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Live television refers to a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. From the early days of television until about 1958, live television was used heavily, except for filmed shows such as I Love Lucy and Gunsmoke. Video tape did not exist until 1957. Television networks provide most live television mostly for morning shows with television programs such as: Today, Good Morning America & CBS This Morning in the US (abeit...only airing live in the Eastern Time Zone), and Daybreak, BBC Breakfast, This Morning, etc. in the UK.

Most local television station newscasts are broadcast live in the U.S.

In general a live television program was more common for broadcasting content produced specifically for commercial television in the early years of the medium, before technologies such as video tape appeared. As video tape recorders (VTR) became more prevalent, many entertainment programs were recorded and edited before broadcasting rather than being shown live. Entertainment events such as sports television and The Academy Awards continue to be generally broadcast live.

Uses of live television[link]

Live television is often used as a device, even when it is not necessary, in various types of programming to take advantage of these qualities, often to great success in terms of attracting viewers.^{[citation needed]} The NBC live comedy/variety program Saturday Night Live, for example, has been on that network continuously since 1975.

On September 25, 1997, NBC broadcast a special live episode of its hospital drama ER, which at the time ranked as the third most-watched episode of any medical drama program ever. Many television news programs, particularly local news ones in North America, have also used live television as a device to gain audience viewers by making their programs appear more exciting. With technologies such as production trucks, satellite truck uplinks, a news reporter can report live "on location" from anywhere where a story is happening in the city. This technique has attracted criticism for its overuse (like minor car accidents which often have no injuries) and resulting tendency to make stories appear more urgent than they actually are.

The unedited nature of live television can pose problems for television networks because of the potential for mishaps. To enforce the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations, television networks often broadcast live programs on a slight broadcast delay to give them the ability to censor words and images while keeping the broadcast as "live" as possible.

Memorable events on live television[link]

Many events have happened on live television broadcasts that are well-remembered, sometimes because they were part of a major breaking news story already, and always because they happened unexpectedly and before audiences of thousands or millions of viewers.

News[link]

