead (town), New York Category:People from Suffolk County, New York Category:People self-identifying as alcoholics Category:People self-identifying as substance abusers Category:Universal Records artists

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name	Paul Weller
background	solo_singer
birth name	John William Weller
alias	"The Modfather"
born	May 25, 1958Woking, Surrey, England
influences	Small Faces, The Beatles, The Kinks
instrument	Guitar, vocals, piano, bass guitar
genre	Rock, pop, punk rock, mod revival, New Wave
occupation	singer-songwriter, musician, poet
years active	1977–1989 1991–present
record labels	Polydor Records, Island Records
associated acts	The Jam, The Style Council, Smokin' Mojo Filters, Ocean Colour Scene, Oasis
website	Official Paul Weller website
notable instruments	Rickenbacker 330 Gibson SG Epiphone Casino Fender Telecaster Gibson J-160E }}

Paul Weller (born 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter. Starting with the band The Jam (1976–1982), Weller then went on to branch out musically to a more soulful style with The Style Council (1983–1989). In 1991 he re-established himself as a successful solo artist, and continues to remain a respected singer, lyricist and guitarist.

Despite widespread critical recognition in most of all the United States, Weller has remained a national rather than an international star, and much of his songwriting is rooted in British culture. He is also the principal figure of the 1970s and 80s mod revival and is often referred to as the Modfather.

Early years 1958–1976

Weller was born on 25 May 1958 in Sheerwater, near Woking, Surrey, England, to John and Ann Weller. He was initially known as John William Weller but later acquired the name Paul.

His father worked as a taxi driver and his mother was a part-time cleaner. In 1963 Weller started his education at Maybury County First School. His love of music started with The Beatles, then The Who and the Small Faces. By the time Weller was eleven and moving up to secondary school at Sheerwater County Secondary music was the biggest part of his life and he began playing the guitar.

In 1972 Weller formed his first group, The Jam, playing bass guitar with his best friends Steve Brookes (lead guitar) and Dave Waller (rhythm guitar). Weller's father, their manager, began booking the band into local working men's clubs. Joined by Rick Buckler on drums, and with Bruce Foxton soon replacing Waller on rhythm guitar, the four-piece band began to forge a local reputation playing a mixture of Beatles covers and a number of compositions written by Weller and Brookes. In 1976 Brookes left the band and Weller and Foxton decided they would swap guitar roles, with Weller now the guitarist.

Career

The Jam: 1976–1982

Although The Jam emerged at the same time as punk rock bands such as The Clash, The Damned, and the Sex Pistols, The Jam better fitted the mould of the New Wave bands who came later. Also, being from just outside London rather than in it, they were never really part of the tightly-knit punk clique.

Nonetheless, The Clash emerged as one of the leading early advocates of the band, and were sufficiently impressed by The Jam to take them along as the support act on their White Riot tour of 1977. The Jam's first single "In the City" took them into the UK Top 40 for the first time in May 1977. Although every subsequent single had a placing within the Top 40, it would not be until the band released "The Eton Rifles", with Weller's very political lyrics, that they broke into the Top 10, hitting the No. 3 spot in November 1979.

The increasing popularity of their blend of pop melodies and Weller's barbed lyrics led, in March 1980, to their first number one single, "Going Underground".

They became the only band other than the Beatles to perform two songs ("Town Called Malice" and "Precious") on one edition of Top of the Pops. The Jam even had two singles, "That's Entertainment" and "Just Who Is The 5 O'Clock Hero", reach No. 21 and No. 8 respectively in the UK singles chart despite not even being released in that country – they got there purely on the strength of the huge number of people buying import sales of the German and Dutch single releases. The Jam still hold the record for the best selling import only singles in the UK charts. As the band's popularity increased, however, Weller became restless and eager to explore a more soulful, melodic style with a broader instrumentation.

In 1982, Weller announced that The Jam would disband at the end of the year. Their final single, "Beat Surrender", became their fourth UK chart topper, going straight to No. 1 in its first week. Their farewell concerts at Wembley Arena were multiple sell-outs; their final concert took place at the Brighton Centre on 11 December 1982.

The Style Council: 1983–1989

At the beginning of 1983, Weller collaborated with keyboard player Mick Talbot to form a new group called The Style Council. Weller brought in Steve White to play drums, as well as singer Dee C. Lee, who had previously been a backing singer with Wham!

Free of the limited musical styles he felt imposed by The Jam, under the collective of The Style Council Weller was able to experiment with a wide range of music, from pop and jazz to soul/R&B;, house and folk-styled ballads. The band was at the vanguard of a jazz/pop revival that would continue with the emergence of bands like Matt Bianco, Sade, and Everything but the Girl, whose members Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt contributed vocals and guitar to the 1984 The Style Council song "Paris Match".

Many of the Style Council's early singles performed well in the charts, and Weller experienced his first success in North America, when "My Ever Changing Moods" and "You're The Best Thing" entered the US Billboard Hot 100. In Australia they were far more successful than The Jam, reaching the top of the charts in 1984 with "Shout To The Top".

