Coordinates	3°5′00″N101°32′00″N
name	Tod Browning
birth name	Charles Albert Browning, Jr.
birth date	July 12, 1880
birth place	Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
death date	October 06, 1962
death place	Malibu, California, U.S.
occupation	Film actor, director, screenwriter
years active	1915–1946 }}

Tod Browning (12 July 1880 – 6 October 1962) was an American motion picture actor, director and screenwriter.

Browning's career spanned the silent and talkie eras. Best known as the director of ''Dracula'' (1931), the cult classic ''Freaks'' (1932), and classic silent film collaborations with Lon Chaney, Browning directed many movies in a wide range of genres.

Early life

He was born Charles Albert Browning, Jr., in Louisville, Kentucky, the second son of Charles Albert and Lydia Browning, and the nephew of baseball star Pete Browning. As a young boy, he put on amateur plays in his backyard. He was fascinated by the circus and carnival life, and at the age of 16 he ran away from his well-to-do family to become a performer.

Changing his name to "Tod", he traveled extensively with sideshows, carnivals, and circuses. His jobs included working as a talker (barker, as the term is also known, isn't correct) for the Wild Man of Borneo, performing a live burial act in which he was billed as "The Living Corpse", and performing as a clown with the Ringling Brothers Circus. He would draw on this experience as inspiration for some of his film work.

He performed in vaudeville as an actor, magician and dancer. He appeared in the ''Mutt and Jeff'' and ''The Lizard and the Coon'' acts, and in a blackface act titled ''The Wheel of Mirth'' alongside comedian Charles Murray.

Beginnings of a film career

Later, while Browning was working as director of a variety theater in New York, he met D. W. Griffith. He began acting along with Murray on single-reel nickelodeon comedies for Griffith and the Biograph Company.

In 1913 Griffith split from Biograph and moved to California. Browning followed and continued to act in Griffith's films, now for Reliance-Majestic Studios, including a stint as an extra in the epic ''Intolerance''. Around that time he began directing, eventually directing 11 short films for Reliance-Majestic. Between 1913 and 1919, Browning would appear as an actor in approximately fifty motion pictures.

In June 1915, he crashed his car at full speed into a moving train. His passengers were film actors Elmer Booth and George Siegmann. Booth was killed instantly, while Seigmann and Browning suffered serious injuries, including in Browning's case a shattered right leg and the loss of his front teeth. During his convalescence, Browning wrote scripts, and did not return to active film work until 1917.

Silent feature films

Browning's feature film debut was ''Jim Bludso'' (1917), about a riverboat captain who sacrifices himself to save his passengers from a fire. It was well-received.

Browning moved back to New York in 1917. He directed two films for Metro Studios, ''Peggy, the Will O' the Wisp'' and ''The Jury of Fate''. Both starred Mabel Taliaferro, the latter in a dual role achieved with double exposure techniques that were groundbreaking for the time. He moved back to California in 1918 and produced two more films for Metro, ''The Eyes of Mystery'' and ''Revenge''.

In the spring of 1918 he left Metro and joined Bluebird Productions, a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, where he met Irving Thalberg. Thalberg paired Browning with Lon Chaney, Sr. for the first time for the film ''The Wicked Darling'' (1919), a melodrama in which Chaney played a thief who forces a poor girl from the slums into a life of crime and possibly prostitution. Browning and Chaney would ultimately make ten films together over the next decade.

The death of his father sent Browning into a depression that led to alcoholism. He was laid off by Universal and his wife left him. However, he recovered, reconciled with his wife, and got a one-picture contract with Metro Goldwyn Mayer. The film he produced for MGM, ''The Day of Faith'', was a moderate success, putting his career back on track.

Thalberg reunited Browning with Lon Chaney for ''The Unholy Three'' (1925), the story of three circus performers who concoct a scheme to con and steal jewels from rich people using disguises. Browning's circus experience shows in his sympathetic portrayal of the antiheroes. The film was a resounding success, so much so that it was later remade in 1930 as Lon Chaney's first (and only) talkie. Browning and Chaney embarked on a series of popular collaborations, including ''The Blackbird'' and ''The Road to Mandalay''. ''The Unknown'' (1927), featuring Chaney as an armless knife thrower and Joan Crawford as his scantily clad carnival girl obsession, was originally titled ''Alonzo the Armless'' and could be considered a precursor to ''Freaks'' in that it concerns a love triangle involving a circus freak, a beauty, and a strongman. ''London After Midnight'' (1927) was Browning's first foray into the vampire genre and is a highly sought-after lost film which starred Chaney, Conrad Nagel, and Marceline Day. The last known print of ''London After Midnight'' was destroyed in an MGM studio fire in 1967. In 2002, a photographic reconstruction of ''London After Midnight'' was produced by Rick Schmidlin for Turner Classic Movies. Browning and Chaney's final collaboration was ''Where East is East'' (1929), of which only incomplete prints have survived. Browning's first talkie was ''The Thirteenth Chair'' (1929), which was also released as a silent and starred Bela Lugosi.

Talkies

After Chaney's death in 1930, Browning was hired by Universal Pictures to direct ''Dracula'' (1931). Although Browning wanted to hire an unknown European actor for the title role and have him be mostly offscreen as a sinister presence, budget constraints and studio interference necessitated the casting of Bela Lugosi and a more straightforward approach. Although the film is now considered a classic, at the time Universal was unhappy with it and preferred the Spanish-language version filmed on the same sets at night.

After directing the boxing melodrama ''The Iron Man'' (1931), Browning began work on ''Freaks'' (1932). Based on the short story "Spurs" by Clarence Aaron "Tod" Robbins, the screenwriter of ''The Unholy Three'', the film concerns a love triangle between a wealthy dwarf, a gold-digging aerialist, and a strongman; a murder plot; and the vengeance dealt out by the dwarf and his fellow circus freaks. The film was highly controversial, even after heavy editing to remove many disturbing scenes, and was a commercial failure. Browning's career was derailed.

Browning found himself unable to get his requested projects greenlighted. After directing the drama ''Fast Workers'' (1933) starring John Gilbert, who was also not in good standing with the studio, he was allowed to direct a remake of ''London After Midnight'', originally titled ''Vampires of Prague'' but later retitled ''Mark of the Vampire'' (1935). In the remake, the roles played by Lon Chaney in the original were split between Lionel Barrymore and Béla Lugosi (spoofing his Dracula image).

After that, Browning directed ''The Devil-Doll'' (1936), originally titled ''The Witch of Timbuctoo'', from his own script. It starred Lionel Barrymore as an escapee from an island prison who avenges himself on the people who imprisoned him using living "dolls" who are actually people shrunk to doll-size and magically placed under Barrymore's hypnotic control. Browning's final film was the murder mystery ''Miracles for Sale'' (1939).

