Coordinates	28°28′00″N49°00′25″N
Name	Hanover
German name	Hannover
Art	City
Image photo	Hannover Skyline.jpg
Imagesize
Wappen	Coat_of_arms_of_Hannover.svg
Lat deg	52 | lat_min = 22 | lat_sec =
Lon deg	9 | lon_min = 43 | lon_sec =
Lageplan	Hannover in H.svg
Bundesland	Lower Saxony
Landkreis	Hanover
Höhe	55
Fläche	204.01
Area metro
Einwohner	522944
Stand	2007-11-01
Pop ref
Pop metro	1128543
Plz	30001 - 30669
Vorwahl	0511
Kfz	H
Gemeindeschlüssel	03 2 41 001
Nuts
Locode	DE HAJ
Gliederung	13 districts
Website	www.hannover.de|
Bürgermeister	Stephan Weil
Bürgermeistertitel	Oberbürgermeister
Partei	SPD
Ruling party1	SPD
Ruling party2	Greens

Hanover or Hannover{{#tag:ref|Hanover is the traditional English spelling. The German spelling (with a double n) is becoming more popular in English; recent editions of encyclopedias prefer the German spelling and local government uses the German spelling on English websites. The English pronunciation is applied to both the German and English spellings. The traditional English spelling should always be used in historical contexts, especially when referring to the British House of Hanover. |group="nb"}} (, ), on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg (later to described as the Elector of Hanover). At the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the Electorate was enlarged to become the capital of the Kingdom of Hanover.

In addition to being the capital of Lower Saxony, Hanover was the capital of the administrative area Regierungsbezirk Hannover (Hanover region) until Lower Saxony's administrative regions were disbanded at the beginning of 2005. Since 2001 it is part of the Hanover district (Region Hannover), which is a municipal body made up from the former district (Landkreis Hannover) and city of Hanover (note: although both Region and Landkreis are translated as district they are not the same).

With a population of 522,944 (1 February 2007) the city is a major center of northern Germany, known for hosting annual commercial expositions such as the Hanover Fair and the CeBIT. Every year Hanover hosts the Schützenfest Hannover, the world's largest Marksmen's Fun Fair, and the Oktoberfest Hannover, which is the second largest Oktoberfest in the world. In 2000, Hanover hosted the world fair Expo 2000. The Hanover fairground, due to numerous extensions, especially for the Expo 2000, is the largest in the world. Hanover also has regional importance because of its universities and medical school, its international airport, and its large zoo. The city is also a major crossing point of railway lines and highways (Autobahnen), connecting European main lines in east-west-direction (Berlin - Ruhr area) and north-south-direction (Hamburg - Munich et al.).

History

Hanover was founded in medieval times on the south bank of the river Leine. Its original name Honovere may be translated as "high bank", though this is debated. Hanover was a small village of ferrymen and fishermen that became a comparatively large town in the 13th century due to its position at a natural crossroads. As overland travel was relatively difficult, its position on the upper navigable reaches of the river helped it to grow by increasing trade. It was connected to the Hanseatic League city of Bremen by the Leine, and was also situated near the southern edge of the wide North German Plain and north-west of the Harz mountains, so that east-west traffic such as mule trains passed through it. Hanover thus acted as a gateway to the Rhine, Ruhr and Saar River valleys and their industrial areas to the southwest, the plains regions to its east and north, as was used by overland traffic skirting the Harz between the Low Countries and Saxony or Thuringia.

In the 14th century the main churches of Hanover were built, as well as a city wall with three city gates. The beginning of industrialization in Germany led to trade in iron and silver from the northern Harz mountains, which increased the city's importance.

In 1636 George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, ruler of the Brunswick-Lüneburg principality of Calenberg, moved his residence to Hanover. The Dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg were elevated by the Holy Roman Emperor to the rank of Prince-elector in 1692, and this elevation was confirmed by the Diet in 1708. Thus the principality was upgraded to the Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg, which was colloquially called the Electorate of Hanover after Calenberg's capital (see also: House of Hanover). Its electors would later become in personal union monarchs of Great Britain (after 1801, monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland). The first of these was George I Louis, who acceded to the British throne in 1714. The last British monarch who ruled in Hanover was William IV: Salic law, which required succession by the male line, forbade the accession of Queen Victoria in Hanover. As a male-line descendant of George I, Queen Victoria was herself a member of the House of Hanover. Her descendants, however, bore her husband's titular name of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Three kings of Great Britain, or the United Kingdom, were at the same time Electoral Princes of Hanover.

During the time of the personal union of the crowns of the United Kingdom and Hanover (1714–1837), the monarchs rarely visited the city. In fact, during the reigns of the final three joint rulers (1760–1837), there was only one short visit, by George IV in 1821. From 1816 to 1837 Viceroy Adolphus represented the monarch in Hanover.

During the Seven Years' War the Battle of Hastenbeck was fought on July 26, 1757, near the city. The French army defeated the Hanoverian Army of Observation, leading to the city's occupation as part of the Invasion of Hanover. It was recaptured by Anglo-German forces led by Ferdinand of Brunswick the following year.

19th century

After Napoleon imposed the Convention of Artlenburg (Convention of the Elbe) on July 5, 1803, about 30,000 French soldiers occupied Hanover. The Convention also meant the disbanding of the army of Hanover. George III did not recognize the Convention of the Elbe. As a result of this, a great number of soldiers from Hanover eventually emigrated to Great Britain, leading to the formation of the King's German Legion, which was the only German army to fight throughout the entire Napoleonic wars against the French. They later played an important role in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. The Congress of Vienna in 1815 elevated the electorate to the Kingdom of Hanover. The capital town Hanover expanded to the western bank of the Leine and has grown considerably since then.

In 1837, the personal union of the United Kingdom and Hanover ended as William IV's heir in the United Kingdom was female (Queen Victoria). According to Salic Law Hanover could only be inherited by males. As a consequence, Hanover passed to William IV's brother, Ernest Augustus, and remained a kingdom until 1866, when it was annexed by Prussia during the Austro-Prussian war. Despite having defeated Prussia at the Battle of Langensalza, the city of Hanover became a Prussian provincial capital. After the annexation, the people of Hanover opposed the Prussian regime.

However, for Hanoverian industry, the new connection with Prussia meant an improvement in business. The introduction of free trade promoted economic growth, and also led to the recovery of the Gründerzeit (founders' era). In the period from 1871 to 1912 the population of Hanover grew from 87,600 to 313,400.

In 1872 the first horse railway was inaugurated, and from 1893 an electric tram was developed.

In 1887 Emile Berliner invented the record and the gramophone.

The upswing in Hanover started with the era of urban Director Heinrich Tramm. From 1891–1918 he was director of the city of Hanover, and fundamentally shaped the look of the city up to the turn of the century (The "Tramm Era"). The New Town Hall, the Trammplatz, is named after him.

In 1883 from the city of Hanover, the Hanover district government was created and became active.

The city was enlarged first in 1869, and again in 1882 by adding Königsworther Platz and the Welfengarten. In 1891 the municipalities of Herrenhausen, Hainholz, Vahrenwald were added. In 1907 the municipalities of Stöcken, Gutsbezirk Mecklenheide, Bothfeld, Klein-Buchholz, Groß-Buchholz, Kirchrode, Döhren and Wülfel were incorporated into Hanover.

Nazi Germany

From 1937 the Lord Mayor and the state commissioners of Hanover were members of the NSDAP (Nazi party). As everywhere else in Germany, there was a Jewish population in Hanover. In October 1938, 484 Hanoverian Jews of Polish origin were expelled to Poland, including the Grynszpan family. However, Poland refused to admit them. The Grynszpans and thousands of other Polish-Jewish deportees were left stranded at the border, fed only intermittently by the Polish Red Cross and Jewish welfare organizations. Their son Herschel Grynszpan was in Paris at the time. When he heard about the expulsion of his family to Poland, he drove to the German embassy and killed the German diplomat Eduard Ernst vom Rath.

The Nazis took this act as a pretext to stage a nationwide pogrom known as Kristallnacht. It was in Hanover on November 9, 1938 that the synagogue, designed in 1870 by Edwin Oppler in neo-romantic style, was burnt by the Nazis.

In September 1941, through the "Action Lauterbacher" plan, a ghettoisation of the remaining Hanoverian Jewish families began. Even before the Wannsee Conference, on December 15, 1941, the first Jews from Hanover were deported to Riga. A total of 2,400 people were deported, and very few survived. Of the approximately 4,800 Jews who had lived in Hannover 1938, less than 100 were still in the city when troops of the United States Army arrived on April 10, 1945 to occupy Hanover at the end of the war. Today, a memorial at the Opera Square is a reminder of the persecution of the Jews in Hanover.

After the war a large group of Orthodox Jewish Survivors of the nearby Bergen-Belsen concentration camp settled in Hannover. The Orthodox Jewish community was led by Rabbi Chaim Pinchos Lubinsky. Rabbi Lubinsky was assisted in this capacity by Rabbi Shlomo Zev Zweigenhaft. Following the departure of Rabbi Lubinsky in 1949, Rabbi Zweigenhaft assumed the position of Chief Rabbi of Hannover. Shortly thereafter Rabbi Zweigenhaft was appointed Chief Rabbi of the entire Lower Saxony a position he held until his departure in 1951. The Orthodox Jewish community made every attempt to convince Rabbi Zweigenhaft to remain, even offering to fund his weekly commute from Switzerland. Unfortunately, their proposal was turned down by Rabbi Zweigenhaft. As a result the leaderless Orthodox Jewish community quickly began to disperse and shortly thereafter ceased to exist entirely. Both Rabbis Lubinsky and Zweigenhaft settled in the United States.

World War II

Hanover was an important road junction, railhead and production center that was a target area of the Strategic bombing during World War II, including the Oil Campaign. Targets included the AFA (Stöcken), the Deurag-Nerag refinery (Misburg), the Continental plant (Vahrenwald), the United light metal works (VLW) in Ricklingen and Laatzen, and in Linden, the Hanover/Limmer rubber reclamation plant, the Hanomag factory, and NMH. Forced laborers were used from the Hannover-Misburg subcamp of the Neuengamme concentration camp. The residential areas were also targeted and more than 6,000 people were killed in the Allied bombing raids. More than 90% of the city center was destroyed in 88 bombing raids. After the war, the Aegidienkirche was not rebuilt and its ruins were kept as a war memorial.

Hanover was in the British zone of occupation of Germany after the war, and became part of the new state (Land) of Lower Saxony in 1946.

Today the City of Hanover is a Vice-President City of Mayors for Peace, an international Mayoral organization mobilizing cities and citizens worldwide to abolish and eliminate nuclear weapons by the year 2020.

Geography

Climate

Hanover experiences an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb).

Subdivisions

Districts

#Mitte #Vahrenwald-List #Bothfeld-Vahrenheide #Buchholz-Kleefeld #Misburg-Anderten #Kirchrode-Bemerode-Wülferode #Südstadt-Bult #Döhren-Wülfel #Ricklingen #Linden-Limmer #Ahlem-Badenstedt-Davenstedt #Herrenhausen-Stöcken #Nord

Quarters

Nordstadt

Südstadt

Oststadt

Zoo (for the zoo itself, see Hanover Zoo)

Herrenhausen

Main sights

("state opera") is housed in its classical 19th century opera house.]] River At Hanover City]]

One of the most famous sights is the Royal Gardens of Herrenhausen:

The Great Garden is an important European baroque garden. The palace itself, however, was largely destroyed by Allied bombing. Some points of interest are the Grotto (the interior was designed by the French artist Niki de Saint-Phalle), the Gallery Building, the Orangerie and the two pavilions by Remy de la Fosse. The Great Garden consists of several parts. The most popular ones are the Great Ground and the Nouveau Jardin. At the centre of the Nouveau Jardin is Europe's highest garden fountain. The historic Garden Theatre inter alia hosted the musicals of the German rock musician Heinz Rudolf Kunze.

The Berggarten is an important European botanical garden. Some points of interest are the Tropical House, the Cactus House, the Canary House and the Orchid House, which hosts one of the world's biggest collection of orchids, and free-flying birds and butterflies. Near the entrance to the Berggarten is the historic Library Pavillon. The Mausoleum of the Guelphs is also located in the Berggarten. Like the Great Garden, the Berggarten also consists of several parts, for example the Paradies and the Prairie Garden. There is also the Sea Life Centre Hanover, which is the first tropical aquarium in Germany.

The Georgengarten is an English landscape garden. The Leibniz Temple and the Georgen Palace are two points of interest there.

Other gardens are the Guelph Garden with the Guelph Palace and the Prince Garden. Nearby are the Water Art, the Hardenbergsche House and the Prince House.

