- published: 17 Jul 2011
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- author: szarka86
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Balmoral Hotel
The Balmoral is a luxury five-star hotel and landmark in Edinburgh, Scotland, known as the North British Hotel until the late 1980s. It is located in the heart of the city at the east end of Princes Street, the main shopping street beneath the Edinburgh Castle rock, and the southern edge of the New Town.
Resulting from a competition of 1895, the hotel originally opened in 1902. It was designed by architect W. Hamilton Beattie and for most of the twentieth century was known as the North British Hotel or simply the N.B., a traditional railway hotel built for the North British Railway Company adjacent to their Waverley Station. It kept the same name until the late 1980s when it was renamed the Balmoral Hotel after refurbishment, despite being located over 100 miles (160 km) south of Balmoral Castle. Edinburgh residents managed to retain the "NB" nickname by the popular but entirely colloquial suggestion that this stood for "New Balmoral".
For travellers arriving by train, the hotel provided comfortable and elegant lodgings, before they continued their journeys. To assist passengers in reaching their train on time, the hotel tower's clock, visible from a considerable distance away, is traditionally set to be two minutes fast. The clock tower, at 190 feet (58 m) high, forms a prominent landmark in Edinburgh's city centre. The building’s architecture is Victorian, influenced by the traditional Scottish baronial style. Sadly it was stripped of most of its ornamental stone balconies in its refurbishment, and whilst remaining ornate, is visibly "scarred".
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BSkyB
British Sky Broadcasting Group plc (commonly known as BSkyB; trading as Sky) is a British satellite broadcasting, broadband and telephony services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with operations in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Formed in 1990 by the equal merger of Sky Television and British Satellite Broadcasting, BSkyB is the largest pay-TV broadcaster in the United Kingdom and Ireland with over 11 million subscribers.
BSkyB is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It had a market capitalisation of approximately £12.6 billion (US$19.8 billion) as of 23 December 2011, the 29th-largest of any company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange.News Corporation owns a 39.14 per cent controlling stake in the company.
Sky Television was set up by Rupert Murdoch in 1989. The SES Astra satellite network began with the launch of Astra 1A in 1989. Sky Television plc was the first customer of Astra and leased four transponders on Astra 1A ahead of its launch. Alan Sugar's Amstrad began manufacturing the original sateillite dishes and set-top boxes, something which it still does today. With the launch of more Astra satellites from 1991 onward, Sky was able to begin expanding its services, (the Astra satellites were all orbiting co-located at 19.2° east so they could be received using the same satellite dish).
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Bucharest
Bucharest (Romanian: București pronounced [bukuˈreʃtʲ] (
listen)) is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at 44°25′57″N 26°06′14″E / 44.4325°N 26.10389°E / 44.4325; 26.10389Coordinates: 44°25′57″N 26°06′14″E / 44.4325°N 26.10389°E / 44.4325; 26.10389, and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River.
Bucharest was first mentioned in documents as early as 1459. Since then it has gone through a variety of changes, becoming the state capital of Romania in 1862 and steadily consolidating its position as the centre of the Romanian mass media, culture and arts. Its eclectic architecture is a mix of historical (neo-classical), interbellum (Bauhaus and Art Deco), Communist-era and modern. In the period between the two World Wars, the city's elegant architecture and the sophistication of its elite earned Bucharest the nickname of "Little Paris" (Micul Paris). Although many buildings and districts in the historic centre were damaged or destroyed by war, earthquakes, and Nicolae Ceaușescu's program of systematization, many survived. In recent years, the city has been experiencing an economic and cultural boom..
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Chepstow
Coordinates: 51°38′31″N 2°40′30″W / 51.642°N 2.675°W / 51.642; -2.675
Chepstow (Welsh: Cas-gwent) is a town in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the River Wye, about 2 miles (3.2 km) above its confluence with the River Severn, and adjoining the western end of the Severn Bridge. It is 16 miles (26 km) east of Newport and 110 miles (180 km) west of London.
Chepstow Castle, situated on a clifftop above the Wye and its bridge, is often cited as the oldest surviving stone castle in Britain. The castle was established by William fitzOsbern immediately after the Norman conquest, and was extended in later centuries before becoming ruined after the Civil War. A Benedictine priory was also established within the walled town, which was the centre of the Marcher lordship of Striguil. The port of Chepstow became noted in the Middle Ages for its imports of wine, and also became a major centre for the export of timber and bark, from nearby woodland in the Wye valley and Forest of Dean. In the late eighteenth century the town was a focus of early tourism as part of the "Wye Tour", and the tourist industry remains important. Other important industries included shipbuilding - one of the First World War National Shipyards was established in the town - and heavy engineering, including the prefabrication of bridges and, now, wind turbine towers. Chepstow is also well known for its racecourse, which has hosted the Welsh National each year since 1949.
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Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, (Scottish Gaelic: Eaglais na h-Alba, Scots: Kirk o Scotland) known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation.
The Church of Scotland traces its roots back to the beginnings of Christianity in Scotland, but its identity is principally shaped by the Reformation of 1560. Its current pledged membership is about 9% of the Scottish population—though according to the 2001 national census, 42% of the Scottish population claim some form of allegiance to it (see Religion in Scotland).
While the Church of Scotland traces its roots back to the earliest Christians in Scotland, its identity was principally shaped by the Scottish Reformation of 1560. At that point, the church in Scotland broke with Rome, in a process of Protestant reform led, among others, by John Knox. It reformed its doctrines and government, drawing on the principles of John Calvin which Knox had been exposed to while living in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1560, the Scottish Parliament abolished papal jurisdiction and approved Calvin's Confession of Faith, but did not accept many of the principles laid out in Knox's First Book of Discipline, which argued, amongst other things, that all of the assets of the old church should pass to the new. The 1560 Reformation Settlement was not ratified by the crown for some years, and the question of church government also remained unresolved. In 1572 the acts of 1560 were finally approved by the young James VI, but the Concordat of Leith also allowed the crown to appoint bishops with the church's approval. John Knox himself had no clear views on the office of bishop, preferring to see them renamed as 'superintendents'; but in response to the new Concordat a Presbyterian party emerged headed by Andrew Melville, the author of the Second Book of Discipline.
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Edinburgh
Edinburgh (
i/ˈɛdɪnbʌrə/ ED-in-burr-ə; Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Èideann) is the capital city of Scotland and the seat of the Scottish Parliament. It is the second largest city in Scotland and the seventh most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a 30 square miles (78 km2) rural area. Located in the south-east of Scotland, Edinburgh lies on the east coast of the Central Belt, along the Firth of Forth, near the North Sea.
The city was one of the historical major centres of the Enlightenment, led by the University of Edinburgh, helping to earn it the nickname Athens of the North. The Old Town and New Town districts of Edinburgh were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995 in recognition of the unique character of the Medieval Old Town and the planned Georgian New Town. It covers both the Old and New Towns together with the Dean Village and the Calton Hill areas. There are over 4,500 listed buildings within the city. In May 2010, it had a total of 40 conservation areas covering 23% of the building stock and 23% of the population, the highest such ratios of any major city in the UK. In the 2011 mid-year population estimates, Edinburgh had a total resident population of 495,360.
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Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire (i/ˈɡlɒstərʃər/ GLOSS-tər-shər; abbreviated Glos.) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean.
The county town is the city of Gloucester, and other principal towns include Cheltenham, Cirencester, Stroud, and Tewkesbury.
When considered as a ceremonial county, Gloucestershire borders the preserved county of Gwent in Wales (now Monmouthshire), and in England the ceremonial counties of Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire and Somerset. Ceremonially, it includes the area covered by the South Gloucestershire unitary authority.
According to a 2002 campaign by the charity Plantlife, the county flower of Gloucestershire is the Wild Daffodil.
Gloucestershire is a historic county mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in the 10th century, though the areas of Winchcombe and the Forest of Dean were not added until the late 11th century. Gloucestershire originally included the then "small town" of Bristol. The "local" rural community moved to the port city, (as Bristol was to become) and Bristol's population growth accelerated during the industrial revolution. Bristol became part of the administrative County of Avon in 1974.
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Harvard University
Harvard University is an American private Ivy League research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation (officially The President and Fellows of Harvard College) chartered in the country. Harvard's history, influence, and wealth have made it one of the most prestigious universities in the world.
Harvard was named after its first benefactor, John Harvard. Although never formally affiliated with a church, the college primarily trained Congregationalist and Unitarian clergy. Harvard's curriculum and students became secular throughout the 18th century and by the 19th century had emerged as the central cultural establishment among Boston elites. Following the American Civil War, President Charles W. Eliot's forty year tenure (1869–1909) transformed the college and affiliated professional schools into a centralized research university, and Harvard became a founding member of the Association of American Universities in 1900.James Bryant Conant led the university through the Great Depression and World War II and began to reform the curriculum and liberalize admissions after the war. The undergraduate college became coeducational after its 1977 merger with Radcliffe College. Drew Gilpin Faust was elected the 28th president in 2007 and is the first woman to lead the university. Harvard has the largest financial endowment of any academic institution in the world, standing at $32 billion as of September 2011.
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Isle of Arran
Arran or the Isle of Arran (Scots Gaelic: Eilean Arainn) is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland. With an area of 432 square kilometres (167 sq mi) it is the seventh largest Scottish island. It is in the unitary council area of North Ayrshire. In the 2001 census it had a resident population of 5,058. Although it is culturally and physically similar to the Hebrides, it is separated from them by the Kintyre peninsula. Arran is mountainous and has been described as a "geologist's paradise".
Arran has been continuously inhabited since the early Neolithic period, and numerous prehistoric remains have been found. From the 6th century onwards, Goidelic-speaking peoples from Ireland colonised the island and it became a centre of religious activity. During the troubled Viking Age, Arran became the property of the Norwegian crown before becoming formally absorbed by the kingdom of Scotland in the 13th century. The 19th century "clearances" led to significant depopulation and the end of the Gaelic language and way of life.
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Kensington
Coordinates: 51°30′01″N 0°11′27″W / 51.5004°N 0.1909°W / 51.5004; -0.1909
Kensington is a district of west and central London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.
To the north, Kensington is bordered by Notting Hill; to the east, by Brompton and Knightsbridge; to the south, by Chelsea and Earl's Court; and to the west, by Hammersmith and Shepherd's Bush.
The area is first mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it was written in Latin as "Chenesitone", which has been interpreted to have originally been "Kenesignetun" (Kenesigne's land or meadows) in Anglo-Saxon.
The manor of Kensington, Middlesex, was granted by William I of England to Geoffrey de Montbray or Mowbray, bishop of Coutances, one of his inner circle of advisors and one of the wealthiest men in post-Conquest England. He in turn granted the tenancy of Kensington to his vassal Aubrey de Vere I, who was holding the manor in 1086, according to Domesday Book. The bishop's heir, Robert de Mowbray, rebelled against William Rufus and his vast barony was declared forfeit. Aubrey de Vere I had his tenure converted to a tenancy in-chief, holding Kensington after 1095 directly of the crown. He granted land and church there to Abingdon Abbey at the deathbed request of his young eldest son, Geoffrey. As the Veres became the earls of Oxford, their estate at Kensington came to be known as Earls Court, while the Abingdon lands were called Abbots Kensington and the church St Mary Abbots.
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Killiechassie House
Killiechassie House is a 19th century Estate house, situated on the banks of the River Tay, near Aberfeldy, in Perth and Kinross. The current owner of the house is J. K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, who purchased it in November 2001 for the sum of approximately £600,000. Since then the value of the house has increased significantly, with the estimated value rising to £1.5 million. The house is now ranked at #91 in a list of the Top 100 Finest Homes of the UK, published by Britain.tv.
Coordinates: 56°37′50″N 3°51′14″W / 56.63053°N 3.85402°W / 56.63053; -3.85402
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Lamlash
Coordinates: 55°32′14″N 5°07′25″W / 55.5373°N 5.1235°W / 55.5373; -5.1235
Lamlash (Scottish Gaelic: An t-Eilean Àrd) is the largest village by population on the Isle of Arran, in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland. It lies 4 miles to the south of ferry port Brodick, in a sheltered bay on the island's east coast, facing Holy Isle. Lamlash is the seat of Arran's local government offices and police. The only secondary school and only hospital in Arran are also located in Lamlash.
A prehistoric ring of stones indicates that an ancient settlement has existed near Lamlash since antiquity. The name Lamlash dates back to the 6th Century hermitage of Saint Molaise a celtic monk born in Ireland but raised in Scotland, who in c.590 spent some time in a cave on Holy Island. Commonly known as MoLaise the Gaelic name of Holy Island was, as a result, Eilean MoLaise. This gradually evolved through Elmolaise and Lemolash to Lamlash, which is what Holy Island was called until early in the 19th century. After that time the name was more normally attached to the village that grew up facing it. Lamlash was peripherally involved in the 13th century Battle of Largs. It was the birthplace of artist James Kay.
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London
Londoni/ˈlʌndən/ is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its founding by the Romans, who named it Londinium. London's ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its square-mile mediaeval boundaries. Since at least the 19th century, the name London has also referred to the metropolis developed around this core. The bulk of this conurbation forms the London region and the Greater London administrative area, governed by the elected Mayor of London and the London Assembly.
London is a leading global city, with strengths in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism and transport all contributing to its prominence. It is the world's leading financial centre alongside New York City and has the fifth-largest city GDP in the world (and the largest in Europe). London has been described as a world cultural capital. It was the world's most visited city during 2011 and London Heathrow is the world's busiest airport by number of international passengers. London's 43 universities form the largest concentration of higher education in Europe. In 2012 London will become the first city to host the modern Summer Olympic Games three times.
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Manchester
Coordinates: 53°28′N 2°14′W / 53.467°N 2.233°W / 53.467; -2.233
Manchesteri/ˈmæntʃɛstər/ is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England with an estimated population of 498,800 in 2010. Manchester lies within one of the United Kingdom's largest urban areas; the Greater Manchester Urban Area which has a population of 2.2 million. The demonym of Manchester is Mancunian and the local authority is Manchester City Council.
Manchester is situated in the south-central part of North West England, fringed by the Cheshire Plain to the south and the Pennines to the north and east. The recorded history of Manchester began with the civilian settlement associated with the Roman fort of Mamucium, which was established in c. 79 AD on a sandstone bluff near the confluence of the rivers Medlock and Irwell. Historically, most of the city was a part of Lancashire, although areas south of the River Mersey were in Cheshire. Throughout the Middle Ages Manchester remained a manorial township, but it began to expand "at an astonishing rate" around the turn of the 19th century. Manchester's unplanned urbanisation was brought on by a boom in textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution, and resulted in it becoming the world's first industrialised city. An early 19th-century factory building boom transformed Manchester from a township into a major mill town and borough that was granted city status in 1853. In 1894 the Manchester Ship Canal was built, creating the Port of Manchester.
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Mauritius
Coordinates: 20°12′S 57°30′E / 20.2°S 57.5°E / -20.2; 57.5
Mauritiusi/məˈrɪʃəs/ (Mauritian Creole: Moris; French: Maurice, pronounced: [mɔˈʁis]), officially the Republic of Mauritius (Mauritian Creole: Republik Moris; French: République de Maurice) is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about 870 kilometres (540 mi) east of Madagascar. In addition to the island of Mauritius, the Republic includes the islands of Cargados Carajos, Rodrigues, Tromelin and the Agalega Islands. Mauritius Island is part of the Mascarene Islands, with the French island of Réunion 170 km (110 mi) to the southwest and the island of Rodrigues 570 km (350 mi) to the east. The area of Mauritius is 2040 km2; its capital city is Port Louis.
The United Kingdom took control of the islands in 1810, from France during the Napoleonic Wars, and Mauritius became independent from the UK in 1968. It is a parliamentary republic and is a member of the Southern African Development Community, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the African Union, La Francophonie and the Commonwealth of Nations.
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Merchiston
Coordinates: 55°56′11″N 3°12′34″W / 55.9365°N 3.2095°W / 55.9365; -3.2095
Merchiston is a prosperous, mainly residential area in the south-west of Edinburgh, Scotland. The housing is primarily a mixture of large, late Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian villas – several of the latter by Edward Calvert – together with a smaller number of Victorian tenements and some relatively large, early-20th century villas. In recent years many of these villas have been subjected to development with blocks of flats being built in their once expansive gardens and the original houses themselves being divided into small numbers of flats.
A campus forming a major part of Edinburgh Napier University is in the area; it includes Merchiston Tower (or Castle), once the home of John Napier, 8th Laird of Merchiston and the inventor of logarithms. The university also uses a variety of other buildings in this and surrounding areas, such as former schools and churches, some of which would otherwise have been demolished or made into further flats. The tower was sold by the Honourable John Scott Napier, 14th Laird of Merchiston in 1914 to the Merchiston Castle School board who used it up until 1930 when the school moved to a new site at Colinton (whilst retaining the Merchiston Castle name).
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Ofcom
The Office of Communications (Welsh: Y Swyddfa Gyfathrebiadau), commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002 and received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003.
Ofcom has wide-ranging powers across the television, radio, internet, telecoms and postal sectors. It has a statutory duty to represent the interests of citizens and consumers by promoting competition and protecting the public from what might be considered harmful or offensive material. Some of the main areas Ofcom presides over are licensing, research, codes and policies, complaints, competition and protecting the radio spectrum from abuse.
The creation of Ofcom was announced in the Queen's Speech to the UK parliament in June 2001. The new body, which would replace several existing authorities, was conceived as a "super-regulator" to oversee media channels that were rapidly converging through digital transmission.
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Tutshill
Coordinates: 51°38′54″N 2°39′56″W / 51.64829°N 2.66565°W / 51.64829; -2.66565
Tutshill is a small village within the parish of Tidenham in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the eastern bank of the River Wye, which forms the boundary with Wales at this point and which separates the village from the town of Chepstow. The village of Woodcroft adjoins Tutshill to the north, and across the A48 road to the south is the village of Sedbury.
The name derives from the ruined "tut", a local term for watchtower, on top of the hill overlooking the Wye and its ancient crossing point at Castleford. and also having a distant view of the River Severn and estuary. The tower is of uncertain date, and has been suggested as either an Anglo-Norman watchtower linked to Chepstow Castle, or a later windmill.
After the town of Chepstow developed and a bridge was built over the Wye, the main road between Gloucestershire and Monmouthshire followed the steep hill directly up the river bank, now a footpath, between the bridge and Tutshill, until a new road looping around Castleford Hill was opened in 1808. This road carried traffic between the two counties until a new bridge was built at Chepstow in 1988, whereupon Tutshill was bypassed.
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Yate
Coordinates: 51°32′25″N 2°24′40″W / 51.5402°N 2.410989°W / 51.5402; -2.410989
Yate is a town in South Gloucestershire, England, at the southwest extremity of the Cotswold Hills, 12 miles (19 km) northeast of the city of Bristol. At the 2001 census the population was 21,789. The town of Chipping Sodbury (population 5,066) is contiguous with Yate to the east. Yate developed from a village into a new town in the 1960s, partly as an overspill or commuter town for the city of Bristol.
The town is surrounded by countryside and within reach of the city of Bristol by bicycle, car, bus or train.
Yate is represented in the UK Parliament by the constituency of Thornbury and Yate.
Yate was in Gloucestershire until 1974 when it became part of the newly-formed county of Avon. In 1996, Avon was abolished, and the area became part of the unitary authority of South Gloucestershire. Yate remains part of Gloucestershire only for traditional purposes.
Yate Town Council provides local services.
The first mention of Yate is the existence of a religious house in about AD 770; Yate is also mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. The name is derived from the Old English word giete or gete, meaning ‘a gateway into a forest area’.
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Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. (born March 31, 1948) served as the 45th Vice President of the United States (1993–2001), under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President and won the popular vote in the 2000 U.S. presidential election.
Gore is currently an author and environmental activist. He has founded a number of non-profit organizations, including the Alliance for Climate Protection, and has received a Nobel Peace Prize for his work in climate change activism.
Gore was previously an elected official for 24 years, representing Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives (1977–85), and later in the U.S. Senate (1985–93), and finally becoming Vice President in 1993. In the 2000 presidential election, Gore won the popular vote by a margin of more than 500,000 votes. However, he ultimately lost the Electoral College to Republican George W. Bush when the U.S. Supreme Court settled the legal controversy over the Florida vote recount by ruling 5-4 in favor of Bush. It was the only time in history that the Supreme Court has determined the outcome of a presidential election.
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Alan Greenspan
Alan Greenspan (/ˈælɨn ˈɡriːnspæn/; born March 6, 1926) is an American economist who served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve of the United States from 1987 to 2006. He currently works as a private adviser and provides consulting for firms through his company, Greenspan Associates LLC. First appointed Federal Reserve chairman by President Ronald Reagan in August 1987, he was reappointed at successive four-year intervals until retiring on January 31, 2006 after the second-longest tenure in the position.
Greenspan came to the Federal Reserve Board from a successful consulting career, holding political views influenced by Ayn Rand. Although he was subdued in his public appearances, favorable media coverage raised his profile to a point that several observers likened him to a "rock star". Democratic leaders of Congress criticized him for politicizing his office because of his support for Social Security privatization and tax cuts that they felt would increase the deficit. The easy-money policies of the Fed during Greenspan's tenure has been suggested to be a leading cause of the subprime mortgage crisis, which occurred within months of his departure from the Fed, and has, said the Wall Street Journal, "tarnished his image".
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Alan Rickman
Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (born 21 February 1946) is an English actor of stage and screen. He is a renowned stage actor in modern and classical productions and a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. His breakout performance was as the Vicomte de Valmont in Les Liaisons Dangereuses, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award. Rickman is known for his film performances as Hans Gruber in Die Hard, Severus Snape in the Harry Potter film series, Éamon de Valera in Michael Collins, and Metatron in Dogma.
Rickman has also had a number of other notable film roles such as the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Jamie in Truly, Madly, Deeply, P.L. O'Hara in An Awfully Big Adventure and Colonel Brandon in Ang Lee's 1995 film Sense and Sensibility. More recently, he played Judge Turpin in the film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's musical of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
Rickman was born in South Hammersmith, London, to a working class family, the son of Margaret Doreen Rose (née Bartlett), a housewife, and Bernard Rickman, a factory worker. Rickman's mother was from Wales and a Methodist, and his father was of Irish Catholic background. He has one elder brother, David (b. 1944), a graphic designer, a younger brother, Michael (b. 1947), a tennis coach, and a younger sister, Sheila (b. 1949). Rickman attended Derwentwater Primary School, in Acton, a school that followed the Montessori method of education.
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Albus Dumbledore
Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore is a major character of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. For most of the series, he is the headmaster of the wizarding school Hogwarts. As part of his back-story, it is revealed that he is the founder and leader of the Order of the Phoenix, an organisation dedicated to fighting the main antagonist of the series, Lord Voldemort. Rowling stated she chose the name Dumbledore, which is an Early Modern English word for "bumblebee", because of Dumbledore's love of music: she imagined him walking around "humming to himself a lot".
According to the author, she enjoys writing Dumbledore because he "is the epitome of goodness." Rowling said that Dumbledore speaks for her, as he "knows pretty much everything" about the Harry Potter universe. Rowling mentioned Dumbledore regrets "that he has always had to be the one who knew, and who had the burden of knowing. And he would rather not know." As a mentor to the central character Harry Potter, "Dumbledore is a very wise man who knows that Harry is going to have to learn a few hard lessons to prepare him for what may be coming in his life. He allows Harry to get into what he wouldn’t allow another pupil to do, and he also unwillingly permits Harry to confront things he’d rather protect him from." In a 1999 interview, Rowling stated that she imagined Dumbledore "more as a John Gielgud type, you know, quite elderly and – and quite stately." During his time as a student, Dumbledore was in Gryffindor House. Rowling claimed in an interview that Dumbledore was about 150 years old. However, on her website, she states that Dumbledore was born in 1881, making him either 115 or 116 when he died.
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Alfonso Cuarón
Alfonso Cuarón Orozco (Spanish pronunciation: [alˈfonso kwaˈɾon]; born 28 November 1961) is a Mexican film director, screenwriter and film producer, best known for his films Children of Men, Y tu mamá también, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and A Little Princess.
Alfonso Cuarón was born in México City and is the son of Alfredo Cuarón, a nuclear physicist who worked for the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency for many years.
Cuarón studied Philosophy at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and filmmaking at CUEC (Centro Universitario de Estudios Cinematográficos), a faculty of the same University. There, he met director Carlos Marcovich and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, and they made what would be his first short film, Vengeance is mine. The controversy caused by the fact that the film was shot in English was the reason he was expelled from the film school.
Cuarón began working in television in Mexico, first as a technician and then as a director. His television work led to assignments as an assistant director for several Latin American film productions including Gaby: A True Story and Romero, and in 1991, he landed his first big-screen directorial assignment.
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Andy Coulson
Andrew Edward Coulson (born 21 January 1968) is an English journalist and political strategist.
Coulson was the editor of the News of the World from 2003 until his resignation in 2007, following the conviction of one of the newspaper's reporters in relation to illegal phone-hacking.
He subsequently joined David Cameron's personnel as communications director, until announcing his departure on 21 January 2011 because of continued media coverage of the phone-hacking affair. He was replaced on 2 February 2011 by former BBC Global News Controller of English Craig Oliver. Coulson was arrested by the Metropolitan Police Service on 8 July 2011 "in connection with allegations of corruption and phone hacking".
He was detained and charged with perjury by Strathclyde Police on 30 May 2012.
Coulson grew up in Wickford, Essex. He attended Beauchamps High School, a secondary school and sixth form college, from 1979 to 1986. Coulson's parents moved from their Basildon council house to nearby Wickford during his childhood.
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Andy Hayman
Andrew Christopher "Andy" Hayman, CBE, QPM (born 1959) is a retired British police officer and author of The Terrorist Hunters. Hayman held the rank of Chief Constable of Norfolk Constabulary and Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations at London's Metropolitan Police, the highest ranking officer responsible for counter-terrorism in the United Kingdom. Hayman was directly responsible for the investigation into the 7 July 2005 London bombings. He has also spoken for the Association of Chief Police Officers, first on drugs policy, and later on counter-terrorism.
Born in Essex in 1959, Hayman is married and has two children. He joined Essex Police from school in 1978, rising to the rank of superintendent in 1995 and subsequently to chief superintendent in 1997. In 1998, Hayman transferred to the Metropolitan Police and gained the rank of commander, taking charge of the force's drugs unit, before moving on to head the Directorate of Professional Standards and to serve as an aide to the deputy commissioner. From 1998 to 2005, Hayman was also the spokesman on drugs for the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO).
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Anne Diamond
Anne Margaret Diamond (born 8 September 1954) is an English radio and television presenter and journalist. She hosted Good Morning Britain for TV-am and the similarly titled Good Morning... with Anne and Nick for BBC1, both with Nick Owen as her co-presenter. Currently Anne presents a phone-in show on BBC Radio Berkshire on weekday mornings from 10am to 1pm and makes regular appearances airing her views as a panelist on The Wright Stuff on Channel 5 and BBC London, and is a regular columnist for the Daily Mail. She is most well known for her successful campaigning for research into cot death following the death of her third son Sebastian. A campaign which she co-founded in 1991 was reported to have cut the incidents of cot death in the UK from 2,000 a year to close on 300.
Diamond's parents were of Irish ancestry, although her father was raised in Scotland. She was born and grew up in Malvern, Worcestershire, and she attended Worcester Grammar School for Girls. She is the cousin of Scots singer-songwriter Jim Diamond.
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Axel Scheffler
Axel Scheffler (born Hamburg, 1957) is a German book illustrator best known for his cartoon-like pictures for children's books, particularly The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child written by Julia Donaldson.
Originally from Germany, he came to England in 1982. He studied at the Bath Academy of Art and worked in advertising and publishing after graduating in 1985. He has drawn his distinctive illustrations for authors of children's books from Britain, Germany and the Netherlands, including, in addition to Julia Donaldson, Jon Blake, Paul Shipton, David Henry Wilson, Uwe Timm, Paul van Loon and Toon Tellegen. He lives in Blackheath, London.
Scheffler was commissioned by Faber and Faber to provide new illustrations for a new edition of Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats that commemorated the 70th anniversary of the book and the 80th anniversary of Faber and Faber. This new edition was published in October 2009.
He designed Gordon Brown's 2006 Christmas cards.
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Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II (
i/bəˈrɑːk huːˈseɪn oʊˈbɑːmə/; born August 4, 1961) is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. In January 2005, Obama was sworn in as a U.S. Senator in the state of Illinois. He would hold this office until November 2008, when he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.
Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was the president of the Harvard Law Review. He was a community organizer in Chicago before earning his law degree. He worked as a civil rights attorney in Chicago and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. He served three terms representing the 13th District in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004.
Following an unsuccessful bid against the Democratic incumbent for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in 2000, Obama ran for the United States Senate in 2004. Several events brought him to national attention during the campaign, including his victory in the March 2004 Illinois Democratic primary for the Senate election and his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in July 2004. He won election to the U.S. Senate in Illinois in November 2004. His presidential campaign began in February 2007, and after a close campaign in the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries against Hillary Rodham Clinton, he won his party's nomination. In the 2008 presidential election, he defeated Republican nominee John McCain, and was inaugurated as president on January 20, 2009. Nine months later, Obama was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. In April 2011, he announced that he would be running for re-election in 2012.
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Brian Leveson
Sir Brian Henry LevesonQC (pronounced /ˈlɛvɨsən/; born 22 June 1949), is an English Judge, a Lord Justice of Appeal for England and Wales and, since 2010, head of the Sentencing Council for England and Wales.
It was announced on 13 July 2011 that Lord Justice Leveson would lead the Leveson Inquiry, a public inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the British press, prompted by the News of the World phone hacking affair.
Born in Liverpool, Leveson was educated at Liverpool College, before going on to Merton College, Oxford.
Leveson was called to the Bar at Middle Temple in 1970. He initially practised in Liverpool and took silk in 1986. Leveson became a Bencher in 1995, acted as a Recorder between 1988 and 2000, and as a Deputy High Court Judge between 1998 and 2000. In 2000, Leveson was appointed as a Judge of the High Court, Queen's Bench Division, and served as a Presiding Judge of the Northern Circuit between 2002–2005.
While sitting with Lord Justice Mantell in the Court of Appeal in 2002 under the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf, he upheld the murder conviction of James Hanratty. He also presided over the trial of ex-US Marine Toby Studebaker for charges relating to child grooming over the internet. He refused to imprison 100-year-old Bernard Heginbotham, who was found guilty of euthanasia on his wife of 67 years, 87-year-old Ida, because she faced spending the remainder of her life in the dementia ward of a nursing home. He also presided over the trial of Michael Barton, who was found guilty in 2005 of murdering Anthony Walker with an axe.
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Bridget Jones
Bridget Jones is a franchise based on the fictional character with the same name. English writer Helen Fielding started her Bridget Jones's Diary column in The Independent in 1995, chronicling the life of Bridget Jones as a thirtysomething single woman in London as she tries to make sense of life and love with the help of a surrogate "urban family" of friends in the 1990s. The column lampooned the obsession of women with women's magazines such as Cosmopolitan and wider social trends in Britain at the time. Helen Fielding published the novelisation of the column in 1996, followed by a sequel in 1999 called Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. Both novels were adapted for the big screen in 2001 and 2004, starring Renée Zellweger as Bridget Jones, and Hugh Grant and Colin Firth as the men in her life, Daniel Cleaver and Mark Darcy. After Fielding had ceased to work for The Daily Telegraph in late 1998, the feature began again in The Independent on 4 August 2005 and finished in June 2006.
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British people
British people (also referred to as the British, Britons, or informally as Brits or Britishers) are citizens or natives of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, of any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants.British nationality law governs modern British citizenship and nationality, which can be acquired, for instance, by birth in the UK or by descent from British nationals. When used in a historical context, the term British people refers to the ancient Britons, the indigenous inhabitants of Great Britain south of the Forth.
Although early assertions of being British date from the Late Middle Ages, the creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707 triggered a sense of British national identity. The notion of Britishness was forged during the Napoleonic Wars between Britain and the First French Empire, and developed further during the Victorian era. The complex history of the formation of the United Kingdom created a "particular sense of nationhood and belonging" in Great Britain; Britishness became "superimposed on much older identities", of English, Scots and Welsh cultures, whose distinctiveness still resist notions of a homogenised British identity. Because of longstanding ethno-sectarian divisions, British identity in Northern Ireland is controversial, but it is held with strong conviction by unionists.
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Charlotte Church
Charlotte Maria Church (born Charlotte Maria Reed; 21 February 1986) is a Welshsinger-songwriter, actress and television presenter. She rose to fame in childhood as a classical singer before branching into pop music in 2005. By 2007, she had sold more than 10 million records worldwide including over 5 million in the United States. In 2010 she was reported to be worth as much as £11m (though one 2003 report quoted her worth at £25m). She hosted a Channel 4 chat show titled The Charlotte Church Show. Church released her first album in five years, titled Back To Scratch, on 17 October 2010. She is also mentioned as one of the Bohemians in Ben Elton's musical We Will Rock You.
Charlotte Church was born Charlotte Maria Reed in Llandaff, a district of Cardiff, Wales. She was brought up as a Roman Catholic by her mother, Maria, who was separated from Church's biological father, Stephen Reed. Church was adopted by her mother's second husband, James Church in 1986. Her break came at 11 when she sang Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Pie Jesu" over the telephone on the television show "This Morning" in 1997, followed by her performance on ITV's Big, Big Talent Show in 1997. This led to concerts at Cardiff Arms Park, the Royal Albert Hall and opening for Shirley Bassey in Antwerp. She also received a vocal scholarship to Howell's School Llandaff in Cardiff where she started in 1998 after leaving The Cathedral School, Llandaff. She balanced performing and school with help from tutors for when she was on the road and said in many interviews that she was "just like every other girl her age".
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Clive Goodman
Clive Goodman (born 17 September 1957, Hammersmith, London) is a former royal editor and reporter for the News of the World. He was arrested in August 2006 and jailed in January 2007 for intercepting mobile phone messages involving members of the Royal Household.
Goodman initially worked as a journalist on Nigel Dempster's gossip column in the Daily Mail, before joining the News of the World as royal editor. He was among the tabloid journalists covering the breakdown of the marriage of the Diana, Princess of Wales to Prince Charles, and then held the News of the World record for number of consecutive front page splashes, with five.
In March 2005 Goodman took over Mark Bolland's "Blackadder" column, that reported details of the lives of notable personalities. It was while writing for this column that two entries raised suspicion with Royal Household staff that Goodman had access to the Royal Family's voicemails.
On 26 January 2007 Goodman was imprisoned for four months, having pleaded guilty to illegally intercepting phone messages from Clarence House; his co-conspirator Glenn Mulcaire was sentenced to six months. Goodman was sacked by the News of the World in January 2007, but within a year he received £240,000 in settlements, from News International. According to News International the payments were made because his dismissal was unfair as they had failed to "follow statutory procedures" in sacking Goodman.
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Colin Myler
Colin Myler (born Liverpool 30 May 1952[citation needed]) is a journalist who has edited British and American newspapers.
Myler grew up in Widnes in Cheshire, in North West England.
Myler was educated at Saint Fisher and More Roman Catholic High School, at the time a secondary modern school, in his home town of Widnes.
Myler started his career working for the Catholic Pictorial news agency in Southport, before joining The Sun and then the Daily Mail. He was appointed news editor of the Sunday People, then moved to Today in 1985, before its launch, again as news editor. He was later appointed as Deputy Editor of the Sunday Mirror.
In 1992, he succeeded his boss Bridget Rowe as editor of the Sunday Mirror. In 1994, he moved to edit the Daily Mirror. He was made Managing Director of both the Daily and Sunday Mirror in 1995, but soon left to run Super League of Europe, the rugby league marketing body. He returned to the Sunday Mirror in 1998, but resigned in 2001 after Judge David Poole ruled that an article he had published regarding accusations of assault against Leeds United F.C. footballers Lee Bowyer and Jonathan Woodgate risked prejudicing their trial.
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Daniel Radcliffe
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".
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David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron (pronunciation: /ˈkæmərən/; born 9 October 1966) is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. He represents Witney as its Member of Parliament (MP).
Cameron studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at Oxford, gaining a first class honours degree. He then joined the Conservative Research Department and became Special Adviser to Norman Lamont, and then to Michael Howard. He was Director of Corporate Affairs at Carlton Communications for seven years.
He was defeated in his first candidacy for Parliament at Stafford in 1997, but was elected in 2001 as the Member of Parliament for the Oxfordshire constituency of Witney. He was promoted to the Opposition front bench two years later, and rose rapidly to become head of policy co-ordination during the 2005 general election campaign. With a public image of a youthful, moderate candidate who would appeal to young voters, he won the Conservative leadership election in 2005.
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David Heyman
David Jonathan Heyman (born 26 July 1961) is an English film producer and the founder of Heyday Films. He obtained the film rights to the Harry Potter series in 1999 and has produced all eight installments in the series of films.
Heyman was born in London, England. He is the son of John Heyman, producer of films such as The Go-Between and Jesus, and Norma Parnell, an actress and producer of Dangerous Liaisons and Mrs Henderson Presents. His paternal grandparents were German Jewish immigrants and his mother was English. He went to school in the United States, earning a degree in Art History from Harvard University in 1983.
He got his start in the film industry as a production assistant on David Lean's A Passage to India and in 1986, Heyman became a Creative Executive at Warner Brothers. In the late 80's, he became Vice President of United Artists and subsequently embarked on an independent producing career with his first film, Juice in 1992, followed by the cult "stoner" film The Stoned Age (1994) and others.
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David Yates
David Yates (born 30 November 1963) is an English filmmaker who began his career by directing various short films and television productions. He rose to mainstream prominence by directing the final four films in the Harry Potter film series: instalments five, six, seven, and eight. This feat notably won him the 2011 BAFTA Britannia Award for Artistic Excellence in Directing and made him the most commercially successful British director in recent years. Yates' following works include A Reliable Wife and the upcoming Al Capone trilogy Cicero.
Early in his career, Yates received attention for his award-winning short films. He became a prolific television director with credits including the acclaimed political thriller State of Play (2003), for which he won the Directors Guild of Great Britain Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement, the BAFTA-lauded two-part drama Sex Traffic (2004), and the Primetime Emmy Award-winning HBO production The Girl in the Café (2005). He has been recognised for his transition to the big screen and is considered to be one of Britain's most celebrated directors of film and television.
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Delia Smith
Delia Smith CBE (born 18 June 1941) is an English cook and television presenter, known for teaching basic cookery skills in a no-nonsense style. She is the UK's best-selling cookery author, with more than 21 million copies sold.
Smith is also famous for her role as joint majority shareholder at Norwich City F.C. Her partner in the shareholding is her husband, Michael Wynn-Jones. Her role at the club has attracted varying media attention, from positive when she "saved" the club from bankruptcy, to negative, when making a controversial on-pitch announcement in 2005.
Already an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), Smith was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2009 Birthday Honours, "in recognition of ... [her] contribution to television cookery and recipe writing".
Born to a Welsh mother in Woking, Surrey, Smith attended Bexleyheath School, leaving at the age of 16 without a single O-level. Her first job was as a hairdresser, and she also worked as a shop assistant and in a travel agency before starting her career in cookery. When Delia was 16, her boyfriend often complimented her, saying how good her food was. This was the nudge forward that made Delia take that step into cookery. At 21, she started work in a tiny restaurant in Paddington called The Singing Chef. She started as a washer-upper, then moved on to waitressing, and then was allowed to help with the cooking. She started reading English cookery books in the Reading Room at the British Museum, trying out the recipes on a Harley Street family with whom she was living at the time.
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Doris Lessing
Doris May Lessing CH (née Tayler; born 22 October 1919) is a Zimbabwean-British novelist, poet, playwright, librettist, biographer and short story writer. Her novels include The Grass Is Singing, The Golden Notebook, The Good Terrorist, and five novels collectively known as Canopus in Argos.
Lessing was awarded the 2007 Nobel Prize in Literature. In doing so the Swedish Academy described her as "that epicist of the female experience, who with scepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilisation to scrutiny". Lessing was the eleventh woman and the oldest ever person to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.
In 2001, Lessing was awarded the David Cohen Prize for a lifetime's achievement in British Literature. In 2008, The Times ranked her fifth on a list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".
Lessing was born in Iran, then known as Persia, on 22 October 1919, to Captain Alfred Tayler and Emily Maude Tayler (née McVeagh), who were both English and of British nationality. Her father, who had lost a leg during his service in World War I, met his future wife, a nurse, at the Royal Free Hospital where he was recovering from his amputation. Alfred Tayler and his wife moved to Kermanshah, Iran, in order to take up a job as a clerk for the Imperial Bank of Persia and it was here that Doris was born in 1919. The family then moved to the British colony of Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 1925 to farm maize, among other plants, when her father purchased around one thousand acres of bush. Lessing's mother attempted to lead an Edwardian lifestyle amidst the rough environment, which would have been easy had the family been wealthy; in reality, such a lifestyle was not feasible. The farm failed to deliver any monetary value in return .
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Draco Malfoy
Draco Lucius Malfoy is a fictional character and a major antagonist in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. He is a Slytherin student in Harry Potter's year. He is frequently accompanied by his two accomplices, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, who act as henchmen. Although Draco is often regarded as a cowardly bully who uses psychological manipulation and verbal taunts to denigrate his victims, he reveals an ability to cunningly wield magic to attain his objectives.
Draco serves as a literary foil to the hero, Harry Potter, and is loosely based on bullies Rowling encountered during her school days. Harry first encounters Draco's snobbish bigotry after their initial encounter at Madam Malkin's. Rowling uses the Malfoys to introduce themes of intolerance and bigotry into a setting where people are often judged solely by their blood lineage rather than their good character or accomplishments. Draco, adhering to his family's beliefs, thinks that Muggle-born witches and wizards, which he and other characters derogatorily describe by the epithet Mudbloods, should be denied a magical education. Harry's first impression that the Wizarding community is a "magical wonderland" is instantly shattered. Says Rowling, "[Harry] found out that many people in power in the wizarding world are just as corrupt and nasty as they are in our world."
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Elle Macpherson
Elle Macpherson (born 29 March 1964) is an Australian model, actress, and businesswoman. She is well-known for her record five cover appearances for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue beginning in the 1980s, leading to her nickname "The Body". She is also known as the founder primary model and Creative Director for a series of business ventures, including Elle Macpherson Intimates, a lingerie line, and "The Body," a line of skin care products.
In 2010, she became the host and executive producer of Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model, and she is currently the host and an executive producer NBC's Fashion Star.
Macpherson was born Eleanor Nancy Gow, in the Killara neighbourhood of Sydney, Australia, the daughter of entrepreneur and sound engineer Peter Gow, a former president of a Sydney rugby league team, the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. Her mother Frances worked as a nurse before she married. Macpherson grew up in Killara, a North Shore suburb of Sydney, and she attended Killara High School. Macpherson is the eldest of four children including the businesswoman and environmentalist Mimi Macpherson. Macpherson’s parents divorced when she was 10 years old, and she moved with her mother and two siblings. Her mother later remarried, and a clerical mistake in registering at her new school meant that her name was changed from her father's, Gow, to her stepfather's, Macpherson.
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Emma Nicholson
Emma Harriet Nicholson, Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne (born 16 October 1941) is a British politician. Formerly the Conservative then Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Torridge and West Devon she is a now life peer, and a former Liberal Democrat Member of the European Parliament for South East England.
Born in Oxford and a descendant of the family which founded London gin distillers J&W Nicholson & Co, Lady Nicholson is the third of four daughters of Sir Godfrey Nicholson, Bt and his wife, Lady Katharine (the fifth daughter of the 27th Earl of Crawford). She was diagnosed as deaf at the age of 16. She was educated at St Mary's School, Wantage and the Royal Academy of Music. Prior to her political career, she was a computer programmer and systems analyst from 1962 to 1974, and a director of the Save the Children Foundation from 1974 to 1985.
She was elected a Conservative Member of Parliament for Torridge and West Devon, in 1987, and was vice-chairman between 1983 and 1987. She defected to the Liberal Democrats in 1995. She was made a life peer as Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne, of Winterbourne, in the Royal County of Berkshire in 1997.
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Garry Flitcroft
Garry William Flitcroft (born 6 November 1972) is an English former professional footballer and football manager of Northern Premier League side Chorley.
As a player he was a midfielder from 1991 to 2006, and played in the Premier League for Manchester City, Blackburn Rovers and Sheffield United, as well as playing in the Football League for Bury. He was capped 10 times by England U21, scoring three goals. In 2009 he became manager of Leigh Genesis and the following year took over as manager of Chorley.
At the age of 12 Flitcroft rejected Manchester United’s overtures in favour of a move to Manchester City. Garry then spent two years honing his skills at Lilleshall as a teenager before making his name as a professional. Following a brief spell on loan at Bury in 1992, where he made twelve appearances, he then broke into the City first team and went on to play 142 times, scoring 15 goals. After five years at with City, having played 142 games, some as captain, he joined Blackburn in March 1996 for £3.5m after City were going through financial difficulties and their then chairman Francis Lee told the then manager Alan Ball to sell their most profitable player, which turned out to be Flitcroft.
