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blackkudos · 5 years ago

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Rosario Dawson

Rosario Isabel Dawson (born May 9, 1979) is an American actress and singer. She made her feature film debut in the 1995 independent drama Kids. Her subsequent film roles include He Got Game (1998), Josie and the Pussycats (2001), Men in Black II (2002), Rent (2005), Sin City (2005), Clerks II (2006), Death Proof (2007), Unstoppable (2010), and Top Five (2014). Dawson has also provided voice-over work for Disney, Warner Bros., DC Comics, and ViacomCBS' Nickelodeon unit.

For her role in Rent, Dawson won the Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture; for her role in Top Five, she was nominated for the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress in a Comedy.

Dawson is also known for having several roles in comic book adaptations. These include Gail in Sin City (2005) and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014), providing the voices of Diana Prince / Wonder Woman in the DC Animated Movie Universe and Barbara Gordon / Batgirl in The Lego Batman Movie, as well as her portrayal of Claire Temple in five of the Marvel/Netflix series: Daredevil (2015–2016), Jessica Jones (2015), Luke Cage (2016–2018), Iron Fist and The Defenders (both 2017).

Early life

Dawson was born on May 9, 1979, in New York City. Her mother, Isabel Celeste, is of Cuban and Puerto Rican ancestry. Isabel was 16 years old when Rosario was born; she never married Rosario's biological father, Patrick C. Harris. When Rosario was a year old, her mother married Greg Dawson, a construction worker. Dawson has a half-brother, Clay, who is four years younger.

Isabel and Greg sublet their 199 Avenue A apartment to Paul de Rienzo and moved their family into a reclaimed building after being approved by the 544 East 13 Street residents on the Lower East Side of Manhattan as members of a affordable housing plan. During that time Rosario and Clay would also grow up in Texas. Dawson has cited this part of her history when explaining how she learned that, "If you wanted something better, you had to do it all yourself."

Career

As a child, Dawson made a brief appearance on Sesame Street. At the age of 15, she was subsequently discovered on her front-porch step by photographer Larry Clark and Harmony Korine, where Korine lauded her as being perfect for a part he had written in his screenplay that would become the controversial 1995 film Kids. She went on to star in varied roles, ranging from independent films to big budget blockbusters including Rent, He Got Game and Men in Black II.

In 1998, Dawson teamed up with Prince for the re-release of his 1980s hit "1999". The new remixed version featured the actress in an introductory voice over, offering commentary on the state of the world in the year before the new millennium. The following year, she appeared in The Chemical Brothers' video for the song "Out of Control" from the album Surrender. She is also featured on the track "She Lives In My Lap" from the second disc of the OutKast album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, in which she speaks the intro and a brief interlude towards the end.

In 2001, she appeared in the movie, Josie and the Pussycats as band member Valerie Brown.

Dawson starred as Naturelle Rivera, the love interest of a convicted drug dealer played by Edward Norton, in the 2002 Spike Lee film drama, 25th Hour. In the 2004 Oliver Stone film Alexander, she played the bride of Alexander the Great. In the autumn of 2005, Dawson appeared on stage as Julia in the Public Theater's "Shakespeare in the Park" revival of Two Gentlemen of Verona. It was her first appearance on stage.

In the film adaptation of the popular musical Rent in 2005, she played the exotic dancer Mimi Marquez, replacing Daphne Rubin-Vega, who was pregnant and unable to play the part. She also appeared in the adaptation of the graphic novel Sin City, co-directed by Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller, portraying Gail, a prostitute-dominatrix. Also in that year, she appeared in a graphically violent scene in the Rob Zombie film The Devil's Rejects. Though the scene was cut from the final film, it is available in the deleted scenes on the DVD release.

She starred as Becky in 2006's Clerks II, and mentioned in Back to the Well, the making-of documentary, that the donkey show sequence was what made her decide to take the role. In May of the same year, Dawson, an avid comic book fan, co-created and co-wrote the comic book miniseries Occult Crimes Taskforce. She was at the 2007 San Diego Comic-Con to promote the comic. She co-starred with former Rent alum Tracie Thoms in the Quentin Tarantino throwback movie Death Proof in 2007, part of the Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez double feature Grindhouse. She teamed up with friend Talia Lugacy, whom she met at the Lee Strasberg Academy, to produce and star in Descent. On July 7, 2007, Dawson presented at the American leg of Live Earth.

In 2008, Dawson starred with Will Smith in Seven Pounds and in Eagle Eye, produced by Steven Spielberg. Beginning in August, she starred in Gemini Division, an online science fiction series. In the computer animated series Afterworld, she voiced the character Officer Delondre Baines. On January 17, 2009, Dawson hosted Saturday Night Live. Later in the year, she voiced Artemis of Bana-Mighdall in the animated film Wonder Woman.

In 2009, Dawson performed in The People Speak, a documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans, based on historian Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. In 2009, Dawson also voiced the character of Velvet Von Black in Rob Zombie's animated feature, The Haunted World of El Superbeasto. For the Kasabian album West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum, she is featured singing on the track "West Ryder Silver Bullet".

In 2010, she starred in the movies Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, as Persephone, and Unstoppable, as railway yardmaster Connie. In 2013, she played Apple's mother in the independent film Gimme Shelter. The following year, she reprised her role as Gail in Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. In 2015, she played Claire Temple in the Netflix web television series Daredevil, a role which she reprised in Jessica Jones and Luke Cage. Dawson's likeness was also used in the Jessica Jones tie-in comic as her character on both shows. Dawson has continued this role in 2017 in Iron Fist and The Defenders. In 2018, she played the female lead role in the Netflix movie, Krystal. In 2020, she was cast as the Star Wars character Ahsoka Tano in the second season of The Mandalorian on Disney+.

Personal life

Dawson is a self-professed Trekkie who mentioned both her and her brother's love of Star Trek in an interview with Conan O'Brien, and also demonstrated her knowledge of several Klingon words.

Dawson adopted a 11-year-old girl in 2014.

From 2016 to 2017, Dawson dated comedian and television host Eric Andre.

In March 2019, Dawson confirmed that she is in a relationship with United States senator Cory Booker.

In October 2019 Derek Finley, a trans man, filed a case in Los Angeles against Dawson and her family for alleged incidents involving discrimination, verbal abuse, misgendering and physical assault. Finley had been employed as a handyman, living with the family and had known them for decades. The Dawson family has not publicly commented.

In February 2020, Dawson publicly came out as a member of the LGBT community.

Politics

Dawson was arrested in 2004, while protesting against president George W. Bush.

Dawson endorsed Barack Obama for re-election in 2012, and Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination in the 2016 Democratic Party primaries. On April 15, 2016, Dawson was among the protesters arrested during Democracy Spring in Washington, D.C.

In mid-2019, Dawson endorsed her boyfriend Cory Booker in the 2020 presidential election. Booker ended his campaign for president on January 13, 2020. Had she become First Lady of the United States, Dawson said she would have advocated for solutions to youth homelessness. On March 9, 2020, Dawson endorsed the presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders, whom she had also previously endorsed in his 2016 bid.

Philanthropy

Dawson is involved with the Lower East Side Girls Club and supports other charities such as environmental group Global Cool, One Campaign, Operation USA, Oxfam, Amnesty International, Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), the International Rescue Committee, Voto Latino, and Stay Close.org, a poster and public service ad campaign for PFLAG where she is featured with her uncle Frank Jump. She has participated in the Vagina Monologues (she refers to her vagina as "The General") and serves on the board for V-Day, a global non-profit movement that raises funds for women's anti-violence groups through benefits of this play.

In October 2008, Dawson became a spokeswoman for TripAdvisor.com's philanthropy program, More Than Footprints, Conservation International, Doctors Without Borders, National Geographic Society, The Nature Conservancy and Save The Children. Also in October 2008, she lent her voice to the RESPECT! Campaign, a movement aimed at preventing domestic violence. She recorded a voice message for the Giverespect.org Web site stressing the importance of respect in helping stop domestic violence. In 2012, Dawson partnered with SodaStream International in launching the first annual Unbottle the World Day, a campaign conceived in an effort to raise awareness to the impact of cans and plastic bottles on the environment. Dawson also sits on the Board of Directors of Scenarios USA, which works to support a generation of reflective, outspoken, and confident youth through filmmaking and uses film to educate students through a variety of programs.

