Look up Andrew in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Andrew is the English form of a given name and surname common in many countries. Alternatives include André, Andrey, Andrei, Andrzej, Andrej, András, Andrés, Andrius, Andreas, Andreu, Anders, Antero and Endrew. ‘Andrew’ is a common name in English-speaking countries. In the 1990s it was among the top ten most popular names for boys in those countries.^[3] In Italian, the equivalent to "Andrew" is "Andrea", though "Andrea" is feminine in most other languages. Andrew is frequently shortened to "Andy" or "Drew".

The word is derived from the Greek: Ανδρέας, Andreas,^[4] itself related to Ancient Greek: ἀνήρ/ἀνδρός aner/andros, "man" (as opposed to "woman"), thus meaning "manly" and, as consequence, "strong", "courageous", and "warrior". In the King James Bible, the Greek "Ἀνδρέας" is translated as Andrew.^[5]

Popularity[link]

Australia[link]

In 1990, the name Andrew was the seventh most popular name in Australia.^[6] In 1980, it was the 19th most common name,^[7] while in 1970, it was the 31st most common name.^[8] Andrew was the second most popular boys name in the Northern Territory in 1980.^[9] In Victoria, Andrew was the third most popular name for a boy in the 1970s.^[10]

Canada[link]

Andrew was the 20th most popular name chosen for male infants in 2005.^[11] Andrew was the 16th most popular name for infants in British Columbia in 2004,^[12] the 17th most popular name in 2003,^[13] and the 19th most popular name in 2002.^[14] In 2001, it was the 18th most common name.^[15] From 1999 - 2003, Andrew was the sixth most often chosen name for a boy.^[16]

Europe[link]

In the United Kingdom in 1974, Andrew was the fourth most common boy's name among infants, and it was third in 1964.^[17]

In Norway, with the spelling 'Andreas', the name has been the second most common boy's name of the 1990s.^[18]

United States[link]

The eleventh most common baby name in 2006,^[46] Andrew was among the ten most popular names for male infants in 2005.^[47] Andrew was the sixth most popular choice for a male infant in 2004.^[48] In 2002 and 2001, Andrew was the seventh most popular baby name in the United States.^[49][50][51] In the 1980s, Andrew was the 19th most popular choice of baby name in the United States.^[52] In the 1970s it was the 31st most popular name.^[53] From the 1960s stretching back at least as far as the 1880s, Andrew was not among the forty most popular names in America.^{[54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62]}

Andrew variants[link]

• Aindrea, Aindreas or Anndra : Scottish Gaelic for males
• Aindréas, Aindriú, Aindreas : Irish Gaelic for males
• Anaru: New Zealand, for males - Maori transliteration of Andrew
• Ander: Basque for males
• Anders: Danish, Norwegian, Swedish for males
• András, Endre: Hungarian for males
• Andraš Prekmurian for males
• Andraž: Slovene for males
• Andre: Javanese for males
• André: French, Galician, Portuguese, Armenian for males
• Andrea: Albanian, Italian for males; Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, English, Finnish, Galician, German, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish for females
• Andreas: Austrian, Cypriot Greek, Danish, German, Greek, Norwegian, Icelandic, Swedish, Welsh for males
• Andreea: Romanian for females
• Andrée: French for females
• Andrees: Older Dutch and seldom used Afrikaans for males
• Andrei: Moldovan, Romanian, Russian or Macedonian for males
• Andreia: Portuguese for females
• Andreina: Italian for females
• Andris: Latvian for males
• Andrej or Ondrej: Slovak (Slovakia), Croatian and Serbian, Slovene for males
• Andrey: Russian and Bulgarian for males (Cyrillic and thus often alternatively transliterated as Andrey for both); Romanian for males
• Andreja: Croatian, Slovene for females
• Andres: Estonian for males
• Andrés: Icelandic, Spanish for males
• Andreu: Catalan for males
• Andreus: Greek
• Andrew: English for males
• Andric: English for males
• Andries: Dutch and Afrikaans for males
• Andri: Icelandic for Males
• Andrii: Ukrainian for males
• Andrija: Croatian, Serbian for males
• Andris or Andrejs: Latvian for males
• Andriú: Gaeilge for males
• Andrius: Lithuanian for males
• Andriy: Ukrainian for males
• Andrzej or Jędrzej: Polish for males
• Andrzeja: Polish for females; obsolete
• Ondřej: Czech for males
• Indri: Maltese for males
• In Albanian: Andrea, Endri, Ndreçi (diminutive), Andri, Andi (witch is the same as Andy but fot effects of pronounciation in albanian language is used like Andi), only for males
• Antti : Finnish for males

For alternate forms of Anna, see Anna (name)#Variant forms

Famous Andrews[link]

Saint Andrew[link]

In the Christian Bible, Saint Andrew was the earliest disciple of Jesus and one of the twelve Apostles.

