title: Q'orianka Kilcher

text: On June 1, 2010, Kilcher and her mother were arrested after Kilcher chained herself to the gates in front of the White House in Washington, D.C. while her mother poured black paint on her to signify oil. They were protesting President Obama's meeting with Peruvian President Alan García, accusing the latter of selling land in the Amazon rainforest to corporations while suppressing indigenous protests. Both were charged with disorderly conduct. The charges were dropped on June 6, 2011, after the two completed community service.


title: Q'orianka Kilcher

text: On September 4, 2015, Kilcher was part of a group that sang "Love Song to the Earth". The song aims at raising awareness of climate change, with all proceeds benefiting Friends of the Earth U.S. and the UN Foundation. She and several "Love Song" singers performed in Washington, D.C. before Pope Francis' address to the U.S. Congress.


title: Q'orianka Kilcher

text: Q'orianka has two brothers, Kainoa and Xihuaru Kilcher, both of whom work as actors and stunt performers. Her first cousin once removed is Jewel, the singer.


title: Q'orianka Kilcher

text: Her mother Saskia Kilcher is the daughter of Ray "Pirate" Genet, a Swiss-born mountaineer who later immigrated to the United States, and Wurtilla Dora "Wurzy" Kilcher, who was born in Alaska to Swiss immigrant parents. Q'orianka's great-grandfather was Yule F. Kilcher; he was elected as a member of the Alaska Senate and served as a delegate to the Alaskan constitutional conference.


title: Q'orianka Kilcher

text: In 2018, Kilcher sustained a severe injury to her neck and shoulder during filming of "Dora and the Lost City of Gold". She received disability benefits from the insurance company after being treated for her injuries by third-party doctors. In May 2022, Kilcher was charged with alleged workers' compensation fraud after an investigation found that she had filmed scenes for the television series "Yellowstone" before receiving disability benefits. She pled not guilty at her arraignment in May. "Variety" reported that she was due to appear in court on August 7, 2022.


title: Colonel

text: Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.


title: Colonel

text: In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of a regiment in an army. Modern usage varies greatly, and in some cases, the term is used as an honorific title that may have no direct relationship to military service. The rank of colonel is typically above the rank of lieutenant colonel. The rank above colonel is typically called brigadier, brigade general or brigadier general. In some smaller military forces, such as those of Monaco or the Vatican, colonel is the highest rank.


title: Colonel

text: Equivalent naval ranks may be called captain or ship-of-the-line captain. In the Commonwealth's air force ranking system, the equivalent rank is group captain.


title: Colonel

text: By the end of the late medieval period, a group of "companies" was referred to as a "column" of an army. According to Raymond Oliver, around 1500, the Spanish began explicitly reorganizing part of their army into 20 "colunelas" or columns of approximately 1000-1250 soldiers. Each "colunela" was commanded by a "cabo de colunela" or column head. Because they were crown units, the units were also confusingly called "coronelas," and their commanders "coronels." Evidence of this can be seen when Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, nicknamed "the Great Captain," divided his armies in "coronelías" each led by a "coronel" (colonel) in 1508.


title: Colonel

text: Later in the 16th century, the French army adopted this organizational structure, renaming "colunelas" regiments. On the other hand, they simply Gallicized "colunela" to the French "colonel" and pronounced it as written. The English then copied the unit and rank from the French. However, for reasons unknown, the English adopted the Spanish pronunciation of "coronel," and after several decades of use shortened it to its current two-syllable pronuciation "kernel." "Colonel" is linked to the word "column" (from Latin: "columna"; Italian: "colonna"; French: "colonne") in a similar way that "brigadier" is linked to "brigade", although in English this relationship is not immediately obvious.


title: Colonel

text: With the shift from primarily mercenary to primarily national armies in the course of the 17th century, a colonel (normally a member of the aristocracy) became a holder (German "Inhaber") or proprietor of a military contract with a sovereign. The colonel purchased the regimental contract—the right to hold the regiment—from the previous holder of that right or directly from the sovereign when a new regiment was formed or an incumbent was killed.


title: Colonel

text: As the office of colonel became an established practice, the colonel became the senior captain in a group of companies that were all sworn to observe his personal authority—to be ruled or regimented by him. This regiment, or governance, was to some extent embodied in a contract and set of written rules, also referred to as the colonel's regiment or standing regulation(s). By extension, the group of companies subject to a colonel's regiment (in the foregoing sense) came to be referred to as his regiment (in the modern sense) as well.


title: Colonel

text: In French usage of this period, the senior colonel in the army or, in a field force, the senior military contractor, was the colonel general and, in the absence of the sovereign or his designate, the colonel general might serve as the commander of a force. The position, however, was primarily contractual and it became progressively more of a functionless sinecure. (The head of a single regiment or demi-brigade would be called a 'mestre de camp' or, after the Revolution, a 'chef de brigade'.)


title: Colonel

text: By the late 19th century, colonel was a professional military rank though still held typically by an officer in command of a regiment or equivalent unit. Along with other ranks, it has become progressively more a matter of ranked duties, qualifications and experience and of corresponding titles and pay scale than of functional office in a particular organization.


title: Colonel

text: As European military influence expanded throughout the world, the rank of colonel became adopted by nearly every nation (albeit under a variety of names).