#05/09

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adamsappleappreciation · 4 years ago

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Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. After becoming a Saturday Night Live cast member, he went on to star in many Hollywood films, which have combined to earn more than $2 billion at the box office.[2][3]

Sandler is best known for his comedic roles including Billy Madison (1995), Happy Gilmore (1996), The Waterboy (1998), The Wedding Singer (1998), Big Daddy (1999), Mr. Deeds (2002), 50 First Dates (2004), The Longest Yard (2005), Click (2006), Grown Ups (2010), Just Go with It (2011), Grown Ups 2 (2013), Blended (2014) and Murder Mystery (2019). He also voices Dracula in the Hotel Transylvania franchise (2012–present).

Some of Sandler's films, such as Jack and Jill (2011), have been widely panned, and Sandler is the holder of three Golden Raspberry Awards and 11 Raspberry Award nominations, more than any other actor but Sylvester Stallone. Conversely, he has earned praise for his dramatic performances in films such as Punch-Drunk Love (2002), Spanglish (2004), Reign Over Me (2007), Funny People (2009), The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) (2017), and Uncut Gems (2019).[4]

Sandler was born in Brooklyn, New York, on September 9, 1966,[5] to Judith "Judy" (née Levine), a nursery school teacher, and Stanley Sandler, an electrical engineer.[5] His family is Jewish and descends from Russian Jewish immigrants on both sides.[6][7][8] Sandler grew up in Manchester, New Hampshire, after moving there at the age of six.[9] He attended Manchester Central High School. As a teen, Sandler was in BBYO, a Jewish youth group. Sandler graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1988.[10]

Early in his career, in 1987, Sandler played Theo Huxtable's friend, Smitty, in The Cosby Show and the Stud Boy or Trivia Delinquent in the MTV game show Remote Control. After his film debut Going Overboard in 1989, Sandler performed in comedy clubs, having first taken the stage at his brother's urging when he was 17. He was discovered by comedian Dennis Miller, who caught Sandler's act in Los Angeles and recommended him to Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels. Sandler was hired as a writer for SNL in 1990 and became a featured player the following year, making a name for himself by performing amusing original songs on the show, including "The Thanksgiving Song" and "The Chanukah Song".[11] Sandler told Conan O'Brien on The Tonight Show that NBC fired him and Chris Farley from the show in 1995, and played this up in his return to the show as a host in 2019.[12][13]

In 1993, Adam Sandler appeared in the film Coneheads with Chris Farley, David Spade, Dan Aykroyd, Phil Hartman, and Jane Curtin. In 1994, he co-starred in Airheads with Brendan Fraser and Steve Buscemi. He starred in Billy Madison (1995) playing a grown man repeating grades 1–12 to earn back his father's respect and the right to inherit his father's multimillion-dollar hotel empire. The film was successful at the box office despite negative reviews. He followed this film with Bulletproof (1996), and the financially successful comedies Happy Gilmore (1996) and The Wedding Singer (1998). He was initially cast in the bachelor party–themed comedy/thriller Very Bad Things (1998) but had to back out due to his involvement in The Waterboy (1998), one of his first hits.

Although his earliest films did not receive favorable critical attention, he started to receive more positive reviews, beginning with Punch-Drunk Love in 2002. Roger Ebert's review of Punch-Drunk Love concluded that Sandler had been wasted in earlier films with poorly written scripts and characters with no development.[14] Sandler has moved outside the genre of slapstick comedy to take on more serious roles, such as the aforementioned Punch-Drunk Love, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe, and Mike Binder's Reign Over Me (2007), a drama about a man who loses his entire family during the September 11 attacks, and then struggles to rekindle a friendship with his old college roommate (Don Cheadle).

He starred alongside friend Kevin James in the film I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (2007), and headlined You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008). The latter film was written by Sandler, Judd Apatow, and Robert Smigel, and directed by Dennis Dugan.

#hot

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keepingupwithlinmanuel · 6 years ago

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Lin-Manuel Miranda Gets the Job Done

But perhaps nothing else stirs Miranda's passion quite so powerfully as Puerto Rico, the U.S. territory where his parents were born and which has suffered so much tragedy since the hurricane hit in 2017. Original estimates put the death toll at just 64, but a George Washington University study commissioned by the local government and released in August 2018 put the total at 2,975 lost lives -- more than Hurricane Katrina. Many of the deaths were avoidable, linked to a lack of emergency and relief services and a full year of power outages. "The power grid is key to everything, and so many of the heartbreaking stories we're hearing about were preventable," says Miranda. "There weren't fridges around for medicine. Health centers were without power."

...

As part of his hurricane relief efforts, Miranda works with the Hispanic Federation, a nongovernmental organization that has given a lot of support to Puerto Rico's recovery. His father, Luis, is the group's founding president.

To aid in the recovery, Miranda has raised millions through TeeRico and his star-studded single "Almost Like Praying." "Through the Hispanic Federation, we've been working on providing solar energy for health centers so if everything goes down again -- it's a very fragile and outdated power grid, and I'm not confident it got fixed post-Maria -- there will still be medical care available," he says. "In some parts of the island, it's business as usual, and in other parts there are still no traffic lights. Everyone's still going on the honor system, and that's become business as usual, which is very sad. In some ways, it's back to normal, and in some ways, it will never be normal again."

...

But Miranda is quick to explain that each project "works different muscle groups" and that he's not really working himself into an early grave. "I have a lot of help. I sleep. I take my kids to school and tuck them in each night. I'm not some kind of sleep-deprived tortured writing animal," he says. "Some days, I feel like I'm constantly trying to kick the pedestal out from under me that people are trying to put there."

The Gmorning/Gnight book came about as a result of the Internet. "There's no magic behind that. All I'm writing is what I wish someone would tell me that morning. If it's about anxiety, I'm probably feeling anxious. If it's about 'pace yourself,' I probably put toothpaste in my coffee," he says. "The more personal I get, the more it resonates -- which is an amazing lesson as a writer. Those are written and done, and all that's left is for people to have it."

A biography of Fosse and Verdon, written by Miranda's Wesleyan classmate Sam Wasson, inspired the upcoming FX series. "I put it in the hands of Tommy Kail [a director-producer and frequent Miranda collaborator] and Andy Blankenbuehler, our choreographer from Heights and Hamilton, who's as close to a modern-day Fosse as I know," he says. "That's not really work for me; it's helping put talented people together in a room and saying, 'OK, keep going.' "

Of Tick, Tick... Boom!, he says, "I know I'm going to have to wait to make it, because I want to make sure the screenplay is everything it can be. We really just started kicking the tires on it in earnest, and I don't think it'll get into production until late 2020. And playing Lee Scoresby feels like a vacation, even though it's hard work, because it doesn't require any part of my brain to be writing. So when you look at it that way, it's not really all that much at once."

Part of the reason Miranda's fan base is so vast and devoted is his goofy, self-deprecating personality -- he's a West Wing geek (the Hamilton line about "looking for a mind at work" was lifted straight from the series), and he once told Conan O'Brien that he totally freaked out upon meeting "Weird Al" Yankovic, saying "I have no chill whatsoever." It's as if he is simultaneously the hippest and the dorkiest guy in the room.

"It would take so much more energy if I had to pretend to be cool," he says. "I don't know how to do that. I feel very lucky that Hamilton came along at a time in my life when I already knew who I was. I was married, I had a kid. When you have that level of success as a person and you're still trying to find out who you are and what you want to be in the world, it can knock you off your feet in a very real way."

He pauses.

"Of course, I could still get knocked off my feet at any second," says Miranda. "Let's not predict anything!"

Best of Wives and Best of Women

Helping keep Miranda on an even keel is his wife, Nadal, whom he praised as "the reason everything gets done" in his heart-wrenching "love is love is love" speech at the Tonys shortly after the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando, FL. His high-traffic Twitter feed is punctuated with mini "one-act plays" featuring dialogue from the Miranda household, which often involves Nadal keeping any sign of ego from her husband firmly in check.

