Look up element in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Element may refer to:

Chemistry, electronics, or the geosciences[link]

• Chemical element, a building block in chemistry
• Electrical element, an abstract part of a circuit
• Heating element, a device that generates heat by electrical resistance
• Orbital elements
• Weather, sometimes referred to as "the elements"

Computing[link]

• Adobe Photoshop Elements, a bitmap graphics program
• Adobe Premiere Elements, a video editing computer program
• Array data structure elements
• Data element, a unit of data
• HTML element, a standard part of a HTML document

Law[link]

• Element (criminal law), a basic set of common law principles regarding criminal liability

Mathematics[link]

• Element (mathematics), one of the constituents of a set
• Euclid's Elements, a mathematical treatise on geometry and number theory

Music[link]

• Element (production team), a Norwegian production and songwriting team
• Elements (Atheist album)
• Elements (band), 1980s–90s American jazz ensemble
• Elements (Roger Glover album)
• Elements (Steve Howe album)
• Elements, Pt. 1, an album by Stratovarius
• Elements, Pt. 2, an album by Stratovarius
• The Elements (album), a 2007 album by Second Person
• "The Elements: Fire", a song by The Beach Boys
• "The Elements" (song), by Tom Lehrer
• Elements – The Best of Mike Oldfield, single CD edition
• Elements – The Best of Mike Oldfield (video), video/DVD edition
• Elements Box, by Mike Oldfield, four CD edition

Philosophy[link]

• Bhūta are five elements in Hinduism
• Classical elements, part of a traditional belief system
• Five elements (Japanese philosophy), the basis of the universe according to Japanese philosophy
• Mahābhūta, Buddhist great elements
• Tattva, the basis of the universe according to Hindu Samkhya philosophy
• Wu Xing, sometimes translated as five elements, the basis of the universe according to Chinese Taoism

Other[link]

• Element by Westin, a brand of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide
• Element Skateboards, a skateboard manufacturer
• Elements, Hong Kong, a shopping mall in Hong Kong
• Honda Element, a sport utility vehicle

See also[link]

• All pages beginning with "Element"
• All pages with titles containing "Element"
• Elemental (disambiguation)
• Elementary (disambiguation)
• Four elements (disambiguation)
• Five elements (disambiguation)

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

Tom Lehrer
Lehrer performing in 1960
Background information
Birth name	Thomas Andrew Lehrer
Born	(1928-04-09) April 9, 1928 (age 84) New York, New York
Occupations	Mathematician, teacher, lyricist, pianist, composer, singer/songwriter
Instruments	Vocals Piano
Years active	1945–1971, 1998
Labels	Reprise/Warner Bros. Records Rhino/Atlantic Records Shout! Factory
Associated acts	Joe Raposo

Thomas Andrew Lehrer (born April 9, 1928) is an American singer-songwriter, satirist, pianist, and mathematician. He has lectured on mathematics and musical theater. Lehrer is best known for the pithy, humorous songs he recorded in the 1950s and 1960s.

His work often parodies popular song forms, though Lehrer usually creates original melodies when doing so. A notable exception is his song "The Elements", where he sets the names of the chemical elements to the tune of the "Major-General's Song" from Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance. Lehrer's earlier work typically dealt with non-topical subject matter and was noted for its black humor, seen in songs such as "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park". In the 1960s, he produced a number of songs dealing with social and political issues of the day, particularly when he wrote for the U.S. version of the television show That Was The Week That Was.

In the early 1970s, he retired from public performances to devote his time to teaching mathematics and music theatre at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He did two additional performances in 1998 at a London gala show celebrating the career of impresario Cameron Mackintosh.^[1]

Early life[link]

Lehrer was born in 1928 to a Jewish family in the New York City borough of Manhattan, and began studying classical piano music at the age of seven. He was more interested in the popular music of the age, however. Eventually, his mother also sent him to a popular-music piano teacher.^[2] At this early age, he began writing his own show tunes, which eventually helped him in his future adventures as a satirical composer and writer in his years of lecturing at Harvard University, and later at other universities.^[3]

Lehrer graduated from the Horace Mann School in Riverdale, NY.^[4] He attended Camp Androscoggin, both as a camper and a counselor.^[5] While studying mathematics as an undergraduate student at Harvard College, he began to write comic songs to entertain his friends, including "Fight Fiercely, Harvard" (1945). Those songs were later named The Physical Revue,^[6] a joking reference to a leading scientific journal, The Physical Review.

Mathematics career[link]

Lehrer earned his AB in mathematics (magna cum laude) from Harvard University in 1946, when he was nineteen.^[7] He received his MA degree the next year, and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. He taught classes at MIT, Harvard, and Wellesley.

