Coordinates	13°45′4″N79°20′16″N
Name	Max-A
Foundation	1992
Location city
Location country	Japan
Industry	Pornography
Products	Pornographic films
Homepage	http://www.max-a.co.jp/top.php

is a Japanese adult video (AV) studio which is especially known for videos made under its Samansa ("Samantha") and Calen ("Karen") labels which produced a number of innovative and quality AVs in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Company information

The Max-A studio released its first video May 23, 1992 on the Calen label (with the code XC-1001), Calen Falls in Love (恋するカレン), featuring Saori Kawana and directed by Hajime Kitano. A week later, the first Samansa label video, Witch-Wife (白石ひとみの奥様は魔女), directed by Kunihiro Hasegawa and starring AV Idol Hitomi Shiraishi, came out with the production code XS-2001 on May 30, 1992.

Max-A has had a long association dating back to at least 1997 with the Kuki group of companies, at one time the largest family of AV companies in Japan, comprising Kuki, Alice Japan, Atlas21, Media Station (Cosmos Plan), Big Morkal and Sexia. The companies in this group all belonged to the voluntary ethics organization called in English the Nihon Ethics of Video Association (NEVA) or in Japanese 日本ビデオ倫理協会 (Nippon Bideo Rinri Kyoukai or Japan Video Morality Association) usually abbreviated as ビデ倫 (Biderin or Viderin). As with other members of the Kuki group, the emphasis at Max-A has been on making videos featuring a single popular actress. The company reported that for 2003, the leading actresses in sales were Maria Takagi, Ryōko Mitake, Sora Aoi, and Akiho Yoshizawa. Among the actresses who have made their AV debut with Max-A are Hitomi Hayasaka in 2001, Yua Aida in 2004, and Rio (Tina Yuzuki) in 2005.

Max-A operates its official website at www.max-a.co.jp where it has videos available for download via subscription. The studio also has a site on the X City webpage along with other members of the Kuki group of companies where on-demand videos are featured. About 16 new videos are issued monthly by Max-A under its various labels.

Labels

In addition to the Samansa, Calen and MAX-A labels, the company has also used several other labels over its history. VHS videos made under the Calen label used production codes of the series type XC-1001 and Samansa-labeled VHS works used the XS-2001 type series. Gash VHS videos utilized the XG-3001 series. When DVDs came into production, the company used production codes of the XV-001 type under the MAX-A label and when VHS tapes were discontinued, the Calen and Samansa labels were no longer used. DVDs "for rental only" were issued with the code type SRXV-001.

B-MAX

Black Max

Blue File (ブルーファイル)

Calen (カレン)

DoraMax

Gash

Max Pink

Naked Film

Pure Max

Samansa (サマンサ)

Actresses

Actresses who have performed in Max-A videos include: {| |valign="top" width=33%|

Yua Aida

Kokoro Amano

Minori Aoi

Sora Aoi

Minami Aoyama

Ran Asakawa

Ami Ayukawa

Akira Fubuki

Hitomi Hayasaka

Milk Ichigo

|valign="top" width=22| |valign="top" width=33%|

Rei Itoh

Bunko Kanazawa

Mariko Kawana

Kyōko Kazama

You Kitajima

Hitomi Kobayashi

Mayu Kotono

Jun Kusanagi

Miho Maeshima

Mihiro

|valign="top" width=22| |valign="top" width=33%|

Ryōko Mitake

Ayano Murasaki

Naho Ozawa

Rio (Tina Yuzuki)

Hitomi Shiraishi

Riko Tachibana

Maria Takagi

Sally Yoshino

Nao Yoshizaki

Akiho Yoshizawa

|}

X City Awards

Max-A was one of the Kuki group of companies which participated in the X City Adult Video Grand Prix Awards which were held from 1998 to 2004. In the 2003 contest, the Max-A cosplay video Welcome to Max Cafe!: Maria Takagi (Max Cafeへようこそ！ 高樹マリア) starring Maria Takagi won the Best Video Title Award.

Series

A list of some popular Max-A video series:

Dirty Mouth (淫口)

Illegal Tits Violation (不法侵乳)

MAX GIRLS

New Comer

OL Style

Pink File

School Days

The Secret of Younger Sister (妹の秘密)

Sexy Teacher Hunt

Uniform Hunting (制服狩り)

Welcome to Max Airline (Max Airlineへようこそ)

Welcome to Black Max Cafe! (Black Max Cafeへようこそ!)

Welcome to Max Cafe! (ようこそMaxCafeへ!)

Welcome to Max Soap (ウェルカム マックス・ソープ)

Notes

External links

Category:Japanese pornographic film studios Category:Film production companies of Japan Category:Companies established in 1992

Coordinates	13°45′4″N79°20′16″N
Name	Max Keiser
Caption	Max Keiser in a London taxi
Birthname	Timothy Maxwell Keiser
Birth date	January 23, 1960
Education	NYU
Occupation	Journalist, Film Producer, Activist
Credits	Hollywood Stock Exchange, People & Power, The Oracle with Max Keiser, Karmabanque
Url	http://maxkeiser.com

Max Keiser (born January 23, 1960) is a film-maker, broadcaster and former broker and options trader. Keiser is the host of On the Edge, a program of news and analysis hosted by Iran's Press TV. He also hosts Keiser Report, a financial tabloid, that broadcasts on RT (formerly Russia Today). Keiser hosted the New Year's Eve special, The Keiser's Business Guide to 2010 for BBC Radio 5 Live.

Keiser formerly hosted The Oracle with Max Keiser on BBC World News. Previously he produced and appeared regularly in the TV series People & Power on the Al-Jazeera English network. He also presents a weekly show about finance and markets on London's Resonance FM, as well as writing for The Huffington Post.

In addition to his broadcasting work, Keiser is known for his invention of "Virtual Specialist Technology" - a software system used by the Hollywood Stock Exchange.

Early career

Keiser has been involved with markets and finance for 25 years. He started his career as a stock broker on Wall Street after graduating from New York University.

Hollywood Stock Exchange

Keiser is the creator, co-founder and former CEO of HSX Holdings/Hollywood Stock Exchange, later sold to Cantor Fitzgerald. Max co-created the Hollywood Stock Exchange with Michael R. Burns. The Hollywood Stock Exchange allows traders to exchange virtual securities such as "MovieStocks", and "StarBonds" and convertible virtual currency, the Hollywood Dollar.

Keiser is also the co-founder of HSX films that went on to make almost a dozen films, including "Mixed Signals," "Six-String Samurai," "Dancer, Texas Pop. 81," and "girl." The company then sold to Ignite Entertainment/Lionsgate.

Broadcasting career

Keiser presented "Rumble at the Box Office" for NBC's Access Hollywood. He also produced and hosted the weekly talk show, Buy, Sell, Hold for CBS radio's KLSX in Los Angeles. Currently, he presents The Truth About Markets on Resonance 104.4 FM in London and on RDU 98.5 in Christchurch, New Zealand.

People & Power

Keiser produced ten short documentary films covering aspects of financial markets for Al Jazeera's series People & Power.

Films include "Rigged Markets", Money Geyser, Death of the Dollar, Peaked, Extraordinary Antics, Savers vs Speculators, Banking on It, Private Finance or Public Swindle?, Focus on Locusts

The Oracle with Max Keiser

A pilot episode was produced for Al-Jazeera English titled The Oracle. This was developed into a series for BBC World News. The series first aired on January 9, 2009 and ran for ten episodes. It explored financial current affairs from the perspective of prediction markets. It was intended to be a humorous take on financial news before it happens.

On The Edge

A weekly financial commentary show which started in 2009 and is broadcast on Press TV, with weekly appearances by financial commentator Stacy Herbert and featuring interviews with well known alternative economists.

The Keiser Report

Since September 2009, Keiser has hosted The Keiser Report with financial news and analysis, on the RT network. The 30-minute program is produced twice a week. Stacy Herbert appears in the first half of each show with headlines and commentary. In the second half Max Keiser interviews a guest.

Financial punditry

Keiser has appeared as a financial pundit on a number of news-networks. His appearances are remarkable for the often incendiary nature of his remarks. For example, Keiser called for a "fatwa" against Hank Paulson on Al Jazeera in response to the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). In a later-broadcast Keiser said "Paulson Stinks".

Predictions

Throughout Keiser's shows he has been known for making predictions:

In the September 2004 issue of The Ecologist magazine, Keiser correctly predicted the 2008 collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac when he wrote, "My guess is that the two stocks that look the likeliest to implode at the hands of derivative-wielding Wall Street financial types (and other fundamentalists) preying on a US economy made weak by cheap money are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac." In 2006 he correctly predicted that sub-prime mortgage-backed securities would be the cause of recession by 2008. In July 2008, accused Lehman Brothers of "trying to out-Enron Enron", accusing the bank of "Peek-a-boo accounting", an attempt to mis-report the bank's wealth by gaming the regulatory system.

Activism

Keiser founded the hedge fund Karmabanque which sought to profit from any decline in equity-value of companies that are susceptible to boycott from environmental groups. The hedge fund's progress was followed monthly in the Ecologist Magazine, edited by Zac Goldsmith. Its targets included Coca-Cola and McDonalds. The Karmabanque hedge fund project was designed to simultaneously short-sell companies while funnelling profits from this activity into environmental and ethical-business pressure groups which further act to drive down the price. Describing the project, Keiser states "The Internet allows people, activists, from all over the world to gather, or swarm, and hit a company where it hurts most -- in their stock price."

In the Al-Jazeera short-film Extraordinary Antics Keiser travels to Milan and Venice Italy to find out how CIA agent Robert Seldon Lady and his fellow agents spent $500,000 on a procedure known as extraordinary rendition - a practice which is believed to be illegal and may have caused an Egyptian citizen, who had been granted asylum in Italy, to be allegedly abducted in order to face torture in Cairo. The CIA faces prosecution for the case.

Crash JP Morgan buy silver

Max Keiser has labeled JP Morgan "the biggest financial terrorist on Wall St", in relation to their alleged manipulation of the price of silver. where people buy silver, thus raising its price and leaving JP Morgan with a huge short position to cover, bankrupting itself.

Criticism

The Guardian newspaper, in an editorial titled "Mad Max," described Keiser's Karmabanque hedge fund as a "fantastical scheme" and accused him of trying to exist "beyond the normal forces and controls of society."

Keiser drew criticism at the 2000 ShowBiz Expo in Las Vegas when he said of media content that "Everything is inescapably going to a price point called free." In response, Kevin Tsujihara, executive V.P. of New Media at Warner Bros., commented that "Piracy.com" will be the victor if superior content is available on sites supported by advertisements.

In 2005, Steven Milloy, the "Junk Science" commentator demanded that Keiser be removed from the panel of the Triple Bottom Line Investing conference, where he was scheduled to appear. Milloy accused Keiser of making threats against his organization and petitioned sponsors Calvert Investments and KLD Research & Analytics to withdraw from the project. Robert Rubenstein founder of conference organiser Brooklyn Bridge stated that Keiser's comments “do not constitute a threat to person or property and are not related to the conference or the content that will be presented there”.

Referring to Keiser's Karmabanque project, a spokeswoman for RyanAir said, "Since they put Ryanair on their list, our share price has gone up by 10 per cent. We are always delighted to be part of a list which includes Coca-Cola, Starbucks and Wal-Mart.", however on the same day The Hindu published an article in which Howard Millar, Ryanair deputy chief executive admitted that his company may be vulnerable to environmental pressure groups: "I am concerned that there is a continuing media campaign and the concern is that people might say 'maybe I will not fly on holiday and maybe I will make a different choice'."