Director filmography

''Miracles for Sale'' (1939)

''The Devil-Doll'' (1936)

''Mark of the Vampire'' (1935)

''Fast Workers'' (1933)

''Freaks'' (1932)

''Iron Man'' (1931)

''Dracula'' (1931)

''Outside the Law'' (1930)

''The Thirteenth Chair'' (1929)

''Where East Is East'' (1929)

''West of Zanzibar'' (1928)

''The Big City'' (1928)

''London After Midnight'' (1927)

''The Unknown'' (1927)

''The Show'' (1927)

''The Road to Mandalay'' (1926)

''The Blackbird'' (1926)

''Dollar Down'' (1925)

''The Mystic'' (1925)

''The Unholy Three'' (1925)

''Silk Stocking Sal'' (1924)

''The Dangerous Flirt'' (1924)

''White Tiger'' (1923)

''The Day of Faith'' (1923)

''Drifting'' (1923)

''Under Two Flags'' (1922)

''Man Under Cover'' (1922)

''The Wise Kid'' (1922)

''No Woman Knows'' (1921)

''Outside the Law'' (1920)

''The Virgin of Stamboul'' (1920)

''Bonnie Bonnie Lassie'' (1919)

''The Petal on the Current'' (1919)

''The Unpainted Woman'' (1919)

''The Exquisite Thief'' (1919)

''The Wicked Darling'' (1919)

''Set Free'' (1918)

''The Brazen Beauty'' (1918)

''The Deciding Kiss'' (1918)

''Which Woman?'' (1918)

''Revenge'' (1918)

''The Eyes of Mystery'' (1918)

''The Legion of Death'' (1918)

''The Jury of Fate ''(1917)

''Peggy, the Will O' the Wisp'' (1917)

''Hands Up!'' (1917)

''A Love Sublime'' (1917)

''Jim Bludso'' (1917)

''Puppets'' (1916)

''Everybody's Doing It'' (1916)

''The Fatal Glass of Beer'' (1916)

''Little Marie'' (1915)

''The Woman from Warren's'' (1915)

''The Burned Hand'' (1915)

''The Living Death'' (1915)

''The Electric Alarm'' (1915)

''The Spell of the Poppy'' (1915)

''The Story of a Story'' (1915)

''The Highbinders'' (1915)

''An Image of the Past'' (1915)

''The Slave Girl'' (1915)

''The Lucky Transfer'' (1915)

Retirement

After ''Miracles for Sale'', Browning did some scenario work for MGM. In 1942 he retired and moved to Malibu. He became such a recluse that soon after his wife died in 1944, ''Variety'' accidentally published an obituary for him. Even his neighbors rarely saw him. In the late 1950s he developed throat cancer, necessitating tongue surgery. When his brother Avery died in 1959, he attended the funeral from a private room and would not let family members see him.

Tod Browning died on October 6, 1962, aged 82. He is interred in Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery, Los Angeles.

See also

List of Louisvillians

Further reading

''Dark Carnival'' (1995) (ISBN 0-385-47406-7) by David J. Skal and Elias Savada.

External links

Tod Browning bibliography via UC Berkeley Media Resources Center

Category:American film actors Category:American silent film actors Category:American film directors Category:Horror film directors Category:Vaudeville performers Category:People from Louisville, Kentucky Category:1880 births Category:1962 deaths

da:Tod Browning de:Tod Browning es:Tod Browning eo:Tod Browning fr:Tod Browning gl:Tod Browning it:Tod Browning nl:Tod Browning ja:トッド・ブラウニング pl:Tod Browning pt:Tod Browning ru:Броунинг, Тод fi:Tod Browning sv:Tod Browning

Coordinates	3°5′00″N101°32′00″N
Name	Lew Ayres
Birth name	Lewis Frederick Ayres III
Birth date	December 28, 1908
Birth place	Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Death date	December 30, 1996
Death place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Spouse	(divorced) (divorced) (his death)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1929–1994 }}

Lew Ayres, born Lewis Frederick Ayres III (December 28, 1908 – December 30, 1996) was an American actor, best known for starring as Paul in ''All Quiet on the Western Front'' and for playing Dr. Kildare in several movies, which was apt since originally he had studied medicine at the University of Arizona.

Career

Ayres was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and reared in San Diego, California, Ayres began acting in bit player roles in films in 1927. He was discovered in 1927 playing banjo in the Henry Halstead Orchestra as Halstead was recording one of the earliest Vitaphone movie shorts called ''Carnival Night in Paris'' (Warner Brothers, 1927). Ayres wrote, "I was a member of Henry Halstead's orchestra in 1927 at the Mission Beach Ballroom in San Diego, California for the summer. My instruments were tenor banjo, long-neck banjo and guitar. After a hiatus, I rejoined Mr. Halstead with a new group, including Phil Harris, on New Year's Eve the same year for the opening night of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, a memorable occasion."

Ayres played opposite Greta Garbo in 1929's ''The Kiss,'' but it was his starring role in 1930's ''All Quiet on the Western Front'' which made him a star. Ayres was Janet Gaynor's leading man in ''Servants' Entrance'' (1934), which featured a combination of live action and Walt Disney animation in a musical dream sequence. He played the title role in ''Young Dr. Kildare'' in 1938 and became a matinee idol, starring in several Kildare films. During this time, Ayres also co-starred with Joan Crawford and James Stewart in ''The Ice Follies of 1939.''

Mirroring his anti-war and medical roles in his film work, Ayres was a pacifist who sought to become a member of the Medical Corps during World War II. The United States armed forces, however, would not guarantee him that position, so he declared himself a conscientious objector, and reported to a CPS camp. But having such a well-known public figure take this stance was poor publicity for the United States armed forces. It led to revisions of the rules, at which point Ayres was then able to join the Medical Corps. He served with distinction in the Pacific theater and in New Guinea.

Ayres made few films after the war, but in 1948 his role in ''Johnny Belinda'' earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. Co-star Jane Wyman fell in love with Ayres and left her husband Ronald Reagan for him, albeit unsuccessfully.

In the summer of 1958, Ayers hosted eleven original episodes of a CBS Western anthology television series called ''Frontier Justice,'' a production of Dick Powell's Four Star Television. He was offered the part of Dr. Kildare in an NBC series. But his request, now considered prescient, that the show have no cigarette advertising led to the offer being withdrawn, and the part went, in 1961, to Richard Chamberlain.

He played the role of the governor in the pilot episode of the TV CBS series, ''Hawaii Five-O.'' He chose not to move to Hawaii to do the series, but did appear in the show in other roles from time to time. He also had many guest roles in other television programs.

His 1976 documentary film ''Altars of the World'' brought his Eastern philosophical beliefs to the screen and earned him critical acclaim. Ayres' science-fiction roles included appearances in the second season of ''The Bionic Woman'' as a pacifist scientist, Dr. Elijah Cooper, in the 1977 two-part episode "Doomsday Is Tomorrow," and as Adar, the pacifist President of the Council of the Twelve, in the original ''Battlestar Galactica'' film in 1978. In 1974, he had appeared in a small role as Dr. Emil Vaslovik, creator of the title android, in ''The Questor Tapes,'' written for television by Gene Roddenberry and Gene L. Coon and directed by Richard A. Colla, who, almost four years later, again directed him in ''Battlestar Galactica:'' "Saga of a Star World".

