Look up Patricia in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Patricia ( /pəˈtrɪʃə/) is a common female given name of Latin origin. It is derived from the Latin word patrician, meaning "noble". The masculine form of the name is Patrick. The name Patricia was the second most common female name in the United States according to the 1990 US Census.^{[verification needed]}

It is commonly shortened to 'Pat', 'Pati/Paty', 'Patsy', 'Patty/Patti/Pattie', 'Trish' or 'Trisha/Tricia'. These diminutives are sometimes used as names in their own right. Another well-known variant of this is 'Patrice'.

According to Social Security Administration records, the use of the name for newborns peaked at #3 from 1937–1943 in the USA, after which it dropped in popularity, reaching a low of #442 in 2007.^[1] From 1928 to 1967, the name was ranked among the top #11 female names.^[1]

In Portuguese and Spanish-speaking countries, the name Patricia is common as well, pronounced [paˈtrisja], while in Italy Patrizia is the form, pronounced [paˈtriːtsja]. In Polish, the variant is Patrycja.

People With This Given Name[link]

• Rooney Mara, an American film actress (born Patricia Rooney Mara)
• Patricia Briggs, an American author
• Patricia Routledge, a British actress
• Patricia Heaton, an American actress, comedienne, producer and model
• Patricia Richardson, an American television and film actress
• Patricia Clarkson, an American actress
• Patricia Neal, an American actress of stage and screen
• Patricia Owens, a Canadian-born American actress
• Patricia Wettig, an American actress and playwright
• Patricia Arquette, an American actress and director
• Patricia Quinn, a Northern Irish actress
• Patricia Hodge, an English actress
• Patricia Young, a Canadian poet
• Patricia Piccinini, an Australian artist and hyperrealist sculptor
• Patricia Petersen, an Australian academic
• Patricia McPherson, an American actress
• Patricia McConnell, an ethologist, author, advice columnist, and radio host
• Patricia McKenzie, a multi-lingual Canadian Actress, Dancer and Singer
• Patricia Highsmith, a deceased American novelist
• Patricia Sterner, an American philosopher.

See also[link]

• All pages beginning with "Patricia"
• All pages beginning with "Pat"
• All pages beginning with "Trisha"
• All pages beginning with "Tricia"
• All pages beginning with "Patty"
• Patrician (ancient Rome)

References[link]

This page or section lists people that share the same given name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.

Chris de Burgh
Background information
Birth name	Christopher John Davison
Born	(1948-10-15) 15 October 1948 (age 63) Venado Tuerto, Santa Fe Province, Argentina
Origin	County Wexford, Ireland
Genres	Rock
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano
Years active	1974–present
Labels	A&M Records, Ferryman Productions, Edel Records
Website	cdeb.com

Chris de Burgh (born Christopher John Davison, 15 October 1948) is an Argentinian born British-Irish singer-songwriter. He is most famous for his 1986 love song "The Lady in Red", which reached number-one in Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Norway, and the United Kingdom.

Early life[link]

De Burgh was born in Venado Tuerto, Argentina, to Colonel Charles Davison, a British diplomat, and Maeve Emily de Burgh, an Irish secretary.^[1] His father had substantial farming interests, and he spent much of his early years in Malta, Nigeria and Zaire, as he, his mother and brother accompanied Colonel Davison on his diplomatic and engineering work.

The Davisons finally settled in Bargy Castle, County Wexford, a twelfth-century castle in Ireland bought by his maternal grandfather, General Sir Eric de Burgh, a former Chief of the General Staff in India and from a distinguished Hiberno-Norman family. The castle was converted into a hotel where Chris gained much early experience performing to the guests and he later assumed de Burgh as his stage name.^[1]

After attending Marlborough College in Wiltshire, England, de Burgh went on to graduate from Trinity College, Dublin with a Master of Arts degree in French, English and History.

Musical career[link]

Chris de Burgh signed his first contract with A&M Records in 1974, and supported Supertramp on their Crime of the Century tour, building himself a small fan base. His début album, Far Beyond These Castle Walls, was a folk-tinged stab at fantasy in the tradition of the Moody Blues that failed to chart upon its release in February 1975. Five months later, he released a single called "Turning Round" from the album, released outside the UK and Ireland as "Flying". It failed to make an impression in the UK, but it stayed on top of the Brazilian charts for 17 weeks. This became a familiar pattern for the singer/songwriter, as every one of his '70s albums failed to chart in the UK or US while they racked up big sales in European and South American countries. In 1981, he had his first UK chart entry with Best Moves, a collection culled from his early albums. It set the stage for 1982's Rupert Hine produced The Getaway, which reached number 30 in the UK charts and number 43 in the US, thanks to the eerie single "Don't Pay the Ferryman". Chris de Burgh's follow-up album, Man on the Line, also performed well, charting at 69 in the US and 11 in the UK.

Chris de Burgh had an across-the-board success with the ballad "The Lady in Red" in late 1986; the single became a number one hit in the UK (number three in America) and its accompanying album, Into the Light, reached number two in the UK. (number 25 in the U.S.). That Christmas season, a re-release of de Burgh's 1976 Christmas song "A Spaceman Came Travelling" became a Top 40 hit in the UK. Flying Colours, his follow-up to Into the Light, entered the British charts at number one upon its 1988 release, yet it failed to make the American charts. De Burgh never hit the US charts again and his commercial fortunes began to slide slightly in Britain in the early 1990s, yet he retained a following around the world. This is mainly due to inactivity of his previous recording label A&M Records UK division in U.S.^[2]

In 2007, a concert in Tehran was planned for mid-2008, together with local band Arian, which would have made Chris de Burgh the first western pop singer to perform in Iran since the 1979 revolution. However the concert never went ahead because he had not been given permission by the Iranian authorities to perform in the country.^[3]

Band line-up[link]

• 1977–1978 – Jeff Philips, Glenn Morrow, Ken Allardyce, Colin Vallance (joined in 1978)
• 1979–1982 – Tim Wynveen, Jeff Philips, Glenn Morrow, Al Marnie, Ian Kojima
• 1983–1994 – Danny McBride (not to be confused with Daniel "Dirty Dan" Hatton McBride), Jeff Philips, Glenn Morrow, Al Marnie, Ian Kojima
• 1997–2001 ("Love Songs" and "Quiet Revolution" Tour) – Neil Taylor, Peter Oxendale, Tony Kiley, Dave Levy, Al Vosper
• 2002–2004 ("Timing Is Everything" Tour) – Gary Sanctuary, Tim Cansfield, Dave Levy, Tony Kiley, Al Vosper
• 2006–present ("The Storyman" Tour) – Ebbe Ravn, Al Vosper, Dave Levy, Tony Kiley, Nigel Hopkins

Personal life[link]

Chris de Burgh has been married to his wife Diane since 1977 and lives in Enniskerry, County Wicklow in Ireland.^[1] They have two sons, Hubie and Michael, and a daughter, Rosanna, who won the Miss World competition in 2003 for Ireland.^[1] He is a distant relative of the 13th-century English nobleman Hubert de Burgh, who features prominently in William Shakespeare's play The Life and Death of King John.^[4] He is an avid Liverpool F.C. supporter as is Rosanna, and they often attend matches at Anfield.