See also

Error accounts a term often mentioned by Max Keiser

Central bank or Reserve bank

Gold standard where paper currency is backed up by the value of Gold

Hollywood Accounting

References

External links

MaxKeiser.com Max Keiser's website

MaxKeiserTV Max Keiser's Youtube channel

chaostheorien.de Interview with Max Keiser at chaostheorien.de

Category:Investment bankers Category:American journalists Category:Documentary film producers Category:1960 births Category:Living people

Coordinates	13°45′4″N79°20′16″N
Name	Rick Simpson
Occupation	Set decorator
Yearsactive	1975 – 2006

Rick Simpson is an American set decorator. He won an Academy Award and was nominated for another in the category Best Art Direction.

Awards

Simpson won an Academy Award for Best Art Direction and was nominated for another: ;Won

Dick Tracy (1990)

;Nominated

2010 (1984)

Selected filmography

The Black Dahlia (2006)

Rules of Engagement (2000)

2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)

The Hunted (2003)

Rush Hour 2 (2001)

Little Nicky (2000)

Armageddon (1998)

Bulworth (1998)

Sgt. Bilko (1996)

Casino (1995)

Boys on the Side (1995)

The Pelican Brief (1993)

What's Love Got to Do with It (1993)

Born Yesterday (1993)

City Slickers (1991)

Predator 2 (1990)

Dick Tracy (1990)

Tequila Sunrise (1988)

Project X (1987)

Johnny Dangerously (1984)

2010 (1984)

The Star Chamber (1983)

Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983)

Personal Best (1982)

The Champ (1979)

Coma (1978)

Capricorn One (1977)

Silent Movie (1976)

References

External links

Category:Set decorators Category:Best Art Direction Academy Award winners Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people

Coordinates	13°45′4″N79°20′16″N
Width	200
Caption	Michael Jordan with the Chicago Bulls in 1997
Position	Shooting guard-Small forward
Height ft	6|height_in= 6
Weight lbs	215
Number	23, 45, 9, 12
Birthdate	February 17, 1963
Birthplace	Brooklyn, New York, United States
High school	Emsley A. Laney High School (Wilmington, North Carolina)
Career start	1984
Career end	2003
Draftyear	1984
Draftround	1
Draftpick	3
Draftteam	Chicago Bulls
College	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Teams
Stat1label	Points
Stat1value	32,292 (30.1 ppg)
Stat2label	Rebounds
Stat2value	6,672 (6.2 rpg)
Stat3label	Assists
Stat3value	5,633 (5.3 apg)
Letter	j
Bbr	jordami01
Highlights
Hof player	michael-jordan

Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963) is a former American professional basketball player, active businessman, and majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats. His biography on the National Basketball Association (NBA) website states, "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time." During his three seasons at North Carolina, he averaged 17.7 ppg on 54.0% shooting, and added 5.0 rebounds per game (rpg).

Professional career

During his first season in the NBA, Jordan averaged 28.2 ppg on 51.5% shooting. and appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the heading "A Star is Born" just over a month into his professional career. Jordan was also voted in as an All-Star starter by the fans in his rookie season. The Bulls finished the season 38–44, and lost in the first round of the playoffs in four games to the Milwaukee Bucks. Jordan set the still-unbroken record for points in a playoff game with 63 in Game 2. The Celtics, however, managed to sweep the series. The Bulls finished 50–32, However, the Bulls then lost in five games to the more experienced Detroit Pistons, However, the Pistons again defeated the Bulls, this time in six games, In an unusual ending to the fourth and final game, Isiah Thomas led his team off the court before the final minute had concluded. Most of the Pistons went directly to their locker room instead of shaking hands with the Bulls.

The Bulls compiled an outstanding 15–2 record during the playoffs, In his first Finals appearance, Jordan posted per game averages of 31.2 points on 56% shooting from the field, 11.4 assists, 6.6 rebounds, 2.8 steals and 1.4 blocks. Jordan won his first NBA Finals MVP award, and he cried while holding the NBA Finals trophy.

Jordan and the Bulls continued their dominance in the 1991–92 season, establishing a 67–15 record, topping their franchise record from 1990–91. In the first game, Jordan scored a Finals-record 35 points in the first half, including a record-setting six three-point field goals. After the sixth three-pointer, he jogged down the court shrugging as he looked courtside. Marv Albert, who broadcast the game, later stated that it was as if Jordan was saying, "I can't believe I'm doing this." The Bulls went on to win Game 1, and defeat the Blazers in six games. Jordan was named Finals MVP for the second year in a row and became the first player in NBA history to win three straight Finals MVP awards.

Gambling controversy

During the Bulls' playoff run in 1993, controversy arose when Jordan was seen gambling in Atlantic City, New Jersey the night before a game against the New York Knicks. In that same year, he admitted to having to cover $57,000 in gambling losses, and author Richard Esquinas wrote a book claiming he had won $1.25 million from Jordan on the golf course. When Bradley asked him if his gambling ever got to the level where it jeopardized his livelihood or family, Jordan replied, "No." James R. Jordan, Sr. was murdered on July 23, 1993, at a highway rest area in Lumberton, North Carolina, by two teenagers, Daniel Green and Larry Martin Demery. The assailants were traced from calls they made on James Jordan's cellular phone, caught, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison. Jordan was close to his father; as a child he had imitated his father's proclivity to stick out his tongue while absorbed in work. He later adopted it as his own signature, displaying it each time he drove to the basket.

In his 1998 autobiography For the Love of the Game, Jordan wrote that he had been preparing for retirement as early as the summer of 1992. The added exhaustion due to the Dream Team run in the 1992 Olympics solidified Jordan's feelings about the game and his ever-growing celebrity status. Jordan's announcement sent shock waves throughout the NBA and appeared on the front pages of newspapers around the world.

Jordan then further surprised the sports world by signing a minor league baseball contract with the Chicago White Sox. He reported to spring training and was assigned to the team's minor league system on March 31, 1994. Jordan has stated this decision was made to pursue the dream of his late father, who had always envisioned his son as a Major League Baseball player. The White Sox were another team owned by Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf, who continued to honor Jordan's basketball contract during the years he played baseball. He had a brief professional baseball career for the Birmingham Barons, a Chicago White Sox farm team, batting .202 with 3 HR, 51 RBI, 30 SB, and 11 errors. The team received a lift, however, when Jordan decided to return to the NBA for the Bulls.

On March 18, 1995, Jordan announced his return to the NBA through a pithy press release: "I'm back." The game had the highest Nielsen rating of a regular season NBA game since 1975.

Although he had not played in an NBA game in a year and a half, Jordan played well upon his return, making a game-winning jump shot against Atlanta in his fourth game back and scoring 55 points in a game against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on March 28, 1995. after which Jordan returned to wearing his old number (23). Jordan averaged 31 points per game in that series, but Orlando prevailed in six games. Strengthened by the addition of rebound specialist Dennis Rodman, the Bulls dominated the league, starting the season 41–3, and eventually finishing with the best regular season record in NBA history: 72–10. and won the league's regular season and All-Star Game MVP awards. However, this year Jordan was beaten for the NBA MVP Award by Karl Malone. The team again advanced to the Finals, where they faced Malone and the Utah Jazz. The series against the Jazz featured two of the more memorable clutch moments of Jordan's career. He won Game 1 for the Bulls with a buzzer-beating jump shot. In Game 5, with the series tied 2–2, Jordan played despite being feverish and dehydrated from a stomach virus. In what is known as the "", Jordan scored 38 points including the game-deciding three-pointer with less than a minute remaining. The Bulls won 90–88 and went on to win the series in six games. With the Bulls trailing 86–83 with 40 seconds remaining, coach Jackson called a timeout. When play resumed, Jordan received the inbound pass, drove to the basket, and hit a layup over several Jazz defenders. although the officials did not call a foul. Jordan then released what would be the climactic shot of his career. After a desperation three-point shot by John Stockton missed, Jordan and the Bulls claimed their sixth NBA championship, and secured a second three-peat. Once again, Jordan was voted the Finals MVP, Jordan's six Finals MVPs is a record; Shaquille O'Neal, Magic Johnson, and Tim Duncan are tied for second place with three apiece.

Second retirement

With Phil Jackson's contract expiring, the pending departures of Scottie Pippen (who stated his desire to be traded during the season) and Dennis Rodman (who would sign with the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent) looming, and being in the latter stages of an owner-induced lockout of NBA players, Jordan retired for the second time on January 13, 1999.

On January 19, 2000, Jordan returned to the NBA not as a player, but as part owner and President of Basketball Operations for the Washington Wizards. He'd earlier made a bid to become part-owner of the Charlotte Hornets, as a full partner of founding owner George Shinn. However, negotiations collapsed when Shinn refused to give Jordan total control of on-court operations.

Jordan's responsibilities with the Wizards were comprehensive. He controlled all aspects of the Wizards' basketball operations, and had the final say in all personnel matters. Opinions of Jordan as a basketball executive were mixed. He managed to purge the team of several highly paid, unpopular players (such as forward Juwan Howard and point guard Rod Strickland), but used the first pick in the 2001 NBA Draft to select high schooler Kwame Brown, who did not live up to expectations and was traded away after four seasons.

Despite his January 1999 claim that he was "99.9% certain" that he would never play another NBA game, this time with his new team. Inspired by the NHL comeback of his friend Mario Lemieux the previous winter, Jordan spent much of the spring and summer of 2001 in training, holding several invitation-only camps for NBA players in Chicago. In addition, Jordan hired his old Chicago Bulls head coach, Doug Collins, as Washington's coach for the upcoming season, a decision that many saw as foreshadowing another Jordan return. In an injury-plagued 2001–02 season, he led the team in scoring (22.9 ppg), assists (5.2 apg), and steals (1.42 spg). During his stint with the Wizards, all of Jordan's home games at the MCI Center were sold out, and the Wizards were the second most-watched team in the NBA, averaging 20,172 fans a game at home and 19,311 on the road. However, neither of Jordan's final two seasons resulted in a playoff appearance for the Wizards, and Jordan was often unsatisfied with the play of those around him. At several points he openly criticized his teammates to the media, citing their lack of focus and intensity, notably that of the number one draft pick in the 2001 NBA Draft, Kwame Brown. The Miami Heat retired the number 23 jersey on April 11, 2003, even though Jordan had never played for the team. At the 2003 All-Star Game, Jordan was offered a starting spot from Tracy McGrady and Allen Iverson, but refused both; in the end, however, he accepted the spot of Vince Carter, who decided to give it up under great public pressure.

Jordan's final NBA game was on April 16, 2003 in Philadelphia. After scoring only 13 points in the game, Jordan went to the bench with 4 minutes and 13 seconds remaining in the third quarter and with his team trailing the Philadelphia 76ers, 75–56. Just after the start of the fourth quarter, the First Union Center crowd began chanting "We want Mike!". After much encouragement from coach Doug Collins, Jordan finally rose from the bench and re-entered the game for Larry Hughes with 2:35 remaining. At 1:45, Jordan was intentionally fouled by the 76ers' Eric Snow, and stepped to the line to make both free throws. After the second foul shot, the 76ers in-bounded the ball to rookie John Salmons, who in turn was intentionally fouled by Bobby Simmons one second later, stopping time so that Jordan could return to the bench. Jordan received a three-minute standing ovation from his teammates, his opponents, the officials and a crowd of 21,257 fans.

Olympic career

Jordan played on two Olympic gold medal-winning American basketball teams. As a college player he participated, and won the gold, in the 1984 Summer Olympics. Jordan led the team in scoring averaging 17.1 ppg for the tournament. In the 1992 Summer Olympics he was a member of the star-studded squad that included Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and David Robinson and was dubbed the "Dream Team". Playing limited minutes due to the frequent , Jordan averaged 12.7 ppg, finishing fourth on the team in scoring. Jordan, Patrick Ewing, and fellow Dream Team member Chris Mullin are the only American men's basketball players to win Olympic gold as amateurs (all in 1984) and professionals.

In addition, Jordan and fellow Dream Team member (and Bulls teammate) Scottie Pippen are the only players to have won both NBA championship and Olympic gold medal in the same year (1992).

