IANS may refer to:

• Indo-Asian News Service, Indian news agency
• International Association for New Science, defunct American organisation
• Inter Active Network Systems
• Institute for Applied Network Security, American security industry organisation
• Institute of Air Navigation Services (IANS), a division of European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation

See also[link]

• Ian

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

Ian Somerhalder
Born	Ian Joseph Somerhalder (1978-12-08) December 8, 1978 (age 33) Covington, Louisiana, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, model
Years active	1997–present

Ian Joseph Somerhalder (born December 8, 1978) is an American actor and model, best known for playing Boone Carlyle in the TV drama Lost and Damon Salvatore in the TV drama The Vampire Diaries.

Early life[link]

Somerhalder was born and raised in Covington, Louisiana, the son of Edna, a massage therapist, and Robert Somerhalder, an independent building contractor.^[1] Raised Catholic, he attended St. Paul's, a private Catholic school in Covington. He embarked on a modeling career from age 10 to 13,^[2] and by the age of 17 he decided to go into acting.

Career[link]

Paul Wesley, Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder

In the summer of 2000, Somerhalder starred in the short-lived WB series Young Americans, a spin-off of Dawson's Creek. He played Hamilton Fleming, the son of the dean of a prestigious boarding school. In 2002, Somerhalder played bisexual character Paul Denton in Roger Avary's adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' novel, The Rules of Attraction, alongside James Van Der Beek, Shannyn Sossamon, and Jessica Biel.

In 2004, Somerhalder scored his breakthrough role when he played Boone Carlyle in the hit TV show Lost. Despite his character's death in the twentieth episode of the first season, Somerhalder returned to the role of Boone for seven more episodes between 2005 and 2010, including the series finale. Somerhalder was the first actor to be cast in a role for the series and the first character to die.

In 2009, Somerhalder appeared in the movie The Tournament where he played the role of an assassin participating in a lethal competition with other assassins. On 10 October 2009, it was announced that he will star in the Gothic movie Cradlewood, which is to be directed by Harry Weinmann.^[3] The movie is set to be released in 2013.^[4] He appears in the coffee table book About Face by celebrity photographer John Russo.^[5][6]

In June 2009 Somerhalder was cast in the role of Vampire Damon Salvatore as a series regular in The CW television drama series The Vampire Diaries. The series premiere attracted The CW's highest premiere ratings of any season premiere since the network began in 2006. The series has continued to be the highest rated series on its channel with both Somerhalder's performance and show receiving a positive response from critics. Somerhalder has received a Teen Choice Award for his participation on the series. The shows third and most recent season premiered on September 15, 2011.^[7]

Personal life[link]

While working on The Vampire Diaries, Somerhalder began dating his co-star Nina Dobrev.^[8]

Philanthropy[link]

Somerhalder was involved in the cleanup after the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling disaster on April 22, 2010. His efforts included cleaning of oiled wildlife and taping public service announcements to let the public know how they could help.^[9] Somerhalder also supports the St. Tammany Humane Society, an organization for animal shelter and welfare. On November 13, 2010, he hosted a Bash on the Bayou charity fundraiser for the Society. During the event, Somerhalder was presented with a donation of $11,100 by The Vampire Diaries fandom for his birthday project.^{[10][11][12][13]}

Together with his The Vampire Diaries co-stars Candice Accola and Michael Trevino, Somerhalder supports the It Gets Better Project, which makes it a goal to prevent suicide among LGBT youth^[14] associated with The Trevor Project.^[15]

Somerhalder announced, via Twitter and in various interviews that he was setting up The Ian Somerhalder Foundation (launched on December 8, 2010, Somerhalder's 32nd birthday), which he hopes will educate people on the importance of protecting the environment and animals: "Instead of gifts this year, my birthday wish is that we come together and raise funds to support projects that protect our habitat and nurture our furry friends.^[16][17]

Filmography[link]

Awards[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ian Somerhalder

• Ian Somerhalder at the Internet Movie Database
• Ian Somerhalder on Twitter

Nina Dobrev
Dobrev at PaleyFest 2010's The Vampire Diaries night at the Saban Theatre in 2010
Born	Nina Constantinova Dobreva[1] (1989-01-09) January 9, 1989 (age 23)[1] Sofia, Bulgaria
Nationality	Bulgarian-Canadian
Occupation	Actress, model
Years active	2006–present

Nina Dobrev (born Nina Constantinova Dobreva; January 9, 1989)^[1] is a Bulgarian-born Canadian actress and model. She played the role of Mia Jones, the single teenage mother, on Degrassi: The Next Generation, from the show's sixth to ninth season. She currently stars as Elena Gilbert and Katherine Pierce on The CW television teen drama, The Vampire Diaries.

