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Sears-Roebuck and Co.

The current logo, used since 2010.
Type	Subsidiary Publicly held company
Industry	Retail
Founded	Chicago, Illinois, U.S. (1886)
Founder(s)	Richard Warren Sears Alvah C. Roebuck
Headquarters	Hoffman Estates, Illinois, U.S.
Number of locations	2,248 (2010)[1]
Area served	United States, Canada
Products	Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, appliances, housewares, tools, and electronics
Revenue	US$ 22.937 billion (2010)[1]
Parent	Sears Holdings Corporation
Website	www.sears.com

Sears, officially named Sears Roebuck and Co., is an American chain of department stores,^[2] which was founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck in the late 19th century. Formerly a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Sears^[3] merged with Kmart in early 2005, creating the Sears Holdings Corporation.

From its mail order beginnings, the company grew to become the largest retailer in the United States by the mid-20th century, and its catalogs became famous. Competition and changes in the demographics of its customer base hurt Sears following World War II, as the country's suburban areas thrived, hurting the company's inner-city (and rural) strongholds. Eventually, Sears' catalogs were discontinued in lieu of more web-based alternatives.

History[link]

Richard Sears

Richard Warren Sears was a railroad station agent in North Redwood, Minnesota, when he received an impressive shipment of watches from a Chicago jeweler which were unwanted by a local cube jeweler. Sears purchased them, then sold the watches for a considerable profit to other station agents, then ordered more for resale. Soon he started a business selling watches through mail order catalogs. The next year, he moved to Chicago, Illinois where he met Alvah C. Roebuck, who joined him in the business. In 1893, the corporate name became Sears, Roebuck and Co.

The current Sears location in downtown Chicago is across the street from the historic Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Building, which will house a City Target store from the Target Corporation in the near future.

Mail order catalog[link]

Richard Sears knew that farmers often brought their crops to town, where they could be sold and shipped. Before the Sears catalog, farmers typically bought supplies (often at high prices) from local general stores. Sears took advantage of this by publishing his catalog with clearly stated prices, so that consumers could know what he was selling and at what price, and order and obtain them conveniently. The catalog business grew quickly.

The first Sears catalog was published in 1888. By 1894, the Sears catalog had grown to 322 pages, featuring sewing machines, bicycles, sporting goods, automobiles (produced from 1905–1915 by Lincoln Motor Car Works of Chicago, not related to the current Ford Motor Company brand of the same name)^[4] and a host of other new items.

Organizing the company so it could handle orders on an economical and efficient basis, Chicago clothing manufacturer Julius Rosenwald became a part-owner in 1895. Alvah Roebuck resigned soon after due to ill health, but the company retained his name. By the following year, dolls, refrigerators, stoves and groceries had been added to the catalog.

Sears, Roebuck and Company catalog, 1918

Sears, Roebuck and Co. soon developed a reputation for quality products and customer satisfaction. By 1895, the company was producing a 532-page catalog. Sales were greater than $400,000 in 1893 and more than $750,000 two years later.^[5]

In 1906 Sears opened its catalog plant and the Sears Merchandise Building Tower.^[6] Also, by that time, the Sears catalog had become known in the industry as "the Consumers' Bible". In 1933, Sears, Roebuck and Co. produced the first of its famous Christmas catalogs known as the "Sears Wishbook", a catalog featuring toys and gifts, separate from the annual Christmas Catalog. The catalog also entered the language, particularly of rural dwellers, as a euphemism for toilet paper. In the days of outhouses and no readily available toilet paper, the pages of the mass-mailed catalog were used as toilet paper.^[7][8]

Alvah Roebuck returned to the organization during the Great Depression, and worked as a spokesperson until his death in 1948. Part of the reason Roebuck left Sears in 1895 was due to the stress the business placed upon him, and he later took some delight in pointing out his longevity versus the much shorter life of Richard Sears. In the 1970s, the name "Roebuck" was dropped from the trade name of the stores, though not from the official corporate name.

Retail stores[link]

The first Sears retail store opened in Chicago on February 2, 1925 in the Merchandise building (in a portion of the company's headquarters at Homan Avenue and Arthington Street). This store included an optical shop and a soda fountain.^[9] The first freestanding retail store opened October 5, 1925 in Evansville, Indiana.^[10] During the summer of 1928 three more Chicago department stores opened, one on the north side at Lawrence and Winchester, a second on the south side at 79th and Kenwood, and the third at 62nd and Western. In 1929 Sears took over the department store business of Becker-Ryan Company. In 1933 Sears tore down the old Becker-Ryan Company store in Englewood, and built the first windowless department store, inspired by the 1932 Chicago World's Fair.

From the 1920s to the 1950s, Sears built many urban department stores. Starting in the 1950s, the company expanded into suburban markets, and malls in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1959, it had formed the Homart Development Company for developing malls. Many of the company's stores have undergone major renovations or replacement since the 1980s. The company was the largest retailer in the US until the early 1980s, but had dropped significantly in rankings by the time it merged with Kmart.

Shop Your Way Rewards[link]

Shop Your Way Rewards is the rewards program of all the Sears Holding Brands. It was started by Kmart as Kmart Smart Rewards as a pilot program. One year after the Smart Rewards Program was started the name and program was changed to Shop Your Way Rewards. During the test part of the program it was limited to certain Sears and Kmart stores. After the test of the program was considered a success by Sears marketing team, it was introduced to all Sears Holding Brands including Sears, The Great Indoors, Sears Grand, Kmart, Lands End, and My Gofer. The program has four tiers. The tiers are Member, VIP Silver, VIP Gold, VIP Platinum, and VIP Executive. The program allows the customer to receive one cent on the dollar as points accumulate. (For example, if a customer earns 22,000 points, it is equivalent to $22.00 for a customer to freely use throughout any Sears Holding stores.) To reach the VIP levels of the program customers must meet a certain spending qualification criteria. Potential members may enroll in the rewards program at any Sears Holdings run outlet or online. Shopyourway Rewards is an additional benefit provided to the Craftsman Club rewards program. The Craftsman Club program has existed since 1991 as a community of brand enthusiasts that receive advanced product information and member-only discounts. As of April 10, 2012, customers may only enroll in the program if they have an e-mail address; however, existing members may still use their phone number or membership card to earn points when purchasing items.