• September 4, 1951 – The first national live television broadcast in the U.S. took place on when President Harry Truman's speech at the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference in San Francisco, California was transmitted over AT&T's transcontinental cable and microwave radio relay system to broadcast stations in local markets.^[1][2][3]
• June 2, 1953 – the coronation of Her Majesty Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom was the first to be televised live on British television.
• November 24, 1963 – Lee Harvey Oswald (the alleged assassin of U.S. President John F. Kennedy) was shot in Dallas by nightclub owner Jack Ruby while being transferred to a county jail. Oswald was taken to Parkland Hospital, the same hospital in which President Kennedy and Governor Connally had been treated two days before, but died within approximately two hours after being shot.
• November 25, 1963 – President John F. Kennedy's funeral was broadcast on live TV . It was seen by perhaps what was the largest viewing audience up to then. It was the first live TV coverage of a Presidential funeral. Kennedy had been assassinated in Dallas, Texas three days before, on November 22, 1963. The assassination initiated four days of non-stop live television news coverage seen by millions.
• December 7, 1963 – Instant replay is used for the first time during the live transmission of the Army–Navy Game by its inventor, director Tony Verna.
• November 13, 1965 – Critic and author Kenneth Tynan became the first person to say the word "fuck" on British television on the live satirical programme BBC-3 while commenting on censorship during a TV debate.
• December 24, 1968 – Apollo 8 Genesis reading during the 9th orbit of the moon.
• July 20, 1969 – Apollo 11, the first moon landing.
• November 7, 1970 – Felix Dennis, in a group interview on The Frost Programme, becomes the first person to say "cunt" on live TV.
• July 15, 1974 – Christine Chubbuck, a television news reporter for station WXLT-TV in Sarasota, Florida, committed suicide on live television by firing a revolver shot into her head.
• January 28, 1986 – The Challenger explosion was seen on live TV by millions in the U.S.
• January 22, 1987 – Budd Dwyer committed suicide by shooting himself in the mouth with a revolver during a televised press conference.
• November 9, 1989 – Live coverage of the abolishment of travel restrictions and the opening of the border to West Berlin after mass panic and jubilation from East Germans.
• June 17, 1994 – The slow-speed chase of a vehicle containing American football star and murder suspect O. J. Simpson was broadcast live throughout the U.S., with NBC interrupting its coverage of the 1994 NBA Finals to do so.
• April 30, 1998 – Daniel V. Jones, a cancer and HIV-positive patient apparently frustrated with his HMO coverage, ended a live televised stand-off with police on a Los Angeles freeway by committing suicide, shooting himself in the chin with a shotgun. The event, which took place on a Thursday afternoon, was witnessed by many children whose after-school cartoons had been interrupted in order to broadcast the incident, which originally began as a high-speed pursuit, and led many to criticize Los Angeles television stations' practice of airing police pursuits live.
• September 11, 2001 – At 09:03am Eastern Daylight Time, United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the south tower of the World Trade Center, in front of millions of viewers who were already watching live coverage of the unfolding terrorist attacks of that day. Major networks had broken into regular programming just minutes earlier with live shots of the twin towers after American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the north tower at 08:46am. Millions of viewers around the world watching live coverage of the attacks saw both buildings collapse.
• March 23, 2003 – Sky News broadcast live coverage of US forces attacking an Iraqi position. Sky reporter David Bowden, embedded with the US Marines, gave a live running commentary on the battle, something viewers had not seen before.
• July 7, 2005 – A live television report on the unfolding situation on the 7 July 2005 London bombings captured the sound of the Tavistock Square bus explosion at 09:46 British Summer Time.
• September 21, 2005 – JetBlue Airways Flight 292 made an emergency landing in Los Angeles. The passengers were able to watch the incident unfold on live television.
• August 16, 2008 – Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili chewed a tie during the news headlines on the BBC.
• April 30, 2009 – During live coverage of a parade on the Dutch holiday Koninginnedag in the city of Apeldoorn, Netherlands an attack took place on the Dutch Royal Family after Karst R. Tates drove a car into a crowd of people before crashing into a monument. Although the royal family themselves were unharmed, the incident resulted in a total of 8 fatalities leaving many others injured.
• August 23, 2010 – The tourist bus have been hostage in Qurino Granstand in Metro Manila Philippines killing 9 people including the hostage taker Rolando Mendoza
• April 29, 2011 – The Royal Wedding of Prince William (Duke of Cambridge) and Catherine Middleton was watched live by over 2 billion people worldwide.

Entertainment[link]