In 1994, he was found to have had an affair with his children's 19-year-old Irish nanny, Maresa Morgan, who was assisting the family while de Burgh's wife Diane was recuperating in the hospital from a broken neck during a horse-riding accident. His daughter Rosanna, a model, indicated during an interview with The Irish Independent that she held little sympathy for Morgan, regarding the latter's portrayal of herself as a victim as "pathetic" and hoped "she pays for her mistake". She forgave her father for his affair.^[5]

De Burgh has pursued and won 16 defamation actions.^[6] The Irish Independent said he has always been a bit prickly about criticism. Peter Crawley, a theatre reviewer at The Irish Times, found this out the hard way when he wrote a less than sympathetic review of de Burgh's show in Dublin's Gaiety Theatre in September 2009. Crawley noted: "He departs the stage for 'Lady in Red', invading boxes and draping himself over audience members ... Certain toes will never uncurl after this experience, but it is almost admirable how unaltered de Burgh has remained by the flow of time." In a lengthy, much-publicised reply to the critic, de Burgh made his feelings known, particularly in the postscript:-

"We were wondering by way of explanation and, as you seem to portray yourself as a bitter and unfulfilled man, were you much teased by your school chums in the schoolyard and called 'Creepy Crawley'?" De Burgh wrote.^[7]

Discography[link]

Albums and compilations[link]

Chris de Burgh was signed to A&M Records for many years (1974–2004), but he now has his own label, Ferryman Productions. His recent albums are released by German label, Edel Records.

Filmography[link]

• How to Cheat in the Leaving Certificate (Petrol Pumper)

References[link]

External links[link]

• CdeB.com, official Web site
• CdeB.net, official record store and merchandise site
• Chrisdeburgh.net, Multi-Language Chris de Burgh Website
• Audio interview at BBC Wiltshire
• Chris de Burgh on Facebook
• Interview with Akira The Don

Dámaso Pérez Prado (December 11, 1916 – September 14, 1989) was a Cuban bandleader, musician (singer, organist and pianist), and composer. He is often referred to as the "King of the Mambo".^[1]

His orchestra was the most popular in mambo. His son, Pérez Prado, Jr., continues to direct the Pérez Prado Orchestra in Mexico City to this day.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Perez was born in Matanzas, Cuba, his mother was a school teacher, his father a newspaper man. He studied classical piano in his early childhood, and later played organ and piano in local clubs. For a time, he was pianist and arranger for the Sonora Matancera, Cuba's best-known musical group. He also worked with casino orchestras in Havana for most of the 1940s, and gained a reputation for being an imaginative (his solo playing style predated bebop by at least five years), loud player.^{[citation needed]} He was nicknamed "El Cara de Foca" ("Seal Face") by his peers at the time.^[1]

In 1948 he moved to Mexico to form his own band and record for RCA Victor. He quickly specialized in mambos, an upbeat adaptation of the Cuban danzón. Perez's mambos stood out among the competition, with their fiery brass riffs and strong saxophone counterpoints, and most of all, Pérez's trademark grunts (he actually says "¡Dilo!", or "Say it!", in many of the perceived grunts). In 1950 arranger Sonny Burke heard "Que rico el mambo" while on vacation in Mexico and recorded it back in the United States as "Mambo Jambo". The single was a hit, which caused Perez to launch a US tour. His appearances in 1951 were sell-outs and he began recording US releases for RCA Victor.^[1]

Famous pieces[link]

Perez is the composer of such famous pieces as "Mambo No. 5" (later a UK chart-topper for both Lou Bega in 1999 and animated character Bob the Builder in 2001) and "Mambo No. 8". At the height of the mambo movement, in 1955, Perez hit the American charts at number one with a cha-cha version of "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" (composed by French composer Louiguy). This arrangement, featuring trumpeter Billy Regis, held the spot for 10 consecutive weeks. The song also went to number one in the UK^[2] and in Germany.^[3] Perez had first covered this title for the movie Underwater! in 1954, where Jane Russell can be seen dancing to "Cherry Pink". In 1958 one of Perez's own compositions, "Patricia", became the last record to ascend to #1 on the Jockeys and Top 100 charts, both of which gave way the following week to the then newly-introduced Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song also went to number one in Germany, and in the UK it reached number eight.^[4]

International popularity[link]

Alfredo Ruiz del Rio S. and Dámaso Pérez Prado

His popularity in the United States matched the peak of the first wave of interest in Latin music outside the Latino communities during the 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s. He also performed in films in the United States and Europe, as well as in Mexican cinema (Rumberas film), always with his trademark goatee and turtle-neck sweaters and vests. With the end of the 1950s, his success waned, and the years gave way to new rhythms, like rock 'n roll and then pop music. His association with RCA Victor ended in the 1960s, and his recorded output was mainly limited to smaller labels and recycled Latin-style anthologies.

Later life[link]

In the early 1970s Perez permanently returned to his apartment off Mexico City's grand Paseo de la Reforma to live with his wife and two children, son Dámaso Pérez Salinas (known as Perez Prado, Jr.) and daughter María Engracia. His career in Latin America was still strong. He toured and continued to record material which was released in Mexico, South America, and Japan. He was revered as one of the reigning giants of the music industry and was a regular performer on Mexican television. In Japan, a live concert recording of his 1973 tour was released on LP in an early 4-channel format known as Quadraphonic.

In 1981 Perez was featured in a musical revue entitled Sun which enjoyed a long run in the Mexican capital. In 1983 his brother Pantaleón Pérez Prado died, and the press erroneously reported the death of bandleader Pérez Prado.^{[citation needed]} His last United States appearance was in Hollywood on September 12, 1987, when he played to a packed house. This was also the year of his last recording. Persistent ill health plagued him for the next two years, and he died of a stroke in Mexico City on September 14, 1989, aged 72.

