Extreme Associates, formerly known as Extreme and Extreme 2.0,^[2] is a pornographic film producer, featuring a catalog of DVD titles and Internet content. It is owned by Rob Zicari ("Rob Black") and his wife Janet Romano ("Lizzy Borden").^[3] The studio's material is controversial, with its films often featuring erotic humiliation and rough sex.^[4] Extreme has faced legal charges of obscenity in the U.S.^[4] It is associated with another adult film company, Evolution Erotica.^[5]

History[link]

Rob Zicari and Janet Romano

Extreme Associates evolved from Rob Zicari's former company, Extreme Video. It became known as Extreme Associates in 1997 when Zicari, Tom Byron and Van Damage broke away from Patrick Collins' Elegant Angel and formed their own company.^[6] Tom Byron and Van Damage have since left the company. Janet Romano started to work for Zicari in 1998, first as an actress and then as a director.

In 2003, it was indicted by the U.S. federal government on obscenity charges. The company is known for being controversial, as it has engaged in public relations wars with Vivid Video, Patrick Collins and his company Elegant Angel, Paul Fishbein and his publication Adult Video News, and Larry Flynt.

Extreme Associates has been featured on America's Most Wanted, Nightline with Ted Koppel^[7] and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and also in publications such as TIME Magazine and Details Magazine. The company is the subject of the documentaries: PBS Frontline: American Porn (2002)^[3] and The Porn King vs. The President, and co-owner Lizzy Borden recently stated that there are more documentaries about the company in the process of being filmed.

Extreme Associates operated a professional wrestling promotion called Xtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW) from 1999 to 2003.

In March 2006 Extreme became the exclusive U.S. distributor for Shots Video Netherlands. The Dutch company is responsible for series like Men’s Lounge, Bi Sex, Clinic Sex and Deep Throat Anal. Shots had been the exclusive European distributor for Extreme Associates since 2004.^[8]

In April 2006 Extreme films were added to AdultRental.com's video on demand service.^[9]

Starting in May 2006 the studio's content could be downloaded to the iPod and PSP.^[10]

In February 2007 Extreme signed a deal to be the exclusive distributor of all-black studio Baller Nation's films.^[11]

In September 2007 the company announced it would be halting DVD sales, and would be distributing content exclusively through its video on demand service, ExtremeVOD.com, which was launched in February 2006.^[2] The decision was taken due to the general downturn in porn DVD sales, and the refusal of some retailers to stock the studio's films.^[12]

Extreme posts approximately one hour's worth of free content on numerous "porn tube" websites every month, in the form of clips lasting just a few minutes. Black thinks the various 'Porn 2.0' user-generated content sites are useful for spreading brand awareness, even if it is difficult to measure how much this increases sales.^[13]

Obscenity prosecution[link]

The filming of Lizzy Borden's movie Forced Entry, which included several simulated rapes, was covered in the PBS Frontline documentary American Porn which aired on February 7, 2002;^[1] the makers of the documentary were repulsed and walked off the set.^[14] Zicari was interviewed in the documentary; he defended the company's content and challenged Attorney General John Ashcroft to take action against him.^[7][14] Zicari stated in an interview for the program, "We've got tons of stuff they technically could arrest us for.^[7] I'm not out there saying I want to be the test case. But I will be the test case. I would welcome that. I would welcome the publicity. I would welcome everything, to make a point in, I guess, our society".^[14] These scenes possibly led to the subsequent undercover operation by federal authorities.^[14]

On April 8, 2003, the premises of Extreme Associates were raided by federal agents, and five videos were seized.^[7][14] The United States Postal Inspection Service and the Pornography Unit of the Los Angeles Police Department's Organized Crime and Vice Division had conducted the investigation leading to the indictment.^[1] On September 5, 2002 a U.S. postal inspector had joined the Extreme website. Postal inspectors then viewed clips on the site, and ordered three videotapes which were sent to a postal agent in Pittsburgh.^[7] On August 6, 2003 Black, Borden and the company were indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on ten counts of the production and distribution by mail and the Internet of obscene pornographic materials.^[1][14] Zicari and Romano faced a maximum total sentence of fifty years in prison, a fine of $2,500,000, or both. Extreme Associates, Inc. faced a maximum total sentence of a term of probation of fifty years and a fine of $5,000,000.^[1] The prosecution also sought forfeiture of the films charged in the indictment, all gross profits from the distribution of the films, and all property used to facilitate the alleged crimes, including the domain name extremeassociates.com.^[1] At the time it was the first major federal obscenity prosecution in ten years.^[14]

Zicari's company is located in North Hollywood near Los Angeles, however the indictment and trial took place in the Western District of Pennsylvania, from where undercover agents had ordered the offending materials, and video clips had been downloaded.^[14] Extreme also posted videotapes and DVDs to a distributor in the district.^[1] It has been alleged the authorities chose this area of Pennsylvania because they believed a conviction for obscenity would be easier to achieve in that socially conservative district than in California, as a jury would be more likely to agree the material offended the standards of its local community, which is part of the Miller Test used to judge obscenity in the U.S.^[14][15]

Mary Beth Buchanan

The trial has been seen as a test case of the acceptable limits of pornography.^[14]Mary Beth Buchanan was the federal prosecutor in the case. In an interview on 60 Minutes she said, "We have just had a proliferation of this type of material that has been getting increasingly worse and worse. And that's why it's important to enforce the law, and to show the producers that there are limits. There are limits to what they can sell and distribute throughout the country"^[14] Ms. Buchanan has also stated that "The lack of enforcement of federal obscenity laws during the 1990s has led to a proliferation of obscenity throughout the United States, such as the violent and degrading material charged in this case."^[1] Buchanan has said that Zicari's comments on the Frontline program "helped us to determine that this was not a producer who was trying to comply with the law"^[7]

Zicari remained in business during the trial; he continued to market and sell the five tapes that are at the center of the prosecution as The Federal Five, with a portion of the sales price going to his defense fund. Note that buyers of those materials do not break the law, since mere possession of obscenity (unlike production and distribution) is not illegal. The involved movies are