Ayres' played a Vice-President of the United States twice, in ''Advise and Consent'' and ''The Man'', as well as the President of the United States in the made-for-TV ''Earth II''.

Late in life, he appeared on ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' as the father of the Murray Slaughter character played by Gavin MacLeod. The episode involved a May–December romance between Mary and Murray's father.

His last role was on the made for TV-film, "Hart to Hart: Crimes of the Heart" (1994).

Ayres died December 30, 1996 of complications from a coma. He was buried at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California next to the unmarked grave of Frank Zappa.

Family

Ayres was married three times. He was married to actress Lola Lane from 1931 until 1933 and to actress Ginger Rogers from 1934 until 1940. His third marriage, to Diana Hall, lasted from 1964 until his death from complications while in a coma at the age of 88. They had one son, Justin, born in 1968.

Nominations

In 1949 he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for ''Johnny Belinda''. In 1975 he was nominated for the Emmy for Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Drama Series in ''Kung Fu'' episode ''The Vanishing Image''. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6385 Hollywood Blvd.

Selected filmography

''The Kiss'' (1929)

''All Quiet on the Western Front'' (1930)

''Common Clay'' (1930)

The Doorway to Hell (1930)

''Iron Man'' (1931)

''Night World'' (1932)

''State Fair'' (1933)

''Servants' Entrance'' (1934)

''Holiday'' (1938)

''Young Dr. Kildare'' (1938)

''The Ice Follies of 1939'' (1939)

''Calling Dr. Kildare'' (1939)

''These Glamour Girls'' (1939)

''The Secret of Dr. Kildare'' (1939)

''Remember?'' (1939)

''Dr. Kildare's Strange Case'' (1940)

''Dr. Kildare Goes Home'' (1940)

''Dr. Kildare's Crisis'' (1940)

''Maisie Was a Lady'' (1941)

''The People vs. Dr. Kildare'' (1941)

''Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day'' (1941)

''Dr. Kildare's Victory'' (1942)

''Fingers at the Window'' (1942)

''The Dark Mirror'' (1946)

''The Unfaithful'' (1947)

''Johnny Belinda'' (1948)

''The Capture'' (1950)

''Donovan's Brain'' (1953)

''The Ford Show with Tennessee Ernie Ford'' (NBC, January 2, 1958)

''The DuPont Show with June Allyson'' as Howard Moon in "A Thief or Two" (CBS, 1960)

''The Barbara Stanwyck Show'' as Dr. Paul Harris in "Adventure on Happiness Street" (NBC, 1961)

''Advise and Consent'' (1962)

''The Carpetbaggers'' (1964)

''Earth II (TV series pilot)'' (1971)

''The Biscuit Eater'' (1972)

''The Man'' (1972)

''The Stranger'' (1973), a made-for-TV pilot for an unproduced series

''Battle for the Planet of the Apes'' (1973)

''The Questor Tapes'' (1974), a made-for-TV pilot for an unproduced series

''Little House on the Prairie'' (NBC, 1976)

''Damien: Omen II'' (1978)

''Battlestar Galactica: Saga of a Star World'' (1978)

''Salem's Lot'' (1979) (TV miniseries)

References

External links

Classic Images

Photographs of Lew Ayres

Category:1908 births Category:1996 deaths Category:Actors from San Diego, California Category:American conscientious objectors Category:American film actors Category:American military personnel of World War II Category:Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery Category:American television actors Category:People from Minneapolis, Minnesota Category:People from San Diego, California Category:Actors from Minnesota

an:Lew Ayres de:Lew Ayres es:Lew Ayres fr:Lew Ayres id:Lew Ayres it:Lew Ayres ja:リュー・エアーズ no:Lew Ayres pl:Lew Ayres pt:Lew Ayres sh:Lew Ayres fi:Lew Ayres sv:Lew Ayres

Coordinates	3°5′00″N101°32′00″N
birth name	Harlean Harlow Carpenter
birth date	March 03, 1911
birth place	Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
death date	June 07, 1937
death place	Los Angeles, California, U.S. Interred: Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California
spouse	Charles McGrew (1927–1929) (divorced)Paul Bern (1932) (his death)Harold Rosson (1933–1934) (divorced)
occupation	Actress
years active	1928–1937
website	}}

Jean Harlow (March 3, 1911 – June 7, 1937) was an American film actress and sex symbol of the 1930s. Known as the "Blonde Bombshell" and the "Platinum Blonde" (due to her platinum blonde hair), Harlow was ranked as one of the greatest movie stars of all time by the American Film Institute. Harlow starred in several films, mainly designed to showcase her magnetic sex appeal and strong screen presence, before making the transition to more developed roles and achieving massive fame under contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Harlow's enormous popularity and "laughing vamp" image were in distinct contrast to her personal life, which was marred by disappointment, tragedy, and ultimately her sudden death from renal failure at age 26.

Early life

Harlow was born Harlean Harlow Carpenter in Kansas City, Missouri. The name is sometimes incorrectly spelled Carpentier, which came from later studio press releases in an attempt to sound more aristocratic, and the inaccuracy has been constantly repeated. Her father, Mont Clair Carpenter (1877–1974), was a dentist. He came from a working-class background and attended dental college in Kansas City. Her mother, Jean Poe Carpenter (née Harlow), was the daughter of a wealthy real estate broker, Skip Harlow, and his wife Ella Harlow (née Williams). The marriage was arranged by Skip Harlow in 1908. Jean Carpenter, an intelligent and strong-willed woman, resented it, and became very unhappy in the marriage. The couple lived in Kansas City in a house owned by Skip Harlow.

Harlean was nicknamed "The Baby", a name that would stick with her for the rest of her life. She did not learn that her name was actually Harlean and not "Baby" until the age of five, when she began to attend Miss Barstow's Finishing School for Girls in Kansas City. Harlean and Mother Jean, as she became known when Harlean became a film star, remained very close to each other; the relationship eased Mother Jean's empty existence and unhappy marriage. "She was always all mine," she said of her daughter. Harlean's mother was extremely protective and coddling, instilling a sense that her daughter owed everything she had to her.

With her daughter at school, Mother Jean became increasingly frustrated and filed for divorce, which was finalized, uncontested, on September 29, 1922. She was granted sole custody of Harlean, who loved her father but would rarely see him for the rest of her life.

Mother Jean moved with Harlean to Hollywood in 1923 with hopes of becoming an actress. Harlean attended the Hollywood School for Girls and met some of Hollywood's future figures, including Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Joel McCrea and Irene Mayer Selznick. Mother Jean's dream of stardom did not come true; she was too old at age 34 to begin a film career in an era when major roles were usually assigned to teenage girls. Facing dwindling finances, the pair returned to Kansas City within two years after Skip Harlow issued an ultimatum: either they returned or he would disinherit her. Harlean dropped out of school in Hollywood in the spring of 1925. Several weeks later, Skip Harlow sent her to a summer camp called Camp Cha-Ton-Ka in Michigamme, Michigan, where Harlean became ill with scarlet fever. Mother Jean traveled to Michigan to care for Harlean, rowing herself across the lake to the camp when she was told that she could not get to her daughter.