He remained in Harvard's doctoral program for several years, taking time out for his musical career and to work as a researcher at Los Alamos, New Mexico. He served in the U.S. Army from 1955 to 1957, working at the National Security Agency. (Lehrer has stated that he invented the Jell-O Shot during this time, as a means of circumventing liquor restrictions.)^[8] All of these experiences eventually became fodder for songs, viz. "Fight Fiercely, Harvard", "The Wild West Is Where I Want To Be" and "It Makes a Fellow Proud to Be a Soldier". Despite holding a master's degree in an era when American conscripts often lacked a high school diploma, Lehrer served as an enlisted soldier, achieving the rank of Specialist Third Class, which he described as being a "corporal without portfolio".^[9] In 1960, Lehrer returned to full-time studies at Harvard, but he never completed his doctoral studies in mathematics.

From 1962, he taught in the political science department at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).^[10] In 1972, he joined the faculty of the University of California, Santa Cruz, teaching an introductory course entitled "The Nature of Mathematics" to liberal arts majors—"Math for Tenors", according to Lehrer. He also taught a class in musical theater. He occasionally performed songs in his lectures, primarily those relating to the topic.^[11]

In 2001, Lehrer taught his last mathematics class (on the topic of infinity) and retired from academia.^[12] He has remained in the area, and still "hangs out" around the University of California, Santa Cruz.^[13]

Mathematical publications[link]

The American Mathematical Society database lists Lehrer as co-author of two papers:

• RE Fagen & TA Lehrer, "Random walks with restraining barrier as applied to the biased binary counter", Journal of the Society for Industrial Applied Mathematics, vol. 6, pp. 1–14 (March 1958) MR0094856
• T Austin, R Fagen, T Lehrer, W Penney, "The distribution of the number of locally maximal elements in a random sample", Annals of Mathematical Statistics vol. 28, pp. 786–790 (1957) MR0091251

Musical career[link]

Lehrer was mainly influenced by musical theater. According to Gerald Nachman's book Seriously Funny, the broadway musical, "Let's Face It" (lyrics by Sylvia Fine; music by Cole Porter) made an early and lasting impression. Lehrer's style consists of parodying various forms of popular song. For example, his appreciation of list songs led him to set an unordered list of the chemical elements to the tune of Gilbert and Sullivan's "Major-General's Song".

Author Isaac Asimov recounted in his second autobiographical volume In Joy Still Felt of seeing Lehrer perform in a Boston nightclub on October 9, 1954, during which Lehrer sang very cleverly about Jim getting it from Louise, and Sally from Jim, "and after a while you gathered the 'it' to be venereal disease [the song was likely "I Got It From Sally (in later versions 'Agnes')"]. Suddenly, as the combinations grew more grotesque, you realized he was satirizing every perversion known to mankind without using a single naughty phrase. It was clearly unsingable (in those days) outside a nightclub." Asimov also recalled a song that dealt with the Boston subway system, making use of the stations leading into town from Harvard, observing that the local subject-matter rendered the song useless for general distribution. Lehrer subsequently granted Asimov permission to print the lyrics to the subway song in his book. "I haven't gone to nightclubs often," said Asimov, "but of all the times I have gone, it was on this occasion that I had by far the best time."^[14]

Lehrer was inspired by the success of his performances of his own songs, so he paid for some studio time to record Songs by Tom Lehrer. At the time, radio stations would not give Lehrer air time because of his controversial subjects. Instead, he sold his album on campus at Harvard for three dollars, while "supportive record merchants and dorm newsstands bought copies…and marked them up fifty cents."^{[citation needed]} After one summer, he also started to receive mail orders from all parts of the country (as far away as San Francisco, after The Chronicle wrote an article on the record). Interest in his recordings was spread by word of mouth; friends and supporters brought their records home and played them for their friends, who then also wanted a copy.^[15]

The album—which included the macabre "I Hold Your Hand in Mine", the mildly risqué "Be Prepared", and "Lobachevsky" (regarding plagiarizing mathematicians) became a cult success via word of mouth, despite being self-published and without promotion. Lehrer then embarked on a series of concert tours and recorded a second album, which was released in two versions: the songs were the same, but More of Tom Lehrer was studio-recorded, while An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer was recorded live in concert.

Lehrer's major breakthrough in the United Kingdom came as a result of the citation accompanying an honorary degree given to Princess Margaret, where she cited musical tastes as "catholic, ranging from Mozart to Tom Lehrer". This prompted significant interest in his works and helped secure distributors for his material in the UK. It was there that his music achieved real popularity, as a result of the proliferation of university newspapers referring to the material, and the willingness of the BBC to play his songs on the radio (something that was a rarity in the United States).

By the early 1960s, Lehrer had retired from touring and was employed as the resident songwriter for the U.S. edition of That Was The Week That Was (TW3), a satirical television show. An increased proportion of his output became overtly political, or at least topical, on subjects such as education ("New Math"), the Second Vatican Council ("The Vatican Rag"), race relations ("National Brotherhood Week"), air and water pollution ("Pollution"), American militarism ("Send the Marines"), World War III "pre-nostalgia" ("So Long, Mom", premiered by Steve Allen), and nuclear proliferation ("Who's Next?" and "MLF Lullaby"). He also wrote a song that famously satirized the alleged amorality of rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, who had previously worked for Nazi Germany before working for the United States. ("'Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down? That's not my department', says Wernher von Braun.") Lehrer did not appear on the television show; his songs were performed by a female vocalist and his lyrics were often altered by the network censors. Lehrer later performed the songs on the album, That Was The Year That Was, so that, in his words, people could hear the songs the way they were intended to be heard.

