title: Andre Agassi

text: He began the next year 2000 by capturing his second Australian Open title, beating Sampras in a five-set semi-final and Yevgeny Kafelnikov in a four-set final. He was the first male player to have reached four consecutive Grand Slam finals since Rod Laver achieved the Grand Slam in 1969. At the time, Agassi was also only the fourth player since Laver to be the reigning champion of three of four Grand Slam events, missing only the Wimbledon title.. 2000 also saw Agassi reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon, where he lost in five sets to Rafter in a match considered by many to be one of the best ever at Wimbledon. At the inaugural Tennis Masters Cup in Lisbon, Agassi reached the final after defeating Marat Safin in the semi-finals to end the Russian's hopes to become the youngest No. 1 in the history of tennis. Agassi then lost to Gustavo Kuerten in the final, allowing Kuerten to be crowned year-end No. 1.


title: Andre Agassi

text: Agassi opened 2001 by successfully defending his Australian Open title with a straight-sets final win over Arnaud Clément. En route, he beat a cramping Rafter in five sets in front of a sell-out crowd in what turned out to be the Aussie's last Australian Open. At Wimbledon, they met again in the semi-finals, where Agassi lost another close match to Rafter, 8–6 in the fifth set. In the quarterfinals at the US Open, Agassi lost a 3-hour, 33 minute epic match with Sampras, 7–6, 6–7, 6–7, 6–7, with no breaks of serve during the 52-game match. Despite the setback, Agassi finished 2001 ranked No. 3, becoming the only male tennis player to finish a year ranked in the top 3 in three different decades.


title: Andre Agassi

text: 2002 opened with disappointment for Agassi, as injury forced him to skip the Australian Open, where he was a two-time defending champion. Agassi recovered from the injury and later that year defended his Key Biscayne title beating then rising Roger Federer in a four-set final. At the US Open, Agassi overcame No.1 ranked and defending champion Lleyton Hewitt in the semi-finals. This led to what turned out to be the last duel between Agassi and Sampras in final of the US Open, which Sampras won in four sets and left Sampras with a 20–14 edge in their 34 career meetings. The match was the last of Sampras's career. Agassi's US Open finish, along with his Masters Series victories in Key Biscayne, Rome and Madrid, helped him finish 2002 as the oldest year-end No. 2 at 32 years and 8 months.


title: Andre Agassi

text: In 2003, Agassi won the eighth (and final) Grand Slam title of his career at the Australian Open, where he beat Rainer Schüttler in straight sets in the final.


title: Andre Agassi

text: On April 28, 2003, he recaptured the No. 1 ranking to become the oldest top-ranked male player since the ATP rankings began at 33 years and 13 days. The record was later surpassed by Roger Federer in 2018. He had held the No. 1 ranking for two weeks, when Lleyton Hewitt took it back on May 12, 2003. Agassi then recaptured the No. 1 ranking once again on June 16, 2003, which he held for 12 weeks until September 7, 2003. There he managed to reach the US Open semi-finals, where he lost to Juan Carlos Ferrero, surrendering his No. 1 ranking to him. During his career, Agassi held the ranking for a total of 101 weeks. Agassi's ranking slipped when injuries forced him to withdraw from a number of events. At the year-end Tennis Masters Cup, Agassi lost in the final to Federer, his third time to finish as runner-up in the event after losses in 1999 and 2000, and finished the year ranked No. 4. At age 33, he had been one of the oldest players to rank in the top 5 since Connors, at age 35, was No. 4 in 1987.


title: Andre Agassi

text: In 2004, Agassi began the year with a five-set loss in the semi-finals of the Australian Open to Marat Safin; the loss ended Agassi's 26-match winning streak at the event. He won the Masters series event in Cincinnati to bring his career total to 59 top-level singles titles and a record 17 ATP Masters Series titles, having already won seven of the nine ATP Masters tournament—all except the tournaments in Monte Carlo and Hamburg. At 34, he became the second-oldest singles champion in Cincinnati tournament history (the tournament began in 1899), tied with Roger Federer and surpassed only by Ken Rosewall, who won the title in 1970 at age 35. He finished the year ranked No. 8, one of the oldest players to finish in the top 10 since the 36-year-old Connors was No. 7 in 1988. At the time, Agassi also became the sixth male player during the open era to reach 800 career wins with his first-round victory over Alex Bogomolov in Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles.


title: Andre Agassi

text: Agassi's 2005 began with a quarterfinal loss to Federer at the Australian Open. Agassi had several other deep runs at tournaments, but had to withdraw from several events due to injury. He lost to Jarkko Nieminen in the first round of the French Open. He won his fourth title in Los Angeles and reached the final of the Rogers Cup, before falling to No. 2 Rafael Nadal.


title: Andre Agassi

text: Agassi's 2005 was defined by an improbable run to the US Open final. After beating Răzvan Sabău and Ivo Karlović in straight sets and Tomáš Berdych in four sets, Agassi won three consecutive five-set matches to advance to the final. The most notable of these matches was his quarterfinal victory over James Blake, where he rallied from two sets down to win in the fifth set tie-breaker. His other five-set victories were on Xavier Malisse in the fourth round and Robby Ginepri in the semi-finals. In the final, Agassi faced Federer, who was seeking his second consecutive US Open title and his sixth Grand Slam title in two years. Federer defeated Agassi in four sets. Agassi finished 2005 ranked No. 7, his 16th time in the year-end top-10 rankings, which tied Connors for the most times ranked in the top 10 at year's end.


title: Andre Agassi

text: Agassi had a poor start to 2006, as he was still recovering from an ankle injury and also suffering from back and leg pain and lack of match play. Agassi withdrew from the Australian Open because of the ankle injury, and his back injury and other pains forced him to withdraw from several other events, eventually skipping the entire clay-court season including the French Open. This caused his ranking to drop out of the top 10 for the last time. Agassi returned for the grass-court season, playing a tune-up, and then Wimbledon. He was defeated in the third round by world No. 2 (and eventual runner-up) Rafael Nadal. Against conventions, Agassi, the losing player, was interviewed on court after the match. At Wimbledon, Agassi announced his plans to retire following the US Open. Agassi played only two events during the summer hard-court season with his best result being a quarterfinal loss at the Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles to Fernando González of Chile, which resulted in him being unseeded at the US Open.


title: Andre Agassi

text: Agassi had a short, but dramatic, run in his final US Open. Because of extreme back pain, Agassi was forced to receive anti-inflammatory injections after every match. After a tough four-set win against Andrei Pavel, Agassi faced eighth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis in the second round who had earlier advanced to the 2006 Australian Open final and Wimbledon semi-finals. Agassi won in five tough sets as the younger Baghdatis succumbed to muscle cramping in the final set. In his last match, Agassi fell to 112th-ranked big-serving Benjamin Becker of Germany in four sets. Agassi received a four-minute standing ovation from the crowd after the match and delivered a retirement speech.


title: Andre Agassi

text: The rivalry has been called the greatest of the generation of players competing in the 1990s, as Sampras and Agassi were the most successful players of that decade. They also had very contrasting playing styles, with Sampras being considered the greatest server and Agassi the greatest serve returner at the time. Agassi and Sampras met 34 times on the tour level with Agassi trailing 14–20.


title: Andre Agassi

text: The 1990 US Open was their first meeting in a Grand Slam tournament final. Agassi was favored as he was ranked No. 4 at the time, compared to the No. 12 ranking of Sampras and because Agassi had defeated Sampras in their only previously completed match. Agassi, however, lost the final to Sampras in straight sets. Their next meeting in a Grand Slam was at the 1992 French Open, where they met in the quarterfinals. Although Sampras was ranked higher, Agassi came out winning in straight sets. They met again on a Grand Slam level at the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 1993, where Agassi was the defending champion and Sampras was the newly minted world No. 1. Agassi dug himself out from a two-sets-to-love hole, levelling the match at two sets apiece; however, Sampras prevailed in five sets, and went on to win his first Wimbledon championship.


title: Andre Agassi

text: With both Sampras and Agassi participating, the US won the Davis Cup in 1995. The year should be considered the peak of the rivalry as together they won three out of four major titles, meeting each other twice in the finals, and were occupying the top two spots in the rankings for the whole year. They met five times during the year, all in the title matches, including the Australian Open, the Newsweek Champions Cup (now Indian Wells), the Lipton International Players Championships (now Miami Open), the Canadian Open, and the US Open. Agassi won three of the finals, including the Australian Open; however, Sampras took the US Open title, ending Agassi's 26-match winning streak. After Agassi had taken most of the fall season off, Sampras took over the No. 1 ranking for the end of the season. Agassi admitted this loss, which gave Sampras a 9–8 lead in their head-to-head meetings, took two years for him to get over it mentally.


title: Andre Agassi

text: In the following three years, while Sampras continued winning Grand Slam titles every season, Agassi slumped in the rankings and struggled in major competitions. The next time Sampras and Agassi met in a Grand Slam final was at Wimbledon in 1999, where Sampras won in straight sets. For both, it was considered a career rejuvenation, as Sampras had suffered a string of disappointments in the previous year while Agassi was regaining his status as a top-ranked player after winning the French Open. Sampras forfeited the No. 1 ranking to Agassi when injury forced him to withdraw from that year's US Open, which Agassi went on to win. They faced each other twice in the season-ending ATP Tour World Championships, with Sampras losing the round-robin match, but winning the final.


title: Andre Agassi

text: In the 2000s, they met three more times on the Grand Slam level offering three memorable contests. In 2000, the top-ranked Agassi defeated No. 3 Sampras in the semi-finals of the Australian Open in five sets, which was an important win for Agassi who had lost 4 of the previous five matches against Sampras. In arguably their most memorable match ever, Sampras defeated Agassi in the 2001 US Open quarterfinals in four sets. There were no breaks of serve during the entire match. Reruns of the match are frequently featured on television, especially during US Open rain delays, and the match is considered one of the best in history because of the level of play presented by both players.


title: Andre Agassi

text: Their last meeting was the final of the 2002 US Open, which was their third meeting in a US Open final, but the first since 1995. The match was also notable because they had defeated several up-and-coming players en route to the final. Sampras had defeated No. 3 Tommy Haas in the fourth round and future No. 1 Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals, while Agassi had defeated No. 1 and defending champion Lleyton Hewitt in the semi-finals. Sampras defeated Agassi in four sets. This was the final ATP tour singles match of Sampras's career.


title: Andre Agassi

text: Michael Chang was the opponent Agassi faced most frequently from all the players other than Sampras. They met 22 times on the tour level with Agassi leading 15–7. Chang, unlike most of Agassi's big rivals, had a playing style similar to his. Both players preferred to stay at the baseline with Chang being more defensive-minded. The outcome was that most of their meetings were built on long and entertaining rallies. The rivalry began late in the 1980s with both players being considered the prodigies of the next great generation of American tennis players and both being of foreign descent.