• November 30, 1958 – Midway through transmission of the Armchair Theatre play Underground on the British ITV network, actor Gareth Jones died off-camera, forcing the video production to improvise for the remainder of the broadcast.
• September 17, 1967 – While The Doors performed "Light My Fire" on The Ed Sullivan Show, frontman Jim Morrison used the word "higher" instead of the previously agreed-upon change "better".
• March 5, 1975 – Graham Kennedy mimicked a crow call ("faaaaaaark") remniscient of the word fuck during a hairspray ad on The Graham Kennedy Show on the Nine Network in Australia. He was banned from live TV indefinitely for the stunt. He quits the network on April 17 after the network took advantage of the pre-taping to delete a speech critical of Senator Doug McClelland (the then Minister for the Media).
• October 11, 1975 – First episode of Saturday Night Live broadcast.
• December 1, 1976 – Appearing in a live interview on the Thames Television pre-watershed programme Today as last-minute replacements for fellow EMI artists Queen, the Sex Pistols were interviewed by Bill Grundy to promote their recently released Anarchy in the UK single. During the interview, Steve Jones said the band had "fucking spent" its label advance and Johnny Rotten used the word "shit." Pistols guitarist Steve Jones called Grundy a "dirty sod" and a "dirty old man", leading Grundy to goad the band into swearing on live TV, and Jones ended the interview with "you dirty bastard," "you dirty fucker," and "what a fucking rotter".^[4] Grundy was fired by ITV and Today was cancelled.
• February 20, 1981 – Appearing on the live ABC comedy show Fridays as guest host, comedian Andy Kaufman refused to read his lines during the last sketch, to the annoyance of the cast and crew. The situation escalated into a minor brawl, and the network cut off the broadcast. Kaufman later admitted that the fight was planned by him and some of the cast and crew.
• April 15, 1984 – Comedian Tommy Cooper collapsed and subsequently died of a heart attack in front of millions of viewers on Live From Her Majesty's. The audience carried on laughing thinking it was part of his act, before the programme took a commercial break.
• January 4, 1987 – A massive bench-clearing brawl occurred in the World Junior Hockey Championships between Canada and the Soviet Union. After Pavel Kostichkin took a two handed slash at Theoren Fleury, the Soviet Union's Evgeny Davydov came off the bench, eventually leading to both benches clearing. The officials walked off the ice and tried shutting off the arena lights, but the brawl lasted for 20 minutes until the IIHF declared the game null and void. Both teams were ejected from the tournament, and the Soviet team were barred from attending the end-of-tournament dinner.
• October 17, 1989 – Right before Game 3 of The 1989 World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics, the Loma Prieta earthquake occurred.
• February 1, 2004 – During a performance by singers Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson at the Super Bowl XXXVIII half time show, Timberlake pulled off a part of Jackson's leather corset, revealing her right breast covered by a piece of jewelry attached to her nipple. He later described the incident as a "wardrobe malfunction". The incident caused outrage among religious groups and demands for the FCC to crack down on indecency on television and radio.
• April 21, 2004 – After commenting on a UEFA Champions League match on ITV1, Ron Atkinson thought that the broadcast had finished. However, although transmission in the UK had finished, he was still on air to various countries in the Middle East and proceeded to say that "...he is what is known in some schools as a fucking lazy thick nigger" towards Marcel Desailly. He resigned with immediate effect.
• August 20, 2006 – During a live dance performance of "Crazy Love Song" by the female pop trio Seeya on the Korean television program SBS Inkigayo, a backup dancer who suffered from epilepsy had a seizure in the middle of the song. The performers ignored the interruption and completed the performance normally before and after the dancer was carried off the stage.
• April 14, 2007 – At the conclusion of an AFL match between Fremantle and West Coast on Network Ten, Eagles player Michael Braun concluded his Ross Glenndenning Medal acceptance speech with "Let's have a fucking good year" in front of a TV audience of 550,000 and a crowd of 42,051. Braun was fined $5,500 by the AFL for the incident.

Live television episodes[link]

Although all programs were once live, the use of video tape means that very few television programs in the modern era have ever attempted such a feat. In the U.S., soap operas including As the World Turns and The Edge of Night were broadcast live until 1975. The most recent scripted series to do so on a regular basis was the Charles S. Dutton series Roc in the 1992-93 season.

However, on occasion, scripted series will do an episode live to attract ratings. In the U.S. and Canada, the episode is occasionally performed twice: once for the east coast which is composed of the Eastern time zone and Central time zone and again three hours later for the west coast which is composed of the Mountain time zone and the Pacific time zone. Notable examples of shows that have had a live episode include:

• Gimme a Break! (1985)^[5]
• Roc (The entire second season, 1993)
• ER (1997)^[6]
• Coronation Street (for its 40th anniversary in 2000 & its 50th anniversary in 2010)
• The Drew Carey Show (1999, 2000, & 2001)
• One Life to Live (Went live for an entire week of episodes in May 2002)
• The Bill (2003 & 2005)
• The Daily Show (2004, 2008, 2009)
• Blue Heelers (2004)
• Will & Grace (2005 & 2006)
• Air Farce Live (All episodes from October 2007 - December 2008)
• The West Wing (2005) - An episode ("The Debate") was presented as a live debate between presidential candidates
• Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps (2008)
• EastEnders (for its 25th anniversary in 2010)
• 30 Rock: season five, "Live Show" (2010) and season six, "Live from Studio 6H" (2012)
• WWE Monday Night Raw
• WWE SmackDown (occasional live specials)

In recent years there have been a number of special films broadcast live as well. These include the remakes of Fail Safe (2000) and The Quatermass Experiment (2005).

A live television advertisement was shown for the first time in 40 years to celebrate the arrival of the new Honda Accord in the United Kingdom. It was broadcast on Channel Four on 29 May 2008 at 20:10 during a special episode of 'Come Dine With Me'.