Diversification[link]

Sears began to diversify in the 1930s, adding Allstate Insurance Company in 1931 and placing Allstate representatives in its stores in 1934. Over the decades it established major national brands, such as Kenmore, Craftsman, DieHard, Silvertone, Supertone, and Toughskins. The company became a conglomerate during the mid-20th century, adding Dean Witter and Coldwell Banker real estate in 1981, starting Prodigy as a joint venture with IBM in 1984, and introducing the Discover credit card in 1985. In March 2009, Sears purchased the social search engine Delver.

Divestiture and Sears Grand[link]

In the 1990s the company began divesting itself of many non-retail entities, which were detrimental to the company's bottom line. Sears spun off its financial services arm which included brokerage business Dean Witter Reynolds and Discover Card. It sold its mall building subsidiary Homart to General Growth Properties in 1995.^[11] Sears later acquired hardware chain Orchard Supply Hardware in 1996 and started home improvement store The Great Indoors in 1997.

In 1993, Sears stopped production of its general merchandise catalog because of sinking sales and profits. Sears Holdings continues to produce specialty catalogs and reintroduced a smaller version of the Holiday Wish Book in 2007.

In 2003, Sears sold its retail credit card operation to Citibank.^[12] The remaining card operations were sold to JPMorgan Chase in August 2005.

In 2003, Sears opened a new concept store called Sears Grand. Sears Grand stores carry everything that a regular Sears carries, plus health and beauty, toys, baby care, cleaning supplies, home decor, pet food, cards and party supplies, books, magazines, electronics, music, movies, and an edited assortment of groceries. Sears Grand stores are about 175,000 to 225,000 square feet (16,300 to 19,500 m²). The first Sears Grand store (and still the largest at 225,000 sq ft) opened at Jordan Landing in West Jordan, Utah in 2003.

Merger with Kmart[link]

A Sears Essentials wil be no longer open that was formerly a Kmart in West Palm Beach, Florida

On November 17, 2004, Kmart announced its intentions to purchase Sears. As a part of the purchase, the Kmart Holdings Corporation would change its name to Sears Holdings Corporation. The new corporation announced that it would continue to operate stores under both the Sears and Kmart brands.

In 2005, the company began renovating some Kmart stores and converting them to the Sears Essentials format, only to change them later to Sears Grands.^[13]

Sears as a hedge fund[link]

It has been speculated that Sears management is interested in more purchases beyond the Kmart takeover of Sears and that investor Edward Lampert is interested in the company becoming an investment company more than a retailer. Some of many possible targets are other companies that the management believes have low stock prices relative to company value. Some mentioned are Safeway, The Home Depot, and Anheuser–Busch.^[14] The Washington Post, in an article dated March 11, 2007, described the current Sears as a hedge fund with money being diverted from the maintenance and improvement of stores to non-retail financial investments. A former executive is quoted as saying the company faces an "uncertain future". A third of pre-tax income in the third quarter of 2006 was generated by financial trades, followed by a poor fourth quarter in same.^[15]

Subsidiaries[link]

Sears department store

Sears inside a shopping mall in Puerto Rico

Current[link]

• Sears Department Store is a chain of department stores that are located in shopping malls; they carry clothing, jewelry, home appliances, hardware, lawn and garden supplies, lawn mowers, paint, sporting goods, automobile repair, office supplies, electronics and school supplies. Sears stores are usually multi-level. There are 926 full-size Sears stores^[16] in the United States. There are also 301 Sears locations in Canada and 66 in Mexico.^[17] The largest Sears Department Store is located at the Toronto Eaton Centre in Canada.
• Sears Hardware Stores are chains of small hardware stores usually located in small towns that are far away from a larger Sears department store. They carry Sears' complete line of Craftsman tools. Sears Hardware Stores also carry other items one would find in hardware stores (such as paint, electrical wiring, water heaters, and tractor-mowers), but under Sears branding. Many of these "Hardware" stores have been changed over to Sears Appliance & Hardware Stores, but there are still many of the original ones left, usually in smaller markets.
• Sears Grand is a chain of hypermarkets typically located away from shopping malls (with the exception of Gurnee Mills, Gurnee, Illinois). Many Sears Grand locations are retrofit remodels of existing Kmart supercenter stores. They carry everything a Sears department store carries, plus health and beauty products, a pharmacy, toys, baby care, cleaning supplies, home décor, pet food, cards and party supplies, books, magazines, music, Little Caesars Pizza Station, movies, and a selection of groceries which is limited mostly to dry goods. Sears Grand stores range from 165,000 to 210,000 square feet (15,300 to 19,500 m²).^{[18][broken citation]} The first Sears Grand opened at Jordan Landing in West Jordan, Utah in 2003. At 225,000 square feet (20,900 m²), the Jordan Landing store is currently the largest in the chain.
• Sears Essentials is a chain of discount stores that are common retrofit remodels of existing Kmart stores. Their product lines are similar to that of Sears Grand stores. Current locations include: Elmhurst, IL (reverting to a Kmart), East Ridge, TN (now closed from a recent flood), Bethlehem, PA, Lakeland, FL, West Palm Beach, FL, San Clemente, CA, Corona, CA, San Diego, CA, Tewksbury, MA (now a Kmart), and Peoria, AZ.
• Sears Appliance & Hardware is a chain of hardware stores that carry the whole line of Sears hardware and are usually free-standing. More than 110 Sears Appliance & Hardware stores averaging 40,000 square feet (3,700 m²) serve customers nationwide. Stores were expanded to include Sears' full line of appliances in 2005.
• Sears Optical is a chain of off-mall optical shops which carries all the same products and services as the optical department at regular Sears stores.
• Sears Hometown Stores(formerly known as Sears Authorized Dealer Stores) is part of the retail operation of Sears Holdings Corporation and is a small store version of Sears full-line department stores. Sears Hometown Stores, established in 1993, is a franchise formula and Sears Home Appliance Showroom, established in 2007, offers primarily appliances. The stores are located away from shopping malls and serve local communities across the United States and Puerto Rico.^[19]
• Sears Outlet is an outlet version of Sears department stores located in various retail locations across the United States. The stores carry new, one-of-a-kind, out of carton, discontinued, used, scratched and dented merchandise at 20–60% off regular retail price. While a wide variety of products are available, appliances make up a large majority of available merchandise. Sears Outlet stores were once known as Sears Surplus.
• Sears Parts & Repair Center, also known as Sears Service Center and Sears Home Central, is a chain of service centers that typically sell parts for lawn & garden equipment and appliances and also feature a carry-in point for customers to bring-in merchandise which needs to be repaired, either in or out of warranty. Sears has started closing many of these as more of its service and repair business is home-based.
• Lands' End, aside from supplying its clothing line to Sears stores, also has 16 stores operated by Sears Holdings that carry only Lands' End clothing. These stores are located in outlet malls and regular malls.
• Orchard Supply Hardware is a chain of free-standing hardware stores that carry home repair, hardware products and lawn and garden supplies. Orchard Supply Hardware stores are 40,000 square feet (3,700 m²). There are currently 88 stores, all of them in California. Sears now owns 80.1% of the chain, and revealed intentions in May 2005 to spin it off. Richard Karn of Home Improvement fame was a spokesman for the chain.
• A&E Factory Service is the newest name for Sears' longstanding on-site repair service, servicing larger items such as home appliances, electronics, and garden equipment. The A&E brand name was purchased from Montgomery Ward, which used it for their home service unit, and is a joint venture held by Whirlpool and Sears Holdings.^[20] A&E Factory Service is a network of mobile service vans with a long history of performing appliance repairs.^[21]

