Name	The Day of the Triffids
Author	John Wyndham
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre	Science fiction novel
Publisher	Michael Joseph
Release date	December 1951
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	304 pp (first edition, hardback)
Isbn	ISBN 0-7181-0093-X (first edition, hardback)
Oclc	152201380
Preceded by	Planet Plane
Followed by	The Kraken Wakes

The Day of the Triffids is a post-apocalyptic novel written in 1951 by the English science fiction author John Wyndham. Although Wyndham had already published other novels, this was the first published under the John Wyndham pen-name. It established him as an important writer, and remains his best known novel.

Plot summary

The protagonist is Bill Masen, an Englishman who has made his living working with "triffids"—tall plants capable of aggressive and seemingly intelligent behaviour. They are able to move about on their three "legs", appear to communicate with each other, and possess a deadly whip-like poisonous sting that enables them to kill and feed on the rotting carcasses of their victims. The book implies they were bioengineered in the Soviet Union and then accidentally released into the wild when a plane carrying their seeds was shot down. Triffids begin sprouting all over the world, and their extracts prove to be superior to existing vegetable oils. The result is worldwide cultivation of triffids.

The narrative begins with Bill Masen in hospital, his eyes bandaged after having been splashed with droplets of triffid venom in a lab accident. During his convalescence he is told of the unexpected and beautiful green meteor shower that the entire world is watching. He awakes the next morning to a silent hospital and learns that the light from the unusual display has rendered any who watched it completely blind. (It is later suggested, though never confirmed, that the 'meteor shower' may have been an orbiting government weapons' system that was triggered accidentally.)

After unbandaging his eyes, he wanders through an anarchic London full of almost entirely sightless inhabitants, and witnesses civilization collapsing around him. Masen meets a sighted woman, wealthy novelist Josella Playton, who was being forcibly used as a guide by a violent blind man. She and Masen begin to fall in love and decide to leave London. Lured by a single light that they see shining in an otherwise darkened city, Bill and Josella discover a group of sighted survivors at a London university building. The group is led by a man named Beadley, who plans to establish a colony in the countryside. Beadley wishes to take only sighted men who will take several wives, sighted or otherwise, to rapidly rebuild the human population. Bill and Josella decide to join the group.

The polygamous principles of this scheme appall one of the other leaders of the group, the religious Miss Durrant. Before this schism can be dealt with a man called Wilfred Coker takes it upon himself to save as many of the blind as possible. He stages a mock fire at the university and during the ensuing chaos kidnaps a number of sighted individuals including Bill and Josella. Each is chained to a squad of blind people and forced to lead them around London, collecting rapidly diminishing food and other supplies. Bill and his squad find themselves beset by escaped triffids as well as by an aggressive rival gang of scavengers led by a ruthless, red-haired man.

Masen nevertheless sticks with his squad until its members all begin dying of some unknown disease. He leaves and attempts to find Josella, but his only lead is an address left behind by the now-departed members of Beadley's group. Thrown together with a repentant Coker, he drives to the place, a country estate named Tynsham in Wiltshire, but neither Beadley nor Josella are there; Durrant has taken charge and organised the community along "Christian" lines. Masen and Coker fruitlessly search for Beadley and Josella for several days, before Bill remembers a chance comment Josella made about a country home in Sussex. He sets off in search of it, while Coker returns to Tynsham.

Bill is joined by a young sighted girl named Susan; they succeed in locating Josella, who is indeed at the Sussex house. Bill and Josella consider themselves to be married, and see Susan as their daughter. They attempt to make the Sussex farm into a self-sufficient colony, but with only marginal success, as the triffids grow ever more numerous, crowding in and surrounding their small island of civilization. Years pass, during which it becomes steadily harder to keep out the encroaching plants.

One day a helicopter pilot representative of Beadley's faction lands at the farm and reports that the group has established a successful colony on the Isle of Wight, and that Coker survived to join them. Despite their ongoing struggles, the Masens are reluctant to leave their home, but their hand is forced by the arrival the next day of a squad of soldiers who represent a despotic new government which is setting up feudal enclaves across the country. Masen recognizes the leader, Torrence, as the redheaded man from London. Torrence announces his intention to place many more blind survivors under the Masens' care and to move Susan to another enclave. After feigning general agreement, the Masens disable the soldiers' vehicle and flee during the night. They join the Isle of Wight colony, and settle down to the long struggle ahead, determined to find a way to destroy the triffids and reclaim Earth for humanity.

Publication history

In the United States, the 1951 copyright was attained by Doubleday & Company, Inc. A 1951 condensed version of the book also appeared in Colliers Magazine. An unabridged paperback edition was published in the late 1960s in arrangement with Doubleday by Fawcett Publications World Library, under its Crest Book imprint.

Influences

Wyndham frequently acknowledged the influence of H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds on The Day of the Triffids. In regards to the Triffids' creation, some editions of the novel make brief mention of the theories of the would-be Soviet biologist Trofim Lysenko; eventually thoroughly debunked, Lysenkoism at the time of the novel's creation was still being defended by some prominent international Stalinists.