Live television specials[link]

Many live television specials were telecast during the pre-videotape era. Among the most successful were the 1955 and 1956 telecasts of Peter Pan, a 1954 musical adaptation of J.M. Barrie's 1904 play, starring Mary Martin, and Cyril Ritchard. This was such a hit that the show was restaged and rebroadcast (this time on videotape) with the same two stars and most of the rest of the cast in 1960, and rerun several times after that. The Peter Pan telecasts marked the first-ever telecasts of a complete Broadway musical with most of its original cast.

Further reading[link]

• No Retakes, by Sandra Grabman and Wright King. BearManor Media, 2008.
• Caesar's Hours: My Life in Comedy, with Love and Laughter, by Sid Caesar with Eddy Friedfeld. Public Affairs, 2003.
• The Box: An Oral History of Television 1920-1961, by Jeff Kisseloff. Penguin Books, 1995.
• The Live Television Generation of Hollywood Film Directors, by Gorham Kindem. McFarland, 1994.
• Live Television: The Golden Age of 1946-1958 in New York, by Frank Sturcken. McFarland, 1990.
• Golden Age of Television: Notes from the Survivors, by Max Wilk. Moyer Bell Limited, 1989.
• Where Have I Been? An Autobiography, by Sid Caesar with Bill Davidson, Crown Publishers, Inc., 1982.

References[link]

Tracy Morgan
Morgan discussing his book I Am the New Black, New York City 2009
Birth name	Tracy Jamal Morgan
Born	(1968-11-10) November 10, 1968 (age 43)[1][2] Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Medium	Stand up, Television, Film
Nationality	American
Years active	1989–present
Genres	Black comedy, Musical comedy, Cringe comedy, Character comedy
Subject(s)	African-American culture, Race relations, Racism, Marriage, Family, Self-deprecation, Recreational drug use, Sex, Current events
Spouse	Sabrina Morgan (1985–2009; 3 children) (Divorced)
Notable works and roles	Saturday Night Live Tracy Mitchell in The Tracy Morgan Show Tracy Jordan in 30 Rock Host of Scare Tactics

Tracy Jamal Morgan (born November 10, 1968)^[1][2] is an American actor and comedian who is best known for his eight seasons as a cast member on Saturday Night Live as well as the role of Tracy Jordan on the NBC series 30 Rock.

Early life[link]

Morgan was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, the second of five children of Alicia (née Warden), a homemaker, and James Morgan, Jr., a musician. Morgan says his father returned after multiple tours of duty in Vietnam addicted to heroin,^[3] causing him to leave the family when Morgan was six.^[4][5][6] He was the target of bullies as a child.^[7] His older brother had cerebral palsy and could not protect him so he used comedy to make bullies laugh rather than being beat up^[8]. Before Morgan began his career, he worked in New York City as a painter, for L&L Painting and Rose Company.

Early career[link]

Morgan began his career on Martin, where he played Hustle Man. The character sold various items he had from the "hood," always greeting people with his trademark "What's happ'n, chief?" and had a pet dog that he dressed as a rapper. In the 2003 Chris Rock film Head of State, Morgan appeared as a man watching television, often questioning why they are not watching Martin.

Morgan was also a regular cast member on Uptown Comedy Club,^[9] a sketch comedy show filmed in Harlem which aired for two seasons between 1992 to 1994. He was also on the HBO show Snaps.

[edit] Saturday Night Live

Morgan joined the cast of comedy show Saturday Night Live in 1996, where he performed as a regular until 2003. In December 2011, he made a guest appearance on Saturday Night Live's Christmas show, hosted by Jimmy Fallon.

Recurring characters[link]

He performed a variety of characters on the program, including:

• Brian Fellow
• Uncle Jemima
• Dominican Lou
• Bishop Don "Mack" Donald
• Astronaut Jones
• African Andy
• Benny the Bengal
• Woodrow

Notable impressions[link]

Morgan is also credited with impressions of:

On March 14, 2009, Morgan returned to SNL as host and reprised his roles of Brian Fellow and Astronaut Jones.

[edit] 30 Rock

Since 2006, Morgan has been a cast member of the NBC television show 30 Rock, playing the character Tracy Jordan, a caricature of himself. His work on 30 Rock has been well-received, being nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series at the 2009 Emmy Awards.^[10]

Other work[link]

Morgan performing stand-up in 2008.