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Geraldine Somerville
Geraldine Margaret Agnew-Somerville (born 19 May 1967) is an Irish actress best known for her roles as Detective Sergeant Jane "Panhandle" Penhaligon in Cracker, and Lily Potter in the Harry Potter film series.
Geraldine Agnew-Somerville was born in County Meath, Ireland, the daughter of Sir Quentin Charles Agnew-Somerville, 2nd Baronet, and Margaret April Irene, Lady Agnew-Somerville (née Drummond), an antiques dealer, but was brought up on the Isle of Man.
Her mother is a daughter of John Drummond, 15th Baron Strange, and sister of the late Cherry Drummond, 16th Baroness Strange. She has an elder sister, Amelia Rachel (who owns and works in a restaurant with her husband in the Australian rainforest), and a younger brother, James Lockett Charles Agnew-Somerville, who worked in Hong Kong and writes poetry.
Somerville attended dance classes from the age of six, and at eight was sent to the Arts Educational School, a boarding school in Tring, Hertfordshire. There she was taught ballet. She left at sixteen, but continued her studies in London.
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Glenn Mulcaire
Glenn Michael Mulcaire, born September 8, 1970, is a former professional footballer,[dubious – discuss] latterly a private investigator. He has been closely associated with the News International phone hacking scandal. In January 2007 he was found guilty of illegally intercepting phone messages from Clarence House and imprisoned for six months after having pleaded guilty; his co-conspirator News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman was sentenced to four months. Renewed controversy over the phone hacking scandal led to the closure of the News of the World in July 2011. He has publicly apologised to those affected by his activities.
Mulcaire is a former footballer who played in the lower tiers of the English football league system, most notably for the then newly formed AFC Wimbledon, when he was also known as Trigger. He previously played for Fulham youth team, Dorking, Egham Town and Harrow Borough.
Playing for AFC Wimbledon against Bromley in July 2002 he became the first man to score a goal for AFC Wimbledon". As Will Buckley reported at the time, "AFC Wimbledon - a mere seven promotions away from the Premiership and Trigger less than a decade away from becoming a household name." Sports journalist Nick Harris also reported that the club's fans will always associate Mulcaire with this goal above his work as a private investigator
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Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007, becoming the longest-serving holder of that office in modern history. Brown has been a Member of Parliament (MP) since 1983, for Dunfermline East until 2005, and currently for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath.
Brown became Prime Minister on 27 June 2007, after the resignation of Tony Blair and three days after becoming Leader of the governing Labour Party. His tenure ended on 11 May 2010, when he resigned as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party. Brown was one of only three people to serve in the Cabinet continuously from Labour's victory in 1997 until its defeat in 2010, the others being Jack Straw and Alistair Darling.
Brown has a PhD in history from the University of Edinburgh and spent his early career working as a lecturer at a further education college and a television journalist. He has been a Member of Parliament since 1983; first for Dunfermline East and since 2005 for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath. As Prime Minister, he also held the offices of First Lord of the Treasury and the Minister for the Civil Service.
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Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore ambivalent modern world moral and political issues. Greene was notable for his ability to combine serious literary acclaim with widespread popularity.
Although Greene objected strongly to being described as a Roman Catholic novelist rather than as a novelist who happened to be Catholic, Catholic religious themes are at the root of much of his writing, especially the four major Catholic novels: Brighton Rock, The Power and the Glory, The Heart of the Matter and The End of the Affair. Several works such as The Confidential Agent, The Third Man, The Quiet American, Our Man in Havana and The Human Factor also show an avid interest in the workings of international politics and espionage.
Greene suffered from bipolar disorder, which had a profound effect on his writing and personal life. In a letter to his wife Vivien, he told her that he had "a character profoundly antagonistic to ordinary domestic life", and that "unfortunately, the disease is also one's material".William Golding described Greene as "the ultimate chronicler of twentieth-century man's consciousness and anxiety." Greene never received the Nobel Prize in Literature, though he finished runner-up to Ivo Andrić in 1961.
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Greg Miskiw
Greg Miskiw (born 1949 or 1950) is a former news editor of the defunct British tabloid newspaper the News of the World.
During the 1980s Miskiw worked as a reporter for tabloid papers published by the Mirror Group. He was arrested by the Polish authorities for visa irregularities in 1981 whilst working for the Sunday Mirror. He later moved to work for the Daily Mirror.
By 2001 Miskiw was working for the News of the World as assistant editor on the news desk. There he helped to co-ordinate the work of Mazher Mahmood (also known as the fake sheikh), particularly Mahmood's taping of frank unguarded comments by Sophie, Countess of Wessex about various political figures and members of the Royal Family. He became assistant editor (news and investigations) in 2001. In April 2002 News of the World's crime editor Peter Rose resigned following the collapse of a proposed interview with a witness to the death of Damilola Taylor. In 2003 an employment tribunal ruled in favour of Rose's case for constructive dismissal. The tribunal chairman was particularly critical of Greg Miskiw, who failed to inform the reporters that the funding which would have enabled the interview to occur was not in place until all of the parties were ready to begin. The chairman said the Miskiw's manner was "cavalier and irresponsible" adding that Miskiw's actions "could no doubt affect the reputation of the applicant". Later that year Miskiw moved to Manchester to oversee News of the World's north of England office.
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Hannah More
Hannah More (2 February 1745 – 7 September 1833) was an English religious writer and philanthropist. She can be said to have made three reputations in the course of her long life: as a poet and playwright in the circle of Johnson, Reynolds and Garrick, as a writer on moral and religious subjects, and as a practical philanthropist.
Born in 1745 at Fishponds in the parish of Stapleton, near Bristol, Hannah More was the fourth of five daughters of Jacob More, a schoolmaster originally from Harleston, Norfolk. He was from a strong Presbyterian family in Norfolk, but had become a member of the Church of England, and originally intended to pursue a career in the Church, but after the disappointment of losing a lawsuit over an estate he had hoped to inherit, he moved to Bristol, where he became an excise officer and was later appointed teacher at the Fishponds free school.
They were a close family and the sisters were first educated by their father, learning Latin and mathematics: Hannah was also taught by her elder sisters, through whom she learned French. She was keen to learn, and possessed a sharp intellect - she was assiduous in studying and, according to family tradition, began writing at an early age.
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Helen Fielding
Helen Fielding (born 19 February 1958) is an English novelist and screenwriter, best known as the creator of the fictional character Bridget Jones, a sequence of novels and films that chronicle the life of a thirtysomething single woman in London as she tries to make sense of life and love.
Bridget Jones's Diary and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason have been published in forty countries and sold over 15 million copies. The two movies of the same name have achieved worldwide success. Bridget Jones’s Diary was named as one of the ten novels that best defined the 20th century, in a survey conducted by The Guardian newspaper.
Fielding (born 19 February 1958) grew up in Morley, West Yorkshire, a textile town on the outskirts of Leeds in the north of England. She lived next to a factory that made the fabric for miners’ donkey jackets, where her father was managing director. He died in 1982 and her mother, Nellie, still lives in Yorkshire. Fielding attended Wakefield Girls High School and has three siblings, Jane, David and Richard. She studied English at St Anne's College, Oxford and was part of the Oxford revue at the 1978 Edinburgh Festival, forming a continuing friendship with a group of comic performers and writers including Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson.
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Hermione Granger
Hermione Jean Granger (
/hərˈmaɪ.əni ˈdʒiːn ˈɡreɪndʒər/) is a fictional character and one of the three protagonists (the other two being Harry Potter and Ron Weasley) of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. She initially appears in the first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, as a new student on her way to Hogwarts. After Harry and Ron save her from a mountain troll in the girls' toilets, she becomes close friends with them and often uses her quick wit, deft recall, and encyclopaedic knowledge to help them. Rowling has stated that Hermione resembles her at a younger age, with her insecurity and fear of failure.
Hermione is a Muggle-born Gryffindor student, and the best friend of Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. J.K. Rowling states that she was born on 19 September 1979 and she was nearly twelve when she first attended Hogwarts. She is an overachiever who excels academically, and is described by Rowling as a "very logical, upright and good" character. Rowling adds that Hermione's parents, two Muggle dentists, are a bit bemused by their odd daughter but very proud of her all the same." They are well aware of the wizarding world and have visited Diagon Alley with her. Rowling has described the character of Luna Lovegood as the "anti-Hermione" as they are so different. Hermione's foil at Hogwarts is Pansy Parkinson, a female bully based on real-life girls who teased the author during her school days.
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Hugh Grant
Hugh John Mungo Grant (born 9 September 1960) is an English actor and film producer. He has received a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA, and an Honorary César. His films have earned more than $2.4 billion from 25 theatrical releases worldwide. Grant achieved international stardom after appearing in Richard Curtis's sleeper hit Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994). He used this breakthrough role as a frequent cinematic persona during the 1990s to deliver comic performances in mainstream films like Mickey Blue Eyes (1999) and Notting Hill (1999). By the turn of the 21st century, he had established himself as a leading man skilled with a satirical comic talent. Since the 2000s, Grant has expanded his oeuvre with critically acclaimed turns as a cad in Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), About A Boy (2002), Love Actually (2003), and American Dreamz (2006).
Within the film industry, Grant is cited as an anti-film star who approaches his roles like a character actor, with the ability to make acting look effortless. Hallmarks of his comic skills include a nonchalant touch of irony/sarcasm and studied physical mannerisms as well as his precisely-timed dialogue delivery and facial expressions. The entertainment media's coverage of Grant's life off the big screen has often overshadowed his work as a thespian. He has been vocal about his disrespect for the profession of acting, and in his disdain towards the culture of celebrity and hostility towards the media. In a career spanning 30 years, Grant has repeatedly claimed that acting is not a true calling but just a job he fell into.
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Ian Edmondson
Ian Edmondson is a British tabloid journalist. He was the news editor at the News of the World. Edmondson was arrested by the Metropolitan police in April 2011 as part of Operation Weeting.
Edmondson worked for News of the World twice. Before landing his first position at News of the World Edmondson worked as a freelance reporter. He was initially hired by News of the World as a general news reporter. He went on to spent 18 months as the paper's crime correspondent before moving to rival tabloid The People in 2000 as assistant news editor. He progressed through deputy news editor and news editor and was promoted to assistant editor (news) in 2003. Edmondson was hired to the News of the World editorial team by Neil Wallis, who was Andy Coulson's deputy editor in November 2004. Coulson promoted Edmondson to assistant editor of the news department in October 2005.
He was allegedly one of Coulson's inner circle of executives when Coulson was editor of the paper, according to a former reporter from the News of the World.
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Irvine Welsh
Irvine Welsh (born 27 September 1958 in Leith, Edinburgh) is a contemporary Scottish novelist, best known for his novel Trainspotting. His work is characterised by raw Scottish dialect, and brutal depiction of the realities of Edinburgh life. He has also written plays, screenplays, and directed several short films.
Irvine Welsh was born in Leith, the port area of the Scottish capital Edinburgh. His family moved to Muirhouse, in Edinburgh, when he was four, where the family stayed at local housing schemes. His mother worked as a waitress. His father was a dock worker in Leith until bad health forced him to become a carpet salesman; he died when Welsh was 25. Welsh left Ainslie Park High School when he was 16 and then completed a City and Guilds course in electrical engineering. He became an apprentice TV repairman until an electric shock persuaded him to move on to a series of other jobs. He left Edinburgh for the London punk scene in 1978, where he played guitar and sang in The Pubic Lice and Stairway 13, the latter a reference to the Ibrox disaster. A series of arrests for petty crimes and finally a suspended sentence for trashing a North London community centre inspired Welsh to correct his ways. He worked for Hackney London Borough Council in London and studied computing with the support of the Manpower Services Commission.
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James Desborough
James Desborough (b. 1 September 1972) started work at the regional newspaper the Barking & Dagenham Post as a news reporter in 1994. The newspaper’s other famous past reporters include Phil Hall, who later became the editor of The News of The World.
In 1995 Desborough moved to Channel One TV – the Daily Mail parent group Associated Newspaper’s ill-fated effort into local television. The station was a cable only news and entertainment channel. Its senior executives included Nick Pollard, who later went on to head up Sky News, ITN news editor Peter Wallace and New York Daily News editor Martin Dunn. After starting on the Newsdesk he was promoted to entertainment reporter and later Showbiz Editor.
Desborough worked for the channel’s daily entertainment show The Biz, presented by Julia Caesar. During his time there he produced special programmes and feature length interviews on Andrew Lloyd Webber, The Full Monty and Bon Jovi.
Desborough produced and presented specials on the film industry. The channel's other well known reporters included Thomas Moore and Paul Brennan, who both now work at Sky News, TV host Ruth England and BBC Sports host Chris Hollins.
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James Murdoch
James Rupert Jacob Murdoch (born 13 December 1972) is the younger son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch and the deputy chief operating officer of News Corporation. He is the former chairman and chief executive of News Corp., Europe and Asia, overseeing assets such as News International (British newspapers), SKY Italia (satellite television in Italy), Sky Deutschland, and STAR TV (satellite television in Asia).
He sits on the News Corporation board of directors and is a member of the office of the chairman. He formerly held a non-executive chair at British Sky Broadcasting, in which News Corporation has a controlling minority stake.
He was formerly an executive vice president of News Corporation, the controlling shareholder of BSkyB, and served on the boards of directors of News Datacom and of News Corporation.
Murdoch is a British citizen by birth and a naturalised U.S. citizen. He lost Australian citizenship when his father became a U.S. citizen, but he is eligible to reclaim Australian citizenship.
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James Weatherup
James Weatherup is an English newspaper journalist, news reporter and newspaper editor.
After starting out in regional newspapers, he joined the News of the World, serving in two stints over 25 years for nine editors. In his first stint he rose to Chief reporter. During this time he co-wrote the best selling book Inside 25 Cromwell Street about the serial killers Fred and Rosemary West.
He then left for the Sunday People in 1999 where he was promoted to deputy news editor and then news editor a year later by editor Neil Wallis. He was then head hunted by the Sunday Mirror where he joined as executive writer, splitting his time on the news desk and on the road for big assignments under the editorship of Tina Weaver. In 2004 News of the World editor Andy Coulson persuaded him to return and run the paper's news desk. Two years later he returned to a senior reporting role, replaced by Ian Edmondson, but retained his title as assistant news editor. In September 2010, Weatherup broke the front page story about former world champion boxer Ricky Hatton snorting lines of cocaine.
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Jay Rockefeller
John Davison "Jay" Rockefeller IV (born June 18, 1937) is the senior United States Senator from West Virginia. He was first elected to the Senate in 1984, while in office as Governor of West Virginia, a position he held from 1977 to 1985. Rockefeller moved to Emmons, West Virginia to serve as a VISTA worker in 1964, and was first elected to public office in the state, as a member of the House of Delegates, in 1966. Rockefeller was later elected Secretary of State in 1968 and was president of West Virginia Wesleyan College from 1973 to 1976.
As a great-grandson of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, he is the only currently-serving politician of the prominent six-generation Rockefeller family and the only Democrat in what has been a traditionally Republican dynasty.
John Davison Rockefeller IV was born at New York Hospital in New York City to John D. Rockefeller III and Blanchette Ferry Hooker just 26 days after the death of his great-grandfather John D. Rockefeller. Jay Rockefeller graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1955 and from Harvard College in 1961 with an A.B. in Far Eastern Languages and History, after having spent three years studying Japanese at the International Christian University in Tokyo.
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Jeremy Paxman
Jeremy Dickson Paxman (born 11 May 1950) is an English journalist, author and broadcaster. He has worked for the BBC since 1977. He is noted for a forthright and abrasive interviewing style, particularly when interrogating politicians. His regular appearances on the BBC2's Newsnight programme have been criticised as aggressive, intimidating and condescending, and also applauded as tough and incisive. He is also the question master of University Challenge, succeeding Bamber Gascoigne when the programme was revived in 1994.
Paxman was born in Leeds. His mother, Joan, born 1920, was a housewife. Paxman is the eldest of four children and has two brothers, one of whom, Giles, is the British Ambassador to Spain (having previously been ambassador to Mexico), and a sister, Jenny, a producer at BBC Radio.
He was brought up in Yorkshire and Peopleton, near Pershore, Worcestershire. In 1964, he went to Malvern College and read English at St Catharine's College, Cambridge, where he edited the undergraduate newspaper Varsity. While at Cambridge, Paxman was briefly a member of the Labour Club.
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Jessica Mitford
Jessica Lucy Freeman-Mitford (11 September 1917 – 22 July 1996) was an English author, journalist and political campaigner, who was one of the Mitford sisters. She became an American citizen in 1944.
Mitford, the sixth of seven children, was the daughter of David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale and his wife Sydney (daughter of politician and publisher Thomas Bowles), and grew up in a series of her father's country houses. She had little formal education, since her mother did not believe in sending girls to school, but was nevertheless widely read. Though her sisters Unity and Diana were well-known British supporters of Hitler and her father was described as being "one of nature's fascists," Jessica (always known as "Decca") renounced her privileged background at an early age and became an adherent of communism. She was known as the "red sheep" of the family.
At age 19, Mitford met her second cousin Esmond Romilly, who was recuperating from dysentery caught during a stint with the International Brigades defending Madrid during the Spanish Civil War. Romilly was a nephew (by marriage) of Winston Churchill. The cousins fell in love immediately and decided to elope to Spain, where Romilly picked up work as a reporter for the News Chronicle covering the conflict. After some legal difficulties caused by their relatives' opposition, they married. They moved to London and lived in the East End, then mostly a poor industrial area. Attended by doctor and nurse, Mitford gave birth at home to a daughter, Julia Decca Romilly, on 20 December 1937. The baby died in a measles epidemic the following May. Jessica Mitford rarely spoke of Julia in later life and she is not referred to by name in Mitford's autobiographical novel, Hons and Rebels.[citation needed]
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Joel Klein
Joel Irwin Klein (born October 25, 1946) was Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, the largest public school system in the United States, serving more than 1.1 million students in more than 1,600 schools. He was succeeded by Cathie Black in January 2011.
Klein grew up in New York City and attended public schools, graduating from William Cullen Bryant High School in Queens in 1963. He attended Columbia University, graduating magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He received his law degree from Harvard Law School, again graduating magna cum laude, in 1971. He then clerked for Chief Judge David Bazelon on the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit from 1973 until 1974, before then clerking for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell.[citation needed]
In 1975, Klein joined the legal team of the Washington, D.C. non-profit Mental Health Law Project. The MHLP was an independent non-profit organization that brought class-action suits to establish rights for mentally and developmentally disabled clients. In that capacity, Klein developed a specialty in health care and constitutional matters. After working there for a year, he went into private practice, working for five years before founding his own law firm with several partners. In the 1990s Klein served in the White House Counsel's office under President Bill Clinton before being appointed to the United States Department of Justice. There he served as United States Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division. In this capacity, he was the lead prosecutor in the antitrust case United States v. Microsoft. Prior to his appointment to Chancellor in 2002 by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Klein was Counsel to Bertelsmann, an international media group.
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John Irving
John Winslow Irving (born John Wallace Blunt, Jr.; March 2, 1942) is an American novelist and Academy Award-winning screenwriter.
Irving achieved critical and popular acclaim after the international success of The World According to Garp in 1978. Some of Irving's novels, such as The Cider House Rules and A Prayer for Owen Meany, have been bestsellers. Five of his novels have been adapted to film. Several of Irving's books (Garp, Meany, A Widow for One Year) and short stories have been set in and around Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire. He won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in 1999 for his script The Cider House Rules.
Irving was born John Wallace Blunt, Jr. in Exeter, New Hampshire, the son of Helen Frances (née Winslow) and John Wallace Blunt, Sr., a writer and executive recruiter. Irving grew up in Exeter, as the stepson of an Exeter faculty member, Colin F.N. Irving (1941), and nephew of another, H. Hamilton "Hammy" Bissell (1929). Irving was in the Exeter wrestling program both as a student athlete and as an assistant coach, and wrestling features prominently in his books, stories and life. Irving's biological father, whom he never met, had been a pilot in the Army Air Forces and during World War II was shot down over Burma in July 1943, but survived (an incident incorporated into the novel The Cider House Rules). Irving did not find out about his father's heroism until 1981.
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John Prescott
John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott (born 31 May 1938) is a British politician who was the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007. Born in Prestatyn, Wales, he represented Hull East as the Labour Member of Parliament from 1970 to 2010. In the 1994 leadership election, he stood for both Leader and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, winning election to the latter office. He was appointed Deputy Prime Minister after Labour's victory in the 1997 election, with an expanded brief as Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions.
A former ship's steward and trade union activist, by the 1980s he was presented as the political link to the working class in a Labour Party increasingly led by modernising, middle-class professionals. In his youth, Prescott managed to overcome the handicap of failing his 11-plus entrance examination for grammar school, going on to graduate from Ruskin College in Oxford. Prescott also developed a reputation as a key conciliator in the often tense relationship between Prime Minister Tony Blair and Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown.
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John Whittingdale
John Flasby Lawrance Whittingdale OBE, (born (1959-10-16)October 16, 1959), is a Conservative politician in the United Kingdom. He has been a Member of Parliament (MP) since 1992.
Whittingdale was educated at two independent schools: at Sandroyd School from 1968–1973, in Rushmore Park at the heart of Cranborne Chase near Tollard Royal in Wiltshire and at Winchester College in the county town of Winchester in Hampshire, followed by University College London (UCL) where he was Chairman of the UCL Conservative Society, and earned his BSc in Economics in 1982 (grade 2ii).[citation needed]
From 1982-4, Whittingdale was Head of the political section of the Conservative Research Department. He then served as Special Adviser to three successive Secretaries of State for Trade and Industry, Norman Tebbit, 1984-5; Leon Brittan, 1985-6, and Paul Channon, 1986-7. He worked on international privatisation at NM Rothschild in 1987 and in January 1988, became Political Secretary to the Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. Upon her resignation, Whittingdale received the OBE and he continued as her Political Secretary until his election to Parliament in 1992.[citation needed]
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Jonathan Rees
Jonathon Rees was a private investigator, and former partner of Daniel Morgan
In 1984, with partner Daniel Morgan, he set up a detective agency, Southern Investigations, in Thornton Heath, Surrey.
In April 1987, Rees was arrested on suspicion of the murder of Daniel Morgan but was released without charge.
Between Morgan's death in 1987 and 2008, five police inquiries were conducted. There were allegations of police corruption, drug trafficking and robbery.
After an inquiry by Hampshire police in 1988, Jonathan Rees and another man were charged with murder, but the case did not reach trial when charges were dropped because of a lack of evidence. and the Hampshire inquiry's 1989 report to the Police Complaints Authority found "no evidence whatsoever of police involvement in the murder".
In 1998, Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Roy Clark conducted a third, secret, inquiry into the murder during which Southern Investigations’ office was bugged. In December 2000, Jonathan Rees was found guilty of conspiring to plant cocaine on an innocent woman in order to discredit her in a child custody battle and sentenced to seven years imprisonment for attempting to pervert the course of justice.
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Lauren Child
Lauren Child MBE (born 1965) is an English author and illustrator. She is best known for writing the Charlie and Lola books and Clarice Bean novels.
Helen Child was born in 1965, the middle child of three daughters. She later changed her first name to Lauren. She attended St John's School and from 16, Marlborough College, where her father was Head of Art. She studied Art briefly at Manchester Polytechnic and later at City and Guilds of London Art School, after which she worked in a variety of jobs, including as a painting assistant to Damien Hirst. She also started her own company, 'Chandeliers for the People', making exotic lampshades together with the actor Andrew St Clair; it was not a commercial success, though the lampshades are instantly recognisable as Child's work and highly valued. Between 1998 and 2003 she worked for the design agency 'Big Fish'.
In 1999 she had two picture books published, I Want a Pet! and Clarice Bean, That's Me, the latter being shortlisted for the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize. In 2000 she won a Kate Greenaway Medal for I Will Not Ever, NEVER Eat a Tomato and a second Nestlé Smarties Book Prize in 2002 for That Pesky Rat. In the same year, she wrote her first children's novel, Utterly Me, Clarice Bean. Her second book in this series, Clarice Bean Spells Trouble was shortlisted for the 2005 British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year. The third novel in the series, Clarice Bean, Don't Look Now was published in 2006.
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Lawrence Jacobs
Lawrence "Lon" A. Jacobs (born May 4, 1955) is the former Chief Legal Officer, Senior Executive Vice President and Group General Counsel of News Corporation.
Jacobs grew up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
He graduated from Temple University summa cum laude in 1978 and Brooklyn Law School cum laude in 1981.
Jacobs has been a member of the Bar of the State of New York since 1982.
Jacobs joined News Corp. in 1996 as deputy to Arthur Siskind, whose position he took over in 2004 when Siskind stepped down and announced his retirement.
Jacobs played a key role in the acquisitions of MySpace and Dow Jones during his tenure as General Counsel.
His salary in 2007 was $4.1 million.
On June 8, 2011, Jacobs announced that he would be stepping down from his position as General Counsel at News Corp. in order to "pursue new opportunities."
Jacobs' resignation came when he approached the company Chief Operating Officer Chase Carey to inform him that News Corp. was in breach of his contract; chairman & CEO Rupert Murdoch was using former New York City Schools Chancellor, and newly appointed News Corp. executive, Joel Klein, who joined the company in November 2010, for legal counsel instead of himself. He was released from his multimillion-dollar contract with News Corp. with four years remaining on it.
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Lee Chapman
Lee Chapman (born Lincoln, 5 December 1959) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker from 1978 until 1996, in which he scored almost 200 first-team goals.
He is best known for spells with Stoke City, Leeds United, Sheffield Wednesday, Nottingham Forest and West Ham United. He also played for Plymouth Argyle, Arsenal, Sunderland, Portsmouth, Southend United, Ipswich Town and Swansea City. As well as this he played in both France and Norway for Chamois Niortais and Strømsgodset IF, and was capped by both the England U21 and England B teams.
Chapman began his career at Stoke City, but made his league debut whilst on loan at Plymouth Argyle. On his return to Stoke, Chapman quickly became a first team regular, scoring made 34 goals in 99 appearances between 1979 and 1982.
His goal scoring abilities brought him to the attention of Division One clubs, and in August 1982 Chapman moved to Arsenal for £500,000. However, the move was not a success - he made only 23 appearances for the club between 1982 and 1984, and scored a meagre 4 goals. Chapman moved on to Sunderland for the 1983-84 season, but again failed to establish himself in the team, scoring just 3 goals in 15 appearances.
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Les Hinton
Leslie Frank "Les" Hinton (born 19 February, 1944) is a British-American journalist and businessman. Hinton, born in the UK, became a United States citizen in 1986. He was appointed CEO of Dow Jones & Company in December 2007, after its acquisition by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Hinton resigned that position on July 15, 2011, as a result of the unfolding journalistic ethics scandal at a News Corporation subsidiary, News International. A Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee accused Hinton in May 2012 of misleading it during its enquiries into the phone hacking scandal and Hinton of being 'complicit in the cover-up' at News International.'
Except for a few years with United Press International in London, at the time of his July 2011 resignation Hinton had worked for Rupert Murdoch for more than fifty years as a journalist and executive in Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. In 1976, he moved from London to New York as a foreign correspondent for the group's newspapers in Britain and Australia. After several executive positions, he was appointed President of Murdoch Magazines in 1990, two years later becoming President and Chief Executive Officer of News America Publishing, responsible for the company's US publishing operations. In 1993, he was appointed Chairman and CEO of Fox Television Stations, returning to London in 1995 as Executive Chairman of News Corp subsidiary News International Limited, Britain's largest national newspaper publisher.
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Leslie Ash
Leslie Ash (born 19 February 1960 in Clapham, London) is an English actress, best known for her role in the sitcom Men Behaving Badly. Her book My Life Behaving Badly: The Autobiography was published in 2007.
Ash first appeared on TV in 1964 at the age of four asking "Mummy, why are your hands so soft?" in an advertisement for the washing-up product Fairy Liquid. She was educated at the independent Italia Conti Academy stage school, and then started a career as a fashion model appearing on the cover of a number of teen magazines including Jackie for which she was photographed by David Bailey.[citation needed]
Having appeared in the 1978 British slapstick comedy Rosie Dixon - Night Nurse; her first major film role was playing the romantic lead in Quadrophenia in 1979. In 1980, Ash appears in the Iron Maiden music video, Women in Uniform. In 1983 she played Julie Morgan aka Juletta Shane in Curse of the Pink Panther. In 1983 she also appeared opposite Nicky Henson as Nancy in the ITV situation comedy The Happy Apple playing a secretary whose opinions successfully reflected public opinion. She then played a regular role in crime series C.A.T.S. Eyes.
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Lev Grossman
Lev Grossman (born June 26, 1969) is an American novelist and journalist, notably the author of the novels Warp (1997), Codex (2004),The Magicians (2009) and The Magician King (2011). He is a senior writer and book critic for Time.
Grossman has written for The New York Times, Wired, Salon.com, Lingua Franca, Entertainment Weekly, Time Out New York, The Wall Street Journal, and The Village Voice. He has served as a member of the board of directors of the National Book Critics Circle and as the chair of the Fiction Awards Panel.
In writing for Time, he has also covered the consumer electronics industry, reporting on video games, blogs, viral videos and Web comics like Penny Arcade and Achewood. In 2006, he traveled to Japan to cover the unveiling of the Wii console. He has interviewed Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Salman Rushdie, Neil Gaiman, Joan Didion, Jonathan Franzen, J.K. Rowling, and Johnny Cash. He wrote one of the earliest pieces on Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. A piece written by Grossman on the game Halo 3 was criticized for casting gamers in an "unfavorable light." Grossman was also the author of the Time Person of the Year 2010 feature article on Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
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Lisa Appignanesi
Lisa Appignanesi (born 4 January 1946) is a British writer, novelist, and campaigner for free expression. She is president of the writers’ organization English PEN. Her latest book is All About Love: Anatomy of an Unruly Emotion. Her previous book, Mad, Bad, and Sad: A History of Women and the Mind Doctors won the 2009 British Medical Association Award for the Public Understanding of Science, amongst other prizes.
Appignanesi was born in Łódź, Poland. She grew up in Paris and Montreal, where she studied at McGill University and worked as a Features Editor for The McGill Daily. Following her BA in English and MA (with a thesis on Edgar Allan Poe), she moved to Britain, to do a PhD in Comparative Literature University of Sussex. During this period she spent some time in Paris and Vienna and wrote a thesis on Henry James, Marcel Proust and Robert Musil which was published in 1974 as Proust, Musil and Henry James: Femininity and the Creative Imagination.
After a year working as a writer in a Manhattan social research firm Appignanesi returned to Britain to work as a European Studies lecturer at the University of Essex. Appignanesi also lectured at New England College, and in 1976 helped found the Writers and Readers writers collective, which launched the important graphic Beginners series with titles on Marx and Freud. In 1975 she published The Cabaret, a history of cabaret, a new edition of which came out in 2005 (Yale University Press).
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Lord Voldemort
Lord Voldemort ( /ˈvoʊldəmɔr/) (born Tom Marvolo Riddle) is a fictional character and the primary antagonist of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. Voldemort first appeared in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which was released in 1997. Voldemort appeared either in person or in flashbacks in each book and film adaptation in the series, except the third, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, where he is mentioned.
In the series, Voldemort is the archenemy of Harry Potter, who according to a prophecy has "the power to vanquish the Dark Lord". Almost no witch or wizard dares to speak his name, instead referring to him by epithets such as "You-Know-Who", "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" or "the Dark Lord". Voldemort's obsession with blood purity signifies his aim to rid the wizarding world of Muggle (non-magical) heritage and to conquer both worlds, Muggle and wizarding, to achieve pure-blood dominance. Through his mother's family, he is the last descendant of wizard Salazar Slytherin, one of the four founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
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Lucy Panton
Lucy Panton is a British journalist, a former News of the World crime editor, and the seventh person arrested under Operation Elveden on 15 December 2011.
Panton joined the News of the World in September 2002 from the Sunday People, taking up the position of crime correspondent. She was promoted to crime editor in October 2005.
On 30 October 2010, Panton was asked by News of the World news editor James Mellor to find out more from Metropolitan Police anti-terror head John Yates about the printer cartridge bomb found on a cargo plane at East Midlands Airport the previous day. Mellor wrote in an email to Panton:
Panton replied: "Noted. Not got hold of him yet still trying." Panton was on maternity leave at the time of the closure of the newspaper in July 2011.
Panton was arrested at her home in Surrey, where she lives with her Scotland Yard-based Metropolitan Police detective husband. The couple have two young children. She was later released on police bail.
During his evidence to the Leveson Inquiry in March 2012, former Metropolitan Police anti-terror head John Yates admitted that he drunk champagne with Panton and other executives from the tabloid newspaper. Yates denied that he gave Panton any favours in return for such hospitality, or that the relationship between the two was that close.
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Margaret Atwood
Margaret Eleanor Atwood, CC OOnt FRSC (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. She is among the most-honored authors of fiction in recent history. She is a winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award and Prince of Asturias award for Literature, has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize five times, winning once, and has been a finalist for the Governor General's Award seven times, winning twice. Atwood has increasingly been mentioned as a potential candidate for the Nobel Prize for Literature.
While she is best known for her work as a novelist, she is also a poet, having published 15 books of poetry to date. Many of her poems have been inspired by myths and fairy tales, which have been interests of hers from an early age. Atwood has published short stories in Tamarack Review, Alphabet, Harper's, CBC Anthology, Ms., Saturday Night, and many other magazines. She has also published four collections of stories and three collections of unclassifiable short prose works.
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Michael Goldenberg
Michael Goldenberg (born 1965) is an American playwright, Hollywood screenwriter, and film director.
Goldenberg was the screenwriter and director of Bed of Roses in 1996. He was the co-screenwriter for the film adaptation of Contact and co-adapted the 2003 live-action version of Peter Pan with director P.J. Hogan. He is also the screenwriter for the fifth Harry Potter film Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007).
Goldenberg was selected to write the screenplay for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in November 2004 when Steve Kloves, who had adapted the previous four Harry Potter books, turned down the opportunity to do the fifth film due to exhaustion and an interest in pursuing other projects. The BBC reported Goldenberg was to write and direct a futuristic drama for Warner Bros. afterward. He was also one of the screenwriters for the superhero movie Green Lantern, having rewritten the script for director Martin Campbell. In August 2010, Goldenberg was hired to write the screenplay for Green Lantern 2.
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Michael Rosen
Michael Wayne Rosen (born 7 May 1946) is a broadcaster, children's novelist and poet and the author of 140 books. He was appointed as the fifth Children's Laureate in June 2007, succeeding Jacqueline Wilson, and held this honour until 2009.
Michael Rosen was born in Harrow, London. The family background is Jewish, "from the Jewish East End tradition" as Rosen puts it. Rosen's father Harold (1919–2008) was born in Brockton, Massachusetts, in the United States to Communist parents and settled in the East End of London at the age of two, when his mother returned to the country of her birth. While a member of the Young Communist League he met Connie Isakofsky, his future wife and Michael Rosen's mother, in 1935. Harold was a secondary school teacher before becoming a professor of English at the Institute of Education, London, and Connie a primary school teacher before becoming a training college lecturer; she also broadcast for the BBC. Producing a programme featuring poetry, she persuaded her son to write for it, and used some of the material he submitted. Their ancestors came from Poland, Russia and Romania. Michael Rosen was brought up in Pinner, Middlesex, and went to various state schools in Pinner, Harrow, and then Watford Grammar School for Boys, and, having discovered the range of Jonathan Miller, thought: "Wouldn't it be wonderful to know all about science, and know all about art, and be funny and urbane and all that." Subsequently, in his own words:
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Monty Python
Monty Python (sometimes known as The Pythons) was a British surreal comedy group who created Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series. The Python phenomenon developed from the television series into something larger in scope and impact, spawning touring stage shows, films, numerous albums, several books and a stage musical as well as launching the members to individual stardom. The group's influence on comedy has been compared to The Beatles' influence on music.
The television series, broadcast by the BBC from 1969 to 1974, was conceived, written and performed by members Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. Loosely structured as a sketch show, but with an innovative stream-of-consciousness approach (aided by Gilliam's animation), it pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable in style and content. A self-contained comedy team responsible for both writing and performing their work, the Pythons' creative control allowed them to experiment with form and content, discarding rules of television comedy. Their influence on British comedy has been apparent for years, while in North America it has coloured the work of cult performers from the early editions of Saturday Night Live through to more recent absurdist trends in television comedy. "Pythonesque" has entered the English lexicon as a result.
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Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman ( /ˈɡeɪmən/; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book. He has won numerous awards, including Hugo, Nebula, Bram Stoker, Newbery Medal, and Carnegie Medal in Literature. He is the first author to win both the Newbery and the Carnegie medals for the same work.
Gaiman's family is of Polish and other Eastern European Jewish origins; his great-grandfather emigrated from Antwerp before 1914 and his grandfather eventually settled in the Hampshire city of Portsmouth and established a chain of grocery stores. His father, David Bernard Gaiman, worked in the same chain of stores; his mother, Sheila Gaiman (née Goldman), was a pharmacist. He has two younger sisters, Claire and Lizzy. After living for a period in the nearby town of Portchester, Hampshire, where Neil was born in 1960, the Gaimans moved in 1965 to the West Sussex town of East Grinstead where his parents studied Dianetics at the Scientology centre in the town; one of Gaiman's sisters works for the Church of Scientology in Los Angeles. His other sister, Lizzy Calcioli, has said, "Most of our social activities were involved with Scientology or our Jewish family. It would get very confusing when people would ask my religion as a kid. I’d say, 'I’m a Jewish Scientologist.'" Gaiman says that he is not a Scientologist, and that like Judaism, Scientology is his family's religion.
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Neil Wallis
Neil John Wallis (born 4 October 1950) is a former newspaper editor in the United Kingdom.
Wallis was born in Lincolnshire. He attended Skegness Grammar School[citation needed].
Wallis worked for News International from 1986, rising to become Deputy Editor of The Sun from 1993. He left in 1998 and took up the editorship of The People. In 2003, he moved to become Deputy Editor of the News of the World, and in 2007 he became Executive Editor of the paper. In May 2009, he announced that he would be leaving his post later in the year. He was known as "the wolf man" by fellow journalists.
Wallis is a former member of the Editors' Code of Practice Committee at the Press Complaints Commission.
After leaving journalism he worked for the Outside Organisation, a company specialising in public relations, becoming Managing Director in 2010. Wallis' own company, Chamy Media, provided "strategic communication advice and support" to the Metropolitan Police on a part-time basis from October 2009 to September 2010 whilst the Met's Deputy Director of Public Affairs was on extended sick leave.
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Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (Xhosa pronunciation: [xoˈliːɬaɬa manˈdeːla]; born 18 July 1918) is a South African politician who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, the first ever to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before being elected President, Mandela was a militant anti-apartheid activist, and the leader and co-founder of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC). In 1962 he was arrested and convicted of sabotage and other charges, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Mandela went on to serve 27 years in prison, spending many of these years on Robben Island. Following his release from prison on 11 February 1990, Mandela led his party in the negotiations that led to the establishment of democracy in 1994. As President, he frequently gave priority to reconciliation, while introducing policies aimed at combating poverty and inequality in South Africa.
In South Africa, Mandela is often known as Madiba, his Xhosa clan name; or as tata (Xhosa: father). Mandela has received more than 250 awards over four decades.
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Neville Thurlbeck
Neville Thurlbeck is a British journalist who worked for the tabloid newspaper News of the World for 21 years. He reached the position of news editor before returning to the position of chief reporter. Thurlbeck was arrested in April 2011 as part of Operation Weeting. Before the News of the World Thurlbeck worked as a reporter for the Harrow Observer.
Thurlbeck was educated at Bede Grammar School in Sunderland, followed by the University of Lancaster.
In 1998 Thurlbeck was the newspaper journalist who 'outed' the Cabinet Minister Nick Brown as gay. Thurlbeck also broke the story that Jeffrey Archer had committed perjury during his 1987 libel case against the Daily Star. The scoop won Thurlbeck three industry awards including Scoop of the Year 1999 from the London Press Club.
At the turn of the millenium Thurlbeck, under the codename "George", acted as an "unpaid source" for the police. In return he received information from the Police National Computer which principally consisted of the previous convictions of various criminals. In 2000 Thurlbeck and the police officer with whom he worked were cleared of corruption charges with regard to their working relationship.
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Nick Davies
Nick Davies is a British investigative journalist, writer and documentary maker.
Davies has written extensively as a freelancer, as well as for The Guardian and The Observer, and been named Reporter of the Year Journalist of the Year and Feature Writer of the Year at the British Press Awards. He was the winner of the first Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism in 1999.
Davies has made documentaries for ITV's World in Action, and written numerous books on the subject of politics and journalism, including Flat Earth News, which attracted considerable controversy as an exposé of journalistic malpractice in the UK and across the globe. As a reporter for The Guardian, Davies was responsible for uncovering the News of the World phone hacking affair, including the July 2011 revelations of hacking into the mobile phone voicemail of the murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, for which he received the Paul Foot Award 2011.
Davies gained a PPE degree from Oxford University in 1974, and started his journalism career in 1976, working as a trainee for The Mirror Group in Plymouth. He then moved to London initially to work for the Sunday People and spent a year working for The Evening Standard before becoming a news reporter at The Guardian in July 1979. Since then he has worked as home affairs correspondent at The Observer; chief feature writer at London Daily News in 1986 and on-screen reporter for World in Action. After the London Daily News folded he moved to the USA for a year, where he wrote White Lies, about the wrongful conviction of black janitor, Clarence Brandley, for the murder of a white girl. Since 1989 Davies has been a freelance reporter for The Guardian, for which he continues to contribute articles as of 2009, working from his home in Lewes.
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Nick Hornby
Nick Hornby (born 17 April 1957) is an English novelist, essayist, lyricist and screenwriter. He is best known for the novels High Fidelity, About a Boy, and for the football memoir Fever Pitch. His work frequently touches upon music, sport, and the aimless and obsessive natures of his protagonists.
Hornby was born in Redhill, Surrey, England. He was brought up in Maidenhead, and educated at Maidenhead Grammar School and Jesus College, Cambridge, where he read English. His parents divorced when he was 11.
Hornby has been married twice. He and his first wife have one son, born in 1992, who has autism. Hornby's second wife is producer Amanda Posey. They have two sons, born in 2003 and 2005. Hornby's sister, writer Gill Hornby, is married to writer Robert Harris.
Hornby's first published book, 1992's Fever Pitch, is an autobiographical story detailing his fanatical support for Arsenal Football Club. As a result, Hornby received the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award. In 1997, the memoir was adapted for film in the UK, and in 2005 an American remake was released, following Jimmy Fallon's character's obsession with the Boston Red Sox a baseball team, incidentally very different than the novel's portrayal of a football team. With the book's success, Hornby began to publish articles in the Sunday Times, Time Out and the Times Literary Supplement, in addition to his music reviews for the New Yorker. High Fidelity — his second book and first novel — was published in 1995. The novel, about a neurotic record collector and his failed relationships, was adapted into a 2000 film starring John Cusack, and a Broadway musical in 2006.
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Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy (pronounced [ni.kɔ.la saʁ.kɔ.zi] ( listen), born Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa; 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as the 23rd President of the French Republic from 16 May 2007 until 15 May 2012.
Before his presidency, he was leader of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP). Under Jacques Chirac's presidency he served as Minister of the Interior in Jean-Pierre Raffarin's (UMP) first two governments (from May 2002 to March 2004), then was appointed Minister of Finances in Raffarin's last government (March 2004 to May 2005) and again Minister of the Interior in Dominique de Villepin's government (2005–2007).
Sarkozy was also president of the General council of the Hauts-de-Seine department from 2004 to 2007 and mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine, one of the wealthiest communes of France from 1983 to 2002. He was Minister of the Budget in the government of Édouard Balladur (RPR, predecessor of the UMP) during François Mitterrand's last term.
In foreign affairs, he promised a strengthening of the entente cordiale with the United Kingdom and closer cooperation with the United States. During his term, he faced the late-2000s financial crisis (followed by the recession and the debt crisis caused by it) and the Arab Spring (especially in Tunisia, Libya, and Syria). He also married Italian-French singer-songwriter Carla Bruni on 2 February 2008 at the Élysée Palace in Paris.
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Norman Fowler
(Peter) Norman Fowler, Baron Fowler,PC (born 2 February 1938) is a British Conservative politician who was from 1981 to 1990 a member of Margaret Thatcher's Cabinet.
He was educated at King Edward VI Grammar School in Chelmsford, in the county of Essex; after which he did National Service as a Second Lieutenant in the Essex Regiment. Whilst studying at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, he was Chairman of the Cambridge University Conservative Association in Michaelmas 1960, in which term he entertained both the Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and Home Secretary (and de facto Deputy Prime Minister, although he did not hold the title until 1962) Rab Butler. He then became a journalist, and worked on The Times.
