title: Albert Fish

text: Several years later, around 1910, Fish was working in Wilmington, Delaware, when he met a 19-year-old man named Thomas Kedden. He took Kedden to where he was staying and the two began a sadomasochistic relationship; it is unclear whether or not Fish forced Kedden to do these things, but his confession implies that Kedden was intellectually disabled. After ten days, Fish took Kedden to "an old farm house", where he tortured him over a period of two weeks. Fish eventually tied Kedden up and cut off half of his penis. "I shall never forget his scream, or the look he gave me", Fish later recalled. He originally intended to kill Kedden, cut up his body, and take it home, but he feared the hot weather would draw attention to him; instead, Fish poured peroxide over the wound, wrapped it in a Vaseline-covered handkerchief, left a $10 bill, kissed Kedden goodbye, and left. "Took first train I could get back home. Never heard what become of him, or tried to find out," Fish said.


title: Albert Fish

text: In January 1917, Fish's wife left him for John Straube, a handyman who boarded with the Fish family. Fish then had to raise his children as a single parent. After his arrest, Fish told a newspaper that when his wife left him, she took nearly every possession the family owned. Fish began to have auditory hallucinations; he once wrapped himself in a carpet, saying that he was following the instructions of John the Apostle.


title: Albert Fish

text: It was about this time that Fish began to indulge in self-harm by embedding needles into his groin and abdomen. After his arrest, X-rays revealed that Fish had at least twenty-nine needles lodged in his pelvic region. He also hit himself repeatedly with a nail-studded paddle, and inserted wool doused with lighter fluid into his anus and set it alight. While Fish was never thought to have physically attacked or abused his children, he did encourage them and their friends to paddle his buttocks with the same nail-studded paddle he used to abuse himself.


title: Albert Fish

text: Around 1919, Fish stabbed an intellectually disabled boy in Georgetown. He chose people who were either mentally disabled or African-American as his victims, later explaining that he assumed these people would not be missed when killed. Fish would later claim to have occasionally paid boys to procure other children for him. Fish tortured, mutilated, and murdered young children with his "implements of Hell": a meat cleaver, a butcher knife, and a small handsaw.


title: Albert Fish

text: On July 11, 1924, Fish found eight-year-old Beatrice Kiel playing alone on her parents' farm on Staten Island, New York. He offered her money to come and help him look for rhubarb. She was about to leave the farm when her mother chased Fish away. Fish left but returned later to the Kiels' barn, where he tried to sleep but was discovered by Beatrice's father and forced to leave. Three days later, Fish killed Francis McDonnell, also on Staten Island. During 1924, the 54-year-old Fish, suffering from psychosis, felt that God was commanding him to torture and sexually mutilate children.


title: Albert Fish

text: Shortly before his abduction of Grace Budd, Fish attempted to test his "implements of Hell" on a child he had been molesting named Cyril Quinn. Quinn and his friend were playing box ball on a sidewalk when Fish asked them if they had eaten lunch. When they said that they had not, he invited them into his apartment for sandwiches. While the two boys were wrestling on Fish's bed, they dislodged his mattress; underneath was a knife, a small handsaw, and a meat cleaver. They became frightened and ran out of the apartment.


title: Albert Fish

text: Despite already being married, Fish married Estella Wilcox on February 6, 1930, in Waterloo, New York; they divorced after only one week. Fish was arrested in May 1930 for "sending an obscene letter to a woman who answered an advertisement for a maid." Following that arrest and another in 1931, he was sent to the Bellevue Hospital for observation.


title: Albert Fish

text: On May 25, 1928, Fish saw a classified advertisement in the Sunday edition of the "New York World" that read, "Young man, 18, wishes position in country. Edward Budd, 406 West 15th Street." On May 28, Fish, then 58 years old, visited the Budd family in Manhattan under the pretense of hiring Edward; he later confessed that he planned to tie Edward up, mutilate him, and leave him to bleed to death. Fish introduced himself as Frank Howard, a farmer from Farmingdale, New York. He promised to hire Budd and his friend Willie, and said he would send for them in a few days. Fish failed to show up, but he sent a telegram to the Budd family apologizing and set a later date.


title: Albert Fish

text: When Fish returned, he met Edward's younger sister, 10-year-old Grace Budd. He apparently shifted his amorous intentions toward Grace and quickly made up a story about having to attend his niece's birthday party. He convinced the parents, Delia Flanagan and Albert Budd I, to let Grace accompany him to the party that evening. Fish subsequently took Grace to an abandoned house he had previously picked out to use for the murder of his next victim, "Wisteria Cottage" at 359 Mountain Road, located in the East Irvington neighborhood of Irvington, New York. There, he murdered and ate the girl.


title: Albert Fish

text: The police arrested 66-year-old superintendent Charles Edward Pope on September 5, 1930, as a suspect in Grace's disappearance, accused by Pope's estranged wife. He spent 108 days in jail between his arrest and trial on December 22, 1930. He was found not guilty.


title: Albert Fish

text: In November 1934, an anonymous letter was sent to Grace's parents which ultimately led the police to Fish. Mrs. Budd was illiterate and could not read the letter herself, so she had her son read it to her. The unaltered letter (complete with Fish's misspellings and grammatical errors) reads:


title: Albert Fish

text: Police investigated the letter. The story concerning "Capt. Davis" and the "famine" in Hong Kong could not be verified. The part of the letter concerning the murder of Grace, however, was found to be accurate in its description of the kidnapping and subsequent events, although it was impossible to confirm whether or not Fish had actually eaten parts of Grace's body.


title: Albert Fish

text: The letter was delivered in an envelope that had a small hexagonal emblem with the letters "N.Y.P.C.B.A." representing "New York Private Chauffeur's Benevolent Association". A janitor at the company told the police he had taken some of the stationery home but left it at his rooming house at 200 East 52nd Street when he moved out. The landlady of the rooming house said that Fish checked out of that room a few days earlier. She said that Fish's son sent him money and he asked her to hold his next check for him. William F. King, the chief investigator for the case, waited outside the room until Fish returned. He agreed to go to headquarters for questioning, then brandished a razor blade. King disarmed Fish and took him to police headquarters.


title: Albert Fish

text: Fish made no attempt to deny the murder of Grace Budd, saying that he meant to go to the house to kill her brother Edward. Fish said it "never even entered [his] head" to rape the girl, but he later claimed to his attorney that, while kneeling on Grace's chest and strangling her, he did have two involuntary ejaculations. This information was used at trial to make the claim the kidnapping was sexually motivated, thus avoiding any mention of cannibalism.


title: Albert Fish

text: During the night of July 14, 1924, nine-year-old Francis McDonnell was reported missing after he failed to return home after playing catch with friends in Port Richmond, Staten Island. A search was organized and his body was found—hanging by a tree—in a wooded area near his home. He had been sexually assaulted, and then strangled with his suspenders. According to an autopsy, McDonnell had also suffered extensive lacerations to his legs and abdomen, and his left hamstring had almost entirely been stripped of its flesh. Fish refused to claim responsibility for this, although he later stated that he intended to castrate the boy but fled when he heard someone approaching the area.


title: Albert Fish

text: McDonnell's friends told the police that he was taken by an elderly man with a grey moustache. A neighbour also told the police he observed the boy with a similar-looking man walking along a grassy path into the nearby woods. Francis' mother, Anna McDonnell, said she saw the same man earlier that day, telling reporters, "He came shuffling down the street mumbling to himself and making queer motions with his hands ... I saw his thick grey hair and his drooping grey moustache. Everything about him seemed faded and grey."


title: Albert Fish

text: This description resulted in the mysterious stranger becoming known as "The Grey Man". The McDonnell murder remained unsolved until the murder of Grace Budd. When several eyewitnesses, among them the Staten Island farmer Hans Kiel, positively identified Fish as the odd stranger seen around Port Richmond on the day of McDonnell's disappearance, Richmond County District Attorney Thomas J. Walsh announced his intention to seek an indictment against Fish for the boy's murder. At first, Fish denied the charges. It was only in March 1935, after the conclusion of his trial for the Budd murder and his confession to the killing of Billy Gaffney (see below), that he confirmed to investigators that he also raped and murdered McDonnell. When the McDonnell confession was made public, the "New York Daily Mirror" wrote that the disclosure solidified Fish's reputation as "the most vicious child-slayer in criminal history".


title: Albert Fish

text: On February 11, 1927, 3-year-old Billy Beaton and his 12-year-old brother were playing in the apartment hallway in Brooklyn with 4-year-old Billy Gaffney. When the 12-year-old left for his apartment, both younger boys disappeared; Beaton was found later on the roof of the apartments. When asked what happened to Gaffney, Beaton said "the bogeyman took him." Gaffney's body was never recovered.


title: Albert Fish

text: Initially, serial killer Peter Kudzinowski was a suspect in Gaffney's murder. Then, Joseph Meehan, a motorman on a Brooklyn trolley, saw a picture of Fish in a newspaper and identified him as the old man whom he saw February 11, 1927; the old man had been trying to quiet a little boy sitting with him on the trolley. The boy was not wearing a jacket, was crying for his mother, and was dragged by the man on and off the trolley. Beaton's description of the "bogeyman" matched Fish. Police matched the description of the child to Gaffney.


title: Albert Fish

text: Detectives of the Manhattan Missing Persons Bureau were able to establish that Fish was employed as a house painter by a Brooklyn real estate company during February 1927, and that on the day of Gaffney's disappearance he was working at a location a few miles from where the boy was abducted. Fish claimed the following in a letter to his attorney:


title: Albert Fish

text: Gaffney's mother Elizabeth visited Fish in Sing Sing, accompanied by Detective King and two other men. She wanted to ask him about her son's death, but Fish refused to speak to her. Fish began to weep and asked to be left alone. After two hours of asking him questions through his lawyer, James Dempsey, Mrs. Gaffney gave up. She was still unconvinced that Fish was her son's killer.


title: Albert Fish

text: Fish's trial for the murder of Grace Budd began on March 11, 1935, in White Plains, New York. Frederick P. Close presided as judge and Westchester County Chief Assistant District Attorney Elbert F. Gallagher was prosecuting attorney. Fish's defense counsel was James Dempsey, a former prosecutor and the one-time mayor of Peekskill, New York. The trial lasted for ten days. Fish pleaded insanity, and claimed to have heard voices from God telling him to kill children. Several psychiatrists testified about Fish's sexual fetishes, which included sadism, masochism, flagellation, exhibitionism, voyeurism, piquerism, cannibalism, coprophagia, urophilia, hematolagnia, pedophilia, necrophilia, and infibulation. Dempsey in his summation noted that Fish was a "psychiatric phenomenon" and that nowhere in legal or medical records was there another individual who possessed so many sexual abnormalities.


