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Front and rear view of traditional men's briefs.

Front and rear view of women's high-cut briefs

Briefs are a type of short, tight underwear and swimwear, as opposed to styles where the material extends down the legs.

A main difference between male briefs and female briefs is that male briefs are often designed with a seam or much larger pouch in the crotch area to accommodate a bulge. This is because men and boys have larger external genitals in comparison to women or girls, thus require more fabric in the crotch area.^[1][2]

See swim briefs for the case of briefs as swimwear.

History[link]

Briefs were first sold on January 19, 1935 by Coopers, Inc., in Chicago, Illinois. They dubbed the new undergarment the "Jockey" because it offered a similar degree of support as the jockstrap (one style of which is also called Jock brief or Support briefs). Thirty-thousand pairs were sold within three months of their introduction. In North America, "Jockey shorts" or "Jockeys" is often used as a generic term for men's briefs.

In the UK, briefs were first sold in 1938. Soon, shops were selling 3,000 briefs per week. They were so popular that in 1948, every member of the British Olympic team was given a free pair of briefs.

In Britain, the term "jockeys" has not caught on and briefs are often referred to as "Y-fronts". The term derives from the inverted Y-shape formed by the seams at the front of the underpants which purports to allow easy access to the penis for urination. The colloquialism is used even when the fly opening may differ in style, and not actually form the shape of the inverted letter "Y" fly on Cooper Jockey brand briefs.

In Australia, briefs are referred to as "jocks", but should not be confused with jockstraps (more specifically used by athletes) which expose the buttocks. Australians generally use the word briefs to refer to the bikini-style underwear for men, which do not have the Y-front opening.

In the United States, a slang term for briefs is "tighty-whiteys" (with various spellings and inversions: "tidy-whities", "whitie-tighties", etc.). The exact origin of the term is unknown, but it has often been used as an epithet.

In recent years, a hybrid called boxer briefs has become popular. Like boxers, they have short legs, but like briefs, they are made of elastic, snug-fitting material. A shorter version of boxer briefs are called trunks.

Design[link]

Briefs often feature a fly - a covered opening on the front of the garment which allows for convenience at urinals. There are several different fly designs in common use, including but not limited to the standard vertical fly, the horizontal fly, and the y-front fly. The use of a fly is optional, and many styles do not utilize a fly at all.

Traditional size briefs for both sexes cover the upper part of the thigh and extend upward up to (or cover, depending on the design) the navel. This style is often referred to as "full rise" or "full cut". There are also "low rise" and "mid rise" styles whose measurements vary between manufacturers.

Men's briefs[link]

In the case of men's underwear, briefs, unlike boxer shorts, hold the wearer's genitals in a relatively fixed position, which make briefs a popular underwear choice for men who are participating in athletic activities or who feel they need more support than loose-fitting underwear can provide. In addition, boxers often ride up the body when the wearer is running.

Women's briefs[link]

A figure-skater wears a costume with attached briefs under the skirt

Briefs also refers to a style of women's and girls' panties that is typically cut with a high waist to provide full coverage of the hips and buttocks. A control brief is a kind of high-waisted panty girdle. French-cut or high-cut briefs expose more of the front part of the thigh, while boy briefs have short legs, similar to men's boxer briefs, often combined with a lower waist.

Briefs is also the name given to costumed outerwear worn by female dancers and athletes in sports such as cheerleading, figure skating, and tennis. These briefs are typically worn under a short skirt; they may be attached to the skirt or dress body, or a separate garment ("cheer briefs").

Briefs and fertility[link]

Tight briefs have been blamed for negatively affecting the sperm analysis, since they may interfere with the cooling of the testes.^[3] However, not all research has come to the same conclusion. A study in the October 1998 Journal of Urology, for example, concluded that underwear type is unlikely to have a significant effect on male fertility.^[4]

References[link]

Media related to Briefs at Wikimedia Commons

Andrew Lincoln
Born	Andrew James Clutterbuck (1973-09-14) 14 September 1973 (age 38) London, England, UK
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1994-present
Spouse	Gael Anderson (2006–present)

Andrew Lincoln (born Andrew James Clutterbuck; 14 September 1973)^[1] is an English actor, known for his roles in the TV series This Life, Teachers, Strike Back and Afterlife, and the films Love Actually and Heartbreaker. He currently stars as Rick Grimes in the AMC television series The Walking Dead.

