Robert Young
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Birth name Robert George Young
Born February 22, 1907(1907-02-22)
Chicago, Illinois U.S.
Died July 21, 1998 (aged 91)
Westlake Village, California
Years active 1931-1988
Spouse(s) Betty Henderson (1933-1994)
[show]Awards
Emmy Awards
Outstanding Lead Actor - Drama Series
1970 Marcus Welby, M.D.
1957 Father Knows Best
1956 Father Knows Best
Robert George Young (February 22, 1907 - July 21, 1998) was a popular American actor, best known for his leading roles in two long-running television series, Jim Anderson, the father of Father Knows Best, and Doctor Marcus Welby in Marcus Welby, M.D.
Hollywood career
After appearing on stage, Young was signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)?-the studio that had more stars than in the heavens?-and in spite of having a "tier B" status, he co-starred with some of the studio's most illustrious actresses such as Margaret Sullavan, Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Helen Hayes, Luise Rainer, and Helen Twelvetrees, among many, many others. Yet most of his assignments comprised B-movies, also known as programmers, which required a mere two to three weeks of shooting. Actors who were relegated to such a hectic schedule appeared, as Young did, in some six to eight movies per year.
He received one of his most rewarding roles late in his MGM career, in H.M. Pulham, Esq., featuring one of Hedy Lamarr's rarely lauded performances, and once remarked that he was assigned only those roles which Robert Montgomery and other A-list actors had rejected.
After his contract at MGM ended, Young starred in light comedies as well as in trenchant dramas for studios such as 20th Century Fox, United Artists, and RKO. From 1943, Young assayed more challenging roles in films like Claudia, The Enchanted Cottage, They Won't Believe Me, The Second Woman, and Crossfire. His portrayal of unsympathetic characters in several of these latter films ?- which seldom occurred in his MGM pictures ?- was applauded by numerous reviewers.
Young appeared in 100 movies in a film career that spanned 1931 to 1952.
Television
Young is best known for his role in Father Knows Best (1949-1954 on radio, 1954-1960 on television), for which he and his co-star, Jane Wyatt, won several Emmy Awards. Young then created, produced, and starred in the TV series Window on Main Street (1961-1962) which only lasted six months.
Young later became famous for Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969-1976) for which he won an Emmy for best leading actor in a drama series. Young became so well identified with his wise doctor persona that he became famous as the commercial spokesman for an aspirin product, saying, "I'm not a doctor but I play one on TV" while wearing a lab coat.[1] He continued making television commercials until the late 1980s.
Young has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for film at 6933 Hollywood Blvd and one for television at 6358.
Personal life
Young was the son of an Irish immigrant father and an American mother. He graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School in Los Angeles, California.
He was married to Betty Henderson from 1933 until her death in 1994. They had four daughters.
Despite the fact that he portrayed happy, well-adjusted characters, Young suffered from depression and alcoholism, which contributed to his suicide attempt in 1991. Afterwards he spoke candidly about his problems in an effort to encourage people to seek help with their own. The Robert Young Center for Community Mental Health, an affiliate of Trinity Regional Health System, located in Rock Island, Illinois, is a comprehensive community mental health center. It is named after Young for his work with passage of the 708 Illinois Tax Referendum.[2]
Young died at his home in Westlake Village, California at 91 from respiratory failure. He was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, in Glendale, California.
John Mills
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Birth name Lewis Ernest Watts Mills
Born 22 February 1908(1908-02-22)
North Elmham, Norfolk, England
Died 23 April 2005 (aged 97)
Denham, Buckinghamshire, England
Spouse(s) Aileen Raymond (1927-1941)
Mary Hayley Bell (1941-2005)
[show]Awards
Academy Awards
Best Supporting Actor
1970 Ryan's Daughter
Golden Globe Awards
Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
1971 Ryan's Daughter
Sir John Mills CBE (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 1908 - 23 April 2005) was a popular Academy Award winning English actor who made more than 120 films and whose career spanned seventy years.
Life and career
Mills was born at the Watts Naval School in North Elmham, Norfolk, England, and grew up in Felixstowe, Suffolk. He was educated at Norwich High School for Boys (which since its move after World War II to Langley Park, Loddon, is known as Langley School), where it is said that his initials can still be seen carved into the brickwork on the side of the building in Upper St Giles Street. He made his acting debut on the stage of the Sir John Leman School in Beccles in a performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream when he played the part of Puck.
Mills took an early interest in acting, making his professional debut at the London Hippodrome in The Five O'Clock Girl in 1929. He made his film debut in The Midshipmaid (1932), and appeared as Colley in the 1939 film version of Goodbye, Mr Chips, opposite Robert Donat.
Mills joined-up in September 1939 at the start of World War II, and was posted into the Royal Artillery. He was later commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, and was discharged in 1941 due to medical reasons. He starred in his friend Noel Coward's In Which We Serve.
He took the lead in Great Expectations in 1946, and subsequently made his career playing traditionally British heroes such as Captain Robert Falcon Scott in Scott of the Antarctic (1948). Over the next decade he became particularly associated with war dramas, such as The Colditz Story (1954), Above Us the Waves (1955) and Ice Cold in Alex (1958). He often acted in the roles of people who are not at all exceptional, but become heroes due to their common sense, generosity and right judgement. Altogether he appeared in over 120 films.
For his role as the village idiot in Ryan's Daughter (1970) ?- a complete departure from his usual style ?- Mills won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. His most famous television role was probably as the title character in Quatermass for ITV in 1979. Also on the small screen, in 1974 he starred as Captain Tommy "The Elephant" Devon in the six-part television drama series The Zoo Gang, about a group of former underground freedom fighters from World War II, with Brian Keith, Lilli Palmer, and Barry Morse.
He also starred as Gus the Theatre Cat in the filmed version of the musical Cats in 1998.