title: Albert Fish

text: The defense's chief expert witness was Fredric Wertham, a psychiatrist with an emphasis on child development who conducted psychiatric examinations for the New York criminal courts. During two days of testimony, Wertham explained Fish's obsession with religion and specifically his preoccupation with the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac (Genesis 22:1–24). Wertham said that Fish believed that similarly "sacrificing" a boy would be penance for his own sins and that even if the act itself was wrong, angels would prevent it if God did not approve. Fish attempted the sacrifice once before but was thwarted when a car drove past. Edward Budd was the next intended victim, but he turned out to be larger than expected so he settled on Grace. Although he knew Grace was female, it is believed that Fish perceived her as a boy. Wertham then detailed Fish's cannibalism, which in his mind he associated with communion. The last question Dempsey asked Wertham was 15,000 words long, detailed Fish's life and ended with asking how the doctor considered his mental condition based on this life. Wertham simply answered "He is insane."


title: Albert Fish

text: Gallagher cross-examined Wertham on whether Fish knew the difference between right and wrong. He responded that he did know but that it was a perverted knowledge based on his opinions of sin, atonement, and religion and thus was an "insane knowledge". The defense called two more psychiatrists to support Wertham's findings.


title: Albert Fish

text: The first of four rebuttal witnesses was Menas Gregory, the former manager of the Bellevue Hospital, where Fish was treated during 1930. He testified that Fish was abnormal but sane. Under cross-examination, Dempsey asked if coprophilia, urophilia, and pedophilia indicated a sane or insane person. Gregory replied that such a person was not "mentally sick" and that these were common perversions that were "socially perfectly alright" and that Fish was "no different from millions of other people", some very prominent and successful, who had the "very same" perversions. The next witness was the resident physician at The Tombs, Perry Lichtenstein. Dempsey objected to a doctor with no training in psychiatry testifying on the issue of sanity, but Justice Close overruled on the basis that the jury could decide what weight to give a prison doctor. When asked whether Fish's causing himself pain indicated a mental condition, Lichtenstein replied, "That is not masochism", as he was only "punishing himself to get sexual gratification". The next witness, Charles Lambert, testified that coprophilia was a common practice and that religious cannibalism may be psychopathic but "was a matter of taste" and not evidence of a psychosis. The last witness, James Vavasour, repeated Lambert's opinion. Another defense witness was Mary Nicholas, Fish's 17-year-old stepdaughter. She described how Fish taught her and her brothers and sisters several games involving overtones of masochism and child molestation.


title: Albert Fish

text: None of the jurors doubted that Fish was insane, but ultimately, as one later explained, they felt he should be executed anyway. They found him to be sane and guilty, and the judge sentenced the defendant to death by electrocution. Fish arrived at prison in March 1935, and was executed on January 16, 1936 in the electric chair at Sing Sing. He entered the chamber at 11:06 p.m. and was pronounced dead three minutes later. He was buried in the Sing Sing Prison Cemetery. Fish is said to have helped the executioner position the electrodes on his body. His last words were reportedly, "I don't even know why I'm here." According to one witness present, it took two jolts before Fish died, creating the rumor that the apparatus was short-circuited by the needles that Fish inserted into his body. These rumors were later regarded as untrue, as Fish reportedly died in the same fashion and time frame as others in the electric chair.


title: Albert Fish

text: At a meeting with reporters after the execution, Fish's lawyer James Dempsey revealed that he was in possession of his client's "final statement". This amounted to several pages of hand-written notes that Fish apparently penned in the hours just prior to his death. When pressed by the assembled journalists to reveal the document's contents, Dempsey refused, stating, "I will never show it to anyone. It was the most filthy string of obscenities that I have ever read."


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: Daniel Edward Aykroyd ( ; born July 1, 1952) is a Canadian actor, comedian, producer, musician and writer. He was an original member of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" on "Saturday Night Live" (1975–1979). During his tenure on "SNL", Aykroyd appeared in a recurring series of sketches about the Coneheads, and the Blues Brothers. For his work on the show he received five Primetime Emmy Award nominations winning for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series in 1977. After his departure, he has since returned in guest roles.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: Aykroyd gained prominence for writing, and starring as Dr. Raymond "Ray" Stantz in "Ghostbusters" (1984), which spawned an entire media franchise, reprising the role in "Ghostbusters II" (1989), "Casper" (1995), "" (2021), and an (2023), cameoing as a different character in "Ghostbusters: Answer the Call" (2016). He also is known for his comedic roles in "Trading Places" (1983), "Spies Like Us" (1985), "Dragnet" (1987), and "Coneheads" (1993), portraying Roman Craig in "She's Having a Baby" and "The Great Outdoors" (both 1988), and Elwood J. Blues in "The Blues Brothers" (1980) and "Blues Brothers 2000" (1998). In 1990, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as "Driving Miss Daisy" (1989). He continued his dramatic roles in "My Girl" (1991), "Chaplin", and "Sneakers" (both 1992). Aykroyd has done supporting roles in "Tommy Boy" (1995), "Grosse Pointe Blank" (1997), "50 First Dates" (2004), "The Campaign" (2012), and "Behind the Candelabra" (2013).


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: He starred as Reverend Mike Weber in his own sitcom, "Soul Man" (1997–1998). He has since appeared on various television shows including "It's Garry Shandling's Show" (1990), "Home Improvement" (1997), "Family Guy" (2009), "The Simpsons" (2021) and "The Conners" (2019). Aykroyd is also a businessman, having co-founded the House of Blues chain of music venues and the Crystal Head Vodka brand.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: Aykroyd was born on July 1, 1952 (Canada Day) at The Ottawa Hospital in Ottawa, Ontario, the capital of Canada. His father, Samuel Cuthbert Peter Hugh Aykroyd (1922–2020), a civil engineer, worked as a policy adviser to Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and his mother, Lorraine Hélène Marie (née Gougeon; April 27, 1918 – February 8, 2018), was a secretary. His mother was of French Canadian descent and his father was of English, Scottish, Irish, French, and Dutch ancestry. His brother, Peter, was also an actor.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: He attended St. Pius X and St. Patrick's high schools, and studied criminology and sociology at Carleton University, but dropped out before completing his degree. He worked as a comedian in various Canadian nightclubs and ran an after-hours speakeasy, Club 505, in Toronto for several years.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: Aykroyd is a heterochromiac syndactylite - he has webbed middle toes on both feet and he has different coloured eyes: one is brown and one is green.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: Aykroyd developed his musical career in Ottawa, particularly through his regular attendances at Le Hibou, a club that featured many blues artists. He describes these influences as follows:


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: Aykroyd's first professional experience, which he gained at the age of 17, was as a member of the cast of the short-lived Canadian sketch comedy series "The Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour" with Lorne Michaels, among others. He was a member of the Second City comedy troupe in 1973 in both Toronto and Chicago.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: Aykroyd gained fame on the American late-night comedy show "Saturday Night Live" ("SNL"). He was originally hired, and paid $278 a week, as a writer for the show, but became a part of the cast before the series premiered. The original cast was referred to on the show as "The Not Ready For Prime Time Players". Aykroyd was the youngest member of the cast, and appeared on the show for its first four seasons, from 1975 to 1979. He brought a unique sensibility to the show, combining youth, unusual interests, talent as an impersonator, and an almost lunatic intensity. Guest host Eric Idle of Monty Python said that Aykroyd's ability to write and act out characters flawlessly made him the only member of the "SNL" cast capable of being a Python.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: He was known for his impersonations of celebrities such as Jimmy Carter, Vincent Price, Richard Nixon, Rod Serling, Tom Snyder, Julia Child, and others. He was also known for his recurring roles, such as Beldar, father of the Coneheads family; with Steve Martin, Yortuk Festrunk, one of the "Two Wild and Crazy Guys" brothers from Bratislava, Slovakia; sleazy late-night cable TV host E. Buzz Miller and his cousin, corrupt maker of children's toys and costumes Irwin Mainway (who extolled the virtues and defended the safety of the "Bag-o-Glass" toy); Fred Garvin – male prostitute; and high-bred but low-brow critic Leonard Pinth-Garnell. Aykroyd and Jane Curtin famously parodied the Point/Counterpoint segment on the CBS news show "60 Minutes", which featured the liberal Shana Alexander and the conservative segregationist James Kilpatrick, by portraying the two as hating one another; Aykroyd's first words in response to Curtin's point were, "Jane, you ignorant slut!".


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: Aykroyd's eccentric talent was recognized by others in the highly competitive "SNL" environment; when he first presented his famous "Super Bass-O-Matic '76" sketch, a fake TV commercial in which a garish, hyper-pitchman (based on Ron Popeil) touts a food blender that turns an entire bass into liquid pulp, the other writers and cast members considered the sketch "so exhilaratingly strange that many remember sitting and listening, open-mouthed ... Nobody felt jealous of it because they couldn't imagine writing anything remotely like it." Aykroyd later revealed that the inspiration for the sketch was seeing his aunt Helene Gougeon (a noted culinary writer and food columnist in Montreal) pop a bass into a blender in order to make a bouillabaisse when he was 12 years old.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: While Aykroyd was a close friend and partner with fellow cast member John Belushi and shared some of the same sensibilities, Aykroyd was more reserved and less self-destructive. Aykroyd later recalled that, unlike Belushi and others of his peers, he was uninterested in recreational drug use.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: In 1977, he received an Emmy Award for writing on "SNL"; he later received two more nominations for writing and one for acting. In "Rolling Stone"s February 2015 appraisal of all 141 "SNL" cast members to date, Aykroyd was ranked fifth (behind Belushi, Eddie Murphy, Tina Fey, and Mike Myers). "Of all the original ["SNL"] greats, Aykroyd is the least imitated", they wrote, "because nobody else can do what he did."