Other saints named Andrew include:

• Saint Andrew of Trier (d. 235), Bishop of Trier
• Saint Andrew of Crete, an 8th century archbishop, theologian, homilist, and hymnographer
• Saint Andrew of Crete (martyr)
• Saint Andrew of Constantinople
• Saints Andrew Dung-Lac An Tran, Andrew Thong Kim Nguyen, Andrew Trong Van Tram, and Andrew Tuong of the Vietnamese Martyrs
• Saint Andrew Kim Taegon of the Korean Martyrs

Kings Andrew[link]

• King Andrew I of Hungary
• King Andrew II of Hungary
• King Andrew III of Hungary

Princes Andrew[link]

• Prince Andrew, Duke of York (1960–), second son of Elizabeth II
• Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark (1882–1944), the aforementioned's paternal grandfather and namesake
• Edward VIII (1894–1972) bore the name Andrew
• Prince William of Gloucester (1941–1972), grandson of George V, was William Henry Andrew Frederick

United States Presidents[link]

• Andrew Jackson (7th President of the United States of America)
• Andrew Johnson (17th President of the United States of America)

Business, culture, science and sport[link]

• Andre Agassi - American tennis player
• Andrew Bloom, American Olympic shot putter
• Andrew Bogut - basketball player
• Andrew Brunette - ice hockey player
• Andrew Buckley - field hockey player
• Andrew Bynum - basketball player
• Andrew Carnegie - steel magnate and philanthropist
• Andrew "Dice" Clay - comedian
• Andrew Clayton - freestyle swimmer
• Andrew Cole - footballer
• Andrew Davies - screenwriter
• Andrew Flintoff - cricketer
• Andrew Rube Foster - Hall of Fame manager for baseball's Negro Leagues
• Andrew Gaze - basketball player
• Andy Gibb - pop singer and composer
• Andrew Graham-Dixon - art historian and broadcaster
• Andy Griffith - actor/singer/comedian
• Andrew Hastie - field hockey player
• Andrew Huxley - physiologist
• Andrew Johns - rugby league player
• Andrew Johnson - footballer
• Andrew Johnston - actor
• Andy Kaufman - comedian
• Andrew Knott - English actor
• Andrew Ladd - ice hockey player
• Andrew Lang - man of letters
• Andrew Lincoln - British actor
• Andrew Lloyd Webber - composer and impresario
• Andrew Luck - American football player
• Andrew Marr - broadcaster
• Andrew Murray - tennis player
• Andrew Marvell - poet
• Andrew Neil - political journalist and broadcaster
• Andrew Raycroft - ice hockey player
• Andy Richter - actor/writer/comedian
• Andrew Ridgeley - English musician
• Andrew Robinson - water polo player
• Andrew Sachs - character actor
• Andrew Sega - American musician
• Andrew "Andy" Shernoff - songwriter/guitarist for the pre-punk band The Dictators
• Andrew Stahl - television and film actor
• Andrew Stanton - "Pixar" producer, director, voice actor, and screenwriter
• Andrew Stockdale - guitarist and singer of Wolfmother
• Andrew Symonds - cricketer
• Andrew Tanenbaum - Computer Scientist
• Andrew Timlin - field hockey player
• Andrew Toney - basketball player
• Andy Van Slyke - baseball player
• Andrew Van Wyngarden - musician
• Andrew W.K. - singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, entertainer, and motivational speaker
• Andrew Wagner - American film director
• Andrew Walter - American football player
• Andy Warhol - famous Pop artist
• Andrew Wood (singer) - singer
• Andrew Towle - Jazz saxophonist

Brother Andrew[link]

• Brother Andrew is a Christian famed for his message to the oppressed church behind the Iron Curtain and for founding the charity Open Doors.