title: Andre Agassi

text: Agassi won the first four matches including a straight-set victory in round 16 of the 1988 US Open and defeating Chang, the defending champion, in the 1990 French Open in a four-set quarterfinal. Arguably their best match took place in the round of 16 of the 1994 US Open. While both players presented high-quality shot-making, the momentum changed from set to set with Agassi eventually prevailing in a five-set victory. It turned out to be the toughest contest on his way to his first US Open title. Their next two Grand Slam meetings came in 1996, with Chang recording easy straight-set victories in the semi-finals of both the Australian Open and the US Open. Years after, Agassi shockingly admitted in his book that he had lost the first of the matches on purpose as he did not want to face Boris Becker, who was awaiting the winner in the final. Agassi won the last four of their matches, with the last being in 2003 at the Miami Open with Chang being clearly past his prime.


title: Andre Agassi

text: Boris Becker and Agassi played 14 times with Agassi leading 10–4. Becker won their first three matches in 1988 and 1989 before Agassi reversed the rivalry in 1990, and won 10 of their last 11 matches. They first played at Indian Wells in 1988, with Becker prevailing. Their most notable match was the 1989 Davis Cup semi-final match, which Becker won in five sets after losing the first two in tiebreaks. Agassi, considered a baseliner with a playing style not suiting grass, shocked Becker, a three-time champion, in a five-set quarterfinal at Wimbledon in 1992 on his way to his first Grand Slam title. The intensity of the rivalry peaked in 1995. Becker won that year's Wimbledon semi-final after being down a set and two breaks, to eventually win in four sets. In a highly anticipated rematch in the US Open semi-final, this time it was Agassi who came out victorious in four tight sets. Their final match was played at Hong Kong in 1999, which Agassi won in three sets.


title: Andre Agassi

text: Agassi and Pat Rafter played fifteen times with Agassi leading 10–5. The rivalry has been considered special and delivered memorable encounters, because of the players' contrasting styles of play, with Rafter using traditional serve-&-volley methods against Agassi's variety of return of serves and passing shots as his main weapons. Agassi led 8–2 on hard courts, but Rafter surprisingly won their sole match on clay at the 1999 Rome Masters. They played four matches at Wimbledon with both winning two matches each. Agassi won the first two in 1993 and 1999, while Rafter took their 2000 and 2001 encounters, the latter two matches being gruelling 5-setters often being presented on the lists of best matches ever played. Agassi also won both their meetings at the Australian Open, in 1995 and 2001, on his way to the title on both occasions. Rafter, however, took their only US Open encounter in 1997 and went on to win the title.


title: Andre Agassi

text: Agassi and Roger Federer played 11 times, and Federer led their head-to-head series 8–3. With the retirement of Sampras, the rivalry against the 11-years-younger Federer, who was another great server like Sampras, became Agassi's main rivalry for the final years of his career. Agassi won their first three matches, but then went on to lose eight consecutive ones. They first met in just the third tournament of Federer's career at the 1998 Swiss Indoors in Federer's hometown, with Agassi prevailing over the 17-year-old. Agassi also defeated Federer at the 2001 US Open and the finals of the Miami Open in 2002. Federer began to turn the tide at the Masters Cup in 2003, when he defeated Agassi in both the round-robin and the final. They played a memorable quarterfinal match at the 2004 US Open that spanned over two windy days, with Federer eventually prevailing in five sets. At the 2005 Dubai Championships, Federer and Agassi attracted worldwide headlines with a publicity stunt that saw the two tennis legends play on a helipad almost 220 meters above sea level at the hotel Burj al-Arab. Their final duel took place in the final of the 2005 US Open. In the historic clash of generations, Federer was victorious in four sets in front of a pro-Agassi crowd. The match was the last appearance by Agassi in any tournament final.


title: Andre Agassi

text: Agassi earned more than $30 million in prize-money during his career, sixth only to Djokovic, Federer, Nadal, Sampras and Murray to date (May 2018). He also earned more than $25 million a year through endorsements during his career, which was ranked fourth in all sports at the time.


title: Andre Agassi

text: Since retiring after the 2006 US Open, Agassi has participated in a series of charity tournaments and continues his work with his own charity. On September 5, 2007, he was a surprise guest commentator for the Andy Roddick/Roger Federer US Open quarterfinal. He played an exhibition match at Wimbledon, teaming with his wife, Steffi Graf, to play with Tim Henman and Kim Clijsters. He played World Team Tennis for the Philadelphia Freedoms in the summer of 2009. At the 2009 French Open, Agassi was on hand to present Roger Federer, who completed his Career Grand Slam by winning the tournament and joined Agassi as one of six men to complete the Career Grand Slam, with the trophy.


title: Andre Agassi

text: Also in 2009, Agassi played at the Outback Champions Series event for the first time. He played the Cancer Treatment Centers of America Tennis Championships at Surprise, Arizona, where he reached the final before bowing to eventual champion Todd Martin. Agassi returned to the tour renamed for the PowerShares Series in 2011 and participated in a total of seven events while winning two. Agassi beat Courier in the final of the Staples Champions Cup in Boston and later defeated Sampras at the CTCA Championships at his hometown Las Vegas.


title: Andre Agassi

text: In 2012, Agassi took part in five tournaments, winning three of those. In November, at first he won BILT Champions Showdown in San Jose, beating John McEnroe in the final. The following day, he defended his title of the CTCA Championships, while defeating Courier in the decisive match. In the series season finale, he beat Michael Chang for the Acura Champions Cup. The series and Agassi came back to action in 2014. Agassi won both tournaments he participated in. At the Camden Wealth Advisors Cup's final in Houston, Agassi beat James Blake for a rematch of their 2005 US Open quarterfinal. He defeated Blake again in Portland to win the title of the Cancer Treatment Centers of America Championships. In 2015, Agassi took part in just one event of the PowerShares Series, losing to Mark Philippoussis in the final of the Champions Shootout. The following year he took part in two events, at first losing to Blake in Chicago, and the next day defeating Mardy Fish, but losing to Roddick in Charleston.


title: Andre Agassi

text: In 2009, in Macau Agassi and Sampras met for the first time on court since the 2002 US Open final. Sampras won the exhibition in three sets. The rivalry between the former champions headlined sports media again in March 2010 after the two participated in the "Hit for Haiti" charity event organized to raise money for the victims of the earthquake. Partnered with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, the old rivals began making jokes at each other's expense, which ended up with Sampras intentionally striking a serve at Agassi's body. After the event, Agassi admitted that he had crossed the line with his jokes and publicly apologized to Sampras. Agassi and Sampras met again one year later for an exhibition match at Madison Square Garden in New York in front of 19 000 spectators as Sampras defeated Agassi in two sets. On March 3, 2014, Agassi and Sampras squared off for an exhibition in London for the annual World Tennis Day. This time, it was Agassi who came out on top in two straight sets.


title: Andre Agassi

text: He returned to the tour in May 2017 in the position of coach to Novak Djokovic for the French Open. Agassi announced the end of the partnership on March 31, 2018, stating that there were too many disagreements in the relationship.


title: Andre Agassi

text: Early in his career, Agassi would look to end points quickly by playing first-strike tennis, typically by inducing a weak return with a deep, hard shot, and then playing a winner at an extreme angle. On the rare occasion that he charged the net, Agassi liked to take the ball in the air and hit a swinging volley for a winner. His favored groundstroke was his flat, accurate two-handed backhand, hit well cross-court but especially down the line. His forehand was nearly as strong, especially his inside-out to the ad court.


title: Andre Agassi

text: Agassi's strength was in dictating play from the baseline, and he was able to consistently take the ball on the rise. While he was growing up, his father and Nick Bollettieri trained him in this way. When in control of a point, Agassi would often pass up an opportunity to attempt a winner and hit a conservative shot to minimize his errors, and to make his opponent run more. This change to more methodical, less aggressive baseline play was largely initiated by his longtime coach, Brad Gilbert, in their first year together in 1994. Gilbert encouraged Agassi to wear out opponents with his deep, flat groundstrokes and to use his fitness to win attrition wars, and noted Agassi's two-handed backhand down the line as his very best shot. A signature play later in his career was a change-up drop shot to the deuce court after deep penetrating groundstrokes. This would often be followed by a passing shot or lob if the opponent was fast enough to retrieve it.


title: Andre Agassi

text: Agassi was raised on hardcourts, but found much of his early major-tournament success on the red clay of Roland Garros, reaching two consecutive finals there early in his career. Despite grass being his worst surface, his first major win was at the slick grass of Wimbledon in 1992, a tournament that he professed to hating at the time. His strongest surface over the course of his career, was indeed hardcourt, where he won six of his eight majors.


title: Andre Agassi

text: Agassi established a limited liability company named Andre Agassi Ventures (formerly named Agassi Enterprises). Agassi, along with five athlete partners (including Wayne Gretzky, Joe Montana, Shaquille O'Neal, Ken Griffey Jr., and Monica Seles) opened a chain of sports-themed restaurant named Official All Star Café in April 1996. The restaurant closed down in 2001.


title: Andre Agassi

text: In 1999, he paid $1 million for a 10 percent stake in Nevada First Bank and made a $10 million profit when it was sold to Western Alliance Bancorp in 2006.


title: Andre Agassi

text: In 2002, he joined the Tennis Channel to promote the channel to consumers and cable and satellite industry, and made an equity investment in the network. After meeting chef Michael Mina at one of his restaurants in San Francisco, Agassi partnered with him in 2002 to start Mina Group Inc. and opened 18 concept restaurants in San Francisco, San Jose, Dana Point, Atlantic City and Las Vegas. Agassi was an equity investor of a group that acquired Golden Nugget Las Vegas and Golden Nugget Laughlin from MGM Mirage for $215 million in 2004. One year later, the group sold the hotel-casino to Landry's, Inc. for $163 million in cash and $182 million in assumed debt. In 2007, he sat on the board of Meadows Bank, an independent bank in Nevada. He has invested in start-up companies backed by Allen & Company.


title: Andre Agassi

text: Agassi and Graf formed a company called Agassi Graf Holdings. They invested in PURE, a nightclub at Caesars Palace, which opened in 2004, and sold it to Angel Management Group in 2010. In August 2006, Agassi and Graf developed a joint venture with high-end furniture maker Kreiss Enterprises. They launched a furniture line called Agassi Graf Collection. In September, Agassi and Graf, through their company Agassi Graf Development LLC, along with Bayview Financial LP, finalized an agreement to develop a condominium hotel, Fairmont Tamarack, at Tamarack Resort in Donnelly, Idaho. Owing to difficult market conditions and delays, they withdrew from the project in 2009. The group still owns three small chunks of land. In September, they collaborated with Steve Case's Exclusive Resorts to co-develop luxury resorts and design Agassi-Graf Tennis and Fitness Centers.