"Vanessa is an absolute superhero who manages to do her own legal work while still nursing a baby," he says. "She's also not really a theater person. So if I've written something and she likes it, I know I've cleared a higher bar than someone who loves show tunes full stop. If Hamilton has gone beyond the base of people who like musical theater, it's because of her."

The couple is still adjusting to life as parents of two. "We're not outnumbered, but our attention can be split," he says. "The baby is still very dependent on us, and the 3-year-old is testing boundaries all the time. The 'threenager' thing is real! There can be nights she's with the baby and I'm with the older one, and we both fall asleep without checking in because we're freaking exhausted! So we really have to focus on taking the time to be with each other and not let drift happen. That's the foundation, not only for our kids, but for ourselves."

To ensure that he's fully present for his family, Miranda enforces a "no Twitter on the weekends" rule, deleting the app from his phone every Friday night and reinstalling it Monday morning. "It's an absolute addiction, and this is the only way I know to really not do it," he says. "And then I go into the week with energy because I've had the weekend off."

#lin manuel miranda #mary poppins #hamilton #tick tick boom #book project #fosse verdon #vanessa nadal #the kid #web md #interviews

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elcinelateleymickyandonie · 5 years ago

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Cumpleaños del día 🎬 🎭🎭🎭🎭🎭🎭🎭🎭🎭🎭🎭🎭🎭 John Goodman(1952)

John Stephen Goodman (San Luis, 20 de junio de 1952) es un actor estadounidense, ganador del Globo de Oro y del Emmy, quizás más conocido por su papel de Dan Conner en la serie Roseanne (1988-1997 y 2017-2018), y sus papeles en películas como Los Picapiedra, Barton Fink y El gran Lebowski (de los hermanos Coen), Monsters, Inc. y The Artist.

Estudió en la escuela Affton, en San Luis. En la secundaria Goodman concurrió a Affton High School, y ganó una beca para la Southwest Misuri State University. Durante su periodo en la universidad, decidió dedicarse a la actuación, dejando Misuri para llegar a Nueva York en 1975. Apareció en Broadway, en teatros y en comerciales para la televisión, antes de tener papeles en películas a principios de 1980. Uno de sus primeros roles fue «Pap Finn» en Big River, un musical de Broadway.

Goodman es mayormente conocido por su papel de «Dan Conner» en la serie de comedia Roseanne, la cual fue transmitida en la ABC desde 1988 a 1997. Tiene una larga historia de participaciones en shows y comedias nocturnas, siendo Late Night with Conan O'Brien una de las primeras. También es popular por sus apariciones como anfitrión en Saturday Night Live, programa al que fue invitado en doce ocasiones.

#johnstephengoodman #elcinelateleymickyandonie #cumpleañosenelcine

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colinfirthaddicted · 6 years ago

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☆ COLIN FIRTH ADDICTED ☆

~~ TBT ~~

Conan O'Brien Show - 2017

#ColinFirth #tbt

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globalindian · 2 years ago

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How Indian-American-born Mindy Kaling is transforming the platform for South-Asian showrunner

It wasn't easy for Mindy Kaling to become the first woman of color to join an all-white male writers team in the American sitcom ‘The Office’, but she's brave. For someone who started her career at the age of 24, the writer, producer, actress, and director has gone a long way, with numerous critically acclaimed shows and films under her belt.

Underrepresented ethnicities are finding a voice and visibility in American pop culture because of Kaling. So much so that on every media platform accessible, the Indian American has become the poster girl for South Asian arts, culture, and even oddities.

The amazing path of the 42-year-old hasn't been easy.

An overlooked teenager finds solace in comedy

Kaling, an Indian actor born Vera Mindy Chokalingam in Massachusetts to a Tamil architect father and a Bengali doctor mother, had a difficult time at Buckingham Browne & Nichols School since she was an "average unnoticed" student, according to her. She took refuge in comedy shows on American television because she had no "cool" people to hang out with. Her interest in comedy was aroused by Comedy Central, Monty Python jokes, and Saturday Night Live reruns.

But it was at Dartmouth College that this wallflower bloomed. Mindy extended her wings as she graduated with a degree in playwriting, from writing plays to appearing in campus dramas to singing.

She landed a summer internship at Late Night With Conan O'Brien when she was 19 years old. She considers herself to be the worst intern the program has ever had. "I used my internship as a free ticket to see my hero sing live on stage every day," she wrote in her memoir, "rather than as a method to help the performance run smoothly by performing errands."

The role that landed Kaling on ‘The Office’

Although the internship may have been a ruse, Kaling was certain that comedy was her genuine calling. She quickly packed her belongings and relocated to Brooklyn. Things began to move for Kaling in 2002 when her comic play Matt and Ben premiered at the New York International Fringe Festival. The play was so popular that it was quickly shifted to an Off-Broadway location in the East Village. Greg Daniels, an American screenwriter, and producer, saw Kaling perform and offered her a writing job on The Office's first season.

Kaling was only 24 years old when she joined eight other writers on the Emmy-nominated sitcom as the sole woman and only person of color. Kaling made her TV debut as an extremely sassy and bold Kelly Kapoor in the hit American sitcom along with her writing credits. In one of the most popular sitcoms of all time, Kaling fully expressed her Indianness with all of its peculiarities. Kaling rose up the ranks of the show to become an executive producer and director, in addition to writing 24 episodes.

When sexism rocked her boat

Kaling encountered sexism early on in the show. After ‘The Office’ was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, the Television Academy informed Kaling that she, along with the rest of the cast, would not be eligible for an Emmy because the show had too many producers.

The ascension of a pop-culture figure

While ‘The Office’ provided Kaling with many possibilities, it was The Mindy Project that brought her greater exposure and popularity. Kaling became the first woman of color to get her own network show with her six-season sitcom in 2012. She quickly transcended racial barriers to become an international pop culture phenomenon. Kaling's program was so popular that when it moved from Fox TV to Hulu in 2016, he was earning an estimated $140,000 each episode. She was placed third on Forbes' list of the highest-paid actresses on television in 2017.

Mindy Kaling, a well-known television personality, dabbled in Hollywood with films such as A Wrinkle in Time, Ocean's 8, and Late Night.

#indian actor #mindy kaling #global india

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charterhunter529 · 3 years ago

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Goapele Change It All Zip

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See Full List On Last.fm

Goapele, Beverly Hills, California on June 25, 2015

Background informationBirth nameGoapele Mohlabane(1)BornJuly 11, 1977 (age 43)OriginOakland, California, United StatesGenresInstrumentsVocalsYears active1999–presentLabelsSkyblaze Recordings (2001–2009) Hieroglyphics Imperium Recordings(2001) Columbia Records (2002–2006) Decon Records (2009–2011) Jordan House/Primary Wave Music (2014–present)Associated actsWebsiteGoapele.com

Pastebin.com is the number one paste tool since 2002. Pastebin is a website where you can store text online for a set period of time. Even Closer was rereleased with extra tracks, and, in 2005, her second album, Change it All was released, focusing on the activism in which she had been involved since she was a child.