Former[link]

• National Tire and Battery & National Tire Warehouse (NTW) (NTB) is an American brand of auto service centers. It was formerly owned by Sears until it was spun off in 2003. Sears created the brand in 1997 by consolidating the Tire America (TA) and National Tire Warehouse (NTW) brands, adding the "B" to include its DieHard brand of batteries.^[22] Sears sold the brand, which consisted mostly of stores set apart from its name brand stores, in 2003 to TBC Corporation. A Sears spokesman said "Because of the separate branding and the lack of proximity to our retail operations, we weren't able to drive growth like a TBC could".^[23] The chain of 226 stores was reported to have brought in $425 million in revenue and $60 million in profit in 2002.^[23]
• Sears Brand Central was an electronics store. The appliances departments in Sears are now known and referred to internally as Brand Central, although they are not marketed to consumers as such, except for a few locations in Puerto Rico.
• Sears Catalog Sales Stores were located in small towns. These stores were very small, even smaller than Sears' current Hometown Dealer stores. At catalog stores, some items could be ordered from the floor, such as appliances; other items could be ordered from catalogs at the store. These stores were often placed in rural markets which were far from full-line Sears stores, allowing for customers to purchase Sears products more easily. These stores were closed in 1993 when Sears closed its catalog business.
• Sears Authorized Catalog Sales Merchant was an independent business person who provided many of the same services as the Sears Catalog Sales Store.
• Sears Appliance Stores were small stores that displayed and sold (at Retail Store prices) appliances, carpeting, etc. and, in addition, provided a catalog sales department through which catalog items could be ordered.
• Sears Rent-a-Car was a car rental chain formed in a joint venture with Budget. It was sold to Avis in 2002.
• Sears HomeLife was a chain of furniture stores owned by Sears. The concept was introduced at a mall in Fresno, California in 1989, followed by a stand-alone store in Madison, Wisconsin.^[24] Sears sold the stores to Citicorp Venture in 1999, who changed the chain's name to just "HomeLife". They opened many locations inside large Sears stores or near the store depending on space available. HomeLife closed its last stores in 2001.^[25] In Puerto Rico, a few HomeLife locations are still present.
• Sears Neighborhood was a chain similar to Sears Hometown stores, except that Neighborhood stores were located in urban markets. These stores were also independently owned and operated. The concept was introduced in Atlanta in 1998, and another similar store was located in Cincinnati.^[26][27] The Neighborhood stores closed in the early 2000s.
• The Great Indoors was a chain of free-standing home decor stores that carry high-end home appliances, bedding, and kitchen and bath fixtures. The Great Indoors also offers custom kitchen and bathroom design services. Sears Holdings announced the closing of all remaining stores in 2012.

Past and present store brands[link]

The exterior of the Sears Merchandise Building Tower.

• Allstate – Automobile parts and insurance^[28]
• Alphaline Entertainment – Video On Demand (partnered through Roxio)
• Celestial Star – Diamond Jewelry
• Challenge Records
• Cheryl Tiegs – Clothing^[29]
• Coldspot – Appliances, refrigerators^[30]
• Companion – Tools
• Conqueror Records
• Covington - Clothing
• Craftsman – Tools^[31]
• Craftsman Professional – Top of the line Sears tools
• Dashmate Automobile Radios & Tape players
• David Bradley – Farm Machinery^[32]
• Dean Witter Reynolds - financial service, brokerage
• DieHard – Batteries^[33]
• Discover – Credit card
• Dunlap – Economy line of tools
• Easy Living – Interior paint, primers, and painting accessories.
• Economy – iceboxes, fountain pens, sewing machine cabinets, gasoline engines, portable saw rigs, variety of farm equipment, cream separator^[34]
• Evolv – A do it yourself line of tools marketed with eco friendly green packaging^[35]
• Gold Bond – Mens & Boys footwear
• Goolagong - clothing
• Harmony House – Interior Decorating Products^[36]
• Hearthside – Rug looms & quilting frames
• Hercules – work clothing, appliances, insurance (Hercules Life Insurance Company, owned by Sears), sewage systems, letterman's jackets, fire extinguishers, heavy-duty coveralls, and home heating systems.^[37]
• Homart – Heating and Cooling systems, plumbing supplies, electrical supplies, kitchen cabinets, building supplies
• J. C. Higgins – Sporting Goods, camping^[38]
• Kenmore – Appliances^[39]
• Kromedge – Sawblades, Dadoes, Moldering Heads, Router Bits
• Penske – Automotive testing tools
• Permanex – Blow-molded Polyethylene Tool Storage Cases, gas cans
• Pilgrim – Clothing^[40]
• Roebucks – Clothing^[41]
• Sears Brand – Various items from all departments
• Sears Video Arcade - Sears's own version of Atari in the early 1980s; discontinued in favor of the actual Atari systems
• Silvertone – Stereos, Televisions, Musical Instruments^[42]
• Silvertone Records
• Supertone Records
• Ted Williams Brand – Sporting Goods
• Toughskins – Clothing^[43]
• Tower – Cameras, photo supplies, office equipment
• Weatherbeater – Exterior paint, primers, and accessories.