Alumni of Pérez Prado's orchestra[link]

During his lifetime, a cast of musical luminaries passed through his orchestra, including:

• Alex Acuña, percussion
• Pete Candoli, trumpet
• Beny Moré, vocals
• Johnny Pacheco, percussion [later flute]
• Armando Peraza, percussion
• Mongo Santamaría, percussion

Popular culture[link]

"Patricia" was later featured in

• the striptease scene in Federico Fellini's 1960 film La Dolce Vita
• background music for a pool party in the 1969 film Goodbye, Columbus
• the episode "Some Enchanted Evening" of the animated sitcom The Simpsons, first aired on May 13, 1990^[5]
• a long-running series of famous TV commercials for the Royal Mail in the UK (using the slogan "I Saw This and Thought of You") between 1996 and 2003
• the closing credits of HBO's Real Sex series
• the 2000 Clint Eastwood movie Space Cowboys

His mambo records and the joyous dancing they caused are described in a late chapter of Jack Kerouac's seminal novel, On the Road (1957).

His songs "Caballo Negro", "Lupita", and "Mambo n.8" are featured in the film Santa Sangre (1989) by Alejandro Jodorowsky.

His recording of "Cherry Pink (and Apple Blossom White)" features in the films Deal of the Century (1983), Cookie (1989) and Parents (1989).

In the decade after his death, the popularity of Perez's music was on the rise again. CD reissues of his RCA recordings continue to sell steadily. "Guaglione" peaked at number 2 in the UK Singles Chart in 1995,^[4] following its use in the Guinness television commercial Anticipation. "Mambo No. 5" was featured in another Guinness commercial in 1999 (the same year Lou Bega took his sampled cover version of that same song to the top of the UK chart).^[6]

The soundtrack to the 1999 movie Office Space features two of his performances, "Mambo No. 8" and "The Peanut Vendor."^[7]

The soundtrack to the 2004 movie Diarios de Motocicleta features Perez's "Qué rico el mambo", more commonly known as "Mambo Jambo".

Avant-garde musician Nurse With Wound released a compilation entitled Funeral Music for Perez Prado in 2001. The album's title track exceeds 30 minutes.

List of popular songs[link]

Partial Discography[link]

Perez recorded for RCA Victor from 1950 to 1965.

• Perez Prado Plays Mucho Mambo For Dancing (1951)
• Voodoo Suite (1955)
• Mambo By The King (1955)
• Mambo Mania (1955)
• Havana 3 A.M. (1956)
• Latin Satin (1957)
• Mambo Happy (1958)
• Dilo (Ugh!) (1958)
• "Prez" (1958) - Perez's only US Top 40 album, reaching the #22 spot in May 1959^[8]
• Pops and Prado (1959)
• A Touch of Tabasco with Rosemary Clooney (1960)
• Big Hits By Prado (1960)
• Perez Prado's Rockambo (1961)
• Exotic Suite of the Americas (1962)
• Our Man In Latin America (1963)
• The Best Of Perez Prado (1967) Reissue of "Big Hits By Prado"
• This Is Perez Prado (1971)
• Perez Prado - Pure Gold (1975) Another reissue of "Big Hits By Prado"

References[link]

External links[link]

• Complete Pérez Prado Discography
• Perez Prado at the Internet Movie Database
• Perez Prado discography at MusicBrainz
• Perez Prado at Allmusic
• "Mambo", a documentary about Perez Prado

Patricia Kaas
Patricia Kaas at Cannes festival
Background information
Birth name	Patricia Kaas
Born	(1966-12-05) 5 December 1966 (age 45)
Origin	Forbach, Lorraine, France
Genres	Chanson, Jazz, Pop, Jazz rock
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, actress
Years active	1985–present
Labels	Columbia (France)
Website	www.patriciakaas.net

Patricia Kaas (born 5 December 1966 in Forbach, Moselle) is a French singer and actress.

Kaas is a very successful French-speaking singer, with an International following. Stylistically her music is not classical chanson, but is closer to a mixture of pop music, jazz and chanson.

Since the appearance of her debut album Mademoiselle chante... in 1988 Kaas has sold over 16 million records worldwide.^[1] She had her greatest success in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, Russia, Finland, and Korea with her third album Je te dis vous. Kaas is almost constantly on tour internationally. In 2002 Kaas had her film debut in And now... Ladies and Gentlemen beside Jeremy Irons. Kaas is currently on "Kabaret" world tour since the end of 2008. Kaas represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow, Russia and finished in 8th place.^[2]

Career[link]

1966–1984: Early life[link]

Patricia Kaas was born as the youngest of her family on 5 December 1966 in Shirvan, Lorraine, France, near the border of Germany. Her father, Joseph (a miner), was French, and her mother, Irmgard, German. Kaas grew up in Stiring-Wendel, between Forbach and Saarbrücken on the French side of the border. Until the age of six she spoke only Lorraine Franconian. Her Franco-German heritage resulted in a constant interest in improving the relationship between the two countries.

Her mother encouraged Kaas to become a singer at a very young age. At the age of eight Kaas was already singing songs by Sylvie Vartan, Dalida, Claude François and Mireille Mathieu, but also English-language songs such as New York, New York, at various small events; among others the marriage of her brother. Her first great success came when she received first place at a pop song contest. At her first appearances Kaas was already displaying the throaty, smoky voice that would lead to comparisons with Édith Piaf and Marlene Dietrich.

Kaas took her first step into the professional music business at the age of 13, when, with the help of her brother Egon, she signed a contract with the Saarbrücken Club Rumpelkammer. Kaas took the name Pady Pax, after the brass band Pax Majorettes from Stiring-Wendel, of which she and her sister Carine were members, and for seven years appeared with the band Dob's Lady Killers. At 16 she took a placement with a model agency in Metz. Kaas' first attempts to break into the music business once and for all initially failed, however; a producer rejected her on the grounds that the world did not need a second Mireille Mathieu. Kaas' producer at this time was the architect Bernard Schwartz, who would lead her to her first great success.

[edit] 1985–1986: Jalouse and The Beginnings

In 1985 Kaas was finally produced by the French actor Gérard Depardieu at the age of 19. Schwartz saw her singing at the Rumpelkammer in Saarbrücken and introduced her to the songwriter François Bernheim. Bernheim worked with her and convinced Depardieu to produce her.