In 2002 Mills released his extensive home movie footage in a documentary/film entitled John Mills' Moving Memories, with interviews with Mills, his children Hayley, Juliet and Jonathon and Richard Attenborough. The film features behind the scenes footage and stories from films such as Ice Cold in Alex and Dunkirk. In addition the film also includes home footage of many of John Mills' friends and fellow cast members including Sir Laurence Olivier, Harry Andrews, Walt Disney, David Niven, Dirk Bogarde, Rex Harrison, Tyrone Power.
Honours
He was appointed a CBE in 1960. In 1976 he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
In 2002, he received a Fellowship of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), the highest award given by the Academy, and was named a Disney Legend by The Walt Disney Company.
Family
His sister Annette Mills (1894-1955) was known for being the partner of the puppet "Muffin", in the BBC Television series Muffin the Mule between 1946 and 1955.
His first wife was the actress Aileen Raymond. They were married in 1927 and divorced in 1941.
His second wife was the dramatist Mary Hayley Bell. Their marriage on 16 January 1941 lasted 64 years, until his death in 2005. They were married in a rushed civil ceremony, due to the war, and it was not until 60 years later that they had their union blessed by a church [1]. They had two daughters, Juliet, star of television's Nanny and the Professor and Hayley, a Disney child star noted for starring in The Parent Trap, and one son Jonathan Mills. Hayley Mills's son, Crispian Mills, became a successful singer with the pop group Kula Shaker.
Death
In the years leading up to his death, he appeared on television only on special occasions, his sight having failed almost completely in 1992. After that, his film roles were brief but notable cameos. He died aged 97 on 23 April 2005 at his home in Denham, Buckinghamshire following a chest infection. A few months after Sir John's death, Mary Hayley Bell died on 1 December 2005.
Giulietta Masina
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Birth name Giulia Anna Masina
Born February 22, 1921(1921-02-22)
San Giorgio di Piano, Italy
Died March 23, 1994 (aged 73)
Rome, Italy
Occupation actress
Years active 1948 ?- 1991
Spouse(s) Federico Fellini (1920?-1993)
Giulia Anna (Giulietta) Masina (February 22, 1921 - March 23, 1994) was an Italian film actress, and the wife of film director Federico Fellini.
Born in San Giorgio di Piano, her parents were Gaetano Masina, a violinist, and Anna Flavia Pasqualin, a schoolteacher. She had three elder siblings: Eugenia, and the twins Mario and Maria. Masina initially studied literature, but later turned to acting; while attending university in Rome, she joined a drama ensemble and later signed on with the Ateneo Theatre Group.
By 1943 Masina was gaining notice as a radio actress, and had been cast as Pallina in Cico e Pallina, a radio serial about a young married couple, written by Fellini. Soon afterwards, on October 30, 1943, she and Fellini were married. Several months after their marriage, Masina fell down a flight of stairs and suffered a miscarriage. Then, on March 22, 1945, son Pierfederico (nicknamed Federichino) was born. He died just a month later on April 24.
Masina's first screen credit was the 1948 film Without Pity, opposite John Kitzmiller. She accumulated roles in a number of films, and in 1957 she won the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival for her portrayal of the title role in Nights of Cabiria, as a prostitute who endures life's tragedies with innocence and resilience.
She died from cancer in March 1994, at the age of seventy-three. Fellini had died just five months earlier, in October 1993. They are buried together at Rimini cemetery; their tomb is marked by a prow-shaped monument, the work of sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro.
She is a four time winner of the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Silver Ribbon (twice for Best Actress and twice for Best Supporting Actress). She was twice nominated for a BAFTA Film Award for Best Foreign Actress.
Steve Irwin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Born 22 February 1962(1962-02-22)
Essendon, Victoria, Australia
Died 4 September 2006 (aged 44)
Batt Reef, Queensland, Australia
Occupation Naturalist
Zoologist
Conservationist
Television Personality
Spouse Terri Irwin
Children Bindi Sue Irwin
Robert (Bob) Clarence Irwin
Website CrocodileHunter.com.au
Stephen Robert Irwin (February 22, 1962 - September 4, 2006), known simply as Steve Irwin and nicknamed "The Crocodile Hunter", was an Australian wildlife expert and television personality. He achieved world-wide fame from the television program The Crocodile Hunter, an internationally broadcast wildlife documentary series co-hosted with his wife Terri Irwin. Together, they also co-owned and operated Australia Zoo, founded by his parents in Beerwah, Queensland. He died in 2006 after his chest was fatally pierced by a stingray barb.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship MV Steve Irwin was named in his honour, christened by his wife Terri, who said "If Steve were alive, he'd be aboard with them!"
Early years of life
Born on his mother's birthday[1] to Lyn and Bob Irwin in Essendon, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Irwin moved with his parents as a child to Queensland in 1970. Irwin described his father as a wildlife expert interested in herpetology whilst his mother Lyn was a wildlife rehabilitator. After moving to Queensland, Bob and Lyn Irwin started the small Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park, where Steve grew up around crocodiles and other reptiles.
Irwin became involved with the park in a number of ways, including taking part in daily animal feeding, as well as care and maintenance activities. On his sixth birthday he was given a 12-foot (4 m) scrub python. He began handling crocodiles at the age of nine after his father had educated him on reptiles from an early age.[2] Also at age nine he wrestled his first crocodile, again under his father's supervision.[3] He graduated from Caloundra State High School in 1979. He soon moved to Northern Queensland, where he became a crocodile trapper, removing crocodiles from populated areas where they were considered a danger. He performed the service for free with the quid pro quo that he be allowed to keep them for the park. Irwin followed in his father's footsteps, becoming a volunteer for the Queensland Government's East Coast Crocodile Management program.