The landmark of Hanover is the New Town Hall (Neues Rathaus). Inside the building are four scale models of the town and the only working diagonal elevator in Germany, which goes up the large dome.

The Hanover Zoo is one of the most spectacular and best zoos in Europe. The zoo received the Park Scout Award for the third year running in 2008, placing it among the best zoos in Germany. The zoo consists of several theme areas: Sambesi, Meyers Farm, Gorilla-Mountain, Jungle-Palace, and Mullewapp. Some smaller areas are Australia, the wooded area for wolves, and the so-called swimming area with many seabirds. There is also a tropical house, a jungle house, and a show arena. The new Alaska-themed area, Yukon Bay, is still under construction.

Another point of interest is the Old Town. At the centre are the huge Market Church and the Old Town Hall. Nearby are the Leibniz House, the Nolte House, and the Beguine Tower. A very nice quarter of the Old Town is the Kreuz-Church-Quarter around the Kreuz Church with many nice little lanes. Nearby is the old theatre, called Ballhofeins. On the edge of the Old Town are the Market Hall, the Leine Palace, and the ruin of the Aegidien Church which is now a monument to the victims of war and violence. Through the Marstall Gate you arrive at the bank of the river Leine, where the world-famous Nanas of Niki de Saint-Phalle are located. They are part of the Mile of Sculpture which leads from the Königsworter Square up to the entrance of the Georgengarten. Near the Old Town is the district Calenberger Neustadt where the Catholic Church of St. Clemens, the Reformed Church, and the Protestant Neustädter Church are located.

Some other popular sights are the Waterloo Column, the Laves House, the Wangenheim Palace, the Lower Saxony State Archives, the Hanover Playhouse, the Kröpcke Clock, the Anzeiger Tower Block, the Administration Building of the NORD/LB, the Cupola Hall of the Congress Centre, the Lower Saxony Stock, the Ministry of Finance, the Garten Church, the Luther Church, the Gehry Tower (designed by the American architect Frank O. Gehry), the specially designed Bus Stops, the Opera House, the Central Station, the Maschsee lake and the city forest Eilenriede, which is one of the largest of its kind in Europe. With its around 40 parks, forests and gardens, a couple of lakes, two rivers and one canal, Hanover offers a large variety of leisure activities.

Since 2007 the historic Leibniz Letters, which can be viewed in the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Library, are an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Outside the city centre is the EXPO-Park, the former site of EXPO 2000. Some points of interest are the Planet M., the former German Pavillon, the Yempa Event-Palace, the Expowale, the EXPO-Plaza and the EXPO-Gardens (Parc Agricole, EXPO-Park South and the Gardens of change). The fairground can be reached by the Exponale, one of the largest pedestrian bridges in Europe. The Hanover fairground is the largest in the world. Two important sights on the fairground are the Hermes Tower (88.8 metres high) and the EXPO Roof, the largest wooden roof in the world.

In the district of Anderten is the European Cheese Centre, the only Cheese Experience Centre in Europe. Another tourist sight in Anderten is the Hindenburg Lock, which was the biggest lock in Europe at the time of construction in 1928. The Animalgarden in the district of Kirchrode is a huge forest and shows the local animals.

In the district of Groß-Buchholz is the Telemax, the tallest building in Lower Saxony and one of the highest television towers in Northern Germany. Some other remarkable towers are the VW-Tower and the old towers of the former mid-age defence belt: Döhrener Tower, Lister Tower and the Horse Tower.

The 36 most important sights of the city centre are connected with a long red line, which is painted on the pavement. This so-called Red Thread marks out a walk that starts at the Tourist Information Office and ends on the Ernst-August-Square in front of the central station. There is also a guided sightseeing-bus tour through the city.

Society and culture

Museums and galleries

The Historic Museum describes the history of Hanover, from the medieval settlement "honovere" to the world-famous Exhibition City of today. The museum focuses on the period from 1714 to 1834 when Hanover had a strong relationship with the British royal house.

With more than 4,000 members, the Kestnergesellschaft is the largest art society in Germany. The museum hosts exhibitions from classical modernist art to contemporary art. One big focus is put on film, video, contemporary music and architecture, room installments and big presentations of contemporary paintings, sculptures and video art.

The Kestner Museum is located in the House of 5.000 windows. The museum is named after August Kestner and exhibits 6,000 years of applied art in four areas: Ancient cultures, ancient Egypt, applied art and a valuable collection of historic coins.

The KUBUS is a forum for contemporary art. It features mostly exhibitions and projects of famous and important artists from Hanover.

The Kunstverein Hannover (Art Society Hanover) shows contemporary art and was established in 1832 as one of the first art societies in Germany. It is located in the Künstlerhaus (House of artists). There are around 7 international monografic and thematic Exhibitions in one year.

The Lower Saxony State Museum is the largest museum in Hanover. The State Gallery shows the European Art from the 11th to the 20th century, the Nature Department shows the zoology, geology, botanic, geology and a Vivarium with fishes, insects, reptiles and amphibians. The Primeval Department shows the primeval history of Lower Saxony and the Folklore Department shows the cultures from all over the world.

The Sprengel Museum shows the art of the 20th century. It is one of the most notable art museums in Germany. The focus is put on the classical modernist art with the collection of Kurt Schwitters, works of the German expressionism, and the French cubism, the cabinet of abstracts, the graphics and the department of photography and media. Furthermore the museum shows the famous works of the French artist Niki de Saint-Phalle.

The Theatre Museum shows an exhibition of the history of the theatre in Hanover from the 17th century up to now: opera, concert, drama and ballet. The museum also hosts several touring exhibitions during the year.

The Wilhelm Busch Museum is the German museum for caricature and critical graphics. The collection of the works of Wilhelm Busch and the extensive collection of caricatures and critical graphics is this museum unique in Germany. Furthermore the museum hosts several exhibitions of national and international artists during the year.

A cabinet of coins is the Münzkabinett der TUI-AG. The Polizeigeschichtliche Sammlung Niedersachsen is the largest police museum in Germany. Textiles from all over the world can be visited in the Museum for textile art. The EXPOseeum is the museum of the world-exhibition "EXPO 2000 Hannover". Carpets and things from the orient can be visited in the Oriental Carpet Museum. The Blind Man Museum is a rarity in Germany, another one is only in Berlin. The Museum of veterinary medicine is unique in Germany. The Museum for Energy History describes the 150 years old history of the application of energy. The Home Museum Ahlem shows the history of the district of Ahlem. The Mahn- und Gedenkstätte Ahlem describes the history of the Jewish people in Hanover and the Stiftung Ahlers Pro Arte / Kestner Pro Arte shows modern art. Modern art is also the maintopic of the Kunsthalle Faust, the Nord/LB Art Gellery and of the Foro Artistico / Eisfabrik.

Some leading art events in Hanover are the Long Night of the museums and the Zinnober Kunstvolkslauf which features all the galleries in Hanover.

People who are interested in space should visit the Observatory Geschwister Herrschel on the Lindener Mountain or the small planetarium inside of the Bismarck School.

Theatre, cabaret and musical

Around 40 theatres are located in Hanover. The Opera House, the Schauspielhaus (Play House), the Ballhofeins, the Ballhofzwei and the Cumbarlandsche Galerie belong to the Lower Saxony State Theatre. The Theater am Aegi is Hanovers big theatre for musicals, shows and guest performances. The Neues Theater (New Theatre) is the Boulevard Theatre of Hanover. The Theater für Niedersachsen is another big theatre in Hanover, which also has an own Musical-Company. Some of the most important Musical-Productions are the rock musicals of the German rock musician Heinz Rudolph Kunze, which take place at the Garden-Theatre in the Great Garden.

Some important theatre-events are the Tanztheater International, the Long Night of the Theatres, the Festival Theaterformen and the International Competition for Choreographs.

Hanovers leading cabaret-stage is the GOP Variety theatre which is located in the Georgs Palace. Some other famous cabaret-stages are the Variety Marlene, the Uhu-Theatre. the theatre Die Hinterbühne, the Rampenlich Variety and the revue-stage TAK. The most important Cabaret-Event is the Kleines Fest im Großen Garten (Little Festival in the Great Garden) which is the most successful Cabaret Festival in Germany. It features artists from around the world. Some other important events are the Calenberger Cabaret Weeks, the Hanover Cabaret Festival and the Wintervariety.

Music

The rock bands Scorpions and Fury in the Slaughterhouse are originally from Hanover. Also, acclaimed DJ Mousse T has his main recording studio in the area.

There are/were two big international competitions for classical music in Hanover:

Hanover International Violin Competition (since 1991)

Classica Nova International Music Competition (1997) (Non profit association Classica Nova exists in Hanover with the aim to continue the Classica Nova competition).

Sport

Hannover 96 (nickname Die Roten or 'The Reds') is the local football team that plays in the Bundesliga top division. Home games are played at the AWD-Arena, which hosted matches in the 1974 and 2006 World Cups and the Euro 1988. Their reserve team Hannover 96 II plays in the fourth league and the home games are played in the traditional Eilenriedestadium. Arminia Hannover is another very traditional soccer team in Hanover that has played in the first league for years and plays now in the Niedersachsen-West Liga (Lower Saxony League West). Home matches are played in the Rudolf-Kalweit-Stadium.

Hanover is one of Germany's centres for ice hockey. The Hannover Scorpions play in the top division and their home games are played in the TUI Arena. The Hannover Indians are the second ice hockey team in Hanover. Even though the Hanover Indians are in the second league usually more people come to matches at the "PferdeTurm" than to matches of the "Hannover Scorpions". This is because the Indians are originally from Hanover whereas the Scorpions moved to Hanover to access the larger market.

Hanover is also one of the Rugby union capitals in Germany. The first German Rugby team was founded in Hanover in 1878. Hanover is one of the leading towns in the German Rugby scene. DRC Hannover plays in the first division, and SV Odin von 1905 as well as SG 78/08 Hannover play in the second division.

The first German Fencing Club was founded in Hanover in 1862. Today there are three more Fencing Clubs in Hanover.

Hanover is a centre for Water sports. Thanks to the lake Maschsee, the rivers Ihme and Leine and to the channel Mittellandkanal Hanover hosts sailing schools, yacht schools, waterski clubs, rowing clubs, canoe clubs and paddle clubs. The water polo team WASPO W98 plays in the first division.

The Hannover Regents play in the third Bundesliga (baseball) division.

The Hannover Marathon is the biggest running event in Hanover with more than 11.000 participants and usually around 200.000 spectators. Some other important running events are the Gilde Stadtstaffel (relay), the Sport-Check Nachtlauf (night-running), the Herrenhäuser Team-Challenge, the Hannoversche Firmenlauf (company running) and the Silvesterlauf (sylvester running).

Hanover hosts also an important international cycle race: The Nacht von Hannover (night of Hanover). The race takes place around the Market Hall.

The lake Maschsee hosts the International Dragon Boat Races and the Canoe　Polo-Tournament. Many regattas take place during the year. Head of the river Leine on the river Leine is one of the biggest rowing regattas in Hanover.

Some other important sport events are the Lower Saxony Beach Volleyball Tournament, the international horse show German Classics and the international ice hockey tournament Nations Cup.

Regular events

2008 conference centre in Hanover]]Hanover is one of the leading Exhibition Cities in the world. Each year Hanover hosts more than 60 international and national exhibitions. The most popular ones are the CeBIT, the Hanover Fair, the Domotex, the Ligna, the IAA Nutzfahrzeuge and the Agritechnica. Hanover also hosts a huge number of congresses.

But Hanover is not only one of the most important Exhibition Cities in the world, Hanover is also one of the German capitals for the marksmen. The Schützenfest Hannover is the largest Marksmen's Fun Fair in the world and takes place once a year. It consists of more than 260 rides and inns, five large beer tents and a big entertainment program. The highlight of this fun fair is the long Parade of the Marksmen with more than 12.000 participants from all over the world, among them around 5.000 marksmen, 128 bands and more than 70 wagons, carriages and big festival vehicles. It is the longest procession in Europe. Around 2 million people visit this fun fair every year. The landmark of this Fun Fair is the biggest transportable Ferris Wheel in the world ( high). The origins of this fun fair is located in the year 1529.

Hanover also hosts one of the two largest Spring Festivals in Europe with around 180 rides and inns, 2 large beer tents and around 1.5 million visitors each year. The Oktoberfest Hannover is the second largest Oktoberfest in the world with around 160 rides and inns, two large beer tents and around 1 million visitors each year.

The Maschsee Festival takes place around the Maschsee Lake. Each year around 2 million visitors want to enjoy live music, comedy, cabaret and much more. It is the largest Volksfest of its kind in Northern Germany.

The Great Garden hosts every year the International Fireworks Competition, and the International Festival Weeks Herrenhausen with lots of music and cabaret.