Themes

The novel contains many themes which are common in Wyndham's work: a depiction of the Soviet Union as an opaque, inscrutable menace, a central problem made worse by human greed and bickering, and a firm determination on the part of the author to not explicitly detail the origin of the threat faced by the protagonists. Other themes include the dissection of human nature from a range of standpoints, and male and female gender roles.

Critical reception

The Day of the Triffids was cited by Karl Edward Wagner as one of the thirteen best science-fiction horror novels. Arthur C. Clarke called it an "immortal story".

In his book Billion Year Spree: The History of Science Fiction, Brian Aldiss coined the term cosy catastrophe to describe the subgenre of post-war apocalyptic fiction in which society is destroyed save for a handful of survivors, who are able to enjoy a relatively comfortable existence. He specifically singled out The Day of the Triffids as an example of this genre.

Allusions in other works

Triffids are referenced in the opening number of the stage/film musical The Rocky Horror Picture Show: "I really got hot when I saw Janette Scott fight a triffid that spits poison and kills." Janette Scott played the role of Karen Goodwin in the 1962 film adaptation.

According to director Danny Boyle, it was the opening hospital sequence of The Day of the Triffids that inspired Alex Garland to write the screenplay for 28 Days Later.

Film, TV, radio or theatrical adaptations

The novel was adapted to radio (readings) by the BBC as early as 1953. BBC radio series followed in 1957 and 1968 (Giles Cooper). The same year it was adopted in Germany by Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) Köln (Cologne), translated by Hein Bruehl and most recently re-broadcast as a four episode series on WDR5 in January 2008. Further BBC radio productions followed in 1971, 1973 and 1980. In 2001 writer Lance Dann adapted the series in two hour long episodes for the BBC World Service.

A film version was produced in the UK and released in 1962.

In 1975, Marvel Comics adapted the story in the magazine Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction.

A television version was produced by the BBC serial in 1981, repeated on BBC Four in 2006, 2007 and 2009. It starred John Duttine as Bill Masen.

In December 2009, the BBC broadcast a new version of the story, written by "ER" and "Law & Order" writer Patrick Harbinson. It stars Dougray Scott as Bill Masen, Joely Richardson as Jo Playton, Brian Cox as Dennis Masen, Vanessa Redgrave as Durrant, Eddie Izzard as Torrence and Jason Priestley as Coker. An estimated 6.1 million people viewed the first episode. The main element of sex and repopulating the Earth was overlooked in the 2009 BBC broadcast. Another difference to the plot was that the Earth was blinded by a solar flare.

References

External links

Essay by L.J. Hurst

Reader's Guide to The Day of the Triffids

Category:1951 novels Category:British science fiction novels Category:Post-apocalyptic novels Category:Novels by John Wyndham Category:Great Reading Adventure Category:London in fiction Category:Science fiction television films Category:English novels

Fullname	Anderson Luís de Souza
Dateofbirth	August 27, 1977
Cityofbirth	São Bernardo do Campo
Countryofbirth	Brazil
Height
Currentclub	Fluminense
Clubnumber	20
Position	Attacking midfielder
Youthyears1	1995–1996
Youthclubs1	Nacional (SP)
Years1	1996–1997
Clubs1	Corinthians
Caps1	2
Goals1	0
Years2	1997–1999
Clubs2	Benfica
Caps2	0
Goals2	0
Years3	1997–1998
Clubs3	→ Alverca (loan)
Caps3	32
Goals3	13
Years4	1998–1999
Clubs4	→ Salgueiros (loan)
Caps4	12
Goals4	2
Years5	1999–2004
Clubs5	Porto
Caps5	154
Goals5	32
Years6	2004–2008
Clubs6	Barcelona
Caps6	113
Goals6	11
Years7	2008–2010
Clubs7	Chelsea
Caps7	43
Goals7	5
Years8	2010–
Clubs8	Fluminense
Caps8	10
Goals8	1
Nationalyears1	2003–2010
Nationalteam1	Portugal
Nationalcaps1	75
Nationalgoals1	5
Pcupdate	18:38, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
Ntupdate	19:18, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Anderson Luís de Souza, OIH (born 27 August 1977 in São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil), commonly known as Deco, is a Brazilian-born Portuguese professional footballer who currently plays for Fluminense

Deco is one of the few players to have won the UEFA Champions League with two different clubs – Porto in 2004 and FC Barcelona in 2006. He was named UEFA Club Footballer of the Year and UEFA Best Midfielder in Porto's UEFA Champions League winning season and was named Man of the Match in the 2003–04 Champions League final. Deco was the first player to win the UEFA Best Midfielder Award with two different clubs (Porto and Barcelona). He was awarded the FIFA World Club Cup Golden Ball and the Man of the Match award in the final despite losing to Internacional. Deco made his 100th appearance in the UEFA Champions League while playing for Chelsea against Atlético Madrid joining a group of only 13 players to have achieved the same milestone.

Deco received Portuguese citizenship in 2002 having completed six years of Portuguese residence, subsequently opting to play internationally for the Portugal national football team.

Career

Early career

Deco started off his career at Nacional Atlético Clube in the city of São Paulo, where he was spotted and signed by Corinthians. Deco arrived in Portugal in 1997 at the age of 19 along with fellow Brazilian player Caju after being acquired by Lisbon side SL Benfica, along with the Corinthians Alagoano franchise.