In fiction[link]

• Andrew, angel of death from Touched by an Angel
• Andy Davis, character from Disney Pixar's Toy Story and its sequels
• Andrew, robot from Isaac Asimov's 1976 novella The Bicentennial Man and its 1999 film adaptation
• Andrew Wiggin aka Ender Wiggin, the title character from Orson Scott Card's famous science fiction novel Ender's Game
• Andrew "Drew" Torres, from Degrassi: The Next Generation
• Andrew "Andy" Dufresne, from the Stephen King novel Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption and the film adaption The Shawshank Redemption.

See also[link]

• All pages beginning with "Andrew"
• All pages beginning with "Andy"
• All pages beginning with "Drew"
• Andy (given name)
• Andre (disambiguation)
• Andreas (disambiguation)
• Andrey
• Andrea
• Andreou

References[link]

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

Andrew Bird
Andrew Bird with violin, 2009
Background information
Born	(1973-07-11) July 11, 1973 (age 38) Chicago, Illinois, United States
Genres	Indie rock, indie folk, folk rock, baroque pop
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Voice, whistling, violin, guitar, glockenspiel
Years active	1996–present
Labels	Rykodisc, Righteous Babe, Fat Possum, RCRD LBL, Bella Union, Earwig Music, Waterbug, Carrot Top, Delmark, Mom+Pop
Associated acts	Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Kevin O'Donnells Quality Six, Dosh
Website	andrewbird.net

Andrew Wegman Bird (born July 11, 1973) is an American musician, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist.

History[link]

Early life and the Bowl of Fire (1973–2002)[link]

Trained in the Suzuki method from the age of four,^[1] Bird graduated from Lake Forest High School in 1991 and Northwestern University with a bachelor's degree in violin performance in 1996. That same year he self-released his first solo album, Music of Hair. Vastly different from his later work, this album showcased his violin skills and paid tribute to his fascination with both American and European folk traditions, as well as jazz and blues. Following this, his initial commercial exposure came through collaborative work with the band Squirrel Nut Zippers, appearing on three of their albums (Hot, Sold Out, and Perennial Favorites) between 1996 and 1998.

Taking on the role of bandleader, Bird released Thrills on Rykodisc in 1997 with his group Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire, shortly followed by second album Oh! The Grandeur in 1998. Both albums were heavily influenced by traditional folk, pre-war jazz, and swing, with Bird relying on the violin as his primary musical instrument, as well as providing vocals along with his trademark verbose lyrics. The Bowl of Fire featured musicians from Bird's home town of Chicago, including Kevin O'Donnell, Joshua Hirsch, Nora O'Connor, Andy Hopkins, Jimmy Sutton, Colin Bunn, and Ryan Hembrey. During this period, Andrew Bird was a member of the jazz group Kevin O'Donnells Quality Six, for which he was the lead singer and violinist and contributed to arrangements and songwriting for the albums Heretic Blues (Delmark 1999) and Control Freak (Delmark 2000) (both Delmark albums were produced by Raymond Salvatore Harmon).

In 2001, the Bowl of Fire released their third album, The Swimming Hour, a dramatic departure from their previous recordings. It featured a mixture of styles, from the zydeco-influenced "Core and Rind" to more straightforward rock songs such as "11:11". Due to this eclectic nature, Bird has often referred to it as his "jukebox album". Although gaining critical praise (The Swimming Hour received a 9.0 from indie music website Pitchfork^[2]), the band failed to attain commercial success or recognition, playing to audiences as small as 40 people.^[3] In 2002, Bird was asked to open for a band in his hometown of Chicago, but fellow Bowl of Fire members were unavailable for the date. The reluctant Bird performed the gig alone, and the surprising success of this solo show suggested potential new directions for his music.^[3]

Early solo career (2003–2005)[link]

Andrew Bird in concert 2005

The Bowl of Fire unofficially disbanded in 2003, and Bird went on to radically re-invent himself as a solo artist. His two subsequent albums were released on Ani Difranco's Righteous Babe Records label. 2003's Weather Systems (originally released on Grimsey Records) was a sparse record with a dramatic change in musical direction. It featured the tracks "Skin" and "I", proto-versions of songs that would later become "Skin Is, My" (The Mysterious Production of Eggs) and "Imitosis" (Armchair Apocrypha).

