title: Henry Kissinger

text: In a letter to "The Nation" editor Victor Navasky, protesting publication of the article, Kissinger claimed that: "At any rate, the notion of Hill as a passionate human rights advocate is news to all his former associates." Yet Kissinger aide Harry W. Shlaudeman later disagreed with Kissinger, telling the oral historian William E. Knight of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project: "It really came to a head when I was Assistant Secretary, or it began to come to a head, in the case of Argentina where the dirty war was in full flower. Bob Hill, who was Ambassador then in Buenos Aires, a very conservative Republican politician—by no means liberal or anything of the kind, began to report quite effectively about what was going on, this slaughter of innocent civilians, supposedly innocent civilians—this vicious war that they were conducting, underground war. He, at one time in fact, sent me a back-channel telegram saying that the Foreign Minister, who had just come for a visit to Washington and had returned to Buenos Aires, had gloated to him that Kissinger had said nothing to him about human rights. I don't know—I wasn't present at the interview."


title: Henry Kissinger

text: Navasky later wrote in his book about being confronted by Kissinger, Tell me, Mr. Navasky,' [Kissinger] said in his famous guttural tones, 'how is it that a short article in a obscure journal such as yours about a conversation that was supposed to have taken place years ago about something that did or didn't happen in Argentina resulted in sixty people holding placards denouncing me a few months ago at the airport when I got off the plane in Copenhagen?


title: Henry Kissinger

text: According to declassified state department files, Kissinger also hindered the Carter administration's efforts to halt the mass killings by the 1976–1983 military dictatorship by visiting the country and praising the regime.


title: Henry Kissinger

text: Kissinger was in favor of accommodating Brazil while it pursued a nuclear weapons program in the 1970s. Kissinger justified his position by arguing that Brazil was a U.S. ally and on the grounds that it would benefit private nuclear industry actors in the U.S. Kissinger's position on Brazil was out of sync with influential voices in the U.S. Congress, the State Department, and the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.


title: Henry Kissinger

text: In September 1976, Kissinger was actively involved in negotiations regarding the Rhodesian Bush War. Kissinger, along with South Africa's Prime Minister John Vorster, pressured Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith to hasten the transition to black majority rule in Rhodesia. With FRELIMO in control of Mozambique and even the apartheid regime of South Africa withdrawing its support, Rhodesia's isolation was nearly complete. According to Smith's autobiography, Kissinger told Smith of Mrs. Kissinger's admiration for him, but Smith stated that he thought Kissinger was asking him to sign Rhodesia's "death certificate". Kissinger, bringing the weight of the United States, and corralling other relevant parties to put pressure on Rhodesia, hastened the end of white minority rule.


title: Henry Kissinger

text: The Portuguese decolonization process brought U.S. attention to the former Portuguese colony of East Timor, which declared its independence in 1975. Indonesian president Suharto regarded East Timor as rightfully part of Indonesia. In December 1975, Suharto discussed invasion plans during a meeting with Kissinger and President Ford in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta. Both Ford and Kissinger made clear that U.S. relations with Indonesia would remain strong and that it would not object to the proposed annexation. They only wanted it done "fast" and proposed that it be delayed until after they had returned to Washington. Accordingly, Suharto delayed the operation for one day. Finally on December 7, Indonesian forces invaded the former Portuguese colony. U.S. arms sales to Indonesia continued, and Suharto went ahead with the annexation plan. According to Ben Kiernan, the invasion and occupation resulted in the deaths of nearly a quarter of the Timorese population from 1975 to 1981.


title: Henry Kissinger

text: In February 1976, Kissinger considered launching air strikes against ports and military installations in Cuba, as well as deploying U.S. Marine Corps battalions based at the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, in retaliation for Cuban President Fidel Castro's decision in late 1975 to send troops to newly independent Angola to help the MPLA in its fight against UNITA and South Africa during the start of the Angolan Civil War.


title: Henry Kissinger

text: The Kissingerian doctrine endorsed the forced concession of Spanish Sahara to Morocco. At the height of the 1975 Sahara crisis, Kissinger misled Gerald Ford into thinking the International Court of Justice had ruled in favor of Morocco. Kissinger was aware in advance of the Moroccan plans for the invasion of the territory, materialized on November 6, 1975, in the so-called Green March.


title: Henry Kissinger

text: After Nixon was forced to resign in the Watergate scandal, Kissinger's influence in the new presidential administration of Gerald R. Ford was diminished after he was replaced by Brent Scowcroft as National Security Advisor during the "Halloween Massacre" cabinet reshuffle of November 1975. Kissinger left office as Secretary of State when Democrat Jimmy Carter defeated Republican Gerald Ford in the 1976 presidential elections.


title: Henry Kissinger

text: Kissinger continued to participate in policy groups, such as the Trilateral Commission, and to maintain political consulting, speaking, and writing engagements. In 1976, he was secretly involved in thwarting efforts by the Carter administration to indict three Chilean intelligence agents for masterminding the 1976 assassination of Orlando Letelier. Kissinger was critical of the foreign policy of the Jimmy Carter administration, saying in 1980 that "has managed the extraordinary feat of having, at one and the same time, the worst relations with our allies, the worst relations with our adversaries, and the most serious upheavals in the developing world since the end of the Second World War."


title: Henry Kissinger

text: After Kissinger left office in 1977, he was offered an endowed chair at Columbia University. There was student opposition to the appointment, which became a subject of media commentary. Columbia canceled the appointment as a result.


title: Henry Kissinger

text: Kissinger was then appointed to Georgetown University's Center for Strategic and International Studies. He taught at Georgetown's Edmund Walsh School of Foreign Service for several years in the late 1970s. In 1982, with the help of a loan from the international banking firm of E.M. Warburg, Pincus and Company, Kissinger founded a consulting firm, Kissinger Associates, and is a partner in affiliate Kissinger McLarty Associates with Mack McLarty, former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton. He also serves on the board of directors of Hollinger International, a Chicago-based newspaper group, and as of March 1999, was a director of Gulfstream Aerospace.


title: Henry Kissinger

text: In September 1989, the "Wall Street Journal"s John Fialka disclosed that Kissinger took a direct economic interest in US-China relations in March 1989 with the establishment of China Ventures, Inc., a Delaware limited partnership, of which he was chairman of the board and chief executive officer. A US$75 million investment in a joint venture with the Communist Party government's primary commercial vehicle at the time, China International Trust & Investment Corporation (CITIC), was its purpose. Board members were major clients of Kissinger Associates. Kissinger was criticised for not disclosing his role in the venture when called upon by ABC's Peter Jennings to comment the morning after the June 4, 1989, Tiananmen Square massacre. Kissinger's position was generally supportive of Deng Xiaoping's decision to use the military against the demonstrating students and he opposed economic sanctions.


title: Henry Kissinger

text: From 1995 to 2001, Kissinger served on the board of directors for Freeport-McMoRan, a multinational copper and gold producer with significant mining and milling operations in Papua, Indonesia. In February 2000, then-president of Indonesia Abdurrahman Wahid appointed Kissinger as a political advisor. He also serves as an honorary advisor to the United States-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce.


title: Henry Kissinger

text: In 1998, in response to the 2002 Winter Olympic bid scandal, the International Olympic Committee formed a commission, called the "2000 Commission", to recommend reforms, which Kissinger served on. This service led in 2000 to his appointment as one of five IOC "honor members", a category the organization described as granted to "eminent personalities from outside the IOC who have rendered particularly outstanding services to it".


title: Henry Kissinger

text: Kissinger served as the 22nd Chancellor of the College of William and Mary from 2000 to 2005. He was preceded by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and succeeded by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. The College of William & Mary also own a painted portrait of Kissinger that was painted by Ned Bittinger.


title: Henry Kissinger

text: From 2000 to 2006, Kissinger served as chairman of the board of trustees of Eisenhower Fellowships. In 2006, upon his departure from Eisenhower Fellowships, he received the Dwight D. Eisenhower Medal for Leadership and Service.


title: Henry Kissinger

text: In November 2002, he was appointed by President George W. Bush to chair the newly established National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States to investigate the September 11 attacks. Kissinger stepped down as chairman on December 13, 2002, rather than reveal his business client list, when queried about potential conflicts of interest.


title: Henry Kissinger

text: In the Rio Tinto espionage case of 2009–2010, Kissinger was paid $5 million to advise the multinational mining company how to distance itself from an employee who had been arrested in China for bribery.


title: Henry Kissinger

text: Kissinger—along with William Perry, Sam Nunn, and George Shultz—has called upon governments to embrace the vision of a world free of nuclear weapons, and in three "Wall Street Journal" op-eds proposed an ambitious program of urgent steps to that end. The four have created the Nuclear Threat Initiative to advance this agenda. In 2010, the four were featured in a documentary film entitled "Nuclear Tipping Point". The film is a visual and historical depiction of the ideas laid forth in the "Wall Street Journal" op-eds and reinforces their commitment to a world without nuclear weapons and the steps that can be taken to reach that goal.


title: Henry Kissinger

text: In December 2008, Kissinger was given the American Patriot Award by the National Defense University Foundation "in recognition for his distinguished career in public service".


title: Henry Kissinger

text: On November 17, 2016, Kissinger met with then President-elect Donald Trump during which they discussed global affairs. Kissinger also met with President Trump at the White House in May 2017.


title: Henry Kissinger

text: In an interview with Charlie Rose on August 17, 2017, Kissinger said about President Trump: "I'm hoping for an Augustinian moment, for St. Augustine ... who in his early life followed a pattern that was quite incompatible with later on when he had a vision, and rose to sainthood. One does not expect the president to become that, but it's conceivable". Kissinger also argued that Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to weaken Hillary Clinton, not elect Donald Trump. Kissinger said that Putin "thought—wrongly incidentally—that she would be extremely confrontational ... I think he tried to weaken the incoming president [Clinton]".


title: Henry Kissinger

text: In several articles of his and interviews that he gave during the Yugoslav Wars, he criticized the United States' policies in Southeast Europe, among other things for the recognition of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a sovereign state, which he described as a foolish act. Most importantly he dismissed the notion of Serbs and Croats being aggressors or separatist, saying that "they can't be separating from something that has never existed". In addition, he repeatedly warned the West against inserting itself into a conflict that has its roots at least hundreds of years back in time, and said that the West would do better if it allowed the Serbs and Croats to join their respective countries. Kissinger shared similarly critical views on Western involvement in Kosovo. In particular, he held a disparaging view of the Rambouillet Agreement:


title: Henry Kissinger

text: However, as the Serbs did not accept the Rambouillet text and NATO bombings started, he opted for a continuation of the bombing as NATO's credibility was now at stake, but dismissed the use of ground forces, claiming that it was not worth it.