During the mid 1970s Fowler was shadow Minister of Transport. In April 1976 he was photographed outside the Palace of Westminster having just taken delivery of his third four cylinder MG MGB GT, having reportedly rejected the idea of buying a V8 version on account of the cost. At a time when a recently promoted Minister of Transport had imputed ownership of the family car to his wife, apparently on grounds of political correctness, former journalist Fowler's acknowledgment of his choice of a sports car provided an interesting contrast.
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Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey (born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954) is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011. She has been ranked the richest African-American of the 20th century, the greatest black philanthropist in American history, and was for a time the world's only black billionaire. She is also, according to some assessments, the most influential woman in the world.
Winfrey was born into poverty in rural Mississippi to a teenage single mother and later raised in an inner-city Milwaukee neighborhood. She experienced considerable hardship during her childhood, claiming to be raped at age nine and becoming pregnant at 14; her son died in infancy. Sent to live with the man she calls her father, a barber in Tennessee, Winfrey landed a job in radio while still in high school and began co-anchoring the local evening news at the age of 19. Her emotional ad-lib delivery eventually got her transferred to the daytime-talk-show arena, and after boosting a third-rated local Chicago talk show to first place, she launched her own production company and became internationally syndicated.
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Paul Staines
Paul Staines (born 11 February 1967) is an English-born Irish right-wing political blogger. Writer of the pseudonymous "Guido Fawkes" blog, described by the Daily Telegraph as "one of Britain's leading political blogsites".
Staines acquired an interest in politics as a libertarian in the 1980s and promoted acid house parties in the early 1990s. He then spent several years in finance, before his business relationships broke down in a series of disputes. Staines declared himself bankrupt in October 2003.
Staines was raised a Catholic, attending Salvatorian College Catholic grammar school in Harrow. He lives in Ireland and was a member of the now defunct Irish political party, the Progressive Democrats. He holds Irish citizenship. As a young man he was a member of the Social Democratic Party sitting on the national executive of their youth wing, and the Conservative Party.
In 2002, Staines was banned from driving for 12 months for driving under the influence.
In 2003, he declared himself bankrupt, following lengthy litigation over a commercial dispute.
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Rebekah Brooks
Rebekah Mary Brooks (née Wade; born 27 May 1968) is a British journalist and former newspaper editor. She was Chief Executive Officer of News International from 2009 to 2011, having previously served as the youngest editor of a British national newspaper as editor of the News of the World - from 2000 to 2003 - and the first female editor of The Sun - from 2003 to 2009. Brooks married actor Ross Kemp in 2002. They divorced in 2009 and she married former racehorse trainer and author Charlie Brooks.
Brooks is a prominent figure in the News International phone hacking scandal, having been the editor of the News of the World when illegal phone hacking was allegedly carried out by the newspaper. On 15 July 2011, Brooks resigned as chief executive of News International, following widespread criticism of her role in the controversy. On 17 July 2011, she was arrested on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications and on suspicion of corruption - making corrupt payments to public officials. On 13 March 2012, she was again arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. On 15 May 2012, Brooks was charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Mrs Brooks said she was “baffled” by the decision to charge her. Mr Brooks said he believed his wife had become 'the subject of a witch-hunt'.
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Richard Ford
Richard Ford (born February 16, 1944) is an American novelist and short story writer. His best-known works are the novel The Sportswriter and its sequels, Independence Day and The Lay of the Land, and the short story collection Rock Springs, which contains several widely anthologized stories.
Ford was born in Jackson, Mississippi, the only son of Parker Carrol Ford, a traveling salesman for Faultless Starch, a Kansas City company. When Ford was eight years old, his father had a major heart attack, and thereafter Ford spent as much time with his grandfather, a former prizefighter and hotel owner in Little Rock, Arkansas, as he did with his parents in Mississippi. Ford’s father died of a second heart attack in 1960.
Ford received a B.A. from Michigan State University. Having enrolled to study hotel management, he switched to English. After graduating he taught junior high school in Flint, Michigan, and enlisted in the US Marines but was discharged after contracting hepatitis. At university he met Kristina Hensley, his future wife; the two married in 1968.
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Robbie Coltrane
Robbie Coltrane, OBE (born Anthony Robert McMillan, March 30, 1950) is a Scottish actor, comedian and author. He is known both for his role as Dr. Eddie "Fitz" Fitzgerald in the British TV series Cracker during the 1990s and as Rubeus Hagrid in the Harry Potter films.
Coltrane was born Anthony Robert McMillan in Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, the son of Jean McMillan Ross (née Howie), a teacher and pianist, and Ian Baxter McMillan, a general practitioner who also served as a forensic police surgeon. He has an older sister, Annie, and a late younger sister, Jane. Coltrane is the great-grandson of Scottish businessman Thomas W. Howie. He was educated at the prestigious Glenalmond College in Perthshire, from which he was nearly expelled after hanging the prefects' gowns from the school clocktower. Though he later described his experiences there as deeply unhappy, he played for the rugby First XV, was head of the school's debating society and won prizes for his art. From Glenalmond, Coltrane went on to Glasgow School of Art, where he was ridiculed for "having an accent like Prince Charles" (which he quickly disposed of, though not before gaining the nickname "Lord Fauntleroy") and then the Moray House College Of Education in Edinburgh. Coltrane later called for public schools to be banned and used to be known as "Red Robbie", rebelling against his conservative upbringing through involvement with Amnesty International, Greenpeace, the Labour Party and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
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Ron Weasley
Ronald Bilius "Ron" Weasley is a fictional character and one of the three protagonists (the other two being Harry Potter and Hermione Granger) of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. His first appearance was in the first book of the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone as the best friend of Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. He is a member of the Weasley family, a pure blood family, who reside in "The Burrow" outside Ottery St. Catchpole. Along with Harry and Hermione, he is a member of the Gryffindor house. Ron is present in most of the action throughout the series due to his friendship with Harry.
According to J. K. Rowling, Ron was among the characters she created "the very first day". Ron is inspired by Rowling's best friend Sean Harris (to whom Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is dedicated), but she has clearly stated that she "never set out to describe Sean in Ron, but Ron has a Sean-ish turn of phrase." Like Harris is to Rowling, Ron is "always there" when Harry needs him. The character of Ron fits many of the stereotypes expected of the sidekick; he is often used as comic relief, is loyal to the hero, and lacks much of the talent Harry possesses, at least in terms of magical power. However, he has demonstrated bravery several times, such as playing 'real wizard's chess' in the first book, and entering into the Forbidden Forest with Harry during the second book despite his arachnophobia.
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Rubeus Hagrid
Rubeus Hagrid is a fictional character in the Harry Potter book series written by J. K. Rowling. Hagrid is introduced in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone as a half-giant who is the gamekeeper and Keeper of Keys and Grounds of Hogwarts, the primary setting for the first six novels. In the third novel Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Hagrid is promoted to Care of Magical Creatures teacher, and is later revealed to be also a member of the Order of the Phoenix.
Hagrid was among the characters that Rowling says she created "the very first day". She has explained the source of his name as "another old English word, meaning — if you were hagrid — it’s a dialect word — you’d had a bad night. Hagrid is a big drinker — he has a lot of bad nights." In her article "Harry’s Fame", Rosemary Goring notes the Forest of Dean is an influence on Rowling’s work, and Hagrid is the only character that is "directly drawn from the Forest of Dean". According to Goring, Hagrid’s "dropped word-endings are a Chepstow speciality." She also notes that Hagrid is physically "modeled on the Welsh chapter of Hells Angels who’d swoop down on the town and hog the bar, 'huge mountains of leather and hair".
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Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG (born 11 March 1931) is an Australian American media mogul. Murdoch became managing director of Australia's News Limited, inherited from his father, in 1952. He is the founder, Chairman and CEO of global media holding company the News Corporation, the world's second-largest media conglomerate.
In the 1950s and '60s, he acquired various newspapers in Australia and New Zealand, before expanding into the United Kingdom in 1969, taking over the News of the World followed closely by The Sun. He moved to New York in 1974 to expand into the US market and became a naturalised US citizen in 1985. In 1981, he bought The Times, his first British broadsheet.
In 1986, keen to adopt newer electronic publishing technologies, he consolidated his UK printing operations in Wapping, causing bitter industrial disputes. His News Corporation acquired Twentieth Century Fox (1985), HarperCollins (1989) and The Wall Street Journal (2007). He formed BSkyB in 1990 and during the 1990s expanded into Asian networks and South American television. By 2000 Murdoch's News Corporation owned over 800 companies in more than 50 countries with a net worth of over $5 billion.
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Sara Payne
Sara Payne MBE (born 1968) is a British media campaigner.
Payne was born Sara-Jane Williams in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England.[citation needed] Since the murder of her daughter Sarah in July 2000, she has campaigned for parents to be given the right to know if a convicted paedophile is living in their community. Initially, the then Home Secretary David Blunkett refused to allow any public access to the information, and several child care agencies and police forces condemned Payne's campaigning amid fears that it could trigger vigilante violence. However, in 2008, eight years after the start of the campaign, a pilot scheme was introduced by four British police forces. If successful, it may be extended across the country in the future.
Her book, Sara Payne: A Mother's Story, was published in 2004.
On 31 December 2008, Payne was made an MBE in the New Year Honours list. On 26 January 2009, she was appointed Victims Champion by the Justice Secretary Jack Straw.
On 23 December 2009, Payne was taken to St George's Hospital, Tooting, south London, following complications after brain surgery in 2008 to cure a ruptured aneurysm. On 24 December 2009, it was stated that she was critically ill. Later reports indicated that she had responded well to treatment.
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Seamus Heaney
Seamus Heaney (/ˈʃeɪməs ˈhiːni/; born 13 April 1939) is an Irish poet, playwright, translator, lecturer and recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. Born at Mossbawn farmhouse between Castledawson and Toomebridge, he now resides in Dublin.
As well as the Nobel Prize in Literature, Heaney has received the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize (1968), the E. M. Forster Award (1975), the Golden Wreath of Poetry (2001), T. S. Eliot Prize (2006) and two Whitbread Prizes (1996 and 1999). He has been a member of Aosdána since its foundation and has been Saoi since 1997. He was both the Harvard and the Oxford Professor of Poetry and was made a Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres in 1996. Heaney's personal papers are held by the National Library of Ireland.
Robert Lowell called him "the most important Irish poet since Yeats" and many others, including the academic John Sutherland, have echoed the sentiment that he is "the greatest poet of our age".
<poem> From Mid-Term Break
Wearing a poppy bruise on the left temple, He lay in the four foot box as in a cot. No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear.
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Sean Hoare
Sean Hoare (c. 1963 – c. 17 July 2011) was a British entertainment journalist. He contributed to articles on show business, from actors to reality television stars. He played a central role in contributing to exposing the News International phone hacking scandal.
Hoare was described as by The Guardian's Nick Davies as "coming from a working-class background of solid Arsenal supporters, always voted Labour, defined himself specifically as a 'clause IV' socialist who still believed in public ownership of the means of production." Hoare was a trainee reporter in the 1980s for the Watford Observer.
He was a reporter for The Sun before joining the The Sunday People, under editor Neil Wallis. He moved to the News of the World in June 2001, under editor Rebekah Brooks (then Rebekah Wade) but was sacked in 2005 by then editor Andy Coulson for drink and drug problems. He said in regards to his drug taking while employed by the News of the World, "I was paid to go out and take drugs with rock stars – get drunk with them, take pills with them, take cocaine with them. It was so competitive. You are going to go beyond the call of duty. You are going to do things that no sane man would do. You're in a machine." He claims to have often taken "three grammes of cocaine a day, spending about £1,000 a week" and would drink Jack Daniel's, and then would snort a line of cocaine as part of a "rock star's breakfast". His health deteriorated to the point that the doctor examining his liver remarked that he "must be dead". A former colleague said, "if you could imagine the stereotypical image of News of the World hack, it would be he."
wn.com/Sean_Hoare -
Sebastian Faulks
Sebastian Charles Faulks CBE (born 20 April 1953) is a British novelist, journalist and broadcaster. He is best known for his historical novels set in France, The Girl at the Lion d'Or, Birdsong, and Charlotte Gray. He has also published novels with a contemporary setting (most recently A Week In December (2009)), and a James Bond sequel, Devil May Care. He is a team captain on BBC Radio 4 literary quiz The Write Stuff.
Faulks was born on 20 April 1953 in Donnington, Berkshire to Peter Faulks and Pamela (née Lawless). His father was a decorated soldier (he won the Military Cross), who later became a solicitor and judge. His brother Edward Faulks, Baron Faulks is a QC. He was educated at Elstree School, Reading and went on to Wellington College, Berkshire. He studied English at Emmanuel College, Cambridge where he was made an Honorary Fellow in 2007.
After graduating, Faulks lived in France for a year. When he returned to England he worked as a teacher at a private school in Camden Town, and then as a journalist. Faulks' first novel, A Trick of the Light, was published in 1984. He continued to work as a journalist, becoming the first literary editor of The Independent in 1986. He became deputy editor of the Independent on Sunday in 1989; in the same year he published The Girl at the Lion D'or, the first of his historical novels set in France. In 1991 he left The Independent, and wrote for various other papers.
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Severus Snape
Severus Snape is a fictional character in the Harry Potter book series written by J.K. Rowling. In the first novel of the series, he is hostile toward Harry and is built up to be the primary antagonist until the final chapters. As the series progresses, Snape's character becomes more layered and complex. Rowling does not fully reveal the details of his true loyalties until the end of the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Over the course of the series, Snape's portrayal evolves from that of a malicious and partisan teacher to that of a pivotal character of considerable complexity and moral ambiguity. Snape primarily teaches Potions at Hogwarts, though in the sixth novel he teaches Defence Against the Dark Arts, a position which he was known to have desired throughout the series. He ultimately becomes Headmaster of Hogwarts in the final novel. Rowling has described him as "a gift of a character".
In an interview, Rowling described Snape's character as an "antihero". She has said that she drew inspiration for Snape's character from a disliked teacher from her own childhood, and described Snape as a horrible teacher, saying the "worst, shabbiest thing you can do as a teacher is to bully students." However, she does suggest in the books that he is generally an effective teacher. Although Rowling has said that Gilderoy Lockhart is her only character that she "deliberately based on a real person", Snape was reportedly based, at least in part, on John Nettleship, who taught Rowling chemistry and employed her mother as an assistant at Wyedean School near Chepstow. For Snape's surname, Rowling borrowed the name from the village of Snape, Suffolk. In a 1999 interview, and again in 2004, Rowling singled out Snape as one of her favourite characters to write.
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Sheryl Gascoigne
Sheryl Gasgoigne (née Failes; born 24 September 1965) is a British television personality and author. She is the former wife of footballer Paul Gascoigne and the mother of glamour model Bianca Gascoigne. Her television career includes a presenting role on ITV1's Loose Women, and she appeared as a contestant on the tenth series of the UK version of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!.
Sheryl Gascoigne rose to prominence because of her high-profile relationship, and later marriage, to footballer Paul Gascoigne. Having met in around 1990, they were married in Hatfield, Hertfordshire in July 1996. However, the marriage was a turbulent and ultimately short-lived one, ending in divorce in August 1998. Paul had experienced difficulties with alcoholism and had been abusive towards his wife. In a July 1994 interview with a Sunday newspaper Paul Gascoigne admitted beating Sheryl on a regular basis for two years. The couple later tried to reconcile, but without success.
Following her divorce in 1998 Sheryl Gascoigne campaigned for victims of domestic violence, and became a television personality. Among her credits include presenting role on ITV1's Loose Women and appearances in numerous television documentaries. In 2010 she appeared on series ten of I'm a Celebrity Get...Me Out of Here!. Having turned down an offer to appear on the programme earlier in the year, she was persuaded to join after one of the other contestants, Gail Porter was forced to drop out, and she was allegedly offered a higher fee to take part. She was the first contestant to be voted off after 13 days.
wn.com/Sheryl_Gascoigne -
Sienna Miller
Sienna Rose Miller (born December 28, 1981) is an American born English actress, model, and fashion designer. She is best known for her roles in Layer Cake, Alfie, Factory Girl, The Edge of Love and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. In 2007, the London Film Critics named her British Actress of the Year for Interview. In 2006, she designed a fashion capsule for Pepe Jeans.
Born in a theatre in New York City, Miller moved to London with her family when she was just over a year old. Her mother, Josephine, is a South African-born former model. Her father, Edwin Miller, is an American banker turned dealer of Chinese art. Miller has a sister, Savannah, and two half-brothers, Charles and Stephen. Miller attended Heathfield St Mary's School, a boarding school in Ascot, Berkshire, and later studied for a year at the Lee Strasberg Institute in New York City. She carries both British and American passports, and acquired her first driving licence in the US Virgin Islands, as it was easier to qualify there, thus allowing her to drive in both the US and UK.
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Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter, film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club.
After a troubled childhood and adolescence, during which he was expelled from a number of schools and eventually spent three months in prison for credit card fraud, he was able to secure a place at Queens' College, Cambridge, where he studied English Literature.
He first came to public attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also included Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson and Tony Slattery. With Hugh Laurie, as the comedy double act Fry and Laurie, he co-wrote and co-starred in A Bit of Fry & Laurie, and took the role of Jeeves (with Laurie playing Wooster) in Jeeves and Wooster.
As an actor, Fry played the lead in the film Wilde, was Melchett in the BBC television series Blackadder, starred as the title character Peter Kingdom in the ITV series Kingdom, has a recurring guest role as Dr. Gordon Wyatt on the Fox crime series Bones and appeared as rogue TV host Gordon Deitrich in the dystopian thriller V For Vendetta. He has also written and presented several documentary series including the 2008 television series Stephen Fry in America, which saw him travelling across all 50 US states. Since 2003 he has been the host of the quiz show QI.
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Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books. As of 2011, King has written and published 49 novels, including seven under the pen name Richard Bachman, five non-fiction books, and nine collections of short stories. Many of his stories are set in his home state of Maine.
King has received Bram Stoker Awards, World Fantasy Awards, British Fantasy Society Awards, his novella The Way Station was a Nebula Award novelette nominee, and in 2003, the National Book Foundation awarded him the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He has also received awards for his contribution to literature for his whole career, such as the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement (2004), the Canadian Booksellers Association Lifetime Achievement Award (2007) and the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America (2007).
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Steve Coogan
Stephen John "Steve" Coogan (born 14 October 1965) is a BAFTA-winning English actor, comedian, writer, impressionist and producer. Born in Middleton, Lancashire, he began his career as a stand-up comedian and impressionist, working as a voice artist throughout the 1980s on satirical puppet show Spitting Image. In the early 1990s, Coogan began creating original comic characters which he presented in stage shows, this led to him winning the 1992 Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe, for his show with long-time collaborator John Thomson. The most prominent characters he developed at this time were Paul Calf, a stereotypical lower class Mancunian and his sister the promiscuous Pauline (played by Coogan in drag).
Working with Chris Morris, Patrick Marber and Armando Iannucci for On the Hour and The Day Today, Coogan developed his most popular and most developed character; Alan Partridge, a socially awkward and politically incorrect regional media personality, who developed to feature in his own eponymous television series, Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge and I'm Alan Partridge, which were well received and were nominated for five BAFTAs in total. Outside the UK, Coogan is better known for his roles in films including 24 Hour Party People, The Wind in the Willows, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Night at the Museum, Tropic Thunder, Hamlet 2, A Cock and Bull Story, The Trip and The Other Guys.
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Steve Kloves
Stephen Keith "Steve" Kloves (born March 18, 1960) is an American screenwriter mainly renowned for his adaptations of novels, especially for the Harry Potter film series and for Wonder Boys. He has also directed two motion pictures.
Kloves, born in Austin, Texas, grew up in Sunnyvale, California where he graduated from Fremont High School. He attended the University of California, Los Angeles but dropped out after reducing his schedule to only a few courses in his second year. As an unpaid intern for a Hollywood agent, he gained attention for a screenplay he wrote called Swings. This led to a meeting where he successfully pitched Racing with the Moon (1984).
His first experience with professional screenwriting left him wanting more interaction with the actors so that the characters would stay true to his vision. Kloves wrote The Fabulous Baker Boys and also intended it to be his directorial debut. After years of trying to sell the project in Hollywood, the film finally got off the ground and was released in 1989.The Fabulous Baker Boys did reasonably well, but his next shot as writer/director for Flesh and Bone in 1993 fared poorly at the box office. Kloves then stopped writing for three years.
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Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg (born December 18, 1946) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as archetypes of modern Hollywood blockbuster filmmaking. In later years, his films began addressing such issues as the Holocaust, slavery, war and terrorism. He is considered one of the most popular and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. He is also one of the co-founders of DreamWorks movie studio.
Spielberg won the Academy Award for Best Director for Schindler's List (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998). Three of Spielberg's films—Jaws (1975), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), and Jurassic Park (1993)—achieved box office records, each becoming the highest-grossing film made at the time. To date, the unadjusted gross of all Spielberg-directed films exceeds $8.5 billion worldwide. Forbes puts Spielberg's wealth at $3.0 billion.
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Stuart Kuttner
Stuart Kuttner (born 1939 or 1940) former newspaper editor. He worked as the news editor for the London Evening Standard before joining the News of the World newspaper in 1980 first as a deputy editor, then as managing editor. He held the position for 22 years before stepping down from his post in 2009 and retiring to Woodford Green. He was arrested on 2 August 2011, in connection with the News International phone hacking scandal and later bailed. He was 71 at the time of his arrest.
Kuttner was closely involved with the campaign for Sarah's Law. It was for this work that he and a colleague were awarded the "team of the year" prize at the 2002 British Press Awards. Upon leaving the News of the World he stated that he would continue to work with the paper on "specialised projects" including campaigning for parents to be able to find out if registered sex offenders are resident in their area.
Kuttner was arrested by appointment on 2 August 2011 by officers involved in Operation Weeting on suspicion of corruption, contrary to Section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 and on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977, the same charges as had been laid against former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks just over two weeks earlier. He was initially released under police bail until the end of the month but was taken into custody again on 30 August and bailed until an unspecified date in September.
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Sue Akers
Sue Akers, QPM, is a Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the British Metropolitan Police Service. As of 2011, she holds the post of Head of Organised Crime & Criminal Networks in the Specialist Crime Directorate within that force.
She joined the force in 1976.
She was promoted by the Metropolitan Police Authority from the rank of Chief Superintendent to Commander in 2004.
She was awarded the Queen's Police Medal in 2007.
As of February 2011, she was leading Operation Weeting, the most recent British police investigation into allegations of phone hacking in the News of the World phone hacking affair. In July 2011, as the result of documents submitted to Operation Weeting, she also took on the leadership of a related investigation, Operation Elveden.She is also in charge of a third investigation, Operation Tuleta, which is looking at allegations that computers were hacked to obtain private information.Akers has also been leading police inquiries into the potential involvement of intelligence services in relation to detainees held abroad.
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Terry Gilliam
Terrence Vance "Terry" Gilliam ( /ˈɡɪliəm/; born 22 November 1940) is an American-born British screenwriter, film director, animator, actor and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam is also known for directing several films, including Brazil (1985), The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), The Fisher King (1991), 12 Monkeys (1995), and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998). The only "Python" not born in Britain, he took British citizenship in 1968.
Gilliam was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the son of Beatrice (née Vance) and James Hall Gilliam, who was a traveling salesman for Folgers before becoming a carpenter. Soon after, they moved to the nearby Medicine Lake.
The family moved to Panorama City, California, in 1952. Gilliam attended Birmingham High School where he was class president and senior prom King, was voted "Most Likely to Succeed", and achieved straight A's. During high school, he began to avidly read Mad magazine, which was then edited by Harvey Kurtzman; this later influenced his work.
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Tessa Jowell
Tessa Jowell (born 17 September 1947) is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dulwich and West Norwood since 1992. Formerly a member of both the Blair and Brown Cabinets, she is currently the Shadow Minister for the Olympics and Shadow Minister for London.
Tessa Jane Helen Palmer was born in Marylebone, London to Dr. Kenneth Palmer, a physician, and Rosemary Palmer, a radiographer. She was educated at the public school St Margaret's School for Girls in Aberdeen, the University of Aberdeen, the University of Edinburgh and Goldsmiths College, University of London. She became a social worker and eventually administrator of the mental health charity Mind.
In 1978 she was Labour Party candidate in a by-election in Ilford North but lost Labour's majority to the Conservatives. She also stood in Ilford North, again unsuccessfully, at the 1979 general election.
Elected as MP for Dulwich at the 1992 general election, she was successively appointed as an opposition spokesman on health, an opposition whip and spokesman on women before returning to the shadow health team in 1996.
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Tom Crone
Tom Crone is a British barrister, last working for News International as Legal Affairs manager, before he resigned during the News International phone hacking scandal.
Crone qualified as a barrister, and after five years of private practise joined Mirror Group Newspapers. In 1985, he joined News International, appointed as Legal Affairs manager. During his time at the group, acting for The Sun and the News of the World, he won plaudits from both colleagues and rivals for his unerring journalistic instinct: "He is a unique lawyer in that he has great journalistic instincts. He is sort of 10% journalist and is incredibly streetwise." A close personal friend of the late George Carman QC, Crone was one of the first media managers to use libel defence specialist John Kelsey-Fry QC. He also hit out at then Attorney General for England and Wales Lord Goldsmith for clamping down on media coverage of high-profile cases, such as the allegations of rape made against a group of Premier League footballers, before they go to trial.
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Tom Mockridge
Tom Mockridge (born 1955 in New Zealand), is the chief executive of News International, replacing Rebekah Brooks who resigned over the phone hacking scandal.
Mockridge began his career in his native New Zealand; starting in 1977 as a reporter for the New Plymouth-based Taranaki Daily News in the small central North Island town of Taumarunui.
He moved to Australia in 1980, working first for the Sydney Morning Herald as economics editor, then as an adviser for the Australian Treasurer Paul Keating. He also worked for The Australian. He joined News Limited in January 1991, where he was assistant CEO to Ken Cowley until 1996. He then became CEO of Foxtel, a post which he held for three years. Mockridge then moved to Hong Kong.
Appointed managing director of Independent Newspapers in 2001, New Zealand's largest newspaper publisher and a subsidiary of News Corp, he was also appointed President of pay TV group Sky New Zealand.
In 2002, Mockridge led the merger between Stream TV and Tele+, which resulted in the creation of Sky Italia. On completion of the merger, he was appointed CEO of Sky Italia. In 2008 Mockridge was appointed Managing Director of European Television (all News Corps TV assets outside the UK), reporting to James Murdoch. He was later appointed to the board of British Sky Broadcasting, a position he still holds.
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Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard, OM, CBE, FRSL (born Tomáš Straüssler; 3 July 1937) is a British playwright, knighted in 1997. He has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Professional Foul, The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. He co-wrote the screenplays for Brazil and Shakespeare in Love and has won one Academy Award and four Tony Awards. Themes of human rights, censorship and political freedom pervade his work along with exploration of linguistics and philosophy. Stoppard has been a key playwright of the National Theatre and is one of the most internationally performed dramatists of his generation.
In 1939, Stoppard left Czechoslovakia as a child refugee, fleeing imminent Nazi occupation. He settled with his family in Britain after the war, in 1946. After being educated at schools in Nottingham and Yorkshire, Stoppard became a journalist, a drama critic and then, in 1960, a playwright. He has been married twice, to Josie Ingle (1965–1972) and Miriam Stoppard (1972–1992), and has two sons from each marriage, one of whom is actor Ed Stoppard.
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Wendi Deng Murdoch
Wendi Deng Murdoch (simplified Chinese: 邓文迪; traditional Chinese: 鄧文迪; pinyin: Dèng Wéndí; born December 8, 1968) is a Chinese-born American businesswoman. She is the third wife of News Corporation Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch, and is leading her husband's Chinese media investments.
In 1988, Murdoch was sponsored by an American family for a student visa. She attended Cal State Northridge for economics and completed her master's degree in business at the Yale School of Management, where she currently serves on the board of advisors. Murdoch's debut in the media came with Fox TV. She was offered an internship at Star TV, Hong Kong, part of News Corporation.
Wendi Deng Murdoch was born in Jinan, Shandong, and raised in Xuzhou, Jiangsu. Her birth name was Deng Wenge (邓文革), which literally means "Cultural Revolution". She changed it in her teens when a more open and international mood took hold. Murdoch is the third of four children (three daughters, one son) born to engineers. Murdoch attended Xuzhou First Secondary School and Xuzhou No. 1 Middle School. She developed a strong interest in playing volleyball. While in high school, Murdoch's father relocated to Hangzhou, where he worked at the People's Machinery Works; she and her family remained behind for a short while. In 1985, when she was 16 years old, Murdoch enrolled in Guangzhou Medical College.
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Wikipedia Persondata
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William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce (24 August 1759 – 29 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist, and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becoming the independent Member of Parliament for Yorkshire (1784–1812). In 1785, he underwent a conversion experience and became an evangelical Christian, resulting in major changes to his lifestyle and a lifelong concern for reform. In 1787, he came into contact with Thomas Clarkson and a group of anti-slave-trade activists, including Granville Sharp, Hannah More and Charles Middleton. They persuaded Wilberforce to take on the cause of abolition, and he soon became one of the leading English abolitionists. He headed the parliamentary campaign against the British slave trade for twenty-six years until the passage of the Slave Trade Act of 1807.
Wilberforce was convinced of the importance of religion, morality and education. He championed causes and campaigns such as the Society for Suppression of Vice, British missionary work in India, the creation of a free colony in Sierra Leone, the foundation of the Church Mission Society, and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. His underlying conservatism led him to support politically and socially repressive legislation, and resulted in criticism that he was ignoring injustices at home while campaigning for the enslaved abroad.
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JK Rowling - A Year In The Life (TV, 2007)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 47:41
- Updated: 28 Dec 2012
JK Rowling - A Year In The Life (TV, 2007) - It was on air originally on iTV. This is the "uncut", original version. On th DVD version the "Lilly Allen song" part was cut, but everything else wasn't (as I know)!
http://wn.com/JK_Rowling_A_Year_In_The_Life_TV,_2007
JK Rowling - A Year In The Life (TV, 2007) - It was on air originally on iTV. This is the "uncut", original version. On th DVD version the "Lilly Allen song" part was cut, but everything else wasn't (as I know)!
JK Rowling Webcast
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 51:23
- Updated: 29 Dec 2012
Here you find the JK Rowling webcast. I do not own this, I use this only for personal use! forum.wizardwear.nl Somewhere around 43:30 there is a part missing because the player crashed.
http://wn.com/JK_Rowling_Webcast
Here you find the JK Rowling webcast. I do not own this, I use this only for personal use! forum.wizardwear.nl Somewhere around 43:30 there is a part missing because the player crashed.
- published: 11 Oct 2012
- views: 8634
- author: leonR2Builder
JK Rowling talks to Oprah Full Video Interview - Part 1 of 6
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:19
- Updated: 28 Dec 2012
Get low-price Harry Potter Books & DVDs on Amazon now: www.amazon.co.uk
http://wn.com/JK_Rowling_talks_to_Oprah_Full_Video_Interview_Part_1_of_6
Get low-price Harry Potter Books & DVDs on Amazon now: www.amazon.co.uk
- published: 23 Aug 2011
- views: 125289
- author: AdamRossGibson
JK Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 20:59
- Updated: 28 Dec 2012
JKRowling at Harvard Commencement. Read more at goo.gl
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JKRowling at Harvard Commencement. Read more at goo.gl
- published: 16 Sep 2011
- views: 216728
- author: HarvardMagazine
JK Rowling Interview on 'The Casual Vacancy': 'Harry Potter' Author on Rihanna's Influence
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:07
- Updated: 28 Dec 2012
Author reveals that some influence behind her first adult novel comes from the song "Umbrella." For more on this story, click here: abcnews.go.com
http://wn.com/JK_Rowling_Interview_on_'The_Casual_Vacancy'_'Harry_Potter'_Author_on_Rihanna's_Influence
Author reveals that some influence behind her first adult novel comes from the song "Umbrella." For more on this story, click here: abcnews.go.com
- published: 26 Sep 2012
- views: 29447
- author: ABCNews
JK Rowling interview: 'I bought my wedding dress in disguise'
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:37
- Updated: 28 Dec 2012
JK Rowling interview: 'I bought my wedding dress in disguise' SUBSCRIBE: bit.ly A rare chance to see an interview with JK Rowling. The Harry Potter author talks about insomnia, the Scottish referendum and what her most favourite recent novel has been. Rowling's new book - for adults - is called The Casual Vacancy and is out on 27 September Subscribe to the Guardian here: www.youtube.com
http://wn.com/JK_Rowling_interview_'I_bought_my_wedding_dress_in_disguise'
JK Rowling interview: 'I bought my wedding dress in disguise' SUBSCRIBE: bit.ly A rare chance to see an interview with JK Rowling. The Harry Potter author talks about insomnia, the Scottish referendum and what her most favourite recent novel has been. Rowling's new book - for adults - is called The Casual Vacancy and is out on 27 September Subscribe to the Guardian here: www.youtube.com
- published: 24 Sep 2012
- views: 43088
- author: TheGuardian
JK Rowling talks about her life with Oprah Winfrey (FULL)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 42:29
- Updated: 29 Dec 2012
JK Rowling tells all about her life and Harry Potter at The Balmoral Hotel, Edinburgh in a casual meeting with Oprah Winfrey. The two great women talk about what they have in common, how Jo coped with her stress and what she learnt from all that she has been through. The video doesnt belong to me. It belongs to Oprah and Harpo Studios. For more inspiring videos, you can subscribe.
http://wn.com/JK_Rowling_talks_about_her_life_with_Oprah_Winfrey_FULL
JK Rowling tells all about her life and Harry Potter at The Balmoral Hotel, Edinburgh in a casual meeting with Oprah Winfrey. The two great women talk about what they have in common, how Jo coped with her stress and what she learnt from all that she has been through. The video doesnt belong to me. It belongs to Oprah and Harpo Studios. For more inspiring videos, you can subscribe.
- published: 02 Jul 2012
- views: 65227
- author: Amey Ambade
Who Do You Think You Are - JK Rowling
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 58:52
- Updated: 29 Dec 2012
Legendas em Português e Inglês Subtitles in Portuguese and English JK Rowling, the most successful author to date, sets out to explore her family tree. She makes a journey through England and France to find out where her French roots came from.
http://wn.com/Who_Do_You_Think_You_Are_JK_Rowling
Legendas em Português e Inglês Subtitles in Portuguese and English JK Rowling, the most successful author to date, sets out to explore her family tree. She makes a journey through England and France to find out where her French roots came from.
- published: 19 Aug 2011
- views: 330456
- author: MrDominodays
JK Rowling 'The Casual Vacancy' Interview Excerpt: Author Reads on 'GMA'
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:52
- Updated: 28 Dec 2012
Author of "Harry Potter" series reads from the first paragraph of novel. For more on this story, click here: abcnews.go.com
http://wn.com/JK_Rowling_'The_Casual_Vacancy'_Interview_Excerpt_Author_Reads_on_'GMA'
Author of "Harry Potter" series reads from the first paragraph of novel. For more on this story, click here: abcnews.go.com
- published: 27 Sep 2012
- views: 16216
- author: ABCNews
Excerpt of Charlie Rose with author JK Rowling
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:24
- Updated: 28 Dec 2012
Excerpt of Charlie Rose with author JK Rowling www.CharlieRose.com
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Excerpt of Charlie Rose with author JK Rowling www.CharlieRose.com
- published: 19 Oct 2012
- views: 6466
- author: CharlieRose
JK Rowling 'Casual Vacancy' interview released.
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:37
- Updated: 27 Dec 2012
No copyright infringement intended.Rights go to: www.hypable.com and JK Rowling.
http://wn.com/JK_Rowling_'Casual_Vacancy'_interview_released
No copyright infringement intended.Rights go to: www.hypable.com and JK Rowling.
- published: 22 Sep 2012
- views: 10422
- author: Sanja920
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross: JK Rowling Part 1
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 8:16
- Updated: 28 Dec 2012
JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter book series appeared on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross.
http://wn.com/Friday_Night_with_Jonathan_Ross_JK_Rowling_Part_1
JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter book series appeared on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross.
- published: 02 Sep 2008
- views: 216291
- author: TheVideoKingdom
Harry Potter Author JK Rowling 'Dismayed' at Cameron Response To Leveson
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 12:59
- Updated: 05 Dec 2012
Best-selling novelist JK Rowling said she was "alarmed and dismayed" at David Cameron's response to the Leveson report. The Harry Potter author, who gave evidence about press intrusion into her family's privacy to the inquiry, argued that without statutory underpinning Lord Justice Leveson's recommendations would fail. And she described how she had been left feeling "duped and angry" by Mr Cameron's hesitance to "cross the Rubicon" and introduce a press law She said: "I thought long and hard about the possible consequences to my family of giving evidence and finally decided to do so because I have made every possible attempt to protect my children's privacy under the present system, and failed. "If I, who can afford the very best lawyers, cannot guarantee the privacy of those dearest to me, what hope did the Dowlers, the McCanns and the Watsons ever have of protecting their own children and their own good names?" "Without statutory underpinning Leveson's recommendations will not work," she added. "We will be left with yet another voluntary system from which the press can walk away. "If the Prime Minister did not wish to change the regulatory system even to the moderate, balanced and proportionate extent proposed by Lord Leveson, I am at a loss to understand why so much public money has been spent and why so many people have been asked to re-live extremely painful episodes on the stand in front of millions." Giving evidence in November last year, Rowling told the inquiry ...
http://wn.com/Harry_Potter_Author_JK_Rowling_'Dismayed'_at_Cameron_Response_To_Leveson
Best-selling novelist JK Rowling said she was "alarmed and dismayed" at David Cameron's response to the Leveson report. The Harry Potter author, who gave evidence about press intrusion into her family's privacy to the inquiry, argued that without statutory underpinning Lord Justice Leveson's recommendations would fail. And she described how she had been left feeling "duped and angry" by Mr Cameron's hesitance to "cross the Rubicon" and introduce a press law She said: "I thought long and hard about the possible consequences to my family of giving evidence and finally decided to do so because I have made every possible attempt to protect my children's privacy under the present system, and failed. "If I, who can afford the very best lawyers, cannot guarantee the privacy of those dearest to me, what hope did the Dowlers, the McCanns and the Watsons ever have of protecting their own children and their own good names?" "Without statutory underpinning Leveson's recommendations will not work," she added. "We will be left with yet another voluntary system from which the press can walk away. "If the Prime Minister did not wish to change the regulatory system even to the moderate, balanced and proportionate extent proposed by Lord Leveson, I am at a loss to understand why so much public money has been spent and why so many people have been asked to re-live extremely painful episodes on the stand in front of millions." Giving evidence in November last year, Rowling told the inquiry ...
- published: 01 Dec 2012
- views: 201
- author: susiescorner
JKRowling - Writing For Grown Ups 2012
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 28:59
- Updated: 28 Dec 2012
Harry Potter is one of the most successful publishing phenomena of our time, selling 450 million copies. Its success has transformed author JK Rowling from an impoverished single mother into one of Britain's richest women. Since The Deathly Hallows was published in 2007, Rowling's fans have been desperate to know what she was going to do next. The answer is The Casual Vacancy, a novel for adults with some very grown-up themes. The expectation and pressure are enormous. Although most details are shrouded in secrecy, it is known to be set in the idyllic fictional English town of Pagford, where tensions gather around a local election which follows the death of a parish councillor. James Runcie meets the notoriously private writer in her hometown of Edinburgh, where she finally reveals the exact nature of the novel, with exclusive readings and in-depth discussion about its ideas, characters and inspiration. Rowling also discusses the pressure and pitfalls of following up the biggest literary phenomenon of a generation, describing how she finally moved on from Potter and the challenges of making the leap to writing fiction for adults.
http://wn.com/JKRowling_Writing_For_Grown_Ups_2012
Harry Potter is one of the most successful publishing phenomena of our time, selling 450 million copies. Its success has transformed author JK Rowling from an impoverished single mother into one of Britain's richest women. Since The Deathly Hallows was published in 2007, Rowling's fans have been desperate to know what she was going to do next. The answer is The Casual Vacancy, a novel for adults with some very grown-up themes. The expectation and pressure are enormous. Although most details are shrouded in secrecy, it is known to be set in the idyllic fictional English town of Pagford, where tensions gather around a local election which follows the death of a parish councillor. James Runcie meets the notoriously private writer in her hometown of Edinburgh, where she finally reveals the exact nature of the novel, with exclusive readings and in-depth discussion about its ideas, characters and inspiration. Rowling also discusses the pressure and pitfalls of following up the biggest literary phenomenon of a generation, describing how she finally moved on from Potter and the challenges of making the leap to writing fiction for adults.
- published: 30 Sep 2012
- views: 13565
- author: harrypottertheend1
#1 Harry Potter Fan reads Personal Letter from JK Rowling
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:13
- Updated: 27 Dec 2012
Katie Aiani reads from her Christmas Letter from JK Rowling! PERSONALIZED!
http://wn.com/_1_Harry_Potter_Fan_reads_Personal_Letter_from_JK_Rowling
Katie Aiani reads from her Christmas Letter from JK Rowling! PERSONALIZED!
- published: 27 Dec 2012
- views: 47
- author: the1harrypotterfan
Bookcase: Review - JK ROWLING - "THE CASUAL VACANCY"
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:53
- Updated: 27 Dec 2012
Award winning Book Critic Alex Dickson reviews JK Rowling's "The Casual Vacancy"
http://wn.com/Bookcase_Review_JK_ROWLING_THE_CASUAL_VACANCY
Award winning Book Critic Alex Dickson reviews JK Rowling's "The Casual Vacancy"
- published: 27 Dec 2012
- views: 14
- author: BookcaseAlex
JK Rowling Vs Mitt Romney On Taxes
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:11
- Updated: 28 Dec 2012
"why the richest woman in the UK, Harry Potter author JK Rowling, says she remains a citizen of Great Britain even though she's now a billionaire. The bottom line? Rowling loves her country, and she wants her kids to grow up there. And, as someone who once depended on the safety net designed to help those going through hard times, she feels a debt to her society...".* The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur compares Rowling to 2012 Republican Presidential Mitt Romney and his past and views on taxes. Read more here from Henry Blodget / Business Insider: www.businessinsider.com Support The Young Turks by Subscribing bit.ly Like Us on Facebook: www.fb.com Follow Us on Twitter: bit.ly Buy TYT Merch: theyoungturks.spreadshirt.com Find out how to watch The Young Turks on Current by clicking here: www.current.com
http://wn.com/JK_Rowling_Vs_Mitt_Romney_On_Taxes
"why the richest woman in the UK, Harry Potter author JK Rowling, says she remains a citizen of Great Britain even though she's now a billionaire. The bottom line? Rowling loves her country, and she wants her kids to grow up there. And, as someone who once depended on the safety net designed to help those going through hard times, she feels a debt to her society...".* The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur compares Rowling to 2012 Republican Presidential Mitt Romney and his past and views on taxes. Read more here from Henry Blodget / Business Insider: www.businessinsider.com Support The Young Turks by Subscribing bit.ly Like Us on Facebook: www.fb.com Follow Us on Twitter: bit.ly Buy TYT Merch: theyoungturks.spreadshirt.com Find out how to watch The Young Turks on Current by clicking here: www.current.com
- published: 28 Sep 2012
- views: 81986
- author: TheYoungTurks
The Women Of Harry Potter - JK Rowling interview part 1
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 10:55
- Updated: 28 Dec 2012
http://wn.com/The_Women_Of_Harry_Potter_JK_Rowling_interview_part_1
THE CASUAL VACANCY MOVIE
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:36
- Updated: 22 Dec 2012
JK Rowling's novel The Casual Vacancy might never be a movie. That gentle roar you hear is from every Warner Brothers executive shouting furiously at the same time. FOLLOW KALEB: twitter.com ==== THE 60SR SHOW ==== ► MORE SHOWS -- youtube.com ► WEBSITE -- www.60SR.com ==== KALEB NATION ==== ► YOUTUBE -- youtube.com ► TWITTER -- twitter.com ► FACEBOOK -- facebook.com ► TUMBLR -- kalebnation.tumblr.com ► OFFICIAL SITE -- kalebnation.com **TAGS** "The Casual Vacancy Movie" "JK Rowling The Casual Vacancy" "JK Rowling Movie" "The Casual Vacancy Film" "The Casual Vacancy Trailer" "The Casual Vacancy Movie Trailer" The Casual Vacancy Movie Trailer Film Teaser Real Official HD Part 1 Movie Film JK Rowling "JK Rowling" "Harry Potter" Entertainment News "Kaleb Nation" 60SR
http://wn.com/THE_CASUAL_VACANCY_MOVIE
JK Rowling's novel The Casual Vacancy might never be a movie. That gentle roar you hear is from every Warner Brothers executive shouting furiously at the same time. FOLLOW KALEB: twitter.com ==== THE 60SR SHOW ==== ► MORE SHOWS -- youtube.com ► WEBSITE -- www.60SR.com ==== KALEB NATION ==== ► YOUTUBE -- youtube.com ► TWITTER -- twitter.com ► FACEBOOK -- facebook.com ► TUMBLR -- kalebnation.tumblr.com ► OFFICIAL SITE -- kalebnation.com **TAGS** "The Casual Vacancy Movie" "JK Rowling The Casual Vacancy" "JK Rowling Movie" "The Casual Vacancy Film" "The Casual Vacancy Trailer" "The Casual Vacancy Movie Trailer" The Casual Vacancy Movie Trailer Film Teaser Real Official HD Part 1 Movie Film JK Rowling "JK Rowling" "Harry Potter" Entertainment News "Kaleb Nation" 60SR
- published: 28 Sep 2012
- views: 6148
- author: 60SR
Need to Know: JK Rowling
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:23
- Updated: 22 Dec 2012
Everything you need to know about JK Rowling in 5 minutes or less.
http://wn.com/Need_to_Know_JK_Rowling
Everything you need to know about JK Rowling in 5 minutes or less.