After retiring as a player

After his third retirement, Jordan assumed that he would be able to return to his front office position of Director of Basketball Operations with the Wizards. However, his previous tenure in the Wizards' front office had produced the aforementioned mixed results and may have also influenced the trade of Richard "Rip" Hamilton for Jerry Stackhouse (although Jordan was not technically Director of Basketball Operations in 2002). Since 2004, Jordan has owned Michael Jordan Motorsports, a professional closed-course motorcycle road racing team that competes with two Suzukis in the premier Superbike class sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA). Jordan and his then-wife Juanita pledged $5 million to Chicago's Hales Franciscan High School in 2006, and the Jordan Brand has made donations to Habitat for Humanity and a Louisiana branch of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. On June 15, 2006, Jordan bought a minority stake in the Charlotte Bobcats, becoming the team's second-largest shareholder behind majority owner Robert L. Johnson. As part of the deal, Jordan was named "Managing Member of Basketball Operations," with full control over the basketball side of the operation. Despite Jordan's previous success as an endorser, he has made an effort not to be included in Charlotte's marketing campaigns.

In February 2010, it was reported that Jordan was seeking majority ownership of the Bobcats. As February wore on, it emerged that the leading contenders for the team were Jordan and former Houston Rockets president George Postolos. On February 27, the Bobcats announced that Johnson had reached an agreement with Jordan and his group, MJ Basketball Holdings, to buy the team pending NBA approval. On March 17, the NBA Board of Governors unanimously approved Jordan's purchase, making him the first former NBA player ever to become the majority owner of a league franchise.

Player profile

Jordan was a shooting guard who was also capable of playing small forward (the position he would primarily play during his second comeback with the Washington Wizards). Jordan was known throughout his career for being a strong clutch performer. He decided numerous games with last-second plays (e.g., The Shot) and performed at a high level even under adverse circumstances (e.g., ). His competitiveness was visible in his prolific trash-talk and well-known work ethic.

Jordan had a versatile offensive game. He was capable of aggressively driving to the basket and drawing fouls from his opponents at a high rate; his 8,772 free throw attempts are the ninth highest total of all time. As his career progressed, Jordan also developed the ability to post up his opponents and score with his trademark fadeaway jumpshot, using his leaping ability to "fade away" from block attempts. According to Hubie Brown, this move alone made him nearly unstoppable. Despite media criticism as a "selfish" player early in his career, Jordan's 5.3 assists per game and combined this with his ball-thieving ability to become a standout defensive player. His 2,514 steals are the second highest total of all-time behind John Stockton, while his steals per game average is third all-time. Jerry West often stated that he was more impressed with Jordan's defensive contributions than his offensive ones.

Legacy

Jordan's basketball talent was clear from his rookie season. Jordan's total of 5,987 points in the playoffs is the highest in NBA history. He retired with 32,292 points in regular season play, placing him third on the NBA's all-time scoring list behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone. Jordan placed second to Babe Ruth in the Associated Press's list of 20th century athletes. In addition, the Associated Press voted him as the basketball player of the 20th century. Jordan has also appeared on the front cover of Sports Illustrated a record 49 times. In the September 1996 issue of Sport, which was the publication's 50th anniversary issue, Jordan was named the greatest athlete of the past 50 years.

Jordan's athletic leaping ability, highlighted in his back-to-back slam dunk contest championships in 1987 and 1988, is credited by many with having influenced a generation of young players. Several current NBA All-Stars have stated that they considered Jordan their role model while growing up, including LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. In addition, commentators have dubbed a number of next-generation players "the next Michael Jordan" upon their entry to the NBA, including Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway, Grant Hill, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Vince Carter, and Dwyane Wade. Although Jordan was a well-rounded player, his "Air Jordan" image is also often credited with inadvertently decreasing the jump shooting skills, defense, and fundamentals of young players, Television ratings in particular increased only during his time in the league and have subsequently lowered each time he left the game. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in September 2009, with former Bulls teammates Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Charles Oakley, Ron Harper, Steve Kerr, and Toni Kukoc in attendance.

Personal life

Jordan is the fourth of five children. He has two older brothers, Larry Jordan and James R. Jordan, Jr., one older sister, Deloris, and a younger sister, Roslyn. Jordan's brother James retired in 2006 as the Command Sergeant Major of the 35th Signal Brigade of the XVIII Airborne Corps in the U.S. Army.

He married Juanita Vanoy in September 1989, and they have two sons, Jeffrey Michael and Marcus James, and a daughter, Jasmine. Jordan and Vanoy filed for divorce on January 4, 2002, citing irreconcilable differences, but reconciled shortly thereafter. They again filed for divorce and were granted a final decree of dissolution of marriage on December 29, 2006, commenting that the decision was made "mutually and amicably". It is reported that Juanita received a $168 million settlement, making it the largest celebrity divorce settlement in history at the time on public record.

On July 21, 2006, a Cook County, Illinois judge determined that Jordan did not owe his alleged former lover Karla Knafel $5 million. Jordan had allegedly paid Knafel $250,000 to keep their relationship a secret. Knafel claimed Jordan promised her $5 million for remaining silent and agreeing not to file a paternity suit after Knafel learned she was pregnant in 1991. A DNA test showed Jordan was not the father of the child. Jeffrey graduated as a member of the 2007 graduating class and played his first collegiate basketball game on November 11, 2007, for the University of Illinois. After two seasons, Jeffrey left the Illinois basketball team in 2009. He later rejoined the team for a third season, then received a release to transfer to the University of Central Florida, where Marcus was attending. Marcus transferred to Whitney Young High School after his sophomore year and graduated in 2009. He began attending UCF in the fall of 2009.

In December of 2010, the Charlotte Observer reported that Jordan had purchased and combined the two top-floor penthouses at The Trust, a luxury condominium building in downtown Charlotte, North Carolina.

Media figure and business interests

is a silhouette of Jordan used by Nike to promote the Air Jordan shoes, among other merchandise.]] Jordan is one of the most marketed sports figures in history. He has been a major spokesman for such brands as Nike, Coca-Cola, Chevrolet, Gatorade, McDonald's, Ball Park Franks, Rayovac, Wheaties, Hanes, and MCI. Jordan has had a long relationship with Gatorade, appearing in over 20 commercials for the company since 1991, including the "Like Mike" commercials in which a song was sung by children wishing to be like Jordan.

Nike created a signature shoe for him, called the Air Jordan. One of Jordan's more popular commercials for the shoe involved Spike Lee playing the part of Mars Blackmon. In the commercials Lee, as Blackmon, attempted to find the source of Jordan's abilities and became convinced that "it's gotta be the shoes". The brand has also sponsored college sports programs such as those of North Carolina, Cincinnati, Cal, St. John's, Georgetown, and North Carolina A&T;.

Jordan also has been connected with the Looney Tunes cartoon characters. A Nike commercial shown during the 1993 Super Bowl XXVII featured Jordan and Bugs Bunny playing basketball against a group of Martian characters. The Super Bowl commercial inspired the 1996 live action/animated movie Space Jam, which starred Jordan and Bugs in a fictional story set during his first retirement. They have subsequently appeared together in several commercials for MCI. In addition, when Jordan's power at the ticket gates was at its highest point the Bulls regularly sold out every game they played in, whether home or away. Due to this, Jordan set records in player salary by signing annual contracts worth in excess of $30 million US dollars per season. An academic study found that Jordan’s first NBA comeback resulted in an increase in the market capitalization of his client firms of more than $1 billion.

Most of Jordan's endorsement deals, including the first deal with Nike, were engineered by his agent, David Falk. Jordan has said of Falk that "he's the best at what he does", and that "marketing-wise, he's great. He's the one who came up with the concept of 'Air Jordan.'"

In June 2010, Jordan was ranked by Forbes Magazine as the 20th most powerful celebrity in the world with $55 million earned between June 2009 and June 2010. According to the Forbes article, Brand Jordan generates $1 billion in sales for Nike.

Honors and awards

at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill game honoring the 1957 and 1982 men's basketball teams.]]

Jordan won numerous awards and set many records during his career. The following are some of his achievements:

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2009

2 Olympic Gold Medals – 1984, 1992

6-time NBA Champion

6-time NBA Finals MVP

5-time NBA MVP

10 NBA Scoring Titles

3-time steals leader

3-time minutes leader

14 NBA All-Star Selections

3-time NBA All-Star Game MVP

11 All-NBA Selections

9 All-Defensive First Team Selections

2-time NBA Slam Dunk Contest Champion – 1987, 1988

NBA Rookie of the Year – NBA Defensive Player of the Year –

ACC Freshman of the Year – 1981–82

2-time Consensus NCAA All-American First Team – 1982–83, 1983–84

ACC Men's Basketball Player of the Year – 1983–84

USBWA College Player of the Year – 1983–84

Naismith College Player of the Year – 1983–84

John R. Wooden Award – 1983–84

Adolph Rupp Trophy – 1983–84

Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year – 1991

Named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996

Ranked #1 by SLAM Magazine's Top 50 Players of All-Time

Ranked #1 by ESPN Sportscentury's Top 100 Athletes of the 20th century

Elected to North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame

See also

List of National Basketball Association top rookie scoring averages

List of National Basketball Association top individual scoring season averages

List of individual National Basketball Association scoring leaders by season

List of National Basketball Association season steals leaders

List of National Basketball Association players with most points in a game

List of National Basketball Association players with most steals in a game

List of National Basketball Association players with 50 or more points in a playoff game

List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association career assists leaders

List of National Basketball Association career steals leaders

List of National Basketball Association career turnovers leaders

List of National Basketball Association career free throw scoring leaders

List of highest playoff series scoring averages in National Basketball Association history

List of National Basketball Association players with most championship rings

; Outside basketball

Michael Jordan Steakhouse

Michael Jordan's Restaurant

Michael Jordan in Flight

NBA 2K11

References

External links

NBA History: Jordan bio

NBA.com historical playerfile

NBA Player Stats

Michael Jordan Motorsports

Category:1963 births Category:ACC Athlete of the Year Category:African American basketball players Category:African American sports executives Category:Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Category:Basketball players at the 1983 Pan American Games Category:Basketball players at the 1984 Summer Olympics Category:Basketball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Category:Basketball players from North Carolina Category:Birmingham Barons players Category:Charlotte Bobcats executives Category:Charlotte Bobcats owners Category:Chicago Bulls draft picks Category:Chicago Bulls players Category:Living people Category:McDonald's High School All-Americans Category:Minor league baseball players Category:National Basketball Association executives Category:National Basketball Association owners Category:NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award winners Category:NBA Finals MVP Award winners Category:NBA Slam Dunk Contest champions Category:North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball players Category:National Basketball Association players with retired numbers Category:Olympic basketball players of the United States Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States Category:Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Category:People from Brooklyn Category:People from Chicago, Illinois Category:People from Highland Park, Illinois Category:People from Wilmington, North Carolina Category:Shooting guards Category:Sportspeople of multiple sports Category:United States men's national basketball team members Category:Washington Wizards executives Category:Washington Wizards players

Coordinates	13°45′4″N79°20′16″N
Name	Max Romeo
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Maxwell Livingston Smith
Born	November 22, 1947
Origin	St. D'Acre, St. James, Jamaica
Genre	Reggae, roots reggae
Years active	1966 - present
Associated acts	The Upsetters

Max Romeo (born Maxwell Livingston Smith, 22 November 1947, St. D'Acre, St. James, Jamaica) is a reggae and roots reggae recording artist who has achieved chart success in his home country, and in the UK. Romeo was responsible for launching an entirely new sub-genre of reggae, whose overtly suggestive lyrics caused an outcry but took a massive hold of the music scene regardless. Yet innuendo was the least of the singer's stylings, previous to the release of his infamous "Wet Dream," Romeo had garnered a string of sweet hits with the vocal trio the Emotions. And once the nocturnal naughtiness faded, the singer established himself as one of the most important figures in the roots scene.

