Nolan Smith

Nolan Smith (born July 25, 1988, in Upper Marlboro, Maryland), is a junior guard for the Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team. Smith is the son of the late Derek Smith, a former forward of NBA and University of Louisville fame. Before coming to Duke, Nolan played for St. John's College High School during freshman year and then played at Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia. At Oak Hill, he played alongside current Miami Heat forward,



Nolan Smith (born July 25, 1988, in Upper Marlboro, Maryland), is a junior guard for the Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team. Smith is the son of the late Derek Smith, a former forward of NBA and University of Louisville fame. Before coming to Duke, Nolan played for St. John's College High School during freshman year and then played at Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia. At Oak Hill, he played alongside current Miami Heat forward, Michael Beasley. Smith earned McDonald's



All-America honors as a high school senior in 2007. His career high at Duke is 24 points in a win over Charlotte in 2009. Beginning his sophomore year, he was named the starter at point guard for the Blue Devils, effectively making three-year starter (and team tri-captain) Greg Paulus a reserve. As of March 24, 2010, Smith was 16 points short of joining Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler as 600+ point scorers for 2009-10; in 2001-02, Jason Williams, Carlos Boozer and Mike Dunleavy accomplished that feat




Person
Place of birth:- Upper Marlboro, Maryland, United States of America

Country of nationality:- United States of America

Gender:- Male

Parents:- Derek Smith

Education:- Oak Hill Academy
Duke University

John Forte

John Forté (born January 30, 1975) is a rapper and a producer. Forté was born in Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York. He won a full scholarship to Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, where he graduated in 1993.



John Forte (1918-1965) was an American comic-book artist, active from the early 1940s on, best known as one of the primary pencilers of DC Comics' early Legion of Super-Heroes stories.

Forte additionally drew for Timely Comics and Atlas Comics — the 1940s and 1950s predecessors, respectively, of Marvel Comics — as well as for the American Comics Group. Fiction House, Lev Gleason, and Quality Comics. He worked primarily for DC Comics beginning 1958, penciling Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane stories for the Superman family of titles. Aside from his work on the far-future teen-superhero team the Legion of Super-Heroes in Adventure Comics, Forte also drew that comic's backup feature "Tales from the Bizarro World".




Forté began his professional music career when he was introduced to The Fugees by Lauryn Hill in the early 1990s. He co-wrote and produced two songs on their multi-platinum and Grammy-winning 1996 album, The Score. After the group broke up in 1997, Forté released his debut solo album, Poly Sci in 1998, which was produced by Wyclef Jean. The album sold 79,000 copies, a disappointment blamed in part on the fact that "the record's project manager quit Sony a week before the album was released, and Epic put little cash behind its promotional tour.
Drug conviction

In 2000, Forté was arrested at Newark International Airport after accepting a briefcase containing $1.4 million worth of liquid cocaine; he was charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine and conspiracy to distribute. He was



convicted and sentenced to the mandatory minimum 14 years after being found guilty, and incarcerated at FCI Loretto, a low-security federal prison in central Pennsylvania.

Carly Simon and her son Ben Taylor were advocates on Forte's behalf, believing he did not receive a fair trial, fought for an appeal of the mandatory minimum drug laws that remove a judge’s discretion in a case; they met Forté through Taylor's cousin who was a classmate of Forté's at Phillips Exeter.

With the help of Senator Orrin Hatch, Forté's prison sentence was commuted by President George W. Bush on November 24, 2008. He was released from prison four weeks later December 22.




Forté recently recorded a cover of Kanye West's "Homecoming" with Talib Kweli. In the song, he discusses the issues surrounding his jail time. The music video was posted on Okayplayer.com on January 17, 2009.


In 2009 he wrote various articles on TheDailyBeast.com , and Okayplayer.com interviewed him as he began his teaching job at the City College of New York in late March 2009.

Christian Siriano Project Runway

Christian Siriano (born November 18, 1985) is an American fashion designer and the winner of the fourth season of American reality show Project Runway. Siriano is the show's youngest winner.



Early life

Siriano was born in Annapolis, Maryland to Joye and Peter Siriano. Along with his older sister, Siriano was raised in Annapolis, Maryland. He is of Italian and German descent. Siriano's parents divorced when he was four years old, though he has said his father is still a part of his life.

Siriano has said that his parents supported the arts and encouraged their children to pursue creative fields. As a child, Siriano studied ballet, and on a March 2008 Ellen appearance, he described himself as a "musical theater kid who loved costumes". Siriano's interest in costume design inspired him to pursue a career in fashion. He began designing clothes at age thirteen, while working as a hair washer and styling assistant at Bubbles Salon in Annapolis, and eventually began sewing clothes for the salon's annual hair shows. Siriano attended highschool at the Baltimore School for the Arts, but spent his Freshman year at Broadneck Senior High School. The school allowed Siriano to choose fashion design as his course of study, despite the fact that they do not offer it.

After being rejected by the Fashion Institute of Technology, Siriano chose to study abroad at American InterContinental University in London, England. Following the recommendation of a teacher during his senior year, he began interning at Vivienne Westwood, and later, at Alexander McQueen, whom Siriano has stated is his favorite designer. Siriano moved to New York City after graduating from college.

Project Runway
Overview

Before auditioning for the fourth season of Project Runway, Siriano worked as a freelance make-up artist for Stila cosmetics and made wedding gowns for private clients, as well as holding a brief intern position at Marc Jacobs. Siriano decided to audition for the show after the suggestion of a friend's mother. During his time on Runway, Siriano won four challenges, the most of any contestant that season (followed by Rami and Victorya, who each won two). Siriano advanced to the show's finals, and won a spot to show a twelve-piece final collection at New York Fashion Week. His collection was made up of Musketeer-inspired couture, featuring ruffles, feathers and headwear. During the finale, which aired on March 5, 2008, celebrity guest judge Victoria Beckham praised Siriano's collection as being a "breath of fresh air" and stated that she would be "honored to wear" any piece of his clothing. Siriano was announced the winner of the show's fourth season, winning a fashion spread in Elle magazine, a 2008 Saturn Astra, and $100,000 US to start his own label. to.people22feb22,0,2341146.column|title=Annapolis Native Wins Fan Favorite on Project Runway|publisher=The Baltimore Sun}} In a March 2008 interview, Runway mentor Tim Gunn stated of Siriano, "I really believe he is this generation's Marc Jacobs. I really do. We have found America's next great fashion designer... I'm confident.



Media

Siriano began to receive pop culture attention during his time on Runway, primarily for his asymmetrical upswept hair-do (which Siriano called a "bi-level fashion hawk" during a March 2008 appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno) and his flamboyant attitude. Several of Siriano's catchphrases, such as "fierce," "farouche," and "hot tranny mess", were parodied in the media by multiple blogs and television shows like Saturday Night Live. In March 2008, Siriano appeared as a celebrity guest on season 1 episode 11 of Bravo's Make Me A Supermodel, where he critiqued the contestants' catwalks and designed an outfit for one of the contestants, Holly Kiser, to model on the runway. (Kiser went on to win the competition). On May 1, 2008, Siriano appeared as himself on season 2 episode 15 of Ugly Betty, and designed some of the cast's costumes (as Amanda Tanen 's blouse, which was sold in an auction way on internet). In June 2008, Siriano appeared in the music video for R&B artist Estelle's single "No Substitute Love."
Design career

In April 2008, Siriano signed on to design a fifteen piece collection for Puma. In May 2008, Siriano designed virtual promwear for Gaia Online's virtual prom. He appeared on Total Request Live to promote the event. As part of his prize for winning Project Runway, Siriano's first collection for Bluefly began retailing on the website in July 2008.

Siriano's first fashion line, Christian V. Siriano, debuted at New York Fashion Week on September 13, 2008. He has since shown at New York Fashion Week for the Spring 2009, Fall 2009 and Spring 2010 seasons. His entire Fall 2009 collection was picked up by New York City retailer Saks Fifth Avenue.

Shortly after the debut of his line, Siriano began collaborating on a maternity line, Fierce Mamas, with Moody Mamas founders Elise Rosemarin and Marta Abrams.
Other projects


On December 4, 2008, it was announced that Siriano has signed a deal to design a line of low-cost shoes and handbags for Payless Shoesource. The shoes and bags will be available for retail in Payless stores in Fall 2009. In April 2009, Women's Wear Daily announced that Siriano partnered with Victoria's Secret to retail his own makeup line, Christian Siriano for VS Makeup.

In February 2009, Siriano teamed up with the LG Group to Create a fashion phone called the LG Lotus (LX600). LG Vice President, Ehtisham Rabbani had stated to the press that "The partnership with Christian has provided LG the perfect platform for marketing the Lotus to our more fashion-conscious customers. The LG Lotus -- like a well-crafted garment -- stands out in the crowd by fusing both style and functionality. Lotus owners know they are making a fashion statement everytime they use their phone."[26]

In October 2009, Siriano released a book entitled "Fierce Style: How To Be Your Most Fabulous Self." The book was co-written by Rennie Dyball and featured a foreword by Siriano's former Runway mentor Tim Gunn.
Criticism

In March 2008, Margaret Price, a columnist for Bitch magazine, wrote an editorial entitled, "Is Christian Siriano Making A Hot Mess of the Term 'Tranny'?", in which she expressed that Siriano's use of the terms "tranny" and "hot tranny mess" were offensive to the transsexual community and that, by using them, he was popularizing an "as-yet unclaimed slur. In a May 2008 interview with Time Out New York, Siriano responded to a question about the lasting power of drag culture by stating, "If you think of heterosexuals, they have white-trash women and trailer parks, and we have drag queens and trannies. I don’t know if I’m the one who can explain it. It’s, like, drag queens are just there. The remark garnered criticism for its derogatory slang and its comparison of transsexuality and drag queen culture to "white-trash" and trailer parks. Siriano released an apology to GLAAD in which he stated, "I mean no disrespect to the transgender community and I never will. Of his comments in the article, Siriano remarked, "I wish that my words were not taken in that way. When I was speaking, some comments that I made were not used in the article." He further commented that he is "actively working to remove" the term "tranny" from his vocabulary.
Personal life



Siriano has tattoos of a squid and an octopus on his right arm that he has said are "a tribute to Maryland and the sea life". However, Siriano later contradicted this statement by saying that his tattoos "mean nothing... Totally random. And yes, it's permanent, but I'm young. In twenty years, there's totally going to be ways to remove it.

