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Mah or Maonghah is the Avestan language word for both the moon and for the Zoroastrian divinity that presides over and is the hypostasis of the moon.

The names 'Maonghah' and Mah derive from an Indo-European root that is also the origin of the English language word "moon." The Zoroastrian divinity has however no Vedic equivalent. Maonghah retains the name Mah in the 9th-12th century texts of Zoroastrian tradition, and continues with that name into New Persian. In Histories 7.3.7, Herodotus states that the moon was the tutelary divinity of the Iranian expatriates residing in Asia Minor.

In scripture[link]

Although there are two Avestan hymns dedicated to the Moon, she is not a prominent divinity. In both the third Nyaish as well as in the seventh Yasht, the 'moon' more commonly spoken of is the physical moon. In these hymns, the phases of the moon are described at length. Ahura Mazda is described to be the cause of the moon's waxing and waning, and the Amesha Spentas evenly distribute the light of the moon over the earth (Yasht 7.3, Nyaish 3.5). In Yasht 13.14-16, the Fravashis are said to be responsible for keeping the moon and stars on its appointed course. The sun, moon, and stars revolve around the peak of Hara Berezaiti (Yasht 12.25).

The Moon is however also "bestower, radiant, glorious, possessed of water, possessed of warmth, possessed of knowledge, wealth, riches, discernment, weal, verdure, good, and the healing one" (Dhalla, 1938:214; Yasht 7.5, Nyaish 3.7). "During the spring, the Moon causes plants to grow up out of the earth" (Yasht 7.4, Nyaish 3.6). In the litany to the Moon, she is described as the "queen of the night."

The Moon is repeatedly spoken of as possessing the cithra^{[n 1]} of the primeval bull. This is an allusion to a cosmological drama that is however only properly attested in the texts of Zoroastrian tradition (see below).

Persepolis mural: The death of Gavaevodata/Gawiewdad, the primordial bovine, whose cithra^{[n 1]} is rescued by the moon.

In tradition[link]

The Moon plays a prominent role in Zoroastrian cosmogony, in particular as described in detail in the Bundahishn, a text finished in the 12th century. The legend (Bundahishn 7) runs as follows: Ahriman (Av: Angra Mainyu) incites Jeh (Jahi) the primeval whore to kill the primordial bovine Gawiewdad (Av. Gavaevodata). Jeh does as told, but as the creature lies dying, the chihr^{[n 1]} is rescued and placed in the care of the moon. This chihr is then the "prototype" (karb) of all creatures of the animal world.

In the hierarchy of yazatas, the Moon is the assistant (or 'cooperator', hamkar) of Vohu Manah (MP: Bahman), the Amesha Spenta of animal welfare, in particular of cattle. The identification with Vohu Manah - the hypostasis of "Good Purpose" or "Good Mind" - is reflected in other texts where the moon is associated with mental harmony and inner peace.

In the Zoroastrian calendar, the twelfth day of the month is dedicated to and is under the protection of the Moon.

The divinity Mah appears together with Mithra on Kushan coins.

In popular culture[link]

Mah is also the Persian language name of a species of fish, which gives rise to the Persian language expression, az mah ta mahi, "from the moon to the mah-fish", to mean "everything". That expression has its origin in Persian mythology, where the world is believed to sit on a rock, on the back of a bull, on a kamkam, on the back of the mah fish, on water, on wind, and on the veil of darkness.

c.f. the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, Edward Fitzgerald's translation, stanza 52:

"Whose secret Presence, through Creation's veins

Running, Quicksilver-like eludes your pains:

Taking all shapes from Mah to Mahi; and

They change and perish all - but He remains;"

Notes[link]

Bibliography[link]

Hayley Williams
Williams performing with Paramore on the 2007 Vans Warped Tour.
Background information
Birth name	Hayley Nichole Williams
Born	(1988-12-27) December 27, 1988 (age 23) Meridian, Mississippi, U.S.
Genres	Pop punk, alternative rock, punk rock
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, keyboards, guitars, drums, piano
Years active	2004–present
Labels	Fueled by Ramen, Warner Bros., Atlantic Records
Associated acts	Paramore

Hayley Nichole Williams^[1][2] (born December 27, 1988)^[3] is an American singer and songwriter. She is the lead vocalist of the American rock band Paramore.^[1][4]

Early life[link]

