The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period. Since the 1920s, the American film industry has grossed more money every year than that of any other country.

In 1878, Eadweard Muybridge demonstrated the power of photography to capture motion. In 1894, the world's first commercial motion picture exhibition was given in New York City, using Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope. The United States was in the forefront of sound film development in the following decades. Since the early 20th century, the U.S. film industry has largely been based in and around Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Picture City, FL was also a planned site for a movie picture production center in the 1920s, but due to the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane, the idea collapsed and Picture City returned to its original name of Hobe Sound. Director D. W. Griffith was central to the development of film grammar. Orson Welles's ''Citizen Kane'' (1941) is frequently cited in critics' polls as the greatest film of all time. American screen actors like John Wayne and Marilyn Monroe have become iconic figures, while producer/entrepreneur Walt Disney was a leader in both animated film and movie merchandising. The major film studios of Hollywood are the primary source of the most commercially successful movies in the world, such as ''Gone with the Wind'' (1939), ''Star Wars'' (1977), ''Titanic'' (1997), and ''Avatar'' (2009). Today, American film studios collectively generate several hundred movies every year, making the United States the third most prolific producer of films in the world — the first being India and the second being Nigeria.

History

Origins

The second recorded instance of photographs capturing and reproducing motion was Eadweard Muybridge's series of photographs of a running horse, which he captured in Palo Alto, California, using a set of still cameras placed in a row. Muybridge's accomplishment led inventors everywhere to attempt to make similar devices that would capture such motion. In the United States, Thomas Alva Edison was among the first to produce such a device, the ''kinetoscope'', whose heavy-handed patent enforcement caused early filmmakers to look for alternatives.

In the earliest days of the American film industry, New York played a role. The Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens, built during the silent film era, was used by the Marx Brothers and W.C. Fields. Chelsea, Manhattan was also frequently used. Mary Pickford, an Academy Award winning actress, shot some of her early films in this area. Other major centers of film production also included Chicago, Florida, California, and Cuba.

The film patents wars of the early 20th century led to the spread of film companies across the U.S. Many worked with equipment for which they did not own the rights, and thus filming in New York could be dangerous; it was close to Edison's Company headquarters, and to agents the company set out to seize cameras. By 1912, most major film companies had set up production facilities in Southern California near or in Los Angeles because of the location's proximity to Mexico, as well as the region's favorable year-round weather.

Rise of Hollywood

In early 1910, director D.W. Griffith was sent by the Biograph Company to the west coast with his acting troupe, consisting of actors Blanche Sweet, Lillian Gish, Mary Pickford, Lionel Barrymore, and others. They started filming on a vacant lot near Georgia Street in downtown Los Angeles. While there, the company decided to explore new territories, traveling several miles north to Hollywood, a little village that was friendly and enjoyed the movie company filming there. Griffith then filmed the first movie ever shot in Hollywood, ''In Old California'', a Biograph melodrama about California in the 19th century, when it belonged to Mexico. Biograph stayed there for months and made several films before returning to New York. After hearing about Biograph's success in Hollywood, in 1913 many movie-makers headed west to avoid the fees imposed by Thomas Edison, who owned patents on the movie-making process. In Los Angeles, California, the studios and Hollywood grew. Before World War I, movies were made in several U.S. cities, but filmmakers gravitated to southern California as the industry developed. They were attracted by the mild climate and reliable sunlight, which made it possible to film movies outdoors year-round, and by the varied scenery that was available. There are several starting points for cinema (particularly American cinema), but it was Griffith's controversial 1915 epic ''Birth of a Nation'' that pioneered the worldwide filming vocabulary that still dominates celluloid to this day.

In the early 20th century, when the medium was new, many Jewish immigrants found employment in the U.S. film industry. They were able to make their mark in a brand-new business: the exhibition of short films in storefront theaters called nickelodeons, after their admission price of a nickel (five cents). Within a few years, ambitious men like Samuel Goldwyn, William Fox, Carl Laemmle, Adolph Zukor, Louis B. Mayer, and the Warner Brothers (Harry, Albert, Samuel, and Jack) had switched to the production side of the business. Soon they were the heads of a new kind of enterprise: the movie studio. (It is worth noting that the US had at least one female director, producer and studio head in these early years, Alice Guy-Blaché.) They also set the stage for the industry's internationalism; the industry is often accused of Amero-centric provincialism.

Other moviemakers arrived from Europe after World War I: directors like Ernst Lubitsch, Alfred Hitchcock, Fritz Lang, and Jean Renoir; and actors like Rudolph Valentino, Marlene Dietrich, Ronald Colman, and Charles Boyer. They joined a homegrown supply of actors — lured west from the New York City stage after the introduction of sound films — to form one of the 20th century's most remarkable growth industries. At motion pictures' height of popularity in the mid-1940s, the studios were cranking out a total of about 400 movies a year, seen by an audience of 90 million Americans per week .

Sound also became widely used in Hollywood in the late 1920s . After ''The Jazz Singer'', the first film with synchronized voices, was successfully released as a Vitaphone talkie in 1927, Hollywood film companies would respond to Warner Bros. and begin to use Vitaphone sound — which Warner Bros. owned until 1928 - in future films. By May 1928, Electrical Research Product Incorporated (ERPI), a subsidiary of the Western Electric company, gained a monopoly over film sound distribution . A side effect of the "talkies" was that many actors who had made their careers in silent films suddenly found themselves out of work, as they often had bad voices or could not remember their lines. Meanwhile, in 1922, US politician Will H. Hays left politics and formed the movie studio boss organization known as the Motion Pictures Distributors Association of America (MPDAA) . The organization became the Motion Picture Association of America after Hays retired in 1945.

In the early times of talkies, American studios found that their sound productions were rejected in foreign-language markets and even among speakers of other dialects of English. The synchronization technology was still too primitive for dubbing. One of the solutions was creating parallel foreign-language versions of Hollywood films. Around 1930, the American companies opened a studio in Joinville-le-Pont, France, where the same sets and wardrobe and even mass scenes were used for different time-sharing crews. Also, foreign unemployed actors, playwrights and winners of photogenia contests were chosen and brought to Hollywood, where they shot parallel versions of the English-language films. These parallel versions had a lower budget, were shot at night and were directed by second-line American directors who did not speak the foreign language. The Spanish-language crews included people like Luis Buñuel, Enrique Jardiel Poncela, Xavier Cugat and Edgar Neville. The productions were not very successful in their intended markets, due to the following reasons:

The lower budgets were apparent.

Many theater actors had no previous experience in cinema.

The original movies were often second-rate themselves, since studios expected that the top productions would sell by themselves.

The mix of foreign accents (Castilian, Mexican, and Chilean for example in the Spanish case) was odd for the audiences.

Some markets lacked sound-equipped theaters.

In spite of this, some productions like the Spanish version of Dracula compare favorably with the original. By the mid-1930s, synchronization had advanced enough for dubbing to become usual.

Golden Age of Hollywood

During the so-called Golden Age of Hollywood, which lasted from the end of the silent era in American cinema in the late 1920s to the early 1960s, thousands of movies were issued from the Hollywood studios. The start of the Golden Age was arguably when ''The Jazz Singer'' was released in 1927, ending the silent era and increasing box-office profits for films as sound was introduced to feature films. Most Hollywood pictures adhered closely to a formula - Western, slapstick comedy, musical, animated cartoon, biopic (biographical picture) - and the same creative teams often worked on films made by the same studio. For example, Cedric Gibbons and Herbert Stothart always worked on MGM films, Alfred Newman worked at 20th Century Fox for twenty years, Cecil B. De Mille's films were almost all made at Paramount, and director Henry King's films were mostly made for 20th Century Fox.

At the same time, one could usually guess which studio made which film, largely because of the actors who appeared in it; MGM, for example, claimed it had contracted "more stars than there are in heaven." Each studio had its own style and characteristic touches which made it possible to know this — a trait that does not exist today. For example, ''To Have and Have Not'' (1944) is famous not only for the first pairing of actors Humphrey Bogart (1899–1957) and Lauren Bacall (1924–) but also for being written by two future winners of the Nobel Prize in Literature: Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961), the author of the novel on which the script was nominally based, and William Faulkner (1897–1962), who worked on the screen adaptation.

After ''The Jazz Singer'' was released in 1927, Warner Bros. gained huge success and was able to acquire their own string of movie theaters, after purchasing Stanley Theaters and First National Productions in 1928. MGM had also owned the Loews string of theaters since forming in 1924, and the Fox Film Corporation owned the Fox Theatre strings as well. Also, RKO (a 1928 merger between Keith-Orpheum Theaters and the Radio Corporation of America) responded to the Western Electric/ERPI monopoly over sound in films , and developed their own method, known as Photophone, to put sound in films . Paramount, which already acquired Balaban and Katz in 1926, would answer to the success of Warner Bros. and RKO, and buy a number of theaters in the late 1920s as well, and would hold a monopoly on theaters in Detroit, Michigan. By the 1930s, all of America's theaters were owned by the Big Five studios - MGM, Paramount Pictures, RKO, Warner Bros., and 20th Century Fox. .