Career

Romeo left home at the age of 14 and worked on a sugar plantation outside Clarendon, cleaning out irrigation ditches, before winning a local talent competition when he was 18; prompting a move to the capital, Kingston, in order to achieve a successful musical career. before featuring on his LP, A Dream (1969), which included several follow-up singles in a similar vein, such as "Mini Skirt Version", "Fish in the Pot", "Belly Woman", and "Wine Her Goosie". Shortly after this the pair fell out, leaving Romeo to self-produce his follow-up album, Reconstruction, which could not match the success of its predecessor. Perry's animosity towards Romeo was demonstrated by his single "White Belly Rat", with Perry also writing the word 'Judas' over a photograph of Romeo on the wall of his Black Ark studio.

Romeo moved to New York City in 1978, where he co-wrote (with Hair producer Michael Butler) the musical, Reggae, which he also starred in. In 1980 he appeared as a backing vocalist on "Dance" on The Rolling Stones album Emotional Rescue. In 1981, the favour was returned when Keith Richards (of The Rolling Stones) co-produced and played on Romeo's album, Holding Out My Love to You. The rest of his output during the decade went practically unnoticed, with Romeo finding work at a New York electronics store. He returned to Jamaica in 1990, and began touring and recording more regularly.

He visited the UK again in 1992, recording the albums Far I Captain of My Ship and Our Rights with Jah Shaka. In 1995 he recorded Cross of the Gun with Tappa Zukie, and he joined up with UK rhythm section/production team Mafia & Fluxy in 1999 for the album Selassie I Forever.

Romeo's music has been sampled by other artists; The Prodigy sampled his track "I Chase the Devil" for their 1992 UK Top Ten hit "Out of Space". Kanye West has also used samples from it to produce Jay-Z's hit song "Lucifer", which appeared on Jay-Z's 2003 release - The Black Album.

"I Chase the Devil" is featured on the reggae radio station in a popular videogame Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, released in October 2004. Romeo's single "Sipple Out Deh" appeared in John Peel's Record Box.

Discography

Albums

A Dream (1969) Pama

Let The Power Fall (1971) Dynamic

Revelation Time (1975) Tropical Sound Tracs

War Ina Babylon (1976) Island

Reconstruction (1979) Island/Dynamic

Rondos (1980) King Kong

Holding Out My Love to You (1981) Shanachie

I Love My Music (1982) Solid Groove

One Horse Race (1985), Island in the Sun

Transition (1989) Rohit

Fari - Captain of My Ship (1992) Jah Shaka

Our Rights (1992) Jah Shaka

Cross or the Gun (1995) Tappa Zukie

Selassie I Forever (1999) Mafia & Fluxy

Love Message (1999) Warriors

Something is Wrong (1999) Warriors

In This Time (2001) 3D (Max Romeo & Tribu Acustica)

Pocomania Songs (2007) Ariwa Sounds

Compilation albums

Max Romeo Meets Owen Gray At King Tubby's Studio (1984) Culture Press (with Owen Gray)

Max Romeo and the Upsetters (1989)

Wet Dream (1993) Crocodisc

McCabee Version (1995) Sonic Sounds

Open The Iron Gate (1999) Blood & Fire

The Many Moods of Max Romeo (1999) Jamaican Gold

Pray For Me: The Best of Max Romeo 1967-73 (2000) Trojan Records

Perilous Times (2000) Charmax

On The Beach (2001) Culture Press

The Coming of Jah (2002) Trojan

Ultimate Collection (2003) (compiled by David Katz)

Holy Zion (2003) Burning Bush

Wet Dream: The Best of Max Romeo (2004) Trojan

Crazy World of Dub (2005) Jamaican Recordings

Max Romeo Sings Hits of Bob Marley (2006), Jet Star

See also

List of reggae musicians

List of roots reggae artists

Island Records discography

Pama Records

References

External links

[ Max Romeo biography] at Allmusic website

Max Romeo fansite

Max Romeo biography by David Katz

Some Max Romeo Vinyl Release

Max Romeo Interview at Caprices Festival

Category:1947 births Category:Living people Category:Jamaican male singers Category:Jamaican socialists Category:Converts to the Rastafari movement Category:Jamaican reggae singers Category:People from Saint James Parish, Jamaica

Coordinates	13°45′4″N79°20′16″N
Name	Max Richter
Background	non_performing_personnel
Born	1966, Germany
Occupation	Composer, pianist, producer
Years active	1990s–present
Label	Fat Cat Records
Url	maxrichter.com

Max Richter (born 1966) is a German-born British composer.

Biography

Richter trained in composition and piano at University of Edinburgh, the Royal Academy of Music, and with Luciano Berio in Florence. After finishing his studies, Richter co-founded the contemporary classical ensemble Piano Circus, with which he stayed for ten years, commissioning and performing works by Arvo Pärt, Brian Eno, Philip Glass, Julia Wolfe and Steve Reich. The ensemble was signed to Decca/Argo, producing five albums.

In 1996, he worked with Future Sound of London on their album Dead Cities, initially starting as a pianist but ending up working on several tracks as well as co-writing one track (titled "Max"). Richter subsequently collaborated with FSOL over a period of two years, also contributing to the albums The Isness and The Peppermint Tree and Seeds of Superconsciousness.

In 2000, Richter collaborated with Mercury Prize winner Roni Size on the Reprazent album In the Mode.

In 2002, Richter composed an eighteen-track album, Memoryhouse, featuring sounds from nature and recordings of voices as well as readings of poetry in other languages. The album went out of print several years later, but is now again available. Four tracks (“Europe, After the Rain”, “The Twins (Prague)”, “Fragment“, and “Embers”) were used in the six-part 2005 BBC documentary produced by Laurence Rees.

In 2005, Richter produced the Vashti Bunyan album Lookaftering.

In 2006, Richter's tracks "On the Nature of Daylight" and "Horizon Variations" were used in Marc Forster's film Stranger than Fiction. "On the Nature of Daylight" was also used in Martin Scorsese's 2010 film Shutter Island.

In 2007, Richter worked on Waltz with Bashir, an animated documentary by Ari Folman. His first U.S. performance was on November 28 at the Good-Shepherd Faith Church, New York, as part of the Wordless Music Series.

In 2008, Richter produced the Kelli Ali album Rocking Horse and released in September his fourth solo album, 24 Postcards in Full Colour. The album is an experimental collection of miniatures for mobile phones. The pieces are a series of variations on the basic material, scored for strings, piano and electronics.

In 2009, Richter composed the scores for Feo Aladag's film Die Fremde (together with Stéphane Moucha) and for Renato De Maria's film La prima linea. Memoryhouse, Richter's long out of print debut album, was reissued on November 3. The album was recorded by Richter with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.

In 2010, Dinah Washington's voice singing "This Bitter Earth" was remixed with Richter's "On the Nature of Daylight" for the Martin Scorsese film Shutter Island, and the soundtrack was released in January. In July 2010, "On The Nature Of Daylight" and "Vladimir's Blues" were used throughout the BBC Two two-part drama "Dive" co-written by Bafta award winning Dominic Savage and Simon Stevens.

Solo discography

Memoryhouse (BBC, 2002)

The Blue Notebooks (Fat Cat Records, 2004)

Songs from Before (Fat Cat Records, 2006)

24 Postcards in Full Colour (Fat Cat Records, 2008)

Infra (Fat Cat Records, 2010)

References

External links

Boomkat Interview

Mixtape Interview

Two and a Half Questions with Max Richter on Headphone Commute (Nov, 2010)

Category:21st-century classical composers Category:European Film Awards winners (people) Category:Postminimalist composers Category:Experimental composers Category:British film score composers Category:German film score composers Category:British pianists Category:German pianists Category:British people of German descent Category:1966 births Category:Living people

Coordinates	13°45′4″N79°20′16″N
Caption	Gyllenhaal at New Eyes for the Needy in 2010
Birth name	Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal
Birth date	December 19, 1980
Birth place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1991–present

Jacob Benjamin "Jake" Gyllenhaal ( ; born December 19, 1980) is an American actor. The son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, Gyllenhaal began acting at age ten. He has appeared in diverse roles since his first lead role in 1999's October Sky, followed by the 2001 indie cult hit Donnie Darko, in which he played a psychologically troubled teen and onscreen brother to his real-life sister, actress Maggie Gyllenhaal. In the 2004 science-fiction film The Day After Tomorrow he portrayed a student caught in a cataclysmic global cooling event, alongside Dennis Quaid as his father. He then played against type as a frustrated Marine in Jarhead (2005). The same year, he garnered critical acclaim and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination as Jack Twist in the film Brokeback Mountain opposite Heath Ledger.

Gyllenhaal has promoted various political and social causes. He appeared in Rock the Vote advertising, campaigned for the Democratic Party in the 2004 election, promoted environmental causes, and campaigned on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Early life and education

Gyllenhaal was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of film director Stephen Gyllenhaal and film producer and screenwriter Naomi Foner (née Achs). Jake Gyllenhaal's mother is from a Jewish family from New York City, and Gyllenhaal has said that he considers himself "more Jewish than anything else." On his thirteenth birthday, Gyllenhaal performed a "barmitzvah-like act, without the typical trappings", volunteering at a homeless shelter, because his parents wanted to instill in him a sense of gratitude for his privileged lifestyle. His parents insisted that he have summer jobs to support himself, and he thus worked as a lifeguard and as a busboy at a restaurant operated by a family friend. In subsequent years, his parents allowed him to audition for parts, but regularly forbade him to take them if he were chosen. He was allowed to appear in his father's films several times. Gyllenhaal appeared in the 1993 film A Dangerous Woman (along with sister Maggie); in "" a 1994 episode of ; and in the 1998 comedy Homegrown. Along with their mother, Jake and Maggie appeared in two episodes of Molto Mario, an Italian cooking show on the Food Network. Prior to his senior year in high school, the only other film not directed by his father in which Gyllenhaal was allowed to perform was the 1993 film Josh and S.A.M., a little-known children's adventure.

Gyllenhaal graduated from the Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles in 1998, then attended Columbia University, where his sister was a senior and from which his mother had graduated, to study Eastern religions and philosophy. Gyllenhaal dropped out after two years to concentrate on acting, but has expressed intentions to eventually finish his degree.

From Donnie Darko to the London stage

Donnie Darko, Gyllenhaal's second major film, was not a box office success upon its initial 2001 release, but eventually became a cult favorite. The film, directed by Richard Kelly, is set in 1988 and stars Gyllenhaal as a troubled teenager who, after narrowly escaping death, experiences visions of a 6 foot (1.8 m) tall rabbit named Frank who tells him that the world is coming to an end. Gyllenhaal's performance was well-received by critics; Gary Mairs of Culture Vulture wrote that "Gyllenhaal manages the difficult trick of seeming both blandly normal and profoundly disturbed, often within the same scene."

, 2001]] After the critical success of Donnie Darko, Gyllenhaal's next role was as the lead character in 2002's Highway, a film ignored by audiences and critics alike. His performance was described by one critic as "silly, cliched and straight to video." Gyllenhaal had more success starring opposite Jennifer Aniston in The Good Girl, which premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival; he also starred in Lovely & Amazing with Catherine Keener. In both films he plays an unstable character who begins a reckless affair with an older woman. Gyllenhaal later described these as "teenager in transition" roles. Gyllenhaal later starred in the Touchstone Pictures romantic comedy Bubble Boy, which was loosely based on the story of David Vetter. The film portrays the title character's adventures as he pursues the love of his life before she marries the wrong man. The film was panned by critics, with one calling it an "empty-headed, chaotic, utterly tasteless atrocity".