• 

  Sears logo used from 1966 until 1984.

• 

  Sears logo used from 1984 until 1994. Still used in the United States on some older storefronts.

• 

  Sears logo used from 1994 until sale to Kmart; updated from the 1984 logo. Still used in Mexico, from 1997; still used in the United States on many old storefronts.

• 

  Sears logo used from 2004 until 2010; still used in Canada and only used on receipts.

• Logo-sears essentials.jpg

  Sears Essentials (Kmart) logo.

• 

  The current Sears logo, used since 2010.

Employee relations[link]

Sears building in the Edificio La Nacional building in Mexico City, across from the Palacio de Bellas Artes.

Sears has struggled with employee relations. One notable example was the shift in 1992 from an hourly wage based on longevity to a base wage (usually anywhere from $3.50 to $6 per hour) and commissions ranging from 1% to 11%. This new base wage, often constituting a substantial (up to 40%) cut in pay, was done "to be successful in this highly competitive environment."^[44]

In early October 2007 Sears cut commission rates for employees in select departments to anywhere from 1% to 4% but equalized the base wage across all Home Improvement and Electronics departments. In 2011 commission rates on non base items were cut by 2% in the electronics department. This cut was furthered in late 2009 to a 1% commission rate on selected "base items" in the electronics departments of Stores. Appliances, vacuums, and mattresses are the only departments left where wages are based solely on commission sales. The jewelry department associates receive a low base salary with 1% commission on their sales. This model does not apply to all stores. Many stores now simply pay an hourly wage in the fine jewelry department, with no sales-based commission. In early 2008 Sears also converted Lands' End from commission to a straight hourly wage. Stores that feature a 'Lands' End Shop' are based on an hourly wage and a 3% commission on all catalog/internet sales placed from within their store. Associates receive an associate discount. 20% off on clothing, shoes, and jewelry. They also receive 10% off on everything else in the store, including Great Price items. Any associate orders done through the Lands' End Internal site receive 30% off with the associates paying a $6 fee for shipping and handling of any size order.

This section requires expansion.

The domain sears.com attracted at least 240 million visitors annually by 2011 according to a Compete.com survey. Sears saw profits drop 13% during the fourth quarter of 2010 but still has total assets of $26.05 billion as of the first quarter of 2011.^[45]

Properties[link]

Sears Tower[link]

Sears Tower

Sears made history in 1974 when it completed the 110-story Sears Tower in Chicago. The tower became the world's tallest building upon its completion, a title it took from the World Trade Center towers in New York. It remains the tallest building in the United States.

Seeking to spread its operations out in a business park, Sears left in 1993 and subsequently sold the tower, moving to Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Even though its naming rights to the building expired in 2003 it remained the Sears Tower through early 2009. In March 2009 London-based insurer Willis Group Holdings, Ltd., was given the building's naming rights to entice the occupancy of the building. The official renaming as the Willis Tower took place on Thursday, July 16, 2009, during a public ceremony hosted by Willis Group Holdings.^[46]

New headquarters[link]

Sears moved to the new Prairie Stone Business Park in Hoffman Estates, Illinois between 1993 and 1995. The office park has a focus on technology and sustainability, featuring an extensive landscaping plan that uses native prairie plants wherever possible, and a system of several express bus routes coordinated with Pace to encourage public transportation use with a future stop on the Metra STAR Line.^[47] Despite these services, the remote location of Prairie Stone means that it is much less well served by public transportation than the centrally located Sears Tower.

Sears Centre[link]

The Sears Centre is a 10,001-seat multi-purpose arena located in Hoffman Estates adjacent to the Prairie Stone campus.^[48]

See also[link]

	Chicago portal
	Illinois portal
	Companies portal

• Sears Canada
• Sears (Mexico)
• Sears plc, former U.K. company

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sears, Roebuck and Company

• Official website
• Sears2go, official mobile site
• The Official History of Sears, Roebuck and Co.
• Avenue Queue: One long wait inspired career shift MIT News February 6, 2008
• Information about Sears, Roebuck and Co.
• Official website of the original Sears Tower^{[dead link]}

Dan Brown
Born	(1964-06-22) June 22, 1964 (age 48) Exeter, New Hampshire, U.S.
Occupation	Novelist
Genres	Thriller, Mystery fiction
Influences Sidney Sheldon, Shakespeare, Robert Ludlum, Harlan Coben
Signature
www.danbrown.com

Dan Brown (born June 22, 1964) is an American author of thriller fiction, best known for the 2003 bestselling novel, The Da Vinci Code. Brown's novels, which are treasure hunts set in a 24-hour time period,^[1] feature the recurring themes of cryptography, keys, symbols, codes, and conspiracy theories. His books have been translated into over 40 languages, and as of 2009, sold over 80 million copies. Two of them, The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, have been adapted into feature films. The former opened amid great controversy and poor reviews,^[2] while the latter did only slightly better with critics.^[3]

Brown's novels that feature the lead character Robert Langdon also include historical themes and Christianity as recurring motifs, and as a result, have generated controversy. Brown states on his website that his books are not anti-Christian, though he is on a 'constant spiritual journey' himself, and says that his book The Da Vinci Code is simply "an entertaining story that promotes spiritual discussion and debate" and suggests that the book may be used "as a positive catalyst for introspection and exploration of our faith."