The Carnival Procession is around long and consists of 3.000 participants, around 30 festival vehicles and around 20 bands and takes place every year.

Some more festivals are for example the Festival Feuer und Flamme (Fire and Flames), the Gartenfestival (Garden Festival), the Herbstfestival (Autumn Festival), the Harley Days, the Steintor Festival (Steintor is a party area in the city centre) and the Lister-Meile-Festival (Lister Meile is a large pedestrian area).

Hanover also hosts Food Festivals, for example the Wine Festival and the Gourmet Festival.

Furthermore Hanover hosts some special markets. The Old Town Flea Market is the oldest flea market in Germany and the Market for Art and Trade has a high reputation. Some other big market is of course the Christmas Market Hanover in the Old Town.

Transport

G natural gas bus designed by James Irvine]] tram designed by Herbert Lindinger and Jasper Morrison]]

Rail

The city's central station, Hannover Hauptbahnhof, is a hub of the German high-speed ICE network. It is the starting point of the Hanover-Würzburg high-speed rail line and also the central hub for the Hanover S-Bahn. It offers many international and national connections.

Air

Hanover and its area is served by Hanover/Langenhagen International Airport (IATA code: HAJ; ICAO code: EDDV)

Road

Hanover is also an important hub of Germany's Autobahn network; the junction of two major autobahns, the A2 and A7 is at Kreuz Hannover-Ost, at the northeastern edge of the city. Local autobahns are A 352 (a short cut between A7 (north) and A2 (west), also known as the airport autobahn because it passes Hanover Airport) and the A 37. The Schnellweg (en: expressway) system, a number of Bundesstraße roads, forms a structure loosely resembling a large ring road together with A2 and A7. The roads are B 3 , B 6 and B 65, called Westschnellweg (B6 on the northern part, B3 on the southern part), Messeschnellweg (B3, becomes A37 near Burgdorf, crosses A2, becomes B3 again, changes to B6 at Seelhorster Kreuz, then passes the Hanover fairground as B6 and becomes A37 again before merging into A7) and Südschnellweg (starts out as B65, becomes B3/B6/B65 upon crossing Westschnellweg, then becomes B65 again at Seelhorster Kreuz).

Bus and light rail

Hanover has an extensive Stadtbahn system, operated by üstra. The city is famous for its designer buses and tramways, the TW 6000 and TW 2000 trams being the most well-known examples.

Economy

headquarters in Hanover]] The Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Transporter (VWN) factory at Hannover-Stöcken is the biggest employer in the region and operates a huge plant at the northern edge of town adjoining the Mittellandkanal and Motorway A2. Jointly with a factory of German tire and automobile parts manufacturer Continental AG, they have a coal-burning power plant. Continental AG, founded in Hanover in 1871, is one of the city's major companies, although a takeover is in progress: the Schaeffler Group from Herzogenaurach (Bavaria) holds the majority of the stock but were required due to the financial crisis to deposit the options as securities at banks. TUI AG has its HQ in Hanover. Hanover is home to many insurance companies, many of which operate only in Germany. One major global reinsurance company is Hannover Re, whose headquarters are east of the city centre.

Education

The Leibniz University Hannover is the largest funded institution in Hanover for providing higher education to the students from around the world. Below are the names of the universities and some of the important schools including newly opened Hannover Medical Research School in 2003 for attracting the students from biology background from around the world.

There are several universities in Hanover:

Leibniz University Hannover

Hanover State University of Music and Drama

Hannover Medical School

School of Veterinary Medicine Hanover (Tierärztlichen Hochschule Hannover)

There is one University of Applied Science and Arts in Hanover:

Fachhochschule Hannover

The Schulbiologiezentrum Hannover maintains practical biology schools in four locations (Botanischer Schulgarten Burg, Freiluftschule Burg, Zooschule Hannover, and Botanischer Schulgarten Linden). The University of Veterinary Medicine Hanover also maintains its own botanical garden specializing in medicinal and poisonous plants, the Heil- und Giftpflanzengarten der Tierärztlichen Hochschule Hannover.

Towns named Hanover

Also, Hanover County, Virginia, US and New Hanover County, North Carolina, US are named after the city.

International relations

Hanover is twinned with:

* Bristol, United Kingdom Perpignan, France Rouen, France Blantyre, Malawi Poznań, Poland Hiroshima, Japan Leipzig, Germany Kansas City, USA

Notes

See also

Expo 2000

Hanover Fair (Hannover Messe)

CeBIT (CeBIT Computer Messe)

Schützenfest Hannover

Treaty of Hanover among Britain, France, and Prussia on May 19, 1727

Metropolitan region Hannover-Braunschweig-Göttingen-Wolfsburg

References

External links

*

City's own website

Official website for tourism, holiday and leisure in Lower Saxony and Hanover

EXPOseeum - see what is left from Expo 2000 tram in Hanover Hannover entdecken ...

http://www.mh-hannover.de/hbrs.html

German-russian radioshow Russian4Life in Hannover

Category:German state capitals Category:German cities with light rail systems

Coordinates	28°28′00″N49°00′25″N
Name	Hans Zimmer
Landscape	yes
Background	non_performing_personnel
Birth name	Hans Florian Zimmer
Born	September 12, 1957
Origin	Frankfurt, Germany
Instrument	Piano, keyboard, guitar
Genre	Film score
Occupation	Film composer
Years active	1977–present
Label	Remote Control Productions
Url	http://www.hans-zimmer.com

Hans Florian Zimmer (born September 12, 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. For nearly three decades he has composed music for over 100 films including some critically acclaimed film scores, such as The Lion King, Gladiator, and The Dark Knight. Some of his recent works are Frost/Nixon (2008), Angels & Demons (2009), Sherlock Holmes (2009), Inception (2010), and Megamind (2010).

Zimmer spent the early part of his career in the United Kingdom before moving to the United States. He is the head of the film music division at DreamWorks studios, and works with other composers through the company which he founded, Remote Control Productions.

His works are notable for integrating electronic music sounds with traditional orchestral arrangements. He has received four Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes, a Classical BRIT Award, and an Academy Award. Zimmer is also ranked Number 72 on the list of the "Top 100 living geniuses", published by The Daily Telegraph.

Early life and career

Zimmer was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, and moved to London as a teenager, where he attended Hurtwood House school. In an interview with the German television station ZDF in 2006, he commented: "My father died when I was just a child, and I escaped somehow into the music and music has been my best friend." Zimmer began his career playing keyboards and synthesizers. He worked with The Buggles, a New Wave band formed in 1977 with Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes, and Bruce Woolley. Zimmer can be seen briefly in The Buggles' music video for the 1979 song "Video Killed the Radio Star". After working with The Buggles, he started to work for the Italian group Krisma, a New Wave band formed in 1976 with Maurizio Arcieri and Christina Moser. He was a featured synthesist for Krisma’s third album, Cathode Mamma. He has also worked with the band Helden (with Warren Cann from Ultravox). In the 1980s, Zimmer partnered with Stanley Myers, a prolific film composer who wrote the scores for over sixty films. Zimmer and Myers co–founded the London–based Lillie Yard recording studio. Together, Myers and Zimmer worked on fusing the traditional orchestral sound with electronic instruments. Some of the films on which Zimmer and Myers worked are Moonlighting (1982), Success is the Best Revenge (1984), Insignificance (1985), and My Beautiful Launderette (1985). Zimmer's first solo score was Terminal Exposure for director Nico Mastorakis in 1987, for which he also wrote the songs. Zimmer acted as score producer for the 1988 film The Last Emperor, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Score.

Hollywood film scoring

A turning point in Zimmer's career occurred with the 1988 film Rain Man. In the score, Zimmer uses synthesizers (mostly a Fairlight CMI) mixed with steel drums. Zimmer explained that "It was a road movie, and road movies usually have jangly guitars or a bunch of strings. I kept thinking don't be bigger than the characters. Try to keep it contained. The Raymond character doesn't actually know where he is. The world is so different to him. He might as well be on Mars. So, why don't we just invent our own world music for a world that doesn't really exist?". Zimmer’s score for Rain Man was nominated for an Academy Award in 1989, and the film won four Academy Awards including Best Picture.

A year after Rain Man, Zimmer was asked to compose the score for Bruce Beresford's Driving Miss Daisy which, like Rain Man, won an Academy Award for Best Picture. Driving Miss Daisy’s instrumentation consisted entirely of synthesizers and samplers, played by Zimmer. According to an interview with Sound On Sound magazine in 2002, the piano sounds heard within the score come from the Roland MKS–20, a rackmount synthesizer. Zimmer joked: "It didn't sound anything like a piano, but it behaved like a piano."

1991's Thelma & Louise soundtrack by Zimmer featured the trademark slide guitar performance by Pete Haycock on the "Thunderbird" theme in the film. As a teenager, Zimmer was a fan of Haycock, and their collaboration on film scores includes K2 and Drop Zone.

For the 1992 film The Power of One, Zimmer traveled to Africa in order to use African choirs and drums in the recording of the score. On the strength of this work, Disney Animation Studios approached Zimmer to compose the score for the 1994 film The Lion King. This was to be his first score for an animated film. Zimmer said that he had wanted to go to South Africa to record parts of the soundtrack, but was unable to visit the country as he had a police record there "for doing 'subversive' movies" after his work on The Power of One. Disney studio bosses expressed fears that Zimmer would be killed if he went to South Africa, so the recording of the choirs was organized during a visit by Lebo M. Zimmer won numerous awards for his work on The Lion King, including an Academy Award for Best Music (Original Score), a Golden Globe, and two Grammys. In 1997, the score was adapted into a Broadway musical version which won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 1998.

Zimmer's score for Crimson Tide (1995) won a Grammy Award for the main theme, which makes heavy use of synthesizers in place of traditional orchestral instruments. For The Thin Red Line (1998), Zimmer said that the director Terrence Malick wanted the music before he started filming, so he recorded six and a half hours of music. Bruckheimer wanted Zimmer to rescore the film, but due to his commitments on The Last Samurai, the task of composing and supervising music for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was given to Klaus Badelt, one of Zimmer's colleagues at Media Ventures. Zimmer provided some themes that were used in the film, although he is not credited on screen. Zimmer was hired as the composer for the two subsequent films in the series, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) and (2007).

Zimmer is also noted for his work on the scores of Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008), on which he collaborated with James Newton Howard. Zimmer succeeded in reversing the decision not to nominate The Dark Knight in December 2008, arguing that the process of creating a modern film score was collaborative, and that it was important to credit a range of people who had played a part in its production. Zimmer explained his approach to scoring with other musicians in an interview with Soundtrack.net in 2006:

"Originally I had this idea that it should be possible to create some kind of community around this kind of work, and I think by muddying the titles - not having "you are the composer, you are the arranger, you are the orchestrator" - it just sort of helped us to work more collaboratively. It wasn't that important to me that I had "score by Hans Zimmer" and took sole credit on these things. It's like Gladiator: I gave Lisa Gerrard the co-credit because, even though she didn't write the main theme, her presence and contributions were very influential. She was more than just a soloist, and this is why I have such a problem with specific credits."

Zimmer works with other composers through his company Remote Control Productions, formerly known as Media Ventures. His studio in Santa Monica, California has an extensive range of computer equipment and keyboards, allowing demo versions of film scores to be created quickly. His colleagues at the studio have included Steve Jablonsky, James Dooley, Geoff Zanelli, Henning Lohner, Harry Gregson-Williams, Mark Mancina, John Van Tongeren, John Powell and Thomas J.Bergersen.

In October 2000, Zimmer performed live in concert for the first time with an orchestra and choir at the 27th Annual Flanders International Film Festival in Ghent. He has received a range of honors and awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award in film Composition from the National Board of Review, the Frederick Loewe Award in 2003 at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, ASCAP’s Henry Mancini Award for Lifetime Achievement, and BMI's Richard Kirk Award for lifetime achievement in 1996. Recent work includes the Spanish language film Casi Divas Sherlock Holmes and The Burning Plain (2009). He composed the theme for the television boxing series The Contender, and worked with Lorne Balfe on the music for , which was his first video game project.

In December 2010, Zimmer received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He dedicated the award to his publicist and long term friend Ronni Chasen, who was shot dead in Beverly Hills the previous month.

Zimmer lives in Los Angeles with his wife Suzanne, and has four children.

