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Hitchhiking is common in low-population areas^{[citation needed]}

Hitchhiking (also known as thumbing, tramping, hitching, autostop or thumbing up a ride) is a means of transportation that is gained by asking people, usually strangers, for a ride in their automobile or other road vehicle to travel a distance that may either be short or long. The latter may require many rides from different people; a ride is usually, but not always, free. If the hitchhiker wishes to indicate that they need a ride, they may simply make a hand gesture (signs are also used). In North America and the UK, the gesture involves extending the hitchhiker's arm toward the road and sticking the thumb of their outstretched hand upward with the hand closed. In other parts of the world, it is more common to use a gesture where the index finger is pointed at the road. This cultural difference stems partly from an alternate offensive meaning for the thumbs up gesture in parts of Europe and Asia (see mention of Iran and Iraq in the article on Obscene gesture).

History in the United States[link]

Hitchhiking became a common method of traveling during the Great Depression years when many people sought work and had little money, much less their own automobile. Hitchhiking was given tacit acceptance by the Federal Government during those years when the Federal Transient Bureau dealt with the large number of unemployed persons who were migrating to other areas of the country to find employment. Transients were promised a room and a hot meal at camps set up by the Bureau around the country as long as they could get to them. The Bureau operated such camps until it closed its doors in 1936. During those years, thumbing rides around the country was an accepted fact of life.

Problems arose as a result of random hitchhikers obtaining rides from random drivers. Warnings of the potential dangers of picking up hitchhikers were publicized to drivers. Some of them would rob the driver who picked them up, and in some cases murder them. Other warnings were publicized to the hitchhikers themselves and alerted them to the same types of crimes being carried out by drivers. By 1937, fourteen states had passed laws giving a “thumbs down” to hitchhiking and more than half the states had done so by 1950. Nonetheless, hitchhiking was part of the American psyche and many people continued to stick out their thumbs even in states where the practice had been outlawed.^[1]

Legal status[link]

These two signs are used in the United States to prohibit hitchhiking.

Hitchhiking (called liften) is legal in the Netherlands. This sign indicates a good place to get a lift, close to Amstel railway station in Amsterdam

Hitchhiking is a historically common (self policed) practice worldwide, and hence there are very few places in the world where laws exist to restrict it. However, a minority of countries have laws that restrict hitchhiking at certain locations.^[2] In the United States, for example, some local governments have laws to outlaw hitchhiking, with safety being the stated reason. In 1946, New Jersey arrested and imprisoned a hitchhiker leading to intervention by the American Civil Liberties Union.^[3] In Canada, several highways have restrictions on hitchhiking, particularly in British Columbia and the 400-series highways in Ontario. In all countries in Europe it is legal to hitchhike, and in some places even encouraged. However, it is illegal to hitchhike where pedestrians are banned, such as motorways (United Kingdom), Interstates (United States), or the Autobahn (Germany).

Signaling method[link]

A typical hitchhiker's gesture.

The hitchhiker's method of signaling to drivers differs around the world. In the U.S. and UK, they would point their thumb up, while in some places in South America they display to an oncoming car the back of their hand with the index finger pointing up.^{[citation needed]} In India, the hand is waved with the palm facing downwards (or the U.S./UK way).^{[citation needed]} In Israel, the hitchhiking signal is to hold their fist out with the index finger pointing towards the road. In some areas of The United States, hitchhiking is also done by pointing down at the street in front of them, specifically in some inner cities.

A hitchhiker may also hold a sign displaying their destination and/or the languages spoken. A more recent method is to go to websites and arrange lifts beforehand, without soliciting directly from the road. This way of transport is a modern way of ridesharing/carpooling. To increase the success rate, hitchikers sometimes smile to show that they are friendly. Also waving some money can be used when they are able to pay for the ride. Made popular by the 1934 film It Happened One Night female hitchhikers have found success in signaling cars with the exposure of a leg like Claudette Colbert had in the movie.