Despite good showings in training, Benfica decided to loan Deco to the Portuguese Liga de Honra side Alverca where he played for a season. Deco performed well and was close to renewing his contract with Benfica and joining the main squad. However, the Lisbon club and the player's representative did not reach an agreement, as the then manager Graeme Souness did not believe that he would develop into a player worth keeping. Subsequently, Deco was traded to Portuguese Liga side Salgueiros in the 1998–99 season, playing 12 games and scoring two goals. His performances caught the eye of the Porto staff, and during the winter transfer window, he was sold to FC Porto.

Porto

Under the guidance of José Mourinho, Deco was given the role of leading an ambitious Porto team. A key figure in the 2002–03 season, he scored 10 goals in 30 games, but nevertheless received 17 yellow cards and one red card. Deco was one of the key players in Porto's UEFA Cup final 3–2 win over Celtic that year. In the 2003–04 season, Deco helped Porto recapture the national title and led the team to the 2004 UEFA Champions League Final in which Porto won 3–0 over AS Monaco, scoring the second goal of the match. He was the Champions League's top assist provider and also suffered the most fouls in the Champions League that season. That season, Deco won the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year as well as the award for the best midfielder in the competition.

Barcelona

.]] On 17 June 2004, Deco told a Portuguese radio station that he would almost certainly join English side Chelsea (then coached by Mourinho) following UEFA Euro 2004. He said that a transfer deal between Porto and Chelsea had been all but finalised, and that the only remaining steps were passing a physical examination and signing a formal contract with Chelsea.

However, on 26 June 2004, he told the Portuguese sports daily O Jogo that he would rather move to FC Barcelona than follow Mourinho to Chelsea. While Bayern Munich gave up on Deco after the Chelsea deal seemed to have been concluded, it was still uncertain whether the German side would make a new bid. The best offer at that time was a €21 million bid from Barça, but this figure was still €4 million short of the request by Porto's board. Portuguese newspapers then reported that Barça would try to offer Portuguese winger Ricardo Quaresma as part of the exchange in order to ease the deal.

Finally, a deal was achieved between Porto and Barcelona the day after the UEFA Euro 2004 final. Barça agreed on a €15 million fee in cash, plus the complete rights of Quaresma to Porto, which tagged Quaresma for €6M. Deco signed a four year deal with the Catalan side on 6 July 2004.

In Barcelona, some suggested Deco would be completely eclipsed by Brazilian star Ronaldinho (a duo that according to Luiz Felipe Scolari "can make rain fall"). Indeed, many Barcelona fans met the transfer with raised eyebrows, as Deco was considered an attacking midfielder – a department which was already well covered. Instead, coach Frank Rijkaard used him in a pure central midfield position, where his tactical knowledge, defensive abilities, and enormous work rate surprised many. In December 2004, he came second in France Football's Ballon d'Or 2004 award, losing to Andriy Shevchenko and beating teammate Ronaldinho by six votes.

On 14 May 2005, Deco played in the draw against Levante, which gave Barcelona their 17th La Liga title. He also was named Barcelona's player of the season in the 05/06 season

Deco scored twice in the Spanish Supercup 2006–07, which Barça won. Deco won the UEFA Best Midfielder Award yet again for his performance in Barça's Champions League winning season, enabling him to join the exclusive group of players that have won the same award more than once with different teams, having won the Champions League previously with Porto. Other members of this exclusive group include greats such as Paulo Sousa (Borussia Dortmund and Juventus), Clarence Seedorf (Ajax, Real Madrid, and Milan (Twice)), Marcel Desailly (Marseille and Milan), Frank Rijkaard (Milan and Ajax), Samuel Eto'o (Real Madrid, FC Barcelona (Twice) and Internazionale), Didier Deschamps (Marseille and Juventus), Owen Hargreaves (Bayern Munich and Manchester United) and Edwin van der Sar (Ajax and Manchester United). He was also awarded the Golden Ball at the FIFA Club World Cup and the Man of the Match award, despite losing the final to Internacional.

Chelsea

On 30 June 2008, Chelsea signed Deco from FC Barcelona on a three year contract for £8 million. He was the first signing of new Chelsea coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, who was formerly the national coach of Portugal.

Deco scored on his Chelsea debut and his Premier League debut, with a 30-yard goal, in a 4–0 victory over Portsmouth. Deco followed up his performance by scoring in his second game for Chelsea, a curling free kick against Wigan Athletic. These performances led to him winning the Premier League Player of the Month award for August. Deco made his Champions League debut for Chelsea on September 16. Deco injured himself during a training session, but he returned from the thigh injury on 19 October and came on as a substitute against Middlesbrough. He was sent off in the 3–1 defeat by AS Roma on 4 November 2008. He then scored a bicycle kick against Bolton Wanderers on 6 December.