Siriano is openly gay and lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn with longtime boyfriend Brad Walsh.

Tim Lincecum Pitcher

Timothy Leroy Lincecum (pronounced /ˈlɪnsəkəm/ born June 15, 1984) is an American baseball player who is a starting pitcher for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball. He is nicknamed "The Franchise and "The Freak.



He throws right-handed and bats left-handed. Lincecum is known for his long stride, unorthodox mechanics, and ability to generate high velocity despite his slight build of 5'11", 172 lbs. Lincecum has won the last two NL Cy Young Awards, and was the first second-year player to win the Cy Young since Dwight Gooden and Bret Saberhagen both won in 1985.

His repertoire includes a two-seam fastball that reaches well into the mid-nineties, a changeup he grips like a splitter, a curveball notable for its sharp breaking action, and a slider. He also has a four-seam fastball, but rarely uses it.


High school and college-
Lincecum attended Liberty Senior High School in Renton, Washington, where he played two seasons of varsity baseball. As a senior, he won state player of the year and led his school to the 2003 3A state championship.

Lincecum went on to pitch for the University of Washington. In 2004, he became the first player ever to be named both the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and the Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year. He also was the first freshman pitcher to lead the Pac-10 in strikeouts since Bill Bordley of USC in 1978. In 2006, he finished 12–4 with a 1.94 ERA, 199 strikeouts, and three saves in 125⅓ innings.[4] He won the 2006 Golden Spikes Award, which is awarded annually to the best amateur baseball player.

In the summer of 2004 Linceum played for the National Baseball Congress (NBC) Seattle Studs and won two games in the NBC World Series that year. In 2009 he was named NBC Graduate of the Year.

In the summer of 2005 he played for the Harwich Mariners in the Cape Cod Baseball League.

Draft and minor league career

Lincecum was selected by the Chicago Cubs in the forty-eighth round (1,408th overall) of the 2003 MLB Draft, but did not sign. He decided to attend college instead, and was selected by the Cleveland Indians in the forty-second round (1,261st overall) upon re-entering the draft in 2005, but once again failed to sign.] The next year, he was drafted tenth overall by the San Francisco Giants, becoming the first player from the University of Washington to be taken in the first round. He signed for a $2.025 million signing bonus on June 30, which at the time was the highest amount the organization had ever paid to any amateur player (until they gave $2.1 million to Angel Villalona a little over a month later).

During his brief minor league career, he was frequently named as the top pitching prospect in the Giants organization.

Lincecum made his professional debut on July 26, 2006, with the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes (the Giants' Class A Short Season affiliate) against the Vancouver Canadians, pitching one inning and striking out all three batters he faced. After his second outing on July 31 against the Boise Hawks, in which he pitched three innings, striking out seven and allowing just one baserunner, he was promoted to the High Class-A San Jose Giants.

On August 5, in his first start in San Jose against the Bakersfield Blaze, he pitched 2⅔ innings, allowing three runs (two earned), and striking out five. Lincecum finished the year 2–0 with a 1.95 ERA, 48 strikeouts, and 12 walks in 27⅔ innings pitched. He also got the victory in the opening game of the California League playoffs, giving up one run on five hits in seven innings, striking out ten and walking one against the Visalia Oaks. Visalia would win the series 3–2.

Going into 2007, Lincecum was ranked as the #11 prospect in baseball and the #1 prospect in the San Francisco Giants organization by Baseball America. He spent the first month of the season pitching for the Fresno Grizzlies, the Giants' Triple-A affiliate. In five starts (31 innings), he allowed just one run, twelve hits, eleven walks, while striking out forty-six and going 4–0. During his 2006 and 2007 minor league campaigns, Lincecum struck out the highest percentage of batters (minimum 100) of any minor league pitcher in the last ten years: 30.9 percent.

In the spring of 2007, Colorado Rockies prospect Ian Stewart called Lincecum "the toughest pitcher [he] ever faced," adding "Guys on our club who have been in the big leagues said he’s the toughest guy they ever faced too … I’m not really sure why he’s down here, but for a guy who was drafted last year … that guy is filthy.


Major league career
2007-
With an injury to the Giants' fifth starter, Russ Ortiz, Lincecum was called up to make his first major league start on May 6, 2007, against the Philadelphia Phillies. He earned a no-decision; the Giants ultimately lost the game, 8–5. In his first career inning, Lincecum gave up two hits and two runs, and struck out three.

He earned his first major league win in his next start, on the road against the Rockies. Lincecum, who is often compared to Houston Astros ace Roy Oswalt, faced him in each of his next two starts. After the first match-up, Astros third baseman Mike Lamb said, "The stuff he was throwing out there tonight was everything he's hyped up to be. He was 97 mph with movement. You just don't see that every day. He pitched very much like the pitcher he is compared to and out-dueled him throughout the night. The pair dueled to a no-decision the first time, and Lincecum pitched eight innings and got the win the second time.

In his first four starts in June, he allowed twenty-two earned runs in 18⅔ innings, for a 10.61 ERA. He failed to make it to the fifth inning in any of the last three starts, against Oakland, Toronto, and Milwaukee. In July, he went 4–0 with a 1.62 ERA. On July 1, in a seven inning performance against the Arizona Diamondbacks, he struck out twelve, the fourth highest total ever by a Giants rookie.

Lincecum pitched into the ninth inning for the first time on August 21 against the Chicago Cubs. He had allowed just two hits and one walk through the first eight, while throwing only eighty-eight pitches. He took a 1–0 lead into the ninth, but allowed three consecutive hits before being pulled. The Cubs scored several times against the Giants bullpen and Lincecum took the loss. Cubs shortstop Ryan Theriot said after the game, "He's got electric stuff. The best stuff I've seen all year.



Lincecum was shut down in September as a precautionary measure, due to his high inning count in his first full year of professional ball. Between the minors and the majors, he pitched a total of 177⅓ innings.


2008-
The Giants asked Lincecum not to throw the bullpen sessions typical of other pitchers during the off-season. Manager Bruce Bochy told the San Francisco Chronicle that they were being careful with Lincecum because there have been studies that show that pitchers who throw 200 innings early in their career were more susceptible to injuries.

On May 15, 2008, after Lincecum struck out ten Houston Astros in six innings, Houston first baseman Lance Berkman offered his view of Lincecum: "He's got as good of stuff as I've ever seen. ... He's got three almost unhittable pitches. After falling to Lincecum and the Giants 6–3 on May 27, Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Conor Jackson gave his impression of facing Lincecum: "He's got good stuff," Jackson said. "From what I saw tonight, that's the best arm I've seen all year, no doubt. You've got to almost hit a ball right down the middle. You're going to pop up the ball at your bellybutton, which we all did tonight, and the one down, it's coming in at 98 mph, you're not going to put too much good wood on it. Even the ones down the middle are coming at 98. He's good, man.



Lincecum was on the cover of the July 7, 2008, issue of Sports Illustrated, and on July 6, he was selected to play in his first Major League Baseball All-Star Game. However, he was hospitalized the day of the game due to flu-like symptoms and was unavailable to pitch. In a July 26 game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, he struck out thirteen batters in seven innings while allowing only seven hits, two earned runs, and no walks.

Lincecum pitched his first complete game shutout against the San Diego Padres on September 13, 2008. In nine innings he threw 138 pitches, gave up four hits and struck out twelve batters. On September 23, he broke Jason Schmidt's San Francisco single-season strikeout record with his 252nd strikeout of the season against the Colorado Rockies. He finished the season with 265 strikeouts (54 of them three-pitch strikeouts, the most in the majors), making him the first San Francisco pitcher to win the (NL) strikeout title, and the first Giant since Bill Voiselle in 1944. His 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings pitched were the best in the majors, and his .316 slugging-percentage-against was the lowest in the major leagues, as was his .612 OPS-against—but his seventeen wild pitches tied for the most in the major leagues. His 138 pitches on September 13 were the most by any pitcher in a game in 2008. On November 11, 2008, Lincecum was awarded the NL Cy Young Award, making him the second Giant to win the award after Mike McCormick.



2009-
After winning the NL Cy Young Award in 2008, Lincecum continued his dominance in the NL. On July 3, Lincecum was announced as the NL Pitcher of the Month for June. In his six June starts he went 4–1 with a 1.38 ERA, and pitched three complete games. Lincecum was announced as an NL All-Star along with his teammate Matt Cain. He was also the starting pitcher for the NL. Lincecum went two innings in the All-Star Game, giving up one earned run and striking out one, he also gave up one unearned run.

Through twenty starts in 2009, Lincecum had gone 11-3 with a 2.30 ERA, 183 strikeouts, four complete games, and two shutouts. Lincecum also had a twenty-nine scoreless inning streak, third-best since the Giants moved west in 1958.

On July 27, Lincecum pitched a complete game and had fifteen strikeouts against the Pittsburgh Pirates, a career high. He is the first Giant pitcher to strike out fifteen since Jason Schmidt fanned sixteen on June 6, 2006.