Depardieu produced Kaas' first single Jalouse (Eng: Jealous), written by Bernheim and Depardieu's wife Elisabeth. The single was published by EMI, but was a flop. Nonetheless, her encounter with Depardieu was one of the most important events in the beginning of Kaas' artistic career.

[edit] 1987–1989: Mademoiselle chante le blues

Through Jalouse and Bernheim the French songwriter Didier Barbelivien became aware of Kaas. His song Mademoiselle chante le blues (Eng: Lady sings the blues) was the singer's first big hit. The single was published in 1987 by Polydor, and reached 7th place in the French singles chart. The next year Kaas' second single D'Allemagne (Eng: From Germany) was recorded, written by Barbelivien and Bernheim.

Shortly afterwards Kaas' first album Mademoiselle chante... was produced. It reached 2nd place in the French album charts and stayed there for two months, remaining in the Top 10 for 64 weeks and 118 weeks in the top 100. Shortly after its appearance the album went gold in France (over 100,000 sold) and after three months it went platinum (over 350,000 sold). The album also went platinum in Belgium and Switzerland, and gold in Canada. In the same year Kaas won Victoires de la Musique in the category of "Discovery of the Year", one of the most important French music awards.

In 1989 Kaas suffered a traumatic personal experience when her mother fell ill from cancer and died. The teddy bear Kaas sent to support her mother's convalescence today accompanies Kaas everywhere as a mascot.

[edit] 1990–1992: Scène de vie

In 1990 Kaas began her first world tour, which lasted 16 months in total. She sang in front of about 750,000 fans in over 196 concerts in 12 countries. Among others Kaas sang daily for a week in Olympia and Zenith, one of the most famous concert halls in Paris. The concerts were sold out four months before they began. Kaas also gave other successful concerts in New York and Washington D.C. in the U.S.. At the end of the tour Mademoiselle chante... had sold 1 million copies in France alone and had achieved diamond status. Kaas received the Goldene Europa, one of the biggest German music awards.

In 1990 Kaas moved from her former record company Polydor to CBS/Sony. Cyril Prieur and Richard Walter of the firm Talent Sorcier from Paris replaced Bernard Schwartz to become her managers in 1987. Prieur and Walter contributed significantly to the singer's success, in return for which Kaas referred to them as her "family".

With a new record company she produced Scène de vie (Eng: The Stage of Life) in 1990. It reached the top of the French charts and stayed there for 10 weeks, going diamond in the process as Mademoiselle chante... had done before it. With the song Kennedy Rose Kaas again worked with Elisabeth Depardieu and François Bernheim; this collaboration was more successful than Jalouse, reaching 34th place in the French singles charts. The song was dedicated to Rose Kennedy, matriarch of the Kennedy clan and mother of former U.S. president John F. Kennedy.

While on the Scène de vie tour the singer performed 210 concerts before 650,000 spectators in 13 countries, among them Japan, Canada and the USSR, where she sang in Moscow and Leningrad. At the end of 1991 her first live album Carnets de scène (Eng: Stage Notebooks) appeared, which achieved popularity beyond her dedicated fans. 13 years later Sony also published the album as a live DVD.

In 1991 Kaas received two further internationally renowned music awards, the World Music Award and a Bambi. In the following year she received 3rd place in the category of 'Best International Female Singer' at the ECHO awards in Cologne, nominated alongside Cher (who received first place), Tina Turner, Madonna and Whitney Houston, four of the biggest names in the music business.

[edit] 1993–1994: Je te dis vous

Kaas' 1993 album Je te dis vous (Eng.: I address thee as you) was her definitive breakthrough in the international music scene, selling 3 million copies in 47 countries. It was produced in Pete Townshend's Eel Pie Studio in London, England by Robin Millar, who had already worked for Sade and the Fine Young Cannibals. In the U.S. and United Kingdom it appeared under the name of Tour de charme (not to be confused with the live album of the same name). On the album Kaas sang her first song in German: the song Ganz und gar (Eng: Absolutely) came from the pen of the German singer and songwriter Marius Müller-Westernhagen. The album also featured three tracks in English, including a cover of the James Brown number It's A Man's World. The British rock musician Chris Rea accompanied Kaas on the tracks Out Of The Rain and Ceux qui n'ont rien (Eng: Those who have nothing) on guitar.

Je te dis vous is currently Kaas' most successful album in the German-speaking world, only just missing out on the German top 10 (it spent 2 weeks at 11th place), but spending 36 weeks in the top 100. In Switzerland Kaas reached 2nd place in the album charts, and in France 1st. It was her third album to go diamond, 11 months after its appearance. With the single Il me dit que je suis belle (Eng: He tells me I'm beautiful) by Sam Brewski (aka Jean-Jacques Goldman) Kaas achieved her second top five single in France. A remix of Reste sur moi (Eng: Stay on me) reached the top 20 of the US dance charts.

The following world tour covered 19 countries. Among others she was the first western singer to appear in Hanoi, Vietnam after the Vietnam War, and she also toured in Cambodia, Japan, Korea and Thailand. During the tour she also gave a benefit concert in Chernobyl in front of 30,000 spectators. In total her audience counted 750,000 in 150 concerts. In 1994 her second live album Tour de charme (Eng: A tour with charm) was published, which, like Carnets de scène, was remade as a live DVD in 2004.

[edit] 1995–1996: Black Coffee

In the middle of the 1990s the album Black Coffee was produced, an enigma in Kaas' career. In 1995 it was decided to produce a work specially for the American market containing exclusively English lyrics. Rumours state that the album was never officially sold. It occasionally becomes available in on-line auctions, however, but the authenticity of these records is in doubt.

The title track of the album is a cover version of the Billie Holiday song of the same name and was likewise published by Kaas on the 1997 sampler Jazz à Saint-Germain (release by Virgin). Other cover versions on the album include classics such as the Bill Withers number Ain't No Sunshine (which was taken for advertisement music for the Club Mediterranée) from 1971 and If You Leave Me Now by Chicago from 1976.

[edit] 1997–1998: Dans ma chair

In 1997 Dans ma chair (Eng: In my flesh) was made. It was produced in New York by Kaas and Phil Ramone, who had previously worked with Ray Charles, Billy Joel and Paul Simon. The album marked the second time the singer officially worked with the French songwriter Jean-Jacques Goldman (they began to work together in 1993 for the song "Il me dit que je suis belle".) The collaboration with Goldman, which continues to this day, was one of the most important of Kaas' career.