The Mysterious Production of Eggs (2005) continued a progression towards an eclectic indie–folk sound, and both records formed a stark stylistic break with Bird's earlier work, swapping the lush backing of a full band for carefully layered samples of sound constructed using multitrack recorders and loop pedals. As his sound changed, Bird made increasing use of guitar, glockenspiel, and whistling in his songwriting, in addition to his traditional violin and vocals.

Bird is noted for improvising and reworking his songs during live performance, as can be seen in his series of self-released live compilations entitled Fingerlings, Fingerlings 2, and Fingerlings 3, the first of which was released in 2002. Each Fingerlings EP was released prior to a studio album, and presented a mixture of live performances from different shows, including old tracks, covers, and previously unreleased songs, some of which have since appeared on studio albums. Fingerlings 3, released in October 2006, also featured studio outtakes. Fingerlings 2 provided Bird with an unexpected boost in recognition in 2004 when it was named album of the month by Mojo.^[1]

In 2005, co-collaborator Martin Dosh joined Bird's line-up, adding percussion and keyboards to his sound.^[1] Jeremy Ylvisaker was later added to the group on bass and backup vocals.

Signed to Fat Possum Records (2006–2011)[link]

Bird performing at the 2007 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival

In September 2006, Bird signed to Fat Possum Records, and in March 2007 he released his third post-Bowl of Fire album, Armchair Apocrypha.^[4] The album was recorded in collaboration with electronic musician Martin Dosh, and includes a track composed by Dosh (with lyrics by Bird) entitled "Simple X". This song first appeared without Bird's lyrics as "Simple Exercises" on Dosh's 2004 release Pure Trash. The album was produced by Ben Durrant (who had worked on Dosh's The Lost Take), and also featured Haley Bonar and Chris Morrissey.^[5] In advance of the March release date, Armchair Apocrypha was leaked to the Internet in January 2007. The album went on to sell over 100,000 copies.^[1]

As publicity for Armchair Apocrypha, Bird made his network television debut on April 10, 2007, performing "Plasticities" (from the new album) on the Late Show with David Letterman. He also appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on June 14, 2007, performing "Imitosis" from the same album. In April 2007, he did a Take-Away Show acoustic video session shot by Vincent Moon. These appearances were accompanied by an extensive tour, which ended with sell-out performances at the Beacon Theater, New York and the Orpheum Theater, Los Angeles.^[1]

In January 2007, Andrew Bird made an appearance on the Noggin television network's Jack's Big Music Show, playing the part of Dr. Stringz and appearing in order to mend a character's broken dulcimer. Bird sang a brief song called "Dr. Stringz", written specially for the show. He now often plays it live as an introduction to the song "Fake Palindromes".^[6][7]

On May 20, 2007, National Public Radio aired a live concert by Bird from Washington, D.C.'s 9:30 Club^[8] He also worked with Reverb, a non-profit environmental organization, for his 2007 spring tour.^[9]

Five of his songs – "Banking on a Myth" from "The Mysterious Production of Eggs," a medley of "I" from Weather Systems and "Imitosis" from "Armchair Apocrypha," and "Skin" and "Weather Systems" from Weather Systems – have been licensed for use by Marriott Residence Inn.^[10]

Since March 2008, Bird has contributed to "Measure for Measure,"^[11] a New York Times blog in which musicians write about their songwriting process. In it, he has charted the development of the song "Oh No," previewing samples at various stages of development through to the finished album recording. He also discussed the conception of the song "Natural Disaster," the recording of instrumental piece "Hot Math," and previewed "Master Sigh." The first two songs were later released on Bird's 2009 album "Noble Beast," whilst the latter two appeared on its bonus disc "Useless Creatures."^[12]

In December 2008, Bird appeared in the second series of Nigel Godrich's From the Basement alongside Radiohead and Fleet Foxes. His performance included a preview of new song "Section 8 City," a ten minute re-imagining of "Sectionate City," which originally appeared on the "Soldier On EP."^[13]

Bird's fifth solo album, "Noble Beast," was released on January 20, 2009, and contained fourteen new songs, with bonus tracks available for download from iTunes and eMusic. "The Privateers" is a re-imagining of a very early song entitled "The Confession" from 1999's "Oh! The Grandeur."^[1] A limited deluxe edition of the album included alternate packaging and artwork, as well as an all-instrumental companion disc entitled "Useless Creatures." The entirety of "Useless Creatures" was made available via Bird's website during the run-up to the release. "Noble Beast" has been met with generally favourable reviews, receiving a score of 79 out of 100 from review collation site Metacritic.^[14]

In 2009, Bird contributed a cover of the song "The Giant of Illinois" to the HIV and AIDS benefit album "Dark Was the Night" produced by the Red Hot Organization. On May 11, 2009, Bird released the EP "Fitz and the Dizzy Spells." It contains "Fitz and the Dizzyspells" from "Noble Beast," as well as other songs from that album's recording sessions. Some of the songs on the EP were previously available for download from iTunes and eMusic as bonus tracks to "Noble Beast."