Deco eventually lost his place in the 2008–09 starting line up, due in part to some poor performances, but also to the sacking of Scolari. In a June interview, Deco stated: "I do not want to stay. I have not liked my experience at Chelsea." This was soon followed by Internazionale, managed by former Chelsea manager José Mourinho, declaring that they were attempting to sign Deco along with fellow countryman Ricardo Carvalho, who had also declared his desire to leave and like Deco desired to link up with Mourinho again. Both players were under Mourinho at Porto. However, Inter president Massimo Moratti later ruled out signing either of the Portuguese internationals on the basis of their age, telling Gazzetta dello Sport, "Deco and Carvalho? They are two champions but at this time I don't feel there's a need to buy them." Soon after this Deco said that he would be willing to stay at Chelsea for at least the rest of his contract, but he said that things must change from his first season in West London.

After talks with new Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti Deco said he was very happy at the club and wanted to show everyone what he could do, he started on the bench in the 2009 FA Community Shield against Manchester United. Deco himself stepped up to take the winning penalty for Chelsea, but was not allowed as Salomon Kalou was placed before him on the list handed to the referee. Deco had an excellent start to the new campaign. He came on as a second half substitute in the first game of the new season for Chelsea against Hull City, and assisted Didier Drogba who scored in injury time. He scored in the next match with a 3–1 win over Sunderland A.F.C with a powerful right-footed shot which came off the inside of the post from outside of the penalty area. He made his 100th UEFA Champions League appearance against Atlético Madrid joining only 13 other players to have achieved as many appearances. Deco scored his second goal of the season in a League Cup tie against Bolton Wanderers F.C., with a shot from 16 yards into the bottom right hand corner of the goal. He added to his goal tally the very next game, again against Bolton Wanderers, with a curling left footer from inside the penalty box. Deco was a consistent player for Chelsea throughout the Autum period but injuries halted his season throughout the Christmas period, he returned in games against Preston, Hull City and Birmingham and played well, but then injury caught him again. Deco made his first start after injury in the 5–0 win away at Portsmouth, and his header forward (even though through an error from Portsmouth goalkeeper David James) set up Didier Drogba for Chelsea's first goal. Deco was sensational in Chelsea's 7–1 win over Aston Villa, creating chances for his team mates and helping Chelsea's midfield flow, he provided a key pass for Chelsea's third goal of the game, skilfully working past an Aston Villa defender and playing a clever ball with the outside of his right foot to Yuri Zhirkov who's cross fell to Florent Malouda who scored. Deco started in Chelsea's potential title decider against Manchester United at Old Trafford alongside fellow midfielders Frank Lampard and John Obi Mikel. Deco made several accurate passes to advancing teammates and also provided a key delivery to Florent Malouda who set up Joe Cole for the opening goal in Chelsea's 2–1 win.

Fluminense

On 6 August 2010, Deco signed a 2-year contract with Brazilian club Fluminense on a free transfer, joining former Chelsea player Juliano Belletti. Also on 2010, Deco has won his first Brazilian Champioship, participating on Fluminense's victorious campaign.

International career

Never called up to the Brazilian national team, Deco was eligible to play for Portugal, with Deco playing club football with Porto his years in Portugal made him eligible to play for the Portuguese. Deco has mentioned several times in the media as an option for the Portuguese national team. In 2002, having completed six years of Portuguese residence, he received Portuguese citizenship. After many months of public discussion which split Portuguese public opinion, and despite the opposition of a large number of Porto rivals' supporters, he was called up for his first international — coincidentally against Brazil. He scored the free kick that stunned Brazil, leading to a 2–1 win for Portugal. This was Portugal's first win over Brazil since the 1966 World Cup. Since that game, he has been a regular in the national team, in spite of initial criticism by players such as Luís Figo, who later recognised Deco's value. Despite the early criticism, Deco was one of the highlights of the Portuguese national team. He scored five goals in 75 caps for Portugal by June 2010 and his international career ended after the second round defeat to Spain at the 2010 World Cup.

2006 World Cup

In the 2006 World Cup, Deco scored the first goal in Portugal's second Group D match against Iran in the 63rd minute minute prior to Cristiano Ronaldo's 80th minute penalty. During the first knockout stage of the competition, Deco received two yellow cards in the game against Netherlands with the first given for a rash tackle on John Heitinga, suspending him from the quarterfinal win against England, as he already picked up a caution in the match with Iran. The win against England in the quarterfinal stage led to Portugal's defeat in the semifinal, which Deco was able to participate in.

Euro 2008

On 11 June, Deco scored the opening goal in Portugal's second match of Euro 2008, a Group A clash with the Czech Republic. The game ended 3–1 to Portugal, with Deco aiding his team in their passage to the quarter-finals where Portugal's campaign came to an end against Germany, the eventual runners-up of the tournament.

In February 2010 Deco announced that he would be retiring from international football after the 2010 World Cup.

2010 World Cup

Deco played for Portugal in their opening game against Côte d'Ivoire. During the game he was injured and was ruled out of the remaining two group games, against North Korea and Brazil. He was fit again for the Last 16 game against Spain but Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz chose Tiago over Deco.

Deco retired from international football with 75 caps and 5 goals.