Career
Rise to fame
The park was a family run business, until it was turned over to Steve. He took over the running of the park, now called Australia Zoo (renaming it in 1992). Also that year, he appeared in a one-off reptile and wildlife special for television. In 1991, he met Terri Raines at the park, whilst performing a demonstration. The two married in June 1992, in Eugene, Oregon. The footage, shot by John Stainton, of their crocodile-trapping honeymoon became the first episode of The Crocodile Hunter. The series debuted on Australian TV screens in 1996, and by the following year had made its way onto North American television. The Crocodile Hunter became successful in the United States and also, after repackaging by Partridge Films for ITV, in the UK.[4] In 1998, he continued, working with producer and director Mark Strickson, to present The Ten Deadliest Snakes in the World. By 1999, he had become very popular in the United States, making his first appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. By this time, the Crocodile Hunter series was now broadcast in over 137 countries, reaching 500 million people. His exuberant and enthusiastic presenting style, broad Australian accent, signature khaki shorts, and catchphrase "Crikey!" became known worldwide.[5] Sir David Attenborough praised Irwin for introducing many to the natural world, saying "He taught them how wonderful and exciting it was, he was a born communicator."[6]
Under Irwin's leadership, the operations grew to include the zoo, the television series, the Steve Irwin Conservation Foundation (renamed Wildlife Warriors), and the International Crocodile Rescue. Improvements to the Australia Zoo include the Animal Planet Crocoseum, the rainforest aviary and Tiger Temple. Irwin mentioned that he was considering opening an Australia Zoo in Las Vegas, Nevada, and possibly at other sites around the world.[1]
Film
In 2001, Irwin appeared in a cameo role in the Eddie Murphy film Dr. Dolittle 2, in which a crocodile warns Dolittle that he knows Irwin is going to grab him and is prepared to attack when he does, but Dolittle fails to warn Irwin in time. Irwin's only starring feature film role was in 2002's The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course, which was released to mixed reviews. In the film Irwin (who portrayed himself and performed numerous stunts) mistakes some CIA agents for poachers. He sets out to stop them from capturing a crocodile, which, unknown to him, has actually swallowed a tracking transmitter. The film won the Best Family Feature Film award for a comedy film at the Young Artist Awards. The film was produced on a budget of about $12 million, and has grossed $33 million.[7] To promote the film, Irwin was featured in an animated short produced by Animax Entertainment for Intermix.[8]
In 2002, the Irwins appeared in the Wiggles video/DVD release Wiggly Safari, which was set in Irwin's Australia Zoo. It featured Irwin-themed songs written and performed by the Wiggles such as "Crocodile Hunter", "Australia Zoo", "Snakes (You can look but you better not touch)" and "We're The Crocodile Band". Irwin was featured prominently on the cover and throughout the movie.
In 2006, Irwin provided his voice for the 2006 animated film Happy Feet, as an elephant seal named Trev. The film was dedicated to Irwin, as he died during post-production.[9] Another, previously incomplete scene, featuring Steve providing the voice of an Albatross and essentially playing himself, was restored to the DVD release.
Animal Planet and later projects
Animal Planet ended The Crocodile Hunter with a series finale entitled "Steve's Last Adventure." The last Crocodile Hunter documentary spanned three hours with footage of Irwin's across-the-world adventure in locations including the Himalayas, the Yangtze River, Borneo, and the Kruger National Park. Irwin went on to star in other Animal Planet documentaries, including The Croc Files, The Crocodile Hunter Diaries, and New Breed Vets.
As a part of the United States' "Australia Week" celebrations in January 2006, Irwin appeared at the Pauley Pavilion, UCLA in Los Angeles, California. During an interview on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Irwin announced that Discovery Kids would be developing a show for his daughter, Bindi Sue Irwin.[10] The show, Jungle Girl, was tipped to be similar to The Wiggles movies, with songs that surround a story. A feature-length episode of Australian kids TV show The Wiggles entitled "Wiggly Safari" appears dedicated to Irwin, and he's featured in it heavily with his wife and daughter. The show includes the song "Crocodile Hunter, Big Steve Irwin".
In 2006, the American network The Travel Channel had begun to show a series of specials starring Irwin and his family as they travelled on cross-country tours.
Media work
A poster from Irwin's Quarantine Matters! campaign.Irwin was also involved in several media campaigns. He enthusiastically joined with the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service to promote Australia's strict quarantine/customs requirements, with advertisements and posters featuring slogans such as, "Quarantine Matters! Don't muck with it". His payments for these advertising campaigns were directed into his wildlife fund.[11]
In 2004, he was appointed ambassador for The Ghan, the passenger train running from Adelaide to Alice Springs in the central Australian outback, when the line was extended all the way to Darwin on the northern coast that year. For some time he was sponsored by Toyota.[12]
He was also a keen promoter for Australian tourism in general and Queensland tourism in particular. In 2002, the Australia Zoo was voted Queensland's top tourist attraction.[13] His immense popularity in the United States meant he often promoted Australia as a tourist destination there.[14]
Honours
In 2001, Irwin was awarded the Centenary Medal for his "service to global conservation and to Australian tourism".[15] In 2004, he was recognised as Tourism Export of the Year.[16] He was also nominated in 2004 for Australian of the Year, an honour which was won by Australian Cricket Captain Steve Waugh. Shortly before his death, he was to be named an adjunct professor at the University of Queensland's School of Integrative Biology.[17] On 14 November 2007 Irwin was awarded the adjunct professorship posthumously by the University of Queensland.[18] In May 2007, the Rwandan Government announced that it would name a baby gorilla after Steve Irwin as a tribute to his work in wildlife conservation.[19] The Crocodile Rehabilitation and Research Centre in Neyyar Wildlife Sanctuary was named by the Kerala government after late Steve Irwin.[20].