In 1967, Lehrer was persuaded to make a short tour in Norway and Denmark, where he performed some of the songs from the television program. The performance in Oslo, Norway, on September 10 was recorded on video tape and aired locally later that autumn; this program was released on DVD some 40 years later.^[16]

Also around 1967, Lehrer composed and performed on piano original songs in a Dodge automobile "industrial" film that was distributed primarily to Dodge automobile dealers. It was also shown at promotional events organized by Dodge. Set in a fictional American wild west town, the full proper title of the film appears to be "The Dodge Rebellion Theatre presents Ballads For '67" Since the film is introducing 1967 model automobiles, it was possibly produced in late 1966.

The record deal with Reprise Records for the That Was The Year That Was album also gave Reprise distribution rights for Lehrer's earlier recordings, as Lehrer wanted to wind up his own record imprint. The Reprise issue of Songs by Tom Lehrer was a stereo re-recording. This version was not issued on CD, but the songs were issued on the live Tom Lehrer Revisited CD instead. The [live] recording also included bonus tracks "L-Y" and "Silent E", which Lehrer wrote for the PBS children's educational series The Electric Company. Lehrer later commented that worldwide sales of the recordings under Reprise surpassed 1.8 million units in 1996. That same year, the album That Was The Year That Was went gold.^[15] The album liner notes (and Lehrer himself in one routine) promote Tom Lehrer's songs using reverse psychology, by deliberately quoting his negative reviews. ("I know it's very bad form to quote one's own reviews, but there is something the New York Times said about me [in 1958], that I have always treasured: 'Mr. Lehrer's muse [is] not fettered by such inhibiting factors as taste.")

Departure from the music scene[link]

There is an urban legend that Lehrer gave up political satire when the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Henry Kissinger in 1973. He did comment that awarding the prize to Kissinger made political satire obsolete, but has denied that he stopped creating satire thereafter as a form of protest, asserting that he had stopped several years prior to the award.^[17] Another mistaken belief is that he was sued for libel by the estate of Wernher von Braun, the subject of one of his songs, and forced to relinquish all of his royalty income to von Braun. Lehrer firmly denied this in a 2003 interview.^[13]

When asked about his reasons for abandoning his musical career, in an interview in the book accompanying his CD box set (released in 2000), he cited a simple lack of interest, a distaste for touring, and boredom with performing the same songs repeatedly. He observed that when he was moved to write and perform songs, he did, and when he was not, he did not, and that after a while he simply lost interest. Although many of Lehrer's songs satirized the Cold War political establishment of the era, he stopped writing and performing just as the 1960s counterculture movement gained momentum.

Lehrer's musical career was brief; in an interview in the late 1990s, he pointed out that he had performed a mere 109 shows and written 37 songs over 20 years. Nevertheless, he developed a significant cult following both in the United States and abroad.

In the 1970s, Lehrer concentrated on teaching mathematics and musical theater, although he also wrote ten songs for the children's television show The Electric Company—Lehrer's Harvard schoolmate Joe Raposo was the show's musical director for its first three seasons.

Revivals and discographic reissues[link]

In the early 1980s, Tom Foolery, a revival of his songs on the London stage, was a hit. Although not its instigator, Lehrer eventually gave the stage production his full support and updated several of his lyrics for the production (such as "Who's Next", in which Neiman-Marcus [or in the San Francisco production, J.C. Penney], not Alabama, gets the bomb). Tom Foolery contained 27 Lehrer songs and led to more than 200 productions,^[15] including an off-Broadway production at the Village Gate, which ran for 120 performances in 1981.^[18]

In conjunction with the Tom Foolery premiere in 1980 at Criterion Theatre in London, Lehrer made a rare TV appearance on BBC's Parkinson show, where he sang "I Got It from Agnes".^[19][20]

On June 7 and 8, 1998, Lehrer performed in public for the first time in 25 years at the Lyceum Theatre, London as part of the gala show Hey, Mr. Producer! celebrating the career of impresario Cameron Mackintosh, who had been the producer of Tom Foolery. The June 8 show was his only performance before Queen Elizabeth II. Lehrer sang "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park" and an updated version of the nuclear proliferation song "Who's Next?". The DVD of the event includes the former song.^[21]

In 2000, a boxed set of CDs, The Remains of Tom Lehrer, was released by Rhino Entertainment. It included live and studio versions of his first two albums, That Was The Year That Was, the songs he wrote for The Electric Company, and some previously unreleased material. It was accompanied by a small hardbound book containing an introduction by Dr. Demento and lyrics to all the songs.