Morgan had his own show, The Tracy Morgan Show, in 2003, which was canceled after one season.

Morgan also had a stand-up special entitled "One Mic" that was shown on Comedy Central. He also was the host of the first Spike Guys' Choice Awards, which aired on June 13, 2007. In 2003, he was on an episode of Punk'd in which his car was towed from the valet parking. He can be heard as "Spoonie Luv" on the Comedy Central program Crank Yankers and as Woof in the MTV2 Animated Series Where My Dogs At?.

Morgan acted in commercials for ESPN NFL 2K, ESPN NBA 2K, and ESPN NHL 2K, where he co-starred with Warren Sapp, Ben Wallace and Jeremy Roenick. He appeared in the movie The Longest Yard, starring Adam Sandler, as a transvestite inmate.^[11]

Morgan has hosted the VH1 Hip Hop Honors for 2 consecutive years and hosted the third season of Scare Tactics, the Sci Fi Channel's hidden camera show that pranks people by using their worst fears against them.

Morgan voiced Agent Blaster in Disney's G-Force and a Bulldog named luiz in the Blue Sky Animation Studios film Rio.

Autobiography[link]

On October 20, 2009, Morgan's autobiography I Am the New Black was released. The book includes stories from his life living in Tompkins Projects in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, to becoming a cast member on Saturday Night Live. Tracy appeared on National Public Radio's Fresh Air hosted by Terry Gross, at times tearing up about his former life in a New York ghetto.^[3]

Personal life[link]

Morgan claims to have a number of tattoos, including: a peace sign; a happy and sad face; a cross bearing the names of his wife and three sons; the name of a friend he played football with in high school who was murdered; the words ME, MYSELF, & I on his back; and the phrase Stove Top.^[12]

Family[link]

Morgan married his high school sweetheart Sabrina in 1985. They have three sons together. Their sons' names are Bobby Morgan, Tracy Jr., and Chris Morgan.^[13] Morgan filed for divorce at Bronx Supreme Court on August 7, 2009 after 23 years of marriage, although he and his wife had been already separated for eight years. A friend told the New York Daily News, "Basically they were divorced without the paperwork."^[14] Morgan credits one of his sons with having saved him from his alcoholism.^[15] Morgan is estranged from his mother and most of his family.^[16]

On September 18, 2011, it was announced that Morgan is engaged to model Megan Wollover. Morgan proposed to Wollover while the couple were in San Francisco.^[17]

Health problems[link]

In 1996, he was diagnosed with diabetes, but says he never took it seriously, refusing to take medication or change his diet. After running a 104-degree Fahrenheit fever on the set of 30 Rock, Morgan decided to finally comply with his doctor's orders. He is now very cautious when it comes to the condition. With his consent, many of Morgan's own troubles have been incorporated within episodes of 30 Rock.^[18]

In early December 2010, Tracy Morgan received a kidney transplant. It was announced on December 22, 2010 that he was resting and would miss "at least two episodes" of 30 Rock in 2011.^[19]

On January 22, 2012, Morgan collapsed at an awards ceremony for the Sundance Film Festival. He appeared disoriented while giving a speech, and he was escorted out of the building before collapsing outside. Hospital officials stated that no drugs or alcohol were found in his system. His publicist attributed the incident to a combination of exhaustion and altitude sickness.^[20]

Legal troubles[link]

On December 2, 2005, Morgan was arrested in Los Angeles on impaired driving charges after police stopped him for speeding. On February 17, 2006, he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of drunken driving and was sentenced to 36 months' probation, fined $390 and ordered to attend an alcohol education program.^[21]

In November 2006, Morgan was arrested for DUI after police spotted him driving erratically and was also charged with probation violation. In April 2007, Morgan entered a guilty plea where he had to wear an alcohol monitoring bracelet and perform five days of community service.^[22]

Controversies[link]

On January 27, 2011, Morgan appeared on the NBA on TNT pregame coverage of the Miami Heat and the New York Knicks nationally televised live basketball game. During the appearance, commentators Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith asked Morgan to choose between Sarah Palin and Tina Fey on who was better looking (Fey portrays Palin on Saturday Night Live and is a coworker of Morgan). Morgan said Palin was "good masturbation material". The comment led TNT to apologize for his remarks on live camera.^[23]