Environmentalism
Irwin was a passionate conservationist and believed in promoting environmentalism by sharing his excitement about the natural world rather than preaching to people. He was concerned with conservation of endangered animals and land clearing leading to loss of habitat. He considered conservation to be the most important part of his work: "I consider myself a wildlife warrior. My mission is to save the world's endangered species."[13] Irwin bought "large tracts of land" in Australia, Vanuatu, Fiji and the United States, which he described as "like national parks" and stressed the importance of people realising that they could each make a difference.[21]
He had urged people to take part in considerate tourism and not support illegal poaching through the purchase of items such as turtle shells or shark-fin soup.[22]
He founded the Steve Irwin Conservation Foundation, which was later renamed Wildlife Warriors Worldwide, and became an independent charity. He was described after his death by the CEO of RSPCA Queensland as a "modern-day Noah," and British naturalist David Bellamy lauded his skills as a natural historian and media performer.[23] Irwin and his father discovered a new species of turtle that now bears his name, Elseya irwini ?- Irwin's Turtle ?- a species of turtle found on the coast of Queensland.[24]
He also helped to found a number of other projects, such as the International Crocodile Rescue, as well as the Lyn Irwin Memorial Fund, in memory of his mother (who was in a fatal car crash in 2000), with proceeds going to the Iron Bark Station Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre.
Irwin, however, was criticised for having an unsophisticated view of conservation in Australia that seemed more linked to tourism than to the problems Australia faces as a continent.
In response to questions of Australia's problems with overgrazing, salinity, and erosion, Irwin responded, "Cows have been on our land for so long that Australia has evolved to handle those big animals." The Sydney Morning Herald concluded with the opinion that his message was confusing and amounted to "eating roos and crocs is bad for tourism, and therefore more cruel than eating other animals".[25]
According to Terri, Sir David Attenborough was an inspiration to Irwin. When presenting a Lifetime Achievement Award to Attenborough after Irwin's death at the British National Television Awards on October 31, 2006 Terri stated "If there's one person who directly inspired my husband it's the person being honoured tonight." She went on to say "[Steve's] real, true love was conservation - and the influence of tonight's recipient in preserving the natural world has been immense."[26] Sir David reciprocated with praising Irwin for introducing many to the natural world, saying "He taught them how wonderful and exciting it was, he was a born communicator."[6]
Personal life
Family
In 1992, Irwin married Terri Raines from Eugene, Oregon, United States. The pair had met a few months earlier, when Terri had visited the zoo on a holiday; according to both of them, it was love at first sight. Terri said at the time, "I thought there was no one like this anywhere in the world. He sounded like an environmental Tarzan, a larger-than-life superhero guy."[27] Together they had two children: a daughter, Bindi Sue Irwin (born July 24, 1998), and a son, Robert Clarence "Bob" (named after Irwin's father) Irwin (born December 1, 2003). Bindi Sue is jointly named after two of Steve Irwin's favourite animals: Bindi, a saltwater crocodile, and Sui, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier who died in June 2004.
Irwin was as enthusiastic about his family as he was about his work. He once described his daughter Bindi as "the reason [he] was put on the Earth." His wife once said, "The only thing that could ever keep him away from the animals he loves are the people he loves even more."[1]
Terri Irwin recently reported that Steve had an ongoing premonition that he would die before he reached age 40.[28] She wrote about this in her book Steve and Me about their lives together.[29]
Controversies
A controversial incident occurred during a public show on January 2, 2004, when Irwin carried his one-month-old son, Bob, in his arm whilst hand-feeding a chicken carcass to Murray, a 3.8-metre (12 ft 6 in) saltwater crocodile. The infant was close to the crocodile, and comparisons were made in the press to Michael Jackson's dangling his son outside a German hotel window.[30] In addition, child welfare groups, animal rights groups, and some of Irwin's television viewers criticised his actions as irresponsible and tantamount to child abuse.[31] Irwin apologised on the US NBC Today Show.[32] Both he and his wife publicly stated that Irwin was in complete control of the situation, as he had dealt with crocodiles since he was a small child, and based on his lifetime of experience neither he nor his son were in any danger. He also showed footage of the event shot from a different angle, demonstrating that they were much further from the crocodile than they had appeared in the publicised clip.[33] Terri Irwin claimed their child was in no more danger than one being taught to swim. No charges were filed; according to one journalist, Irwin told officials he would not repeat the action.[34] The incident prompted the Queensland government to change its crocodile-handling laws, banning children and untrained adults from entering crocodile enclosures.[35]
In June 2004, allegations were made that he disturbed wildlife (namely whales, seals and penguins) whilst filming a documentary, Ice Breaker, in Antarctica. The matter was subsequently closed without charges being filed.[36]
After Irwin's death, the vessel MV Robert Hunter owned by the environmental action group Sea Shepherd was renamed MV Steve Irwin in Steve's honor.[37] Sea Shepherd is a controversial[38] [39] environmentalist group that conducts direct action operations including the sinking of whaling ships, to protect marine species and environments. Shortly before his death, Irwin had been investigating joining their 2007/08 voyage to Antarctica to disrupt Japanese whaling activity. Following his death, as an alternative the renaming of the vessel was suggested by Sea Shepherd and endorsed by his widow Terri.[40]
Politics
After questions arose about Irwin being paid $175,000 worth of taxpayers' money to appear in a television advertisement and his possible political ties, Irwin told ABC that he was a conservationist and did not choose sides in politics.