In 2010, Bird recorded with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, contributing vocals and violin on a cover of "Shake It and Break It" on "Preservation: An Album to Benefit Preservation Hall & The Preservation Hall Music Outreach Program."

Andrew Bird currently uses custom-made Schroeder amplifiers.^[15]

Break It Yourself (2011–present)[link]

In late 2011 Bird signed to the record label Mom+Pop. Andrew Bird's first release for the label was the soundtrack to the film Norman, which included his original score as well as songs by other artists.^[16] Bird sequenced the soundtrack to flow as a stand-alone album rather than a compilation of music from the film.^[16] Its music supervisor, Peymon Maskan, told HitQuarters: "The best compliment I've heard is that without having seen the film, you can imagine it by listening to the soundtrack. The sequence is a big part of that effect."^[16]

On December 6 Bird announced a new album Break it Yourself, the follow up to 2009's Noble Beast.^[17]

Influences[link]

Growing up, Bird was surrounded by classical music. As a child, he was interested in Irish tunes and bluegrass. He also cites English and Scottish folk music as an early influence.^[18] His early jazz influences were Johnny Hodges, Lester Young, and Fats Waller.^[19][20] He has also had a number of classical influences such as Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, and Bela Bartok.^[21] Other influences included jazz, swing, calypso, and folk. Bird has stated that, at 22, he found a lot of indie rock and pop music repetitive and boring, but now understands it better.^[22]

Discography[link]

Bowl of Fire albums[link]

• Thrills (1998)
• Oh! The Grandeur (1999)
• The Swimming Hour (2001)

Solo albums[link]

• Music of Hair (1996)
• Weather Systems (2003)
• & the Mysterious Production of Eggs (2005)
• Armchair Apocrypha (2007, Fat Possum) #76 US
• Noble Beast (2009, Fat Possum) #12 US
• Break it Yourself (2012, Bella Union [UK]; Mom+Pop [US]) #10 US, #46 CAN

Companion album[link]

• Useless Creatures (2010) (bonus disc to Noble Beast)

Live albums[link]

• Fingerlings (2002, Grimsey Records)
• Fingerlings 2 (2004, Grimsey)
• Fingerlings 3 (2006, Grimsey)
• Live at Austin City Limits Music Festival 2007: Andrew Bird (2007, Austin City Limits Music Festival)
• Live In Montreal (2008, Bella Union)
• Fingerlings 4 (2010, Wegawam Music Co.)

EPs and singles[link]

• The Ballad of the Red Shoes (2002)
• Sovay (2005, Fargo Records) – single
• Live at Bonnaroo Music Festival (2006, Live at Bonnaroo Music Festival) – Live EP
• Soldier On (2007) – European tour EP
• Fitz and the Dizzy Spells (2009)
• Anonanimal (2009) – Download only single
• Fake Conversations (2012) – 2011 Tour Live EP

Other album appearances[link]