Following Bubble Boy, Gyllenhaal starred opposite Dustin Hoffman, Susan Sarandon and Ellen Pompeo in Moonlight Mile, as a young man coping with the death of his fiancée and the grief of her parents. The story, which received mixed reviews, is loosely based on writer/director Brad Silberling's personal experiences following the murder of girlfriend Rebecca Schaeffer.

Gyllenhaal was almost cast as Spider-Man for Spider-Man 2 due to director Sam Raimi's concerns about original Spider-Man star Tobey Maguire's health. Maguire recovered, however, and the sequel was shot without Gyllenhaal. Instead, Gyllenhaal starred in the blockbuster The Day After Tomorrow in 2004, co-starring Dennis Quaid as his father.

In his theatrical debut Gyllenhaal starred on the London stage in Kenneth Lonergan's revival of This is Our Youth. Gyllenhaal said, "Every actor I look up to has done theatre work, so I knew I had to give it a try." The play, which had been a critical sensation on Broadway, ran for eight weeks in London's West End. Gyllenhaal received favorable critical reviews and an Evening Standard Theatre Award in the category "Outstanding Newcomer."

Brokeback Mountain and after

in 2005.]] 2005 was a prolific year for Gyllenhaal, who starred in the critically praised films Proof, Jarhead, and Brokeback Mountain. In Proof, featuring Gwyneth Paltrow and Anthony Hopkins, Gyllenhaal played a graduate student in mathematics who tries to convince Paltrow's character to publish a revolutionary proof to a problem puzzling the mathematicians' community. In Jarhead, Gyllenhaal played against his usual "sensitive yet disturbed" type by displaying an aggressive masculinity as a violent U.S. Marine during the first Gulf War. He also auditioned to be Batman for one of the biggest blockbusters Batman Begins and came close to getting the role but Christian Bale was ultimately chosen for it.

In Brokeback Mountain, Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger play young men who meet as sheep herders and embark upon a sexual relationship that begins in the summer of 1963 and continues until the death of Gyllenhaal's character in 1983. The film was often referred to in the media with the shorthand phrase "the gay cowboy movie," though there was differing opinion on the sexual orientation of the characters. The film won the Golden Lion prize at the Venice Film Festival. The film went on to win four Golden Globe Awards, four British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards, and three Academy Awards. Gyllenhaal was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Supporting Actor for his performance, but lost to George Clooney for Syriana. Gyllenhaal also won the Best Supporting Actor BAFTA for the same role and received a Best Supporting Actor nomination and Best Film Ensemble nomination from the Screen Actors Guild. Also for Brokeback Mountain, he and Ledger won an MTV Movie Award for "Best Kiss" in 2006. Shortly after the 2006 Academy Awards, Gyllenhaal was invited to join the Academy in recognition of his acting career. Gyllenhaal was awarded the 2006 Young Artist Award for Artistic Excellence by The Americans for the Arts National Arts Awards for his role.

Gyllenhaal expressed mixed feelings about the experience of being directed by Ang Lee in Brokeback Mountain, but generally had more praise than criticism for Lee's directing style. While complaining of the way Lee tended to disconnect with his actors once filming began, Gyllenhaal praised his encouraging direction of the actors and sensitive approach to the material. At the Directors Guild of America Awards on January 28, 2006, Gyllenhaal also praised Lee for "his humbleness and his respect for everyone around him."

When asked about his kissing scenes with Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain, Gyllenhaal said, "As an actor, I think we need to embrace the times we feel most uncomfortable." When asked about the more intimate scenes with Ledger, Gyllenhaal likened them to "doing a sex scene with a woman I'm not particularly attracted to."}}

Gyllenhaal narrated the 2005 short animated film The Man Who Walked Between the Towers, based on Mordicai Gerstein's book of the same name about Philippe Petit's famous stunt. In January 2007, as host of Saturday Night Live, he put on a sparkly evening dress and sang "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" from the musical Dreamgirls for his opening monologue, dedicating the song to his "unique fan base... the fans of Brokeback."

In 2007, Gyllenhaal starred in David Fincher's Zodiac, which was based on a true story. He played Robert Graysmith, a San Francisco Chronicle cartoonist and author of two books about the Zodiac serial killer. Gyllenhaal starred opposite Meryl Streep, Alan Arkin, and Reese Witherspoon in the October 2007 release Rendition, a Gavin Hood-directed political thriller about the U.S. policy of extraordinary rendition. In 2009, he appeared with Tobey Maguire in Jim Sheridan's remake of Susanne Bier's 2004 Danish language film Brothers. His upcoming roles include the comedy Nailed, which he filmed in South Carolina with Jessica Biel, and Doug Liman's as yet untitled film about the race for lunar colonization.

Internationally viewed as a sex symbol, Gyllenhaal was named one of People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People" in 2006. He was also listed in People's "Hottest Bachelors of 2006". In response to mainstream press lists like these, thousands of gay and bisexual men were polled for the 2007 and 2008 "AfterElton.com Hot 100 List." Gyllenhaal was ranked at #1 in both consecutive years. He was ranked at #2 on the Gay Wired Magazine poll of male actors who have played gay characters in movies.

On the show Entourage, Gyllenhaal, though not featured on screen, was the replacement for Vincent Chase in Aquaman 2 after Chase was fired. This was likely a reference to Spider-Man 2, when Gyllenhaal almost replaced Tobey Maguire.

Gyllenhaal played the lead role in the movie adaptation of the video game , produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and released by Disney on May 28, 2010.

Personal life

Family and other relationships

:For more on Gyllenhaal's paternal ancestors, see Gyllenhaal family The son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, Gyllenhaal's immediate family includes his sister, actress Maggie, who is married to actor Peter Sarsgaard, Gyllenhaal's co-star in Jarhead and Rendition. In December, 2006, Jake and his sister escaped a fire that destroyed Manka's, a famed lodge and restaurant in Inverness, California, at which they were vacationing. Gyllenhaal's niece, Ramona Sarsgaard, was born on October 3, 2006. Jamie Lee Curtis is Gyllenhaal's godmother, Gyllenhaal himself is the godfather of Matilda Rose Ledger (born October 28, 2005), daughter of Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams, both of whom co-starred with him in Brokeback Mountain. His uncle, Anders Gyllenhaal, is the executive editor of The Miami Herald. His late uncle is filmmaker Robert Achs.

Gyllenhaal dated actress Kirsten Dunst for nearly two years starting in 2002.

Gyllenhaal dated his Rendition co-star Reese Witherspoon. Witherspoon confirmed the relationship, about which the media had speculated since early 2007, in an interview for the November 2008 issue of Vogue. The couple split in November 2009, but the report was jointly denied by Witherspoon and Gyllenhaal's publicists, who declared that "they are still together." However, weeks later, a report in Us Weekly stated that the couple had split.

In late 2010, Gyllenhaal briefly dated country singer Taylor Swift. They split in early 2011.

Politics and other interests

Gyllenhaal is politically active. He shot a commercial for Rock the Vote, and along with his sister, visited the University of Southern California to encourage students to vote during the 2004 U.S. Election. He also campaigned for Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry. He has said, however, that "it frustrates me when actors talk politics; I'm political and I make choices in my movies that I think are political. I try and say things with what I do. Rightly or wrongly, young actors have all the power."

Raised in a family concerned with social issues, in 2003 Gyllenhaal participated in an advertising campaign by the American Civil Liberties Union, an organization his entire family strongly supports. Environmentally conscious, he recycles regularly, and said in an interview that he spends $400 a year to have trees planted in a Mozambique forest, partly to promote the Future Forests program. After filming The Day After Tomorrow, he flew to the Arctic to promote awareness of climate change.

In his spare time, Gyllenhaal enjoys woodworking and cooking. He has said, "I am not a card-carrying Buddhist, but I do try to practice mindfulness" and it is his goal to meditate every day.

Gyllenhaal has signed on to help the TV fundraiser Stand Up To Cancer.

Filmography

{| class="wikitable sortable" |+ Film |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 1991 | City Slickers | Danny Robbins | |- | 1993 | Josh and S.A.M. | Leon | |- | 1993 | | Edward | as Jacob Gyllenhaal |- | 1998 |Homegrown | Jake/Blue Kahan | |- | 1999 | October Sky | Homer Hickam Jr. | |- | 2001 | Donnie Darko | Donald J. "Donnie" Darko | |- | 2001 | Bubble Boy | Jimmy Livingston | |- | 2001 | Lovely & Amazing | Jordan | |- | 2002 | Highway | Pilot Kelson | |- | 2002 | Moonlight Mile | Joe Nast | |- | 2002 | | Thomas 'Holden' Worther | |- | 2003 | Abby Singer | Himself | Cameo |- | 2004 | | Sam Hall | |- | 2005 | Brokeback Mountain | Jack Twist | |- | 2005 | Jarhead | Anthony "Swoff" Swofford | |- | 2005 | Proof | Harold 'Hal' Dobbs | |- | 2007 | Zodiac | Robert Graysmith | |- | 2007 | Rendition | Douglas Freeman | |- | 2009 | Brothers | Tommy Cahill | |- | 2010 | | Prince Dastan | |- | 2010 | Love and Other Drugs | Jamie Randall | |- | 2010 | Nailed | Howard Birdwell | Donnie Darko |- | 2002 |Independent Spirit Awards | Best Male Lead | Nominated | Donnie Darko |- | 2003 | Chlotrudis Awards | Best Actor | Won | Donnie Darko |- | 2003 | DVD Exclusive Awards | DVD Premiere Award, Best Actor | Nominated | Highway |- | 2003 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Movie Breakout Star – Male | Nominated | The Good Girl |- | 2005 | National Board of Review | Best Supporting Actor | Won | Brokeback Mountain |- | 2006 | MTV Movie Awards | Best Performance | Won | Brokeback Mountain |- | 2006 | MTV Movie Awards | Best Kiss | Won | Brokeback Mountain |- | 2006 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Nominated | Brokeback Mountain |- | 2006 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Best Ensemble | Nominated | Brokeback Mountain |- | 2006 | Critics' Choice Award | Best Supporting Actor | Nominated | Brokeback Mountain |- | 2006 | BAFTA Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Won | Brokeback Mountain |- | 2006 | Palm Springs International Film Festival | Achievement – Actor Award | Won | Brokeback Mountain |- | 2006 | Academy Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Nominated | Brokeback Mountain |- | 2006 | Satellite Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actor | Nominated | Brokeback Mountain |- | 2006 | Satellite Awards | Outstanding Lead Actor | Nominated | Jarhead |- | 2006 | National Arts Awards | Young Artist Award for Artistic Excellence | Won | |- | 2008 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Movie Actor – Drama | Nominated | Rendition |- | 2010 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Movie Actor: Fantasy | Nominated | |- | 2010 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Movie Actor: Drama | Nominated | Brothers |- | 2010 | Golden Globe Award | Best Actor: Musical or Comedy | Nominated | Love and Other Drugs |}

References

External links

Category:1980 births Category:Actors from Los Angeles, California Category:American actors of Swedish descent Category:American film actors Category:American Jews Category:American stage actors Category:American television actors Category:BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor Category:California Democrats Category:Columbia University alumni Category:Jewish actors Category:Living people

Grant David "Knobby" Warwick (October 11, 1921 - September 27, 1999) was a professional ice hockey right winger who played 9 seasons in the National Hockey League. He won the Calder Trophy in 1942.

Born in Regina, Saskatchewan, Warwick played 395 career NHL games, scoring 147 goals and 142 assists for 289 points. His brother Bill Warwick also played professional hockey.