Weller appeared on 1984's Band Aid record "Do They Know It's Christmas?" and was called upon to mime the absent Bono's lyrics on Top of the Pops. The Style Council were the second act to appear in the British half of Live Aid at Wembley Stadium in 1985.

In December 1984, Weller put together his own charity ensemble, the Council Collective, to make a record, Soul Deep, to raise money for striking miners. The record featured The Style Council plus a number of other performers, notably Jimmy Ruffin and Junior Giscombe. In spite of the song's political content, it still picked up BBC Radio 1 airplay and was performed on Top of the Pops, which led to the incongruous sight of lyrics such as "We can't afford to let the government win / It means death to the trade unions" being mimed amid the show's flashing lights and party atmosphere.

As the 1980s wore on, The Style Council's popularity in the UK began to slide, with the band achieving only one top ten single after 1985. The Style Council's death knell was sounded in 1989 when their record company refused to release their fifth and final studio album, the house-influenced Modernism: A New Decade. With the rejection of this effort, Weller announced The Style Council had split, and although the final album did have a limited vinyl run, it was not until the 1998 retrospective CD box set The Complete Adventures of the Style Council that the album was widely available.

Early solo career: 1990–1995

In 1989, Weller found himself for the first time since he was 17 without a band and without a recording deal. After taking time off throughout 1990, he returned to the road in 1991, touring as 'The Paul Weller Movement' with long-term drummer and friend Steve White. After a slow start playing small clubs with a mixture of Jam/Style Council classics as well as showcasing new material such as "Into Tomorrow", by the time of the release of his 1992 LP, Paul Weller he had begun to re-establish himself as a leading British singer/songwriter. This self-titled album saw a return to a more jazz-guitar-focused sound, featuring samples and a funk influence with shades of The Style Council sound. The album also featured a new producer, Brendan Lynch. Tracks such as "Here's a New Thing" and "That Spiritual Feeling" were marketed among the emerging acid jazz scene.

Buoyed by the positive commercial and critical success of his first solo album, Weller returned to the studio in 1993 with a renewed confidence. Accompanied by Steve White, guitarist Steve Cradock, and bassist Damon Minchella, the result of these sessions was the triumphant Mercury Music Prize-nominated Wild Wood.

His 1995 album Stanley Road took him back to the top of the British charts for the first time in a decade, and went on to become the best-selling album of his career. The album, named after the street in Woking where he had grown up, marked a return to the more guitar-based style of his earlier days. Weller found himself heavily associated with the Britpop movement that gave rise to such bands as Oasis, Pulp and Blur. Weller even appeared as a guest guitarist and backing vocalist on Oasis' hit song "Champagne Supernova". The album's major single, "The Changingman", was also a big hit, taking Weller to #7 in the UK singles charts. Another single, the ballad "You Do Something To Me", was his second consecutive Top 10 single and reached #9 in the UK.

The Modfather: 1996–2007

Heavy Soul, the follow-up to the million-selling Stanley Road saw Weller twist his sound again. The album was more raw than its predecessor; Weller was now frequently playing live in the studio in as few takes as possible. The first single, "Peacock Suit" reached #5 in the UK Singles Chart, and the album reached #2. Success in the charts also came from compilations: "best of" albums by The Jam and Style Council charted, and his own solo "best of" collection Modern Classics was a substantial success in 1998.

In 2000, while living in Send, Surrey, he released his fifth solo studio album, Heliocentric. There were rumours at the time that this would be his final studio effort, but these proved unfounded when he released the No. 1 hit album Illumination in September 2002 which was co-produced by Noonday Underground's Simon Dine, preceded by yet another top 10 hit single "It's Written In The Stars". Weller also appears on the 2002 Noonday Underground album called Surface Noise, singing on the track "I'll Walk Right On". Between these two albums he had also released a second successful live album, 2001's Days Of Speed, which contained live acoustic versions from his world tour of the same name. The LP included some of his best-known songs from his solo career and the back catalogues of his The Jam and The Style Council days. Weller had again found himself without a record contract and the tour provided him with the opportunity to view his works as one back catalogue.

In 2003, Weller teamed up with electronic rock duo Death in Vegas on a cover of Gene Clark's "So You Say You Lost Your Baby" which featured on the album Scorpio Rising.

In 2004 Weller released an album of covers entitled Studio 150. It debuted at No. 2 in the UK charts and included Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" besides covers of songs by Gil Scott-Heron, Rose Royce, Gordon Lightfoot, and others.

His 2005 album As Is Now featured the singles "From The Floorboards Up", "Come On/Let's Go" and "Here's The Good News". The album was well-received, though critics noted that he was not moving his music forward stylistically, and it became his lowest-charting album since his 1992 debut. In February 2006 it was announced that Weller would be the latest recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the BRIT Awards. Despite a tendency to shun such occasions, Weller accepted the award in person, and performed four songs at the ceremony, including The Jam classic "Town Called Malice".

In June 2006, a double live album titled Catch-Flame!, with songs from both his solo work and his career with ‘The Jam’ and the Style Council, was released. In late 2006, the album Hit Parade was released, which collected all the singles released by The Jam, Style Council and Weller during his solo career. Two versions of this album were released: a single disc with a selection from each stage of his career, and a four-disc limited edition, which included every single released and came with a 64-page booklet.