Movie-making was still a business however, and motion picture companies made money by operating under the studio system. The major studios kept thousands of people on salary — actors, producers, directors, writers, stunt men, craftspersons, and technicians. They owned or leased Movie Ranches in rural Southern California for location shooting of westerns and other large scale genre films. And they owned hundreds of theaters in cities and towns across the nation, theaters that showed their films and that were always in need of fresh material.

In 1930, MPDAA President Will Hays created the Hays (Production) Code, which followed censorship guidelines and went into effect after government threats of censorship expanded by 1930 . However, the code was never enforced until 1934, after the Catholic watchdog organization The Legion of Decency - appalled by some of the provocative films and lurid advertising of the era later classified Pre-Code Hollywood- threatened a boycott of motion pictures if it didn't go into effect . Those films that didn't obtain a seal of approval from the Production Code Administration had to pay a $25,000.00 fine and could not profit in the theaters, as the MPDDA owned every theater in the country through the Big Five studios .

Throughout the 1930s, as well as most of the golden age, MGM dominated the film screen and had the top stars in Hollywood, and was also credited for creating the Hollywood star system altogether . Some MGM stars included "King of Hollywood" Clark Gable, Lionel Barrymore, Jean Harlow, Norma Shearer, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Jeanette MacDonald and husband Gene Raymond, Spencer Tracy, Judy Garland, and Gene Kelly . But MGM did not stand alone. Another great achievement of US cinema during this era came through Walt Disney's animation company. In 1937, Disney created the most successful film of its time, ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' . This distinction was promptly topped in 1939 when Selznick International created what is still, when adjusted for inflation, the most successful film of all time, ''Gone with the Wind'' .

Many film historians have remarked upon the many great works of cinema that emerged from this period of highly regimented film-making. One reason this was possible is that, with so many movies being made, not every one had to be a big hit. A studio could gamble on a medium-budget feature with a good script and relatively unknown actors: ''Citizen Kane'', directed by Orson Welles (1915–1985) and often regarded as the greatest film of all time, fits that description. In other cases, strong-willed directors like Howard Hawks (1896–1977), Alfred Hitchcock (1899–1980) and Frank Capra (1897–1991) battled the studios in order to achieve their artistic visions. The apogee of the studio system may have been the year 1939, which saw the release of such classics as ''The Wizard of Oz'', ''Gone with the Wind'', ''Stagecoach'', ''Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'', ''Wuthering Heights'', ''Only Angels Have Wings'', ''Ninotchka'', and ''Midnight''. Among the other films from the Golden Age period that are now considered to be classics: ''Casablanca'', ''It's a Wonderful Life'', ''It Happened One Night'', the original ''King Kong'', ''Mutiny on the Bounty'', ''City Lights'', ''Red River'' and ''Top Hat''.

Decline of the studio system

The studio system and the Golden Age of Hollywood succumbed to two forces that developed in the late 1940s:

a federal antitrust action that separated the production of films from their exhibition; and

the advent of television.

In 1938, Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' was released during a run of lackluster films from the major studios, and quickly became the highest-grossing film released to that point. Embarrassingly for the studios, it was an independently produced animated film that did not feature any studio-employed stars. This stoked already widespread frustration at the practice of ''block-booking'', in which studios would only sell an entire year's schedule of films at a time to theaters and use the lock-in to cover for releases of mediocre quality. Assistant Attorney General Thurman Arnold—a noted "trust buster" of the Roosevelt administration — took this opportunity to initiate proceedings against the eight largest Hollywood studios in July 1938 for violations of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. The federal suit resulted in five of the eight studios (the "Big Five": Warner Bros., MGM, Fox, RKO and Paramount) reaching a compromise with Arnold in October 1940 and signing a consent decree agreeing to, within three years:

Eliminate the block-booking of short film subjects, in an arrangement known as "one shot", or "full force" block-booking.

Eliminate the block-booking of any more than five features in their theaters.

No longer engage in ''blind buying'' (or the buying of films by theater districts without seeing films beforehand) and instead have ''trade-showing'', in which all 31 theater districts in US would see films every two weeks before showing movies in theaters.

Set up an administration board in each theater district to enforce these requirements. The "Little Three" (Universal Studios, United Artists, and Columbia Pictures), who did not own any theaters, refused to participate in the consent decree. A number of independent film producers were also unhappy with the compromise and formed a union known as the Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers and sued Paramount for the monopoly they still had over the Detroit Theaters — as Paramount was also gaining dominance through actors like Bob Hope, Paulette Goddard, Veronica Lake, Betty Hutton, crooner Bing Crosby, Alan Ladd, and longtime actor for studio Gary Cooper too- by 1942. The Big Five studios didn't meet the requirements of the Consent of Decree during WWII, without major consequence, but after the war ended they joined Paramount as defendants in the Hollywood anti-trust case, as did the Little Three studios . The Supreme Court eventually ruled that the major studios ownership of theaters and film distribution was a violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. As a result, the studios began to release actors and technical staff from their contracts with the studios. This changed the paradigm of film making by the major Hollywood studios, as each could have an entirely different cast and creative team.

The decision resulted in the gradual loss of the characteristics which made MGM, Paramount, Universal, Columbia, RKO, and Fox films immediately identifiable. Certain movie people, such as Cecil B. DeMille, either remained contract artists till the end of their careers or used the same creative teams on their films, so that a DeMille film still looked like one whether it was made in 1932 or 1956. Also, the number of movies being produced annually dropped as the average budget soared, marking a major change in strategy for the industry. Studios now aimed to produce entertainment that could not be offered by television: spectacular, larger-than-life productions. Studios also began to sell portions of their theatrical film libraries to other companies to sell to television. By 1949, all major film studios had given up ownership of their theaters.

Television was also instrumental in the decline of Hollywood's Golden Age as it broke the movie industry's hegemony in American entertainment. Despite this, the film industry was also able to gain some leverage for future films as longtime government censorship faded in the 1950s. After the Paramount anti-trust case ended, Hollywood movie studios no longer owned theaters, and thus made it so foreign films could be released in American theaters without censorship. This was complemented with the 1952 Miracle Decision in the Joseph Burstyn Inc. v Wilson case, in which the Supreme Court of the United States reversed its earlier position, from 1915's Mutual Film Corporation v. Industrial Commission of Ohio case, and stated that motion pictures were a form of art and were entitled to the protection of the First amendment; US laws could no longer censor films. By 1968, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) had replaced the Hays Code–which was now greatly violated after the government threat of censorship that justified the origin of the code had ended—with the film rating system.

New Hollywood and post-classical cinema

''Post-classical cinema'' is a term used to describe the changing methods of storytelling in the New Hollywood. It has been argued that new approaches to drama and characterization played upon audience expectations acquired in the classical period: chronology may be scrambled, storylines may feature "twist endings", and lines between the antagonist and protagonist may be blurred. The roots of post-classical storytelling may be seen in ''film noir'', in ''Rebel Without a Cause'' (1955), and in Hitchcock's storyline-shattering ''Psycho''.

'New Hollywood' is a term used to describe the emergence of a new generation of film school-trained directors who had absorbed the techniques developed in Europe in the 1960s; The 1967 film ''Bonnie and Clyde'' marked the beginning of American cinema rebounding as well, as a new generation of films would afterwards gain success at the box offices as well . Filmmakers like Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Roman Polanski, and William Friedkin came to produce fare that paid homage to the history of film, and developed upon existing genres and techniques. In the early 1970s, their films were often both critically acclaimed and commercially successful. While the early New Hollywood films like ''Bonnie and Clyde'' and ''Easy Rider'' had been relatively low-budget affairs with amoral heroes and increased sexuality and violence, the enormous success enjoyed by Friedkin, Spielberg, and Lucas with ''The Exorcist'', ''Jaws'', and ''Star Wars'', respectively helped to give rise to the modern "blockbuster", and induced studios to focus ever more heavily on trying to produce enormous hits.

The increasing indulgence of these young directors did not help. Often, they’d go overschedule, and overbudget, thus bankrupting themselves or the studio. The three most famous examples of this are Francis Coppola’s ''Apocalypse Now'' and ''One From The Heart'' and particularly Michael Cimino’s ''Heaven’s Gate'', which single-handedly bankrupted United Artists. However, Coppola’s ''Apocalypse Now'' eventually made its money back and gained widespread recognition as a masterpiece.