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: In later decades, Aykroyd made occasional guest appearances and unannounced cameos on "SNL", often impersonating the American politician Bob Dole. He also brought back past characters including Irwin Mainway and Leonard Pinth-Garnell. In 1995, he appeared on the show to introduce a performance by Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip. Aykroyd, who is a fan of the band, had personally lobbied Lorne Michaels to book them as musical guests.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: During some guest appearances, he resurrected the Blues Brothers musical act with frequent host John Goodman in place of Belushi. He became the second member of the original cast to host "SNL" in May 2003, when he appeared in the season finale. During his monologue, he performed a musical number with James Belushi similar to the Blues Brothers, but neither Aykroyd nor Belushi donned the famous black suit and sunglasses. On March 24, 2007, Aykroyd appeared as a crying fan of "American Idol" finalist Sanjaya Malakar (played by Andy Samberg) during "Weekend Update". On February 14, 2009, he appeared as U.S. House Minority leader John Boehner. Aykroyd also made a surprise guest appearance, along with many other "SNL" alumni, on the show of March 9, 2013.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: Aykroyd was a close friend of John Belushi. According to Aykroyd, their first meeting helped spark the Blues Brothers act. When they met in a club that Aykroyd frequented, he played a blues record in the background, and it stimulated a fascination with blues in Belushi, who was primarily a fan of heavy rock bands at the time. Aykroyd educated Belushi on the finer points of blues music, and with a little encouragement from then-"SNL" music director Paul Shaffer, it led to the creation of their Blues Brothers characters.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: Backed by such experienced professional R&B sidemen as lead guitarist Steve Cropper, sax man Lou Marini, trumpeter Alan Rubin, and bass guitarist Donald "Duck" Dunn, the Blues Brothers proved more than an "SNL" novelty. Taking off with the public as a legitimate musical act, they performed live gigs and in 1978 released the hit album "Briefcase Full of Blues" (drawn from the fact that Aykroyd, as "Elwood Blues", carried his blues harmonicas in a briefcase that he kept handcuffed to his wrist, in the manner of a CIA courier; Belushi originally carried the key to those handcuffs). "Briefcase Full of Blues" eventually sold 3.5 million copies, and is one of the highest-selling blues albums of all time. The band was much further popularized in the 1980 film "The Blues Brothers", which Aykroyd co-wrote. A sequel, titled "Blues Brothers 2000", was released in 1998 and featured John Goodman as Belushi's replacement.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles was a regular haunt for the original Blues Brothers in the early days of the band. Belushi and Aykroyd became fixtures at the recording studio, while fellow Blues Brother Steve Cropper called Cherokee his producing home. Whenever they needed a bass player, they were joined by another Blues Brother, Donald "Duck" Dunn. During this time, Cropper, along with producing partner and Cherokee owner Bruce Robb, worked on a number of music projects with the two comedians/musicians, including Belushi's favorite band, Fear, and later Aykroyd's movie "Dragnet".


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: The Blues Brothers Band continues to tour today, both with and without Aykroyd. The band features original members Cropper and Marini, along with vocalist Eddie Floyd. Aykroyd sometimes performs as Elwood, along with Belushi's younger brother Jim Belushi, who plays "Brother Zee" on stage. They are most frequently backed by the Sacred Hearts Band.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: Concurrent with his work in "Saturday Night Live", Aykroyd played the role of Purvis Bickle, lift operator at the fictitious office block 99 Sumach Street in the CBC Television series "Coming Up Rosie".


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: After leaving "SNL", Aykroyd starred in a number of films, mostly comedies, with uneven results both commercially and artistically. His first three American feature films all co-starred Belushi. The first, "1941" (1979), directed by Steven Spielberg, was a box-office disappointment. The second, "The Blues Brothers" (1980), which he co-wrote with director John Landis, was a massive hit. The third, "Neighbors" (1981) had mixed critical reaction, but was another box-office hit. One of his best-received performances was as a blueblood-turned-wretch in the 1983 comedy "Trading Places", in which he co-starred with fellow "SNL" alumnus Eddie Murphy and Jamie Lee Curtis.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: In the early 1980s, Aykroyd began work on a script for the film that eventually became "Ghostbusters", inspired by his fascination with parapsychology and his belief in ghosts and the busting of them. The script initially included a much greater fantasy element, including time travel, but this was toned down substantially through work on the script with Harold Ramis (who became a co-writer) and director Ivan Reitman. Aykroyd originally wrote the role of Dr. Peter Venkman with Belushi in mind, but rewrote it for Bill Murray after Belushi's death. Aykroyd joked that the green ghost, later known as "Slimer", was "the ghost of John Belushi" and was based on Belushi's party-animal personality. "Ghostbusters" was released in 1984 and became a huge success for Aykroyd, who also appeared as one of the lead actors; the film earned nearly on a budget.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: Aykroyd's next major film role was in the 1985 spy comedy film "Spies Like Us", which like "The Blues Brothers" was co-conceived and co-written by Aykroyd, and directed by Landis. Aykroyd had again intended for Belushi to be the other lead in the film; the part was instead given to "SNL" alumnus Chevy Chase. The film was intended as an homage to the Bob Hope/Bing Crosby "Road to ..." movies of the 1940s to 1960s. Bob Hope made a cameo appearance in the film.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: "Dragnet", in which Aykroyd co-starred (with Tom Hanks) and co-wrote, was released in 1987. The film was both an homage and a satire of the previous "Dragnet" series, with Aykroyd playing Sgt. Joe Friday as a police officer whose law-and-order attitude is at odds with modern sensibilities.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: Aykroyd appeared in five films released in 1988, all of them critical and commercial failures. A sequel to "Ghostbusters", "Ghostbusters II", was released in 1989; Aykroyd and the other co-creators were reluctant to make another "Ghostbusters" film, but succumbed to pressure from the film's studio, Columbia Pictures. The film, while considered inferior to the original, was another big hit, earning . Aykroyd was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for 1989's "Driving Miss Daisy". He was the fourth "SNL" cast member to be nominated for an Oscar, after Joan Cusack, who was the third.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: Aykroyd's directorial debut was 1991's "Nothing but Trouble" starring Demi Moore, Chevy Chase, John Candy, and Aykroyd, sporting a bulbous prosthetic nose. The film was a critical and box-office flop. Aykroyd's other films in the 1990s were mostly similarly poorly received, including "Coneheads" (also based on a "SNL" skit), "Exit to Eden", "Blues Brothers 2000", and "Getting Away with Murder". Three exceptions were "My Girl" (1991), which starred Jamie Lee Curtis, and Macaulay Culkin, "Tommy Boy" (1995), which starred "SNL" alumni David Spade and Chris Farley, in which Aykroyd played the role of Ray Zalinsky, and "Grosse Pointe Blank" (1997), in which Aykroyd had a well-received role as a rival hit man.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: In 1994, Aykroyd made a guest appearance in an episode of the sitcom "The Nanny" as a refrigerator repairman. In 1997, he starred as an Episcopal priest in the ABC sitcom "Soul Man", which lasted two seasons. In 1998, Aykroyd voiced the role of Chip, a wasp, in "Antz". In 2001, he starred in the Woody Allen film "The Curse of the Jade Scorpion". Most of his film roles since then have tended to be small character parts in big-budget productions, such as a signals analyst in "Pearl Harbor" and a neurologist in "50 First Dates".


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: In 2009, Aykroyd and Ramis wrote and appeared in "", which also featured Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, William Atherton, and Brian Doyle-Murray. In 2010, he played the voice of the title character, Yogi Bear, in the live-action/CGI-animated-film "Yogi Bear". That same year, Aykroyd and Chevy Chase guest-starred in the "Family Guy" episode "Spies Reminiscent of Us", an homage to "Spies Like Us".


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: Aykroyd appeared in two February 2011 episodes of CBS's "The Defenders" as Judge Max Hunter, which also starred Jim Belushi. He also appeared on "Top Chef Canada" as a guest judge.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: In 2013, Aykroyd voiced the role of Scarecrow in "". In 2015, he appeared in a State Farm insurance commercial along with Jane Curtin and Laraine Newman, as the Coneheads, talking to "Jake", a State Farm agent.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: Aykroyd was one of the executive producers of "Ghostbusters", a long-discussed reboot of the "Ghostbusters" franchise, which was released in 2016. Aykroyd had a cameo appearance in the film, along with many of the rest of the original "Ghostbusters" cast.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: In early 2021, he provided the voice of the Postage Stamp Fellow in the episode "The Dad-Feelings Limited" in the TV series "The Simpsons". He also reprised his role of Dr. Ray Stantz in the movie "". Though Sony has not confirmed any further sequels to "Afterlife", Aykroyd expressed interest in having the surviving three actors of the original Ghostbusters team continuing to reprise their roles for as many sequels as possible while they were alive.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: Aykroyd participated in the recording of "We Are the World" in 1985, as a member of the chorus. He wrote the liner notes for fellow Ottawa-born blues musician JW-Jones's album "Bluelisted" in 2008. Until its ending in 2018, he hosted the internationally syndicated radio show "Elwood's BluesMobile", formerly known as the "House of Blues Radio Hour", under his Blues Brothers moniker Elwood Blues.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: In 1992, Aykroyd and Hard Rock Cafe co-founder Isaac Tigrett founded the House of Blues, a chain of music venues, with the mission to promote African-American cultural contributions of blues music and folk art.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: Many other music and Hollywood personalities helped to finance it at its start. It began as a single location in Cambridge, Massachusetts, although other locations quickly followed, starting with a venue in New Orleans in 1994. In 2004, House of Blues became the second-largest live music promoter in the world, with seven venues and 22 amphitheatres in the United States and Canada. It was bought by Live Nation in 2006.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: On New Year's Eve, 1994, Aykroyd opened the Aykroyd's Ghetto House Cafe on Princess Street in Kingston, Ontario.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: In 2007, Aykroyd and artist John Alexander founded Crystal Head Vodka, a brand of high-end vodka known for its distinctive skull-shaped bottle and for being filtered through Herkimer diamond crystals.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: Aykroyd is also part owner of several wineries in Canada's Niagara Peninsula, and the company that distributes Patrón tequila in Canada.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: In 2016, Aykroyd partnered with TV producers Eric Bischoff and Jason Hervey and game developer Ike McFadden to release an online-casino game that features the Blues Brothers. Aykroyd provided the in-game voice of his Elwood Blues character via voiceover.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: In 2009, Aykroyd contributed a series of reminiscences on his upbringing in Canada for a charity album titled "Dan Aykroyd's Canada". He helped start the Blue Line Foundation, which is redeveloping flood-damaged lots in New Orleans and helping first responders buy them at reduced prices. Coastal Blue Line LLC, hopes to eventually rebuild 400 properties in New Orleans.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: Aykroyd was briefly engaged to actress Carrie Fisher, proposing to her on the set of "The Blues Brothers". In the film, she appeared as a jilted girlfriend of John Belushi's character Jake Blues. Their engagement ended when she reconciled with her former boyfriend, musician Paul Simon. In 1983, Aykroyd married actress Donna Dixon. The couple met on the set of "Doctor Detroit" released the same year and appeared together in four additional films: "" (1983); "Spies Like Us" (1985); "The Couch Trip" (1988); and "Exit to Eden" (1994). Together, they have three daughters, including Danielle (known by her stage name, Vera Sola). The couple announced in April 2022 that they were separating after 39 years of marriage, but would remain legally married.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: Aykroyd maintains his Canadian roots as a longtime resident of Sydenham, Ontario, with his estate on Loughborough Lake.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: In a 2004 NPR interview with host Terry Gross, Aykroyd said that he had been diagnosed in childhood with Tourette syndrome (TS). He stated that his TS was successfully treated with therapy. In 2015, he stated during a "HuffPost Show" interview with hosts Roy Sekoff and Marc Lamont Hill that he has Asperger syndrome which was "never diagnosed", but was "sort of a self-diagnosis" based on several of his own characteristics.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: Aykroyd is a former reserve commander for the police department in Harahan, Louisiana, working for Chief of Police Peter Dale. While on the force, Aykroyd carried his badge with him at all times. He currently serves as a reserve deputy of the Hinds County Sheriff's Department in Hinds County, Mississippi. He supports the reserves with a fundraiser concert along with other blues and gospel singers in Mississippi.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: Aykroyd's passions for the outdoors, geology and paleontology, which he attributes to watching his father work on constructing the Gatineau Parkway which included blasting through granite rock formations to run the highway, have led him to join renowned Canadian paleontologist Dr. Philip J. Currie on a number of digs, including fundraising digs and galas as fundraisers for the construction of the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum in Wembley, Alberta, which recognized Aykroyd's contributions by naming its theatre the "Aykroyd Family Theatre".