title: Andre Agassi

text: They also invested in online ticket reseller viagogo in 2009 and both serve as board members and advisors of the company.


title: Andre Agassi

text: In October 2012, Village Roadshow and investors including Agassi and Graf announced plans to build a new water park called Wet'n'Wild Las Vegas in Las Vegas. Village Roadshow has a 51% stake in the park while Agassi, Graf, and other private investors hold the remaining 49%. The park opened in May 2013.


title: Andre Agassi

text: IMG managed Agassi from the time he turned pro in 1986 through January 2000 before switching to SFX Sports Group. His business manager, lawyer and agent was childhood friend Perry Rogers, but they have been estranged since 2008. In 2009, he and Graf signed with CAA.


title: Andre Agassi

text: Agassi used Prince Graphite rackets early in his career. He signed a $7 million endorsement contract with Belgian tennis racquet makers Donnay. He later switched to Head Ti Radical racket and Head's LiquidMetal Radical racket, having signed a multimillion-dollar endorsement deal with Head in 1993. He renewed his contract in 1999, and in November 2003 he signed a lifetime agreement with Head. He also endorses Penn tennis balls. On July 25, 2005, Agassi left Nike after 17 years and signed an endorsement deal with Adidas. A major reason for Agassi leaving Nike was because Nike refused to donate to Agassi's charities, and Adidas was more than happy to do so. On May 13, 2013, Agassi rejoined Nike.


title: Andre Agassi

text: Agassi was sponsored by DuPont, Ebel, Mountain Dew in 1993, Mazda in 1997, Kia Motors in 2002, American Express and Deutsche Bank in 2003. In 1990, he appeared in a television commercial for Canon Inc., promoting the Canon EOS Rebel camera. Between 1999 and 2000, he signed a multimillion-dollar, multiyear endorsement deal with Schick and became the worldwide spokesman for the company. Agassi signed a multiyear contract with Twinlab and promoted the company's nutritional supplements. In mid-2003, he was named the spokesman of Aramis Life, a fragrance by Aramis, and signed a five-year deal with the company. In March 2004, he signed a ten-year agreement worth $1.5 million a year with 24 Hour Fitness, which will open five Andre Agassi fitness centers by year-end. Prior to the 2012 Australian Open, Agassi and Australian winemaker Jacobs Creek announced a three-year partnership and created the Open Film Series to "[share] personal stories about the life defining moments that shaped his character on and off the court." In 2007, watchmaker Longines named Agassi as their brand ambassador.


title: Andre Agassi

text: Agassi has appeared in many advertisements and television commercials with Graf. They both endorsed Deutsche Telekom in 2002, Genworth Financial and Canon Inc. in 2004, LVMH in 2007, and Nintendo Wii and Wii Fit U and Longines in 2013.


title: Andre Agassi

text: In the early 1990s, after dating Wendi Stewart, Agassi dated American singer and entertainer Barbra Streisand. He wrote about the relationship in his 2009 autobiography, "We agree that we're good for each other, and so what if she's twenty-eight years older? We're sympatico, and the public outcry only adds spice to our connection. It makes our friendship feel forbidden, taboo – another piece of my overall rebellion. Dating Barbra Streisand is like wearing Hot Lava."


title: Andre Agassi

text: He married Steffi Graf on October 22, 2001, at their Las Vegas home; the only witnesses were their mothers. They have two children: son Jaden Gil (born 2001) and daughter Jaz Elle (born 2003). Agassi has said that he and Graf are not pushing their children toward becoming tennis players. The Graf-Agassi family resides in Summerlin, a community in the Las Vegas Valley. Graf's mother and brother, Michael, with his four children, also live there.


title: Andre Agassi

text: Long-time trainer Gil Reyes has been called one of Agassi's closest friends; some have described him as being a "father figure" to Agassi. In 2012, Agassi and Reyes introduced their own line of fitness equipment, BILT By Agassi and Reyes. In December 2008, Agassi's childhood friend and former business manager, Perry Rogers, sued Graf for $50,000 in management fees he claimed that she owed him.


title: Andre Agassi

text: Agassi's autobiography, "", (written with assistance from J. R. Moehringer), was published in November 2009. In it, Agassi talks about his childhood and his unconventional Armenian father, who came to the United States from Iran, where he was a professional boxer. Overly demanding and emotionally abusive to the whole family, his father groomed young Agassi for tennis greatness by building a tennis court in their backyard and sending Agassi to tennis boarding school under the supervision of Nick Bollettieri, who later coached and managed part of Agassi's professional career.


title: Andre Agassi

text: There is also mention in the book of using and testing positive for methamphetamine in 1997. In response to this revelation, Roger Federer declared himself shocked and disappointed, while Marat Safin argued that Agassi should return his prize money and be stripped of his titles. In an interview with CBS, Agassi justified himself and asked for understanding, saying that "It was a period in my life where I needed help."


title: Andre Agassi

text: Agassi said that he had always hated tennis during his career because of the constant pressure it exerted on him. He also said he wore a hairpiece earlier in his career and thought Pete Sampras was "robotic".


title: Andre Agassi

text: The book reached No. 1 on the "New York Times" Best Seller list and received favorable reviews. It won the Autobiography category of the 2010 British Sports Book Awards. In 2018, the book was listed on "Esquire" as one of "The 30 Best Sports Books Ever Written", and was also recommended by self-help author Tim Ferriss who described it as "very candid, very amusing, and very instructional".


title: Andre Agassi

text: In 2017, Agassi appeared in the documentary film "Love Means Zero", which highlighted the troubled relationship between his coach Nick Bollettieri and him.


title: Andre Agassi

text: Agassi has donated more than $100,000 to Democratic candidates, and $2,000 to Republicans. On September 1, 2010, when he appeared on daily WNYC public radio program "The Brian Lehrer Show", he stated that he is registered as Independent.


title: Andre Agassi

text: Agassi founded the Andre Agassi Charitable Association in 1994, which assists Las Vegas' young people. He was awarded the ATP Arthur Ashe Humanitarian award in 1995 for his efforts to help disadvantaged youth. He has been cited as the most charitable and socially involved player in professional tennis. It has also been claimed that he may be the most charitable athlete of his generation.


title: Andre Agassi

text: Agassi's charities help in assisting children reach their athletic potential. His Boys & Girls Club sees 2,000 children throughout the year and boasts a world-class junior tennis team. It also has a basketball program (the Agassi Stars) and a rigorous system that encourages a mix of academics and athletics.


title: Andre Agassi

text: In 2001, Agassi opened the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy in Las Vegas, a tuition-free charter school for at-risk children in the area. He personally donated $35 million to the school. In 2009, the graduating class had a 100 percent graduation rate and expected a 100 percent college acceptance rate. Among other child-related programs that Agassi supports through his Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation is Clark County's only residential facility for abused and neglected children, Child Haven. In 1997, Agassi donated funding to Child Haven for a six-room classroom building now named the Agassi Center for Education. His foundation also provided $720,000 to assist in the building of the Andre Agassi Cottage for Medically Fragile Children. This 20-bed facility opened in December 2001, and accommodates developmentally delayed or handicapped children and children quarantined for infectious diseases.


title: Andre Agassi

text: In 2007, along with several other athletes, Agassi founded the charity Athletes for Hope, which helps professional athletes get involved in charitable causes and aims to inspire all people to volunteer and support their communities. He created the Canyon-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund, now known as the Turner-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund. The Fund is an investment initiative for social change, focusing on the "nationwide effort to move charters from stopgap buildings into permanent campuses."


title: Andre Agassi

text: In September 2013, the Andre Agassi Foundation for Education formed a partnership with V20 Foods to launch Box Budd!es, a line of kids' healthy snacks. All proceeds go to the Foundation.


title: Andre Agassi

text: In February 2014, Agassi remodeled the vacant University of Phoenix building in Las Vegas as a new school, called the Doral Academy West through the Canyon-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund. Doral Academy opened in August 2014. The Fund purchased a 4.6-acre plot in Henderson, Nevada to house the Somerset Academy of Las Vegas, which will relocate from its campus inside a church.


title: Andre Agassi

text: By winning the 1999 French Open, Agassi completed a men's singles Career Grand Slam. He is the 5th of 8 male players in history (after Budge, Perry, Laver and Emerson, and before Federer, Nadal and Djokovic) to achieve this.


title: Andre Agassi

text: Considered by numerous sources to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Agassi has also been called one of the greatest service returners ever to play the game, and was described by the BBC upon his retirement as "perhaps the biggest worldwide star in the sport's history". As a result, he is credited for helping to revive the popularity of tennis during the 1990s.


title: Diverticulitis

text: Diverticulitis, specifically colonic diverticulitis, is a gastrointestinal disease characterized by inflammation of abnormal pouches—diverticula—which can develop in the wall of the large intestine. Symptoms typically include lower abdominal pain of sudden onset, but the onset may also occur over a few days. There may also be nausea; and diarrhea or constipation. Fever or blood in the stool suggests a complication. Repeated attacks may occur.


title: Diverticulitis

text: The causes of diverticulitis are unclear. Risk factors may include obesity, lack of exercise, smoking, a family history of the disease, and use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). The role of a low fiber diet as a risk factor is unclear. Having pouches in the large intestine that are not inflamed is known as diverticulosis. Inflammation occurs in between 10% and 25% at some point in time, and is due to a bacterial infection. Diagnosis is typically by CT scan, though blood tests, colonoscopy, or a lower gastrointestinal series may also be supportive. The differential diagnoses include irritable bowel syndrome.


title: Diverticulitis

text: Preventive measures include altering risk factors such as obesity, inactivity, and smoking. Mesalazine and rifaximin appear useful for preventing attacks in those with diverticulosis. Avoiding nuts and seeds as a preventive measure is no longer recommended since there is no evidence these play a role in initiating inflammation in diverticula. For mild diverticulitis, antibiotics by mouth and a liquid diet are recommended. For severe cases, intravenous antibiotics, hospital admission, and complete bowel rest may be recommended. Probiotics are of unclear value. Complications such as abscess formation, fistula formation, and perforation of the colon may require surgery.


title: Diverticulitis

text: The disease is common in the Western world and uncommon in Africa and Asia. In the Western world about 35% of people have diverticulosis while it affects less than 1% of those in rural Africa, and 4 to 15% of those may go on to develop diverticulitis. In North America and Europe the abdominal pain is usually on the left lower side (sigmoid colon), while in Asia it is usually on the right (ascending colon). The disease becomes more frequent with age, ranging from 5% for those under 40 years of age to 50% over the age of 60. It has also become more common in all parts of the world. In 2003 in Europe, it resulted in approximately 13,000 deaths. It is the most frequent anatomic disease of the colon. Costs associated with diverticular disease were around US $2.4 billion a year in the United States in 2013.