Rise of the home video market

The 1980s and 1990s saw another significant development. The full acceptance of home video by studios opened a vast new business to exploit. Films such as ''Showgirls'', ''The Secret of NIMH'' and ''The Shawshank Redemption'', which performed poorly in their theatrical run, were now able to find success in the video market. It also saw the first generation of film makers with access to video tapes emerge. Directors such as Quentin Tarantino and P.T. Anderson had been able to view thousands of films and produced films with vast numbers of references and connections to previous works. This, along with the explosion of independent film and ever-decreasing costs for filmmaking, changed the landscape of American movie-making once again, and led a renaissance of filmmaking among Hollywood's lower and middle-classes—those without access to studio financial resources. With the rise of the DVD in the 21st century, DVDs have quickly become even more profitable to studios and have led to an explosion of packaging extra scenes, extended versions, and commentary tracks with the films.

Modern cinema

The drive to produce a spectacle on the movie screen has largely shaped American cinema ever since. Spectacular epics which took advantage of new widescreen processes had been increasingly popular from the 1950s onwards. Since then, American films have become increasingly divided into two categories: Blockbusters and independent films. Studios have focused on relying on a handful of extremely expensive releases every year in order to remain profitable. Such blockbusters emphasize spectacle, star power, and high production value, all of which entail an enormous budget. Blockbusters typically rely upon star power and massive advertising to attract a huge audience. A successful blockbuster will attract an audience large enough to offset production costs and reap considerable profits. Such productions carry a substantial risk of failure, and most studios release blockbusters that both over- and underperform in a year.

Studios supplement these movies with independent productions, made with small budgets and often independently of the studio corporation. Movies made in this manner typically emphasize high professional quality in terms of acting, directing, screenwriting, and other elements associated with production, and also upon creativity and innovation. These movies usually rely upon critical praise or niche marketing to garner an audience. Because of an independent film's low budgets, a successful independent film can have a high profit-to-cost ratio, while a failure will incur minimal losses, allowing for studios to sponsor dozens of such productions in addition to their high-stakes releases.

American independent cinema was revitalized in the late 1980s and early 1990s when another new generation of moviemakers, including Spike Lee, Steven Soderbergh, Kevin Smith, and Quentin Tarantino made movies like, respectively: ''Do the Right Thing''; ''Sex, Lies, and Videotape''; ''Clerks''; and ''Reservoir Dogs''. In terms of directing, screenwriting, editing, and other elements, these movies were innovative and often irreverent, playing with and contradicting the conventions of Hollywood movies. Furthermore, their considerable financial successes and crossover into popular culture reestablished the commercial viability of independent film. Since then, the independent film industry has become more clearly defined and more influential in American cinema. Many of the major studios have capitalised on this by developing subsidiaries to produce similar films; for example Fox Searchlight Pictures.

To a lesser degree in the early 21st century, film types that were previously considered to have only a minor presence in the mainstream movie market began to arise as more potent American box office draws. These include foreign-language films such as ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' and ''Hero'' and documentary films such as ''Super Size Me'', ''March of the Penguins'', and Michael Moore's ''Bowling for Columbine'' and ''Fahrenheit 9/11''.

Hollywood and politics

In the 1930s the Democrats and the Republicans saw money in Hollywood. President Franklin Roosevelt saw a huge partnership with Hollywood. He used the first real potential of Hollywood’s stars in a national campaign. Melvyn Douglas toured Washington in 1939 and met the key New Dealers. Endorsements letters from leading actors were signed, radio appearances and printed advertising were made. Movie stars were used to draw a large audience into the political view of the party. By the 1960s, John F. Kennedy was a new, young face for Washington, and his strong friendship with Frank Sinatra exemplified this new era of glamor. The last moguls of Hollywood were gone and younger, newer executives and producers began generating more liberal ideas.

Celebrities and money attracted politicians into the high-class, glittering Hollywood life-style. As Ronald Brownstein wrote in his book “The Power and the Glitter”, television in the 1970s and 1980s was an enormously important new media in politics and Hollywood helped in that media with actors making speeches on their political beliefs, like Jane Fonda against the Vietnam War. This era saw former actor Ronald Reagan became Governor of California and subsequently become President of the United States. It continued with Arnold Schwarzenegger as California’s Governor in 2003. Today Washington’s interest is in Hollywood donations. On February 20, 2007, for example, Barack Obama had a $2300-a-plate Hollywood gala, being hosted by David Geffen, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg at the Beverly Hilton. Hollywood is a huge donator for presidential campaigns and this money attracts politicians. Not only is Hollywood influencing Washington with its glamour and money but Washington also influences Hollywood.

See also

Pre-Code Hollywood

Cinema of the world

American Film Institute

Movie ranches

National Film Registry

List of films in the public domain in the United States

Footnotes

Notes

References

External links

History of Hollywood's Aerial Cinematography

Photo exhibit of filmmaking in Florida, presented by the State Archives of Florida

Rottentomatoes.com - A large collection of movie reviews and previews from hundreds of critics

Early American Cinema - Articles on early cinema and celebrities

Hollywood actress news updates - Actress pics, reviews of movies.

Category:Industry in the United States

ar:السينما في الولايات المتحدة bg:Кино на САЩ ca:Cinema dels Estats Units de:US-amerikanischer Film es:Cine de los Estados Unidos eu:Estatubatuar zinema fa:سینمای آمریکا fr:Cinéma américain it:Cinema statunitense he:קולנוע אמריקאי lt:JAV kinas hu:Hollywoodi filmgyártás mk:Кината во Соединетите Американски Држави ml:ഹോളിവുഡ് സിനിമ nl:Amerikaanse cinema ja:アメリカ合衆国の映画 no:Film i USA pl:Film amerykański pt:Cinema dos Estados Unidos ru:Кинематограф США sv:Film i USA uk:Кінематограф США vi:Điện ảnh Hoa Kỳ zh:美国电影业

Coordinates	36°45′0″N144°16′0″N
name	Pullela Gopichand
birth date	November 16, 1973
birth place	Nagandla of Prakasam district, Andhra Pradesh, India
height
event	Mens's Singles
highest ranking	5
date of highest ranking	15 March 2001
country
handedness	Right
bwf id	4221 }}

Pullela Gopichand () (born on November 16, 1973 in Nagandla of Prakasam district, Andhra Pradesh) is an Indian Badminton player.

He won the All England Open Badminton Championships in 2001 defeating Chen Hong of China in the finals by 15-12,15-6. He became the second Indian to achieve this feat after Prakash Padukone, who won it in 1980. He was awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for the year 2001. But later on, his game was affected due to injuries and his ranking dropped to 126 in the year 2003. In 2005, he was awarded the Padma Shri.

Now, he runs the Gopichand Badminton Academy. He is now a very renowned coach who received the Dronacharya Award and is the main force behind the emergence of Saina Nehwal.

Early life

Pullela Gopichand was born on November 16, 1973 to Pullela Shubhash Chandra and Subbaravamma. Initially Gopichand was more interested in playing Cricket, but later his elder brother Rajashekar initiated him to take up the game of Badminton instead. He studied at the St. Paul’s School, and even when he was only 10, his prowess in the game of Badminton had become an issue to be discussed in the School. Gopichand suffered a ligament rupture in the year 1986 when he was 13. He had won the Singles and the Doubles title at the Inter School Competition the same year. Undeterred by the injury, he bounced back soon and reached the Final round of the Andhra Pradesh State Junior Badminton Championship, only to lose the title to his own elder brother. By the year 1988, when he finished his schooling, Gopichand had made a mark for himself in the Badminton circuit. He joined A. V. College, Hyderabad and graduated in Public Administration. He was the Captain of the Indian Combined Universities Badminton team in the years 1990 and 1991.

Gopi received his initial coaching from S. M. Arif before Prakash Padukone accepted him in the BPL Prakash Padukone Academy. Gopi also received training under Ganguly Prasad at the SAI Bangalore.

Gopichand married fellow Olympian badminton player P.V.V Lakshmi on June 5, 2002. Lakshmi is also from Andhra Pradesh, home state of Gopichand.

National Badminton

He won his first National Badminton Championship title in the year 1996, and won the title five times in a row, till the year 2000. Also, he won two Gold Medals and one Silver Medal at National Games 1998 held at Imphal. The same year, Gopichand led the State Badminton team of Andhra Pradesh to win the prestigious Rahmatulla Cup.

International Badminton

Gopichand made his debut into International Badminton in the year 1991 when he was selected to play against Malaysia. In his International Badminton career, he represented the nation in 3 Thomas Cup tournaments. In the year 1996 he grabbed a Gold Medal in the SAARC Badminton Tournament held at Vijayawada, and repeated the victory in the same tournament held at Colombo in 1997. At the Commonwealth Games, he won a Silver Medal in the team event and a Bronze Medal in the singles event.