Early life and education[link]

Dan Brown was born and raised in Exeter, New Hampshire, USA, the eldest of three children. Brown grew up on the campus of Phillips Exeter Academy, where his father, Richard G. Brown, was a teacher of mathematics, and wrote textbooks from 1968 until his retirement in 1997.^[4][5] Both of Brown's parents are also singers and musicians, having served as church choir masters, with his mother also serving as church organist.^[6] Brown was raised an Episcopalian.^[4]

Brown's interest in secrets and puzzles stems from their presence in his household as a child, where codes and ciphers were the linchpin tying together the mathematics, music and languages in which his parents worked. The young Brown spent hours working out anagrams and crossword puzzles, and he and his siblings participated in elaborate treasure hunts devised by their father on birthdays and holidays. On Christmas, for example, Brown and his siblings did not find gifts under the tree, but followed a treasure map with codes and clues throughout their house and even around town to find the gifts.^[7] Brown's relationship with his father inspired that of Sophie Neveu and Jacques Sauniere in The Da Vinci Code, and Chapter 23 of that novel was inspired by one of his childhood treasure hunts.^[8]

After graduating from Phillips Exeter, Brown attended Amherst College, where he was a member of Psi Upsilon fraternity. He played squash, sang in the Amherst Glee Club, and was a writing student of visiting novelist Alan Lelchuk. Brown spent the 1985 school year abroad in Seville, Spain, where he was enrolled in an art history course at the University of Seville.^[7] Brown graduated from Amherst in 1986.^[9]

Songwriter and pop singer[link]

After graduating from Amherst, Brown dabbled with a musical career, creating effects with a synthesizer, and self-producing a children's cassette entitled SynthAnimals, which included a collection of tracks such as "Happy Frogs" and "Suzuki Elephants"; it sold a few hundred copies. He then formed his own record company called Dalliance, and in 1990 self-published a CD entitled Perspective, targeted to the adult market, which also sold a few hundred copies.

In 1991 he moved to Hollywood to pursue a career as singer-songwriter and pianist. To support himself, he taught classes at Beverly Hills Preparatory School.

He also joined the National Academy of Songwriters, and participated in many of its events. It was there that he met Blythe Newlon, a woman 12 years his senior, who was the Academy's Director of Artist Development. Though not officially part of her job, she took on the seemingly unusual task of helping to promote Brown's projects; she wrote press releases, set up promotional events, and put him in contact with individuals who could be helpful to his career. She and Brown also developed a personal relationship, though this was not known to all of their associates until 1993, when Brown moved back to New Hampshire, and it was learned that Blythe would accompany him. They married in 1997, at Pea Porridge Pond, a location near Conway, New Hampshire.^[10]

In 1993, Brown released the self-titled CD Dan Brown, which included songs such as "976-Love" and "If You Believe in Love."

In 1994, Brown released a CD titled Angels & Demons. Its artwork was the same ambigram by artist John Langdon, which he later used for the novel Angels & Demons. The liner notes also again credited his wife for her involvement, thanking her "for being my tireless cowriter, coproducer, second engineer, significant other, and therapist." The CD included songs such as "Here in These Fields" and the religious ballad "All I Believe."^[11]

Brown and Blythe moved to his home town in New Hampshire in 1993. Brown became an English teacher at his alma mater Phillips Exeter, and gave Spanish classes to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders at Lincoln Akerman School, a small school for K–8th grade with about 250 students, in Hampton Falls.^[12]

Writing career[link]

While on holiday in Tahiti in 1993,^[7] Brown read Sidney Sheldon's novel The Doomsday Conspiracy, and was inspired to become a writer of thrillers.^[7][13][14] He started work on Digital Fortress, setting much of it in Seville, Spain, where he had studied in 1985. He also co-wrote a humor book with his wife, 187 Men to Avoid: A Guide for the Romantically Frustrated Woman, under the pseudonym "Danielle Brown." The book's author profile reads, "Danielle Brown currently lives in New England: teaching school, writing books, and avoiding men." The copyright is attributed to Dan Brown.

In 1996, Brown quit teaching to become a full-time writer. Digital Fortress was published in 1998. His wife, Blythe, did much of the book's promotion, writing press releases, booking Brown on talk shows, and setting up press interviews. A few months later, Brown and his wife released The Bald Book, another humor book. It was officially credited to his wife, though a representative of the publisher said that it was primarily written by Brown. Brown subsequently wrote Angels & Demons and Deception Point, released in 2000 and 2001 respectively, the former of which was the first to feature the lead character, Harvard symbology expert Robert Langdon.

Brown's first three novels had little success, with fewer than 10,000 copies in each of their first printings. His fourth novel, The Da Vinci Code, became a bestseller, going to the top of the New York Times Best Seller list during its first week of release in 2003. It is now credited with being one of the most popular books of all time, with 81 million copies sold worldwide as of 2009.^[15][16] Its success has helped push sales of Brown's earlier books. In 2004, all four of his novels were on the New York Times list in the same week,^[17] and in 2005, he made Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people of the year. Forbes magazine placed Brown at #12 on their 2005 "Celebrity 100" list, and estimated his annual income at US$76.5 million. The Times estimated his income from Da Vinci Code sales as $250 million.

Brown's third novel featuring Robert Langdon, The Lost Symbol, was released on September 15, 2009.^[18] According to the publisher, on its first day the book sold over one million in hardcover and e-book versions in the U.S., the U.K. and Canada, prompting the printing of 600,000 hardcover copies in addition to the five million first printing.^[19] The story takes place in Washington D.C. over a period of 12 hours, and features the Freemasons. Brown's promotional website states that puzzles hidden in the book jacket of The Da Vinci Code, including two references to the Kryptos sculpture at CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia, give hints about the sequel. This repeats a theme from some of Brown's earlier work. For example, a puzzle at the end of the book Deception Point decrypts to the message, "The Da Vinci Code will surface."^{[not in citation given][10]}

Brown has stated that he has ideas for about 12 future books featuring Robert Langdon.^[20]

Characters in Brown's books are often named after real people in his life. Robert Langdon is named after John Langdon, the artist who created the ambigrams used for the Angels & Demons CD and novel. Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca is named after "On A Claire Day" cartoonist friend Carla Ventresca. In the Vatican Archives, Langdon recalls a wedding of two people named Dick and Connie, which are the names of his parents. Robert Langdon's editor Jonas Faukman, is named after Brown's real life editor Jason Kaufman. Brown also said that characters were based on a New Hampshire librarian, and a French teacher at Exeter, Andre Vernet. Cardinal Aldo Baggia, in Angels and Demons, is named after Aldo Baggia, instructor of modern languages at Phillips Exeter Academy.