- published: 17 Jun 2009
- views: 194153
- author: BioChannelTV
Harry Potter / JK Rowling Tribute | End Of An Era
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:48
- Updated: 01 Dec 2012
I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE QUOTES, PICTURES, OR SONGS INCLUDED OR ASSOCIATED WITHIN OR OUTSIDE OF THIS VIDEO.
http://wn.com/Harry_Potter_JK_Rowling_Tribute_|_End_Of_An_Era
I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE QUOTES, PICTURES, OR SONGS INCLUDED OR ASSOCIATED WITHIN OR OUTSIDE OF THIS VIDEO.
- published: 01 Dec 2012
- views: 33
- author: ham0219
JK Rowling's and Trio's Speeches to Each Other - Deathly Hallows Part 2 London Premiere
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:07
- Updated: 28 Dec 2012
These are the Speeches that Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and JK Rowling gave in theHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Premiere!! Emma Watson and JK Rowling are Crying!!! n the epic finale, the battle between the good and evil forces of the wizarding world escalates into an all-out war. The stakes have never been higher and no one is safe. But it is Harry Potter who may be called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice as he draws closer to the climactic showdown with Lord Voldemort. It all ends here... It will be released Worldwide 15 July !!!
http://wn.com/JK_Rowling's_and_Trio's_Speeches_to_Each_Other_Deathly_Hallows_Part_2_London_Premiere
These are the Speeches that Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and JK Rowling gave in theHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Premiere!! Emma Watson and JK Rowling are Crying!!! n the epic finale, the battle between the good and evil forces of the wizarding world escalates into an all-out war. The stakes have never been higher and no one is safe. But it is Harry Potter who may be called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice as he draws closer to the climactic showdown with Lord Voldemort. It all ends here... It will be released Worldwide 15 July !!!
- published: 07 Jul 2011
- views: 355237
- author: tzekoulis
JK ROWLING LIVE WEBCAST FOR OCTOBER 2012 ANNOUNCED!
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:31
- Updated: 02 Dec 2012
JK Rowling announced a live webcast for October 2012, answering questions from fans for the first time since 2007. FOLLOW KALEB: twitter.com KALEB ON TUMBLR: kalebnation.tumblr.com READ MORE: www.hypable.com ==== THE 60SR SHOW ==== ► MORE SHOWS -- youtube.com ► WEBSITE -- www.60SR.com ==== KALEB NATION ==== ► YOUTUBE -- youtube.com ► TWITTER -- twitter.com ► FACEBOOK -- facebook.com ► TUMBLR -- kalebnation.tumblr.com ► OFFICIAL SITE -- kalebnation.com **TAGS** "JK Rowling" "Harry Potter" Live Webcast Web cast web show broadcast online Scholastic schools book club clip video Dumbledore Voldemort Woman JK Rowling Joanne UK Edinburgh BlogTV Ustream 2012 2007 "Kaleb Nation" 60SR
http://wn.com/JK_ROWLING_LIVE_WEBCAST_FOR_OCTOBER_2012_ANNOUNCED!
JK Rowling announced a live webcast for October 2012, answering questions from fans for the first time since 2007. FOLLOW KALEB: twitter.com KALEB ON TUMBLR: kalebnation.tumblr.com READ MORE: www.hypable.com ==== THE 60SR SHOW ==== ► MORE SHOWS -- youtube.com ► WEBSITE -- www.60SR.com ==== KALEB NATION ==== ► YOUTUBE -- youtube.com ► TWITTER -- twitter.com ► FACEBOOK -- facebook.com ► TUMBLR -- kalebnation.tumblr.com ► OFFICIAL SITE -- kalebnation.com **TAGS** "JK Rowling" "Harry Potter" Live Webcast Web cast web show broadcast online Scholastic schools book club clip video Dumbledore Voldemort Woman JK Rowling Joanne UK Edinburgh BlogTV Ustream 2012 2007 "Kaleb Nation" 60SR
- published: 01 Aug 2012
- views: 6592
- author: 60SR
photo: US Navy / HMC Josh Ives
27 Dec 2012
Imperial adventures are nothing new in the Middle East. Neither is their glorification, as Peter O’Toole’s pained Lawrence of Arabia eternally reminds us. But for a decade or so now, things have been heating up, as if to coincide with climate change and fears of declining petroleum reserves ... The Belly for Belligerence? ... The question loomed over beltway intelligentsia like an ephemeral Gordian knot ... We’re All Hawks Now ... While George W ... ....(size: 9.3Kb)
photo: AP / Ben Curtis
28 Dec 2012
The president of Central African Republic (CAR) has urgently called on France and other foreign powers to help his government fend off rebels who are quickly seizing territory and approaching the capital. Speaking to crowds in Bangui, a city of some 600,000, Francois Bozize on Thursday pleaded with foreign powers to do what they could. He pointed in particular to France, Central African Republic's former colonial ruler ... 516 Share ... News ... ....(size: 19.5Kb)
photo: WN / Janice Sabnal
27 Dec 2012
Washington. Six people, including two young children, were left dead in weather-related accidents, as winter snowstorms complicated travel for many Americans in the Midwest and Northeast on Wednesday. Snow totals in parts of Indiana ranged from 6 to 12 inches, CNN reported. About 350 snowploughs were clearing roads throughout the city. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told residents they should avoid nonessential travel ... IANS ... ....(size: 2.2Kb)
photo: AP / K.M.Chaudary
27 Dec 2012
Large crowds of Pakistan People's Party (PPP) supporters are gathering to mark the fifth anniversary of the murder of ex-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Ms Bhutto died in a gun and bomb attack during her 2007 election campaign. Hundreds of thousands of people have set up camp near the Bhutto family's ancestral home in Sindh province ... He cannot contest an election until his 25th birthday. Show of strength ... ....(size: 2.4Kb)
photo: AP
26 Dec 2012
News of defection comes as activists say 20 people, including eight children, have been killed by shelling in north of country. Assad’s forces are hitting back at a string of rebel advances across the country. Photograph. Abdalghne Karoof/REUTERS. The head of Syria's military police has defected from the army and declared allegiance to the uprising against the president, Bashar al-Assad, according to a video and a Syrian security source....(size: 3.4Kb)
The Examiner
29 Dec 2012
One Direction, "The Avengers, "The Dark Knight Rises," and "The Hungers Games" landed in the top 10 most searched terms on Wikipedia for 2012. And according to a report on Mashable on Dec ... Read related entertainment articles by clicking on the links below ... The Mashable report also made note of the fact that ... And JK Rowling's Harry Potter was the number nine search in Poland for the year ... Facebook. Wiki. Deaths in 2012 ... ....(size: 2.2Kb)
The Times of India
29 Dec 2012
City youngsters — who are increasingly going for e-books — have left the cash-strapped libraries in the lurch. We explore. Picture this ... Fast forward to 2012 and with a population of 11 lakh, most of these libraries have fallen into a state of disregard ... "In fact, I had JK Rowling's latest in my inbox within an hour of its launch in London while the physical copy will take time to appear on the shelves of local bookstores," she says ... ....(size: 2.9Kb)
Chicago Tribune
29 Dec 2012
HARDCOVER FICTION. 1. "The Racketeer" by John Grisham (Doubleday, $28.95). A federal judge and his secretary are murdered, and a former lawyer serving prison time says he knows who did it and why. Last week. 1. 2. "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn (Crown, $25). Nick is the No. 1 suspect in his beautiful wife's disappearance, but could this golden boy really have killed his beloved? Last week. 3. 3 ... Last week. 2. 4 ... Rowling (Little, Brown, $35) ... 7. 5 ... 5. 6 ... ....(size: 4.2Kb)
BBC News
29 Dec 2012
2012 was a year of celebrations thanks to the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics ... January. Michael Kiwanuka ... February ... March ... April ... May ... June ... Some 27m people in the UK watched Danny Boyle's opening ceremony which featured Sir Kenneth Branagh, JK Rowling, Emeli Sande and the Queen - who skydived into the Olympic stadium alongside James Bond ... JK Rowling's long awaited first adult book, The Casual Vacancy, was released ... ....(size: 15.8Kb)
The Guardian
29 Dec 2012
Over 20 years, Pete Irvine has turned the Scottish capital into more than just the spiritual home of Hogmanay. Just ask any of the 100,000 foreign visitors partying on its streets on Monday night ... Photograph ... Up on George IV Bridge a little huddle of Koreans are doing that iPhone thing with each other outside the Elephant House, where JK Rowling brought Harry Potter to life, and soon Facebook will thrum with images of their happy faces....(size: 9.9Kb)
Tulsa World
29 Dec 2012
In the world of pop culture, handing a top award to just one event or one person in 2012 is too hard to do. Who will forget the untimely death of R&B; phenom Whitney Houston, the split of TomKat, Clint Eastwood's empty chair convo, or Snooki having a baby? ... This year, having not yet heralded the end of the world, was, to say the least, a memorable one ... getting her life together ... A royal pregnancy ... E.L ... Rowling's "Harry Potter" books ... On Nov....(size: 14.8Kb)
Huffington Post
29 Dec 2012
Yes, this website actually exists ... J.K. Rowling Writes A Dirty Novel ... According to Gawker's count, <a href=""http.//gawker.com/5947016/how-dirty-is-jk-rowlings-new-book-the-casual-vacancy-by-the-numbers">"The" Casual Vacancy" contains the word</a> "breast" 17 times, "condom" 10 times, "c*nt" 8 times, "f*ck" 214 times and some variation of "penis" 10 times....(size: 32.8Kb)
The Independent
29 Dec 2012
The Audience. Helen Mirren and writer Peter Morgan return to the subject of the Queen in a play that will eavesdrop on those weekly private meetings with her (12) Prime Ministers at pivotal moments during her 60-year reign. A mouthwatering proposition, to be directed by Stephen Daldry. 15 Feb to 15 June, Gielgud Theatre, London ... Swarms of readers will be hoping that Hornby truly stings those parts that JK Rowling merely buzzed around....(size: 26.3Kb)
The Independent
29 Dec 2012
The Audience. Helen Mirren and writer Peter Morgan return to the subject of the Queen in a play that will eavesdrop on those weekly private meetings with her (12) Prime Ministers at pivotal moments during her 60-year reign. A mouthwatering proposition, to be directed by Stephen Daldry. 15 Feb to 15 June, Gielgud Theatre, London ... Swarms of readers will be hoping that Hornby truly stings those parts that JK Rowling merely buzzed around....(size: 26.3Kb)
Sydney Morning Herald
28 Dec 2012
What are the new sensations in the book world this coming year? Feel-good yarns about guys with Asperger's, amazing true-ish stories from history, and a monster apocalypse ... Rowling, Bloomsbury claims to have found her ... Advertisement ....(size: 1.3Kb)
Sydney Morning Herald
28 Dec 2012
What are the new sensations in the book world this coming year? Feelgood yarns about guys with Asperger syndrome, amazing true-ish stories from history, and monster apocalypse ... Rowling, Bloomsbury claims to have found her ... Advertisement ....(size: 1.2Kb)
Sydney Morning Herald
28 Dec 2012
WHAT are the new sensations in the book world this coming year? Feel-good yarns about guys with Asperger's, amazing trueish stories from history, and a monster apocalypse ... Rowling, Bloomsbury claims to have found her. Samantha Shannon ... Advertisement ....(size: 1.3Kb)
Bloomberg
28 Dec 2012
Russian Urals crude dropped to its biggest discount versus Dated Brent in more than two months as exports to Europe are set to increase in January. The Urals differential in northwest Europe increased today to $1.35 a barrel less than Dated Brent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s the largest since Oct. 9 ... 25, the data show ... To contact the reporter on this story. Rupert Rowling in London at rrowling@bloomberg.net ... ....(size: 2.8Kb)
| J. K. Rowling, OBE, FRSL | |
|---|---|
 Rowling at the White House Easter Egg Roll, 2010 |
|
| Born | Joanne Rowling (1965-07-31) 31 July 1965 (age 46)[1] Yate, Gloucestershire, England |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | Bachelor of Arts |
| Alma mater | University of Exeter |
| Genres | Children's literature, fantasy |
| Subjects | Wizards and witches |
| Notable work(s) | Harry Potter series |
| Spouse(s) | Jorge Arantes (m. 1992–95) Neil Murray (m. 2001–present) |
| Children | 2 daughters, 1 son |
|
Influences
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www.jkrowling.com |
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Joanne "Jo" Rowling, ( /ˈroʊlɪŋ/) OBE, FRSL [2] (born 31 July 1965),[3] known as J. K. Rowling,[4] is a British novelist, best known as the author of the Harry Potter fantasy series. The Potter books have gained worldwide attention, won multiple awards, sold more than 400 million copies[5] to become the best-selling book series in history[6] and been the basis for a popular series of films, in which Rowling had overall approval on the scripts[7] as well as maintaining creative control by serving as a producer on the final instalment.[8] Rowling conceived the idea for the series on a train trip from Manchester to London in 1990.[9]
Rowling has led a "rags to riches" life story, in which she progressed from living on social security to multi-millionaire status within five years. As of March 2011[update], when its latest world billionaires list was published, Forbes estimated Rowling's net worth to be US$1 billion.[10] The 2008 Sunday Times Rich List estimated Rowling's fortune at £560 million ($798 million), ranking her as the twelfth richest woman in the United Kingdom.[11] Forbes ranked Rowling as the forty-eighth most powerful celebrity of 2007,[12] and Time magazine named her as a runner-up for its 2007 Person of the Year, noting the social, moral, and political inspiration she has given her fans.[13] In October 2010, J. K. Rowling was named 'Most Influential Woman in Britain' by leading magazine editors.[14] She has become a notable philanthropist, supporting such charities as Comic Relief, One Parent Families, Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain, and Lumos (formerly the Children's High Level Group).
On 12 April 2012, Rowling announced that her new adult novel The Casual Vacancy would be published in the UK by Little, Brown & Company on 27 September 2012.[15]
Contents |
Name[link]
Although she writes under the pen name "J. K. Rowling", pronounced like rolling,[16] her name when her first Harry Potter book was published was simply "Joanne Rowling". Anticipating that the target audience of young boys might not want to read a book written by a woman, her publishers demanded that she use two initials, rather than her full name. As she had no middle name, she chose K as the second initial of her pen name, from her paternal grandmother Kathleen Ada Bulgen Rowling.[17][18] She calls herself "Jo" and has said, "No one ever called me 'Joanne' when I was young, unless they were angry."[19] Following her marriage, she has sometimes used the name Joanne Murray when conducting personal business.[20][21] During the Leveson Inquiry she gave evidence under the name of Joanne Kathleen Rowling.[22]
Background[link]
Rowling was born to Peter James Rowling and Anne Rowling (née Volant), on 31 July 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, England, 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Bristol.[23] Her mother Anne was half-French, half-Scottish. Her mother's maternal grandfather, Dr. Dugald Campbell, was born in Lamlash on the Isle of Arran.[24] Her mother's paternal grandfather, Louis Volant, was awarded the Croix de Guerre for exceptional bravery in defending the village of Courcelles-le-Comte during the First World War.[25]
Rowling's sister Dianne[9] was born at their home when Rowling was 23 months old.[23] The family moved to the nearby village Winterbourne when Rowling was four.[26] She attended St Michael's Primary School, a school founded by abolitionist William Wilberforce and education reformer Hannah More.[27][28] Her headmaster at St Michael's, Alfred Dunn, has been suggested as the inspiration for the Harry Potter headmaster Albus Dumbledore.[29]
As a child, Rowling often wrote fantasy stories, which she would usually then read to her sister. She recalls that "I can still remember me telling her a story in which she fell down a rabbit hole and was fed strawberries by the rabbit family inside it. Certainly the first story I ever wrote down (when I was five or six) was about a rabbit called Rabbit. He got the measles and was visited by his friends, including a giant bee called Miss Bee."[16] At the age of nine, Rowling moved to Church Cottage in the Gloucestershire village of Tutshill, close to Chepstow, Wales.[23] When she was a young teenager, her great aunt, who Rowling said "taught classics and approved of a thirst for knowledge, even of a questionable kind", gave her a very old copy of Jessica Mitford's autobiography, Hons and Rebels.[30] Mitford became Rowling's heroine, and Rowling subsequently read all of her books.[31]
She attended secondary school at Wyedean School and College, where her mother, Anne, had worked as a technician in the Science Department.[32] Rowling said of her adolescence, "Hermione [A bookish, know-it-all Harry Potter character] is loosely based on me. She's a caricature of me when I was eleven, which I'm not particularly proud of."[33] Sean Harris, her best friend in the Upper Sixth owned a turquoise Ford Anglia, which she says inspired the one in her books. "Ron Weasley [Harry Potter's best friend] isn't a living portrait of Sean, but he really is very Sean-ish."[34] Of her musical tastes of the time, she said "My favourite group in the world is The Smiths. And when I was going through a punky phase, it was The Clash."[35] Rowling studied A Levels in English, French and German[36] before reading for a BA in French and Classics at the University of Exeter, which she says was a "bit of a shock" as she "was expecting to be amongst lots of similar people – thinking radical thoughts." Once she made friends with "some like-minded people" she says she began to enjoy herself.[37] After a year of study in Paris, Rowling moved to London to work as a researcher and bilingual secretary for Amnesty International.[38]
After working at Amnesty International in London, Rowling and her then-boyfriend decided to move to Manchester.[23] In 1990, while she was on a four-hour-delayed train trip from Manchester to London, the idea for a story of a young boy attending a school of wizardry "came fully formed" into her mind.[39] She told The Boston Globe that "I really don't know where the idea came from. It started with Harry, then all these characters and situations came flooding into my head."[23][39] When she had reached her Clapham Junction flat, she began to write immediately.[23][40]
In December of that year, Rowling's mother died, after ten years suffering from multiple sclerosis.[23] Rowling commented, "I was writing Harry Potter at the moment my mother died. I had never told her about Harry Potter."[21] Rowling said this death heavily affected her writing[21][41] and that she introduced much more detail about Harry's loss in the first book, because she knew about how it felt.[42]
Rowling then moved to Porto in Portugal to teach English as a foreign language.[9][31] While there, on 16 October 1992, she married Portuguese television journalist Jorge Arantes. Their child, Jessica Isabel Rowling Arantes (named after Jessica Mitford), was born on 27 July 1993 in Portugal.[43] They separated in November 1993.[43][44] In December 1993, Rowling and her daughter moved to be near Rowling's sister in Edinburgh, Scotland.[23]
Seven years after graduating from university, Rowling saw herself as "the biggest failure I knew."[45] Her marriage had failed, she was jobless with a dependent child, but she described her failure as liberating:
Failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy to finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one area where I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realized, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter, and a big idea. And so rock bottom became a solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life. – J. K. Rowling, Harvard commencement address, 2008.[45]
In order to teach in Scotland she would need a postgraduate certificate of education (PGCE), requiring a full-time, year-long course of study. She began this course in August 1995,[46] after completing her first novel while having survived on social security.[47] She wrote in many cafés, especially Nicolson's Café,[48] wherever she could get Jessica to fall asleep.[23][49] In a 2001 BBC interview, Rowling denied the rumour that she wrote in local cafés to escape from her unheated flat, remarking, "I am not stupid enough to rent an unheated flat in Edinburgh in midwinter. It had heating." Instead, as she stated on the American TV programme A&E Biography, one of the reasons she wrote in cafés was because taking her baby out for a walk was the best way to make her fall asleep.[49]
[edit] Harry Potter
[edit] Harry Potter books
Main article: Harry Potter
In 1995, Rowling finished her manuscript for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone on an old manual typewriter.[51] Upon the enthusiastic response of Bryony Evens, a reader who had been asked to review the book's first three chapters, the Fulham-based Christopher Little Literary Agents agreed to represent Rowling in her quest for a publisher. The book was submitted to twelve publishing houses, all of which rejected the manuscript.[43] A year later she was finally given the green light (and a £1500 advance) by editor Barry Cunningham from Bloomsbury, a small publishing house in London.[43][52] The decision to publish Rowling's book apparently owes much to Alice Newton, the eight-year-old daughter of Bloomsbury's chairman, who was given the first chapter to review by her father and immediately demanded the next.[53] Although Bloomsbury agreed to publish the book, Cunningham says that he advised Rowling to get a day job, since she had little chance of making money in children's books.[54] Soon after, in 1997, Rowling received an £8000 grant from the Scottish Arts Council to enable her to continue writing.[55] In early 1998, an auction was held in the United States for the rights to publish the novel, and was won by Scholastic Inc., for $105,000. In Rowling's own words, she "nearly died" when she heard the news.[56]
In June 1997, Bloomsbury published Philosopher's Stone with an initial print run of 1,000 copies, 500 of which were distributed to libraries. Today, such copies are valued between £16,000 and £25,000.[57] Five months later, the book won its first award, a Nestlé Smarties Book Prize. In February, the novel won the prestigious British Book Award for Children's Book of the Year, and later, the Children's Book Award. In October 1998, Scholastic published Philosopher's Stone in the US under the title of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: a change Rowling claims she now regrets and would have fought if she had been in a better position at the time.[58] Its sequel, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, was published in July 1998 and again Rowling won the Smarties Prize.[59]
In December 1999, the third novel, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, won the Smarties Prize, making Rowling the first person to win the award three times running.[60] She later withdrew the fourth Harry Potter novel from contention to allow other books a fair chance. In January 2000, Prisoner of Azkaban won the inaugural Whitbread Children's Book of the Year award, though it lost the Book of the Year prize to Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf.[61]
The fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, was released simultaneously in the UK and the U.S. on 8 July 2000, and broke sales records in both countries. Some 372,775 copies of the book were sold in its first day in the UK, almost equalling the number Prisoner of Azkaban sold during its first year.[62] In the US, the book sold three million copies in its first 48 hours, smashing all literary sales records.[62] Rowling admitted that she had had a moment of crisis while writing the novel; "Halfway through writing Four, I realised there was a serious fault with the plot ... I've had some of my blackest moments with this book ... One chapter I rewrote 13 times, though no-one who has read it can spot which one or know the pain it caused me."[63] Rowling was named author of the year in the 2000 British Book Awards.[64]
A wait of three years occurred between the release of Goblet of Fire and the fifth Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. This gap led to press speculation that Rowling had developed writer's block, speculations she fervently denied.[65] Rowling later admitted that writing the book was a chore. "I think Phoenix could have been shorter", she told Lev Grossman, "I knew that, and I ran out of time and energy toward the end."[66]
The sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, was released on 16 July 2005. It too broke all sales records, selling nine million copies in its first 24 hours of release.[67] While writing, she told a fan online, "Book six has been planned for years, but before I started writing seriously I spend two months re-visiting the plan and making absolutely sure I knew what I was doing."[68] She noted on her website that the opening chapter of book six, which features a conversation between the Minister of Magic and the British Prime Minister, had been intended as the first chapter first for Philosopher's Stone, then Chamber of Secrets then Prisoner of Azkaban.[69] In 2006, Half-Blood Prince received the Book of the Year prize at the British Book Awards.[70]
The title of the seventh and final Harry Potter book was revealed 21 December 2006 to be Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.[71] In February 2007 it was reported that Rowling wrote on a bust in her hotel room at the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh that she had finished the seventh book in that room on 11 January 2007.[72] Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released on 21 July 2007 (0:01 BST)[73] and broke its predecessor's record as the fastest-selling book of all time.[74] It sold 11 million copies in the first day of release in the United Kingdom and United States.[74] She wrote the last chapter of the book "in something like 1990", as part of her earliest work on the entire series.[75] During a year period when Rowling was completing the last book, she allowed herself to be filmed for a documentary which aired in Britain on ITV on 30 December 2007. It was entitled J K Rowling... A Year In The Life and showed her returning to her old Edinburgh tenement flat where she lived, and completed the first Harry Potter book.[76] Re-visiting the flat for the first time reduced her to tears, saying it was "really where I turned my life around completely."[76]
In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Rowling gave credit to her mother for the success of the series saying that "the books are what they are because she died...because I loved her and she died."[77] During this period Rowling was diagnosed with clinical depression, and contemplated suicide.[78] It was the feeling of her illness which brought her the idea of Dementors, soul-sucking creatures introduced in the third book.[79]
Harry Potter is now a global brand worth an estimated £7 billion ($15 billion),[80] and the last four Harry Potter books have consecutively set records as the fastest-selling books in history.[74][81] The series, totalling 4,195 pages,[82] has been translated, in whole or in part, into 65 languages.[83]
The Harry Potter books have also gained recognition for sparking an interest in reading among the young at a time when children were thought to be abandoning books for computers and television,[84] although it is reported that despite the huge uptake of the books, adolescent reading has continued to decline.[85]
[edit] Harry Potter films
Main article: Harry Potter (film series)
In October 1998, Warner Bros. purchased the film rights to the first two novels for a seven-figure sum.[86] A film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was released on 16 November 2001, and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on 15 November 2002.[87] Both films were directed by Chris Columbus. 4 June 2004 saw the release of the film version of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, directed by Alfonso Cuarón. The fourth film, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, was directed by another new director, Mike Newell, and released on 18 November 2005. The film of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was released on 11 July 2007.[87] David Yates directed, and Michael Goldenberg wrote the screenplay, having taken over the position from Steve Kloves. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was released on 15 July 2009.[88][89] David Yates directed again, and Kloves returned to write the script.[90] In March 2008, Warner Bros. announced that the final instalment of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, would be filmed in two segments, with part one being released in November 2010 and part two being released in July 2011. Yates would again return to direct both films.[91][92]
Warner Bros took considerable notice of Rowling's desires and thoughts when drafting her contract. One of her principal stipulations was the films be shot in Britain with an all-British cast, which has been adhered to strictly.[93] In an unprecedented move, Rowling also demanded that Coca-Cola, the victor in the race to tie in their products to the film series, donate $18 million to the American charity Reading is Fundamental, as well as a number of community charity programs.[94]
The first four, sixth and seventh films were scripted by Steve Kloves; Rowling assisted him in the writing process, ensuring that his scripts did not contradict future books in the series. She has said that she told him more about the later books than anybody else (prior to their release), but not everything.[95] She also told Alan Rickman (Severus Snape) and Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid) certain secrets about their characters before they were revealed in the books.[96] Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) asked her if Harry died at any point in the series; Rowling answered him by saying, "You have a death scene", thereby not explicitly answering the question.[97] Director Steven Spielberg was approached to helm the first film, but dropped out. The press has repeatedly claimed that Rowling played a role in his departure, but Rowling stated that she has no say in who directs the films and would not have vetoed Spielberg if she had.[98] Rowling's first choice for the director had been Monty Python member Terry Gilliam, as she is a fan of his work, but Warner Bros. wanted a more family-friendly film and chose Columbus.[99]
Rowling had gained creative control on the films, approving all the scripts[100] as well as acting as a producer on the final two-part instalment, Deathly Hallows.[101]
On her website, Rowling revealed that she was considered to have a cameo in the first film as Lily Potter in the Mirror of Erised scene. Rowling, however, turned down the role, stating that she was not cut out to be an actor and, "would have messed it up somehow".[102] The role ultimately went to Geraldine Somerville.
Rowling, producers David Heyman and David Barron, along with directors David Yates, Mike Newell and Alfonso Cuarón collected the Michael Balcon Award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema at the 2011 British Academy Film Awards in honour of the Harry Potter film franchise.[103]
[edit] Life after Harry Potter
Forbes has named Rowling as the first person to become a U.S.-dollar billionaire by writing books,[104] the second-richest female entertainer and the 1,062nd richest person in the world.[105] When first listed as a billionaire by Forbes in 2004, Rowling disputed the calculations and said she had plenty of money, but was not a billionaire.[106] In addition, the 2008 Sunday Times Rich List named Rowling the 144th richest person in Britain.[11] In 2001, Rowling purchased a 19th-century estate house, Killiechassie House, on the banks of the River Tay, near Aberfeldy, in Perth and Kinross, Scotland.[107] Rowling also owns a home in Edinburgh, and a £4.5 million ($9 million) Georgian house in Kensington, West London,[108] on a street with 24-hour security.[109]
On 26 December 2001, Rowling married Neil Michael Murray (born 30 June 1971), an anaesthetist, in a private ceremony at her Aberfeldy home.[110] This was a second marriage for both Rowling and Murray, as Murray had previously been married to Dr. Fiona Duncan in 1996. Murray and Duncan separated in 1999 and divorced in mid-2001. Rowling's and Murray's son, David Gordon Rowling Murray, was born on 24 March 2003.[111] Shortly after Rowling began writing Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince she took a break from working on the novel to care for him in his early infancy.[112] Rowling's youngest child, daughter Mackenzie Jean Rowling Murray, to whom she dedicated Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, was born on 23 January 2005.[113]
Rowling is a close friend of Sarah Brown, wife of former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whom she met when they collaborated on a charitable project (see below). When Brown's son Fraser was born in 2003, Rowling was one of the first to visit her in the hospital.[114]
Rowling has received honorary degrees from St Andrews University, the University of Edinburgh, Napier University, the University of Exeter,[115] the University of Aberdeen[116][117] and Harvard University, for whom she spoke at the 2008 commencement ceremony.[118] In 2009 Rowling was awarded the Légion d'honneur by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.[119]
Subsequent writing[link]
In an interview with Stephen Fry in 2005, Rowling claimed that she would much prefer to write any subsequent books under a pseudonym; however, she conceded to Jeremy Paxman in 2003 that if she did, the press would probably "find out in seconds."[120] In 2006, Rowling revealed that she had finished writing a few short stories and another children's book (a "political fairy story") about a monster, aimed at a younger audience than Harry Potter readers.[121]
As regards the possibility of an eighth Harry Potter book, she has said, "I can't say I'll never write another book about that world just because I think, what do I know, in ten years' time I might want to return to it but I think it's unlikely."[122] On 1 October 2010, in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Rowling stated a new book on the saga might happen.[123]
Rowling plans to write an encyclopaedia of Harry Potter's wizarding world consisting of various unpublished material and notes.[124] Any profits from such a book would be given to charity.[125] During a news conference at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre in 2007, Rowling, when asked how the encyclopaedia was coming along, said, "It's not coming along, and I haven't started writing it. I never said it was the next thing I'd do."[126] At the end of 2007, Rowling said that the encyclopaedia could take up to ten years to complete, stating "There is no point in doing it unless it is amazing. The last thing I want to do is to rush something out".[76] On 13 April 2012, following the release of her new website, Rowling confirmed that she had started work on the project and would donate all royalties to charity as she had previously planned.[127]
In July 2007, Rowling said that she wants to dedicate "lots" of her time to her family, but is currently "sort of writing two things", one for children and the other for adults.[128] She did not give any details about the two projects but did state that she was excited because the two book situation reminded her of writing the Philosopher's Stone, explaining how she was then writing two books until Harry took over.[129] She stated in October 2007 that her future work was unlikely to be in the fantasy genre, explaining, "I think probably I've done my fantasy ... it would be incredibly difficult to go out and create another world that didn't in some way overlap with Harry's or maybe borrow a little too much from Harry."[130] In November 2007, Rowling said that she was working on another book, a "half-finished book for children that I think will probably be the next thing I publish."[131] In March 2008, Rowling confirmed that her "political fairy tale" for children was nearing completion.[132]
In March 2008, Rowling revealed in an interview that she had returned to writing in Edinburgh cafés, intent on composing a new novel for children. "I will continue writing for children because that's what I enjoy," she told The Daily Telegraph. "I am very good at finding a suitable café; I blend into the crowd and, of course, I don't sit in the middle of the bar staring all around me."[133]
In June 2011, Rowling announced that future Harry Potter projects, and all electronic downloads, would be concentrated in a new website, called Pottermore.[134] The site includes 18,000 words of additional information on characters, places and objects in the Harry Potter universe.[135] The following month, she parted company with her agent, Christopher Little, moving to a new agency founded by one of his staff, Neil Blair.[136]
On 23 February 2012, Rowling's agency, The Blair Partnership announced on its website that Rowling was set to publish a new book targeted at adults. In a press release, Rowling noted the differences between her new project and the Potter series, saying "Although I've enjoyed writing it just as much, my next novel will be very different from the Harry Potter series." On 12 April 2012, Little, Brown & Company announced that the book was entitled The Casual Vacancy and would be released on 27 September 2012.[137]
Philanthropy[link]
In 2000, Rowling established the Volant Charitable Trust, which uses its annual budget of £5.1 million to combat poverty and social inequality. The fund also gives to organisations that aid children, one parent families, and multiple sclerosis research.[138] Rowling said, "I think you have a moral responsibility when you've been given far more than you need, to do wise things with it and give intelligently."[128]
Anti-poverty and children's welfare[link]
Rowling, once a single parent herself, is now president of the charity Gingerbread (originally One Parent Families), having already become their first Ambassador in 2000.[139][140] Rowling collaborated with Sarah Brown to write a book of children's stories to aid One Parent Families.[141]
In 2001, the UK anti-poverty fundraiser Comic Relief asked three best-selling British authors – cookery writer and TV presenter Delia Smith, Bridget Jones creator Helen Fielding, and Rowling – to submit booklets related to their most famous works for publication.[142] Rowling's two booklets, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages, are ostensibly facsimiles of books found in the Hogwarts library. Since going on sale in March 2001, the books have raised £15.7 million ($30 million) for the fund. The £10.8 million ($20 million) they have raised outside the UK have been channelled into a newly created International Fund for Children and Young People in Crisis.[143]
In 2005, Rowling and MEP Emma Nicholson founded the Children's High Level Group (now Lumos).[144] In January 2006, Rowling went to Bucharest to highlight the use of caged beds in mental institutions for children.[145] To further support the CHLG, Rowling auctioned one of seven handwritten and illustrated copies of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a series of fairy tales referred to in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The book was purchased for £1.95 million by on-line bookseller Amazon.com on 13 December 2007, becoming the most expensive modern book ever sold at auction.[146][147] Rowling commented, "This will mean so much to children in desperate need of help. It means Christmas has come early to me."[147][148] Rowling gave away the remaining six copies to those who have a close connection with the Harry Potter books.[147] In 2008, Rowling agreed to publish the book with the proceeds going to the Children's High Level Group.[146] On 1 June 2010 (International Children’s Day), Lumos launched an annual initiative – Light a Birthday Candle for Lumos. To support the campaign on 1 June 2011, JK Rowling gave an interview to Redonline.co.uk
Multiple sclerosis[link]
Rowling has contributed money and support for research and treatment of multiple sclerosis, from which her mother suffered before her death in 1990. In 2006, Rowling contributed a substantial sum toward the creation of a new Centre for Regenerative Medicine at Edinburgh University, later named the Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic.[149] In 2010 she donated a further £10 million to the centre.[150] For reasons unknown, Scotland, Rowling's country of adoption, has the highest rate of multiple sclerosis in the world.[151] In 2003, Rowling took part in a campaign to establish a national standard of care for MS sufferers.[152] In April 2009, she announced that she was withdrawing her support for Multiple Sclerosis Society Scotland, citing her inability to resolve an ongoing feud between the organisation's northern and southern branches that had sapped morale and led to several resignations.[152]
Other philanthropic work[link]
In May 2008, bookseller Waterstones asked Rowling and 12 other writers (Sebastian Faulks, Doris Lessing, Lisa Appignanesi, Margaret Atwood, Lauren Child, Richard Ford, Neil Gaiman, Nick Hornby, Michael Rosen, Axel Scheffler, Tom Stoppard and Irvine Welsh) to compose a short piece of their own choosing on a single A5 card, which would then be sold at auction in aid of the charities Dyslexia Action and English PEN. Rowling's contribution was an 800-word Harry Potter prequel that concerns Harry's father, James Potter, and godfather, Sirius Black, and takes place three years before Harry was born.[153][154] The cards were collected together and sold for charity in book form in August 2008.[154]
On 1 and 2 August 2006 she read alongside Stephen King and John Irving at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Profits from the event were donated to the Haven Foundation, a charity that aids artists and performers left uninsurable and unable to work, and the medical NGO Médecins Sans Frontières.[155] In May 2007, Rowling pledged a donation reported as over £250,000 or over $495,000 to a reward fund started by the tabloid News of the World for the safe return of a young British girl, Madeleine McCann, who disappeared in Portugal.[156] Rowling, along with Nelson Mandela, Al Gore, and Alan Greenspan, wrote an introduction to a collection of Gordon Brown's speeches, the proceeds of which are donated to the Jennifer Brown Research Laboratory.[157]
Rowling is a supporter of The Shannon Trust, which runs the Toe by Toe Reading Plan and the Shannon Reading Plan in prisons across Britain, helping and giving tutoring to prisoners who cannot read.[158]
Political views[link]
See also: Politics of Harry Potter
In September 2008, on the eve of the Labour Party Conference, Rowling announced that she had donated £1 million to the Labour Party, and publicly endorsed Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown over Tory challenger David Cameron, saying in a statement:
I believe that poor and vulnerable families will fare much better under the Labour Party than they would under a Cameron-led Conservative Party. Gordon Brown has consistently prioritised and introduced measures that will save as many children as possible from a life lacking in opportunity or choice. The Labour government has reversed the long-term trend in child poverty, and is one of the leading EU countries in combating child poverty. David Cameron's promise of tax perks for the married, on the other hand, is reminiscent of the Conservative government I experienced as a lone parent. It sends the message that the Conservatives still believe a childless, dual-income, but married couple is more deserving of a financial pat on the head than those struggling, as I once was, to keep their families afloat in difficult times.[159]
Rowling discussed the 2008 United States presidential election with the Spanish-language newspaper El País. She said she was obsessed with the United States elections because they would have a profound effect on the rest of the world. In February 2008, she said that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton would be "extraordinary" in the White House. In the same interview, she also said her hero was Robert F. Kennedy.[160]
In April 2010, Rowling published an article in The Times in which she heavily criticised Cameron's plan to encourage married couples to stay together by offering them a £150 annual tax credit.
Nobody who has ever experienced the reality of poverty could say "it's not the money, it's the message". When your flat has been broken into, and you cannot afford a locksmith, it is the money. When you are two pence short of a tin of baked beans, and your child is hungry, it is the money. When you find yourself contemplating shoplifting to get nappies, it is the money. If Mr Cameron's only practical advice to women living in poverty, the sole carers of their children, is "get married, and we'll give you £150", he reveals himself to be completely ignorant of their true situation. How many prospective husbands did I ever meet, when I was the single mother of a baby, unable to work, stuck inside my flat, night after night, with barely enough money for life's necessities? Should I have proposed to the youth who broke in through my kitchen window at 3 am? Half a billion pounds, to send a message – would it not be more cost-effective, more personal, to send all the lower-income married people flowers?[161]
Religious views[link]
Main article: Religious debates over the Harry Potter series
Over the years, some religious people have decried Rowling's books for supposedly promoting witchcraft. Rowling identifies as a Christian; she attended a Church of Scotland congregation while writing Harry Potter and her eldest daughter, Jessica, was baptised there.[162] "I go to church myself", she says, "I don't take any responsibility for the lunatic fringes of my own religion".[163] She once said, "I believe in God, not magic."[164] Early on she felt that if readers knew of her Christian beliefs, they would be able to "guess what is coming in the books."[165]
In 2007, Rowling described her religious background in an interview with the Dutch newspaper the Volkskrant:[166]
I was officially raised in the Church of England, but I was actually more of a freak in my family. We didn't talk about religion in our home. My father didn't believe in anything, neither did my sister. My mother would incidentally visit the church, but mostly during Christmas. And I was immensely curious. From when I was 13, 14 I went to church alone. I found it very interesting what was being said there, and I believed in it. When I went to university, I became more critical. I got more annoyed with the smugness of religious people and I went to church less and less. Now I'm at the point where I started: yes, I believe. And yes, I go to the church. A Protestant church here in Edinburgh. My husband is also raised Protestant, but he comes from a very strict Scottish group. One where they couldn't sing and talk.
Rowling has occasionally expressed ambivalence about her religious faith. In a 2006 interview with Tatler magazine, Rowling noted that, "like Graham Greene, my faith is sometimes about if my faith will return. It's important to me."[21] In a British documentary, JK Rowling: A Year in the Life, when asked if she believed in God, she said, "Yes. I do struggle with it; I couldn't pretend that I'm not doubt-ridden about a lot of things and that would be one of them but I would say yes." When asked if she believed in an afterlife, she said, "Yes; I think I do."[167] She further said, "It's something that I wrestle with a lot. It preoccupies me a lot, and I think that's very obvious within the books."[168] In a 2008 interview with the Spanish newspaper El Pais, Rowling said, "I feel very drawn to religion, but at the same time I feel a lot of uncertainty. I live in a state of spiritual flux. I believe in the permanence of the soul."[169] In an interview with the Today Show in July 2007, she said, "...until we reached Book Seven, views of what happens after death and so on... would give away a lot of what was coming. So... yes, my belief and my struggling with religious belief and so on I think is quite apparent in this book."[170]
Legal disputes[link]
Main article: Legal disputes over the Harry Potter series
Rowling, her publishers, and Time Warner, the owner of the rights to the Harry Potter films, have taken numerous legal actions to protect their copyright. The worldwide popularity of the Harry Potter series has led to the appearance of a number of locally produced, unauthorised sequels and other derivative works, sparking efforts to ban or contain them.[171]
Another area of legal dispute involves a series of injunctions obtained by Rowling and her publishers to prohibit anyone from reading her books before their official release date.[172] The injunction drew fire from civil liberties and free speech campaigners and sparked debates over the "right to read".[173][174]
Relationship with the press[link]
Rowling has had a difficult relationship with the press. She admits to being "thin-skinned" and dislikes the fickle nature of reporting. "They went in one day from saying, 'She's got writer's block' to saying, 'She's been self-indulgent'", she told The Times in 2003, "And I thought, well, what a difference 24 hours makes." Rowling disputes her reputation as a recluse who hates to be interviewed.[175] In 2001, the Press Complaints Commission upheld a complaint by Rowling over a series of unauthorised photographs of her with her daughter on the beach in Mauritius published in OK! Magazine.[176] In 2007, Rowling's young son, David, assisted by Rowling and her husband, lost a court fight to ban publication of a photograph of him. The photo, taken by a photographer using a long-range lens, was subsequently published in a Sunday Express article featuring Rowling's family life and motherhood.[20] The judgment was overturned in David's favour in May 2008.[177][178]
Rowling has said she particularly dislikes the British tabloid the Daily Mail, which made references to a stalker Rowling insists does not exist, and conducted interviews with her estranged ex-husband. As one journalist noted, "Harry's Uncle Vernon is a grotesque philistine of violent tendencies and remarkably little brain. It is not difficult to guess which newspaper Rowling gives him to read [in Goblet of Fire]."[179]
Some have speculated that Rowling's fraught relationship with the press was the inspiration behind the character Rita Skeeter, a gossipy celebrity journalist who first appears in Goblet of Fire, but Rowling noted in 2000 that the character actually predates her rise to fame: "People have asked me whether Rita Skeeter was invented [to reflect Harry Potter's popularity], but in fact she was always planned."[180] "I tried to put Rita in Philosopher's Stone – you know when Harry walks into the Leaky Cauldron for the first time and everyone says, "Mr. Potter you're back!", I wanted to put a journalist in there. She wasn't called Rita then but she was a woman. And then I thought, as I looked at the plot overall, I thought, that's not really where she fits best, she fits best in Four when Harry's supposed to come to terms with his fame."[181]
In September 2011, Rowling was named a "core participant" in the Leveson Inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the British press, as one of dozens of celebrities who may have been the victim of phone hacking.[182] On 24 November 2011, Rowling gave evidence before the inquiry; although she was not suspected to have been the victim of phone hacking (she "hardly used her phone in the 90s", she said),[183] her testimony included accounts of photographers camping on her doorstep, her fiance being duped into giving his home address to a journalist masquerading as a tax official,[183] a journalist leaving a note inside her then-five-year-old daughter's schoolbag, and an attempt by the Sun to "blackmail" her into a photo opportunity in exchange for the return of a stolen manuscript.[184] Rowling claimed she had to leave her former home in Merchiston, Edinburgh because of press intrusion.[184]
Awards and honours[link]
- 1997: Nestlé Smarties Book Prize, Gold Award for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
- 1998: Nestlé Smarties Book Prize, Gold Award for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- 1998: British Children's Book of the Year, winner Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
- 1999: Nestlé Smarties Book Prize, Gold Award for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- 1999: National Book Awards Children's Book of the Year, winner Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- 1999: Whitbread Children's Book of the Year, winner Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- 2000: British Book Awards, Author of the Year
- 2000: Order of the British Empire, Officer
- 2000: Locus Award, winner Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- 2001: Hugo Award for Best Novel, winner Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- 2003: Premio Príncipe de Asturias, Concord
- 2003: Bram Stoker Award for Best Work for Young Readers, winner Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- 2006: British Book of the Year, winner for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
- 2007: Blue Peter Badge, Gold
- 2008: British Book Awards, Outstanding Achievement
- 2009: Légion d'honneur, Chevalier, presented by French President Nicolas Sarkozy
- 2010: Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award, inaugural award winner
- 2011: British Academy Film Awards, Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema for the Harry Potter film series, shared with David Heyman, cast and crew
- 2012: Freedom of the City of London
- Honorary degrees: St Andrews University, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Napier University, University of Exeter, Harvard University
Publications[link]
[edit] Harry Potter series
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (26 June 1997)
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2 July 1998)
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (8 July 1999)
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (8 July 2000)
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (21 June 2003)
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (16 July 2005)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (21 July 2007)
Other books[link]
- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (supplement to the Harry Potter series) (2001)
- Quidditch Through the Ages (supplement to the Harry Potter series) (2001)
- The Tales of Beedle the Bard (supplement to the Harry Potter series) (2008)
Adult books[link]
- The Casual Vacancy (27 September 2012)
Short story[link]
- Harry Potter prequel (July 2008)
Articles[link]
- Anelli, Melissa (2008). Foreword to Harry, A History: The True Story of a Boy Wizard, His Fans, and Life Inside the Harry Potter Phenomenon. Pocket Books.