Personal life[link]

Dobrev at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival

Nina Dobrev was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, and moved to Canada at the age of two, where she was raised in Toronto, Ontario. She speaks fluent French, English, and Bulgarian. She has an older brother, Alexander; her father is a computer specialist and her mother is an artist.^[1]

Dobrev attended J. B. Tyrrell Sr. Public School, where she started ballet and jazz classes, and competed in rhythmic gymnastic.^[1] Then, she attended and Wexford Collegiate School for the Arts in Scarborough, Ontario and Ryerson University in Toronto, majoring in sociology. She left in 2008 to pursue her acting career.^[2]

While working on the show, she began dating her Vampire Diaries co-star Ian Somerhalder.^[3][4]

Career[link]

Modeling jobs led to commercials, which then turned into film auditions. Shortly thereafter, she booked roles in feature films, including Fugitive Pieces, Away from Her, Never Cry Werewolf, and the television series Degrassi: The Next Generation. She starred in a number of Lifetime original movies. She also was in an MTV movie called The American Mall on CTV. She is currently starring in The CW's drama The Vampire Diaries, playing the dual role of Katherine Pierce, a vampire loved by two human brothers during the American Civil War, and Katherine's doppelgänger Elena Gilbert, a human who is caught between the same two brothers, now vampires, Damon and Stefan Salvatore.^[5]

She also had a minor role in the erotic thriller Chloe, theatrically released by Sony Pictures Classics on March 26, 2010.^[6] The film had enjoyed commercial success and became director Atom Egoyan's biggest moneymaker ever.^[7]

In April 2011, she was cast as Candace in the film adaptation of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, alongside Logan Lerman, Emma Watson and Paul Rudd.^[8] Shooting began in May of that year in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and she completed her scenes on June 27, 2011.^[9]

Philanthropy[link]

In September 2011, Dobrev co-hosted We Day alongside Joe Jonas.^[10] We Day is organized by Free the Children. Dobrev also designed a T-Shirt^[11] with Me to We Style, which gives 50% of its profits to Free the Children.^[12]

Filmography[link]

Dobrev at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con.

Accolades[link]

Dobrev at the 2011 MuchMusic Video Awards

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nina Dobrev

• Nina Dobrev at the Internet Movie Database
• Nina Dobrev on Twitter

This article may contain wording that merely promotes the subject without imparting verifiable information. Please remove or replace such wording, unless you can cite independent sources that support the characterization. (August 2011)

Ian McDiarmid
McDiarmid at 2007 Celebration Europe.
Born	(1944-08-11) 11 August 1944 (age 67) Carnoustie, Tayside, Scotland
Occupation	Actor, theatre director
Years active	1968–present

Ian McDiarmid ( /məkˈdɜrmɨd/; born 11 August 1944) is a Scottish theatre actor and director, who has also made sporadic appearances on television, and appeared in 47 films since 1976. Internationally, he is perhaps most famous for his role as Palpatine in the Star Wars film series.

Early life[link]

McDiarmid was born in Carnoustie. He became a theatre aficionado when he was five years old, when his father took him to see an act by the name of Tommy Morgan in a theatre in Dundee. In 2004 he stated, "It sort of fascinated me, and it also scared me. All those lights, all that make-up. I said to myself, 'I don't know what this is, but I want it.'"^[1] However, fearing his father's disapproval, McDiarmid attended the University of St Andrews, where he received an M.A. in psychology. Soon after, he decided to pursue a career in the theatre instead, and took acting training courses at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. In 1968, McDiarmid received a gold medal for his work, the first of many recognitions given to him for his work in the theatre. McDiarmid claimed he became its recipient "by doing all the boring jobs you have to do when you are young, to eke out an existence."^[2]

Theatre[link]

McDiarmid is renowned for his work in British theatre, having won plaudits as an actor and director from a wide variety of sources. He has starred in a variety of Shakespearean plays, including Hamlet (1972), The Tempest (1974, 2000), Much Ado About Nothing (1976), Ross and the Porter in Trevor Nunn's 1976 Macbeth (television 1978), The Merchant of Venice (1984), and King Lear (2005). In Spring 2012 he will star in Timon of Athens at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. While at the Almeida, he directed plays such as Venice Preserv'd (1986) and Hippolytus (1991).^[3]

He also played the part of Ivanov in Tom Stoppard's play Every Good Boy Deserves Favour at the Mermaid Theatre in 1978.