Weller was offered a CBE in the 2006 birthday honours, but rejected the order.

Critical success: 2008–present

The double album 22 Dreams was released on 2 June 2008 with "Echoes Round The Sun" as the lead single. Before recording this album, Weller had parted company with his existing band, resulting in the replacement of everyone except guitarist Steve Cradock. As well as Cradock, the new band consisted of Andy Lewis on bass, Andy Crofts of The Moons on keys and Steve Pilgrim of The Stands on drums. This album saw Weller move in a more experimental direction, taking in a wide variety of inflences including jazz, folk, tango as well as pop-soul more associated with his Style Council days.

Weller was the surprise recipient of the 2009 BRIT award for "Best Male Solo Artist", which resulted in controversy when it was discovered a suspiciously high number of bets had been placed for Weller to win the award, for which James Morrison was T4's favourite. It was reported that the bookmakers had lost £100,000 in the event, and that as a result would not be taking bets for the awards in the future.

In 2009 Weller guested on Dot Allison's 2009 album, Room 7½, co-writing "Love's Got Me Crazy". November and December also saw him on tour, playing shows across the country.

On 24 February 2010, Paul received the Godlike Genius Award at the NME Awards. His 2010 album, Wake Up the Nation, released in April, was met with critical acclaim and subsequently nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. The album also marked his first collaboration with The Jam bassist Bruce Foxton in 28 years. In May 2010 Weller was presented with the Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement award, stating "I've enjoyed the last 33 years I've been writing songs and hopefully, with God's good grace, I'll do some more."

Personal life

Soon after the formation of The Style Council, Weller and Dee C. Lee, The Style Council's backing singer, began a romantic relationship. The couple married in 1987 and divorced in 1998. They have two children Leah and Nathaniel (Natt), who is also a working musician and once appeared on stage with his father at Hammersmith Apollo at age 12. Weller has another daughter, Dylan, by a short-lived relationship with a make-up artist called Lucy.

While he was recording at the Manor studios in the mid 1990s, he became involved with Samantha Stock. They have two children. In October 2008 they broke up and Weller moved in with Hannah Andrews, a backing singer on his 22 Dreams album, who has toured with his band. The pair married in September 2010.

On 24 April 2009, John Weller, Paul Weller's father and long-time manager since the days of The Jam, died from pneumonia at the age of 77.

Influences

Weller has stated a wide range of influences throughout his musical career, frequently listing The Beatles, Dr Feelgood, The Kinks, The Who, Small Faces and 1960s and 1970s soul music.

Legacy

During the Britpop explosion in the mid-1990s a number of fledgling bands, such as Oasis, Ocean Colour Scene and Blur, cited Weller and The Jam as a major influence. As a new generation of bands emerged, Weller was again noted as an influence by bands such as Hard-Fi, Arctic Monkeys, The Enemy and The Rifles.

References in literature

Paul Weller was the theme of a book, The Modfather, in which David Lines documented his life growing up in Garforth, Leeds, and his adolescent obsession with Paul Weller.

Discography

Albums

Paul Weller – (1992) #8 UK

Wild Wood – (1993) #2 UK (Platinum)

Stanley Road – (1995) #1 UK (4 × Platinum)

Heavy Soul – (1997) #2 UK (Gold)

Heliocentric – (2000) #2 UK (Silver)

Illumination – (2002) #1 UK (Gold)

Studio 150 – (2004) #2 UK (Silver)

As Is Now – (2005) #4 UK (Gold)

22 Dreams – (2008) #1 UK (Platinum)

Wake Up the Nation – (2010) #2 UK (Gold)

References

Bibliography

External links

Paul Weller dot Com (Paul Weller's official website)

The Moons (official website)

Category:1958 births Category:Living people Category:The Jam members Category:The Style Council members Category:English rock singers Category:English male singers Category:English New Wave musicians Category:English singer-songwriters Category:English guitarists Category:Mod revival Category:English punk rock singers Category:English socialists Category:People from Woking Category:BRIT Award winners

ca:Paul Weller da:Paul Weller de:Paul Weller es:Paul Weller fr:Paul Weller ko:폴 웰러 it:Paul Weller nl:Paul Weller ja:ポール・ウェラー pl:Paul Weller pt:Paul Weller ru:Уэллер, Пол fi:Paul Weller sv:Paul Weller

Name	Sir Richard Branson
Title	Sir
Birth name	Richard Charles Nicholas Branson
Birth date	July 18, 1950
Birth place	Blackheath, London, England, United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Residence	London, England
Occupation	Chairman of Virgin Group
Years active	1966–present
Networth	US$4.2 billion (2011)
Spouse	(divorced)
Children	2 daughters (1 deceased), 1 son }}

Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of over 400 companies.

His first successful business venture was a magazine called Student at age 16. In 1970, he set up an audio record mail-order business. In 1972, he opened a chain of record stores, Virgin Records, later known as Virgin Megastores. Branson's Virgin brand grew rapidly during the 1980s—as he set up Virgin Atlantic Airways and expanded the Virgin Records music label.