In interviews, Brown has said that his wife is an art historian and painter. When they met, she was the Director of Artistic Development at the National Academy for Songwriters in Los Angeles. During the 2006 lawsuit over alleged copyright infringement in The Da Vinci Code, information was introduced at trial that showed that Blythe did research for the book.^[21] In one article, she was described as "chief researcher."^[22]

Influences and habits[link]

In addition to Sidney Sheldon, Dan Brown has been quite vocal about a number of other literary influences who have inspired his writing. He appreciates wit and humor, as shown when he talked about Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing: "I didn't understand how funny this play Much Ado About Nothing truly was until I became an English teacher and had to teach it. There is no wittier dialogue anywhere."^[23] He also lists personal friend, mystery writer Harlan Coben, and Robert Ludlum's Bourne series of books. On Ludlum, he states, "Ludlum's early books are complex, smart, and yet still move at a lightning pace. This series got me interested in the genre of big-concept, international thrillers."^[24] Recurring elements that Brown prefers to incorporate into his novels include a simple hero pulled out of their familiar setting and thrust into a new one with which they are unfamiliar, strong female characters, travel to interesting locations, and a 24-hour time frame in which the story takes place.^[1]

Because of the research-intensive nature of his novels, Brown can spend up to two years writing them. To remain focused on such projects, Brown ensures that when he chooses a theme for the novel (what he refers to as the "big idea"), and its subject, that they be those that can hold his interest. In Brown's view, the ideal topic does not have an easily defined right or wrong view, but presents a moral grey area that can lend itself to debate. Because his favorite subjects include codes, puzzles, treasure hunts, secretive organizations and academic lectures on obscure topics, he tends to incorporate those into his novels. Because Brown considers writing to be a discipline that requires constant practice, he has developed a routine to maintain his abilities. He rises at 4:00am when there are no distractions (a practice he began with Digital Fortress when he had two daytime teaching jobs) and when he feels most productive, in order to give symbolic importance to the first order of business each day. He keeps an antique hourglass on his desk, so that he can stop briefly every hour to do push-ups, sit-ups and stretching exercises to keep his blood flowing.^[25] Brown does his writing in his loft. He has also told fans that he uses inversion therapy to help with writer's block. He uses gravity boots and says, "hanging upside down seems to help me solve plot challenges by shifting my entire perspective."^[26]

Film adaptations[link]

In 2006, Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code was released as a film by Columbia Pictures, with director Ron Howard; the film starred Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon, Audrey Tautou as Sophie Neveu and Sir Ian McKellen as Sir Leigh Teabing. It was much anticipated and served to launch the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, though it received overall poor reviews. It currently has a 24% rating at the film review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, derived from 165 negative reviews of the 214 counted.^[27] It was later listed as one of the worst films of 2006 on Ebert & Roeper,^[28] but also the second highest grossing film of the year, pulling in $750 million USD worldwide.^[29] Brown was listed as one of the executive producers of the film The Da Vinci Code, and also created additional codes for the film. One of his songs, "Phiano," which Brown wrote and performed, was listed as part of the film's soundtrack. In the film, Brown and his wife can be seen in the background of one of the early book signing scenes.

The next film, Angels & Demons, was released on May 15, 2009, with Howard and Hanks returning. It, too, garnered mostly negative reviews, though critics were kinder to it than to its predecessor. As of September 2009^[update], it has a 36% meta-rating at Rotten Tomatoes.^[30]

A film adaptation of The Lost Symbol is confirmed to be in production for 2012 release.^[31][32]

Copyright infringement cases[link]

In August 2005, author Lewis Perdue unsuccessfully sued Brown for plagiarism, on the basis of claimed similarity between The Da Vinci Code and his novels, The Da Vinci Legacy (1983) and Daughter of God (2000). Judge George Daniels said, in part: "A reasonable average lay observer would not conclude that The Da Vinci Code is substantially similar to Daughter of God."^[33]

In April 2006, Brown won a copyright infringement case brought by authors Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, who claimed that Brown stole ideas from their 1982 book Holy Blood Holy Grail for his 2003 novel The Da Vinci Code. It was in the book Holy Blood Holy Grail that Baigent, Leigh, and co-author Henry Lincoln had advanced the theory that Jesus and Mary Magdalene married and had a child and that the bloodline continues to this day. Brown even alluded to the two authors' names in his book. Leigh Teabing, a lead character in both the novel and the film, uses Leigh's name as the first name, and anagrammatically derives his last name from Baigent's. Mr Justice Peter Smith found in Brown's favor in the case, and as a private amusement, embedded his own Smithy code in the written judgment.^[34]

On March 28, 2007, Brown's publisher, Random House, won an appeal copyright infringement case. The Court of Appeal of England and Wales rejected the efforts from Baigent and Leigh, who became liable for paying legal expenses of nearly US$6 million.^[35] A contributing factor for the outcome of the case is that these authors presented their work as non-fiction, whereas fiction writers often draw upon non-fiction resources for content research.

Philanthropy[link]

In October 2004, Brown and his siblings donated US$2.2 million to Phillips Exeter Academy in honor of their father, to set up the Richard G. Brown Technology Endowment to help "provide computers and high-tech equipment for students in need."^[36]

Criticism[link]

Brown's prose style has been criticized as clumsy.^[37] Much criticism also centers on Brown's claim found in the preface to The Da Vinci Code that the novel is based on fact in relation to Opus Dei and the Priory of Sion, and that "all descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents and secret rituals in [the] novel are accurate."^[38][39]

In an interview with Matt Lauer on The Today Show in September 2009, Brown responded by saying, "I do something very intentional and specific in these books. And that is to blend fact and fiction in a very modern and efficient style, to tell a story. There are some people who understand what I do, and they sort of get on the train and go for a ride and have a great time, and there are other people who should probably just read somebody else."^[40]

Works[link]

CDs[link]

• SynthAnimals, a children's album
• Perspective, 1990, Dalliance. Music CD
• Dan Brown, 1993, DBG Records
• Angels & Demons, 1994, DBG Records
• Musica Animalia, 2003, a children's CD comprising 15 tracks songs portraying animals in poem & song. Proceeds benefited for the Families First charity.^[41]

Humor writing[link]

• 187 Men to Avoid: A Survival Guide for the Romantically Frustrated Woman, 1995, Berkley Publishing Group (co-written with his wife under the pseudonym Danielle Brown). ISBN 0-425-14783-5, Scheduled for re-release in August 2006
• The Bald Book, 1998, co-written with his wife Blythe Brown. ISBN 0-7860-0519-X

Novels[link]

• Digital Fortress, 1998
• Angels & Demons, 2000
• Deception Point, 2001
• The Da Vinci Code, 2003
• The Lost Symbol, 2009

Films[link]