In 2002, McDiarmid won Almeida Theatre's Critic's Circle Award for Best Actor for his role as Teddy in a revival of Brian Friel's Faith Healer. Five years later in 2006, he reprised this role in his debut on Broadway.^[4] Directed by Kent, he performed alongside Ralph Fiennes and Cherry Jones, and won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play.^[5] He has appeared most recently in the title role of John Gabriel Borkman, running at the Donmar Theatre in London.

One theatrical performance of note is his portrayal of Harry Hackamore in Sam Shepard's play Seduced. By McDiarmid's own description, Hackamore was a Howard Hughes-type character. To play the part, he was made-up in prosthetics, including a false beard and long fingernails. McDiarmid was only 37 at the time, and this convinced George Lucas and Richard Marquand that he could convincingly play a much older character in extreme cinematic close-up, which helped him land the role of Palpatine.^[6]

From 1990 until 2001, McDiarmid and Jonathan Kent served as the artistic directors of the Almeida Theatre, located in Islington, London. In 1998 they shared the Special Evening Standard Award for Theatrical Achievement of the Year.^[5] Their tenure was marked by a string of highly successful performances involving actors such as Kevin Spacey and Ralph Fiennes.^[7]

[edit] Star Wars

Though McDiarmid believes himself to be first and foremost a stage actor, he is happy to work in a film for the right part.^[6] After a minor part in the film Dragonslayer, McDiarmid was cast by George Lucas in Return of the Jedi as Emperor Palpatine, the principal villain. Sixteen years after appearing in Return of the Jedi, he reprised the role as a younger Senator and Chancellor in the Star Wars prequel films.

The prequels had him play two faces to his character; he re-created his diabolical interpretation of Palpatine from Return of the Jedi when playing Darth Sidious, the Chancellor's Sith alter ego, but created an attractive, pleasant, and seductive character in Palpatine's public persona. While he had previously achieved little recognition for this role, due to the extensive prosthetics used for the character which made him unrecognizable, he received widespread attention and critical acclaim for his expanded role in the prequels.^[5]

In the 2004 re-release of The Empire Strikes Back, a brief scene between Darth Vader and a hologram of Emperor Palpatine was updated to include McDiarmid. The Emperor was originally voiced by Clive Revill for that scene, and visually portrayed by Elaine Baker, the wife of make-up designer Rick Baker.^[8] With this addition to The Empire Strikes Back, McDiarmid has now appeared in every film version in which Palpatine appears.

He has also worked with the Star Wars Expanded Universe as the voice of Palpatine in the video games: Lego Star Wars: The Video Game and its sequel Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy, the video game versions of Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, and most recently Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron.

TV and radio[link]

McDiarmid took an early role as Mickey Hamilton, a killer intent on avenging the death of his wife and child in The Professionals for Granada. He played the role of police detective Porfiry Petrovich in the BBC's 2002 TV adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, also starring in an episode of Inspector Morse several years earlier, as psychopathic conman Hugo DeVries. In 2003 McDiarmid took the role of the Stuart statesman Edward Hyde, in the BBC series Charles II: The Power and The Passion.

In 2005, he portrayed the part of Satan in the 41 part BBC Four radio drama based on John Milton's Paradise Lost, which was subsequently re-broadcast on BBC7.^[9] Recently, he played the writer and pioneer of policing, Henry Fielding, in the Channel 4 historical drama series City of Vice and Denis Thatcher in 2009's Margaret.

McDiarmid played intelligence chief LeClerc in a 2009 BBC Radio dramatisation of John LeCarre's The Looking Glass War‎.

He expressed interest in reprising the role of Palpatine for the Star Wars live-action TV series.