In 2002, at the age of 13, Williams moved from her hometown, Meridian, Mississippi, to Franklin, Tennessee.^[5] She met band members Josh and Zac Farro in her new school.^[4][6] While still in school, she tried out for a local funk cover band The Factory, in which she met Jeremy Davis.^[6][7]

Music career[link]

Williams was discovered in 2003 by managers Dave Steunebrink and Richard Williams who signed the 14-year-old to a production deal.^[8] At the time she was writing pop songs with songwriters in Nashville.^[8] Williams was introduced to Atlantic Records A&R Tom Storms through Richard Williams' attorneys Jim Zumwalt and Kent Marcus, and then signed to the label by Jason Flom. The label's original plan for their new artist was to make her a solo pop artist but Williams objected to this, saying that she wanted to be part of a band and play alternative rock music.

Williams on Fall US Tour, 2009.

Atlantic decided to go along with her wishes, and she then formed Paramore with Josh Farro, Zac Farro, and Jeremy Davis.^[8] The music of Paramore was originally supposed to come out on Atlantic Records, but the label's marketing department decided it would be better for the image of the band to not have them attached to a huge label. They instead released their music through a "cooler" niche label, Fueled by Ramen.^[8] The debut album was released in 2005 when Hayley was only 16 years old.

In 2007, she appeared in the music video for "Kiss Me" by New Found Glory.^[9]

In the 2007 Kerrang! Readers' Poll she finished second to Evanescence's Amy Lee in the "Sexiest Female" category,^[10] going on to win the first place spot for "Sexiest Female" a year later in the 2008 poll,^[11] and again in the 2009 poll. She also appears as a playable character in the video game Guitar Hero World Tour.

Williams wrote and recorded the song "Teenagers", which was featured in the soundtrack for the feature film Jennifer's Body. After the release of "Teenagers", Williams stated that she had no plans to establish herself as a solo artist.^[12] In 2010, she appeared on the tracks "Airplanes" and "Airplanes (Part II)" from alternative rapper B.o.B's debut album, B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray.^[13] When it was released as a single, "Airplanes" peaked within the top ten in nineteen countries, including number one peak positions in the United Kingdom and New Zealand.

Paramore[link]

Paramore on the 2010 Honda Civic Tour

Paramore was created in Franklin, Tennessee in 2004 with Williams (lead vocals/keyboards), alongside Josh Farro (lead guitar/backing vocals), Jeremy Davis (bass guitar) and Zac Farro (drums). Prior to forming Paramore,^[7] the other members of what was soon to be Paramore had been "edgy about the whole female thing" of having Williams as singer, but as they were good friends she began writing with them and eventually became a member.^[14] The band has released three studio albums, All We Know Is Falling, Riot!, and Brand New Eyes as well as two live albums and three EPs. In June 2009, the band welcomed Taylor York (rhythm guitar) as an official member, although he had already been playing as a touring member with the band since 2007.

In 2006, Paramore started touring outside of the US for the first time, which included a headline tour of the UK and supporting post-hardcore rockband The Blackout on the Give It A Name Festival in Europe.

Personal life[link]

Williams is a Christian and has a tattoo of a cross on her right thigh.^[15]

Since early 2008 she has been in a realationship with Chad Gilbert of the pop punk band New Found Glory

Discography[link]

Featured singles[link]

Featured appearances[link]

Williams on tour in Brazil, 2011.

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hayley Williams

• Hayley Williams on Twitter
• Hayley Williams on Tumblr
• Hayley William's Profile on Paramore.net

The Swedish Chef is a Muppet that appeared on The Muppet Show. He was operated by Jim Henson and Frank Oz simultaneously and is now puppeteered by Bill Barretta.

Character[link]

A parody of television chefs, the Swedish Chef wears a toque blanche and has bushy eyebrows that completely obscure his eyes. He was one of the few Muppets to employ an actual puppeteer's hands, originally Oz's, in the designs – that is, they were visible to the audience through his sleeves and facilitated handling food and utensils.

Nearly all Swedish Chef sketches begin with him in a kitchen, waving some utensils while singing his signature song in his typical mock Swedish – a semi-comprehensible gibberish mimicking Swedish phonology and prosody. The song's lyrics vary slightly from one episode to the next, but always end with "Bork, bork, bork!" (translates as 'away/be gone') as the Chef throws the utensils (or whatever else may be in his hands) aside with a clatter that seems to startle him.