In 2010, Shout! Factory launched a reissue campaign, making his long out-of-press albums available digitally. They also issued a CD/DVD combo called The Tom Lehrer Collection, which includes his best-loved songs, plus a DVD featuring an Oslo concert.^[22]

Musical legacy[link]

Lehrer has commented that he doubts his songs had any real effect on those not already critical of the establishment: "I don't think this kind of thing has an impact on the unconverted, frankly. It's not even preaching to the converted; it's titillating the converted... I'm fond of quoting Peter Cook, who talked about the satirical Berlin kabaretts of the 1930s, which did so much to stop the rise of Hitler and prevent the Second World War."^[17]

In 2003 he commented that his particular brand of political satire is more difficult in the modern world: "The real issues I don't think most people touch. The Clinton jokes are all about Monica Lewinsky and all that stuff and not about the important things, like the fact that he wouldn't ban land mines... I'm not tempted to write a song about George W. Bush. I couldn't figure out what sort of song I would write. That's the problem: I don't want to satirise George Bush and his puppeteers, I want to vaporize them."^[13]

In a phone call to Gene Weingarten of the Washington Post in February 2008, Lehrer instructed Weingarten to "Just tell the people that I am voting for Obama."^[23]

A play, Letters from Lehrer, written by Canadian Richard Greenblatt, was performed by him at CanStage, from January 16 to February 25, 2006. It followed Lehrer's musical career, the meaning of several songs, the politics of the time, and Greenblatt's own experiences with Lehrer's music, while playing some of Lehrer's songs. There are currently no plans for more performances, although low-quality audio recordings have begun to circulate around the internet.

Some of his songs ("I Hold Your Hand in Mine" and "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park") were reworked into German by the Austrian-Jewish singer satirist Georg Kreisler who lived in the United States from 1938 until 1955. Lehrer was praised by Dr. Demento as "the best musical satirist of the twentieth century". Other artists who cite Lehrer as an influence include "Weird Al" Yankovic, whose work generally addresses more popular and less technical or political subjects,^[24] and educator and scientist H. Paul Shuch, who tours under the stage name Dr. SETI and calls himself "a cross between Carl Sagan and Tom Lehrer: he sings like Sagan and lectures like Lehrer." More stylistically influenced performers include American political satirist Mark Russell,^[25] and the British duo Kit and The Widow.^{[citation needed]} British medical satirists Amateur Transplants acknowledge the debt they owe to Tom Lehrer on the back of their first album, Fitness to Practice. Their songs "The Menstrual Rag" and "The Drugs Song" are to the tunes of Lehrer's "The Vatican Rag" and "The Elements" (itself set to the tune of the "Major-General's Song" from The Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan), respectively. Their second album, Unfit to Practise, opens with an update of Lehrer's "The Masochism Tango" and is called simply "Masochism Tango 2008". Syndicated conservative morning-radio talk show host Jim Quinn sings with piano backing in a Lehrer-like tribute in a song on how political correctness has destroyed so many Christmas traditions with the song "A Politically Correct Christmas".

Lehrer has said of his musical career, "If, after hearing my songs, just one human being is inspired to say something nasty to a friend, or perhaps to strike a loved one, it will all have been worth the while."^[2]

Music lists[link]

Reviews selected by Lehrer for his liner notes[link]

• "Mr. Lehrer's muse is not fettered by such inhibiting factors as taste." — The New York Times (9 February 1959)
• "More desperate than amusing" — New York Herald Tribune
• "He seldom has any point to make except obvious ones" — The Christian Science Monitor
• "Plays the piano acceptably" — The Oakland Tribune

Solo discography[link]

• Songs by Tom Lehrer (1953)
• More of Tom Lehrer (1959)
• An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer (1959)
• Revisited (1960) (1990 CD reissue includes 1971 studio recordings of Silent E and L-Y)
• Tom Lehrer Discovers Australia (And Vice Versa) (1960; Australia-only)
• That Was the Year That Was (1965)
• Songs by Tom Lehrer (1966 re-recording)
• Tom Lehrer in Concert (1994; UK compilation)
• Songs & More Songs by Tom Lehrer (1997; US compilation of his first two studio albums with additional songs)
• The Remains of Tom Lehrer (2000)
• The Tom Lehrer Collection (2010)

Many Lehrer songs also are performed (but not by Lehrer) in That Was The Week That Was (Radiola LP, 1981)

The sheet music to many of Lehrer's songs is published in The Tom Lehrer Song Book (Crown Publishers, Inc., 1954) Library of Congress Card Catalog Number 54-12068 and Too Many Songs by Tom Lehrer: with not enough drawings by Ronald Searle (Pantheon, 1981, ISBN 0-394-74930-8; Methuen, 1999, ISBN 978-0-413-74230-8). There is also a second song book, called "Tom Lehrer's Second Song Book," which is out of print and has no ISBN.