Goapele Mohlabane(1)(2) (/ˈɡwɑːpəleɪ/; born July 11, 1977), is an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter. Her name means to move forward in Setswana, a Southern African language.(3)

Early life(edit)

Goapele's South African father Douglas Mohlabane was an exiled political activist who struggled against the Apartheid System.(4) Goapele's New York-born Israeli Jewish mother Noa(5) had been attending protests since the age of 12. Noa attended Friends World College and was studying in Nairobi, Kenya, where she met and married Douglas.(6) Goapele and her older brother DJ Namane Mohlabane(7) were raised in a California South African exile community.(8)

Both of her parents inspired Goapele to become very involved in community affairs at a young age. She attended the Berkeley Arts Magnet School, where she led a pre-teen peer-support group. She also became involved in various groups and organizations that combated racism and sexism.(9)

Goapele and Theo Rodrigues(10) have a daughter together, Bahia Osun (born May 2007).(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)

Career(edit)

Even Closer(edit)

Goapele returned to Oakland after her time at Berklee College of Music, where she concentrated on writing and recording songs. In 2001, she self-released her debut album, Closer, which sold 5,000 copies.(16) At the same time, she was building a devoted audience through her popular live performances in the San Francisco Bay Area. 'Closer' peaked at No. 63 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.(17)

In 2002 she reworked Closer, adding five new songs. With the help of her family, she formed her own independent label, Skyblaze Recordings, to oversee her musical career. She released her first nationally distributed album, Even Closer, featuring the single 'Closer,' through Hieroglyphics Imperium Recordings. 'Closer' was also featured on the soundtrack of the 2003 movie Honey. In 2004, Columbia/SME Records picked up Skyblaze Recordings for worldwide distribution and rereleased the album with additional tracks. She co-wrote and co-produced the entire album, which is a mixture of neo-soul, trip hop, lieder, and jazz. She also toured North America with the band Spearhead. In 2004, Even Closer peaked at No. 24 on the Billboard Charts for Top Independent Albums.(18)

Change It All(edit)

Cached

Her second album, Change It All, featuring the single 'First Love' and the song 'Love Me Right,' was released December 2005. The album featured production work from Jeff Bhasker, Mike Tiger, Amp Live, Sa-Ra Creative Partners, and Linda Perry.(19) In 2006 the album peaked at No. 32 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip Hop Album Charts and No. 2 on the Top Heatseekers while the single 'First Love' reached No. 18 on the Hot Adult R&B Airplay.(18) Goapele appeared on Soul Train to promote the album in May 2006, in what turned out to be the show's final new episode. She also appeared on The Orlando Jones Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, ABC View from The Bay and FOX Good Day Atlanta. Her first three releases have garnered praise from the likes of magazines such as Rolling Stone, Nylon, Interview, Marie Claire, Billboard, Essence, and Vibe. She has appeared on the covers of local Bay Area publications San Francisco Magazine, Diablo Magazine, East Bay Express, SF Bay Guardian, Mugshot Magazine, and City Flight,(20) She was named the number-5 artist to watch in the July 2003 issue of Rolling Stone magazine, made the countdown on MTV’s Top 10 Artists to Watch, and collaborated with ALDO Shoes’ advertisement campaign in its fight against HIV/AIDS, which featured artists such as Avril Lavigne, Ludacris, Dave Navarro, Charlize Theron, Pink, Eve, Rosario Dawson, Eva Mendes, Bow Wow, Ziggy Marley, and Kelly Rowland.

Break of Dawn(edit)

On July 10, 2009, Skyblaze Recordings leaked the single 'Milk & Honey' (produced by Bedrock), the first single from her third studio album of the same title.(21) However, in August 2011, she announced that the album would be titled Break of Dawn. The album is being recorded at the Zoo, home of Goapele's Oakland-based Skylight Studios and will feature production from Drumma Boy,(22) Bedrock, Kanye West, Dan Electric, Mike Tiger, Bobby Ozuna (Raphael Saadiq, John Mayer, Erykah Badu), Malay (John Legend, Mary J. Blige), Jeff Bhasker (The Game, Kanye West, Ludacris, T.I), and other guest musicians. After many delays, the album was finally released on October 25, 2011.(23)

Victory(edit)

In celebration of the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa Goapele released the single 'Victory' featuring South African emcee Hip Hop Pantsula, a prelude to her upcoming musical project Victory, which was released in Winter 2010(citation needed) and feature an array of artists from the African continent as well as throughout the Diaspora.(24) The leading track was recorded in English, Setswana, and Xhosa and tries to draw attention to the need for education and resources to combat Africa's most crucial dilemmas. The album will also encompass philanthropy, political and social activism. Proceeds from the project will go to ANSA (Artists for a New South Africa) a non-profit organization working to combat HIV/AIDS, assist children orphaned by the disease, advance human and civil right, educate and empower youth and build bonds between the U.S. and South Africa through Arts & Culture.(25)

In 2014, Goapele signed with singer Eric Benét's record label Jordan House and is in the process of recording new material for her new label.(26)

Strong as Glass(edit)

In 2014, Goapele released Strong as Glass, her fifth studio album. The lead single was 'Hey, Boy' featuring Snoop Dogg and the video was released September 10, 2014, on YouTube.

Collaborations(edit)

The family songbook. Apart from her solo work, she has collaborated with West Coast MCs such as Aceyalone, E-40, Zion-I, and Mac Mall; those involved in the Hieroglyphics Crew; Detroit based vocalist Dwele; and Clyde Carson and Mos Def on the track 'Different.”

Human rights work(edit)

Goapele performed at rallies, demonstrations, and various political events around the world from Cuba to South Africa. On September 14, 2006, the California-based Ella Baker Center for Human Rights honored her with its first ever Human Rights Cultural Hero Award(27) during the center's 10th-anniversary celebration, which was titled 'Tribute to a Dream.' The following statement was issued by the Center regarding the award:

We are proud to name internationally acclaimed, Oakland-based (singer-songwriter) Goapele the first recipient of this award. But as successful as she is, Goapele remains deeply rooted in her home community and in the struggle for human rights. We first saw her sing at rallies and demonstrations when both she and Ella Baker Center were just starting out. Today, she is still here with us, side by side, looking forward to a better day for all of our people.

The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights is a non-profit strategy and action center. The stated aim of the center is to work for justice, opportunity, and peace in urban America.

Discography(edit)

Studio albums

Closer (Goapele Music, 2001)

Even Closer (Skyblaze/Columbia/SME, 2002)

Change It All (Skyblaze/Columbia/SBMG, 2005)

Break of Dawn (Skyblaze/Decon, 2011)

Strong as Glass (Skyblaze/Primary Wave/BMG Rights Management, 2014)

DreamSeeker (Skyblaze/Primary Wave/Empire, 2017)

Singles

'Closer' (2002)

'Got It' (2003)

'First Love' (2005)

'Love Me Right' (2006)

'Soweto' (featuring Hieroglyphics) (2008)

'Chocolate' (2008)

'Milk & Honey' (2009)

'Victory' (featuring Hip Hop Pantsula) (2010)

'Undertow' (2013)

'Hey, Boy' (2014)(28)

Guest appearances

Hieroglyphics – 'Make Your Move' from Full Circle (2003)

J Boogie's Dubtronic Science – 'Try Me' from J Boogie's Dubtronic Science (2003)

E-40 – 'Show & Prove' from Breakin' News (2003)

Triple Threat – 'How U Talkin?' from Many Styles (2003)

Aceyalone – 'Moonlit Skies' from Love & Hate (2003)

Planet Asia – 'Upside Down' from The Grand Opening (2004)

Tajai – 'Dedication' from Power Movement (2004)

SupremeEx & Tajai – 'Meaning' from Nuntype (2005)

The Team – 'Sunshine' from World Premiere (2005)

Amir Sulaiman – 'They Don't Know' from Like a Thief in the Night (2007)

Zion I – 'Life's Work' from Shadowboxing (2012)

Ben Williams – 'Voice of Freedom' from Coming of Age (2015)

Cassper Nyovest – 'Destiny' from 'Thuto' (2017)

References(edit)

^ abSwan, Rachel (August 5, 2009). 'Goapele Gets Closer to Home'. East Bay Express. Retrieved October 11, 2012.

^MacNeil, Jason. 'Goapele > Biography'. allmusic. Retrieved June 30, 2010.

^'Goapele'. Goapele. Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved August 3, 2010.

^Nero, Mark Edward. 'About Goapele'. About.com. Retrieved October 11, 2012.

^'Goapele Biography – Selected works – Goapele, Music, Closer, 2005, Morris, and Change'. Biography.jrank.org. Retrieved August 3, 2010.

^'News'. VIBE. July 2, 2010. Retrieved August 3, 2010.(permanent dead link)

^Crooks, Peter (October 2009). 'Old Soul/New Scene'. Diablo Magazine. Retrieved October 11, 2012.