title: Henry Kissinger

text: In 2006, it was reported in the book "" by Bob Woodward that Kissinger met regularly with President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney to offer advice on the Iraq War. Kissinger confirmed in recorded interviews with Woodward that the advice was the same as he had given in a column in "The Washington Post" on August 12, 2005: "Victory over the insurgency is the only meaningful exit strategy." Kissinger also frequently met with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who he warned that Coalition Provisional Authority Director L. Paul Bremer was "a control freak".


title: Henry Kissinger

text: In an interview on the BBC's "Sunday AM" on November 19, 2006, Kissinger was asked whether there is any hope left for a clear military victory in Iraq and responded, "If you mean by 'military victory' an Iraqi government that can be established and whose writ runs across the whole country, that gets the civil war under control and sectarian violence under control in a time period that the political processes of the democracies will support, I don't believe that is possible. ... I think we have to redefine the course. But I don't believe that the alternative is between military victory as it had been defined previously, or total withdrawal."


title: Henry Kissinger

text: In an interview with Peter Robinson of the Hoover Institution on April 3, 2008, Kissinger reiterated that even though he supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq, he thought that the George W. Bush administration rested too much of its case for war on Saddam's supposed weapons of mass destruction. Robinson noted that Kissinger had criticized the administration for invading with too few troops, for disbanding the Iraqi Army as part of de-Baathification, and for mishandling relations with certain allies.


title: Henry Kissinger

text: Kissinger said in April 2008 that "India has parallel objectives to the United States", and he called it an ally of the U.S.


title: Henry Kissinger

text: Kissinger was present at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. A few months before the Games opened, as controversy over China's human rights record was intensifying due to criticism by Amnesty International and other groups of the widespread use of the death penalty and other issues, Kissinger told the PRC's official press agency Xinhua: "I think one should separate Olympics as a sporting event from whatever political disagreements people may have had with China. I expect that the games will proceed in the spirit for which they were designed, which is friendship among nations, and that other issues are discussed in other forums." He said China had made huge efforts to stage the Games. "Friends of China should not use the Olympics to pressure China now." He added that he would bring two of his grandchildren to watch the Games and planned to attend the opening ceremony. During the Games, he participated with Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe, film star Jackie Chan, and former British PM Tony Blair at a Peking University forum on the qualities that make a champion. He sat with his wife Nancy Kissinger, President George W. Bush, former President George H. W. Bush, and Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi at the men's basketball game between China and the U.S.


title: Henry Kissinger

text: In 2011, Kissinger published "On China", chronicling the evolution of Sino-American relations and laying out the challenges to a partnership of "genuine strategic trust" between the U.S. and China.


title: Henry Kissinger

text: In his 2011 book "On China", his 2014 book "World Order" and in a 2018 interview with "Financial Times", Kissinger stated that he believes China wants to restore its historic role as the Middle Kingdom and be "the principal adviser to all humanity".


title: Henry Kissinger

text: In 2020, during a period of worsening Sino-American relations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hong Kong protests, and the U.S.–China trade war, Kissinger expressed concerns that the United States and China are entering a Second Cold War and will eventually become embroiled in a military conflict similar to World War I. He called for Chinese President Xi Jinping and the incoming U.S. President-elect Joe Biden to take a less confrontational foreign policy. Kissinger previously said that a potential war between China and the United States would be "worse than the world wars that ruined European civilization".


title: Henry Kissinger

text: Kissinger's position on this issue of U.S.–Iran talks was reported by the "Tehran Times" to be that "Any direct talks between the U.S. and Iran on issues such as the nuclear dispute would be most likely to succeed if they first involved only diplomatic staff and progressed to the level of secretary of state before the heads of state meet." In 2016, Kissinger said that the biggest challenge facing the Middle East is the "potential domination of the region by an Iran that is both imperial and jihadist". He further wrote in August 2017 that if the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran and its Shiite allies were allowed to fill the territorial vacuum left by a militarily defeated Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the region would be left with a land corridor extending from Iran to the Levant "which could mark the emergence of an Iranian radical empire". Commenting on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Kissinger said that he would not have agreed to it, but that Trump's plan to end the agreement after it was signed would "enable the Iranians to do more than us".


title: Henry Kissinger

text: On March 5, 2014, "The Washington Post" published an op-ed piece by Kissinger, 11 days before the Crimean referendum on whether Autonomous Republic of Crimea should officially rejoin Ukraine or join neighboring Russia. In it, he attempted to balance the Ukrainian, Russian and Western desires for a functional state. He made four main points:


title: Henry Kissinger

text: Kissinger also wrote: "The west speaks Ukrainian; the east speaks mostly Russian. Any attempt by one wing of Ukraine to dominate the other—as has been the pattern—would lead eventually to civil war or break up."


title: Henry Kissinger

text: Following the publication of his book titled "World Order", Kissinger participated in an interview with Charlie Rose and updated his position on Ukraine, which he sees as a possible geographical mediator between Russia and the West. In a question he posed to himself for illustration regarding re-conceiving policy regarding Ukraine, Kissinger stated: "If Ukraine is considered an outpost, then the situation is that its eastern border is the NATO strategic line, and NATO will be within of Volgograd. That will never be accepted by Russia. On the other hand, if the Russian western line is at the border of Poland, Europe will be permanently disquieted. The Strategic objective should have been to see whether one can build Ukraine as a bridge between East and West, and whether one can do it as a kind of a joint effort."


title: Henry Kissinger

text: In December 2016, Kissinger advised then President-elect Donald Trump to accept "Crimea as a part of Russia" in an attempt to secure a rapprochement between the United States and Russia, whose relations soured as a result of the Crimean crisis. When asked if he explicitly considered Russia's sovereignty over Crimea legitimate, Kissinger answered in the affirmative, reversing the position he took in his "Washington Post" op-ed.


title: Henry Kissinger

text: In 2019, Kissinger wrote about the increasing tendency to give control of nuclear weapons to computers operating with artificial intelligence (AI) that: "Adversaries' ignorance of AI-developed configurations will become a strategic advantage". Kissinger argued that giving power to launch nuclear weapons to computers using algorithms to make decisions would eliminate the human factor and give the advantage to the state that had the most effective AI system as a computer can make decisions about war and peace far faster than any human ever could. Just as an AI-enhanced computer can win chess games by anticipating human decision-making, an AI-enhanced computer could be useful in a crisis as in a nuclear war, the side that strikes first would have the advantage by destroying the opponent's nuclear capacity. Kissinger also noted there was always the danger that a computer could make a decision to start a nuclear war before diplomacy had been exhausted, or for a reason that would not be understandable to the operators. Kissinger also warned the use of AI to control nuclear weapons would impose "opacity" on the decision-making process as the algorithms that control the AI system are not readily understandable, destabilizing the decision-making process:


title: Henry Kissinger

text: On April 3, 2020, Kissinger shared his diagnostic view of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that it threatens the "liberal world order". Kissinger added that the virus does not know borders although global leaders are trying to address the crisis on a mainly national basis. He stressed that the key is not a purely national effort but greater international cooperation.


title: Henry Kissinger

text: In May 2022, speaking to the World Economic Forum on the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kissinger advocated for a diplomatic settlement that would restore the "status quo ante bellum", effectively ceding Crimea and the occupied territories of Ukraine to Russian control. Kissinger urged Ukrainians to "match the heroism they have shown with wisdom", arguing that "[p]ursuing the war beyond that point would not be about the freedom of Ukraine, but a new war against Russia itself." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected Kissinger's suggestions, saying Ukraine would not agree to peace until Russia agreed to return Crimea and the Donbas region to Ukraine.


title: Henry Kissinger

text: At the height of Kissinger's prominence, many commented on his wit. In February 1972, at the Washington Press Club annual congressional dinner, "Kissinger mocked his reputation as a secret swinger." The insight, "Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac", is widely attributed to him, although Kissinger was paraphrasing Napoleon Bonaparte.


title: Henry Kissinger

text: A 2015 survey of top international relations scholars conducted by the College of William & Mary ranked Kissinger as the most effective U.S. Secretary of State in the 50 years to 2015. A number of activists and human rights lawyers have sought his prosecution for alleged war crimes. According to historian and Kissinger biographer Niall Ferguson, accusing Kissinger alone of war crimes "requires a double standard" because "nearly all the secretaries of state ... and nearly all the presidents" have taken similar actions. Ferguson adds "this is not to say that it's all OK."


title: Henry Kissinger

text: Some have blamed Kissinger for injustices in American foreign policy during his tenure in government. In September 2001, relatives and survivors of General Rene Schneider (former head of the Chilean general staff) filed civil proceedings in Federal Court in Washington, DC, and, in April 2002, a petition for Kissinger's arrest was filed in the High Court in London by human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, citing the destruction of civilian populations and the environment in Indochina during the years 1969–75. British-American journalist and author Christopher Hitchens authored "The Trial of Henry Kissinger", in which Hitchens calls for the prosecution of Kissinger "for war crimes, for crimes against humanity, and for offenses against common or customary or international law, including conspiracy to commit murder, kidnap, and torture". Critics on the right, such as Ray Takeyh, have faulted Kissinger for his role in the Nixon administration's opening to China and secret negotiations with North Vietnam. Takeyh writes that while rapprochement with China was a worthy goal, the Nixon administration failed to achieve any meaningful concessions from Chinese officials in return, as China continued to support North Vietnam and various "revolutionary forces throughout the Third World", "nor does there appear to be even a remote, indirect connection between Nixon and Kissinger's diplomacy and the communist leadership's decision, after Mao's bloody rule, to move away from a communist economy towards state capitalism."


title: Henry Kissinger

text: Historian Jeffrey Kimball developed the theory that Kissinger and the Nixon administration accepted a South Vietnamese collapse provided a face-saving decent interval passed between American withdrawal and defeat. In his first meeting with Zhou Enlai in 1971, Kissinger "laid out in detail the settlement terms that would produce such a delayed defeat: total American withdrawal, return of all American POWs, and a ceasefire-in-place for '18 months or some period, in the words of historian Ken Hughes. On October 6, 1972, Kissinger told Nixon twice that the terms of the Paris Peace Accords would probably destroy South Vietnam: "I also think that Thieu is right, that our terms will eventually destroy him." However, Kissinger denied using a "decent interval" strategy, writing "All of us who negotiated the agreement of October 12 were convinced that we had vindicated the anguish of a decade not by a 'decent interval' but by a decent settlement." Johannes Kadura offers a positive assessment of Nixon and Kissinger's strategy, arguing that the two men "simultaneously maintained a Plan A of further supporting Saigon and a Plan B of shielding Washington should their maneuvers prove futile." According to Kadura, the "decent interval" concept has been "largely misrepresented", in that Nixon and Kissinger "sought to gain time, make the North turn inward, and create a perpetual equilibrium" rather than acquiescing in the collapse of South Vietnam.