Marriage

Harlean attended the Ferry Hall School (now Lake Forest Academy) in Lake Forest, Illinois. Mother Jean had ulterior motives for Harlean's attendance at the school, as it was close to Chicago where Mother Jean's beau, Marino Bello, was living. Freshmen were paired with a "big sister" from the senior class, and Harlean's big sister introduced her to Charles "Chuck" McGrew, heir to a large fortune, in the fall of 1926. The two started dating. On January 18, 1927 Mother Jean married Bello, although Harlean was not present.

Sixteen-year-old Harlean and twenty-year-old McGrew eloped on September 21, 1927. McGrew turned 21 two months after the marriage and received part of his large inheritance. The couple moved to Los Angeles in 1928, settling into a home in Beverly Hills, where Harlean thrived as a wealthy socialite. McGrew hoped to distance Harlean from her mother with the move. Neither McGrew nor Harlean worked, and both, especially McGrew, were thought to drink heavily.

Career beginnings

In Los Angeles, Harlean befriended Rosalie Roy, a young aspiring actress. Lacking a car, Roy asked Harlean to drive her to Fox Studios for an appointment. It was there that Harlean was noticed by Fox executives while sitting in the car waiting for her friend. Harlean was approached by the executives, but stated that she was not interested. She was given dictated letters of introduction to Central Casting. Recounting this story a few days later, Rosalie Roy made a wager with Harlean that she did not have the nerve to go back and audition for roles. Unwilling to lose a wager and pressed by her enthusiastic mother, Harlean drove to Central Casting and signed in under her mother's maiden name, Jean Harlow.

After several calls from Central Casting, who had called for "Miss Harlow", and a number of rejected job offers, Harlean was pressured by her mother, now relocated to Los Angeles, into accepting work. Harlow then appeared in her first film, ''Honor Bound'', as an unbilled extra for $7 a day. This led to bit parts in silent films such as ''Moran of the Marines'' (1928), ''Chasing Husbands'', ''Why Is a Plumber?'' (1927) and ''Unkissed Man''. In December 1928, she signed a five-year contract with Hal Roach Studios for $100 per week. She had more substantial roles in Laurel and Hardy's short ''Double Whoopee'', and appeared in two other films alongside the double act. In March 1929, however, she parted with Roach, who tore up her contract after Harlow told him, "It's breaking up my marriage; what can I do?" In June 1929, Harlow separated from her husband and moved in with her mother and Bello.

After her separation, Harlow worked as extra in several movies, and was cast as an extra in ''The Love Parade'' (1929), followed by small roles in ''This Thing Called Love'' and ''The Saturday Night Kid'' (1929), a Clara Bow movie. Her next extra work was in ''Weak But Willing'' (1929). During filming of ''Weak But Willing'' in 1929, she was spotted by James Hall, an actor filming a Howard Hughes film called ''Hell's Angels''. Hughes, re-shooting the film from silent into sound, needed a new actress because the original actress, Greta Nissen, had a Norwegian accent that proved undesirable for a talkie. Harlow made a test and got the part.

Hughes signed Harlow to a five-year, $100 per week contract on October 24, 1929. ''Hell's Angels'' premiered in Hollywood on May 27, 1930 at Grauman's Chinese Theater. During the shooting, Harlow met MGM executive Paul Bern. The movie made Harlow an international star and a sensation with audiences, but critics were less than enthusiastic. ''Variety'' was a bit more charitable in remarking, "It doesn't matter what degree of talent she possesses ... nobody ever starved possessing what she's got." ''The New Yorker'' called Harlow "plain awful." She was again an uncredited extra, in the 1931 Chaplin film City Lights.

With no projects planned for Harlow, Hughes sent her to New York, Seattle and Kansas City for ''Hell's Angels'' premieres. In 1931, loaned out by Hughes' Caddo Company to other studios, Harlow began to gain more attention when she appeared in ''The Secret Six'' with Wallace Beery and Clark Gable, ''Iron Man'' with Lew Ayres and Robert Armstrong, and ''The Public Enemy'' with James Cagney. Though the films ranged from moderate to smash hits, Harlow's acting ability was damned by critics as awful and was mocked. Concerned, Hughes sent her on a brief publicity tour, which was not a success, as Harlow dreaded such personal appearances.

Harlow was next cast in ''Platinum Blonde'' (1931) with Loretta Young. Hughes convinced the producers of ''Platinum Blonde'' to rename it from its original title of ''Gallagher'' in order to promote Harlow's image, for whom the tag had just been invented by Hughes's publicity director. Many of Harlow's female fans had begun dyeing their hair platinum to match hers. To capitalize on this craze, Hughes' team organized a series of "Platinum Blonde" clubs across the nation, with a prize of $10,000 to any beautician who could match Harlow's shade. However, Harlow herself denied her hair was dyed.

Harlow next filmed ''Three Wise Girls'' (1932), after which Paul Bern arranged to borrow her for ''The Beast of the City'' (1932). When the shooting wrapped, Bello booked a ten-week personal appearance tour in the East Coast. To the surprise of many, especially Harlow herself, she packed every theatre she appeared in, often appearing multiple nights in one venue. Despite critical disparagement and poor roles, Harlow's popularity and following was large and growing, and in February 1932 the tour was extended for additional six weeks.

Apprised of this, Paul Bern, by now romantically involved with Harlow, spoke to Louis B. Mayer about buying out her contract from Hughes and signing her to MGM. Mayer would have none of it. MGM's leading ladies were presented in an elegant way, and Harlow's silver screen image was that of a floozy, which was abhorrent to Mayer. Bern then began urging close friend Irving Thalberg, production head of MGM, to sign Harlow, noting Harlow's pre-existing popularity and established image. After initial reluctance, Thalberg agreed, and on March 3, 1932, Harlow's twenty-first birthday, Bern called her with the news that MGM had bought Harlow's contract from Hughes for $30,000. Harlow officially joined the studio on April 20, 1932. Her first task at MGM would be a screen test for ''Red-Headed Woman''.

According to Fay Wray, who played Ann Darrow in the classic ''King Kong'' (1933), Harlow was the original choice to play the screaming blonde heroine. Because MGM put Harlow under exclusive contract during the pre-production phase of the film, she became unavailable for ''Kong'', and the part went to the brunette Wray, wearing a blonde wig.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Harlow became a superstar at MGM. She was given superior movie roles to show off not only her beauty but also what turned out to be a genuine comedic talent. In 1932, she had the starring role in ''Red-Headed Woman'', for which she received $1,250 a week, and ''Red Dust'', her second film with Clark Gable. These films showed her to be much more at ease in front of the camera and highlighted her skill as a comedienne. Harlow and Gable worked well together and co-starred in a total of six films. She was also paired multiple times with Spencer Tracy and William Powell. As her star ascended, the power of Harlow's name was sometimes used to boost up-and-coming male co-stars, such as Robert Taylor and Franchot Tone.