Work in theatre[link]

Stage appearances[link]

• Hamlet, Open Space Theatre, London, 1972
• And They Put Handcuffs on the Flowers, Open Space Theatre, London, 1973
• In the Jungle of the Cities, Place Theatre, London, 1973
• Macbeth, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, England, 1973, then Bankside Globe Theatre, London, 1973
• Measure for Measure, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-on-Avon, England, 1974
• Macbeth, Royal Shakespeare Company, Aldwych Theatre, London, 1975
• Macbeth, Royal Shakespeare Company, Other Place Theatre, Stratford-on-Avon, England, 1976
• Destiny, Royal Shakespeare Company, Other Place Theatre, 1976
• Dingo, Royal Shakespeare Company, Other Place Theatre, 1976
• Schweyk in the Second World War, Royal Shakespeare Company, Other Place Theatre, 1976, then Warehouse Theatre, London, 1977
• Much Ado about Nothing, Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-on-Avon, 1976, then Aldwych Theatre, 1977
• That Good between Us, Royal Shakespeare Company, Warehouse Theatre, 1977
• Macbeth, Royal Shakespeare Company, Warehouse Theatre, 1977
• The Days of the Commune, Royal Shakespeare Company, Aldwych Theatre, 1977
• Dingo, Royal Shakespeare Company, Warehouse Theatre, 1978
• Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Mermaid Theatre, London, 1978
• Mephisto^{[disambiguation needed ]}, Oxford Playhouse Company, The Roundhouse Theatre, London, 1981
• The Worlds, New Half Moon Theatre, London, 1981
• Ezra, New Half Moon Theatre, 1981
• Insignificance, Royal Court Theatre, London, 1982
• Tales from Hollywood, National Theatre, 1983
• The Merchant of Venice, Royal Shakespeare Company, The Pit (Barbican Centre), 1984
• The Party, Royal Shakespeare Company, The Pit (Barbican Centre), London, 1985
• Henry V, Royal Shakespeare Company, Barbican Theatre, London, 1985
• The War Plays, Royal Shakespeare Company, The Pit (Barbican Centre), 1985
• Crimes in Hot Countries, Royal Shakespeare Company, The Pit (Barbican Centre), 1985
• The Castle, Royal Shakespeare Company, The Pit (Barbican Centre), 1985
• Downchild, Royal Shakespeare Company, The Pit (Barbican Centre), 1985
• Edward II, Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, England, 1986
• The Saxon Shore, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1986
• Creditors, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1986
• The Danton Affair, Royal Shakespeare Company, Barbican Theatre, 1986
• Don Carlos, Royal Exchange Theatre, 1987
• The Black Prince, Aldwych Theatre, 1989
• Volpone, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1990
• The Rehearsal, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1990
• Lulu, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1991
• Hippolytus, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1991
• School for Wives, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1993
• Hated Nightfall, Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, England, 1995
• Tartuffe, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1996
• The Government Inspector, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1997
• The Doctor's Dilemma, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1998
• The Jew of Malta, Almeida Theatre, 1999
• The Tempest, Almeida Theatre, 2000–01
• Faith Healer, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 2001
• Faith Healer, Gate Theatre in Dublin, 2001–2002
• The Embalmer, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 2002
• Henry IV, Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, England, 2004
• Lear, Sheffield Crucible, 2005
• Faith Healer, Booth Theatre, 2006
• John Gabriel Borkman, Donmar Warehouse, 2007
• Jonah and Otto, Manchester Royal Exchange, 2008
• Be Near Me, National Theatre of Scotland and Donmar Warehouse, 2009
• Six Characters in Search of an Author, Headlong Theatre, 2008–2010
• The Prince of Homburg, Donmar Warehouse, 2010
• Emperor and Galilean, National Theatre, 2011
• The Faith Machine, Royal Court Theatre, 2011
• Timon of Athens, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, 2012

Stage director[link]

• Venice Preserv'd, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1986
• Dom Juan, Royal Exchange Theatre, 1988
• The Possibilities, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1988
• Scenes from an Execution, Almeida Theatre, 1990
• The Rehearsal, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1990
• Volpone, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1990
• Lulu, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1991
• Hippolytus, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1991
• A Hard Heart, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1992
• Venice Preserv'd, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1995

Filmography[link]

Theatrical film[link]

Television[link]