• Extreme Teen 24^[1]: contains a scene of a naive supposed young girl being talked into having sex by an older man. The actress involved was over 18, however dressed and acted like a young girl.^[7]
• Cocktails 2^[1]: various scenes of women drinking vomit, saliva and other bodily fluids.^[15] It was the director's cut version of the film that was cited in the case.^[1]
• Ass Clowns 3: a female journalist is being raped by a gang led by Osama bin Laden; the journalist is freed and the gang members killed. The director's cut version also contains a scene where Jesus steps off the cross and has sex with an angel.
• 1001 Ways to Eat My Jizz:
• Forced Entry^[14]: The film depicts the beating, rape and murder of women by a serial killer, who is eventually killed by a mob of vigilantes.^[14] There are three scenes which graphically portray rape and murder, and women are also spat on.^[7] Extreme's website called it their "most controversial movie" and "a stunningly disturbing look at a serial killer, satanic rituals, and the depths of human depravity."^[14] Forced Entry was directed by Lizzy Borden and released in 2002. Again it was the director's cut version of the film that was cited in the case.^[1]

The prosecution also charged the defendants with transmitting six obscene video clips over the Internet through the extremeassociates.com website. The six video clips were entitled "valeriejospit", "jewel", "PZ Summer Breeze", "dp-gangbang-7gen-X", "miacum" and "analasspirations1", and ranged in length from 37 seconds to two minutes, 54 seconds.^[1]

During a hearing in November 2004, Zicari's lawyer H. Louis Sirkin argued that the right to privacy gave individuals the constitutional right to view offending materials in private, a right which cannot be meaningfully exercised without a corresponding right of companies to distribute such materials.^[7] The prosecution countered that an individual's right to privacy is unrelated to a company's right to commercial distribution.

The defense moved to dismiss the indictments on the grounds that federal obscenity statutes violated the constitutional guarantees of privacy and liberty that were protected by the due process clause.^[16] Referencing Lawrence v. Texas and Stanley v. Georgia the defense argued there is a fundamental right to sexual privacy which includes the right to possess and view sexually explicit material in one's own home.^[16] The defense argued that this right was not affected by the fact that the material does not have any literary or artistic merit, and that since the federal obscenity laws imposed a complete ban on materials which people have the right to possess, they were unconstitutional.^[16]

On January 20, 2005, District Court Judge Gary L. Lancaster dropped the charges, agreeing with the defense that the federal anti-obscenity statutes were unconstitutional, as they violated a person's fundamental right to possess and view whatever they want in the privacy of their own home.^[16] As a fundamental right had been violated, the government had to establish that a compelling state interest was involved.^[16] The prosecution argued that the government had a legitimate interest in protecting adults from unwitting exposure to obscenity, and protecting children from exposure to obscenity.^[16] These arguments were rejected by the court, which also ruled that the federal obscenity laws were not narrow enough to meet these interests, and could not justify a complete ban on obscene material.^[16] Lancaster ruled that children and unwitting adults are protected from the content because the website requires a credit card to join, and because software is available by which parents can restrict children's access to Internet pornography.^[7] The court did agree with the government that Lawrence had not created a new broad fundamental right to engage in any private sexual conduct.^[16] Instead the court relied on Stanley, which had established there was a fundamental right to private possession of obscene material.^[16] The court did rely on Lawrence for its assertion that the government could not use public morality as a legitimate state interest which justified the infringement of consensual, adult, private sexual conduct.^[16] The court also made reference to the dissenting opinion of Justice Scalia, who said that Lawrence had questioned the validity of U.S. obscenity laws, since the government could not enforce a moral code of conduct.^[16] Judge Lancaster also cited numerous constitutional scholars who had observed that the Lawrence ruling calls federal obscenity laws into question.^[17]

The Department of Justice (at the time headed by Alberto Gonzales) announced on February 16, 2005 that it would appeal the ruling. That appeal was filed with the Third Circuit Court of Appeals on April 11, 2005, argued on October 19, 2005, and decided on December 8, 2005. The appeals court reversed the lower court and reinstated the suit against Zicari and Romano, ruling that the lower court had erred in setting aside the federal obscenity statutes, which had been repeatedly upheld in Supreme Court decisions.

On March 11, 2009 Extreme Associates and its owners pleaded guilty to the reinstated obscenity charges to avoid trial, effectively shutting down the company. Extreme Associates also apparently took its website down concurrent with the plea.^[18]

Films[link]

The studio has produced film series and one-off films including; Anal Blitzkrieg, Ass Clowns, Ass-Hole O Mio, Big Fat F.N. Tits, Black Cock Smokers, Cock Smokers, Cock Suckers, Cocktails, Creampie Milkshakes, Cum Catchers, Depravity in Deutschland, Euro Cuntz, Extreme Amateurs, Extreme Brazil, Extreme Gang Bang, Extreme Teen, Extremely Yours, Face Down Ass Up, Filth Files, Filthy Lil' Porn-A-Bees, From the Balcony, Fuck Pigs, Geisha Gash, German Whore Fare, Ghetto Bitches, Go Fuck Yerself, Goo Gallery, Great American Ass, House of Whores, In The Days of Whore, Last Breath, Let Us Prey, Lewd Archives, Lower Extremities, Luciano's Lucky Ladies, Man Smokers, Oral Hygiene, S.I.D.S., Slap Happy, Spank Those Bitches, Spare Parts, The Adventures Of Mammary Man And Jugg Woman, The Adventures Of Porno Man, Whack Attack and What Lurks in the Shadows.^[19][20][21]

Nature of content[link]

Extreme Associates bills itself as having the hardest hardcore pornography on the Internet.^[7] The studio's content has been described as "extremely violent", "shocking", "slasher porn"^[3] and "patently offensive".^[15] In an interview with Salon.com Borden said of Extreme's content, "It's disgusting but I like to watch it because it's shocking".^[15] Borden and Zicari compare their films to slasher films and some reality television, which people watch in order to be shocked.^[15] Talking to ABC News about his films, Zicari said, "You might not like what you had just seen. It might have disturbed you, it might have repulsed you, it might have given you all sorts of emotions. But are you going to limit and be that person that has the right to say 200 million other citizens cannot watch that because you don't like it?"^[7]

Slap Happy[link]