Often nothing more than communication and entertainment of the driver is given or performed in exchange for the lift, but in some places, such as parts of central Asia, hitchhikers in cargo trucks, especially foreigners, are expected to pay for the ride, usually some portion of the usual bus fare for the trip.^{[citation needed]}

Sport and leisure[link]

For many, hitchhiking is a great adventure and challenge. Each year hundreds of students from the United Kingdom take part in a sponsored hitch to Morocco or Prague in aid of Link Community Development; in 2007, 782 people hitched the 1,600 miles (2,600 km) to Morocco and raised almost £340,000 to improve the quality of education in Africa. Other UK students partake in "Jailbreak" (Jailbreak was invented by Durham students when they broke into a high security prison, so the rumour goes) and thus other universities now copy Durham. Jailbreak is where a group of students hold a competition, usually in the summer holidays/vacation, to see who can get farthest from their university without spending any money on travel (whether money can be spent on food/shelter is up to the participants to decide). Durham University holds the world record for the competition, in November 2010, Thomas Cox made 'jailbreak' history when he and his partner Dave Binns made it to Sydney in under 36 hours. However, due to the fact that the pair organised their flights before the event, regardless of whether they paid or not, many believe that this was not a true example of a charity hitchhike.^[4]

Whilst other teams have found some limited success, some have come close to the Durham pair's achievement. Warwick University currently operates the largest Jailbreak event in the UK, with 336 students in 2010,^[5] compared to 230 participants at Durham University. In 2010 their winning team travelled to Bangkok in just 36 hours.^[6] Cambridge RAG Jailbreak have also produced many notable winners, in 2010 a pair got to Washington DC in under 39 hours by playing magic tricks and solving any given Rubik's Cube under 40 seconds.[5] This year in 2011, the furthest pair so far has got to Buenos Aires. [6]. Cambridge however are allowed to spend money donated during the trip whereas other universities give the money direct to their charity of choice.

Spin offs from this theme have included an event where teams were dropped off at a random location (usually a village) and had to return to campus without spending money on transport; and the newest event "Escaped" where teams had to travel to 5 cities (revealed the day before as Leeds, Birmingham, Brighton, Cardiff and London) and capture escaped "convicts" within 24 hours. The winners "Bitchola and Georgyna" reached the fifth city and convict with only 50 minutes to spare and were only one of two teams to do so.

Itinerants have also used hitchhiking as a primary mode of travel for the better part of the last century, and continue to do so today.^[7][8] Many see it as an irresistible challenge and badge of honour to travel so far in such a way, and a sizable portion of today's itinerants travel the entire world by hitchhiking, dedicating their entire lives to what some prefer to call a "lifestyle" rather than a game.^[9][10]

Despite this continued interest in hitchhiking, it is widely accepted that the practice has declined in developed countries since the 1970s, perhaps because of a small number of high-profile cases in which hitchhikers have been killed, and negative media images of hitchhikers as themselves a source of threat. Reasons for hitchhiking's decline, and possible means of reviving it in safer and more organised forms, are discussed by Graeme Chesters and David Smith in one of the very few academic discussions of hitchhiking, The Neglected Art of Hitch-hiking.

In popular culture[link]

The characters portrayed by Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable attempt to hitchhike in It Happened One Night.

Literature[link]

The writer Jack Kerouac immortalized hitchhiking in his book On the Road. The road has a fascination to Americans; countless writers have written of the road and/or hitchhiking, such as John Steinbeck, whose book The Grapes of Wrath opens with a hitched ride. Kurt Vonnegut's perpetual protagonist, Kilgore Trout, hitchhikes halfway across the country in Breakfast of Champions. Roald Dahl wrote a short story called "The Hitchhiker", in which he uses the idea that fascinating stories can be heard when giving people a lift to introduce one of his trade-mark eccentric characters. Another, lesser known author, a lifetime hitchhiker named Irv Thomas, incorporates hitchhiking into his writing perspective and lifestyle in Innocence Abroad: Adventuring Through Europe at 64 on $100 Per Week, as well as recounting his hitchhiking travels in a memoir, Derelict Days...Sixty Years on the Roadside Path to Enlightenment. (In June, 2009, Thomas extended that lifetime record to 66 years, with a long-distance road trip at age 82). Douglas Adams postulated on interstellar hitchhiking in his cult classic The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, while fellow science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein described interdimensional hitchhiking in his book Job: A Comedy of Justice. The protagonist of Tom Robbins' Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Sissy Hankshaw, becomes legendary as a hitchhiker in part because of her unusually large thumbs. Ken Welsh wrote the "how to" book on hitchhiking around Europe called "The Hitch Hikers Guide to Europe" (from which Douglas Adams is rumored to have taken the name for his aforementioned classic). In 2005, No Such Thing As A Free Ride?, a comprehensive anthology of hitchhiking stories and viewpoints was published by Cassell Illustrated. The book was serialized in The Times and named The Observer's Travel Book of the Week. Edited by Tom Sykes and Simon Sykes, it featured contributions from Mike Leigh, Sir Alan Parker, Sir Max Hastings, Tony Hawks and Eric Burdon, amongst others. In 2008, No Such Thing As A Free Ride? North American Edition was published by Goose Lane of Canada and featured JP Donleavy, Margaret Avison, Doug Stanhope, Jeff Lewis and Will Durst, amongst others.