His comments describing Australian Prime Minister John Howard as the "greatest leader in the world" earned him scorn in the media.[41]
Search and rescue effort in Mexico
In November 2003, Irwin was filming a documentary on sea lions off the coast of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula when he heard via his boat's radio that two scuba divers were reported missing in the area. Irwin and his entire crew suspended operations to aid in the search. His team's divers searched with the rescue divers, and Irwin used his vessel to patrol the waters around the island where the incident occurred, as well as using his satellite communications system to call in a rescue plane. On the second day of the search, kayakers found one of the divers, Scott Jones, perched on a narrow rock ledge jutting out from the side of a cliff. Irwin and a crewmember escorted him to Irwin's boat. Jones did not recognise his celebrity rescuer, as he had never seen Irwin on television. The other lost diver, Katie Vrooman, was found dead by a search plane later the same day not far from Jones' location.[42]
Sports fan
Having grown up in Essendon, Irwin was a fan of the Essendon Bombers, an Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League.[43] Irwin took part in an Australian Rules football promotion in Los Angeles as part of "Australia Week" in early 2006.[44] After his death, a picture of Irwin wearing a Bombers Guernsey was shown by ESPN.com in their Bottom 10 ranking of the worst Division I-A college football teams after Week 1 of the season in tribute to him.[45]
Being an aussie he was a big cricket fan. This was seen during his visit to Sri Lanka where he played cricket with some local kids and saying "I love cricket" and "It's a shame we have to go catch some snakes now". This was seen during the episode Crocodile Hunter: "Island of the Snakes".
Living in Queensland most of his life, Irwin was also a fan of rugby league. As a teenager, he played for the Caloundra Sharks as a second-rower,[46] and as an adult he was known to be a passionate Brisbane Broncos fan and was involved with the club on several occasions. On one occasion after turning up to training he asked if he could tackle the largest player, Shane Webcke. Despite being thrown to the ground and looking like he'd been crushed he was jovial about the experience. Irwin laughingly shared the experience with the Queensland State of Origin squad before the 2006 series.[47] Irwin also supported rugby union, being a fan of the national team, the Wallabies. He once wore Wallaby jersey during a demonstration at the zoo. A behind-the-scenes episode of The Crocodile Hunter showed Irwin and the crew finding a gas station in a remote part of Namibia to watch the Wallabies defeat France in the 1999 Rugby World Cup Final. Irwin was also a talented surfer.[48]
Other personal trivia
Irwin was particularly interested in Singapore Zoo, which he considered a sister institution of the Australia Zoo.[49]
Irwin loved mixed martial arts competitions and trained with Greg Jackson in the fighting/grappling system of Gaidojutsu.[50]
In 2004, during an interview with Larry King, he admitted that he had a fear of parrots, having received many painful bites from the animals in the past.[1]
In 2005, in an interview for New Idea, he stated that he was afraid of being killed in a car crash.[51]
Terri Irwin has stated in an interview that Irwin believed in God.[52] Stories that he had joined a church a short time before his death appear to be urban legend.[53]
Although he and Terri were happily married, they did not wear wedding rings; in their line of work, wearing jewellery could pose a hazard to them and/or the animals.[54]
He is supposedly parodied in the video game Grand Theft Auto:Vice City on the radio talkback station, "KCHAT" as "Mr. Zoo."
Death
On September 4, 2006, Irwin was fatally pierced in the chest by a stingray spine whilst snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef, at Batt Reef, which is located off the coast of Port Douglas in Queensland. Irwin was in the area filming his own documentary, Ocean's Deadliest, but weather had stalled filming. Irwin decided to take the opportunity to film some shallow water shots for a segment in the television program his daughter Bindi was hosting,[55] when, according to his friend and colleague, John Stainton, he swam too close to one of the stingrays. "He came on top of the stingray and the stingray's barb went up and into his chest and put a hole into his heart," said Stainton, who was on board Irwin's boat the Croc One.
The events were caught on camera, and a copy of the footage was handed to the Queensland Police.[56] After reviewing the footage of the incident and speaking to the cameraman who recorded it, marine documentary filmmaker and former spearfisherman Ben Cropp speculated that the stingray "felt threatened because Steve was alongside and there was the cameraman ahead." In such a case, the stingray responds to danger by automatically flexing the serrated spine on its tail (which can measure up to 25 cm/10 in in length) in an upward motion.
Cropp said Irwin had accidentally boxed the animal in. "It stopped and twisted and threw up its tail with the spike, and it caught him in the chest. It's a defensive thing. It's like being stabbed with a dirty dagger." The stinging of Irwin by the bull ray was "a one-in-a-million thing," Cropp told Time magazine. "I have swum with many rays, and I have only had one do that to me..."[57]
Initially, when Irwin's colleague, John Stainton, was interviewed by CNN's Larry King late on September 4, 2006 he denied the suggestion that Irwin had pulled the spine out of his chest, or that he had seen footage of the event, insisting that the anecdote was "absolute rubbish."[58] The following day, when he first described the video to the media, he stated, "Steve came over the top of the ray and the tail came up, and spiked him here [in the chest], and he pulled it out and the next minute he's gone."[56]
It is thought, in the absence of a coroner's report, that a combination of the toxins and the puncture wound from the spine caused Irwin to die of cardiac arrest, with most damage being inflicted by tears to arteries or other main blood vessels.[59] A similar incident in Florida a month later in which a man survived a stingray barb through the heart showed that Irwin's removal of the barb may have caused his own death.[60] The coroner's report has not yet been released.