Lehrer wrote The SAC Song that was sung in the 1963 film A Gathering of Eagles.^[26]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Tom Lehrer

• That Was the Wit That Was Tom Lehrer interview in SF Weekly, published 2000-04-19, retrieved 2010-08-26
• Tom Lehrer Annotated Song Lyrics, many with MIDI files, collected by Graeme Cree, retrieved 2011-04-13
• 59 minute long mp3 radio programme from 1983, with a telephone interview with Tom Lehrer, as well as a 10 minute follow-up 1989 From "Bob Claster's Funny Stuff" on KCRW, retrieved 2010-08-26
• A Conversation with Tom Lehrer done by Paul D. Lehrman on September 7, 1997, retrieved 2010-08-26
• Tom Lehrer page on The Demented Music Database—includes biography, discography, lyrics and other miscellanea, retrieved on 2011-01-23

Daniel Radcliffe
Radcliffe at Make Believe On Broadway, 23 November 2011
Born	Daniel Jacob Radcliffe (1989-07-23) 23 July 1989 (age 22) London, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1999–present

Daniel Jacob Radcliffe (born 23 July 1989) is an English film and stage actor who rose to prominence playing the title character in the Harry Potter film series.

Radcliffe made his acting debut at age ten in BBC One's 1999 television movie David Copperfield, followed by his film debut in 2001's The Tailor of Panama. At age eleven he was cast as the title character in the first Harry Potter film, and he starred in the series for ten years until the release of the eighth and final film in July 2011. He also began to branch out to stage acting in 2007, starring in the London and New York productions of the play Equus and in the 2011 Broadway revival of the musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. In addition, he starred in 2007's December Boys and the 2012 hit horror film The Woman in Black. He will play beat poet Allen Ginsberg in 2013 indie film Kill Your Darlings.

Radcliffe has contributed to many charities, including Demelza House Children's Hospice and The Trevor Project. He has also made public service announcements for the latter. In 2011, he was awarded the Trevor Project's "Hero Award".

Early life and education[link]

Radcliffe was born on 23 July 1989 in West London, England,^[1] the only child of Alan George Radcliffe, a literary agent, and Marcia Jeannine Gresham (née Marcia Gresham Jacobson), a casting agent who was involved in several films for the BBC, including The Inspector Lynley Mysteries and Walk Away And I Stumble.^[2][3] Radcliffe's mother is Jewish and a native of Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex;^[3][4] his father, originally from Northern Ireland, is Protestant.^[5] He was raised without religion.^[6] Radcliffe first expressed a desire to act at the age of five,^[7] and in December 1999, aged ten, he made his acting debut in the BBC One's televised two-part adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel David Copperfield, portraying the title character as a young boy.^[8]

Radcliffe was educated at two independent schools for boys:^[9] at Sussex House School, a day school in Cadogan Square in Chelsea in London,^[10] followed by the City of London School,^[11] a day school on the North Bank of the River Thames in London's financial district, known as the City of London.

Following the release of the first Harry Potter movie, attending school became hard for Radcliffe, with some fellow pupils becoming hostile. Radcliffe said it was people just trying to "have a crack at the kid that plays Harry Potter" rather than jealousy.^[12] As his acting career began to consume his schedule, Radcliffe continued his education through on-set tutors. He admitted he was not very good at school, considered it useless, and found the work to be "really, really difficult";^[9] however, he did achieve A grades in the three A-levels that he sat in 2006, but then decided to take a break from education and did not go to college or university.^[13] Part of the reason was that he already knew he wanted to act and write, and that it would be difficult to have a normal college experience. "The paparazzi, they’d love it," he told Details magazine in 2007. "If there were any parties going on, they’d be tipped off as to where they were".^[12]

Career[link]

[edit] Harry Potter

Radcliffe at the July 2009 premiere of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

In 2000 producer David Heyman asked Radcliffe to audition for the role of Harry Potter for the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the best-selling book by British author J. K. Rowling.^[14][15] Rowling had been searching for an unknown British actor to personify the character; however, Radcliffe's parents did not want him to audition for the role, as the contract required shooting all seven films in Los Angeles, California, and so they did not tell him.^[16] The movie's director Chris Columbus recalled thinking, "This is what I want. This is Harry Potter", after he saw a video of the young actor in David Copperfield.^[16] Eight months later, and after several auditions, Radcliffe was selected to play the part.^[17] Rowling also endorsed the selection saying, "I don't think Chris Columbus could have found a better Harry."^[18] Radcliffe's parents originally turned down the offer, as they had been told that it would involve six films shot in Los Angeles.^[19] Warner Bros. instead offered Radcliffe a two-movie contract with shooting in the UK though,^[16] when signing up, Radcliffe was unsure if he would do any more pictures.^[20]

The release of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (released as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the United States) took place in 2001. The story follows Harry, a young boy who learns he is a wizard and is sent to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to begin his education; gaining the help of friends Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) along the way. Radcliffe received a seven figure salary for the lead role, but asserted that the fee was "not that important" to him;^[21] his parents chose to invest the money for him.^[16] The film broke records for opening-day sales and opening-weekend takings, becoming the highest–grossing film of 2001. With a total of US$974 million in ticket sales, Philosopher's Stone stands as the second most commercially successful in the series behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, the final instalment.^[22] The adaptation was met with positive reviews and critics took notice of Radcliffe:^[23] "Radcliffe is the embodiment of every reader's imagination. It is wonderful to see a young hero who is so scholarly looking and filled with curiosity and who connects with very real emotions, from solemn intelligence and the delight of discovery to deep family longing," wrote Bob Graham of the San Francisco Chronicle.^[24]

Handprints, footprints and wand prints of (from left to right) Watson, Radcliffe, Grint.