British comedian Tony Hawks wrote about hitchhiking around Ireland with a refrigerator as the result of a drunken bet in Round Ireland With a Fridge. An in-depth analysis on the practice of hitchhiking in Poland was published, aptly called Autostop Polski ("Polish hitchhiking").^[11] In 2009, Iranian Rappers & Persian Porn: A hitchhiker's adventures in the new Iran, was published detailing some of British author Jamie Maslin's exploits on the road. In 2011, award-winning journalist Colin Flaherty published Redwood to Deadwood: A 53-year old dude hitchhikes around America. Again. Flaherty talks about taking off for three months from his successful business to hitchhike around America.

Music[link]

• 1941 - "Barstow: Eight Hitchhiker Inscriptions from a Highway Railing at Barstow, CA" Harry Partch
• 1962 - "Hitch Hike" Marvin Gaye
• 1968 - "America" Simon and Garfunkel
• 1969 - "Hitchin' a Ride" Vanity Fare
• 1970 - "Ridin' Thumb" Seals and Crofts - Down Home
• 1970 - "Hitchhikin' Woman" Warren Zevon
• 1971 - "Riders on the Storm" The Doors
• 1971 - "The Hitchhikers' Song" Joan Baez - Blessed Are...
• 1971 - "Me and Bobby McGee" Janis Joplin
• 1972 - "Black-Throated Wind" Grateful Dead
• 1972 - "Sweet Hitch Hiker" Creedence Clearwater Revival
• 1972 - "Take It Easy" Jackson Browne
• 1973 - "Ridin' My Thumb to Mexico" Johnny Rodriguez
• 1974 - "West Nashville Grand Ballroom Gown" Jimmy Buffett
• 1976 - "Coyote" Joni Mitchell
• 1976 - "Hitch a Ride" Boston
• 1977 - "Rockaway Beach" Ramones
• 1984 - "The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking" Roger Waters
• 1997 - "Hitchin' a Ride" Green Day
• 2001 - "Wagon Wheel" Old Crow Medicine Show
• 2001 - "101 North" Tomahawk
• 2002 - "Thumbing My Way" Pearl Jam
• 2002 - "Blue Sunday" Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
• 2003 - "Lost Dogs" Pearl Jam
• 2004 - "Wagon Wheel" Old Crow Medicine Show
• 2006 - "Hitchhiking Music" Classified
• 2006 - "Leaving Beirut" Roger Waters
• 2008 - "The Backseat" The Gaslight Anthem
• 2011 - "Hitchhiker" Neil Young
• 2011 - "Paradise" Coldplay

Film[link]

• 1934 - It Happened One Night
• 1937 - Way Out West
• 1945 - Detour
• 1953 - The Hitch-Hiker
• 1963 - It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
• 1974 - The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
• 1977 - Hitch-Hike
• 1981 - Roadgames
• 1983 - Going Back
• 1985 - Pee-wee's Big Adventure
• 1985 - The Sure Thing
• 1986 - The Hitcher
• 1994 - Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
• 1998 - Something About Mary
• 2000 - O Brother, Where Art Thou?
• 2001 - Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
• 2003 - The Hitcher II: I've Been Waiting
• 2004 - EuroTrip
• 2004 - Crash
• 2004 - Riding the Bullet
• 2005 - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
• 2007 - The Hitcher
• 2007 - Mr. Bean's Holiday
• 2007 - Into the Wild
• 2007 - Have Dreams, Will Travel
• 2008 - The Yellow Handkerchief