- Brown, Gordon (2006). Introduction to "Ending Child Poverty" in Moving Britain Forward. Selected Speeches 1997–2006. Bloomsbury.
- McNeil, Gil and Brown, Sarah, editors (2002). Foreword to the anthology Magic. Bloomsbury.
- Rowling, J.K. (2008, 5 June). "The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination". Harvard Magazine.
- Rowling, J.K. (2009, 30 April). "Gordon Brown – The 2009 Time 100". Time Magazine.
- Rowling, J.K. (2010, 14 April). "The Single Mother's Manifesto". The Times.
- Sussman, Peter Y., editor (2006, 26 July). "The First It Girl: J.K. Rowling reviews Decca: the Letters of Jessica Mitford. The Daily Telegraph.
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- ^ "New Interview with J.K. Rowling for Release of Dutch Edition of "Deathly Hallows"". The Leaky Cauldron. 2007. http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/2007/11/19/new-interview-with-j-k-rowling-for-release-of-dutch-edition-of-deathly-hallows. Retrieved 15 November 2007.
- ^ Hale, Mike (16 July 2009). "The Woman Behind the Boy Wizard". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/16/arts/television/16rowling.html. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
- ^ "Rowling’s Christian critics miss the mark". http://www.religionnewsblog.com/19677/harry-potter-5. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
- ^ "JK Rowling wants to see a Democrat in the White House". Earthtimes.org. 2008. http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/184525,jk-rowling-wants-to-see-a-democrat-in-the-white.html. Retrieved 9 February 2008. [dead link] (original article -in Spanish-)
- ^ Viera, Meredith."Harry Potter: The final chapter". MSNBC. Retrieved 30 July 2007.
- ^ "Rowling seeks 'Grotter' ban". BBC News, 13 March 2003. Retrieved 21 March 2006."
- ^ Bremner, Charles; Robertson, David (13 July 2005). "Reading ban on leaked Harry Potter". The Times (London). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article543318.ece. Retrieved 13 March 2009.
- ^ Michael Geist (18 July 2005). "Harry Potter and the Right to Read". Toronto Star. http://www.michaelgeist.ca/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=896. Retrieved 12 October 2007.
- ^ Kirkpatrick, David D. (21 June 2003). "Publisher's Efforts to Keep Story's Secrets Collide With Free Speech Concerns". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/21/nyregion/publisher-s-efforts-to-keep-story-s-secrets-collide-with-free-speech-concerns.html. Retrieved 8 August 2010.
- ^ Treneman, Ann. "I'm not writing for the money: It's for me and out of loyalty to fans.". The Times. 20 June 2003. Retrieved 25 October 2007.
- ^ Press Complaints Commission: JK Rowling. pcc.org.uk. 2001. Retrieved 8 December 2007.
- ^ Rozenberg, Joshua. JK Rowling's son wins privacy battle in court. The Daily Telegraph. 2008. Accessed 8 May 2008. Archived 12 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ David Murray (by his litigation friends Neil Murray and Joanne Murray) v Big Pictures (UK) Limited [{{{year}}}] EWCA Civ 446 (7 May 2008)
- ^ Lockerbie, Catherine. "All aboard the Hogwarts Express". The Scotsman. UK. http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2000/0700-scotsman-lockerbie.html. 11 July 2000. Retrieved 30 October 2007.
- ^ "About the Books: transcript of J.K. Rowling's live interview on Scholastic.com". Archived from the original on 16 December 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071216084731/http://www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/books/author/interview2.htm. 16 October 2000. Retrieved 30 October 2007.
- ^ Transcript of interview with J.K. Rowling. BBC Newsround. 2000. Retrieved 25 October 2007.
- ^ Lisa O'Carroll (2011). "Leveson phone-hacking inquiry: JK Rowling among 'core participants'". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/sep/14/leveson-phone-hacking-inquiry-jk-rowling. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
- ^ a b "JK Rowling tells Leveson inquiry of press intrusion". BBC. 24 November 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15876194. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
- ^ a b Richard Allen Greene (2011). "J.K. Rowling chased from home by press, she says". cnn.com. http://edition.cnn.com/2011/11/24/world/europe/uk-phone-hacking-scandal/?hpt=wo_bn6. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
External links[link]
| Find more about J. K. Rowling on Wikipedia's sister projects: | |
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Images and media from Commons |
 |
Quotations from Wikiquote |
- Official website
- J. K. Rowling on Harry Potter Wiki, an external wiki
- The first It Girl: Rowling's article on Jessica Mitford for The Telegraph
- Rowling's foreword to the anthology Magic
- Video, audio and transcript of Rowling's speech at Harvard University's 2008 commencement.
- J. K. Rowling at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- J.K. Rowling at the Internet Movie Database
- Works by J. K. Rowling on Open Library at the Internet Archive
- J.K. Rowling at the Internet Book List
- Works by or about J. K. Rowling in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Joanne Rowling |
| Alternative names | Jo Rowling |
| Short description | English writer. Author of the Harry Potter series |
| Date of birth | (1965-07-31) 31 July 1965 (age 46) |
| Place of birth | Yate, Gloucestershire, England |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
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"Oprah" redirects here. For her talk show, see The Oprah Winfrey Show.
| Oprah Winfrey | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Winfrey at her 50th birthday party at Hotel Bel-Air, Los Angeles, in 2004 |
|
| Born | Orpah Gail Winfrey (1954-01-29) January 29, 1954 (age 58) Kosciusko, Mississippi, United States |
| Residence | Montecito, California, United States |
| Occupation |
|
| Years active | 1983–present |
| Salary | $290 million (2011)[1] |
| Net worth |  US$ 2.7 billion (2011)[2] |
| Political party | Democratic Party |
| Partner | Stedman Graham |
| Signature |  |
| Website | |
| Oprah.com | |
Oprah Winfrey (born Orpah Gail Winfrey;[3] January 29, 1954) is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011.[4] She has been ranked the richest African-American of the 20th century,[5] the greatest black philanthropist in American history,[6][7] and was for a time the world's only black billionaire.[8][9] She is also, according to some assessments, the most influential woman in the world.[10][11]
Winfrey was born into poverty in rural Mississippi to a teenage single mother and later raised in an inner-city Milwaukee neighborhood. She experienced considerable hardship during her childhood, claiming to be raped at age nine and becoming pregnant at 14; her son died in infancy.[12] Sent to live with the man she calls her father, a barber in Tennessee, Winfrey landed a job in radio while still in high school and began co-anchoring the local evening news at the age of 19. Her emotional ad-lib delivery eventually got her transferred to the daytime-talk-show arena, and after boosting a third-rated local Chicago talk show to first place,[8] she launched her own production company and became internationally syndicated.
Credited with creating a more intimate confessional form of media communication,[13] she is thought to have popularized and revolutionized[13][14] the tabloid talk show genre pioneered by Phil Donahue,[13] which a Yale study claims broke 20th century taboos and allowed LGBT people to enter the mainstream.[15][16] By the mid 1990s, she had reinvented her show with a focus on literature, self-improvement, and spirituality. Though criticized for unleashing confession culture, promoting controversial self-help ideas,[17] and an emotion-centered approach[18] she is often praised for overcoming adversity to become a benefactor to others.[19] From 2006 to 2008, her support of Barack Obama, by one estimate, delivered over a million votes in the close 2008 Democratic primary race.[20]
Contents |
Early life[link]
Winfrey was originally named "Orpah" after the biblical character in the Book of Ruth, but her family and friends "didn't know how to pronounce it", and called her "Oprah" instead.[3]
Winfrey was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi, to an unmarried teenage mother. She later said that her conception was due to a single sexual encounter and the couple broke up not long after.[21] Her mother, Vernita Lee (born c. 1935), was a housemaid. Winfrey had believed that her biological father was Vernon Winfrey (born 1933), a coal miner turned barber turned city councilman who had been in the Armed Forces when she was born. Decades later, Mississippi farmer and World War II veteran Noah Robinson Sr. (born c. 1925) claimed to be her biological father.[22] A genetic test in 2006 determined that her maternal line originated among the Kpelle ethnic group, in the area that today is Liberia. Her genetic make up was determined to be 89 percent Sub-Saharan African, 8% Native American, and 3% East Asian; however, the East Asian may, due to the imprecisions of genetic testing, actually be Native American markers.[23]
After Winfrey's birth, her mother traveled north and Winfrey spent her first six years living in rural poverty with her grandmother, Hattie Mae Lee (April 15, 1900 – February 27, 1963), who was so poor that Winfrey often wore dresses made of potato sacks, for which the local children made fun of her.[24] Her grandmother taught her to read before the age of three and took her to the local church, where she was nicknamed "The Preacher" for her ability to recite Bible verses. When Winfrey was a child, her grandmother would hit her with a switch when she did not do chores or if she misbehaved in any way.[citation needed]
At age six, Winfrey moved to an inner-city neighborhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with her mother, who was less supportive and encouraging than her grandmother had been, due in large part to the long hours Vernita Lee worked as a maid.[25] Around the time Winfrey moved in, Lee had given birth to another daughter, Winfrey's younger half-sister, Patricia[26] who later (on February 2003, at age 43) died of causes related to cocaine addiction.[27] By 1962, Lee was having difficulty raising both daughters so Winfrey was temporarily sent to live with Vernon in Nashville, Tennessee.[28] While Winfrey was in Nashville, Lee gave birth to a third daughter.[29] Lee gave this daughter, later also named Patricia, up for adoption in the hope of easing the financial straits that had led to Lee's being on welfare.[30] Winfrey did not learn she had a second half-sister until 2010.[30] By the time Winfrey moved back in with Lee, Lee had also given birth to a boy named Jeffrey, Winfrey's half-brother, who died of AIDS-related causes in 1989.[27]
Winfrey has stated she was molested by her cousin, her uncle, and a family friend, starting when she was nine years old, something she first claimed to her viewers on a 1986 episode of her TV show, when sexual abuse was being discussed.[31][32] When Winfrey discussed the alleged abuse with family members at age 24, they refused to accept what she said.[33] Winfrey once commented that she had chosen not to be a mother because she had not been mothered well.[34]
At 13, after suffering years of abuse, Winfrey ran away from home.[3] When she was 14, she became pregnant, her son dying shortly after birth.[35] She later said she felt betrayed by the family member who had sold the story to the National Enquirer in 1990.[36] She began going to Lincoln High School; but after early success in the Upward Bound program, was transferred to the affluent suburban Nicolet High School, where she says her poverty was constantly rubbed in her face as she rode the bus to school with fellow African-Americans, some of whom were servants of her classmates' families. She began to steal money from her mother in an effort to keep up with her free-spending peers, to lie to and argue with her mother, and to go out with older boys.[37]
Her frustrated mother once again sent her to live with Vernon in Nashville, Tennessee, though this time she did not take her back. Vernon was strict but encouraging, and made her education a priority. Winfrey became an honors student, was voted Most Popular Girl, and joined her high school speech team at East Nashville High School, placing second in the nation in dramatic interpretation.[citation needed] She won an oratory contest, which secured her a full scholarship to Tennessee State University, a historically black institution, where she studied communication. Her first job as a teenager was working at a local grocery store.[38] At age 17, Winfrey won the Miss Black Tennessee beauty pageant.[39] She also attracted the attention of the local black radio station, WVOL, which hired her to do the news part-time.[31] She worked there during her senior year of high school, and again while in her first two years of college.
Winfrey's career choice in media would not have surprised her grandmother, who once said that ever since Winfrey could talk, she was on stage. As a child she played games interviewing her corncob doll and the crows on the fence of her family's property. Winfrey later acknowledged her grandmother's influence, saying it was Hattie Mae who had encouraged her to speak in public and "gave me a positive sense of myself".[40] Working in local media, she was both the youngest news anchor and the first black female news anchor at Nashville's WLAC-TV. She moved to Baltimore's WJZ-TV in 1976 to co-anchor the six o'clock news. She was then recruited to join Richard Sher as co-host of WJZ's local talk show People Are Talking, which premiered on August 14, 1978. She also hosted the local version of Dialing for Dollars there as well.[41]
Television[link]
Main article: The Oprah Winfrey Show
File:Oprahfirst.jpg
Winfrey on the first national broadcast of The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1986
In 1983, Winfrey relocated to Chicago to host WLS-TV's low-rated half-hour morning talk show, AM Chicago. The first episode aired on January 2, 1984. Within months after Winfrey took over, the show went from last place in the ratings to overtaking Donahue as the highest rated talk show in Chicago. The movie critic Roger Ebert persuaded her to sign a syndication deal with King World. Ebert predicted that she would generate 40 times as much revenue as his television show, At the Movies.[42] It was renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show, expanded to a full hour, and broadcast nationally beginning September 8, 1986.[43] Winfrey's syndicated show brought in double Donahue's national audience, displacing Donahue as the number-one daytime talk show in America. Their much publicized contest was the subject of enormous scrutiny. TIME magazine wrote:
| “ | Few people would have bet on Oprah Winfrey's swift rise to host of the most popular talk show on TV. In a field dominated by white males, she is a black female of ample bulk. As interviewers go, she is no match for, say, Phil Donahue [...] What she lacks in journalistic toughness, she makes up for in plainspoken curiosity, robust humor and, above all empathy. Guests with sad stories to tell are apt to rouse a tear in Oprah's eye [...] They, in turn, often find themselves revealing things they would not imagine telling anyone, much less a national TV audience. It is the talk show as a group therapy session.[44] | ” |
TV columnist Howard Rosenberg said, "She's a roundhouse, a full course meal, big, brassy, loud, aggressive, hyper, laughable, lovable, soulful, tender, low-down, earthy and hungry. And she may know the way to Phil Donahue's jugular."[45] Newsday's Les Payne observed, "Oprah Winfrey is sharper than Donahue, wittier, more genuine, and far better attuned to her audience, if not the world"[45] and Martha Bayles of The Wall Street Journal wrote, "It's a relief to see a gab-monger with a fond but realistic assessment of her own cultural and religious roots."[45]
In the early years of The Oprah Winfrey Show, the program was classified as a tabloid talk show. In the mid 1990s Winfrey then adopted a less tabloid-oriented format, hosting shows on broader topics such as heart disease, geopolitics, spirituality and meditation, interviewing celebrities on social issues they were directly involved with, such as cancer, charity work, or substance abuse and hosting televised giveaways.
In addition to her talk show, Winfrey also produced and co-starred in the 1989 drama miniseries The Women of Brewster Place, as well as a short-lived spin-off, Brewster Place. As well as hosting and appearing on television shows, Winfrey co-founded the women's cable television network Oxygen. She is also the president of Harpo Productions (Oprah spelled backwards). On January 15, 2008, Winfrey and Discovery Communications announced plans to change Discovery Health Channel into a new channel called OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. It was scheduled to launch in 2009, but was delayed, and actually launched on January 1, 2011.[46][dead link]
The series finale of The Oprah Winfrey Show aired on May 25, 2011.[47]
Celebrity interviews[link]
In 1993, Winfrey hosted a rare prime-time interview with Michael Jackson, which became the fourth most watched event in American television history as well as the most watched interview ever, with an audience of 36.5 million.[48] On December 1, 2005, Winfrey appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman to promote the new Broadway musical The Color Purple,[49][dead link] of which she was a producer, joining the host for the first time in 16 years. The episode was hailed by some as the "television event of the decade" and helped Letterman attract his largest audience in more than 11 years: 13.45 million viewers.[50] Although a much-rumored feud was said to have been the cause of the rift, both Winfrey and Letterman balked at such talk. "I want you to know, it's really over, whatever you thought was happening", said Winfrey. On September 10, 2007, David Letterman made his first appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show", as its season premiere was filmed in New York City.[51]
In 2006, rappers Ludacris, 50 Cent and Ice Cube criticized Winfrey for what they perceived as an anti-hip hop bias. In an interview with GQ magazine, Ludacris said that Winfrey gave him a "hard time" about his lyrics, and edited comments he made during an appearance on her show with the cast of the film Crash. He also claimed that he wasn't initially invited on the show with the rest of the cast.[52] Winfrey responded by saying that she is opposed to rap lyrics that "marginalize women", but enjoys some artists, including Kanye West, who appeared on her show. She said she spoke with Ludacris backstage after his appearance to explain her position, and said she understood that his music was for entertainment purposes, but that some of his listeners might take it literally. In September 2008, Winfrey received criticism after Matt Drudge of the Drudge Report[53] reported that Winfrey refused to have Sarah Palin on her show allegedly due to Winfrey's support for Barack Obama.[54] Winfrey denied the report, maintaining that there never was a discussion regarding Palin's appearing on her show.[54] She said that after she made public her support for Obama, she decided that she would not let her show be used as a platform for any of the candidates.[54] Although Obama appeared twice on her show, these appearances were prior to his declaring himself a candidate. Winfrey added that Palin would make a fantastic guest and that she would love to have her on the show after the election, which she did on November 18, 2009.[54]
In 2009, Winfrey was criticized for allowing actress Suzanne Somers to appear on her show to discuss hormone treatments that are not accepted by mainstream medicine.[55] Critics have also suggested that Winfrey is not tough enough when questioning celebrity guests or politicians that she appears to like.[56] Lisa de Moraes, a media columnist for The Washington Post, stated, "Oprah doesn't do follow-up questions unless you're an author who's embarrassed her by fabricating portions of a supposed memoir she's plugged for her book club."[57]
Other media[link]
Film[link]
File:The color purple oprah winfrey.jpg
Winfrey as Sofia in The Color Purple.
In 1985, Winfrey co-starred in Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple as distraught housewife, Sofia. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance. The film went on to become a Broadway musical which opened in late 2005, with Winfrey credited as a producer. In October 1998, Winfrey produced and starred in the film Beloved, based on Toni Morrison's Pulitzer Prize winning novel of the same name. To prepare for her role as Sethe, the protagonist and former slave, Winfrey experienced a 24-hour simulation of the experience of slavery, which included being tied up and blindfolded and left alone in the woods. Despite major advertising, including two episodes of her talk show dedicated solely to the film, and moderate to good critical reviews, Beloved opened to poor box-office results, losing approximately $30 million. While promoting the movie, co-star Thandie Newton described Winfrey as "a very strong technical actress and it's because she's so smart. She's acute. She's got a mind like a razor blade."[58] In 2005, Harpo Productions released a film adaptation of Zora Neale Hurston's 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. The made-for-television film was based upon a teleplay by Suzan-Lori Parks, and starred Halle Berry in the lead female role.
In late 2008, Winfrey's company Harpo Films signed an exclusive output pact to develop and produce scripted series, documentaries and movies for HBO.[59] Oprah voiced Gussie the goose for Charlotte's Web (2006) and the voice of Judge Bumbleden in Bee Movie (2007) co-starring the voices of Jerry Seinfeld and Renee Zellweger. In 2009, Winfrey provided the voice for the character of Eudora, the mother of Princess Tiana, in Disney's The Princess and the Frog and in 2010, narrated the US version of the BBC nature program Life for Discovery.
Publishing and writing[link]
File:O Magazine cover.jpg
Winfrey on the cover of O, The Oprah Magazine
Winfrey has co-authored five books. At the announcement of a weight loss book in 2005, co-authored with her personal trainer Bob Greene, it was said that her undisclosed advance fee had broken the record for the world's highest book advance fee, previously held by the autobiography of former U.S. President Bill Clinton.[60]
Winfrey publishes magazines: O, The Oprah Magazine; from 2004 to 2008, Oprah also published a magazine called O at Home.[61] In 2002 Fortune called O, the Oprah Magazine the most successful start-up ever in the industry.[62][dead link] Although its circulation had declined by more than 10 percent (to 2.4 million) from 2005 to 2008,[63] the January 2009 issue was the best selling issue since 2006.[64] The audience for her magazine is considerably more upscale than for her TV show, the average reader earning well above the median for U.S. women.[62]
Online[link]
Winfrey's company created the Oprah.com website to provide resources and interactive content relating to her shows, magazines, book club, and public charity. Oprah.com averages more than 70 million page views and more than six million users per month, and receives approximately 20,000 e-mails each week.[65] Winfrey initiated "Oprah's Child Predator Watch List", through her show and website, to help track down accused child molesters. Within the first 48 hours, two of the featured men were captured.[66]
Radio[link]
On February 9, 2006, it was announced that Winfrey had signed a three-year, $55 million contract with XM Satellite Radio to establish a new radio channel. The channel, Oprah Radio, features popular contributors to The Oprah Winfrey Show and O, The Oprah Magazine including Nate Berkus, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Bob Greene, Dr. Robin Smith and Marianne Williamson. Oprah & Friends began broadcasting at 11:00 am ET, September 25, 2006, from a new studio at Winfrey's Chicago headquarters. The channel broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week on XM Radio Channel 156. Winfrey's contract requires her to be on the air 30 minutes a week, 39 weeks a year. The 30-minute weekly show features Winfrey with friend Gayle King.
Personal life[link]
Homes[link]
Winfrey currently lives on "The Promised Land", her 42-acre (170,000 m2) estate with ocean and mountain views in Montecito, California. Winfrey also owns a house in Lavallette, New Jersey; an apartment in Chicago, an estate on Fisher Island, Florida, a house in Douglasville, Georgia; a ski house in Telluride, Colorado; and property on Maui, Hawaii and Antigua. Her base during filming of Winfrey's show is Chicago, so she spends time in the neighborhood of Streeterville.
Romantic history[link]
A self-described promiscuous teen who was a victim of sexual abuse, Winfrey gave birth at the age of 14, to a boy who died shortly after.[12]
Winfrey's high school sweetheart Anthony Otey recalled an innocent courtship that began in Winfrey's senior year of high school, from which he saved hundreds of love notes; Winfrey conducted herself with dignity and as a model student.[67] The two spoke of getting married, but Otey claimed to have always secretly known that Winfrey was destined for a far greater life than he could ever provide.[68] She broke up with him on Valentine's Day of her senior year.[68][69]
In 1971, several months after breaking up with Otey, Winfrey met William "Bubba" Taylor at Tennessee State University. According to CBS journalist George Mair, Taylor was Winfrey's "first intense, to die for love affair". Winfrey helped get Taylor a job at WVOL, and according to Mair, "did everything to keep him, including literally begging him on her knees to stay with her."[70] Taylor however was unwilling to leave Nashville with Winfrey when she moved to Baltimore to work at WJZ-TV in June 1976. "We really did care for each other", Winfrey would later recall. "We shared a deep love. A love I will never forget."[71]
In the 1970s, Winfrey had a romantic relationship with John Tesh.[72] Biographer Kitty Kelley claims that Tesh split with Winfrey over the pressure of having an interracial relationship.[73]
When WJZ-TV management criticized Winfrey for crying on the air while reporting tragedies and were unhappy with her physical appearance (especially when her hair fell out as the result of a bad perm), Winfrey turned to reporter Lloyd Kramer for comfort. "Lloyd was just the best", Winfrey would later recall. "That man loved me even when I was bald! He was wonderful. He stuck with me through the whole demoralizing experience. That man was the most fun romance I ever had."[74]
According to Mair, when Kramer moved to NBC in New York, Winfrey had a love affair with a married man who had no intention of leaving his wife.[75] Winfrey would later recall: "I'd had a relationship with a man for four years. I wasn't living with him. I'd never lived with anyone—and I thought I was worthless without him. The more he rejected me, the more I wanted him. I felt depleted, powerless. At the end I was down on the floor on my knees groveling and pleading with him".[75] Winfrey became so depressed that on September 8, 1981, she wrote a suicide note to best friend Gayle King instructing King to water her plants.[75] "That suicide note had been much overplayed" Winfrey told Ms. magazine. "I couldn't kill myself. I would be afraid the minute I did it; something really good would happen and I'd miss it."[76]
According to Winfrey, her emotional turmoil gradually led to a weight problem: "The reason I gained so much weight in the first place and the reason I had such a sorry history of abusive relationships with men was I just needed approval so much. I needed everyone to like me, because I didn't like myself much. So I'd end up with these cruel self-absorbed guys who'd tell me how selfish I was, and I'd say 'Oh thank you, you're so right' and be grateful to them. Because I had no sense that I deserved anything else. Which is also why I gained so much weight later on. It was the perfect way of cushioning myself against the world's disapproval."[76]
Winfrey later confessed to smoking crack cocaine with a man she was romantically involved with during the same era. She explained on her show: "I always felt that the drug itself is not the problem but that I was addicted to the man." She added: "I can't think of anything I wouldn't have done for that man."[77]
Winfrey was allegedly involved in a second drug-related love affair. Self-proclaimed former boyfriend Randoph Cook claimed they lived together for several months in 1985 and did drugs. In 1997, Cook tried to sue Winfrey for $20 million for allegedly blocking a tell-all book about their alleged relationship.[78][79]
Also, in the mid 1980s, Winfrey briefly dated movie critic Roger Ebert, whom she credits with advising her to take her show into syndication.[42]
In 1985 before Winfrey's Chicago talk show had gone national, Haitian filmmaker Reginald Chevalier claims he appeared as a guest on a look-alike segment and began a relationship with Winfrey involving romantic evenings at home, candlelit baths and dinners with Michael Jordan and Danny Glover. Chevalier claims Winfrey ended the relationship when she met Stedman Graham.[80]
Winfrey and her boyfriend Stedman Graham have been together since 1986. They were engaged to be married in November 1992, but the ceremony never took place.[81]
Close friends[link]
Winfrey's best friend since their early twenties is Gayle King. King was formerly the host of The Gayle King Show and is currently an editor of O, the Oprah Magazine. Since 1997, when Winfrey played the therapist on an episode of the sitcom Ellen in which Ellen DeGeneres came out of the closet, Winfrey and King have been the target of persistent rumors that they were gay. "I understand why people think we're gay", Winfrey says in the August 2006 issue of O magazine. "There isn't a definition in our culture for this kind of bond between women. So I get why people have to label it—how can you be this close without it being sexual?"[82] "I've told nearly everything there is to tell. All my stuff is out there. People think I'd be so ashamed of being gay that I wouldn't admit it? Oh, please."[82]
Winfrey has also had a long friendship with Maria Shriver after they met in Baltimore.[83][84] Winfrey considers Maya Angelou, author of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, her mentor and close friend; she calls Angelou her "mother-sister-friend"[85] Winfrey hosted a week-long Caribbean cruise for Angelou and 150 guests for Angelou's 70th birthday in 1998, and in 2008, threw her "an extravagant 80th birthday celebration" at Donald Trump's Mar-A-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.[86]
Personal wealth[link]
Born in rural poverty, then raised by a mother on welfare in a poor urban neighborhood, Winfrey became a millionaire at age 32 when her talk show went national. Winfrey was in a position to negotiate ownership of the show and start her own production company because of the success and the amount of revenue the show generated. At age 41, Winfrey had a net worth of $340 million and replaced Bill Cosby as the only African American on the Forbes 400.[87] Although black people are just under 13% of the U.S. population,[88] Winfrey has remained the only African American to rank among America's 400 richest people nearly every year since 1995.[89] With a 2000 net worth of $800 million, Winfrey is believed to be the richest African American of the 20th century. Due to her status as a historical figure, Professor Juliet E.K. Walker of the University of Illinois created the course "History 298: Oprah Winfrey, the Tycoon."[90] Winfrey was the highest paid TV entertainer in the United States in 2006, earning an estimated $260 million during the year, five times the sum earned by second-place music executive Simon Cowell.[91] By 2008, her yearly income had increased to $275 million.[92]
Forbes' international rich list has listed Winfrey as the world's only black billionaire from 2004 to 2006 and as the first black woman billionaire in world history.[87] According to Forbes, in September 2010 Winfrey was worth over $2.7 billion[93] and has overtaken former eBay CEO Meg Whitman as the richest self-made woman in America.[94]
Influence[link]
Rankings[link]
Winfrey was called "arguably the world's most powerful woman" by CNN and Time.com,[95] "arguably the most influential woman in the world" by the American Spectator,[96] "one of the 100 people who most influenced the 20th Century" and "one of the most influential people" from 2004 to 2011 by TIME. Winfrey is the only person in the world to have appeared in the latter list on all eight occasions.[97]
At the end of the 20th century Life listed Winfrey as both the most influential woman and the most influential black person of her generation, and in a cover story profile the magazine called her "America's most powerful woman".[98] In 2007 USA Today ranked Winfrey as the most influential woman and most influential black person of the previous quarter century.[99] Ladies Home Journal also ranked Winfrey number one in their list of the most powerful women in America and senator Barack Obama has said she "may be the most influential woman in the country".[100] In 1998 Winfrey became the first woman and first African-American to top Entertainment Weekly's list of the 101 most powerful people in the entertainment industry.[101] Forbes named her the world's most powerful celebrity in 2005,[102] 2007,[103] 2008[92] and 2010[104] In 2010 Life magazine named Winfrey one of the 100 people who changed the world, along side such luminaries as Jesus Christ, Elvis Presley and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Winfrey was the only living woman to make the list.[105]
Columnist Maureen Dowd seems to agree with such assessments: "She is the top alpha female in this country. She has more credibility than the president. Other successful women, such as Hillary Clinton and Martha Stewart, had to be publicly slapped down before they could move forward. Even Condi has had to play the protegé with Bush. None of this happened to Oprah – she is a straight ahead success story.[106] Vanity Fair wrote: "Oprah Winfrey arguably has more influence on the culture than any university president, politician, or religious leader, except perhaps the Pope.[107] Bill O'Reilly said: "this is a woman that came from nothing to rise up to be the most powerful woman, I think, in the world. I think Oprah Winfrey is the most powerful woman in the world, not just in America. That's – anybody who goes on her program immediately benefits through the roof. I mean, she has a loyal following; she has credibility; she has talent; and she's done it on her own to become fabulously wealthy and fabulously powerful.[108]
In 2005 Winfrey was named the greatest woman in American history as part of a public poll as part of The Greatest American. She was ranked No.9 overall on the list of greatest Americans, however polls estimating Winfrey's personal popularity have been inconsistent. A November 2003 Gallup poll estimated that 73% of American adults had a favorable view of Winfrey. Another Gallup poll in January 2007 estimated the figure at 74%, although it dropped to 66% when Gallup conducted the same poll in October 2007. A December 2007 Fox News poll put the figure at 55%.[109] According to Gallup's annual most admired poll, Americans consistently rank Winfrey as one of the most admired women in the world. Her highest rating came in 2007[110] when she was statistically tied with Hillary Clinton for first place.[111] In a list compiled by the British magazine New Statesman in September 2010, She was voted 38th in the list of "The World's 50 Most Influential Figures 2010".[112]
'Oprahfication'[link]
The Wall Street Journal coined the term "Oprahfication", meaning public confession as a form of therapy.[113] By confessing intimate details about her weight problems, tumultuous love life, and sexual abuse, and crying alongside her guests, Time magazine credits Winfrey with creating a new form of media communication known as "rapport talk" as distinguished from the "report talk" of Phil Donahue: "Winfrey saw television's power to blend public and private; while it links strangers and conveys information over public airwaves, TV is most often viewed in the privacy of our homes. Like a family member, it sits down to meals with us and talks to us in the lonely afternoons. Grasping this paradox, ...She makes people care because she cares. That is Winfrey's genius, and will be her legacy, as the changes she has wrought in the talk show continue to permeate our culture and shape our lives."[114]
Observers have also noted the "Oprahfication" of politics such as "Oprah-style debates" and Bill Clinton being described as "the man who brought Oprah-style psychobabble and misty confessions to politics."[115] Newsweek stated: "Every time a politician lets his lip quiver or a cable anchor 'emotes' on TV, they nod to the cult of confession that Oprah helped create.[116] Winfrey's disclosures about her weight (which peaked at 108 kg (238 lb)) also paved the way for other plus-sized women in media such as Roseanne Barr, Rosie O'Donnell and Star Jones. The November 1988 Ms. observed that "in a society where fat is taboo, she made it in a medium that worships thin and celebrates a bland, white-bread prettiness of body and personality [...] But Winfrey made fat sexy, elegant – damned near gorgeous – with her drop-dead wardrobe, easy body language, and cheerful sensuality."[117]
Mainstream acceptance of gays and lesbians[link]
While Phil Donahue has been credited with pioneering the tabloid talk show genre, Winfrey's warmth, intimacy and personal confession, popularized and changed it.[13][14] Her success at popularizing of the tabloid talk show genre, had opened up a thriving industry that has included Ricki Lake, The Jenny Jones Show, and The Jerry Springer Show. Sociologists such as Vicki Abt criticized tabloid talk shows for redefining social norms. In her book Coming After Oprah: Cultural Fallout in the Age of the TV talk show, Abt warned that the media revolution that followed Winfrey's success was blurring the lines between "normal" and "deviant" behavior. In the book Freaks Talk Back,[15] Yale sociology professor Joshua Gamson credits the tabloid talk show genre with providing much needed high impact media visibility for gay, bisexual, transsexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and doing more to make them mainstream and socially acceptable than any other development of the 20th century. In the book's editorial review Michael Bronski wrote "In the recent past, lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgendered people had almost no presence on television. With the invention and propagation of tabloid talk shows such as Jerry Springer, Jenny Jones, Oprah, and Geraldo, people outside the sexual mainstream now appear in living rooms across America almost every day of the week."[118] Gamson credits the tabloid talk show with making alternative sexual orientations and identities more acceptable in mainstream society. Examples include a Time magazine article describing early 21st century gays coming out of the closet younger and younger and gay suicide rates plummeting. Gamson also believes that tabloid talk shows caused gays to be embraced on more traditional forms of media. Examples include sitcoms like Will & Grace, primetime shows like Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and Oscar nominated feature films like Brokeback Mountain.
During a show in the 1980s, members of the studio audience stood up one by one, gave their name and announced that they were gay in observance of National Coming Out Day. Also in the 1980s Winfrey took her show to West Virginia to confront a town gripped by AIDS paranoia because a gay man living in the town had HIV. Winfrey interviewed the man who had become a social outcast and the town's mayor who drained a swimming pool in which the man had gone swimming, and debated with the town's hostile residents. "But I hear this is a God fearing town", Winfrey scolded the homophobic studio audience; "where's all that Christian love and understanding?" During a show on gay marriage in the 1990s, a woman in Winfrey's audience stood up to complain that gays were constantly flaunting their sex lives and she announced that she was tired of it. "You know what I'm tired of", replied Winfrey, "heterosexual males raping and sodomizing young girls. That's what I'm tired of." Her rebuttal inspired a screaming standing ovation from that show's studio audience. Winfrey promotes openly gay celebrities on her show, such as her hairdresser Andre Walker, makeup artist Reggie Wells, and decorator Nate Berkus, who inspired an outpouring of sympathy from middle America after grieving the loss of his partner in the 2004 tsunami on the show. In April 1997, Winfrey played the therapist in "The Puppy Episode" on the sitcom Ellen to whom the character (and the real-life Ellen DeGeneres) said she was a lesbian. In 1998, Mark Steyn in the National Review wrote of Winfrey "Today, no truly epochal moment in the history of the Republic occurs unless it is validated by her presence. When Ellen said, 'Yep! I'm gay,' Oprah was by her side, guesting on the sitcom as (what else?) the star's therapist."
"The Oprah Effect"[link]
The power of Winfrey's opinions and endorsement to influence public opinion, especially consumer purchasing choices, has been dubbed "The Oprah Effect".[119] The effect has been documented or alleged in domains as diverse as book sales, beef markets, and election voting. Late in 1996,[120] Winfrey introduced the Oprah's Book Club segment to her television show. The segment focused on new books and classics, and often brought obscure novels to popular attention. The book club became such a powerful force that whenever Winfrey introduced a new book as her book-club selection, it instantly became a best-seller; for example, when she selected the classic John Steinbeck novel East of Eden, it soared to the top of the book charts. Being recognized by Winfrey often means a million additional book sales for an author.[121] In Reading with Oprah: The Book Club that Changed America (2005), Kathleen Rooney describes Winfrey as "a serious American intellectual who pioneered the use of electronic media, specifically television and the Internet, to take reading – a decidedly non-technological and highly individual act – and highlight its social elements and uses in such a way to motivate millions of erstwhile non-readers to pick up books."