At this point, MGM began to distance Harlow's public persona from that of her screen characters, changing her childhood surname from common "Carpenter" to chic "Carpentier", claiming that writer Edgar Allan Poe was one of her ancestors, and publishing photographs of Harlow doing charity work. MGM tried to change her image from a brassy, exotic platinum blonde to the more mainstream, all-American type preferred by studio boss Mayer. Her early image proved difficult to change, and once Harlow was heard muttering, "My God, must I always wear a low-cut dress to be important?" Though Harlow's screen image changed dramatically throughout her career, one constant was her apparent sense of humor.

During the making of ''Red Dust,'' Harlow's second husband, MGM producer Paul Bern, was found shot dead at their home, creating a lasting scandal. Initially, the Hollywood community whispered that Harlow had killed Bern, though Bern's death was officially ruled a suicide. Harlow kept silent, survived the ordeal, and became more popular than ever.

After Bern's death, Harlow began an indiscreet affair with boxer Max Baer. Although he was separated from his wife, Dorothy Dunbar, at the time of their affair, Dunbar threatened divorce proceedings, naming Harlow as a correspondent for "alienation of affection", a legal term for adultery. MGM defused the situation by arranging a marriage between Harlow and cinematographer Harold Rosson. Still feeling the aftershocks of Bern's mysterious death, the studio did not want another Harlow scandal on its hands. Rosson and Harlow were friends, and Rosson went along with the plan. They quietly divorced seven months later.

After the box office hits ''Hold Your Man'' and ''Red Dust'', MGM realized it had a goldmine in the Harlow-Gable teaming and paired them in two more films: ''China Seas'' with Wallace Beery and Rosalind Russell and ''Wife vs. Secretary'' with Myrna Loy and young James Stewart. Other co-stars included Spencer Tracy, Robert Taylor and William Powell.

By the mid-1930s, Harlow was one of the biggest stars in America and, it was hoped, MGM's next Greta Garbo. Still young, her star continued to rise while the popularity of other female stars at MGM, such as Joan Crawford and Norma Shearer, waned. Harlow's movies continued to make huge profits at the box office, even during the middle of the Depression. Some credit them with keeping MGM profitable at a time when other studios were falling into bankruptcy.

Following the end of her third marriage in 1934, Harlow met William Powell, another MGM star, and quickly fell in love. Reportedly, the couple were engaged for two years, but differences kept them from formalizing their relationship (she wanted children; he did not). Harlow also said that Louis B. Mayer would never allow them to marry.

Late career and death

Harlow was a registered Democrat and in the year of her death she had the pleasure of visiting Franklin D. Roosevelt on his birthday.

Harlow complained about ill health on May 20, 1937 when she was filming ''Saratoga''. Her symptoms – fatigue, nausea, water weight and abdominal pain – did not seem very serious to her doctor, who believed she was suffering from gall bladder infection and flu. However, he was apparently not aware of Harlow’s ill health during the previous year: a severe sunburn, bad flu attack and septicemia after a wisdom tooth extraction. In addition, her friend and co-star Myrna Loy had noticed Harlow’s grey complexion, fatigue and weight gain. On May 29, Harlow was shooting a scene in which the character she was playing had a fever. Harlow was clearly sicker than her character, and when she leaned against her co-star Clark Gable between scenes she said, "I feel terrible. Get me back to my dressing room." Harlow requested that the assistant director phone William Powell, who left his own set to escort Harlow back home.

On May 30, Powell checked on Harlow, and when she did not feel any better, her mother was recalled from a holiday trip and Dr. Fishbaugh visited Harlow at her home. Harlow even felt better on June 3. Co-workers expected her back on the set by Monday, June 7. Press reports were contradictory, with headlines like "Jean Harlow seriously ill" and "Harlow past illness crisis". When Harlow said on June 6 that she could no longer see Powell properly, he called a doctor. As she slipped into a deep slumber and experienced difficulty breathing, the doctor finally realized that she was suffering from something other than gall bladder infection or flu. Hospital records mention uremia.

For years, rumors circulated about Harlow’s death. It was claimed that her mother had refused to call in a doctor because she was a Christian Scientist, or that Harlow herself had declined hospital treatment or surgery. It was also rumored that Harlow had died because of alcoholism, a botched abortion, over-dieting, sunstroke, poisoning due to platinum hair dye, or various venereal diseases. However, based on medical bulletins, hospital records and testimony of her relatives and friends, it was proven to be a case of kidney disease. However, Harlow’s mother prevented some people from seeing her, such as the MGM doctor who later stated that it was because they were Christian Scientists. It has been suggested that she still wanted to control her daughter, but it is untrue that she refused Harlow medical care.

Harlow's kidney failure could not have been cured in the 1930s. Death rate from acute kidney failure has decreased to 25% only after antibiotics, dialysis and kidney transplantation, and Harlow’s grey complexion, recurring illnesses and severe sunburn were signs of the disease. Her kidneys had been slowly failing and toxins started to build up in her body, exposing her to other illnesses and causing symptoms included swelling, fatigue and lack of appetite. Toxins also adversely impacted her brain and central nervous system.

News of Harlow’s death spread fast. Spencer Tracy wrote in his diary, "Jean Harlow died today. Grand gal." One of the MGM writers later said: ”The day Baby died there wasn’t one sound in the commissary for three hours.” MGM closed down on the day of Harlow’s funeral on June 9. She was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California in the Great Mausoleum in a private room of multicolored marble which William Powell bought for $25,000. She was buried in the gown she wore in ''Libeled Lady'', and in her hands she held a white gardenia and a note in which Powell had written: ”Goodnight, my dearest darling.” Drawers in the same room were reserved for Harlow’s mother and William Powell. but Powell remarried in 1940 and was buried elsewhere when he died in 1984. There is a simple inscription on Harlow’s grave, "Our Baby".

MGM planned to replace Harlow in ''Saratoga'' with another actress, but because of public objections the film was finished by using three doubles (one for close-ups, one for long shots and one for dubbing Harlow’s lines) as well as writing her character off some scenes. True to their star right til the end, fans came out in droves to see Harlow's last movie, ''Saratoga''. The film was MGM's highest grossing picture of 1937 and proclaimed to be her best film. Ever since, viewers watching the film have tried to spot these stand-ins and signs of Harlow’s illness.

Film portrayals

In 1965, two films about Jean Harlow were released, both called ''Harlow''. One starred Carroll Baker and the other, Carol Lynley. Both were poorly received and did not perform well at the box office. In 1978, Lindsay Bloom portrayed her in ''Hughes and Harlow: Angels in Hell''. More recently, Gwen Stefani briefly appeared as Harlow in Martin Scorsese's 2004 Howard Hughes biopic ''The Aviator''.