title: Diverticulitis

text: Diverticulitis typically presents with lower quadrant abdominal pain of a sudden onset. Patients commonly have elevated C-reactive protein and a high white blood cell count. In North America and Europe the abdominal pain is usually on the left lower side (sigmoid colon), while in Asia it is usually on the right (ascending colon). There may also be fever, nausea, diarrhea or constipation, and blood in the stool.


title: Diverticulitis

text: In complicated diverticulitis, an inflamed diverticulum can rupture, allowing bacteria to subsequently infect externally from the colon. If the infection spreads to the lining of the abdominal cavity (the peritoneum), peritonitis results. Sometimes, inflamed diverticula can cause narrowing of the bowel, leading to an obstruction. In some cases, the affected part of the colon adheres to the bladder or other organs in the pelvic cavity, causing a , or creating an abnormal connection between an organ and adjacent structure or another organ (in the case of diverticulitis, the colon, and an adjacent organ).Related pathologies may include:


title: Diverticulitis

text: The causes of diverticulitis are poorly understood, with approximately 40 percent due to genes and 60 percent due to environmental factors. Conditions that increase the risk of developing diverticulitis include arterial hypertension and immunosuppression. Obesity is another risk factor. Low levels of vitamin D are associated with an increased risk of diverticulitis.


title: Diverticulitis

text: It is unclear what role dietary fiber plays in diverticulitis. It is often stated that a diet low in fiber is a risk factor; however, the evidence to support this is unclear. There is no evidence to suggest that the avoidance of nuts and seeds prevents the progression of diverticulosis to an acute case of diverticulitis. In fact, it appears that a higher intake of nuts and corn could help to avoid diverticulitis in adult males.


title: Diverticulitis

text: Right-sided diverticula are micro-hernias of the colonic mucosa and submucosa through the colonic muscular layer where blood vessels penetrate it. Left-sided diverticula are pseudodiverticula, since the herniation is not through all the layers of the colon. Diverticulitis is postulated to develop because of changes inside the colon, including high pressures because of abnormally vigorous contractions.


title: Diverticulitis

text: People with the above symptoms are commonly studied with computed tomography, or a CT scan. Ultrasound can provide preliminary investigation for diverticulitis. Amongst the findings that can be seen on ultrasound is non-compressing outpouching of bowel wall, hypoechoic and thickened wall, or there is obstructive fecalith at the bowel wall. Besides, bowel wall oedema with adjacent hyperechoic mesentery can also be seen on ultrasound. However, CT scan is the mainstay of diagnosing diverticulitis and its complications. The diagnosis of acute diverticulitis is made confidently when the involved segment contains diverticula. CT images reveal localized colon wall thickening, with inflammation extending into the fat surrounding the colon. Amongst the complications that can be seen on CT scan are: abscesses, perforation, pylephlebitis, intestinal obstruction, bleeding, and fistula.


title: Diverticulitis

text: Barium enema and colonoscopy are contraindicated in the acute phase of diverticulitis because of the risk of perforation.


title: Diverticulitis

text: Four classifications by severity have been published recently in the literature. The most recent and widely accepted is as follows:


title: Diverticulitis

text: The differential diagnoses include colon cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, ischemic colitis, and irritable bowel syndrome, as well as a number of urological and gynecological processes. In those with uncomplicated diverticulitis, cancer is present in less than 1% of people.


title: Diverticulitis

text: People may be placed on a low-fiber diet. It was previously thought that a low-fiber diet gives the colon adequate time to heal. Evidence tends to run counter to this, with a 2011 review finding no evidence for the superiority of low-fiber diets in treating diverticular disease, and that a high-fiber diet may prevent diverticular disease. A systematic review published in 2012 found no high-quality studies, but found that some studies and guidelines favour a high-fiber diet for the treatment of symptomatic disease. While it has been suggested that probiotics may be useful for treatment, the evidence currently neither supports nor refutes this claim.


title: Diverticulitis

text: Mild uncomplicated diverticulitis without systemic inflammation should not be treated with antibiotics. For mild, uncomplicated, and non-purulent cases of acute diverticulitis, symptomatic treatment, IV fluids, and bowel rest have no worse outcome than surgical intervention in the short and medium term, and appear to have the same outcomes at 24 months. With abscess confirmed by CT scan, some evidence and clinical guidelines tentatively support the use of oral or IV antibiotics for smaller abscesses (<5 cm) without systemic inflammation, but percutaneous or laparoscopic drainage may be necessary for larger abscesses (>5 cm). Emergency surgery is required for perforated diverticulitis with peritonitis.


title: Diverticulitis

text: Indications for surgery are abscess or fistula formation; and intestinal rupture with peritonitis. These, however, rarely occur. Surgery for abscess or fistula is indicated either urgently or electively. The timing of the elective surgery is determined by evaluating factors such as the stage of the disease, the age of the person, their general medical condition, the severity and frequency of the attacks, and whether symptoms persist after the first acute episode. In most cases, elective surgery is deemed to be indicated when the risks of the surgery are less than the risks of the complications of diverticulitis. Elective surgery is not indicated until at least six weeks after recovery from the acute event. Emergency surgery is indicated for an intestinal rupture with peritonitis.


title: Diverticulitis

text: The first surgical approach consists of resection and primary anastomosis. This first stage of surgery is performed on people if they have a well-vascularized, nonedematous, and tension-free bowel. The proximal margin should be an area of the pliable colon without hypertrophy or inflammation. The distal margin should extend to the upper third of the rectum where the taenia coalesces. Not all of the diverticula-bearing colon must be removed, since diverticula proximal to the descending or sigmoid colon are unlikely to result in further symptoms.


title: Diverticulitis

text: Diverticulitis surgery consists of a bowel resection with or without colostomy. Either may be done by the traditional laparotomy or by laparoscopic surgery. The traditional bowel resection is made using an open surgical approach, called colectomy. During a colectomy, the person is placed under general anesthesia. A surgeon performing a colectomy will make a lower midline incision in the abdomen or a lateral lower transverse incision. The diseased section of the large intestine is removed, and then the two healthy ends are sewn or stapled back together. A colostomy may be performed when the bowel has to be relieved of its normal digestive work as it heals. A colostomy implies creating a temporary opening of the colon on the skin surface, and the end of the colon is passed through the abdominal wall with a removable bag attached to it. The waste is collected in the bag.


title: Diverticulitis

text: However, most surgeons prefer performing the bowel resection laparoscopically, mainly because postoperative pain is reduced with faster recovery. Laparoscopic surgery is a minimally invasive procedure in which three to four smaller incisions are made in the abdomen or navel. After incisions into the abdomen are done, placement of trocars occurs which allows a camera and other equipment entry into the peritoneal cavity. The greater omentum is reflected and the affected section of the bowel is mobilized. Alternately, laparoscopic sigmoid resection (LSR) compared to open sigmoid resection (OSR) showed that LSR is not superior over OSR for acute symptomatic diverticulitis. Furthermore, laparoscopic lavage was as safe as resection for perforated diverticulitis with peritonitis.


title: Diverticulitis

text: All colon surgery involves only three maneuvers that may vary in complexity depending on the region of the bowel and the nature of the disease. The maneuvers are the retraction of the colon, the division of the attachments to the colon, and the dissection of the mesentery. After the resection of the colon, the surgeon normally divides the attachments to the liver and the small intestine. After the mesenteric vessels are dissected, the colon is divided with special surgical staplers that close off the bowel while cutting between the staple lines. After resection of the affected bowel segment, an anvil and spike are used to anastomose the remaining segments of the bowel. Anastomosis is confirmed by filling the cavity with normal saline and checking for any air bubbles.


title: Diverticulitis

text: When excessive inflammation of the colon renders primary bowel resection too risky, bowel resection with colostomy remains an option. Also known as the Hartmann's operation, this is a more complicated surgery typically reserved for life-threatening cases. The bowel resection with colostomy implies a temporary colostomy which is followed by a second operation to reverse the colostomy. The surgeon makes an opening in the abdominal wall (a colostomy) which helps clear the infection and inflammation. The colon is brought through the opening and all waste is collected in an external bag.


title: Diverticulitis

text: The colostomy is usually temporary, but it may be permanent, depending on the severity of the case. In most cases several months later, after the inflammation has healed, the person undergoes another major surgery, during which the surgeon rejoins the colon and rectum and reverses the colostomy.


title: Diverticulitis

text: Diverticulitis most often affects the elderly. In Western countries, diverticular disease most commonly involves the sigmoid colon (95 percent of people with diverticulitis). Diverticulosis affects 5% to 45% of individuals with the prevalence of diverticulosis increasing with age from under 20% of individuals affected at age 40 up to 60% of individuals affected by age 60.


title: Diverticulitis

text: Left-sided diverticular disease (involving the sigmoid colon) is most common in the West, while right-sided diverticular disease (involving the ascending colon) is more common in Asia and Africa. Among people with diverticulosis, 4 to 15% may go on to develop diverticulitis.


title: Ice-T

text: Tracy Lauren Marrow (born February 16, 1958), better known by his stage name Ice-T, is an American rapper, songwriter, actor, and producer. He began his career as an underground rapper in the 1980s and was signed to Sire Records in 1987, when he released his debut album "Rhyme Pays". The following year, he founded the record label Records (named after his collective of fellow hip-hop artists called the "") and released another album, "Power", which would go platinum. He also released several other albums that went gold.


title: Ice-T

text: Ice-T co-founded the heavy metal band Body Count, which he introduced on his 1991 rap album "O.G. Original Gangster", on the track titled "Body Count". The band released its self-titled debut album in 1992. Ice-T encountered controversy over his track "Cop Killer", the lyrics of which discussed killing police officers. He asked to be released from his contract with Warner Bros. Records, and his next solo album, "Home Invasion", was released later in February 1993 through Priority Records. Body Count's next album, "Born Dead", was released in 1994, and Ice-T released two more albums in the late 1990s.


title: Ice-T

text: As an actor, Ice-T played small parts in the films "Breakin'" and its sequels, "" and "Rappin'", during the 1980s, before his major role debut, starring as police detective Scotty Appleton in "New Jack City" (1991). He received top billing for his role in "Surviving the Game" (1994) and continued to appear in small roles in TV series and other films throughout the 1990s. Since 2000, he has portrayed NYPD Detective/Sergeant Odafin Tutuola on the NBC police drama "". A reality television show titled "Ice Loves Coco" ran for three seasons (2011–2013) on E!, featuring the home life of Ice-T and his wife Coco Austin. In 2018, he began hosting the true crime documentary "In Ice Cold Blood" on the Oxygen cable channel, which as of 2020 is in its third season.