Richard Branson is the 5th richest person in the United Kingdom and 254th in the world according to Forbes' 2011 list of billionaires, with an estimated net worth of approximately £2.58 billion (US$4.2 billion).

Early life

Branson was born in Blackheath, London, the son and eldest child of barrister Edward James Branson (10 March 1918 - 19 March 2011) His grandfather, the Right Honourable Sir George Arthur Harwin Branson, was a judge of the High Court of Justice and a Privy Councillor. Branson was educated at Scaitcliffe School (now Bishopsgate School) until the age of thirteen. He then attended Stowe School until the age of sixteen. Branson has dyslexia and had poor academic performance as a student, but later discovered his ability to connect with others.

Career

Record business

Branson started his record business from the crypt of a church where he ran The Student. Branson advertised popular records in The Student Magazine and it was an over night success. Trading under the name "Virgin", he sold records for considerably less than the "High Street" outlets, especially the chain W. H. Smith. The name "Virgin" was suggested by one of Branson's early employees because they were all new at business. At the time, many products were sold under restrictive marketing agreements that limited discounting, despite efforts in the 1950s and 1960s to limit so-called resale price maintenance. In effect, Branson began the series of changes that led to large-scale discounting of recorded music.

Branson eventually started a record shop in Oxford Street in London. In 1971, Branson was questioned in connection with the selling of records in Virgin stores that had been declared export stock. The matter was never brought before a court and Branson agreed to repay any unpaid tax and a fine. Branson's mother Eve re-mortgaged the family home to help pay the settlement.

Earning enough money from his record store, Branson in 1972 launched the record label Virgin Records with Nik Powell and bought a country estate, in which he installed a recording studio. He leased out studio time to fledgling artists, including multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield, whose debut album Tubular Bells (1973) was Virgin Records' first release and a chart-topping best-seller.

Virgin signed such controversial bands as the Sex Pistols, which other companies were reluctant to sign. It also won praise for exposing the public to such obscure avant-garde music as Faust and Can. Virgin Records also introduced Culture Club to the music world. In the early 1980s, Virgin purchased the gay nightclub Heaven. In 1991, in a consortium with David Frost, Richard Branson had made the unsuccessful bid for three ITV franchisees under the CPV-TV name. The early 1980s also saw his only attempt as a producer—on the novelty record "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep", by Singing Sheep in association with Doug McLean and Grace McDonald. The recording was a series of sheep baaing along to a drum machine produced track and even made the charts at number 42 in 1982.

In 1992, to keep his airline company afloat, Branson sold the Virgin label to EMI for £500 million. Branson says that he wept when the sale was completed since the record business had been the birth of the Virgin Empire. He later formed V2 Records to re-enter the music business.

Business ventures

Branson formed Virgin Atlantic Airways in 1984, launched Virgin Mobile in 1999, Virgin Blue in Australia (now named Virgin Australia) in 2000. He was 9th in the Sunday Times Rich List 2006, worth just over £3 billion. Branson wrote in his autobiography of the decision to start an airline:

Another quote from him: "For me business is not about wearing suits, or keeping stockholders pleased. It's about being true to yourself, your ideas and focusing on the essentials"

In 1993, Branson took what many saw as being one of his riskier business exploits by entering into the railway business. Virgin Trains won the franchises for the former Intercity West Coast and Cross-Country sectors of British Rail.

Virgin acquired European short-haul airline Euro Belgian Airlines in 1996 and renamed it Virgin Express. In 2006, the airline was merged with SN Brussels Airlines forming Brussels Airlines. It also started a national airline based in Nigeria, called Virgin Nigeria. Another airline, Virgin America, began flying out of San Francisco International Airport in August 2007. Branson has also developed a Virgin Cola brand and even a Virgin Vodka brand, which has not been a very successful enterprise. As a consequence of these lacklustre performers, the satirical British fortnightly magazine Private Eye has been critical of Branson and his companies (see Private Eye image caption).

After the so-called campaign of "dirty tricks", British Airways settled the case, giving £500,000 to Branson and a further £110,000 to his airline and had to pay legal fees of up to £3 million. Branson divided his compensation (the so-called "BA bonus") among his staff.

On 25 September 2004, Branson announced the signing of a deal under which a new space tourism company, Virgin Galactic, will license the technology behind Spaceship One—funded by Microsoft co-Founder Paul Allen and designed by legendary American aeronautical engineer and visionary Burt Rutan—to take paying passengers into suborbital space. Virgin Galactic (wholly owned by Virgin Group) plans to make flights available to the public with tickets priced at US$200,000 using Scaled Composites White Knight Two.

Branson's next venture with the Virgin group is Virgin Fuels, which is set to respond to global warming and exploit the recent spike in fuel costs by offering a revolutionary, cheaper fuel for automobiles and, in the near future, aircraft. Branson has stated that he was formerly a global warming sceptic and was influenced in his decision by a breakfast meeting with Al Gore.

Branson has been tagged as a "transformational leader" in the management lexicon, with his maverick strategies and his stress on the Virgin Group as an organisation driven on informality and information, one that is bottom-heavy rather than strangled by top-level management.

On 21 September 2006, Branson pledged to invest the profits of Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Trains in research for environmentally friendly fuels. The investment is estimated to be worth $3 billion.