• Kiltartan Road – Joy to the Morning (1995)
• Kat Eggleston – Outside Eden (1996, Waterbug Records)
• Lil Ed and Dave Weld with The Imperial Flames – Keep On Walkin' (1996, Earwig Music)
• Andrew Calhoun – Phoenix Envy (1996, Earwig Music)
• Charlie Nobody – Soup (1996)
• Squirrel Nut Zippers – Hot (1996, Mammoth Records)
• Squirrel Nut Zippers – Perennial Favorites (1998, Mammoth)
• Rose Polenzani – Dragersville (1998, The Orchard)
• Pinetop Seven – Rigging the Toplights (1998)
• Extra Virgin – Twelve Stories High (1999)
• Kevin O'Donnell – Heretic Blues (1999, Delmark Records)
• Andrew Calhoun – Where Blue Meets Blue (1999, Waterbug)
• Sally Timms – Cowboy Sally's Twilight Laments for Lost Buckaroos (1999, Bloodshot Records)
• Squirrel Nut Zippers – Bedlam Ballroom (2000, Hollywood Records)
• The Blacks – Just Like Home (2000, Bloodshot)
• The Handsome Family – In the Air (2000, Carrot Top Records)
• Devil in a Woodpile – Division Street (2000, Bloodshot)
• Kevin O'Donnell – Control Freak (2000 · Delmark Records)
• Neko Case – Canadian Amp (2001)
• The Verve Pipe – Underneath (2001, RCA Records)
• Jenny Toomey – Antidote (2001, Misra Records)
• Kelly Hogan – Because It Feel Good (2001, Bloodshot)
• Sinister Luck Ensemble – Anniversary (2002, Perishable Records)
• Abandon Jalopy – Mercy (2002)
• WYEP Live and Direct: Volume 4 – On Air Performances – "Core and Rind" (2002)
• Kristin Hersh – The Grotto (2003)
• The Autumn Defense – Circles (2003, Arena Rock Recording Co.)
• Bonnie 'Prince' Billy – Sings Greatest Palace Music (2004, Drag City)
• Bobby Bare, Jr. – From the End of Your Leash (2004, Bloodshot)
• Nora O'Connor – Til the Dawn (2004, Bloodshot)
• Ani DiFranco – Knuckle Down (2005, Righteous Babe Records)
• My Morning Jacket – Z (2005, ATO Records)
• Bobby Bare – The Moon Was Blue (2005, Dualtone Music Group)
• Emily Loizeau – London Town (in French and English) (2006)
• Dosh – The Lost Take (2006, anticon.)
• Candi Staton – His Hands (2006, Astralwerks)
• Magnolia Electric Co. – The Black Ram (2007, Secretly Canadian)
• KFOG Live From the Archives Volume 14 – (2007)
• Song of America – "How You Gonna Keep 'Em Down On the Farm" (2007, Split Rock Records/Thirty One Tigers)
• Charlie Louvin – "Sings Murder Ballads and Disaster Songs" (2008, Tompkins Square)
• Todd Sickafoose – "Tiny Resistors" (2008, Cryptogramophone)
• Dosh – Wolves and Wishes (2008, anticon.)
• Final Fantasy – Plays to Please (2008, Blocks Recording Club)
• Dianogah – Qhnnnl (2008, Southern Records)
• Loney, Dear – Dear John^[23] (2009)
• Dark Was the Night – "The Giant of Illinois" (Red Hot Organization, 2009)
• Live at KEXP Vol.5 – Oh No (2009)[5]
• Thao with the Get Down Stay Down – Know Better Learn Faster (2009, Kill Rock Stars)
• Dosh – Tommy
• Twistable Turnable Man: A Musical Tribute to Shel Silverstein – The Twistable, Turnable Man Returns (2010, Sugar Hill Records)
• Muppets: The Green Album – "Bein' Green" (2011, Walt Disney Records)
• Norman (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2011, Mom + Pop Music)
• The Muppets: Original Soundtrack – "The Whistling Caruso" (2011, Walt Disney Records)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Andrew Bird

• Official site

Andrew Napolitano
Andrew Napolitano at CPAC in February 2010.
Judge of the New Jersey Superior Court
In office 1987–1995
Appointed by	Thomas Kean
Personal details
Born	Andrew Paolo Napolitano (1950-06-06) June 6, 1950 (age 62) Newark, New Jersey, United States
Alma mater	Princeton University Notre Dame Law School
Occupation	Judge Attorney Media Personality
Religion	Roman Catholic
Website	Biography on FoxNews.com

Andrew Paolo Napolitano (born June 6, 1950) is a former New Jersey Superior Court Judge. He is a political and senior judicial analyst for Fox News Channel, commenting on legal news and trials. Napolitano started on the channel in 1998.

Early life, judicial and academic career[link]

Napolitano was born in Newark, New Jersey. He is a graduate of Princeton University (he was a founding member of the Concerned Alumni of Princeton^[1]) and Notre Dame Law School. Napolitano sat on the New Jersey bench from 1987 to 1995, becoming the state's youngest then-sitting Superior Court judge. He also served as an adjunct professor at Seton Hall University School of Law for 11 years. Napolitano resigned his judgeship in 1995 to pursue his writing and television career.