Crew members aboard his boat called the emergency services in the nearest city of Cairns and administered CPR as they rushed the boat to the nearby Low Islets to meet an emergency rescue helicopter. However despite the best efforts of Irwin's crew, medical staff pronounced him dead when they arrived a short time later.[55] According to Dr Ed O'Loughlin, who treated Irwin, "it became clear fairly soon that he had non-survivable injuries. He had a penetrating injury to the left front of his chest. He had lost his pulse and wasn't breathing."[61]
Cairns, QueenslandIrwin's body was flown to a morgue in Cairns. His wife, Terri Irwin, was on a walking tour in Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park in Tasmania at the time, and returned via a private plane from Devonport to the Sunshine Coast with their two children.[55]
Fatalities due to stingrays are infrequent and occurrences are not consistently collated.[62] The attack on Irwin is believed to be the only fatality from a stingray ever captured on film.[63]
Stainton told CNN's Larry King "[The tape] should be destroyed".[64] In an ABC interview with Barbara Walters, Irwin's wife Terri said she has not seen the film of her husband's deadly encounter with the stingray and that it would not be shown on television.[65] On January 3, 2007, the only video footage showing the events that led to Irwin's death was handed over to Terri, who said that the video would never become public, and noted her family has not seen the video either.[66] In a January 11, 2007 interview with Access Hollywood, Terri said that "all footage has been destroyed."[67]
Production was completed on Ocean's Deadliest, which aired for the first time on the Discovery Channel on January 21, 2007. The documentary was completed with footage shot in the weeks following the accident.[68] According to Stainton, "Anything to do with the day that he died, that film is not available."[69] Perhaps to maintain the film's original purpose as a nature documentary and prevent it from becoming a documentary of Irwin's final days, his death is not mentioned in the film, aside from a still image of Irwin at the end alongside the text "In Memory of Steve Irwin".
Reaction
News of his death prompted widespread worldwide shock. Australian Prime Minister John Howard expressed his "shock and distress" at the death, saying that "Australia has lost a wonderful and colourful son."[70] Queensland Premier Peter Beattie commented in a Channel Seven television interview that Irwin "will be remembered as not just a great Queenslander, but a great Australian".[71] Several Australian news websites went down because of high web traffic and for the first time the top 10 list of most viewed stories for Fairfax Digital news sites were swept by one topic.[72] Talk-back radio experienced a high volume of callers expressing their grief.[73] Flags at the Sydney Harbour were lowered to half staff in honor of Irwin.[74]
The U.S. feed of the Animal Planet cable television channel aired a special tribute to Steve Irwin that started on Monday, 4 September 2006. The tribute continued with the Animal Planet channel showing highlights of Irwin's more than 200 appearances on Discovery Networks shows.[75]
On the evening of his death, Enough Rope re-broadcast an interview between Irwin and Andrew Denton originally broadcast in 2003. CNN showed a repeat of his interview on Larry King Live, originally recorded in 2004. The Australian federal parliament opened on September 5, 2006 with condolence speeches by both the Prime Minister John Howard and the Leader of the Opposition Kim Beazley. The Seven Network aired a television memorial show as a tribute to Irwin on 5 September 2006,[76] as did the Nine Network on September 6, 2006.
Jay Leno delivered a tribute to Irwin, describing him as a great ambassador of Australia. Irwin appeared on Leno's talk show on more than ten occasions.[77] There were also tributes on Live with Regis & Kelly and Barbara Walters' The View; on the former show, Kelly Ripa came close to tears with her praise of Irwin.[77]
Hundreds of people visited Australia Zoo to pay tribute to the deceased entertainer and conservationist. The day after his death, the volume of people visiting the zoo to pay their respects affected traffic so much that police reduced the speed limit around the Glass House Mountains Road and told motorists to expect delays.[78] BBC reported on September 13, 2006 that thousands of fans have been to Australia Zoo since Irwin's death, bringing flowers, candles, stuffed animals and messages of support.[79]
In the weeks after his death, Irwin's conservation foundation Wildlife Warriors reported that thousands of people from around the world were offering their support via donations to the conservation group.
Criticism
Dan Mathews, vice-president of animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said it was "no shock at all that Steve Irwin should die provoking a dangerous animal". He added that "Irwin made his career out of antagonising frightened wild animals, that's a very dangerous message to send to children." He also made a comparison with another well known conservationist: "If you compare him with a responsible conservationist like Jacques Cousteau, he looks like a cheap reality TV star."[80][81] The son of Jacques Cousteau, Jean-Michel Cousteau, also a producer of wildlife documentaries, also took issue with Irwin's hands-on approach to nature television. Cousteau said, "You don't touch nature, you just look at it." Although it "goes very well on television", Irwin's approach would "interfere with nature, jump on animals, grab them, hold them, and have this very, very spectacular, dramatic way of presenting things" which Cousteau felt is "very misleading".[82] Jacques Cousteau's grandson, Philippe Cousteau Jr., however, was himself working with Irwin on the "Ocean's Deadliest" documentary at the time of Irwin's death, and later described him as "a remarkable individual." Describing their project, he said, "I think why Steve was so excited about it that we were looking at these animals that people think of as, you know, dangerous and deadly monsters, and they're not. They all have an important place in the environment and in the world. And that was what his whole message was about."[83]
Backlash against stingrays
In the weeks following Irwin's death, at least ten stingrays were found dead and mutilated, with their tails cut off, on the beaches of Queensland, prompting speculation that they had been killed by fans of Irwin as an act of revenge. Michael Hornby, a friend of the late naturalist and executive director of Irwin's Wildlife Warrior fund, condemned any revenge killings.
"We just want to make it very clear that we will not accept and not stand for anyone who's taken a form of retribution. That's the last thing Steve would want," he said.[84]
Funeral and memorials
Queensland Premier Peter Beattie extended the offer of a state funeral to Irwin's family, an honour also agreed to by Prime Minister John Howard. The family decided that such a funeral wouldn't be appropriate, a sentiment echoed by many Australians outside media and political circles. Steve Irwin's father, Bob Irwin, stated that his son would not have wanted such an honour, and would want to be remembered as an "ordinary bloke."[85] Beattie stated he would honour the decision of the Irwin family regarding their arrangements. Irwin was farewelled by family and friends at a private funeral service held at Caloundra on the afternoon of 9 September.[86]The naturalist was buried in a private ceremony at the zoo on the same day.[79]
Memorial service
A public service was held at the 5,500-seat Crocoseum at Australia Zoo on Wednesday morning September 20, 2006. The service was broadcast live, commercial free, in the eastern states of Australia, by free-to-air channels Seven, Nine and the ABC in Australia, as well as live on subscription channel Sky News Australia. In addition, it was broadcast live around the world, particularly the United States, where the service was broadcast commercial free on Animal Planet, as well as to Asia and Germany. A BBC camera crew was also sent especially to Australia to cover the memorial service for the United Kingdom. It is estimated that over 300 million viewers worldwide watched the service.[87]. The memorial was also rebroadcast on Animal Planet on January 1, 2007 as part of their New Year's Day celebration, and again the following day.