Career statistics

{| BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="3" CELLSPACING="0" ID="Table3" |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! ALIGN="center" colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff" |   ! ALIGN="center" rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |   ! ALIGN="center" colspan="5" | Regular Season ! ALIGN="center" rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |   ! ALIGN="center" colspan="5" | Playoffs |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! ALIGN="center" | Season ! ALIGN="center" | Team ! ALIGN="center" | League ! ALIGN="center" | GP ! ALIGN="center" | G ! ALIGN="center" | A ! ALIGN="center" | Pts ! ALIGN="center" | PIM ! ALIGN="center" | GP ! ALIGN="center" | G ! ALIGN="center" | A ! ALIGN="center" | Pts ! ALIGN="center" | PIM |- ALIGN="center" | ALIGN="center" | 1941–42 | ALIGN="center" | Rangers | ALIGN="center" | NHL | ALIGN="center" | 44 | ALIGN="center" | 16 | ALIGN="center" | 17 | ALIGN="center" | 33 | ALIGN="center" | 36 | ALIGN="center" | 6 | ALIGN="center" | 0 | ALIGN="center" | 1 | ALIGN="center" | 1 | ALIGN="center" | 2 |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | ALIGN="center" | 1942–43 | ALIGN="center" | Rangers | ALIGN="center" | NHL | ALIGN="center" | 50 | ALIGN="center" | 17 | ALIGN="center" | 18 | ALIGN="center" | 35 | ALIGN="center" | 31 | ALIGN="center" | -- | ALIGN="center" | -- | ALIGN="center" | -- | ALIGN="center" | -- | ALIGN="center" | -- |- ALIGN="center" | ALIGN="center" | 1943–44 | ALIGN="center" | Rangers | ALIGN="center" | NHL | ALIGN="center" | 18 | ALIGN="center" | 8 | ALIGN="center" | 9 | ALIGN="center" | 17 | ALIGN="center" | 14 | ALIGN="center" | -- | ALIGN="center" | -- | ALIGN="center" | -- | ALIGN="center" | -- | ALIGN="center" | -- |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | ALIGN="center" | 1944–45 | ALIGN="center" | Rangers | ALIGN="center" | NHL | ALIGN="center" | 42 | ALIGN="center" | 20 | ALIGN="center" | 22 | ALIGN="center" | 42 | ALIGN="center" | 25 | ALIGN="center" | -- | ALIGN="center" | -- | ALIGN="center" | -- | ALIGN="center" | -- | ALIGN="center" | -- |- ALIGN="center" | ALIGN="center" | 1945–46 | ALIGN="center" | Rangers | ALIGN="center" | NHL | ALIGN="center" | 45 | ALIGN="center" | 19 | ALIGN="center" | 18 | ALIGN="center" | 37 | ALIGN="center" | 19 | ALIGN="center" | -- | ALIGN="center" | -- | ALIGN="center" | -- | ALIGN="center" | -- | ALIGN="center" | -- |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | ALIGN="center" | 1946–47 | ALIGN="center" | Rangers | ALIGN="center" | NHL | ALIGN="center" | 54 | ALIGN="center" | 20 | ALIGN="center" | 20 | ALIGN="center" | 40 | ALIGN="center" | 24 | ALIGN="center" | -- | ALIGN="center" | -- | ALIGN="center" | -- | ALIGN="center" | -- | ALIGN="center" | -- |- ALIGN="center" | ALIGN="center" | 1947–48 | ALIGN="center" | Rangers | ALIGN="center" | NHL | ALIGN="center" | 40 | ALIGN="center" | 17 | ALIGN="center" | 12 | ALIGN="center" | 29 | ALIGN="center" | 30 | ALIGN="center" | -- | ALIGN="center" | -- | ALIGN="center" | -- | ALIGN="center" | -- | ALIGN="center" | -- |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | ALIGN="center" | 1947–48 | ALIGN="center" | Boston | ALIGN="center" | NHL | ALIGN="center" | 18 | ALIGN="center" | 6 | ALIGN="center" | 5 | ALIGN="center" | 11 | ALIGN="center" | 8 | ALIGN="center" | 5 | ALIGN="center" | 0 | ALIGN="center" | 3 | ALIGN="center" | 3 | ALIGN="center" | 4 |- ALIGN="center" | ALIGN="center" | 1948–49 | ALIGN="center" | Boston | ALIGN="center" | NHL | ALIGN="center" | 58 | ALIGN="center" | 22 | ALIGN="center" | 15 | ALIGN="center" | 37 | ALIGN="center" | 14 | ALIGN="center" | 5 | ALIGN="center" | 2 | ALIGN="center" | 0 | ALIGN="center" | 2 | ALIGN="center" | 0 |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | ALIGN="center" | 1949–50 | ALIGN="center" | Buffalo | ALIGN="center" | AHL | ALIGN="center" | 37 | ALIGN="center" | 19 | ALIGN="center" | 28 | ALIGN="center" | 47 | ALIGN="center" | 33 | ALIGN="center" | 3 | ALIGN="center" | 2 | ALIGN="center" | 0 | ALIGN="center" | 2 | ALIGN="center" | 0 |- ALIGN="center" | ALIGN="center" | 1949–50 | ALIGN="center" | Montreal | ALIGN="center" | NHL | ALIGN="center" | 26 | ALIGN="center" | 2 | ALIGN="center" | 6 | ALIGN="center" | 8 | ALIGN="center" | 19 | ALIGN="center" | -- | ALIGN="center" | -- | ALIGN="center" | -- | ALIGN="center" | -- | ALIGN="center" | -- |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | ALIGN="center" | 1950–51 | ALIGN="center" | Buffalo | ALIGN="center" | AHL | ALIGN="center" | 65 | ALIGN="center" | 34 | ALIGN="center" | 65 | ALIGN="center" | 99 | ALIGN="center" | 43 | ALIGN="center" | 4 | ALIGN="center" | 2 | ALIGN="center" | 1 | ALIGN="center" | 3 | ALIGN="center" | 2 |- ALIGN="center" | ALIGN="center" | 1951–52 | ALIGN="center" | Buffalo | ALIGN="center" | AHL | ALIGN="center" | 55 | ALIGN="center" | 24 | ALIGN="center" | 41 | ALIGN="center" | 65 | ALIGN="center" | 35 | ALIGN="center" | 3 | ALIGN="center" | 0 | ALIGN="center" | 0 | ALIGN="center" | 0 | ALIGN="center" | 2 |- ALIGN="center" ! colspan="3" | NHL Totals ! ALIGN="center" | 395 ! ALIGN="center" | 147 ! ALIGN="center" | 142 ! ALIGN="center" | 289 ! ALIGN="center" | 220 ! ALIGN="center" | 16 ! ALIGN="center" | 2 ! ALIGN="center" | 4 ! ALIGN="center" | 6 ! ALIGN="center" | 6 |}

External links

Category:1921 births Category:1999 deaths Category:Boston Bruins players Category:Calder Trophy winners Category:Canadian ice hockey right wingers Category:Montreal Canadiens players Category:New York Rangers players Category:People from Regina, Saskatchewan

Coordinates	13°45′4″N79°20′16″N
Name	Dinah Washington
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Ruth Lee Jones
Alias	Queen of the Blues
Born	August 29, 1924
Died	December 14, 1963
Origin	Tuscaloosa, Alabama, U.S.
Genre	Blues, R&B;, Vocal jazz
Occupation	Singer
Years active	1943–1963
Label	Keynote, Mercury,EmArcy, Roulette

Dinah Washington (August 29, 1924 – December 14, 1963) was a blues, R&B; and jazz singer. She is a 1986 inductee of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. Washington was well known for singing torch songs.

Biography

In 1962, Dinah hired a backing trio that called themselves the Allegros. The male trio consisted of Jimmy Thomas on drums, Earl Edwards on sax, and Jimmy Sigler on organ. Edwards was eventually replaced by John Payne on sax. A Variety writer praised their vocals as "effective choruses". They became close to the singer and saw her the night she died.

Washington was married eight times and divorced seven times, while having several lovers, including, according to Patti Austin, Quincy Jones. She had two children. Her husbands were John Young (1942–43), George Jenkins (1949), Walter Buchanan (1950), saxophonist Eddie Chamblee (1957), Rafael Campos (1957), Horatio Maillard (1959–60), Jackie Hayes (1960), and Dick "Night Train" Lane (1963).

Very early on the morning of December 14, 1963, Dinah's eighth husband, NFL player Dick "Night Train" Lane went to sleep with his wife and awoke later to find Dinah slumped over and not responsive. Doctor B. C. Ross came to the scene to pronounce her dead. An autopsy later showed a lethal combination of secobarbital and amobarbital which contributed to her untimely death at the age of 39. She is buried in the Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois.

is a 1964 album recorded by Aretha Franklin as a tribute. Dinah Washington Park in Chicago, Illinois was also named for her.

Awards

Grammy Award

{| class=wikitable |- ! Year ! Category ! Title ! Genre |- align=center | 1959 | Best Rhythm & Blues Performance | What a Diff'rence a Day Makes | R&B; |- align=center |}

Grammy Hall of Fame

Recordings by Dinah Washington were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old, and that have "qualitative or historical significance."

{| class=wikitable |- ! Year ! Title ! Genre ! Label ! Year Inducted |- align=center | 1959 | Unforgettable | pop (single) | Mercury | 2001 |- align=center | 1954 | Teach Me Tonight | R&B; (single) | Mercury | 1999 |- align=center | 1959 | What a Diff'rence a Day Makes | traditional pop (single) | Mercury | 1998 |- align=center |}

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame listed a song of Dinah Washington as one of the 500 songs that shaped rock.

{| class=wikitable |- ! Year Recorded ! Title ! Genre |- align=center | 1948 | Am I Asking Too Much? | R&B; |- align=center |}

Honors and Inductions

In 1993, the U.S. Post Office issued a Dinah Washington 29 cent commemorative postage stamp.

In 2008, the city of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Washington's birthplace, renamed the section of 30th Avenue between 15th Street and Kaulton Park "Dinah Washington Avenue." The unveiling ceremony for the new name took place on March 12, 2009, with Washington's son Robert Grayson and three of her grandchildren, Tracy Jones, Tera Jones, and Bobby Hill Jr., in attendance. In 2005, the Board of Commissioners renamed a park, near where Washington had lived in Chicago in the 1950s, Dinah Washington Park in her honor. {| class=wikitable |- ! Year ! Title ! Result ! Notes |- align=center | 1993 | Rock and Roll Hall of Fame | Inducted | Early Influences |- align=center | 1984 | Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame | Inducted | |- align=center |}

Discography

Albums

1950: Dinah Washington (MG-25260) 1950: Dynamic Dinah! - The Great Voice of Dinah Washington

1952: Blazing Ballads

1954: After Hours with Miss "D"

1954: Dinah Jams

1955: For Those in Love

1956: Dinah!

1956: In the Land of Hi-Fi

1956: The Swingin' Miss "D"

1957: Dinah Washington Sings Fats Waller

1957: Dinah Sings Bessie Smith

1958: Newport '58

1959: What a Diff'rence a Day Makes!

1959: Unforgettable

1960: The Two of Us (with Brook Benton)

1960: I Concentrate on You

1960: For Lonely Lovers

1961: September in the Rain

1962: Dinah '62

1962: In Love

1962: Drinking Again

1962: Tears and Laughter 1962: I Wanna Be Loved

1963: Back to the Blues

1963: Dinah '63

1963: This Is My Story 1964: In Tribute 1964: Dinah Washington (SR-25269) 1967: Dinah Discovered ;Notes Compilation albums with tracks of early 78 rpm era. Compilation albums from Mercury Records which consist of previously unreleased tracks, released after Dinah moved to Roulette Records. Posthumous compilation albums which consist of previously unreleased tracks. ;References

Mercury Records Discography Project - JAZZDISCO.org, retrieved June 24, 2010

Mercury Records Collection, retrieved June 24, 2010

Roulette Album Discography, Part 1, Both Side Now Publications, retrieved June 24, 2010

[ allmusic ((( Dinah Washington > Discography > Main Albums )))] is quite questionable. Retrieved June 24, 2010.