title: Henry Kissinger

text: Kissinger's record was brought up during the 2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries. Hillary Clinton had cultivated a close relationship with Kissinger, describing him as a "friend" and a source of "counsel". During the Democratic Primary Debates, Clinton touted Kissinger's praise for her record as Secretary of State. In response, candidate Bernie Sanders issued a critique of Kissinger's foreign policy, declaring, "I am proud to say that Henry Kissinger is not my friend. I will not take advice from Henry Kissinger."


title: Henry Kissinger

text: Kissinger married Ann Fleischer on February 6, 1949. They had two children, Elizabeth and David, and divorced in 1964. On March 30, 1974, he married Nancy Maginnes. They now live in Kent, Connecticut, and in New York City. Kissinger's son David Kissinger served as an executive with NBC Universal Television Studio before becoming head of Conaco, Conan O'Brien's production company, in 2005. In February 1982, at the age of 58, Henry Kissinger underwent coronary bypass surgery.


title: Henry Kissinger

text: Daryl Grove characterised Kissinger as one of the most influential people in the growth of soccer in the United States. Kissinger was named chairman of the North American Soccer League board of directors in 1978.


title: Henry Kissinger

text: Since his childhood, Kissinger has been a fan of his hometown's soccer club, SpVgg Fürth (now SpVgg Greuther Fürth). Even during his time in office, the German Embassy informed him about the team's results every Monday morning. He is an honorary member with lifetime season-tickets. In September 2012 Kissinger attended a home game in which SpVgg Greuther Fürth lost, 0–2, against Schalke, after promising years ago he would attend a Greuther Fürth home game if they were promoted to the Bundesliga, the top football league in Germany, from the 2. Bundesliga.


title: Tobey Maguire

text: Tobias Vincent Maguire (born June 27, 1975) is an American actor and film producer. He is best known for playing the title character from Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" trilogy (2002–2007), a role he later reprised in "" (2021).


title: Tobey Maguire

text: He started his career in supporting roles in the films "This Boy's Life" (1993), "The Ice Storm", "Deconstructing Harry" (both 1997), and "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" (1998). His leading roles include "Pleasantville" (1998), "Ride with the Devil" (1999), "The Cider House Rules" (1999), "Wonder Boys" (2000), "Seabiscuit" (2003), "The Good German" (2006), "Brothers" (2009), "The Great Gatsby" (2013), and "Pawn Sacrifice" (2014).


title: Tobey Maguire

text: He has received two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture for "Cider House Rules" (1999) and "Seabiscut" (2003) as well as a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama for "Brothers" (2009). Maguire established his own production company in 2012 called Material Pictures, and co-produced "Good People" (2012), and "Pawn Sacrifice" (2014).


title: Tobey Maguire

text: Tobias Vincent Maguire was born on June 27, 1975, in Santa Monica, California, to Wendy Brown and Vincent Maguire. His parents separated when he was two years old, and Maguire spent much of his childhood living with various family members.


title: Tobey Maguire

text: During his childhood, Maguire entertained the idea of becoming a chef and wanted to enroll in a home economics class as a sixth grader. His mother offered him $100 to take a drama class instead, and he agreed. The transient nature of his school years began to take a toll on Maguire emotionally, and after another relocation for his freshman year, he dropped out of high school and did not return. Instead, he pursued an acting career. By 2000, he had obtained his General Educational Development, noting that during his school days, "I was not doing school; I was showing up, but... not really giving myself."


title: Tobey Maguire

text: Maguire's first appearance in a feature film was in 1989's "The Wizard". He plays one of Lucas Barton's goons (one of three competitors at a video game competition) and had no lines. He worked as a child actor in the early 1990s, often playing roles much younger than his chronological age, and as late as 2002 he was still playing teenagers while in his mid-20s. He appeared in a variety of commercials and TV and movie roles, working opposite such actors as Chuck Norris ("Walker, Texas Ranger"), Roseanne Barr ("Roseanne"), and Tracey Ullman ("Tracey Takes On..."). Eventually, he was cast as the lead in the FOX TV series "Great Scott!", which was canceled nine weeks later.


title: Tobey Maguire

text: During many of his auditions, Maguire found himself auditioning for roles opposite another rising actor, Leonardo DiCaprio. The pair quickly became friends and made an informal pact to help each other get parts in their movies/TV shows/other projects. For example, both auditioned for the same part in the 1990 TV series based on the 1989 comedy "Parenthood". DiCaprio was cast, and Maguire later got a guest role at least partly on DiCaprio's recommendation. The same scenario played itself out during casting for the 1993 movie "This Boy's Life" (featuring Robert De Niro as the lead); DiCaprio got the main teen role of character Tobias "Toby" Wolff and Maguire got a part as one of his friends.


title: Tobey Maguire

text: By the mid-1990s, he was working steadily but was also becoming involved in the hard-partying lifestyle of some of his fellow young actors. In 1995, he requested director Allan Moyle to release him from his part in the movie "Empire Records". Moyle agreed, and all of Maguire's scenes were deleted from the final film. Maguire then sought help for a drinking problem from Alcoholics Anonymous; he has been sober ever since.


title: Tobey Maguire

text: As part of his recovery from alcoholism and learning to deal with his self-described "addictive and compulsive nature", Maguire changed his career path slightly to obtain roles where he and DiCaprio would not always be in competition for the same part, and the move paid off when given the role of Paul Hood, a teenage boarding school student whose narration anchors the action, in Ang Lee's 1997 film, "The Ice Storm." This led to a variety of lead roles in films such as "Pleasantville", "The Cider House Rules", and "Wonder Boys".


title: Tobey Maguire

text: In the 1998 film "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" he portrayed a hitchhiker who meets Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo during their drive to Las Vegas.


title: Tobey Maguire

text: In "Ride with the Devil" (1999), Maguire portrayed Jakob Roedel, opposite Jewel Kilcher. Here he played the son of a unionist German immigrant who joins his southern friends in the Missouri riders, avenging the atrocities committed against Missourians by Kansas Jayhawkers and redleggers.


title: Tobey Maguire

text: In 2001, Maguire took a role that featured his youthful-sounding voice, a beagle puppy named Lou, in the family movie "Cats & Dogs".


title: Tobey Maguire

text: In 2002, Maguire starred in "Spider-Man", based on the popular Marvel Comics superhero, Spider-Man. The film was a major success and made him a star. He reprised the role in the sequels "Spider-Man 2" (2004) and "Spider-Man 3" (2007), and also voiced Spider-Man for the video game adaptations of the films.


title: Tobey Maguire

text: His performance as Spider-Man earned him glowing reviews. Mark Caro of the "Chicago Tribune" wrote that "with his big, round, soulful eyes, Maguire always has been able to convey a sense of wonder, and his instinct for understatement also serves him well here." Due to script and production complications, a proposed fourth "Spider-Man" movie did not materialize. Sony's Columbia Pictures decided to reboot the franchise. The film, titled "The Amazing Spider-Man", was released on July 3, 2012, with a different actor, Andrew Garfield, playing the lead.


title: Tobey Maguire

text: Maguire had a lead role as the jockey John M. "Red" Pollard in "Seabiscuit", about the famous racehorse Seabiscuit. In 2006, he starred in his first villainous role as Corporal Patrick Tully opposite George Clooney and Cate Blanchett in Steven Soderbergh's "The Good German", based on the Joseph Kanon novel of the same name. He is also a producer whose production credits include "25th Hour" (2002), "Whatever We Do" (2003), and "Seabiscuit" (2003), for which he served as executive producer.


title: Tobey Maguire

text: In 2008, he made a cameo appearance in the action comedy film "Tropic Thunder" as a gay 18th century monk with his eye on Father O'Malley (Kirk Lazarus, the character played by Robert Downey, Jr. in "Tropic Thunder") in the faux trailer for "Satan's Alley". He was a last-minute replacement in the role, and due to previously-scheduled commitments was only available to be on set for two hours to film his scenes. Near the end of "Tropic Thunder", it is revealed that Maguire's character has been nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for "Satan's Alley", which he loses to Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller) for his role in "Tropic Blunder", presented by Kirk Lazarus.


title: Tobey Maguire

text: In 2009, he starred alongside Jake Gyllenhaal and Natalie Portman in the Jim Sheridan-directed war drama "Brothers" as Sam Cahill, a prisoner of war who returns from Afghanistan and starts believing that his wife has become romantically involved with his brother. He received critical acclaim and a Golden Globe nomination for his performance in the film. Of the nomination, Maguire said, "I had no expectation about getting a nomination, but I was watching nonetheless. My wife and my son got really excited. I was sort of surprised – I was like, 'Oh, wow.' And I couldn't hear the latter part of my name." Maguire lost to Jeff Bridges for his role in "Crazy Heart". Maguire was also initially set to star as The Writer in "Life of Pi" (2012), directed by Ang Lee but was cut from the film during production for being "too recogniseable" and was replaced by Rafe Spall, with Lee deciding to reshoot the scenes he had shot with Maguire.


title: Tobey Maguire

text: Maguire and DiCaprio once again performed together, in Baz Luhrmann's remake of "The Great Gatsby" (2013); DiCaprio played the title role, while Maguire played the story's narrator, Nick Carraway.


title: Tobey Maguire

text: In 2012, Maguire was a co-producer of "Good People". That same year, he also established his own production company, Material Pictures, which secured independent financing in 2013 to help it produce more feature films.


title: Tobey Maguire

text: His next film, "Pawn Sacrifice" (2015), was also co-produced by Material Pictures. It was a Cold War thriller based on the true story of American chess prodigy Bobby Fischer, played by Maguire. The film details the events leading up to and including the world chess championship in 1972, when Fischer challenges Soviet chess grandmaster and world champion, Boris Spassky, acted by Liev Schreiber. It received mostly positive reviews. Maguire reunited with Alec Baldwin after "Cats & Dogs" (2001) in the animated movie "The Boss Baby" (2017), where he voiced the adult version of Tim Templeton.