^'Harvest Time Staff'. Harvest Time. Retrieved October 11, 2012.

^'Information Not Found'. Billboard.com. Retrieved August 3, 2010.

^November 20, 2002, http://www.sfbg.com/37/08/art_music_goapele.html

^https://www.amazon.com/gp/baby-reg/goapele-mohlabane-theo-rodrigues-may-2007-emeryville?lid=3H1Y3ZAFMAYCX

^Golden age: 100-year-old metal artist still creating beautiful pieces In May 2007, Ries found a new source of inspiration, when his great-granddaughter Bahia was born to Goapele Mohlabane, Noa's daughter. Ries' most recent projects were a spoon for Bahia, as well as a mezuzah that was recently installed at Beth Chaim Congregation in Danville.

^http://www.sacbee.com/2010/08/13/2953088/back-after-having-daughter-goapele.html(permanent dead link) Now in her 30s and the mother of a 3-year-old daughter

^August 5, 2007, http://wandaspicks.com/home/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=132&Itemid=2

^July 28, 2010, http://goapele.com/blog/?p=401(permanent dead link)

^MUSHKASHA. 'Deep Reflections of The Acquarian'. fmshai.blogspot.com. Retrieved July 7, 2004.

^'ASCAP J.A.M. – Where the Future of Music Begins'. Ascap.com. Retrieved August 3, 2010.

^ ab'Music News, Reviews, Articles, Information, News Online & Free Music'. Billboard.com. Retrieved August 3, 2010.

^'Change It All, Goapele, Music CD – Barnes & Noble'. Music.barnesandnoble.com. December 2, 2005. Retrieved August 3, 2010.

^http://www.goapelepress.comArchived February 26, 2012(Date mismatch), at the Wayback Machine

^Harlem says (July 1, 2009). 'Goapele Milk & Honey:New Goapele Album Song Music'. Rnbmusicblog.com. Archived from the original on September 8, 2009. Retrieved August 3, 2010.

^(1)Archived March 15, 2012, at the Wayback Machine

^Kwateng, Danielle (July 27, 2010). 'Goapele Talks About Her 'Victory' and Upcoming Album'. Madame Noire. Retrieved October 11, 2012.

^'New Music: Goapele with Hip Hop Pantsula – 'Victory''. About.com. July 21, 2010. Retrieved October 11, 2012.

^Theatrix (July 20, 2010). 'Goapele X Hip Hop Pantsula Present 'Victory''. Goapele.com. Archived from the original on August 7, 2011. Retrieved October 11, 2012.

^'YKIGS Live: Eric Benet Talks Signing Calvin Richardson & Goapele, Finding Stars in the Subway, New Music'. interview. youknowigotsoul.com. Retrieved June 4, 2014.

^Article Tools. 'Changing It All With Goapele | ymib.com – Daily Inspiration'. ymib.com. Archived from the original on February 2, 2010. Retrieved August 3, 2010.

^'Urban/UAC Future Releases'. All Access Music Group. Archived from the original on July 11, 2014.

External links(edit)

Official website

Goapele discography at Discogs

Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Goapele&oldid=986434337'

Lyrics to Change It All

Verse 1: They're closing all the schools down Some teachers work for free now And libraries won't be found Cause there's not enough Can you see a change in your town Small close it's ??? I'm trying to sort it out What we're giving up Chorus: Basically There are people left out From living Comfortably can we figure it out I've been waiting Restlessly for the words to a song That would Change it all Change it all Change it all Verse 2: I never found a 9 to 5 That was worth it from my soul Til I I pursued what brought joy in my life And there's something for us all And I still think it is my right And it's the last and one of few To get the luxery for learning Something I could use Chorus: Basically There are people left out From living Comfortably can we figure it out I've been waiting Restlessly for the words to a song That could Change it all Change it all (If the words could change it all) Change it all (Change it all) Bridge: So many laws are changing They say it's the price for war We send over at least ? billions It's hard to believe that years ago people died to fight But history feels so far away History feels so far away We're not fighting for our lives anymore You're not fighting for my life anymore It's hard to know what's really worth fighting for Or is it killing and dying on the streets Chorus: Ohhh Basically There are people left out From living Comfortably can we figure it out I've been waiting Restlessly for the words to a song That could Change it all Chorus 2: Oh! Basically There's enough for us all So Why can't we somehow figure it out I've been waiting Restlessly for the words to a song That could Change it all Change it all (If the words could change it all) Change it all Change it all Change it all If a song could change it all What if we could change it all (Thanks to Quita for these lyrics)

See Full List On Last.fm

Songwriters: MOHLABANE, GOAPELE K. / AABERG, MICHAEL LOUIS Publisher: Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group Powered by LyricFind

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stephencolbore · 7 years ago

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Conan O'Brien arrives at 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' on October 10, 2017

#YALL #lssc #conan o'brien #the late show

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adamzed · 7 years ago

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Ghost Story Advent 2017

Here we are again, then. It seems this blog is, itself, is a little like a ghost town of late. However, I’m always excited when December rolls around so that I can do Ghost Story Advent.

New readers, it’s quite simple. I read 24 ghost stories and post about a different one each day of advent. It’s neither a religious nor sacrilegious pursuit - just an excuse to read loads and loads of ghost stories.

Lots of the stories are in the public domain, which means you can find them online and read along, if you wish. I’d be very glad of the company. I’ll also respond to comments and posts. Some, this year in particular, aren’t in the public domain so I recommend popping down to your local library to stock up.

Without further ado, below is this year’s list. It’s a mix of stories I love and stories I’ve never read before (oh and there’s always several M.R. James tales because, let’s face facts, he’s the master).

Hope you enjoy it!

PS: Some of these ghost stories are not ghost stories. But they are all gothic. So it’s all good ‘n’ cosy.

PPS: The stories are subject to change. But probably won’t. But might. So stay awake.

1 Dec - The Tractate Middoth M.R. JAMES 2 Dec - The Captain of the Polestar ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE 3 Dec - John Charrington's Wedding E. NESBIT 4 Dec - The Case of Vincent Pyrwhit BARRY PAIN 5 Dec - Jerry Bundler W.W. JACOBS 6 Dec - The Front Room SUSAN HILL 7 Dec - The Tell-Tale Heart EDGAR ALLEN POE 8 Dec - The Tomb of Sarah F. G. LORING 9 Dec - Casting the Runes M.R. JAMES 10 Dec - The Room in the Tower E.F. BENSON 11 Dec - Two in One FLANN O'BRIEN 12 Dec - The Mass of Shadows ANATOLE FRANCE 13 Dec - Mrs Lunt HUGH WALPOLE 14 Dec - Fleur LOUISE ERDICH 15 Dec - The Kit Bag ALGERNON BLACKWOOD 16 Dec - Rats M.R. JAMES 17 Dec - Playmates A.M. BURRAGE 18 Dec - The Beckoning Fair One OLIVER ONIONS 19 Dec - Madam Crowl's Ghost SHERIDAN LE FANU 20 Dec - The Man of Science JEROME K. JEROME 21 Dec - The King’s Messenger - F. MARION CRAWFORD 22 Dec - The Corner Shop - CYNTHIA ASQUITH 23 Dec - The Shell of Sense OLIVIA HOWARD DUNBAR 24 Dec - A Warning to the Curious M.R. JAMES

If ghost stories are your thing, I am currently touring my show The Book of Darkness & Light around the UK. We’ve done 16 shows so far and have 9 left. We’d love to see you at one of them,

Wed 6 Dec QUEEN’S HALL, HEXHAM

Thu 7 Dec BARNSLEY CIVIC

Tue 12 Dec FARNHAM MALTINGS

Thu 14 Dec ARTS CENTRE, WASHINGTON

Sat 16 & Sun 17 Dec HARROGATE THEATRE

Tue 19 & Wed 20 Dec CAMDEN PEOPLE’S THEATRE

13 - 14 January 2018 SHIVERS - HARROGATE THEATRE

21 -22 January 2018 SHIVERS - HARROGATE THEATRE

#ghost story advent #advent #xmas #ghosts #ghoststories

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hashtagvideogames · 7 years ago

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#video games #gaming #videogames #game news #game industry

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ramajmedia · 5 years ago

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Little Women: All the Main Actors and Where You've Seen Them Before

You could say there have been several Little Women adaptations in film and television, and that'd still probably be an understatement. However, there's no hiding our excitement for the new film that's set to come out later this year, in December 2019.