Slap Happy is a rough sex series, created and directed by Brandon Iron and distributed by EA. The scenes are filmed in a gonzo style and feature male dominance. Iron is the sole male performer in all scenes. Each scene features Iron with one female performer who performs fellatio. Iron holds the female performer's head stationary with his hands, while continually slapping her in the face and verbally abusing her as she continues fellating him. In many scenes, the woman vomits as a result of being gagged by Iron's penis. Iron initially offered the series to 34 companies before Black agreed to distribute it.^[22]

Actresses[link]

Paris Gables

Actresses who have worked for Extreme Associates include Alana Evans, Alexandra Nice, Amber Lynn, Anastasia Blue,^[19] Ashlyn Gere, Bridget the Midget, Heather Gables, Iroc, Jasmin St. Claire, Jessica Darlin, Jewel De'Nyle, Juanita Chong, Kendra Jade, Kristi Myst,^[19] Lizzy Borden (who is also a producer^[3] and director), Monique DeMoan, Nikita Denise, Stryc-9, Tiffany Mynx, and Veronica Caine (formerly Barrett Moore). Pro wrestler Nicole Bass did some non-sex bondage videos for Extreme in 2000.

Kristi Myst broke down during the filming of In The Days of Whore. After having had anal sex for several hours with three men she was told that she had to do anal with another seven men, although she had not agreed to this before the shoot. At this point Myst began crying and wanted to walk off the set and quit the business rather than complete her scene. She eventually relented after being consoled by Tom Byron. Brandon Iron who was present has said the incident was "the foulest thing I have ever witnessed" on a porn shoot.^[23][24]

Ashlyn Gere performed in several films after making a comeback from retirement. She appeared in titles including House of Whores and the Extremely Yours: Ashlyn Gere compilation.^[25]

Gia Paloma had a contract with the studio until she left in May 2006. She was formerly married to EA director Coffee Ron.^[26][27] Kristi Myst also used to be an EA contract girl.^[24] Paris Gables is currently the company's main contract star, and has also directed.^[28] Gables initially went under contract in January 2005.^[26] By February 2006 she had appeared in almost a dozen films, and agreed to a one-year contract extension.^[26]

Directors[link]

Tom Byron

Extreme's current directors are Rob Black, Lizzy Borden, Shane Bugbee, Mark Zane (also known as Alias), Ivan E. Rection, Chris Justice (also known as Chris Evans), Coffee Ron, and Thomas Zupko. Extreme's former directors include Matt Zane,^[29] Ashlyn Gere, David Luger,^[30] Derek Newblood,^[23] Gene Ross, Jane Waters, Luis Cypher^[23] (also known as Bobby Darlin), Luciano (Michael Stefano), Scott Snot, Slain Wayne^[23] (Eric Brummer), Smiley Johnson, Tiffany Mynx, Tom Byron,^[5] Brandon Iron^[23] and Van Damage.

Michael Stefano began his directing career with Extreme Associates in the mid-1990s under the name Luciano, before leaving to direct for Red Light District Video and other studios.^[31]

Thomas Zupko initially directed for the company from 2000 till 2003. His debut film was In the Days of Whore.^[24] After leaving he worked for Elegant Angel, Sin City and Hustler Video, before returning to Extreme as a contract director in May 2006. The first film of his second stint was Lisa Ann Defiled.^[32]

Church of Satan member Shane Bugbee directs the satanism-themed Club Satan series. The first title, Club Satan: The Witches Sabbath was released in early 2007.^[33] Several crew-members and performers walked off the set of the film when an actor was asked to ejaculate upon and then smash a model of Jesus Christ's head. Actor Rick Masters said that Bugbee had "gone too far".^[34]

Criticism[link]

Brandon Iron alleges that Rob Black asked him to direct Slap Happy 5 when he had not paid him for any of the previous four films.^[23] Iron also alleges that Extreme has often knowingly paid performers with bad cheques, and often pays performers late.^[23] He also criticizes the allegation on Extreme's website that Jewel De'Nyle's father committed incest, and alleges that Extreme evades tax by paying retailers and distributors cash in hand.^[23]

President of Adult Video News Paul Fishbein has said EA produces "horrible, unwatchable, disgusting, aberrant movies"^[7]

Awards[link]

The following is a selection of major awards EA has won:

• 1998 XRCO Award - 'Best Gonzo Series' for Whack Attack ^[35]
• 1999 AVN Award - 'Best Gonzo Release' for Whack Attack 2 ^[19]
• 2000 AVN Award - 'Best Anal Sex Scene - Video' for Anastasia Blue & Lexington Steele in Whack Attack 6 ^[19]
• 2000 XRCO Award - 'Best Group Sex Scene' for Kristi Myst's gangbang in In The Days of Whore ^[35]
• 2001 AVN Award - 'Best Vignette Release' for Terrors From the Clit 2 ^[19]
• 2001 AVN award - 'Most Outrageous Sex Scene' for Tyce Bune and Bridgette Kerkove in In The Days of Whore ^[19]
• 2001 AVN Award - 'Best Anal Sex Scene - Video' for Kristi Myst in In The Days of Whore ^[19]
• 2006 AVN award - 'Reuben Sturman Award' for Rob and Janet Zicari.^[36]

Notes[link]

References[link]

Cossman, Brenda (2007). Sexual citizens: the legal and cultural regulation of sex and belonging. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-4996-5. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=d-5F0GTLJPQC. 

External links[link]

• extremeassociates.com - Extreme Associates' official web site
• extremevod.com
• extremeassociatesvip.com
• Extreme Associates on Myspace
• BordensBlogs.com - the official blog of Extreme co-owner Lizzy Borden
• American Porn documentary by Frontline (first aired in 2002, updated in 2004), watchable online.
• Extreme Associates at the Internet Move Database

Frederick Bean "Fred/Tex" Avery (February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an American animator, cartoonist, voice actor and director, famous for producing animated cartoons during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation. He did his most significant work for the Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios, creating the characters of Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, Droopy, Screwy Squirrel, and developing Porky Pig, Chilly Willy (this last one for the Walter Lantz Studio) into the personas for which they are remembered.