The memorial service was held in the "Crocoseum" at Australia ZooMessages from around the world came from people including Hugh Jackman, Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake, Kevin Costner, Russell Crowe, Kelly Ripa and Larry King. Costner called him a "fearless" man who was brave enough to let people see him as he was.[88]
The Prime Minister John Howard made an early speech at the service, as did Irwin's father Bob and his daughter Bindi.
Wes Mannion and John Stainton also made speeches and David Wenham read a poem.[88] Anthony Field from The Wiggles partly hosted the service, often sharing the screen with various animals, from koalas to elephants, and Australian music star John Williamson sang True Blue, which was Irwin's favourite song. Professor Craig Franklin of the University of Queensland told the crowd that the university was about to make Irwin an adjunct professor for his contributions to the study of crocodiles.[89] In a symbolic finish to the service, Irwin's truck was loaded up with gear and driven out of the arena for the last time as Williamson sang.
In a final tribute, Australia Zoo staff spelled out Irwin's catchphrase "Crikey" in yellow flowers as Irwin's truck was driven from the "Crocoseum" for the last time to end the service. Flags on the Sydney Harbour Bridge flew at half mast on the day of the memorial service.
Other Australian memorials
Several permanent memorials for Irwin have already been considered or announced. Premier Peter Beattie suggested a national park be named after Irwin or a permanent memorial might be constructed in his honour, though the details of the structure would depend on Irwin's family.[78]
On January 1, 2007, Glasshouse Mountains Road, the road that runs by Steve and Terri Irwin's Australia Zoo, was officially renamed to "Steve Irwin Way".[90]
There will be a nature park in Australia named after Irwin, the Australian federal government announced in July 2007.[91]
American memorials
Animal Planet will rename the garden in front of Discovery's world headquarters in Silver Spring, Montgomery County, Maryland, U.S., to the "Steve Irwin Memorial Sensory Garden".[92]
Animal Planet is also creating the Steve Irwin Crocodile Hunter Fund called the "The Crikey Fund" to "provide a way for people from across the globe to make contributions in Irwin's honor to support wildlife protection, education and conservation".[92]
Animal Planet ran a The Crocodile Hunter Diaries marathon on air to pay tribute to Irwin.
There is presently a resolution under consideration in the Kentucky General Assembly to make February 22, 2007 Steve Irwin Day in honor of what would have been his 45th birthday.[93]
On the Happy Feet DVD, there is a deleted scene where the main character Mumble meets an albatross voiced by Irwin and a blue whale. The scene was unfinished at first but was included on the DVD release to honor Irwin's memory as Irwin had insisted on being in a film that contained a message about the environment. However, they took this scene off the movie and decided to let Irwin play an elephant seal named Trev.
Indian memorial
A crocodile research centre in Neyyar Wildlife Sanctuary was named by the Kerala government after Steve Irwin.
The state's forest and wildlife department is perhaps the first government body in the world to name a memorial after Irwin, whose documentaries on wildlife and reptiles endeared him to thousands of viewers. The centre is now called the Steve Irwin Crocodile Rehabilitation and Research Centre.
Death anniversary
On September 4, 2007, Australian fans gathered at the Irwin family zoo on the Gold Coast, Queensland to commemorate the first anniversary of Irwin's death. State Premier Peter Beattie described Irwin as one of the state's greatest cultural ambassadors. On November 15, Irwin's widow Terri and children, Bindi and Bob, remembered his life and achievements on "Steve Irwin Day."[94]
Drew Barrymore
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Birth name Drew Blyth Barrymore
Born February 22, 1975 (1975-02-22) (age 33)
Culver City, California, U.S.
Occupation actress, producer
Years active 1978-present
Spouse(s) Jeremy Thomas (1994-1995)
Tom Green (2001-2002)
Parents John Drew Barrymore (1932-2004)
Jaid Barrymore (b. 1946)
[show]Awards
Other Awards
Saturn Award for Best Actress (film)
1998 Ever After
Drew Blyth Barrymore (born February 22, 1975) is an Emmy Award- and Golden Globe-nominated American actress and film producer, the youngest member of the Barrymore family of American actors. She has her own production company, Flower Films. Barrymore made her screen début in Altered States (1980); her breakout role two years later was in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. She quickly became one of Hollywood's most recognized child actresses going on to establish herself in mainly comic roles.
Biography
Early life
Barrymore was born in Culver City, California, the daughter of American actor John Drew Barrymore and Ildiko Jaid Barrymore (née Makó), an aspiring actress born in a displaced persons camp in Brannenburg, West Germany to Hungarian World War II refugees. Her parents divorced after she was born. She has a half-brother John Blyth Barrymore, also an actor, and two half-sisters, Blyth Dolores Barrymore and Brahma (Jessica) Blyth Barrymore. Her paternal great-great-grandfather, John Drew, the actor, was Irish-born, and immigrated to the US, in the 19th Century.