Lincecum missed his first game since coming up to the big leagues on September 8 against the San Diego Padres. Madison Bumgarner took his place that day, making his major league debut. Lincecum was healthy enough to make his next start on September 14, pitching seven innings with eleven strikeouts lowering his ERA to 2.30, and picking up his fourteenth win of the year.[45] Lincecum finished the 2009 season with a 15–7 record, 2.48 ERA and 261 strikeouts. Following the season, Lincecum was named Sporting News NL Pitcher of the Year for the second consecutive year. On November 19, Lincecum was awarded his second consecutive Cy Young Award, narrowly edging out St. Louis Cardinals pitchers Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. In doing so, he became the first pitcher in history to be awarded the Cy Young in each of his first two full seasons in the Major Leagues.


Pitch repertoire-
Lincecum throws a fastball in the mid-90s that can sometimes reach 98-99 MPH. This pitch has little lateral movement, due to his overhand delivery and the speed at which the pitch is thrown. He also has a big breaking curveball that is thrown at about 80 MPH. Lincecum uses a changeup that he grips similar to a splitter to offset his top two pitches and keep batters off-balance. His changeup appears similar to his fastball for the first 30 feet, but then breaks down and in toward a right-handed batter as it approaches the plate, with a good 10+ MPH velocity difference from his fastball. He has recently added a cut fastball which breaks down and in against left-handers. With his power fastball and plus secondary pitches, he has quickly established himself as one of the top pitchers in the game.



Accomplishments

* 2009 NL Cy Young Award winner
* Sporting News' NL Pitcher of the Year (2009)
* 2009 NL All-Star Starting Pitcher
* 2008 Major League Baseball Starter of the Year
* 2008 NL Cy Young Award winner
* Led Major League Baseball with 265 strikeouts (2008)
* Sporting News' NL Pitcher of the Year (2008)
* Player's Choice Award for NL's outstanding pitcher (2008)
* Major League Baseball 2K9 and Major League Baseball 2K9 Fantasy All-Stars cover athlete
* 2006 Golden Spikes Award[55]
* 2003 Gatorade Washington State Baseball Player of the Year

Personal life

On October 30, 2009, Lincecum was found possessing marijuana during a traffic stop. He faces two misdemeanor charges, for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. On November 6, the marijuana possession charge was dropped.

Rocky Lockridge The Ring Man

Amateur career
Lockridge started boxing as an amateur out of the Tacoma Boys Club. He was one of four world champions to originate from Tacoma: Freddie Steele, Leo Randolph, and Johnny Bumphus were the others. His highlights as an amateur include:

* 1977 National AAU Bantamweight Champion, stopping David Douglas of the U.S. Army in the 2nd round of the final.
* 1978 National Golden Gloves Champion in Bantamweight Class
* 1978 Runner Up in National AAU Championships in Bantamweight Class, losing to Jackie Beard in Biloxi, MS
* Defeated in Quarterfinals of World Amateur Championships in Belgrade, Yugoslavia by Fazlija Sacirovic of Yugoslavia (3-2)

Professional career

Rocky mainly fought in the Seattle, Washington area, then in various New Jersey communities in his early pre-title days. He had two cracks at the WBA featherweight title, both against Eusebio Pedroza, one in 1980 and the other in 1983. Both times, however, he would come up short by close decisions. His only other loss at that time was between those two fights - an August 1981 loss by TKO 2 to Juan LaPorte. Then, in February 1984, Lockridge needed just over one minute - and exactly one punch - to dismantle WBA junior lightweight champion Roger Mayweather and finally win a title. Lockridge defended his title twice, with TKO's of Tae Jin Moon and Kamel Bou Ali, before going to Puerto Rico in May 1985 and fighting a tough 15 rounds with former two-time champion and hometown hero Wilfredo Gómez. It was Gómez, though, who won the decision, and with it the title. Lockridge continued to fight, though, losing a 12-round majority nod to Julio César Chávez in 1986 for Chavez' WBC 130-lb. title, yet received a shot at the junior lightweight title in the third major boxing organization - the IBF - in August 1987. He battered defender Barry Michael into submission and after eight rounds, Rocky was again a champ. Two defenses followed - a TKO of Johnny DeLaRosa and a decision over Harold Knight - before Lockridge went to Sacramento to fight hometown boy Tony Lopez in July 1988. It was a tough fight, but Lopez was victorious by decision and became the new champ. Lockridge would then challenge Lopez in a rematch eight months later, but again would come up short via decision. Lockridge then would fight some more, but then would call it quits sometime in the early 1990s. Upon retiring, Lockridge held a 44-9 record with 36 knockouts. He was managed by Dan and Lou Duva, and was a friend of Johnny Bumphus, a junior welterweight champion. Lockridge is an inductee of the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame.





Personal life

In the early 80s, Lockridge and his wife Carolyn moved to Mount Laurel Township, New Jersey, where his twin sons were born in 1984. After retiring from boxing, they moved back to Tacoma in 1991. However, he and his wife separated and he moved to Camden, New Jersey in 1993. He has battled drug and alcohol addiction for the past two decades; as of June 2009 he was homeless in Camden.[1] He is living off of government welfare and frequents many of the homeless shelters in the city. He is the subject of an episode of A&E's Intervention

MikeHuckabee

Michael Dale "Mike" Huckabee (born August 24, 1955) is a Republican politician and political commentator for Fox News Channel and ABC Radio who served as governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. Huckabee finished second in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries; he announced his candidacy on January 28, 2007. Following losses to John McCain in the Texas, Ohio, Vermont, and Rhode Island primaries, McCain became the presumptive Republican nominee and Huckabee exited the race on March 4, 2008.

Huckabee is the author of several books, a non-ordained Southern Baptist minister and a public speaker. He and his wife, Janet, have been married for 33 years and have three grown children: John Mark, David, and Sarah.
Early life and education

Huckabee was born in Hope, Arkansas, to Mae Elder (1925–1999) and Dorsey Wiles Huckabee (1923–1996), both natives of Hope. His surname is of English origin. His father worked as a fireman and mechanic, and his mother worked as a clerk at a gas company. His father was a strict disciplinarian, and left a lasting impression. Speaking to Charles Gibson of ABC News, he explained with a grin: "My father was the ultimate patriot. You know, he'd lay on the stripes, and I'd see stars."

Huckabee's first job, at 14, was working at a radio station where he read the news and weather. He was elected Governor of Arkansas Boys State in 1972 and is a Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership Foundation Alumnus. He was student council vice president at Hope High School during the 1971-72 school year. He was student council president at Hope High School during the 1972-1973 school year. He has one sister, Pat (Harris) who is a middle school teacher.

Huckabee married Janet McCain on May 25, 1974. He graduated magna cum laude from Ouachita Baptist University, completing his bachelor's degree in Religion in 2½ years before attending Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. He dropped out of seminary after one year in order to take a job in Christian broadcasting. He has two honorary doctoral degrees: a Doctor of Humane Letters, received from John Brown University in 1991, and a Doctor of Laws from Ouachita Baptist University in 1992.

Huckabee is an Honorary Member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity.
Pastoral career

At 21, Huckabee was a staffer for James Robison, a television evangelist. Robison commented, "His convictions shape his character and his character will shape his policies. His whole life has been shaped by moral absolutes."[11] Huckabee has stated, "Politics are totally directed by worldview. That's why when people say, 'We ought to separate politics from religion,' I say to separate the two is absolutely impossible". Huckabee believes in Biblical inerrancy. Prior to his political career, Huckabee served as pastor at Beech Street Baptist Church in Texarkana from 1980–1986 and then at Immanuel Baptist Church in Pine Bluff, Arkansas from 1986–1992. In both Texarkana and Pine Bluff Huckabee started 24-hour television stations "where he produced documentaries and hosted a program called Positive Alternatives. He encouraged the all-white Immanuel Baptist Church to accept black members in the mid 1980s. He served as president of a religion-oriented television station. In 1989 Huckabee ran against the Rev. Dr. Ronnie Floyd of Springdale for the presidency of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention. Huckabee won and served as president from 1989 to 1991.
Early political career

In 1992, in Huckabee's first political race, he lost to incumbent Senator Dale Bumpers (D), receiving 40 percent of the vote in the general election. That same election saw Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton ascend to the Presidency, making Lieutenant Governor Jim Guy Tucker the new Governor. Huckabee narrowly won a special election for lieutenant governor on July 27, 1993. He defeated Nate Coulter, who had been Bumpers' campaign manager the previous year[22] (51%-49%).[7] Huckabee became only the second Republican since Reconstruction to serve as Arkansas lieutenant governor, the first being Maurice Britt from 1967 to 1971.

Dick Morris, who had previously worked for Bill Clinton, advised Huckabee on his race in 1993, 1994 and 1998. Huckabee commented that Morris was a "personal friend". A newspaper article reported on Huckabee's 1993 win: "Morris said the mistake Republicans always make is that they are too much of a country club set. What we wanted to do was run a progressive campaign that would appeal to all Arkansans.' Morris elaborated, "So we opened the campaign with ads that characterized Mike as more of a moderate whose values were the same as those of other Arkansans.

In April 1994, Huckabee withdrew from a speaking engagement before the Council of Conservative Citizens. He commented, "I will not participate in any program that has racist overtones. I've spent a lifetime fighting racism and anti-Semitism."[24]

In 1994, Huckabee was re-elected to a full term as lieutenant governor, beating Democrat Charlie Cole Chaffin with nearly 59 percent of the vote. While Lieutenant Governor, Huckabee accepted $71,500 in speaking fees and traveling expenses from a nonprofit group, Action America. R. J. Reynolds was the group's largest contributor.