He was able to get his first big boost up at International level in the year 1997 in the Indian Grand Prix Tournament held at Delhi. At the event, Gopichand continuously defeated an array of top-seeded players from all around the world, although he lost in the Final Match. In the year 1999, he won the Toulouze Open Championship in France, and the Scottish Open Championship in Scotland. Continuing his smashing form, he emerged winner at the Asian Satellite tournament held at Hyderabad the same year, and lost in the Final match of the German Grand Prix Championship.

All England badminton Championship

The proudest moments of Gopichand's lifetime arrived in the year 2001, when he recreated the history by winning the prestigious 2001 All England Open Badminton Championships at London. In the Championship, he defeated Danish player Anders Boesen in the Quarter-Final round, while in the Semi-Final round he beat the then world number one Peter Gade in 2 tough sets. Finally, he outperformed Chen Hong of China by 15-12, 15-6 to lift the coveted title, and to achieve the feat that had been accomplished by only one Indian till then, the legendary Prakash Padukone.

Awards and honours

To commemorate his excellent achievements as a badminton player at both national and international level, the Government of India awarded him the Arjuna Award in the year 1999. Further in 2001, he was bestowed upon the highest Indian honour in the field of sports, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. After he won The All England Badminton championship, the Government of Andhra Pradesh rewarded him with a cash prize and a plot in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad as a token of appreciation. In the year 2005, he was conferred the Padma Shri Award. He received the Dronacharya Award on 29 August 2009 for his contribution to Indian badminton as a coach.

Quotes

--"I think competitive sport helps one to learn to endure failure, disappointment and injury. In any other sphere of life, this may not be possible."

--"As a result of aggressive marketing by cola companies, people have stopped drinking healthy drinks like fruit juices and people in the villages have actually begun to believe that soft drinks are good for health. Aerated drinks are not only bad for health, they are also bad for local industry. Thanks to aerated drinks, it's becoming more and more difficult to find nimbu sherbet and coconut water."

References

External links

Interview

Category:1973 births Category:Living people Category:Indian badminton players Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri Category:Recipients of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Category:Telugu people Category:Indian Badminton Champions Category:Recipients of the Arjuna Award Category:Recipients of the Dronacharya Award Category:Sportspeople from Andhra Pradesh

de:Pullela Gopichand hi:पुल्लेला गोपीचंद id:Pullela Gopichand mr:पुल्लेला गोपीचंद te:పుల్లెల గోపీచంద్

Coordinates	36°45′0″N144°16′0″N
name	''Dev Anand''
birth name	Dharmadev Anand
birth date	September 26, 1923
birth place	Shakargarh, Gurdaspur, Punjab, British India (now in Narowal District, Pakistan)
nationality	Indian
spouse	Kalpana Kartik (1954–present)
years active	1946–present
occupation	Actor, Producer, Director
other names	Dev Sahaab Dev Anand Bhai }}

Dharmadev Anand () (born 26 September, 1923), better known as Dev Anand (), is an Indian Hindi Cinema actor, director and film producer. Dev is the second of three brothers who were active in Hindi Cinema. His brothers are Chetan Anand and Vijay Anand. Their sister, Sheel Kanta Kapur, is the mother of renowned Hindi and English film director Shekhar Kapur. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan in 2001 and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2002 for his contributions towards Indian cinema.

Early life

Dev was born Dharmadev Kishorimal Anand on 23 September, 1923 in Shakargarh Tehsil of Gurudaspur district (now in Narowal District, Pakistan) in undivided Punjab, British India to advocate Kishorimal Anand. Dev is the second of three brothers born to Kishorimal Anand. Dev's younger sister is Sheela Kanta Kapur, who is mother of Shekhar Kapur. His older brother was Chetan Anand and younger one was Vijay Anand. Dev graduated in English literature from the Government College, Lahore, (now in Pakistan).

Career

Dev Anand, after graduating in English Literature from the Government College, Lahore, British India left his hometown and came to Mumbai in the early 1940s. He began his career in the military censor office at Churchgate, Mumbai, for a salary of Rs.200. He joined his older brother Chetan as a member of the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA).

He was soon offered a debut as an actor by Prabhat Talkies to star in their film ''Hum Ek Hain''(1946). While shooting for the film in Pune, Dev struck a friendship with another fellow legendary actor Guru Dutt. They had decided between themselves that if one of the two becomes successful first in film industry then they would help the other to be successful. It was a mutual understanding between them that when Dev Anand produced a film , Guru Dutt would direct it and when Guru Dutt directed a film, Dev Anand would act in it.

In the late forties Dev Anand got few offers to star opposite singer-actress Suraiya in woman oriented films, as the male lead. Dev Anand considered himself to be lucky to get a chance to star opposite such an established actress and accepted the offers. While shooting these films, he became romantically involved with Suraiya. The two of them were paired in six films together - Vidya, Shaair, Jeet, Afsar, Sanam and Do Sitaare, which were all successful at the box office and in these films Suraiya was always first billed in credits to imply she was a bigger star than Dev Anand. She fell in love with him during the shooting of a song sequence in the film Jeet — where unfortunately during shooting, a boat capsized and Dev Anand saved Suraiya from drowning. Her grandmother opposed the relationship as they were Muslim and Dev Anand Hindu, and so, Suraiya remained unmarried all her life. They stopped acting together after her grandmother opposed and Do Sitare was the last film of the pair to release. Although Dev had tasted success in the films he starred in with Suraiya, the producers and directors attributed the success of these films to the acting prowess and screen presence of Suraiya. Dev was looking for opportunity to play the main male lead in a film where his acting skills could be displayed as people were skeptic about Dev's acting abilities, .

Dev was offered his first big break by Ashok Kumar. He spotted Dev hanging around in the studios and picked him as the hero for the Bombay Talkies production, ''Ziddi'', costarring Kamini Kaushal (1948) which became an instant success. After Ziddi's success Dev had decided that he would start producing films. So in 1949, Dev turned producer and launched his own company ''Navketan''(which mean newness), which till 2011 has produced 31 films and continues to produce movies even today.

Dev chose Guru Dutt as director for the crime thriller, ''Baazi'' (1951). The film starring Dev Anand, Geeta Bali and Kalpana Kartik was a trendsetter regarded as the forerunner of the spate of urban crime films that followed in Bollywood in the 1950s. The film Baazi saw debut of Kalpana Kartik aka Mona Singh as the lead female actress and Guru Dutt as a director. The collaboration was a success at the box office and the pair Dev Anand - Kalpana Kartik were offered many films to star in together. They signed all the film offers and subsequently the movies Aandhiyan, Taxi Driver, House No. 44 and Nau Do Gyaarah went on to become big hits too. During the making of film Taxi Driver, the couple fell in love and Dev proposed marriage to his heroine Kalpana. In 1954 Taxi Driver was declared a hit and the two decided to marry in a quiet ceremony. The couple had a son, Suneil Anand in 1956. After her marriage Kalpana decided not to pursue her acting career further.

A rapid-fire style of dialogue delivery and a penchant for nodding while speaking became Dev's style in films like ''House No. 44'', ''Pocket Maar'', ''Munimji'', ''Funtoosh'', ''C.I.D.'' and ''Paying Guest''. In the fifties his films were based on mystery genre or light comedy love stories or were films with social relevance like ‘’Ek Ke Baad Ek’’ and ''Funtoosh''. His style was lapped up by the audience and was widely imitated. He starred in a string of box office successes for the remainder of the 1950s opposite newcomer Waheeda Rehman in C.I.D. (1956), ''Solva Saal'', ''Kala Pani'', ''Kala Bazar'' and ''Baat Ek Raat Ki''. Waheeda first became a star with C.I.D becoming a hit. In 1955 he also co-starred with Dilip Kumar in ''Insaniyat''. With his acting in ''Kala Pani'' (1958), as the son who is willing to go to any lengths to clear his framed father's name, he won his first Filmfare award for Best Actor for the film. He attempted films of tragic genre occasionally like Pocketmaar(1956), ''Kala Pani'' (1958), Bombai Ka Babu(1960) and Sharabi (1964) and tasted success in them. Dev also played a few characters with a negative shade, like in ''Jaal''(1952). Apart from his pair with Suraiya and Kalpana Kartik, his pair with Nutan and Waheeda Rehman was popular among the audiences in late 50’s and 60’s. His films ''Rahee'' and ''Aandhiyaan'', were screened along with Raj Kapoor's ''Awaara''. From the early fifties till mid sixties, the trio of Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand ruled the roost.

In the sixties, Dev Anand acquired romantic image with films like Manzil and Tere Ghar Ke Samne with Nutan, Kinaare Kinaare with Meena Kumari, Maya with Mala Sinha , Asli-Naqli with Sadhana Shivdasani, Jab Pyar Kisise Hota Hai and Mahal with Asha Parekh and Teen Deviyaan opposite three heroines Kalpana, Simi Garewal and Nanda. In the film Teen Deviyaan, Dev Anand played a playboy.Raj Kapoor though younger than Dev nand, started gaining weight and this affected his career and even Dilip Kumar's films started flopping in the late sixties. But Dev Anand,being slim and fit, continued to look much younger even in the late sixties and seventies. He gave many popular films till 1990 as the leading man.