title: Tobey Maguire

text: Maguire reprised his role as Peter Parker / Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film "" (2021), alongside successors Tom Holland and Andrew Garfield. He will appear in Damien Chazelle's ensemble film "Babylon", where he will also serve as an executive producer.


title: Tobey Maguire

text: Maguire has been a vegetarian since 1992; in 2009, he became a vegan. He has made changes in his diet to either gain or lose weight for film roles: he dramatically decreased his calorie intake for "Seabiscuit", followed by a rapid increase to regain weight for "Spider-Man 2". Maguire has been sober since age 19, having experienced "some difficulty" with alcohol in his late teens.


title: Tobey Maguire

text: Maguire met jewelry designer Jennifer Meyer in 2003 while he was shooting "Seabiscuit" at Universal Studios, and they became engaged in April 2006. Their daughter was born in November that year. Meyer's father, Universal studios head Ronald Meyer, reportedly helped Maguire regain his job after being fired from "Spider-Man 2" in 2003. Maguire and Meyer married on September 3, 2007, in Kailua Kona, Hawaii. Their second child, a son, was born in May 2009. On October 18, 2016, the couple announced their separation after nine years of marriage. In 2020, Meyer filed for divorce after four years of separation.


title: Tobey Maguire

text: In 2004, Maguire took up tournament poker. He has finished in the money in several events and has been tutored by poker professional Daniel Negreanu. Maguire was seen on ESPN's coverage of the 2005, 2006, and 2007 World Series of Poker Main Event Championship. He was one of many celebrities, along with Leonardo DiCaprio and Ben Affleck, who participated in Molly Bloom's high-stake poker games at The Viper Room in the mid-2000s, and received negative press coverage for allegedly demanding Bloom "bark like a seal" for a $1,000 poker chip after a tournament he won. Maguire's actions at the game are portrayed by Michael Cera in the film "Molly's Game" through the character "Player X".


title: Downton Abbey

text: Downton Abbey is a British historical drama television series set in the early 20th century, created and co-written by Julian Fellowes. The series first aired in the United Kingdom on ITV on 26 September 2010 and in the United States on PBS, which supported production of the series as part of its "Masterpiece Classic" anthology, on 9 January 2011.


title: Downton Abbey

text: The series, set on the fictional Yorkshire country estate of Downton Abbey between 1912 and 1926, depicts the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their domestic servants in the post-Edwardian era—the great events of the time having an effect on their lives and on the British social hierarchy. Events depicted throughout the series include news of the sinking of the "Titanic" in the first series; the outbreak of the First World War, the Spanish influenza pandemic, and the Marconi scandal in the second series; the Irish War of Independence leading to the formation of the Irish Free State in the third series; the Teapot Dome scandal in the fourth series; the British general election of 1923 and the Beer Hall Putsch in the fifth series. The sixth and final series introduces the rise of the working class during the interwar period and hints at the eventual decline of the British aristocracy.


title: Downton Abbey

text: "Downton Abbey" has received acclaim from television critics and won numerous accolades, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Miniseries or Television Film and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries or Movie. It was recognised by "Guinness World Records" as the most critically acclaimed English-language television series of 2011. It earned the most nominations of any international television series in the history of the Primetime Emmy Awards, with twenty-seven in total (after the first two series). It was the most watched television series on both ITV and PBS, and subsequently became the most successful British costume drama series since the 1981 television serial of "Brideshead Revisited".


title: Downton Abbey

text: On 26 March 2015, Carnival Films and ITV announced that the sixth series would be the last. It aired on ITV between 20 September 2015 and 8 November 2015. The final episode, serving as the annual Christmas special, was broadcast on 25 December 2015. A film adaptation, serving as a continuation of the series, was confirmed on 13 July 2018 and subsequently released in the United Kingdom on 13 September 2019, and in the United States on 20 September 2019. A second feature film, "" was released in the United Kingdom on 29 April 2022 by Universal Pictures, and in the United States and Canada on 20 May 2022 by Focus Features.


title: Downton Abbey

text: The first series, comprising seven episodes, explores the lives of the fictional Crawley family, the hereditary Earls of Grantham, and their domestic servants. The storyline centres on the fee tail or "entail" governing the titled elite, which endows title and estate exclusively to male heirs. As part of the backstory, the main character, Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham, had resolved his father's past financial difficulties by marrying Cora Levinson, an American heiress. Her considerable dowry is now contractually incorporated into the committal entail in perpetuity; however, Robert and Cora have three daughters and no son.


title: Downton Abbey

text: As the eldest daughter, Lady Mary Crawley had agreed to marry her second cousin Patrick, the son of the then-heir presumptive James Crawley. The series begins the day after the sinking of the RMS "Titanic" on 14/15 April 1912. The first episode starts as news reaches Downton Abbey that both James and Patrick have perished in the sinking of the ocean liner. Soon it is discovered that a more distant male cousin, solicitor Matthew Crawley, the son of an upper-middle-class doctor, has become the next heir presumptive. The story initially centres on the relationship between Lady Mary and Matthew, who resists embracing an aristocratic lifestyle, while Lady Mary resists her own attraction to the handsome new heir presumptive.


title: Downton Abbey

text: Of several subplots, one involves John Bates, Lord Grantham's new valet and former Boer War batman, and Thomas Barrow, an ambitious young footman, who resents Bates for taking over the position he had desired. Bates and Thomas remain at odds as Barrow works to sabotage Bates's every move. After learning Bates had recently been released from prison, Thomas and Miss O'Brien (Lady Grantham's Lady's maid) begin a relentless pursuit that nearly ruins the Crawley family in scandal. Barrow – a homosexual man in late Edwardian England – and O'Brien create havoc for most of the staff and family. When Barrow is caught stealing, he hands in his notice to join the Royal Army Medical Corps. Matthew eventually does propose to Lady Mary, but she puts him off when Lady Grantham becomes pregnant, understanding that Matthew would no longer be heir if the baby is a boy. Cora loses the baby after O'Brien, believing she is soon to be fired, retaliates by leaving a bar of soap on the floor next to the bathtub, causing Cora to slip while getting out of the tub, and the fall resulting in a miscarriage. It is later revealed that the miscarried foetus was a male. Although Lady Mary intends to accept Matthew, Matthew believes her reluctance is due to the earlier uncertainty of his heirship and emotionally rescinds his proposal, leaving Lady Mary devastated. The series ends just after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914.


title: Downton Abbey

text: The second series comprises eight episodes and runs from the Battle of the Somme in 1916 to the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. During the war, Downton Abbey is temporarily converted into an officers' convalescent hospital.


title: Downton Abbey

text: Matthew, having left Downton, is now a British Army officer and has become engaged. His fiancée is Lavinia Swire, the niece of a Liberal minister. William Mason, the second footman, is drafted, even after attempts by the Dowager Countess of Grantham to save him from conscription. William is taken under Matthew's protection as his personal orderly. Enduring trench warfare and charging against machine guns and artillery, both are injured by an exploding shell. William dies from his wounds, but only after a deathbed marriage to Daisy, the kitchen maid. While Daisy does not believe she loves William, she marries him in his last hours as his dying wish. It is not until a brief encounter with the Dowager Countess that she begins to realise that her love was real, but she could not admit it to herself.


title: Downton Abbey

text: Matthew is now paralysed from the waist down by his battle injury, and seemingly unable to father children. Lavinia remains true to him despite his attempts to set her free, and he finally accepts her devotion. Mary, while acknowledging her feelings for Matthew, becomes engaged to Sir Richard Carlisle, a powerful and overbearing newspaper mogul, but their relationship is rocky. Bates's wife, Vera, repeatedly causes trouble for John and Anna, who are now engaged. Vera threatens to expose Mary's past scandalous indiscretion, but Carlisle agrees to purchase and kill her story. Embittered, Mrs Bates mysteriously commits suicide with an arsenic pie after a visit by Bates, and he is arrested on suspicion of her murder. Matthew regains the use of his legs, and he and Mary realise they are still in love, but Matthew remains honourably committed to Lavinia after she stood by him during his misfortune. Unknown to them both, Lavinia, ill with Spanish flu, sees and overhears Matthew and Mary admit their love for one another while dancing to a song playing on the phonograph gifted as a wedding present to Matthew and Lavinia.


title: Downton Abbey

text: The Spanish influenza epidemic hits Downton Abbey further with Cora taken seriously ill, as well as Carson, the butler. During the outbreak, Thomas attempts to make up for his inability to find other employment after the war by making himself as useful as possible and is made Lord Grantham's valet after Bates is arrested. Lavinia dies abruptly, which causes great guilt to both Matthew and Mary. Bates is found guilty of murder and sentenced to death but the sentence is commuted to life in prison due to Lord Grantham's influence. After a talk with Robert, Mary realises that she must break off her engagement to Carlisle; he and Matthew fight in the drawing room, but in the end Carlisle goes quietly and is never heard from again. The annual Servants' Ball is held at Downton, and Mary and Matthew finally find their way to a marriage proposal on a snowy evening outside the Abbey.


title: Downton Abbey

text: Lady Sybil, the youngest Crawley daughter, beginning to find her aristocratic life stifling, falls in love with Tom Branson, the new chauffeur of Irish descent with strong socialist leanings. She is talked out of elopement by her sisters, but her wayward marriage eventually receives Lord Grantham's reluctant blessing.


title: Downton Abbey

text: Ethel Parks, a new housemaid, is seduced by a wounded officer, Major Bryant. Mrs Hughes, the housekeeper, finds them together in bed and dismisses Ethel, but takes pity on her and helps her when Ethel tells her she is pregnant. She has a baby boy and names him Charlie after his father, but Major Bryant refuses to acknowledge his paternity.


title: Downton Abbey

text: In episode one of the third series, covering 1920 to 1921, preparations are underway for Mary and Matthew's wedding. Tom and Sybil Branson arrive from Ireland, where they now live, to attend the wedding. Also arriving to attend the wedding of her granddaughter is Cora's mother, Martha Levinson, from America. Robert (Lord Grantham) learns that the bulk of the family's fortune (including Cora's dowry) has been lost due to his impetuous investment in the Grand Trunk Railway. Meanwhile Edith has fallen for Sir Anthony Strallan, whom Robert discourages from marrying Edith due to his age and crippled arm. At Edith's insistence, Robert gives in and welcomes Sir Anthony, but even though he loves her, Strallan cannot accept that the Grantham family disapproves the match, and at the altar announces that he cannot go through with the wedding, devastating Edith. Strallan flees the church and is never heard from again.