In October 1995, David Pryor announced that he was retiring from the United States Senate. Huckabee then announced he was running for the open seat and moved well ahead in the polls. He won the Republican nomination unopposed.[26]

During his campaign, Huckabee opposed in December then-Governor Tucker's plan for a constitutional convention. The plan was defeated by voters 20 percent-80 percent in a special election. In January 1996, Huckabee campaigned in televised ads paid for by the Republican National Committee and the Arkansas Republican Party against a highway referendum. Tucker supported the referendum, which included tax increases and a bond program, to improve 1,300 miles (2,100 km) of highway. On the referendum, the bond question, which included a sales tax increase and a gas tax increase, lost 13 percent-87 percent. A second question, a five-cent increase on diesel tax, lost 14 percent-86 percent. Huckabee also opposed Tucker's plan for school consolidation.

In May 1996 Tucker, involved in the Whitewater scandal, was convicted "on one count of arranging nearly $3 million in fraudulent loans" and he promised to resign by July 15. Huckabee then announced he would quit the Senate race and instead fill the unexpired term of Tucker.
Governor of Arkansas
Main article: Governorship of Mike Huckabee

In 1996, incumbent Democratic governor Jim Guy Tucker was convicted of fraud. The Arkansas Constitution, like nearly all state constitutions in the United States, does not allow convicted felons to hold office, so Tucker was forced to resign. However, Tucker, insisting he had a strong case for appeal,[30] rescinded his resignation as Huckabee was preparing to be sworn in on July 16. Within a few hours, Tucker reinstated his resignation after Huckabee threatened to initiate impeachment proceedings against Tucker.[11] Huckabee was sworn in as Governor of Arkansas on July 15, 1996. In November 1998, Huckabee was elected to a full four-year term by defeating retired Colonel Gene McVay in the primary and Jonesboro attorney Bill Bristow in the general election, becoming the state's third elected Republican Governor since Reconstruction. In November 2002, Huckabee was reelected to his second four-year term by defeating State Treasurer Jimmie Lou Fisher, garnering 53 percent of the vote. By the end of his term, Huckabee owned the third-longest tenure of any Arkansas Governor. Only Democrats Orval Faubus, who served six consecutive two-year terms (1955–1967), and Bill Clinton, who served 11 years, 11 months (1979–1981; 1983–1992), had longer tenures.

Campaign for United States President, 2008 election
Huckabee announced his run for the White House on Meet the Press on January 28, 2007.

At the August 11 Iowa Straw Poll, Huckabee took second place with 2,587 votes, roughly 18 percent. Huckabee spent $57.98 per vote in the Straw Poll, which is the lowest among the top three finishers. Huckabee drew attention with an unconventional ad featuring Chuck Norris. In a later ad Huckabee wished voters a merry Christmas, and said that "what really matters is the celebration of the birth of Christ. Critics accused him of exploiting the issue of religion, which he denied. According to the Associated Press, on NBC's Meet The Press on December 31, 2007, Huckabee "stood by" a 1998 comment in which he said, "I hope we answer the alarm clock and take this nation back for Christ." Huckabee told NBC that his comment was "appropriate to be said to a gathering of Southern Baptists. Huckabee has credited divine intervention with some of his political success.

On January 3, 2008, Huckabee won the Iowa Republican caucuses, receiving 34% of the electorate and 17 delegates, compared to the 25% of Mitt Romney who finished second, receiving 12 delegates, Fred Thompson who came in third place and received three delegates, John McCain who came in fourth place and received three delegates and Ron Paul who came in fifth place and received two delegates.

On January 8, 2008, Huckabee finished in third place in the New Hampshire primary, behind John McCain in first place, and Mitt Romney who finished second, with Huckabee receiving one more delegate for a total of 18 delegates, gained via elections, and 21 total delegates, versus 30 total (24 via elections) for Romney, and 10 for McCain (all via elections).
On January 3, 2008, Huckabee won the Iowa Republican caucuses, receiving 34% of the electorate and 17 delegates, compared to the 25% of Mitt Romney who finished second, receiving 12 delegates, Fred Thompson who came in third place and received three delegates, John McCain who came in fourth place and received three delegates and Ron Paul who came in fifth place and received two delegates.

On January 8, 2008, Huckabee finished in third place in the New Hampshire primary, behind John McCain in first place, and Mitt Romney who finished second, with Huckabee receiving one more delegate for a total of 18 delegates, gained via elections, and 21 total delegates, versus 30 total (24 via elections) for Romney, and 10 for McCain (all via elections).
Mike Huckabee giving his concession speech after the 2008 South Carolina Presidential Primary in Columbia, SC.

On January 15, 2008, Huckabee finished in third place in the Michigan Republican primary, 2008, behind John McCain in second place, Mitt Romney who finished first and ahead of Ron Paul who finished in fourth place.

On January 19, 2008, Huckabee finished in second place in the South Carolina Republican primary, 2008, behind John McCain who finished first and ahead of Fred Thompson who finished third.

On January 29, 2008, Huckabee finished in fourth place in the Florida primary, behind Rudy Giuliani in third, Mitt Romney in second, and John McCain in first place.

On February 5, 2008, Huckabee won the first contest of "Super Tuesday", the West Virginia GOP state convention, winning 52% of the electorate to Mitt Romney's 47%. Backers of rival John McCain threw him their support to prevent Mitt Romney from capturing the winner-take-all GOP state convention vote.[44] Huckabee also registered victories in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia and Tennessee on Super Tuesday, bringing his delegate count up to 156, compared to 689 for Republican party front-runner John McCain.

On February 9, 2008, Huckabee won the first election following Super Tuesday, by winning 60% of the vote in the Kansas Republican Caucuses.[46] This was also the first contest to be held without Mitt Romney, who was said to be splitting the conservative vote with Huckabee and some pundits suggested it was the reason for Huckabee's landslide victory. Huckabee also won the Louisiana Republican Primary with 44% of the vote to John McCain's 43% in second. Although Huckabee won the primary he was not awarded any delegates, because of the state party rules that state a candidate must pass the 50% threshold to receive the state's pledged delegates.

On March 4, 2008, Huckabee withdrew from seeking the candidacy as it became apparent he would lose in Texas, where he had hoped to win and that John McCain would get the 1191 delegates required to win the Republican nomination.
Post-presidential campaign career

On June 12, 2008 Fox News announced the hiring of Mike Huckabee as a political commentator and regular contributor to their 2008 American presidential election coverage, in their New York election headquarters.
Mike Huckabee speaking at Brown University on October 30, 2008

Huckabee recently completed his seventh book, titled Do The Right Thing: Inside the Movement That's Bringing Common Sense Back to America which was released on November 18, 2008.

Even though Huckabee had signed a television contract and a book deal with a pressing deadline, he was mentioned by most to be on John McCain's short list for his Vice Presidential running mate. Huckabee was eventually passed over for Sarah Palin. Before his death, the popular pundit Tim Russert even referred to Huckabee as "Vice President Huckabee" several times when he appeared on Meet The Press on May 18, 2008.

Huckabee also gave a speech at the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota on September 3. In the speech, he expressed support for presidential candidate John McCain, giving an account of McCain's experience as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

Huckabee hosts a weekend show, Huckabee, on Fox News. The show premiered Saturday September 27, 2008, at 8 PM EST.

Huckabee filled in for Paul Harvey in July 2008. A few months later, he signed a deal with ABC Radio Networks to carry a daily commentary, The Huckabee Report, beginning in January 2009. After Harvey's death his show replaced Harvey's broadcasts.

Due to his association with the FairTax, in August 2008, Huckabee was interviewed by Life Is My Movie Entertainment and will be featured in the documentary about taxes and tax reform, An Inconvenient Tax due to be released in 2009.
Possible 2012 presidential campaign

In a November 19, 2008 article by the Associated Press, Huckabee addressed the possibility of running for President in 2012. He said, "I'm not ruling anything out for the future, but I'm not making any specific plans".

Marc Ambinder has identified him as the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.

Amid speculation about a future run for the Presidency, a CNN poll in December 2008 found Huckabee at the top of the list of 2012 GOP contenders, along with former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, fellow 2008 Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

On December 3, 2008 local NBC news station WLWT asked Huckabee about the prospect of running, to which he said, "I'm pretty sure I'll be out there. Whether it's for myself or somebody else I may decide will be a better standard bearer, that remains to be seen.

A June 2009 CNN/Opinion Research Corporation national poll showed Huckabee as the 2012 presidential co-favorite of the Republican electorate along with Palin and Romney.
Political positions
Main article: Political positions of Mike Huckabee

* Immigration: Huckabee's immigration plan for the presidential campaign is to build a border fence, increase border patrol, prevent amnesty, enforce the law on employers, establish an economic border, empower local authorities, ensure document security, discourage dual citizenship, and modernize the process of legal immigration. He says the United States' number one priority should be to secure America's borders, and supports building a 700-mile border fence. He said of the border, "Police it, absolutely. Militarize it, no. Huckabee supports increases in visas for highly-skilled and highly-educated applicants. Huckabee does not support an end to birthright citizenship.

* War: Huckabee supports the ongoing War in Iraq and the troop surge.
o Huckabee has expressed concern that Guantanamo Bay detention camp is a distraction from the Global War on Terror. Previously, he stated, "[Guantanamo is] more symbolic than it is a substantive issue because people perceive of mistreatment when in fact there are extraordinary means being taken to make sure these detainees are being given really every consideration".