title: Ice-T

text: Tracy Lauren Marrow, the son of Solomon and Alice Marrow, was born in Newark, New Jersey on February 16, 1958. Solomon was African-American and his mother Alice was from a Louisiana Creole background. For decades, Solomon worked as a conveyor belt mechanic at the Rapistan Conveyor Company. When Marrow was a child, his family moved to upscale Summit, New Jersey. The first time race played a major part in Marrow's life was at the age of seven, when he became aware of the racism leveled by his white friends towards black children. Marrow surmised that he escaped similar treatment because they thought that he was white due to his lighter skin. Relaying this incident to his mother, she told him, "Honey, people are stupid"; her advice and this incident taught Marrow to control the way the negativity of others affected him.


title: Ice-T

text: His mother died of a heart attack when he was in third grade. Solomon raised Marrow as a single father for four years, with help from a housekeeper. Marrow's first experience with illicit activity occurred after a bicycle that his father bought him for Christmas was stolen. After Marrow told his father, Solomon shrugged, "Well, then, you ain't got no bike". Marrow stole parts from bicycles and assembled "three or four weird-looking, brightly-painted bikes" from the parts; his father either did not notice or never acknowledged this. When Marrow was thirteen years old, Solomon also died of a heart attack.


title: Ice-T

text: Following his father's death, the orphaned Marrow briefly lived with a nearby aunt, then was sent to live with his other aunt and her husband in View Park-Windsor Hills, an upper middle-class Black neighborhood in South Los Angeles. While his cousin Earl was preparing to leave for college, Marrow shared a bedroom with him. Earl was a fan of rock music and listened only to the local rock radio stations; sharing a room with him sparked Marrow's interest in heavy metal music.


title: Ice-T

text: Marrow moved to the Crenshaw District of Los Angeles when he was in the eighth grade. He attended Palms Junior High, which was predominantly made up of white students, and included black students who traveled by bus from South Central to attend. He then attended Crenshaw High School, which was almost entirely made up of black students.


title: Ice-T

text: Marrow stood out from most of his friends because he did not drink alcohol, smoke tobacco, or use drugs. During Marrow's time in high school, gangs became more prevalent in the Los Angeles school system. Students who belonged to the Crips and Bloods gangs attended Crenshaw, and fought in the school's hallways. Marrow, while never an actual gang member, was affiliated with the former. Marrow began reading the novels of Iceberg Slim, which he memorized and recited to his friends, who enjoyed hearing the excerpts and told him, "Yo, kick some more of that by Ice, T", giving Marrow his famous nickname. Marrow and other Crips wrote and performed "Crip Rhymes".


title: Ice-T

text: His music career started with the band of the singing group The Precious Few of Crenshaw High School. Marrow and his group opened the show, dancing to a live band. The singers were Thomas Barnes, Ronald Robinson and Lapekas Mayfield.


title: Ice-T

text: In 1975, at the age of seventeen, Marrow began receiving Social Security benefits resulting from the death of his father and used the money to rent an apartment for $90 a month. He sold cannabis and stole car stereos to earn extra cash, but he was not making enough to support his pregnant girlfriend. After his daughter was born, Marrow enlisted in the United States Army in October 1977. Following basic training, Marrow was assigned to the 25th Infantry Division. During his time in the army Marrow was involved with a group of soldiers charged with the theft of a rug. While awaiting trial, he received a $2,500 bonus check and went absent without leave (AWOL), returning a month later, after the rug had been returned. Marrow received a non-judicial punishment as a consequence of his dereliction of duty.


title: Ice-T

text: During his spell in the Army, Marrow became interested in hip hop music. He heard The Sugarhill Gang's newly released single "Rapper's Delight" (1979), which inspired him to perform his own raps over the instrumentals of this and other early hip-hop records. The music, however, did not fit his lyrics or form of delivery.


title: Ice-T

text: When he was stationed in Hawaii (where prostitution was not a heavily prosecuted crime) as a squad leader at Schofield Barracks, Marrow met a pimp named Mac. Mac admired that Marrow could quote Iceberg Slim, and he taught Marrow how to be a pimp himself. Marrow was also able to purchase stereo equipment cheaply in Hawaii, including two Technics turntables, a mixer, and large speakers. Once equipped, he then began to learn turntablism and rapping.


title: Ice-T

text: Marrow learned from his commanding officer that he could receive an early honorable discharge because he was a single father. Taking advantage of this, Marrow was discharged as a Private First Class (PFC - E3) in December 1979 after serving for two years and two months.


title: Ice-T

text: During an episode of "The Adam Carolla Podcast" that aired on June 6, 2012, Marrow claimed that after being discharged from the Army, he began a career as a bank robber. Marrow claimed he and some associates began conducting take-over bank robberies "like [in the film] "Heat"". Marrow then elaborated, explaining, "Only punks go for the drawer, we gotta go for the safe." Marrow also stated he was glad the United States justice system has statutes of limitations, which had likely expired when Marrow admitted to his involvement in multiple Class 1 Felonies in the early-to-mid 1980s.


title: Ice-T

text: In July 2010, Marrow was mistakenly arrested. A month later when Marrow attended court, the charges were dropped and the prosecution stated "there had been a clerical error when the rapper was arrested". Marrow gave some advice to young people who think going to jail is a mark of integrity, saying, "Street credibility has nothing to do with going to jail, it has everything to do with staying out."


title: Ice-T

text: After leaving the Army, Marrow wanted to stay away from gang life and violence and instead make a name for himself as a DJ. As a tribute to Iceberg Slim, Marrow adopted the stage name Ice-T. While performing as a DJ at parties, he received more attention for his rapping, which led Ice-T to pursue a career as a rapper. After breaking up with his girlfriend Caitlin Boyd, he returned to a life of crime and robbed jewelry stores with his high school friends. Ice-T's raps later described how he and his friends pretended to be customers to gain access before smashing the display glass with baby sledgehammers.


title: Ice-T

text: Ice-T's friends Al P. and Sean E. Sean went to prison. Al P. was caught in 1982 and sent to prison for robbing a high-end jewelry store in Laguna Niguel for $2.5 million in jewelry. Sean was arrested for possession of not only cannabis, which Sean sold, but also material stolen by Ice-T. Sean took the blame and served two years in prison. Ice-T stated that he owed a debt of gratitude to Sean because his prison time allowed him to pursue a career as a rapper. Concurrently, he wound up in a car accident and was hospitalized as a John Doe because he did not carry any form of identification due to his criminal activities. After being discharged from the hospital, he decided to abandon the criminal lifestyle and pursue a professional career rapping. Two weeks after being released from the hospital, he won an open mic competition judged by Kurtis Blow.


title: Ice-T

text: In 1982, Ice-T met producer Willie Strong from Saturn Records. In 1983, Strong recorded Ice-T's first single, "Cold Wind Madness", also known as "The Coldest Rap", an electro hip-hop record that became an underground success, becoming popular even though radio stations did not play it due to the song's hardcore lyrics. That same year, Ice-T released "Body Rock", another electro hip-hop single that found popularity in clubs. In 1984, Ice-T released the single "Killers", the first of his political raps, and then was a featured rapper on "Reckless", a single by DJ Chris "The Glove" Taylor and (co-producer) David Storrs that gained widespread popularity as a featured track via the motion picture "Breakin'" and it's soundtrack album. This song was almost immediately followed up with a sequel entitled "Reckless Rivalry (Combat)", which was featured in the "Breakin" sequel, "", however it was never featured on the soundtrack album and, to this day, has never been released. Ice later recorded the songs "Ya Don't Quit" and "Dog'n the Wax (Ya Don't Quit-Part II)" with Unknown DJ, who provided a Run–D.M.C.-like sound for the songs.


title: Ice-T

text: Ice-T received further inspiration as an artist from Schoolly D's gangsta rap single "P.S.K. What Does It Mean?", which he heard in a club. Ice-T enjoyed the single's sound and delivery, as well as its vague references to gang life, although the real life gang, Park Side Killers, was not named in the song.


title: Ice-T

text: Ice-T decided to adopt Schoolly D's style, and wrote the lyrics to his first gangsta rap song, "6 in the Mornin'", in his Hollywood apartment, and created a minimal beat with a Roland TR-808. He compared the sound of the song, which was recorded as a B-side on the single "Dog'n The Wax", to that of the Beastie Boys. The single was released in 1986, and he learned that "6 in the Mornin'" was more popular in clubs than its A-side, leading Ice-T to rap about Los Angeles gang life, which he described more explicitly than any previous rapper. He intentionally did not represent any particular gang, and wore a mixture of red and blue clothing and shoes to avoid antagonizing gang-affiliated listeners, who debated his true affiliation.


title: Ice-T

text: Ice-T finally landed a deal with a major label Sire Records. When label founder and president Seymour Stein heard his demo, he said Ice-T sounded like Bob Dylan. Shortly after, he released his debut album "Rhyme Pays" in 1987 supported by DJ Evil E, DJ Aladdin and producer Afrika Islam, who helped create the mainly party-oriented sound. The record wound up being certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. That same year, he recorded the title theme song for Dennis Hopper's "Colors," a film about inner-city gang life in Los Angeles. His next album "Power" was released in 1988, under his own label Rhyme Syndicate, and it was a more assured and impressive record, earning him strong reviews and his second gold record. Released in 1989, "The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech... Just Watch What You Say!" established his popularity by matching excellent abrasive music with narrative and commentative lyrics. In the same year, he appeared on Hugh Harris' single "Alice".


title: Ice-T

text: In 1991, he released his album "O.G. Original Gangster", which is regarded as one of the albums that defined gangsta rap. On "OG", he introduced his heavy metal band Body Count in a track of the same name. Ice-T toured with Body Count on the first annual Lollapalooza concert tour in 1991, gaining him appeal among middle-class teenagers and fans of alternative music genres. The album "Body Count" was released in March 1992. For his appearance on the heavily collaborative track "Back on the Block", a composition by jazz musician Quincy Jones that "attempt[ed] to bring together black musical styles from jazz to soul to funk to rap", Ice-T won a Grammy Award for the Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, an award shared by others who worked on the track including Jones and fellow jazz musician Ray Charles.


title: Ice-T

text: Controversy later surrounded Body Count over its song "Cop Killer". The rock song was intended to speak from the viewpoint of a criminal getting revenge on racist, brutal cops. Ice-T's rock song infuriated government officials, the National Rifle Association, and various police advocacy groups. Consequently, Time Warner Music refused to release Ice-T's upcoming album "Home Invasion" because of the controversy surrounding "Cop Killer". Ice-T suggested that the furor over the song was an overreaction, telling journalist Chuck Philips "...they've done movies about nurse killers and teacher killers and student killers. Arnold Schwarzenegger blew away dozens of cops as the Terminator. But I don't hear anybody complaining about that". In the same interview, Ice-T suggested to Philips that the misunderstanding of "Cop Killer", the misclassification of it as a rap song (not a rock song), and the attempts to censor it had racial overtones: "The Supreme Court says it's OK for a white man to burn a cross in public. But nobody wants a black man to write a record about a cop killer".