On 4 July 2006, Branson sold his Virgin Mobile company to UK cable TV, broadband, and telephone company NTL/NTL:Telewest for almost £1 billion. As part of the sale, the company pays a minimum of £8.5 million per year to use the Virgin name and Branson became the company's largest shareholder. The new company was launched with much fanfare and publicity on 8 February 2007, under the name Virgin Media. The decision to merge his Virgin Media Company with NTL was in order to integrate both of the companies' compatible parts of commerce. Branson used to own three quarters of Virgin Mobile, whereas now he owns 15 percent of the new Virgin Media company.

In 2006, Branson formed Virgin Comics and Virgin Animation, an entertainment company focussed on creating new stories and characters for a global audience. The company was founded with author Deepak Chopra, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, and entrepreneurs Sharad Devarajan and Gotham Chopra.

Branson also launched the Virgin Health Bank on 1 February 2007, offering parents-to-be the opportunity to store their baby's umbilical cord blood stem cells in private and public stem cell banks.

In June 2006, a tip-off from Virgin Atlantic led US and UK competition authorities to investigate price-fixing attempts between Virgin Atlantic and British Airways. In August 2007, British Airways was fined £271 million over the allegations. Virgin Atlantic was given immunity for tipping off the authorities and received no fine—a controversial decision the Office of Fair Trading defended as being in the public interest.

On 9 February 2007, Branson announced the setting up of a new Global science and technology prize—The Virgin Earth Challenge—in the belief that history has shown that prizes of this nature encourage technological advancements for the good of mankind. The Virgin Earth Challenge will award $25 million to the individual or group who are able to demonstrate a commercially viable design which will result in the net removal of anthropogenic, atmospheric greenhouse gases each year for at least ten years without countervailing harmful effects. This removal must have long-term effects and contribute materially to the stability of the Earth's climate.

Branson also announced that he would be joined in the adjudication of the Prize by a panel of five judges, all world authorities in their respective fields: Al Gore, Sir Crispin Tickell, Tim Flannery, James E. Hansen, and James Lovelock. The panel of judges will be assisted in their deliberations by The Climate Group and Special Advisor to The Virgin Earth Prize Judges, Steve Howard.

Richard Branson got involved with football when he sponsored Nuneaton Borough for their January 2006 FA Cup 3rd round game against Middlesbrough. The game ended 1–1, and the Virgin brand was also on Nuneaton Borough's shirts for the replay which they eventually lost 2–5.

In August 2007, Branson announced that he bought a 20 percent stake in Malaysia's AirAsia X.

On 13 October 2007, Branson's Virgin Group sought to add Northern Rock to its empire after submitting an offer that would result in Branson personally owning 30% of the company, changing the company's name from Northern Rock to Virgin Money. The Daily Mail ran a campaign against his bid and Liberal Democrats' financial spokesperson Vince Cable suggested in the House of Commons that Branson's criminal conviction for tax evasion might be felt by some as a good enough reason not to trust him with public money .

On 10 January 2008, Branson's Virgin Healthcare announced that it would open a chain of health care clinics that would offer conventional medical care alongside homoeopathic and complementary therapies. The Financial Times reported that Ben Bradshaw, UK's health minister, welcomed the launch. "I am pleased that Virgin Healthcare is proposing to work with GPs to help develop more integrated services for patients."

Plans where GPs could be paid for referring National Health Service (NHS) patients to private Virgin services were abandoned in June 2008. The BMA warned the plan would "damage clinical objectivity", there would be a financial incentive for GPs to push patients towards the Virgin services at the centre. Plans to take over an NHS Practice in Swindon were subsequently abandoned in late September 2008.

In February 2009, Branson's Virgin organisation were reported as bidding to buy the former Honda Formula One team. Branson later stated an interest in Formula One but claimed that, before the Virgin brand became involved with Honda or any other team, Formula One would have to develop a more economically efficient and environmentally responsible image. At the start of the 2009 formula one season on 28 March, it was announced that Virgin would be sponsoring the new Brawn GP team., with discussions also under way about introducing a less "dirty" fuel in the medium term. After the end of the season and the subsequent purchase of Brawn GP by Mercedes, Branson invested in an 80% buyout of Manor Grand Prix with the team being renamed to Virgin Racing.

Branson and Tony Fernandes, owner of Air Asia and Lotus F1 Racing, had a bet for the 2010 F1 season where the team's boss should work on the winner's airline for a day dressed as a stewardess. Fernandes escaped as the winner of the bet, as Lotus Racing ended 10th in the championship, while Virgin Racing ended 12th and last.

Branson's Ninety Acres Culinary Center in New Jersey will open in December 2009 with a restaurant run by chef David Felton, cooking school, wine school and working farm. The culinary center is the first phase to turn Natirar, the King of Morocco’s former estate, into a luxury resort, spa and culinary center.

In 2010 Richard Branson became patron of the UK's Gordon Bennett 2010 gas balloon race, which has 16 hydrogen balloons flying across Europe.

In April 2010 Branson described the closure of large parts of European airspace owing to volcanic ash as "beyond a joke". Scientists later concluded that serious structural damage to aircraft could have occurred if passenger planes had continued to fly.