title: Downton Abbey

text: Meanwhile, Bates's cellmate plants a small surgical knife in his bedding, but Bates is informed by a fellow prisoner allowing him time to find and hide it (this same small knife is later used by Bates to threaten his cellmate when he had been using his connections through corrupt prison guards to keep a witness from testifying to Bates’s innocence of the crime for which he is incarcerated). At Downton, Mrs Hughes finds out she may have breast cancer, which only some of the household hear about, causing deep concern, but the tumour turns out to be benign. Tom Branson and Lady Sybil, now pregnant, return to Downton after Tom is implicated in the burning of an Anglo-Irish aristocrat's house. After Matthew's reluctance to accept an inheritance from Lavinia's recently deceased father and then Robert's reluctance to accept that inheritance as a gift, Matthew and Robert reach a compromise in which Matthew accepts that the inheritance will be used as an investment in the estate, giving Matthew an equal say in how it is run. However, as time goes on Robert repeatedly resists Matthew and Tom's efforts to modernise the running of the estate to make it profitable.


title: Downton Abbey

text: Tragedy strikes when Sybil dies from eclampsia shortly after giving birth. Tom, devastated, names his daughter Sybil after his late wife. Bates is released from prison after Anna uncovers evidence clearing him of his wife's murder. Tom becomes the new land agent at the suggestion of Violet, the Dowager Countess. Barrow and O'Brien have a falling out, after which O'Brien leads Barrow to believe that Jimmy, the new footman, is sexually attracted to him. Barrow enters Jimmy's room and kisses him while he is sleeping, which wakes him up shocked, confused, and very angry. In the end, Lord Grantham (familiar with homosexuality from Eton) defuses the situation. The family, except Branson, visits Violet's niece Susan, her husband "Shrimpie", the Marquess of Flintshire; and their daughter Rose, in Scotland, accompanied by Matthew and a very pregnant Mary. The Marquess confides to Robert that his estate is bankrupt and will be sold, making Robert recognise that Downton has been saved through Matthew and Tom's efforts to modernise. At Downton, Edna Braithwaite, the new maid, enters Tom's room and kisses him, to which he asks her to leave, and she is eventually fired. Mary returns to Downton with Anna and gives birth to the new heir, but Matthew dies in a car crash while driving home from the hospital after seeing his newborn son.


title: Downton Abbey

text: In series four, covering 1922 to 1923, Cora's lady's maid O'Brien leaves to serve Lady Flintshire in British India. Cora hires Edna Braithwaite, who had previously been fired for her interest in Tom. Eventually the situation blows up, and Edna is replaced by Phyllis Baxter.


title: Downton Abbey

text: Lady Mary deeply mourns Matthew's death. Matthew's newly-found letter states Mary is to be his sole heir and thus gives her management over his share of the estate until their son, George, comes of age. With Tom's encouragement, Mary assumes a more active role in running Downton. Two new suitors—Lord Gillingham and Charles Blake—arrive at Downton, though Mary, still grieving, is not interested. Middle daughter Lady Edith, who has begun writing a weekly newspaper column, and Michael Gregson, a magazine editor, fall in love. Due to British law, he is unable to divorce his wife, who is mentally ill and in an asylum. Gregson travels to Germany to seek citizenship there, enabling him to divorce, but is killed by Hitler's Brownshirts during riots. Edith is left pregnant and decides to have an illegal abortion, but changes her mind at the last minute. With the help from her paternal aunt, Lady Rosamund, Edith secretly gives birth to a daughter while abroad, and places the baby with adoptive parents in Switzerland, but reclaims her after arranging a new adoptive family on the estate. Mr and Mrs Drewe of Yew Tree Farm take the baby in and raise her as their own.


title: Downton Abbey

text: Anna is raped by Lord Gillingham's valet, Mr Green, which Mr Bates later discovers. Subsequently, Mr Green is killed in a London street accident. A local school teacher, Sarah Bunting, and Tom begin a friendship. On the Christmas special, Sampson, a card sharp, steals a letter written by Edward VIII, then Prince of Wales, to his mistress, Rose's friend Freda Dudley Ward, which, if made public, would create a scandal; the entire Crawley family connives to retrieve it, though it is Bates who extracts the letter from Sampson's overcoat, and it is returned to Mrs Dudley Ward.


title: Downton Abbey

text: In series five, covering the year 1924, a Russian exile, Prince Kuragin, wishes to renew his past affections for the Dowager Countess (Violet). Violet instead locates his wife in British Hong Kong and reunites the Prince and his estranged wife. Scotland Yard and the local police investigate Green's death. Violet learns that Marigold is Edith's daughter. Meanwhile, Mrs Drewe, not knowing Marigold's true parentage, resents Edith's constant visits. To increase his chances with Mary, Charles Blake plots to reunite Gillingham and his ex-fiancée, Mabel. After Edith inherits Michael Gregson's publishing company, she removes Marigold from the Drewes and relocates to London. Simon Bricker, an art expert interested in one of Downton's paintings, shows his true intentions toward Cora and is thrown out by Robert, causing a temporary rift between the couple.


title: Downton Abbey

text: Mrs Patmore's decision to invest her inheritance in real estate inspires Mr Carson, Downton's butler, to do likewise. He suggests that head housekeeper Mrs Hughes invest with him; she confesses she has no money due to supporting a mentally incapacitated sister. The Crawleys' cousin, Lady Rose, daughter of Lord and Lady Flintshire, becomes engaged to Atticus Aldridge, son of Lord and Lady Sinderby. Lord Sinderby strongly objects to Atticus's marrying outside the Jewish faith. Lord Merton proposes to Isobel Crawley (Matthew's mother). She accepts, but later ends the engagement due to Lord Merton's sons' disparaging comments over her status as a commoner. Lady Flintshire employs underhanded schemes to derail Rose and Atticus's engagement, including announcing to everyone at the wedding that she and her husband are divorcing, intending to cause a scandal to stop Rose's marriage to Atticus; they are married anyway.


title: Downton Abbey

text: When Anna is arrested on suspicion of Green's murder, Bates writes a false confession before fleeing to Ireland. Miss Baxter and Molesley, a footman, are able to prove that Bates was in York at the time of the murder. This new information allows Anna to be released. Cora eventually learns the truth about Marigold, and wants her raised at Downton; Marigold is presented as Edith's ward, but Robert and Tom eventually discern the truth: only Mary is unaware. When a war memorial is unveiled in the town, Robert arranges for a separate plaque to honour the cook Mrs Patmore's late nephew, who was shot for cowardice and excluded from his own village's memorial.


title: Downton Abbey

text: The Crawleys are invited to Brancaster Castle, which Lord and Lady Sinderby have rented for a shooting party. While there, Lady Rose, with help from the Crawleys, defuses a personal near-disaster for Lord Sinderby, earning his gratitude and securing his approval of Rose. A second footman, Andy, is hired on Barrow's recommendation. During the annual Downton Abbey Christmas celebration, Tom Branson announces he is moving to America to work for his cousin, taking daughter Sybil with him. Mr Carson proposes marriage to Mrs Hughes and she accepts.


title: Downton Abbey

text: In series six, covering the year 1925, changes are once again afoot at Downton Abbey as the middle class rises and more bankrupted aristocrats are forced to sell off their large estates. Downton must do more to ensure its future survival; reductions in staff are considered, forcing Barrow to look for a job elsewhere. Lady Mary defies a blackmailer, who is thwarted by Lord Grantham. With Branson's departure to Boston, Lady Mary becomes the estate agent. Edith is more hands-on in running her magazine and hires a female editor. Lady Violet and Isobel once again draw battle lines as a government take-over of the local hospital is considered.


title: Downton Abbey

text: Meanwhile, Anna suffers repeated miscarriages. Lady Mary takes her to a specialist, who diagnoses a treatable condition, and she becomes pregnant again. Mr Carson and Mrs Hughes disagree on where to hold their wedding reception, but eventually choose to have it at the schoolhouse, during which Tom Branson reappears with Sybil, having returned to Downton for good. Coyle, who tricked Baxter into stealing a previous employer's jewellery, is convicted after she and other witnesses are persuaded to testify. After Mrs Drewe kidnaps Marigold when Edith is not looking, the Drewes vacate Yew Tree Farm; Daisy convinces Tom Branson to ask Lord Grantham to give her father-in-law, Mr Mason, the tenancy. Andy, a footman, offers to help Mr Mason so he can learn about farming, but Andy is held back by his illiteracy; Mr Barrow offers to teach him to read.


title: Downton Abbey

text: Robert suffers a near-fatal health crisis. Previous episodes alluded to health problems for Robert; his ulcer bursts and he is rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery. The operation is successful, but Mary and Tom must take over Downton's operations. Larry Merton's fiancée, Amelia, encourages Lord Merton and Isobel Crawley to renew their engagement, but Lady Violet rightly becomes suspicious. Violet discovers that Amelia wants Isobel, and not her, to be Lord Merton's caretaker in his old age. Daisy and Mr Molesley score high marks on their academic exams; Molesley's are so exceptional that he is offered a teaching position at the school. Mary breaks off with Henry Talbot, unable to live with the constant fear he could be killed in a car race. Bertie Pelham proposes to Edith, but she hesitates to accept because of Marigold. Lady Violet, upset over Lady Grantham replacing her as hospital president, abruptly departs for a long cruise to restore her equanimity.


title: Downton Abbey

text: Bertie Pelham unexpectedly succeeds his late second cousin as 7th Marquess of Hexham and moves into Brancaster Castle; Edith accepts him. Then Mary spitefully exposes Marigold's parentage, causing Bertie to walk out. Tom confronts Mary over her malicious behaviour and her true feelings for Henry. Despondent, Barrow attempts suicide, and is saved by Baxter, causing Robert and Mr Carson to let Barrow stay at Downton while he recovers and while he searches for new employment. Mary and Henry reunite and are married. Edith returns to Downton for the wedding, becoming reconciled with Mary. Mrs Patmore's new bed and breakfast business is tainted by scandal, but saved when Robert, Cora and Rosamund appear there publicly to support her. Mary arranges a surprise meeting for Edith and Bertie with Bertie proposing again. Edith accepts. Edith tells Bertie's moralistic mother Miranda Pelham about Marigold; she turns against the match, but is won over by Edith's honesty. Barrow finds a position as butler and leaves Downton on good terms, but he is unhappy at his new post.