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: In an appearance on the "Today" show, Aykroyd referred to John Belushi and himself as "kindred spirits". In the biography "Belushi", Aykroyd claims that Belushi was the only man with whom he could ever dance. Aykroyd and Belushi were scheduled to present the Academy Award for Visual Effects in 1982, but Belushi died only a few weeks prior to the ceremony. Though devastated by his friend's death, Aykroyd presented the award alone, remarking from the stage: "My partner would have loved to have been here to present this, given that he was something of a visual effect himself."


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: Aykroyd was openly hostile to the 1989 film "Wired", a biopic of Belushi which was based on the 1984 book of the same name by journalist Bob Woodward, starred Michael Chiklis in his film debut as Belushi, and featured him as a character played by actor Gary Groomes. Along with Belushi's widow Judith and brother Jim, and many other friends, associates and relatives of Belushi, he boycotted the film and the associated book for misrepresenting Belushi's life, and expressed his desire that the film would flop at the box office, which it ultimately did. During an interview for MTV's "The Big Picture" in June 1988, he said, "I have witches working now to jinx the thing... I hope it never gets seen and I am going to hurl all the negative energy I can and muster all my hell energies [against them]. My thunderbolts are out on this one, quite truthfully." He had actor J. T. Walsh removed from the film "Loose Cannons" after Walsh had already done two days of filming in the role of Grimmer, after finding out that Walsh had been in the cast of "Wired". Walsh, who had played Bob Woodward in "Wired", was replaced as Grimmer by fellow Canadian Paul Koslo, causing the film a $125,000 production delay.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: Aykroyd's great-grandfather, a dentist, was a mystic who corresponded with author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle on the subject of Spiritualism, and was a member of the Lily Dale Society. Other than Spiritualism, Aykroyd is also interested in various other aspects of the paranormal, particularly UFOlogy. He is a lifetime member of and official Hollywood consultant for the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON). Along these lines, he served, from 1996 to 2000, as host of "", which claimed to describe cases drawn from the archives of "The Office of Scientific Investigation and Research". In 2005, Aykroyd produced the DVD "Dan Aykroyd: Unplugged on UFOs".


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: Aykroyd was interviewed for 80 minutes by UFOlogist David Sereda, discussing in depth many aspects of the UFO phenomenon.


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: On September 29, 2009, Peter Aykroyd Sr., Dan's father, published a book entitled "A History of Ghosts". This book chronicled the family's historical involvement in the Spiritualist movement, to which Aykroyd readily refers. Aykroyd wrote the introduction and accompanied his father on a series of promotional activities, including launches in New York and Toronto, appearances on "Larry King Live" and "Coast to Coast AM", and various other public-relations initiatives. Aykroyd also read the introduction for the audio version of the book. In 1997, the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry awarded Aykroyd "in absentia" the Snuffed Candle Award for hosting "Psi Factor" and being a "long-time promoter ... of paranormal claims". Following the awards, Joe Nickell wrote to Aykroyd asking for the research behind the "cases" presented on "Psi Factor", particularly a claim that NASA scientists were "killed while investigating a meteor crash and giant eggs were found and incubated, yielding a flea the size of a hog".


title: Dan Aykroyd

text: In 1977, Aykroyd received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy-Variety or Music Series for his collaborative work on "Saturday Night Live". In 1994, he received an honorary Doctor of Literature degree from Carleton University. In 1999, Aykroyd was made a Member of the Order of Canada. He was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 2002. In 2017, he was made a member of the Order of Ontario in recognition for being "one of the world's most popular entertainers, well-known for his time on "Saturday Night Live" and the 1984 classic movie "Ghostbusters"."


title: Tony Scott

text: Anthony David Leighton Scott (21 June 1944 – 19 August 2012) was an English film director and producer. He was known for directing highly successful action and thriller films such as "Top Gun" (1986), "Beverly Hills Cop II" (1987), "Days of Thunder" (1990), "The Last Boy Scout" (1991), "True Romance" (1993), "Crimson Tide" (1995), "Enemy of the State" (1998), "Man on Fire" (2004), "Déjà Vu" (2006), and "Unstoppable" (2010).


title: Tony Scott

text: Scott was the younger brother of film director Sir Ridley Scott. They both graduated from the Royal College of Art in London, and were among a generation of British film directors who were successful in Hollywood having started their careers making television commercials. In 1995, both Tony and Ridley received the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema. In 2010, they received the BAFTA Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Filmed Entertainment.


title: Tony Scott

text: Scott was born in Tynemouth, Northumberland, North East England, the youngest of three sons of Elizabeth ("née" Williams) and Colonel Francis Percy Scott, who served in the Royal Engineers. Dixon Scott, a grand uncle, was a pioneer of the cinema chain, opening cinemas around Tyneside. One Tyneside Cinema, in Newcastle, is the last remaining newsreel cinema operating in the United Kingdom. Tony was a pupil at Rosebank School in Hartlepool, West Hartlepool College of Art and graduating from Sunderland Art School with a fine arts degree. At the age of 16, he appeared in the short film "Boy and Bicycle", Ridley's directorial debut (he was 23).


title: Tony Scott

text: Tony Scott continued his studies in art in Leeds after failing to gain admission to the Royal College of Art in London (he would succeed in a later attempt). In 1969, he made a short film based on the Ambrose Bierce story "One of the Missing". As Ridley had previously cast him in a film, Tony reciprocated by giving his brother a role in the production. "The film cost £1,000", he recalled in April 2012. While at the Royal College of Art, where he was taught by Raymond Durgnat, he starred in "Don't Walk", a film by fellow students Hank Onrust and Richard Stanley. The film credits state it was "made for BUNAC by MARCA films at the Royal College of Art". Again following in Ridley's footsteps, Tony graduated from the Royal College of Art, although he intended to become a painter. Their eldest brother Frank had earlier joined the British Merchant Navy.


title: Tony Scott

text: The success of his elder brother's fledgling television commercial production outfit, Ridley Scott Associates (RSA), drew Tony's attention to film. Ridley recounted, "Tony had wanted to do documentaries at first. I told him, 'Don't go to the BBC, come to me first.' I knew that he had a fondness for cars, so I told him, 'Come work with me and within a year you'll have a Ferrari.' And he did!" Tony recalled, "I was finishing eight years at art school, and Ridley had opened Ridley Scott Associates and said, 'Come and make commercials and make some money' because I owed money left and right and centre." He directed many television commercials for RSA while also overseeing the company's operation while his brother was developing his feature film career. "My goal was to make films but I got sidetracked into commercials and then I took off. I had 15 years [making them], and it was a blast. We were very prolific, and that was our training ground. You'd shoot 100 days in a year, then we gravitated from that to film," he said. Developing his own distinctive visual style while making commercials, Scott states, "I cornered the market in sexy, rock'n'roll stuff."


title: Tony Scott

text: Scott took time out in 1975 to direct a television adaptation of the Henry James story "The Author of Beltraffio". After the feature film successes of fellow British directors Hugh Hudson, Alan Parker, Adrian Lyne and his elder brother during the late 1970s, all of whom had graduated from directing advertising commercials, he received initial overtures from Hollywood in 1980. His eldest brother Frank died, aged 45, of skin cancer during the same year.


title: Tony Scott

text: Scott persisted in trying to embark on a feature film career. Among the ideas interesting to him was an adaptation of the Anne Rice novel "Interview with the Vampire" then in development. MGM was already developing the vampire film "The Hunger", and hired Scott as director in 1982. Despite starring David Bowie, Susan Sarandon and Catherine Deneuve, and having elaborate photography and sumptuous production design, it failed to find an audience or to impress the critics although it later became a cult favourite. Finding few film opportunities in Hollywood over the next two and a half years, Scott returned to commercials and music videos.


title: Tony Scott

text: In 1985, producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer approached Scott to direct "Top Gun", having been impressed by "The Hunger", and a commercial he had done for Swedish automaker Saab in 1983 featuring a Saab 900 turbo racing a Saab 37 Viggen fighter jet. Scott, initially reluctant, finally agreed to direct "Top Gun". While the film received mixed critical reviews, it was a box office smash, becoming one of the highest-grossing films of 1986, taking in more than $350 million, and making a star of its young protagonist, Tom Cruise. Labelling "Top Gun" "the key 1980s movie made by the British ad invasion", Sam Delaney of "The Guardian" writes, "By the mid-80's, Hollywood was awash with British directors who had ushered in a new era of blockbusters using the crowd-pleasing skills they'd honed in advertising. The vast resources and freedom made available to ad directors during advertising's boom era during the 1970's enabled them to innovate and experiment with new techniques that weren't then possible in TV or film."