His first colour film, ''Guide'' with Waheeda Rehman was based on the novel of the same name by R. K. Narayan. Dev Anand himself was the impetus for making the film version of the book. He met and persuaded Narayan to give his assent to the project. Dev Anand tapped his friends in Hollywood to launch an Indo-US co-production that was shot in Hindi and English simultaneously and was released in 1965. Guide, directed by younger brother Vijay Anand, was an acclaimed movie. Dev played Raju, a voluble guide, who supports Rosy (Waheeda) in her bid for freedom. He is not above thoughtlessly exploiting her for personal gains. Combining style with substance, he gave an affecting performance as a man grappling with his emotions in his passage through love, shame and salvation.

He reunited with Vijay Anand for the movie Jewel Thief, based on thriller genre which featured Vaijayantimala, Tanuja, Anju Mahendru, Faryal and Helen. Their next collaboration, Johny Mera Naam (1970), again a thriller, where Dev was paired opposite Hema Malini was a big hit.It was Johnny Mera Naam which made Hema Malini a big star.

His directorial debut, the espionage drama Prem Pujaari, was a flop but has developed a cult following over the years. He tasted success with his 1971 directorial effort, ''Hare Rama Hare Krishna'' which talked about the prevalent hippie culture. His find Zeenat Aman, who played the mini-skirt sporting, pot-smoking Janice, became an overnight sensation. Dev also became known as a filmmaker of trenchantly topical themes. This same year, he starred with Mumtaz in ''Tere Mere Sapne'', an adaptation of A. J. Cronin's novel, ''The Citadel''. The film was directed by Dev's brother, Vijay and was also successful.

In the 1970s, Raj Kapoor started playing roles of father in films like Kal Aaj Aur Kal in 1971 and Dharam Karam in 1974 and films with Dilip Kumar as lead hero were failures at box office. Some of the hurriedly made films with Dev Anand as the leading man – three each opposite Hema Malini and Zeenat Aman and Yeh Gulistaan Hamara with Sharmila Tagore became flops and posed a threat to his career as leading man. But he delivered hits again and romanced young heroines Yogita Bali and Rakhee in Banarasi Babu(1973), Hema Malini in Chhupa Rustam(1973) and Amir Ghareeb(1974), Zeenat Aman in Heera Panna(1973), Warrant(1975) and Darling Darling(1977). In 1976, his brother directed a mystery flick named Bullet which though critically acclaimed was not successful at box office.

The presence of his '''discoveries''' in the 70’s— the Zeenat and later, the Tina Munim in films and his good chemistry with beautiful young stars like Rakhee, Parveen Babi, Hema Malini, Zeenat Aman in various films boosted Dev's image as the evergreen star even though he was well into his fifties.

Dev Anand has also been politically active. He led a group of film personalities who stood up against the Internal Emergency imposed by the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi. He actively campaigned against her with his supporters in Indian parliamentary elections in 1977. He also formed a party called the National Party of India, which he later disbanded.

The 1978 hit ''Des Pardes'', directed by Dev Anand was the debut was actress Tina Munim and this film’s success gave him the tag of evergreen hero. He was 55 but he shared very good chemistry with the 20 year old Tina Munim. Dev Anand was offered lead role in Man Pasand by director Basu Chatterjee. Dev Anand’s successful run at the box office continued in the 1980’s with Man Pasand, Lootmaar(both opposite Tina Munim), Swami Dada(1982) being both critically acclaimed and box office hits.

Though Dev Anand’s demand as the lead hero had not decreased even in the 1980s, he decided that it was the right time to introduce his son Suneil Anand in films as the hero. He launched his son in the Kramer vs. Kramer inspired Anand Aur Anand (1984), which was produced and directed by Dev Anand himself and had music by R.D.Burman. He expected the film to do well but the film was a box office disaster and Suneil Anand decided to not act in films any more.

But the of films with Dev Anand as the lead hero Hum Naujawan (1985), Lashkar (1989) and Awwal Number(1990) , where Dev Anand costarred with Aamir Khan were average grossers and appreciated by critics. He was already sixty year old in 1983 when he acted with Padmini Kolhapuri in Swami Dada but did not look old. In 1989, his directorial venture the critically acclaimed Sachché Ka Bolbala was released but it was a commercial failure.

Since the 1990s except for Awwal Number, rest of the eight films directed by him were box office failures. But Sau Crore (1991) and Censor (2000) were critically acclaimed.

Dev Anand has directed 19 films and produced 31 films of which 7 directorial ventures and 18 films respectively were commercially successful at the box office. He wrote the story for 13 of his films. Critics say his directorial ventures have always been ahead of its time. Dev Anand's films are well known for their hit songs. He is known to have been an active participant in the music sessions of a number of his films. His association with music composers Shankar-Jaikishen, O. P. Nayyar, Kalyanji-Anandji, Sachin Dev Burman and his son Rahul Dev Burman, lyricists Hasrat Jaipuri, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Neeraj, Shailendra, Anand Bakshi, and playback singers Mohammad Rafi and Kishore Kumar produced some very popular songs. S.D Burman, R.D Burman, Rafi and Kishore Kumar were his special friends.

In September 2007, Dev's own autobiography "Romancing with Life" was released at a birthday party with the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. In Febraury 2011, his 1961 black and white film Hum Dono was digitised and colourised and released.

Dev Anand is credited with giving actors like Jackie Shroff in Swami Dada, Tabu in Hum Naujawan and Richa Sharma a break into the film industry and encouraging music composer Rajesh Roshan. Amit Khanna started his career with Navketan as executive producer in 1971 and had been secretary to Dev Anand in 70's.

Awards, honours and recognitions

Filmfare Awards

1955 - Nominated Best Actor for ''Munimji'' 1958 - Winner Best Actor for ''Kalapani'' 1959 - Nominated Best Actor for ''Love Marriage''

1960 - Nominated Best Actor for ''Kala Bazar''

1961 - Nominated Best Actor for ''Hum Dono'' 1966 - Winner Best Film for ''Guide'' 1991 - Winner Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award

National honours and recognitions

1996 - Star Screen Lifetime Achievement Award

1997 - "Mumbai Academy of Moving Images Award" for his Outstanding Services to the Indian Film Industry.

1998 - "Lifetime Achievement Award" by the Ujala Anandlok Film Awards Committee in Calcutta.

1999 - Sansui "Lifetime Achievement Award" for his 'Immense Contribution to Indian Cinema' in New Delhi.

2000 - Film Goers' "Mega Movie Maestro of the Millennium" Award in Mumbai.

2001 - Padma Bhushan Award (India's third highest civilian award from the Government of India).

2001 - "Special Screen Award" for his contribution to Indian cinema.

2001 - "Evergreen Star of the Millennium" Award at the Zee Gold Bollywood Awards

2002 - Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest award for cinematic excellence

2003 - "Lifetime Achievement Award" for ‘Outstanding Achievement in Indian Cinema’ at IIFA Award in Johannesburg, South Africa.

2004 - "Legend of Indian Cinema" Award at Atlantic City (United States).

2004 - "Living Legend Award" by the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in recognition of his contribution to the Indian entertainment industry.

2005 - "Sony Golden Glory Award"

2006 - "ANR Award" by the Akkineni International Foundation.

2006 - "Glory of India Award" by IIAF, London.

2007 - "Punjab Ratan" (Jewel of Punjab) Award by the World Punjabi Organisation (European Division) for his outstanding contribution in the field of art and entertainment.

2008 - "Lifetime Achievement Award" by Ramya Cultural Academy in association with Vinmusiclub

2008 - "Lifetime Achievement Award" by Rotary Club of Bombay

2008 - Awarded at the IIJS Solitaire Awards

2009 - Outstanding contribution to Indian cinema at the Max Stardust Awards

2010 - "Phalke Ratna Award" by Dadasaheb Phalke Academy.

He is also a recipient of the Rashtriya Gaurav Award

International honors and recognitions

In July 2000, in New York City, he was honoured by an Award at the hands of the then First Lady of the United States of America - Mrs. Hillary Rodham Clinton - for his 'Outstanding Contribution to Indian Cinema'.

In 2000, he was awarded the Indo-American Association "Star of the Millennium" Award in the Silicon Valley, California.

Donna Ferrar, Member New York State Assembly, honoured him with a "New York State Assembly Citation" for his 'Outstanding Contribution to the Cinematic Arts Worthy of the Esteem and Gratitude of the Great State of New York' on 1 May 2001.

In 2005, he was honoured with a "Special National Film Award" by the Government of Nepal at Nepal’s first NationIndian film festival in Stockholm.