Avery's influence can be seen in almost all of the animated cartoon series by various studios in the 1940s and 1950s. Gary Morris described Avery's innovative approach:

"Above all, [Avery] steered the Warner Bros. house style away from Disney-esque sentimentality and made cartoons that appealed equally to adults, who appreciated Avery's speed, sarcasm, and irony, and to kids, who liked the nonstop action. Disney's "cute and cuddly" creatures, under Avery's guidance, were transformed into unflappable wits like Bugs Bunny, endearing buffoons like Porky Pig, or dazzling crazies like Daffy Duck. Even the classic fairy tale, a market that Disney had cornered, was appropriated by Avery, who made innocent heroines like Red Riding Hood into sexy jazz babies, more than a match for any Wolf. Avery also endeared himself to intellectuals by constantly breaking through the artifice of the cartoon, having characters leap out of the end credits, loudly object to the plot of the cartoon they were starring in, or speak directly to the audience."^[1]

Avery's style of directing encouraged animators to stretch the boundaries of the medium to do things in a cartoon that could not be done in the world of live-action film. An often-quoted line about Avery's cartoons was, "In a cartoon you can do anything,".^[2] He also performed a great deal of voice work in his cartoons, usually throwaway bits (e.g. the Santa Claus seen briefly in Who Killed Who?), but Tex did fill in for Bill Thompson as Droopy, although the individual cartoons where Avery did this have never been specified.

Biography[link]

Early years[link]

Tex Avery was born to George Walton Avery (b. June 8, 1867 - d. January 14, 1935) and the former Mary Augusta "Jessie" Bean (1886–1931) in Taylor, Texas. His father was born in Alabama. His mother was born in Buena Vista, Chickasaw County, Mississippi. His paternal grandparents were Needham Avery (Civil War veteran) (October 8, 1838 - after 1892) and his wife Lucinda C. Baxly (May 11, 1844 - March 10, 1892). His maternal grandparents were Frederick Mumford Bean (1852 - October 23, 1886) and his wife Minnie Edgar (July 25, 1854 - May 7, 1940). Avery was said to be a descendant of Judge Roy Bean. However his maternal great-grandparents were actually Mumford Bean from Tennessee (August 22, 1805 - October 10, 1892) and his wife Lutica from Alabama. Mumford was son of William Bean and his wife Nancy Blevins from Virginia. Their relation to Roy is uncertain though his paternal grandparents were also from Virginia. Avery's family tradition also claimed descent from Daniel Boone.

Avery was raised in his native Taylor, and graduated in 1926 from North Dallas High School.^[3] A popular catchphrase at his school was "What's up, doc?",^[4] which he would later popularize with Bugs Bunny in the 1940s.

Avery first began his animation career at the Walter Lantz studio in the early 1930s, working on the majority of the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons from 1931-35. He is shown as 'animator' on the original title card credits on the Oswald cartoons. He later claimed to have directed two cartoons during this time.^[2] During some office horseplay, a paperclip flew into Avery's left eye and caused him to lose use of that eye. Some speculate it was his lack of depth perception that gave him his unique look at animation and bizarre directorial style.^[2]

"Termite Terrace"[link]

Avery migrated to the Leon Schlesinger studio in late 1935 and convinced the fast-talking Schlesinger to let him head his own production unit of animators and create cartoons the way he wanted them to be made. Schlesinger responded by assigning the Avery unit, including animators Bob Clampett and Chuck Jones, to a five-room bungalow at the Warner Bros. Sunset Blvd. backlot. Schlesinger placed the Avery unit there so as not to tip off Avery's predecessor Tom Palmer that he was about to be fired.^[5] The Avery unit, assigned to work primarily on the black-and-white Looney Tunes instead of the Technicolor Merrie Melodies, soon dubbed their quarters "Termite Terrace", due to its significant termite population.

"Termite Terrace" later became the nickname for the entire Schlesinger/Warners studio, primarily because Avery and his unit were the ones who defined what became known as "the Warner Bros. cartoon". Their first short, Gold Diggers of '49, is recognized as the first cartoon to make Porky Pig a star, and Avery’s experimentation with the medium continued from there.

Creation of Looney Tunes stars[link]

Avery, with the assistance of Clampett, Jones, and new associate director Frank Tashlin, laid the foundation for a style of animation that dethroned The Walt Disney Studio as the kings of animated short films, and created a legion of cartoon stars whose names still shine around the world today. Avery in particular was deeply involved; a perfectionist, Avery constantly crafted gags for the shorts, periodically provided voices for them (including his trademark belly laugh), and held such control over the timing of the shorts that he would add or cut frames out of the final negative if he felt a gag's timing was not quite right.

Daffy Duck[link]

Porky's Duck Hunt introduced the character of Daffy Duck, who possessed a new form of "lunacy" and zaniness that had not been seen before in animated cartoons. Daffy was an almost completely out-of-control "darn fool duck" who frequently bounced around the film frame in double-speed, screaming "Hoo-hoo! hoo-hoo" in a high-pitched, sped-up voice provided by veteran Warners voice artist Mel Blanc, who, with this cartoon, also took over providing the voice of Porky Pig.

Bugs Bunny[link]

Ben Hardaway, Cal Dalton and Chuck Jones directed a series of shorts which featured a Daffy Duck-like rabbit, created by Ben "Bugs" Hardaway. As is the case with most directors, each puts his own personal stamp on the characters, stories and overall feel of a short. So each of these 'toons treated the rabbit differently. The next to try out the rabbit, known around Termite Terrace as "Bugs' Bunny" (named after Hardaway), was Avery. Since the recycling of storylines among the directors was commonplace, "A Wild Hare" was a double throwback. Avery had directed the '37 short, "Porky's Duck Hunt" featuring Porky Pig which introduced "Daffy Duck". Hardaway remade this as "Porky's Hare Hunt" introducing the rabbit. So Avery went back to the "hunter and prey" framework, and incorporating Jones' "Elmer's Candid Camera", gag for gag, and altering the design of Elmer Fudd. Polishing the timing, and expanding the Groucho Marx smart-ass attitude already present in "Porky's Hare Hunt", making Bugs' a kind of Brooklyn-esque super-cool rabbit who was always in control of the situation and who ran rings around his opponents. Avery has stated that it was very common to refer to folks in Texas as "doc", much like "pal", "dude" or "bud". In A Wild Hare, Bugs adopts this colloquialism when he casually walks up to Elmer, who is "hunting wabbits" and while carefully inspecting a rabbit hole, shotgun in hand, the first words out of Bugs' mouth is a coolly calm, "What's up, doc?". Audiences reacted riotously to the juxtaposition of Bugs' nonchalance and the potentially dangerous situation, and "What's up, doc?" instantly became the rabbit's catchphrase.