title: Tony Scott

text: Following the stellar success of "Top Gun", Scott found himself on Hollywood's A-list of action directors. He re-teamed with Simpson and Bruckheimer in 1987 to direct Eddie Murphy and Brigitte Nielsen in the highly anticipated sequel "Beverly Hills Cop II". It left critics underwhelmed, but was among the year's highest-grossing films. That year, in 1987, Tony Scott had signed a deal with Paramount Pictures to develop films for a non-exclusive agreement, which will serve as producers and directors on the studio. His next feature, "Revenge" (1990), a thriller of adultery and revenge set in Mexico, starred Kevin Costner, Madeleine Stowe and Anthony Quinn. Once again directing Tom Cruise, Scott returned to the Simpson-Bruckheimer fold to helm the big-budget racing film "Days of Thunder" (1990). Scott later stated that it was difficult to find the drama in racing cars in circles, so he "stole from all race movies to date ... then tried to build on them." Scott's next film was the cult action thriller "The Last Boy Scout" (1991) starring Bruce Willis and Damon Wayans and written by Shane Black.


title: Tony Scott

text: In 1993, Scott directed "True Romance" costing just $13 million, from a script by Quentin Tarantino. The cast included Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, Tom Sizemore, Chris Penn, Val Kilmer, James Gandolfini and Samuel L. Jackson. Although it received positive reviews from Janet Maslin and other critics, it earned less than it cost to make and was considered a box office failure, although it has since attained cult status. For his next film, "Crimson Tide" (1995), Scott again teamed up with producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer. A submarine thriller starring Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington, it was critically and commercially well received.


title: Tony Scott

text: In 1995, Shepperton Studios was purchased by a consortium headed by Tony and Ridley Scott, which extensively renovated the studios – located in Britain – while also expanding and improving its grounds. In 1996, Scott directed "The Fan", starring Robert De Niro, Wesley Snipes, Ellen Barkin and Benicio del Toro. His 1998 film "Enemy of the State", a conspiracy thriller, starred Will Smith and Gene Hackman, and was his highest-grossing film of the decade. "Spy Game" was released in November 2001, and garnered 63% positive reviews at Metacritic and topped $60 million at the U.S. box office. Scott subsequently directed another thriller starring Denzel Washington, "Man on Fire", released in April 2004.


title: Tony Scott

text: Tony teamed up with Ridley to co-produce the TV series "Numb3rs", which aired from 2005 to 2010, with Tony directing the first episode of the fourth season. In 2006, he contributed voice-over to a song called "Dreamstalker" on Hybrid's album "I Choose Noise"; Scott collaborated with Hybrid on several films through their mutual friend, the highly successful film score composer, Harry Gregson-Williams.


title: Tony Scott

text: In 2005, Tony Scott directed "Domino", starring Keira Knightley. While notable for its use of experimental film techniques, it was drubbed by critics and rejected by audiences. In autumn 2006, Scott again worked with Denzel Washington, this time on a sci-fi action film, "Déjà Vu". The two collaborated again on "The Taking of Pelham 123", a remake of the 1974 film of the same title, and which also starred John Travolta. It was released on 12 June 2009. In 2009, Tony and Ridley Scott were executive producers for "The Good Wife", a legal drama television series.


title: Tony Scott

text: In 2010, the Scott brothers produced the feature film adaptation of the television series "The A-Team". The same year, Scott collaborated again with Denzel Washington on "Unstoppable", which also starred Chris Pine, and hit the screens in November.


title: Tony Scott

text: Shortly before his death, Tony Scott produced "Coma", a medical thriller miniseries, the Coca-Cola short film "The Polar Bears" and the thrillers "Stoker" and "The East", the latter two with his brother, Ridley.


title: Tony Scott

text: Scott developed a film adaptation of Clifford Irving's novel "Tom Mix and Pancho Villa" (1981) for over a decade. In November 2003, he scouted locations in Mexico, and Steven Zaillian was writing the screenplay. "This is "Lawrence of Arabia" meets "The Wild Bunch", a huge film with trains, cavalry, thousands of soldiers in uniform and on horseback," Scott said.


title: Tony Scott

text: In late 2006, Scott announced a remake of the action thriller "The Warriors" (1979). "The original "Warriors" was New York in the 1970s, and everything went upwards, everything went vertically. And now I'm making it a contemporary thing and doing it in L.A., so everything is horizontal. So my vision of "The Warriors" is Los Angeles in 2007 and the gangs, instead of being 30, are going to be 3,000 or 5,000," he said. Scott met with actual gang members for research: "I've met all the heads of all the different gangs, so I've already educated myself. They all said, 'Listen dude, if you get this on we'll sign a treaty and we'll all stand on the Long Beach Bridge. There'll be 150,000 members there. It'll look like the L.A. Marathon. Scott was simultaneously developing a drama project titled "Emma's War" about British foreign aid worker Emma McCune. Scott said in October 2006, "It's been a difficult piece to crack. We had one writer aboard who did a pass at the script and didn't get it, but we've got someone else onboard now who I'm going to make live down there and smell it, touch it, feel it. There's nothing that can compare to that kind of first-hand experience."


title: Tony Scott

text: Tom Cruise was with Scott just two days prior to the director's suicide, scouting locations for a sequel to "Top Gun", scheduled for production in 2013. In December 2012, Paramount announced that the project was officially cancelled, but they would go ahead with a 3D IMAX remastering of the original "Top Gun," which was released on 8 February 2013. In June 2013, it was confirmed by Bruckheimer that "Top Gun 2" had been greenlighted once again, with director Joseph Kosinski taking over for Scott. The film, "," was released on May 27, 2022, and was both a critical and financial success, and is the highest grossing film of 2022. "" was posthumously dedicated to Scott.


title: Tony Scott

text: Scott was also slated to direct "Narco Sub", from a script by David Guggenheim and Mark Bomback, about "a disgraced American naval officer forced to pilot a sub carrying a payload of cocaine to America." Scott was also considering a remake of the classic western "The Wild Bunch" (1969).


title: Tony Scott

text: Katey Rich of "Cinema Blend" wrote that Scott had a "trademark frenetic camera style", which Scott spoke about in June 2009, in reference to "The Taking of Pelham 123":


title: Tony Scott

text: Manohla Dargis of "The New York Times" wrote that Scott was "one of the most influential film directors of the past 25 years, if also one of the most consistently and egregiously underloved by critics" and called him "[o]ne of the pop futurists of the contemporary blockbuster." She felt that "[t]here was plenty about his work that was problematic and at times offensive, yet it could have terrific pop, vigour, beauty and a near pure cinema quality. These were, more than anything, films by someone who wanted to pull you in hard and never let you go."


title: Tony Scott

text: Owen Gleiberman of "Entertainment Weekly" wrote that "the propulsive, at times borderline preposterous popcorn-thriller storylines; the slice-and-dice editing and the images that somehow managed to glow with grit; the fireball violence, often glimpsed in smeary-techno telephoto shots; the way he had of making actors seem volatile and dynamic and, at the same time, lacking almost any subtext" were qualities of Scott's films that both "excited audiences about his work" and "kept him locked outside the gates of critical respectability."


title: Tony Scott

text: Todd McCarthy of "The Hollywood Reporter" wrote that after "Top Gun", Scott "found his commercial niche as a brash, flashy, sometimes vulgar action painter on celluloid," citing "Beverly Hills Cop II", "Days of Thunder", "The Last Boy Scout", "True Romance", and "The Fan" as examples. McCarthy concluded that "Unstoppable", Scott's final film, was one of his best. Apart from having "its director's fingerprints all over it—the commitment to extreme action, frenetic cutting, stripped-down dialogue"—McCarthy found "a social critique embedded in its guts; it was about disconnected working class stiffs living marginal lives on society's sidings, about the barely submerged anger of a neglected underclass," something which "always had been lacking from Tony Scott's work, some connection to the real world rather than just silly flyboy stuff and meaningful glances accompanied by this year's pop music hit." Betsy Sharkey of "The Los Angeles Times" wrote that Denzel Washington—who starred in "Crimson Tide", "Man on Fire", "Déjà Vu", "The Taking of Pelham 123", and "Unstoppable"—was Scott's , and Scott "was at his best when Washington was in the picture. The characters the actor played are the archetype of the kind of men Scott made. At their core, and what guided all the actions that followed, was a fundamental decency. They were flawed men to be sure, some more than others, but men who accorded dignity to anyone who deserved it."


title: Tony Scott

text: Scott married three times. His first marriage was to BAFTA Award-winning TV production designer Gerry Boldy (1944–2007) in 1967. They were divorced in 1974. His second marriage was in 1986 to advertising executive Glynis Sanders. They divorced a year later when his affair with Brigitte Nielsen (married to Sylvester Stallone at the time), whom he met on the set of "Beverly Hills Cop II", became public. He subsequently met film and TV actress Donna Wilson, who was 24 years his junior, on the set of "Days of Thunder" in 1990; they married in 1994. She gave birth to their twin sons, Frank and Max, in 2000.


title: Tony Scott

text: On 19 August 2012, at approximately 12:30 pm PDT, Scott died by suicide by jumping off the Vincent Thomas Bridge in the San Pedro port district of Los Angeles. Investigators from the Los Angeles Police Department's Harbour Division found contact information in a note left in his car, parked on the bridge, and a note at his office for his family. One witness said he did not hesitate before jumping, but another said he looked nervous before climbing a fence, hesitating for two seconds before jumping. He landed beside a tour boat. His body was recovered from the water by the Los Angeles Port Police. On 22 August, Los Angeles County coroner's spokesman Ed Winters said the two notes Scott left behind made no mention of any health problems, but neither the police nor the family disclosed the content of those notes.


title: Tony Scott

text: On 22 October 2012, the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office announced the cause of death as "multiple blunt force injuries". Therapeutic levels of the antidepressant mirtazapine and the sleep aid eszopiclone were in his system at the time of death. A coroner's official said Scott "did not have any serious underlying medical conditions" and that there was "no anatomic evidence of neoplasia [cancer] identified".


title: Tony Scott

text: In a November 2014 interview with "Variety", Ridley Scott described his brother's death as "inexplicable", saying that Tony had been "fighting a lengthy battle with cancer—a diagnosis the family elected to keep private during his treatments and in the immediate wake of his death", yet mentioning "his recovery".