After this introduction, the Chef begins to prepare a recipe while giving a gibberish explanation of what he is doing. His commentary is spiced with the occasional English word to clue in the viewer to what he is attempting; for example, "Aweenda shmure da froog's legs." These hints are necessary as he frequently uses unorthodox culinary equipment (firearms, sports equipment, hand tools, etc.) to prepare his dishes. In the pilot episode of The Muppet Show, the Chef's commentary was supplemented by Chinese subtitles, but this was abandoned for all other episodes of the series. The sketch typically degenerates into a slapstick finale where the ingredients or equipment get the better of him.

In one sketch, a misaimed explosive charge slightly damaged the face of the puppet. The Chef's face remained scarred through the rest of the season.

The Chef is referred to by name in one episode, in which Danny Kaye plays his uncle. Kaye reels off a very long name but adds, "But we call him Tom" – much to the Chef's amusement.^[1] In 2010, the Chef was seen wearing a wedding ring, implying that the character is married.^[2]

Computer translations[link]

This article may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (October 2008)

The Chef's gibberish gained a life of its own with the creation of a Unix lex filter capable of converting standard English to "chefspeak" in 1992. The filter quickly became a staple of hacker culture and eventually spread to the mainstream with "Swedish Chef" translators on several websites, most notably the Dialectizer ; there is a popular Mozilla Firefox add-on called "Börk Börk Börk!", which allows the selective "translation" of text from web pages of the user's choice. In 2003, Opera Software – a Norwegian company – published a special "Börk" version of its internet browser, which turned the MSN website into "Swedish."^[3] Google offers "Bork, bork, bork!" as one among its choices for user interface language^[4] and Meebo and Guild Wars both offer "Börk!" as one of their language preferences. There also appeared a plethora of USENET newsgroups named after the chef's speech, the first being "alt.swedish.chef.bork.bork.bork", after which the repeated ending was incorporated into groups such as "alt.french.captain.borg.borg.borg" and other groups following this pattern. This "börk filter" was used in the Darkwind MUD as a curse, of sorts, when characters could be transformed into "little vikings" (to stay somewhat in theme) for a short duration.

The Norwegian company Trolltech, who develop the Qt Development Frameworks, used this "encheferization" for a more serious purpose – although the friendly rivalry between Norwegians and Swedes perhaps was its inspiration.^{[citation needed]} They encouraged software development testing departments to use an "encheferizer" as a plug-in for the part of their product that provided internationalization and localization. Whereas it could not be expected that a test team would know every language to which a product might be aimed, by translating the parts that were supposed to be internationalized through the encheferizer to produce a localized version for Swedish Chef speakers, testers could immediately spot mistakes in the internationalization – parts that had been missed – as anything that had not been localized (encheferized) would show up in the language of the original author of the text. All the same, a tester would be able to test the product functionally, as it takes little language skill, and no software, to be able to decheferize the text: its meaning is clear even when encheferized.

The generally longer encheferized text could also help with graphics testing because it could show up errors where, for example, not enough space had been left for languages that morphologically tend to use more characters than most, such as German. While not perfect, and not intended to be, it stands as a good first stage to check an internationalization effort.^[5]

Inspiration[link]

Some claim that the Swedish Chef was inspired by a real life chef. One example is Friedman Paul Erhardt, a German American television chef known as "Chef Tell".^[6][7] Another example is Lars "Kuprik" Bäckman, a real life Swedish chef. Bäckman claims that his rather unsuccessful appearance on an early edition of Good Morning America caught the attention of Jim Henson, who later bought the rights to the recording and created Bäckman's Muppet alter ego. Bäckman's Dalecarlian accent would explain the chef's strange pronunciation. Muppet writer Jerry Juhl denied Bäckman's story and insisted the character had no real-world counterpart: "I wrote, rehearsed, rewrote, brainstormed, and giggled uncontrollably a thousand times with Jim Henson as we dealt with the Swedish Chef, and I never once heard him mention an actual Swedish chef..."^[8]

According to Brian Henson in one of his introductions for The Muppet Show, "Jim Henson had this tape that he used to play which was 'How to Speak Mock Swedish'. And he used to drive to work and I used to ride with him a lot. And he would drive to work trying to make a chicken sandwich in Mock Swedish or make a turkey casserole in Mock Swedish. It was the most ridiculous thing you had ever seen. And people at traffic lights used to stop and sort of look at him a little crazy. But that was the roots of the character that would eventually become the Swedish Chef."