When author Jonathan Franzen's book was selected for the Book Club, he reportedly "cringed" and said selected books tend to be "schmaltzy".[122] After James Frey's A Million Little Pieces was found to contain fabrications in 2006, Winfrey confronted him on her show over the breach of trust. In 2009, Winfrey apologized to Frey for the public confrontation.[123] During a show about mad cow disease with Howard Lyman (aired on April 16, 1996), Winfrey said she was stopped cold from eating another burger. Texas cattlemen sued her and Lyman in early 1998 for "false defamation of perishable food" and "business disparagement", claiming that Winfrey's remarks sent cattle prices tumbling, costing beef producers $11 million. On February 26, after a two month trial in an Amarillo, Texas court, a jury found Winfrey and Lyman were not liable for damages.[124] During the lawsuit, Winfrey hired Phil McGraw's company Courtroom Sciences, Inc. to help her analyze and read the jury.[citation needed] McGraw made such an impression on Winfrey that she invited him to appear on her show. He accepted the invitation and appeared regularly on The Oprah Winfrey Show before launching his own show, Dr. Phil, created in 2002 by Winfrey's production company, Harpo Productions, in partnership with CBS Paramount, which produced the show.[citation needed] Winfrey's ability to launch other successful talk shows such as Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz and Rachael Ray has also been cited as examples of "The Oprah Effect".[125]
Winfrey endorsed presidential candidate Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election,[126][127][128] the first time she endorsed a political candidate running for office.[129] Winfrey held a fundraiser for Obama on September 8, 2007, at her Santa Barbara estate. In December 2007, Winfrey joined Obama for a series of rallies in the early primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. The Columbia, South Carolina event on December 9, 2007, drew a crowd of nearly 30,000, the largest for any political event of 2007.[130] An analysis by two economists at the University of Maryland, College Park estimated that Winfrey's endorsement was responsible for between 423,123 and 1,596,995 votes for Obama in the Democratic primary alone, based on a sample of states that did not include Texas, Michigan, North Dakota, Kansas, or Alaska. The results suggest that in the sampled states, Winfrey's endorsement was responsible for the difference in the popular vote between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.[131] The governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, reported being so impressed by Winfrey's endorsement that he considered offering Winfrey Obama's vacant senate seat describing Winfrey as "the most instrumental person in electing Barack Obama president", with "a voice larger than all 100 senators combined".[132] Winfrey responded by stating that although she was absolutely not interested, she did feel she could be a senator.[133]
Spiritual leadership[link]
In 2002, Christianity Today published an article called "The Church of O" in which they concluded that Winfrey had emerged as an influential spiritual leader. "Since 1994, when she abandoned traditional talk-show fare for more edifying content, and 1998, when she began 'Change Your Life TV', Oprah's most significant role has become that of spiritual leader. To her audience of more than 22 million mostly female viewers, she has become a post-modern priestess—an icon of church-free spirituality."[113] The sentiment was echoed by Marcia Z. Nelson in her book The Gospel According to Oprah.[134] Since the mid 1990s, Winfrey's show has emphasized uplifting and inspirational topics and themes and some viewers claim the show has motivated them to perform acts of altruism such as helping Congolese women and building an orphanage.[135] A scientific study by psychological scientists at the University of Cambridge, University of Plymouth, and University of California used an uplifting clip from the Oprah Winfrey Show in an experiment that discovered that watching the 'uplifting' clip caused subjects to become twice as helpful as subjects assigned to watch a British comedy or nature documentary.[136][137]
On the season premier of Winfrey's 13th season Roseanne Barr told Winfrey "you're the African Mother Goddess of us all" inspiring much enthusiasm from the studio audience. The animated series Futurama alluded to her spiritual influence by suggesting that "Oprahism" is a mainstream religion in 3000 AD.[138] Twelve days after the September 11 attacks, New York mayor Rudy Guliani asked Winfrey to serve as host of a Prayer for America service at New York city's Yankee stadium which was attended by former president Bill Clinton and New York senator Hillary Clinton.[139] Leading up to the U.S.-led 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, less than a month after the September 11 attacks Winfrey aired a controversial show called "Islam 101" in which she portrayed Islam as a religion of peace, calling it "the most misunderstood of the three major religions".[140] In 2002, George W. Bush invited Winfrey to join a US delegation that included adviser Karen Hughes and Condoleezza Rice, planning to go to Afghanistan to celebrate the return of Afghan girls to school. The 'Oprah strategy' was designed to portray the war on terror in a positive light, however when Winfrey refused to participate, the trip was postponed.[141]
Leading up to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Winfrey's show received criticism for allegedly having an anti-war bias. Ben Shapiro of Townhall.com wrote: "Oprah Winfrey is the most powerful woman in America. She decides what makes the New York Times best-seller lists. Her touchy-feely style sucks in audiences at the rate of 14 million viewers per day. But Oprah is far more than a cultural force, she's a dangerous political force as well, a woman with unpredictable and mercurial attitudes toward the major issues of the day."[142] In 2006, Winfrey recalled such controversies: "I once did a show titled Is War the Only Answer? In the history of my career, I've never received more hate mail – like 'Go back to Africa' hate mail. I was accused of being un-American for even raising the question."[143] Liberal filmmaker Michael Moore came to Winfrey's defence, praising her for showing antiwar footage no other media would show[144] and begging her to run for president.[145] A February 2003 series, in which Winfrey showed clips from people all over the world asking America not to go to war was interrupted in several east coast markets by network broadcasts of a press conference in which President George W. Bush and Colin Powell summarized the case for war.[146][147]
In 2007, Winfrey began to endorse the self-help program The Secret. The Secret claims that people can change their lives through positive thoughts or 'vibrations', which will then cause them to attract more positive vibrations that result in good things happening to them. Peter Birkenhead of Salon magazine argued that this idea is pseudoscience and psychologically damaging, as it trivializes important decisions and promotes a quick-fix material culture, and suggest Winfrey's promotion of it is irresponsible given her influence.[148] In 2007, skeptic and magician James Randi accused Winfrey of being deliberately deceptive and uncritical in how she handles paranormal claims on her show.[149] In 2008 Winfrey endorsed author and spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle and his book, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose, which sold several million extra copies after being selected for her book club. During a Webinar class, in which she promoted the book, Winfrey stated "God is a feeling experience and not a believing experience. If your religion is a believing experience [...] then that's not truly God."[150] Frank Pastore, a Christian radio talk show host on KKLA, was among the many Christian leaders who criticized Winfrey's views, saying "if she's a Christian, she's an ignorant one, because Christianity is incompatible with New Age thought."[150]
Winfrey was named as the 2008 Person of the Year by animal-rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) for using her fame and listening audience to help the less fortunate, including animals. PETA praised Winfrey for using her talk show to uncover horrific cases of cruelty to animals in puppy mills and on factory farms, and Winfrey even used the show to highlight the cruelty-free vegan diet that she tried.[151] Winfrey also refuses to wear fur or feature it in her magazine.[152]
In 2009 Winfrey filmed a series of interviews in Denmark highlighting its citizens as the happiest people in the world. In 2010 Bill O'Reilly of Fox News criticized these shows for promoting a left-wing society.[153]
Fan base[link]
The viewership for The Oprah Winfrey Show was highest during the 1991-1992 season, when about 13.1 million U.S. viewers were watching each day. By 2003 ratings declined to 7.4 million daily viewers[154]. Ratings briefly rebounded to approximately 9 million in 2005 and then declined again to around 7.3 million viewers in 2008, though it remained the highest rated talk show.[155] In 2008, Winfrey's show was airing in 140 countries internationally and seen by an estimated 46 million people in the US weekly.[156][157] According to the Harris poll, Winfrey was America's favorite television personality in 1998, 2000, 2002–2006, and 2009. Winfrey was especially popular among women, Democrats, political moderates, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Southern Americans and East Coast Americans.[158]
Outside the U.S., Winfrey has become increasingly popular in the Arab world. The Wall Street Journal reported in 2007 that MBC 4, an Arab satellite channel, centered its entire programming around reruns of her show because it was drawing record numbers of female viewers in Saudi Arabia.[159] In 2008 the New York Times reported that The Oprah Winfrey Show, with Arabic subtitles, was broadcast twice each weekday on MBC 4. Winfrey's modest dress, combined with her triumph over adversity and abuse has caused some women in Saudi Arabia to idealize her.[160]
Philanthropy[link]
In 1998, Winfrey created the Oprah's Angel Network, a charity that supported charitable projects and provided grants to nonprofit organizations around the world. Oprah's Angel Network raised more than $80,000,000 ($1 million of which was donated by Jon Bon Jovi). Winfrey personally covered all administrative costs associated with the charity, so 100% of all funds raised went to charity programs. The charity stopped accepting donations in May 2010 and was later dissolved.[161][162] Winfrey's show raises money through promotion of her public charity and she personally donates more of her own money to charity than any other performer in America.[163] In 2005 she became the first black person listed by Business Week as one of America's 50 most generous philanthropists, having given an estimated $303 million as of 2007.[163] Winfrey was the 32nd most philanthropic. She has also been repeatedly ranked as the most philanthropic celebrity.[164]
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Oprah created the Oprah Angel Network Katrina registry which raised more than $11 million for relief efforts. Winfrey personally gave $10 million to the cause.[165] Homes were built in Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama before the one year anniversary of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.[166] Winfrey has also helped 250 African-American men continue or complete their education at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia.[167] Winfrey was the recipient of the first Bob Hope Humanitarian Award at the 2002 Emmy Awards for services to television and film. To celebrate two decades on national TV, and to thank her employees for their hard work, Winfrey took her staff and their families (1065 people in total) on vacation to Hawaii in the summer of 2006.[168]
South Africa[link]
Main article: Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls
In 2004, Winfrey and her team filmed an episode of her show, Oprah's Christmas Kindness , in which Winfrey travelled to South Africa to bring attention to the plight of young children affected by poverty and AIDS. During the 21-day trip, Winfrey and her crew visited schools and orphanages in poverty-stricken areas, and distributed Christmas presents to 50,000 children,[169] with dolls for the girls and soccer balls for the boys, and school supplies. Throughout the show, Winfrey appealed to viewers to donate money to Oprah's Angel Network for poor and AIDS-affected children in Africa. From that show alone, viewers around the world donated over $7,000,000. Winfrey invested $40 million and some of her time establishing the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in Henley on Klip south of Johannesburg, South Africa. The school set over 22 acres, opened in January 2007 with an enrollment of 150 pupils (increasing to 450) and features state-of-the-art classrooms, computer and science laboratories, a library, theatre and beauty salon. Nelson Mandela praised Winfrey for overcoming her own disadvantaged youth to become a benefactor for others. A minority of critics considered the school elitist and unnecessarily luxurious.[170]
Winfrey, who has no surviving biological children, described maternal feelings towards the girls at Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls:[171][172] Winfrey teaches a class at the school via satellite.[171]
Filmography[link]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | The Color Purple | Sofia | Film debut Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture |
|
| 1986 | Native Son | Mrs. Thomas | Lead Role Nominated - Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie |
|
| 1986–2011 | The Oprah Winfrey Show | Herself | Television talk show | |
| 1987 | Throw Momma from the Train | Herself | ||
| 1989 | The Women of Brewster Place | Mattie Michael | Lead Role Television miniseries |
|
| 1990 | Brewster Place | Mattie Michael | Lead Role Television series |
|
| Gabriel's Fire | Herself | Episode: Tis the Season | ||
| 1992 | Lincoln | Elizabeth Keckley (voice) | Television movie (ABC) | |
| The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air | Herself | Episode: A Night at the Oprah | ||
| 1992 | There Are No Children Here | LaJoe Rivers | Lead Role Television movie (ABC) |
|
| 1995 | All American Girl | Herself | Episode: A Night at the Oprah | |
| 1997 | Ellen | Therapist | "The Puppy Episode: Part 1" (#4.22) "The Puppy Episode: Part 2" (#4.22) |
|
| 1997 | Before Women Had Wings | Zora Willams | Lead Role Television movie (ABC) |
|
| 1998 | Beloved | Sethe | Lead Role Nominated - NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture |
|
| 1999 | Our Friend, Martin | Coretta Scott King (voice) | Direct-to-video film | |
| Home Improvement | Herself | Episode: Home Alone | ||
| The Hughleys | Herself | Episode: Milsap Moves Up | ||
| 2002 | MADtv | Herself | Episode: #8.3 | |
| 2005 | Desperate Housewives: Oprah Winfrey Is the New Neighbor | Karen Stouffer | Segment shot for The Oprah Winfrey Show episode aired on February 3 2005 | |
| 2006 | Charlotte's Web | Gussy the Goose (voice) | ||
| 2007 | Bee Movie | Judge Bumbleton (voice) | ||
| Ocean's Thirteen | Herself | |||
| 2008 | 30 Rock | Herself / Pam | Episode: Believe in the Stars | |
| 2009 | The Princess and the Frog | Eudora (voice) | ||
| 2010 | Sesame Street | O (voice) | "The Camouflage Challenge" | |
| 2011–present | Oprah's Lifeclass | Herself | OWN Self Help Show | |
| 2012–present | Oprah's Next Chapter | Herself | OWN Interview Show |
Producer[link]
- 2011 - Serving Life (TV documentary) (executive producer)
- 2011 - Extraordinary Mom (TV documentary) (executive producer)
- 2011 - Your OWN Show (TV series) (executive producer)
- 2010 - The Oprah Winfrey Oscar Special (TV movie) (executive producer)
- 2009 - Christmas at the White House: An Oprah Primetime Special (TV special) (executive producer)
- 2009 - Precious (executive producer)
- 2009 - The Dr. Oz Show (TV series) (executive producer)
- 2007 - The Great Debaters (producer)
- 2007 - Oprah Winfrey Presents: Mitch Albom's For One More Day (TV movie) (executive producer)
- 2007 - Building a Dream: The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy (TV documentary) (executive producer)
- 2007 - The Oprah Winfrey Oscar Special (TV movie) (executive producer)
- 2007 - Oprah's Big Give (TV series) (executive producer)
- 2006 - Legends Ball (TV documentary) (executive producer)
- 2005 - Their Eyes Were Watching God (TV movie) (executive producer)
- 2002 - Oprah After the Show (TV series) (executive producer)
- 2001 - Amy & Isabelle (TV movie) (executive producer, producer)
- 1999 - Tuesdays with Morrie (TV movie) (executive producer)
- 1998 - David and Lisa (TV movie) (executive producer)
- 1998 - Beloved (producer)
- 1998 - The Wedding (TV miniseries) (executive producer)
- 1997 - Before Women Had Wings (TV movie) (producer)
- 1993 - Michael Jackson Talks to... Oprah Live (TV special) (executive producer)
- 1993 - ABC Afterschool Specials (TV series) (producer - 1 episode "Shades of a Single Protein") (producer)
- 1992 - Overexposed (TV movie) (executive producer)
- 1992 - Nine (TV documentary) (executive producer)
- 1989 - The Women of Brewster Place (TV miniseries) (executive producer)
- 1989 - The Oprah Winfrey Show (supervising producer - 8 episodes, 1989–2011)
Bibliography[link]
- Cooper, Irene (2007) Oprah Winfrey Viking ISBN 0-670-06162-X
- Mair, George (2001) Oprah Winfrey: The Real Story Citadel Press ISBN 1-55972-250-9
- Moore, Michael (2003) Dude, Where's My Country? by Warner Books ISBN 0-446-53223-1
See also[link]
References[link]
- ^ http://www.forbes.com/wealth/celebrities/list?ascend=true&sort=moneyRank
- ^ [1] Forbes.com. Retrieved September 2011.
- ^ a b c "Oprah Winfrey Interview". Academy of Achievement. January 21, 1991. http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/win0int-1. Retrieved August 25, 2008.
- ^ "Oprah Winfrey signs with King World Productions for new three-year contract to continue as host and producer of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" through 2010–2011" (Press release). King World Productions. August 4, 2004. Archived from the original on February 10, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070210090815/http://www.kingworld.com/release/oprah_winfrey.html. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
- ^ Miller, Matthew (May 6, 2009). "The Wealthiest Black Americans". Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/2009/05/06/richest-black-americans-busienss-billionaires-richest-black-americans.html. Retrieved August 26, 2010.
- ^ "Biography.com". Biography.com. http://www.biography.com/articles/Oprah-Winfrey-9534419?part=1. Retrieved August 26, 2010.
- ^ "Oprah Winfrey Debuts as First African-American On BusinessWeek's Annual Ranking of 'Americas Top Philanthropists'" (Press release). Urban Mecca. November 19, 2004. http://www.urbanmecca.com/artman/publish/article_174.shtml. Retrieved August 25, 2008.
- ^ a b "#562 Oprah Winfrey". Forbes Special Report: The World's Billionaires (2006). October 2006. http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/10/O0ZT.html. Retrieved August 25, 2008.
- ^ Usborne, David (January 3, 2007). "Oprah's £20m school proves she's not all talk". London: Independent News and Media. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/oprahs-16320m-school-proves-shes-not-all-talk-430617.html. Retrieved March 4, 2007.
- ^ Meldrum Henley-on-Klip, Andrew (January 3, 2007). "'Their story is my story' Oprah opens $40m school for South African girls". The Guardian (UK). http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/jan/03/broadcasting.schoolsworldwide. Retrieved March 4, 2007.
- ^ "The most influential US liberals: 1–20". The Daily Telegraph (London). October 31, 2007. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1435442/The-most-influential-US-liberals-1-20.html. Retrieved May 20, 2010.
- ^ a b Mowbray, Nicole (March 2, 2003). "Oprah's path to power". The Guardian (UK). http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2003/mar/02/pressandpublishing.usnews1. Retrieved August 25, 2008.
- ^ a b c d Tannen, Deborah (June 8, 1998). "The TIME 100: Oprah Winfrey". TIME. http://205.188.238.181/time/time100/artists/profile/winfrey.html. Retrieved August 25, 2008.
- ^ a b "Coming After Oprah" (Press release). Dr. Leonard Mustazza. http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/l/x/lxm7/oprah.html. Retrieved August 25, 2008.
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- ^ McLaren, Elsa (January 2, 2007). "Oprah Winfrey opens school for poor South African girls". The Times (London). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article1288597.ece.
- ^ a b Samuels, A. (2007, January 8). Oprah goes to school. Newsweek. Retrieved September 18, 2010.
- ^ By Jeff Koinange CNN (January 8, 2007). "CNN.com". CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/01/05/btsc.koinange/index.html. Retrieved August 26, 2010.
External links[link]
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Oprah Winfrey |
 |
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Oprah Winfrey |
- Oprah's official website. Accessed 2010-09-17
- Oprah Winfrey at the Internet Movie Database
- NPR "Oprah: The Billionaire Everywoman". Audio file, video and biography. Accessed 2010-09-17
- Works by Oprah Winfrey on Open Library at the Internet Archive
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Winfrey, Oprah |
| Alternative names | Winfrey, Oprah Gail |
| Short description | Talk show host |
| Date of birth | January 29, 1954 |
| Place of birth | Kosciusko, Mississippi, United States |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
http://wn.com/Oprah_Winfrey
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This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oprah_Winfrey
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This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is about the American journalist. For the talk show, see Charlie Rose (talk show). For other people with the same name, see Charlie Rose (disambiguation).
| Charlie Rose | |
|---|---|
 Rose in May 2010 |
|
| Born | Charles Peete Rose, Jr. (1942-01-05) January 5, 1942 (age 70) Henderson, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Education | Duke University B.A. (1964) Duke University J.D. (1968) |
| Occupation | Talk show host Journalist |
| Years active | 1972–present |
| Notable credit(s) | Charlie Rose, 60 Minutes II, 60 Minutes, CBS News Nightwatch, CBS This Morning |
| Website | |
| http://www.charlierose.com/ | |
Charles Peete "Charlie" Rose, Jr. (born January 5, 1942)[1] is an American television talk show host and journalist. Since 1991 he has hosted Charlie Rose, an interview show distributed nationally by PBS since 1993. He has also co-anchored CBS This Morning since January 2012. Rose, along with Lara Logan, has hosted the revived CBS classic Person to Person, a news program during which celebrities are interviewed in their homes, originally hosted from 1953 to 1961 by Edward R. Murrow.[2]
Contents |
Early life[link]
Rose was born in Henderson, North Carolina, the only child[3] of Margaret Frazier and Charles Peete Rose, Sr., tobacco farmers who owned a country store.[4][5] As a child, Rose lived above his parents' store in Henderson and helped out with the family business from age seven.[6] Rose admitted in a Fresh Dialogues interview that as a child his insatiable curiosity was constantly getting him in trouble.[7] A high school basketball star, Rose entered Duke University intending to pursue a degree with a pre-med track, but an internship in the office of Democratic North Carolina Senator B. Everett Jordan got him interested in politics.[8] Rose graduated in 1964 with a bachelor's degree in history. At Duke, he was a member of the Kappa Alpha Order fraternity. He earned a Juris Doctor from the Duke University School of Law in 1968.[6] He met his wife, Mary (née King), while attending Duke.[3][4]
Career[link]
After his wife was hired by the BBC (in New York), Rose handled some assignments for the BBC on a freelance basis. In 1972, while continuing to work at Bankers Trust, he landed a job as a weekend reporter for WPIX-TV. His break came in 1974, after Bill Moyers hired Rose as managing editor for the PBS series Bill Moyers' International Report. In 1975, Moyers named Rose executive producer of Bill Moyers Journal. Rose soon began appearing on camera. "A Conversation with Jimmy Carter," one installment of Moyers's series U.S.A.: People and Politics, won a 1976 Peabody Award. Rose worked at several networks honing his interview skills until KXAS-TV in Dallas-Fort Worth hired him as program manager and gave him the late-night time slot that would become the Charlie Rose show.
Rose worked for CBS News (1984–1990) as the anchor of CBS News Nightwatch, the network's first late-night news broadcast. The Nightwatch broadcast of Rose's interview with Charles Manson won an Emmy Award in 1987.[4] In 1990, Rose left CBS to serve as anchor of Personalities, a syndicated program produced by Fox Broadcasting Company, but he got out of his contract after six weeks because of the tabloid-style content of the show. Charlie Rose premiered on PBS station Thirteen/WNET on September 30, 1991, and has been nationally syndicated since January 1993. In 1994, Rose moved the show to a studio owned by Bloomberg Television, which allowed for improved satellite interviewing.[9]
Rose was a correspondent for 60 Minutes II[10] from its inception in January 1999 until its cancellation in September 2005, and was later named a correspondent on 60 Minutes.[11]
Rose was a member of the board of directors of Citadel Broadcasting Corporation from 2003 to 2009.[3] In May 2010, Charlie Rose delivered the commencement address at North Carolina State University.
On November 15, 2011, it was announced that Rose would return to CBS to help anchor CBS This Morning, replacing The Early Show, commencing January 9, 2012, along with co-anchors Erica Hill and Gayle King.
Cameo appearances[link]
Rose has appeared as himself in the 1998 film Primary Colors,[12] in a 2000 episode of The Simpsons[13] and in the 2008 movie Elegy.[14] He and his show were also used in the Wes Anderson film The Royal Tenenbaums. He also appears as himself in the 2011 George Clooney directed film, The Ides of March.
[edit] Accusations of conflict of interest
While hosting the 2002 Coca-Cola Company shareholders' meeting, Rose said "few companies are able to connect as completely with consumers in the way that Coca-Cola is. It is a privilege to be associated with [The Coca-Cola family] ... This is the business of Coca-Cola: being part of a family, being worldwide, doing well and doing good at the same time."[15] Afterward, Coca-Cola agreed to become what Rose called "a leading underwriter" of The Charlie Rose Show, paying "six or possibly seven figures."[16] Even the Charlie Rose mugs used on his PBS show feature a Coca-Cola logo on one side.[17][18] Although CBS News policy bars correspondents from doing commercials and product endorsements, the Washington Post reported CBS was "comfortable" with Rose's actions. Rose insists he "would never do a story on 60 Minutes II about anybody who underwrites my PBS show."[16]
[edit] Quiet influence
The New York Times reported that Rose encouraged a discussion between the leaders of NBC and Fox, that led eventually to a mutual reduction in ad hominem attacks between Keith Olbermann and Bill O'Reilly on their respective news programs.[19]
Rose has attended several Bilderberg Group conference meetings, including meetings held in the United States in 2008;[20] Spain in 2010;[21] and Switzerland in 2011.[22] These unofficial conferences hold guests from North America and Western Europe, most of whom are political leaders and businessmen. Details of meetings are closed off to the public and strictly invitation-only, and critics[who?] speculate the controversial nature of these meetings of highly influential people. Accusations from conspiracy theorists against The Charlie Rose show claim that it has become the US media outlet for Bilderberg.[23][unreliable source?]
Personal life[link]
Rose's twelve-year marriage to Mary Rose (née King) ended in divorce in 1980. Mary is the sister-in-law of Morgan Stanley Chairman John J. Mack. Since 1993, his companion has been socialite and chairman of the New York City Planning Commission and director of the city department of planning Amanda Burden, a stepdaughter of CBS founder William S. Paley.[24]
On March 29, 2006, after experiencing shortness of breath in Syria, Rose was flown to Paris and underwent surgery for mitral valve repair in the Georges-Pompidou European Hospital. His surgery was performed under the supervision of Alain F. Carpentier, a pioneer of the procedure.[25] Rose returned to the air on June 12, 2006, with Bill Moyers and Yvette Vega (the show's executive producer), to discuss his surgery and recuperation.
In a 2009 Fresh Dialogues interview, Rose described his life as "great and glorious."[7] He added, '"I get up every morning with a new adventure. The adventure is fueled by interesting people. I get a chance to control my own destiny. I do something that is immediately either appreciated or not. I get feedback."
Rose owns a 575-acre (2.33 km2) farm in Oxford, North Carolina, an apartment overlooking Central Park in New York City, a beach house in Bellport, New York, an apartment in Washington D.C.[3] and an apartment in Paris, France.
References[link]
- ^ Marks, Peter (January 5, 1993). "The Love Cult of Charlie Rose". Newsday: p. 42.
- ^ "Charlie Rose, Lara Logan on "Person to Person". Person to Person (CBS News). February 8, 2012. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505383_162-57373639/charlie-rose-lara-logan-on-person-to-person/. Retrieved May 3, 2012.
- ^ a b c d Kaplan, David A. (September 28, 2009). "Why business loves Charlie Rose". Fortune. http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/25/magazines/fortune/charlie_rose.fortune/index.htm?section=money_latest. Retrieved December 18, 2009.
- ^ a b c O'Shaughnessy, Elise (September 1993). "The Fame of the Rose". Vanity Fair 56 (9): pp. 172–181. ISSN 0733-8899.
- ^ "Charlie Rose Biography (1942–)". Filmreference.com. January 5, 1942. http://www.filmreference.com/film/1/Charlie-Rose.html. Retrieved December 8, 2011.
- ^ a b Charlie Rose biography from Bloomberg News
- ^ a b van Diggelen, Alison (February 26, 2009). "Transcript of Interview with Charlie Rose". Fresh Dialogues. http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/02/26/transcript-of-fresh-dialogues-with-charlie-rose/. Retrieved February 7, 2012.
- ^ The North Carolina Awards: Charlie Rose (1942 -) Public Service 2007 from the website of the State Library of North Carolina
- ^ Charlie Rose, Bloomberg News
- ^ 60 Minutes II profile from CBS News
- ^ "Charlie Rose". CBS News. January 17, 2008. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/17/60minutes/bios/main3725276.shtml. Retrieved December 6, 2009.
- ^ Charlie Rose at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ Nancy Basile. ""The Simpsons" Episode Guide – Season Eleven". About.com. http://animatedtv.about.com/od/thesimpsonsepisodes/a/epguidesimp11.htm. Retrieved September 12, 2008.
- ^ Leslie Felperin (February 10, 2008). "Review of Elegy". Variety. http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=festivals&jump=review&id=2478&reviewid=VE1117936157&starting=1. Retrieved August 8, 2008.
- ^ audio, aired on Le Show
- ^ a b Lloyd Grove, "The Reliable Source," Washington Post, April 23, 2002, C03
- ^ Orange County Weekly, January 24, 2003
- ^ Fear & Favor 2003: How power shapes the news, Extra!, FAIR, March/April 2003
- ^ Stelter, Brian (August 1, 2009). "Voices From Above Silence a Cable TV Feud". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/01/business/media/01feud.html. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
- ^ Fobes, Stefan (June 23, 2008). "My analysis of Bilderberg 2008". A War of Illusions. WordPress.com. http://warofillusions.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/my-analysis-of-bilderberg-2008. Retrieved August 25, 2011.
- ^ "Bilderberg 2010 list of participants". BilderbergMeetings.org. http://www.bilderbergmeetings.org/participants_2010.html. Retrieved August 25, 2011.
- ^ "Bilderberg 2011 list of participants". BilderbergMeetings.org. http://www.bilderbergmeetings.org/participants_2011.html. Retrieved August 25, 2011.
- ^ Newman, Alex (June 12, 2011). "Awareness of Bilderberg Cabal Explodes in 2011". The New American. http://thenewamerican.com/world-mainmenu-26/europe-mainmenu-35/7841-awareness-of-bilderberg-cabal-explodes-in-2011. Retrieved August 25, 2011.
- ^ Gardner, Ralph (May 13, 2002). "Social Planner". Nymag.com. http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/politics/newyork/features/6005/. Retrieved December 8, 2011.
- ^ Kaplan, David A. (September 28, 2009). "Why business loves Charlie Rose". CNN. http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/25/magazines/fortune/charlie_rose.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2009092811. Retrieved December 8, 2011.
External links[link]
 |
This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (March 2012) |
- Charlie Rose Official website of his eponymous show
- Charlie Rose official channel on YouTube
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Charlie Rose at the Internet Movie Database
- Charlie Rose collected news and commentary at the Los Angeles Times
- Charlie Rose collected news and commentary at The New York Times
- Charlie Rose at the Notable Names Database
- Charlie Rose shows on Hulu
- celebritynetworth.com, Celebrity Net Worth, Charlie Rose
- Why Business Loves Charlie Rose David A. Kaplan, Fortune, September 28, 2009
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Rose, Charlie |
| Alternative names | Rose, Charles Peete, Jr. |
| Short description | American TV interviewer and journalist |
| Date of birth | 1942-01-05 |
| Place of birth | Henderson, North Carolina |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
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This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Rose
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is about the British television and radio presenter. For other people called Jonathan Ross, see Jonathan Ross (disambiguation).
| Jonathan Ross | |
|---|---|
 Jonathan Ross at Live 8 on 2 July 2005 |
|
| Born | Jonathan Stephen Ross (1960-11-17) 17 November 1960 (age 51) Camden, London, England[1] |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Broadcaster, film critic, Talk show host, Comedian |
| Years active | 1987–present |
| Spouse | Jane Goldman (m. 1988) «start: (1988)»"Marriage: Jane Goldman to Jonathan Ross" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Jonathan_Ross) |
| Children | 2 daughters, 1 son |
| Parents | Martha Ross |
Jonathan Stephen Ross, OBE (born 17 November 1960) is an English television and radio presenter, best known for presenting the BBC One chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross from 2001 until he left the BBC in 2010. Ross began hosting a new chat show on ITV1 starting 3 September 2011. Ross also hosted his own radio show on BBC Radio 2, and acted as a film critic and presenter of the Film programme. Other regular roles have included being a regular panellist on the comedy sports quiz They Think It's All Over from 1999 to 2006, and presenting the annual British Comedy Awards from 1991 to 2007, and 2009 onwards.
Ross began his television career as a programme researcher, before débuting as a television presenter for The Last Resort with Jonathan Ross on Channel 4 in 1987. Over the next decade he had several radio and television roles, many through his own production company, Channel X. In 1995 he sold his stake in Channel X, and embarked on a career with the BBC. In 1999, Ross took over presenting the Film programme from Barry Norman, and also began presenting his own radio show, while two years later he began hosting Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. For the chat show, Ross won three British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards for Best Entertainment Performance, in 2004, 2006 and 2007. By 2006 Ross was believed to be the BBC's highest paid star. In 2005, Ross was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to broadcasting.[2] Ross has been involved in controversies throughout his broadcasting career.[3][4] As a result, in 2008 he wrote a semi-autobiographical work titled Why Do I Say These Things?, detailing some of his life experiences.
Ross has been married to the author, journalist and broadcaster Jane Goldman since 1988; they have three children. Ross and Goldman have together established the television production company Hotsauce TV. Ross is known as an avid fan and collector of comic books and memorabilia, and has written his own comic book, Turf. Ross is known for his distinctive voice, flamboyant style of dress,[2] and his light-hearted banter. He is also known for his characteristic difficulty in pronouncing the sound 'r'.
Contents |
Personal[link]
Ross was born in Camden, London, England on 17 November 1960, a son of British actress and radio presenter Martha Ross.[5] He grew up in Leytonstone[1] and is the brother of journalist, television editor, and media personality Paul Ross; TV producer/actor Miles Ross; TV producer Simon Ross, and music industry professional Adam Ross. He was educated at Norlington School for Boys, a comprehensive school at the same time as his elder brother Paul, and at Leyton County High School for Boys, a comprehensive school. He also attended Southampton College of Art, now known as Southampton Solent University. [6] He then studied Modern European History at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES), University of London.[7]
Ross married author/journalist/broadcaster Jane Goldman, ten years his junior, in 1988, when Goldman was 18. They have since had three children: Betty Kitten (named after Bettie Page), Harvey Kirby (named after Jack Kirby, a comic book creator whom Ross especially admires), and Honey Kinney. The family lives in Hampstead Garden Suburb.[citation needed]
Ross and others have used his rhotacism for comic effect and he is sometimes known as "Wossy,"[8] including on his Twitter feed (@wossy).
Ross is known for owning exotic pets. He is a big music fan and the first band he saw live was punk rockers X-Ray Spex at Islington's Hope and Anchor pub in North London.[9] He is a big fan of David Bowie, Roxy Music and Bryan Ferry, Queen (he was in the audience for Queen at Wembley), British punk rock, Spandau Ballet, Sparks, Star Trek, Doctor Who (his favourite Doctor was Jon Pertwee), and comic books. Ross has even co-owned a comic shop in London with Paul Gambaccini and released Turf, his first comic book, in 2010, with American artist Tommy Lee Edwards.[10] He was also the visual inspiration for the main character in the comic book Saviour. Ross is also greatly interested in Japan, presenting a BBC-TV series on many different aspects of Japanese culture, Japanorama, for three series between 2002–07. He was a regular at London's Blitz club during the early 1980s (famous for the Blitz Kids). He is a fan of the singers Morrissey and George Michael.[citation needed]
He is a friend of comedian Ricky Gervais and bought him a kitten after Gervais' previous cat, Colin, had died. The cat's name is Ollie and was presented to him on an episode of Ross' talk show Friday Night With Jonathan Ross.[11] He was one of the special celebrity guests in the final episode of Gervais's second season of Extras, in which Gervais's character, Andy Millman, and Ross were shown to be the best of friends after a fictional appearance on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross.[12]
He is also a close friend of author Neil Gaiman, and he and his wife appear in Gaiman's short story "The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch", collected in Fragile Things.
In 2005, Ross was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honours for services to broadcasting.[13] He celebrated the news by playing "God Save the Queen" by the Sex Pistols on his Radio 2 show.[14]
When interviewing Colin Farrell on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on 19 February 2010, Ross claimed not to have consumed alcohol for ten years.
Ross has attended a fund raiser for the James Randi Educational Foundation called The Amazing Meeting in London in 2009 and 2010. Interviewed by Rebecca Watson, Ross described himself as a big fan of James Randi and the other speakers – who were mainly prominent sceptics – and said that he and his wife had come to have a sceptical view of the world.[15] Ross has been supportive of Simon Singh's efforts to defend an accusation of libel by the British Chiropractic Association and Ross has posed for the Geek Calendar 2011, a fund raiser for the libel reform in the UK.[16]
At a book signing event in Central London in September 2010, Ross stated that as a youngster he went to school in Leyton (Leyton Senior High School) and supports Leyton Orient F.C.[citation needed]
On 6 June 2011, it was announced that Ross' beloved pug Mr Pickle had been killed in an accident on board a train while Ross was filming a new travelogue show for ITV.[17] Mr Pickle was well known to both viewers and listeners of Ross' TV and radio shows.
Career[link]
Child actor[link]
Following the acting lead of his mother, who appeared as an extra on television shows such as East Enders, Ross appeared in television ads as a child actor. His first, for the breakfast cereal Kellogg's Rice Krispies, gave him his television debut in 1970, when he was 10 years old.[18][19] He also appeared in an ad for the laundry detergent Persil.[20]
Early career[link]
Ross began his adult career as a researcher on the Channel 4 show Loose Talk. After leaving this, he worked on various other shows before beginning another research job on Soul Train, which became Solid Soul. It is believed his first appearance on television was as an extra in the 1981 It Ain't Half Hot, Mum episode, The Last Roll Call.[21]
Channel X: 1987–95[link]
Whilst on Solid Soul, he met fellow researcher Alan Marke, and the two devised what would prove to be a breakthrough hit for Ross in 1987, The Last Resort with Jonathan Ross.
The pair based their concept on the successful American show Late Night with David Letterman, and formed a new production company called Channel X, to produce a pilot. Ross was not originally slated as the show's host, but with little time to find one Jonathan Ross stepped in and made his debut on the show in January 1987.[22]
While the series was initially a co-production with Colin Calendar, ownership transferred to Marke and Ross, meaning that the latter retained a great deal of control as well as being presenter.[23] The show proved popular for both Ross and for Channel 4, making him one of the major personalities on the channel.
A year later, his documentary series The Incredibly Strange Film Show introduced many to the works of cult filmmakers like Sam Raimi and Jackie Chan.
In 1989, he co-presented the biennial BBC charity telethon Comic Relief, the same year he launched One Hour with Jonathan Ross a short lived chat show on Channel 4, most notable for the game show segment "Knock down ginger" which introduced comedians such as Vic Reeves, Bob Mortimer, Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson to television.
In 1991, he presented the annual British Comedy Awards on ITV. He has presented the event each year since, but in 2008 announced he would be stepping down from the role following his suspension from the BBC.[24] In 1992 he presented an interview with Madonna about her Erotica album and Sex Book promotion.
In 1993, he was the narrator for FIA Formula One 1993 Season Review video.
Ross has appeared in numerous television entertainment programmes on several channels throughout the 1990s and 2000s. He was a regular panellist on the sports quiz They Think It's All Over, and hosted the panel game It's Only TV...But I Like It. Other projects include the BBC joke-quiz Gagtag, the Channel 4 variety show Saturday Zoo, new-acts showcase The Big Big Talent Show, and the ITV programme Fantastic Facts.
In 1995 he left Channel X, despite its profitable nature. He was quoted in a 1998 article as stating:
It was to do with a deliberate change in my life, moving away from TV as the core of my existence to focus on my family more. So I had to give up everything to do with Channel X, and I literally got only £1 for my share, which was unbelievable.[25]
Television 1995–2006[link]
In 1995 he presented Mondo Rosso, a programme about old cult films. He took over presenting of the Film programme, the BBC's long-running cinema review series, in 1999 after Barry Norman left the show. Ross himself has made a number of cameo appearances in films, playing himself in the Spice Girls' film Spice World (1997) and voicing the character of Doris in the UK version of Shrek 2 (2004). He also played himself in Only Fools and Horses, presenting Goldrush, a fictional television quiz on which the main character, Del, was a contestant. In 2001 he voiced characters in two episodes of the animated comedy series Rex the Runt. In the 30 October episode of Film 2006, Ross also claimed that he had appeared as an extra in the 1981 film 'The Rise and Fall of Idi Amin', as an Israeli soldier raiding Entebbe Airport.[citation needed] He also appeared on the first pilot show for Shooting Stars, acting as a team captain.
BBC Radio: 1999–2010[link]
Ross began presenting a Saturday morning show on BBC Radio 2 in 1999. He has also presented radio shows for BBC Radio 1 and Virgin Radio (having previously worked on Richard Branson's earlier venture, Radio Radio), as well as the now-defunct commercial radio network service The Superstation, where his producer was Chris Evans.
From 23 May 2009, Ross' BBC Radio 2 show was pre-recorded 24 hours before broadcast.[26] This decision was made to make the show more watertight and, according to the press, to make sure any of Ross's off-the-cuff comments might be edited out.[27]
Ross' show on Radio 2 last aired on 17 July 2010 when his contract at the BBC ended.
[edit] Friday Night with Jonathan Ross: 2001–10
On 2 November 2001, Ross began presenting his chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross.
In 2005, Ross anchored the BBC television coverage of the Live 8 concerts. Later that year he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honours for services to broadcasting. He celebrated the news by playing "God Save the Queen" by The Sex Pistols (which was banned by the BBC when released in 1977) on his BBC Radio 2 Saturday morning show. On 21 June 2006 Ross was made a Fellow of University College London, where he studied.
In early 2006, Ross announced that after eight years he was quitting his regular panellist seat on the sport/comedy quiz show They Think It's All Over, stating:
I’ve had a great time on They Think It's All Over, imparting my vast sporting knowledge to the nation, but I need time now to focus on my other commitments and so regrettably I won't be back for the 20th series. It's a fantastic show and from now on I'll be able to actually watch it.
However, after Ross's departure, only two more episodes of the show were made before it was cancelled.
In January 2006 he presented Jonathan Ross' Asian Invasion, broadcast on BBC Four. The three-part documentary followed Ross as he explored the film industry in Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea, interviewing directors and showcasing clips. His interest in Asian culture and his self confessed love for anime and video games led him to making three series of BBC Three show Japanorama, as well as producing another series for the same channel called Adam and Joe Go Tokyo, starring Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish. He produced the latter programme through his own production company Hot Sauce.
In June 2006, a bidding war was sparked between BBC and other broadcasters for Ross' services. Although other broadcasters were unsuccessful in poaching Ross, it is believed that their bids were higher than the BBC during negotiations. ITV, who bid for Ross, poached chat host Michael Parkinson around the same time. Ross became the highest paid television personality in Britain, when a new BBC contract secured his services until 2010, for a reported £18 million (£6 million per year).[28]
On 25 June 2006, he performed at the Children's Party at the Palace for the Queen's 80th birthday. In August 2006, Ross was enlisted to ask the first question[29] since the transition from beta for the Yahoo Answers in UK and Ireland. On 16 March 2007, Ross hosted Comic Relief 2007 alongside Fearne Cotton and Lenny Henry. On 7 July 2007 Ross presented at the Live Earth concert.
Starting on 10 September 2007 he presented the BBC Four series Comics Britannia, about the history of the British comic. This forms the core of a Comics Britannia season, which includes another documentary, In Search of Steve Ditko, by Ross.[30]
In May 2008, Ross won the Sony Gold Award "Music Radio Personality of the Year".[31]
On 3 August 2008, on BBC1, he hosted Jonathan Ross Salutes Dad's Army.
In 2010, Ross took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala, a benefit show held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, filmed live at the O2 Arena in London on 30 March.
On 7 April 2010, Ross's first comic book was published. Turf was written by Jonathan himself and drawn by artist Tommy Lee Edwards.[32] In 2011, Ross wrote an introduction for The Steve Ditko Omnibus Vol. 1,[33] a collection of work by the American comics artist featured in Ross' 2007 documentary.
In one of his last appearances on the show, Ross was bundled on repeatedly by Gary Lineker, Ross Noble, Damon Albarn, Jamie Hewlett & Tinie Tempah, after a performance of Gorillaz' iconic song "Clint Eastwood" & "On Melancholy Hill".[citation needed]
Leaving the BBC (2010)[link]
On 7 January 2010, Ross confirmed that he would leave the BBC in July 2010, having decided not to renegotiate his contract. This would see him leave all his regular BBC roles, namely his Friday night chat show, Radio 2 show and a film review programme, although he would be continuing with some specials, such as Comic Relief and the BAFTA Awards.[34][35][36][37]
Explaining the decision, Ross said:
Although I have had a wonderful time working for the BBC, and am very proud of the shows I have made while there, over the last two weeks I have decided not to re-negotiate when my current contract comes to an end. While there, I have worked with some of the nicest and most talented people in the industry and had the opportunity to interview some of the biggest stars in the world, and am grateful to the BBC for such a marvellous experience. I would like to make it perfectly clear that no negotiations ever took place and that my decision is not financially motivated[34]
The decision came a day after it was announced that Graham Norton had signed a two-year deal with the BBC, and the BBC's media correspondent Torin Douglas speculated Norton would be a ready-made replacement for Ross's chat show role, while Mark Kermode of BBC Radio 5 Live was a potential successor in the film review role, but that "replacing Ross on radio will be harder". [34] Ross last appeared on the film programme in Episode 10 of Film 2010 with Jonathan Ross aired on 17 March 2010. After Kermode publicly ruled himself out on 26 March, Claudia Winkleman was announced 30 March 2010 as his replacement as host of the Film programme, who was to host Film 2010 from September 2010.[38][39]
Ross's final Friday Night chat show episode aired on 16 July 2010, with David Beckham, Jackie Chan, Mickey Rourke, and Roxy Music as guests. Ross ended the show with an affectionate tribute to his guests and to the audience, while mentioning that he had promised his friend Morrissey that he would remain composed and "wouldn't cry". His final Radio 2 show was broadcast the following day. Patrick Kielty initially took over Ross' Radio 2 slot from 24 July 2010 after which Graham Norton took over permanently.
2010 onwards (ITV and Cinemoi)[link]
On 14 December 2010, Jonathan Ross announced his creative partnership with CineMoi, the UK's first and only independent French film channel. His deal with the company gives him a multi-faceted role as presenter, producer, creative director and shareholder in the company. A life long cinephile Ross has a unique perspective on French film and hopes to encourage 'first-timers' to explore a world of film that differs slightly from that of the regular Hollywood fare.
On 19 December 2010, Ross presented a three hour Channel 4 list show, 100 Greatest Toys, with the broadcaster describing Ross as a "huge toy enthusiast with a private collection that would rival any museum's."[40][41]
In 2011, he presented Penn & Teller: Fool Us on ITV, a collaboration with magicians Penn & Teller.
Ross's new chat show The Jonathan Ross Show began on 3 September 2011 on ITV1,[42] drawing an audience of 4.3m viewers, compared to the 4.6m for his finale on the BBC show.[43] The first series will run for thirteen weeks. Speaking about the new show, Ross said: "I am thrilled and excited that after a short break I will be rolling up my sleeves and creating a brand new show for ITV1."[44] Ross will also host a panel show from 2012 called Trending Topics also for ITV. The show will involve the social-network site Twitter. In Spring 2012, Ross appeared in the ITV panel show Mad Mad World.
Ross is currently planning to film a television piece with Lucha Britania. [45]
Controversies[link]
BBC contract[link]
In April 2006, Ross, along with other BBC personalities, had details of his fees leaked to the tabloid press.[46] It was claimed at the time, by a then-unidentified BBC mole, that Ross earned £530,000 (equivalent to £10,000 per show) per year for hosting his Radio 2 show.[47] While refusing to comment specifically on the leak in line with BBC policy on the matter, Ross did hint during his radio show that the figure was exaggerated; in addition to this, any pay highlighted as being "his" would actually be split between himself and his producer/co-presenter on the show, Andy Davies.
David Cameron interview[link]
In June 2006, when Conservative Party leader David Cameron appeared on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, Ross began a line of questioning relating to Conservative ex-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, culminating in the question "Did you or did you not have a wank thinking of Margaret Thatcher?". Ross was defended by the BBC publicly, but repeat showings of the interview have been banned.[48]
Heather Mills comment[link]
In 2006, Ross was criticised when he made a joke against Heather Mills, soon after she and Paul McCartney announced they were to divorce. He branded Mills, who has only one leg, a "fucking liar" and that he "wouldn't be surprised if we found out she's actually got two legs".[49]
"1,000 journalists" comment[link]
On 5 December 2007, Ross joked at the British Comedy Awards that his salary meant that he was "apparently worth 1,000 BBC journalists". His quip came shortly after the BBC had announced plans for more than 2,000 jobs cuts, and was condemned as "obscene" by the general secretary of the National Union of Journalists.[50] Ross has denied this saying that he was commenting on a piece that was written in a newspaper about his salary being that of 1,000 journalists:
"You know where that came from? The newspapers. After the fee was announced, they said, 'The BBC says he's worth 1,000 journalists', so on the Comedy Awards I made a joke that began, 'Apparently I'm worth 1,000 journalists according to the newspapers.' Every time it's quoted, is the word 'apparently' ever used? Which does change the meaning somewhat."[51]
The Russell Brand Show and Andrew Sachs[link]
Main article: The Russell Brand Show prank telephone calls row
Following a guest appearance by Ross on The Russell Brand Show broadcast on 18 October 2008, Ross was suspended for 12 weeks without pay by the BBC on 29 October, after a series of answer phone messages were left for 78-year-old actor Andrew Sachs regarding Sachs' granddaughter Georgina Baillie, by Russell Brand and Ross, which were broadcast on the pre-recorded show.[52] After little initial interest, a media story about the calls generated a high number of complaints. Brand resigned from the BBC, while Ross was suspended without pay. BBC director general Mark Thompson stated that Ross should take the disciplinary action as a "final warning".[53][54] The BBC was later fined £150,000 by Britain's broadcast regulator for airing the calls.[55]
On 21 November 2008, the BBC Trust said that the phone calls were a "deplorable intrusion with no editorial justification".[56] The trust gave its backing to Ross's 12 week suspension but recommended that no further action be taken against him. He returned to work in January, and the first episode of a new series of Friday Night With Jonathan Ross with guests Tom Cruise, Stephen Fry and Lee Evans, and music from Franz Ferdinand, was broadcast on 23 January 2009.
Gwyneth Paltrow interview[link]
The BBC Trust ruled that Ross’s interview with Gwyneth Paltrow, broadcast on 2 May 2008, breached editorial guidelines. They ruled that bad language in an episode of Ross's pre-recorded BBC1 chat show, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, in which the presenter told Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow he "would fuck her" was "gratuitous and unnecessarily offensive". The trust said it disagreed with the judgement made by BBC management that the episode should be broadcast uncensored, adding that the comment was made in an "overly sexual way" and that it had upheld a number of complaints made about the edition of Friday Night with Jonathan Ross.[57] The trust reminded BBC staff that "the casual gratuitous use of the most offensive language is not acceptable on the BBC in accordance with the BBC's existing guidelines and practices", adding that "this particularly applies in entertainment programmes".[58]
[edit] Hannah Montana comment
On 13 May 2009, Ross was accused of homophobia after a comment he made on his radio show,[59] in which he said,
If your son asks for a Hannah Montana MP3 player, then you might want to already think about putting him down for adoption in later life, when they settle down with their partner.[60]
An incorrect version of this quote was also circulated, in which Ross was accused of saying:
If your son asks for a Hannah Montana MP3 player, you might want to already think about putting him down for adoption before he brings his … erm … partner home.[61]
Ofcom received 61 complaints following the comment. A representative from the BBC defended Ross, saying the comment was made "purely in jest" and that "Jonathan is not homophobic in any sense and never meant for his comments to be taken seriously."[62] On 7 July 2009, Ofcom ruled that Ross did not breach the broadcasting code. They wrote in their opinion that "the comment was clearly presented as a joke intended to make light of the reactions that some parents may have if their child chooses a toy that is very widely recognised to be designed and marketed for the opposite sex" and that the nature of the joke and tone and manner in which it was presented "made clear that it was not intended to be hostile or pejorative towards the gay community in general."[60] Stonewall criticised the ruling; saying "the fact that a comment is light-hearted does not absolve it from perpetuating the stereotypes that lead to homophobic bullying."[63]
Video games[link]
| Year | Video game | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Halo 3 | UNSC Marine | |
| 2010 | Fable III | Barry Hatch |
Honours and awards[link]
- 2006, made a Fellow of University College, London (UCL), into which his alma mater, SSEES, had been absorbed.[64]
- 2012, Special Recognition award at the National Television Awards.
References[link]
- ^ a b "Jonathan Ross". http://www.speakers.co.uk/csaWeb/speaker,JONROS. Retrieved 20 July 2008.
- ^ a b "OBE for broadcaster Jonathan Ross". BBC. 10 June 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4077812.stm.