Books[link]

• On the Road / Jack Kerouac
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy / Douglas Adams
• Hitch-hiker's Guide to Europe / Ken Welsh
• Evasion
• Into the Wild / Jon Krakauer
• Off The Map / Hibikina Chickena and Kika Kat
• Even Cowgirls Get the Blues / Tom Robbins
• Iranian Rappers & Persian Porn: A Hitchhiker's Adventures in the New Iran / Jamie Maslin
• Round Ireland with a Fridge / Tony Hawks
• Riding With Strangers: A Hitchhiker's Journey / Elijah Wald
• Redwood to Deadwood: A 53-year dude hitchhikes across America. Again / Colin Flaherty
• Le Monde en stop / Ludovic Hubler

Television[link]

• 1999 - The Hitch-Hiker (The Twilight Zone)
• 2000 - The Hitch-hiker, an episode of Tales of the Unexpected (TV series)
• 1981 - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (TV Series)
• 1984 - Diff'rent Strokes, a two-part special episode, "The Hitchhikers"
• 1999 - SpongeBob SquarePants - "Pizza Delivery"
• 2006 - Masters of Horror - "Pick Me Up"
• 2007 - Peking Express

Notable hitchhikers[link]

Two boys hitchhiking in California, circa 1939

• Jack Kerouac hitchhiked in America and wrote many books about his experience.
• Devon Smith was listed in Guinness Book of World Records for most cumulative miles hitchhiked (1973 to 1985), over 290,988 mi (468,300 km). He also held the record for hitchhiking all 48 contiguous U.S. states in 33 days during 1957.^[12]
• Stephan Schlei, from Ratingen in Germany. Hitchhiked more than 621,371 mi (1,000,000 km). The Guinness Book of Records, before all hitchhiking records were removed, used to say that he was the World's No.1 Hitchhiker.^[13]
• Martin Clark and Graham Beynon. Last hitchhikers recorded in the Guinness Book of Records for the Land's End to John O'Groats trip. (17 hours 8 minutes)
• Alan Carter. Last hitchhiker recorded in the Guinness Book of Records for the Land's End to John O'Groats to Land's End round-trip. (39 hours 28 minutes)
• Graham Eccles. British poet, hitcher and balloon sculptor. Hitchhiked from Bude, Cornwall to Edinburgh, Scotland for the Fringe Festival 2011 with his Penny Farthing bicycle in a bid to beat Tony Hawks 'Round Ireland with a Fridge' legendary hitchhike. Took 8 lifts over 2 days to get to Edinburgh, and 5 lifts in 28 hours hitching to return. The return leg was from Cumbria to Cornwall due to various other escapades during the 'To the Fringe with a Farthing' trip.^{[citation needed]}
• Robert Prins. Last hitchhiker recorded in the Guinness Book of Records for the 24-hour hitchhiking record. (2,318.4 km)
• W. H. Davies, a Welsh poet and tramp, who hitchhiked America during the early 20th century
• Chris McCandless, subject of the book, Into the Wild, hitchhiked throughout the western region of North America in the early 1990s.
• Suzanne MacNevin (feminist writer) spent several years hitchhiking in Canada and the United States during the late 1990s.^[14]
• Ludovic Hubler, is a French hitchhiker who toured the world entirely by hitchhiking from January 1, 2003 to January 1, 2008. He wrote a book called Le Monde en stop, which was awarded the best travel book of the year 2009 in France.
• Juan Pablo Villarino, Argentinean hitchhiker. He travels the world documenting hospitality. His book "Vagabundeando en el eje del Mal" (Vagabonding in the Axis of Evil - By thumb in Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan, was published in Spain, Argentina and Ecuador. He is the founder of Autostop Argentina, and regularly writes for National Geographic VIAJES. His Educational Nomadic Project was shortlisted among the 50 most influential educational related travel enterprise by Matador Network.
• Joe Bennett, New Zealand newspaper columnist and author, hitchhiked around the world for 10 years.^[15]
• André Brugiroux, France. Hitchhiked all around the world for 18 years, 1955 to 1973.
• Che Guevara.^{[citation needed]}
• Jim Morrison of The Doors. He is also depicted hitchhiking in his movie HWY: An American Pastoral.
• Nedd Willard, writer, artist and journalist.
• Bert Rebhandl, writer and journalist.
• Colin Flaherty, writer and journalist, hitchhiked across the United States and Canada and wrote Redwood to Deadwood: A 53-year old dude hitchhikes across America. Again.
• Rik Merchie, writer, hitchiked from Ghent to the Mount Everest in 31 days.