title: Ice-T

text: Ice-T split amicably with Sire/Warner Bros. Records after a dispute over the artwork of the album "Home Invasion". He then reactivated Rhyme Syndicate and formed a deal with Priority Records for distribution. Priority released "Home Invasion" in the spring of 1993. The album peaked at No. 9 on "Billboard" magazine's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and at No. 14 on the "Billboard" 200, spawning several singles including "Gotta Lotta Love", "I Ain't New Ta This" and "99 Problems" – which would later inspire Jay-Z to record a version with new lyrics in 2003. In 2003 he released the single "Beat of Life" with Sandra Nasić, Trigga tha Gambler and DJ Tomekk and placed in the German charts.


title: Ice-T

text: Ice-T had also collaborated with certain other heavy metal bands during this time period. For the film "Judgment Night", he did a duet with Slayer on the track "Disorder". In 1995, Ice-T made a guest performance on "Forbidden" by Black Sabbath. Another album of his, "", was released in 1996, followed by "The Seventh Deadly Sin" in 1999.


title: Ice-T

text: His first rap album since 1999, "Gangsta Rap", was released on October 31, 2006. The album's cover, which "shows [Ice-T] lying on his back in bed with his ravishing wife's ample posterior in full view and one of her legs coyly draped over his private parts", was considered to be too suggestive for most retailers, many of which were reluctant to stock the album. Some reviews of the album were unenthusiastic, as many had hoped for a return to the political raps of Ice-T's most successful albums.


title: Ice-T

text: Ice-T appears in the film "Gift". One of the last scenes includes Ice-T and Body Count playing with Jane's Addiction in a version of the Sly and the Family Stone song "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey".


title: Ice-T

text: Besides fronting his own band and rap projects, Ice-T has also collaborated with other hard rock and metal bands, such as Icepick, Motörhead, Slayer, Megadeth, Pro-Pain, and Six Feet Under. He has also covered songs by hardcore punk bands such as the Exploited, Jello Biafra, and Black Flag. Ice-T made an appearance at Insane Clown Posse's Gathering of the Juggalos (2008 edition). Ice-T was also a judge for the 7th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists. His 2012 film "" features a who's who of underground and mainstream rappers.


title: Ice-T

text: In November 2011, Ice-T announced via Twitter that he was in the process of collecting beats for his next LP which was expected sometime during 2012, but , the album has not been released. A new Body Count album, "Bloodlust", was released in 2017. After the release of the album, responding to an interview question asking if he's "done with rap", he answered "I don't know" and noted that he's "really leaning more toward EDM right now". Body Count received their second Grammy nomination and later won the award at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards in 2021 for "Best Metal Performance" with their song "Bum-Rush" from the album "Carnivore".


title: Ice-T

text: In July 2019, Ice-T released his first solo hip hop track in 10 years, titled "Feds in My Rearview". The track is the first in a trilogy, with the second track, "Too Old for the Dumb Shit", described as a prequel to "Feds in My Rearview", and released in September 2019. Ice-T was also featured on the 2020 hip hop posse cut "The Slayers Club" alongside R.A. the Rugged Man, Brand Nubian and others.


title: Ice-T

text: Ice-T was prominently featured as both a rapper and a breakdancer in "Breakin' 'n' Enterin"' (1983), a documentary about the early West Coast hip hop scene.


title: Ice-T

text: Ice-T's first film appearances were in the motion pictures, "Breakin'" (1984), and its sequel, "" (1984). These films were released before Ice-T released his first LP, although he appears on the soundtrack to "Breakin". He has since stated he considers the films and his own performance in them to be "wack".


title: Ice-T

text: In 1991, he embarked on a serious acting career, portraying police detective Scotty Appleton in Mario Van Peebles' action thriller "New Jack City", gang leader Odessa (alongside Denzel Washington and John Lithgow) in "Ricochet" (1991), gang leader King James in "Trespass" (1992), followed by a notable lead role performance in "Surviving the Game" (1994), in addition to many supporting roles, such as J-Bone in "Johnny Mnemonic" (1995), and the marsupial mutant T-Saint in "Tank Girl" (1995). He was also interviewed in the Brent Owens documentary "Pimps Up, Ho's Down", in which he claims to have had an extensive pimping background before getting into rap. He is quoted as saying "once you max something out, it ain't no fun no more. I couldn't really get no farther." He goes on to explain his pimping experience gave him the ability to get into new businesses. "I can't act, I really can't act, I ain't no rapper, it's all game. I'm just working these niggas." Later he raps at the Players Ball.


title: Ice-T

text: In 1993, Ice-T, along with other rappers and the three "Yo! MTV Raps" hosts Ed Lover, Doctor Dré, and Fab 5 Freddy starred in the comedy "Who's the Man?", directed by Ted Demme. In the movie, he is a drug dealer who gets really frustrated when someone calls him by his real name, "Chauncey", rather than his street name, "Nighttrain".


title: Ice-T

text: In 1995, Ice-T had a recurring role as vengeful drug dealer Danny Cort on the television series "New York Undercover", co-created by Dick Wolf. His work on the series earned him the 1996 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. In 1997, he co-created the short-lived series "Players", produced by Wolf. This was followed by a role as pimp Seymour "Kingston" Stockton in "" (1998). These collaborations led Wolf to add Ice-T to the cast of "." Since 2000, he has portrayed Odafin "Fin" Tutuola, a former undercover narcotics officer transferred to the Special Victims Unit. In 2002, the NAACP awarded Ice-T with a second Image Award, again for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, for his work on "Law & Order: SVU".


title: Ice-T

text: Around 1995, Ice-T co-presented a UK-produced magazine television series on black culture, "Baadasss TV".


title: Ice-T

text: In 1997, Ice-T had a pay-per-view special titled "Ice-T's Extreme Babes" which appeared on Action PPV, formerly owned by BET Networks.


title: Ice-T

text: In 1999, Ice-T starred in the HBO movie "Stealth Fighter" as a United States Naval Aviator who fakes his own death, steals an F-117 stealth fighter, and threatens to destroy United States military bases. He also acted in the movie "Sonic Impact", released the same year.


title: Ice-T

text: Ice-T made an appearance on the comedy television series "Chappelle's Show" as himself presenting the award for "Player Hater of the Year" at the "Player-Haters Ball", a parody of his own appearance at the Players Ball. He was dubbed the "Original Player Hater".


title: Ice-T

text: "Beyond Tough", a 2002 documentary series, aired on Discovery Channel about the world's most dangerous and intense professions, such as alligator wrestlers and Indy 500 pit crews, was hosted by Ice-T.


title: Ice-T

text: In 2007, Ice-T appeared as a celebrity guest star on the MTV sketch comedy show "". Also in late 2007, he appeared in the short-music film "Hands of Hatred", which can be found online.


title: Ice-T

text: Ice-T was interviewed for the Cannibal Corpse retrospective documentary "", as well as appearing in Chris Rock's 2009 documentary "Good Hair", in which he reminisced about going to school in hair curlers.


title: Ice-T

text: A 2016 advertisement for GEICO features Ice-T behind a lemonade stand run by children. When people ask if it is Ice-T, the actor yells back, "No, it's lemonade!"


title: Ice-T

text: In 2020, Ice-T competed on "The Masked Singer" spin-off "The Masked Dancer" where he portrayed "Disco Ball" and was the first to be eliminated.


title: Ice-T

text: Ice-T's voice acting roles include Madd Dogg in the video game "", as well as Agent Cain in "". He also appears as himself in "" and "" fighting video games. He also voiced the character Aaron Griffin in the video game "Gears of War 3". Marrow also made an appearance in the 2019 video game "Borderlands 3", in which he voices the character of BALEX.


title: Ice-T

text: On December 27, 2013, Ice-T announced that he was entering podcasting in a deal with the Paragon Collective. Ice-T co-hosts the "Ice-T: Final Level" podcast with his longtime friend, Mick Benzo (known as Zulu Beatz on Sirius XM). They discuss relevant issues, movies, video games, and do a behind the scenes of "Law & Order: SVU" segment with featured guests from the entertainment world. The show will release new episodes bi-weekly. Guests have included Jim Norton. Ice-T released his first episode on January 7 to many accolades.


title: Ice-T

text: On October 20, 2006, "Ice-T's Rap School" aired and was a reality television show on VH1. It was a spin-off of the British reality show "Gene Simmons' Rock School", which also aired on VH1. In "Rap School", rapper/actor Ice-T teaches eight teens from York Preparatory School in New York called the "York Prep Crew" ("Y.P. Crew" for short). Each week, Ice-T gives them assignments and they compete for an imitation gold chain with a microphone on it. On the season finale on November 17, 2006, the group performed as an opening act for Public Enemy.


title: Ice-T

text: On June 12, 2011, E! reality show "Ice Loves Coco" debuted. The show is mostly about his relationship with his wife, Nicole "Coco" Austin.


title: Ice-T

text: Ice-T cites writer Iceberg Slim and rapper Schoolly D as influences, with Iceberg Slim's novels guiding his skills as a lyricist. His favorite heavy rock acts are Edgar Winter, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. His hip hop albums helped shape gangsta rap, with music journalists tracing works of artists such as Tupac Shakur, Notorious B.I.G., Eminem and N.W.A to "6 in the Mornin'".


title: Ice-T

text: A love of rock led Ice to use guitar in his albums, to provide his songs with edge and power, and to make his raps harder. He drew on the fusion of rock and hip hop by Rick Rubin-produced acts such as Beastie Boys, Run-DMC, and LL Cool J, who featured rock samples in their songs.


title: Ice-T

text: Body Count – whose 1992 debut album Ice described as a "rock album with a rap mentality" – is described as paving the way for the success of rap rock fusions by acts like Kid Rock and Limp Bizkit. However, Ice-T states that the band's style does not fuse the two genres, and that Body Count is solely a rock band.


title: Ice-T

text: On March 20, 1976, Marrow's high school girlfriend Adrienne gave birth to their daughter LeTesha Marrow, and they continued attending high school while raising her. While filming "Breakin'" in 1984, he met his second girlfriend Darlene Ortiz, who was at the club where the film was shot. They began a relationship and Ortiz was featured on the covers of "Rhyme Pays" and "Power". Ice-T and Ortiz had a son, Ice Tracy Marrow Jr., on November 23, 1991.