A year later Radcliffe starred in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the second instalment of the series. Reviewers were positive about the lead actors' performances but had polarised opinions on the movie as a whole. Stephen Hunter of the Washington Post labelled it "big, dull and empty".^[25] Observing that Radcliffe and his peers had matured, Los Angeles Times's staff writer Kenneth Turan believed the novel's magic could not be successfully duplicated in the film.^[26] Nonetheless, it still managed to earn US$878 million, taking the second spot of the highest-grossing 2002 films worldwide behind The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.^[27]

The 2004 release Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was the third film in the series. While garnering the highest critical acclaim of the series at that point^[23] and grossing US$795.6 million worldwide, the film's performance at the box office ranks the lowest in the series.^[22] Radcliffe's performance was panned by New York Times journalist A. O. Scott, who wrote that Watson had to carry him with her performance.^[28] Next was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in 2005. The film set records for a Harry Potter opening weekend, as well as for a non-May opening weekend in the US and in the UK.^[29] The film eventually grossed US$896 million worldwide, and the film was the second-highest grossing Harry Potter film at that point.^[30] In a 2005 interview, Radcliffe singled out the humour as being a reason for the movie's creative success.^[31]

Despite the success of the previous three movies, the future of the franchise was put into question when all three lead actors were unsure about signing on to continue their roles for the final two episodes; however, by 2 March 2007 Radcliffe had signed for the final films, which put an end to weeks of press "speculation that he would be denied the role due to his involvement in Equus".^[32] Radcliffe reprised his role for the fifth time in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), which details Harry's return to Hogwarts after his encounter with Lord Voldemort in the previous film. It opened to positive responses from the press;^[23] IGN movie critic Steven Horn found Order of the Phoenix to be one of "those rare films that exceeds the source material"^[33] and Colin Bertram of New York's Daily News dubbed it the best movie in the series.^[34] Radcliffe stated that director David Yates and actress Imelda Staunton made Order of the Phoenix the "most fun" film in the series to work on.^[35] His performance earned several award nominations, and he received the 2008 National Movie Award for "Best Male Performance".^[36] As his fame and the series continued, Radcliffe, Grint and Watson left imprints of their hands, feet, and wands in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.^[37]

In July 2009 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was released, the series' sixth instalment. The film did considerably better than the previous movie, breaking the then-record for biggest midnight US showings with US$22.2 million at 3,000 theatres,^[38] and was the biggest ever Wednesday-opening in the UK, with US$7.6 million at 1,305 screens.^[39] Half-Blood Prince achieved a total of US$933 million ticket sales^[22] and was one of the most positively reviewed of the series among film critics, who praised the film's "emotionally satisfying" story, direction, cinematography, visuals and music.^[40][41][42] Radcliffe received nominations for "Best Male Performance" and "Global Superstar" at the 2010 MTV Movie Awards.^[43]

Radcliffe, Watson and Grint at the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 premiere in London.

For financial and scripting reasons the last book was divided into two films, shot back to back,^[44][45] which drew criticism from the series' fanbase. Radcliffe defended the split, pointing out that it would have been impossible to properly adapt the final novel into a single film.^[46] He added that the last movie was going to be extremely fast-paced with a lot of action, while the first part would be far more sedate, focusing on character development; he added that, had they combined them, those things would not have made it to the final cut.^[47] Filming lasted for a year, concluding in June 2010 and on the last day of shooting, like most of the cast and crew, Radcliffe openly wept.^[48] Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010) was about Harry, Ron and Hermione leaving Hogwarts to track down Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes, objects Voldemort has left part of his soul inside. The film was released in November and grossed over US$950 million.^[22] Its most lucrative territory was the UK, where it reportedly had the highest-grossing three-day opening in history; while its earnings of US$205 million, in 91 markets, made it the highest ever top-grossing non-US opening for a non-summer picture, and "the fourth-biggest-grossing international opening ever".^[49] The movie received mostly favourable reviews in the media.^[23]