Fictional characters[link]

• Ford Prefect, a space-hitchhiking travel writer in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
• Hitchhiker (character), a hitchhiking lunatic killer played by actor Edwin Neal in the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974).
• The Hitcher, a green cockney man who was featured in The Mighty Boosh.

See also[link]

• Carpool
• Slugging - Hitchhiking motivated by HOV lanes in several urban areas
• Real-time ridesharing - Hitchhiking facilitated by a smartphone application
• Flexible carpooling - Hitchhiking formalized via designated meeting points
• Trempiada
• Freighthopping

References[link]

Sources[link]

• Nwanna, Dr. Gladson I. (2004). Americans Traveling Abroad: What You Should Know Before You Go, Frontier Publishers, Inc., ISBN 1-890605-10-7.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hitchhiking

Look up Hitchhike in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Hitchhiking guide at Wikitravel
• Hitchhiking at the Open Directory Project
• EkoRoad - an online application for hitchhiking in Europe
• Backseatsurfing - a social network for hitchhikers
• HitchPlanet - runs a number of local hitchhiking sites in Canada
• Hitchwiki - A hitchhiking encyclopedia.

Zach Galifianakis
Galifianakis in Austin, Texas, March 19, 2009
Birth name	Zachary Knight Galifianakis
Born	(1969-10-01) October 1, 1969 (age 42) Wilkesboro, North Carolina, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, film, television, music
Nationality	American
Years active	1996–Present
Genres	Alternative comedy, observational comedy, musical comedy
Subject(s)	Everyday life, self-deprecation

Zachary Knight "Zach" Galifianakis^[1] ( /ˌɡælɨfəˈnækɨs/ GAL-i-fə-NAK-iss; born October 1, 1969)^[2] is an American stand-up comedian and actor known for his numerous film and television appearances including his own Comedy Central Presents special. While initially more of an "underground" comedian, he garnered mainstream attention for his role as Alan Garner in the comedy film The Hangover and its sequel The Hangover Part II.

Early life[link]

Zach Galifianakis was born in Wilkesboro, North Carolina.^[2] His mother, Mary Frances (née Cashion), ran a community center for the arts, and his father, Harry Galifianakis, was a heating oil vendor. Galifianakis' paternal grandparents emigrated from Crete, Greece,^[3][4][5] and Galifianakis was baptized in his father's Greek Orthodox faith.^[6][7][8][9] His mother is of Scots-Irish descent.^[10] He has two siblings, a younger sister, Merritt, and an older brother, Greg.^[11] His uncle, Nick Galifianakis, was a congressman from North Carolina between 1967 and 1973. He attended Wilkes Central High School, and subsequently attended but did not graduate from North Carolina State University, where he was a communications major.^[12]

Career[link]

Early work[link]

Galifianakis' career began on television in 1996, when he played the recurring role of a stoner named Bobby in the short-lived sitcom Boston Common. Then he joined Saturday Night Live as a writer but lasted only two weeks.^[13] Galifianakis co-starred in the film Out Cold and had small roles in Corky Romano, Below, Bubble Boy, Heartbreakers, Into the Wild, Super High Me, Little Fish Strange Pond, and Largo.

He had his own episode of Comedy Central Presents, which first aired in September 2001. It included a stand-up routine and a segment with a piano, and concluded with an a cappella group (The Night Owls, introduced as his "12 ex-girlfriends") singing "Eternal Flame" by The Bangles while he made jokes.^{[citation needed]} In 2002, he was the host of his own VH1 talk show called Late World with Zach. It featured many of his friends and regular performers from the LA comedy and music venue Largo where he appeared frequently during this time period. One episode featured Largo regulars Jon Brion and Rhett Miller as musical guests. His next television role was as a coroner named Davis in the Fox drama Tru Calling, which lasted from 2003 to 2005.^[6] He has also appeared many times on Jimmy Kimmel Live and has made three appearances on Reno 911! as "Frisbee".