title: Tony Scott

text: A family press release on 22 August 2012, stated that "The family will announce plans after Labor Day for a gathering to celebrate the life and work of Tony Scott. Details will be forthcoming once they are formalised." The family announced that they had established a scholarship fund at the American Film Institute in Scott's name, stating, "The family ask that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the fund to help encourage and engage future generations of filmmakers." He was cremated, and his ashes were interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery on 24 August in Los Angeles. Subsequently, it was reported that he had left his estate to his family trust.


title: Tony Scott

text: Many actors paid tribute to him, including Tom Cruise, Christian Slater, Val Kilmer, Eddie Murphy, Denzel Washington, Gene Hackman, Elijah Wood, Dane Cook, Dwayne Johnson, Stephen Fry, Peter Fonda and Keira Knightley, as well as musical collaborators Hybrid. Cruise complimented Scott as "a creative visionary whose mark on film is immeasurable." Denzel Washington, Scott's most frequent acting collaborator, said, "Tony Scott was a great director, a genuine friend and it is unfathomable to think that he is now gone." Directors UK chairman Charles Sturridge said Scott was "a brilliant British director with an extraordinary ability to create energy on screen, both in action and in the creation of character."


title: Tony Scott

text: The first episode of "Coma" and the first episode of season 4 of "The Good Wife" were dedicated in his memory. His brother Ridley's films "The Counselor" and "" were also dedicated to his memory. Ridley also paid tribute to Tony at the 2016 Golden Globes, after his film, "The Martian", won Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. "" (2022) is dedicated to Scott as well. He had been working on the film before his death.


title: Jamie Bell

text: Andrew James Matfin Bell (born 14 March 1986) is an English actor and dancer. He rose to prominence for his debut role in "Billy Elliot" (2000), for which he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, becoming one of the youngest winners of the award. He is also known for his leading roles as Tintin in "The Adventures of Tintin" (2011) and as Ben Grimm / Thing in "Fantastic Four" (2015). Other notable performances include in the films "King Kong" (2005), "Jumper" (2008), "Snowpiercer" (2013), and "Rocketman" (2019). He earned a second BAFTA Award nomination for his leading performance in "Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool" (2017). In television, Bell starred as Abraham Woodhull in the AMC historical drama series "" (2014–2017).


title: Jamie Bell

text: Jamie Bell was born on 14 March 1986 in Billingham, Teesside, England, where he grew up with his mother, Eileen Matfin, and elder sister, Kathryn. His father, John Bell, a toolmaker, left before Jamie was born. Bell began his involvement with dance after he accompanied his sister to her ballet lessons.


title: Jamie Bell

text: In 1999, Bell was chosen from a field of over 2,000 boys for the role of Billy Elliot, an 11-year-old boy who dismays his working-class widowed father and elder brother by taking up ballet. Bell's performance received widespread acclaim, and 14-year-old Bell won London Film Critics' Circle Award for British Newcomer of the Year, British Independent Film Award for Best Newcomer, Evening Standard British Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer, and BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, becoming one of the youngest winners of the awards. He also appeared in "Close and True", an ITV legal drama shown in 2000, which starred Robson Green, James Bolam and Susan Jameson.


title: Jamie Bell

text: Bell served as Honorary Jury President of the 2001 Giffoni Film Festival. In 2002, he appeared as the disabled servant Smike in an adaptation of "Nicholas Nickleby" and a young soldier in "Deathwatch". In the following years, he portrayed a teenager on the run in "Undertow", a gun-toting pacifist in "Dear Wendy", a disaffected Southern California teenager in "The Chumscrubber", and the young Jimmy in the 2005 film version of "King Kong". Also in 2005, he starred opposite Evan Rachel Wood in the Green Day video "Wake Me Up When September Ends", directed by Samuel Bayer. In 2007, he played the title character in "Hallam Foe" – for which he was nominated for the best actor award at the British Independent Film Awards – and appeared as himself in lonelygirl15 spin-off "KateModern". He had roles in two 2008 films: the sci-fi film "Jumper" and the World War II drama "Defiance". In the second film he plays Asael Bielski, the third of the Bielski Brothers, leaders of a partisan group that saved 1,200 lives during the Holocaust.


title: Jamie Bell

text: In 2009, producers announced that Bell would play the title role in the motion capture film "The Adventures of Tintin", alongside Andy Serkis and Daniel Craig. The film was released in 2011. He also starred in the 2011 films "The Eagle" as Esca and "Jane Eyre" as St John Rivers. In 2013, he starred alongside James McAvoy in the film "Filth" and appeared as Edgar in "Snowpiercer".


title: Jamie Bell

text: From 2014 to 2017, Bell appeared as Abraham Woodhull in "". In 2015, he played the Thing in the "Fantastic Four" reboot. The film would go on in infamy as one of the worst comic book films ever made. In 2022, Bell would say of it, "I don’t think [it deserves a second look.] Save your money, save your time."


title: Jamie Bell

text: In 2017, Bell had starring roles in "6 Days" and "Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool". In 2019, he had a supporting role as Bernie Taupin in the biographical musical film based on the life of Elton John, "Rocketman".


title: Jamie Bell

text: Bell dated American actress Evan Rachel Wood for a year in 2005 after they had met at the Sundance Film Festival. Wood was aware of the false claims that they had first met while co-starring in the music video for Green Day's song "Wake Me Up When September Ends" and has stated they were "already dating and very much in love by that point." Five years later, in mid-2011, it was reported that Bell and Wood had rekindled their relationship. The couple married in a small ceremony on 30 October 2012. They have one son, born in July 2013. The couple announced that they had separated on 28 May 2014.


title: Jamie Bell

text: In late 2015, Bell began dating his "Fantastic Four" co-star Kate Mara, and in January 2017 the couple became engaged. On 17 July 2017, they announced that they had married. They have a daughter, born in May 2019. On November 17th, 2022, his wife Mara announced on Instagram account that she had given birth to a son the week before.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: Kentrell DeSean Gaulden (born October 20, 1999), known professionally as YoungBoy Never Broke Again (also known as NBA YoungBoy or simply YoungBoy), is an American rapper. Between 2015 and 2017, he released six independent mixtapes and steadily garnered a cult following through his work. In late 2017, Gaulden was signed to Atlantic Records. In January 2018, he released the single "Outside Today", which peaked at number 31 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart. The song became the lead single for his debut studio album "Until Death Call My Name" (2018) which peaked at number 7 on the US "Billboard" 200.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: In October 2019, Gaulden released the single "Bandit" (with Juice WRLD), which became his first top-ten single. A week later, he released "AI YoungBoy 2" (2019), which debuted at number one on the "Billboard" 200. In April 2020, he released "38 Baby 2", becoming his second chart-topping project on the "Billboard" 200. Later that year, Gaulden released his second studio album "Top" (2020), which followed suit as his third chart-topping project in less than a year. In September 2021, "Sincerely, Kentrell" (2021) was released during his incarceration, topping the charts again, making him the third artist besides 2Pac and Lil Wayne to have a chart-topping album while incarcerated. In August 2022, he released his fourth studio album, "The Last Slimeto", which marked his final studio album with Atlantic Records.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: Despite his success, Gaulden's career has been marked by a long history of legal issues that began in 2016, and has released multiple projects during his incarcerations.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: Kentrell DeSean Gaulden was born on October 20, 1999, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He broke his neck while wrestling as a toddler, the injury requiring a head brace until the spine healed. The brace left permanent scars on his forehead. Gaulden was raised mainly by his maternal grandmother due to his father being sentenced to 55 years in prison. He dropped out of high school in ninth grade. While in juvenile detention for a robbery charge, he began writing lyrics for his debut project.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: After he was released, Gaulden's grandmother died of heart failure and he moved in with his friend and fellow Baton Rouge rapper, OG3Three Never Broke Again. The two then used acts of criminality to begin to pay for studio time.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: Gaulden first began producing music with a microphone he bought from Walmart when he was fourteen years old. He released his first mixtape, "Life Before Fame" in 2015. A string of other mixtapes followed including "Mind of a Menace", "Mind of a Menace 2", and "Before I Go". Gaulden attracted attention with his October 2016 mixtape, "38 Baby" which featured fellow Baton Rouge natives, Boosie Badazz, Kevin Gates, and fellow rappers Stroke Tha Don and NBA 3Three. A week later, Gaulden released another mixtape titled "Mind of a Menace 3" on November 4, 2016"." Gaulden’s quick rise to popularity could also be attributed to his "song-for-song rap beef" with fellow Baton Rouge rapper Scotty Cain in December 2015, in which songs from both rappers included death threats. Although no real violence ever occurred between the two Baton Rouge rappers, their feuding attracted a lot of attention.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: In November 2016, Gaulden was arrested in Austin, Texas on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder in connection with an alleged drive-by shooting. While in jail in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, Gaulden re-released his two mixtapes, "Before I Go" and "Mind of a Menace 3". Gaulden was released from prison in May 2017 after taking a plea deal and posting bail. A week after leaving prison, Gaulden released the single, "Untouchable".


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: In July 2017, Gaulden released a video for his song, "41", that included cameos from notable artists including, Meek Mill, Young Thug, 21 Savage, Boosie Badazz, and Yo Gotti. On August 3, 2017, he released his mixtape, "AI YoungBoy" which charted at 24 on the "Billboard" 200. The single, "Untouchable", peaked at number 95 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart. The second single from the project, "No Smoke", peaked at number 61 on the "Billboard" Hot 100.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: Gaulden released the single "Outside Today" on January 6, 2018. The song became Gaulden's highest charting song, peaking at number 31 on the "Billboard" Hot 100. He announced his debut studio album, "Until Death Call My Name" on January 11, shortly after signing a joint venture deal with Atlantic Records. The album was released on April 27, 2018. Despite being arrested in February 2018, Gaulden promised a new mixtape. Gaulden was released from jail on March 15, and his next mixtape "Master The Day Of Judgement" was released on May 19, 2018. Throughout the summer of 2018, Gaulden released a series of four EPs, each containing four tracks. The first of which, "4Respect", was released on August 24, followed by "4Freedom", "4Loyalty" and "4WhatImportant" on August 30, September 6 and 14, respectively. In conjunction with the final part being released, all four EPs were combined into a 16-track compilation titled "4Respect 4Freedom 4Loyalty 4WhatImportant". On September 7, Gaulden released his mixtape "Decided", featuring a sole guest appearance from Trippie Redd. On December 20, Gaulden released another mixtape, "Realer", featuring guest appearances from Lil Baby and Plies.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: By January 2019, Gaulden was on YouTube's Top Music Artists list in the United States for the previous 101 weeks, which made him the most-watched musician across all genres. This was mainly due in part to his consistency of releasing music regularly and exclusively on YouTube. He was also the 9th best selling artist on the 2019 "Billboard" Mid-Year Charts and was seventh in the top ten artists ranked by on-demand audio streams without dropping a project in the first six months of 2019.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: Gaulden was sentenced to 14 months on house arrest following a probation violation earlier in 2019. Due to the house arrest, he was unable to record music from anywhere besides his house. On September 25, 2019, Gaulden released the "aptly titled" single "House Arrest Tingz".