Barrymore was born into the acting profession, coming from a long line of acting talent stretching back nearly 200 years; her great-great grandparents John Drew, Louisa Lane Drew, her great-grandparents Maurice Barrymore, Georgiana Drew and Maurice Costello, and her grandparents John Barrymore and Dolores Costello were all highly successful actors; John Barrymore was arguably the most acclaimed actor of his generation. She is the grand-niece of Lionel Barrymore, Ethel Barrymore (whom Winston Churchill once proposed to), and Helene Costello, and the great grandniece of John Drew, Jr., actress Louisa Drew, and silent film actor/writer/director Sidney Drew. Her father and half-brother are also actors. She is also the god-daughter of director Steven Spielberg.[1]
Her first name, Drew, was the maiden name of her paternal great-grandmother, Georgiana Drew; her middle name, Blyth, was the original surname of the dynasty founded by her great-grandfather, Maurice Barrymore.
Rise to fame
Barrymore's career began when she was eleven months old: she auditioned for a dog food commercial.[1] When she was bitten by her canine co-star, the producers were afraid she would cry, but she merely laughed, and was hired for the job. She made her film debut in Altered States (1980). A year later, she landed the role of Gertie in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which made her famous.[1] She received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress in 1984 for her role in Irreconcilable Differences.[1]
Rebellious era
In the wake of this sudden stardom, Barrymore endured a notoriously troubled childhood, already a regular at the famed Studio 54 when she was a little girl, smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol by the time she was 9, smoking marijuana at 10, and snorting cocaine at 13.[1] She was in rehab at age 13 and a second time at 14.[1] Barrymore later described this period of her life in her 1990 autobiography, Little Girl Lost. Her nightlife and constant partying became a popular subject with the media.
New image
Barrymore used her new-found role as a sex symbol to stage a career comeback playing a manipulative, evil teenage seductress in Poison Ivy (1992), which became a box office failure, but was popular on video and cable. [1] She posed nude for the January 1995 issue of Playboy. Spielberg gave her a quilt for her 20th birthday with a note that read, "Cover yourself up".[1] Enclosed were copies of her Playboy pictures, with the pictures altered by his art department so that she appeared fully clothed.[2] She would eventually appear nude in five of her movies during this period. During a 1995 appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman, Barrymore climbed onto Dave Letterman's desk and bared her breasts to him, her back to the camera. The flash was intended to celebrate his birthday. She also modeled in a series of Guess? jeans ads during this time. She underwent breast reduction surgery in 1992, and has said on the subject:
" You should have seen the size of them I was a 34DD. Everybody stared at them and it was so embarrassing. They'd be like "you changed," and they'd be staring straight at my breasts. After I got my boobs reduced to a 34C, all the sudden this thing that was so scary and embarrassing wasn't a problem anymore. "
Return to prominence
She made a comeback in the successful 1996 horror film Scream. Barrymore has continued to be highly bankable, and a top box office draw.[1] She has been especially adept in romantic comedies, such as Wishful Thinking (1996), The Wedding Singer (1998), Home Fries (1998), Never Been Kissed (1999), 50 First Dates (2004), and Fever Pitch (2005). Summing up Barrymore's appeal, Roger Ebert, in his review of 50 First Dates, describes Barrymore as having a "smiling, coy sincerity", describing the film as "ingratiating and lovable".[3] She has also produced several films, including Charlie's Angels (2000), a major box office success of 2000.[1] After Charlie's Angels, Drew had a dramatic role in the comedy/drama Riding in Cars with Boys (2001), where she played a teenage mother in a failed marriage with the drug-addicted father (based on the real-life story of Beverly D'Onofrio). In Richard Kelly's debut movie Donnie Darko she had the fairly small role of Karen Pomeroy, the title character's English teacher. In 2003, she reprised her role as Dylan Sanders in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. Maxim magazine featured Barrymore and her fellow Angels in their "Girls of Maxim"[4] gallery after the launch of the film. Later in 2002, Barrymore appeared in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, alongside Julia Roberts. In the words of Yahoo! Movies:
" "Heir to a Hollywood dynasty, child star, prepubescent drug and alcohol abuser, teenage sexpot, and resurrected vessel of celluloid purity, Drew Barrymore is nothing if not the embodiment of the rise and fall of Hollywood fortunes, self-reinvention, and the healing powers of good PR."[5] "
She was the subject of My Date with Drew (2005). In it, an aspiring filmmaker and fan uses his limited resources in an attempt to gain a date with her.
On February 3, 2004, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. One of her most recent roles has involved her becoming a recurring character in the hit animated comedy Family Guy as Brian Griffin's shallow girlfriend, Jillian. She has since appeared in four episodes.
Barrymore has also appeared in the films Lucky You (2007) and Music and Lyrics (2007). She recently hosted Saturday Night Live for the fifth time, making her the second female host in the show's history to do so (Candice Bergen being the first) and still remains the youngest celebrity to host the show (Barrymore hosted in 1982 at age 7; Jodie Foster was 14 when she hosted it in 1976). Barrymore has a worldwide box office gross that stands at over $2.3 billion. According The Hollywood Reporter's annual Star Salary Top 10, she is one of the actresses with the second highest salary per movie for 2006.[6]
It was announced on April 11, 2007 that Barrymore will become CoverGirl Cosmetic's newest model and spokeswoman. In April 2007, Barrymore reached No. 1 in People's annual 100 Most Beautiful People list.[7] In May 2007, Barrymore was named Ambassador Against Hunger for the United Nations World Food Programme.[8] In June 2007, Gucci announced that Drew Barrymore would be the new face for their jewelry line.[9]
Personal life
Barrymore was married to Welsh bartender turned bar owner, Jeremy Thomas, from March 20 to April 28, 1994, and to comedian Tom Green from July 7, 2001 to October 15, 2002. Green filed for divorce in December 2001.
In March 2007, former magazine editor Jane Pratt claimed on her Sirius Satellite Radio show that she had a romance with Barrymore in the middle 1990s.[10][11] This was after Barrymore's own 2003 admission that she considered herself bisexual, commenting: "I don't think I could ever just solely be with a woman...It's just not enough for me."[12]
She is currently dating Justin Long.[13]