title: Colonel

text: With the rise of communism, some of the large communist militaries saw fit to expand the colonel rank into several grades, resulting in the unique senior colonel rank, which was found and is still used in such nations as China and North Korea.


title: Colonel

text: In many modern armies, the regiment has more importance as a ceremonial unit or a focus of members' loyalty than as an actual battle formation. Troops tend to be deployed in battalions (commanded by a lieutenant colonel) as a more convenient size of military unit and, as such, colonels have tended to have a higher profile in specialist and command roles than as actual commanders of regiments. However, in Commonwealth armies, the position of the colonel as the figurehead of a regiment is maintained in the honorary role of "colonel-in-chief", usually held by a member of the royal family, the nobility, or a retired senior military officer. The colonel-in-chief wears a colonel's uniform and encourages the members of the regiment, but takes no active part in the actual command structure or in any operational duties.


title: Colonel

text: The title Colonel of the Regiment (to distinguish it from the military rank of colonel) continues to be used in the modern British Army. The ceremonial position is often conferred on retired general officers, brigadiers or colonels who have a close link to a particular regiment. Non-military personnel, usually for positions within the Army Reserve may also be appointed to the ceremonial position. When attending functions as "Colonel of the Regiment", the titleholder wears the regimental uniform with rank insignia of (full) colonel, regardless of their official rank. A member of the Royal Family is known as a Royal Colonel. A Colonel of the Regiment is expected to work closely with a regiment and its Regimental Association.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Muthuvel Karunanidhi (3 June 1924 – 7 August 2018) was an Indian writer and politician who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for almost two decades over five terms between 1969 and 2011. He was popularly referred to as Kalaignar (Artist) and Mutthamizh Arignar (Tamil Scholar) for his contributions to Tamil literature. He had the longest tenure as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu with 6,863 days in office. He was also a long-standing leader of the Dravidian movement and ten-time president of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam political party. Karunanidhi has the record of never losing an election to the Tamil Nadu Assembly, having won 13 times since his first victory in 1957. Before entering politics, he worked in the Tamil film industry as a screenwriter. He also made contributions to Tamil literature, having written stories, plays, novels, and a multiple-volume memoir. Karunanidhi died on 7 August 2018 at Kauvery Hospital in Chennai after a series of prolonged, age-related illnesses.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Karunanidhi was born in the Tamil Nadu village of Thirukkuvalai on 3 June 1924. His parents were from the Isai Vellalar caste, a caste of musicians that perform at temples and other social gatherings. Growing up in a caste-ridden culture, Karunanidhi was learned about the crippling circumstances that arose from being born into a low caste. When he was 14, he formed a student movement against the imposition of Hindi as India's national language during the Anti-Hindi agitation of 1937–40. This served as a forerunner to Karunanidhi's wider anti-Hindi demonstrations in 1965. As a high school student, Karunanidhi created the Tamil Nadu Tamil Manavar Mandram, the Dravidian Movement's first student wing. He also started a news paper during his school days, which grew into the "Murasoli", the DMK's official publication. Karunanidhi began participating in theatrical productions at a young age, including composing plays. Later on, he started writing for movies. As a writer, he wrote screenplays, historical novels, screenplays, biographies, poems and novels. He utilized his writing to propagate reformist ideals effectively. He wrote the script and dialogue for M.G. Ramachandran's (MGR) maiden film as a hero, "Rajakumari". He also composed the dialogue for Sivaji Ganesan's debut film, "Parasakthi". He was critical of organized religion and superstition. He was an atheist and a self-described rationalist.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Karunanidhi started his political career in 1957, when he was voted to the Madras state legislature. When the DMK first entered the state legislature the following year, he was named treasurer and deputy leader of the opposition. Karunanidhi ascended quickly through the ranks. After the death of C.N. Annadurai in 1969, he became the DMK's leader and Chief minister of Tamil Nadu and led the party to a landslide win in the 1971 Assembly elections. He was influenced by the rationalist and egalitarian ideology of Periyar and DMK founder C N Annadurai. Karunanidhi was among those who fought Indira Gandhi's Emergency in 1975 which led to governments getting dismissed in 1976. In the 1976 Assembly elections, he gave the Congress 50 percent of the seats, but the partnership fell apart, and MGR prevailed. After MGR's death in 1989, he led the party to power. His administration was dismissed in 1991 for its alleged links with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). He came to power in the state in 1996 after forming a partnership with the Tamil Maanila Congress and joined the United Front led by Deve Gowda in the center. His party allied with the BJP in 1999. He was arrested from his house in 2001 by the police on the orders of Jayalalitha as an act of vendetta over alleged losses in construction of fly-overs. In the Lok Sabha elections of 2004, he teamed up with the Congress and won by a landslide. He became a chief minister again in 2006. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, he contested alone and lost. In 2016, he made the DMK become the Tamil Nadu Assembly's biggest opposition party.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: During his political career, Karunanidhi advocated for increased state autonomy and affirmative action to favour lower castes. He implemented a caste-based quota system for government employment and government school students, as well as subsidies to the poor. His initiatives were quickly adopted in other Indian states. His initiatives earned him popularity among the lower castes. He was frequently confronted with accusations of nepotism. He has also stirred controversies by publicly supporting the LTTE and other separatist groups in Sri Lanka. During his different tenures, he implemented a number of initiatives aimed at promoting the expansion of industry in the state. He was also instrumental in erecting a 133-foot monument of Thiruvalluvar in Kanyakumari and ensuring classical language status to Tamil language.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Karunanidhi was born on 3 June 1924, in the village of Thirukkuvalai in Nagapattinam district, Madras Presidency, to Ayyadurai (Grand father) Muthuvel and Anjugam. He had two elder sisters, Periyanayaki and Shanmugasundari. There was some misconception that his birth name was "Dakshinamurthy", later changed to "Karunanidhi" as influenced by Dravidian and rationalist movements, Karunanidhi himself stated that C.N. Annadurai asked him to keep his birthname "Karunanidhi", since it is already popular among the people. In his own writings Karunanidhi said that his family were of the Devadasi (renamed as Isai Vellalar) caste, a small community that traditionally played musical instruments at ceremonial occasions; however his political rival M. G. Ramachandran and some observers contested that and said that he was of Telugu ancestry. Karunanidhi started his education at a local school. Karunanidhi's father was eager to teach him music. His music teachers were from the Isai Vellalar group, and the lessons were conducted in temples where he was not allowed to cover his upper body, wear slippers, or wear a cotton cloth around his hips as a sign of respect for the upper caste people. He couldn't tolerate learning in an environment where he wasn't treated with respect, which made his father agree to stop his music classes. His father also asked the local headmaster to set up special tutoring courses for Karunanidhi and paid a tuition fee of milk every morning and evening.My music lessons were actually my first political studies. I learnt about the oppression of humans based on their caste. I saw the delight with which certain individuals could humiliate others, and the self-righteousness of others in carrying out their customs without realizing that they were mistreating a large majority of the people.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: At the age of 12, he left to Thiruvarur to start his high school. Karunanidhi started to organize school students for the Anti-Hindi agitations. The deaths of two anti-Hindi agitators by the police made a profound impact on him. At the age of 13, he wrote his first Tamil historical novel titled "Selvachandira".