RELATED: Little Women: 10 Things We Need To See In Greta Gerwig's New Adaptation

Directed by Greta Gerwig (director of Lady Bird (2017)), we're more than stoked for this stacked cast and incredibly classic tale. So who will be playing these iconic characters? We thought you should probably know all of the famous faces behind the foursome of sisters, the parents, and the lover boy. So without further ado, here all of the actors and actresses in the new film, and where you've seen them before.

8 Emma Watson

We'll start off easy, with the beautiful and brilliant Emma Watson. You may recognize this stunning face, and it's likely from the Harry Potter series where she plays Hermione Granger. However, this fierce woman was also Belle in the new live-action of Beauty and the Beast, and played the main gal, Sam, in The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

Emma definitely isn't new to the big screen, and she certainly has more credits to share, but these are our personal favorites that you should check out in preparation for this film. We're excited for her to bring her expertise to the character of one of the four sisters, Meg March.

7 Florence Pugh

This young woman is relatively new to the big screen, and her first break-out role actually also came this year, when she starred in Midsommar as Dani. This was her first main role, and critics have had nothing but praise for her stunning performance.

RELATED: Midsommar: 10 Hidden Details Everyone Completely Missed

She's been in a few things here and there, but this promising actress will definitely continue to make waves after her role as another one of the sisters, Amy March, in this new film.

6 Laura Dern

Laura Dern is an expert actress, to be quite frank, and we can't wait to see her embody the character of the mother of these four wild gals, Marmee March. You'll probably remember a younger Laura Dern for her starring role in the Jurassic Park franchise, where she played Ellie.

However, if you're not a dinosaur fan, you can find this bombshell in The Fault in Our Stars as Hazel's mom, or as the brilliant and fiery Renata Klein in HBO's Big Little Lies. Oh yeah, she's also in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Is there anything this woman can't do?

5 Timothée Chalamet

Honestly, Timothée Chalamet is probably one of the fastest-growing actors of this decade. He took the 2018 Oscars by storm for Lady Bird (where he was directed by Greta Gerwig) and Call Me By Your Name, even receiving a nomination for the latter. In 2019, he received a Golden Globe nominee for Beautiful Boy, where he starred alongside Steve Carell.

RELATED: 10 Movies and TV Shows You Forgot Timothée Chalamet Appears In

While he's officially making waves in Hollywood, this heartthrob has been hitting the big screen since 2014, and we cannot wait to see what he does with the character of Theodore Laurence, Jo's main squeeze. If you love him as much as we do, you can also find him in the upcoming Netflix film The King.

4 Meryl Streep

We probably don't have to tell you who Meryl Streep is, but we're still excited to see her playing Aunt March. This experienced actress has three Academy Awards to her name, for The Iron Lady (2011), Sophie's Choice (1982), and Kramer vs. Kramer (1979).

Her latest nomination was for The Post (2017), where she starred alongside Tom Hanks. However, her acting career is far from over, and we could spend all day listing her acting credits. So, we'll just say you can also find her in the second season of Big Little Lies (alongside Laura Dern!) where she plays the fierce and manipulative mother-in-law of Nicole Kidman's character. You know all her other films, right? Right.

3 Eliza Scanlen

This young, Aussie actress is definitely new to the big screen, and she only has a few acting credits under her belt. However, you might, in fact, recognize her as Amma Crellin from Sharp Objects, where she appears in all 8 episodes of the mini-series alongside Amy Adams.

RELATED: 5 Meryl Streep Movies We Wish Had A Sequel (& 5 That Are Perfect On Their Own)

She'll be playing the younger sister, Beth March, in this Little Women remake, and we're sure this young actresses's career will take off from there.

2 Bob Odenkirk

Bob Odenkirk

Variety Portrait Studio, AFI Fest, Los Angeles, USA - 12 Nov 2017[/caption]

This writer, actor, and producer will be playing Mr. March. As a writer, Odenkirk is the mastermind behind many of your favorite talk-shows, including Saturday Night Live, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and the Jenny McCarthy Show.

On the other side of the camera, you might recognize this man from Breaking Bad (as Saul Goodman), Fargo (as Bill Oswalt), Better Call Saul (as Jimmy McGill), or even alongside Meryl Streep in The Post (2017). This guy is definitely no newbie, and we expect he has a lot to offer to this incredible role.

1 Saoirse Ronan

Saoirse is another one of our absolutely favorite upcoming and young actresses of this generation. Born to Irish parents, this hilarious and relatable woman slays us on AND off the big screen. She'll be our leading lady (and main sister), Jo March, in this new film. Where have you seen her before? She starred in Brooklyn in 2015, which was arguably her break-out role in Hollywood.

She also found herself at the 2018 Oscars alongside her main squeeze of this film, Timothée Chalamet, when she played the main role in Lady Bird. (Therefore, this actress has also been directed by Greta Gerwig before. Clearly, Gerwig loved these two.) Most recently, however, this brilliant woman starred alongside Margot Robbie in Mary Queen of Scots. Honestly, all of these films are critically acclaimed, and you should DEFINITELY watch every single one of them.

NEXT: 10 Lady Bird Quotes To Live By

source https://screenrant.com/little-women-main-actors-seen-them-before/

#screenrant

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aion-rsa · 6 years ago

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The Actors Who Have Played Batman

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We take a look back at the 8 crusading actors who’ve played Batman in TV and the movies, as well as his animated avatars!

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Holy revolving door, Batman! The Caped Crusader has been portrayed by more actors than any other superhero in movie history – eight to be exact. Most have lasted for just one film. But after The Dark Knight Rises, Christian Bale has become the first man to have played Bruce Wayne and his alter-ego more than twice on the silver screen. He didn’t have much competition – Michael Keaton was the only other actor to reprise the role at the time.

Ben Affleck tied Bale for appearances as Batman with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, his Suicide Squad cameo, and 2017's Justice League. That run will not extend to a fourth film, though, as Affleck has exited the role.

But before anymore history is made with Matt Reeves' upcoming take on the Dark Knight (where Bruce Wayne might be played by Robert Pattinson or Nicholas Hoult according to recent reports), let’s take a look at the men who have been Batman.

1. Lewis G. Wilson

Wilson was the first and youngest actor ever to play the adult Batman, and also the least successful. At 23, the unknown thespian donned the cape and the cowl in the 15-part 1943 Columbia serial Batman. While he looked the part of the dashing playboy, his physique was more Danny DeVito as the Penguin. One critic described Wilson as “thick about the middle.” Maybe that was why he wore his utility belt just below his chest. Critics also complained that his voice was too high and that he had a Boston accent. That, of course, wouldn’t be the last time someone complained about Batman’s voice.

read more - Men of Steel: 11 Actors Who Have Played Superman

After Batman, Wilson’s career went nowhere. Most of his roles went uncredited. His next biggest movie part was probably in the 1951 cult classic Bowanga Bowanga. A few years later he was out of showbiz altogether. His son, Michael G. Wilson, however, fared better in Hollywood, becoming the executive producer of the James Bond series. Lewis G. Wilson died in 2000.

Buy the 1943 Batman serial on Amazon

2. Robert Lowery

Lowery took over the role in the follow-up serial, 1949’s Batman & Robin. Unlike Lewis, Lowery, 36 at the time, was a veteran actor, having already appeared in The Mark Of Zorro (1940), The Mummy's Ghost (1944), and Dangerous Passage (1944). He also filled out the Batsuit better than Lewis, with his utility belt hanging where you would expect it on a non-octogenarian.

read more: The Actors Who Have Played The Joker

Though Lowery never played Batman in another movie, he did get to wear the cape once more and make superhero history in the process. In 1956 he guest-starred on an episode of The Adventures of Superman, marking the first time a Batman actor shared screen time with a Superman actor. (The two also appeared together in their pre-superhero days, in a WWII anti-VD propaganda film called Sex Hygiene).