Discography

Composer

{| style="width:100%;" |- style="vertical-align:top;" | style="width:50%;"| 1982

Moonlighting (with Stanley Myers)

1984

(with Stanley Myers)

Eureka (with Stanley Myers)

Success Is the Best Revenge (with Stanley Myers)

1985

My Beautiful Laundrette (with Stanley Myers)

Insignificance (with Stanley Myers)

1986

Separate Vacations (with Stanley Myers)

The Lightship (with Stanley Myers)

Castaway (with Stanley Myers)

1987

Terminal Exposure (with Stanley Myers)

Going for Gold (TV) - Opening and closing title themes

1988

Burning Secret

Rain Man (Oscar Nomination)

Paperhouse (with Stanley Myers)

Nightmare at Noon (with Stanley Myers)

Maniac City (with Stanley Myers)

A World Apart

First Born (TV Movie)

Taffin (with Stanley Myers)

The Nature of the Beast (with Stanley Myers)

Spies Inc. (with Fiachra Trench)

The Fruit Machine

1989

Black Rain

Driving Miss Daisy

Twister

Diamond Skulls

New Music in Films

1990

Chicago Joe and the Showgirl (with Shirley Walker)

Green Card

Pacific Heights

Fools of Fortune

Days of Thunder

Bird on a Wire

Dark Obsession (with Stanley Myers)

1991

Thelma & Louise

Regarding Henry

Backdraft

K2

White Fang (with Basil Poledouris)

1992

Toys

Radio Flyer

Where Sleeping Dogs Lie (with Mark Mancina)

A League Of Their Own

The Power of One

(with Mark Mancina) - Main Theme

1993

Younger and Younger

The House of the Spirits

True Romance (theme based on Gassenhauer by Carl Orff)

Point of No Return

Calendar Girl

Cool Runnings (with Nick Glennie-Smith)

1994

Drop Zone

Renaissance Man

I'll Do Anything

The Lion King (Golden Globe & Oscar Winner)

The Critic

1995

Nine Months

Beyond Rangoon

Crimson Tide (Grammy Winner)

Two Deaths

Something to Talk About (with Graham Preskett)

1996

The Preacher's Wife (Oscar Nomination)

The Fan

Muppet Treasure Island

The Whole Wide World (with Harry Gregson-Williams)

The Rock (with Nick Glennie-Smith and Harry Gregson-Williams)

Broken Arrow

| style="width:50%;"| 1997

As Good As It Gets (Oscar Nomination)

The Peacemaker

Smilla's Sense of Snow (with Harry Gregson-Williams)

1998

The Thin Red Line (Oscar Nomination)

The Prince of Egypt (Golden Globe & Oscar Nomination)

The Last Days

1999

Chill Factor (with John Powell)

2000

An Everlasting Piece

Gladiator (with Lisa Gerrard) (Golden Globe Winner, Oscar Nomination)

The Road to El Dorado (with John Powell)

2001

Black Hawk Down

Riding in Cars with Boys

Pearl Harbor (Golden Globe Nomination)

Hannibal

Invincible (with Klaus Badelt)

The Pledge (with Klaus Badelt)

2002

The Ring

(Golden Globe Nomination)

2003

The Last Samurai (Golden Globe Nomination)

Something's Gotta Give (Last-minute replacement score, composed with several other composers)

(uncredited, with Klaus Badelt et al.)

Matchstick Men

Tears of the Sun

''Johnny English (theme song co-written with Robbie Williams)

2004

Spanglish (Golden Globe Nomination)

Laura's Star (with Nick Glennie-Smith)

Shark Tale

King Arthur

Thunderbirds

2005

The Weather Man (with James S. Levine)

Der kleine Eisbär 2 - Die geheimnisvolle Insel (with Nick Glennie-Smith)

Madagascar (with Heitor Pereira, James Dooley)

Batman Begins (with James Newton Howard)

2006

The Da Vinci Code (Golden Globe Nomination)

The Holiday

2007

The Simpsons Movie

2008

Casi Divas

The Dark Knight (with James Newton Howard) (Grammy Winner)

Kung Fu Panda (with John Powell)

The Burning Plain (with Omar Rodríguez-López)

Frost/Nixon (Golden Globe Nomination)

2009

Angels & Demons

Sherlock Holmes (Oscar Nomination)

It's Complicated (with Heitor Pereira)

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Video Game) (Main Themes - Score Producer)

2010

The Pacific (Main theme only; score composed by Geoff Zanelli and Blake Neely)

Despicable Me

Inception

Megamind (with Lorne Balfe)

How Do You Know

2011

Rango

Kung Fu Panda 2 (with John Powell)

Winnie the Pooh (with Henry Jackman)

Jealous of the Birds (Documentary)

The Dilemma

Ra.One (First Bollywood project)

Sherlock Holmes 2

2012

The Dark Knight Rises (with James Newton Howard)

|}

Executive score producer

{| style="width:100%;" |- style="vertical-align:top;" | style="width:50%;"| 1987

The Last Emperor (Music by Cong Su, Ryuichi Sakamoto and David Byrne)

1996

Twister (Music by Mark Mancina)

White Squall (Music by Jeff Rona)

1997

Face/Off (Music by John Powell)

The Borrowers (Music by Harry Gregson-Williams)

1998

Antz (Music by Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell)

Endurance (Music by John Powell)

With Friends Like These... (Music by John Powell)

2002

Live from Baghdad (Music by Steve Jablonsky)

2001

I Am Sam (Music by John Powell)

2003

(Music by Klaus Badelt)

2004

Ella Enchanted (Music by Nick Glennie-Smith)

House of D (Music by Geoff Zanelli)

2005

All the Invisible Children (Music by Ramin Djawadi)

Blood+ (Music by Mark Mancina)

The Island (Music by Steve Jablonsky)

Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (Music by Julian Nott)

| style="width:50%;"| 2006

Ask The Dust (Music by Heitor Pereira and Ramin Djawadi)

Curious George (Music by Heitor Pereira)

Over the Hedge (Music by Rupert Gregson-Williams)

The Prestige (Music by David Julyan)

Urmel Aus Dem Eis (Music by James Dooley)

2007

August Rush (Music by Mark Mancina)

Bee Movie (Music by Rupert Gregson-Williams)

Transformers (Music by Steve Jablonsky)

2008

Vantage Point (Music by Atli Örvarsson)

Babylon A.D. (Music by Atli Örvarsson)

Running the Sahara (Music by Heitor Pereira)

Iron Man (Music by Ramin Djawadi)

2009

Monsters vs. Aliens (Music by Henry Jackman)

The 4th Kind (Music by Atli Örvarsson)

(Music by Steve Jablonsky)

Sherlock Holmes

2010

Season of the Witch (Music by Atli Örvarsson)

(Music by Harry Gregson-Williams)

A Nightmare on Elm Street (Music by Steve Jablonsky)

Clash of the Titans (Music by Ramin Djawadi)

2011

(Music by Steve Jablonsky)

The Eagle (Music by Atli Örvarsson)

Ironclad (Music by Lorne Balfe)

|}

Awards

Nominations are listed below. Nominations won are listed in bold. {| style="width:100%;" |- style="vertical-align:top;" | style="width:50%;"|

Academy Awards

1989: Rain Man

1994: The Lion King

1997: The Preacher's Wife

1998: As Good As It Gets

1999: The Prince of Egypt

1999: The Thin Red Line

2001: Gladiator

2010: Sherlock Holmes

| style="width:50%;"|

Golden Globe Awards

1995: ''The Lion King

1999: The Prince of Egypt

2001: Gladiator

2002: Pearl Harbor

2003: (Best Original Song)

2004: The Last Samurai

2005: Spanglish

2007: The Da Vinci Code

2009: Frost/Nixon

2011: Inception

|} {| style="width:100%;" |- style="vertical-align:top;" | style="width:50%;"|

Grammy Awards

1991: Driving Miss Daisy

1994: The Lion King (Best Instrumental Arrangement With Accompanying Vocals)

1994: The Lion King (Best Musical Album For Children)

1996: Crimson Tide

2001: Gladiator (Shared with Lisa Gerrard)

2007:

2007: The Da Vinci Code

2009: The Dark Knight (Shared with James Newton Howard)

| style="width:50%;"|

BAFTAS

1992: Thelma & Louise

1995: The Lion King

2001: Gladiator (Shared with Lisa Gerrard)

2009: The Dark Knight (Shared with James Newton Howard)

|} {| style="width:100%;" |- style="vertical-align:top;" | style="width:50%;"|

Saturn Awards

1993: Toys - Shared with Trevor Horn

1996: Crimson Tide

1997: The Rock (Shared with Harry Gregson-Williams and Nick Glennie-Smith)

1999: The Prince of Egypt

2001: The Road to El Dorado (Shared with John Powell)

2001: Gladiator (Shared with Lisa Gerrard)

2006: Batman Begins (Shared with James Newton Howard)

2009: The Dark Knight (Shared with James Newton Howard)

2010: Sherlock Holmes

| style="width:50%;"|

Satellite Awards

1999: The Thin Red Line

2001: Gladiator

2002: Hannibal

2004: The Last Samurai

2007: The Da Vinci Code

2011: Inception

|} {| style="width:100%;" |- style="vertical-align:top;" | style="width:50%;"|

Emmys

2010: The Pacific (Outstanding Music Composition For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special) | style="width:50%;"|

Tonys

1998: The Lion King (musical) (Best Original Score)

|} {| style="width:100%;" |- style="vertical-align:top;" | style="width:50%;"|

Annies

2008: Kung Fu Panda (Music in an Animated Feature Production)

2008: Secrets of the Furious Five (Music in an Animated Television Production or Short Form )

| style="width:50%;"|

Classical BRIT Awards

2001: Gladiator (Album of the Year) (Shared with Lisa Gerrard)

2008: The Dark Knight (Shared with James Newton Howard)

|}

References

External links

Interview with Hans Zimmer in Film Score Monthly

Interview with Hans Zimmer about Sherlock Holmes from C Music TV

Focus.De

Category:Best Original Music Score Academy Award winners Category:Grammy Award winners Category:German film score composers Category:German composers Category:People from Frankfurt Category:1957 births Category:Living people *1

Hans Rosling (born 27 July 1948 in Uppsala, Sweden) is a Swedish medical doctor, academic, statistician and public speaker. He is Professor of International Health at Karolinska Institute and Director of the Gapminder Foundation, which developed the Trendalyzer software system. From 1967 to 1974 he studied statistics and medicine at Uppsala University, and in 1972 he studied public health at St. John's Medical College, Bangalore. He became a licenced physician in 1976 and from 1979 to 1981 he served as District Medical Officer in Nacala in northern Mozambique.

Research

On 21 August 1981, Rosling discovered an outbreak of a paralytic disease known as and described in 1938 as konzo, and the investigations that followed earned him a Ph.D. degree at Uppsala University in 1986. He spent two decades studying outbreaks of this disease in remote rural areas across Africa and supervised more than ten Ph.D. students. Outbreaks occur among hunger-stricken rural populations in Africa where a diet dominated by insufficiently processed cassava results in simultaneous malnutrition and high dietary cyanide intake.

Other work

Rosling's research has also focused on other links between economic development, agriculture, poverty and health in Africa, Asia and Latin America. He has been health adviser to WHO, UNICEF and several aid agencies. In 1993 he was one of the initiators of Médecins Sans Frontières in Sweden. At Karolinska Institutet he was head of the Division of International Health (IHCAR) from 2001 to 2007. As chairman of Karolinska International Research and Training Committee (1998—2004) he started health research collaborations with universities in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. He started new courses on Global Health and co-authored a textbook on Global Health that promotes a fact-based world view.

Rosling presented the television documentary The Joy of Stats, which was broadcast in the United Kingdom by BBC Four in December 2010.

Gapminder

Rosling co-founded the Gapminder Foundation together with his son Ola Rosling and daughter-in-law Anna Rosling Rönnlund. Gapminder developed the Trendalyzer software that converts international statistics into moving, interactive graphics. His lectures using Gapminder graphics to visualise world development have won awards. The interactive animations are freely available from the Foundation's website. On 16 March 2007 Google acquired the Trendalyzer software with the intention to scale it up and make it freely available for public statistics. In 2008 Google made available a Motion Chart Google Gadget and in 2009 the Public Data Explorer.

Rosling is also a sword swallower, as demonstrated in the final moments of his second talk at the TED conference. In 2009 he was listed as one of 100 leading global thinkers by Foreign Policy Magazine.

Selected works

Lindstrand A, Bergtröm S, Rosling H, Rubensson B, Stenson B, Tylleskär T (2006). Global Health: an introductory textbook Lund: Studentlitteratur ISBN 978-91-44-02198-0

References

External links

Hans Rosling's 21 min. talk at the 2006 TED Conference in Monterey, CA highlighting novel ways of presenting global statistics.

to the 2006 TEDTalk, from TED2007, featuring a surprise ending. (video)

Video of his speech at the OECD World Forum in Istanbul (see: OECD) talking about the changes he's seen so far, and new hopes for the future.