Merchandising[link]

The first Swedish Chef merchandise item was a ceramic coffee mug produced by Kilncraft in the UK in 1978. It was part of a series of 12 featuring various Muppet Show characters, and featured coloured line drawings on either a white or beige ceramic cup.

In 1980, Jones New York offered a small collection of blue and yellow Swedish Chef kitchen linens including an apron, pot holders, and toaster cover. Miss Piggy linens in pink were also available.

From 1988 to 1989, the Swedish Chef had his own short-lived breakfast cereal for sale in grocery stores, called "Cröonchy Stars." Cröonchy Stars brought with it a small variety of Swedish Chef items, most notably a stuffed Chef doll complete with non-removable wooden rolling pin and spoon. There was also a coffee mug bearing a picture of the Chef and the logos of Post Cereal and Cröonchy Stars.

In 2000, German company Igel released a large (35 cm) plush Swedish Chef as part of the second wave of its stuffed Muppets line. In addition, there was a life-sized version available measuring nearly five feet tall. Though expensive, the huge Chef proved popular enough with collectors that the line was expanded the following year with five-foot plush versions of Kermit, Miss Piggy, Gonzo the Great, Animal, Statler and Waldorf.

Also in 2000, UK food chain Little Chef released a small toy car called Swedish Chef's Sporty Sponge (the Chef riding a cake on wheels) as part of line of promotional Muppet Corgi cars.

2002 was celebrated as the 25th anniversary of The Muppet Show, which brought a flurry of new Muppet toys and collectibles. Included in this was a line of action figures from Palisades Toys, which would run through 2005 and grow to include many dozens of figures. Palisades' Swedish Chef items include:

• A large and very detailed Swedish Kitchen playset, with a very realistic miniature kitchen and over 40 accessories including many cooking tools and odd items such as a saw and tennis racket.
• The first Swedish Chef action figure, included with the Swedish Kitchen playset, has a blue striped shirt and plaid pants.
• "Culinary Catastrophe" Chef, an exclusive figure sold at the 2003 San Diego comic Convention, includes the lobster banditos from the show and their guns. The body of the Chef has a different paint job so it appears to be splattered with food, and his clothing colours are different.
• Classic Swedish Chef has plainer clothing colours than the earlier Kitchen version and comes with several accessories including his gun and a basketball hoop.
• Santa Swedish Chef, an eBay exclusive item for the 2004 Christmas season, is dressed as Santa Claus and includes a holiday wreath and lights.
• A small non-articulated PVC figure featuring Chef holding a spoon and a live chicken in a pot.

In 2003, Sideshow Collectibles offered a Swedish Chef bust statue as part of the third wave of its line of Muppet busts. Other modern Swedish Chef items include yet another plush doll (this time a smaller 18" one), a Disney metal lapel pin, and a small tin of mints.

Stamp[link]

The United States Postal Service released a souvenir sheet featuring Jim Henson and ten Muppets including the Swedish Chef in 2005.^[9]

Video game[link]

A Muppets game for Nintendo Game Boy Advance was released and one of the levels featured the Swedish Chef. The goal of the level was for the Swedish Chef to hit Rizzo and his rat friends with a frying pan because they were trying to steal food. An obstacle to avoid was chickens throwing eggs at the Swedish Chef.

Appearances[link]

Besides appearances in the The Muppet Show, the chef also appears in The Muppet Movie (1979), The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984), Muppet*Vision 3D (1991) an attraction found at several Disney Parks, The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), Muppet Treasure Island (1996), Muppets From Space (1999), It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002), Studio DC: Almost Live (2008), a sketch for the cast of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and an episode with Hannah Montana star Jason Earles and Cory in the House's Jason Dolley, the Popcorn (song) (2010), and The Muppets (2011).