World record attempts

Richard Branson made several world record-breaking attempts after 1985, when in the spirit of the Blue Riband he attempted the fastest Atlantic Ocean crossing. His first attempt in the "Virgin Atlantic Challenger" led to the boat capsizing in British waters and a rescue by RAF helicopter, which received wide media coverage. Some newspapers called for Branson to reimburse the government for the rescue cost. In 1986, in his "Virgin Atlantic Challenger II", with sailing expert Daniel McCarthy, he beat the record by two hours. A year later his hot air balloon "Virgin Atlantic Flyer" crossed the Atlantic. With its , this was the largest hot-air balloon, and the first to cross the Atlantic.

In January 1991, Branson crossed the Pacific from Japan to Arctic Canada, , in a balloon of . This broke the record, with a speed of .

Between 1995 and 1998 Branson, Per Lindstrand and Steve Fossett made attempts to circumnavigate the globe by balloon. In late 1998 they made a record-breaking flight from Morocco to Hawaii but were unable to complete a global flight before Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones in Breitling Orbiter 3 in March 1999.

In March 2004, Branson set a record by travelling from Dover to Calais in a Gibbs Aquada in 1 hour, 40 minutes and 6 seconds, the fastest crossing of the English Channel in an amphibious vehicle. The previous record of six hours was set by two Frenchmen. The cast of Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, attempted to break this record in an amphibious vehicle which they had constructed and, while successfully crossing the channel, did not break Branson's record.

In September 2008 Branson and his children made an unsuccessful attempt at an Eastbound record crossing of the Atlantic ocean under sail in the sloop Virgin Money. The boat, also known as Speedboat, is owned by NYYC member Alex Jackson, who was a co-skipper on this passage, with Branson and Mike Sanderson. After 2 days, 4 hours, winds of force 7 to 9 (strong gale), and seas of , a 'monster wave' destroyed the spinnaker, washed a ten-man life raft overboard and severely ripped the mainsail. She eventually continued to St. George's, Bermuda. In March 2010 Richard tried for the world record of putting a round of golf in the dark at the Black Light Mini Golf in The Docklands, Melbourne, Australia. He succeeded in getting 41 on the par 45 course.

Television, film, and print

Branson has guest starred, usually playing himself, on several television shows, including Friends, Baywatch, Birds of a Feather, Only Fools and Horses, The Day Today, a special episode of the comedy Goodness Gracious Me and Tripping Over. Branson made several appearances during the nineties on the BBC Saturday morning show Live & Kicking, where he was referred to as 'the pickle man' by comedy act Trev and Simon (in reference to Branston Pickle). Branson also appears in a cameo early in XTC's "Generals and Majors" video.

He was also the star of a reality television show on Fox called The Rebel Billionaire: Branson's Quest for the Best (2004), in which sixteen contestants were tested for their entrepreneurship and sense of adventure. It did not succeed as a rival show to Donald Trump's The Apprentice and only lasted one season.

His high public profile often leaves him open as a figure of satire—the 2000 AD series Zenith features a parody of Branson as a super villain, as the comic's publisher and favoured distributor and the Virgin group were in competition at the time. He is also caricatured in The Simpsons episode "Monty Can't Buy Me Love" as the tycoon Arthur Fortune, and as the ballooning megalomaniac Richard Chutney (a pun on Branson, as in Branston Pickle) in Believe Nothing. The character Grandson Richard 39 in Terry Pratchett's Wings is modelled on Branson.

He has a cameo appearance in several films: Around the World in 80 Days (2004), where he played a hot-air balloon operator; Superman Returns, where he was credited as a 'Shuttle Engineer' and appeared alongside his son, Sam, with a Virgin Galactic-style commercial suborbital shuttle at the centre of his storyline. He also has a cameo in the James Bond film Casino Royale. Here, he is seen as a passenger going through Miami Airport security check-in and being frisked – several Virgin Atlantic planes appear soon after. British Airways edited out Branson's cameo in their in-flight screening of the movie.

He makes a number of brief and disjointed appearances in the cult classic documentary Derek and Clive Get the Horn which follows the exploits of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore recording their last comedy album. Branson and his mother were also featured in the documentary film, Lemonade Stories. In early 2006 on Rove Live, Rove McManus and Sir Richard pushed each other into a swimming pool fully clothed live on TV during a "Live at your house" episode.

Branson is a Star Trek fan and named his new spaceship VSS Enterprise in honour of the famous Star Trek ships, and in 2006, offered actor William Shatner a free ride on the inaugural space launch of Virgin Galactic. In an interview in Time magazine, 10 August 2009, Shatner claims that Branson approached him asking how much he would pay for a ride on the spaceship. In response, Shatner asked "how much would you pay me to do it?"

In August 2007, Branson announced on The Colbert Report that he had named a new aircraft Air Colbert. He later doused political satirist and talk show host Stephen Colbert with water from his mug. Branson subsequently took a retaliatory splash from Colbert. The interview quickly ended, with both laughing as shown on the episode aired on Comedy Central on 22 August 2007. The interview was promoted on The Report as the Colbert-Branson Interview Trainwreck. Branson then made a cameo appearance on The Soup playing an intern working under Joel McHale who had been warned against getting into water fights with Stephen Colbert, and being subsequently fired.