Rosling's blog

gapminder

Ola Rosling giving a Gapminder presentation at Google (video)

Dr. Rosling @ Journal of Internal Medicine

Motion Chart Google Gadget

Hans Rosling | Profile on TED.com

Category:1948 births Category:People from Uppsala Category:Karolinska Institutet faculty Category:Swedish bloggers Category:Public health education Category:Living people Category:Sword swallowers

Coordinates	28°28′00″N49°00′25″N
Name	Bruce Lee
Caption	Bruce Lee
Tradchinesename	李小龍
Simpchinesename	李小龙
Pinyinchinesename	Lǐ Xiǎolóng
Jyutpingchinesename	Lei5 Siu2 Lung4
Birthname	Lee Jun-fan 李振藩 (Traditional) 李振藩 (Simplified) Lǐ Zhènfān (Mandarin) Lei5 Jun3 Faan4 (Cantonese)
Ancestry	Shunde, Guangdong, China
Origin	Hong Kong
Birthdate	November 27, 1940
Location	San Francisco, California, USA
Deathdate	July 20, 1973
Deathplace	Hong Kong
Restingplace	Seattle, Washington, USA
Restingplacecoordinates	Lakeview Cemetery
Occupation	Martial arts instructor, actor, philosopher, film director, screenwriter, and martial arts founder
Yearsactive	1941–1973
Spouse	Linda Emery (born 1945) (1964–1973)
Children	Brandon Lee (1965–1993) Shannon Lee (born 1969)
Parents	Lee Hoi-chuen (1901–1965) Grace Ho
Homepage	Bruce Lee Foundation Bruce Lee official website
Hongkongfilmwards	Lifetime Achievement Award 1994
Goldenhorseawards	Best Mandarin Film 1972 Fist of Fury and Hong Kong actor, martial arts instructor, philosopher, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and founder of the Jeet Kune Do martial arts movement. He is considered one of the most influential martial artists of the 20th century, and a cultural icon.

Acting career

.]] Lee's father Lee Hoi-chuen was a famous Cantonese opera star; because of this, Lee was introduced into films at a very young age and appeared in several short black-and-white films as a child. Lee had his first role as a baby who was carried onto the stage. By the time he was 18, he had appeared in twenty films. In 1969, Lee made a brief appearance in the Silliphant penned film Marlowe where he played a henchman hired to intimidate private detective Philip Marlowe (played by James Garner) by smashing up his office with leaping kicks and flashing punches, only to later accidentally jump off a tall building while trying to kick Marlowe off. The same year he also choreographed fight scenes for The Wrecking Crew starring Dean Martin, Sharon Tate and featuring Chuck Norris in his first role. In 1970, he was responsible for fight choreography for A Walk in the Spring Rain starring Ingrid Bergman and Anthony Quinn, again written by Silliphant. In 1971, Lee appeared in four episodes of the television series Longstreet written by Silliphant. Lee played the martial arts instructor of the title character Mike Longstreet (played by James Franciscus), and important aspects of his martial arts philosophy was written into the script.

According to statements made by Lee, and also by Linda Lee Cadwell after Lee's death, in 1971 Lee pitched a television series of his own tentatively titled The Warrior, discussions which were also confirmed by Warner Bros. According to Cadwell, however, Lee's concept was retooled and renamed Kung Fu, but Warner Bros. gave Lee no credit. However, Warner Brothers had for some time been developing an identical concept, created by two writers and producers, Ed Spielman and Howard Friedlander. According to these sources, the reason Lee was not cast was in part because of his ethnicity but more so because he had a thick accent. The role of the Shaolin monk in the Wild West, was eventually awarded to then non-martial artist David Carradine. In a 9 December 1971 television interview on The Pierre Berton Show, Lee commented about Warner Brothers' attitudes towards casting in the series: "They think that business wise it is a risk. I don't blame them. If the situation were reversed, and an American star were to come to Hong Kong, and I was the man with the money, I would have my own concerns as to whether the acceptance would be there".

Producer Fred Weintraub had adviced Lee to return to Hong Kong and make a feature film which he could showcase to executives in Hollywood. Not happy with his supporting roles in the United States., Lee returned to Hong Kong. Unaware that The Green Hornet had been played to success in Hong Kong and was unofficially referred to as "The Kato Show", he was surprised to be recognised on the street as the star of the show. After negotiating with both Shaw Brothers Studio and Golden Harvest, Lee signed a film contract to star in two films produced by Golden Harvest. Lee played his first leading role in The Big Boss (1971) which proved to be an enormous box office success across Asia and catapulted him to stardom. He soon followed up with Fist of Fury (1972) which broke the box office records set previously by The Big Boss. Having finished his initial two-year contract, Lee negotiated a new deal with Golden Harvest. Lee later formed his own company Concord Productions Inc. (協和電影公司) with Chow. For his third film, Way of the Dragon (1972), he was given complete control of the film's production as the writer, director, star, and choreographer of the fight scenes. In 1964, at a demonstration in Long Beach, California, Lee had met Karate champion Chuck Norris. In Way of the Dragon Lee introduced Norris to moviegoers as his opponent in the final death fight at the Colosseum in Rome, today considered one of Lee's most legendary fight scenes and one of the most memorable fight scenes in martial arts film history. The role was originally offered to American Karate champion Joe Lewis.

In late 1972, Lee began work on his fourth Golden Harvest Film, Game of Death. He began filming some scenes including his fight sequence with 7'2" American Basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a former student. Production was stopped when Warner Brothers offered Lee the opportunity to star in Enter the Dragon, the first film to be produced jointly by Golden Harvest and Warner Bros. Filming commenced in Hong Kong in February 1973. One month into the filming, another production company promoted Bruce Lee as a leading actor in Fist of Unicorn, although he had merely agreed to choreograph the fight sequences in the film as a favour to his long-time friend Unicorn Chan. Lee planned to sue the production company, but retained his friendship with Chan. However, only a few months after the completion of Enter the Dragon, and six days before its 26 July 1973 release, Lee died. Enter the Dragon would go on to become one of the year's highest grossing films and cement Lee as a martial arts legend. It was made for US$850,000 in 1973 (equivalent to $4 million adjusted for inflation as of 2007). To date, Enter the Dragon has grossed over $200 million worldwide. The film sparked a brief fad in martial arts, epitomised in songs such as "Kung Fu Fighting" and TV shows like Kung Fu.

Robert Clouse, the director of Enter the Dragon, and Raymond Chow attempted to finish Lee's incomplete film Game of Death which Lee was also set to write and direct. Lee had shot over 100 minutes of footage, including out-takes, for Game of Death before shooting was stopped to allow him to work on Enter the Dragon. In addition to Abdul-Jabbar, George Lazenby, Hapkido master Ji Han-Jae and another of Lee's students, Dan Inosanto were also to appear in the film, which was to culminate in Lee's character, Hai Tien (clad in the now-famous yellow track suit) taking on a series of different challenge on each floor as they make their way through a five-level pagoda. In a controversial move, Robert Clouse finished the film using a look-alike and archive footage of Lee from his other films with a new storyline and cast, which was released in 1978. However, the cobbled-together film contained only fifteen minutes of actual footage of Lee (he had printed many unsuccessful takes) while the rest had a Lee look-alike, Kim Tai Chung, and Yuen Biao as stunt double. The unused footage Lee had filmed was recovered 22 years later and included in the documentary .

Apart from Game of Death, other future film projects were planned to feature Lee at the time. In 1972, after the success of The Big Boss and Fist of Fury, a third film was planned by Raymond Chow at Golden Harvest to be directed by Lo Wei, titled Yellow-Faced Tiger. However, at the time, Lee decided to direct and produce his own script for Way of the Dragon instead. Although Lee had formed a production company with Raymond Chow, a period film was also planned from September–November 1973 with the competing Shaw Brothers Studio, to be directed by either Chu Yuan or Cheng Kang, and written by Yi Kang and Chang Chieh, titled The Seven Sons of the Jade Dragon. Lee had also worked on several scripts himself. A tape containing a recording of Lee narrating the basic storyline to a film tentatively titled Southern Fist/Northern Leg exists, showing some similarities with the canned script for The Silent Flute (Circle of Iron). Another script had the title Green Bamboo Warrior, set in San Fransisco, planned to co-star Bolo Yeung and to be produced by Andrew Vajna who later went on to produce First Blood.}}

The weight training program that Lee used during a stay in Hong Kong in 1965 placed heavy emphasis on his arms. At that time he could perform single bicep curls at a weight of 70 to 80 lb (about 32 to 36 kg) for three sets of eight repetitions, along with other forms of exercises, such as squats, push-ups, reverse curls, concentration curls, French presses, and both wrist curls and reverse wrist curls. The repetitions he performed were 6 to 12 reps (at the time). While this method of training targeted his fast and slow twitch muscles, it later resulted in weight gain or muscle mass, placing Lee a little over 160 lb (about 72 kg). Lee was documented as having well over 2,500 books in his own personal library, and eventually concluded that "A stronger muscle, is a bigger muscle", a conclusion he later disputed. Bruce forever experimented with his training routines to maximise his physical abilities, and push the human body to its limits. He employed many different routines and exercises including skipping rope, which served his training and bodybuilding purposes effectively.

Lee believed that the abdominal muscles were one of the most important muscle groups for a martial artist, since virtually every movement requires some degree of abdominal work. Mito Uyehara recalled that "Bruce always felt that if your stomach was not developed, then you had no business doing any hard sparring". According to Linda Lee Cadwell, even when not training, Lee would frequently perform sit ups and other abdominal exercises in domestic living throughout the day, such as during watching TV. She said of Lee, "Bruce was a fanatic about ab training. He was always doing sit-ups, crunches, Roman chair movements, leg raises and V-ups".

Lee trained from 7 am to 9 am, including stomach, flexibility, and running, and from 11 am to 12 pm he would weight train and cycle. A typical exercise for Lee would be to run a distance of two to six miles in 15 to 45 minutes, in which he would vary speed in 3–5 minute intervals. Lee would ride the equivalent of 10 miles (about 16 kilometres) in 45 minutes on a stationary bike.

Lee would sometimes exercise with the jump rope and put in 800 jumps after cycling. Lee would also do exercises to toughen the skin on his fists, including thrusting his hands into buckets of harsh rocks and gravel. He would do over 500 repetitions of this on a given day. An article of the S. China Post writes "When a doctor warned him not to inflict too much violence on his body, Bruce dismissed his words. 'the human brain can subjugate anything, even real pain' —Bruce Lee".

Physical feats

Lee's phenomenal fitness meant he was capable of performing many exceptional physical feats. The following list includes some of the physical feats that are attributed to Bruce Lee. Lee's striking speed from three feet with his hands down by his side reached five hundredths of a second. Lee could take in one arm a 75 lb barbell from a standing position with the barbell held flush against his chest and slowly stick his arms out locking them, holding the barbell there for several seconds. In a speed demonstration, Lee could snatch a dime off a person's open palm before they could close it, and leave a penny behind. Lee would hold an elevated v-sit position for 30 minutes or longer. Lee performed one-hand push-ups using only the thumb and index finger. Lee performed 50 reps of one-arm chin-ups. Lee could cause a 300-lb (136.08 kg) bag to fly towards and thump the ceiling with a sidekick. Lee also avoided baked goods and refined flour, describing them as providing calories which did nothing for his body.

Lee consumed green vegetables and fruits every day. He always preferred to eat Chinese or other Asian food because he loved the variety that it had. Some of Lee's favourite Chinese dishes were beef in oyster sauce, tofu and steak and liver. He also became a heavy advocate of dietary supplements, including Vitamin C, Lecithin granules, bee pollen, Vitamin E, rose hips (liquid form), wheat germ oil, Acerola — C and B-Folia.

Lee disliked dairy food although he knew that for building muscle he must add milk and consume eggs. As a result he only ate dairy as part of cereals and protein drinks, usually using powdered milk instead of fresh milk. Lee's diet included protein drinks; he always tried to consume one or two daily, but discontinued drinking them later on in his life. They typically included non-instant powdered milk which is reported to have a higher concentration of calcium than other forms of powdered milk, eggs, wheat germ, peanut butter, banana, brewers yeast for its B vitamins, and Inositol and Lecithin supplements. Linda Lee recalls Bruce Lee's waist fluctuated between 26 and 28 inches (66 to 71 centimetres). "He also drank his own juice concoctions made from vegetables and fruits, apples, celery, carrots and so on, prepared in an electric blender", she said.

According to Lee, the size of portions and number of meals were just as important. He would usually consume four or five smaller meals a day rather than a couple of large meals, and would boost his metabolism by eating small healthy snacks such as fruits throughout the day. In traditional Chinese medicine, ginseng is also said to improve circulation, increase blood supply, allow quicker recovery times after exhaustion and stimulating the body. In addition, Lee regularly drank black tea, often with honey or with milk and sugar.