Avery ended up directing only four Bugs Bunny cartoons: A Wild Hare, Tortoise Beats Hare, All This and Rabbit Stew, and The Heckling Hare. During this period, he also directed a number of one-shot shorts, including travelogue parodies (The Isle of Pingo Pongo), fractured fairy-tales (The Bear's Tale), Hollywood caricature films (Hollywood Steps Out), and cartoons featuring Bugs Bunny clones (The Crack-Pot Quail).

Avery's tenure at the Schlesinger studio ended in late 1941, when he and the producer quarreled over the ending to The Heckling Hare. In Avery's original version, Bugs and hunting dog were to fall off of a cliff three times, milking the gag to its comic extreme. According to a DVD commentary for the cartoon, historian and animator Greg Ford explained that the problem Schlesinger had with the ending was that, just prior to falling off the third time, Bugs and the dog were to turn to the screen, with Bugs saying "Hold on to your hats, folks, here we go again!" At the time, this line was a well known joke, probably, although it is not clear. Schlesinger intervened (supposedly on orders from Jack Warner himself, although it's doubtful Warner would be screening cartoons unless alerted to this particular content), and edited the film so that the characters only fall off the cliff twice (the edited cartoon ends abruptly, after Bugs and the Dog fall through a hole in a cliff and immediately stop short of the ground, saying to the audience, "Heh, fooled you, didn't we?"). An enraged Avery promptly quit the studio, leaving three cartoons he started on but did not complete. They were Crazy Cruise, The Cagey Canary and Aloha Hooey. Bob Clampett picked up where Avery left off and completed the three cartoons.

Speaking of Animals[link]

While at Schlesinger, Avery created a concept of animating lip movement to live action footage of animals. Schlesinger was not interested in Avery's idea, so Avery approached Jerry Fairbanks, a friend of his who produced the Unusual Occupations series of short subjects for Paramount Pictures. Fairbanks liked the idea and the Speaking of Animals series of shorts was launched. When Avery left Warner, he went straight to Paramount to work on the first three shorts in the series before joining MGM.

Avery at MGM[link]

Jerky Turkey (1945)

By 1942, Avery was in the employ of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, working in their cartoon division under the supervision of Fred Quimby. Avery felt that Schlesinger had stifled him. At MGM, Avery's creativity reached its peak. His cartoons became known for their sheer lunacy, breakneck pace, and a penchant for playing with the medium of animation and film in general that few other directors dared to approach. MGM also offered him larger budgets and a higher quality production level than the Warners studio. Plus, his unit was filled with ex-Disney artists such as Preston Blair and Ed Love. These changes were evident in Avery's first short released by MGM, The Blitz Wolf, an Adolf Hitler parody which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons) in 1942.

Avery's most famous MGM character debuted in 1943's Dumb-Hounded. Droopy (originally "Happy Hound") was a calm, little, slow-moving and slow-talking dog who still won out in the end. He also created a series of risqué cartoons, beginning with 1943's Red Hot Riding Hood, featuring a sexy female star who never had a set name but has been unofficially referred to as "Red" by fans, whose visual design and voice varied somewhat between shorts. Other Avery characters at MGM included Screwy Squirrel and the Of Mice and Men-inspired duo of George and Junior.

Other notable MGM cartoons directed by Avery include Bad Luck Blackie, Cellbound, Magical Maestro, Lucky Ducky, Ventriloquist Cat and King-Size Canary. Avery began his stint at MGM working with lush colors and realistic backgrounds, but he slowly abandoned this style for a more frenetic, less realistic approach. The newer, more stylized look reflected the influence of the up-and-coming UPA studio, the need to cut costs as budgets grew higher, and Avery's own desire to leave reality behind and make cartoons that were not tied to the real world of live action. During this period, he made a notable series of films which explored the technology of the future: The House of Tomorrow, The Car of Tomorrow, The Farm of Tomorrow and TV of Tomorrow (spoofing common live-action promotional shorts of the time). He also introduced a slow-talking wolf character, who was the prototype for MGM associates Hanna-Barbera's Huckleberry Hound character, right down to the voice by Daws Butler.

Avery took a year's sabbatical from MGM beginning in 1950 (to recover from overwork), during which time Dick Lundy, recently arrived from the Walter Lantz studio, took over his unit and made one Droopy cartoon, as well as a string of shorts with an old character, Barney Bear. Avery returned to MGM in October 1951 and began working again. Avery's last two original cartoons for MGM were Deputy Droopy and Cellbound, completed in 1953 and released in 1955. They were co-directed by Avery unit animator Michael Lah. Lah began directing a handful of CinemaScope Droopy shorts on his own. A burnt-out Avery left MGM in 1953 to return to the Walter Lantz studio.

After MGM[link]

Avery's return to the Lantz studio did not last long. He directed four cartoons in 1954-1955: the one-shots Crazy Mixed-Up Pup and Shh-h-h-h-h, and I'm Cold and The Legend of Rockabye Point, in which he defined the character of Chilly Willy the penguin. Although The Legend of Rockabye Point and Crazy Mixed-Up Pup were nominated for Academy Awards, Avery left Lantz over a salary dispute, effectively ending his career in theatrical animation.

He turned to animated television commercials, most notably the Raid commercials of the 1960s and 1970s (in which cartoon insects, confronted by the bug killer, screamed "RAID!" and died flamboyantly) and Frito-Lay's controversial mascot, the Frito Bandito. Avery also produced ads for Kool-Aid fruit drinks starring the Warner Bros. characters he had once helped create during his Termite Terrace days.

During the 1960s and 1970s, Avery became increasingly reserved and depressed, although he continued to draw respect from his peers. His final employer was Hanna-Barbera Productions, where he wrote gags for Saturday morning cartoons such as the Droopy-esque Kwicky Koala.

On Tuesday, August 26, 1980, Avery died at St. Joseph's Hospital in Burbank, California at age 72. He died of liver cancer. He is buried in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery.