After Batman, Lowrey enjoyed another 20 years in movies and TV. He died in 1971.

Buy Batman & Robin (1949) on Amazon

3. Adam West

The man logging the most hours in the Batcave, of course, was William West Anderson, whom you probably know better as Adam West. Either you love him for his goofy charm or hate him for blemishing the Bat’s image for several decades. His campy, over-the-top portrayal of Gotham’s Guardian infiltrated nearly every medium, including a 1966 movie and several animated series.

read more: The Early History of the Batman TV Series

Legend has it producer William Dozier cast West after seeing him play a James Bond-like spy called Captain Q in a Nestlé Quik TV ad. He beat future Wonder Woman co-star Lyle Waggoner for the role. Dozier, who supposedly hated comic books, decided the only way the show would be successful was if they camped it up. So blame him.

Things would almost come full circle in 1970 when West was offered the role of James Bond in Diamonds Are Forever. West declined, later writing in his autobiography that he believed Bond should always be played by a Brit. Holy bad career moves, Batman!

After the Batman series went off the air in 1968, West was resigned to typecast hell. At one point, he was forced to make public appearances as the Caped Crusader to earn a living. Then, in 1977, he returned to the tube as Batman, doing his voice in The New Adventures Of Batman, and then on such shows as Super Friends.

read more: The Comic Book Origins of the 1966 Batman TV Series

West’s resurgence as a pop-culture icon began in the early '90s when he starred as a has-been TV action hero in the pilot episode of Lookwell, produced by Conan O'Brien and Robert Smigel. It wasn’t picked up but took on a cult following online (check it out here). He made regular appearances on Family Guy. as "Mayor West" before returning to voice Batman in two excellent animated features that expanded on the show's continuity, Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders and Batman vs. Two-Face (opposite William Shatner as the special guest villain). West died in 2017, but his Bat-legacy is immortal.

Buy the Complete 1966 Batman TV Series on Amazon

4. Michael Keaton

It took more than 20 years for Adam West to lose his exclusivity on Batman.

When director Tim Burton (who like Dozier was not a fan of comic books) and Michael Keaton were announced for 1989’s Batman, fans went bat-shit crazy, thinking their beloved superhero was going to get the Adam West treatment again. Keaton's casting caused such controversy that 50,000 protest letters were sent to Warner Bros.’ offices. In an effort to appease the naysayers, Batman co-creator Bob Kane was hired as the film’s creative consultant. And in case you're curious, here is Keaton, Affleck, and a long list of other great castings that fans initially thought would suck.

Other Hollywood stars considered for the role of Batman included Mel Gibson, Kevin Costner, Charlie Sheen, Pierce Brosnan, Tom Selleck, and Bill Murray. But producer Jon Peters said he cast Keaton because “The image of Batman is a big male model type, but I wanted a guy who's a real person who happens to put on this weird armor. A guy who's funny and scary. Keaton's both. He's got that explosive, insane side.''

read more: Why Tim Burton's Batman 3 Never Happened

The studio and the fans had nothing to worry about. Keaton’s performance received favorable reviews, and Batman killed at the box office. Variety magazine gushed, “Michael Keaton captures the haunted intensity of the character, and seems particularly lonely and obsessive without Robin around to share his exploits.” Keaton was rewarded by being the first actor to reprise the role on the big screen. And in 1992’s Batman Returns, Keaton again garnered positive reviews.

Of course, Keaton has now seen a career revival thanks to the spectacular Birdman, and his time as the villainous, winged Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming!

5. Val Kilmer

When the Batman franchise was turned over to director Joel Schumacher, Keaton decided not to return. Daniel Day-Lewis, Ralph Fiennes, William Baldwin, and Johnny Depp were reportedly considered as replacements. But the job was won by Val Kilmer – probably the most forgettable of the modern Batmen. Go ahead – try to remember. See? You can’t.

Schumacher became interested in Kilmer for 1995’s Batman Forever after seeing him in Tombstone (in which he played Doc Holiday, who Adam West also portrayed in a movie before he did the Batman TV series). Kilmer allegedly accepted the role without even reading the script or knowing who the new director was. Schumacher quickly learned who Kilmer was, though, and the two clashed on the set. Schumacher later described Kilmer as “childish and impossible,” claiming that he fought with various crewmen and refused to speak to him for two weeks after the director asked his star to stop behaving rudely.

read more: The Batman Forever We Never Saw

Kilmer’s performance got mixed reviews. As The New York Times put it, “The prime costume is now worn by Val Kilmer, who makes a good Batman but not a better one than Michael Keaton.” Bob Kane felt otherwise, saying he thought Kilmer did the best job of all the actors to have played Batman up to that point.

The movie performed better than Batman Returns at the box office, but Kilmer was destined to be a one-term Caped Crusader. Between his bad attitude and his concern that the superhero wasn’t getting as much screen time as the villains, he left the Batcave for good. Instead of filming 1997’s Batman & Robin, he did The Saint.

After Batman, Kilmer’s career headed downhill. Though it was probably 1996’s The Island of Dr. Moreau that had more to do with that than Batman Forever.

6. George Clooney

George Clooney’s movie career was just taking off when he was cast in 1997’s Batman & Robin, with his breakthrough performance coming just the year before in Quentin Tarantino’s From Dusk Till Dawn. Producers probably felt they pulled off a major coup landing the soon-to-be mega-movie star. Those producers, along with Clooney, may regret that decision now.

Batman & Robin was a disaster, rife with homoeroticism, camp, and those infamous Bat-nipples. Clooney once joked that he helped to kill the franchise. “Joel Schumacher told me we never made another Batman film because Batman was gay.” The actor also called the movie “a waste of money.”

Critics and fans agreed. In 1997, Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, “George Clooney is the big zero of the film, and should go down in history as the George Lazenby of the series.” Batman & Robin received 11 nominations at the Razzie Awards and frequently ranks among the worst films of all time. It was also the worst box office performer of the modern Batman movies. However, despite its many, many, many flaws, we will stick up for it a little...

read more - Batman & Robin: The Judas Defense

But all that did nothing to hurt Clooney’s career. After Batman, he went on to super stardom, starring in Out of Sight (with a cameo from Michael Keaton), Three Kings, and O Brother, Where Art Thou? over the next three years alone, and he hasn't slowed down much since.

Buy The Batman Collection on Amazon

7. Christian Bale

Between Adam West and George Clooney, Batman seemed destined to remain a joke, at least when it came to live-action adaptations. Then came along Christopher Nolan. The Memento and Insomnia director was given the reins and he planned to reinvent the franchise, finally making the Dark Knight dark.

Among the early candidates for the Batman/Bruce Wayne roles were Billy Crudup, Jake Gyllenhaal, Joshua Jackson, Heath Ledger, and Cillian Murphy. But Nolan ultimately chose Christian Bale, explaining that “he has exactly the balance of darkness and light that we were looking for.”

Bale got generally favorable reviews for 2005’s Batman Begins, with several critics saying it reminded them of his brilliant turn in American Psycho. Not so brilliant, it seems, was his uber-husky Bat-voice. One reviewer compared Bale's guttural utterances to a “10-year-old putting on an ‘adult’ voice to make prank phone calls.” It got even more gravelly in 2008’s The Dark Knight, with NPR’s David Edelstein describing it as “a voice that's deeper and hammier than ever.”

Even Kevin Conroy, the man behind probably the most recognisable Batman voice, chimed in, saying at a C2E2 panel in 2010 that Bale’s voice was “ridiculous” and implored the actor to stop doing it. While The Dark Knight Rises was not as well received as 2008's sterling The Dark Knight, especially in the fan community, we still will happily come to the defense of it.

Also, Bale was crucial to the alchemy in Nolan's second Batman feature, The Dark Knight. That film is generally considered the benchmark in the superhero genre that all other movies about caped do-gooders are compared to nearly a decade later. It is also the only superhero movie to win an acting Oscar, for Heath Ledger's iconic Joker, and is considered responsible for why the Academy now nominates 10 films instead of five for Best Picture. This occurred after The Dark Knight was egregiously snubbed in 2009.