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Karunanidhi entered politics at the age of 14, inspired by a speech by Alagirisamy of the Justice Party, and participated in Anti-Hindi agitations. As a teenager he was captivated by the political writings of Tamil leaders including Panagal Arasar, Periyar and Pattukottai Azhagirisamy (after whom Karunanidhi later named one of his sons). Karunanidhi joined the anti-Hindi protests sparked by the provincial government's legislation making Hindi-education mandatory in schools, and in 1938 organised a group of boys to hold demonstrations travelling around Tiruvarur on a cycle rickshaw. The law was rescinded in 1939. The taste for activism however stuck and in the ensuing years, after a brief flirtation with Communism, Karunanidhi started following the work and speeches of leaders of Justice Party, Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam. According to Karunanidhi, he joined the Periyar's movement when he saw his father hurriedly rising and tied his towel to his waist from his head as a gesture of servitude when an upper caste landlord walked past him.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: At the age of fifteen, Karunanidhi started his own magazine "Maanavanesan" (). He along with his friends would make fifty copies of the magazine and circulate it and also sometimes mailed them to the leaders of Self-respect movement. A political activist after reading his magazine asked him to lead the forum for peace, liberty equality and justice, he accepted and became its elected secretary. Later, he dissolved the forum after there was a blatant attempt to convert the forum into as a front of the Congress party. He refunded the subscription money many refused to take the refund. Using the rest of seventy-five rupees, he started the Tamil Nadu Tamil students association in 1941. In 1942, the association held an annual function attended by Bharathidasan K.A Anbazhagan and K. A. Mathiazhagan and student leaders from Annamalai university. He couldn't afford to pay for the invitees' and guest speakers' travels and expenditures, so he was forced to steal a gold necklace that his mother had made for him but which he rarely wore, pawned it for 50 rupees, and paid his invitees.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: As his writings were gaining popularity in Thiruvarur, he started "Murasoli" to widen his publishing platform. Its writer and chief editor was Karunanidhi, and its secretary was his friend Thennavan. It had a large print run, was mailed to many Tamil political organisations, and was in the forefront of the fight against caste, social isolation, sophistry, and supremacy. He wrote a critical piece in Murasoli titled ""Varnama, Maanama?"" in 1944 when a conference was organized by conservatives in support of varna system. He penned an article named 'Ilamaibali' (Youth Sacrifice) and sent it to C.N Annadurai's "Dravida Nadu" magazine. It appeared in the next issue. For a week, he wandered the streets of Thiruvarur with a print in hand, persuading many others to read it. He also penned an article that was never published. Within a week, Annadurai arrived in Thiruvarur for a public gathering and asked for Karunanidhi, he was stunned to find Karunanidhi as an 18-year-old school student. He instructed him to cease writing until he completed his education and asked him not to send any more articles. Karunanidhi refused to go back as a school student.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: He failed three times in his final exams. During the result day, unable to face his family over his third consecutive failure, he left to Thopputhurai in search of his classmate Asan Abdul Kaathar who consoled him. He then started his passion of writing as a career. In Thiruvarur, he started writing and staging plays. These plays served as a channel for the Dravidian movement's ideology to spread. In Thiruvarur, he presented a play named "Palaniappan" to raise cash for his student association. The total amount collected was only Rs 80, despite the fact that the performance had cost him Rs 200 to stage. He had no idea how he was going to repay the debt he owed to the individuals who were now harassing him for it. He travelled with his friend Thennavan for Nagapattinam, keen to take his chances somewhere else and met with R. V Gopal, a local leader of the Dravidar Kazhagam. Gopal sympathised with his situation but was hesitant to lend him the money but Instead bought the play for Rs 100. The sale of his first play made his to write more ideological plays.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: His parents didn't approve of his writing career. They advised him to look for a job that would pay him at least Rs 50 per month. He was determined on not taking a regular job. Karunanidhi then fell in love with a girl. He was certain that the girl was infatuated with him as well. When he and his family met the girl's parents, they demanded that if a wedding was to take place, it must be performed in the presence of Brahmin priests and vedic chanting. Karunanidhi rejected, citing his belief in the Self-Respect movement as justification.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: After marriage, he worked as a playwright through the help of R.V Gopal who help his earlier with his play. Their first camp for the troupe was at Villupuram where he was joined by his friends Thennavan and C.T Murthy. Their plays failed to bring people even after the attendance of Periyar and Annadurai. The failure was due to their comments against the caste prejudices, the troupe was named "Dravida Theatre group", the term "Dravida" was perceived to be a term for Dalits and hence non-Dalits boycotted it. The troupe started to play in Pondicherry which was at the time a hub for social cultural and political change. His plays were an instant success and people started to call him as "Sivaguru", the name of his character. During his stay in Pondicherry, Karunanidhi penned ""That Pen!"" a criticism of Gandhi and the Congress centred on a pen which was lost from the Sabarmati Ashram, which infuriated the congress workers. He followed up with a piece titled ""What If Gandhi Became Viceroy?"" Later, members of the congress attacked a public gathering in Pondicherry attended by Periyar, Annadurai, and Pattukottai Azhagirisamy. Karunanidhi was chased down and beaten until he fell unconscious. They dropped his unconscious body into the sewers and departed, thinking he was dead. He was nursed back by an old women and taken to Periyar who applied medicines to him and took him to Erode along with him where he worked as an assistant editor with Periyar's "Kudi Arasu" magazine in Erode for a year.