Galifianakis starred as Alan Finger on the Comedy Central show Dog Bites Man, a fake news program that caught people during candid moments thinking they were being interviewed by a real news crew. In addition, he was on an episode of the Comedy Central show The Sarah Silverman Program as Fred the Homeless Guy. He also had a recurring guest role as a doctor on the animated Adult Swim show Tom Goes to the Mayor and appeared in several episodes of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! in a recurring role as Tairy Greene.

In 2006, Galifianakis was featured in Fiona Apple's music video for the song "Not About Love" where he is seen lip-synching the lyrics to the song. A year later Kanye West employed Galifianakis and indie rock musician Will Oldham for similar purposes in the second version of the video for his song "Can't Tell Me Nothing". In June 2006 Galifianakis released the single "Come On and Get It (Up in 'Dem Guts)", a comedic rap/hip-hop/dance song which features Apple's vocals.

Galifianakis was, together with Patton Oswalt, Brian Posehn, and Maria Bamford, one of the four Comedians of Comedy, a periodic packaged comedy tour in the style of The Original Kings of Comedy and the Blue Collar Comedy Tour. They chose to perform at live rock clubs as opposed to comedy clubs to try to reach a different audience. Much of the tour was taped, and has been featured in both a short-lived TV series on Comedy Central and a full length movie that has appeared at SXSW and on Showtime.

On February 22, 2008, he made an appearance on the Jackassworld.com: 24 Hour Takeover. He interviewed various members of the Jackass cast.

Galifianakis starred in the independent film Visioneers which played in select cities in 2008. This was Galifianakis's first starring role in a film and was given a direct-to-DVD release. That same year, Galifianakis appeared in a web video series of advertisements for Absolut vodka, along with Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, creating a parody of the Golden Girls in which one has a deep anger issue, breaking the fourth wall in exasperation and outright violence on the set.^[14] He also completed the pilot Speed Freaks for Comedy Central.^[15]

Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis[link]

Galifianakis has a series of videos on the Funny or Die website titled "Between Two Ferns With Zach Galifianakis" where he conducts interviews with popular celebrities between two potted ferns. He has interviewed Jimmy Kimmel,^[16] Michael Cera, Jon Hamm,^[17] Natalie Portman,^[18] Charlize Theron, Bradley Cooper (with a brief appearance by Carrot Top), Conan O'Brien and Andy Richter (with a brief appearance by Andy Dick), Ben Stiller, Steve Carell, Sean Penn, Bruce Willis, Tila Tequila, Jennifer Aniston and Will Ferrell. His interview style consists of typical interview questions, bizarre non sequiturs and sometimes inappropriate sexual questions and comments.^[19]

Mainstream performances: 2009–present[link]

Galifianakis co-starred as Alan Garner in the hit comedy The Hangover and earned the MTV Movie Award for the Best Comedic Performance.^[20] Following The Hangover's release, Galifianakis was prominently advertised in subsequent films that featured him in supporting roles. These included G-Force, Youth in Revolt, and the Oscar-nominated film Up in the Air.

Galifianakis is currently a member of the regular cast playing a supporting role in the HBO series Bored to Death. He hosted Saturday Night Live on March 6, 2010 during the show's 35th season, during which he shaved his beard mid-show for a sketch, and then closed the show wearing a fake beard.^[21] He hosted again on March 12, 2011 and shaved his head this time, in a Mr. T-like hairstyle, which was allegedly supposed to be used for a sketch that never aired due to time constraints.^[22] In 2010, he starred in several films, including Dinner for Schmucks, It's Kind of a Funny Story,^[23] and Due Date.

On October 29, 2010, while debating marijuana legalization on the show HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, Galifianakis appeared to have smoked marijuana on live television;^[24] host Bill Maher denied that it was real marijuana in an interview with Wolf Blitzer during an episode of The Situation Room.

In 2011, he returned as Alan Garner in the sequel, The Hangover Part II, which was set in Thailand.^[25]

In 2011, he voiced Humpty Dumpty in DreamWorks Animation's Puss in Boots.