In 2008 he was guest of honour at a dinner hosted by the Provost of Highland Council in Inverness, Scotland to celebrate 10 years since he first worked in the Scottish Highlands. He spent several days in the area, en route to Cannes, as a guest of the Highlands and Islands Film Commission. .

Filmography

References

External links

List of Dev Anand songs

Category:1923 births Category:Indian Hindus Category:Living people Category:Indian film actors Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan Category:Ravians Category:Filmfare Awards winners Category:People from Gurdaspur Category:Dadasaheb Phalke Award recipients Category:Indian actors Category:Hindi film actors Category:Indian film producers Category:Hindi-language film directors Category:Indian film directors Category:People from Mumbai

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Coordinates	36°45′0″N144°16′0″N
name	Dadasaheb Phalke
birth date	April 30, 1870
death date	February 16, 1944 (aged 73)
filmfareawards	}}

Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, popularly known as Dadasaheb Phalke (Marathi: दादासाहेब फाळके ) (30 April 1870 - 16 February 1944) was an Indian producer-director-screenwriter, known as ''the father of Indian cinema''. Starting with his debut film, ''Raja Harishchandra'' 1913, now known as India's first full-length feature, he made 95 movies and 26 short films in his career span of 19 years, till 1937, including his most noted works: Mohini Bhasmasur (1913), Satyavan Savitri (1914), Lanka Dahan (1917), Shri Krishna Janma (1918) and Kaliya Mardan (1919).

The Dadasaheb Phalke Award for lifetime contribution to cinema, was instituted in his honor, by Government of India in 1969, and is the most prestigious and coveted award in Indian Cinema.

Biography

Early life and education

Dhundiraj Govind Phalke was born on 30 April 1870 at Trimbakeshwar, 30 km from Nasik, Maharashtra, India, where his father was an accomplished Sanskrit scholar.

He joined Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai in 1885. After passing from J.J. School in 1890, Phalke went to the Kala Bhavan in Baroda, where he studied sculpture, engineering, drawing, painting and photography.

Early career

He began his career as a small town photographer in Godhra but had to leave business after the death of his first wife and child in an outbreak of the bubonic plague. He soon met the German magician Carl Hertz, one of the 40 magicians employed by the Lumiere Brothers.

Soon after, he had the opportunity to work with the Archeological Survey of India as a draftsman. However, restless with his job and its constraints, he turned to the business of printing. He specialized in lithography and oleograph, and worked for painter Raja Ravi Varma. Phalke later started his own printing press, made his first trip abroad to Germany, to learn about the latest technology and machinery.

Film

However, following a dispute with his partners about the running of the press, he gave up printing and turned his attention to moving pictures, after watching a silent film, ''The Life of Christ'' and envisioning Indian gods on the screen. Phalke made his first film, ''Raja Harishchandra'', in 1912; it was first shown publicly on 3 May 1913 at Mumbai's Coronation Cinema, effectively marking the beginning of the Indian film industry. Around one year before, Ramchandra Gopal (known as Dadasaheb Torne) had filmed a stage drama called ''Pundalik'' and shown it in the same theater. However, the credit for making the first Indian feature film is attributed to Dadasaheb Phalke.

Once again, Phalke proved successful in his new art, and proceeded to make several silent films, shorts, documentary feature, educational, comic, tapping all the potential of this new medium. However, film, having proved its financial viability, soon attracted businessmen who favored money over aesthetics.

Hindustan Films

Phalke formed a film company, Hindustan Films in partnership with five businessmen from Mumbai, in the hope that by having the financial aspect of his profession handled by experts in the field, he would be free to pursue the creative aspect. He set up a model studio and trained technicians, actors, but very soon, he ran into insurmountable problems with his partners. In 1920, Phalke resigned from Hindustan company, made his first announcement of retirement from cinema, and he wrote 'Rangbhoomi', an acclaimed play. Lacking his imaginative genius, the Hindustan company ran into deep financial loss, and he was finally persuaded to return. However, Phalke felt constrained by the business, and, after directing a few films for the company, he withdrew.

Sound film

But then the times changed and Phalke fell victim to the emerging technology of sound film. Unable to cope with the talkies, the man who had fathered the Indian film industry became obsolete. His last silent movie ''“Setubandhan”'' was released in 1932, which later released by dubbing voice. During 1936-38, he produced his last film ''Gangavataran'' (1937), before retiring to Nashik, where he died on 16 February 1944.

Selected filmography

''Raja Harishchandra'' (1913)

''Shri Krishna Janma'' (1918)

''Kaliya Mardan'' (1919)

''Setu Bandhan'' (1932)

''Gangavataran'' (1937)

In popular culture

In 2009, Marathi film ''Harishchandrachi Factory'', depicting the struggle of Dadasaheb Phalke in making ''Raja Harishchandra'' in 1913, India's first feature film, directed by theater-veteran Paresh Mokashi was selected as India's official entry to Academy Award in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

Further reading

''Dadasaheb Phalke, the Father of Indian Cinema'', by Bapu Vatave, National Book Trust, 2004. ISBN 81-237-4319-X.

References

External links

List of Silent films made in India

Dadasaheb Phalke @ SPICE

Website on Dada Saheb Phalke

Category:Indian film directors Category:Hindi-language film directors Category:Marathi film directors Category:Marathi cinema Category:Indian film producers Category:1870 births Category:1944 deaths Category:Sir J. J. School of Art alumni Category:People from Vadodara Category:People from Nashik

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Coordinates	36°45′0″N144°16′0″N
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Enrique Martín Morales
Alias	Ricky Martin
Born	December 24, 1971San Juan, Puerto Rico
Genre	Pop, Latin pop, dance-pop, world, reggae, urban pop
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, actor
Years active	1984–present
Label	Columbia, Sony Music Latin, Sony Music Mexico
Associated acts	Menudo
website	}}

Enrique "Ricky" Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), better known as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican pop singer and actor who achieved prominence, first as a member of the Latin boy band Menudo, then as a solo artist since 1991.

During his career he has sold more than 60 million albums worldwide. He is the founder of ''Ricky Martin Foundation'' (in Spanish ''Fundación Ricky Martin''), a non-profit charity organization. Ricky Martin's exuberant 1999 single "Livin' la Vida Loca" made him a prominent figure of Latin dance-pop. Martin got his start with the all-boy pop group Menudo; after five years with the group, he released his Spanish-language solo album, ''Ricky Martin'', in 1991. He also acted on stage and on TV in Mexico, becoming a modest star there. In 1994 he starred on the American TV soap opera ''General Hospital'', playing a Puerto Rican singer. In 1999, after several albums in Spanish, he released his first English-language album (also titled ''Ricky Martin''), which included the salsa-style "Livin' la Vida Loca". The album sold 22 million copies and brought Martin international fame. His other studio albums include: ''Me Amarás'' (1993), ''A Medio Vivir'' (1995), ''Vuelve'' (1998), ''Sound Loaded'' (2000), ''Almas del Silencio'' (2003), ''Life'' (2005), and ''Música + Alma + Sexo'' (2011). In 2010 Martin announced that he was a "fortunate homosexual man", ending years of fan speculation on the topic.

On the edge of the new millennium, Martin—almost by himself—gave Latino music an international face. An acclaimed performance at the 1999 Grammy Awards launched Martin into worldwide super-stardom. As ''Entertainment Weekly'''s Andrew Essex reported, "his leather-pants, electro-pelvis version of 'La Copa de la Vida' single-handedly goosed a very dull [Grammy] telecast, earning him a standing ovation."

Martin's twin sons, Matteo and Valentino, were born via a surrogate mother in 2008. Martin also co-owns a Miami restaurant, Casa Salsa, and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007.

Early life

Martin was born on December 24, 1971, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the son of Nereida Morales, an accountant, and Enrique Martín Negroni, a psychologist. His parents divorced when he was two; his father remarried. Martin has two maternal half-brothers, Fernando and Ángel Fernández, and two paternal half-brothers, Eric and Daniel Martín, and a paternal half-sister Vanessa Martín. Martin grew up in a Roman Catholic home and was an altar boy until he joined Menudo. Martin has some Corsican and Spanish ancestry as his paternal fourth great-grandfathers were born in Rogliano, Cap Corse, Corsica, and Vilanova i la Geltrú, Catalonia (Spain).

Ricky Martin was a member of Puerto Rican boy band Menudo between 1984 and 1989.

After completing high school, Martin left San Juan and moved to New York City. Later, Martin moved to Mexico City where he attended the national school of space. He played lead role in a 1989 musical-theatre release named ''Mis Tennis Rojos'' (''My Red Tennis Shoes'') next to Angélica Vale and then followed another theater production ''Mama Ama el Rock'' (''Mom Loves Rock'').