Filmography

+ Film
! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1928	''Honor Bound''		Uncredited unconfirmed
1928	''Moran of the Marines''		Uncredited
1929	''New York Nights''	Party Guest	Uncredited
1929	''This Thing Called Love''		Uncredited
1929	''Fugitives''		Uncredited
1929	''Why Be Good?''		Uncredited
1929	''Close Harmony''		Uncredited
1929	''''	Pearl	Uncredited
1929	''''	Lady-in-Waiting	Uncredited
1929	''Weak But Willing''		Uncredited
1930		Helen	as Jean Harlowe
1931	''City Lights''	Extra in restaurant scene	Uncredited
1931	''''	Anne Courtland
1931	''''	Gwen Allen
1931		Rose Mason
1931		Goldie
1931		Anne Schuyler
1931	''Beau Hunks''	Jeanie-Weenie (in photo)	Uncredited
1932	''Three Wise Girls''	Cassie Barnes
1932	''''	Daisy Stevens, aka Mildred Beaumont
1932	''Red-Headed Woman''	Lillian 'Lil'/'Red' Andrews Legendre
1932	''Red Dust''	Vantine
1933	''Hold Your Man''	Ruby Adams
1933		Kitty Packard
1933		Lola Burns
1934	''''	Eadie
1935		Mona Leslie
1935		Dolly 'China Doll' Portland
1936		Hattie
1936	''Wife vs. Secretary''	Helen "Whitey" Wilson
1936		Suzy
1936	''Libeled Lady''	Gladys Benton
1937		Crystal Wetherby
1937		Carol Clayton

+ Short subjects
! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1928	''Chasing Husbands''	Bathing beauty	Uncredited
1929		Woman in cab	as Harlean Carpenter
1929	''Why Is a Plumber?''
1929	''''		Uncredited
1929	''Double Whoopee''	Swanky blonde
1929	''Thundering Toupees''
1929	''Bacon Grabbers''	Mrs. Kennedy
1929	''Weak But Willing''
1932	''Screen Snapshots''	Herself
1933	''Hollywood on Parade No. A-12''	Herself
1933	''Hollywood on Parade No. B-1''	Herself
1934	''Hollywood on Parade No. B-6''	Herself
1937	''''	Herself	Uncredited

Notes

Bibliography

Golden, Eve: ''Platinum Girl: The Life and Legends of Jean Harlow''. Abbeville Press, 1991.

Stenn, David. ''Bombshell: The Life and Death of Jean Harlow''. Bentam Doubleday Dell Publishing, New York, 1993.

Viera, Mark A. Rooney Darrel, Harlow in Hollywood: The Blonde Bombshell in the Glamour Capital, 1928-1937. Angel City Press. 2011.

External links

Jean Harlow tribute site

Jean Harlow at Franklin D. Roosevelt's 55th birthday party, 1937

Photographs and literature

Category:1911 births Category:1937 deaths Category:People from Kansas City, Missouri Category:American film actors Category:American silent film actors Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) Category:Deaths from renal failure Category:Former Christian Scientists Category:People from Los Angeles, California Category:20th-century actors Category:Howard Hughes Category:California Democrats

an:Jean Harlow da:Jean Harlow de:Jean Harlow es:Jean Harlow fr:Jean Harlow fy:Jean Harlow ko:진 할로우 hr:Jean Harlow id:Jean Harlow it:Jean Harlow ka:ჯინ ჰარლოუ la:Ioanna Harlow lb:Jean Harlow hu:Jean Harlow nl:Jean Harlow ja:ジーン・ハーロウ no:Jean Harlow nds:Jean Harlow pl:Jean Harlow pt:Jean Harlow ru:Джин Харлоу simple:Jean Harlow sr:Џин Харлоу sh:Jean Harlow fi:Jean Harlow sv:Jean Harlow tr:Jean Harlow uk:Джин Харлоу vi:Jean Harlow zh:珍·哈露

Coordinates	3°5′00″N101°32′00″N
Name	Prince Randian
Birth date	1871
Birth place	Demerara, British Guiana
Death date	December 19, 1934 (aged 63)
Death place	New York City, New York
Other names	Rardion, The Living Torso, The Pillow Man, The Human Cigar, The Human Caterpillar
Nationality	}}

Prince Randian or Prince Rardion (ca. 1871 – December 19, 1934), also known as The Snake Man, The Living Torso, The Human Caterpillar and a variety of other names was a famous limbless sideshow performer of the early 1900s, best known for his ability to roll cigarettes with his lips. He was reportedly brought to the United States by P.T. Barnum in 1889 and was a popular carnival and circus attraction for 45 years. Prince Randian can be seen in 1932 film Freaks.

Personal life

Randian (whose birth name is unknown) was born with no arms or legs in Demerara, British Guiana. He was a Hindu and spoke Hindi, English, French, and German. With his wife, known as Princess Sarah, he fathered four daughters and a son. He and his wife lived at 174 Water Street, Paterson, New Jersey, until his death.

Routine

For his act, Randian wore a one-piece wool garment that fit tightly over his body, giving him the appearance of a caterpillar or snake, and would move himself around the stage by wiggling his hips and shoulders. His best-known ability was rolling and lighting cigarettes using only his lips, but he was also capable of painting and writing by holding a brush or stylus with his lips and of shaving himself by securing a razor in a wooden block. He kept all of the props and materials used in his act in a wooden box that he reportedly constructed, painted and affixed a lock to by himself.

His cigarette-rolling routine was featured in the MGM film ''Freaks''.

Death

Randian died at 7:00 PM on December 19, 1934 shortly after his last performance at Sam Wagner's 14th Street Museum. He was 63 years old.

See also

Violetta, another limbless sideshow performer

References

External links

Randion at the Sideshow Wiki

Video clip "Prince Randian Lights a Smoke"

Category:1871 births Category:1934 deaths Category:Sideshow performers Category:Guyanese people Category:Limbless people

de:Prince Randian it:Prince Randian vi:Prince Randian

Coordinates	3°5′00″N101°32′00″N
name	Gary Lucas
background	solo_singer
origin	Syracuse, New York, USA
instrument	Guitar, vocal
genre	Various (blues, jazz, psychedelic rock, Chinese)
occupation	Singer, songwriter, record producer, film score, lecturer, master class teacher
years active	1970s to present
label	Knitting Factory Records
associated acts	Jeff Buckley and many others
website	www.garylucas.com }}

Gary Lucas is an American guitarist, a Grammy-nominated songwriter, a soundtrack composer for film and television, and an international recording artist with over a dozen solo albums to date. He has been described as "one of the best and most original guitarists in America" (David Fricke, 16 Nov. 2006, ''Rolling Stone''); a "legendary leftfield guitarist" (''The Guardian'', 24 Dec. 2005); "the thinking man's guitar hero" (The New Yorker, 8 Jan. 2007), "perhaps the greatest living electric guitar player" (Daniel Levitin) and one of "the most innovative and challenging guitarists playing today" (''fRoots'', March 2002).

Lucas tours the world solo, as well as with several different ensembles including his longtime band NYC-based group, Gods and Monsters, a psychedelic rock band based around Lucas's guitar playing and songwriting. The band completed a tour of Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia, and the Netherlands. Other regular members of the band include Ernie Brooks, Jason Candler, and Billy Ficca. Lucas also lectures on guitar and the music business in general. As of 2007, he has performed in more than 35 countries, including India.

Biography

Gary Lucas was born in 1954 in Syracuse, New York USA. He obtained a degree in English from Yale University (1974), before establishing his career in music first as a college DJ and then as Music Director at his college radio station, WYBC FM. He presently lives in New York City.