- ^ "'Risque' Ross avoids Cameron rap". BBC. 30 October 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6099176.stm. Retrieved 8 November 2008.
- ^ Burton, Nigel (29 October 2008). "Jonathan Ross:No Stranger to Controversy". The Northern Echo. http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/3801519.Jonathan_Ross___no_stranger_to_controversy/. Retrieved 8 November 2008.
- ^ Millar, Iain (3 August 2003). "Jonathan Ross: The likely lad". The Independent (London). http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/jonathan-ross-the-likely-lad-588797.html. Retrieved 22 December 2010.
- ^ "Why do I say these things? – Jonathan Ross". Times Educational Supplement. 3 October 2008. http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6003316. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
- ^ "UCL Fellowships conferred". 22 June 2006. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0606/06062201. Retrieved 3 July 2008.
- ^ "Unwepentant Wossy". 29 June 2006. http://www.bbc.co.uk/celebdaq/news/news/2006/06/29/33339.shtml. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
- ^ Lachno, James (26 April 2011). "X-Ray Spex singer Poly Styrene dies aged 53". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/8474012/X-Ray-Spex-singer-Poly-Styrene-dies-aged-53.html.
- ^ Aitkenhead, Decca (9 April 2010). "Jonathan Ross: Can I be honest with you?". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/apr/09/jonathan-ross-interview. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
- ^ Friday Night With Jonathan Ross, 26 November 2004
- ^ Extras – Series 2 (DVD). Universal Pictures Video. 2006.
- ^ "OBE for broadcaster Jonathan Ross". BBC News. 10 June 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4077812.stm. Retrieved 30 October 2008.
- ^ "Ross Hails OBE by playing Sex Pistols". BBC News. 11 June 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolavconsole/ifs_news/hi/newsid_4080000/newsid_4083500/nb_rm_4083518.stm. Retrieved 30 October 2008.
- ^ "TAM London 2010 - The interviews". 31 October 2010. http://www.skeptic.org.uk/podcasts/little-atoms/624-tam-london-2010-the-interviews?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+littleatomspodcast+%28Little+Atoms%29&utm_content=FeedBurner+user+view. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
- ^ "The Geek Calendar 2011". London: telegraph.co.uk. 31 October 2010. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/picture-galleries/8076285/The-Geek-Calendar-2011.html?image=1. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
- ^ Kanter, Jake (6 June 2011). "Jonathan Ross travelogue scrapped | News | Broadcast". Broadcastnow.co.uk. http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/broadcasters/jonathan-ross-travelogue-scrapped/5028465.article. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
- ^ "Rice Krispies celebrate 80th birthday". 13 November 2008. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3452116/Rice-Krispies-celebrate-80th-birthday.html. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
- ^ "Happy 150th Birthday Mr Kellogg". 7 April 2010. http://www.kelloggs.co.uk/whatson/pressoffice/News/kelloggs-corporate-news/happy-150th-birthday-mr-kellogg. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
- ^ Peter Wynter Bee (2008). "Jonathan Ross OBE, 'The Prolific TV Presenter'". http://books.google.com/books?id=AICHdUj3AvcC&pg=PA101&lpg=PA101&dq=%22jonathan+ross%22+%2Bpersil+%2B%22rice+krispies%22+%2Bmartha&source=bl&ots=hPbczaJcDN&sig=3aLArb2ER2IlE22VrvDGext4knU&hl=en#v=onepage&q=%22jonathan%20ross%22%20%2Bpersil%20%2B%22rice%20krispies%22%20%2Bmartha&f=false. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
- ^ "Jonathan Ross's most memorable moments". BBC. Thursday, 7 January 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8446077.stm. Retrieved 8 January 2010.
- ^ "About Jonathan Ross". Radio 2. BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/presenters/jonathan-ross/. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
- ^ 'Baggy fashion is blamed for trouble at t'mill', Roland Rudd, The Times, 2 June 1988.
- ^ Henry, Robin (1 November 2008). "Jonathan Ross may never return to BBC says Sir Terry Wogan". Times Online (London). http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article5061123.ece. Retrieved 2 November 2008.
- ^ 'Hot enough for another bite at the telly', The Guardian, 13 July1998.
- ^ Ross's radio show no longer live – BBC News
- ^ Jonathan Ross Live Show Axed – The Sun
- ^ 'Ross to stay at the BBC' Ben Dowell, The Guardian, 9 June 2006
- ^ Yahoo Answers
- ^ BBC profile for Comics Britannia
- ^ "Gold Award Winner!". http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/ross/. Retrieved 15 May 2008.
- ^ "Turf – Jonathan Ross And Tommy Lee Edwards’ New Comic Bleeding Cool Comic Book, Movies and TV News and Rumors". Bleedingcool.com. 20 August 2009. http://www.bleedingcool.com/2009/08/20/turf-jonathan-ross-and-tommy-lee-edwards-new-comic/. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
- ^ Ditko, Steve (2011). The Steve Ditko Omnibus Vol. 1. New York City: DC Comics. ISBN 1-4012-3111-X.
- ^ a b c "Jonathan Ross to quit as TV and radio host with the BBC". BBC. 7 January 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8445628.stm. Retrieved 7 January 2010.
- ^ "Jonathan Ross confirms he is to quit BBC". inthenews.co.uk. 7 January 2010. http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news/entertainment/tv/jonathan-ross-confirms-he-is-to-quit-bbc-$1351757.htm. Retrieved 7 January 2010.
- ^ "Jonathan Ross is leaving the BBC". BBC. 7 January 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8445581.stm. Retrieved 7 January 2010.
- ^ MacInnes, Paul (29 March 2010). "Claudia Winkleman named as Jonathan Ross's successor on Film 2010 | Film | guardian.co.uk". guardian.co.uk (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/mar/29/claudia-winkleman-film-2010. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
- ^ "Kermode not taking over Film 2010". Metro. 26 March 2010. http://www.metro.co.uk/showbiz/819307-kermode-not-taking-over-film-2010. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
- ^ "Claudia Winkleman to take over from Jonathan Ross as Film 2010 presenter". Metro. 30 March 2010. http://www.metro.co.uk/metrolife/819539-claudia-winkleman-to-take-over-from-jonathan-ross-as-film-2010-presenter. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
- ^ "100 Greatest Toys with Jonathan Ross - Series and Episodes". Channel 4. undated. Archived from the original on 19 December 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5v6CUqWT8. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
- ^ "100 Greatest Toys with Jonathan Ross - The Panel". Channel 4. 9 December 2010. Archived from the original on 19 December 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5v6BhaLCc. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
- ^ "Jonathan Ross: gagged but talking back". guardian.co.uk (London). 17 August 2011. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/mediamonkeyblog/2011/aug/17/jonathan-ross-itv-talkshow. Retrieved 26 August 2011.
- ^ "Jonathan Ross pulls in 4.3m viewers to debut ITV1 show". bbc.co.uk. 4 September 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-14779862. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
- ^ "Ross signs new ITV chat show deal". BBC News. 7 July 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment_and_arts/10540917.stm.
- ^ . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X67E-D6n3g4&list=UUP20GYS4B-koBTsWnWBYkdA&index=1&feature=plcp.
- ^ Julia Day "Radio 2 stars' salaries leaked", The Guardian, 18 April 2006
- ^ Owen Gibson "BBC unmasks mole who leaked salary details of its biggest stars", The Guardian, 17 May 2006
- ^ 'BBC to ban repeats of Ross versus Cameron' The Times, 1 July 2006
- ^ "Jonathan Ross blasts Heather Mills McCartney". SoFeminine. 31 October 2006. http://www.sofeminine.co.uk/w/star/n174407/news/Jonathan-Ross-blasts-Heather-Mills-McCartney.html.
- ^ Colin Crummy "Jonathan Ross: I'm worth 1,000 BBC journalists", Press Gazette, 6 December 2007
- ^ Hattenstone, Simon (2 September 2011). "Jonathan Ross: look who's talking – interview". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/sep/02/jonathan-ross-interview-simon-hattenstone.
- ^ "Brand and Ross suspended by BBC". BBC website. 29 October 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7696714.stm. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
- ^ "The ups and downs of Ross' career". BBC News. 30 October 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7700656.stm. Retrieved 30 October 2008.
- ^ "Ross suspended for three months". BBC News. 30 October 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7700816.stm. Retrieved 30 October 2008.
- ^ Khan, Urmee (3 April 2009). "BBC fined £150,000 over Brand's prank calls". London: The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/5099055/BBC-fined-150000-over-Brands-prank-calls.html. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
- ^ "'No justification' for Brand show". bbc.co.uk. 21 November 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7741322.stm. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
- ^ BBC Trust criticises Jonathan Ross over lewd comment to Gwyneth Paltrow
- ^ At a glance: BBC Trust report BBC News, 21 November 2008
- ^ Geen, Jessica. "Exclusive: Jonathan Ross accused of homophobia", Pink News, 13 May 2009, Retrieved on 14 May 2009
- ^ a b "Ofcom Broadcast Bulletin Issue 137", Ofcom, 6 July 2009, Retrieved on 6 July 2009
- ^ Jonathan Ross's gay 'joke' was wrong
- ^ Singh, Amar. "Jonathan Ross accused of homophobia over Hannah Montana comment", London Evening Standard, 14 May 2009, Retrieved on 14 May 2009
- ^ Geen, Jessica. "Stonewall: Ross's 'light-hearted' comment still encourages bullying", Pink News, 6 July 2009, Retrieved on 6 July 2009
- ^ "UCL Fellowships conferred". 22 June 2006. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0606/06062201. Retrieved 3 July 2008.
Further reading[link]
- Jonathan Ross: The Biography, Neil Simpson, John Blake Publishing Ltd (31 July 2007), ISBN 1-84454-432-X
- Why Do I Say These Things?, Jonathan Ross, Bantam Press (16 October 2008), ISBN 0-593-06082-2
External links[link]
|
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jonathan Ross |
- The Jonathan Ross Show on itv.com
- Jonathan Ross at the Internet Movie Database
- Interactive video talk by Jonathan Ross on Ealing studios for the British Film Institute
| Preceded by David Yates |
NFTS Honorary Fellowship 2011 |
Succeeded by Ashley Pharoah |
|
|||||||||||||||||
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Ross, Jonathan |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | British presenter |
| Date of birth | 17 November 1960 |
| Place of birth | Camden, London, England |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
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"Romney" redirects here. For other uses, see Romney (disambiguation).
| Mitt Romney | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 70th Governor of Massachusetts | |
| In office January 2, 2003 – January 4, 2007 |
|
| Lieutenant | Kerry Healey |
| Preceded by | Jane Swift (Acting) |
| Succeeded by | Deval Patrick |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Willard Mitt Romney (1947-03-12) March 12, 1947 (age 65) Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Ann Romney (m. 1969) «start: (1969)»"Marriage: Ann Romney to Mitt Romney" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Mitt_Romney) |
| Children | Taggart (b. 1970) Matthew (b. 1971) Joshua (b. 1975) Benjamin (b. 1978) Craig (b. 1981) |
| Residence | Belmont, Massachusetts Wolfeboro, New Hampshire San Diego, California |
| Alma mater | Brigham Young University (BA) Harvard University (MBA, JD) |
| Religion | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) |
| Positions | Co-founder, Bain Capital (1984–1999) CEO, Bain & Company (1991–1992) CEO, 2002 Winter Olympics Organizing Committee (1999–2002) |
| Signature |  |
| Website | MittRomney.com |
|
This article is part of a series about Mitt Romney |
Mitt Romney
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2012 Presidential campaign |
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Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party for President of the United States in the 2012 election. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts (2003–07).
The son of Lenore and George W. Romney (Governor of Michigan, 1963–69), he was raised in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. In 1966, after one year at Stanford University, he left the United States to spend thirty months in France as a Mormon missionary. In 1969, he married Ann Davies, and the couple had five children together. In 1971, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Brigham Young University and, in 1975, a joint Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration from Harvard University as a Baker Scholar. He entered the management consulting industry, which in 1977, led to a position at Bain & Company. Later serving as Chief Executive Officer, he helped bring the company out of financial crisis. In 1984, he co-founded the spin-off Bain Capital, a private equity investment firm that became highly profitable and one of the largest such firms in the nation. His net worth is estimated at $190–250 million, wealth that has helped fund his political campaigns. Active in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he served as Ward Bishop and later Stake President in his area near Boston. He ran as the Republican candidate in the 1994 U.S. Senate election in Massachusetts, losing to long-time incumbent Ted Kennedy. In 1999, he was hired as President and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics and Paralympics; and he helped turn the fiscally troubled games into a success.
He was elected Governor of Massachusetts in 2002 but did not seek re-election in 2006. During his term he presided over a series of spending cuts and increases in fees that eliminated a projected $1.5 billion deficit. He also signed into law the Massachusetts health care reform legislation, the first of its kind in the nation, which provided near-universal health insurance access via state-level subsidies and individual mandates.
Romney ran for the Republican nomination in the 2008 U.S. presidential election, winning several primaries and caucuses but losing the nomination to John McCain. In the following years, he gave speeches and raised campaign funds on behalf of his fellow Republicans. In June 2011, he announced that he would seek the 2012 Republican presidential nomination; as of May 2012, he has won enough caucuses and primaries to become the party's presumptive nominee.
Contents
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Early life and education[link]
See also: Romney family
Heritage and youth[link]
Willard Mitt Romney[1] was born at Harper Hospital in Detroit, Michigan,[2] the youngest child of George W. Romney, a self-made man who by 1948 had become an automobile executive, and Lenore Romney (née LaFount), an aspiring actress turned homemaker.[3][4][5] His mother was a native of Logan, Utah, and his father was born in a Mormon colony in Chihuahua, Mexico, to American parents.[6][7] He is of primarily English descent, and also has more distant Scottish and German ancestry.[8][9][10] He is a fifth-generation member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).[11][12] A great-great-grandfather, Miles Romney, converted to the faith in its first decade, and another great-great-grandfather, Parley P. Pratt, was an early leader in the church during the same time.[13]
He was preceded in birth by three siblings: Margo Lynn, Jane LaFount, and G. Scott. Mitt followed after a gap of nearly six years. He was named after family friend, hotel magnate J. Willard Marriott, and his father's cousin Milton "Mitt" Romney, a former quarterback for the Chicago Bears.[14][nb 1] In 1953, the family moved from Detroit to the affluent suburb of Bloomfield Hills.[16] In 1954, his father became the chairmen and CEO of American Motors, a company he helped avoid bankruptcy, and return to profitability.[16] By the time Mitt was twelve, his father had become a nationally known figure in print and on television,[17] and Mitt idolized him.[18]
He attended public elementary schools[15] until the seventh grade, when he began commuting to Cranbrook School in Bloomfield Hills, a traditional private boys' preparatory school where he was one of only a few Mormons and where many students came from backgrounds even more privileged than he.[19][20] He was not particularly athletic and at first did not excel academically.[18] During his sophomore year he participated in the 1962 campaign in which his father was elected Governor of Michigan.[nb 2] When his parents moved to the state capitol as part of George Romney taking office, Mitt took up residence at Cranbrook's Stevens Hall.[19] George Romney was re-elected twice; Mitt worked for him as an intern in the governor's office, and was present at the 1964 Republican National Convention when his moderate father battled conservative party nominee Barry Goldwater over issues of civil rights and ideological extremism.[18][22] During these years, Romney had a steady set of chores and summer jobs, including working as a security guard at a Chrysler plant.[23]
At Cranbrook he was a manager for the ice hockey team and a member of the pep squad,[19] and during his final year joined the cross country running team.[15] He belonged to eleven school organizations and school clubs, and started the Blue Key Club boosters group.[19] During his final year at Cranbook, Romney improved academically, but was still not a star pupil.[18][20] He won an award for those "whose contributions to school life are often not fully recognized through already existing channels".[20] Romney was involved in many pranks.[nb 3]
In March of his senior year, he began dating Ann Davies, two years his younger, whom he had first met in elementary school; she attended the private Kingswood School, the sister school to Cranbrook.[27][20] The two informally agreed to marriage around the time of his June 1965 graduation.[18]
University, France mission, marriage and children: 1965–1975[link]
Romney attended Stanford University for a year,[18][nb 4] where he worked as a night security guard in order to pay for trips home to see Ann.[28] Although the campus was becoming radicalized with the beginnings of 1960s social and political movements, he kept a well-groomed appearance and participated in pre-Big Game actions designed to protect the Stanford Axe.[18] In May 1966, he was part of a counter-protest against a group staging a sit-in in the university administration building in opposition to draft status tests.[18][29]
"As you can imagine, it's quite an experience to go to Bordeaux and say, 'Give up your wine! I've got a great religion for you!'"
—Mitt Romney in 2002 reflecting upon his missionary experience.[30]
In July 1966, he left for a thirty-month stay in France as a Mormon missionary,[18][31] a traditional rite of passage that his father and many other relatives had volunteered for.[nb 5] He arrived in Le Havre with ideas about how to change and promote the French Mission, while facing physical and economic deprivation in their cramped quarters.[33][13] Rules against drinking, smoking, and dating were strictly enforced.[13] Most individual Mormon missionaries do not gain many converts,[35] and Romney was no exception:[33] he later estimated ten to twenty for his entire mission.[36] The nominally Catholic but secular, wine-loving French people were especially resistant to a religion that prohibits alcohol.[18][13][30] He became demoralized, and later recalled it as the only time when "most of what I was trying to do was rejected."[33] In Nantes, he suffered a bruised jaw while defending two female missionaries who were being bothered by a group of local rugby players.[13] He continued to work hard; having grown up in Michigan rather than the more insular Utah world, Romney was better able to interact with the French than other missionaries.[37][13] He was promoted to zone leader in Bordeaux in early 1968, then in the spring of that year became assistant to the mission president in Paris, the highest position for a missionary.[33][13][38] In the Mission Home in Paris he enjoyed palace-like accommodations.[38] Romney's support for the U.S. role in the Vietnam War was only reinforced when the French greeted him with hostility over the matter and he debated them in return.[13][33] He witnessed the May 1968 general strike and student uprisings and was upset by the breakdown in social order.[39]
In June 1968, an automobile he was driving in southern France was hit by another vehicle, seriously injuring him and killing one of his passengers, the wife of the mission president.[nb 6] Romney, who was not at fault in the accident,[nb 6] became co-acting president of a mission demoralized and disorganized by the May civil disturbances and by the car accident.[37] He rallied and motivated the others and they met an ambitious goal of 200 baptisms for the year, the most for the mission in a decade.[37] By the end of his stint in December 1968, he was overseeing the work of 175 fellow members.[33][40] Romney developed a lifelong affection for France and its people, and speaks French.[42] The experience in the country instilled in him a belief that life is fragile and that he needed seriousness of purpose.[18][37][13] It also represented a crucible, after having been an indifferent Mormon growing up: "On a mission, your faith in Jesus Christ either evaporates or it becomes much deeper ... For me it became much deeper."[33]
While he was away, Ann Davies had converted to the Mormon faith, guided by George Romney, and had begun attending Brigham Young University (BYU).[18] Mitt was nervous that she had been wooed by others while he was away, and she had indeed started dating popular campus figure Kim S. Cameron and had sent Romney in France a "Dear John letter", greatly upsetting him; he wrote to her to in an attempt to win her back.[43][15] At their first meeting following Romney's return they reconnected, and decided to get married immediately but agreed to wait three months to appease their parents.[44] At Ann's request, Romney began attending Brigham Young too, in February 1969.[43][nb 4] The couple were married on March 21, 1969, in a civil ceremony at Ann's family's home in Bloomfield Hills that was presided over by a church elder.[46][47][48] The following day, the couple flew to Utah for a wedding ceremony at the Salt Lake Temple.[46][47]
Romney had missed much of the tumultuous American anti-Vietnam War movement while away, and was surprised to learn that his father had turned against the effort during his unsuccessful 1968 presidential campaign.[33] Regarding the military draft, Romney had initially received a student deferment, then, like most Mormon missionaries, a ministerial deferment while in France, and then a student deferment.[33][49] When those ran out, his high number in the December 1969 draft lottery (300) ensured he would not be selected.[33][49][50]
At culturally conservative BYU, he remained isolated from much of the upheaval of the era, and did not join in protests against the war, or the LDS Church's policy at the time of denying full membership to blacks.[24][33][43] He became president of, and an innovative fundraiser for, the all-male Cougar Club booster organization and showed a new-found discipline in his studies.[33][43] In his senior year, he took leave to work as driver and advance man for his mother Lenore Romney's eventually unsuccessful 1970 campaign for U.S. Senator from Michigan.[24][46] He earned a Bachelor of Arts in English with highest honors in 1971,[43] and gave commencement addresses to both the College of Humanities and to the whole of BYU.[nb 7]
The Romneys' first son, Taggart, was born in 1970[46] while they were undergraduates at Brigham Young[52] and living in a basement apartment.[33][43] Ann subsequently gave birth to Matt (1971), Josh (1975), Ben (1978), and Craig (1981).[46] Her work as a homemaker would enable her husband to pursue his career.[53]
Romney still wanted to pursue a business path, but his father, by now serving in President Richard Nixon's cabinet as U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, advised him that a law degree would be valuable to his career.[54][55] Thus he became one of only fifteen students to enroll at the recently created joint Juris Doctor/Master of Business Administration four-year program coordinated between Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School.[56] Fellow students considered him guilelessly optimistic, noting his solid work ethic and buttoned-down demeanor and appearance.[56][57] He readily adapted to the business school's pragmatic, data-driven case study method of teaching, participated in class well, and led a study group whom he pushed to get all A's.[55] He had a different social experience from most of his classmates, since he lived in a Belmont, Massachusetts, house with Ann and two children.[46][55] He was non-ideological and did not involve himself in the political or social issues of the day.[46][55] He graduated in 1975 cum laude from the law school, in the top third of that class, and was named a Baker Scholar for graduating in the top five percent of his business school class.[51][56]
Business career[link]
Management consulting[link]
Romney was recruited by several firms and chose to remain in Massachusetts to work for Boston Consulting Group (BCG), reasoning that working as a management consultant to a variety of companies would better prepare him for a future position as a chief executive.[54][58][nb 8] He was part of a 1970s wave of top graduates who chose to go into consulting rather than join a major company directly.[60] His legal and business education proved useful in his job[54] while he applied BCG principles such as the growth-share matrix.[61] He was viewed as having a bright future there.[54][62]
In 1977, he was hired away by Bain & Company, a management consulting firm in Boston that had been formed a few years earlier by Bill Bain and other former BCG employees.[61][54][63] Bain would later say of the thirty-year-old Romney, "He had the appearance of confidence of a guy who was maybe ten years older."[64] With Bain & Company, Romney learned what writers and business analysts have dubbed the "Bain way",[54][63][65] which consisted of immersing the firm in each client's business,[54][64] and not just issuing recommendations but staying with the company until changes were put into place.[61][63][66] Romney became a vice president of the firm in 1978,[15] and worked with clients such as the Monsanto Company, Outboard Marine Corporation, Burlington Industries, and Corning Incorporated.[58] Within a few years, he was one of Bain & Company's best consultants and was sought after by clients over more senior partners.[54][67]
Private equity[link]
File:Bain Capital.png
Logo of Bain Capital, the private equity firm Romney co-founded in 1984
Romney was restless for a company of his own to run, and in 1983, Bill Bain offered him the chance to head a new venture that would buy into companies, have them benefit from Bain techniques, and then reap higher rewards than consulting fees.[54][61] He initially refrained from accepting the offer, and Bain re-arranged the terms in a complicated partnership structure so that there was no financial or professional risk to Romney.[54][64][68] Thus, in 1984, Romney left Bain & Company to co-found the spin-off private equity investment firm, Bain Capital.[66] In the face of skepticism from potential investors, Bain and Romney spent a year raising the $37 million in funds needed to start the new operation, which had fewer than ten employees.[58][64][69] As general partner of the new firm, Romney spent little money on costs such as office appearance, and saw weak spots in so many potential deals that by 1986, few had been done.[54] At first, Bain Capital focused on venture capital opportunities.[54] Their first big success was a 1986 investment to help start Staples Inc., after founder Thomas G. Stemberg convinced Romney of the market size for office supplies and Romney convinced others; Bain Capital eventually reaped a nearly sevenfold return on its investment, and Romney sat on the Staples board of directors for over a decade.[54][69][70]
Romney soon switched Bain Capital's focus from startups to the relatively new business of leveraged buyouts: buying existing firms with money mostly borrowed against their assets, partnering with existing management to apply the "Bain way" to their operations (rather than the hostile takeovers practiced in other leverage buyout scenarios), and selling them off in a few years.[54][64] Existing CEOs were offered large equity stakes in the process, owing to Bain Capital's belief in the emerging agency theory that CEOs should be bound to maximizing shareholder value rather than other goals.[70] Bain Capital lost most of its money in many of its early leveraged buyouts, but then started finding deals that made large returns.[54] The firm invested in or acquired Accuride, Brookstone, Domino's Pizza, Sealy Corporation, Sports Authority, and Artisan Entertainment, as well as lesser-known companies in the industrial and medical sectors.[54][64][71] He ran Bain Capital for fourteen years, during which time the firm's average annual internal rate of return on realized investments was 113 percent.[58] Much of this profit was earned from a relatively small number of deals; Bain Capital's overall success–to–failure ratio was about even.[nb 9]
Less an entrepreneur than an executive running an investment operation,[67][72] Romney was skilled at presenting and selling the deals the company made.[68] The firm initially gave a cut of its profits to Bain & Company, but Romney persuaded Bain to give that up.[68] Within Bain Capital, Romney spread profits from deals widely within the firm to keep people motivated, often keeping less than ten percent for himself.[73] Viewed as a fair manager, he received considerable loyalty from the firm's members.[70] Romney's wary instincts were still in force at times, and he was generally data-driven and averse to risk.[54][70] He wanted to drop a Bain Capital hedge fund that initially lost money, but other partners prevailed and it eventually gained billions.[54] He also personally opted out of the Artisan Entertainment deal, not wanting to profit from a studio that produced R-rated films.[54] Romney was on the board of directors of Damon Corporation, a medical testing company later found guilty of defrauding the government; Bain Capital tripled its investment before selling off the company, and the fraud was discovered by the new owners (Romney was never implicated).[54] In some cases, Romney had little involvement with a company once acquired.[69]
"Sometimes the medicine is a little bitter but it is necessary to save the life of the patient. My job was to try and make the enterprise successful, and in my view the best security a family can have is that the business they work for is strong."
—Mitt Romney in 2007, commenting on job losses at companies that Bain Capital executed leveraged buyouts of.[68]
Bain Capital's leveraged buyouts sometimes led to layoffs, either soon after acquisition or later after the firm had left.[61][68][69] How jobs added compared to those lost due to these investments and buyouts is unknown, due to a lack of records and Bain Capital's penchant for privacy on behalf of itself and its investors.[74][75][76] In any case, maximizing the value of acquired companies and the return to Bain's investors, not job creation, was the firm's fundamental goal, as it was for most private equity operations.[69][77] Bain Capital's acquisition of Ampad exemplified a deal where it profited handsomely from early payments and management fees, even though the subject company itself ended up going into bankruptcy.[54][70][77] Dade Behring was another case where Bain Capital received an eightfold return on its investment, but the company itself was saddled with debt and laid off over a thousand employees before Bain Capital exited (the company subsequently went into bankruptcy, with more layoffs, before recovering and prospering).[74] Bain was among the private equity firms that took the most fees in such cases.[64][70]
In 1990, Romney was asked to return to Bain & Company, which was facing financial collapse.[66] He was announced as its new CEO in January 1991[78][79] but drew only a symbolic salary of one dollar.[66] He managed an effort to restructure the firm's employee stock-ownership plan, real-estate deals and bank loans, while rallying the firm's thousand employees, imposing a new governing structure that included Bain and the other founding partners giving up control, and increasing fiscal transparency.[54][58][66] Within about a year, he had led Bain & Company through a turnaround and returned the firm to profitability without further layoffs or partner defections.[58] He turned Bain & Company over to new leadership and returned to Bain Capital in December 1992.[54][79][80]
Romney took a leave of absence from Bain Capital in February 1999 to serve as the President and CEO of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games Organizing Committee.[54][81] By that time, Bain Capital was on its way to being one of the top private equity firms in the nation,[68] having increased its number of partners from 5 to 18, with 115 employees overall, and $4 billion under its management.[64][69] Bain Capital's approach of applying consulting expertise to the companies it invested in became widely copied within the private equity industry.[25][69] Economist Steven Kaplan would later say, "[Romney] came up with a model that was very successful and very innovative and that now everybody uses."[70]
Personal wealth[link]
In August 2001, Romney announced that he would not return to Bain Capital.[81] He transferred his ownership to other partners and negotiated an agreement that allowed him to receive a passive profit share as a retired partner in some Bain Capital entities, including buyout and investment funds.[73][82] Because the private equity business continued to thrive, this deal brought him millions of dollars in annual income.[73] As a result of his business career, by 2007, Romney and his wife had a net worth of between $190 and $250 million, most of it held in blind trusts since 2003.[82] In 2012, it was estimated that he had amassed twice the net worth of the last eight presidents combined,[83] and would rank among the four richest in American history if elected.[83][84]
An additional blind trust existed in the name of the Romneys' children and grandchildren that was valued at between $70 and $100 million as of 2007.[85] The couple's net worth remained in the same range as of 2011, and was still held in blind trusts.[86] In 2010, Romney and his wife received $21.7 million in income, almost all of it from investments, of which about $3 million went to federal income taxes (a rate of 13.9 percent, based upon the beneficial rate accorded investment income by the U.S. tax code) and almost $3 million to charity, including $1.5 million to the LDS Church.[87] Romney has always tithed to the church, including stock from Bain Capital holdings.[13][88][89] In 2010, the Romney family's Tyler Charitable Foundation gave out about $650,000, with some of it going to organizations that fight specific diseases such as cystic fibrosis and multiple sclerosis.[90]
Local LDS Church leadership[link]
During his years in business, Romney also served in the local lay clergy (consisting of all Mormon men over the age of 12).[13] Around 1977, he became a counselor to the president of the Boston Stake.[91] He later served as bishop of the ward (leader of the congregation) at Belmont, Massachusetts, from 1981 to 1986, acting as the ecclesiastical and administrative head of his congregation.[92][93] As such, in addition to home teaching, he also formulated Sunday services and classes using LDS scriptures to guide the congregation.[94] He forged bonds with other religious institutions in the area when the Belmont meetinghouse was destroyed by a fire of suspicious origins in 1984; the congregation rotated its meetings to other houses of worship while it was rebuilt.[88][93]
From 1986 to 1994, he presided over the Boston Stake, which included more than a dozen wards in eastern Massachusetts with about 4,000 church members altogether.[67][94][95] He organized a team to handle financial and management issues, sought to counter anti-Mormon sentiments, and tried to solve social problems among poor Southeast Asian converts.[88][93] An unpaid position, his local church leadership often took 30 or more hours a week of his time,[94] and he became known for his tireless energy in the role.[67] He generally refrained from overnight business travel owing to his church responsibilities.[94]
He took a hands-on role in general matters, helping in maintenance efforts in- and outside homes, visiting the sick, and counseling troubled or burdened church members.[92][93][94] A number of local church members later credited him with turning their lives around or helping them through difficult times.[88][93][94] Some others were rankled by his leadership style and desired a more consensus-based approach.[93] Romney tried to balance the conservative dogma insisted upon by the church leadership in Utah with the desire of some Massachusetts members to have a more flexible application of doctrine.[67] He agreed with some modest requests from the liberal women's group Exponent II for changes in the way the church dealt with women, but clashed with women whom he felt were departing too much from doctrine.[67] In particular, he counseled women not to have abortions except in the rare cases allowed by LDS doctrine, and also in accordance with doctrine, encouraged prospective mothers who were not in successful marriages to give up children for adoption.[67] Romney later said that the years spent as an LDS minister gave him direct exposure to people struggling in economically difficult circumstances, and empathy for those going through problematic family situations.[96]
1994 U.S. senatorial campaign[link]
Main article: United States Senate election in Massachusetts, 1994
By 1993, Romney had been thinking about entering politics, partly based upon Ann's urging and partly to follow in his father's footsteps.[46] He decided to challenge incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy, who was seeking re-election for the sixth time. Kennedy was potentially vulnerable that year – in part because of the unpopularity of the Democratic Congress as a whole, and in part because this was Kennedy's first election since the William Kennedy Smith trial in Florida, in which Kennedy had suffered some negative public relations regarding his character.[97][98][99] Romney changed his affiliation from Independent to Republican in October 1993 and formally announced his candidacy in February 1994.[46] He took a leave of absence from Bain Capital in November 1993, and stepped down from his church leadership role during 1994, due to the campaign.[100][94]
Radio personality Janet Jeghelian took an early lead in polls among candidates for the Republican nomination for the Senate seat, but Romney proved the most effective fundraiser.[101][102] He won 68 percent of the vote at the May 1994 Massachusetts Republican Party convention; businessman John Lakian finished a distant second and Jeghelian was eliminated.[103] Romney defeated Lakian in the September 1994 primary with over 80 percent of the vote.[15][104]
In the general election, Kennedy faced the first serious re-election challenger of his career in the young, telegenic, and well-funded Romney.[97] Romney ran as a fresh face, as a businessperson who stated he had created ten thousand jobs, and as a Washington outsider with a solid family image and moderate stances on social issues.[97][105] When Kennedy tried to tie Romney's policies to those of Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, Romney responded, "Look, I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I'm not trying to take us back to Reagan-Bush."[106] Romney stated: "Ultimately, this is a campaign about change."[107] After two decades out of public view, his father George re-emerged during the campaign.[108][109]
Romney's campaign was effective in portraying Kennedy as soft on crime, but had trouble establishing its own positions in a consistent manner.[110] By mid-September 1994, polls showed the race to be approximately even.[97][111][112] Kennedy responded with a series of attack ads, which focused on Romney's seemingly shifting political views on issues such as abortion and on the treatment of workers at the Ampad plant owned by Romney's Bain Capital.[97][113][114] The latter was effective in blunting Romney's momentum.[70] Kennedy and Romney held a widely watched late October debate without a clear winner, but by then, Kennedy had pulled ahead in polls and stayed ahead afterward.[115] Romney spent $3 million of his own money in the race and more than $7 million overall.[116][nb 10] In the November general election, despite a disastrous showing for Democrats overall, Kennedy won the election with 58 percent of the vote to Romney's 41 percent,[54] the smallest margin in Kennedy's eight re-election campaigns for the Senate.[119]
2002 Winter Olympics[link]
Romney returned to Bain Capital the day after the election, but the loss had a lasting effect; he told his brother, "I never want to run for something again unless I can win."[46][120] When his father died in 1995, Mitt donated his inheritance to BYU's George W. Romney Institute of Public Management and joined the board and was vice-chair of the Points of Light Foundation (which had incorporated his father's National Volunteer Center).[45][81] His mother died in 1998. Romney felt restless as the decade neared a close; the goal of simply making more money was losing its appeal to him.[46][120] He no longer had a church leadership position, although he still taught Sunday School.[92] During the long and controversial approval and construction process for the $30 million Mormon temple in Belmont, he feared that as a political figure who had opposed Kennedy, he would become a focal point for opposition to the structure.[93] He thus kept to a limited, behind-the-scenes role in attempts to ease tensions between the church and local residents, but locals nonetheless sometimes referred to it as "Mitt's Temple".[88][92][93]
Ann Romney was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1998; Mitt described watching her fail a series of neurological tests as the worst day of his life.[46] After two years of severe difficulties with the disease, she found while living in Park City, Utah (where the couple had built a vacation home) a mixture of mainstream, alternative, and equestrian therapies that gave her a lifestyle mostly without limitations.[53] When the offer came for him to take over the troubled 2002 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, to be held in Salt Lake City in Utah, she urged him to take it, and eager for a new challenge, he did.[120][121] On February 11, 1999, Romney was hired as the president and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games of 2002.[122]
Before Romney came on, the event was running $379 million short of its revenue benchmarks.[122] Plans were being made to scale back the Games to compensate for the fiscal crisis, and there were fears the Games might be moved away entirely.[123] The Games had also been damaged by allegations of bribery involving top officials, including prior Salt Lake Olympic Committee president and CEO Frank Joklik. Joklik and committee vice president Dave Johnson were forced to resign.[124] Romney was chosen by Utah figures looking for someone with expertise in business and law and with connections to the state and the LDS Church.[125] The appointment faced some initial criticism from non-Mormons, and fears from Mormons, that it represented cronyism or gave the Games too Mormon an image.[30]
Romney ran the planning for the Games like a business.[126] He revamped the organization's leadership and policies, reduced budgets, and boosted fundraising, alleviated the concerns corporate sponsors and recruited many new ones.[120][125] He appealed to Utah's citizenry with a message of optimism that helped restore confidence in the effort.[120][126] He worked to ensure the safety of the Games following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks by coordinating a $300 million security budget.[121] Overall, he oversaw a $1.32 billion budget, 700 employees, and 26,000 volunteers.[122] The federal government provided between approximately $400 million[125][127][128] and $600 million[126][129] of that budget, much of it a result of Romney's having aggressively lobbied Congress and federal agencies.[129][130][131] It would prove to be a record level of federal funding for the staging of a U.S. Olympics, a fact Romney would cite as a selling point during his campaign for the Massachusetts governorship.[128][130] An additional federal $1.1 billion was spent on indirect support in the form of highway and transit projects.[132]
Romney emerged as the public face of the Olympic effort, appearing in photographs, news stories and Olympics pins.[120] Robert H. Garff, the chair of the organizing committee, later said that "It was obvious that he had an agenda larger than just the Olympics,"[120] and that Romney wanted to use the Olympics to propel himself into the national spotlight and a political career.[125][133] Garff believed the initial budget shortfall was not as bad as Romney portrayed, given there were still three years to reorganize.[125] Utah Senator Bob Bennett said that much of the needed federal money was already in place and an analysis by The Boston Globe stated that the committee already had nearly $1 billion in committed revenues.[125] Olympics critic Steve Pace, who led Utahns for Responsible Public Spending, thought Romney exaggerated the initial fiscal state in order to lay the groundwork for a well-publicized rescue.[133] Kenneth Bullock, another board member of the organizing committee and also head of the Utah League of Cities and Towns, often clashed with Romney at the time, and later said that Romney deserved some credit for the turnaround but not as much as he claimed:[120] Bullock said: "He tried very hard to build an image of himself as a savior, the great white hope. He was very good at characterizing and castigating people and putting himself on a pedestal."[125]
Despite the initial fiscal shortfall, the Games ended up clearing a profit of $100 million.[134] His performance as Olympics head was rated positively by 87 percent of Utahns.[135] Romney and his wife contributed $1 million to the Olympics, and he donated to charity the $1.4 million in salary and severance payments he received for his three years as president and CEO.[136]
Romney was widely praised for his efforts with the 2002 Winter Olympics[121] including by President George W. Bush,[25] and it solidified his reputation as a turnaround artist.[125] Harvard Business School taught a case study based around his actions.[61] He wrote a book about his experience titled Turnaround: Crisis, Leadership, and the Olympic Games, published in 2004. The role gave Romney experience in dealing with federal, state, and local entities, a public persona he had previously lacked, and the chance to re-launch his political aspirations.[120] He was mentioned as a possible candidate for statewide office in both Massachusetts and Utah, and also as possibly joining the Bush administration.[121][137][138]
Governor of Massachusetts[link]
2002 gubernatorial campaign[link]
Main article: Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 2002
In 2002, Republican Acting Governor Jane Swift's administration was plagued by political missteps and personal scandals.[135] Many Republicans viewed her as a liability and considered her unable to win a general election.[139] Prominent party figures – as well as the White House – wanted Romney to run for governor,[137][140] and the opportunity appealed to him for its national visibility.[141] One poll taken at that time showed Republicans favoring Romney over Swift by more than 50 percentage points.[142] On March 19, 2002, Swift announced she would not seek her party's nomination, and hours later Romney declared his candidacy,[142] for which would face no opposition in the primary.[143] In June 2002, Massachusetts Democratic Party officials contested Romney's eligibility to run for governor, citing residency issues involving his time in Utah for the Olympics.[144] That same month, the bipartisan Massachusetts State Ballot Law Commission unanimously ruled that he was an eligible candidate.[145]
He again ran as a political outsider,[135] saying he was "not a partisan Republican" but rather a "moderate" with "progressive" views.[146] Supporters of Romney hailed his business success, especially with the Olympics, as the record of someone who would be able to bring a new era of efficiency into Massachusetts politics.[143] The campaign was the first to use microtargeting techniques, in which fine-grained groups of voters were reached with narrowly tailored messaging.[147] Nevertheless, Romney initially had difficulty connecting with voters and fell behind his Democratic opponent, Massachusetts State Treasurer Shannon O'Brien, in polls before rebounding.[148] During the election he contributed over $6 million – a state record at the time – to the nearly $10 million raised for his campaign overall.[149][150] Romney was elected governor on November 5, 2002, with 50 percent of the vote to O'Brien's 45 percent.[151]
Tenure, 2003–2007[link]
Main article: Governorship of Mitt Romney
When Romney was sworn in as the 70th governor of Massachusetts on January 2, 2003, [152] both houses of the Massachusetts state legislature held large Democratic majorities.[153] He picked his cabinet and advisors more on managerial abilities than partisan affiliation.[23] Upon entering office in the middle of a fiscal year, he faced an immediate $650 million shortfall and a projected $3 billion deficit for the next year.[138] Unexpected revenue of $1.0–1.3 billion from a previously enacted capital gains tax increase and $500 million in unanticipated federal grants decreased the deficit to $1.2–1.5 billion.[154][155] Through a combination of spending cuts, increased fees, and removal of corporate tax loopholes,[154] the state ran surpluses of around $600–700 million for the last two full fiscal years Romney was in office, although it began running deficits again after that.[nb 11]
Romney supported raising various fees by more than $300 million, including those for driver's licenses, marriage licenses, and gun licenses.[138][154] He increased a special gasoline retailer fee by two cents per gallon, generating about $60 million per year in additional revenue.[138][154] (Opponents said the reliance on fees sometimes imposed a hardship on those who could least afford them.)[154] Romney also closed tax loopholes that brought in another $181 million from businesses over the next two years and over $300 million for his term.[138][160] Romney did so in the face of conservative and corporate critics that considered them tax increases.[160]
The state legislature, with Romney's support, also cut spending by $1.6 billion, including $700 million in reductions in state aid to cities and towns.[161] The cuts also included a $140 million reduction in state funding for higher education, which led state-run colleges and universities to increase tuition by 63 percent over four years.[138][154] Romney sought additional cuts in his last year as governor by vetoing nearly 250 items in the state budget, but all were overridden by the heavily Democratic legislature.[162]
The cuts in state spending put added pressure on localities to reduce services or raise property taxes, and the share of town and city revenues coming from property taxes rose from 49 to 53 percent.[138][154] The combined state and local tax burden in Massachusetts increased during Romney's governorship but remained below the national average.[138]
Romney sought to bring near-universal health insurance coverage to the state. This came after Staples founder Stemberg told him at the start of his term that doing so would be the best way he could help people,[163][164][165] and after the federal government, owing to the rules of Medicaid funding, threatened to cut $385 million in those payments to Massachusetts if the state did not reduce the number of uninsured recipients of health care services.[23][163][166] Although he had not campaigned on the idea of universal health insurance,[165] Romney decided that because people without insurance still received expensive health care, the money spent by the state for such care could be better used to subsidize insurance for the poor.[164][165]
After positing that any measure adopted not raise taxes and not resemble the previous decade's failed "Hillarycare" proposal, Romney formed a team of consultants from diverse political backgrounds.[23][163][166] Beginning in late 2004, they came up with a set of proposals more ambitious than an incremental one from the Massachusetts Senate and more acceptable to him than one from the Massachusetts House of Representatives that incorporated a new payroll tax.[23][163][166] In particular, Romney pushed for incorporating an individual mandate at the state level.[21] Past rival Ted Kennedy, who had made universal heath coverage his life's work and who, over time, had developed a warm relationship with Romney,[167] gave the plan a positive reception, which encouraged Democratic legislators to cooperate.[163][166] The effort eventually gained the support of all major stakeholders within the state, and Romney helped break a logjam between rival Democratic leaders in the legislature.[163][166]
"There really wasn't Republican or Democrat in this. People ask me if this is conservative or liberal, and my answer is yes. It's liberal in the sense that we're getting our citizens health insurance. It's conservative in that we're not getting a government takeover."
