Look up everyone in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Everyone may refer to:

• Everyone (album), a 2006 album by Reuben Morgan
• Everyone (Olympics song), official theme song of the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics held in Singapore
• Everyone (Van Morrison song), a 1970 song by Van Morrison
• Everyone, a rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board for video games
• Everyone (film), a 2004 Canadian film directed by Bill Marchant
• Several episodes of the UK TV series Skins
  • "Everyone", episode 9 of series 1
  • "Everyone", episode 1 of series 3
  • "Everyone", episode 8 of series 4
  • "Everyone", episode 8 of series 5
  • "Everyone", episode 1 of series 6

See also[link]

• Everybody (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Simon Cowell
Cowell at the National Television Awards at the Royal Albert Hall, London, October 2006.
Background information
Birth name	Simon Phillip Cowell
Born	(1959-10-07) 7 October 1959 (age 52) Lambeth, London, England
Origin	Elstree, Hertfordshire, England
Occupations	A&R executive, television producer, entrepreneur, television personality
Years active	1979–present
Labels	EMI, E&S Music, Fanfare Records, BMG, S Records, Sony Music Entertainment, Syco
Associated acts	Westlife, Sinitta, Leon Jackson, Jai McDowall, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Curiosity Killed the Cat, Sonia, Five, Robson & Jerome, Ultimate Kaos, WWF Wrestlers, Zig and Zag, Leona Lewis, Alexandra Burke, Joe McElderry, Shayne Ward, Il Divo, Susan Boyle, Paul Potts, JLS, One Direction, Melanie Amaro

Simon Phillip Cowell (born 7 October 1959) is an English A&R executive, television producer, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is known in the United Kingdom and United States for his role as a talent judge on TV shows such as Pop Idol, The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and American Idol. He is also the owner of the television production and music publishing house Syco.

As a judge, Cowell is known for his blunt and often controversial criticisms, insults and wisecracks about contestants and their abilities. He is also known for combining activities in both the television and music industries, having promoted singles and records for various artists, including television personalities. He was most recently featured on the fifth series of Britain's Got Talent and the first season of The X Factor USA.

In 2010, the British magazine New Statesman listed Cowell at number 41 in a list of "The World's 50 Most Influential Figures 2010".^[1]

Early life[link]

Cowell was born in Lambeth, London^[2] and brought up in Elstree, Hertfordshire.^[3] His mother, Julie Brett (née Josie Dalglish), is a former ballet dancer and socialite, and his father, Eric Selig Phillip Cowell (1918–1999),^[2] was an estate agent developer and music industry executive.^[4] Cowell's father was from a mostly Jewish family, though he did not discuss his background with his children (Cowell's paternal grandmother had immigrated from Poland).^[5] Cowell's mother was from a Christian background, and is of part Scottish descent.^[5][6][7] He has one brother and three half-brothers and a half sister; younger brother Nicholas Cowell, half-brother John Cowell, half-brother Tony Cowell, half-brother Michael Cowell and half sister June Cowell.^[8]

Cowell attended Radlett Preparatory School and the independent Dover College as did his brother, but left after taking GCE O levels. He passed in English Language and Literature and then attended Windsor Technical College where he gained another GCE in Sociology.^[9] At the age of 17, he dated model Paula Hamilton.^[10] Cowell took a few menial jobs—including, according to Tony, working as a runner on Stanley Kubrick's The Shining^[11]—but did not get along well with colleagues and bosses, until his father who was executive at the recording giant EMI Music Publishing, managed to get him a job in the mail room.^[12]

Career[link]

Cowell's father's connections originally got him rehired as the assistant to an A&R man. From there onwards, Simon worked his way up and eventually got promoted to a music publishing^[13] position but left during the early 1980s to form E&S Music with his boss at EMI, Ellis Rich (later Chairman of the Performing Right Society). The company had several hit records at one point with five singles in the UK top 40. The offices were in a converted gentleman's washroom in the NCP car park on Brewer Street in London's Soho district. Cowell left by mutual agreement a few years later. He worked for Iain Burton, manager of choreographer Arlene Phillips, co-founder of dance group Hot Gossip and of nascent independent record label Fanfare Records. Cowell worked with Burton for eight years at Fanfare where he achieved his first real success in the music industry, becoming a partner and building Fanfare into a highly successful 'indie' pop label. Fanfare had numerous top ten hits with various pop artists and particularly Sinitta, selling more than 500,000 copies of her debut single "So Macho", and more than 500,000 copies of her album Rondo Veneziano.^[14] Next in 1984, Cowell and Burton met up with Pete Waterman for the first time.

Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman formed the songwriting and record producing trio known as Stock Aitken Waterman.^[15] Stock Aitken Waterman helped Fanfare during the second half of the 1980s producing several hit singles for Sinitta and licensing The Hit Factory SAW Compilation Albums to Fanfare. Next in 1989, Fanfare's parent, Public Company, found itself in difficulties, forcing Fanfare into the hands of BMG. An in-debt Cowell was forced to move back in with his parents. Later that year, he became an A&R consultant for BMG. In 1990, he appeared as a contestant on the UK gameshow Sale of the Century.^[16][17]

Subsequently, Cowell signed up a number of acts to S-Records that became successful, including Curiosity Killed the Cat, Sonia, Five, Westlife, Robson & Jerome, and Ultimate Kaos. He also released several novelty recordings featuring the likes of Teletubbies, wrestlers of WWE^[18] Zig and Zag and the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, that were huge successes.^[3] In 2002, Cowell set up another label, Syco Music, which later became part of Columbia Records and Sony BMG Music Entertainment. Artists such as Leona Lewis, Il Divo and contestants from The X Factor and America's Got Talent are released on Syco. Cowell explained, "There has to come a point when I will step down from being on camera and remain behind the scenes because you can't keep doing this forever...I think by [the end of my contract] that the public will be sick to death of me anyway and it will be time to go."^[19]

In 2006, Cowell signed to two more record-breaking deals. In the US, he agreed to remain as a judge on American Idol, earning £20 million (US$33 million) per season for another five years. He also has a deal with FOX which allows his production company to broadcast Got Talent and American Inventor on other networks, but he may not appear on them. In the UK, he signed a "golden handcuffs" deal with ITV, worth approximately £6.5 million a year for three years, which gave ITV rights to his talent show The X Factor, a British singing talent show, and Grease Is the Word, a musical talent show to find the stars of a Grease production in London's West End. In late 2005, he signed a new contract to remain working for Sony BMG.

In 2010, Cowell finalised a deal which secures the long-term business future of Syco with Sony Music Entertainment.^[20] The deal will also see him launching a US version of X Factor on 21 September 2011.^[21]

[edit] Idol franchise and Il Divo

Cowell was given the role of judge on the first series of Pop Idol in the UK by then ITV Controller of Entertainment Claudia Rosencrantz^[22] in 2001, he was then judge on the first season of American Idol in 2002. With his notoriously critical reputation, Cowell is likened to TV personalities such as Judith Sheindlin and Anne Robinson. Though comparable to Robinson, Cowell has expressed his dislike for her and has commented in an interview, "I hate her and I hate her show because it's just an act".^[23] Cowell's prominence grew, fed by his signature phrase, "I don't mean to be rude, but ...", inevitably followed by an unsparingly blunt appraisal of the contestant's talents, personality, or even physical appearance. A lot of these one-liners were the product of coaching that Cowell received from noted publicist Max Clifford.^[24] Cowell also appeared on the one-off World Idol programme in 2003, where it became clear that each country's version of the Idol had attempted to come up with its own "Simon Cowell" type personality. In 2003, Cowell placed No 33 on Channel 4's list of the all-time 100 Worst Britons. Cowell's S Records signed the top two finishers of the first season of Pop Idol, Will Young and Gareth Gates, both of whom went on to have No 1 UK hits. Efforts begun in 2001 materialised in 2004, when Cowell returned to his group manufacturing roots with his latest brainchild, the internationally successful operatic pop group Il Divo,^[25][26] consisting of three opera singers and one pop singer of four different nationalities. Inspired by the success of Il Divo, Simon created a child version, Angelis, beating competition from many similar groups emerging at Christmas 2006.^[27]

On 11 January 2010, Cowell's exit from American Idol was made official. The 2010 season was Cowell's last on the show. It was also announced that FOX had acquired the rights to The X Factor USA, an American version of Cowell's popular British show, The X Factor, which began in September 2011.^[28][29]

[edit] The X Factor

In 2004, with Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh, Cowell was a judge on the first series of the British television music competition The X Factor, which he created using his production company, Syco. The X Factor was an instant success with the viewers and began its eighth series in 2011.

Leona Lewis, the winner of the third series of The X Factor, was signed to Cowell's label Syco and has had number one singles and album sales around the world.^[30][31] Cowell returned for a fourth series on 18 August 2007 alongside Osbourne, Walsh and new judge, Dannii Minogue. Walsh had previously been sacked from the judging panel by Cowell for the fourth series, and was subsequently replaced by Brian Friedman, who was a judge on Grease Is the Word. Walsh was later brought back a week into the auditions by Cowell when he and Osbourne realised that they missed Walsh and that without him, there was no chemistry between the judges. Cowell returned for the fifth series in 2008, with Walsh, Minogue and new judge Cheryl Cole, as Osbourne decided to quit before the show began.^[32][33] Cowell returned for series 6 and 7 as well, although series 7 was his to be his last, as he left in 2011 in order to launch The X Factor in America. After placing third in the seventh series of The X Factor in the UK, boyband One Direction signed to Cowell's label in 2011, and the group have gone on to top singles and album charts worldwide.^[34][35]

The X Factor Australia launched in 2005, but was cancelled due to poor ratings. It returned to Australian television for its second season on 30 August 2010, with Kyle Sandilands, Ronan Keating, Guy Sebastian and Natalie Imbruglia as judges.^[36] Season 3 began on 29 August 2010 and ended on 22 November. It featured Ronan Keating, Mel B, Guy Sebastian and Natalie Bassingthwaighte as judges.