Philosophy

Although Lee is best known as a martial artist, he also studied drama and philosophy while a student at the University of Washington. He was well-read and had an extensive library. His own books on martial arts and fighting philosophy are known for their philosophical assertions both inside and outside of martial arts circles. His eclectic philosophy often mirrored his fighting beliefs, though he was quick to claim that his martial arts were solely a metaphor for such teachings. He believed that any knowledge ultimately led to self-knowledge, and said that his chosen method of self-expression was martial arts. On the other hand, Lee's philosophy was very much in opposition to the conservative world view advocated by Confucianism. John Little states that Lee was an atheist. When asked in 1972 what his religious affiliation was, he replied "none whatsoever". Also in 1972, when asked if he believed in God, he responded, "To be perfectly frank, I really do not".

The following quotations reflect his fighting philosophy. "Be formless... shapeless, like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You pour water into a bottle; it becomes the bottle. You put water into a teapot; it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow, or creep or drip or crash! Be water, my friend..." "All types of knowledge, ultimately leads to self knowledge" "Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it". "Do not deny the classical approach, simply as a reaction, or you will have created another pattern and trapped yourself there". "Quick temper will make a fool of you soon enough". "I always learn something, and that is: to always be yourself. And to express yourself, to have faith in yourself. Do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate him". "It's not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential".

Death

in Lakeview Cemetery, Seattle.]]

On 10 May 1973, Lee collapsed in Golden Harvest studios while doing dubbing work for the movie Enter the Dragon. Suffering from seizures and headaches, he was immediately rushed to Hong Kong Baptist Hospital where doctors diagnosed cerebral edema. They were able to reduce the swelling through the administration of mannitol. These same symptoms that occurred in his first collapse were later repeated on the day of his death.

On 20 July 1973, Lee was in Hong Kong, to have dinner with former James Bond star George Lazenby, with whom he intended to make a film. According to Lee's wife Linda, Lee met producer Raymond Chow at 2 pm at home to discuss the making of the film Game of Death. They worked until 4 pm and then drove together to the home of Lee's colleague Betty Ting Pei, a Taiwanese actress. The three went over the script at Ting's home, and then Chow left to attend a dinner meeting.

Later Lee complained of a headache, and Ting gave him an analgesic (painkiller), Equagesic, which contained both aspirin and the muscle relaxant meprobamate. Around 7:30 pm, he went to lie down for a nap. When Lee did not turn up for dinner, Chow came to the apartment but could not wake Lee up. A doctor was summoned, who spent ten minutes attempting to revive him before sending him by ambulance to Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Lee was dead by the time he reached the hospital.

There was no visible external injury; however, according to autopsy reports, his brain had swollen considerably, from 1,400 to 1,575 grams (a 13% increase). Lee was 32 years old. The only substance found during the autopsy was Equagesic. On 15 October 2005, Chow stated in an interview that Lee died from a hypersensitivity to the muscle relaxant (meprobamate) in Equagesic, which he described as a common ingredient in painkillers. When the doctors announced Lee's death officially, it was ruled a "death by misadventure".

Controversy occurred when Don Langford, Lee's personal physician in Hong Kong, who had treated Lee during his first collapse believed that "Equagesic was not at all involved in Bruce's first collapse".

However, Donald Teare, a forensic scientist recommended by Scotland Yard who had overseen over 1000 autopsies, was the top expert assigned to the Lee case. His conclusion was that the death was caused by an acute cerebral edema due to a reaction to compounds present in the prescription painkilling drug Equagesic, where Teare concluded "death by misadventure".

The preliminary opinion of the neurosurgeon who saved Lee's life during his first seizure, Peter Wu, was that the cause of death should have been attributed to either a reaction to cannabis or Equagesic. However, Wu later backed off from this position, stating that:

: "Professor Teare was a forensic scientist recommended by Scotland Yard; he was brought in as an expert on cannabis and we can't contradict his testimony. The dosage of cannabis is neither precise nor predictable, but I've never known of anyone dying simply from taking it." Pallbearers at his funeral on 31 July 1973 included Taky Kimura, Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Chuck Norris, George Lazenby, Dan Inosanto, Peter Chin, and Lee's brother Robert.

Lee's iconic status and untimely demise fed many theories about his death, including murder involving the triads and a supposed curse on him and his family. Black Belt magazine in 1985 carried the speculation that the death of Bruce Lee in 1973 may have been caused by "a delayed reaction to a Dim Mak strike he received several weeks prior to his collapse". As well other authors have said the death of Bruce Lee may have been due to a "Vibrating Palm technique".

Legacy

Certified instructors

Bruce Lee personally certified only three instructors. Taky Kimura, James Yimm Lee, and Dan Inosanto. Inosanto holds the 3rd rank (Instructor) directly from Bruce Lee in Jeet Kune Do, Jun Fan Gung Fu, and Bruce Lee's Tao of Chinese Gung Fu. Taky Kimura holds a 5th rank in Jun Fan Gung Fu. James Yimm Lee held a 3rd rank in Jun Fan Gung Fu. Ted Wong holds 2nd rank in Jeet Kune Do certified directly by Bruce Lee and was later promoted to Instructor under Dan Inosanto; feeling that Bruce would have wanted to promote him. Other Jeet Kune Do instructors since Lee's death have been certified directly by Dan Inosanto, some with remaining Bruce Lee signed certificates.

James Yimm Lee, a close friend of Lee, died without certifying additional students apart from Gary Dill who studied Jeet Kune Do under James and received permission via a personal letter from him in 1972 to pass on his learning of JKD to others. Taky Kimura, to date, has certified only one person in Jun Fan Gung Fu: his son Andy Kimura. Dan Inosanto continued to teach and certify select students in Jeet Kune Do for over 30 years, making it possible for thousands of martial arts practitioners to trace their training lineage back to Bruce Lee. Prior to his death, Lee told his then only two living instructors Kimura and Inosanto (James Yimm Lee had died in 1972) to dismantle his schools.

Both Taky Kimura and Dan Inosanto were allowed to teach small classes thereafter, under the guideline "keep the numbers low, but the quality high". Bruce also instructed several World Karate Champions including Chuck Norris, Joe Lewis, and Mike Stone. Between the three of them, during their training with Bruce they won every Karate Championship in the United States.

Hong Kong legacy

There are a number of stories (perhaps apocryphal) surrounding Lee that are still repeated in Hong Kong culture. One is that his early 70s interview on the TVB show Enjoy Yourself Tonight cleared the busy streets of Hong Kong as everyone was watching the interview at home.

On 6 January 2009, it was announced that Bruce's Hong Kong home (41 Cumberland Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong) will be preserved and transformed into a tourist site by philanthropist Yu Pang-lin.

Awards and honours

Bruce Lee was named by Time Magazine as one of the people of the 20th century.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
James Coburn
Joe Lewis
Roman Polanski
Lee Marvin
Stirling Silliphant
Steve McQueen
Mike Stone |}

Media

Books authored

(Bruce Lee's first book) – 1963

Tao of Jeet Kune Do (Published posthumously) – 1973

Bruce Lee's Fighting Method (Published posthumously) – 1978

Selected filmography

For a complete list of Bruce Lee's filmography see

Films

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- |align="center"| 1969 || Marlowe || Winslow Wong || |- |align="center"| 1971 || The Big Boss || Cheng Chao-an || Also known as Fists of Fury |- |rowspan=2 align="center"| 1972 || Fist of Fury || Chen Zhen || Also known as The Chinese Connection |- | Way of the Dragon || Tang Lung || Also known as Return of the Dragon |- |align="center"| 1973 || Enter the Dragon || Lee || Released posthumously |- |align="center"| 1978 || Game of Death || Billy Lo || Released posthumously |- |align="center"| 1981 || Game of Death II || Billy Lo || Released posthumously (Stock footage) |- |}

Television

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Series ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- |rowspan=2 align="center"| 1966 || The Green Hornet || Kato || 26 episodes, 1966–1967 |- | Batman || Kato || 3 episodes, 1966–1967 |- |align="center"| 1967 || Ironside || Leon Soo || Episode: "Tagged for Murder" |- |rowspan=2 align="center"| 1969 || Blondie || Karate Instructor || Episode: "Pick on Someone Your Own Size" |- | Here Come the Brides || Lin || Episode: "Marriage Chinese Style" |- |align="center"| 1970 || Enjoy Yourself Tonight || Himself || 2 episodes, 1970–1972 (Hong Kong) |- |rowspan=2 align="center"| 1971 || Longstreet || Li Tsung || 4 episodes, 1971 |- |align="center"| The Pierre Berton Show || Himself || Interview |- |}

See also

Bruce Lee Library

Bruce Lee statue in Hong Kong

Bruceploitation

Mostar Bruce Lee statue

References

;Bibliography

External links

Bruce Lee Foundation

Sijo Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee Interview

Category:American atheists Category:American television actors Category:Atheist philosophers Category:Hong Kong film actors Category:Hong Kong film producers Category:Hong Kong film directors Category:Hong Kong screenwriters Category:Hong Kong kung fu practitioners Category:Hong Kong wushu practitioners Category:Martial arts school founders Category:American sportspeople of Chinese descent Category:Chinese actors Category:Chinese Jeet Kune Do practitioners Category:Chinese Wing Chun practitioners Category:Wing Chun practitioners from Hong Kong Category:Chinese martial artists Category:Chinese philosophers Category:20th-century philosophers Category:Cantonese people Category:People from San Francisco, California Category:1940 births Category:1973 deaths Category:American people of Hong Kong descent Category:American actors of Chinese descent Category:University of Washington alumni

Coordinates	28°28′00″N49°00′25″N
Name	Shih Kien
Tradchinesename	石堅
Simpchinesename	石坚
Pinyinchinesename	Shǐ Jián
Jyutpingchinesename	Sek6 Gin1
Caption	Shih Kien as a villain in an early black-and-white Wuxia film
Birthname	Shek Wing-cheung (石榮璋)
Birthdate	January 01, 1913
Birthplace	Shigang Village, Panyu, Guangdong, China
Deathdate	June 03, 2009
Deathplace	Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong
Yearsactive	1949 - 1995
Hongkongfilmwards	Professional Spirit Award 2003 Lifetime Achievement
Goldenbauhiniaawards	Life Achievement Award 1996 Lifetime Achievement

Shek Wing-cheung (; 1 January 1913 - 3 June 2009), better known as Shih Kien, was a Chinese actor from Hong Kong. He is sometimes credited as Shek Kin (Cantonese pronunciation) or Kien Shih (in the Western order). Shih is most noted for playing the roles of antagonists in several early Hong Kong Wuxia and martial arts films that dated back to the black-and-white period, and best known to Western audiences for his portrayal of the primary villain, Han, in Bruce Lee's 1973 martial arts epic Enter the Dragon.

Biography

Early life

Shih Kien was raised by his stepmother and was a sickly child. He decided to practise martial arts to improve his health and trained for nine years. Shih wanted to start his career as an actor after receiving qualifications in martial arts, but the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War caused his studies to be disrupted. Shih and his friends travelled between Guangzhou and Hong Kong to stage drama performances, in order to raise funds as part of the anti-Japanese movement. Besides acting on stage, Shih also participated in back-stage activities, such as makeup and arrangements of lighting and props.

Career

In 1940, Shih Kien officially entered the entertainment industry as an apprentice of the Cantonese opera makeup artist Sit Kok-Sin, before becoming an actor later. Shih starred as a Japanese secret agent in his debut film Flower in the Sea of Blood that year. Nine years later, Shih was invited by film director Wu Pang to work with him on a series of Wong Fei-hung-related films. Shih gained fame for his portrayal of the villains in those films and continued to play the role of the antagonist in several films during the first 20 years of his career. Shih's iconic "villain laughter" in the films was later mimicked and parodied by several actors.

In 1973, Shih Kien was chosen to portray the villain in Bruce Lee's martial arts epic Enter the Dragon, in which he played Han, a one-handed gang boss who is highly-skilled in martial arts. His character had a final showdown with Bruce Lee's character in the ending climax of the film.

In 1975, Shih Kien joined the Hong Kong TV station TVB and appeared in several Wuxia-themed TV series, playing the roles of villains again most of the time. However, he had also played the roles of gentlemanly, kind and fatherly characters, such as Cheung Mo-kei's godfather Tse Shun in The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber (1978), Lung Koon-sam in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1979), So Tai-pang in The Brothers (1980) and a grandfather in The Feud of Two Brothers (1986). Shih Kien had also taken on dramatic roles in non-Wuxia films as well, such as Hong Kong 1941. Later in his career, Shih took on a comedic role with Jackie Chan in The Young Master.

In 1980, Shih was invited to participate in filming a TV commercial to promote Ricola's mint candy products with his popular image of a film villain.