Career

Early solo work: 1991–1994

In 1991, Ricky Martin participated in a telenovela titled ''Alcanzar una estrella II'' next to Sasha Sokol. Out of this soap opera a musical group was formed named Muñecos de Papel in which he was one of the six members; they toured several cities in Mexico and recorded two albums. His main single was "Juego de Ajedrez". A film based on the TV series was also produced in which Martin played Pablo, earning a Heraldo Award in 1993.

While acting in Mexico, Martin was signed to Sony Discos, the Sony Music Entertainment's Latin imprint, in 1990. He released his first solo album, the Spanish-language ''Ricky Martin'', in November 1991, which included the hit singles: "Fuego Contra Fuego" and "El Amor de Mi Vida". Later, Ricky Martin performed a string of sold-out concert dates across South America.

In May 1993, Martin released his second solo album, ''Me Amarás'', which featured a Spanish-language cover of the Laura Branigan song "Self Control", titled "Que Dia Es Hoy".

Martin moved to Los Angeles, California in 1994 and landed a role as bartender and singer Miguel Morez in the American soap opera ''General Hospital''.

Breakthrough: 1995–1998

In 1995, Martin refocused on his music career, and his third album, ''A Medio Vivir'', became an international breakthrough. With this album, Martin made a shift from formulaic hit ballads to a more risky fusion of music centered around traditional Latin sounds, epitomized by the hit "Maria". The song broke Martin into Europe via Spain. "Maria" went to number one in France, Belgium Wallonia and Australia, and reached the top ten in most European countries; it even charted on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number eighty-eight. With the ballad "Te Extraño, Te Olvido, Te Amo", Martin furthered his expansion from Latin American and Spanish-speaking audiences to the European and Asian markets. The album has sold over 3 million copies worldwide.

After the conclusion of a worldwide tour, Martin returned to New York to appear in a Broadway theatre production for the first time, joining the cast of the hit musical ''Les Misérables'' to play the romantic lead, Marius Pontmercy.

While on Broadway, Martin returned to the studio and recorded his fourth album, ''Vuelve'' (1998). The title track and the ballad "Perdido Sin Tí" both hit number one on the Hot Latin Songs. The album's pinnacle, however, was "La Copa de la Vida", which Martin made a major hit in an English version when he was chosen to sing the anthem of the 1998 FIFA World Cup. "La Copa de la Vida" reached number one on the charts around the world and went gold and platinum in various countries. It was awarded Pop Song of the Year at the 1999 Lo Nuestro Awards. Further singles included: "La Bomba", "Por Arriba, Por Abajo" and "Corazonado". ''Vuelve'' spent twenty-six weeks at number one on the Billboard Top Latin Albums. It became Martin's first top forty album on the Billboard 200 in the United States, where it was certified platinum by the RIAA. The album also went to number one in Spain and Norway, and sold over eight million copies worldwide.

Martin was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Album for ''Vuelve'', and was booked to sing on the 41st Grammy Awards live TV broadcast. The now-legendary performance of "The Cup of Life" stopped the show, earning Martin an unexpected standing ovation and introducing the star to the mainstream American audience. Martin capped off the evening by winning the Grammy Award.

Crossover to English: 1999–2002

After several years as a major star in Spanish-speaking countries, Martin prepared his first English album in 1999. The self-titled album contained material by writers and producers such as Desmond Child, Diane Warren, William Orbit, George Noriega and his longtime childhood friend Draco Rosa. The album also featured special guests: Madonna on the Spanish-English duet "Be Careful (Cuidado con mi Corazón)" and Meja on "Private Emotion".

The first and most prominent single was "Livin' la Vida Loca", which reached number one in many countries around the world, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand. It was followed by "She's All I Ever Had" which peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. Both tracks peaked at number one on the Hot Latin Songs. "Livin' la Vida Loca" is generally seen as the song that began the Latin pop explosion of 1999 and made the transition of other Latin artists (first Jennifer Lopez and Enrique Iglesias, then later Shakira) into the English-speaking market easier. ''Ricky Martin'' became one of the top-selling albums of 1999, and was certified 7× platinum in the United States, selling over 22 million copies worldwide. In Cctober 1999, Martin embarked on a very successful year-long Livin' la Vida Loca Tour.

After this success, a new English-language album, ''Sound Loaded'', was released in November 2000. It debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 and was certified 2× platinum by the RIAA. "She Bangs" and "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely" (duet with Christina Aguilera) peaked at number twelve and thirteen on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively. Both singles reached number one on the Hot Latin Songs. ''Sound Loaded'' has sold over 8 million copies worldwide.

In February 2001, Martin released a Spanish greatest hits album entitled ''La Historia'', which went to number one for five weeks on the Billboard Top Latin Albums and debuted at number eighty-three on the Billboard 200. It also topped the chart in Sweden for three weeks. The album contained reworkings of two of his early songs "Fuego Contra Fuego" and "El Amor de Mi Vida". In November 2001, an English-language greatest hits album, ''The Best of Ricky Martin'' was released outside North America. It contained two new remixes of "Amor".

''Almas del Silencio'' and ''Life'': 2003–2006

In May 2003, Martin released a new Spanish album ''Almas del Silencio''. The first single, "Tal Vez", debuted at number one on the Hot Latin Songs and stayed there for eleven weeks. Martin said of the new album: "I really needed to go back to focus, to my center, to the beginning. I had the need to search within, and really dig deep, and find those emotions that, because of the adrenaline and the euphoria that I lived for a couple of years, were probably sabotaged." ''Almas del Silencio'' debuted at number twelve on the Billboard 200 and reached number one on the Billboard Top Latin Albums where it stayed for six weeks. The album sold more than one million copies worldwide. The next singles, "Jaleo" and "Y Todo Queda en Nada", reached number one on the Hot Latin Songs. "Jaleo" also topped the chart in Spain for four weeks.

In October 2005, Martin released his first English-language album since 2000's ''Sound Loaded'' and the tenth album of his career. Most of the songs on the album, called ''Life'', were co-written by Martin. He commented on the album: "I was really in touch with my emotions. I think this album is very multi-layered, just like life is. It's about feeling anger. It's about feeling joy. It's about feeling uncertainty. It's about feeling. And all my emotions are part of this production." The album debuted at number six on the Billboard 200. The first single from the album, "I Don't Care", featured guest appearances by Fat Joe and Amerie. It peaked at number three on the Hot Dance Club Songs and number sixty-five on the Billboard Hot 100. Another song from the album, "It's Alright" was re-recorded as a duet with French singer M. Pokora. It was successful in French-speaking countries, reaching number four in France.

Soon after, Martin announced his One Night Only with Ricky Martin tour. Starting in Mexico City, the tour premiered on November 15, 2005. After finishing the first leg which included Latin America and the United States, Martin performed at the 2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremony in Turin. A few days later, he announced the second leg of his world tour, which included Europe and Africa. The second leg started on April 21, 2006 in Manchester, UK, and ended on June 3, 2006 in Tel Aviv, Israel.

''MTV Unplugged'' and a world tour: 2006–2007

On August 17, 2006, Ricky Martin taped his ''MTV Unplugged'' concert in Miami. It premiered on MTV Latin America, MTV Tr3s and MTV Puerto Rico in October 2006 and was released on CD and DVD in November 2006. The album was a critical and commercial success. It debuted at number one on the Billboard Top Latin Albums and number thirty-eight on the Billboard 200. At the Latin Grammy Awards of 2008, ''MTV Unplugged'' received Latin Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Album and for Best Long Form Music Video. The first single, "Tu Recuerdo" which featured La Mari of Chambao, reached number one for three weeks on the Hot Latin Songs. The next single, "Pégate" peaked at number six on the Hot Dance Club Songs.

On February 19, 2007, Martin began his worldwide Black and White Tour which started with a performance at the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in Puerto Rico and concluded with a presentation at the Madison Square Garden in New York City on October 14, 2007. He also recorded a duet with Eros Ramazzotti, "Non siamo soli" which topped the Italian chart for eleven consecutive weeks.

Career break: 2007–2010

After finishing his worldwide tour, Martin took a break from the music industry and focused on his private life. In November 2007, Sony BMG Norte released ''Ricky Martin Live: Black and White Tour'' on CD, DVD and Blu-ray Disc. One year later, a Spanish-language greatest hits album was released, entitled ''17''. It was a summary of seventeen years of Martin's musical career, which included mostly Spanish-language songs.

Autobiography and a new album: 2010–present

Ricky Martin's autobiography, ''Me'', was published on November 2, 2010. The book became ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list, debuting at number five on the Hardcover Nonfiction list. A Spanish-language edition entitled ''Yo'' was published simultaneously.