Further contributors to the success of the album were the American songwriter and singer Lyle Lovett, with the song Chanson simple (Eng: Simple song), and James Taylor with Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight, on which he duetted with Kaas. The track Quand j'ai peur de tout (Eng: When I'm afraid of everything), written by Diane Warren, was later remade in 2003 by the band Sugababes under the name Too Lost In You.

In 1998, following the Dans ma chair tour, the live album and video cassette (later a DVD) Rendez-vous was produced. Among the tracks are L'aigle noir (Eng: The black eagle) by the French singer and songwriter Barbara, whom Kaas had admired for a long time.

In December 1998 Kaas sang with the tenors Plácido Domingo and Alejandro Fernández in the Guildhall of Vienna, Austria. The three were accompanied by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. The concert was made into a CD and DVD in 1999 as Christmas In Vienna Vol. VI.

[edit] 1999–2000: Le mot de passe

In 1999 Le mot de passe (Eng: The password) was produced by Pascal Obispo, on which Kaas was accompanied by an orchestra on several tracks. Jean-Jacques Goldman again contributed to the making of the studio album, among others with 2 songs Une fille de 'l'Est (Eng: A girl from the East) in which Kaas praised her East French heritage and Les chansons commencent. The French singer Zazie wrote the track J'attends de nous. The song Les éternelles (Eng: The eternals) was also published in Germany as a duet with the Swiss tenor Erkan Aki under the title of Unter der Haut (Eng: Under the skin), and was the theme music of the five-part ZDF serial Sturmzeit (Eng: Stormy Times), based on a book by Charlotte Link.

In June 1999 Kaas appeared at the benefit concert Michael Jackson & Friends in Seoul, South Korea and Munich. Apart from Kaas and Jackson, Mariah Carey, Luther Vandross and Status Quo also put in appearances. The special events, in aid of UNESCO, the Red Cross and the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, were broadcast to 39 countries.

In September 1999 Kaas came third in Marianne, a poll for the national symbol of France, behind supermodels Laetitia Casta (first) and Estelle Hallyday (second). Most pictures of Kaas from her last albums (from Dans ma chair to Sexe fort in 2003) show the singer in very figure-accentuating clothes and suitably daring poses, and her music videos are seldom restrained performances.

On the Le mot de passe tour Kaas was accompanied at some concerts in Germany and Switzerland by the Hannover Pops Orchestra of Norddeutscher Rundfunk under the conductor's baton of George Pehlivanian. With this ensemble she was the star guest at, among others, the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival of 1999. The concert of 24 July 1999 at the Guildhall Market of Hamburg was broadcast live on the German-French television station Arte. The orchestra can be heard on the 2000 live album Ce sera nous, but is nowhere to be seen on the live DVD.

In 2000 an elaborately produced box set was published, which contained almost all the previous studio albums published by Sony and a comprehensive booklet with numerous pictures. In October 2000 Kaas received the Adenauer-de-Gaulle Award in Berlin.

[edit] 2001–2002: Piano Bar

In April 2001 Kaas gave a concert before 50,000 spectators on the occasion of Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg's accession from his father Jean. Kaas was again accompanied by a large orchestra, on this occasion the Luxembourg Philharmonic.

In the same year Kaas began her acting career with And now... Ladies and Gentlemen with Jeremy Irons, directed by Claude Lelouch, her record company published the greatest hits album Rien ne s'arrête (Eng: Nothing stops). As it was a greatest hits, only the title track was new.

In 2000, Kaas decided to live in Zürich, Switzerland from then on. This also had consequences for her management, which likewise moved from Paris to Zürich and renamed itself International Talent Consulting. Cyril Prieur and Richard Walter remained by Kaas' side.

To accompany the film the concept album Piano Bar By Patricia Kaas was released in 2002. While not a soundtrack to the film, some songs performed from the film were included on the album in slightly different versions, making up a sort of concept album that was inspired by the movie. The real soundtrack has never been released. Piano Bar... was Kaas' first published album that was sung mainly in English, and is a homage to the great French chanson artists of history. It includes cover versions of Where Do I Begin (originally on the soundtrack to Love Story) and an English version of Jacques Brel's Ne me quitte pas (Eng: Don't leave me), here named If You Go Away. The album in France reached 10th place in the charts, but it was the second most successful of Kaas' albums in Germany, reaching 12 place. In 2002 Kaas again received the Golden Europa.

The Piano Bar Live tour began in September 2002 in France and lasted until April 2003. It included six sell-out concerts in the US, including appearances in Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Detroit, as well as at the Beacon Theater in Broadway, New York before 6,000 fans. Despite the intensive efforts of Kaas' fans the tour has not been published as a live album.

[edit] 2003–2007: Sexe fort

On 1 December 2003 released the album Sexe fort (Eng: Strong gender), reaching the 9th place in France. Again Jean-Jacques Goldman contributed with C'est la faute à la vie (Eng: It's the fault of life) and On pourrait (Eng: We could), which he also produced himself, just as Pascal Obispo, the producer of Le mot de passe, did with L'Abbé Caillou (Eng: The Abbot Caillou). Kaas sang On pourrait as a duet with the Swiss singer Stephan Eicher.

Following the release of Sexe fort Kaas received a particular distinction on 8 December 2003 when she received the First Class Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for her contribution to friendship between France and Germany, an honour that until then had been awarded to only a few international artists.

Until the end of 2005 Kaas was on what was now her seventh world tour. In total she performed in 25 countries, including further performances in China and Russia. In all she gave 175 concerts before more than 500,000 spectators. Despite the relative failure of Sexe fort the tour was a huge success.

By the beginning of 2005 the live album accompanying the tour Toute la musique... and the live DVD of the same name had been released, in combination with a 'best of' album. The title track Toute la musique que j'aime (Eng: All the music I love)

Patricia Kaas on her Sexe fort-tour in 2005

was written by the French singer and songwriter Johnny Hallyday. The album contains a bonus track Herz eines Kämpfers (Eng: Heart of a Fighter), which Kaas had worked on together with Peter Plate of the German pop band Rosenstolz. With the TV broadcast of the German auditions for the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 in March of that year, Kaas performed the song for the first time live before an audience of millions.