International goals

Career statistics

Honours

Club

Porto

Portuguese Liga: 1998–99, 2002–03, 2003–04

Taça de Portugal: 2000, 2001, 2003

Portuguese Supercup: 1999, 2001, 2003

UEFA Champions League: 2004

UEFA Cup: 2003

Barcelona

La Liga: 2004–05, 2005–06

Supercopa de España: 2005, 2006

UEFA Champions League: 2006

Chelsea

Premier League: 2009–10

FA Cup: 2009, 2010

Community Shield: 2009

Fluminense

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 2009–10

Individual

Portuguese League Footballer of the Year: 2003–04

UEFA Club Footballer of the Year: 2003–04

UEFA Best Midfielder: 2003–04 , 2005–06

FIFA World Club Cup Golden Ball: 2006

Premier League Player of the Month: August 2008

Orders

Medal of Merit, Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa (House of Braganza)

Personal life

When Deco started his European career in 1997, his first wife Cila, whom he had met three years earlier, moved to Portugal with him. Deco and Cila have two sons, João Henrique and Pedro Gabriel, who now live in Brazil with their mother. A few years later, Deco met Jaciara at a party in Salvador (Brazil) and divorced Cila to live with Jaciara in Porto. They married in April 2005 and now have a son, David, and a daughter, Yasmin. They announced their divorce in March 2008. His maternal family is of Japanese heritage and his paternal family is of Portuguese descent. In 2009 his ex-girlfriend gave birth to his fifth child, a daughter, Sofia.

Deco is the brother-in-law of fellow footballer Alecsandro, who plays for Internacional and Brazil international Richarlyson. Deco is an ambassador for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. He has a charitable organisation, Deco Institute, in the Brazilian city of Indaiatuba, near São Paulo, where he grew up.

References

External links

Match stats, Player Profil and News

FootballDatabase provides Deco's profile and stats

FC Barcelona profile

Deco profile from About.com

Category:1977 births Category:Living people Category:People from São Bernardo do Campo Category:Naturalised citizens of Portugal Category:Portuguese people of Brazilian descent Category:Portuguese footballers Category:Portugal international footballers Category:UEFA Euro 2004 players Category:2006 FIFA World Cup players Category:UEFA Euro 2008 players Category:2010 FIFA World Cup players Category:Portuguese expatriate footballers Category:Portuguese expatriates in Brazil Category:Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players Category:FC Alverca players Category:Primeira Liga players Category:S.C. Salgueiros players Category:F.C. Porto players Category:Portuguese expatriates in Spain Category:Expatriate footballers in Spain Category:La Liga footballers Category:FC Barcelona footballers Category:Expatriate footballers in England Category:Premier League players Category:Chelsea F.C. players Category:Brazilian people of Portuguese descent Category:Brazilian people of Japanese descent

Edward John "Eddie" Izzard (born 7 February 1962) is an English stand-up comedian, actor and voice-over artist. His comedy style takes the form of rambling, whimsical monologue and self-referential pantomime.

Izzard's works include stand-up sets Unrepeatable, Definite Article, Glorious, Dress to Kill, Circle, Sexie and Stripped. He had a starring role in the television series The Riches as Wayne Malloy and has appeared in many motion pictures such as Ocean's Twelve, Ocean's Thirteen, Mystery Men, The Cat's Meow, Across the Universe, and Valkyrie.

He has cited his main comedy role model as Monty Python, and John Cleese once referred to him as the "Lost Python". He is also known for his transvestism.

In 2009 he completed 43 marathons in 51 days for Sport Relief in spite of having no prior history of long distance running.

Early life

Izzard was born in Aden, Yemen, then the Colony of Aden in the Aden Protectorate. He was the youngest son of British parents Dorothy Ella, a midwife and nurse, and Harold John Izzard, an accountant who was working in Aden with British Petroleum. A year after his birth, the family moved to Bangor in Northern Ireland and lived there until he was five. The family then moved to Skewen in South Wales. Within a year, his mother fell ill and died of cancer in March 1968. Izzard was six and his brother Mark was eight. Following his mother's death, Izzard attended St John's School in Porthcawl, St Bede's Preparatory School, and Eastbourne College.

Early career

Izzard began to toy with comedy at the University of Sheffield with partner and friend Rob Ballard. After leaving his accountancy degree course, they took their act to the streets, often in Covent Garden. After his split with Ballard, Izzard spent a great deal of the early 1980s working as a street performer in Europe and the United States, Izzard moved his act into the stand-up comedy venues of Britain. After his first solo apperance at the Edinburgh Festival in 1987, where he met then partner and actress Sarah Townsend, in the same year made his first appearance at The Comedy Store, London. He refined his material throughout the 1980s and in the early 1990s, in part at his own club "Raging Bull" in Soho, he finally began earning some measure of recognition through his edgy improvisation.

Success as a comedian

In 1991, Izzard got a spot on the Fry and Laurie produced AIDS benefit Hysteria 3, where he did his "Wolves" sketch, which broke him into the mainstream comedy circuit and television. His resultant stand-up work brought him British Comedy Awards in 1993 (for Live at the Ambassadors), a part in "Filth" which was a stand up presentation by left-wing sympathetic comedians in aid of raising money for the Terence Higgins Trust in 1994, and 1996 (for Definite Article).

In 1996, he got a part in his first United States-produced film, The Secret Agent, where he met and befriended Robin Williams. Williams already knew of Izzard's act, and discussed bringing his act to the United States. As a result, Izzard took Definite Article on a successful stint in New York City in the same year, and as a support act to Williams took Dress to Kill to San Francisco in 1998. His U.S. breakthrough came in 1999, when Dress to Kill was shown on the American television channel HBO, about a year or so after he performed the show on tour in the USA, UK and France. Suddenly, America was aware of Izzard, and the show went on to earn him two Emmy Awards in 2000 (for performance and writing).