In March 2008 he launched Virgin Mobile in India and during that period, he even played a cameo performance in Bollywood film, London Dreams.

In July 2010, Branson narrated Australian sailor Jessica Watson's documentary about her solo sailing trip around the world. It premiered on ONEHD on 16 August 2010.

In April 2011 Branson appeared on CNN's Mainsail with Kate Winslet. Together they reenacted a famous scene from the 1997 film Titanic for the cameras.

Activism

Humanitarian initiatives

In the late 1990s, Branson and musician Peter Gabriel discussed with Nelson Mandela their idea of a small, dedicated group of leaders, working objectively and without any vested personal interest to solve difficult global conflicts.

On 18 July 2007, in Johannesburg, South Africa, Nelson Mandela announced the formation of a new group, The Elders, in a speech he delivered on the occasion of his 89th birthday. The founding members of this group are Desmond Tutu, Graça Machel, Kofi Annan, Ela Bhatt, Gro Harlem Brundtland, Jimmy Carter, Li Zhaoxing, Mary Robinson, and Muhammad Yunus. The Elders is independently funded by a group of "Founders", including Branson and Gabriel.

Desmond Tutu serves as the chair of The Elders—who will use their collective skills to catalyse peaceful resolutions to long-standing conflicts, articulate new approaches to global issues that are causing or may cause immense human suffering, and share wisdom by helping to connect voices all over the world. They will work together over the next several months to carefully consider which specific issues they will approach.

Branson's other work in South Africa includes the Branson School of Entrepreneurship, set up in 2005 as a partnership between Virgin Unite, the non-profit foundation of Virgin, and entrepreneur Taddy Bletcher, the founder of CIDA City Campus, a university in Johannesburg. The school aims to improve economic growth in South Africa by supporting start-ups and micro-enterprises with skills, mentors, services, networks and finance arrangements. Fundraising activity to support the school is notably achieved by the Sunday Times Fast Track 100, sponsored by Virgin Group, at its yearly event, where places to join Richard Branson on trips to South Africa to provide coaching and mentoring to students are auctioned to attendees. In 2009, Jason Luckhurst and Boyd Kershaw of Practicus, Martin Ainscough of the Ainscough Group and Matthew Riley of Daisy Communications helped raise £150,000 through the auction.

In September 2007, Richard Branson chaired the jury of the first Picnic Green Challenge, a €500,000 award for best new green initiative, set up by the Dutch "Postcode Loterij" (postcode lottery) and the PICNIC Network of creative professionals. The first Green Challenge was won by Qurrent with the Qbox.

Branson was the first celebrity guest for the popular charity fund raisers, Reserve Dinners, raising over $75,000 in one evening towards his Virgin Unite charity.

In March 2008, Richard Branson hosted an environmental gathering at his private island, Necker Island, in the Caribbean with several prominent entrepreneurs, celebrities, and world leaders. They discussed global warming-related problems facing the world, hoping that this meeting will be a precursor to many more future discussions regarding similar problems. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, and Larry Page of Google were in attendance.

Branson has been very supportive of Kenya during its troubles, and in May 2008 had gone to Masai Mara to open a new school (Sekenani Primary School) which has also been partly funded by Virgin Atlantic frequent flyers who volunteered their time to help with the construction. A documentary of the experience was directed by Carolyn Scott-Hamilton and filmed by David Collupy.

On 8 May 2009, Branson took over Mia Farrow's hunger strike in protest of the Sudanese government expulsion of aid groups from the Darfur region. He concluded his scheduled 3-day fast on 11 May. Later that year, he joined the project Soldiers of Peace, a movie against all wars and for a global peace.

Richard Branson is a signatory of Global Zero (campaign), a non-profit international initiative for the elimination of all nuclear weapons worldwide. Since its launch in Paris in December 2008, Global Zero (campaign) has grown to 300 leaders, including current and former heads of state, national security officials and military commanders, and 400,000 citizens worldwide; developed a practical step-by-step plan to eliminate nuclear weapons; launched an international student campaign with 75 campus chapters in eight countries; and produced an acclaimed documentary film, Countdown to Zero, in partnership with Lawrence Bender and Participant Media.

Since 2010, Branson has served as a Commissioner on the Broadband Commission for Digital Development, a UN initiative which promotes universal access to broadband services.

In 2011, Branson served on the Global Commission on Drug Policy with former political and cultural leaders of Latin America and elsewhere, "in a bid to boost the effort to achieve more humane and rational drug laws."

Politics

In the 1980s, he was briefly given the post of "litter Tsar" by Margaret Thatcher—charged with "keeping Britain tidy". He was again seen as close to the government when the Labour Party came to power in 1997. In 2005 he declared that there were only negligible differences between the two main parties on economic matters. He has frequently been mentioned as a candidate for Mayor of London, and polls have suggested he would be a viable candidate, though he has yet to express interest.