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Karunanidhi along with a group of young band of Tamil enthusiasts led by Annadurai dissented from Dravidar Kazhagam and formed the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on 17 September 1949.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: The first major protest that aided Karunanidhi in gaining ground in Tamil politics was his involvement in the Kallakudi demonstration in Kallakudi in 1953 when he was 29. The original name of this industrial town was Kallakudi. Kallakudi was renamed as "Dalmiapuram" by the state administration led by Rajagopalachari to commemorate the North Indian business magnate Ram Krishan Dalmia, who owned a cement factory there. DMK wanted to change the name back to Kallakudi because Ram Krishna Dalmia depicted north Indian hegemonic power and predatory businesses. In the protest Karunanidhi and his companions erased the name Dalmiapuram from the railway station and lay down on the tracks blocking the course of trains. Six people died in the protest and Karunanidhi was arrested and was sent to jail for six months.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: At the age of 33, Karunanidhi entered the Tamil Nadu assembly by winning the Kulithalai seat in Tiruchirapalli during the 1957 election among the 15 DMK legislators elected. During the 1959 elections of the Madras Municipal Corporation, he was managing the party campaigns, the party won 45 out of the 90 contested. He was elected as DMK treasurer on 25 September 1960. Karunanidhi was elected to the state assembly for the second time on 21 February 1962, from the Thanjavur constituency. He defeated Congress candidate A.Y.S. Parisutha Nadar. In the same year, he became the deputy leader of opposition in the state assembly.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: During this time, Karunanidhi recognised the necessity for a regular engagement with party cadres. He began sending daily letters to his party members, whom he referred to as udanpirappukal (blood brothers), a practice he followed for fifty years.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Anti-Hindi agitations in Tamil Nadu started when the Union government announced that Hindi would become the single official language. The DMK, led by CN Annadurai, planned to organise a series of rallies against the action and declared 26 January to be a day of mourning. Chants of 'Hindi Ozhiga, Tamil Vaazhga' (Down with Hindi, long live Tamil) were heard everywhere. Violence continued across the state and several set themselves on fire. Karunanidhi, the leader of the DMK's anti-Hindi agitation, was arrested on 16 February 1965, and was sentenced to six months imprisonment at the Central Prison in Palayamkottai. He was later released at 15 April 1985.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Annadurai declared Karunnanidhi as a DMK candidate for the February 1967 Madras Legislative Assembly election, at the DMK's State-level meeting at Virugambakkam, Chennai. Karunanidhi, as DMK treasurer, raised 11 lakh rupees for the party's election campaign. For the first time, the DMK was elected with an absolute majority in February 1967 and Annadurai became the Chief minister. After being elected to the Saidapet Assembly constituency in Chennai in March 1967, Karunanidhi was appointed as the Minister of Tamil Nadu Public Works Department.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: On 14 January 1969, under CN Annadurai's administration, Madras State was rechristened as Tamil Nadu. Karunanidhi was in control of five ministries at the time: Transportation, Public Works, Highways, Ports, and Minor Irrigation.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: On 3 February 1969, the existing chief minister Annadurai died of cancer. On 9 February 1969, the DMK's MLAs chose Karunanidhi to lead the party. He was also chosen as the DMK's legislative assembly leader. Karunanidhi was appointed chief minister on 10 February 1969, the next day and was sworn in by Governor Sardar Ujjal Singh. Members of the DMK selected him as the leader of the DMK on 27 July 1969, a position that had been kept vacant during Annadurai's tenure in honour of Periyar.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: The six Ministers of Annadurai's Cabinet were kept by Karunanidhi. In addition to his own ministries, Karunanidhi took on the ministries of late Annadurai and Nedunchezhiyan, who had refused to join his cabinet.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: He once found himself in a difficult situation in the state Assembly when members of the Congress party and Rajagopalachari's Swatantra Party hammered him and his amateur ministers with hard questions. Swatantra Party MP HV Hande described his new government as 'third rate.' Karunanidhi sprang up and exclaimed, 'Sorry, this is not third-rate government', This is a fourth-rate government." The house was startled for a few minutes. Some people believed Karunanidhi had admitted to the government's incompetence. Then Karunanidhi indicated that his government of Shudras, the lowest caste in the caste hierarchy which enraged the opposition.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Karunanidhi started sending letters to his party members in Murasoli, opening with the words "Udan pirappe" (My blood brothers). These letters covered a wide range of themes, including the DMK's philosophy, his justifications for various party actions, and encouragements to party members to work very hard throughout electoral campaigns, among other things. Karunanidhi sent around 7,000 of these letters to party leaders between 1969 and his death in December 2016. They were later published in seven volumes.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Karunanidhi sponsored and presided over a State Autonomy Conference in Madras on 12 September 1970, which included Periyar, West Bengal Chief Minister Ajoy Mukherjee, numerous Parliamentarians, and other dignitaries.