On June 3, 2011, during a performance in Nashville, Tennessee, Morgan made offensive remarks against gay people, reportedly including that, if his son was gay, he'd better speak to him like a man or he would "pull out a knife and stab" him. Morgan apologized, saying that he had "gone too far".^[24] NBC Entertainment head Bob Greenblatt stated, "I speak for NBC and myself personally when I say we do not condone hate or violence of any kind, and I am pleased to see Tracy Morgan apologizing for recent homophobic remarks in his standup appearance... Unfortunately, Tracy's comments reflect negatively on both 30 Rock and NBC — two very all-inclusive and diverse organizations — and we have made it clear to him that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated." Tina Fey, Morgan's boss both in fiction and in real life, said, "I'm glad to hear that Tracy apologized .... but the violent imagery of Tracy's rant was disturbing to me at a time when homophobic hate crimes continue to be a life-threatening issue for the LGBT community...the Tracy Morgan I know, ...is not a hateful man and [would never] hurt another person. I hope for his sake that Tracy's apology will be accepted as sincere by his gay and lesbian co-workers at 30 Rock, without whom Tracy would not have lines to say, clothes to wear, sets to stand on, scene partners to act with or a printed-out paycheck from accounting to put in his pocket."^[25]

On June 25, 2011, during a show at Caroline's in New York City, Morgan made derogatory comments about disabled children, saying things such as, "Don't ever mess with women who have retarded kids,"^[26] and referring to a woman as "a cripple". Peter Bernes, CEO of The Arc, an organization supporting people with disabilities, stated, "Tracy Morgan should apologize immediately. This quote is far too offensive to be excused as comedy, and it is very hurtful to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. Mr. Morgan has an incredibly powerful platform from which to fix this, and if he's learned anything in the last few weeks, he can't bomb this apology."^[27]

Awards/nominations[link]

• Emmy Awards
  • 2009, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: 30 Rock, nominated
• Image Awards
  • 2008, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: 30 Rock, nominated
  • 2007, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: 30 Rock, nominated

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tracy Morgan

• Tracy Morgan on Twitter
• Works by or about Tracy Morgan in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Tracy Morgan at the Internet Movie Database
• Tracy Morgan collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Interview with Tracy Morgan
• Tracy Morgan at Emmys.com

Jesse Ventura
38th Governor of Minnesota
In office January 8, 1999 – January 6, 2003
Lieutenant	Mae Schunk
Preceded by	Arne Carlson
Succeeded by	Tim Pawlenty
Mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota
In office 1991–1995
Personal details
Born	James George Janos (1951-07-15) July 15, 1951 (age 60) Minneapolis, Minnesota
Political party	Reform Party (1999–2000) Independence Party of Minnesota (2000-present)
Spouse(s)	Terry Ventura
Children	Tyrel Ventura Jade Ventura
Profession	US Navy UDT Professional Wrestler Color commentator Actor Talk Show host Politician Author
Religion	None (atheist)[1]
Military service
Service/branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1969–1975
Rank	Storekeeper Third Class [2]
Unit	UDT 12 SEAL Team 1 (Reserve)[3]
Awards	National Defense Service Medal Vietnam Service Medal

James George Janos^[4] (born July 15, 1951), better known as Jesse Ventura, is an American statesman, actor, author, and former professional wrestler who served as the 38th Governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003.

Ventura served as a Navy UDT during the Vietnam War. He later embarked on an 11-year professional wrestling career from 1975 to 1986, taking up the stage name Jesse "The Body" Ventura. He had a long tenure in the World Wrestling Federation as a performer and color commentator, and was inducted into the company's Hall of Fame in 2004.^[4] After leaving wrestling, Ventura began a successful film career, appearing in films such as 1987's Predator.

Ventura first entered politics as Mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota from 1991 to 1995. He ran as the Reform Party candidate in the Minnesota gubernatorial election of 1998, running a campaign centered on grassroots events and unusual ads that implored citizens not to "vote for politics as usual". The campaign was successful, and Ventura served from January 4, 1999, to January 6, 2003, without running for a second term.