Compilations

The Complete Dinah Washington on Mercury (7 x 3-CDs, PolyGram, 1987–1989)

*Vol. 1 (1946–1949)

*Vol. 2 (1950–1952)

*Vol. 3 (1952–1954)

*Vol. 4 (1954–1956)

*Vol. 5 (1956–1958)

Vol. 6 (1958–1960)

*Vol. 7 (1961)

The Complete Roulette Dinah Washington Sessions (5-CDs, Mosaic Records, 2004)

Singles

"September In the Rain", "Tears and Laughter" and "Where Are You" also made the AC charts (nos. 5, 17 and 11 respectively)

Notes

References

Queen of the Blues: A Biography of Dinah Washington, Jim Haskins, 1987, William Morrow & Co. ISBN 0-688-04846-3

Top Pop Records 1955-1972, Joel Whitburn, 1973, Record Research.

External links

Dinah Washington : Home, Verve Music Group

Dinah Washington's Gravesite

Category:1924 births Category:1963 deaths Category:African American musicians Category:Musicians from Alabama Category:American blues musicians Category:American blues singers Category:American female singers Category:American jazz singers Category:Blues Hall of Fame inductees Category:Dirty blues musicians Category:Musicians from Chicago, Illinois Category:Women in jazz Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Category:Mercury Records artists Category:Drug-related deaths in Michigan Category:Accidental deaths in Michigan Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees

Coordinates	13°45′4″N79°20′16″N
Name	Akon
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Badara Akon Thiam
Born	April 16, 1973St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Origin	Dakar, Senegal
Genre	R&B;, hip hop, pop
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, record producer
Years active	1996–present
Label	Universal, SRC, Konvict, UpFront, Kon Live
Associated acts	T-Pain, Kardinal Offishall, Colby O'Donis, Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, Sway DaSafo, Whitney Houston, Lionel Richie
Url

Akon (born Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Badara Akon Thiam), (), (born April 16, 1973) is a Senegalese-American R&B; singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, and businessman.

He grosses over 30 million dollars a year according to Forbes. He rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of "Locked Up", the first single from his debut album Trouble. His second album, Konvicted, earned him a Grammy Award nomination of the single "Smack That". He has since founded two record labels, Konvict Muzik and Kon Live Distribution.

Akon often sings hooks for other artists and is currently credited with over 300 guest appearances and 45 Billboard Hot 100 songs. He has worked with numerous performers such as Michael Jackson, R. Kelly, Quincy Jones, Eminem and Whitney Houston. He is the first solo artist to hold both the number one and two spots simultaneously on the Billboard Hot 100 charts twice. He has had 6 Grammy Awards nominations and has produced many hits for artists such as Lady Gaga, Colby O'Donis and Leona Lewis. Lady Gaga and T-Pain are two artists who were given their chance at fame by Akon. He has also released a song called "Beautiful" featuring Colby O'Donis and Kardinal Offishall which is in his hit album named Freedom which he released in 2008 and also "Right Now (Na Na Na)" in the same album.

Early life

As the son of Senegalese percussionist Mor Thiam, Akon was raised in a musical setting and taught to play several instruments including the djembe. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S., so that he would not have to go through the immigration process. However, Akon lived in Dakar, Senegal, splitting time between America and Senegal until he was in high school, when he settled permanently in Newark, NJ.

Akon has claimed in interviews that his full name is Aliaune Damala Akon Thiam and he is Muslim, he has never drunk alcohol or smoked due to his faith, although there is some ambiguity and debate about Akon's legal name and birth date. Akon is usually credited as Aliaune Thiam. In addition to the longer form, Akon's full name has been reported both as Aliaune Badara Thiam and Alioune Badara Thiam and About.com claims that this middle name has never been independently verified.

In regards to his birth date, Akon is very protective of it, which is the reason many media outlets have reported incorrect dates. However, legal documents released by The Smoking Gun list Akon's name as Aliaune Damala Thiam and his date of birth as April 16, 1973.

Music career

2003–05: Discovery and Trouble

Akon's alleged three years in jail saw him begin to recognize his music abilities and develop an appreciation for his musical background. Music mogul Devyne Stephens, president of Upfront Megatainment first heard about Akon when the rapper Lil' Zane brought him along to Stephens' rehearsal hall, a place that at the time saw talents such as Usher and TLC being developed. The relationship between Stephens and Akon began as a friendship and mentorship, with the young artist regularly stopping by to ask for advice, but when Akon lost his deal with Elektra Stephens signed him to his production company and began grooming him professionally. The songs Akon recorded with Stephens were brought to the attention of Universal's imprint SRC Records.

In 2005, he released the single "Lonely" (which samples Bobby Vinton's "Mr. Lonely"). The song reached the top five on the Billboard Hot 100, and topped the charts in Australia, the UK and Germany. His album also climbed to number one in the UK in April, 2005. When music channel The Box had a top ten weekly chart, which was calculated by the amount of video requests, Akon's "Lonely" became the longest running single on the top of the chart, spanning over fifteen weeks. Akon then released another single featuring with a New Zealand rapper, Savage with the single Moonshine, which had become a success in both New Zealand and Australia, becoming number one in the New Zealand charts. In 2005, He made his first critically acclaimed guest appearance on Young Jeezy's debut album, , with the song "Soul Survivor." In December the same year his manager, Robert Montanez was killed in a shooting after a dispute in New Jersey.

2006–07: Konvicted

Akon's second album, Konvicted was released on November 14, 2006. It included collaborations with Eminem, Snoop Dogg and Styles P. The first single "Smack That" featuring Eminem was released in August 2006 and peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 for five consecutive weeks. "I Wanna Love You," (featuring Snoop Dogg) was the second single released in September, it would go on to earn Akon his first number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100, and Snoop's second. "I Wanna Love You" topped the U.S. charts for two consecutive weeks. In January 2007, a third single "Don't Matter" which earned him his first solo number one and second consecutive Hot 100 chart topper was released. "Mama Africa" was released as a European single in July 2007, making it the fourth overall single from the album reaching just 47 in the UK. To coincide with the release of the Platinum (deluxe) edition of the album "Sorry, Blame It on Me" was the album's fifth single, debuted in August 2007 on the Hot 100 at number seven. The deluxe version was fully released on August 28, 2007. The final single was confirmed by Akon to be "Never Took the Time." Konvicted debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, selling 286,000 copies in its first week. After only six weeks, Konvicted sold more than one million records in the U.S. and more than 1.3 million worldwide. The album was certified platinum after seven weeks, and after sixteen weeks it was certified double platinum. It stayed in the top twenty of the Billboard 200 for 28 consecutive weeks and peaked at number two on four different occasions. On November 20, 2007, the RIAA certified the album ‘triple platinum’ with 3 million units sold in the US. It has sold more than 4 million copies worldwide.

On October 5, 2006, Akon broke a record on the Hot 100, as he achieved the largest climb in the chart's 48-year-history with "Smack That" jumping from number 95 to 7. The leap was fueled by its number six debut on Hot Digital Songs with 67,000 downloads. The record has since been broken several times. In December 2006, Akon's "Smack That" was nominated for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards, but lost to Justin Timberlake and T.I.'s "My Love".

2008–09: Freedom

Akon released his new album Freedom on December 2, which spawned four singles: "Right Now (Na Na Na)", "I'm So Paid" (featuring Lil Wayne and Young Jeezy), "Beautiful" (featuring Kardinal Offishall and Colby O'Donis) and "We Don't Care". "We Don't Care" has failed to chart significantly in many countries, only reaching 61 in the UK and 91 in Australia. After the unexpected death of The King Of Pop Michael Jackson, who Akon was working with in Jackson's last years, Akon released a tribute song called "Cry Out Of Joy". Akon & Michael Jackson were close friends near the end of Jackson's life.

Speaking of his relationship with Michael Jackson to noted UK R&B; writer Pete Lewis of the award-winning 'Blues & Soul' in October 2008, Akon stated: "Mike is the King Of Pop, and I think that it's a dream come true for ANY major artist/songwriter/producer to be able to work with the best in the business! You know, to work with someone like Mike – who's created opportunities, opened doors for so many people, and achieved so much in the music world, period – is just an experience which would be enough to take home for ANYONE! I mean, when I first flew up to Vegas and met him it was almost like we'd known each other for YEARS! LITERALLY! 'Cause musically we were on the same exact page! The chemistry was just INCREDIBLE! And, as a person, he was the most cool, humble dude I've ever met! I mean, we even actually got to go to the movies together – in broad daylight! Which was an experience in itself!"

David Guetta collaborated with Akon in Sexy Bitch, a first house track by Akon, and has been a "summer anthem" across the globe. Reaching #1 in more than 6 countries, and charting at 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 , it is featured on Guetta's One Love album. Which has made it his 19th Top 20 hit worldwide.

2010–present: Akonic

It was announced in late 2009 that Akon's fourth studio album, Akonic, was set for release in the first quarter of 2010. However, following managerial commitments to other artists, work on the album has not been completed. It was suggested that this would push the album's release back to 2011. However, this was proven false as the album will actually be released on November 29, 2010. Akon had also stated that the title of the album may change between now and that time, since originally it was titled "Stadium Music" or "Stadium". Two tracks from the album have been leaked onto the web - "Nosy Neighbour", which was suggested for the lead single, and "Party Animal", both of which have been produced by David Guetta. The album's lead single, "Angel", was released to US radio stations on September 14, 2010. and was released as a single on September 27, 2010.

Featured projects

In 2006, Akon started his new record label Kon Live Distribution under Interscope Records. His first signed artist was Ray Lavender.

He was featured on Gwen Stefani's latest album, The Sweet Escape. He made an appearance on the title track and second single, "The Sweet Escape." Akon produced the song. On December 10, 2006, Akon and Stefani appeared as musical guests on Saturday Night Live, however they did not perform the song as Stefani had not yet learned the lyrics. He performed the song live, however, on American Idol on March 28, 2007 due to Gwen Stefani's appearance as a coach the night before. "The Sweet Escape" has reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Akon collaborated with Chamillionaire on his mixtape, Mixtape Messiah 2, featuring on the track “Ridin' Overseas” which he also produced. The mixtape was available for download on Chamillionaire's website from December 24, 2006.

In 2006, after their 2005 Akon-produced single, "Soul Survivor," the duo of Akon and Young Jeezy said that there is a lot more to expect from them in the future. The pair announced there are currently plans for a collaborative album. Akon also appeared on Bone Thugs-n-Harmony's album Strength and Loyalty and Three 6 Mafia's eighth studio album, Last 2 Walk, We The Best by DJ Khaled, Fabolous's album, From Nothin' to Somethin', with 50 Cent on some tracks for Curtis, T.I.'s 5th album, T.I. vs. T.I.P., Mario's third solo album Go!, and produced with Daddy Yankee" in the song called "Bring It On" on the album called which was released on June 5, 2007.

On July 7, 2007 Akon performed at the American leg of Live Earth.

In November 2007, Akon recorded a remix of "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" with Michael Jackson. In February 2008, the remix was released on the 25th anniversary rerelease of Michael Jackson's Thriller. Akon produced the track entitled "Echo" on Latin Boy band Menudo's latest album, released in the spring of 2008.

‘Konvict Music’ would be responsible for the re-release of Kat Deluna’s debut album 9 Lives (album) which would feature Akon on the single "Am I Dreaming."

In July 2008 a song called "Hold My Hand" circulated the internet. The song is an R&B; duet/collaboration between Michael Jackson and Akon, composed by Claude Kelly. There also exists another version featuring only Akon. It was not included in the track list for Freedom as Akon previously stated. During an interview with Tavis Smiley, Akon said that Jackson had planned on a high-profile release including a music video until the track had leaked. This is Jackson's last known song before he died on June 25, 2009. Recently, Akon has finished work on the song and it will included on the upcoming posthumous album, Michael. The song itself was released as a single on November 15, 2010.