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: During his tenure, he granted legal status to self-respect marriages and implemented a number of other programs aimed at protecting women and children. Karunanidhi's administration established the Sattanathan commission for backward classes in 1969 to recognize underprivileged groups and give them with representation in government employment and educational institutions. He implemented the "Manu Needhi Thittam", which mandated district officials to set aside a day every week to hear public grievances, and set up grievance redress procedures. Karunanidhi founded the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board in September 1970 to build permanent houses for those living in slums. His government gave free eye surgeries for the blind from the 'Kannoli Thittam" In 1970, he proposed the Tamil Nadu Land Reforms (Reduction of Ceiling on Land) Act, which cut the maximum amount of land a family could possess to 15 standard acres, down from 30 acres under the previous Congress rule.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: In March 1971, Karunanidhi formed an alliance with the Congress headed by Indira Gandhi, on the precondition that her party will not contest in any Assembly seats. In March 1971, the DMK contests for both the Assembly and the Lok Sabha. The DMK-Congress combination beat the Swatantra Party-Congress (Organisation) alliance led by Kamaraj and Rajagopalachari. The DMK won a landslide victory, with its candidates capturing 184 of the 234 seats on the ballot. Karunanidhi is re-elected as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for the second time. He was elected from Saidapet.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi dismissed DMK's Treasurer M.G. Ramachandran from the party. He made this decision in response to a request from 26 of the executive council's 31 members. Karunanidhi later described the decision as "painful" at a public platform. The DMK send him a requisition accusing him of breaking party rules. MGR said he was banned because he "demanded the party's finances, especially those connected to elections". But the finances were submitted to the party executive committee. There had been conflict in the past, with MGR wanting to be Health Minister but Karunanidhi unwilling to satisfy him. On 18 October 1972, MGR founded the ADMK.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: M Karunanidhi in 1970 issued an order that he said would "eliminate the thorn in the heart" of social reformer Periyar. The decree made it possible for people of all castes to become priests in public temples. However, the Supreme Court overturned this decision in 1972.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Until 1973, Governors raised the national flag in state capitals on both Republic Day and Independence Day. Karunanidhi protested in February of that year that the Chief Ministers were "ignored" on Independence Day and Republic Day. In view of the Rajamannar Committee's report on Centre-State relations(1969-1971) being submitted at the time, he was reinforcing his call for State autonomy. In July, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi gave in to his demands, announcing that Chief Ministers would now hoist the flag on Independence Day, while Governors would do so on Republic Day. Karunanidhi became the first Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu to raise the national flag at Fort St. George on 15 August 1974.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Karunanidhi launched the "Beggar rehabitation scheme" on his 48th birthday on 3 June 1971, and begged for funds for the scheme from shopkeepers near his residence, collecting Rs 3,000 and said "Begging is not an insult to the person doing the begging. But it is an insult to the country and society that made him a beggar." Karunanidhi established the Government Servants' Family Benefit Fund Scheme to give financial compensation to an employee's relatives in the event that he loses his job owing to permanent complete disability, medical incapacity, or death. In 1971, his government increased reservation for BC from 25% to 31% and the reservation for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) from 16% to 18%. Karunanidhi established a separate Ministry for the Welfare of the backward class, the first such in the country. During 1973, women were first inducted into the police force.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: He resisted to let the Emergency's on Tamil Nadu for approximately seven months, until his administration was ousted on 31 January 1976. Karunanidhi was a supporter of Jayaparakash Narayan's anti-Emergency campaign and was the first one to ally with his Janata Party. During an event at Don Bosco School, Karunanidhi stated, "Most likely, this would be my final public function as Chief Minister." He was dismissed before he even got home form the function. This occurred just 50 days before his tenure ended. The DMK suffered a great deal of damage once it was dismissed. 25,000 members of the party including Karunanidhi's close relatives and friends were imprisoned. His maternal uncle Murasoli Maran and his son M.K Stalin suffered health issues from torture and C. Chittibabu died trying to save M.K Stalin in prison. He sent 200 rupees a month to their families of jailed DMK members through the party office.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: A one-man Sarkaria Commission was established in February 1976 under Supreme Court judge Ranjit Singh Sarkaria, shortly after the Indira Gandhi government ousted the DMK administration after allegations of corruption were made by opposition leader MGR. DMK tried to make out that the investigation was an act of political vendetta. The Sarkaria commission described the evidence on the claims as "cogent, convincing, and reliable." Although none of the corruption charges against him were proved.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: AIADMK led alliance won 34 seats out of 39 seats in the 1977 Indian general election. Top party figures such as general secretary V.R. Nedunchezhiyan, K. Rajaram and S. Madhavan quit accusing Karunanidhi for the DMK's failure in the general elections and demanded Karunanidhi to resign as the party's leader. Later, DMK lost the 1977 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election, Karunanidhi won from Anna Nagar consistency and became the leader of the opposition.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: On 29 October 1977, DMK supporters brandished black flags and yelled "Go back, Indira!" as she exited the Madras airport for dissolving the DMK government in 1975. Indira Gandhi's vehicle was unable to pass through the black flag barrier in Madurai. Karunanidhi violated the police prohibition in Madras and led protests in Guindy. Karunanidhi and 28 other DMK leaders were detained the next day and were held in judicial custody.