John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE ( /ˈtɒlkiːn/, US /ˈtoʊlkiːn/; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.

Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College, Oxford, from 1925 to 1945 and Merton Professor of English Language and Literature there from 1945 to 1959. He was a close friend of C. S. Lewis—they were both members of the informal literary discussion group known as the Inklings. Tolkien was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II on 28 March 1972.

After his death, Tolkien's son Christopher published a series of works based on his father's extensive notes and unpublished manuscripts, including The Silmarillion. These, together with The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings form a connected body of tales, poems, fictional histories, invented languages, and literary essays about a fantasy world called Arda, and Middle-earth within it. Between 1951 and 1955, Tolkien applied the term legendarium to the larger part of these writings.

Roy Jones, Jr. (born January 16, 1969) is an American professional boxer. As a professional, he has captured numerous world titles in the middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions. He is the only boxer in history to start his career as a light middleweight (154 lbs) and go on to win a heavyweight title.

Jones left his mark in boxing history when he won the WBA Heavyweight title, becoming the first former middleweight champion to win a heavyweight title in 106 years. Jones was named "Fighter of the Decade" for the 1990s by the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Jones won the 1984 United States National Junior Olympics in the 119 lb (54 kg) weight division, the 1986 United States National Golden Gloves in the 139 lb (63 kg) division and the 1987 United States National Golden Gloves in the 156 lb (71 kg) division. As an amateur, he ended his career with a 121–13 record.

Timothy Duane "Tim" Hardaway, Jr. (born March 16, 1992) is an American college basketball shooting guard with the Michigan Wolverines basketball team who has completed his sophomore season for the 2011–12 team. He is the son of National Basketball Association All-Star Tim Hardaway. As a high school basketball player, he was a three-time All-City performer for Miami Palmetto High School.

As a freshman during the 2010–11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, he had an early season shooting slump, but finished strong enough to earn four Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Week awards, including three in the final four weeks during which he averaged over 20 points a game to help the 2010–11 team to climb up to fourth in the 2010–11 Big Ten Conference men's basketball season standings. He was an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection and a unanimous Big Ten All-Freshman team selection following the season. He established the Michigan freshman record for single-season three point shots made. He was a 2011 Collegeinsider.com Freshmen All-America selection and participated as a member of Team USA in the 2011 FIBA Under-19 World Championship. As a sophomore, he earned the 2011–12 All-Big Ten 3rd team recognition.

Timothy Duane "Tim" Hardaway (born September 1, 1966) is a retired American basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and was one of the league's best point guards in his prime. Six feet (1.83 m) tall, he was best known for his devastating crossover dribble (dubbed the "UTEP Two-step" by television analysts), a move which he helped to popularize among younger players. He is the father of Tim Hardaway, Jr.

Hardaway was born in Chicago, Illinois. After graduating from Carver Area High School in Chicago, he attended the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) where he won the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award as the best college player six feet (1.83 m) tall or under. Hardaway was selected as the 14th pick of the first round, in the 1989 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors.

In his rookie season, Hardaway wore #"5", as Manute Bol wore Hardaway's #"10". After Bol left the Warriors, Hardaway inherited it. With the Warriors, he was part of "Run TMC" (the initials of the players' first names, and a play on the title of the popular rap group Run DMC) which was the high-scoring trio of himself, Mitch Richmond, and Chris Mullin. As part of the Warriors' attack, Hardaway was responsible for leading Run TMC's fast break, displaying his excellent passing and one-on-one skills to complement Richmond's slashing and Mullin's shooting. Hardaway played for the Warriors until the middle of 1995–96 season when he was traded to the Miami Heat along with Chris Gatling in exchange for Kevin Willis and Bimbo Coles.

Robert John Downey Jr. (born April 4, 1965) is an American actor who made his screen debut in 1970 at the age of five, appearing in his father's film Pound, and has worked consistently in film and television ever since. During the 1980s, he had roles in series such as coming of age films associated with the Brat Pack. His role in Less Than Zero (1987) was the first time Downey's acting would be commended by critics. After Zero, Downey was cast in starring roles in bigger films, such as Air America (1990), Soapdish (1991), and Natural Born Killers (1994). He played Charlie Chaplin in the 1992 film Chaplin, for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

Between 1996 and 2001, Downey was frequently arrested on drug-related charges. After being released from the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison in 2000, Downey joined the cast of the hit television series Ally McBeal playing the new love interest of Calista Flockhart's title character. His performance was praised and received accolades, but his character was written out when Downey was fired after two drug arrests in late 2000 and early 2001. After one last stay in a court-ordered drug treatment program, Downey finally achieved lasting sobriety and his career began to take off again. He appeared in semi-independent films such as The Singing Detective (2003), Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), and A Scanner Darkly (2006). He also had supporting roles in the mainstream films Gothika (2003) and Zodiac (2007). In 2004, Downey released his debut studio album The Futurist.