title: Ice-T

text: Ice-T married swimsuit model Nicole "Coco" Austin in January 2002. In celebration of their impending ninth wedding anniversary, the couple renewed their wedding vows on June 4, 2011. As of 2006, they owned a penthouse apartment in North Bergen, New Jersey. In 2012, they were building a five-bedroom house in Edgewater, New Jersey, that was expected to be completed by the end of the year. In 2015, the couple had their first child together, a daughter.


title: Ice-T

text: Ice-T has stated on numerous occasions that he is a teetotaler, and lives a straight edge lifestyle. He is a long time practitioner of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and boxing, and is a big fan of the UFC.


title: Ice-T

text: During the popularity of Public Enemy, Ice-T was closely associated with the band and his recordings of the time showed a similar political viewpoint. He was referred to as "The Soldier of the Highest Degree" in the booklet for "Fear of a Black Planet" and mentioned on the track "Leave This Off Your Fuckin' Charts". He also collaborated with fellow anti-censorship campaigner Jello Biafra on his album "The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech... Just Watch What You Say!"


title: Ice-T

text: On June 5, 2008, Ice-T joked that he would be voting for John McCain in the 2008 American elections, speculating that his past affiliation with Body Count could hurt Barack Obama's chances if he endorsed him, so he would choose instead to ruin McCain's campaign by saying he supported him.


title: Ice-T

text: On September 22, 2022, Ice-T narrated an advertisement for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.


title: Ice-T

text: Ice-T had a feud with LL Cool J in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Apparently, this was instigated by LL's claim to be "the baddest rapper in the history of rap itself". Ice-T recorded disses against LL on his 1988 album "Power". On the album was the track, "I'm Your Pusher", in which a rap music addict declines to buy an LL Cool J record. The album also contains the posse rap track, "The Syndicate", which took aim at LL's lyrical ability, claiming that rapping about oneself so frequently was a "first grade topic". The song also mocked the song's hook "I'm Bad", which identified it as an LL diss specifically. In the book "Check the Technique: Liner Notes for Hip-Hop Junkies", Ice-T said that the song "Girls L.G.B.N.A.F." was also intended as a diss to LL Cool J, by making a crude song to contrast with the love songs that LL was making at the time.


title: Ice-T

text: On LL's response, "To da Break of Dawn" in 1990, he dissed Kool Moe Dee (whose feud with LL was far more publicized) as well as MC Hammer. He then devoted the third verse of the song to dissing Ice-T, mocking his rap ability ("take your rhymes around the corner to rap rehab"), his background ("before you rapped, you was a downtown car thief"), and his style ("a brother with a perm deserves to get burned"). He also suggested that the success of "Power" was due to the appearance of Ice-T's girlfriend Darlene on the album cover. Ice-T appeared to have ignored the insults and he had also defended LL Cool J after his arrest in the song "Freedom of Speech".


title: Ice-T

text: In August 2012, Ice-T said that the rivalry was "never serious" and that he needed a nemesis to create "an exciting dispute".


title: Ice-T

text: In June 2008, on DJ Cisco's "Urban Legend" mixtape, Ice-T criticized Soulja Boy (whose name is DeAndre Way) for "killing hip hop" and called his song "Crank That" "garbage" compared to the works of other hip-hop artists such as Rakim, Das EFX, Big Daddy Kane and Ice Cube. One of the comments exchanged was Ice-T telling Way to "eat a dick". The two then traded numerous videos back and forth over the Internet. These videos included a cartoon and video of Ice-T dancing on Way's behalf and an apology, but reiteration of his feelings that Way's music "sucks", on Ice-T's behalf. Musician Kanye West defended Way saying, "He came from the 'hood, made his own beats, made up a new saying, new sound and a new dance with one song".


title: Joe Manganiello

text: Joseph Michael Manganiello ( ; , ; born December 28, 1976) is an American actor. His professional film career began when he played Flash Thompson in Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man". His breakout role was as werewolf Alcide Herveaux in five seasons of the HBO series "True Blood".


title: Joe Manganiello

text: He is also known for his roles in films such as "Magic Mike," "Magic Mike XXL," "Pee-wee's Big Holiday," "What to Expect When You're Expecting", "Sabotage" and "Rampage". In late 2013, he became a published author when his first book, "Evolution", was released by Simon & Schuster's Gallery Books. His directorial debut came in 2014 with the documentary feature "La Bare", which he also produced and financed. He is also known for his role as Brad Morris in "How I Met Your Mother". He is active with several charities, primarily UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh for which he serves on the board of trustees. In 2016, he was cast as Slade Wilson / Deathstroke in the DC Extended Universe, making his first appearance in 2017's "Justice League".


title: Joe Manganiello

text: Manganiello was born in Pittsburgh to Susan ( Brachanow) and Charles John Manganiello. His mother is of Croatian, Armenian, and German ancestry. The latter of which can be traced back 11 generations to the Kingdom of Württemberg. His maternal great-grandmother was a survivor of the Armenian genocide where her husband and seven of her children were murdered and her eighth child drowned during the escape. She later encountered a German soldier in an internment camp for survivors, whose child she gave birth to, Manganiello's grandmother. Manganiello's father was born outside of Boston to an Italian-American mother, with grandparents from Tripi. In the early 2020s, Henry Louis Gates and the researchers of PBS' "Finding Your Roots" uncovered that Manganiello's legal grandfather, surnamed Manganiello, was not his biological grandfather; and that his biological paternal grandfather was a man of mixed race (African-American and Irish-American). Using this information, they traced his paternal lineage back to Manganiello's fifth great-grandfather, an African slave who was freed before slavery was abolished in Massachusetts, who then went on to fight for the Continental Army during the American Revolution.


title: Joe Manganiello

text: Manganiello was raised in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania. He has a younger brother, Nicholas. He was a student at St. Bernard School, a Catholic elementary school in Mt. Lebanon, and then attended Mt. Lebanon High School, where he graduated with honors in 1995 and won the school's Great Alumni Award in 2011. Growing up, he was the captain of his football, basketball, and volleyball teams and went on to play at the varsity level in all three sports. He won the role of Jud Fry in his school's senior year production of "Oklahoma!" and was involved with the school's TV studio. He would borrow equipment in order to write and direct films with his friends, which eventually inspired him to begin studying acting.


title: Joe Manganiello

text: Manganiello suffered a series of nagging sports injuries through High School, including a torn medial collateral ligament while returning a kickoff in a varsity football game against Ringgold High School. The time off allowed Manganiello to reevaluate his future and so he decided to audition for the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama during his senior year. He was not accepted, so he enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh and worked tirelessly over the next year in the theater. He then reapplied to Carnegie Mellon a year later, and was awarded a scholarship as one of only 17 students accepted into the acting program that year. There he performed in theater productions and wrote, produced, and acted in a student film entitled "Out of Courage 2: Out for Vengeance". He graduated in 2000 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in acting. He then traveled to New York City and Los Angeles through his university to participate in group auditions, which provided him contacts in the entertainment business including an agent, a manager, and a screen test for Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man.


title: Joe Manganiello

text: While a student at Carnegie Mellon University, Manganiello appeared in numerous productions in Pittsburgh's theatre scene, including Ulfheim in Henrik Ibsen's "When We Dead Awaken", Lorenzo in Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" for Quantum Theatre, and Joe in the Pittsburgh premiere of "The Last Night of Ballyhoo". He moved to Los Angeles, California after graduating from Carnegie Mellon. He quickly signed with a talent agent, and three days later, he auditioned for the role of Peter Parker in the Sam Raimi-directed film "Spider-Man" (2002). He landed the role of Eugene "Flash" Thompson, Peter Parker's nemesis, as his first acting job out of college. He reprised the role several years later, making a brief cameo in "Spider-Man 3" (2007).


title: Joe Manganiello

text: Manganiello began finding work in television, playing Tori Spelling's boyfriend on VH1's "So Notorious" in 2006, and guest starred on "Las Vegas", "Jake in Progress", and "Close to Home". That year, he also played John Leguizamo's Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor in the CBS television pilot "Edison". In 2007, he appeared in the "Scrubs" episode "My No Good Reason" and in the MyNetwork TV nighttime soap opera "American Heiress". He also played Officer Litchman, the love interest to Linda Cardellini's character, for a four-episode arc on NBC's "ER". He returned to the stage playing "The Chick Magnet" in May 2007 for the New York City premiere of "Skirts & Flirts", a monologue show by Gloria Calderon Kellett, for which he was a finalist for HBO's Aspen Comedy Festival. He then played Stanley Kowalski in "A Streetcar Named Desire" for the West Virginia Public Theatre in 2008, directed by his former Carnegie Mellon professor Geoffrey Hitch.


title: Joe Manganiello

text: He starred as Leo Belraggio, a New York jazz musician, in the West Coast premiere of Terrence McNally's "Unusual Acts of Devotion" in June 2009. The play was staged at the La Jolla Playhouse at the University of California in San Diego. The summer prior, Manganiello worked alongside McNally and director Leonard Foglia to create the role at the Ojai Playwrights Conference. He played the lawyer Brad Morris on several seasons of the CBS comedy "How I Met Your Mother". In 2008, he joined the cast of The CW drama "One Tree Hill" for its fifth season, playing bartender Owen Morello. He shot the series in Wilmington, North Carolina, and returned for its sixth and seventh seasons.


title: Joe Manganiello

text: Manganiello played Stu on the Fox sitcom "'Til Death" for two episodes, and starred in the short film "Wounded" that year, which he originated on the stage and won Best Short Film at the 2011 Big Island Film Festival. He starred in the direct-to-video war film "" in 2009 playing Lt. Sean Macklin, a Navy SEAL squad leader. In order to add authenticity to the production, he trained for several months with a former Navy SEAL, for whom he paid to come to the set and stay in the cast's hotel. The film was shot in Puerto Rico. He appeared in an episode of "Medium" in 2009, and has guest starred on all three series of CBS's "CSI" television franchise ("", "", and ""). He had a role in the independent film "Irene in Time". In 2010, he appeared in television commercials for Taco Bell, promoting its new product. He shot television pilots for "100 Questions" and the Pittsburgh-set sitcom "Livin' on a Prayer".


title: Joe Manganiello

text: In late 2009 Manganiello was cast as werewolf Alcide Herveaux in the third season of HBO's "True Blood". His work on the show over the next five years would bring him both popular and critical recognition, including being voted The Favorite Pop-Culture Werewolf of All-Time by the readers of Entertainment Weekly Magazine, the 2011 Scream Award for Breakout Performance – Male, as well as a shared award for Best Ensemble, a Saturn Award for Best Guest Starring Role in Television and a NewNowNext Award. "True Blood" was his favorite television show before he joined the cast. He was originally brought in by casting for the role of Coot, another werewolf in the series, but was asked by the producers to read for Alcide instead. He familiarized himself with the novels while growing out his hair and beard. He also trained twice a day for months to add muscle to match the description of the character in the books. Manganiello also got a suntan to set himself apart from the vampires on the series and spent time studying live wolves.