In popular culture[link]

• The Swedish Chef has been impersonated on Saturday Night Live by Andy Samberg.
• The Swedish Chef appeared in Robot Chicken episode "Federated Resources" voiced by Victor Yerrid. As the Swedish Chef observes various people and things, all ending in 'ork' to agree with his rhyming scheme, 'börk'. These things include Björk, Mork, a dork, a New York poster, Quark, band member Tork, video game Zork, a hot dog made with pork, a fork, a spork, and an orc. When his wife asks him what's wrong, Swedish Chef tells his wife to get off his case. In "Schindler's Bucket List," Swedish Chef was present at Gonzo's funeral.
• The Swedish Chef's song has been humorously misconstrued as a "scathing editorial" against former Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork by Stephen Colbert's political commentator character on The Colbert Report.^[10]
• He also appears in the Family Guy episode "The Tan Aquatic with Steve Zissou". When Stewie brings up the death of Jim Henson causing wrong-sounding Muppets, it cuts away to a wrong-sounding Kermit the Frog asking a wrong-sounding Swedish Chef to cook him something. They later appear at the end discussing the events that proceeded as a wrong-sounding Fozzie Bear enters asking if they want to hear a joke.
• The interface of the Google can be viewed in several different languages by choosing a setting in its preferences, one of them being "Bork, bork, bork!". ^[11]
• Several videogames, such as Guild Wars have a "Bork, bork, bork!" language setting.
• The Swedish Chef appears in The Simpsons episode "The Food Wife" voiced by Dan Castellaneta. He is seen in Marge's dream. When they agree that "Everything's more fun with Homer", the Chef sings in mock Swedish about Homer.

NASCAR[link]

Swedish Chef was featured on the #9 Dodge Dealers Dodge of Bill Elliott in the 2002 Tropicana 400 in an advertising campaign in which he and his fellow Muppets were featured on a select few race cars.

The Swedish Chef and Scandinavian Languages[link]

• A guide to learning Swedish by Urban Sikeborg states that special care should be given to pronunciation, otherwise "...you might end up sounding disquietingly like the Swedish Chef in The Muppet Show."^[12]
• In the German synchronization of the Muppet Show, the Swedish Chef is actually Danish and his song is "Smørrebrød, Smørrebrød røm, pøm, pøm, pøm". However, in the Swedish edition, he is still Swedish.
• During a meeting with members of the Danish Football Association, the English association football player Paul Gascoigne claimed to speak Danish and proceeded to impersonate the Swedish Chef.

See also[link]

	Muppets portal
	Fictional characters portal

• Jive filter
• Swedish cuisine
• Cröonchy Stars

References[link]

External links[link]

• The Swedish Chef on Muppet Wiki, an external wiki

Look up bork in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Bork, Bork, Bork! Mozilla Firefox add-on - Translate pages to Bork and bork (block) unwanted things.
• Google "Bork! Bork! Bork!" interface