* Social issues: Huckabee opposes abortion, same-sex marriage, and civil unions. In an interview with GQ, Huckabee said, "There's never been a civilization that has rewritten what marriage and family means and survived."[66] In 1992, Huckabee indicated that he was against homosexuals serving in the military, and did not believe that women should be allowed in combat. When asked about the issues of homosexuals in the military during his presidential run, Huckabee said he would not change the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which prohibits openly gay personnel from serving. "...you don't punish people for their attitudes," he said. "You punish them if their behavior creates a problem, and it's already covered by the Uniform Code of Military Conduct."[68] In 1992, Huckabee said that "homosexuality is an aberrant, unnatural, and sinful lifestyle, and we now know it can pose a dangerous public health risk."[69] As of 2007, his view that homosexuality is "sinful" and "abnormal" had not changed.
o Huckabee supports increasing George W. Bush's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) from $15 billion to $30 billion over five years. He also supports more funding to fight tuberculosis and malaria.
o In a 1992 statement, Huckabee advocated isolating AIDS patients from the general population.[69] In 2007, Huckabee no longer advocates such an isolation, but he stands by his earlier view, saying that in 1992 "there was still a great deal of, I think, uncertainty about just how widespread AIDS was, how it could be transmitted. So we know more now than we did in 1992, all of us do – hopefully. However, by 1992 it was well known that HIV/AIDS could not be spread by casual contal. In the same statement, Huckabee also opposed increasing federal funding for HIV/AIDS research and suggested that Hollywood celebrities should provide additional funds instead. Huckabee now supports additional funding for HIV/AIDS research.

* Gun control: Huckabee is against gun control and supports concealed carry of firearms.

* Death penalty: Huckabee supports the death penalty.

* Teaching of evolution: Huckabee has voiced his support of creationism. He was quoted in July 2004 on Arkansans Ask, his regular show on the Arkansas Educational Television Network: "I think that students also should be given exposure to the theories not only of evolution but to the basis of those who believe in creationism." Huckabee also stated "I do not necessarily buy into the traditional Darwinian theory, personally." In his endorsement of pro-creationist film Expelled,[7 he describes evolution as "dogma." In the third GOP debate in June 2007, Huckabee was asked by Tom Fahey whether he believed in evolution, and he responded, in part:

I believe there is a God who was active in the creation process. Now, how did he do it, and when did he do it, and how long did he take? I don't honestly know, and I don't think knowing that would make me a better or a worse president ... if anybody wants to believe that they are the descendants of a primate, they are certainly welcome to do it – I don't know how far they will march that back.. ”

* Taxes: Huckabee supports the FairTax as a replacement for the current tax system.

* Space program: Huckabee supports NASA, and said in November 2007 that "Whether it's the medical technologies that saved many of our lives and the lives of our families, it's the direct result from the space program. We need to put more money into space and technology exploration."[83]

Organizations

Huckabee was made the chair of the Southern Governors' Association in 1999 and served in capacity through 2000. He has chaired the Southern Growth Policies Board, the Southern Region Education Board, the Southern Technology Council, the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, and the Education Commission of the States. He is also a member of the Republican Governors Association and former chairman of the National Governors Association. Huckabee is presently the chairman of a conservative PAC called the Vertical Politics Institute.
Public image
Main article: Public image of Mike Huckabee

In 2000, the Arkansas Governor's Mansion was being renovated and Huckabee moved into a mobile home. The move became the topic of jokes. "It's not a trailer. It's a triple wide," Huckabee said. Huckabee jokingly told Jay Leno that the 2,100-square-foot (200 m2), $110,000 trailer donated by the Arkansas Manufactured Housing Association, "was big enough for your chin." Huckabee said the move saved the state substantial money because support and security staff did not have to move to a new rented location.

In 2000, Huckabee commented, "In almost four years as governor, no issue has excited Arkansans as much as the question of where the University of Arkansas should play its home football games. That debate attracted far more letters, e-mails and phone calls to the governor's office than any other issue we've faced. And those who contacted us felt strongly. I had made my feelings known to the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees, and those Arkansans who agreed with me were effusive in their praise. By the same token, some of those who disagreed were downright vicious in their comments.

Emmylou harris

Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947, Birmingham, Alabama) is an American country singer-songwriter and musician. In addition to her work as a solo artist and bandleader, both as an interpreter of other composers' works and as a singer-songwriter, she is a sought-after backing vocalist and duet partner, working with numerous other artists.
Biography
Early years

Emmylou Harris is the daughter of a career military father, a Marine Corps officer who was reported missing in action in Korea in 1952 and spent ten months as a prisoner of war. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, she spent her childhood in North Carolina and Woodbridge, Virginia, where she graduated from Gar-Field Senior High School as class valedictorian. In high school she also won a drama scholarship to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she began to study music seriously, learning to play the songs of Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan and Joan Baez on guitar. Leaving college to pursue her musical aspirations, she moved to New York, working as a waitress to support herself while performing folk songs in Greenwich Village coffeehouses. She married fellow songwriter Tom Slocum in 1969 and in the following year recorded her first album, Gliding Bird. Harris and Slocum soon divorced, and Harris and her newborn daughter Hallie moved in with her parents in the Maryland suburbs on the edge of Washington, D.C.
With Gram Parsons

Harris soon returned to performing as part of a trio with Gerry Mule and Tom Guidera. One night in 1971, members of the country rock group The Flying Burrito Brothers happened to be in the audience. Former Byrds member Chris Hillman, who had taken over the band after the departure of its founder Gram Parsons, was so impressed by Harris that he briefly considered asking her to join the band. Instead, Hillman ended up recommending her to Parsons, who was looking for a female vocalist to work with on his first solo album, GP. Harris toured as a member of Parsons' band, The Fallen Angels, in 1973, and the couple shone during vocal harmonies and duets. Harris was quite pleased, and invested a lot emotionally in their relationship. Later that year, Parsons and Harris were working together to record a studio album, Grievous Angel. Parsons died in his motel room near what is now Joshua Tree National Park on September 19, 1973, from an accidental overdose of drugs and alcohol. Parsons's Grievous Angel was released posthumously in 1974, and three more tracks from his last sessions with Harris were included on another posthumous Parsons album, Sleepless Nights, in 1976. There was one more album of recorded material from that period of time that was packaged with the name, Live 1973, but wasn't released until 1982.

The working relationship between Harris and Parsons is one of great importance in country and country-rock music history. Parsons offered Harris a study in true country music, introducing her to artists like The Louvin Brothers, and provided her with a musical identity; Harris' harmony and duet vocals, on the other hand, were lauded by those who heard them, and helped inspire Parsons' performances. His death left her devastated at an emotional and musical crossroads. She eventually carried on with her own version of Parsons' musical vision, and was instrumental in bringing attention to his achievements. Harris' earliest signature song, and arguably her most personal one, "Boulder to Birmingham", written shortly after Gram's death, showed the depth of her shock and pain at losing Parsons. It was, according to her friend Linda Ronstadt, the beginning of a "lifetime effort to process what had happened", and was just the first of many songs written and/or performed by Harris about her life with (and without) Parsons.

I would rock my soul in the bosom of Abraham
I would hold my life in his saving grace.
I would walk all the way from Boulder to Birmingham
If I thought I could see, I could see your face.

--Boulder to Birmingham lyrics by Emmylou Harris

Harris moved back to Washington D.C., and formed an electric band, The Angel Band, consisting of Bruce Archer on guitar, Tom Guidera on bass, Danny Pendleton on pedal steel and Mark Cuff on drums. Friend Linda Ronstadt invited Harris to join her in Los Angeles. Ronstadt, having a deep admiration for Harris's musicianship, informed everyone she could of Harris's talents and was instrumental in helping to get her work in musical venues (often singing with her), along the Sunset Strip. In fact, Harris credits Ronstadt with being the force behind her getting a record contract.
The Hot Band

Warner Brothers A&R representative Mary Martin introduced Harris to Canadian producer Brian Ahern, who produced her major label debut album, Pieces of the Sky, released in 1975 on Reprise Records. The album was surprisingly eclectic, especially by Nashville standards, including cover versions of The Beatles' "For No One", Merle Haggard's "Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down" and The Louvin Brothers' "If I Could Only Win Your Love". It also featured "Bluebird Wine", a composition by young Texas songwriter Rodney Crowell, who was the first in a long line of songwriters whose talents Harris has championed. The record was one of the most expensive country records produced at the time, featuring the talents of James Burton, Glen Hardin, Ron Tutt, Ray Pohlman, and Bill Payne, as well as two tracks ("Before Believing" and "Queen of the Silver Dollar") that were cut with the Angel Band. Two singles were released: "Too Far Gone", which initially charted at #73 (a 1979 reissue hit #13), and Harris's first big hit, "If I Could Only Win Your Love", which peaked at #4.

Executives of Warner Bros. Records (Reprise Records's parent company) told Harris they would agree to record her if she would "get a hot band". Harris did so, enlisting guitarist James Burton and pianist Glen Hardin, both of whom had played with Elvis Presley as well as Parsons. Burton was a renowned guitarist, starting in Ricky Nelson's band in the 1950s, and Hardin had been a member of The Crickets. Other Hot Band members were drummer John Ware, pedal steel guitarist Hank DeVito, and bassist Emory Gordy, Jr., with whom Harris had worked while performing with Parsons. Singer-songwriter Crowell was enlisted as a rhythm guitarist and duet partner. Harris's first tour schedule originally dovetailed around Presley's, owing to Burton and Hardin's continuing commitments to Presley's band. The Hot Band lived up to its name, with most of the members moving on with fresh talent replacing them as they continued on to solo careers of their own.