Cowell also launched The X Factor USA in September 2011 on American broadcaster Fox. It was originally announced that he would be a judge both on the UK and U.S. editions of the show, which air at similar times of the year,^[20][21] but MTV officially reported on 17 April 2011 that this was not true; Cowell is no longer a judge in the UK version,^[37] but instead will be an enormous presence backstage.^[38] He currently is a judge on The X Factor USA alongside Paula Abdul, L.A. Reid, Nicole Scherzinger and formerly Cheryl Cole.

In October 2010, Cowell signed new three-year deals with ITV for both Britain's Got Talent and The X Factor, renewing both shows until 2013.^[39]

[edit] Got Talent franchise

Following the success of the Idol and X Factor franchises, Cowell, his company Syco, and its business partners developed a talent show format open to performers of any kind, not only singers, but also dancers, instrumentalists, magicians, comedians, novelty acts, and so on. The origins of the Got Talent format can be traced to the British show Opportunity Knocks, which began as a radio programme in the 1940s and later transferred to television, where it was an ITV staple for several decades. Looking further back, Opportunity Knocks had its roots in the variety show traditions of British music hall and American vaudeville.

Cowell is the executive producer of America's Got Talent,^[40] which debuted in June 2006, along with Fremantle producers of the Idol series, but he does not appear on the show due to the terms of his contract with FOX. The show was a huge success for NBC, drawing around 12 million viewers a week, and beating So You Think You Can Dance on FOX (produced by rival and Idol creator Simon Fuller).

Britain's Got Talent^[41] debuted on ITV in June 2007. Cowell appears as a judge alongside Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan. The show was a ratings success and second and third seasons followed in 2008 and 2009. The third series featured a publicity coup when Susan Boyle^[41][42][43] made a global media impact with her regional audition performance comparable to that of any previous talent show series winner.

[edit] American Inventor

On 16 March 2006, Simon Cowell's next competition show, American Inventor,^[44][45] debuted on ABC. Fledgling entrepreneurs from across the United States competed to see who could come up with the best new product concept. The 2006 winner, Janusz Liberkowski,^[46][47] received $1 million and the opportunity to develop his idea into a business. The show returned one more time in 2007 for a second season.

[edit] Celebrity Duets

In 2006, Cowell executive-produced Celebrity Duets,^[48] which was described as "an Idol show for Hollywood superstars." The show was hosted by Wayne Brady, and its judges were Marie Osmond, Little Richard^[49] and David Foster.

[edit] Grease Is the Word

Cowell was also the executive producer of Grease Is the Word for ITV. This show set out to find performers to play Danny and Sandy in the 2007 West End revival of Grease. It was hosted by Zoe Ball and judged by Britons David Ian and Sinitta and Americans David Gest and Brian Friedman. The musical theatre casting concept had already been introduced by the BBC with the ratings hit How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?, but Cowell's show was not the hoped for success. He himself said, "It has been slaughtered by the critics – and rightly so. It is far too similar to our other formats."^[50]

[edit] Rock Rivals

Cowell collaborated with UK production company Shed Media to produce 2008 ITV drama series Rock Rivals, which is based on an X Factor type show.^[51]

[edit] Red or Black?

In 2011, Cowell also created his first game show, titled Red or Black? and hosted by Ant & Dec, for ITV.^[52] Series 1 was broadcast over seven nights in one week (excluding Tuesday), from 3 September to 10 September. The show has been recomissioned by ITV for a second series in 2012, which will be aired weekly.^[53]

Other activities[link]

Cowell has been involved in charity work for many years.^[54] He supports children from The Association Of Children's Hospices and invites them backstage to the screenings of The X Factor.^[55] When he can, he stops by some of the hospices to visit the children.^[55] He also supports animal rights and has appeared in a video for PETA in which he reminds drivers of the cruelty to animals that can occur when their pets are locked in cars in the summer.^[56][57] In view of his charitable works, particularly the production of the charity single Everybody Hurts in aid of victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, as well as his services to the music industry, there was considerable media speculation as to whether Cowell would receive a knighthood in the Queen's 2010 Birthday Honours, a proposal allegedly put forward by former Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.^[58] Cowell stated that he believed his chances of receiving the honour were "zero" following what he described as being a "royal row";^[59] ultimately Cowell did not receive an honour in the list.