Business practices

Branson's business empire is owned by a complicated series of offshore trusts and companies. The Sunday Times stated that his wealth is calculated at £3.065 billion; if he were to retire to his Caribbean island and liquidate all of this he would pay relatively little in tax.

Honours and awards

In 1993, Branson was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Technology from Loughborough University.

In the New Years Honours list dated 30 December 1999, HM The Queen signified her intention to confer the honour of Knight Bachelor on him for his "services to entrepreneurship". He was knighted by HRH The Prince of Wales on 30 March 2000 at an investiture in Buckingham Palace.

Also, in 2000, Branson received the 'Tony Jannus Award' for his accomplishments in commercial air transportation.

Branson is the patron of several charities, including the International Rescue Corps and Prisoners Abroad, a registered charity which supports Britons who are detained outside of the UK.

Branson appears at No. 85 on the 2002 list of "100 Greatest Britons" (sponsored by the BBC and voted for by the public). Sir Richard also ranks No. 86 on Channel 4's 2003 list of "100 Worst Britons". Sir Richard was also ranked in 2007's Time Magazine "Top 100 Most Influential People in the World". In 2009, Branson was voted the UK's "Celebrity Dream Boss" in an opinion poll by Cancer Research UK.

On 7 December 2007, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon presented Branson with the United Nations Correspondents Association Citizen of the World Award for his support for environmental and humanitarian causes.

On 24 January 2011 Branson has been awarded the German Media Prize (organised by "Media Control Charts" ), previously handed to former U.S. president Bill Clinton and the Dalai Lama.

Personal life

Branson is the eldest of four siblings. He has two sisters, Andrea and Vanessa Branson. His brother, Tom, followed in their father's footsteps and became a barrister. Branson's poor academic records contrasted with excellent performance in sports, especially swimming.

With his wife Joan Templeman he has a daughter Holly (b. 1981) and son Sam (b. 1985). He stated in an interview with Piers Morgan that he and wife Joan had a daughter named Clare Sarah who died when she was just four days old in 1979. The couple wed—at their daughter Holly's suggestion when she was eight years old—in 1989 at Necker Island, a island in the British Virgin Islands that Branson owns. He also owns land on the Caribbean Islands of Antigua and Barbuda. Holly Branson is now a doctor and is a keen supporter of the football team Oxford United.

In 1998, Branson released his autobiography, titled Losing My Virginity, an international bestseller.

Branson was deeply saddened by the disappearance of fellow adventurer Steve Fossett in September 2007; and, the following month, he wrote an article for Time magazine, titled "My Friend, Steve Fossett".

Influences

Branson has stated in a number of interviews that he derives much influence from non-fiction books. He most commonly names Nelson Mandela's autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, explaining that Mandela is "one of the most inspiring men I have ever met and had the honour to call my friend." Owing to his interest in humanitarian and ecological issues, Branson also lists Al Gore's best-selling book, An Inconvenient Truth and The Revenge of Gaia by James Lovelock amongst his favourites. According to Branson's own book, Screw It, Let's do It. Lessons in Life, he is also a huge fan of works by Jung Chang.

See also

Virgin Group

Virgin Earth Challenge

List of Richard Branson's business ventures

Notes

References

Branson, Richard. Losing My Virginity: How I've Survived, Had Fun, And Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way, 1999, Three Rivers Press. ISBN 0-8129-3229-3

Branson, Richard. Losing My Virginity, Revised Edition First Published in Great Britain by Virgin Books Limited, London, 2002

Branson, Sir Richard and Prescott, Colin. To the Edge of Space: The Adventures of a Balloonist, 2000, Box tree. ISBN 0-7522-1865-4

Branson, Sir Richard. Sir Richard Branson, the Autobiography, 2002, Longman. ISBN 0-582-51224-7

Branson, Sir Richard. Losing my virginity: The autobiography, 2005, ISBN 0-7535-1020-0

Bower, Tom. Branson, 2001, ISBN 1-84115-400-8

Branson, Sir Richard. Screw It, Let's Do It: Lessons in Life, 2006, ISBN 0-7535-1099-5

Branson, Sir Richard. Screw It, Let's Do It Expanded: Lessons in Life and Business, 2007, ISBN 0-7535-1149-7

Specter, Michael. Branson's Luck". The New Yorker, 14 May 2007, pp. 114–25.

Bibliography

External links

Virgin Group Website

"Richard Branson's Page" on virgin.com

"Richard Branson's Blog" on virgin.com

"Richard Branson's autobiography" on virgin.com

PICNIC Green Challenge

Richard Branson and Kate Winslet do classic Titanic scene.

Richard Branson's Interview on India Infoline

Richard Branson's Virgin Success

Gonzo Way of Branding Fast Company magazine article on Sir Richard Branson

Lemonade Stories, a documentary film featuring Richard Branson and his mother, Eve Branson.

Profile on BBC News dated 27 September 2004

Interview on BBC World Service 24 November 2006

Video of Richard Branson speaking at the 2007 Aspen Ideas Festival, 5 July 2007

Branson Interview on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos, 27 June 2008

Richard Branson at Random House Australia

One of 2010 most influential tycoons

Entrepreneur Spotlight: Richard Branson

Global Zero

Richard Branson at Global Zero

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