Elite Hotel, released in December 1975, established that the buzz created by Pieces of the Sky was well-founded. Unusual for country albums at the time, which largely revolved around a hit single, Harris's albums borrowed their approach from the album-oriented rock market; in terms of quality and artistic merit, tracks like "Sin City", "Wheels", and "Till I Gain Control Again", which weren't singles, easily stood against tracks like "Together Again", "Sweet Dreams", and "One of These Days", which were. While Elite Hotel was a #1 country album, the album did sufficiently well as a crossover success with the rock audience. Harris appealed to those who normally disapproved of the country market's pull toward crossover pop singles ("Together Again" and "Sweet Dreams" both topped the country charts). Elite Hotel won a Grammy in 1976 for Best Country Vocal Performance, Female.

Harris's reputation for guest work continued. Aside from contributing to albums by Linda Ronstadt, Guy Clark and Neil Young, Harris was tapped by Bob Dylan to perform on his Desire album. Harris also filmed one of the studio sequences, owing to her touring schedule, in The Band's The Last Waltz, singing "Evangeline."

Burton left the Hot Band in 1976, choosing to remain with Elvis Presley's band, and was replaced by English guitarist Albert Lee. Harris and Ahern were married in 1977. Harris's commercial apex was Luxury Liner, released in 1977, which remains one of her definitive records. On Luxury Liner, Harris's mix of songs from Chuck Berry ("(You Never Can Tell) C'est La Vie"), Gram Parsons (the title track and "She"), The Carter Family ("Hello Stranger") and Kitty Wells ("Making Believe") illustrate a continuity and artistic merit to country music often overlooked at the time. Despite Top Ten singles with "C'est La Vie" and "Making Believe," the album's best known track is the first recorded cover of Townes Van Zandt's classic "Pancho & Lefty", which would be a #1 hit for Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard in 1983. At the end of 1977, Crowell left the Hot Band to pursue a solo career; his replacement was bluegrass multi-instrumentalist and singer Ricky Skaggs.

Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town signalled a slight change of direction from Harris's previous three albums. Rather than mixing classic and contemporary, the album is made up largely of recently written songs, though from a wide variety of writers. "Two More Bottles of Wine" became Harris's third #1 single, "To Daddy", written by Dolly Parton, went to #3, and a third single, "Easy From Now On", went Top Twenty. The album included two songs apiece from Crowell ("I Ain't Living Long Like This" and "Leaving Louisiana In The Broad Daylight") and Canadian songwriter Jesse Winchester ("Defying Gravity" and "My Songbird"), and Utah Phillips' "Green Rolling Hills."
The Roots Records

In 1977 (January), Harris married Brian Ahern. Their (Harris's second) daughter, Meghann, was born in 1979. During this time, Harris cut three studio albums that reflected a shift toward traditional country (the industry, on the other hand, was about to embrace Urban Cowboy). The first key to the change in direction was her Grammy Award-winning 1979 album Blue Kentucky Girl. Apart from a cover of The Drifters' "Save The Last Dance For Me", the album was largely made up of classic-styled country material in the vein of Loretta Lynn and Kitty Wells. One of her best-loved albums, the record includes songs ranging from The Louvin Brothers' "Everytime You Leave" to Willie Nelson's "Sister's Coming Home" to Gram Parson's signature "Hickory Wind". Wesley Rose took special interest in Harris's recording of "Beneath Still Waters", which became a #1 smash.

A Christmas album, Light of the Stable, was released in 1979; its title track featured backing vocals by Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Neil Young, all three of whom Harris had been working with sporadically since the mid-1970s, and would continue to collaborate with through the 2000s. (Harris, Parton and Ronstadt began working on a planned trio album during this time, though it would remain unfinished, and the project was eventually abandoned; a few of the tracks recorded for the project eventually surfaced on the women's' respective solo albums.) The album is largely acoustic, featuring readings of traditional fare such as "Silent Night," "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and "The First Noel."

In the 1980s, Harris pursued country music's history even further with the bluegrass-oriented recording of Roses in the Snow, featuring Ricky Skaggs, Tony Rice, Albert Lee, Emory Gordy Jr. and Jerry Douglas. Harris's versions of the traditional "Wayfaring Stranger" and Paul Simon's "The Boxer" were strong singles.

In 1980, Harris recorded "That Lovin' You Feelin' Again" with Roy Orbison. The duet was a Top 10 hit on both the Country and Adult Contemporary charts. They would win the Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. She would also be featured on Paul Kennerley's concept album The Legend of Jesse James, which also featured Levon Helm of The Band and Johnny Cash.
Pop-chart success, songwriting

In 1981, Harris reached the Top 40 on the Billboard pop chart with a cover of "Mister Sandman"—again Top 10 Country as well as Adult Contemporary—from her Evangeline album. (The album version of the song was a track from the ill-fated Trio sessions with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt, but neither Parton's nor Ronstadt's record companies would allow their artists' vocals to be used on the single, so Harris re-recorded the song, singing all three parts.)

White Shoes in 1983 included an eclectic pairing of the rockish reading of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" with a remake of the Donna Summer hit "On the Radio", as well as tracks from a diverse group of songwriters such as Hot Band member Crowell, Sandy Denny and T-Bone Burnett.

Harris's major-label releases thus far had included few self-penned songs, but in 1985 her songwriting skills were much in evidence with the release of The Ballad of Sally Rose, for which she co-wrote all of the songs. The album was semi-autobiographical in theme, based loosely on her relationship with Parsons. Harris described it as a "country opera". Her co-writer and producer on the album was English songwriter and musician Paul Kennerley, writer of the hit singles "Born to Run" (on Harris's 1981 Cimarron album) and "In My Dreams" (on White Shoes). Kennerley also produced her next album, Thirteen. They were married in 1985 and divorced in 1993.

In 1987, nearly a full decade after they'd first attempted to do so, Harris teamed up with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt for their long-promised and much-anticipated Trio album. The album proved to be the biggest commercial success of Harris' long and varied career, spending five weeks at #1 on Billboard's Country Albums chart (also quickly reaching the Top 10 on the Pop Albums chart), sold several million copies and produced four Top 10 Country hits, including "To Know Him Is To Love Him", which hit #1. The disc was nominated for the coveted Album Of The Year Grammy award (given to U2 that year for The Joshua Tree) and the three women won the statuette for Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal; the Linda Thompson-penned track "Telling Me Lies" was also nominated for country song of the year.

Harris also found time in 1987 to release a solo album, Angel Band, featuring traditional gospel songs, on which she worked with, among others, rising country star Vince Gill.

In 1989, she recorded two songs with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band on their album, Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Volume II. In a snippet of studio chatter included on one of the tracks, she talked during the recording session about her beginnings and how music had changed:

Years ago I had the experience of sitting around in a living room with a bunch of people and singing and playing, and it was like a spiritual experience, it was wonderful. And I decided then that was what I was going to do with my life was play music, do music. In the making of records, I think over the years we've all gotten a little too technical, a little too hung up on getting things perfect. We've lost the living room. The living room has gone out of the music, but today I feel like we got it back.

Around 1991, she dissolved The Hot Band and formed a new band of acoustic musicians—Sam Bush on fiddle, mandolin and vocals, Roy Huskey, Jr. on bass and vocals, Larry Atamanuik on drums, Al Perkins on banjo, guitar, Dobro guitar and vocals, and Jon Randall on guitar, mandolin and vocals—which she named The Nash Ramblers. They recorded a Grammy Award-winning live album in 1992 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, which led to the $8 million restoration of the facility into a premium concert and event venue. It was her last album with Reprise Records.
New directions

By the 1990s, Harris started receiving less airplay as mainstream country stations began shifting their focus to the youth-oriented "new country" format. Harris's albums Bluebird and Brand New Dance (1989 and 1990, respectively) received ample critical acclaim and sold reasonably well, yet her chart success was on the wane. 1993's Cowgirl's Prayer—the first album since her switch to Elektra Records—was critically praised but received very little airplay, and its lead single, "High Powered Love" charted very low, peaking at #63, prompting her to shift her career in a new direction.

In 1995, Harris released one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the decade, Wrecking Ball, produced by Daniel Lanois, best known for his work with U2, Peter Gabriel and Bob Dylan. An experimental album for Harris, the record included Harris's rendition of the Neil Young-penned title track (Young himself provided guest vocals on two of the album's songs), Steve Earle's "Goodbye", Julie Miller's "All My Tears", Jimi Hendrix's "May This Be Love", Kate and Anna McGarrigle's "Goin' Back to Harlan" and Gillian Welch's "Orphan Girl". U2's Larry Mullen, Jr. showed up to play drums for the project. The album received virtually no country airplay whatsoever, but did bring Harris to the attention of alternative rock listeners, many of whom had never listened to her music before.

Harris then took her Wrecking Ball material on the road, releasing the live Spyboy in 1998, backed with a power trio comprising Nashville producer, songwriter and guitarist Buddy Miller and New Orleans musicians, drummer Brady Blade and bassist-vocalist-percussionist Daryl Johnson. In addition to performing songs from Wrecking Ball, the album updated many of Harris's career hits, including "Boulder to Birmingham".

Also in 1998, she appeared prominently on Willie Nelson's moody, instrumentally sparse Teatro album, produced by Wrecking Ball producer Lanois.

During the summer of 1997 and 1998, Harris joined Sarah McLachlan's all-woman musical touring festival, the Lilith Fair, where new artists like Patty Griffin could share new experiences and ideas with seasoned musicians like Harris and Bonnie Raitt.

In January 1999, Harris released Trio 2 with Parton and Ronstadt. Much of the album had actually been recorded in 1994, but remained unreleased for nearly five years because of record label and personnel disputes, conflicting schedules, and career priorities of the three artists. Trio 2 was much more contemporary-sounding than its predecessor and was certified Gold. It included their version of Neil Young's classic "After The Gold Rush", which became a popular music video and won another Grammy—this one for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. Harris and Ronstadt then released a duet album, Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions, later the same year. The two superstars toured together during the fall months in support of the disc. Both albums made the Top 10 of Billboard's Country Albums chart and did well on the pop side as well.