Legacy[link]

Although Tex Avery did not live to experience the late-1980s renaissance of animation, his work was rediscovered and he began to receive widespread attention and praise by the modern animation and film communities. All of his MGM shorts were released uncensored in a North American MGM/UA laserdisc set, called The Compleat Tex Avery, including the "politically incorrect" Uncle Tom's Cabana and Half-Pint Pygmy (although these were removed from the Region 2 DVD release, now out of print). Several of them were released on VHS, in four volumes of Tex Avery's Screwball Classics, and two Droopy collections, with many gags edited out for television showings left in. Screwball Squirrel, King-Size Canary and Little Rural Riding Hood were included on MGM/UA's first non-Tom and Jerry tape of vintage animated shorts, MGM Cartoon Magic. Two other cartoons by Avery appeared on Christmas compilations. The Peachy Cobbler was part of MGM Cartoon Christmas, and One Ham's Family was part of Tom and Jerry's Night Before Christmas. Avery's Droopy cartoons are available on the DVD set Tex Avery's Droopy: The Complete Theatrical Collection.^[6] The seven Droopy cartoons produced in CinemaScope were included here in their original widescreen versions, instead of the pan and scan versions regularly broadcast on television.^[7] Also, some of his works could be found on tapes of Warner Bros.' Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes shorts, and the same is true of his few Lantz Studio cartoons. His influence is strongly reflected in modern cartoons such as "Roger Rabbit", Ren and Stimpy, Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Freakazoid, Tom and Jerry Kids Show, SpongeBob SquarePants, Rocko's Modern Life, Ed, Edd n Eddy, Phineas & Ferb, and the Genie character in Disney's Aladdin. In fact, an Averyesque cowboy character bore his name in the otherwise unrelated series The Wacky World of Tex Avery. His work has been honored on shows such as The Tex Avery Show and Cartoon Alley. His characters (particularly Bugs Bunny and the risqué antics of Red Hot Riding Hood) were referenced in the Jim Carrey film The Mask. In the mid 1990s, Dark Horse Comics released a trio of three-issue miniseries that were openly labelled tributes to Avery's MGM cartoons, Wolf & Red, Droopy, and Screwy Squirrel. It should also be noted that Tex Avery, unlike most Warner Brothers directors, kept many original title frames of his cartoons, several otherwise lost due to Blue Ribbon Reissues, and were recently^[when?] sold on eBay.

In 2008 France issued three stamps honoring Tex Avery for his 100th birthday, depicting Droopy, the redheaded showgirl, and the wolf.

Today, the copyrights to all classic color cartoons directed by Avery at Warners and MGM are owned by Turner Entertainment, with Warner Bros. handling distribution. (WB owns the black-and-white cartoons directly.) Turner and WB are both units of Time Warner. The cartoons he directed at the Lantz studio are owned by their original distributors, Universal Studios. A few of Avery's WB shorts are in the public domain, but WB and Turner hold the original film elements.

Films directed or co-directed by Tex Avery[link]

Avery's career as director begins reputedly during his employ at Walter Lantz Productions in the early 30s, a spell in which he claims to have directed two animations. His directing credits span the time from his tenure at Warner Bros, to his creative peak at MGM, and finally his return to Walter Lantz studios (although after this short-lived period Avery turned to directing some well-known and notable advertisements).

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Adamson, Joe (1975). Tex Avery: King of Cartoons. New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-80248-1.
• Barrier, Michael (1999). Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in Its Golden Age. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-516729-5.
• Benayoun, Robert (1988). Le mystère Tex Avery. Paris: Editions du Seuil. ISBN 2-02-009870-9.
• Canemaker, John (1996). Tex Avery: The MGM Years, 1942-1955. Atlanta: Turner Press. ISBN 1-57036-291-2.
• Morris, Gary (September 1998). What's Up, Tex? A Look at the Life and Career of Tex Avery. Bright Lights Film Journal.

External links[link]

• Tex Avery at the Internet Movie Database
• Tex Avery Tribute
• The Animation of Tex Avery at Keyframe - the Animation Resource
• A listing of his ancestry for five generations
• Review of The Compleat Tex Avery, a laserdisc collection of Avery's entire series of MGM cartoons (published in 1993)
• The Shelf: Review of Tex Avery's Droopy, US DVD Release
• Tex Avery's grave marker

Jerry Springer
Springer in 2011 at the book launch party for Michael Musto's Fork on the Left, Knife in the Back
56th Mayor of Cincinnati
In office 1977–1978
Preceded by	Jim Luken
Succeeded by	Bobbie L. Sterne
Personal details
Born	Gerald Norman Springer (1944-02-13)February 13, 1944 (age 68) Highgate, London, England
Nationality	American[1]
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Micki Velton (1973–present)
Alma mater	Tulane University (B.A.) Northwestern University (J.D.)
Occupation	Former politician, talk show host
Website	jerryspringertv.com

Gerald Norman "Jerry" Springer (born February 13, 1944) is an American television presenter, best known as host of the tabloid talk show The Jerry Springer Show since its debut in 1991. He is a former Democratic mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio,^[2] news anchor, and musician.

Early life[link]

Springer was born in Highgate tube station in London, England, while the station was in use as a shelter from German bombing during World War II^[3] and grew up on Chandos Road, East Finchley. His parents, Margot (née Kallmann; a bank clerk) and Richard Springer (owner of a shoe shop^[4]), were Jewish refugees who escaped from Landsberg an der Warthe, Germany (now Gorzów Wielkopolski, Poland).^[5][6][7] His maternal grandmother Marie Kallmann, who was left behind, died in the gas trucks of Chelmno extermination camp. His paternal grandmother, Selma Springer, died at the Theresienstadt concentration camp. In January 1949, Springer immigrated with his parents to the United States, settling in Kew Gardens, Queens, New York and attended Forest Hills High School. He and his sister Evelyn were raised in a small four-room apartment. One of his earliest memories about current events was when he was 12 and watching the 1956 Democratic convention on television where he saw and was impressed by John F. Kennedy.^[8] He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Tulane University in 1965, majoring in political science.^[9] He earned a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Northwestern University in 1968.^[6][10]

Springer became a political campaign adviser to Robert F. Kennedy.^[10] After Kennedy's assassination, he joined the Cincinnati law firm of Frost & Jacobs, now Frost Brown Todd.