In 1999, after complaints that his act recycled jokes appearing on his DVDs, the BBC's consumer programme Watchdog investigated Izzard's live act. Izzard explained that like most comedy performers, he used some of his most successful routines in each show. Nonetheless, Izzard was issued a warning by the Department of Trade and Industry. Since then, Izzard has rarely performed his stand-up act on television, saying that it uses up material at too high a rate, whereas stage material can be continually re-used in front of different audiences for several months.

In 2005, Izzard used his rambling style to provide the voice-over for the British government's television advertisements promoting recycling. The tagline of the ads was "Recycle. The possibilities are endless!" Izzard also performed on stage with Scottish musician Midge Ure at Live8 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He played the piano on the song "Vienna".

In January 2006, the U.S. television network FX announced the production of a new drama series called The Riches (formerly Low Life). Izzard and British actress Minnie Driver star as a married couple, Wayne and Dahlia Malloy, who have been part of a caravan of con-artist Irish travellers swindling their way across the U.S. with their children. After finding another family killed in a car accident, the Malloys assume their identities and start a new life as law-abiding suburbanites in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The youngest son has shown a preference for wearing girls' clothing, leading to some speculation that the role was based upon Izzard's experiences. Izzard has stated in several interviews that the character of Sam had been given transvestite tendencies long before he was cast as Wayne Malloy, but he has contributed his perspective to keep the character believable.

Theatrical, TV and film appearances

In 1994, Izzard made his West End drama debut as the lead in the world premiere of David Mamet's The Cryptogram with Lindsay Duncan, in the production at London's Comedy Theatre. The success of that role led to his second starring role in David Beaird's black comedy 900 Oneonta. In 1995, he portrayed the title character in Christopher Marlowe's Edward II.

In 1998 Izzard appeared briefly on stage with the Monty Python team in The American Film Institute's Tribute to Monty Python (also referred to as Monty Python Live at Aspen). He walked on stage with the five surviving Pythons and he was summarily escorted off by Eric Idle and Michael Palin as he attempted to participate in a discussion about how the group got together.

Izzard portrayed comedian Lenny Bruce in the 1999 production of Julian Barry's 1971 play Lenny. In 2001, he replaced Clive Owen in Peter Nichols' 1967 play A Day in the Death of Joe Egg at the Comedy Theatre. Izzard and Victoria Hamilton then repeated their lead roles when the show was brought to Broadway in 2003, with The Roundabout Theatre Company production. The revival received four Tony Award nominations including Best Revival of a Play, Best Leading Actor and Actress for its stars Izzard and Hamilton in their Broadway debuts, and Best Direction for Laurence Boswell.

Izzard has appeared in numerous films, starting with 1996's The Secret Agent. He has appeared as several real-life individuals, including Charlie Chaplin in The Cat's Meow, actor Gustav von Wangenheim in Shadow of the Vampire and General Erich Fellgiebel in Valkyrie. Other roles have included Mr. Kite in Across the Universe, Lussurioso in Revengers Tragedy and criminal expert Roman Nagel in Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen. Voice work has included the titular It in Five Children and It, Nigel in The Wild and the mouse warrior Reepicheep in . He said in 2009 that he would not be reprising his role as Reepicheep and the role was ultimately played by Simon Pegg in .

Izzard appeared in the BBC science fiction miniseries The Day of the Triffids based on the 1951 novel, alongside Jason Priestley, Vanessa Redgrave, Joely Richardson, Dougray Scott and Brian Cox.

In June 2010, Izzard is replacing actor James Spader in David Mamet's new play "RACE", on Broadway.

Izzard is scheduled to join Showtime's United States of Tara in 2011. He will play the role of a brilliant psychology professor skeptical about a disease.

Comic style

Izzard's style is heavily influenced by Monty Python, especially in his use of a stream-of-consciousness delivery that jumps between topics as he free associates on stage. He does not generally work from a script, owing to his dyslexia. Instead, he interrupts himself with new joke ideas, the characters he portrays turn into other characters, and he nonchalantly leaps from historical analysis to musings about household appliances. This often results in brief pauses in the routine which he fills with 'so, yeah', and other verbal tics that have become his trademarks. Thinking aloud is also part of Izzard's ongoing attempt to make the process of writing the show itself part of the humour. As he put it in a 2004 interview with The Guardian, "It's the oral tradition. Human beings have been doing it for thousands of years". He frequently notes the reaction to a joke midstream by pretending to write on his hand ("Should be funnier"; "Lost them there"; "They didn't believe me"; "They didn't follow, never do that again"), asks the audience questions, and verbally engages with hecklers.

Among Izzard's comic talents are mimicry and mime. He portrays God as an authority figure using the voice of James Mason and casts Sean Connery as Noah; these impersonations appear in many of his performances. Izzard also imitates activities such as sawing wood, vacuum cleaning, and mowing the lawn, anthropomorphising the machines with accents and personalities. Successful impressions, such as his Scottish clarinet teacher, Mrs. Badcrumble, become running gags which recur in different shows. He tackles topics both contemporary and historic, including frequent re-imaginings of historical events which result in scenes like 'Cake or Death: Church of England runs the Inquisition', or 'Jesus Ministers to the Dinosaurs'.