Early life[link]

Lincoln was born in London^[1] to a South African mother, a nurse, and an English father, a civil engineer. He grew up in Hull and moved to Bath at the age of ten. After leaving Beechen Cliff School, he attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA), where he changed his name from Clutterbuck to Lincoln. He grew up with an older brother called Richard Clutterbuck, who is the founding head of Bristol Free School in 2011.

Career[link]

Acting[link]

Lincoln made his first on-screen appearance in "Births and Deaths", a 1994 episode of Channel 4 sitcom Drop the Dead Donkey.^[2]

His first major role was Edgar "Egg" Cook, one of the lead characters in the highly successful BBC drama This Life (1996–1997). He went on to star as probationary teacher Simon Casey in the Channel 4 sitcom Teachers (2001–2003), and had a lead role as university lecturer and psychologist Robert Bridge in Afterlife (2005).

Lincoln has also appeared in several films, including Human Traffic (1999) and Love Actually (2003).

In 2009 he appeared in the stage production of Parlour Song.^[3] He went back to England after filming the Sky One TV series Strike Back in South Africa with Richard Armitage.^[4] He also starred alongside Vanessa Paradis in the French film Heartbreaker.^[5]

In April 2010 Lincoln was cast as Rick Grimes,^[6] in the live-action adaption of the comic The Walking Dead^[7] and narrated the project on San Diego Comic-Con International 2010.^[8]

Directing[link]

Lincoln directed two episodes in the third series of Teachers.

Personal life[link]

On 10 June 2006, he married Gael Anderson, the daughter of musician Ian Anderson of the rock band Jethro Tull. At the wedding, Apple Martin (daughter of actress Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay) was the flower girl.^[3] He has two children: daughter Matilda and son Arthur.

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Andrew Lincoln at the Internet Movie Database

Zac Efron
Efron at the premiere of The Lucky One, Sydney, Australia, April 9, 2012
Born	Zachary David Alexander Efron (1987-10-18) October 18, 1987 (age 24) San Luis Obispo, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, singer
Years active	2002–present

Zachary David Alexander "Zac" Efron (born October 18, 1987) is an American actor and singer. He began acting professionally in the early 2000s and became known with his lead roles in the Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical, the WB series Summerland, and the 2007 film version of the Broadway musical Hairspray.^[1][2] Efron has since starred in the films 17 Again, Me and Orson Welles, Charlie St. Cloud, New Year's Eve, and The Lucky One.

In 2007, Rolling Stone declared him the "poster boy for tweenyboppers" and featured him in their late August 2007 issue.^[3]

Early life and education[link]

Efron was born in San Luis Obispo, California,^[4] and later moved to Arroyo Grande, California. His father, David Efron, is an electrical engineer at a power station, and his mother, Starla Baskett, is a former secretary who worked at the same power plant.^[5][6] Efron has a younger brother, Dylan, and had, as he has described it, a "normal childhood" in a middle class family.^[1] He is an agnostic, having never been religious.^[3] His surname, "Efron", means "lark" in Hebrew (his paternal grandfather was Jewish).^[7][8][9]

Efron has said that he would "flip out" if he got a "B" and not an "A" in school, and has also described himself as having been a class clown.^[10] His father encouraged him to begin acting when he was 11 years old.^[5] Efron subsequently appeared in theater productions at his high school,^[11] worked in the theater The Great American Melodrama and Vaudeville,^[1] and began taking singing lessons.^[5] He performed in shows such as Gypsy; Peter Pan; or, The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up; Little Shop of Horrors; and The Music Man. He was recommended to an agent in Los Angeles by his drama teacher, Robyn Metchik (the mother of actors Aaron Michael Metchik and Asher Metchik).^[12][13] Efron was later signed to the Creative Artists Agency.^[14]