Political career[link]

In 1970, Springer ran for Congress. He failed to unseat incumbent Republican Donald D. Clancy, but garnered an impressive 45% of the vote in a traditionally Republican district. He had previously spearheaded the effort to lower the voting age, including testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee in support of ratification of the 26th Amendment.

Springer was elected to the Cincinnati city council in 1971.^[10] He resigned in 1974 after admitting to hiring a prostitute.^[10] The episode was uncovered when a police raid on a Fort Wright, Kentucky "massage parlor" unearthed a check Springer had written for its "services". The check subsequently bounced due to lack of funds in the account. Springer came clean at a press conference. Long-time Cincinnati newsman Al Schottelkotte pronounced Springer's career over, but Springer's honesty helped him win back his seat in 1975 by a landslide. In a post-election interview, Schottelkotte good-naturedly reminded Springer that he had declared Springer's career over. Springer told the newsman, "I'm glad that you were wrong." In 1977, he was chosen to serve one year as mayor by the City Council.

In 1982, Springer sought the Democratic nomination for governor of Ohio. TV commercials for Springer's campaign referenced his use of a check to pay a prostitute, saying that he was not afraid of the truth "even if it hurts".^[11] He failed to win the Democratic party's nomination—finishing a distant third behind former Lieutenant Governor Richard F. Celeste and Ohio Attorney General William J. Brown, and his political career was put on hold. Springer considered running for the United States Senate in 2003,^[12] but backed down due to negative associations with The Jerry Springer Show.^[13]

Politics to journalism[link]

Springer's broadcast career started while he was an undergraduate at Tulane University, on WTUL New Orleans FM, a progressive format independent radio station. It continued while he was still mayor of Cincinnati, with album-oriented rock radio station WEBN-FM, which was noted for its laid-back and irreverent radio format. The station featured commentaries by Springer under the banner "The Springer Memorandum." The popularity of these commentaries launched his broadcasting career.

Springer was hired as a political reporter and commentator on Cincinnati's NBC affiliate, WLWT, which had, at the time, the lowest-rated news program. Later, having been named primary news anchor and Managing Editor, he needed a broadcast catchphrase in the model of other great newsmen. With the help of some others at WLWT, he created his signature line: "Take care of yourself, and each other." Within two years he was Cincinnati's number-one news anchor, along with partner Norma Rashid. For five years, he was the most popular one in the city,^[10] garnering ten local Emmy Awards for his nightly commentaries, which were frequently satirized by Cincinnati radio personality Gary Burbank. Those commentaries would eventually become his "Final Thought" on "The Jerry Springer Show." Springer would remain commentator at WLWT until January 1993. He resided in Loveland, Ohio, during this time.^[14]

In 1997, the Chicago-based NBC-owned station WMAQ-TV hired Springer to serve as a news commentator. However, this proved to be unpopular among viewers, as it resulted in the resignation of long-time news anchors Ron Magers and Carol Marin. After performing only two commentaries, Springer resigned as commentator.^[15][16]

Hosting[link]

[edit] The Jerry Springer Show

The Jerry Springer Show debuted on September 30, 1991. It was developed by WLWT to mimic the format and look of fellow talk show Donahue, all the way down to Jerry's haircut and glasses, making him look like Phil Donahue (coincidentally, both were produced by Multimedia Entertainment). It started as a politically-oriented talk show, a longer version of Springer's commentaries. Guests included Oliver North and Jesse Jackson, and topics included homelessness and gun politics.

In early 1994, Springer and his new producer, Richard Dominick, revamped the show's format in order to garner higher ratings. The show became more and more successful as it became more and more lowbrow, with an emphasis on infidelity. Its guests were typically lower class, minimally-educated, blue collar people confronted on a television stage by a spouse or family member's adultery, homosexuality, prostitution, transvestism, hate group membership, or other controversial situations. These confrontations often led to shouting, profanities, chair-throwing, fist-fights, pulling of hair by fighting women, and removal of clothing. Female guests also receive 'Jerry Beads' for exposing their breasts to the studio audience, in the style of Mardi Gras revelers. The show garnered huge ratings, and lots of attention. By 1998, it was beating The Oprah Winfrey Show in many cities, and was reaching more than 6.7 million viewers. (Waxman, 1998)

On July 10, 2002, the sons of guest Nancy Campbell-Panitz - who was murdered by her ex-husband after they appeared on a May 2000 episode with his girlfriend - filed suit in Sarasota County against Springer, his producers, and his distributor, claiming he created "a mood that led to murder."^[17] Ultimately, the estate of Ms. Campbell-Panitz dropped all monetary claims against The Jerry Springer Show and the show agreed to waive its claims for malicious prosecution against the personal representative of the estate of Ms. Campbell-Panitz and his counsel.

In 2005, a UK version was shown on ITV1 titled The Springer Show. It beat its talk-show rival Trisha Goddard five to one in the ratings, despite it being a subdued and more tongue-in-cheek version of the U.S. show.^[18]

The VH1 "celebreality" series The Springer Hustle, which took a look at how The Jerry Springer Show is produced, premiered in April 2007.^[19]

Other[link]

Springer in January 2011

Springer hosted America's Got Talent on NBC in the U.S. for two seasons, replacing Regis Philbin,^[20] before leaving to concentrate on other projects.^[21]

From January 17, 2005 to December 5, 2006, Springer hosted Springer on the Radio, a liberal talk show on Cincinnati's WCKY-AM. He did the show from the Clear Channel studios in Kenwood on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays, and in Chicago (where his television show tapes) on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.^[22] Air America Radio syndicated the program for most of the show's run.

In the UK, Springer has hosted The Wright Stuff and 2001's Greed on the UK's Five network as well as 2007's Nothing But the Truth, the UK version of Nada más que la verdad. He also had a late-night talk show. On April 16, 2006, Springer was the guest host for the opening show for the third series of The Friday Night Project for Channel 4 and guest hosted Have I Got News for You on December 12, 2008. Springer has also co-presented UK daytime programme This Morning on ITV. In 2009, Springer appeared as a guest on the long-running British game show Countdown and hosted Miss Universe 2008. He was also the guest host for WWE Raw on February 15, 2010 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa. Springer has also hosted the live stage show version of The Price is Right.