title: Downton Abbey

text: Lord Merton is diagnosed with terminal pernicious anaemia, and Amelia blocks Isobel from seeing him. Goaded by Lady Violet, Isobel pushes into the Merton house, and announces she will take Lord Merton to her house to care for him and to marry him – to his delight. Later, Lord Merton is correctly diagnosed with a non-fatal form of anaemia. Robert resents Cora's frequent absences as the hospital president, but encouraged by Lady Rose he comes to admire her ability after watching her chair a hospital meeting. Henry and Tom go into business together selling used cars, while Mary announces her pregnancy. Molesley accepts a permanent teaching position and he and Miss Baxter promise to continue seeing each other. Daisy and Andy finally acknowledge their feelings; Daisy decides to move to the farm with Mr Mason, her father-in-law. Carson develops palsy and must retire. Lord Grantham suggests Barrow return as butler, with Mr Carson in an overseeing role. Edith and Bertie are finally married in the series finale, set on New Year's Eve 1925. Lady Rose and Atticus return for the wedding. Anna goes into labour during the reception, and she and Bates become parents to a healthy son.


title: Downton Abbey

text: The main cast of the Crawley family is led by Hugh Bonneville as Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham, and Elizabeth McGovern as his wife Cora Crawley, the Countess of Grantham. Their three daughters are depicted by Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary Crawley (Talbot), Laura Carmichael as Lady Edith Crawley (Pelham) and Jessica Brown Findlay as Lady Sybil Crawley (Branson). Maggie Smith is Robert Crawley's mother Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham. Samantha Bond portrays Lady Rosamund Painswick, Robert's sister who resides in Belgrave Square, London. Dan Stevens portrays Matthew Crawley, the new heir, along with Penelope Wilton as his mother, Isobel Crawley, who are brought to Downton. Allen Leech as Tom Branson begins the series as the family chauffeur, but falls in love with Lady Sybil, marries her and later becomes the agent for the estate. David Robb portrays Dr Richard Clarkson, the local town doctor.


title: Downton Abbey

text: Joining the cast in series three is Lily James as Lady Rose MacClare, a second cousin through Violet's family, who is sent to live with the Crawleys because her parents are serving the empire in India and, later, remains there because of family problems. In series three and four, Shirley MacLaine portrays the mother of Cora Crawley, Martha Levinson. Suitors for Lady Mary's affections during the series include Tom Cullen as Lord Gillingham, Julian Ovenden as Charles Blake, and Matthew Goode as Henry Talbot. Edith's fiancé and eventual husband Bertie Pelham, 7th Marquess of Hexham, is played by Harry Hadden-Paton.


title: Downton Abbey

text: Downton Abbey's senior household staff are portrayed by Jim Carter as Mr Carson, the butler, and Phyllis Logan as Mrs Hughes, the housekeeper. Tensions rise when Rob James-Collier, portraying Thomas Barrow, a footman and later a valet and under-butler, along with Siobhan Finneran as Miss O'Brien, the lady's maid to the Countess of Grantham (up to series three), plot against Brendan Coyle as Mr Bates, the valet to the Earl of Grantham, and his love interest and eventual wife, Anna (Joanne Froggatt), lady's maid to Lady Mary. Kevin Doyle plays the unlucky Mr Molesley, valet to Matthew Crawley. Thomas Howes portrays William Mason, the second footman.


title: Downton Abbey

text: Other household staff are Rose Leslie as Gwen Dawson, a housemaid studying to be a secretary in series one. Amy Nuttall plays Ethel Parks, a maid, beginning in series two and three. Matt Milne joined the cast as Alfred Nugent, O'Brien's nephew, the awkward new footman for series three and four, and Raquel Cassidy plays Baxter, Cora's new lady's maid, who was hired to replace Edna Braithwaithe, who was sacked. Ed Speleers plays the dashing James (Jimmy) Kent, the second footman, from series three to five. In series five and six Michael C. Fox plays Andy Parker, a replacement footman for Jimmy. In series four, five, and six Andrew Scarborough plays Tim Drewe, a farmer of the estate, who helps Lady Edith conceal a big secret.


title: Downton Abbey

text: The kitchen staff include Lesley Nicol as Mrs Patmore the cook, and Sophie McShera as Daisy, the scullery maid who works her way up to assistant cook having earlier married William Mason. Cara Theobold portrays Ivy Stuart, a kitchen maid, joining the cast for series three and four.


title: Downton Abbey

text: The series is set in fictional Downton Abbey, a Yorkshire country house, which is the home and seat of the Earl and Countess of Grantham, along with their three daughters and other family members. Each series follows the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family, their friends, and their servants during the reign of King George V.


title: Downton Abbey

text: Gareth Neame of Carnival Films conceived the idea of an Edwardian-era TV drama set in a country house and approached Fellowes, who had won an Academy Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay) for "Gosford Park". The TV series "Downton Abbey" – written and created by Fellowes – was originally planned as a spin-off of "Gosford Park", but instead was developed as a stand-alone property inspired by the film, set decades earlier. Although Fellowes was reluctant to work on another project resembling "Gosford Park", within a few weeks he returned to Neame with an outline of the first series. Influenced by Edith Wharton's "The Custom of the Country", Fellowes writes the scripts, and his wife, Emma, is an informal story editor.


title: Downton Abbey

text: Highclere Castle in north Hampshire is used for exterior shots of Downton Abbey and most of the interior filming. The kitchen, servants' quarters and working areas, and some of the "upstairs" bedrooms were constructed and filmed at Ealing Studios. Bridgewater House in the St James area of London served as the family's London home.


title: Downton Abbey

text: <mapframe text="Map of "Downton Abbey" filming locations" latitude="53.383333" longitude="-1.466667" zoom="6" width="300" height="400" align="right">


title: Downton Abbey

text: Outdoor scenes are filmed in the village of Bampton in Oxfordshire. Notable locations include the Church of St Mary the Virgin and the library, which served as the entrance to the cottage hospital. The old rectory in Bampton is used for exterior shots of Isobel Crawley's house, with interior scenes filmed at Hall Place near Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire.


title: Downton Abbey

text: The Downton Abbey of the title and setting is described as lying in Yorkshire. The towns of Easingwold, Kirkby Malzeard, Kirkbymoorside, Malton, Middlesbrough, Ripon, Richmond and Thirsk, each mentioned by characters in the series, lie in North Yorkshire, as does the city of York, while Leeds—similarly mentioned—lies in West Yorkshire. Yorkshire media speculated the general location of the fictional Downton Abbey to be somewhere in the triangulated area between the towns of Easingwold, Ripon and Thirsk.


title: Downton Abbey

text: First World War trench warfare scenes in France were filmed in a specially constructed replica battlefield for period war scenes near the village of Akenham in rural Suffolk.


title: Downton Abbey

text: The fictional Haxby Park, the estate Sir Richard Carlisle intends to buy in Series 2, is part of Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire. Byfleet Manor in Surrey is the location for the Dower house, home to Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham, while West Wycombe Park in Buckinghamshire is used for the interior scenes of Lady Rosamund (Samantha Bond)'s London residence in Belgrave Square. A house in Belgrave Square is used for exterior shots.


title: Downton Abbey

text: The farm scenes in Series 2 in which Lady Edith learns to drive a tractor as part of the war effort were filmed on location at the Chiltern Open Air Museum in Buckinghamshire.


title: Downton Abbey

text: Greys Court near Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire was used as the family's secondary property, which they proposed moving into and calling "Downton Place" due to financial difficulties in Series Three. Also in the third series, Bates's prison scenes were filmed at Lincoln Castle in Lincolnshire.


title: Downton Abbey

text: Horsted Keynes railway station in Sussex is used as Downton station. The station is part of the heritage Bluebell Railway. St Pancras station in London doubled for King's Cross station in episode one of series 4, in the scene where Lady Edith Crawley meets her lover Michael Gregson. The restaurant scene where Lady Edith meets Michael Gregson and where they share their kiss was filmed at the Criterion Restaurant in Piccadilly Circus which was originally opened in 1874.


title: Downton Abbey

text: Bridgewater House in the St James area of London served as the family's London home. Outdoor scenes are filmed in the village of Bampton in Oxfordshire. Notable locations include St Mary's the Virgin Church and the library, which served as the entrance to the cottage hospital. The old rectory in Bampton is used for exterior shots of Isobel Crawley's house, with interior scenes filmed at Hall Barn, Hall Place near Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire, featured as Loxley House, the home of Sir Anthony Strallan.


title: Downton Abbey

text: Parts of series 4 were filmed at The Historic Dockyard Chatham, Kent – The Tarred Yarn Store was used in episode one as a workhouse where Mrs Hughes (Phyllis Logan) visits Mr Grigg (Nicky Henson) and in episode two, streets at The Historic Dockyard Chatham were used for the scenes where Lady Rose MacClare (Lily James) is at the market with James Kent (Ed Speleers) watching her. The production had previously filmed in Kent for series 1 where the opening sequence of a train going through the countryside was filmed at the Kent & East Sussex Railway.


title: Downton Abbey

text: Scenes for the 2013 Christmas special were filmed at Royal Holloway, University of London near Egham, Surrey, West Wittering beach in West Sussex and Berkshire's Basildon Park near Streatley. Lancaster House in London stood in for Buckingham Palace.


title: Downton Abbey

text: Alnwick Castle, in Northumberland, was the filming location used for Brancaster Castle in the 2014 and 2015 Christmas specials, which included filming in Alnwick Castle's State Rooms, as well as on the castle's grounds, and at the nearby semi-ruined Hulne Abbey on the Duke of Northumberland's parklands in Alnwick.


title: Downton Abbey

text: In Series 5 and 6, Kingston Bagpuize House in Oxfordshire was used as the location for Cavenham Park, the home of Lord Merton. In Series 6 (2015) the scenes of motor racing at Brooklands were filmed at the Goodwood Circuit in West Sussex. In 2015, Wayfair.co.uk published a map of 70+ Downton Abbey filming locations.


title: Downton Abbey

text: The 2019 film of "Downton Abbey" uses many of the television locations such as Highclere Castle and Bampton, as well as exterior shots filmed at Beamish Museum. The North York Moors Railway was used for railway scenes.


title: Downton Abbey

text: The opening music of "Downton Abbey", titled "Did I Make the Most of Loving You?", was composed by John Lunn.


title: Downton Abbey

text: A suite version was released on the soundtrack for the show on 19 September 2011 in the UK and later in the US on 13 December 2011. The soundtrack also included the song performed by singer Mary-Jess Leaverland, with lyrics written by Don Black.


title: Downton Abbey

text: The rights to broadcast "Downton Abbey" have been acquired in over 220 countries and territories, and the series has been viewed by a global audience of an estimated 120 million people.