The final film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, was released worldwide starting on 13 July 2011 in Australia. The film concerns the battle against Voldemort's followers in Hogwarts, along with Harry's final climactic duel with Voldemort. Radcliffe, along with the film,^[23] was critically acclaimed: Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post asked, "Who could have predicted that Radcliffe, Grint and Watson would turn out to be good actors?";^[50] similarly, Rex Reed said: "Frankly, I’m sorry to see [Radcliffe] go";^[51] while Rolling Stone critic Peter Travers commented on Radcliffe: "Well played, sir."^[52] Among those who were less favourable, Roger Ebert said that Radcliffe, Grint and Watson were "upstaged by the supporting [actors]".^[53] The film broke several box office records, including biggest midnight release,^[54] biggest first-day opening,^[54] and biggest opening-weekend.^[55] Deathly Hallows – Part 2 is currently the third-highest grossing film in the world, and the highest-grossing non-James Cameron film, with more than US$1.3 billion worldwide.^[56] Radcliffe admitted that some people would never be able to separate him from the character, but also said he is "proud to be associated with this film series forever."^[57] Despite positive feelings about the movies, he has no interest in doing more Harry Potter films. After Rowling hinted about writing an eighth book, Radcliffe was asked if he would do another film to which he replied: "[It is] very doubtful. I think 10 years is a long time to spend with one character."^[58] Despite devoting so much time to the series, Radcliffe has asserted that he did not miss out on a childhood like other child actors: "I’ve been given a much better perspective on life by doing Potter."^[59]

2001–2009[link]

Radcliffe at December Boys premiere in 2007

Radcliffe made his film debut in The Tailor of Panama, an American 2001 film based on John le Carré's 1996 spy novel, and a moderate commercial success.^[22] In 2002 he made his stage debut as a celebrity guest in a West End theatre production of The Play What I Wrote, directed by Kenneth Branagh—who also appeared with him in the second Harry Potter film.^[8][60] In 2007 he appeared in the film December Boys, an Australian family drama about four orphans that was shot in 2005 and released to theatres in mid-September 2007.^[61] Also in 2007, Radcliffe co-starred with Carey Mulligan in My Boy Jack, a television drama film shown on ITV on Remembrance Day. The film received mostly positive reviews,^[62] with several critics praising Radcliffe's performance as an 18-year-old who goes missing in action during a battle.^[63][64][65] Radcliffe stated, "For many people my age, the First World War is just a topic in a history book. But I've always been fascinated by the subject and think it's as relevant today as it ever was."^[66]

Radcliffe in Theatre District, New York, 13 December 2008

At age 17, in a bid to show people he was not a kid any more,^[1] he performed onstage in Peter Shaffer's play Equus, which had not been revived since its first run in 1973, at the Gielgud Theatre.^[16] Radcliffe took on the lead role^[60] as Alan Strang, a stable boy who has an obsession with horses. Advance sales topped £1.7 million, and the role generated significant pre-opening media interest, as Radcliffe appeared in a nude scene.^[16][67] Equus opened on 27 February 2007 and ran until 9 June 2007.^[60] Radcliffe's performance received positive reviews^[68] as critics were impressed by the nuance and depth of his against-type role.^[69] Charles Spencer of The Daily Telegraph wrote that he "displays a dramatic power and an electrifying stage presence that marks a tremendous leap forward." He added: "I never thought I would find the diminutive (but perfectly formed) Radcliffe a sinister figure, but as Alan Strang ... there are moments when he seems genuinely scary in his rage and confusion."^[70] The production then transferred to Broadway in September 2008, with Radcliffe still in the lead role.^[71][72] Radcliffe stated he was nervous about repeating the role on Broadway because he considered American audiences more discerning than those in London.^[73] Radcliffe's performance was nominated for a Drama Desk Award.^[74]

2010–present[link]

After voicing a character in an episode of the animated television series The Simpsons in late 2010,^[75] Radcliffe debuted as J. Pierrepont Finch in the 2011 Broadway revival How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, a role previously held by Broadway veterans Robert Morse and Matthew Broderick.^[76] Other cast members included John Larroquette, Rose Hemingway and Mary Faber.^[77] Both the actor and production received favourable reviews,^[78] with USA Today commenting: "Radcliffe ultimately succeeds not by overshadowing his fellow cast members, but by working in conscientious harmony with them – and having a blast in the process."^[79] Radcliffe's performance in the show earned him Drama Desk Award, Drama League Award and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations.^[80][81][82] The production itself later received nine Tony Award nominations.^[83] Radcliffe left the show on 1 January 2012.^[84]

His first post-Harry Potter project was the 2012 horror film The Woman in Black, adapted from the 1983 novel by Susan Hill. The film was released on 3 February 2012 in the United States and Canada, and was released on 10 February in the UK. Radcliffe portrays a man sent to deal with the legal matters of a mysterious woman who has just died, and soon after he begins to experience strange events and hauntings from the ghost of a woman dressed in black.^[85] He has said he was "incredibly excited" to be part of the film and described the script as "beautifully written".^[86] Radcliffe's godson Mischa, the son of Thea Sharrock, who co-directed the revival of Equus with Radcliffe, portrayed Arthur's son in the film.^[87] Variety has confirmed Radcliffe will star in the indie comedy The Amateur Photographer, a film adaptation of the book of the same name, directed by Christopher Monger. Set in 1970, it follows a man (Radcliffe) who discovers his calling after being drafted by the residents of a small English mill town to serve as a photographer for their most personal moments.^[88]

He is set to portray Allen Ginsberg in the upcoming thriller drama Kill Your Darlings, directed by John Krokidas.^[89][90]

Personal life[link]