title: Joe Manganiello

text: In early 2011, Manganiello was asked to screen test for the title role of Superman in "Man of Steel," for which he was rumored to be the front runner, but due to scheduling problems with "True Blood", he was forced to drop out during the final stage. He told "Access Hollywood" in an interview: "They wanted me to screen test and they actually asked for my measurements for the suit and everything... their shoot date switched and it would have taken up 11 weeks out of my "True Blood" schedule. At the end of the day, we couldn't get the schedule to work... so, regrettably, I never got to screen test, I never got to put the suit on."


title: Joe Manganiello

text: Upon completion of filming for season four of "True Blood", he shot an episode of USA's "White Collar" with his former drama school classmate Matt Bomer, and then shot the film adaptation of the best selling book "What To Expect When You're Expecting" before returning to Los Angeles to shoot an episode of "Two and a Half Men" with Ashton Kutcher.


title: Joe Manganiello

text: Manganiello was cast as Big Dick Richie in Steven Soderbergh's "Magic Mike", the story of a male stripper in Tampa, Florida, played by actor Channing Tatum. "Magic Mike" would go on to become a cultural and box office phenomenon spawning its 2015 sequel "Magic Mike XXL".


title: Joe Manganiello

text: In between "Magic Mike" films and finishing out his last two seasons of "True Blood", Manganiello branched out in a multitude of different ways. He shot David Ayer's "Sabotage" with his childhood idol Arnold Schwarzenegger, who would go on to become a friend and mentor to Manganiello, penning the foreword to his book "Evolution" which was released through Simon & Schuster's Gallery Books in the fall of 2013. That autumn also saw Manganiello's return to the stage once again as Stanley Kowalski in "A Streetcar Named Desire" but this time for the prestigious Yale Repertory Theater in New Haven, Connecticut.


title: Joe Manganiello

text: A few months later Manganiello would take his documentary film "La Bare", which he financed, directed, and produced under his new production company banner 3:59 with his brother Nick, to Park City, Utah for the Slamdance Film Festival. He received multiple offers from distributors in the lobby after the first screening and within 24 hours sold the International and Domestic rights, including sales to Showtime and Netflix. Manganiello was given the Triple Threat Award, from the Maui International Film Festival later that year for his work on the film.


title: Joe Manganiello

text: In August 2016, test footage of Slade Wilson/Deathstroke was posted to Twitter by writer/director Ben Affleck. A few weeks later, Geoff Johns, DC Comics' then President and CCO, who was tasked to co-write/co-produce the solo Batman film with Affleck, confirmed that Deathstroke would appear in the shared film universe, with Manganiello portraying the character. In 2019, he was confirmed to appear in the Ben Affleck Batman movie. However, Affleck was asked to step down from the film and Manganiello's future as the character has remained uncertain ever since.


title: Joe Manganiello

text: In 2017, Manganiello won an Emmy as the narrator of the documentary "Pittsburgh is Home: The Story of the Penguins", which documented the first 50 years of history of the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team.


title: Joe Manganiello

text: Over the years Manganiello has worked extensively with "Dungeons & Dragons" as a writer, official ambassador, and paid consultant. His characters, including Arkhan the Cruel are a part of Dungeons & Dragons canon, appearing in adventure modules, video games, and in toy stores. He has appeared in episodes of "The Big Bang Theory", "Nerd Poker", "CelebriD&D", "Critical Role" and the web series "Force Grey" playing the game. In 2017, Manganiello and John Cassel wrote a spec-script for a film adaptation of the first "Dragonlance" novel for Warner Brothers. In 2018, he launched the company Death Saves which produces fantasy/heavy-metal themed streetwear as well as a range of high end jewelry, clothing and gaming accessories. Over the years, the company has created officially licensed products for HBO’s Game of Thrones, The Dark Crystal, the indie horror film classic Mandy, Dungeons & Dragons, and at one point had full reign ovier the catalog of the late fantasy painter, Frank Frazetta.


title: Joe Manganiello

text: He worked as a game designer for Hasbro's remake of the adventure board game Hero Quest to write a quest book as a stretch goal in 2020. Although the stretch goal was not reached, he later announced he worked with Hasbro to have the quest book and additional game pieces included anyway.


title: Joe Manganiello

text: In October 2022, Hasbro's eOne announced that Manganiello had been tapped to direct and produce the first, official documentary about the history of "Dungeons & Dragons," along with co-director Kyle Newman and his brother and producing partner Nick under their 3:59 banner, to be timed to release during the 50th anniversary of the game in 2024.


title: Joe Manganiello

text: Manganiello is a life-long fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He directed and produced the 2007 short documentary "DieHardz" about Steelers fans who meet up at bars in Los Angeles, California. He is also a noted Pittsburgh Penguins fan and hosted the 2017 NHL Awards and the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft.


title: Joe Manganiello

text: He was once a roadie for the band Goldfinger and is friends with lead singer John Feldmann; he toured internationally with the group as a member of their security.


title: Joe Manganiello

text: He became engaged to actress Sofía Vergara on Christmas Eve 2014 after six months of dating. They married in Palm Beach, Florida on November 22, 2015.


title: Joe Manganiello

text: He is a long time practitioner of Transcendental Meditation and learned at David Lynch’s center in Los Angeles.


title: Wrath of Man

text: Wrath of Man is a 2021 heist action thriller film directed by Guy Ritchie, from a script he co-wrote with Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies, and is loosely based on 2004 French film "Cash Truck" written by Nicolas Boukhrief and Éric Besnard, and directed by Boukhrief. It is Ritchie's fourth directorial collaboration with lead actor Jason Statham, and first since "Revolver" (2005). Statham stars as H, a new cash truck driver in Los Angeles whose thwarting of a robbery leads to his skillset with guns and mysterious past being questioned. Holt McCallany, Jeffrey Donovan, Chris Reilly, Josh Hartnett, Laz Alonso, Raúl Castillo, DeObia Oparei, Eddie Marsan and Scott Eastwood also star.


title: Wrath of Man

text: "Wrath of Man" was released in several countries on April 22, 2021, and in the United States on May 7. The film has grossed $104 million worldwide and received mixed reviews from critics upon release, who praised the action sequences but criticized the plot.


title: Wrath of Man

text: In Los Angeles, an armored truck robbery leaves two guards and a bystander dead. This sets off a chain reaction of events told in four acts.


title: Wrath of Man

text: Five months after the robbery, Patrick Hill joins Fortico Security as an armored truck guard. His manager Terry commends his references, and company trainer "Bullet" nicknames him "H". Hill barely passes his training and gets off to a rocky start with his colleagues, including “Boy Sweat” Dave and Dana Curtis. During a pickup of over $2 million in cash, Bullet is taken hostage. Hill convinces a panicked Dave to comply with the robbers' demands, before disposing of the entire crew with expert marksmanship and merciless efficiency. Questioned by FBI agents investigating the first robbery, Hill is assigned to desk duty as a precaution, but Fortico's CEO returns him to working in the field.


title: Wrath of Man

text: The investigators identify him to their superior, Agent King, as someone the FBI has been hunting for 25 years, but King tells them to leave Hill alone. An associate delivers Hill a dossier of Fortico employee files, photos of Dana's family, and an autopsy report. Three months later, Hill and Bullet are waylaid in Chinatown, but the robbers flee at the sight of Hill. Bullet and Dave share their suspicions about Hill, who questions Dana at gunpoint about her stash of $125,000. She claims to have stolen the cash from a liquor store pickup, and Hill shows her photos of her parents, threatening them if she is withholding information.


title: Wrath of Man

text: Five months before joining Fortico, on the day of the first robbery, Hill is with his son Dougie. Revealed to be working with a robbery crew, Hill grudgingly agrees to monitor the armored truck's route, leaving Dougie in the car. A different group of robbers hijack the truck and spot Dougie nearby. Racing back to his son, Hill watches as Dougie is executed and is shot himself and left for dead. Three weeks later, Hill wakes up in the hospital.


title: Wrath of Man

text: Blaming him for Dougie's death, his wife leaves him. He meets with King, who gives him a list of possible suspects and agrees to temporarily turn a blind eye. Hill is actually Mason Hargreaves, a notorious crime lord; determined to find Dougie's killer, Hargreaves and his men — led by Mike, Brendan, and Moggy — kill nearly everyone on King's list, without results. Mike voices his concerns about retaliation, and Hargreaves agrees to lay low in London, but instead assumes the identity of Patrick Hill and joins Fortico to continue the hunt himself. It was Hargreaves' own crew who attempted the Chinatown robbery, until Mike recognized him.


title: Wrath of Man

text: Sometime before the first robbery, a group of disgruntled Afghanistan veterans — Carlos, Sam, Brad, Tom, Jan, and their former sergeant, Jackson — decide to become thieves. They rob Carlos' wealthy client, resulting in only a few hundred thousand dollars. With help from an unidentified guard who served under Jackson, they pull off a more ambitious heist of an armored truck. Later, Hargreaves and his men help them arrange the Fortico heist; unaware of Hargreaves' identity, Jan needlessly shoots the guards, Dougie, and Hargreaves, who sees Jan's face.


title: Wrath of Man

text: Five months later, the veterans reunite to steal over $150 million from the Fortico depot on Black Friday weekend. Bullet reveals to Hargreaves that he is Jackson's inside man, threatening him into cooperating. The crew takes the depot hostage, but an alarm is triggered; in the ensuing gunfight, Bullet kills Dana and Dave, and Hargreaves kills several of the robbers. Fleeing with Bullet and Jackson, Jan kills them to escape alone with the money. Jan finds a phone in one of the money bags, planted by Hargreaves to track its location. Hargreaves confronts him with Dougie's autopsy report, shooting him in the same places he shot Dougie. Abandoning the money, Hargreaves tells King his task is done and is driven away.


title: Wrath of Man

text: It was announced in October 2019 that Guy Ritchie was writing and directing an English-language remake of the 2004 film "Cash Truck", with Jason Statham set to star. Holt McCallany joined later in the month. Filming began in November between Los Angeles and London, with Scott Eastwood, Jeffrey Donovan, Laz Alonso, Josh Hartnett and Niamh Algar added to the cast, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer taking on U.S. domestic distribution for the film. In January 2020, Raúl Castillo was added to the cast.


title: Wrath of Man

text: Christopher Benstead, who previously worked with the director on "The Gentlemen", composed the film score. Sony Classical released the soundtrack on May 7, 2021, coinciding with the film's release.