Video games[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

Year	Award	Work
1968	Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama Gold Medal (won)
1982	Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a New Play (won)	Insignificance[disambiguation needed ]
1985	Time Out Comedy Awards for Directing (won)	Scenes From An Execution
1990	Time Out Comedy Awards for Directing (won)	Volpone
1991	Observer Awards for Outstanding Achievement for Ten Years of Presenting Irish Drama (nominated)	Volpone, The Rehearsal, and Betrayal Field
1995	Manchester Evening News Award for Best Actor (won)	Hated Nightfall
1998	Special Evening Standard Award for Theatrical Achievement of the Year (shared with Jonathan Kent)
2001	Critics' Circle Theatre Awards for Best Theatre Actor (won)	Faith Healer
2002	Clarence Derwent Award for Best Supporting Actor (won)	Faith Healer
2004	Manchester Evening News Award for Best Actor (won) Theatregoers' Choice Award for Best Actor (won)	Henry IV
2005	Theatregoers' Choice Award for Best Actor (won)	King Lear
2006	Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance (nominated) Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play (nominated) Theatre World Award for Outstanding Debut Performance (won) Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play (won)	Faith Healer

References[link]

External links[link]

• Ian McDiarmid at the Internet Broadway Database
• Ian McDiarmid at the Internet Movie Database
• Ian McDiarmid at Broadway.com
• Star Wars Actors Database at Nerf-Herders-Anonymous.net
• Bio from the official Star Wars site
• Bio from Hollywood.com
• B.Charles in Our Hidden Lives film-page

Janis Ian
Ian performing in concert, 1981
Background information
Birth name	Janis Eddy Fink
Born	(1951-04-07) April 7, 1951 (age 61) New York City, New York United States
Genres	Folk, Contemporary music
Occupations	Musician, Songwriter, Author
Years active	1965–present
Labels	Rude Girl Records Columbia Records Verve Records Windham Hill Records
Website	http://www.janisian.com/

Janis Ian (born Janis Eddy Fink, April 7, 1951) is an American songwriter, singer, musician, columnist, and science fiction author.^[1] Ian first entered the folk music scene while still a teenager in the mid-sixties; most active musically in that decade and the 1970s, she has continued recording into the 21st century. In 1975, Ian won a Grammy Award for her song, "At Seventeen".

Biography[link]

Childhood[link]

Born to a Jewish family in New York City,^[2] she was primarily raised in New Jersey, initially on a farm, and attended East Orange High School^[3] and the New York City High School of Music & Art. Her parents, Victor (a music teacher) and Pearl, ran a summer camp in upstate New York. In that Cold War era they were frequently under government surveillance because of their left-wing politics. Ian would allude to these years later in her song "God and the FBI". Young Janis admired the work of folk pioneers such as Joan Baez and Odetta. Starting with piano lessons at the age of 6 or 7, by the time she hit her teens, Ian had learned the organ, harpsichord, French horn, flute and guitar.^[4] At the age of 12, Ian wrote her first song, "Hair of Spun Gold," which was subsequently published in the folk publication Broadside and was later recorded for her debut album. In 1964, she legally changed her name to Janis Ian, using as her new last name her brother Eric's middle name.^[2]

Music career[link]

At the age of thirteen, Ian wrote and sang her first hit single, "Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)", about an interracial romance forbidden by a girl's mother and frowned upon by her peers and teachers: the girl ultimately decides to end the relationship, claiming the societal norms of the day have left her no other choice. Produced by George "Shadow" Morton and released three times between 1965 and 1967, "Society's Child" finally became a national hit upon its third release, after Leonard Bernstein featured it in a TV special titled Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution.^[2] The song's lyrical content was taboo for some radio stations, and they withdrew or banned it from their playlists accordingly; in her 2008 autobiography Society's Child, Ian recalls receiving hate mail and death threats as a response to the song, and mentions that a radio station in Atlanta that played it was burned down. In the summer of 1967, "Society's Child" reached #14 on the Billboard Hot 100, the single having sold 600,000 copies, and the album 350,000.^[5]

Ian relates on her website that, although the song was originally intended for Atlantic and the label paid for her recording session, the label subsequently returned the master to her and quietly refused to release it. Years later, Ian says, Atlantic's president at the time, Jerry Wexler, publicly apologized to her for this. The single and Ian's 1967 eponymous debut album were finally released on Verve Forecast; her album was also a hit, reaching #12. In 2001, "Society's Child" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which honors recordings considered timeless and important to music history. Her early music was compiled on a double CD entitled Society's Child: The Verve Recordings in 1995.