Musical career

Early career

According to his website, Lucas was encouraged by his father to try the guitar at age 9, and briefly dabbled with other instruments at school, and played with various groups and combos in the 1960s, during his teens. During his senior year at high school he played for the documentary film unit of the Upstate Medical Center and scored on his first film assignment. In his sophomore year he travelled on what he calls a "pilgrimage" to see childhood hero Captain Beefheart, with whom he later formed a strong friendship. From being a Beefheart fan Gary eventually became his co-manager and occasionally performed on stage during the 1980–81 tours – reciting a poem (usually "One Man Sentence", sometimes "Untitled") or performing the solo guitar piece "Flavor Bud Living".

After gaining his degree, Lucas played for a few years for "O-Bay-Gone Band" before gaining a significant step in his career during 1980–82, when he was engaged to record on two Beefheart albums released by Virgin Records, on one of which he was full-time lead alongside Moris Tepper. Lucas performed over a period of five years with the last incarnation of Beefheart's Magic Band. His solo guitar pieces on ''Doc at the Radar Station'' (1980) and ''Ice Cream for Crow'' (1982) featured his solo renditions of Beefheart's instrumental compositions, "Flavor Bud Living" and "Evening Bell." Of the latter, ''Esquire'' wrote "Gary Lucas apparently grew extra fingers in order to negotiate his way through it".

After Captain Beefheart retired in the 1980s, Lucas continued to be associated with the Magic Band's former members, and the band continues to be creatively active: several of Beefheart's former band members reformed the group, touring as the Magic Band from 2003 to 2006. Their 2007 double album and DVD, ''21st Century Mirror Men'', followed up their debut album ''Back to the Front'' which was chosen as one of the best albums of 2004 by ''The Wire''.

In 1988, Lucas mounted his first solo guitar show at New York's ''Knitting Factory''. Shortly after his first gig, he was invited to appear at the 1988 JazzFest Berlin, where the ''Berliner Morgenpost'' raved in a banner headline after his performance, "It is Lucas!"

Concerts and tours

His Australian debut was made in the company of UK electronica band Future Sound of London. He has been a regular visitor to London's Royal Festival Hall (five appearances) and Amsterdam's famed Paradiso (17 appearances since 1980).

Lucas recently returned from his fourth tour of Russia, where he performed his original solo guitar adaptation of the Lucas/Horn score accompanying the silent classic German horror film ''The Golem'' (1920) in Moscow and Saint Petersburg and appeared on national TV before an estimated 50 million viewers, as well as being feted in the Russian edition of ''Rolling Stone''. He's played with ''The Golem'' solo all over the world since the live debut of the duet score he and keyboardist Walter Horn wrote for the movie in 1989 at the BAM Next Wave Festival—including performing at the Venice Biennale, London's Royal Festival Hall, the New York Jewish Film Festival at Lincoln Center, as part of a week long artist-in-residency at the Quebec City Summer Festival, at the ''Alien'' artist H. R. Giger's Retrospective in Prague (home of the Golem) this spring, at Atlanta's Dragon Con, the largest science fiction festival in the world, and at this year's fifth annual Pop Montreal music and film festival.

Other recent concert appearances include a concert at the Czech Embassy in Washington DC by invitation of the Czech ambassador to the US spotlighting Lucas's solo guitar arrangements of Czech classical music in honor of the 14th anniversary of the Czech Velvet Revolution (Lucas is of Bohemian descent on his father's side). Lucas made an extensive solo acoustic tour of Spain in 2007.

Lucas co-leads a jazz-oriented, all-instrumental Beefheart tribute ensemble, Fast 'n' Bulbous: the Captain Beefheart Project, who have made appearances at the Frankfurt Jazz Festival and the Jazz Em Agosto Festival in Lisbon during 2006. Their debut album ''Pork Chop Blue Around the Rind'' was profiled on NPR and charted on college radio in the US. In Fall, 2006, they toured Europe extensively, selling out shows at the London Jazz Festival, in Amsterdam's BimHuis, as well as playing in Bern, Vienna, Schwaz and Ljubljana Slovenia. The group has recently released its second album, ''Waxed Oop'', on Cuneiform Records.

In November 2006, Lucas toured Europe with Phillip Johnston and five other jazz musicians as the ''Gary Lucas and Phillip Johnston Septet''. The group performed jazz arrangements of Captain Beefheart's work in London, Amsterdam, Bern, Vienna, Schwaz (Austria) and Ljubljana.

Projects and collaborations

Lucas has played and collaborated with Leonard Bernstein, Captain Beefheart, Jeff Buckley, Chris Cornell, Lou Reed, John Cale, Nick Cave, David Johansen. He has also worked with Mary Margaret O'Hara, Onetwo, Peter Stampfel, Sebastian Doggart, Fred Schneider (The B-52's), Bob Neuwirth, Geoff Muldaur, John Sebastian, John Zorn, Bryan Ferry, Patti Smith, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Matthew Sweet, DJ Spooky, Damo Suzuki, Iggy Pop, Dr. John, Allen Ginsberg, Graham Parker, The Dark Poets, Future Sound of London, Melissa Mars, Van Dyke Parks, Adrian Sherwood, Richard Barone, Bob Weir, Warren Haynes (Allman Brothers, Gov't Mule), Kristin Diable and many others. Jazz collaborations include Roswell Rudd, Steve Swallow, Joe Lovano, Dave Liebman, and Billy Bang. Some of these collaborations appear on his retrospective album ''Improve the Shining Hour'', which also features his film and TV music for ABC News, ''20/20'' and ''Turning Point''. He has produced albums for composer/saxophonists Tim Berne and Peter Gordon, and for the French avant-rock band Tanger. He co-wrote Joan Osborne's Grammy-nominated song "Spider Web" from her triple platinum album ''Relish''.

Lucas co-wrote two of the songs, "Grace" and "Mojo Pin", from Jeff Buckley's popular and critically acclaimed album ''Grace''. Early collaborations can also be heard on the Jeff Buckley and Gary Lucas album ''Songs to No One'', which charted internationally with worldwide sales approaching 100,000.

Dutch lutist Jozef Van Wissem has collaborated with Lucas on several albums, which include "the Universe of Absence" and "Diplopia." They have appeared and performed live on Dutch national TV together.

In 2007 Lucas collaborated on an album with underground electronic producer James R Hunter's project ''The Dark Poets''. The album was produced by British label manager Stevo Pearce of Some Bizzare Records. The album, ''Gary Lucas vs the Dark Poets - Beyond the Pale'', features an eclectic mixture of moody drum and bass, techno and rock tracks (most notably 'Prime Time' - featuring vocals by Sarah Hilliard and James R Hunter) as well as many early collectable Gary Lucas tracks and collaborations (including "Procuress from Karmelitska Street" featuring UK vocalist Pat Fulgoni of Kava Kava and original sketches of songs which went on to be used on Jeff Buckley's ''Grace'' album' including 'Grace' and 'Mojo Pin').