Akon was also the executive producer of Kardinal Offishall's fourth solo album Not 4 Sale, released September 9, 2008. The promo single "Graveyard Shift" features Akon as does the first single "Dangerous", which peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, and won the award for Single of the Year at the 2009 Juno Awards.

Akon co-wrote and recorded "Put It on My Tab" with New Kids on the Block for their 2008 reunion album The Block.

Akon co-wrote and produced Leona Lewis' hit record Forgive Me, off her debut album Spirit.

He is currently working with X Factor 2008 winner Alexandra Burke on her upcoming debut album.

Akon co-wrote Kon Live artist Lady Gaga's worldwide hit "Just Dance", which also featured Colby O'Donis, and which earned a Grammy nomination for Best Dance Recording at the 51st Grammy Awards.

Flo Rida’s new album R.O.O.T.S. features Akon on the track “Available”.

Akon has recorded a song with E-40 titled "Wake It Up" for E-40's album, The Ball Street Journal. Akon experiments with the auto-tune effect in the song.

Rap singer Nelly confirmed that Akon, Pharrell, and T-Pain have talked about forming a rap supergroup in 2009. Akon and Konvict Muzik are also producing hip hop/rock group Flipsyde's 2009 release, State of Survival, which will be released via Kon Live Distribution and Cherrytree Records. Akon worked with Whitney Houston for her 2009 comeback album I Look to You. He appears on the track "Like I Never Left".

In May 2009, Akon collaborated with Taiwanese artist 潘瑋柏 (Wilber Pan) and released another version of the song, Be With You.

Akon worked with bachata group Aventura and Reggaeton duo Wisin y Yandel on All Up 2 You the second single from Aventura's album The Last that dropped in June. The song received two nominations at the Premios Lo Nuestro 2010 for "Urban Song of the Year" and "Video Collaboration of the Year".

Akon recently signed Jayko, a Hispanic R&B; and Reggaeton artist, to his label and is working with him on his debut album titled "Marcando Territorio"

Sexy Bitch was released in July 2009, a collaboration with French DJ David Guetta.

In August 2009, Akon released another version of Beautiful featuring BoA, a popular and legendary Korean singer. However, this version was for the Japanese market.

Akon also sang in a song with Colby O'Donis called "What You Got".

In 2009 Akon collaborated with Pitbull on the single "Shut It Down" from the album "Rebelution".

Akon worked to help Matisyahu remix his single "One Day" on his album Light.

In 2010 Akon collaborated with up and coming pop singer JRandall on a song entitled ''oo la la" which premiered on JustJared.com on October 6.

In 2010 he is one of over 70 artists singing on "", a charity single in aid of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. He also entered into the Indian market, working with composers Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani on the soundtrack to the Bollywood action film Ra.One.

Akon co-produced Natalia Kills' first single, Mirrors, from her forthcoming debut album, Perfectionist.

Other ventures

Television and film

Akon has confirmed that a reality television show is in the works. It will be called "My Brother's Keeper" and the point is that Akon's two nearly identical brothers will go around in Atlanta posing as him fooling people into thinking that it is in fact Akon. They will try to get VIP treatment, girls and free things. Akon has claimed that people have mistaken his brothers for him many times in Atlanta which is what the show is based on.

Akon is planning to work on a full-length movie titled Illegal Alien. The film is based on some of the events of his life and actor Mekhi Phifer is set to play him. Besides Akon confirmed in August 2007, in the interview with Polish website INTERIA.PL, that he works on a movie "Cocaine Cowboys," which tells the story of Jon Roberts, the main pilot of Medellin Cartel (Colombian drug traffickers). He was also featured on a Verizon Wireless commercial and singing Snitch along with Obie Trice on a episode named "Poppin' Tags."

On November 30, 2007, Akon entered the Big Brother house in Pinoy Big Brother Celebrity Edition 2 as a guest so the housemates can meet him for only 100 seconds. He also appeared on November 17, 2008 edition of WWE Raw, with Santino Marella citing him in his speech. Because of Santino's Italian Stereotyping, he mispronounced Akon's name to "Akorn".

On April 27, 2008, Akon appeared with Colby O'Donis in Dance on Sunset. On January 27, 2010, Akon performed on the Brazilian reality show Big Brother Brasil.

Fashion

In February 2007, Akon launched his clothing line, Konvict Clothing. It features urban streetwear including denim jeans, hoodies, t-shirts and hats. Aliaune is the upscale version, or high-end line, for males and females, which includes blazers, denim jeans and other items. Timothy Hodge appeared on MTV's Direct Effect alongside Akon while promotioning the Konvict clothing line.

Personal life

He has also been rumored to have three wives, however he has since revealed that he only has one, named Tomeka. Akon claims he has six children with three different women in an interview with Blender. Akon claims to have great relationships with all his children, and that he wishes to keep his family protected from the public eye. He also states that his religion made him a better person, and provides guidance to how he acts among others in life.

He also has his own charity for underprivileged children in Africa called Konfidence Foundation. Akon owns a diamond mine in South Africa and denies the existence of blood diamonds (also known as "conflict diamonds") saying, "I don't believe in conflict diamonds. That's just a movie. Think about it. Nobody thought or cared about conflict diamonds until 'Blood Diamond' was released." However, he has since stated that he does accept that blood diamonds exist, and that he is partial-owner of an African mine that is dedicated to avoiding use of blood diamonds while also donating profits to local communities.

"The Smoking Gun" reported in April 2008 that much of Akon's purported criminal and incarceration history has been dramatically embellished. In particular, Akon's claims to be part of an auto-theft ring and his claim to have spent three years in prison were challenged with court records and interviews with detectives involved in Akon's case. According to "The Smoking Gun's" article, Akon was not convicted of any crime and did not serve any time in prison from 1999 to 2002 as previously claimed. He stated that "The Smoking Gun's" attempt to “discredit” him “makes no sense as it is something he is trying to forget.” Akon retorted that he never spent 3 years in prison consecutively, but many shorter sentences that add up to three years, and cites that as the mis-understanding by The Smoking Gun's article.

Legal difficulties

In April 2007, Akon drew criticism for an onstage act which included simulated sex with Danah (Deena) Alleyne, a preacher's daughter aged 15 at the time, at a club in Trinidad and Tobago, as part of a fake contest, despite the club's claim to have a 21 years and over age limit. The incident was filmed by Akon's crew and later uploaded to the Internet. On April 20, 2007 local media, channel TV6, aired the video clip publicly. Amid criticism on the radio, television, and from the blogosphere, Verizon Wireless removed ringtones featuring Akon's songs. Verizon also decided not to sponsor The Sweet Escape Tour where Akon was to be the opening act for Gwen Stefani. However, Universal Music Group did not take action against Akon, but rather simply ordered the video clip be removed from video-sharing site YouTube due to copyright infringement. Conservative commentator and Parents Television Council founder Brent Bozell called this "corporate irresponsibility."

Political commentators Michelle Malkin, Laura Ingraham, and Bill O'Reilly criticized Akon for "degrading women." Malkin uploaded commentary about Akon to YouTube, using footage from music videos and the Trinidad concert, and Universal Music Group then forced its removal by issuing a DMCA takedown notice. The Electronic Frontier Foundation joined Malkin in contesting the removal as a misuse of copyright law, citing fair use. In May 2007, UMG rescinded its claim to the video, and the video returned to YouTube.

On June 3, 2007, at WSPK's KFEST concert at the Dutchess Stadium in Fishkill, New York, a concert attendee threw an object towards Akon on stage. Akon asked the crowd to identify who threw the object and that he be brought on stage. Security staff grabbed the young man and took him up to the stage. Akon then pulled him up from the crowd and hoisted him across his shoulders. The singer then tossed the attendee back into the crowd from his shoulders. Video of the incident was reviewed by Fishkill police. Akon has claimed that the incident was staged and that he in fact used the act to set up for the next record.

Visa Issue

March 23, 2010 – Considering the allegations against the singer Akon, the Sri Lankan Government has decided not to issue him a visa to enter into Sri Lanka, the Government Information Department said a short while ago. The Jathika Bhikku Sansadaya (National Monks' Association) earlier today said that they vehemently protested the planned concert of Akon claiming that his music video insulted Buddhism.

Discography

Trouble (2004)

Konvicted (2006)

Freedom (2008)

Akonic (2011)

Awards and nominations

Name	Akon
Awards	1
Nominations	12
Americanw	1
Americann	3
Grammyn	5
Mtvvideon	4

Akon received four Grammy Award nominations in 2008, including Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for "The Sweet Escape" with Gwen Stefani, Best R&B; Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for "Bartender" with T-Pain, Best Contemporary R&B; Album for Konvicted, and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration with "I Wanna Love You" with Snoop Dogg. The only award that Akon has received is Favorite Soul/R&B; Male Artist from the American Music Awards in 2007. Overall, Akon has received one award from twelve nominations.

American Music Awards

The American Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony created by Dick Clark in 1973. Akon has received one award from three nominations.

|- |rowspan="3"| ||rowspan="3"| Akon || Favorite Soul/R&B; Male Artist || |- | Artist of the Year || |- | Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist ||

Grammy Awards

The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States. Akon has received five nominations.

|- | || "Smack That" (with Eminem) || Best Rap/Sung Collaboration || |- |rowspan="4"| || "The Sweet Escape" (with Gwen Stefani) || Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals || |- | "Bartender" (with T-Pain) || Best R&B; Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group || |- | Konvicted || Best Contemporary R&B; Album || |- | "I Wanna Love You" (with Snoop Dogg) || Best Rap/Sung Collaboration ||

MTV Video Music Awards

The MTV Video Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony established in 1984 by MTV. Akon has received four nominations. Akon has the record for most nominations in the Most Earthshattering Collaboration category.

|- | || "Locked Up" || MTV2 Award || |- |rowspan="3"| || Akon || Male Artist of the Year || |- | "Smack That" (with Eminem) || Most Earthshattering Collaboration || |- | "The Sweet Escape" (with Gwen Stefani) || Most Earthshattering Collaboration ||

World Music Awards

In 2007 Akon won three World Music Awards:

(1) Best Selling R&B; Male Artist

(2) Best Selling African Artist

(3) Best Selling Internet Artist.

In 2008 Akon won:

(1) Best Selling African Artist

Note: Akon also won Artist Of The Year in 2007 by the Billboard Music Awards

Billboard Legacy

Made the Top Artists of the Year Chart in: 2009

Made the Billboard 200 Albums of the Year Chart in: 2009, 2007, 2005, 2004

Made the Billboard Hot 100 Songs of the Year Chart in: 2005, 2004

Premios Lo Nuestro

|- |rowspan="2"| 2010 || "All Up 2 You" (with Aventura and Wisin & Yandel) || Urban Song of the Year || |- | "All Up 2 You" (with Aventura and Wisin & Yandel) || Video Collaboration of the Year || |-

Tours

Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania One-off Concert (2006).

Konvicted Tour (July to September 2007, then additional dates in 2008)

The Sweet Escape Tour with Gwen Stefani (April to July 2007)

The Good Girl Gone Bad Tour with Rihanna (Canadian-leg only, September – December 2008).

Konvict Muzik Tour with T-Pain, Australia only, October 26–27, 2009.

Brazilian Mini-Tour, (Brazil, January 2010)

References

External links

Official website

Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:African American singers Category:African American rappers Category:African American Muslims Category:American Muslims Category:American male singers Category:Dance musicians Category:Hip hop record producers Category:Hip hop singers Category:Musicians from New Jersey Category:Musicians from Missouri Category:Rappers from St. Louis, Missouri Category:People from Dakar Category:People from Newark, New Jersey Category:People from St. Louis, Missouri Category:American people of Senegalese descent Category:American hip hop record producers Category:Sony/ATV Music Publishing artists Category:World Music Awards winners Category:Living people Category:Senegalese expatriates in the United States Category:1973 births