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: On October 4, 2019, Gaulden released the song "Bandit", with rapper Juice WRLD, released as the final new song by Juice WRLD as a lead artist before his death. The song reached number 10 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100, becoming NBA Youngboy's highest charting single.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: On October 10, 2019, Gaulden released his mixtape "AI YoungBoy 2", and debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200. The mixtape is a sequel to his 2017 breakout "AI Youngboy" and features 18 songs, including the previously released song "Slime Mentality". Gaulden was able to get his first number one album on the "Billboard" 200 because the album had accumulated 144.7 million on-demand audio streams during its first week, becoming one of the top ten biggest streaming debuts of 2019.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: In February 2020, Gaulden released his mixtape, "Still Flexin, Still Steppin". It debuted at number two on the US "Billboard" 200, becoming his second-highest charting album after his 2019 number-one album "AI YoungBoy 2". On April 24, 2020, Gaulden released his mixtape "38 Baby 2", debuting at number one on the "Billboard" 200. On August 20, 2020, Gaulden announced the release of his second studio album titled "Top", which was released on September 11. It includes the Hot 100-charting singles "All In", "Kacey Talk", and "My Window" featuring Lil Wayne. The album debuted at number one on the "Billboard" 200 and became his third number-one album in under one year.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: On November 11, 2020, Gaulden released his fourth solo project of 2020, the mixtape "Until I Return". It was released exclusively on YouTube, and was made available three days later to streaming services with four additional songs. The mixtape has no guest features. On November 20, 2020, Gaulden released a collaborative project with Rich the Kid, titled "Nobody Safe".


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: On September 24, 2021, Gaulden released his third studio album, "Sincerely, Kentrell" from prison. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 making him the third artist besides 2Pac and Lil Wayne to have a number one album while incarcerated.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: As part of the album, Gaulden released the hit single "Life Support" on September 10 of that year, which saw significant success, even as he was currently incarcerated.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: Following his release from jail in late October 2021, he released a number of singles beginning in November, including "Heart and Soul", "Alligator Walk", and "Blackball". The singles led up to his collaborative mixtape with Birdman, "From the Bayou", which was released on December 10, 2021, after initially being announced in March 2018.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: Gaulden released another mixtape, titled "Colors", on January 21, 2022. This mixtape garnered attention due to the singles released previously, in which he dissed rappers King Von and NLE Choppa on the tracks "Bring the Hook" and "Know Like I Know", respectively. On March 4, 2022, Gaulden released "Better than You", a collaborative mixtape with DaBaby.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: On April 1, 2022, YoungBoy Never Broke Again released the "Last Slimeto Sampler" This led up to his fourth studio album, "The Last Slimeto", which is also his final album with Atlantic Records, and was released on August 5, 2022. In May, it was reported that Gaulden rejected CEO Craig Kallman's $25 million dollar offer to renew his Atlantic deal, calling the label out on its artist integrity. He also called to be released from the label along with fellow ex-labelmate Meek Mill. Additionally, in July 2022, he terminated his performance rights management deal with ASCAP and joined Irving Azoff-headed Global Music Rights.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: Through Never Broke Again's Instagram page, it was announced that YoungBoy had finally completed his contract with Atlantic Records.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: YoungBoy was featured on The Game's album "Drillmatic – Heart vs. Mind" on the track "O.P.P", but was later removed over a $150K fee.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: On September 4, 2022, YoungBoy released the YouTube exclusive single "Purge Me". On September 5, 2022, through DJ Akademiks it was announced that YoungBoy would release a surprise mixtape titled "Realer 2", presented as a sequel to his December 2018 "Realer". However, the mixtape did not release according to plan. On September 6, 2022, at around 4 PM EST, the mixtape was released primarily to YoungBoy's YouTube channel. Just a day later on September 7, the mixtape was added to all digital streaming platforms; despite YoungBoy's departure from Atlantic Records, the mixtape was distributed through the label.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: On October 7, 2022, YoungBoy released his twentieth mixtape, "3800 Degrees" through Never Broke Again and Atlantic Records. The project pays homage to Juvenile's 1998 "400 Degreez" and Lil Wayne's 2002 "500 Degreez". The mixtape features guest appearances from E-40, Mouse on tha Track, and Shy Glizzy. The project marks YoungBoy Never Broke Again's fifth release of 2022 (fourth solo).


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: On October 16, he announced another project, "Ma' I Got A Family", to be released the same week as his twenty-first project, and his sixth release of the year (fifth solo). Just days later, the tracklist was released, announcing Nicki Minaj and Yeat as the mixtape's only features. On October 21, 2022, the mixtape was released and was presented as a DJ Drama "Gangsta Grillz" exclusive.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: Through "Billboard", on October 24, 2022, it was announced that following the completion of YoungBoy Never Broke Again's contract with Atlantic Records, YoungBoy would sign a joint venture contract between Motown Records and YoungBoy's own label Never Broke Again. The joint venture deal was signed just over a year prior to the announcement of YoungBoy's addition in September 2021.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: On November 25, 2022, YoungBoy teamed up with Never Broke Again signee, Quando Rondo for their collaborative mixtape, "3860". The mixtape was preceded by four singles, "Give Me a Sign," Cream Soda" (Performed by Quando Rondo), "Keep Me Dry," and "It's On." Despite the project being uploaded to YoungBoy's YouTube channel, on the day of the mixtape's release, YoungBoy revealed that he did not want the mixtape to be released due to his past disputes with Atlantic Records, the label under which the mixtape was released under, subsequently leading to the removal of the mixtape from YoungBoy's YouTube channel. YoungBoy further noted that Quando respected his wishes for the mixtape to not be released, however, Atlantic Records proceeded to release the project.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: NBA YoungBoy has been noted for his melodic vocals and "signature aggressive punch and high energy". He is known for his consistency in releasing music, with his work ethic described as being of a "rapid fire pace". YoungBoy has released a total of twenty-six studio albums, EP's, and mixtapes since 2015.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: Despite his success as a musical artist, Gaulden had been involved in numerous criminal run-ins and a civil lawsuit.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: In late 2014, Gaulden was arrested for robbery and sent to a detention center in Tallulah, Louisiana. He was released after serving 6 months.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: On November 28, 2016, U.S. Marshals arrested Gaulden before a concert in Austin, Texas, accusing him of jumping out of a vehicle and opening fire on a group of people on a South Baton Rouge street. Gaulden was charged with two counts of attempted murder. Gaulden was in jail until May 2017 for attempted first degree murder. Speaking on his incarceration, he said "I don't think they really target, but if you got a name, they know who you is, you do something, they gonna come get you, and whoever you're with and whatever they do, you're accountable for it just because you got the biggest name. That's how that shit go." Facing two counts of attempted first-degree murder, he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of aggravated assault with a firearm. On August 22, 2017, he was sentenced to a suspended 10-year prison term and three years of active probation.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: Gaulden was arrested before a concert at The Moon nightclub in Tallahassee on February 25, 2018. Gaulden had a warrant in the state of Georgia for allegedly committing assault, weapons violations and kidnapping. Hotel surveillance footage leaked shortly following his arrest showing Gaulden assaulting his former girlfriend. On March 15, 2018, he was released from jail on $75,000 bail.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: On March 12, 2019, it was reported that Gaulden and Never Broke Again artist Tyquian "Quando Rondo" Bowman were filed suit by a man claiming to be the rappers' bodyguard, tour manager and/or tour DJ for assault, battery and emotional distress. The lawsuit claims that on December 21, 2018, during a concert in Florence, South Carolina, the two performers were annoyed by a crazed fan resulting in an argument. The claimant states that he, Gaulden, Bowman and members of their entourage were escorted backstage by management, venue owners and concert organizers where he claims to have been assaulted by the two aforementioned. The person, who claimed was confronted by the two defendants, commented that Bowman (although unprovoked) instigated the incident by attempting to force him back onstage to break up the fan craze to secure his team, but after he refused, Bowman and Gaulden immediately assaulted him as he tried to explain to both parties of his deeds. It resulted in the victim sustaining a "cracked tooth, bloody face and injuries to his reputation". Gaulden's attorney stated that he had no prior knowledge of the incident, but would look into the outcome of the lawsuit.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: While Gaulden was on probation, on May 12, 2019, he was involved in a shooting in Miami in which he returned fire after a shooter in a black Cadillac Escalade opened fire, injuring Gaulden's girlfriend and killing a bystander. Though Gaulden's charges for the shooting itself were dismissed, he was found to be in the company of Ben Fields and Trulondrick "Boomer" Norman, which violated a special condition of his probation; for this violation, the judge ordered him to spend 90 days in jail, banned him from performing for the next 14 months, and sentenced him to house arrest with electronic monitoring for the remainder of his probation.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: On December 13, 2019, the judge officially terminated Gaulden's probation for two counts of attempted murder. However, he was sentenced to a year of probation five days later after he pleaded guilty to simple assault in the case involving his ex-girlfriend.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: On September 28, 2020, Gaulden was among sixteen people arrested in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on various charges, including distribution and manufacturing of drugs and possession of stolen firearms. His lawyer denied any guilt, stating "There was no indication that he had any guns or drugs on him at the time of the arrest". As news of his arrest surfaced, Gaulden deleted all of his social media, including his Instagram and Twitter accounts.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: On March 22, 2021, Gaulden was arrested by federal agents in Los Angeles executing a federal warrant stemming from his September 2020 arrest in Baton Rouge. Officers attempted to stop a vehicle with Gaulden in it to serve the warrant when Gaulden took off on foot. After a search that involved using a K9, Gaulden was found and booked on federal firearms charges. On October 26, 2021, he was released from jail on a $1.5 million bail.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: On July 15, 2022, Gaulden was found not guilty on his federal firearms charges from California, due to a lack of evidence linking him to intentionally possessing the weapons found.