In 2009 Lucas collaborated on a new world music collaboration with an Indian vocalist from the UK, Najma Akhtar. Their album ''RISHTE'' combines rock, blues, folk, and raga, on Harmonia Mundi/World Village. It was listed #4 in the European World Music charts in 2009.

In 2010, Lucas collaborated with vocalist Dean Bowman on their "spiritual roots project" and gospel album, "CHASE THE DEVIL." The duo performed an amalgam of Hebrew and African American blues live in the U.S. and Europe.

In May 2011, Lucas released a new studio album with his band, Gods and Monsters, entitled ''The Ordeal of Civility.'' It was produced by Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads) and distributed by Sony/Red.

''The Edge of Heaven''

''The Edge of Heaven'', an album of Lucas's lush arrangements of classic Chinese pop tunes from the 1930s, has a distinctly bluesy feel. It received positive international reviews from ''Rolling Stone'' to ''The Wall Street Journal'' to the Hong Kong Music Weekly. It was #1 on the World Music Charts in Canada and garnered international attention, England's ''Q'' magazine awarding it 4 Stars, and ''Mojo'' writing: "It is simply gorgeous." The album was chosen as one of the Best Discs of the year in France's ''Libération'' newspaper. There was a lengthy profile for the album in ''The Wall Street Journal'', as well as an NPR interview.

Other

Lucas is also working with the female UK-based DJ Cosmo on a new dance-oriented project called Wild Rumpus, a track from which parts have been previewed already on the BBC. Gary has been performing DJ improv sets with Cosmo in a variety of far-flung locales, including high profile gigs in Romania and India. This year he released his second album with Dutch lutist Jozef Van Wissem, ''The Universe of Absence'', and the pair recently performed live on Dutch national TV network VPRO show, "Free Sounds."

Lucas has played at the UK's Glastonbury Festival, at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire and at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in LA and Camber Sands in the UK.

In 1996, Gary Lucas played Fireman Sam in Fireman Sam in Action.

A number of UK DJs have featured Lucas in their radio shows, including Charlie Gillett and John Peel, as well as Verity Sharp and Fiona Talkington on their BBC experimental music program, and Rob Da Bank, also on BBC.

In Fall 2009, Gary Lucas debuted his new live program of solo guitar arrangements of famous film music at the 5th International Jecheon Film and Music Festival in South Korea. He was also invited by the Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamerica to preview his score for the Spanish version of Dracula (1931) at the 31st Havana Film Festival in Havana, Cuba. Lucas performs the European premiere of his Spanish "Dracula" project at the 9th Transylvania International Film Festival in Cluj-Napoca Romania on May 30, 2010 in the open-air outside the Banfi Botzida Castle.

In the summer of 2009, he collaborated with new up-and-coming Latin American artist Juan Galeano on his album El Peregrino, which debuted April 2010.

Lucas returned to Cuba December 2010 for the 32nd Havana Film Festival, and debuted a new live score accompanying a Brazilian horror classic, "Esta Noite Encarnerei no teu Cadaver" (Tonight I will Possess Your Corpse).

Style

Gary Lucas' work draws strongly from the blues tradition, but it has increasing international range (see ''Edge of Heaven'' above), and includes styles such as psychedelic rock, world music, and jazz, as well as classical works.

Lectures and master classes

Lucas has spoken widely on his life and career. He also lectures widely on the mechanics of songwriting, extensive collaborations, composing for film, and the music business at the Amsterdam Music Conservatorum, Yale University (his alma mater), the University of Hawaii, New York University, and Columbia University. He has given guitar master classes at the Amsterdam Music Conservatory and in Honolulu at the University of Hawaii. He has also lectured at Rogers State University in Oklahoma, and McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

Composing for film and television

Soundtracks and scores:

Spanish ''Dracula'' (soundtrack for the 1931 silent film)

''Cinefantastique'' (solo guitar arrangements of famous film music)

''Sounds of the Surreal'' (live solo guitar score)

''American Faust: From Condi to Neo-Condi'' an award-winning documentary on Condoleezza Rice, directed by Sebastian Doggart, additional scoring

''Trust Me'' (a Showtime documentary, original score)

''Bed and Breakfast 9/11'' (an award-winning documentary shown on PBS)

''The Legacy of Jedwabne'' (documentary by Slawomir Grunberg)

''Lalee's Kin: The Legacy of Cotton'' (an Oscar-nominated Maysles Films documentary for HBO, screened at the Museum of Modern Art in New York as part of their Maysles Films 50 Year Retrospective; Variety wrote: "Gary Lucas' Delta blues guitar music adds vivid color to this report from America's forgotten underbelly")

''The Golem'' (soundtrack for the 1920 silent film)

''The Unholy Three'' (original solo guitar score for the 1925 Tod Browning film of the same name, commissioned by the Film Society of Lincoln Center. To premiere at Walter Reade Center, NYC, April 2009.

''J'Accuse'' (live solo guitar score for Abel Gance's anti-war film of the same name) in collaboration with Dutch-Iranian composer Reza Namavar, commissioned by the Netherlands Holland Festival. To premiere in the Amsterdam Stadtsshouwburg, June 2009.

''Dragon Boys'' (Canadian "movie of the week") 2007.

''For Love and Honor'' (Erik Greenberg Anjou's documentary about American Ivy League collegiate football).

Other recognition

In the last few years Lucas has been profiled in the ''International Herald Tribune'', ''Libération'', and featured on the cover of ''The Forward'' as well as the national Dutch newspaper ''Het Parool''. According to the Beefheart website: :"Since the end of the Magic Band, he has been very prolific in his own right, solo and within a band, releasing almost an album a year since 1991. His virtuoso solo live shows are awesome in the sounds he extracts from his guitar."

In the early 2000s, he performed a guitar rendition of the theme music to BBC1 soap opera EastEnders.

Discography

{| style="width:100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" |- valign="top" |style="width:50%"|

''Skeleton at the Feast'' (1990)

''Gods and Monsters'' (1992)

''Bad Boys of the Arctic'' (1994)

''Evangeline'' (1997)

''Busy Being Born'' (1998)

''Street of Lost Brothers'' (2000)

''Level the Playing Field'' (2000)

''The Edge of Heaven'' (2001)

''Operators Are Standing By: The Essential Gary Lucas 1989-1996'' (2003)

''Diplopia'' (2003), with Jozef van Wissem

''The Universe of Absence'' (2004) with Jozef van Wissem

''Coming Clean'' (2006)

''Beyond the Pale'' (2008) with The Dark Poets

''American Faust: From Condi to Neo-Condi'' (2010)

''Music for the Eden Project'' 7" single (2010)

|}

References

External links

Official website

Lucas' biography and discography, on Captain Beefheart's "band members" section

Gary Lucas discography

Gary Lucas Vs The Dark Poets 'Beyond The Pale album site'

Category:American blues guitarists Category:American jazz guitarists Category:American rock guitarists Category:Songwriters from New York Category:People from Syracuse, New York Category:Living people Category:1952 births Category:Tzadik Records artists Category:The Magic Band members

de:Gary Lucas fr:Gary Lucas it:Gary Lucas