When asked about his comedy style by George Stroumboulopoulos, host of CBC Television's talk show, The Hour, Izzard described his use of history by saying,

"I just talk complete bullshit. The history, the politics, I noticed that no one was using history, so there's a lot of history lying about the place, and it's all free, and it's on Wikipedia! You know, I use Wikipedia like a crazy idiot, now. Then I take all this stuff, and I regurgitate it into a weird angle".

In 2008, in his Stripped tour, Izzard began using Wikipedia itself as part of his stand-up act, reading from a live copy of an article (via an iPhone) and mocking Wikipedia's self-referential editorial style.

Traditionally, Izzard has focused on the creative possibilities of thinking through absurd situations in real time. He also turns much of the attention on himself and his personality, including his cross-dressing ("It is my manifest destiny to wear a dress on all seven continents"). Contemporary pop culture (Harry Potter, Star Wars, etc.) is also a frequent subject, brought up both to critique its weaknesses and to enhance his anecdotes.

His bent towards the surreal even went so far as to produce a sitcom called Cows in 1997 for Channel 4, a live action comedy with actors dressed in cowsuits.

Transvestism

, October 17, 2003]] In his show, Dress to Kill, Izzard describes himself as an "executive", "action" and "professional" transvestite, as "a male tomboy" rather than a drag queen or a "weirdo" transvestite (he cites J. Edgar Hoover and Hermann Göring as examples of the latter). He regularly cross-dresses both on and off stage and makes it clear that cross-dressing is, for him, neither a part of his performance nor a sexual fetish. He remarks in his show Unrepeatable, "Women wear what they want and so do I". According to Izzard, "Most transvestites fancy women". [Dress to Kill, 1999] He dismisses claims that he is a male homosexual, saying he is "a straight transvestite or a male lesbian". He has also described himself as "a lesbian trapped in a man's body", transgender, and "a complete boy plus half a girl".

He has also campaigned unsuccessfully against the closure of the departments of Drama and Languages, Linguistics and Translation at the University of East Anglia, although the department of Drama was later reprieved. In 1998, Izzard was named in a list of the biggest private financial donors to the Labour Party. He appeared in a party political broadcast for the Labour Party in the run up to the 2005 general election. He donated nearly £10,000 to the party in 2008, appeared again in a party political broadcast for the 2009 European election and again in a 2010 election video entitled 'Brilliant Britain'.

On 20 July 2006, he received an honorary doctorate in Letters from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Sheffield, where he spent one year on an Accounting and Financial Management course in the early 80s. During his time at the University he established the now-defunct Alternative Productions Society in the Union of Students with the aim of promoting fringe-based arts. On 4 March 2010 he was elected as the Honorary President of the University of Sheffield Union of Students.

On 7 July 2007, Izzard was one of the presenters from the London leg of Live Earth. During an interview for the 2008 Stripped tour, Izzard spoke about becoming more active in European politics as well as running for political office in Europe within the next decade. Izzard added a stop in New Orleans during his 2008 Stripped tour. All proceeds from the performance of 23 June 2008 were donated to Neighborhood Housing Services of New Orleans.

Marathons

On 27 July 2009, with only 5 weeks training and no significant prior history of running, Izzard began seven weeks of back-to-back marathon runs (with Sundays off) across the UK to raise money for Sport Relief. He ran from London to Cardiff, to Belfast, to Edinburgh, and back to London carrying flags of England, Scotland or Wales depending on which country he was in, and carried a self-designed green flag bearing a white dove when in Northern Ireland. The blog Eddie Iz Running was a document of his road running marathon, in which he ran 43 marathons in 51 days. He completed the run on 15 September 2009, after having run at least 27 miles each day, 6 days a week for 7 weeks straight, covering more than 1,100 miles across the UK. Izzard received a special award at BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2009 for his achievements.

Izzard ran his final marathon in five hours and 30 seconds, narrowly outside his projected time. However, had he not stopped and waited 20 minutes for his film crew to catch up with him he could have finished well under his target time. In March 2010, Izzard took part in the Sport Relief Mile event.

Following the completion of the marathon runs, Izzard has started training to take part in an Ironman Triathlon, saying he has become fascinated with fitness "because there's no point in throwing away all that training".

Personal life

During his Stripped tour, Izzard said he realised he was an atheist. "I was warming the material up in New York, where one night, literally on stage, I realised I didn’t believe in God at all. I just didn’t think there was anyone upstairs."

He keeps his romantic life private, saying one of the reasons is due to the wishes of his companions not wanting to become content for his show. In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, Izzard was voted amongst the top 20 greatest comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders. He was number 75 in Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time.

During the 1999 television special It's... the Monty Python Story, which Izzard hosted, John Cleese said Izzard was the "Lost Python"; Izzard furthered that idea via his substitution for Graham Chapman in public performance of Python material with the rest of the original members of the troupe. He also made a cameo appearance in the Python reunion interview Monty Python Live At Aspen.