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: MGR offered a kind hand to the Morarji Desai government, while Karunanidhi renewed his alliance with Indira Gandhi. When Indira returned to power following the untimely end of Desai's government, she lost no time in dissolving MGR's cabinet. In the 1980 Indian general election and 1980 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election, the state voted in favour of the AIADMK. MGR was re-elected as Chief Minister. Karunanidhi was elected from Anna Nagar consistency again. In February 1982, Karunanidhi embarked on a week-long padayatra from Madurai to Tiruchendur, spanning about 200 kilometres, in order to seek 'justice' for Subramania Pillai, a Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department (HR & CE) officer who was found dead in November 1980. There were allegations that he was assassinated to cover financial misappropriation in the Tiruchendur temple. While Chief Minister MGR said the victim died by suicide, the DMK claimed it was an assassination. Karunanidhi walked over 30 kilometres during the day with a large crowd of cadres and leaders, stopping for lunch in small towns along the way. He gave public speeches in the evenings. The number of persons joining the padayatra grew by the day, and it became a topic of conversation in every family. The ruling government alarmed by the DMK's support, appointed a one-man committee chaired by retired judge C.J.R. Paul. The conclusions of the panel were never presented to the Assembly. Karunanidhi was able to obtain a copy of the study and disclosed it to the public in 1982 which revealed the panel's conclusion that Pillai had not committed suicide.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Karunanidhi and DMK general secretary K. Anbazhagan resigned from the State Assembly soon after the 1983 anti-Tamil riots in Sri Lanka in protest of the union government and state's failure to defend the Eelam Tamils in Sri Lanka. In May 1986, Karunanidhi established the Tamil Eelam Supporters Organisation (TESO) and held a major national conclave in Madurai to promote the Tamil aspiration for self-determination in Sri Lanka.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Soon after AIADMK's election win in 1980, Congress abandoned its ally DMK and allied with AIADMK. The 1984 elections took place against the backdrop of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's assassination. In December 1984, contested as allies in both Lok Sabha and the State Assembly which conducted together and were carried to victory by the sympathy generated for Indira Gandhi and MGR who was undergoing a Kidney transplant in New york. After being voted to the legislative council in April 1984, Karunanidhi decided to skip the elections. In 1986, the MLC was however abolished by the then Chief Minister, the late MG Ramachandran.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Karunanidhi was instrumental in bringing the seven-party National Front together in Chennai in October 1988. With a plea for social justice, he backed Vishwanath Pratap Singh and his announcement of the Mandal Commission Report. Earlier on 17 September 1988, he organized a large rally in Chennai with largely DMK members and a public meeting to commemorate the National Front's formation. It was the largest rally Chennai has ever seen. Its inauguration was attended by 20 top national opposition leaders, including three non-Congress(I) chief ministers.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: After a 13-year break, the DMK returned to power in 1989. Following MGR's death from a heart attack, the AIADMK split into two. The late Chief Minister MG Ramachandran's wife Janaki Ramachandran led one faction, while J Jayalalithaa led another that helped the DMK. With about 33% of the vote, the DMK was able to secure a solid majority of 151 seats. Karunandihi was elected Chief Minister for the third time from Chennai's Harbour constituency.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Karunanidhi allowed the LTTE to use Tamil Nadu as a rear base for its battle for Eelam Between 1989 and 1991, even after Prabhakaran took up arms against the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF). Karunanidhi accused the Indian soldiers of rape and massacre of Tamils in Sri Lanka and refused to receive the returning soldiers. The Karunanidhi administration is then dismissed and placed under presidents rule by the Chandra Shekhar led union government after only two years of its five-year tenure due to its inability to act against Sri Lankan Tamil militants. Despite Governor S.S. Barnala's unwillingness to report to the Union Cabinet that Tamil Nadu's constitutional apparatus had broken down, the government has been dismissed.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: He enacted legislations which provided financial assistance to widows and inter-caste weddings. In 1989, Karunanidhi passed a law giving equal rights to women in family properties. In 1989, Tamil Nadu became the first state to reserve 30% of government jobs for women. After announcing on 17 November 1990, that his government would give free power connection, he followed it up with a Government Order giving power connection to 12.40 lakh farmers. Women's self-help groups were first established in 1989 in Dharmapuri to integrate women and increase self-employment opportunities. In 1990, Karunanidhi separated reservation for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) which gave 1% separate quota for STs.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi by the LTTE took place during the electoral campaign for the 1991 Indian general elections. The DMK was accused in the incident, mobs vandalised the properties of DMK members and functionaries. The allies AIADMK and the Congress campaigned together and spread propaganda claiming that the DMK was to responsible for Rajiv Gandhi's assassination and it worked. The AIADMK-Congress coalition won a decisive win in the Assembly elections on 24 June 1991, and Jayalalithaa is elected Chief Minister for the first time. Except for Karunanidhi, all DMK candidates lost in the elections.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Following the Demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992, the DMK began holding rallies and public gatherings criticizing the inrentions of Kar sevaks. On 5 December 1992, Karunanidhi stated in Murasoli: "What does Kar Seva mean? God's service? Or The service of planting the seeds of unrest?".