Ian performing at the National Stadium Dublin, Ireland 14 May 1981

"Society's Child" stigmatized Ian as a one-hit wonder until her most successful single in the United States, "At Seventeen", a bittersweet commentary on adolescent cruelty, the illusion of popularity, and teenage angst, as reflected upon from the perspective of a 24-year-old, was released in 1975. "At Seventeen" was a smash, receiving tremendous acclaim from critics and record buyers alike — it charted at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and hit #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. It won the 1975 Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance - Female beating out Linda Ronstadt, who was nominated for her Heart Like a Wheel album; Olivia Newton-John; and Helen Reddy. Ian performed "At Seventeen" as a musical guest on the debut of Saturday Night Live on October 11, 1975. The song's album, Between the Lines, was also a smash and hit #1 on Billboard's Album chart. It was quickly certified Gold and later earned a 'Platinum' certification for sales of over one million copies sold in the US. Another measure of her success is anecdotal: on Valentine's Day 1977, Ian received 461 Valentine cards, having indicated in the lyrics to "At Seventeen" that she never received any as a teenager.^[6]

"Fly Too High" (1979), produced by disco producer Giorgio Moroder, was her contribution to the soundtrack of the Jodie Foster film Foxes, also featured on Ian's 1979 album Night Rains. It earned her a Grammy nomination and became a hit single in many countries, including South Africa, Belgium. Australia, Israel, and the Netherlands.

Another country where Ian has achieved a high level of popularity is Japan. She had two top 10 singles on the Japanese Oricon charts, "Love Is Blind" in 1976, and "You Are Love" in 1980; and her album Aftertones topped Oricon's album chart in October 1976. "You Are Love (Toujours Gai Mon Cher)" is the theme song of Kinji Fukasaku's 1980 movie Virus, which was the most expensive Japanese film ever made at the time. Ian has cut several other singles specifically for the Japanese market, including 1998's "The Last Great Place". Even now, she's still regarded as the Godmother of Japanese singer-songwriters, and has a thriving career there and in Europe.

By contrast, in the U.S., Ian made the pop charts only once more after "At Seventeen" ("Under the Covers", #71 in 1981), though she had several more songs reach the Adult Contemporary singles chart through 1980 (all failing to make the Top 20, however). She walked away from her CBS contract in 1982, while it still had three albums to go. Ian deliberately spent much of the 1980s and early 1990s without a record deal. During the 1982–1992 period she continued to write songs, often in collaboration with songwriting partner Kye Fleming, which were covered by the likes of Amy Grant, Bette Midler and Marti Jones. She also studied under acting coach Stella Adler and struck up a close friendship with her, which continued until the latter's death in 1992.

Ian finally became one of the first "indie artists," resurfacing in 1993, with the worldwide release of Breaking Silence and its title song about incest.^[7] She also came out as a lesbian with that release. She also, in 1993, made her The Howard Stern Show appearance, where she performed a "new" version of "At Seventeen" about Jerry Seinfeld. Since then Ian has released several albums.

Ian's most recent album, Folk Is The New Black, was released jointly by the Rude Girl and Cooking Vinyl labels in 2006. It is the first in over twenty years where she did all the songwriting herself.^[8]

She still tours and has a devoted fan base. Her autobiography, "Society's Child," was released by Penguin in mid-2008 to critical acclaim.

Other artists have recorded Ian's compositions, most notably Roberta Flack, who had a hit in 1973 with Ian's song "Jesse",^{[7][dead link]} also recorded by Joan Baez and Dottie West; Ian's own version is featured on her 1974 album Stars (the title song of which has also been oft-covered, including versions by Cher, Nina Simone and Barbara Cook). Other artists who have recorded or performed songs written or co-written by Janis Ian include Amy Grant, Jeanette Dimech, Sheena Easton, Michele Pillar, Mel Torme, Michelle Wright, Bette Midler ("Some People's Lives," a song written by Ian and her then-partner Kye Fleming, became the title song of her 1990 album), Jann Arden, and Japanese singer Shiina Ringo (covered Ian's breakthrough Japanese hit, "Love Is Blind").

Criticism of the RIAA[link]

She is an outspoken critic of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA),^[9] a record industry organization which she sees as acting against the interests of musicians and consumers. As such, she has willingly released several of her songs for free download from her website.^[10] Along with science fiction author Eric Flint, she has argued that their experience provides conclusive evidence that free downloads dramatically increased hard-copy sales, contrary to the claims of RIAA and NARAS.^[11] Ian's signature tune "At Seventeen" sold over two million singles in the United States alone yet was never certified.