In December 2003, Cowell published his autobiography titled I Don't Mean to be Rude, but.... In it, he told the whole story of his childhood, his years working in music and experiences on Pop Idol, Pop Stars Rivals, and American Idol, and finally, his tips for being successful as a pop star.

Cowell has appeared as a guest voice in an episode of The Simpsons ("Smart and Smarter"), in which he gets beaten up by Homer Simpson (while criticising Homer's punches).^[60][61] His voice was also heard on an episode of Family Guy ("Lois Kills Stewie"), in which he told Stewie that his singing was so awful that he should be dead.^[62][63][64] He made an MTV Movie Award-winning cameo appearance as himself in Scary Movie 3, where he sits in judgment during a battle rap (and subsequently gets killed by gunfire for criticising the rappers). He also appears in the DVD version of Shrek 2 as a judge in Far Far Away Idol, and also provided the voice.^[65]

He appeared on an episode of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? (the original British version) and Saturday Night Live in 2004. Cowell has also guest-starred (filling in for Regis Philbin) in the popular talk show Live with Regis and Kelly during American Idol's finalist week in early 2006. Cowell was once the fastest "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" on BBC's motoring show Top Gear, driving a Suzuki Liana around the show's test track in a time of 1:47.1. When Top Gear retired the Liana along with its rankings after the eighth series, Cowell was the eighth fastest overall and the third fastest non-professional driver. On 11 November 2007 Cowell yet again appeared on Top Gear, achieving a time of 1:45.9 thus putting him ahead of Gordon Ramsay and back at the top of the table.^[66] Cowell introduced entertainer Dick Clark at the 2006 Primetime Emmy Awards. He was seen on Comic Relief Does The Apprentice where he donated £25,000 for a fun fair ticket. Cowell has also appeared on the MTV shows Cribs and Punk'd. On Punk'd, Ryan Seacrest and Randy Jackson set him up to believe his $400,000 Rolls Royce was stolen and had caused an accident by using a nearly identical car.^[67]

Cowell was chosen as the first subject of the re-launched This Is Your Life in an episode broadcast on 2 June 2007. He was presented with the Red Book by Sir Trevor McDonald while presenting American Idol.^[68]

On 1 July 2007 Cowell appeared alongside Randy Jackson and Ryan Seacrest as a speaker at the Concert For Diana, held at Wembley Stadium.^[69]

Cowell was a partner in the Royal Ascot Racing Club, a thoroughbred horse racing syndicate which owned the 2005 Epsom Derby winner, Motivator.^[70]

In May 2010, he portrayed himself again, in another episode of The Simpsons, "Judge Me Tender".^[71]

In December 2010, he was added as a new entry to the latest edition of Who's Who.^[72]

Personal life[link]

Cowell became engaged to make up artist Mezhgan Hussainy in February 2010, however the couple separated in 2012.^[73] They met on the set of American Idol.^[74] Cowell is the godfather of pop singer Sinitta's adopted children.^[75]

Upon his appearance on Top Gear, it was revealed that Cowell pays more than £21.7m per year in income tax, suggesting that his taxable income is over £54.25m per year with income tax at the time approximately 40%.^[76][77] (NB: UK Income Tax 40% for earnings over £34,600). Cowell was estimated to have a fortune of £200 million in the Sunday Times Rich List of 2011, making him the sixth richest person in the British music industry.^[78] Cowell splits his time between homes in London and Los Angeles.^[79] He owns a £9million home in Holland Park, West London,^[79] and has a £13.7million ($22 m), 11,550 sq ft (1,073 m²) home in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles.^[80]

In April 2012 he said that he had an affair with fellow The X Factor judge Dannii Minogue during her time on the show.^[73]

Political views[link]

Cowell is a supporter of the Conservative Party. In 2010, Cowell endorsed David Cameron to be Prime Minister and claimed that he has the 'substance and the stomach to navigate us through difficult times'.^[81] In the aftermath of the election, it was reported that he had fallen out with fellow X Factor judge Cheryl Cole (who had declared her support for Labour and Gordon Brown) in a telephone conversation about politics.^[82]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Simon Cowell

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Simon Cowell

• Simon Cowell at itv.com/xfactor
• Simon Cowell at the Internet Movie Database
• Simon Cowell at People.com
• Simon Cowell for PETA
• Simon Cowell on World Top 100 A&R Chart
• New York Times: How a Hit Almost Failed Its Own Audition
• Reviews and short bio of Simon Cowell
• Playboy Interview: Simon Cowell, February 2007
• Interview, HitQuarters Oct 2001
• 2011 radio interview with Simon Cowell