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: In 1996, he formed an alliance with the Tamil Maanila Congress, led by G.K. Moopanar, and was elected Chief Minister for the fourth time in the state. At the centre, he joined the Deve Gowda-led United Front government. Karunanidhi's party, which had only two seats in the 1991 elections got 173 MPs, nine more than the AIADMK had the year before.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: In 1999, Karunanidhi made his most significant ideological concession. The DMK joined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance to fight the elections, portraying Vajpayee as a softer ideological character than LK Advani. The National Democratic Alliance won the elections. Following the DMK's support of the BJP, the TMC, CPI(M), and CPI withdrew. The alliance with the BJP put him under increased pressure from both within and outside of the party. Following the 2002 Gujarat riots, Karunanidhi stated that both DMK and BJP were simply partners in the NDA and that the DMK had no intention of forming an alliance with the BJP. "We are not affiliated with the BJP." We are members of the NDA, and so is the BJP. That's it. So, where does the matter of forming an alliance with the BJP stand?". Later, A Raja said that Karunanidhi told him that he regretted the alliance.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: In 1996–97, Karunanidhi introduced the free bus pass system, which exempted government school and college students from paying for a ticket while giving private school and college students a 50% discount. Karunanidhi devised the Uzhavar Sandhai plan in 1999, which aims to promote farmer-to-consumer communication and remove the middleman and helped farmers gain more remuneration. He opened the Samathuvapuram (Equality Village) schemes in 145 places in Tamil Nadu in 1998 in order to forget and to eliminate caste-based segregation. His administration was credited for accelerating the IT revolution, introducing mini-buses for connectivity. Karunanidhi renamed Madras to Chennai to reflect Tamil identity. He introduced initiative which gives free education for the first graduate in a family up to their graduation. His decision to phase out hand-pulled rickshaws was enthusiastically applauded, and the rickshaw-pullers were given alternative work. He introduced the marriage assistance scheme for impoverished women. His government introduced legislation establishing 33% reservation for women in local government.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: He was responsible for almost all of the state's major infrastructure projects which were implemented during this tenure including the Tidel Park, the Coimbatore flyover, the Koyambedu bus terminal, Gemini flyover in Chennai, the rehabilitation of Poompuhar, the Anna Centenary Library, and the grade separators in Chennai and the new Secretariat complex.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: On 31 December 1975, during a state cabinet meeting led by Karunanidhi, a plan was authorized to erect a statue for Thiruvalluvar at Kanyakumari. The DMK administration was dismissed a month later, and the state was placed under President's Rule. During his next term from 1989 to 1991, he resurrected the project. In March 1990, when presenting the Budget, he stated that a 133-foot-tall monument of Thiruvalluvar will be erected in Kanyakumari. He launched the project six months later. The project was restarted once he reclaimed power in May 1996. He unveiled the monument on New Year's Day, 2000.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Jayalalitha, who was aligned with the Tamil Maanila Congress, the Congress(I), the Pattali Makkal Katchi, the Communist Party of India, and other parties in 2001 Tamil Nadu legislative assembly elections received 49.89% of the vote, defeating the ruling DMK-led alliance by a large majority. Karunanidhi assumption that the DMK will be re-elected on the grounds of its government's good performance proved incorrect. His government's performance was praised by voters but it was not transferred into votes. Karunanidhi was elected from Chepauk constituency.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: In the midnight 30 June 2001, he was arrested on the orders of J. Jayalalithaa as an act of Vendetta based on a First Information report over of alleged losses of ₹12 crore on construction of flyovers filed by Commissioner J. C. T. Acharyalu who Karunanidhi had earlier kept under suspension. He was arrested after a few hours after the complaint with no time for investigation. Sun TV broadcast these images live across the state, the cops stormed in, busted open his bedroom door, and hauled him out. The images of Karunanidhi falling, being dragged, being lifted up and pushed by the police created a sympathy wave for him. T R Baalu and Murasoli Maran, two Union ministers, were also detained. Karunanidhi told reporters "They didn't have a summons. They didn't have an arrest warrant. They claimed that these were unnecessary. They dragged me. They pushed me. They ripped my shirt. We treated her with respect when we arrested her." Union Law Minister Arun Jaitley claimed it was a case of 'personal agenda'. The Union ministers were freed and the allegations against them were dismissed. Karunanidhi was later released on bail on humanitarian grounds. The police later dropped the case in 2006 citing it was a "mistake of facts".