Also in 1999, Harris paid tribute to her former singing partner Gram Parsons by co-executive producing Return of the Grievous Angel: A Tribute to Gram Parsons, an album that gathered together more than a dozen artists. Harris performed duets with Beck, Sheryl Crow and The Pretenders on this album's tracks.

In 2000, Harris released her solo follow-up to Wrecking Ball, Red Dirt Girl, produced by Lanois protege Malcolm Burn. For the first time since The Ballad of Sally Rose, the album contained a number of Harris's own compositions. Like Wrecking Ball, the album's sound leaned more toward alternative rock than country. Nevertheless it reached #5 on Billboard's Country Albums chart as well as a healthy #54 on the pop side. It also won Harris another of her 12 Grammy awards, in the category of Best Contemporary Folk Album.

Harris also accompanied on alternative country singer Ryan Adams' solo debut Heartbreaker.

Also in 2000, Harris joined an all-star group of traditional country, folk and blues artists for the T-Bone Burnett-produced soundtrack to the Coen Brothers film, O Brother, Where Art Thou? The soundtrack won multiple CMA, ACM and Grammy awards. A documentary/concert film, Down from the Mountain, featured the artists performing music from the film and other songs at the Ryman Auditorium. Harris and many of the same artists took their show on the road for the Down from the Mountain Tour in 2002. In 2003, Harris supplied the finishing touches in harmonizing with the Dixie Chicks on a song they were recording in the studio, "Godspeed".

On September 9, 2005, Harris participated in "Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast," a series of concerts simulcast by most American television stations to raise money for victims of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. She performed with Beth Neilsen Chapman and the Dixie Chicks, harmonizing on Patty Griffin's song, "Mary.

Recent work

Harris released Stumble into Grace, her follow-up to Red Dirt Girl, in 2003. Like its predecessor, it contained mostly self-penned material. In 2004, Harris led the Sweet Harmony Traveling Revue tour with Gillian Welch, David Rawlings, Buddy Miller and Patty Griffin. They performed singly and together and swapped instruments.n 2005, Harris worked with Conor Oberst on Bright Eyes' release, I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning, performing backup vocals on three tracks. In July, she joined Elvis Costello on several dates of his U.S. tour, performing alongside Costello and his band on several numbers each night. Harris and Costello recorded a version of Costello's song, "The Scarlet Tide", from the soundtrack of the movie Cold Mountain. July also saw the release of The Very Best of Emmylou Harris: Heartaches and Highways, a single-disc retrospective of Harris's career, on the Rhino Entertainment label. This same year, Harris appeared as a guest vocalist on Neil Young's widely acclaimed Prairie Wind. She also appeared in the Jonathan Demme documentary-concert film Neil Young: Heart of Gold, released in 2006.

All the Roadrunning, an album of collaborations with former Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler, was released in April of 2006 and supported by a tour of Europe and the USA. The album was a commercial success, reaching #10 in the UK and #17 in the USA. Selections recorded during the All the Roadrunning tour performance at the Gibson Amphitheatre were released as a CD/DVD package titled Real Live Roadrunning in November of 2006. In addition to several of the compositions that Harris and Knopfler recorded together in the studio, Real Live Roadrunning features solo hits from both members of the duo, as well as a few classic tracks from Knopfler's days with Dire Straits.

Harris is featured on a A Tribute To Joni Mitchell, released on April 24, 2007. Harris covered the song "The Magdalene Laundries" (originally on Mitchell's 1994 album, Turbulent Indigo). She sang "Another Pot O' Tea" with Anne Murray on Murray's album Anne Murray Duets: Friends and Legends, released November 13, 2007, in Canada and January 15, 2008, in the U.S.

A new solo album, All I Intended to Be, was released on June 10, 2008, to critical acclaim. Contributors include Buddy Miller, the McGarrigle sisters, Vince Gill, and Dolly Parton. She toured with an ensemble she dubbed the Red Dirt Boys, featuring Phil Madeira on accordion and keyboards, Colin Linden on guitar and banjo, Rickie Simpkins on mandolin and fiddle, Chris Donohoe on bass, and Bryan Owings on drums. It did not include Buddy Miller, who was touring with Robert Plant, Alison Krauss and T Bone Burnett at the time. In 2009, Harris toured with Patty Griffin, Shawn Colvin, and Buddy Miller as "Three Girls and Their Buddy".

Harris wrote a song called "In Rodanthe" for the 2008 film Nights In Rodanthe.
Activism

In 1997 and 1998, Harris performed in Sarah McLachlan's Lilith Fair, promoting feminism in music. Since 1999, Harris has been organizing an annual benefit tour called Concerts for a Landmine Free World. All proceeds from the tours support the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation's (VVAF) efforts to assist innocent victims of conflicts around the world. The tour also benefits the VVAF's work to raise America's awareness of the global landmine problem. Artists that have joined Harris on the road for these dates include Mary Chapin Carpenter, Bruce Cockburn, Sheryl Crow, Steve Earle, Joan Baez, Patty Griffin, Nanci Griffith, Willie Nelson, and Lucinda Williams. Harris is a supporter of animal rights and an active member of PETA.[5] She founded, and in her spare time assists at, an animal shelter in Nashville.[6]
Awards and other honors
Grammy Awards

2005 Best Female Country Vocal Performance ("The Connection")

2001 Album of the Year (O Brother, Where Art Thou?)

2000 Best Contemporary Folk Album (Red Dirt Girl)

1999 Best Country Collaboration with Vocals ("After The Gold Rush", with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt)

1998 Best Country Collaboration with Vocals ("Same Old Train", with Alison Krauss, Clint Black, Dwight Yoakam, Earl Scruggs, Joe Diffie, Marty Stuart, Merle Haggard, Pam Tillis, Patty Loveless, Randy Travis, Ricky Skaggs & Travis Tritt)

1995 Best Contemporary Folk Album (Wrecking Ball)

1992 Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal (Emmylou Harris & The Nash Ramblers At the Ryman, as Emmylou Harris & The Nash Ramblers)

1987 Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal (Trio, with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt)

1984 Best Country Vocal Performance, Female ("In My Dreams")

1980 Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group ("That Lovin' You Feelin' Again", with Roy Orbison)

1979 Best Country Vocal Performance, Female (Blue Kentucky Girl)

1976 Best Country Vocal Performance, Female (Elite Hotel)
Country Music Association Awards

2001 Album of the Year (O Brother, Where Art Thou?)

1980 Female Vocalist Of The Year

1988 Vocal Event of the Year (Trio, with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt)
Other honors

* VH1's 100 Most Influential Women in Rock and Roll (1998) - Number 22 out of 100
* Billboard's Century Award recipient (1999) - inducted by Sarah McLachlann
* CMT's 40 Greatest Women of Country Music - #5 ranking (2002)
* Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on February 12, 2008]
* Inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2009.

Roman polanski

Roman Raymond Polanski (born August 18, 1933) is a Polish-French film director, producer, writer and actor. Polanski began his career in Poland, and later became a celebrated Academy Award-winning director of both art house and commercial films, making such films as Rosemary's Baby (1968) and Chinatown (1974). Polanski is one of the world's best known contemporary film directors and is widely considered as one of the greatest directors of the time. He is also known for his turbulent and controversial personal life.

Polanski survived the Holocaust in German occupied Poland during World War II. In 1969, his pregnant wife, Sharon Tate, was murdered by the Manson Family. In 1977, he was arrested in Los Angeles and pleaded guilty to "unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor", a 13-year-old girl. Released after a 42-day psychiatric evaluation, Polanski fled to France. For decades, he was considered by U.S. authorities to be a fugitive from justice and did not return to the United States.

Polanski has since avoided visits to countries that were likely to extradite him, such as the United Kingdom.

He travels mostly between France, where he resides, and Poland. As a French citizen, he is protected by France's limited extradition with the United States, and Poland is also unlikely to extradite him. On 26 September 2009 he was arrested by authorities in Switzerland on the 1978 US arrest warrant, while travelling to the Zurich Film Festival to collect a lifetime achievement award.

Polanski has continued to direct films in Europe, including Frantic (1988), Death and the Maiden (1994), The Ninth Gate (1999), the Academy Award-winning (for best director) and Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or-winning The Pianist (2002), and Oliver Twist (2005). He has also done occasional work in theatre and in the films of other directors.

Personal life

Polanski was born Rajmund Roman Liebling in Paris, France, the son of Bula[8] (née Katz-Przedborska) and Ryszard[8] Liebling (aka Ryszard Polański), who was a painter and plastics manufacturer.[9] Polanski's parents were agnostics.[10] His father was a Polish Jew and his mother, a native of Russia, was brought up as a Catholic as she had a Jewish father and a Roman Catholic mother.

The Polański family moved back to the Polish city of Krakow in 1936,[8] and were living there in 1939, when World War II began. Poland was invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. As a Jewish family, the Polańskis were targets of German Nazi persecution and forced into the Kraków Ghetto, along with thousands of other Polish Jews.

His father survived the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp in Austria, but his mother died in 1942 in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Polanski himself escaped the Kraków Ghetto in 1943, and survived the war with the help of Polish Roman Catholic families in poor and uncertain conditions, sleeping in a barn next to cows.[citation needed] After the war he was reunited with his father and moved back to Krakow.

Polanski's father married Wanda. He died of cancer in 1984.

During the Soviet imposed communism in Poland, Roman Polanski attended the Polish film school in Łódź, and graduated in 1959.