[edit] 2008–2010: Kabaret, world tour and Eurovision 2009

Patricia Kaas in Moscow, 2009

After the end of the Sexe fort tour in November 2005, Kaas took a break until the beginning of 2008, interrupted by only a few live performances. In February 2008, Kaas released the song Ne pozvonish' (You Will Not Call) with the Russian rock group Uma2rman, which was a big hit in Russia.^[3]

The new double album, "Kabaret", was released on 30 March 2009.^[1] To support her new album, Kaas is currently giving touring France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Finland, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Romania and other countries during her "Kabaret" tour. Kaas is claimed to be the first international artist to visit 28 Russian cities. The entire tour includes at least 170 dates.^[1]

Patricia Kaas at Moscow (2009)

On 28 January 2009 it was confirmed that Kaas would represent France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow, Russia. Kaas' fans took part in an online poll in several countries where they selected their favourite song from her Kabaret album. The song Et s'il fallait le faire (And if it had to be done) received a clear majority of the votes and was then chosen as the lead single and also as the French entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009^[1] where on 16 May 2009 she finished in 8th place. The song has received positive reviews in several newspapers and polls and a clear majority of 62% of all voters in a questionnaire believed in her chances to win the competition.^[4]

[edit] 2011: L'ombre de ma voix

In 2011, Kaas’ autobiography “L’Ombre de ma Voix” (The Shadow of My Voice) was published in March by Flammarion. This bestseller is sold throughout Europe, and has already been translated into more than 6 languages.

[edit] 2012–2013: Kaas chante Piaf

“Kaas chante Piaf“ meaning “Kaas Sings Piaf” is Patricia Kaas’ new project, focusing on 21 of the great Edith Piaf’s iconic titles,arranged by Abel Korzeniowski. The new wonder-boy of the Hollywood music scene, ever since his Golden Globe nomination for his work on Tom Ford’s “A Single Man”, Abel also composed the music for Madonna’s W.E.

This show, commemorating 50 years since the death of Piaf, will open at some of the world’s most prestigious venues the Royal Albert Hall in London, Carnegie Hall in New-York, Olympia in Paris, Operetta Theatre in Moscow, Sejong Cultural Center in Seoul, etc.

Although designed primarily as a live show, “Kaas chante Piaf“ meaning “Kaas Sings Piaf” will also be released as an album. Revisiting the greatest hits of Edith Piaf, this album is central to Patricia Kaas’ tribute to the great French singer.

Discography[link]

• Mademoiselle chante... (1988)
• Scène de vie (1990 )
• Je te dis vous (1993)
• Dans ma chair (1997)
• Le Mot de passe (1999)
• Piano Bar (2002)
• Sexe fort (2003)
• Kabaret (2008)
• Kaas chante Piaf (2012)

Acting career[link]

Patricia Kaas has harboured acting ambitions for a long time, and indeed many of her music videos feature her acting in a short passionate or melancholy story, but her attempts to break into film have thus far met with little success.

[edit] Germinal & Falling in Love Again

In 1993 Kaas was offered a role in the Claude Berri film Germinal, but at the time she was working on her third album Je te dis vous. In 1994 Kaas was offered the main role in the film Falling In Love Again by the American director Stanley Donen. Kaas needed no better model than the German-American singer and actress Marlene Dietrich, whose song Lili Marleen she had often sung as a child. However, the project foundered due to financial problems.

Her first successful encounter with the film industry remained in the field of singing, when she sang the title song to the 1995 film Les Misérables, based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo and directed by Frenchman Claude Lelouch. Her earlier hit Il me dit que suis belle from the 1993 album Je te dis vous was also used by Bertrand Tavernier in his film L'appât (Eng: The bait).

[edit] And now... Ladies And Gentlemen

Kaas had her acting debut in 2001, when she played the jazz singer Jane beside Jeremy Irons in Claude Lelouch's And now... Ladies and Gentlemen. The film was shown at the Cannes Film Festival among others. In Germany the film was first seen in October 2002 at 19 Days of French Film in Tübingen, but only came to German cinemas in 2003. The film, however, fared poorly at the box office.

[edit] Assassinée

Patricia Kaas played the magnificent role of a woman wounded by life for the television production “Assassinée” (Murdered), by Thierry Binisti, to be aired May 2012.

Filmography[link]

Awards[link]

Films[link]

PATRICIA KAAS – MY LIFE / MA VIE. A documentary by Horst Mühlenbeck. 52/45 min. portrait for ZDF/arte series "My Life / Ma vie" (my life). By gebrueder beetz filmproduktion (www.gebrueder-beetz.de)

References[link]

• ^ Musicline.de
• François Bruneau: Patricia Kaas. La fille de l'est, Edition Semic, Lyon 2000, ISBN 2-914082-06-1
• Much of the content of this article comes from the equivalent German-language Wikipedia article (retrieved 11 February 2006)

External links[link]

• Official website
• Patricia Kaas at the Internet Movie Database
• Patricia Kaas on Myspace

Jeremy Irons
Irons at the 2011 Berlin Film Festival
Born	Jeremy John Irons (1948-09-19) 19 September 1948 (age 63) Cowes, Isle of Wight, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1971–present
Spouse	Julie Hallam (1969) Sinéad Cusack (1978–present)
Children	Samuel, Max

Jeremy John Irons (born 19 September 1948) is an English actor. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969, and has since appeared in many London theatre productions including The Winter's Tale, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the Shrew, Godspell and Richard II. In 1984, he made his Broadway debut in Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing and received a Tony Award for Best Actor.

Irons's first major film role came in the 1981 romantic drama The French Lieutenant's Woman, for which he received a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor. After starring in such films as Moonlighting (1982), Betrayal (1983), and The Mission (1986), he gained critical acclaim for portraying twin gynaecologists in David Cronenberg's psychological thriller Dead Ringers (1988). In 1990, Irons played accused murderer Claus von Bulow in Reversal of Fortune, and took home multiple awards including an Academy Award for Best Actor. Other notable films have included The House of the Spirits (1993), The Lion King (1994), Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995), Lolita (1997), The Merchant of Venice (2004), Being Julia (2004), Appaloosa (2008), and Margin Call (2011).

Irons has also made several notable appearances on TV. He earned his first Golden Globe Award nomination for his breakout role in the ITV series Brideshead Revisited (1981). In 2006, Irons starred opposite Helen Mirren in the historical miniseries Elizabeth I, for which he received a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Since 2011, he has been starring in the Showtime historical series The Borgias.