"I've been surprised at how few people are willing to get annoyed with me over it," she laughs. "There was a little backlash here and there. I was scheduled to appear on a panel somewhere and somebody from a record company said if I was there they would boycott it. But that's been pretty much it. In general the entire reaction has been favorable. I hear from a lot of people in my industry who don't want to be quoted, but say 'yeah, we're aware of this and we'd like to see a change too.'"^[12]

Writing and editing[link]

Ian at a Borders book signing in 2005

In addition to being an award-winning singer-songwriter, Ian writes science fiction. A long-time reader of the genre, she got into science fiction fandom in 2001, attending the Millennium Philcon.^[13] Her short stories have been published in anthologies, and she co-edited, with Mike Resnick, the anthology Stars: Original Stories Based on the Songs of Janis Ian, published in 2003 (ISBN 978-0-7564-0177-1). She also occasionally attends science fiction conventions.^[14]

Ian has been a regular columnist for, and still contributes to the LGBT news magazine, The Advocate.^[15] She has a selection of her columns available on her website.^[16] She also contributed a column to Performing Songwriter magazine from 1995 through 2003.^[17]

On July 24, 2008, Janis Ian released her autobiography Society's Child (published by Penguin Tarcher) to much critical acclaim. An accompanying double CD, The Autobiography Collection, has also been released with many of Ian's best loved songs.

Personal life[link]

Ian married Portuguese filmmaker Tino Sargo in 1978; they divorced in 1983. Details of Sargo's physical and emotional abuse were discussed in Ian's autobiography, Society's Child. After moving to Nashville, she met Patricia Snyder in 1989. Ian has a stepdaughter by Snyder, and two grandchildren.^[18] Ian came out as a lesbian in 1993 with the worldwide release of her album Breaking Silence.^[7] Snyder and Ian were married in Toronto on August 27, 2003.^[19]

Ian's mother, Pearl, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1975. To deal with her disease, Ian and her brother convinced Pearl to pursue her lifelong dream of going to college. Pearl eventually enrolled in Goddard College's adult education program, ultimately graduating with a Master's degree. After Pearl's death, Ian decided to auction off merchandise and raise money to endow a scholarship at Goddard specifically for older continuing education students. This began what became the Pearl Foundation, which funds scholarships at other colleges including Warren Wilson College.^[18]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• Janis Ian (1967) #29 US (Verve)
• For All the Seasons of Your Mind (1967) #179 US (Verve)
• The Secret Life of J. Eddy Fink (1968) (Verve)
• Who Really Cares (1969) (Verve)
• Present Company (1971) #223 US (Capitol)
• Stars (1974) #83 US, #63 (Columbia)
• Between the Lines (1975) #1 US, #22 Japan (Columbia, Festival)
• Aftertones (1976) #12 US, #1 Japan (Columbia)
• Miracle Row (1977) #45 US, #26 Japan (Columbia)
• Janis Ian (1978) (Columbia)
• Night Rains (1979) (Columbia)
• Restless Eyes (1981) #156 US (Columbia)
• Uncle Wonderful (1983) (Festival) (Australia only)
• Breaking Silence (1993) (Morgan Creek)
• Simon Renshaw Presents: Janis Ian Shares Your Pain (1995) (not released until 12.09)
• Revenge (1995) (Beacon)
• Hunger (1997) (Windham Hill)
• god & the fbi (2000) (Windham Hill)
• god & the fbi (3 Bonus Tracks) (2000) (JVC Japan)
• Lost Cuts 1 (2001) (Rude Girl)
• Billie's Bones (2004) (Oh Boy, Rude Girl Cooking Vinyl US)
• Breaking Silence (Bonus Track) (2003) (Rude Girl, Cooking Vinyl UK)
• Hunger (Bonus Track) (2003) (Festival, Cooking Vinyl UK)
• Stars (Bonus Track) (2004) (Festival, Cooking Vinyl)
• Between the Lines (Bonus Track) (2004) (Festival, Cooking Vinyl UK)
• Aftertones (Bonus Track) (2004) (Festival, Cooking Vinyl UK)
• Miracle Row (Bonus Track) (2004) (Festival, Cooking Vinyl UK)
• Janis Ian (1978) (Bonus Track) (2004) (Festival, Cooking Vinyl UK)
• Night Rains (Bonus Track) (2004) (Festival, Cooking Vinyl UK)
• Billie's Bones (Bonus Track) (2004) (JVC Japan)
• Folk is the New Black (2006) (Rude Girl)
• Folk is the New Black (With DVD) (2006) (Evasound)
• Revenge (Bonus Track) (2006) (Cooking Vinyl UK 2003) (WEA)