Links to related articles v t e Syco Directors/management Simon Cowell · Sir Philip Green SYCOtv American Inventor · Celebrity Duets · Got Talent · Red or Black? · The X Factor Syco Music Current Melanie Amaro · Susan Boyle · Alexandra Burke · Rebecca Ferguson · Il Divo · Jonathan and Charlotte · Andrew Johnston · Labrinth · Leona Lewis · Little Mix · Cher Lloyd · One Direction  · Sinitta Former Angelis · Steve Brookstein · Matt Cardle · Jai McDowall · Escala · Gareth Gates · Leon Jackson · Joe McElderry · Paul Potts · Rhydian · Bianca Ryan · Same Difference · George Sampson · Shayne Ward · Westlife Partners Sony Music Entertainment · Sony Pictures Entertainment · Arcadia Group · Epic Records · Columbia Records · Talkback Thames · FremantleMedia · J Records · RCA Records · ITV  · Fox Television  · Jackpotjoy v t e Pop Idol Series 1 2 Hosts Ant & Dec Kate Thornton Judges Simon Cowell Pete Waterman Nicki Chapman Neil Fox Winners Will Young Michelle McManus Winners' singles "Evergreen" / "Anything Is Possible" "All This Time" Runners-up Gareth Gates Mark Rhodes Other alumni Zoe Birkett Darius Danesh Hayley Evetts Jessica Garlick Rosie Ribbons Rik Waller Natalie Anderson Sarah Whatmore Sam Nixon Jodie Connor Related articles Idol Series Discography List of finalists (1 2) v t e American Idol Seasons 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Hosts Ryan Seacrest Brian Dunkleman (2002) Judges Randy Jackson Paula Abdul (2002–09) Simon Cowell (2002–10) Kara DioGuardi (2009–10) Ellen DeGeneres (2010) Jennifer Lopez (2011–present) Steven Tyler (2011–present) Winners Kelly Clarkson Ruben Studdard Fantasia Barrino Carrie Underwood Taylor Hicks Jordin Sparks David Cook Kris Allen Lee DeWyze Scotty McCreery Phillip Phillips Winners’ singles "A Moment Like This" "Flying Without Wings" "I Believe" "Inside Your Heaven" "Do I Make You Proud" "This Is My Now" "The Time of My Life" "No Boundaries" "Beautiful Day" "I Love You This Big" "Home" Runners-up Justin Guarini Clay Aiken Diana DeGarmo Bo Bice Katharine McPhee Blake Lewis David Archuleta Adam Lambert Crystal Bowersox Lauren Alaina Jessica Sanchez Other alumni Josh Gracin Jennifer Hudson Elliott Yamin Chris Daughtry Kellie Pickler Spin-offs From Justin to Kelly American Juniors Christmas Extra Rewind Concert tours 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Related articles Alumni album sales Alumni awards and nominations Alumni in film, television and theater Alumni single sales Compilation series Controversies Discography Episodes Hot 100 singles Idol Gives Back Idol series Magazine The American Idol Experience Video game World Idol Interscope Records Jimmy Iovine v t e The X Factor (UK) Series Main 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Celebrity Battle of the Stars Presenters Current Dermot O'Leary Former Kate Thornton Judges Current Louis Walsh Gary Barlow Tulisa Contostavlos Former Simon Cowell Brian Friedman Sharon Osbourne Dannii Minogue Cheryl Cole Kelly Rowland Guest Paula Abdul Geri Halliwell Natalie Imbruglia Pixie Lott Katy Perry Nicole Scherzinger Alexandra Burke Leona Lewis Rita Ora Mel B Winners Main series Steve Brookstein Shayne Ward Leona Lewis Leon Jackson Alexandra Burke Joe McElderry Matt Cardle Little Mix Celebrity series Lucy Benjamin Related singles Winner's singles "Against All Odds" "That's My Goal" "A Moment Like This" "When You Believe" "Hallelujah" "The Climb" "When We Collide" "Cannonball" Charity singles "Hero" "You Are Not Alone" "Heroes" "Wishing on a Star" Related articles List of episodes List of finalists series 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Discography Controversy and criticism SYCOtv FremantleMedia talkbackTHAMES Thames ITV v t e Britain's Got Talent Got Talent Series 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 Presenters Ant & Dec · Stephen Mulhern Judges Current Simon Cowell · Amanda Holden · Alesha Dixon · David Walliams Former Kelly Brook · Piers Morgan · Michael McIntyre · David Hasselhoff Guest Louis Walsh · Carmen Electra Winners Paul Potts · George Sampson · Diversity · Spelbound · Jai McDowall · Ashleigh and Pudsey Other notable contestants Series 1 Bessie Cursons · Connie Talbot · Damon Scott · Bar Wizards · Jake Pratt Series 2 Signature · Andrew Johnston · Escala · Faryl Smith · Kate and Gin · Charlie Green · Charlie Wernham Series 3 Susan Boyle · Julian Smith · Aidan Davis · Hollie Steel · Shaheen Jafargholi · Callum Francis · DJ Talent · Flawless · John Farnworth Series 4 Twist and Pulse · Paul Burling · ReConnected · Myles and Connor · Kev Orkian · Stevie Starr · The Cheeky Girls · Matthew Ahmet Series 5 Ronan Parke · Out of the Blue Series 6 Jonathan and Charlotte · Only Boys Aloud · The Loveable Rogues · Ryan O'Shaughnessy  · Molly Rainford · The Zimmers Related articles List of episodes · Discography · SYCOtv · FremantleMedia · talkbackTHAMES · Thames · ITV Category v t e The X Factor (U.S.) Seasons 1 · 2 Hosts Former Steve Jones Judges Current Simon Cowell  · L.A. Reid  · Britney Spears  · Demi Lovato Former Cheryl Cole · Paula Abdul · Nicole Scherzinger Winners Melanie Amaro Winners' songs "Listen" Runners-up Josh Krajcik Related articles List of finalists (season 1)  · The X Factor · SYCOtv · FremantleMedia North America · Fox