title: Downton Abbey

text: The series first aired on the ITV network in the United Kingdom beginning on 26 September 2010, and received its first Britain-wide broadcast when shown on ITV3 beginning in February 2011.


title: Downton Abbey

text: STV, the ITV franchisee in central and northern Scotland (including the Orkney and Shetland islands), originally opted out of showing "Downton Abbey", choosing instead to screen a brand-new six-part series of "Taggart", following a long practice of opting out of networked United Kingdom-wide programming on the ITV network. This led to backlash from Scottish viewers, who were frustrated at not being able to watch the programme. Many viewers with satellite or cable television tuned into other regional stations of the ITV network, for example ITV London, with viewing figures showing this is also commonplace for other ITV programmes.


title: Downton Abbey

text: STV announced in July 2011 that it would show the first and second series of "Downton Abbey" as part of its autumn schedule. Scottish cast members Phyllis Logan and Iain Glen were both quoted as being pleased with the decision.


title: Downton Abbey

text: In the United States, "Downton Abbey" was first broadcast in January 2011 on PBS, as part of the 40th season of "Masterpiece". The programme was aired in four 90-minute episodes, controversially requiring PBS to alter the beginning and endpoints of each episode and make other small changes, slightly altering each episode's structure to fit the programme precisely into the allotted running-time. PBS also added a host (Laura Linney), who introduced each episode, explaining matters such as "the entail" and "Buccaneers" for the benefit of US viewers, which was labelled by some American critics as condescending. PBS editing for broadcasts in the United States continued in the subsequent seasons. The final and sixth season aired in 2016. PBS continued to repeat episodes until 2020, when NBC Universal took over the US broadcasting rights for its streaming service Peacock. The series became available on Netflix in 2021. The series also aired on the E! network in 2022.


title: Downton Abbey

text: In Canada, VisionTV began airing the programme on 7 September 2011; CBC Television repeated the whole series in 2021; Downton Abbey was aired in French on Ici Radio-Canada Télé.


title: Downton Abbey

text: In Australia, the first series was broadcast on the Seven Network beginning on 29 May 2011; the second series was broadcast beginning on 20 May 2012; and the third series beginning on 10 February 2013. In New Zealand, Prime began airing the first series on 10 May 2011, the second series on 18 October 2011 and the third series on 18 October 2012.


title: Downton Abbey

text: The ITV series aired in the Nordic 13th Street made by NBCUniversal International Networks on 24 January 2011.


title: Downton Abbey

text: At Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the first series received an average score of 91, based on 16 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim". This result earned the show a Guinness World Record in 2011 for "Highest critical review ratings for a TV show", making "Downton Abbey" the critically best received TV show in the world. Season 4 of "Breaking Bad" surpassed "Downton Abbey"'s record later in the year, with a score of 96, making the first series of "Downton Abbey" the second highest rated show of 2011.


title: Downton Abbey

text: The series has been noted for its relatively sympathetic portrayal of the aristocratic family and the class-based society of early 20th century Britain. This has led to criticism from the political left and praise from the right. James Fenton wrote in "The New York Review of Books", "it is noticeable that the aristocrats in the series, even the ones who are supposed to be the most ridiculous, never lapse into the most offensive kind of upper-class drawl one would expect of them. Great care has been taken to keep them pleasant and approachable, even when the things they say are sometimes shown to be class-bound and unfeeling." Jerry Bowyer argued in "Forbes" that the sympathy for aristocracy is over-stated, and that the show is simply more balanced than most period dramas, which he believes have had a tendency to demonise or ridicule upper class characters. He wrote that "Downton Abbey" shows "there is no inherent need for good TV to be left of center. Stories sympathetic to virtue, preservation of property and admiration of nobility and of wealth can be told beautifully and to wide audiences."


title: Downton Abbey

text: "Downton Abbey" has been a commercial success and received general acclaim from critics, although some criticise it as superficial, melodramatic or unrealistic. Others defend these qualities as the reason for the show's appeal. David Kamp wrote in "Vanity Fair" that "melodrama is an uncool thing to trade in these days, but then, that's precisely why "Downton Abbey" is so pleasurable. In its clear delineation between the goodies and the baddies, in its regulated dosages of highs and lows, the show is welcome counter-programming to the slow-burning despair and moral ambiguity of most quality drama on television right now." In September 2019, "The Guardian," which ranked the show 50th on its list of the 100 best TV shows of the 21st century, stated that the show "was TV drama as comfort blanket: at a time of austerity, Julian Fellowes's country house epic offered elegantly realised solace in the homilies of the past". Mary McNamara of "Los Angeles Times" wrote, "Possibly the best series of the year." Jill Serjeant of "Reuters" wrote, "There's a new darling in U.S. pop culture." The staff of "Entertainment Weekly" wrote, "It's the biggest PBS phenomenon since Sesame Street." David Hinckley of "New York Daily News" wrote, "Maintains its magic touch."


title: Downton Abbey

text: James Parker, writing in "The Atlantic", said, "Preposterous as history, preposterous as drama, the show succeeds magnificently as bad television. The dialogue spins light-operatically along in the service of multiplying plotlets, not too hard on the ear, although now and again a line lands like a tray of dropped spoons. The acting is superb—it has to be." Ben W. Heineman Jr. compared the series unfavourably to "Brideshead Revisited", writing ""Downton Abbey" is entertainment. Its illustrious predecessor in television mega-success about the English upper class, "Brideshead Revisited", is art." He noted the lack of character development in Downton. Writing in "The Sunday Times", A. A. Gill said that the show is "everything I despise and despair of on British television: National Trust sentimentality, costumed comfort drama that flogs an embarrassing, demeaning, and bogus vision of the place I live in."


title: Downton Abbey

text: It's beautifully made—handsome, artfully crafted and acted. Smith, who plays the formidable and disdainful Dowager Countess, has a lovely way of delivering words, always spaced to perfection. This is going to be a treat if you like a lavish period drama of a Sunday evening.


title: Downton Abbey

text: While rumoured due to the departure of actor Dan Stevens, the death of Matthew Crawley in the 2012 Christmas special drew criticism. Fellowes defended the decision stating that they 'didn't really have an option' once Stevens decided to leave. Stevens later said that he had no say in the manner of his character's departure but that he was 'sorry' his character had died on Christmas Day.


title: Downton Abbey

text: The third episode of the fourth series, which aired on 6 October 2013, included a warning at the beginning: "This episode contains violent scenes that some viewers may find upsetting." The episode content, in which Anna Bates was raped, led to more than 200 complaints by viewers to UK television regulator Ofcom, while ITV received 60 complaints directly. On 4 November 2013, Ofcom announced it would not be taking action over the controversy citing the warning given, that the episode was screened after 9 pm, and, that the rape took place 'off-screen'. Series 4 also introduced a recurring character, black jazz musician Jack Ross, who had a brief romantic affair with Lady Rose. The casting of Gary Carr drew critical accusations of political correctness in the media. The character of Ross was partially based on Leslie Hutchinson ("Hutch"), a real-life 1920s jazz singer who had an affair with a number of women in high society, among them Edwina Mountbatten.


title: Downton Abbey

text: The first episode of "Downton Abbey" had a consolidated British audience of 9.2 million viewers, a 32% audience share—making it the most successful new drama on any channel since "Whitechapel" was launched on ITV in February 2009. The total audience for the first episode, including repeats and ITV Player viewings, exceeded 11.6 million viewers. This was beaten by the next episode, with a total audience of 11.8 million viewers—including repeats and ITV Player views. "Downton Abbey" broke the record for a single episode viewing on ITV Player.


title: Downton Abbey

text: The second series premiered in Britain on 18 September 2011 in the same 9 pm slot as the first series, with the first episode attracting an average audience of 9 million viewers on ITV1, a 34.6% share. The second episode attracted a similar following with an average of 9.3 million viewers. In January 2012, the PBS premiere attracted 4.2 million viewers, over double the network's average primetime audience of 2 million. The premiere audience was 18% higher than the first series premiere.


title: Downton Abbey

text: The second series of "Downton Abbey" gave PBS its highest ratings since 2009. The second series averaged 5.4 million viewers, excluding station replays, DVR viewings and online streaming. The 5.4 million average improved on PBS first series numbers by 25%. Additionally, episodes of series two have been viewed 4.8 million times on PBS's digital portal, which bests series one's online viewing numbers by more than 400 percent. Overall, "Downton Abbey"-related content has racked up more than 9 million streams across all platforms, with 1.5 million unique visitors, since series 2's 8 January premiere. In 2013, "Downton Abbey" was ranked the 43rd most well-written TV show of all time by the Writers Guild of America.


title: Downton Abbey

text: The third series premiered in the UK on 16 September 2012 with an average of 9 million viewers (or a 36% audience share).


title: Downton Abbey

text: For the first time in the UK, episode three received an average of more than 10 million viewers (or a 38.2% audience share). Premiering in the US in January 2013, the third series had an average audience of 11.5 million viewers and the finale on 17 February 2013, drew 12.3 million viewers making it the night's highest rating show. Overall, during its seven-week run, the series had an audience of 24 million viewers making it PBS's highest-rated drama of all time.


title: Downton Abbey

text: The fourth series premiered in the UK on 22 September 2013 with an average audience of 9.5 million viewers—the highest ever for one of the drama's debut episodes. It premiered in the US on 5 January 2014, to an audience of at least 10.2 million viewers, outperforming every other drama on that night; it was the largest audience for PBS since the 1990 premiere of the Ken Burns documentary "The Civil War". The second episode attracted an average of 9.6 million UK viewers.


title: Downton Abbey

text: Although Julian Fellowes supports a united Ireland, there has been criticism of the stereotypical Irish characters used in the show, specifically the character of Tom Branson's brother, Kieran, portrayed as a rude and boorish drunk. Allen Leech, who plays Tom Branson, defended the series, stating that the show did not portray Irish characters in a pejorative fashion. Branson's character took some criticism in Ireland from "The Irish Times", which described the character as "an Irish republican turned Downtonian toff."


title: Downton Abbey

text: The character of the Earl of Grantham occasionally expresses negative views about Catholics and is described, by "The Washington Post", as "xenophobic" but "at least historically accurate". Episodes in Season 3 featured Lord Grantham using offensive derogatory terms against Catholics such as the phrase "left-footer" and mocking the Catholic Mass by calling it a "gymnastics display". A dinner scene also features a Protestant minister calling Catholic practices, "pagan". Fellowes, himself a Roman Catholic, explained that he chose to address this in terms of "that casual, almost unconscious anti-Catholicism that was found among the upper classes, which lasted well into my growing up years", adding that he "thought it might be interesting" to explore this in the series and described his own experiences where the aristocracy "were happy for you to come to their dances or shoot their pheasants, but there were plenty who did not want you to marry their daughters and risk Catholic grandchildren."