Efron graduated from Arroyo Grande High School in 2006^[15] and was then accepted into the University of Southern California, but has deferred his enrollment to work on film projects. He also attended Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts, a community college located in Santa Maria, California, which provided him with the opportunity to perform as a "young player" during the years of 2000 and 2001.^[16]

Career[link]

Early work[link]

Efron in June 2010

In 2002, Efron began to appear in guest roles on several television series, including Firefly, ER, and The Guardian. He portrayed Cameron Bale on the now-cancelled WB series Summerland. Originally introduced as a recurring character, Efron became a regular cast member on the show in the second season in 2004, starring opposite the likes of Kay Panabaker, Lori Loughlin and Jesse McCartney. Since appearing in Summerland, he has also had guest roles on the shows CSI: Miami, NCIS, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and The Replacements. In 2003, Efron starred in the Lifetime original television movie Miracle Run. He played Steven Morgan, one of two autistic twins. For his performance, he was nominated for a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Movie, Mini-series or Special — Supporting Young Actor.^[17] In 2005, he played a main character in Hope Partlow's music video for her song "Sick Inside." Also in 2005, he played horse-loving Patrick McCardle in The Derby Stallion, where his character wants to beat the town bully at the steeple chase race.

Breakthrough[link]

In 2006, Efron starred in the Disney Channel original movie High School Musical as Troy Bolton, a popular student and captain of the basketball team. The film, which he initially made with "low expectations",^[1] helped Efron gain recognition among teenage audiences as both an actor and a singer, even though his singing voice was overdubbed. As a result, he placed as high as #4 on the IMDBPro's STARMeter for the week of January 29, 2006.^[18] In August 2006, Efron won a Teen Choice Award in the Breakout Star and the TV — Choice Chemistry categories, shared with Vanessa Hudgens. The film's cast, along with Efron, toured Sydney, Australia, London, England, and other locations to promote the film.

Shortly after High School Musical aired, on February 4, 2006, Efron debuted with two simultaneous charted songs on Billboard Hot 100 from the film: "Get'cha Head in the Game" and "Breaking Free", a duet with Hudgens. On the following week's chart, Efron had five simultaneous song credits from High School Musical: "Get'cha Head in the Game", "Start of Something New", "What I've Been Looking For: Reprise", "We're All in This Together" and "Breaking Free." "We're All in This Together" was credited to the whole High School Musical cast. "Breaking Free", at the time, made the fastest climb in the history of the Billboard charts, from #86 to #4 between the two weeks; the record was beaten by Beyoncé and Shakira's "Beautiful Liar".^[19] Efron also appeared in the 2006 Disney Channel Games as captain of the Red Team.

Efron's singing talents were disputed when it was revealed that Drew Seeley's voice was blended with his on the soundtrack of High School Musical.^[20] An August 23, 2007 interview in Rolling Stone magazine revealed that he had been cast in High School Musical after the songs were written, and the songs (written for a tenor) were somewhat out of his baritone vocal range.

2007–present[link]

Efron at the TIFF premiere of Me and Orson Welles, September 2008

On April 7, 2007, Efron appeared in an episode of Punk'd. Efron also starred in the music video for Vanessa Hudgens's single "Say OK", in which he played her love interest. The video aired on March 16, 2007 on the Disney Channel. That year, he was named one of People magazine's 100 Most Beautiful People in 2007. A picture and short profile of him was in the section "Coming of Age". In it, he related how he was always the shortest kid in school (as of August 2007, he was 5'8")^[6] and was teased for the "huge gap" in his teeth.^[21]

In 2006, Efron was cast as Link Larkin in a film version of Hairspray released on July 20, 2007. Efron performed all of his own vocals in the role,^[22] which was filmed in Toronto, Ontario, from September 5 to December 2, 2006. He cut and dyed his hair dark brown and gained about 15 pounds for the role.^[23] His performance and the film received positive reviews.^[12] Efron was not able to perform with his fellow castmates in High School Musical: The Concert because of commitments on the film Hairspray. Drew Seeley took over for him.