Retirement and death

Shih Kien retired from the entertainment industry in 1992, with the 1994 film HK Adam's Family (奸人世家) specially dedicated to him. He appeared in the 2003 documentary at the age of 90.

Shih received the Life Achievement Award in 1996 at the Golden Bauhinia Awards. Seven years later in 2003, Shih received the Professional Achievement Award at the 22nd Hong Kong Film Awards with the late actor Cho Tat-wah, who used to play the role of the hero in several films they starred together in. In 2006, Shih donated one of his properties to the entertainment industry in support of the development of the industry. Between January and February 2007, the Hong Kong Film Archive showed 13 of Shih Kien's films that were preserved at the archive.

Shih died of kidney failure on June 3, 2009 at the age of 96. At the time of his death, Shih was believed to be one of the oldest living successful actors in China.

Personal life

Shih married Lee Kit-ying in 1936 and they have four sons and two daughters. Shih was initially a non-believer and he converted to Christianity and was baptized after being influenced by Lee, a devout Christian. Lee died of heart failure in August 1998.

Popular culture

In Hong Kong, the term "Kan Yan Kin" () was a popular reference to Shih Kien. This nickname was borrowed as the Chinese title for the 2007 TVB period drama-comedy series Men Don't Cry.

Filmography

Films

The True Story of Wong Fei Hung (1949)

Story of the Vulture Conqueror (1958 / 1959)

Sword of Blood and Valour (1958 / 1959)

Story of the White-haired Demon Girl (1959) (3 parts)

The Book and the Sword (1960)

The Story of the Great Heroes (1960-1961) (4 parts)

Story of the Sword and the Sabre (1963/1965) (4 parts)

The Flying Fox in the Snowy Mountains (1964)

The Flying Fox (1964)

Story of a Discharged Prisoner (1967)

Enter the Dragon (1973)

The Young Master (1980)

Millionaire's Express (1986)

TV series

The Legend of the Book and the Sword (1976)

The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber (1978)

Chor Lau-heung (1979)

Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils (1982)

The Legend of the Condor Heroes (1982)

The Smiling, Proud Wanderer (1984)

Sword Stained with Royal Blood (1985)

The Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain (1985)

References

External links

HKMDB entry

lovehkfilm entry

hkcinemagic entry

Obituary by the Associated Press

Pay tribute to Shih Kien

Category:1913 births Category:2009 deaths Category:Deaths from kidney disease Category:Disease-related deaths in Hong Kong Category:Hong Kong film actors Category:People from Panyu Category:Chinese martial artists Category:Converts to Christianity

Coordinates	28°28′00″N49°00′25″N
Colour	#DEDEE2
Name	Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr.
Series	Indiana Jones
Caption	Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark
First	Raiders of the Lost Ark
Latest	Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Creator	George Lucas
Portrayer	Films: Harrison Ford (ages 36–58) River Phoenix (age 13) TV series: Neil Boulane (baby) Corey Carrier (ages 8–10) Sean Patrick Flanery (ages 16–21) George Hall (age 93) Video games: Doug Lee (voice) David Esch (voice)
Birthdate	July 1st, 1899
Birthplace	New Jersey (U.S.)
Alma mater	University of Chicago
Occupation	Archaeologist Associate dean College professor Soldier Spy
Title	Doctor Colonel
Family	Henry Walton Jones, Sr. (father, deceased) Anna Mary Jones (mother, deceased) Susie Jones (sister, deceased)
Spouse	Deirdre Campbell Jones (1926)
Relatives	Pete (uncle) Grace Jones (aunt) Frank (cousin) Caroline (granddaughter) Lucy (granddaughter)/Theist}}

Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr. Ph.D. is a fictional American adventurer, OSS operative, professor of archaeology, and the central protagonist of the Indiana Jones franchise. George Lucas created the character in homage to the action heroes of 1930s film serials. The character first appeared in the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark, to be followed by Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in 1984, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in 1989, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles from 1992 to 1996, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in 2008. Alongside the more widely known films and television programs, the character is also featured in novels, comics, video games, and other media. Jones is also featured in the theme park attraction Indiana Jones Adventure, which exists in similar forms at Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea.

Jones is most famously played by Harrison Ford and has also been portrayed by River Phoenix (as the young Jones in The Last Crusade), and in the television series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles by Corey Carrier, Sean Patrick Flanery, and George Hall. Doug Lee has supplied Jones's voice to two LucasArts video games, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis and Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine, while David Esch supplied his voice to Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb.

Particularly notable facets of the character include his iconic look (bullwhip, fedora, and leather jacket), sense of humor, deep knowledge of many ancient civilizations and languages, and fear of snakes.

Indiana Jones remains one of cinema's most revered movie characters. In 2003, he was ranked as the second greatest movie hero of all time by the American Film Institute. He was also named the sixth greatest movie character by Empire magazine. Entertainment Weekly ranked Indy 2nd on their list of The All-Time Coolest Heroes in Pop Culture. Premiere magazine also placed Indy at number 7 on their list of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time. Since his first appearance in Raiders of the Lost Ark, he has become a worldwide star. On their list of the 100 Greatest Fictional Characters, Fandomania.com ranked Indy at number 10. In 2010, he ranked #2 on Time Magazine's list of the greatest fictional characters of all time, surpassed only by Sherlock Holmes.

Appearances

]]

Indiana Jones, played by Harrison Ford, was first introduced in the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark, set in 1936. He is portrayed as an adventurous throwback to the 1930s film serial treasure hunters and pulp action heroes, with an alter ego of Doctor Jones, a respected archaeology professor at Marshall College (named after producer Frank Marshall) a fictional college in Connecticut. In this first adventure, he is pitted against the Nazis, traveling the world to prevent them from recovering the Ark of the Covenant (see also Biblical archaeology). He is aided by Marion Ravenwood and Sallah. The Nazis are led by Jones's archrival, a Nazi-sympathizing French archaeologist named René Belloq, and Arnold Toht, a sinister Gestapo agent.

The 1984 prequel, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, set in 1935, took the character into a more horror-oriented story, skipping his legitimate teaching job and globe trotting, and taking place almost entirely in India. This time, Jones attempts to recover children and the Sankara stones from the bloodthirsty Thuggee cult. He is aided by Short Round and accompanied by Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw).

The third film, 1989's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, set in 1938, returned to the formula of the original, reintroducing characters such as Sallah and Marcus Brody, a scene from Professor Jones's classroom (he now teaches at Barnett College), the globe trotting element of multiple locations, and the return of the infamous Nazi mystics, this time trying to find the Holy Grail. The film's introduction, set in 1912, provided some back story to the character, specifically the origin of his fear of snakes, his use of a bullwhip, the scar on his chin, and his hat; the film's epilogue also reveals that "Indiana" is not Jones's first name, but a nickname he took from the family dog. The film was a buddy movie of sorts, teaming Jones with his father, often to comical effect. Although Lucas intended at the time to do five films, this ended up being the last for over eighteen years, as Lucas could not think of a good plot element to drive the next installment.

The 2008 film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, became the latest film in the series. Set in 1957, 19 years after the third film, it pits an older, wiser Indiana Jones against Soviet agents bent on harnessing the power of a crystal skull discovered in South America by his former colleague Harold Oxley (John Hurt). He is aided in his adventure by an old lover, Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), and her son—a young greaser named Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf), later revealed to be his biological child Henry Jones III. There are rumors that LaBeouf will take over the Indy franchise. This film also reveals that Jones was recruited by the Office of Strategic Services (a predecessor department to the CIA) during World War II, attaining the rank of Colonel and running covert operations with MI6 agent George McHale on the Soviet Union.

Television

From 1992 to 1996, George Lucas executive-produced a television series named The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, which was designed as an educational program for children, spotlighting historical figures and important events, using the concept of a prequel to the films as a draw. The show featured a standard formula of a 93-year-old Jones (George Hall), wearing an eye patch, introducing a story, and then an adventure with either a 17-year-old Jones (Sean Patrick Flanery) or a 10-year-old Jones (Corey Carrier), and even a baby Indy (Neil Boulane). Historical figures featured on the show include Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Leo Tolstoy, Pancho Villa, Charles de Gaulle, Elliot Ness, Ernest Hemingway, Patrick Pearse, Vladimir Lenin, T. E. Lawrence, Winston Churchill, Herman Göring, Theodore Roosevelt, Manfred von Richthofen, and John Ford, in such diverse locations as Egypt, Austria-Hungary, India, China, and the whole of Europe.

One episode, "Young Indiana Jones and the Mystery of the Blues", is bookended by Harrison Ford, reprising his role as the character. Indiana loses one of his eyes sometime between 1957 and when the "Old Indy" segments take place.

The show provided some backstory for the films, as well as new information regarding the character. He was born July 1, 1899, and his middle name is Walton (Lucas's middle name). It is also mentioned that he had a sister called Suzie who died as an infant of fever, and that he eventually has a daughter and grandchildren who appear in some episode introductions and epilogues. His relationship with his father, first introduced in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, was further fleshed out with stories about his travels with his father as a young boy. A large portion of the series centered around his activities during World War I.

In 1999, Lucas removed the episode introductions and epilogues by George Hall for the VHS and DVD releases, as he re-edited the episodes into chronologically ordered feature-length stories. The series title was also changed to The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones.

In 2008's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull film, Jones makes passing mention to the events of the episode in which he met Pancho Villa; this was included to reinforce that the TV series is indeed part of the same official continuity as the movies.

Video games

The character has appeared in several officially licensed video games, beginning with adaptations of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, two adaptations of The Last Crusade (one with purely action mechanics, one with an adventure and puzzle based structure) and Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures which included the storylines from all three of the original films.

Following this, the games branched off into original storylines with Indiana Jones in the Lost Kingdom, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine, Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb and Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings. Emperor's Tomb sets up Jones's companion Wu Han and the search for Nurhaci's ashes seen at the beginning of Temple of Doom. The first two games were developed by Hal Barwood and starred Doug Lee as the voice of Indiana Jones; Emperor's Tomb had David Esch fill the role and Staff of Kings starred John Armstrong.

There is also a small game from Lucas Arts Indiana Jones and His Desktop Adventures. A video game was made for young Indy called Young Indiana Jones and the Instruments of Chaos, as well as a video game version of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.

Two Lego Indiana Jones games have also been released. was released in 2008 and follows the plots of the first three films. It was followed by in late 2009. The sequel includes an abbreviated reprise of the first three films, but focuses on the plot of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Indiana Jones has also made cameo appearances as an unlockable character in the games and .

Theme parks

The Indiana Jones Adventure attractions at Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea ("Temple of the Forbidden Eye" and "Temple of the Crystal Skull," respectively) place Indy at the forefront of two similar archaeological discoveries. These two temples each contain a wrathful deity who threatens the guests who ride through in World War II troop transports. The attractions, some of the most expensive of their kind at the time, opened in 1995 and 2001, respectively, with sole design credit attributed to Walt Disney Imagineering. Disney did not license Harrison Ford's likeness for the North American version; nevertheless, a differentiated Indiana Jones audio-animatronic character appears at three points in both attractions. However, the Indiana Jones featured in the DisneySea version does use Harrison Ford's likeness but uses Japanese audio for all of his speaking parts.

Disneyland Resort Paris also features an Indiana Jones-titled ride where people speed off through ancient ruins in a runaway mine wagon similar to that found in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril is a looping roller coaster engineered by Intamin AG and opened in 1993.

The Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular! is a live show that has been presented in the Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park of the Walt Disney World Resort with few changes since the park's 1989 opening under a different name. The 25-minute show presents various stunts framed in the context of a feature film production, and recruits members of the audience to participate in the show. Stunt artists in the show re-create and ultimately reveal some of the secrets of the stunts of the Raiders of the Lost Ark films, including the well-known "running-from-the-boulder" scene. Stunt performer Anislav Varbanov was fatally injured in August, 2009 while rehearsing the popular show.

Characterization

In his role as a college professor of archaeology, Henry Jones Jr. is scholarly and learned in a tweed suit, lecturing on ancient civilizations. But at the opportunity to recover important artifacts, he transforms into "Indiana," a near superhero image he has concocted for himself. Producer Frank Marshall said, "Indy [is] a fallible character. He makes mistakes and gets hurt. [...] That's the other thing people like: He's a real character, not a character with superpowers." Spielberg said there "was the willingness to allow our leading man to get hurt and to express his pain and to get his mad out and to take pratfalls and sometimes be the butt of his own jokes. I mean, Indiana Jones is not a perfect hero, and his imperfections, I think, make the audience feel that, with a little more exercise and a little more courage, they could be just like him." According to Spielberg biographer Douglas Brode, Indiana created his heroic figure so as to escape the dullness of teaching at a school. Both of Indiana's personas reject one another in philosophy, creating a duality. while scholars have analyzed Indiana as having traits of a lone wolf; a man on a quest; a noble treasure hunter; a hardboiled detective; a human superhero; and an American patriot.