• The Da Vinci Code, 2006
• Angels & Demons, 2009
• The Lost Symbol, 2012

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Dan Brown

• Dan Brown Official Website
• Dan Brown Official UK Website
• Dan Brown Official Australian Website
• Dan Brown Official Spanish Website
• Dan Brown Unofficial Danish Website
• Dan Brown entry at nndb.com - Notable Name Database
• The Dan Brown Code - "In a court filing, the best-selling author of The Da Vinci Code reveals all the secrets of a pulp novelist."
• Summary of Judgement - April 7, 2006, Court's ruling on copyright infringement of "Holy Blood, Holy Grail"
• Dan Brown at the Internet Book List
• Works by or about Dan Brown in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• MP3 excerpts of Brown's CDs, at Rogak's website
• Review of Brown's work by Earl Doherty, a comparative study of Robert M. Price's The Da Vinci Fraud, Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code and Ki Longfellow's The Secret Magdalene.
• Works by Dan Brown on Open Library at the Internet Archive

Vanessa Hudgens
Vanessa Hudgens at the Sydney premiere of Journey 2: The Mysterious Island in 2012.
Background information
Birth name	Vanessa Anne Hudgens
Born	(1988-12-14) December 14, 1988 (age 23) Salinas, California, United States
Genres	Pop, dance[1]
Occupations	Actress, singer
Years active	2002–present
Labels	Hollywood
Website	VanessaHudgensOfficial.com

Vanessa Anne Hudgens^[2] (born December 14, 1988)^[3] is an American actress and singer.

Hudgens rose to prominence playing Gabriella Montez in the High School Musical series.^[4] Hudgens also has appeared in several television programs including Quintuplets, Still Standing, The Brothers García, Drake & Josh, and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. In 2009, she earned critical acclaim for her role in the film Bandslam.^[5]

In addition to acting, Hudgens released her debut album V on September 26, 2006 which entered the Billboard 200 at number twenty four, and was later certified Gold.^[6] Her second album, Identified, was released on July 1, 2008 in the United States.^[7]

Early life[link]

Hudgens was born in Salinas, California, and has lived with her parents throughout the West Coast from Oregon to Southern California. Her mother, Gina (née Guangco), held a succession of office jobs, and her father, Gregory Hudgens, was a firefighter.^[2][3] She has a younger sister, Stella Hudgens, who is also an actress.^[8] She was raised as a Roman Catholic.^[9] Hudgens is of mixed ethnic background, as her father is of Irish and Native American descent, and her mother, a native of Manila, Philippines, is of Chinese-Filipino-Spanish descent.^[3][10] All of her grandparents were musicians.^[11]

Starting at the age of eight, Hudgens performed in musical theater as a singer, and appeared in local productions of Carousel, The Wizard of Oz, The King and I, The Music Man, and Cinderella, among others.^[12] Two years after her career in stage plays and musicals, she started auditioning for commercials and television shows, and her family moved to Los Angeles after she won a role in a television commercial.^[11][13] Her acting career started at the age of 15, and she briefly attended Orange County High School of the Arts, followed by homeschooling with tutors.^[14][15]

Career[link]

2003–2009[link]

In 2003, Hudgens played a minor role in the independent drama film Thirteen, in which she played Noel, a friend of a lead character Tracy, (played by Evan Rachel Wood). The film was a commercial success, receiving generally positive reviews, with the USA Today calling it "powerful of all recent wayward-youth sagas".^[16] Hudgens subsequently landed a role in the 2004 science fiction-adventure film Thunderbirds as Tintin. However, the film was a commercial failure and received heavy criticism for "abandoning the original concepts".^[17]

A year later, Hudgens made guest appearances on television shows Quintuplets, Still Standing, The Brothers García, Drake & Josh, and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. In late 2005 she landed her breakout role of shy and meek Gabriella Montez in High School Musical, opposite to Zac Efron.^[18] Her performance received numerous nominations and awards.^[19] With the success of the film, the BBC predicted that Hudgens would be a "household name" in the US.^[20]

In 2007, Hudgens reprised her role as Gabriella Montez in the sequel of High School Musical, High School Musical 2.^[21] Virginia Heffernan of TV Review described Hudgens performance as "matte," as she "glows like a proper ingénue".^[22] The third film in the series, High School Musical 3: Senior Year was released in 2009. Her performance in the film prompted her win for "Favorite Movie Actress" in the 2009 Kids Choice Awards.^[23][24]

2009–present[link]

Hudgens at the Comic-Con Day in 2010

After High School Musical, Hudgens remarked that she will focus on acting and films while "taking a break" from her music career as a solo artist.^[25] She played a supporting role in a musical comedy Bandslam, which was released theatrically on August 14, 2009.^[26][27] Hudgens plays "Sa5m", a 15-year-old awkward freshman with untapped talents.^[28] Although Bandslam was commercially unsuccessful, Hudgens's performance received praise from critics.^[29] David Waddington of the North Wales Pioneer noted that Hudgens "outshines the rest of the cast, failing to fit in with the outcast narrative and making the inevitable climactic ending all the more expected,"^[30] and Philip French of The Guardian compared her acting to Thandie Newton and Dorothy Parker.^[31]

Hudgens performed a musical number with other artists during the 81st Academy Awards.^[32] Hudgens later provided voice roles in an episode of Robot Chicken. Hudgens' involvement in Beastly, a film based on Alex Flinn's novel of the same name, was announced in early 2009.^[33] She played one of the main characters in the film, Linda Taylor. Hudgens described her as, "...the "beauty" of the story but not the stereotypical beauty everyone thinks of."^[34] Along with Beastly co-star, Alex Pettyfer, Hudgens was recognized as ShoWest stars of Tomorrow.^[35] Her next role was in the action film, Sucker Punch, directed by Zack Snyder. She played Blondie, an institutionalized girl in an asylum. The film was released in March 2011.^[36]

Hudgens made a return to theater productions and starred in the musical Rent as Mimi. The stage production ran from August 6–8, 2010 at the Hollywood Bowl.^[37] Her involvement in the production drew negative comments, but director Neil Patrick Harris defended his decision with casting Hudgens by saying, "Vanessa [Hudgens] is awesome. She's a friend. I asked her to come in and sing to make sure she had the chops for it. And she was very committed and seemed great."^[38]