Since April 19, 2010, Springer has also hosted a dating game show called Baggage, which airs on on GSN.^[23]

Acting career[link]

Springer portrayed his own talk show host character in the 1998 movie Ringmaster,^[24] using the name Jerry Farrelly. Ringmaster offers a behind-the-scenes look at would-be guests who apply to a Springer-like show. The same year, Springer also released an unrelated autobiography named Ringmaster. He quipped, "I can only think of one title a year."^[24]

In 1996, he appeared on an episode of the ninth season of Roseanne and on The X-Files episode "The Post-Modern Prometheus". In 1998, he voiced a cartoon version of himself in the Halloween episode of The Simpsons titled "Starship Poopers". In 1999, he appeared in the episode Mrs. Kraft of the third season of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch with his talk show. In 2004 he was the president of United States of America in a straight to DVD "c" movie "The Defender" directed by Dolph Lundgren. In 2007, he appeared on episode #1301 of MADtv as himself.

Jerry Springer made a cameo appearance in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me as himself during an episode of his show featuring Dr. Evil and his estranged son Scott Evil.

In 1999, he was in an episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast.

Springer appeared in an episode of Married... with Children as The Masculine Feminist, in which he was for women getting the men's bowling night and eventually taking over at a bowling alley. Al Bundy and his friends tie Springer to a chair and take over his show with a stripper who jumps up and down for the crowd's delight. He was in several episodes of George Lopez as Benny Lopez' ex-boyfriend Wayne and made a July 2007 guest appearance on Days of our Lives as "Pete," a high roller in Las Vegas who helped Nick Fallon win $50,000. On October 19, 2007, Springer made a cameo appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien as a "random" audience member. In June 2009 he appeared in Chicago at the Cambridge Theatre London as Billy Flynn for a short period of time, starring alongside Aoife Mulholland and Leigh Zimmerman.

Springer giving a speech at Emory University in 2007

Springer has been a guest in the following shows: the UK daytime programme The Paul O'Grady Show on Channel 4 on November 12, 2007, Question Time on June 19, 2008, Saturday Kitchen on June 21, 2008 along with chef Theresa Griegson and Kristin Dawson, Verdict with Dan Abrams in June 2008, two appearances on Whose Line Is It Anyway? in 2003 (from the same taping), The Jason Ellis Show on June 20, 2008 and Desert Island Discs on November 1, 2009.He was also in the Wayans Bros.as a cameo.

Springer also Starred opposite Dolph Lundgren in the 2004 film The Defender.

He was interviewed by satirist Chris Morris in his surreal radio series Blue Jam (Series 2, Episode 6). On January 23, 2004, Springer was featured in an episode of This American Life titled "Leaving the Fold".^[25]

Springer appeared in an episode of BBC One's Television Series Who Do You Think You Are? on August 27, 2008^[26] In the episode he traveled to Poland, where he discovered that his maternal grandmother had been sent to Chelmno extermination camp by the Nazis and killed. His paternal grandmother died at Theresienstadt concentration camp in what is now the Czech Republic. He wept openly when he learned of how they died.

Springer appeared on the Chris Moyles Show in April 2009, along with Davina McCall and Alan Carr. On May 31, 2009, Springer was a guest on The Andrew Marr Show talking about politics and his upcoming projects.

Other projects[link]

In the mid-1990s, Springer recorded Dr. Talk, an album that mostly consisted of country music covers.

In late 2006, Springer was a contestant on the third season of Dancing with the Stars, with his professional dance partner, Kym Johnson. He wanted to appear on the show so he could learn the waltz for the wedding of his daughter, Katie.^[22][27] Springer and Johnson were eliminated in the seventh week of competition.^[28]

On May 16, 2008, Springer delivered the Northwestern University School of Law commencement address. Although many students had criticized the University's choice of speaker, he received a standing ovation from about half the audience and reviews of his speech were generally positive.^[29] In a March 2009 interview on Anytime with Bob Kushell, Springer said that in his speech he talked about "the ethical judgments we all have to make in whatever business we go [into].^[30]

Springer is the executive producer of The Steve Wilkos Show, which is hosted by Steve Wilkos, the long-time head of security on his own talk show.

In popular culture[link]

A musical by Stewart Lee and Richard Thomas, Jerry Springer: The Opera, is based on his show. It first became popular at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2002. It has since played at the Royal National Theatre and the West End in London before embarking on a UK Tour in 2006. It has recently opened in Chicago, in the US, and will be moving onto regional productions throughout the United States. It was also screened on BBC 2 Television, causing some controversy.^[31] The televised version is now available on DVD.

Springer and his television program are mentioned in Mark Knopfler's song "Devil Baby". The songs "Jerry Springer" by "Weird Al" Yankovic, "Mr Springer" by Fascinating Aïda, "Jerry Rules in the Land of the Free" by the Dutch punk band De Heideroosjes and "Mr. Unfaithful" by the Swedish art-rock band A.C.T were inspired by him. On Jay Z's Blueprint 3 album, Kanye West says "I am never sprung but i spring her (Springer), Jerry" on the song "Hate".

"Dr. Talk" CD 1995 Fiddle Fish Records 8 tracks with 5 duets including "Let It Be Me" with Colene Walters

References[link]

The Jerry Springer Show has been notably denounced by Peter Gabriel in his video, 'The Barry Williams Show'.

Bibliography[link]

• Rebecca Johnson and Kathleen Powers, "Jerry Springer under Siege", Good Housekeeping, September 1998, pp. 114–119.
• John Kieswetter. "Springer ready to take radio show national". The Cincinnati Enquirer. March 21, 2005. D1.
• Allison J. Waldman, "American Pie: The In-Your-Face Success of 'The Jerry Springer Show'", TelevisionWeek, May 8, 2006, p. 31.
• Sharon Waxman. "King of the Trash Heap; Jerry Springer Digs the Dirt On Television". Washington Post, January 20, 1998, p. D1.

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Jerry Springer

• Springer on the Radio
• Jerry Springer - the Opera
• Profile: Jerry Springer
• Campaign ad from Governor race
• Jerry Springer at the Internet Movie Database
• "Leaving the Fold", This American Life, January 23, 2004. "[P]roducer Alex Blumberg tells the true story of Jerry Springer's life before he was a talk show host."
• Text from Springer's address at Northwestern Law Convocation
• Mayor Springer