Polanski's first wife, Barbara Lass (née Barbara Kwiatkowska), starred in When Angels Fall. The two were married in 1959 and divorced in 1961, when she left him for German actor Karlheinz Böhm.[citation needed]

Martin Ransohoff introduced Polanski and rising actress Sharon Tate shortly before filming The Fearless Vampire Killers, and during the production the two of them began dating. On January 20, 1968, Polanski married Sharon Tate in London.[19][20] In his autobiography, Polanski described his brief time with Tate as the best years of his life. During this period, he also became friends with martial-arts master and actor Bruce Lee.
Manson murders

On August 9, 1969, Tate, who was eight months pregnant with the couple's first child (a boy), and four others (Abigail Folger, Jay Sebring, Wojciech Frykowski, and Steven Parent) were brutally murdered by members of Charles Manson's "Family", who entered the Polanskis' rented home at 10050 Cielo Drive in the Hollywood Hills intending to "kill everyone there". Terry Melcher (son of film icon Doris Day) and his girlfriend at the time, actress Candice Bergen, had lived at the house, but had moved out in February, 1969. The following month, Polanski and Tate moved in. Melcher had angered Charles Manson because he had declined to record some of his music.

When Manson ordered members of his group to go to the property and kill everyone, they obeyed. After Parent, Sebring, Frykowski, and Folger had been murdered, Tate pleaded for the life of her unborn son. Susan Atkins replied that she felt no pity for her and began stabbing her.

Polanski was at his house in London at the time of the murders and immediately traveled to Los Angeles, where he was questioned by police. As there were no suspects in the case, police checked on the past history of Polanski and Tate to try to determine a motive. After a period of months, Manson and his "family" were arrested on unrelated charges, which revealed evidence of what came to be known as the Tate-LaBianca murders. Polanski returned to Europe shortly after the killers were arrested. He later said that he gave away all his possessions as everything reminded him of Tate and was too painful for him. His greatest regret was that he was not in Los Angeles with Tate on the night of the murders.
Sex crime allegations

In 1977, Polanski, then aged 44, became embroiled in a scandal involving 13-year-old Samantha Geimer (then known as Samantha Gailey). It ultimately led to Polanski's guilty plea to the charge of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.[23]

According to Geimer, Polanski asked Geimer's mother if he could photograph the girl for the French edition of Vogue, which Polanski had been invited to guest-edit. Her mother allowed a private photo shoot. According to Geimer in a 2003 interview, "Everything was going fine; then he asked me to change, well, in front of him." She added, "It didn't feel right, and I didn't want to go back to the second shoot."

Geimer later agreed to a second session, which took place on March 10, 1977 at the Mulholland area home of actor Jack Nicholson in Los Angeles. "We did photos with me drinking champagne," Geimer says. "Toward the end it got a little scary, and I realized he had other intentions and I knew I was not where I should be. I just didn't quite know how to get myself out of there." Geimer testified that Polanski performed various sexual acts on her, after giving her a combination of champagne and quaaludes. In the 2003 interview, Geimer says she resisted. "I said no several times, and then, well, gave up on that."
Charges and guilty plea

Polanski was initially charged[29] with rape by use of drugs, perversion, sodomy, lewd and lascivious act upon a child under 14, and furnishing a controlled substance (methaqualone) to a minor. These charges were dismissed under the terms of his plea bargain, and he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of engaging in unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.[30]
Imprisonment and flight

Following the plea agreement, according to the aforementioned documentary, the court ordered Polanski to report to a state prison for a 90-day psychiatric evaluation, but granted a stay of ninety days to allow him to complete his current project. Under the terms set by the court, he was permitted to travel abroad. Polanski returned to California and reported to Chino State Prison for the evaluation period, and was released after 42 days.

On February 1, 1978, Polanski fled to London, where he maintained residency. A day later he traveled on to France, where he held citizenship, avoiding the risk of extradition to the U.S. by Britain. Consistent with its extradition treaty with the United States, France can refuse to extradite its own citizens. An extradition request later filed by U.S. officials was denied. The United States government can request that Polanski be prosecuted on the California charges by the French authorities.

Polanski has never returned to England, and later sold his home in absentia. The United States can still request the arrest and extradition of Polanski from other countries should he visit them, and Polanski has avoided visits to countries that are likely to extradite him (such as the UK) and mostly travels and works in France, Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland.
Later developments in the case

In a 2003 interview, Samantha Geimer said, "Straight up, what he did to me was wrong. But I wish he would return to America so the whole ordeal can be put to rest for both of us." Furthermore, "I'm sure if he could go back, he wouldn't do it again. He made a terrible mistake but he's paid for it".

In 2008, Geimer stated in an interview that she wishes Polanski would be forgiven, “I think he's sorry, I think he knows it was wrong. I don't think he's a danger to society. I don't think he needs to be locked up forever and no one has ever come out ever — besides me — and accused him of anything. It was 30 years ago now. It's an unpleasant memory ... (but) I can live with it."

In 2008, a documentary film of the aftermath of the incident, Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Following review of the film, Polanski's attorney, Douglas Dalton, contacted the Los Angeles district attorney's office about prosecutor David Wells' role in coaching the judge, Laurence J. Rittenband. Based on statements by Wells included in the film, Polanski and Dalton are seeking review of whether the prosecutor acted illegally and engaged in malfeasance in interfering with the operation of the trial.

In December 2008, Polanski's lawyer in the United States filed a request to Judge David S. Wesley to have the case dismissed on the grounds of judicial and prosecutorial misconduct. The filing says that Judge Rittenband (now deceased) violated the plea bargain by keeping in communication about the case with a deputy district attorney who was not involved. These activities were depicted in Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired.

In January 2009, Polanski's lawyer filed a further request to have the case dismissed, and to have the case moved out of Los Angeles, as the Los Angeles courts require him to appear before the court for any sentencing or dismissal, and Polanski will not appear. In February 2009, Polanski's request was tentatively denied by Judge Peter Espinoza, who said that he would make a ruling if Polanski appeared in court. This decision appears to have ended litigation in the case, at least for now.

That same month, Samantha Geimer filed to have the charges against Polanski dismissed from court, saying that decades of publicity as well as the prosecutor's focus on lurid details continues to traumatize her and her family.
2009 arrest in Switzerland

On September 26, 2009, Polanski was arrested entering Switzerland under a 1978 US arrest warrant. Polanski had hoped to attend the Zurich Film Festival to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Vanity Fair libel case

In 2004, Polanski sued Vanity Fair magazine in London for libel. A 2002 article in the magazine written by A. E. Hotchner recounted a claim by Lewis H. Lapham, editor of Harper's, that Polanski had made sexual advances towards a young model as he was traveling to Sharon Tate's funeral, claiming that he could make her "the next Sharon Tate". The court permitted Polanski to testify via a ideo link, after he expressed fears that he might be extradited were he to enter the United Kingdom.

The trial started on July 18, 2005, and Polanski made English legal history as the first claimant to give evidence by video link. During the trial, which included the testimony of Mia Farrow and others, it was claimed that the alleged scene at the famous New York City restaurant Elaine's could not have taken place on the date given, because Polanski only dined at this restaurant three weeks later. Also, the Norwegian model disputed accounts that he had claimed to be able to make her "the next Sharon Tate". In the course of the trial, Polanski did admit to having been unfaithful to Tate during their marriage.

Polanski was awarded £50,000 damages by the High Court in London. Graydon Carter, editor of Vanity Fair, responded, "I find it amazing that a man who lives in France can sue a magazine that is published in America in a British courtroom".
Relationship with Emmanuelle Seigner

Polanski and Emmanuelle Seigner married in 1989. They have two children, daughter Morgane and son Elvis, who is named after Polanski's favorite singer, Elvis Presley.

Recent work and honours
In 1997, Polanski directed a stage version of The Fearless Vampire Killers, a musical, which debuted on October 4, 1997 in Vienna as Tanz der Vampire, the German title of the film version. After closing in Vienna, the show had successful runs in Stuttgart, Hamburg and Berlin.

On March 11, 1998 Polanski was elected a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts.

In May 2002, Polanski won the Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) award at the Cannes Film Festival for The Pianist, for which he also took Césars for Best Film and Best Director, and later won the 2002 Academy Award for Directing. He did not attend the Academy Awards ceremony in Hollywood because he would have been arrested once he set foot in the United States. After the announcement of the "Best Director Award", Polanski received a standing ovation from most of those present in the theater. In 2004, he received the Crystal Globe award for outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

During the summer and autumn of 2004, Polanski shot a new film adaptation of the Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist, based on Ronald Harwood's screenplay. The shooting took place at the Barrandov Studios in Prague, Czech Republic. The actors included Barney Clark (Oliver Twist), Jamie Foreman (Bill Sykes), Harry Eden (the Artful Dodger), Ben Kingsley (Fagin), Leeanne Rix (Nancy), and Edward Hardwicke (Mr. Brownlow). Besides the cast, the director gathered some collaborators from The Pianist: Ronald Harwood (screenplay), as noted, Allan Starski (production designer), Pawel Edelman (director of photography), and Anna Sheppard (costume designer).

Damian Chapa has completed an unauthorised biopic of Roman Polanski titled Polanski, which he[who?] co-wrote and directed in addition to playing the lead.


Polanski made a cameo appearance in Rush Hour 3 (2007) as a French police official. An attempt to adapt Robert Harris' Pompeii was abandoned.
Current projects

Polanski is currently directing an adaptation of Harris' The Ghost, a novel about a writer who stumbles upon a secret while ghosting the autobiography of a former British prime minister. It will star Ewan McGregor as the writer and Pierce Brosnan as the prime minister. Filming takes place in Germany. The Ghost is being co-produced as of February 2009 by the Babelsberg Studios.