Media career[link]

Prior to joining Fox as a news analyst, Napolitano was the presiding judge on the television show, Power of Attorney, in which people brought small-claims disputes to a televised courtroom. Differing from similar formats, the plaintiffs and defendants were represented "pro bono" by famous attorneys. The show ran in syndication during the 2000–2001 season.

From 2006 to 2010, Napolitano co-hosted a talk radio show on Fox News Radio with Brian Kilmeade titled Brian and the Judge.

Napolitano hosted a libertarian talk show called Freedom Watch that aired daily, with new episodes on weekdays, on Fox Business Channel.^[2] Frequent guests on Freedom Watch were Congressman Ron Paul, economist^{[citation needed]} Peter Schiff, and Lew Rockwell. Napolitano has called himself the "Ayn Rand of Fox News" and has also promoted the works of Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman and Ludwig von Mises on his program. The show originally aired once a week on Wednesdays at 2:00 pm on Fox News' Strategy Room. On September 14, 2009 it became a show that airs three to four times a week. On June 12, 2010 it debuted as a weekly show on Fox Business. The show was dropped along with several programs in February 2012 when FBN revamped its entire primetime lineup.^[3]

Napolitano regularly substituted for television host Glenn Beck when Beck was absent from his program. After Beck announced he would be leaving Fox News, he asked Napolitano to replace him.^[4]

Writing career[link]

In 2004, Napolitano wrote the book, Constitutional Chaos: What Happens When the Government Breaks its Own Laws, a criticism of the American justice system.

In 2006, his second book, The Constitution in Exile: How the Federal Government Has Seized Power by Rewriting the Supreme Law of the Land was published.

A third book, A Nation of Sheep, was released in October 2007.

In April 2009, Napolitano's fourth book, Dred Scott's Revenge: A Legal History of Race and Freedom in America, was released.

In March, 2010, Napolitano's fifth book was released: Lies the Government Told You: Myth, Power, and Deception in American History.

In October, 2011, Napolitano's sixth book was released: It is Dangerous to be Right When the Government is Wrong: The Case for Personal Freedom.

Politics[link]

Napolitano is a pro-life libertarian, more commonly known as libertarian conservatism.^[5]

He is a strong advocate of the Constitution, viewing it as a contract that must, according to rule of law, be interpreted the way its authors intended or else be invalid. He therefore asserts that the Federal government has a very limited set of powers, that it is exceeding, and that the Bill of Rights limits its valid actions in all circumstances.

The Constitution applies to persons, not just citizens. If you read the Constitution, its protections are not limited to Americans. And that was written intentionally, because at the time it was written, they didn't know what Native Americans would be. When the post civil war amendments were added, they didn't know how blacks would be considered, because they had a decision of the Supreme Court called Dred Scott, that said blacks are not persons. So in order to make sure the Constitution protected every human being: American, alien; citizen, non-citizen; lawful combatant, enemy combatant; innocent, guilty; those who wish us well, those who wish us ill...they use the broadest possible language, to make it clear: Wherever the government goes, the Constitution goes, and wherever the Constitution goes, the protections that it guarantees restrain the government and requires it to protect those rights.

• Judge Andrew Napolitano & Alan Colmes discuss Gitmo, discussing the Supreme Court rulings on the scope of the protections in the Constitution.

Napolitano has called consumer advocate and frequent presidential candidate Ralph Nader a hero of his.^[6]

Napolitano believes that the 9/11 incidents including the subsequent collapse of the World Trade Tower buildings in New York City did not take place as the US government has publicly communicated. “It's "hard for me to believe that" World Trade Center building 7 "came down by itself," said Napolitano, “twenty years from now, people will look at 9-11 the way we look at the assassination of JFK today. It couldn't possibly have been done the way the government told us."^[7]

Personal[link]

Napolitano splits his time living in Manhattan and Sussex County, New Jersey where he owns a farm that produces maple syrup.^[8]

Napolitano is not related to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, whom he sometimes jokingly calls "Cousin Janet."^{[citation needed]}

References[link]

External links[link]

Biography portal

• Freedom Watch With the Judge
• Judge Andrew P. Napolitano website
• Brian and The Judge
• Judge Andew P. Napolitano's bio at foxnews.com
• Andrew Napolitano at the Internet Movie Database
• Draft Judge Andrew P. Napolitano website
• The Judge's Farm – Vine Hill