High School Musical 2 was released in August 2007. Additionally, Lycos reported searches for Efron surged by 81%.^[24] The film set a new record, becoming the most watched basic cable program in U.S. history, with 17.2 million viewers.^[25] Efron also appeared on the cover of the August 2007 edition of Rolling Stone.^[3] The article about him revealed that he hoped to someday play an action hero. Efron presented the 2007 Teen Choice Award for "Favorite Movie" along with Queen Latifah, and later that year, he co-hosted the Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards with The Veronicas on October 10 in Sydney.^[26]

In early 2008, Efron was cast in the lead role in the film Me and Orson Welles. Based on Robert Kaplow's novel of the same name,^[27] the story, set in 1937 New York, tells of a teenager hired to star in Orson Welles' production of Julius Caesar, where he becomes attracted to a career-driven production assistant. The film was shot in the Isle of Man, London and New York, during February — April 2008. It was introduced to North America via the Toronto Film Festival on September 5, 6, and 11, 2008^[28] and was released in 2009. Efron was also scheduled to star in Paramount's musical remake of the film Footloose,^[29] and has said that he would like to add his "own little bit of flair" to the role originated by Kevin Bacon.^[6] In March 2009, he dropped out of the film.^[30] Efron was quoted as saying that while it was a promising gig, he left the project because he "was looking for a new challenge, and this was another musical."^[31]

Efron reprised his role in High School Musical 3: Senior Year, which was theatrically released on October 24, 2008. His next role was in 2009's 17 Again, a high school-set comedy-drama produced by Adam Shankman and based on a pitch by Jason Filardi;^[32] the plot involved an adult who is transformed into a 17-year old (played by Efron).^[33]

Efron at the Deauville Film Festival in 2010

On April 8, 2009, Efron's participation in a comedic short video entitled "Zac Efron's Pool Party" for the website Funny Or Die was released for public viewing.^[34] On April 11, 2009, Efron hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live.^[35] In early June 2009 it was confirmed that Efron would be making a guest appearance during the sixth season of HBO's comedy series Entourage.^[36] Efron starred in a series of advertisements, along with Kristen Bell and Sean Combs, promoting the 2010 MTV Movie Awards and the host, Aziz Ansari. In 2009, he signed on to play title character in the movie Charlie St. Cloud.^[37] The film was released on July 30, 2010.

Efron was second on People's 2011 Most Beautiful list.^[38] That year, he appeared in Garry Marshall's New Year's Eve, which did well on the box-office despite receiving many negative reviews from critics.^[39] In 2012, he voiced Teg Wiggins in The Lorax and starred in The Lucky One, a film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' novel of the same name. He will co-star in The Paperboy alongside Nicole Kidman.

Upcoming roles[link]

Efron has been slated to star in the title role of the live-action adaptation of the Jonny Quest cartoons.^[40] Additional projects include Einstein Theory^[41] and an adaptation of Fire, by Image Comics. On February 11, 2011, it was reported that Efron will star in the action romance Charlie Countryman.^[42][43] He is also set to star in and produce the American remake of Swedish crime film Easy Money.^[44][45]

Personal life[link]

Efron with Vanessa Hudgens at the 81st Academy Awards, 2009

Efron was on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list in 2008 as number 92 with estimated earnings of $5.8 million from June 2007 to June 2008. As of April 5, 2009, his personal wealth equaled about $10 million.^[46] People magazine said in 2007 that Efron and Vanessa Hudgens began dating in 2005 during the filming of High School Musical,^[47][48][49] although Us magazine said, after the two broke up in December 2010, that they "met in 2005 while making the first High School Musical flick, and became a romantic item about two years later."^[50]

Filmography[link]

Other awards and nominations[link]

Discography[link]

Soundtracks[link]

• High School Musical (2006)
• Hairspray (2007)
• High School Musical 2 (2007)
• High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008)

Charted songs[link]

References[link]