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Morgan Freeman
Freeman in 2006.
Born	(1937-06-01) June 1, 1937 (age 75) Memphis, Tennessee
Alma mater	Jackson State University
Occupation	Actor, director, narrator
Years active	1964–present
Spouse	Jeanette Adair Bradshaw (1967–79) Myrna Colley-Lee (1984–2010)

Morgan Freeman^[1] (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, film director, aviator and narrator. Freeman has received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Invictus and won in 2005 for Million Dollar Baby. He has also won a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Freeman has appeared in many other box office hits, including Unforgiven, Glory, Seven, Deep Impact, The Sum of All Fears, Bruce Almighty, Batman Begins, March of the Penguins, The Bucket List, Wanted, The Dark Knight, and RED.

Early life[link]

Morgan Freeman was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of Mayme Edna (née Revere), a teacher,^[2] and Morgan Porterfield Freeman, a barber who died April 27, 1961, from cirrhosis. He has three older siblings. Freeman was sent as an infant to his paternal grandmother in Charleston, Mississippi.^[3][4][5] His family moved frequently during his childhood, living in Greenwood, Mississippi; Gary, Indiana; and finally Chicago, Illinois.^[5] Freeman made his acting debut at age 9, playing the lead role in a school play. He then attended Broad Street High School, later named Threadgill Elementary School, in Mississippi. At age 12, he won a statewide drama competition, and while still at Broad Street High School, he performed in a radio show based in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1955, he graduated from Broad Street, but turned down a partial drama scholarship from Jackson State University, opting instead to work as a mechanic in the United States Air Force.

Freeman moved to Los Angeles in the early 1960s and worked as a transcript clerk at Los Angeles Community College. During this period, he also lived in New York City, working as a dancer at the 1964 World's Fair, and in San Francisco, where he was a member of the Opera Ring musical theater group. Freeman acted in a touring company version of The Royal Hunt of the Sun, and also appeared as an extra in the 1965 film The Pawnbroker. He made his off-Broadway debut in 1967, opposite Viveca Lindfors in The Nigger Lovers^[6][7] (about the civil rights era "Freedom Riders"), before debuting on Broadway in 1968's all-black version of Hello, Dolly!, which also starred Pearl Bailey and Cab Calloway.

Career[link]

Acting career[link]

Freeman at the 10 Items or Less premiere in Madrid with co-star Paz Vega.

Although his first credited film appearance was in 1971's Who Says I Can't Ride a Rainbow?, Freeman first became known in the American media through roles on the soap opera Another World and the PBS kids' show The Electric Company,^[5] (notably as Easy Reader and Vincent the Vegetable Vampire) which he later said he should have left earlier than he did.

Beginning in the mid-1980s, Freeman began playing prominent supporting roles in many feature films, earning him a reputation for depicting wise, fatherly characters.^[5] As he gained fame, he went on to bigger roles in films such as the chauffeur Hoke in Driving Miss Daisy, and Sergeant Major Rawlins in Glory (both in 1989).^[5] In 1994 he portrayed Red, the redeemed convict in the acclaimed The Shawshank Redemption. In the same year he was a member of the jury at the 44th Berlin International Film Festival.^[8]

He also starred in films such as Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Unforgiven, Seven, and Deep Impact. In 1997, Freeman, together with Lori McCreary, founded the film production company Revelations Entertainment, and the two co-head its sister online film distribution company ClickStar. Freeman also hosts the channel Our Space on ClickStar, with specially crafted film clips in which he shares his love for the sciences, especially space exploration and aeronautics.