In October 2011, he was nominated Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Early life[link]

Irons was born in Cowes, Isle of Wight, the son of Barbara Anne Brereton Brymer (Born Sharpe; 1914–1999), a housewife, and Paul Dugan Irons (1913–1983), an accountant.^[1] His Dundee-born paternal great-great-grandfather was one of the first Metropolitan Policemen, and later a chartist; one of his mother's ancestors had been from County Cork, Ireland and had invented the breakdancing move more commonly known as "the worm" (where Irons lives now).^[2] Irons has a brother, Christopher (born 1943), and a sister, Felicity Anne (born 1944). He was educated at the independent Sherborne School in Dorset, (c. 1962–66). He was the drummer and harmonica player (including a rendition of "Stairway to Heaven" on harmonica) in a four-man school band called the Four Pillars of Wisdom. They performed, in a classroom normally used as a physics lab, for the entertainment of boys compulsorily exiled from their houses for two hours on Sunday afternoons. He was also known within Abbey House as half of a comic duo performing skits on Halloween and at end-of-term House Suppers.

Acting career[link]

Irons trained as an actor at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and is now president of its fundraising appeal. He performed a number of plays, and busked on the streets of Bristol, before appearing on the London stage as John the Baptist and Judas opposite David Essex in Godspell, which opened at the Roundhouse on 17 November 1971 before transferring to Wyndham's Theatre playing a total of 1,128 performances.^[3]

Irons was bestowed an Honorary-Life Membership by the University College Dublin Law Society in September 2008, in honour of his contribution to television, film, audio, music and theatre.^[4][5]

Television[link]

He made several appearances on British television, including the children's television series Play Away and as Franz Liszt in the BBC 1974 series Notorious Woman. More significantly he starred in the 13-part adaptation of H.E. Bates' novel Love for Lydia for London Weekend Television (1977), and attracted attention for his key role as the pipe-smoking German student, a romantic pairing with Judi Dench in Harold Pinter's screenplay adaptation of Aidan Higgins' novel Langrishe, Go Down for BBC television (1978).

The role which brought him fame was that of Charles Ryder in the television adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited (1981). Brideshead reunited him with Anthony Andrews, with whom he had appeared in The Pallisers seven years earlier. In the same year he starred in the film The French Lieutenant's Woman opposite Meryl Streep.

Almost as a 'lap of honour' after these major successes, in 1982 he played the leading role of an exiled Polish building contractor, working in the Twickenham area of South West London, in Jerzy Skolimowski's independent film Moonlighting, widely seen on television, a performance which extended his acting range.

In 2005, Irons won both an Emmy award and a Golden Globe award for his supporting role in the TV mini-series, Elizabeth I. A year later Irons was one of the participants in the third series of the BBC documentary series Who Do You Think You Are?^[6][7] In 2008 he played Lord Vetinari in Terry Pratchett's The Colour of Magic, an adaptation for Sky One.

On 6 November 2008, TV Guide reported he would star as photographer Alfred Stieglitz with Joan Allen as painter Georgia O'Keeffe, in a Lifetime Television O'Keeffe biopic.^[8] Irons also appeared in the documentary for Irish television channel TG4, Faoi Lan Cheoil in which he learned to play the fiddle.

On 12 January 2011, Irons was a guest-star in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit called "Mask". He played Dr. Cap Jackson, a sex therapist.^[9] He reprised the role on an episode titled "Totem" that ran on 30 March 2011.

Irons stars in the 2011 U.S. premium cable network Showtime's series The Borgias, a highly fictionalized account of the Renaissance dynasty of that name. Irons portrays patriarch Rodrigo Borgia, better known to history as Pope Alexander VI.^[10]

Film[link]

Irons made his film debut in Nijinsky in 1980. He appeared sporadically in films during the 1980s, including the Cannes Palme d'Or winner The Mission in 1986, and in the dual role of twin gynecologists in David Cronenberg's Dead Ringers in 1988. Other films include Danny the Champion of the World (1989), Reversal of Fortune (1990), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, Kafka (1991), Damage (1993), M. Butterfly (1993), The House of the Spirits (1993) appearing again with Glenn Close and Meryl Streep, Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995) co-starring Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson, Bernardo Bertolucci's Stealing Beauty (1996), the 1997 remake of Lolita and as the musketeer Aramis opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in the 1998 film version of The Man in the Iron Mask.

Other roles include the evil wizard Profion in the film Dungeons and Dragons (2000) and Rupert Gould in Longitude (2000). He played the Über-Morlock from the movie The Time Machine (2002). In 2004, Irons played Severus Snape in Comic Relief's Harry Potter parody, "Harry Potter and the Secret Chamberpot of Azerbaijan".

In 2005, he appeared in the films Casanova opposite Heath Ledger, and Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven. He has co-starred with John Malkovich in two movies; The Man in the Iron Mask (1998) and Eragon (2006), though they did not have any scenes together in Eragon.

In 2008, Irons co-starred with Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen in Appaloosa, directed by Harris. In 2011, Irons appeared alongside Kevin Spacey in the thriller Margin Call.^[11]

Theatre[link]

Irons has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company three times in 1976, 1986–87 and 2010.^[12][13] In 1984, Irons made his New York debut and won a Tony Award for his Broadway performance opposite Glenn Close in The Real Thing.

After an absence from the London stage for 18 years, in 2006 he co-starred with Patrick Malahide in Christopher Hampton's stage adaptation of Sándor Márai's novel Embers at the Duke of York's Theatre.^[14]

He made his National Theatre debut playing Harold Macmillan in Never So Good, a new play by Howard Brenton which opened at the Lyttelton on 19 March 2008.^[15][16]

In 2009 Irons appeared on Broadway opposite Joan Allen in the play Impressionism.^[17] The play ran through 10 May 2009 at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater.^[17]

Other ventures[link]

Audio[link]

Irons read the audio book recording of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited, Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist, the audio book recording of Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita (he had also appeared in the 1997 film version of the novel), and the audio book James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl.

One of his best known film roles has turned out to be lending his distinctive voice to the villain Scar in The Lion King (1994). Irons has since provided voiceovers for three Disney World attractions. He narrated the Spaceship Earth ride, housed in the large geodesic globe at Epcot, from November 1994 to July 2007. He was also the English narrator for the Studio Tram Tour: Behind the Magic at the Walt Disney Studios Park at Disneyland Paris. He also voiced H.G. Wells in the English version of the former Disney attraction The Timekeeper. He also played Scar in Fantasmic.

He is also one of the readers in the 4x CD boxed set of The Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde, produced by Marc Sinden and sold in aid of the Royal Theatrical Fund.^[18][19]

He was originally to star as the Phantom in a 2006 French musical adaptation of Gaston Leroux's novel The Phantom of the Opera, though the project was canceled.^{[citation needed]} He will be the narrator for Val Kilmer and Bill Pullman's brand-new Lewis and Clark movie from Revolution Studios.^{[citation needed]}

He serves as the English-language version of the audio guide for Westminster Abbey in London.