title: Downton Abbey

text: Fellowes has said he tries to be as authentic in his depiction of the period as he can. Despite this, the show features many linguistic anachronisms. The accents of characters have also been questioned, with the Received Pronunciation of the actors who play the wealthy characters described as "slightly more contemporary" than would be expected among early-20th-century aristocrats; however, this "elicited more natural and unaffected performances from the cast".


title: Downton Abbey

text: In 2010, Fellowes hired Alastair Bruce, an expert on state and court ritual, as historical adviser. Bruce explains his role as being "here to guide the production and particularly the director as they bring Julian's words to life. That also involves getting the social conduct right, and giving actors a sense of surety in the way they deliver a performance." Actor Jim Carter, who plays butler Carson, describes Bruce as the series "etiquette watchdog", and the UK's "Daily Telegraph" finished its 2011 profile of Bruce's role stating "Downton's authenticity, it seems, is in safe hands." However, historian Simon Schama criticised the show for historical inaccuracies and "pandering to clichés". Producer Gareth Neame defended the show, saying, "Downton is a fictional drama. It is not a history programme, but a drama of social satire about a time when relationships, behaviour and hierarchy were very different from those we enjoy today."


title: Downton Abbey

text: A "tremendous amount of research" went into recreating the servants' quarters at Ealing Studios because Highclere Castle, where many of the upstairs scenes are filmed, was not adequate for representing the "downstairs" life at the fictional manor house. Researchers visited nearly 40 English country houses to help inform what the kitchen should look like, and production designer Donal Woods said of the kitchen equipment that "probably about 60 to 70 per cent of the stuff in there is from that period". "Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management" is an important guide to the food served in the series, but Highclere owner, and author of "Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle", Lady Carnarvon, states that dinner parties in the era "would have been even more over the top" than those shown. Lady Pamela Hicks agreed, stating that "it is ridiculous to think that a weekend party would consist of only fourteen house guests, it would have consisted of at least 40!" However, Carnarvon understood the compromises that must be made for television, and adds, "It's a fun costume drama. It's not a social documentary. Because it's so popular, I think some people take it as historical fact."


title: Downton Abbey

text: The series was made available in its entirety on Netflix in June 2021 after leaving in 2013. It is also available on Amazon Prime Video, Peacock, the PBS app and PBS.org with a PBS Passport subscription.


title: Downton Abbey

text: On 16 September 2011, two days before the UK premiere of the second series, it was reported by Amazon.com that the first series of "Downton Abbey" had become the highest selling DVD boxset of all time on the online retailer's website, surpassing popular American programmes such as "The Sopranos", "Friends" and "The Wire".


title: Downton Abbey

text: A soundtrack, featuring music from the series and also new songs, was released by Decca in September 2011. Music by John Lunn and Don Black features, with vocals from Mary-Jess Leaverland and Alfie Boe. A second soundtrack was released on 19 November 2012 entitled "Downton Abbey: The Essential Collection" and a third and final soundtrack, containing two discs, was released on 15 January 2016 entitled "Downton Abbey: The Ultimate Collection" and featured music spanning from all six seasons of the series including some from the first soundtrack.


title: Downton Abbey

text: Some of the fashion items worn by characters on the show have seen a strong revival of interest in the UK and elsewhere during the show's run, including starched collars, midi skirts, beaded gowns, and hunting plaids.


title: Downton Abbey

text: The Equality (Titles) Bill was an unsuccessful piece of legislation introduced in the UK Parliament in 2013 that would have allowed equal succession of female heirs to hereditary titles and peerages. It was nicknamed the ""Downton Abbey" law" because it addressed the same issue that affects Lady Mary Crawley, who cannot inherit the estate because it must pass to a male heir.


title: Downton Abbey

text: The decor used on "Downton Abbey" inspired US Representative Aaron Schock to redecorate his congressional offices in a more luxurious style. He repaid the $40,000 cost of redecoration following scrutiny of his expenses and questions about his use of public money for personal benefit, and subsequently resigned in March 2015.


title: Downton Abbey

text: "The World of Downton Abbey", a book featuring a behind-the-scenes look at "Downton Abbey" and the era in which it is set, was released on 15 September 2011. It was written by Jessica Fellowes (the niece of Julian Fellowes) and published by HarperCollins.


title: Downton Abbey

text: A second book also written by Jessica Fellowes and published by HarperCollins, "The Chronicles of Downton Abbey", was released on 13 September 2012. It is a guide to the show's characters through the early part of the third series.


title: Downton Abbey

text: Four spin-off cookbooks have been published – "The Official Downton Abbey Cookbook" (2019), which features dishes from the Edwardian period researched by food historian Dr Annie Gray, "The Official Downton Abbey Christmas Cookbook" (2020) by Regula Ysewijn, "The Official Downton Abbey Cocktail Book" (2019) and The "Official Downton Abbey Afternoon Tea Cookbook" (2020).


title: Downton Abbey

text: Due to the show's popularity, there have been a number of references and spoofs on it, such as "Family Guy" episode "Chap Stewie", which has Stewie Griffin reborn in a household similar to Downton Abbey, and "How I Met Your Mother" episode "The Fortress", where the gang watch a television show called "Woodworthy Manor", which is remarkably similar to "Downton Abbey".


title: Downton Abbey

text: Julian Fellowes's "The Gilded Age", which debuted on HBO in 2022, portrays New York in the 1880s and how its old New York society coped with the influx of newly wealthy families. While a separate series, a young Violet, Countess of Grantham, could make an appearance on the new show.


title: Downton Abbey

text: On 13 July 2018, a feature-length film was confirmed, with production commencing mid-2018. The film was written by Julian Fellowes and is a continuation of the TV series, with direction by Brian Percival. It was distributed by Focus Features and Universal Pictures International. The film was released in the United Kingdom on 13 September 2019, with the United States following one week later on 20 September 2019. A sequel began filming in April 2021. The film was finally released in the UK on 29 April 2022, and in the US on 20 May.


title: Osama bin Laden

text: Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded the Pan-Islamic jihadist organization . The group is designated as a terrorist group by the United Nations Security Council, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union, and various countries. Under bin Laden, al-Qaeda was responsible for the September 11 attacks in the United States and many other mass-casualty attacks worldwide. On 2 May 2011, he was killed by U.S. special operations forces at his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.


title: Osama bin Laden

text: Belonging to the wealthy Bin Laden family, Osama bin Laden was born in Saudi Arabia. His father was Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden, a Saudi millionaire from Hadhramaut, Yemen, and the founder of the construction company, Saudi Binladin Group. His mother, Alia Ghanem, was from a secular middle-class family in Latakia, Syria. He studied at university in the country until 1979, when he joined Mujahideen forces in Pakistan fighting against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. He helped to fund the Mujahideen by funneling arms, money, and fighters from the Arab world into Afghanistan, and gained popularity among many Arabs. In 1988, he formed al-Qaeda. He was banished from Saudi Arabia in 1992, lost his Saudi citizenship in 1994, and shifted his base to Sudan until US pressure forced him to leave in 1996. After establishing a new base in Afghanistan, he declared a war against the United States, launching a series of bombings and related attacks. His involvement in the 1998 US embassy bombings landed him on the American Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) lists of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives and Most Wanted Terrorists.


title: Osama bin Laden

text: Bin Laden orchestrated the September 11 attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people and led President George W. Bush to invade Afghanistan and launch the "War on Terror". He became the subject of a decade-long international manhunt, during which the FBI offered a $25million bounty on him.


title: Osama bin Laden

text: There is no universally accepted standard for transliterating Arabic words and Arabic names into English; however, bin Laden's name is most frequently rendered as "Osama bin Laden". The FBI and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), as well as other US governmental agencies, have used either "Usama bin Laden" or "Usama bin Ladin". Less common renderings include "Ussamah bin Ladin" and, in the French-language media, "Oussama ben Laden". Other spellings include "Binladen" or, as used by his family in the West, "Binladin". The decapitalization of is based on the convention of leaving short prepositions, articles, and patronymics uncapitalized in surnames; the (patrynomic) means "son of". The spellings with "o" and "e" come from a Persian-influenced pronunciation also used in Afghanistan, where bin Laden spent many years.


title: Osama bin Laden

text: Osama bin Laden's full name, Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden, means "Osama, son of Mohammed, son of Awad, son of Laden". "Mohammed" refers to bin Laden's father Mohammed bin Laden; "Awad" refers to his grandfather, Awad bin Aboud bin Laden, a Kindite Hadhrami tribesman; "Laden" refers not to bin Laden's great-grandfather, who was named Aboud, but to Aboud's father, Laden Ali al-Qahtani.


title: Osama bin Laden

text: The Arabic linguistic convention would be to refer to him as "Osama" or "Osama bin Laden", not "bin Laden" alone, as "bin Laden" is a patronymic, not a surname in the Western manner. According to bin Laden's son Omar bin Laden, the family's hereditary surname is "al-Qahtani" (), but bin Laden's father, Mohammed bin Laden, never officially registered the name.


title: Osama bin Laden

text: Osama bin Laden had also assumed the "Abū 'Abdāllāh" ("father of Abdallah"). His admirers have referred to him by several nicknames, including the "Prince" or "Emir" (), the "Sheik" (), the "Jihadist Sheik" or "Sheik al-Mujahid" (), "Hajj" (), and the "Director". The word () means "lion", earning him the nicknames "Lion" and "Lion Sheik".


title: Osama bin Laden

text: Bin Laden was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, a son of Yemeni Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden, a billionaire construction magnate with close ties to the Saudi royal family, and Mohammed bin Laden's tenth wife, Syrian Hamida al-Attas (then called Alia Ghanem). In a 1998 interview, bin Laden gave his birth date as 10 March 1957. Despite it being generally accepted that bin Laden was born in Riyadh, his birthplace was listed as Jeddah in the initial FBI and Interpol documents.


title: Osama bin Laden

text: Mohammed bin Laden divorced Hamida soon after Osama bin Laden was born. Mohammed recommended Hamida to Mohammed al-Attas, an associate. Al-Attas married Hamida in the late 1950s or early 1960s. The couple had four children, and bin Laden lived in the new household with three half-brothers and one half-sister. The bin Laden family made $5 billion in the construction industry, of which Osama later inherited around $25–30 million.