Like many characters in his films, Jones has some autobiographical elements of Spielberg. Indiana lacks a proper father figure because of his strained relationship with his father, Henry Senior. His own contained anger is misdirected at the likes of Professor Abner Ravenwood, his mentor at the University of Chicago, leading to a strained relationship with Marion Ravenwood. Marcus Brody acts as Indiana's positive role model at the college.

Because of Indiana's strained relationship with his father, who was absent much of Indiana's youth searching for the Holy Grail, the character does not pursue the more spiritual aspects of the cultures he studies. Indiana uses his knowledge of Shiva to ultimately defeat Mola Ram. In Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Jones is older and wiser, whereas his sidekicks Mutt and Mac are youthfully arrogant and greedy, respectively.

Concept and creation

Indiana Jones is modeled after the strong-jawed heroes of the serials and pulp magazines that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg enjoyed in their childhoods (such as the Republic Pictures serials, and the Doc Savage series). H. Rider Haggard's adventure hero Alan Quatermain of King Solomon's Mines was a notable template for Jones. The two friends first discussed the project in Hawaii around the time of the release of the first film. Spielberg told Lucas how he wanted his next project to be something fun, like perhaps a James Bond film. According to sources, Lucas responded to the effect that he had something "even better,"

The character was originally named "Indiana Smith" (perhaps in a nod to the 1966 Western film Nevada Smith), after an Alaskan Malamute Lucas owned in the 1970s ("Indiana"); however, Spielberg disliked the name "Smith," and Lucas casually suggested "Jones" as an alternative. Costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis said the inspiration for Indiana's outfit was Charlton Heston's Harry Steele in Secret of the Incas: "We did watch this film together as a crew several times, and I always thought it strange that the filmmakers did not credit it later as the inspiration for the series."

Upon requests by Spielberg and Lucas, the costume designer gave the character a distinctive silhouette through the styling of the hat; after examining many hats, the designers chose a tall-crowned, wide-brimmed fedora. As a documentary of Raiders pointed out, the hat served a practical purpose. Following the lead of the old "B"-movies that inspired the Indiana Jones series, the fedora hid the actor's face sufficiently to allow doubles to perform the more dangerous stunts seamlessly. Examples in Raiders include the wider-angle shot of Indy and Marion crashing a statue through a wall, and Indy sliding under a fast-moving vehicle from front to back. Thus it was necessary for the hat to stay in place much of the time.

The hat became so iconic that the filmmakers could only come up with very good reasons or jokes to remove it. If it ever fell off during a take, filming would have to stop to put it back on. In jest, Ford put a stapler against his head when a documentary crew visited during shooting of The Last Crusade. This created the urban legend that Ford stapled the hat to his head. Although other hats were also used throughout the movies, the general style and profile remained the same. Elements of the outfit include:

*The fedora was supplied by Herbert Johnson Hatters in England for the first three films. It was referred to as "The Australian Model" by costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis and was fitted with a Petersham bow. Indy's fedora for Crystal Skull was made by Steve Delk and Marc Kitter of the Adventurebilt Hat Company.

The leather jacket, a hybrid of the "Type 440" and the A-2 jacket, were made by Leather Concessionaires (now known as Wested Leather Co). Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade. For Temple of Doom, jackets were made in house at Bermans & Nathans in London based on a stunt jacket they provided for Raiders of The Lost Ark, while Tony Nowak made the jacket in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

The bag was a modified Mark VII British gas mask bag.

The whip was a bullwhip crafted by David Morgan for the first three films. The whips for Crystal Skull were crafted by a variety of people, including Terry Jacka, Joe Strain and Morgan (different lengths and styles were likely used in specific stunts). The pistol was usually a World War I-era revolver, including the Webley Green (Last Crusade and Crystal Skull), or a .45 ACP Smith & Wesson Hand Ejector 2nd model revolver (Raiders). He has also used an M1917 revolver (Temple of Doom), a Nagant M1895 (Young Indiana Jones), and a 9 mm Browning Hi-Power (Raiders). The weapon is carried in a military pattern Sam Browne belt. The shoes were "Indy Boots" made by Alden Shoes, still sold today (though in a redder (brick) shade of brown than seen in the movies).

Jones's fedora and leather jacket (as used in The Last Crusade) are on display at the Smithsonian's American History Museum in Washington, D.C. The collection of props and clothing from the films has become a thriving hobby for some aficionados of the franchise. Jones' whip was the third most popular film weapon, as shown by a 2008 poll held by 20th Century Fox, which surveyed approximately two thousand film fans.

Casting

Originally, Spielberg suggested Harrison Ford; Lucas resisted the idea, since he had already cast the actor in three of his movies (American Graffiti, , and ), and did not want Ford to become known as his "Bobby De Niro" (in reference to the fact that fellow director Martin Scorsese regularly cast Robert De Niro in his films). Italian archaeologist and circus strongman Giovanni Battista Belzoni (1778–1823). Yale University professor, historian, and explorer Hiram Bingham III, who rediscovered and excavated the lost city of Machu Picchu, and chronicled his find in the bestselling book The Lost City of the Incas in 1948. The University of Chicago archaeologist Robert Braidwood. Fellow University of Chicago archaeologist James Henry Breasted. The British archaeologist Percy Fawcett, who spent much of his life exploring the jungles of northern Brazil, and who was last seen in 1925 returning to the Amazon Basin to look for the Lost City Of Z. A fictionalized version of Fawcett appears to Jones in the book Indiana Jones And The Seven Veils. British archaeologist and soldier T. E. Lawrence. The Northwestern University anthropologist, professor and adventurer William Montgomery McGovern. Frederick Albert Mitchell-Hedges. German archaeologist Otto Rahn.

George Lucas has said on various occasions that Sean Connery's portrayal of British secret agent James Bond was one of the primary inspirations for Jones, a reason Connery was chosen for the role of Indiana's father in the third film, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Influence

Though some archaeologists criticize Indy's methods as befitting a "looter" rather more than a careful worker of precious sites, many have adopted the popular figure as something of a standard-bearer for their profession. The industry magazine Archaeology, believing that Jones, as one editor said, was "a horrible archaeologist but a great diplomat for archeology," That same year Ford himself was elected to the Board of Directors of the Archaeological Institute of America. Commenting that "understanding the past can only help us in dealing with the present and the future," Ford was praised by the association's president for his character's "significant role in stimulating the public's interest in archaeological exploration."

While himself a homage to various prior adventurers, aspects of Indiana Jones also directly influenced some subsequent characterizations: Lara Croft, the female archaeologist of the Tomb Raider franchise, was originally designed as a man, but was changed to a woman, partly because the developers felt that the original design was too similar to Indiana Jones. Paramount Pictures, which distributed the Indiana Jones film series, would later make two films based on the Tomb Raider games. Prince of Persia producer Ben Mattes explained that their "inspiration was anything Harrison Ford has ever done: Indiana Jones, Han Solo." The video game series Uncharted is also very heavily influenced by Indiana Jones, as well as some of the influences that led to Indiana Jones himself, such as pulp magazines and movie serials. The design team felt the sources shared themes of mystery and "what-if scenarios" that romanticized adventure and aimed to include those in Uncharted.

Jack West Jr, a character featured in 3 Matthew Reilly books, (Seven Ancient Wonders, The Six Sacred Stones and The Five Greatest Warriors) is heavily influenced by Indiana Jones. Reilly himself is a big fan of George Lucas.

Ben Franklin Gates of the National Treasure (film) series.

In the game "World of Warcraft" there is an NPC named "Harrison Jones", a reference to Indiana Jones and the actor Harrison Ford. This NPC teaches Archaeology to the character, making them able to find ancient treasures around the world. Furthermore, the game area Uldum has numerous playable quests with Harrison Jones as the main character, which contain a number of lines and references from Raiders of the Lost Ark.

The Tia Carrere television show Relic Hunter

References

External links

IndianaJones.com — the official Indiana Jones site

Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1981 Category:Fictional archaeologists Category:Fictional characters from New Jersey Category:Fictional professors Category:Fictional American people Category:Fictional American people of Scottish descent Category:Fictional secret agents and spies Category:Fictional colonels Category:Child characters in television Category:Fictional World War I veterans Category:Fictional World War II veterans Category:Indiana Jones characters

Coordinates	28°28′00″N49°00′25″N
Name	Hans Teeuwen
Caption	Hans Teeuwen during the premiere in Amsterdam.
Birth name	Hans Eduard Marie Teeuwen
Birth date	March 03, 1967
Birth place	Budel, North Brabant, Netherlands
Medium	Theatre, television, film, radio
Nationality	Dutch
Active	1991–present
Genre	Improvisational comedy, character comedy, absurdist, shock comedy, stand-up comedy
Influences	Toon Hermans, Andy Kaufman, Monty Python

Hans Eduard Marie Teeuwen (born 3 March 1967 in Budel, the Netherlands) is a Dutch comedian, actor and an occasional singer and director. His work can be described as absurdist, apolitical and confrontational.

Dutch career

Theatre

In the Netherlands, Teeuwen became well-known in 1991 when he won an award at the Dutch cabaret festival Cameretten for his show Heist, together with Roland Smeenk. Just before the ending of the try-outs of this show, Smeenk died in a car accident in 1992.

Teeuwen decided to go solo as a 'cabaretier'. (Dutch cabaret is a sort of stand-up comedy often lasting for an hour or two, which has a storyline or theme, and can include songs, music and poetry as opposed to purely stand-up comedy.) He did five shows, Hard en Zielig (Hard and Sad, 1994–1995), Met een Breierdeck (With a Breierdeck, 1995–1997), Trui (Sweater, 1999–2000), Dat Dan Weer Wel (2001–2002, a free translation of the title into English could be On the Other Hand) and Industry of Love (2003–2004). Then after seven years he made a come-back in 2011 with his show Spiksplinter (free translation: Spick and Span). One of the other comedy projects he has worked on is Poelmo, Slaaf van het Zuiden (Poelmo, Slave of the South), a series of shorter comedy shows with his friends and colleagues Pieter Bouwman and Gummbah. Bouwman and Teeuwen also worked together on a radio comedy show that was mainly improvised, called Mannen van de Radio (Men of the Radio).

TV & film

Apart from a few comic parts with popular Dutch absurdistic comedy group Jiskefet, he acted in the 1999 film Jezus is een Palestijn (Jesus is a Palestinian). Together with Theodor Holman he co-created the idea for the film Interview, directed by Theo van Gogh in 2003 (and remade in 2007 in the USA by Steve Buscemi). He wrote and directed the film Masterclass in 2005. A couple of years later, he starred in the film Gewoon Hans (Just Hans), written and directed by friend and colleague Diederik Ebbinge from comedy group De Vliegende Panters ("The Flying Panthers"); this film premiered on Dutch television on 30 December 2009, and was released on DVD in January 2010.

Singing career

In 2006–present, Teeuwen performed as a crooner in an Amsterdam nightclub, ultimately resulting in a DVD entitled Hans Teeuwen Zingt (literal English: Hans Teeuwen Sings), on which he sings songs by artists such as Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra, together with his band. In 2008, Teeuwen performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival. He released a CD consisting of self-written songs, entitled How It Aches, in March 2010.

International career

In 2005, Teeuwen announced he would no longer perform, incidentally coinciding with the death of director and close friend Theo van Gogh. However, in 2007 he decided to try a new challenge: performing in English. He appeared at the 2007 Edinburgh Festival Fringe as part of the Amsterdam Underground Comedy Collective, which spurred him to do a longer show. In 2008 he performed solo at the Soho Theatre in London. He also returned to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2008, and performed at Suffolk's 2008 Latitude Festival. In October 2008, he performed a show in the Leicester Square Theatre, London that was recorded for a future DVD release. In February 2009, he performed at the Leicester Comedy Festival.

Political views

Although his work is typically devoid of politics, in real life Teeuwen has repeatedly and openly acted as a fervent supporter of freedom of speech, especially after the murder of his friend Theo van Gogh. His eulogy and speech at the unveiling of a statue in memory of van Gogh were an example of his views. A video clip of Teeuwen eloquently advocating freedom of speech while being interviewed by three female Muslim TV presenters has been chosen as "Dutch TV Moment of 2007".

References

External links

HansTeeuwen.tv (in Dutch)

Hans Teeuwen at The World Stands Up

Hans Teeuwen at Chortle

Video of interview for the web-series Carpool

Category:1967 births Category:Living people Category:Dutch atheists Category:Dutch comedians Category:Dutch film actors Category:Dutch film directors Category:People from North Brabant