Irons has served as voice-over in two big cat documentary films by National Geographic: Eye of the Leopard, which was released in 2006,^[20] and The Last Lions, which is a 2011 motion-picture, released on 18 February.^[21]

Music[link]

In 1985, Irons directed a music video for Carly Simon and her heavily promoted single, "Tired of Being Blonde". Although the song was not a hit, the video —featuring the fast cutting, parallel narratives and heavy use of stylized visual effects that were a staple of pop videos at the time— received ample attention on MTV and other outlets.

In 1994 Jeremy Irons had a cameo role in the video for Elastica's hit single "Connection". Irons was one of the many naked men sitting down around Elastica as they performed the song. Irons has since claimed that this three-minute slice of nudity was his most enjoyable work to date.

Irons has contributed to other musical performances, recording William Walton's Façade with Dame Peggy Ashcroft, and in 1987 the songs from Lerner and Loewe's My Fair Lady with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, released on the Decca label.

He sang a selection of Noël Coward at the 1999 Last Night of the Proms in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Coward's birth.

In 2003 he played Fredrik Egerman in a New York revival of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music, and two years later appeared as King Arthur in Lerner and Loewe's Camelot at the Hollywood Bowl.

Jeremy Irons also sang the song "Be Prepared" in the movie The Lion King. However, he actually sang only a section of the song after having vocal problems; Jim Cummings finished the last few lines.

Irons performed the Bob Dylan song "Make You Feel My Love" on the 2006 charity album Unexpected Dreams – Songs From the Stars.

In 2009 Irons appeared on the Touchstone album Wintercoast, recording a narrative introduction to the album.^[22] Recording took place in New York City in February 2009 during rehearsals for his Broadway play Impressionism.

Personal life[link]

Irons married Irish actress Sinéad Cusack in March 1978. They have two sons, Samuel James Brefni Irons (16 September 1978), who works as a photographer, and Maximilian Paul Diarmuid Irons (17 October 1985), also an actor, who appeared in the 2006 Burberry fashion campaign^{[citation needed]} and Red Riding Hood. Both of Irons' sons have appeared in films with their father – Sam as the eponymous hero in Danny, Champion of the World and Max in Being Julia. Irons' wife and children are Catholic; of himself, he has stated, "I don’t go to church much because I don’t like belonging to a club, and I don’t go to confession or anything like that, I don’t believe in it. But I try to be aware of where I fail and I occasionally go to services. I would hate to be a person who didn’t have a spiritual side because there’s nothing to nourish you in life apart from retail therapy."^[23]

He has been the patron since 2002 of the Thomley Activity Centre,^[24] an Oxfordshire non-profit activity centre for disabled children. The charity is near his Watlington, Oxfordshire home. Irons owns Kilcoe Castle (which he had painted a rusty pink) in County Cork, Ireland, and has become involved in local politics there. He also has another Irish residence in The Liberties, Dublin. Irons is a patron of the Chiltern Shakespeare Company.^[25] He is a fan of English football club Portsmouth.^[26]

Activism[link]

Charity work[link]

At the 1991 Tony Awards, Irons was one of the few celebrities to wear the recently created red ribbon to support the fight against AIDS, and he was the first celebrity to wear it onscreen.^[27][28] He supports a number of other charities, including The Prison Phoenix Trust, of which he is an active patron.^[29]

Politics[link]

In 1998, Irons and his wife were named in the list of the biggest private financial donors to the Labour Party, a year after their return to government after 18 years in opposition.^[30] In 2004, he publicly declared his support for the Countryside Alliance, referring to the hunting ban as an "outrageous assault on civil liberties".^[31]

In 2010, Irons starred in a promotional video^[32] for “The 1billionhungry project” – a worldwide drive to attract at least one million signatures to a petition calling on international leaders to move hunger to the top of the political agenda.^[33]

Alternative medicine[link]

He has been criticised in the British Medical Journal for his fundraising activities in support of The College of Medicine, an alternative medicine lobby group in the UK linked to Prince Charles.^[34]

Work[link]

Theatre[link]

Following training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre school Irons initially stayed with the company:

• Florizel in The Winter's Tale, Bristol Old Vic 1969
• Simon in Hay Fever (Noël Coward) Bristol Old Vic 1969
• Nick in What the Butler Saw (Joe Orton) Bristol Old Vic 1969
• Major Barbara (Shaw) Bristol Old Vic 1969
• A Servant of Two Masters (Carlo Goldoni) Bristol Old Vic 1969
• Macbeth, Bristol Old Vic 1969
• The Boy Friend (Sandy Wilson) Bristol Old Vic 1969
• As You Like It, Bristol Old Vic 1970
• Oh! What a Lovely War, Little Theatre Bristol 1970
• The School for Scandal (Sheridan) Little Theatre Bristol 1970
• John/Judas in Godspell, Roundhouse and Wyndham's Theatre, November 1971–1973
• The Madman in The Diary of a Madman (Gogol), Act Inn 1973
• Don Pedro in Much Ado About Nothing, Young Vic
• Mick in The Caretaker (Pinter) Young Vic 1974
• Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew, New Shakespeare Company, Roundhouse 1975
• Harry Thunder in Wild Oats (John O'Keefe) RSC Aldwych Theatre, December 1976; RSC Stratford and Piccadilly Theatre 1977
• Jameson in The Rear Column (Simon Gray), Globe Theatre, February 1978 – Clarence Derwent Award
• Henry in The Real Thing (Tom Stoppard) New York 1984 —Tony Award for Best Actor
• Leontes in The Winter's Tale, Royal Shakespeare Theatre Stratford 1986)
• Willmore in The Rover (Aphra Behn) RSC Swan Theatre and Mermaid Theatre 1986
• Richard II in Richard II, RSC Royal Shakespeare Theatre, 1986, Barbican Theatre 1987
• Fredrik Egerman in A Little Night Music (Sondheim) New York, 2003
• Russell in Celebration, a Pinter staged reading, Gate Theatre, Dublin/Albery Theatre, 2005
• Henrik in Embers (Christopher Hampton/Sándor Márai novel) Duke of York's Theatre March 2006
• Harold Macmillan in Never So Good (Howard Brenton) National Theatre Lyttelton, March 2008
• Thomas Buckle in Impressionism (Michael Jacobs) Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre Broadway, March 2009