In 2008, Radcliffe revealed that he suffers from a mild form of the neurological disorder dyspraxia. The motor skill disorder sometimes gets so bad that he has trouble doing simple activities, such as writing or tying his own shoelaces. "I was having a hard time at school, in terms of being crap at everything, with no discernible talent," Radcliffe commented.^[91] In August 2010, he stopped drinking alcohol after finding himself becoming too reliant on it.^[92]

In 2012, Radcliffe stated, "I think of myself as being Jewish and Irish, despite the fact that I’m English."^[6] He has also said, "I'm an atheist, and a militant atheist when religion starts impacting on legislation",^[93] and that he is "very proud of being Jewish".^[94][95][96]

Radcliffe is a supporter of the Labour Party.^[97] Until 2012 Radcliffe had publicly supported the Liberal Democrats,^[98] and before the 2010 UK General Election Radcliffe endorsed Nick Clegg, the Lib Dem leader. In 2012, however, Radcliffe switched his allegiance to Labour, citing disappointment with the performance of Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems in government, and approving of the Labour leader, Ed Miliband.^[99] At the age of sixteen, Radcliffe became the youngest non-royal ever to have an individual portrait in Britain's National Portrait Gallery (NPG). On 13 April 2006 his portrait, drawn by Stuart Pearson Wright, was unveiled as part of a new exhibition opening at the Royal National Theatre; it was then moved to the NPG where it resides.^[100]

He is a fan of underground^[101] and punk rock music,^[102][103] and is a keen follower of cricket, including cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.^[104][105] Writing short stories and poetry is also a passion.^[106] In November 2007 Radcliffe published several poems under the pen name Jacob Gershon — a combination of his middle name and the Jewish version of his mother's maiden name Gresham — in Rubbish, an underground fashion magazine.^[96][106] He enjoys a close friendship with his fellow Harry Potter co-stars Tom Felton^[101] and Emma Watson,^[107] and is tight-knit with his family, whom he credits for keeping him grounded.^[108]

Radcliffe at the film premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 in Alice Tully Center, New York City in November 2010.

Speaking out against homophobia, Radcliffe began filming public service announcements in 2009 for The Trevor Project, promoting awareness of gay teen suicide prevention.^[109][110] He first learned of the organisation while working on Equus on Broadway in 2008^[110] and has contributed financially to it.^[111] "I have always hated anybody who is not tolerant of gay men or lesbians or bisexuals. Now I am in the very fortunate position where I can actually help or do something about it," he said in a 2010 interview. In the same interview, he spoke of the importance of public figures advocating for equal rights.^[110] Radcliffe considers his involvement to be one of the most important things in his career and,^[109] for his work for the organisation, he was given the "Hero Award" in 2011.^[109]

Radcliffe has supported various charities. He designed the Cu-Bed for Habitat's VIP Kids range (a cube made of eight smaller ones which can be made into a bed, chaise-longue or chair)^[112] with all the royalties from the sale of the bed going directly to his favourite charity, Demelza House Children's Hospice in Sittingbourne, Kent.^[113] Radcliffe has urged his fans to make donations, in lieu of Christmas presents to him, to the charity's Candle for Care program. In 2008 he was among several celebrities who donated their old glasses to an exhibit honouring victims of the Holocaust.^[114] During the Broadway run of Equus he auctioned off a pair of jeans he wore in the show for "thousands of dollars", as well as other items worn in the show, for the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS "a New York-based nonprofit HIV/AIDS grant-making organisation".^[115] He has also donated money to Get Connected UK, a London-based free confidential national helpline for troubled youth.^[116]

Sources disagree about Radcliffe's personal wealth; he was reported to have earned £1 million for the first Harry Potter film^[21] and around £15 million for the sixth.^[9] Radcliffe appeared on the Sunday Times Rich List in 2006, which estimated his personal fortune to be £14 million, making him one of the richest young people in the UK.^[117] In March 2009 he was ranked number one on the Forbes "Most Valuable Young Stars" list,^[118] and by April The Daily Telegraph measured his net worth at £30m, making him the 12th richest young person in the UK.^[119] Radcliffe was considered to be the richest teenager in England later that year.^[9] In February 2010 he was named the sixth highest paid Hollywood male star^[120] and placed at number five on Forbes's December list of Hollywood's highest-grossing actors^{[note 1]} with a revenue of US$780 million, mainly due to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows being released that year.^[121] Despite previous predictions that Radcliffe would have amassed £70m by the time the Harry Potter series concluded,^[119] the actor was reported to only have a wealth of £28.5 million in 2010. This still makes him richer than Princes William and Harry.^[122] Despite his wealth, Radcliffe has said he does not have expensive tastes and that his main expense is buying books: "I read a lot."^[123] He also stated that money would never be the focus of his life.^[9]

In January 2012, Radcliffe said he was in a relationship with production assistant Rosie Coker.^[124]

Filmography[link]

Film[link]

Television[link]

Theatre[link]

Awards[link]

See also[link]

• List of Harry Potter cast members

Notes[link]

References[link]