Buy the Complete Christopher Nolan Dark Knight Trilogy on Amazon

8. Will Arnett

With any other actor in the role, the presence of Batman in the 2013 cinematic smash The LEGO Movie could easily have become the sort of performance that gets neglected from lists like this. However, Arrested Development star Will Arnett brought some comedy magic to the role and landed his own spin-off movie as a result.

It helped that movie came at the perfect time in Batman’s busy cinema schedule – long enough after The Dark Knight Rises for lampooning of Bale’s gruff Batman to be entirely welcome, and far enough before Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice that Arnett’s new iteration didn’t get lost in all the hype for Ben Affleck’s debut.

The result of this perfect casting and canny scheduling was a Batman who will go down in the history books as the funniest, freshest and downright fun-est take on the character. From penning "dark" lyrics to haplessly attempting to hide his secret identity, Arnett’s Batman was a gag machine who The LEGO Movie’s younger audience really embraced.

There were knowing winks in there for adult fans too, with such as dialogue as “I only work in black – and sometimes very very dark grey" appealing to comic book fans and LEGO Batman’s painful attempts to hit a button with a Batarang surely connecting with anyone who’s ever got stuck for hours at a simple door-button in the Arkham Asylum games.

Arnett’s delivery, combined with Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s zingers, made this portrayal a quick favorite for many, and he reprised the role in The LEGO Batman Movie in 2017, to equally impressive effect. Bats is back in The LEGO Movie 2, out on February 8 and he'll get a sequel of his own at some point, too.

If you want more hilarious Arnett voice work in the meantime, check out BoJack Horseman on Netflix – you wont regret it.

9. Ben Affleck

It is often said that history repeats itself, and so it did when Ben Affleck was cast in the role of Batman for Zack Snyder's controversial Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Affleck was fresh off of seeing his third directorial effort, Argo, win Best Picture at the Academy Awards, cementing one of the most grandiose career comebacks in Hollywood history. He also was in the midst of filming Gone Girl with legendary auteur David Fincher at the helm. Nevertheless, fans went apoplectic that the star of notorious flops like Gigli and Jersey Girl was now the "Bat-Fleck." The fact he appeared in the mediocre Daredevil movie from 2003 likely did him no favors.

Yet, ironically, Affleck is now generally considered the very best part of Batman v Superman. Like Michael Keaton before him, Affleck enjoyed fan adulation only a few years after intense backlash. Of course, the actual depiction of his Dark Knight in director Snyder's hands is far less universally loved. For the record, Affleck offered a solid performance as the Batman. He was neither as haunted and emotionally elusive as Michael Keaton's Bruce Wayne or as noble and psychologically broken as Christian Bale's take on the character. In fact, Affleck lacked the lived-in quality of either performer's interpretation. But what he did have is a picture-perfect physique for the role and a sense of dashing charisma that all other Bat-actors have lacked or underplayed.

read more - Batman v Superman and Batman & Robin: Two Sides of the Same Coin

Some fans have even suggested that he was the perfect Batman due to his appearance and natural charm, but he was hampered in BvS by a voice modulator no less absurd than Bale's gravely alternative, as well as a characterization of Batman that bordered on fascism, as he ambivalently murdered bad guys with gunshots, car collisions, grenades, knife stabs, and even crushing one's head in with a crate. This cruelty and the totalitarian streak was in-keeping with Frank Miller's extreme vision of the character in The Dark Knight Returns graphic novel. But that story was always a major departure from mainstream interpretations of the character. In fact, for all the visual upgrades to Affleck's Batman, his characterization completely lacked the altrusitic heroism and sense of driven purpose enjoyed by the much more humanistic (read: flawed) take offered by Christian Bale.

Justice League, for all of its behind-the-scenes problems, was something of a course correction for the DCEU and Affleck's take. It saw his Batman's evolution, apparently "inspired" by Superman's sacrifice at the end of Batman v Superman to be a more balanced hero.

Too bad the Bat-fleck's time is up. Affleck will not be returning for Matt Reeves' upcoming The Batman solo movie, which will hit theaters in 2021.

The Voices of Batman

Speaking of Batman voices, there have been about as many men to voice the Caped Crusader as have portrayed him in live-action. But the bulk of the animated Batman work over the years has gone to two actors.

In real life Olan Soule was a bespectacled pencil-necked geek, but that didn’t stop him from voicing the Dark Knight in six different animated series, beginning with 1968’s The Batman/Superman Hour. His run pretty much ended when Adam West took over voicing duties in the late '70s. Soule, who also appeared in such films as The Day The Earth Stood Still and North By Northwest, died in 1994.

Unlike Soule, Kevin Conroy could probably pull off Batman in real life, but so far he’s been relegated to voice work – and quite a lot of it. Conroy began voicing the superhero in Batman: The Animated Series, which made its debut in 1992. Since then, he’s done three other Batman series, a bunch of animated movies and videogames.

read more - The Essential Episodes of Batman: The Animated Series

Others to voice Batman are Will Friedle (Batman Beyond), Rino Romano (The Batman), Diedrich Bader (Batman: The Brave And The Bold), Jeremy Sisto (Justice League: The New Frontier), Bruce Greenwood (the brilliant Young Justice), and Bruce Thomas (who voiced Batman in commercials for GM’s OnStar service and portrayed the character briefly in the live-action TV series Birds Of Prey).

But Will Arnett deserves special attention.

With any other actor in the role, the presence of Batman in the 2014 cinematic smash The Lego Movie (which we reviewed here) could easily have become the sort of performance that gets neglected from lists like this. However, Arrested Development star Will Arnett brought some comedy magic to the role and landed his own spin-off movie as a result.

It helped that movie came at the perfect time in Batman’s busy cinema schedule – long enough after The Dark Knight Rises for lampooning of Bale’s gruff Batman to be entirely welcome, and far enough before Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice that Arnett’s new iteration didn’t get lost in all the hype for Ben Affleck’s debut.

The result of this perfect casting and canny scheduling was a Batman who will go down in the history books as the funniest, freshest and downright fun-est take on the character. From penning ‘dark’ lyrics to helplessly attempting to hide his secret identity, Arnett’s Batman was a gag machine who The Lego Movie’s primary younger audience really embraced.

There were knowing winks in there for adult fans too, with such as dialogue as “I only work in black – and sometimes very, very dark grey’ appealing to comic book fans and Lego Batman’s painful attempts to hit a button with a Batarang surely connecting with anyone who’s ever got stuck for hours at a simple door-button in the Arkham Asylum games.

Arnett’s delivery, combined with Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s zingers, made this portrayal a quick favorite for many, and it was telling that no one is complained about Arnett’s reprisal in an upcoming 2017 standalone story.

In fact, The Lego Batman Movie only cemented the adoration received by Will Arnett's much more ego-centric version of Bruce Wayne. A petulant, selfish loner who secretly watches romantic comedies when no one is lookng, it is a broadly funny (and perhaps more honest?) take on a billionaire who sneaks out at night to beat up poor people. It also unabashedly referenced countless other Batman movie, comic book, and cartoon moments, which we unpack right here.

The number one Batman?

It’s probably not a worthwhile question to ask which Batman actor is the best. It’s hard to argue that Christian Bale isn’t tops among the live-action crowd (Though I’m sure there are some Adam West Michael Keaton, and Ben Affleck fans out there who might take up the cause).

Still, Bale is no Christopher Reeve, whose iconic portrayal of Superman has made replacing him a seemingly impossible task. Bale was a respectable Bruce Wayne/Batman, but the franchise can and has moved on without him. And though another half-dozen actors have resided in Wayne Manor, we have not found the definitive Batman.

Until then, Hollywood is sure to keep trying.

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Feature

Books

James Aquilone Rob Leane

May 17, 2019

Batman

The Dark Knight

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice

Ben Affleck

Christian Bale

Michael Keaton

DC Entertainment

from Books http://bit.ly/2RVnSsi

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