In 2008, Izzard received the James Joyce Award of the Literary and Historical Society of UCD, Dublin, Ireland. In March 2010, the Students Union of the University of Sheffield overwhelmingly elected him their honorary President.

Discography and appearances

Stand-up

Live at the Ambassadors (15 November, 1993)

Unrepeatable (1994)

Definite Article (21 October, 1996)

Glorious (17 November, 1997)

Dress to Kill (9 November, 1998)

Circle (18 November, 2002)

Sexie (26 November, 2003)

Stripped (23 November, 2009)

Stage

900 Oneonta (1994)

The Cryptogram (1994)

Edward II (1995)

Lenny (1999)

A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (2001–2002, 2003)

Trumbo (2003)

Filmography

The Oncoming Storm (1995) as Luthor Keeton

The Secret Agent (1996) as Vladimir

Velvet Goldmine (1998) as Jerry Devine

The Avengers (1998) as Bailey

Mystery Men (1999) as Tony P

The Criminal (1999) as Peter Hume

Circus (2000) as Troy

Shadow of the Vampire (2000) as Gustav von Wangenheim

The Cat's Meow (2001) as Charlie Chaplin

All the Queen's Men (2001) as Tony Parker

Revengers Tragedy (2002) as Lussurioso

Alien Invasion (2003) as Brik

Blueberry aka Renegade (2004) as Prosit

Five Children and It (2004) as It (voice)

Romance & Cigarettes (2004) as Gene Vincent

Ocean's Twelve (2004) as Roman Nagel

The Aristocrats (2005) as Himself

The Wild (2006) as Nigel (voice)

My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006) as Professor Bedlam

Ocean's Thirteen (2007) as Roman Nagel

Across the Universe (2007) as Mr. Kite

(2008) as Reepicheep (voice)

Igor (2008) as Dr. Schadenfreude (voice)

Valkyrie (2008) as Erich Fellgiebel

Rage (2009) as Tiny Diamonds

Every Day (2009) as Garrett

The Other Side (2009) as Dean Bellamy

(2009) as Himself

TV appearances

Barf Bites Back (Amnesty International Gala) (1991) - ITV

Open Fire (1994)

Have I Got News for You (1994, 1995 and 1996) - BBC Two

Aristophanes: The Gods are Laughing (1995)

Whose Line Is It Anyway? (1995)

Tales from the Crypt (1996) - HBO

Clive Anderson Talks Back (1996)

Inspector Derrick (1997)

Channel Izzard (1997)

Roseanne Barr Show (1998)

Rex the Runt (1998) - BBC

Shooting Stars (1998) - BBC

Parkinson (3 times)

Dennis Miller Live (1999) - HBO

Pythonland (1999) - BBC

Python Night (1999) - BBC

Good News Week (2000) - Network 10

Mongrel Nation (2002) - Discovery Channel

The Caroline Rhea Show (2002)

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (2002, 2004 and 2007)

The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien (2009)

40 (2003) - Channel 4

Late Night with Conan O'Brien (2003, 2008) NBC

QI (Unaired pilot- 2002 or 2003, and 2010)

Top Gear (2004) - BBC Two

Last Call with Carson Daly (2005)

The Sharon Osbourne Show (2006)

Late Show with David Letterman (6 times)

Late Late show with Craig Kilborn (4 times)

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (2006, 2008, 2009,2010)

The Henry Rollins Show (2006)

The Paul O'Grady Show (2009)

The Secret Policeman's Ball (2006)

Kitchen (2007) - five

Comedy Cuts (interview) (2007)

The Hour (2007)

Friday Night with Jonathan Ross (2007 and 2009)

The Daily Show (2000, 2003 and 2007)

The Riches (2007–2008)

The Secret Policeman's Ball (2008)

(2008)

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (2009)

Kevin Pollak's Chat Show (2009)

''BBC Sports Personality of the Year (2009 award winner)

''The Day of the Triffids (2009)

Marathon Man (2010)

The Simpsons episode To Surveil with Love (2010)

Chelsea Lately (2010)

Video game

- Sgt. Tibbs the Cat (voice)

Future projects

Eddie Izzard said in a personal appearance (for his biopic Believe) that he is currently putting together a script for a movie as a conclusion to The Riches. He said the plan is to "pick up exactly where we left off, and we think we're going to make a film of the next bit". As of May 24, 2010 there are no indications that this film will ever be made, leaving The Riches without a conclusion. He has announced for future tours that a dollar out of each ticket sale will be appropriated to supplying Africa with contraceptives and other means of sexual protection.

See also

Cross-dressing in film and television

References

External links

Official web site

BBC America - Eddie Izzard

Interview with Izzard - The Observer, 3 October 2004

It's stupid and I love it - the Goon Show and me - The Guardian, 14 February 2005.

Izzard interviewed by Bono - The Independent, 16 May 2006

Venus Zine Staff Picks: Eddie Izzard, Dress to Kill

Category:1962 births Category:People from Aden Category:Drama Desk Award winners Category:English atheists Category:English buskers Category:English comedians Category:English film actors Category:English voice actors Category:English television actors Category:English stand-up comedians Category:Cross-dressers Category:Living people Category:Old Eastbournians Category:Emmy Award winners