Martin's new single, "The Best Thing About Me Is You" featuring Joss Stone also premiered on November 2, 2010 and peaked at number seventy-four on the Billboard Hot 100. The Spanish version, "Lo Mejor de Mi Vida Eres Tú" topped the Hot Latin Songs for two weeks. It was followed by a new studio album, ''Música + Alma + Sexo'' released on January 31, 2011. It debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 and became the highest charting, primarily-Spanish language album in the United States, since ''Dreaming of You'' by Selena. ''Música + Alma + Sexo'' also represents the highest ever chart debut on the Billboard 200 for a Sony Music Latin release. It spent two weeks at number one on the Billboard Top Latin Albums. On March 25, 2011, Martin started his Música + Alma + Sexo World Tour, which will end on November 12, 2011. The second single from the album, "Más" was released on April 5, 2011 and peaked at number seven on the Hot Dance Club Songs. "Frío" featuring Wisin & Yandel was chosen as the third single.

''17: Greatest Hits'' was released on July 11, 2011 exclusively in the United Kingdom.

Ricky Martin will be playing Ché in the Broadway revival of the show ''Evita'', scheduled to begin previews on Broadway in March 2012, ahead of an opening in April 2012.

Personal life

In the past Martin stated he was in love with Mexican TV host Rebecca de Alba, with whom he had an off-and-on-again relationship for over 14 years. They even talked of starting a family together, and at one point Martin planned on proposing. However with the release of ''Life'' in 2005, Martin confirmed he and De Alba had parted ways.

In August 2008, Martin became the father of twin boys, Matteo and Valentino. The babies were birthed by a surrogate mother.

After the success of "Livin' la Vida Loca", Martin's personal life became a subject of interest due to his large gay following, and he was questioned about his sexual orientation. In a December 2000 interview with ''The Mirror'', Martin was asked to comment on the rumors surrounding his sexuality. He replied that "I don't think I should have to tell anyone if I am gay or not, or who I've slept with or not." Along with this, Martin reportedly stated in an interview with ''Plus 7 Days'' magazine, "If I were gay, why not admit it? I am a normal man. I love women and sex. I am a real hot-blooded Puerto Rican, but I have never been attracted by sex with a man."

On March 29, 2010, Martin publicly acknowledged his homosexuality in a post on his official web site by stating, "I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am." Martin said that "these years in silence and reflection made me stronger and reminded me that acceptance has to come from within, and that this kind of truth gives me the power to conquer emotions I didn't even know existed." In 2010, prior to Martin coming out, Barbara Walters expressed some regret for pushing Martin in a 2000 interview to admit if he was gay. The ''Toronto Star'' quoted her as saying, "When I think back on it now, I feel it was an inappropriate question."

Martin announced on ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' that he is in a relationship. Martin has also expressed support for same-sex marriage in an interview on ''Larry King Live'', and commented on his experience of being closeted and coming out. "[E]verything about saying [that I am gay] feels right...", Martin stated, adding "if I’d known how good it was going to feel, I would have done it ten years ago."

Martin was raised Catholic, but says he is open to all sorts of religious beliefs, especially the Buddhist philosophy, although he does not identify as a Buddhist.

Humanitarian work

Martin is the founder of ''Fundación Ricky Martin'' (), a non-profit organization. Among the events promoted by the foundation was a summer camp, which included Martin's personal participation.

Martin has been honored with many accolades for his humanitarian efforts including: Leadership in the Arts Award, ''Billboard'''s Spirit of Hope Award, ALMA Award, Vanguard Award, International Humanitarian Award by the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children, Hispanic Heritage Award for his humanitarian work through the Sabera Foundation in rescuing three orphan girls from the streets of Kolkata (September 2002).

Martin has also collaborated with the International Organization for Migration on the ''Llama y Vive'' (''Call and Live''), a campaign which is aimed to facilitate prevention of human trafficking, protection of the youngest victims of child trafficking, and prosecution of the traffickers. For his work against human trafficking, the United States Department of State named Martin one of its Heroes in Ending Modern-Day Slavery in 2005.

Politics

Martin was a headliner in the 2001 inauguration ball for President George W. Bush; he even invited the newly elected president to join him on stage to dance. This image was captured by photographers and broadcast in various media throughout the world. Martin referred to it in a later song, "Asignatura Pendiente".

Martin has since changed his position on the former President. In a concert in Puerto Rico during the song ''Asignatura Pendiente'' Martin thrust his middle finger disapprovingly in the air while singing the line "photo with Bush". The gesture met with audience approval but caused a minor controversy with the media. Martin said in an e-mail statement sent to the Associated Press via a spokesman: "My convictions of peace and life go beyond any government and political agenda and as long as I have a voice onstage and offstage, I will always condemn war and those who promulgate it".

Martin supported Hillary Rodham Clinton over Barack Obama in the landslide Clinton victory in the Puerto Rican Democratic primary on June 3, 2008.

Discography

''Ricky Martin'' (1991)

''Me Amarás'' (1993)

''A Medio Vivir'' (1995)

''Vuelve'' (1998)

''Ricky Martin'' (1999)

''Sound Loaded'' (2000)

''Almas del Silencio'' (2003)

''Life'' (2005)

''Música + Alma + Sexo'' (2011)

Filmography

1987 : ''Por siempre amigos'' (TV series) as Ricky

1990 : ''Alcanzar una estrella'' (TV series) as Pablo Loredo

1991 : ''Alcanzar una estrella II'' (TV series) as Pablo Loredo

1992 : ''Más que alcanzar una estrella'' as Enrique

1993 : ''Getting By'' (TV series) as Martin

1993 : ''General Hospital'' (TV series) as Miguel Morez (1994–1996)

1996 : ''Barefoot in Paradise'' (TV series) as Sandoval

1997 : ''Hercules'' (Spanish Language, Voice Only) as Hercules.

2002 : ''Les Diables'' as Brian Rodriquez

2003 : ''Ricky Martin: En la intimidad'' (TV) as a guest star

;Television appearances

''Phua Chu Kang'' (2003) – as himself (guest appearance in season 6)

''General Hospital'' (1995) (television series) – Miguel Morez (unknown episodes, 1994–95)

''Alcanzar una estrella'' (1991) (television series)

''Sos mi vida'' (2006) – as himself

''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' (2011) – as himself (guest appearance in season 25)

''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' (2010) - as himself

''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' (2011) - as himself

Theatre

''Les Misérables'' (1996), Broadway – Marius

''Evita'', (2012), Broadway – scheduled

Tours

{| |- ! style="width:350px;"| ! style="width:350px;"| |- ||Ricky Martin Tour || (1992) |- ||Me Amaras Tour || (1993–1994) |- ||A Medio Vivir Tour || (1995–1997) |- ||Vuelve World Tour || (1998) |- ||Livin' la Vida Loca Tour || (1999–2000) |- ||One Night Only with Ricky Martin || (2005–2006) |- ||Black and White Tour || (2007) |- ||Música + Alma + Sexo World Tour || (2011) |}

Records and achievements

Martin was chosen along with Félix Trinidad in 1999, to lead Puerto Rico's worldwide tourism campaign, both exemplifying Puerto Rico's youthfulness, enthusiasm and indefatigable character.

In February 2004, Martin received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Lo Nuestro Awards in Miami.

Martin was honored as the 2006 Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year by the Latin Recording Academy on November 1, 2006. He was chosen for his accomplishments as a world renowned entertainer, consummate performer and passionate humanitarian. A portion of the proceeds from the evening's tribute dinner was used for benefitting Ricky Martin's charitable efforts.

On October 16, 2007, Martin received the 2351st Hollywood Walk of Fame star, shortly after receiving the key to the city of Miami Beach, Florida on October 11. The star is located besides the Hollywood and Highland complex. Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Rita Moreno were invited to the unveiling ceremony.

In addition to the numerous awards received throughout his musical career, Martin has also been honored with many accolades for his humanitarian efforts.

|- style="background:#ddd;" | colspan="5" style="text-align:center;"| Grammy |- style="background:#ddd;" | colspan="5" style="text-align:center;"| Latin Grammy

See also

List of best-selling music artists

List of Puerto Ricans

Honorific nicknames in popular music

White Latin American

Notes

External links

Category:1971 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century actors Category:American humanitarians Category:American philanthropists Category:English-language singers Category:Gay actors Category:Hispanic and Latino American actors Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Latin Grammy Award winners Category:Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year Honorees Category:Latin pop singers Category:LGBT Christians Category:LGBT parents Category:LGBT Hispanic and Latino American people Category:LGBT people from Puerto Rico Category:LGBT television personalities Category:LGBT musicians from the United States Category:Menudo members Category:People from Los Angeles, California Category:People from San Juan, Puerto Rico Category:Puerto Rican male singers Category:Puerto Rican people of Catalonian descent Category:Puerto Rican people of Corsican descent Category:Puerto Rican people of Spanish descent Category:Puerto Rican pop singers Category:Puerto Rican Roman Catholics Category:Puerto Rican soap opera actors Category:Puerto Rican stage actors Category:Spanish-language singers Category:World Music Awards winners

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