After three previous nominations—a supporting actor nomination for Street Smart, and leading actor nominations for Driving Miss Daisy, and The Shawshank Redemption—he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Million Dollar Baby at the 77th Academy Awards.^[5] Freeman is recognized for his distinctive voice, making him a frequent choice for narration. In 2005 alone, he provided narration for two films, War of the Worlds and the Academy Award-winning documentary film March of the Penguins.

Freeman appeared as God in the hit film Bruce Almighty and its sequel, Evan Almighty, as well as Lucius Fox in the critical and commercial success Batman Begins and its 2008 sequel, The Dark Knight. He starred in Rob Reiner's 2007 film The Bucket List, opposite Jack Nicholson. He teamed with Christopher Walken and William H. Macy for the comedy The Maiden Heist, which was released direct to video due to financial problems of the distribution company. In 2008, Freeman returned to Broadway to co-star with Frances McDormand and Peter Gallagher for a limited engagement of Clifford Odets's play, The Country Girl, directed by Mike Nichols.

He had wanted to do a film based on Nelson Mandela for some time. At first he tried to get Mandela's autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, adapted into a finished script, but it was not finalized.^[9] In 2007 he purchased the film rights to a pre-published 2008 book by John Carlin, Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game that Made a Nation.^[10] Clint Eastwood directed the Nelson Mandela bio-pic titled Invictus, starring Freeman as Mandela and Matt Damon as rugby team captain Francois Pienaar.^[11] In October 2010, Freeman co-starred alongside Bruce Willis in Red.^[12]

Freeman's latest project is the Danny DeVito directed film Charlotte Doyle which will also feature Irish actor Pierce Brosnan and is due to start filming in Ireland in early 2012.^[13]

Other work[link]

In July 2009 Freeman was one of the presenters at the 46664 concert (celebrating Nelson Mandela's birthday) at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

Freeman was the first American to record a par on Legend Golf & Safari Resort's Extreme 19th hole.^[14]

At age 65, Freeman earned a private pilot's license.^[15] He owns or has owned at least three private aircraft, including a Cessna Citation 501 jet and a Cessna 414 twin-engine prop. In 2007 he purchased an Emivest SJ30^[16] long-range private jet, and took delivery in December 2009.^[17] He is certified to fly all of them.^[18]

Effective January 4, 2010, Freeman replaced Walter Cronkite as the voiceover introduction to the CBS Evening News featuring Katie Couric as news anchor.^[19] CBS cited the need for consistency in introductions for regular news broadcasts and special reports as the basis for the change.^[19]

As of 2010^[update], Freeman is the host and narrator of the Discovery Channel television show Through the Wormhole.^[20]

He was featured on the opening track to B.o.B's second album Strange Clouds. The track, "Bombs Away", features a prologue and epilogue (which leads in to a musical outro) spoken by Morgan Freeman

In September 2011, Freeman was featured with John Lithgow in the Broadway debut of Dustin Lance Black's play, '8' — a staged reenactment of the federal trial that overturned California's Prop 8 ban on same-sex marriage — as Attorney David Boies.^[21] The production was held at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre in New York to raise money for the American Foundation for Equal Rights.^[22][23]

Personal life[link]

Freeman and his wife, Myrna Colley-Lee, at the 1990 Academy Awards

Family[link]

Freeman was married to Jeanette Adair Bradshaw from October 22, 1967 until 1979.

He married Myrna Colley-Lee on June 16, 1984. The couple separated in December 2007. Freeman and Colley-Lee had adopted Freeman's step-granddaughter from first marriage and together helped to raise her. Freeman's attorney and business partner, Bill Luckett, announced in August 2008, that Freeman and his wife were in the process of divorce.^[24] On September 15, 2010, their divorce was finalized in Mississippi.^[25] The couple's divorce is said to be due to Freeman being caught by Colley-Lee having a sexual relationship with his step-granddaughter Hines which according to reports lasted almost a decade. Neither are blood releated. Freeman was in his early seventies while Hines in her late twenties at the time of Freeman's divorce. Despite rumors of marriage and baby, Freeman and Hines were said to have split up in 2012. Freeman is now said to be dating a girl even younger than Hines. ^[26]

In 2008, the TV series African American Lives 2 revealed that Freeman's great-great-grandparents were slaves who migrated from North Carolina to Mississippi. Freeman also discovered that his caucasian maternal great-great-grandfather had lived with, and was buried beside, Freeman's African-American great-great-grandmother (the two could not legally marry at the time, in the South).^[2]

Properties[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (April 2012)