v t e The Muppets Characters Andy and Randy Pig Animal Annie Sue Beaker Bean Bunny Beauregard Beautiful Day Monster Bobo the Bear Bubba the Rat Camilla the Chicken Clifford Crazy Harry Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem The Elvises Foo-Foo Fozzie Bear The Frackles George the Janitor Gonzo the Great Dr. Bunsen Honeydew Johnny Fiama Kermit the Frog Lew Zealand Link Hogthrob Mildred Huxtetter Miss Piggy Mr. Poodlepants The Muppet Newsman Pepe the King Prawn Pops Rizzo the Rat Robin the Frog Rowlf the Dog Sam the Eagle Scooter Statler and Waldorf Steel Rabbit Dr. Julius Strangepork Marvin Suggs The Swedish Chef Sweetums Uncle Deadly Waldo C. Graphic Yolanda the Rat Muppet performers Terry Angus Pam Arciero Don Austen Jennifer Barnhart Bill Barretta Cheryl Blaylock Fran Brill Julianne Buescher Tyler Bunch Leslie Carrara-Rudolph Kevin Clash Stephanie D'Abruzzo Alice Dinnean Michael Earl John Eccleston Peter Friedman Dave Goelz Louise Gold Tim Gosley Brian Henson Jim Henson John Henson Richard Hunt Eric Jacobson Jerry Juhl John Kennedy Tim Lagasse Bruce Lanoil Peter Linz John Lovelady Noel MacNeal Jim Martin Drew Massey Frank Meschkuleit Ron Mueck Brian Muehl Kathryn Mullen Jerry Nelson Carmen Osbahr Frank Oz Eren Ozker Bob Payne Karen Prell Mike Quinn Martin P. Robinson David Rudman Sandra Shamas Michelan Sisti Judy Sladky Caroll Spinney Bob Stutt John Tartaglia Nikki Tilroe Matt Vogel Cheryl Wagner Steve Whitmire Mak Wilson Victor Yerrid Television series Sam and Friends (1955–61) The Mike Douglas Show (Muppet segments, 1966–79) The Ed Sullivan Show (Muppet segments, 1966–70) Our Place (1967) Sesame Street (1969–present) Saturday Night Live (The Land of Gorch segments, 1975) The Muppet Show (1976–81) Fraggle Rock (1983–87) Muppet Babies (1984–91) Little Muppet Monsters (1985) The Jim Henson Hour (1989) Muppets Tonight (1996–98) Bear in the Big Blue House (1997–2006) Web series Statler and Waldorf: From the Balcony (2005–06) The Muppets Kitchen with Cat Cora (2010) Feature films The Muppet Movie (1979) The Great Muppet Caper (1981) The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984) Sesame Street presents – Follow That Bird (1985) The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) Muppet Treasure Island (1996) Muppets from Space (1999) The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland (1999) The Muppets (2011) Television specials Hey, Cinderella! (1969) The Muppets on Puppets (1970) The Great Santa Claus Switch (1970) The Frog Prince (1972) The Muppet Musicians of Bremen (1972) Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas (1977) John Denver & the Muppets (1979) The Muppets Go Hollywood (1979) The Muppets Go to the Movies (1981) The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show (1982) Rocky Mountain Holiday (1983) The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years (1985) The Tale of the Bunny Picnic (1986) The Christmas Toy (1986) A Muppet Family Christmas (1987) Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue (1990) The Muppets at Walt Disney World (1990) The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson (1990) Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree (1995) It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002) The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005) Studio DC: Almost Live (2008) A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa (2008) Direct-to-video Wow, You're a Cartoonist! (1988) Muppet Classic Theater (1994) Kermit's Swamp Years (2002) Video games Muppet Adventure: Chaos at the Carnival (1989) Muppet RaceMania (2000) Muppet Monster Adventure (2000) Muppets Party Cruise (2003) Disney Universe (2011) Discography Albums The Muppet Show (1977) Muppet Beach Party (1993) Kermit Unpigged (1994) The Muppet Show: Music, Mayhem, and More (2002) The Muppets: A Green and Red Christmas (2006) Muppets: The Green Album (2011) The Muppets: Original Soundtrack (2011) Songs "The Muppet Show Theme" "Rainbow Connection" "Bein' Green" "Mahna Mahna" "I Hope That Somethin' Better Comes Along" "I'm Going To Go Back There Someday" "Bohemian Rhapsody" "Man or Muppet" Other media Muppet Meeting Films (1975–93) Muppet*Vision 3D (1991–present) Muppet Mobile Lab (2007–present) The Muppet Show Comics Before You Leap Related The Muppets Studio The Walt Disney Company The Jim Henson Company Jim Henson's Creature Shop Sesame Workshop Sesame Street Muppets Portal:Muppets

Piero Umiliani (17 July 1926 – 14 February 2001) was an Italian composer of film scores, and is most famous for his song "Mah Nà Mah Nà".

Biography[link]

Umiliani was born in Florence, Tuscany. Like many of his Italian colleagues at that time, he composed the scores for many exploitation films in the 1960s and 1970s, covering genres such as spaghetti western, Eurospy, Giallo, and soft sex films.

Although not as widely regarded as, for example, Ennio Morricone or Riz Ortolani, he helped form the style of the typical European 1960s and 1970s jazz influenced film soundtrack, that later experienced a revival in films such as Kill Bill^{[citation needed]}, and "Crepuscolo Sul Mare" in Ocean's Twelve.

"Mah Nà Mah Nà" (1968) was originally used for a Mondo documentary about Sweden (Svezia, Inferno e Paradiso), but was popularized by the Muppets, who covered the song several times; starting on episode 0014 of Sesame Street on 27 November 1969, then the Ed Sullivan Show on 30 November 1969, and again on the syndicated The Muppet Show in 1977. The track was also a hit in the UK, reaching #8 in the UK Singles chart in May 1977.^[1]

Umiliani died in Rome in February 2001, at the age of 74.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Piero Umiliani at the Internet Movie Database
• Official Website

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