—Mitt Romney upon passage of the Massachusetts health reform law in 2006.[163]
On April 12, 2006, Romney signed the resulting Massachusetts health reform law, commonly called "Romneycare", which requires nearly all Massachusetts residents to buy health insurance coverage or face escalating tax penalties, such as the loss of their personal income tax exemption.[168] The bill also establishes means-tested state subsidies for people who do not have adequate employer insurance and whose income is below a threshold, with funds that were previously used to compensate for the health costs of the uninsured.[169][170][171] He vetoed eight sections of the health care legislation, including a controversial $295-per-employee assessment on businesses that do not offer health insurance and provisions guaranteeing dental benefits to Medicaid recipients.[168][172] The legislature overrode all eight vetoes, but the governor's office said the differences were not essential.[172] The law was the first of its kind in the nation and became the signature achievement of Romney's term in office.[166][nb 12]
At the beginning of his governorship, Romney opposed same-sex marriage and civil unions, but advocated tolerance and supported some domestic partnership benefits.[166][174][175] Faced with the dilemma of choosing between same-sex marriage or civil unions after the November 2003 Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision legalizing same-sex marriages (Goodridge v. Department of Public Health), Romney reluctantly backed a state constitutional amendment in February 2004 that would have banned same-sex marriage but still allow civil unions, viewing it as the only feasible way to ban same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.[176] In May 2004, Romney instructed town clerks to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, but citing a 1913 law that barred out-of-state residents from getting married in Massachusetts if their union would be illegal in their home state, no marriage licenses were to be issued to out-of-state same-sex couples not planning to move to Massachusetts.[174][177] In June 2005, Romney abandoned his support for the compromise amendment, stating that the amendment confused voters who oppose both same-sex marriage and civil unions.[174] Instead, Romney endorsed a petition effort led by the Coalition for Marriage & Family that would have banned same-sex marriage and made no provisions for civil unions.[174] In 2004 and 2006, he urged the U.S. Senate to vote in favor of the Federal Marriage Amendment.[178][179]
In 2005, Romney revealed a change of view regarding abortion, moving from the "unequivocal" pro-choice position expressed during his 2002 campaign to a pro-life one in opposition to Roe v. Wade.[166] He subsequently vetoed a bill on pro-life grounds that would expand access to emergency contraception in hospitals and pharmacies[180] (the veto was overridden by the legislature).[181]
Romney generally used the bully pulpit approach towards promoting his agenda, staging well-organized media events to appeal directly to the public rather than pushing his proposals in behind-doors sessions with the state legislature.[166] Romney dealt with a public crisis of confidence in Boston's Big Dig project – that followed a fatal ceiling collapse in 2006 – by wresting control of the project from the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority.[166]
During 2004, Romney spent considerable effort trying to bolster the state Republican Party, but it failed to gain any seats in the state legislative elections that year.[138][182] He was given a prime-time appearance at the 2004 Republican National Convention, and was already being discussed as a potential 2008 presidential candidate.[183] Midway through his term, Romney decided that he wanted to stage a full-time run for president,[184] and on December 14, 2005, announced that he would not seek re-election for a second term.[185][186] As chair of the Republican Governors Association, Romney traveled around the country, meeting prominent Republicans and building a national political network;[184] he spent part or all of more than 200 days out of state during 2006, preparing for his run.[187]
He had a 61 percent job approval rating in public polls after his initial fiscal actions in 2003, but it began to sink after that.[188] His frequent out-of-state travel contributed to a decline in his approval rating towards the end of his term;[189][188] at 34 percent in November 2006, his rating level ranked 48th of the 50 U.S. governors.[190] Dissatisfaction with Romney's administration and the weak condition of the Republican state party were among several factors that led to Democrat Deval Patrick's lopsided win over Republican Kerry Healey, Romney's Lieutenant Governor, in the 2006 Massachusetts gubernatorial election.[191][189]
Romney filed to register a presidential campaign committee with the Federal Election Commission on his penultimate day in office as governor.[192] His term ended January 4, 2007.
2008 presidential campaign[link]
Main article: Mitt Romney presidential campaign, 2008
Romney formally announced his candidacy for the 2008 Republican nomination for president on February 13, 2007, at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.[193] In his speech, he frequently invoked his father and his own family and stressed experiences in the private, public, and voluntary sectors that had brought him to this point.[193][194] He said, "Throughout my life, I have pursued innovation and transformation,"[194] and casting himself as a political outsider, said, "I do not believe Washington can be transformed from within by a lifelong politician."[195]
Romney's campaign initially emphasized his résumé of a highly profitable career in the business world and his stewardship of the Olympics.[184][196][nb 13] He also had political experience as governor, together with a political pedigree courtesy of his father, and had a reputation for a strong work ethic and energy level.[184][196][65] Ann Romney, who had become an outspoken advocate for those with multiple sclerosis,[199] was in remission and would be an active participant in his campaign,[200] helping to soften his political personality.[65] Moreover, a number of commentators noted that with his square jaw and ample hair graying at the temples, the 6-foot-2-inch (1.88 m)[201] Romney – referred to as handsome in scores of media stories[202] – physically matched one of the common images of what some believed a president should look like.[66][203][204][205] Romney's liabilities included having run for senator and served as governor in one of the nation's most liberal states, having taken some positions there that were opposed by the party's conservative base, and subsequently shifting those positions.[184][196][200] His religion was also viewed with suspicion and skepticism by some in the Evangelical portion of the party.[206]
Romney assembled for his campaign a veteran group of Republican staffers, consultants, and pollsters.[196][207] He was little-known nationally, though, and stayed around the 10 percent range in Republican preference polls for the first half of 2007.[184] He proved the most effective fundraiser of any of the Republican candidates;[208] his Olympics ties helped him with fundraising from Utahns and from sponsors and trustees of the games.[136] He also partly financed his campaign with his own personal fortune.[196] These resources, combined with the mid-year near-collapse of nominal front-runner John McCain's campaign, made Romney a threat to win the nomination and the focus of the other candidates' attacks.[209] Romney's staff suffered from internal strife and the candidate himself was indecisive at times, constantly asking for more data before making a decision.[196][210]
During all of his political campaigns, Romney has generally avoided speaking publicly about specific Mormon doctrines, referring to the U.S. Constitution prohibition of religious tests for public office.[211] But persistent questions about the role of religion in Romney's life in this race, as well as Southern Baptist minister and former Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee's rise in the polls based upon an explicitly Christian-themed campaign, led to the December 6, 2007, "Faith in America" speech.[212] He said should neither be elected nor rejected based upon his religion,[213] and echoed Senator John F. Kennedy's famous speech during his 1960 presidential campaign in saying, "I will put no doctrine of any church above the plain duties of the office and the sovereign authority of the law."[212] Instead of discussing the specific tenets of his faith, he said that he would be informed by it and that, "Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom. Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone."[212][213] Academics would later study the role religion had played in the campaign.[nb 14]
In the January 3, 2008, Iowa Republican caucuses, the first contest of the primary season, Romney received 25 percent of the vote and placed second to the vastly outspent Huckabee, who received 34 percent.[216][217] Of the 60 percent of caucus-goers who were evangelical Christians, Huckabee was supported by about half of them while Romney by only a fifth.[216] Two days later, Romney won the lightly contested Wyoming Republican caucuses.[218]
At a Saint Anselm College debate, Huckabee and McCain pounded away at Romney's image as a flip flopper.[216] Indeed, this label would stick to Romney through the campaign[196] (but was one that Romney rejected as unfair and inaccurate, except for his acknowledged change of mind on abortion).[65][219] Romney seemed to approach the campaign as a management consulting exercise, and showed a lack of personal warmth and political feel; journalist Evan Thomas wrote that Romney "came off as a phony, even when he was perfectly sincere."[65][220] Romney's staff would conclude that competing as a candidate of social conservatism and ideological purity rather than of pragmatic competence had been a mistake.[65]
Romney finished in second place by 5 percentage points to the resurgent McCain in the next-door-to-his-home-state New Hampshire primary on January 8.[216] Romney rebounded to win the January 15 Michigan primary over McCain by a solid margin, capitalizing on his childhood ties to the state and his vow to bring back lost automotive industry jobs which was seen by several commentators as unrealistic.[nb 15] On January 19, Romney won the lightly contested Nevada caucuses, but placed fourth in the intense South Carolina primary, where he had effectively ceded the contest to his rivals.[225] McCain gained further momentum with his win in South Carolina, leading to a showdown between him and Romney in the Florida primary.[226][227]
For ten days, Romney campaigned intensively on economic issues and the burgeoning subprime mortgage crisis, while McCain repeatedly, and inaccurately, asserted that Romney favored a premature withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq.[nb 16] McCain won key last-minute endorsements from Florida Senator Mel Martinez and Governor Charlie Crist, which helped push him to a 5 percentage point victory on January 29.[226][227] Although many Republican officials were now lining up behind McCain,[227] Romney persisted through the nationwide Super Tuesday contests on February 5. There he won primaries or caucuses in several states, including Massachusetts, Alaska, Minnesota, Colorado, and Utah, but McCain won more, including large states such as California and New York.[229] Trailing McCain in delegates by a more than two-to-one margin, Romney announced the end of his campaign on February 7 during a speech before the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington.[229]
Altogether, Romney had won 11 primaries and caucuses,[230] received about 4.7 million total votes,[231] and garnered about 280 delegates.[232] He spent $110 million during the campaign, including $45 million of his own money.[233]
Romney endorsed McCain for president a week later.[232] He became one of the McCain campaign's most visible surrogates, appearing on behalf of the GOP nominee at fundraisers, state Republican party conventions, and on cable news programs.[234] His efforts earned McCain's respect and the two developed a warmer relationship; he was on the nominee's short list for the vice presidential running mate slot, where his economic expertise would have balanced one of McCain's weaknesses.[235] McCain, behind in the polls, opted instead for a high-risk, high-reward "game changer", and selected Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.[236] McCain lost the election to Democratic Senator Barack Obama.
Activity between presidential campaigns[link]
Following the election, Romney paved the way for a possible 2012 presidential campaign by using his Free and Strong America political action committee (PAC) to raise money for other Republican candidates and to pay his existing political staff's salaries and consulting fees.[237][238] An informal network of former staff and supporters around the nation were eager for him to run again.[239] He continued to give speeches and raise funds for Republicans,[240] but turned down many potential media appearances, fearing overexposure.[219] He also spoke before business, educational, and motivational groups.[241] He served on the board of directors of Marriott International from 2009 to 2011 (having earlier served on it from 1993 to 2002).[242]
In 2009, the Romneys sold their primary residence in Belmont and their ski chalet in Utah, leaving them an estate along Lake Winnipesaukee in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, and an oceanfront home in the La Jolla district of San Diego, California, which they had bought the year before.[219][243][244] The San Diego home was beneficial in location and climate for Ann Romney's multiple sclerosis therapies and for recovering from her late 2008 diagnosis and lumpectomy for mammary ductal carcinoma in situ.[243][245][246] Both it and the New Hampshire location were near some of their grandchildren,[243] who by 2011 numbered sixteen.[247] Romney maintained his voting registration in Massachusetts, however, and bought a smaller condominium in Belmont during 2010.[245][248][nb 17] In February 2010, Romney had a minor altercation with LMFAO member Skyler Gordy, known as Sky Blu, on an airplane flight.[nb 18]
Romney's book, No Apology: The Case for American Greatness, was released in March 2010; an 18-state book tour was undertaken.[255] The book, which debuted atop The New York Times Best Seller list,[256] avoided anecdotes about his personal or political life in favor of a presentation of his economic and geopolitical views.[257][258] Earnings from the book were donated to charity.[86]
In nationwide opinion polling for the 2012 Republican Presidential primaries, Romney led or placed in the top three with Palin and Huckabee. A January 2010 National Journal survey of political insiders found that a majority of Republican insiders, and a plurality of Democratic insiders, predicted Romney would be the party's 2012 nominee.[259] Romney campaigned heavily for Republican candidates in the 2010 midterm elections,[260] raising more money than the other prospective 2012 Republican presidential candidates.[261] Beginning in early 2011, Romney presented a more relaxed visual image, including rarely wearing a necktie.[262][263]
2012 presidential campaign[link]
Main article: Mitt Romney presidential campaign, 2012
See also: Republican Party presidential primaries, 2012 , Results of the 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries, and Republican Party vice presidential candidates, 2012
On April 11, 2011, Romney announced in a video taped outdoors at the University of New Hampshire that he had formed an exploratory committee for a run for the Republican presidential nomination.[264][265] A Quinnipiac University political science professor stated, "We all knew that he was going to run. He's really been running for president ever since the day after the 2008 election."[265]
Romney stood to gain from the Republican electorate's tendency to nominate candidates who had previously run for president and appeared to be "next in line" to be chosen.[239][266][267] The early stages of the race found him as the apparent front-runner in a weak field, especially in terms of fundraising prowess and organization.[268][269][270] Perhaps his greatest hurdle in gaining the Republican nomination was party opposition to the Massachusetts health care reform law that he had shepherded five years earlier.[263][265][267] As many potential Republican candidates decided not to run (including Mike Pence, John Thune, Haley Barbour, Mike Huckabee, and Mitch Daniels), Republican party figures searched for plausible alternatives to Romney.[268][270]
On June 2, 2011, he formally announced the start of his campaign. Speaking on a farm in Stratham, New Hampshire, he focused on the economy and criticized President Obama's handling of it.[271] He said, "In the campaign to come, the American ideals of economic freedom and opportunity need a clear and unapologetic defense, and I intend to make it – because I have lived it."[267]
Romney raised $56 million during 2011, far more than any of his Republican opponents,[272] and refrained from spending any of his own money on his campaign.[273] He initially ran a low-key, low-profile campaign.[274] Michele Bachmann staged a brief surge in polls, then by September 2011, Romney's chief rival in polls was a recent entrant, Texas Governor Rick Perry.[275] Perry and Romney exchanged sharp criticisms of each other during a series of debates among the Republican candidates.[276] The October 2011 decisions of Chris Christie and Sarah Palin not to run finally settled the field.[277][278] Perry faded after poor performances in those debates, while Herman Cain's long-shot bid gained popularity until allegations of sexual misconduct derailed him.[279][280]
Romney continued to seek support from a wary Republican electorate; at this point in the race, his poll numbers were relatively flat and at a historically low level for a Republican frontrunner.[277][281][282] After the charges of flip-flopping that marked his 2008 campaign began to accumulate again, Romney declared in November 2011 that "I've been as consistent as human beings can be."[283][284][285] In the final month before voting began, Newt Gingrich enjoyed a major surge, taking a solid lead in national polls and in most of the early caucus and primary states,[286] before settling back into parity or worse with Romney following a barrage of negative ads from Restore Our Future, a pro-Romney Super PAC.[287]
In the initial 2012 Iowa caucuses of January 3, Romney was announced as the victor on election night with 25 percent of the vote, edging out a late-gaining Rick Santorum by eight votes (with an also-strong Ron Paul finishing third),[288] but sixteen days later, Santorum was certified as the winner by a 34-vote margin.[289] Romney decidedly won the New Hampshire primary the following week with a total of 39 percent; Paul finished second and Jon Huntsman third.[290]
In the run-up to the South Carolina Republican primary, Gingrich launched attack ads criticizing Romney for causing job losses while at Bain Capital, Perry referred to Romney's role there as "vulture capitalism", and Sarah Palin questioned whether Romney could prove his claim that 100,000 jobs were created during that time.[291][292] Many conservatives rallied in defense of Romney, rejecting what they inferred as criticism of free-market capitalism.[291] However, during two debates, Romney fumbled questions about releasing his income tax returns, while Gingrich gained support with audience-rousing attacks on the debate moderators.[293][294] Romney's double-digit lead in state polls evaporated and he lost to Gingrich by 13 points in the January 21 primary.[293] Combined with the delayed loss in Iowa, Romney's admitted bad week represented a lost chance to end the race early, and he decided to release his tax returns quickly.[293][295] The race turned to the Florida Republican primary, where in debates, appearances, and advertisements, Romney unleashed a concerted, unrelenting attack on Gingrich's past record and associations and current electability.[296][297] Romney enjoyed a big spending advantage from both his campaign and his aligned Super PAC, and after a record-breaking rate of negative ads from both sides, Romney won Florida on January 31, gaining 46 percent of the vote to Gingrich's 32 percent.[298]
There were several caucuses and primaries during February, and Santorum won three in a single night early in the month, propelling him into the lead in national and some state polls and positioning him as Romney's main rival.[299] Romney won the other five, including a closely fought contest in his home state of Michigan at the end of the month.[300][301] In the Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses of March 6, Romney won six of ten contests, including a narrow victory in Ohio over a greatly outspent Santorum, and although he failed to win decisively enough to end the race, still held a more than two-to-one edge over Santorum in delegates.[302] Romney maintained his delegate margin through subsequent contests,[303] and Santorum stopped his campaign on April 10.[304] Following a sweep of five more contests on April 24, the Republican National Committee put its resources behind Romney as the party's presumptive nominee.[305] Romney clinched a majority of the delegates with a win in the Texas primary on May 29.
Political positions and public perceptions[link]
For more details on specific Romney positions on many issues, see Political positions of Mitt Romney.
For much of his business career, Romney did not take public political positions.[306][307] While he had kept abreast of national politics during college,[33] and the circumstances of his father's presidential campaign loss would irk him for decades,[24] his early philosophical influences were often non-political, as during his missionary days when he read Napoleon Hill's pioneering self-help tome Think and Grow Rich, and encouraged his colleagues to do the same.[13][61] Until his 1994 U.S. Senate campaign, he was registered as an Independent.[46] In the 1992 Democratic Party presidential primaries, he voted for the Democratic former senator from Massachusetts, Paul Tsongas.[306][308]
In the 1994 Senate race, Romney aligned himself with Republican Massachusetts Governor William Weld, saying "I think Bill Weld's fiscal conservatism, his focus on creating jobs and employment and his efforts to fight discrimination and assure civil rights for all is a model that I identify with and aspire to."[309] As a gubernatorial candidate in 2002, and then initially as Governor of Massachusetts, he generally operated in the mold established by Weld and followed by Weld's two other Republican successors, Paul Cellucci and Jane Swift: restrain spending and taxing, be tolerant or permissive on social issues, protect the environment, be tough on crime, try to appear post-partisan.[308][310]
Later during his time as governor, Romney's position on abortion changed in conjunction with a similar change of position on stem cell research.[166][nb 19] Also during that time, his position or choice of emphasis on some aspects of gay rights,[nb 20] and some aspects of abstinence-only sex education,[nb 21] moved in a more conservative direction. The change in 2005 on abortion was the result of what he described as an epiphany experienced while investigating stem cell research issues.[166] He later said, "Changing my position was in line with an ongoing struggle that anyone has that is opposed to abortion personally, vehemently opposed to it, and yet says, 'Well, I'll let other people make that decision.' And you say to yourself, but if you believe that you're taking innocent life, it's hard to justify letting other people make that decision."[166]
This increased alignment with traditional conservatives on social issues coincided with Romney's becoming a candidate for the 2008 Republican nomination for President.[317][318] He joined the National Rifle Association and portrayed himself as a lifelong hunter.[nb 22] He downplayed the Massachusetts health care law,[21][308][318] became a convert on signing an anti-tax pledge,[61][21] and backed away from further closings of corporate tax loopholes.[160] There was a display of aggressiveness on foreign policy matters, such as wanting to double the number of detainees at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.[318] Skeptics, including some Republicans, charged Romney with opportunism and having a lack of core principles.[166][196][308] The fervor with which Romney adopted his new stances and attitudes contributed to the perception of inauthenticity which hampered that campaign.[61][262]
While there have been many biographical parallels between the lives of George and Mitt Romney,[nb 23] one particular difference is that while George was willing to defy political trends, Mitt has been much more willing to adapt to them.[21][23] Mitt Romney has said that learning from experience and changing views accordingly is a virtue, and that, "If you're looking for someone who's never changed any positions on any policies, then I'm not your guy."[324] Romney responded to criticisms of ideological pandering with the explanation that "The older I get, the smarter Ronald Reagan gets."[200]
Journalist Daniel Gross sees Romney as approaching politics in the same terms as a business competing in markets, in that successful executives do not hold firm to public stances over long periods of time, but rather constantly devise new strategies and plans to deal with new geographical regions and ever-changing market conditions.[308] Political profiler Ryan Lizza notes the same question regarding whether Romney's business skills can be adapted to politics, saying that "while giving customers exactly what they want may be normal in the corporate world, it can be costly in politics".[61] Writer Robert Draper holds a somewhat similar perspective: "The Romney curse was this: His strength lay in his adaptability. In governance, this was a virtue; in a political race, it was an invitation to be called a phony."[65] Writer Benjamin Wallace-Wells sees Romney as a detached problem solver rather than one who approaches political issues from a humanistic or philosophical perspective.[70] Journalist Neil Swidey views Romney as a political and cultural enigma, "the product of two of the most mysterious and least understood subcultures in the country: the Mormon Church and private-equity finance," and believes that has led to the continued interest in a 1983 episode in which Romney kept his family dog on the roof of his car during a long road trip.[nb 24] Political writer Joe Klein views Romney as actually more conservative on social issues than he portrayed himself during his Massachusetts campaigns and less conservative on other issues than his presidential campaigns have represented, and concludes that Romney "has always campaigned as something he probably is not."[328]
Immediately following the March 2010 passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Romney attacked the landmark legislation as "an unconscionable abuse of power" and said the act should be repealed.[329] The antipathy Republicans felt for it created a potential problem for the former governor, since the new federal law was in many ways similar to the Massachusetts health care reform passed during Romney's term; as one Associated Press article stated, "Obamacare ... looks a lot like Romneycare."[329] While acknowledging that his plan was an imperfect work in progress, Romney did not back away from it, and has consistently defended its underpinning state-level health insurance mandate.[329][330] He has focused on its bipartisan support in the state legislature, the absence of Congressional Republican support for Obama's plan,[329] and has contended that it was the right answer to Massachusetts' specific problems at the time.[329][331] While Romney has not explicitly argued for a federally imposed mandate, and as of 2010 explicitly opposes one, during his 1994 Senate campaign he indicated he would vote for an overall health insurance proposal that contained one.[332][333] He suggested during his time as governor and during his 2008 presidential campaign that the Massachusetts plan was a model for the nation and that, over time, mandate plans might be adopted by most or all of the nation.[334][335][336]
Romney's foreign policy views are rooted in a firm belief in American exceptionalism and the need to preserve American supremacy in the world.[257] This parallels the Mormon belief that the United States Constitution is divinely inspired and that the U.S. was selected by God to play a special part in human history.[337] Indeed, Romney's political beliefs regarding a limited role for government, a need for self-reliance, and requirements for welfare recipients, often reflect Mormon tenets adapted for the secular world.[337][338]
Throughout his business, Olympics, and political career, Romney's instinct has been to apply the "Bain way" towards problems.[65][318][339] Romney has said, "There were two key things I learned at Bain. One was a series of concepts for approaching tough problems and a problem-solving methodology; the other was an enormous respect for data, analysis, and debate."[339] He has written, "There are answers in numbers – gold in numbers. Pile the budgets on my desk and let me wallow."[61] Romney believes the Bain approach is not only effective in the business realm but also in running for office and, once there, in solving political conundrums such as proper Pentagon spending levels and the future of Social Security.[318][339] Former Bain and Olympics colleague Fraser Bullock has said of Romney, "He's not an ideologue. He makes decisions based on researching data more deeply than anyone I know."[25] Romney's technocratic instincts have thus always been with him; in his public appearances during the 2002 gubernatorial campaign he sometimes gave PowerPoint presentations rather than conventional speeches.[340] Upon taking office he became, in the words of The Boston Globe, "the state's first self-styled CEO governor".[138] During his 2008 presidential campaign, he constantly asked for data, analysis, and opposing arguments,[318] and has been decribed by Slate magazine as a potential "CEO president".[308]
Awards and honors[link]
Romney has received five honorary doctorates, including one in Business from the University of Utah in 1999,[341] in Law from Bentley College in 2002,[342] in Public Administration from Suffolk University Law School in 2004,[343] in Public Service from Hillsdale College in 2007,[344] and in Humanities from Liberty University in 2012.[345]
People magazine included him in its 50 Most Beautiful People list for 2002,[346] and in 2004, he received the inaugural Truce Ideal Award for his role in the 2002 Winter Olympics.[347] The Cranbrook School gave him their Distinguished Alumni Award in 2005.[19] In 2008 he shared with his wife Ann, the Canterbury Medal from The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, for "refus[ing] to compromise their principles and faith" during the presidential campaign.[348] In 2012 Romney was named to the Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.[349]
Writings[link]
- With Timothy Robinson (2004). Turnaround: Crisis, Leadership, and the Olympic Games. Washington: Regnery Publishing. ISBN 978-0-89526-084-0.
- No Apology: The Case for American Greatness. New York: St. Martin's Press. 2010. ISBN 978-0-312-60980-1.
See also[link]
Notes[link]
- ^ He was called "Billy" until kindergarten, when he indicated a preference for "Mitt".[15]
- ^ Mitt's campaigning for his father included working the phone banks and appearing at county fairs where he manned a booth and exclaimed over a loudspeaker, "You should vote for my father for Governor. He's a truly great person. You've got to support him. He's going to make things better."[21]
- ^ Such pranks included sliding down golf courses on large ice cubes, dressing as a police officer and tapping on the car windows of teenage friends who were making out, and staging an elaborate formal dinner on the median of a busy street.[18][20] The golf course escapade apparently got Romney and Ann Davies arrested, or otherwise detained, by the local police.[24][25] Romney was also arrested in 1981 while at a family outing at Lake Cochituate in Massachusetts. According to Romney, a ranger from Cochituate State Park told him his motorboat had an insufficiently visible license number and he would face a $50 fine if he took the boat onto the lake. Disagreeing about the license and wanting to continue the outing, Romney took it out anyway, saying he would pay the fine. The angry officer then arrested him for disorderly conduct. The charges were dropped several days later after Romney threatened to sue the officer and the state for false arrest.[26]
- ^ a b When initially considering colleges after high school, Romney had not wanted to go to BYU.[43] He later recounted that he had planned to attend BYU to convince Ann to marry him, then the couple planned to transfer together back to Stanford, but in the end, they enjoyed BYU and decided to stay.[45]
- ^ Romney's great-grandfather, grandfather, father, and two uncles had been missionaries,[32] as had his older brother.[33] All five of Romney's sons later served as missionaries as well.[34]
- ^ a b On June 16, 1968, Romney was driving fellow missionaries on dangerous roads in southern France.[18][37][40] As they drove through the village of Bernos-Beaulac, a Mercedes that was passing a truck missed a curve and swerved into the opposite lane hitting the Citroën DS Romney was driving in a head-on collision.[18][41] Trapped between the steering wheel and door, the unconscious and seriously injured Romney had to be pried from the car; a French police officer mistakenly wrote Il est mort in his passport.[18][24][40] The wife of the mission president was killed and other passengers were seriously injured as well.[40] George Romney relied on his friend Sargent Shriver, the U.S. Ambassador to France, to go to the local hospital and discover that his son had survived.[24] Romney, who was not at fault in the accident,[33][40] had suffered broken ribs, a fractured arm, a concussion, and facial injuries, but recovered quickly without needing surgery.[37][40] The French police say that they have no records of the incident because such records are routinely destroyed after 10 years.[40]
- ^ Some sources incorrectly report that Romney graduated BYU as valedictorian. Romney himself has corrected this notion, saying that he was not. While he believes he did have the highest grade point average for his BYU years in the College of Humanities, he did not if his Stanford year was factored in, and he did not among the graduating class university-wide.[51][45]
- ^ Romney sat for the bar exam in his home state of Michigan in July 1975, passed it and was admitted to practice law there, but never worked as a lawyer and only considered in case his business career did not work out.[59]
- ^ One study of 68 deals that Bain Capital made during Romney's time there found that the firm lost money or broke even on 33 of them.[67] Another study that looked at the eight-year period following 77 deals during Romney's time found that in 17 cases the company went bankrupt or out of business, and in 6 cases Bain Capital lost all its investment. But 10 deals were very successful and represented 70 percent of the total profits.[72]
- ^ Kennedy spent $10.5 million overall, including a $1.5 million loan to himself.[117] This was the second-most expensive race of the 1994 election cycle, after the Dianne Feinstein–Michael Huffington Senate race in California.[118]
- ^ Official state figures for fiscal year 2005 (July 1, 2004 – June 30, 2005) declared a $594.4 million surplus.[138][156] For fiscal 2006, the surplus was $720.9 million.[156] During fiscal 2007, Romney cut $384 million in spending that the legislature wanted; in January 2007, midway through the fiscal year, incoming Governor Deval Patrick restored that amount,[157] and also declared that the state faced a "looming budget shortfall" of $1 billion for fiscal 2008.[158] Patrick consequently proposed a budget for fiscal 2008 that included $515 million in spending cuts and $295 million in new corporate taxes.[159] As it happened, the state ended fiscal 2007 with a $307.1 million deficit and fiscal 2008 with a $495.2 million deficit.[156]
- ^ Within four years, the Massachusetts law had achieved its primary goal of expanding coverage: in 2010, 98% of state residents had coverage, compared to a national average of 83%. Among children and seniors the 2010 coverage rate was even higher, 99.8% and 99.6% respectively. Approximately two-thirds of residents received coverage through employers; one-sixth each received it through Medicare or public plans.[173]
- ^ American political opinion periodically looked towards industry for business managers who it was thought could straighten out what was held to be wrong in the nation's capital. The track record of such efforts was at best mixed, with Lee Iacocca declining to run, Romney's father George and Steve Forbes failing to get far in the primaries, and Ross Perot staging one of the more successful third-party runs in American history.[197][198]
- ^ Regarding the role of Romney's religion in the 2008 campaign, one academic study, based upon research conducted throughout the 2008 primaries, showed that a negative perception of Mormonism was widespread during the election, and that perception was often resistant to factual information that would correct mistaken notions about the religion or Romney's relationship to it.[214] The authors concluded that, "For Romney ... religion is the central story."[214] Another study, analyzing a survey conducted during January 2008 (when an African American, a woman, and a Mormon all had realistic chances of becoming the first president from that group), found that voters had internally accepted the notion of black equality, paving the way for Barack Obama's election; had partially established but not fully internalized the notion of gender equality, making Hillary Rodham Clinton's task somewhat more difficult; but had only selectively internalized the notion of religious equality, and in particular not extended it to Mormons, thus making Romney's run significantly more difficult.[215] Those authors concluded that, "for a Mormon candidate, the road to the presidency remains very rough ... The bias against a Mormon candidate is substantial."[215]
- ^ Romney proposed a $20 billion "workout, not a bailout" of the U.S. auto industry. It was termed unrealistic or "pandering" by several news reports.[221][222][223][224]
- ^ Previously, Romney had proposed a private timetable for gradually reducing U.S. forces. McCain's statements regarding this were termed dishonest or misleading by several news reports.[226][227][228]
- ^ Following the August 2009 death of his past rival and sometime ally Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Romney declared that he had no interest in running in the special January 2010 election to replace him.[249] Romney was an early supporter of Scott Brown, the successful Republican candidate in that race. Some of Romney's former aides were used by Brown's campaign and Romney raised funds for Brown.[250][251]
- ^ After having attended the 2010 Winter Olympics, Romney and wife were on board an Air Canada plane waiting to take off on a flight from Vancouver to Los Angeles when he got into a physical altercation with Sky Blu, sitting in front of him, over Sky Blu's seat not being in the upright position. Romney said that Sky Blu became physically violent and that he did not retaliate, while Sky Blu said that Romney gave him a "Vulcan grip" first and that he responded physically to that. Sky Blu was escorted off the aircraft by Canadian police but Romney did not press charges and Sky Blu was released.[252][253][254]
- ^ During his 2002 campaign, Romney expressed support for embryonic stem cell research, and said he would lobby President Bush (who had banned most federal funding for such research) to support it. In early 2005, Romney announced his position on therapeutic cloning, saying he was against it – and vetoing a funding bill for stem cell research because it allowed it – but still in favor of research on unused embryos from fertility treatments. In early 2007, he said he was now against expanded federal funding for such excess embryo research (but still thought private funding for such research was ethical, to the dismay of some conservative Republicans).[311]
- ^ As described. While Romney has consistently rejected same-sex marriage throughout his political career, there was a rhetorical shift in emphasis during his time as governor. The shift culminated in Romney avoiding discussions about the protection of gays from bias and instead characterizing himself as a conservative stalwart in the battle against same-sex marriage and in support of heterosexual families. The shift is even greater if compared to Romney's pledges from his 1994 senatorial campaign.[312][313]
- ^ During his 2002 campaign, Romney said he backed age-appropriate, comprehensive sex education in public schools. In 2005, he accepted federal funding to a faith-based organization to teach abstinence-only education in public schools. Romney said such programs would supplement rather than replace existing ones, while opponents feared that funding pressure would lead to schools dropping comprehensive programs for the freely available abstinence-only ones.[314][315][316]
- ^ Romney joined the National Rifle Association as a life member in August 2006. In December 2007, he cited a past endorsement from them, which he later said was unofficial support.[21][206][319][320] In April 2007, he said, "I've been a hunter pretty much all my life," but then said he had only gone hunting twice and did not own guns, and "I'm not a big-game hunter. I've made that very clear. I've always been a rodent and rabbit hunter. Small varmints, if you will. I began when I was 15 or so and I have hunted those kinds of varmints since then. More than two times."[321]
- ^ Biographical parallels between George and Mitt Romney include: Both served as Mormon missionaries in Europe and considered the experiences formative. Both pursued high school sweethearts singlemindedly until the women agreed to marry them several years later, then had families with four or five children. Both had very successful careers in business and became known for turning around failing companies or organizations. Both presided over a stake in the LDS Church. Both achieved their first elected position at age 55, as Republican governor of a Democratic-leaning state. The two bear a close physical resemblance at similar ages and both have been said to "look like a president". Both staged their first presidential run in the year they turned 60. Both were considered suspect by ideological conservatives within the Republican Party.[21][322] There are also obvious differences in their paths, including that George had a hardscrabble upbringing while Mitt's was affluent, and that Mitt far exceeded George's accomplishments in formal education. Another is that Mitt's personality is more reserved, private, and controlled than his father's was, traits he got from his mother Lenore.[323]
- ^ In summer 1983, Romney and his family embarked on a 12-hour drive from Boston to his parents' cottage on the Canadian side of Lake Huron. Seamus, the family Irish setter, was put up on the station wagon's roof rack, inside a dog carrier with its own attached windshield, but after some hours the dog suffered gastrointestinal distress, evidence of which was readily seen on the rear window. With his five children loudly expressing revulsion, Romney calmly stopped off at a service station, hosed off the dog, carrier, and car, put the dog back in the carrier and completed the journey.[46][325] Since becoming public in 2007, the story has been the source of complaints from animal lovers, a point of psychological study regarding Romney's emotion-free crisis management, an obsession to New York Times columnist Gail Collins, and the occasional target of news stories, talk show hosts and political rivals.[325][206][326][327]
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- ^ a b Altman, Alex (March 3, 2010). "The Skimmer: Mitt Romney's 'No Apology'". Time. http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1969266,00.html.
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- ^ "GOP Insiders Sour On Palin". The Hotline. January 7, 2010. http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2010/01/gop_insiders_so.php.
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- ^ "Mitt Romney will release tax returns Tuesday; rival Newt Gingrich calls himself most electable GOP candidate". Associated Press. MassLive.com. January 22, 2012. http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/01/mitt_romney_will_release_tax_r.html.
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- ^ Canellos, The Last Lion, p. 295.
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- ^ Barone and Cohen, Almanac of American Politics 2004, p. 769.
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- ^ Nagourney, Adam; Kirkpatrick David D. (December 9, 2006). "Romney's Gay Rights Stance Draws Ire". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/09/us/politics/09romney.html.
- ^ "Run touts success, dodges shifts". USA Today. June 15, 2007. http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/mitt-romney.htm.
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- ^ Donald, Brooke (April 21, 2006). "Romney promotes abstinence classes". Bangor Daily News. Associated Press: p. B8. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mAE1AAAAIBAJ&sjid=Mk8KAAAAIBAJ&pg=3578,1309352&dq=romney+abstinence+only+education&hl=en.
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- ^ "Profile: Mitt Romney". BBC News. February 15, 2007 (updated February 7, 2008). http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6362249.stm.
- ^ a b c d e f Luo, Michael (November 24, 2007). "For Romney & Company, Campaign Is All Business". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/24/us/politics/24manage.html.
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- ^ Shear, Michael D. (December 16, 2007). "Romney Claims NRA Endorsement He Didn't Receive". The Washington Post. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2007/12/romney-claims-nra-endorsement.html.
- ^ Udell, Emily (April 5, 2007). "Romney Aims Again to Explain Hunting". The Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070405/romney-hunting/.
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- ^ a b Swidey, Neil (January 8, 2012). "What our fascination with Mitt Romney's dog Seamus says about our culture". The Boston Globe. http://articles.boston.com/2012-01-08/news/30605151_1_romney-family-mitt-romney-dog.
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- ^ Klein, Joe (December 12, 2011). "Where is the Love?". Time: p. 31.
- ^ a b c d e Johnson, Glen (March 26, 2010). "Romneycare may come back to haunt Mitt on health issue". Deseret News. Associated Press (Salt Lake City). http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700019894/Romneycare-may-come-back-to-haunt-Mitt-on-health-issue.html.
- ^ Johnson, Glen (December 15, 2010). "Health Mandate Cases to Loom Over 2012 Romney Run". Associated Press. ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/m/story?id=12405439.
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- ^ Smith, Ben (April 19, 2010). "Blogger: Romney wants repeal, but not of mandate". Politico. http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0410/Blogger_Romney_wants_repeal_but_not_of_mandate.html.
- ^ Viser, Matt (May 12, 2011). "Romney support for individual mandate complicates health care politics". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2011/05/romney_support.html.
- ^ Appleby, Julie (July 5, 2005). "Mass. Gov. Romney's health care plan says everyone pays". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/2005-07-04-health-insurance-usat_x.htm.
- ^ Romano, Andrew (April 16, 2010). "If the Mitt Fits". Newsweek. http://www.newsweek.com/2010/04/15/if-the-mitt-fits.html.
- ^ Sargent, Greg (May 11, 2011). "Flashback: Mitt Romney hoped for 'a nation that's taken a mandate approach'". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/flashback-mitt-romney-hoped-for-a-nation-with-a-mandate-approach/2011/03/03/AFPqVUqG_blog.html.
- ^ a b Kantor, Jodi (May 19, 2012). "Romney’s Faith, Silent but Deep". The New York Times: p. 1. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/20/us/politics/how-the-mormon-church-shaped-mitt-romney.html?_r=1&hp&pagewanted=all.
- ^ Bowman, Matthew (February 8, 2012). "President Romney, Compassionate Conservative? How Mormonism May Shape Mitt's Welfare Policies". The New Republic. http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/100490/mormon-romney-poverty-welfare-poor.
- ^ a b c Hewitt, A Mormon in the White House?, pp. 56–58.
- ^ Barone and Cohen, Almanac of American Politics 2004, p. 772.
- ^ Egan, Dan (April 9, 1999). "SLOC Boss Romney Will Give U. Commencement Address". The Salt Lake Tribune: p. B3.
- ^ "Mitt Romney Calls for Bentley College Graduates to 'Be American Heroes'" (Press release). Bentley College. May 1, 2002. http://newsroom.bentley.edu/press-release/mitt-romney-calls-bentley-college-graduates-be-american-heroes-0.
- ^ "Suffolk University to Award Eight Honorary Degrees" (Press release). Suffolk University. May 24, 2004. http://www.suffolk.edu/16089.html.
- ^ "Commencement 2007". Hillsdale College. http://www.hillsdale.edu/images/userImages/cclawson/Page_4889/PC_News_Summer07.pdf. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
- ^ Bible, Mitzi (May 12, 2012). "Commencement 2012: Paying tribute to Liberty’s heritage, God's blessings". Liberty University. http://www.liberty.edu/news/index.cfm?PID=18495&MID=55432.
- ^ "Mitt Romney: Politician". People. May 13, 2002. http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20137022,00.html.
- ^ Pane, Lisa Marie (February 13, 2006). "Romney looks ahead, back in Olympics visit". The Boston Globe. Associated Press. http://www.boston.com/sports/other_sports/olympics/articles/2006/02/13/romney_looks_ahead_back_in_olympics_visit/?page=all.
- ^ Roche, Lisa Riley (May 10, 2008). "Romney honored for 'Defense of Religious Liberty'". Deseret News (Salt Lake City). http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700224763,00.html.
- ^ Mayer, Marissa (April 18, 2012). "The 100 Most Influential People in the World". Time. http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2111975_2111976_2112000,00.html.
Bibliography[link]
- Balz, Dan; Johnson, Haynes (2009). The Battle for America, 2008: The Story of an Extraordinary Election. New York: Viking Penguin. ISBN 978-0-670-02111-6.
- Barone, Michael; Cohen, Richard E. (2004) (paperback). The Almanac of American Politics 2004. Washington: National Journal Group. ISBN 978-0-89234-106-1.
- Barone, Michael; Cohen, Richard E. (2006). The Almanac of American Politics 2006. Washington: National Journal Group. ISBN 978-0-89234-111-5.
- Barone, Michael; Cohen, Richard E. (2008) (paperback). The Almanac of American Politics 2008. Washington: National Journal Group. ISBN 978-0-89234-116-0.
- Canellos, Peter S. (ed.) and The Team at The Boston Globe (2009). The Last Lion: The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4391-3817-5.
- Clymer, Adam (1999). Edward M. Kennedy: A Biography. New York: Wm. Morrow & Company. ISBN 978-0-688-14285-8.
- Heilemann, John; Halperin, Mark (2010). Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-173363-5.
- Hersh, Burton (1997). The Shadow President: Ted Kennedy in Opposition. South Royalton, Vermont: Steerforth Press. ISBN 978-1-883642-30-3.
- Hewitt, Hugh (2007). A Mormon in the White House?: 10 Things Every American Should Know About Mitt Romney. Washington: Regnery Publishing. ISBN 978-1-59698-502-5.
- Kranish, Michael; Helman, Scott (2012). The Real Romney. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-212327-5.
- Mahoney, Tom (1960). The Story of George Romney: Builder, Salesman, Crusader. New York: Harper & Brothers. OCLC 236830.
- Thomas, Evan (2009). "A Long Time Coming": The Inspiring, Combative 2008 Campaign and the Historic Election of Barack Obama. New York: PublicAffairs. ISBN 978-1-58648-607-5.
Further reading[link]
- Foster, Craig (2008). A Different God?: Mitt Romney, the Religious Right, and the Mormon Question. Draper, Utah: Greg Kofford Books. ISBN 978-1-58958-117-3.
- Hines, Phillip (2012). Mitt Romney in His Own Words. New York: Threshold Editions. ISBN 978-1-4516-8780-4.
- Scott, Ronald B. (2011). Mitt Romney: An Inside Look at the Man and His Politics. Guilford, Connecticut: Lyons Press. ISBN 978-0-7627-7927-7.
- Turner, Lisa Ray; Field, Kimberly (2007). Mitt Romney: The Man, His Values, and His Vision. Silverton, Idaho: Mapletree Publishing. ISBN 978-1-60065-109-0.
External links[link]
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Learning resources from Wikiversity |
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News stories from Wikinews |
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Textbooks from Wikibooks |
- Official
- Other
- Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
- Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
- Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
- Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
- Appearances on C-SPAN programs
- Appearances on Charlie Rose
- Appearances at the Internet Movie Database
- Collected news and commentary at The New York Times
- Collected news and commentary at The Wall Street Journal
- Collected news and commentary at The Guardian
- Works by or about Mitt Romney in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
- Biography at the National Governors Association
- Campaign contributions at FollowTheMoney.org
- Mitt Romney at the Open Directory Project
| Business positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| New office | Chief Executive Officer of Bain Capital 1984–1999 |
Succeeded by Joshua Bekenstein |
| Preceded by Bill Bain |
Chief Executive Officer of Bain & Company Acting 1991–1992 |
Succeeded by Steve Ellis as Worldwide Managing Director |
| Succeeded by Orit Gadiesh as Chairman of the Board |
||
| Sporting positions | ||
| Preceded by Makoto Kobayashi |
President of Organizing Committee for Winter Olympic Games 2002 |
Succeeded by Valentino Castellani |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Jane Swift Acting |
Governor of Massachusetts 2003–2007 |
Succeeded by Deval Patrick |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Joe Malone |
Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from Massachusetts (Class 3) 1994 |
Succeeded by Jack Robinson |
| Preceded by Paul Cellucci |
Republican nominee for Governor of Massachusetts 2002 |
Succeeded by Kerry Healey |
| Preceded by John McCain |
Republican Party presidential candidate Presumptive 2012 |
Most recent |
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Romney, Willard Mitt |
| Alternative names | Romney, Mitt |
| Short description | American politician |
| Date of birth | March 12, 1947 |
| Place of birth | Detroit, Michigan, United States |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
http://wn.com/Mitt_Romney
Related pages:
http://it.wn.com/Mitt Romney
http://cs.wn.com/Mitt Romney
http://es.wn.com/Mitt Romney
http://ru.wn.com/Ромни, Митт
http://nl.wn.com/Mitt Romney
http://pt.wn.com/Mitt Romney
http://pl.wn.com/Mitt Romney
http://fr.wn.com/Mitt Romney
http://de.wn.com/Mitt Romney
http://hi.wn.com/मिट रॉमनी
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_Romney
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
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