Freeman lives in Charleston, Mississippi, and New York City. He co-owns and operates Madidi,^[27] a fine dining restaurant, and Ground Zero, a blues club, both located in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

Car accident[link]

Freeman was injured in an automobile accident near Ruleville, Mississippi, on the night of August 3, 2008. The vehicle in which he was traveling, a 1997 Nissan Maxima, left the highway and flipped over several times. He and a female passenger, Demaris Meyer, were rescued from the vehicle using the "Jaws of Life". Freeman was taken via medical helicopter to The Regional Medical Center (The Med) hospital in Memphis.^[28][29] Police ruled out alcohol as a factor in the crash.^[30] Freeman was coherent following the crash, as he joked to a photographer about taking his picture at the scene.^[31] He broke his shoulder, arm and elbow in the crash and had surgery on August 5, 2008. Doctors operated for four hours to repair nerve damage in his shoulder and arm.^[32] On CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight he stated that he is left handed but cannot move the fingers of his left hand. He wears a compression glove to protect against blood pooling due to non-movement. His publicist announced he was expected to make a full recovery.^[33][34] Meyer, his passenger, has sued him for negligence, claiming that he was drinking the night of the accident.^[35]

Beliefs[link]

In an interview with CNN, Freeman denied the claim that he was a "man of God", saying that "the question of faith is whatever you actually believe is. We take a lot of what we're talking about in science on faith; we posit a theory, and until it's disproven we have faith that it's true."^[36]

Activism[link]

Charitable work[link]

In 2004 Freeman and others formed the Grenada Relief Fund to aid people affected by Hurricane Ivan on the island of Grenada. The Grenada Relief Fund has since become PLANIT NOW, an organization that seeks to provide preparedness resources for people living in hurricane and severe-storm afflicted areas.^[37]

Freeman has worked on narrating small clips for global organizations, such as One Earth,^[38] whose goals include raising awareness of environmental issues. He has narrated the clip "Why Are We Here", which can be viewed on One Earth's website.

Freeman has donated money to the Mississippi Horse Park in Starkville, Mississippi. The Horse park is part of Mississippi State University. Freeman has several horses that he takes there.^[39]

Comments on race[link]

Freeman has publicly criticized the celebration of Black History Month and does not participate in any related events, saying, "I don't want a black history month. Black history is American history."^[40] He says the only way to end racism is to stop talking about it, and he notes that there is no "white history month."^[41] Freeman once said on an interview with 60 Minutes' Mike Wallace, "I am going to stop calling you a white man and I'm going to ask you to stop calling me a black man."^[40] Freeman supported the defeated proposal to change the Mississippi state flag, which contains the Confederate battle flag.^[42][43]

Politics[link]

Freeman endorsed Barack Obama's candidacy for the 2008 presidential election, although he stated that he would not join Obama's campaign.^[44] He narrates for The Hall of Presidents with Barack Obama, who has been added to the exhibit.^[45][46] The Hall of Presidents re-opened on July 4, 2009 at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.^[46]

Freeman joined President Bill Clinton, USA Bid Committee Chairman Sunil Gulati, and USMNT midfielder Landon Donovan on Wednesday, December 1, 2010, in Zurich for the USA bid committee's final presentation to FIFA for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.^[47]

Freeman sparked an outcry in September 2011 when, on CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight, he accused the Tea Party movement of racism.^[48]

Freeman: [the Tea Party's] stated policy, publicly stated, is to do whatever it takes to see to it that Obama only serves one term. What's, what does that, what underlines that? Screw the country. We're going to do whatever we do to get this black man, we can, we're going to do whatever we can to get this black man outta here.

Morgan: But is that necessarily a racist thing?...Wouldn't they say that about any Democrat?

Freeman: It is a racist thing...[The rise of the Tea Party] shows the weak, dark underside of America. We're supposed to be better than that. We really are. That's why all those people were in tears when Obama was elected president. 'Ah look at what we are–this is America.' Then it just sort of started turning because these people surfaced–like stirring up muddy water.^[49][50]

Freeman was criticized for the comments; black Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said the comments were short-sighted and said most who have criticized the Tea Party have never been to a Tea Party,^[51] and actor Adam Baldwin said, "It's the content of Obama's character [and] policies, not the color of his skin, that's at issue."^[48]

Honors[link]

On October 28, 2006, Freeman was honored at the first Mississippi's Best Awards in Jackson, Mississippi, with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his works on and off the big screen. He received an honorary degree of Doctor of Arts and Letters from Delta State University during the school's commencement exercises on May 13, 2006.^[52]

In 2008, Freeman's family history was profiled on the PBS series African American Lives 2. A DNA test showed that he is descended from the Songhai and Tuareg peoples of Niger.

Filmography[link]