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: At 23 years old, Gaulden is the father of ten children with eight different women. Two of his sons, Kayden and Kacey, appeared in the video for his single, "Kacey Talk".


title: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

text: In a 2017 profile for "The Fader", Gaulden named Kamron as one of his sons. Kamron was born in July 2016 to Starr Thigpen just weeks after Kayden. However, a DNA test later confirmed that he was not the biological father.


title: Toy Story

text: Toy Story is a 1995 American computer-animated comedy film directed by John Lasseter (in his feature directorial debut), produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The first installment in the " Toy Story" franchise, it was the first entirely computer-animated feature film, as well as the first feature film from Pixar. It was written by Joss Whedon, Andrew Stanton, Joel Cohen, and Alec Sokolow from a story by Lasseter, Stanton, Pete Docter, and Joe Ranft. The film features music by Randy Newman, was produced by Bonnie Arnold and Ralph Guggenheim, and was executive-produced by Steve Jobs and Edwin Catmull. The film features the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Annie Potts, R. Lee Ermey, John Morris, Laurie Metcalf, and Erik von Detten.


title: Toy Story

text: Taking place in a world where toys come to life when humans are not present, the plot of "Toy Story" focuses on the relationship between an old-fashioned pull-string cowboy doll named Woody and a modern space cadet action figure, Buzz Lightyear, as Woody develops jealousy towards Buzz when he becomes their owner Andy's favorite toy.


title: Toy Story

text: Following the success of "Tin Toy", a short film that was released in 1988, Pixar was approached by Disney to produce a computer-animated feature film that was told from a small toy's perspective. Lasseter, Stanton, and Docter wrote early story treatments, which were rejected by Disney, who wanted the film's tone to be "edgier". After several disastrous story reels, production was halted and the script was rewritten to better reflect the tone and theme Pixar desired: "toys deeply want children to play with them, and ... this desire drives their hopes, fears, and actions". The studio, then consisting of a relatively small number of employees, produced "Toy Story" under only minor financial constraints.


title: Toy Story

text: "Toy Story" premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California, United States, on November 19, 1995, and was released in theaters in North America on November 22 of that year. It was the highest-grossing film during its opening weekend, eventually grossing over $373 million worldwide, making it the second highest-grossing film of 1995. The film received critical acclaim, and holds a approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It was praised for the technical innovation of the 3D animation, screenplay, musical score, and vocal performances (particularly Hanks and Allen); it is considered by many to be one of the best animated films ever made. The film received three Academy Award nominations (Best Original Screenplay (the first animated film to be nominated for this award), Best Original Song for "You've Got a Friend in Me", and Best Original Score) as well as honoring a non-competitive Special Achievement Academy Award.


title: Toy Story

text: In 2005, "Toy Story" was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant", one of seven films designated in its first year of eligibility. The success of "Toy Story" launched a multimedia franchise and a series of three sequels, starting with "Toy Story 2" (1999). The film also had a theatrical 3D re-release in 2009 as a part of a double feature with the second film.


title: Toy Story

text: A spin-off, "Lightyear", was released in 2022, with Chris Evans voicing the in-universe human Buzz Lightyear who inspired the action figure toyline in the "Toy Story" films.


title: Toy Story

text: In a world where toys come alive when humans are not present, a group of toys is preparing to move into a new house with their owner, Andy Davis, his sister, Molly, and their single mother. The toys become uneasy when Andy has his birthday party a week early; pullstring cowboy doll Sheriff Woody, Andy's favorite toy and their leader, sends Sarge and his green army men to spy on the gift-opening with a baby monitor in hopes of calming the others. The other toys (which include Mr. Potato Head, Slinky Dog, Rex (a toy dinosaur), Hamm (a piggy bank) and Bo Peep (a porcelain doll) are relieved when Andy receives nothing that could replace them. Andy then receives a last-minute surprise gift from his mother: a Buzz Lightyear action figure, who believes he is an actual space ranger. Buzz impresses the other toys with his various features, and becomes Andy's new favorite toy, making Woody jealous.


title: Toy Story

text: Two days before the move, Andy's family plans for a dinner at Pizza Planet, where Andy is allowed to bring along only one toy. To ensure Andy chooses him and not Buzz, Woody tries to use the radio-controlled car RC to knock Buzz behind the dresser, but accidentally knocks him out a window instead. The other toys (except for Bo and Slinky) suspect Woody deliberately tried to kill Buzz, but Andy arrives and takes Woody before they can exact revenge. A furious Buzz stows away in the car, and confronts Woody when the car stops at a gas station on the way to Pizza Planet. The two fight, fall out of the car, and are left behind.


title: Toy Story

text: After a further argument, the two hitch a ride on a Pizza Planet delivery truck and sneak into the restaurant. However, Buzz mistakes a claw crane full of Little Green Men for a spaceship, and enters it, with Woody in pursuit. Andy's sadistic next-door neighbor Sid Phillips spots and wins the two, along with a Little Green Man, and takes them to his house. Woody and Buzz encounter Sid's vicious Bull Terrier Scud and some "mutant" toys made from parts of other toys Sid has destroyed.


title: Toy Story

text: As Woody tries to find an escape route, Buzz is shocked to see a Buzz Lightyear action figure television commercial that proves that he is indeed just a toy. In denial, he attempts to fly, but fails, breaking his arm. After the mutant toys fix Buzz, Sid returns and tapes Buzz to a rocket, intending to blow him up, but he is forced to wait until the next morning due to bad weather. Woody helps Buzz realize that his purpose is making Andy happy, while admitting his own insecurities. This conversation restores Buzz's resolve, and the two work to get out of Sid's house. Just as Sid takes Buzz out to attempt to launch him, Woody rallies the mutant toys to frighten Sid into never harming toys again, freeing him and Buzz.


title: Toy Story

text: Woody and Buzz pursue Andy's moving truck, but Scud sees them and gives chase, biting Woody's ankle. Buzz fights off Scud, while Woody climbs into the truck and pushes RC out, using him to distract Scud and rescue Buzz. The other toys, thinking Woody is now trying to get rid of RC, toss Woody back into the street. Having escaped Scud, Buzz and Woody pursue the truck on RC, and the other toys spot them coming and realize their error. During the chase, RC's batteries run out, forcing Woody to light the rocket still strapped to Buzz. As they launch towards the truck, they become airborne, and Woody drops RC into the truck. Buzz opens his wings to sever the tape just before the rocket explodes; he and Woody glide over the truck and fall through the sunroof of Andy's car, landing safely beside Andy.


title: Toy Story

text: At Christmas, in the new house, Sarge and his men spy on the gift-opening again while the other toys wait. Mr. Potato Head is delighted when Molly gets a Mrs. Potato Head, and Woody and Buzz jokingly ponder what gift could be "worse" than Buzz, only to nervously smile at each other when Andy gets a dachshund puppy.


title: Toy Story

text: John Lasseter's first experience with computer animation was during his work as an animator at Walt Disney Feature Animation, when two of his friends showed him the light-cycle scene from "Tron". It was an eye-opening experience that awakened Lasseter to the possibilities offered by the new medium of computer-generated animation. Lasseter tried to pitch "The Brave Little Toaster" as a fully computer-animated film to Disney, but the idea was rejected and Lasseter was fired. He then went on to work at Lucasfilm and in 1986, he became a founding member of Pixar. In 1986, Pixar was purchased by entrepreneur and Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs. At Pixar, Lasseter created short, computer-animated films to show off the Pixar Image Computer's capabilities. In 1988, Lasseter produced the short film, "Tin Toy", which was told from the perspective of a toy, referencing Lasseter's love of classic toys. "Tin Toy" won the 1989 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, the first computer-generated film to do so.


title: Toy Story

text: "Tin Toy" gained Disney's attention, and the new team at The Walt Disney Company, CEO Michael Eisner and chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg in the film division, sought to get Lasseter to come back. Lasseter, grateful for Jobs' faith in him, felt compelled to stay with Pixar, telling co-founder Ed Catmull, "I can go to Disney and be a director, or I can stay here and make history." Katzenberg realized he could not lure Lasseter back to Disney and therefore set plans into motion to ink a production deal with Pixar to produce a film. Disney had always made all their movies in-house and refused to change this. But when Tim Burton, who used to work at Disney, wanted to buy back the rights to "The Nightmare Before Christmas", Disney struck a deal allowing him to make it as a Disney film outside the studio. This allowed Pixar to make their movies outside Disney.


title: Toy Story

text: Both sides were willing. Catmull and fellow Pixar co-founder Alvy Ray Smith had long wanted to produce a computer-animated feature, but only by the early 1990s were the computers cheap and powerful enough to make this possible. In addition, Disney had licensed Pixar's Computer Animation Production System (CAPS), and that made it the largest customer for Pixar's computers. Jobs made it apparent to Katzenberg that although Disney was happy with Pixar, it was not the other way around: "We want to do a film with you," said Jobs. "That would make us happy."


title: Toy Story

text: Catmull, Smith, and head of animation Ralph Guggenheim met with Walt Disney Feature Animation president Peter Schneider in the summer of 1990 to discuss making a feature film, but they found the atmosphere to be puzzling and contentious. They later learned that while Katzenberg was pushing the idea of working with Pixar, Schneider did not want to bring in a non-Disney animation studio. Katzenberg arranged to meet directly with the Pixar contingent, this time including Lasseter and Jobs. The Pixar team proposed a Christmas television special, "A Tin Toy Christmas", as a first step, but Katzenberg countered that as long as they were gearing up to transition from 30-second commercials to a half-hour special, they might as well go all the way and make a feature-length film. Katzenberg also made it clear that he was only working with Pixar to get access to Lasseter's talents and that the Pixar team would be signing up to work with a self-described "tyrant" and micro-manager, but invited them to talk with Disney's animators and get their opinions on working under him. Lasseter was impressed with what he heard, and the two companies began negotiations, although they disagreed on key points including whether Disney would get the rights to Pixar's animation technology or whether Pixar would retain partial ownership of the films, characters, and home video and sequel rights. As Pixar was nearing bankruptcy and desperate for funds, they settled on a deal that would allow Disney to have complete ownership and control of the films and characters, including the rights to make sequels without Pixar's involvement, while Pixar would get approximately 12.5% of ticket sales. These early negotiations became a point of contention between Jobs and Eisner for many years.


title: Toy Story

text: An agreement to produce a feature film based on "Tin Toy" with a working title of "Toy Story" was finalized, and production began soon thereafter.