In October 2010, Hudgens joined the cast of Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, the sequel to the 2008 film Journey to the Center of the Earth, alongside Dwayne Johnson and Josh Hutcherson, playing Hutcherson's love interest.^[39] In April 2011, it was reported that she would star in Gimme Shelter with Brendan Fraser, a film written and directed by Ron Krauss.^[40] Hudgens will also play Cindy Paulson in The Frozen Ground, a film based on the Robert Hansen case wherein she plays as his only victim who escaped. She co-stars with John Cusack and Nicolas Cage.^[41] In November 2011, Hudgens announced on her official website that she will be starring with Selena Gomez and James Franco in Spring Breakers.^[42]

Music[link]

Hudgens and Drew Seeley in 2007

Hudgens received a recording contract with Hollywood Records.^[43] On September 2006 her debut album entitled V was released. It charted on the Billboard 200 at number twenty-four,^[6] and was certified Gold on February 27, 2007.^[44] Her first single, "Come Back to Me" became her highest-charting single. Her second single was "Say OK". Billboard readers chose "V" as the seventh best album of the year.^[45] Hudgens was named Female Breakout Singer of the year at the 2007 Teen Choice Awards.^[46]

Hudgens also participated in the nationwide High School Musical: The Concert tour in fall 2006, performing the songs from the soundtrack album as well as the three songs from her debut album.^[47] She sang the duet "Still There For Me" with Corbin Bleu for his debut album. In the following December, she sang to George W. Bush, who was then the president of the U.S., and his family, at The National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. with other singers at a Christmas event.^[48]

Her second album, Identified, which received generally favorable reviews,^[49] was released on July 1, 2008, debuting at #23 on the Billboard 200.^[50] The album's lead single was "Sneakernight", which was a moderate commercial success, peaking at #88 on the Billboard Hot 100^[51] and #94 on the Australian Singles Chart.^[52] Hudgens's Identified Summer Tour began on August 1, 2008 and ended on September 9 of the same year.^[53]

Other work[link]

Hudgens promotes Neutrogena^[54] and was the 2008 featured celebrity for Sears' back-to school campaign.^[55] In 2007, she became a spokesperson for Mark Ecko products but ended the contract after two years. ^[56][57] Hudgens regularly volunteers for charitable activities, including those for Best Buddies International,^[58][59] Lollipop Theater Network,^[60] St. Jude Children's Research Hospital^[61] and the VH1 Save The Music Foundation.^[62] Hudgens is also featured in A Very Special Christmas Vol.7 disc which benefits the Special Olympics.^[63] Hudgens is also part of the "Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C): Change The Odds" along with other Hollywood stars including Zac Efron, Dakota Fanning, Kristen Bell, and others.^[64]

Personal life[link]

Us Weekly said Hudgens and her High School Musical series co-star Zac Efron "met in 2005 while making the first High School Musical flick, and became a romantic item about two years later."^[65] The two were paired together during the audition process and got the part because of their chemistry.^[66] The two ended their relationship in December 2010.^[65] Hudgens briefly dated her Journey 2 co-star, Josh Hutcherson but the two are now good friends.^[67] Hudgens has been dating fellow actor, Austin Butler since the fall of 2011.^[67][68]

Hudgens at the My Habit launch at Skylight West Studios in May 2011

Hudgens was represented by William Morris Agency^[69] but signed on to Creative Artists Agency in 2011.^[70]

In 2006, Hudgens's earnings were estimated to be $2 million.^[71] Hudgens was included in Forbes richest list in early 2007, and the Forbes article noted that she was included in Young Hollywood's Top Earning-Stars.^[72] On December 12, 2008, Hudgens was ranked #20 in the list of Forbes "High Earners Under 30", having reported to have an estimated earnings of $3 million in 2008.^[73][74] She was number 62 at FHM's Sexiest Women in the World of 2008 and number 42 in the 2009 list.^[75][76] Hudgens is also featured in Maxim's lists.^[77] She was included in People's annual "100 Most Beautiful People" 2008 and 2009 lists.^[78][79]

On September 6, 2007, photos of Hudgens appeared online, one showing her posing in lingerie and another showing her nude. A statement from her publicist claims that the photo was taken privately and it was unfortunate that they were released on the Internet. Hudgens later apologized, saying that she was "embarrassed over the situation" and regretted having "taken [those] photos."^[80] Hudgens subsequently released a statement indicating that she declined to comment further on the scandal.^[81] OK! magazine speculated that Hudgens would be dropped from High School Musical 3 as a result of the images,^[82] but The Walt Disney Company denied this, saying, "Vanessa has apologized for what was obviously a lapse in judgment. We hope she's learned a valuable lesson."^[83][84][85]

In August 2009, another set of pictures showing Hudgens topless emerged on the Internet. Hudgens's representatives did not comment, though her lawyers requested the removal of the pictures from the Internet.^[86][87] In late 2009, Hudgens sued "www.moejackson.com" for posting nude 'self-portrait photographs'^{[clarification needed]} of her taken on a mobile phone in a private home.^[88] Hudgens later commented on the photos' impact on her career in the October issue of Allure with, "Whenever anybody asks me, would I do nudity in a film, if I say that it's something I'm not comfortable with, they're like, 'Bullshit, you've already done it.' If anything, it makes it more embarrassing, because that was a private thing. It's screwed up that someone screwed me over like that. At least some people are learning from my mistake."^[89] According to Us Weekly, further pictures were released on the Internet March 15, 2011^[90] as well as a nude video.

Brian Schall sued Hudgens in 2007 for an alleged "breach of contract"; according to the suit, Schall claims he advanced costs and expenses on Hudgens's behalf for her songwriting and recording career.^[91] Schall claims Hudgens owed him $150,000 after helping her earn more than $5 million for her music career. Hudgens argued that she was a 16-year-old minor when she signed the contract in October 2005, and therefore too young to do so. She subsequently disaffirmed it on October 9, 2008. Papers filed in court by her lawyer say California's Family Code "provides that the contract of a minor is voidable and may be disaffirmed before (age 18) or within a reasonable time afterward."^[92] In 2008, Hudgens was sued by Johnny Vieira, who claims he was owed a share of Hudgens' advances, royalties and merchandising revenue in exchange for his management services. Vieira accuses Hudgens of abandoning her talent team as soon as she became a commercial name in the High School Musical era.^[93] In early May 2009, the case was settled.^[94]

Filmography[link]

Hudgens at the 38th People's Choice Awards in 2012