After leaving office, Ventura became a visiting fellow at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. He has also hosted a number of TV shows and has written several political books. Ventura currently lives in both Minnesota and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Early life[link]

Ventura was born James George Janos on July 15, 1951^[5] in Minneapolis, the son of Bernice Martha (née Lenz) and George William Janos, both of whom were World War II veterans. Ventura has an older brother who served in Vietnam. His father's parents were from what is now Slovakia, and his mother was of German descent.^[6] Ventura has described himself as Slovak.^[7] Ventura was raised a Lutheran. Ventura (then still using his legal name of Janos) attended the now-closed Cooper Elementary School and graduated from Minneapolis' Roosevelt High School in 1969.

Navy career[link]

From September 11, 1969, to September 10, 1975, during the Vietnam War era, Ventura served in the United States Navy. Ventura graduated with BUD/S class 58 in December 1970^[8] and was part of Underwater Demolition Team 12^[9] and later as a reservist with SEAL Team 1.^[3]

Ventura has frequently referred to his military career in public statements and debates.^[10][11][12] He was criticized by hunters and conservationists for stating in an interview with the Minneapolis StarTribune in April 2001, "Until you have hunted men, you haven't hunted yet."^[12][13]

In January 2002, Ventura, who had never specifically claimed to have fought in Vietnam, disclosed for the first time that he did not see combat. He did not receive the Combat Action Ribbon, which was awarded to those involved in a firefight or who went on clandestine or special operations where the risk of enemy fire was great or expected. However, Ventura, who was stationed at Subic Bay in the Philippines, was awarded the Vietnam Service Medal, which was given to military personnel who took part in the contributions to the war effort in Vietnam.^[9]

Post Navy[link]

Near the end of his service in the Navy Ventura began to spend time with the "Dago" chapter of the outlaw motorcycle club the Mongols, in San Diego. He would ride onto Naval Base Coronado on his Harley-Davidson wearing his Mongol colors. According to Ventura he was a full-patch member of the club and even third in command of his chapter. While the club may have been involved in some criminal activity Ventura avoided any problems with the authorities.^[14][15][16]

In the fall of 1974, Ventura left the bike club to return to Minnesota. Shortly after his leaving, the Mongols entered into open warfare with their rivals the Hells Angels.^[14]

In Minnesota Ventura attended North Hennepin Community College in the mid-1970s.^[14] At the same time, he began weightlifting and wrestling. He was a bodyguard for The Rolling Stones for a short time before he ventured into professional wrestling and changed his name.^[17]

Professional wrestling career[link]

Early career[link]

He created the stage name Jesse "The Body" Ventura to go with the persona of a bully-ish beach bodybuilder, picking the name "Ventura" from a map as part of his "bleach blond from California" character.^[4] Ventura also picked the name Jesse, claiming he liked the name.^[20] As a wrestler, Ventura performed as a villain and often used the motto "Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat!" Much of his flamboyant persona was adapted from "Superstar" Billy Graham, a charismatic and popular performer during the 1970s and '80s.^[4][21] Years later, as a broadcaster, Ventura made a running joke out of it claiming that Graham stole all of his ring attire ideas from him.

Singles and tag team success[link]

In 1975, Ventura made his debut in the Central States territory, before moving to the Pacific Northwest, where he wrestled for promoter Don Owen as Jesse "The Great" Ventura.^[4][21] Sometime later, he adopted the more permanent nickname, "The Body". During his stay in Portland, Oregon, he had notable feuds with Dutch Savage and Jimmy Snuka and won the Pacific Northwest Wrestling title twice (once from each wrestler), and the tag team title five times (twice each with Bull Ramos and "Playboy" Buddy Rose, and once with Jerry Oates). He later moved to his hometown promotion, the American Wrestling Association in Minnesota, and began teaming with Adrian Adonis as the "East-West Connection" in 1979.^[19][21] The duo won the promotion's World Tag Team Championship on July 20, 1980 on a forfeit when Verne Gagne, one-half of the tag team champions along with Mad Dog Vachon, failed to show up for a title defense in Denver, Colorado.^[4] The duo held the belts for nearly a year, losing to "The High Flyers" (Greg Gagne and Jim Brunzell).^[4]