Galifianakis will star alongside Will Ferrell in The Campaign, a political comedy directed by Jay Roach in 2012.^[26]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Zach Galifianakis

• Official website
• Zach Galifianakis on Myspace
• Zach Galifianakis on Charlie Rose
• Zach Galifianakis at the Internet Movie Database
• Works by or about Zach Galifianakis in libraries (WorldCat catalog)

Franco Nero
Franco Nero, August 2008
Born	Francesco Sparanero (1941-11-23) 23 November 1941 (age 70) Parma, Italy
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1962–present
Spouse	Vanessa Redgrave, married on 31 December 2006 (&100000000000000050000005 years, &10000000000000178000000178 days)
Children	Carlo Gabriel Nero, Franquito

Franco Nero (born 23 November 1941) is an Italian actor.

Early life[link]

Nero was born Francesco Sparanero^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]} in San Prospero Parmense (province of Parma, Emilia-Romagna), the son of a sergeant in the carabinieri,^[7] originally from San Severo. He grew up in Bedonia and in Milan. He studied briefly at the Economy and Trade faculty of the local university, before leaving to study at the Piccolo Teatro di Milano.

Acting Career[link]

Nero's first film role was a small part in La ragazza in prestito (1964), and he had his first lead role in Sergio Corbucci's Django (1966) a Spaghetti Western and one of his best known films. In 1966 from Django he went on to appear in eight more films released that year including Texas, addio (1967) and Tempo di massacro.

In 1967, he appeared in Camelot as Lancelot, where he met his long time romantic partner, and later on in life his wife, Vanessa Redgrave. Following this he appeared in the mafia film Il giorno della civetta opposite Claudia Cardinale released in 1968.

A lack of proficiency in English tended to limit these roles, although he also appeared in other English language films including The Virgin and the Gypsy (1970), Force 10 from Navarone (1978), Enter the Ninja (1981) and Die Hard 2 (1990).

Although often typecast in films like Los amigos (1972) or Keoma (1976) he has attempted an impressive range of characters, such as Abel in John Huston's epic The Bible: In The Beginning (1966), the humiliated engineer out for revenge in Street Law, the gay lieutenant in Querelle (1982) and Serbian mediaeval hero in Banović Strahinja (1983). He has appeared in over 150 films, and has written, produced and starred in one: Jonathan degli orsi (1993).^[8]

More recently, he starred in Hungarian director Gábor Koltay's Honfoglalás (Conquest) in 1996, in Li chiamarono... briganti! (1999) by Pasquale Squitieri and subsequently in Koltay's Sacra Corona (Holy Crown) in 2001.

In 2009 he played an eccentric author called "Mario Puzzo" in Mord ist mein Geschäft, Liebling ("Murder is my trade, darling", Italian title "Tesoro, sono un killer"). German critics found his performance was the best part of the film: "Having Franco nero playing in this film is really a great joy - it is only regrettable that besides his appearances there is so much else too." ("Dass Franco Nero in diesem Film mitspielt, macht wirklich großen Spaß – schade nur, dass nach seinen Auftritten noch so viel Film übrig ist.") ^[9]

In 2010, Nero appeared in the film Letters to Juliet with Redgrave.

In 2011 he appeared on the season 13 premiere episode of Law and Order SVU. His character though Italian was based on DSK.

In 2011, he received a star on the Italian Walk of Fame in Toronto, Canada.^[10]

Personal life[link]

His romantic involvement with British actress Vanessa Redgrave began in 1967 when they met on the set of Camelot. In 1969, they had a son, Carlo Gabriel Sparanero (known professionally as Carlo Nero), a screenwriter and director. After separating for many years, during which they both had relationships with other people, they reunited and married on 31 December 2006.^[11] Carlo Nero directed Redgrave in the cinematic adaptation of Wallace Shawn's play The Fever.

Nero walked his future stepdaughter Natasha Richardson down the aisle when she married actor Liam Neeson. She died on 18 March 2009, due to a skiing-related head injury.^[12]

Selected Filmography[link]

Discography[link]

• 1985 - Will Change The World/Cambierà (Lovers, LVNP 802, 7" - with his son Carlo)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Franco Nero

• Franco Nero at the Internet Movie Database