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Karunanidhi, on the other hand, left the BJP coalition in 2004 as the Union government refused to revoke the Prevention of Terrorism Act. He stood for the United Progressive Alliance led by the Congress party in the general elections, which won all 39 seats of the Parliament from Tamil Nadu.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: On 8 May 2006, Karunanidhi's administration became the first minority administration in Tamil Nadu's history, and soon after declared a price cut for rice and the waiver of cooperative farmer loans, two of the DMK's main electoral promises. The DMK won 96 of the 234 seats and emerged as the single-largest party in the Assembly with the alliance of CPI-M, Congress and CPI. Karunanidhi won from Chepauk constituency.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Karunanidhi in January 2009 threatened to resign from the ruling alliance if India does not assist in securing a cease-fire in the Sri Lankan civil war.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: In 2006, the DMK administration formed 30 special welfare boards entrusted with lobbying for the rights of disadvantaged and marginalised people ranging from transgenders to construction workers who may not have political influence or form voting groups and endure many forms of oppression. In 2006, Karunanidhi introduced the 'Anaithu Grama Anna Marumalarchi Thittam,' which aimed for the establishment of a library in each village panchayat. In September 2006, he implemented the free land distribution scheme for the benefit of the landless poor. Karunanidhi saw the value of the ramp as a wheelchair user. He mandated that all new government buildings, as well as existing ones, include a ramp and an elevator. He reserved 3% of government jobs for the physically challenged. He launched the free gas connection distribution scheme in mid-January 2007. In September 2008, he declared that 1 kg of rice will be offered at ₹1 at PDS stores, surpassing the campaign promise of ₹2. In 2009, he introduced a special quota of 3 percent reservations for the Arunthathiyar community. In 2019, the Arunthathiyars started building a temple "as a mark of thanksgiving to Kalaignar". Karunanidhi launched the "Kalaignar Kapitu Thitam" in 2009 to give people from economically disadvantaged backgrounds receive quality medical treatments without discrimination. At least 3 out of 5 people in the state have medical insurance due to this scheme. In 2010, he introduced the "Kalaignar Veetu Vasathi Thittam" to convert thatched huts to concrete houses in the state. During this tenure he implemented the construction of new Collectorates in nine districts, many universities were established, and highways and flyovers were built. The bus terminal in Koyambedu in Chennai, which is the largest in Asia, was built. His health-care initiatives in the tenure, which included financial help for pregnant mothers, were well received by Jayalalithaa. Multiple medical camps were held around the state as part of the Varumun Kappom Thittam initiative, benefiting a huge portion of Tamil Nadu's population. Schemes were implemented to provide free color TVs to every family with ration cards and to provide gas stoves with free gas connection to the poor women who use wood stove-kerosene stove.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: During the 2011 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election, the AIADMK alliance won 203 seats and the DMK alliance won 31. Karunanidi won by a huge margin of 50,249 votes Tiruvarur Assembly constituency. Following the defeat, M. Karunanidhi said, "People have given me proper rest," before congratulating the people of the state.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: On his 86th birthday, Karunanidhi donated his Gopalapuram home to the Annai Anjugam Trust, which would manage a free hospital for the underprivileged after his and his wife's demise.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: During the 2016 Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections, which the DMK lost only by 1.5 per cent votes. Karunanidhi won from Tiruvarur constituency with margin of 68,366 votes thereby recording his 13th straight victory since 1957.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: In January 2017, Karunanidhi's son M.K Stalin was made as the working president of the DMK at the general council meet due to his deteriorating health.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Karunanidhi was known among his supporters as the "Tamil Inaththalaivar" (leader of the Tamil race) He was close to numerous Sri Lankan Tamil politicians. In 1956, Karunanidhi issued a resolution at the DMK council in Chidambaram denouncing Sri Lanka's 'Sinhala Only policy'. He was acquainted with S.J.V. Chelvanayakam and was close with A. Amirthalingam, the head of the Tamil United Liberation Front. After 1977 anti-Tamil pogrom and 1983 anti-Tamil pogrom, the his administration was at the forefront of organizing protest demonstrations in Tamil Nadu. In protest at the 1983 riots, Karunanidhi and DMK general secretary K. Anbazhagan resigned from the State Assembly.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: The DMK was thought to support the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO). After the LTTE started a war against its fellow Tamil militant group TELO in May 1986, Karunanidhi was skeptical of the LTTE's strategy. Karunanidhi founded the Tamil Eelam Supporters Organisation (TESO) and held a large national conference in Madurai in May 1986 to emphasize the Tamil aspiration for sovereignty in Sri Lanka, during which he urged the LTTE to cease murdering TELO cadre. The LTTE then proceeded to kill the majority of the TELO cadres. The infighting was criticized by Karunanidhi as Sagodhara Yudham' (A Battle Between Brothers). Since the AIADMK and MGR were prepared to support the LTTE as the only representation of Sri Lankan Tamils, his constant attempts to convey the necessity for an unified front to the LTTE were ignored. Karunanidhi was a vocal opponent of the decision to send Indian peace keeping forces (IPKF) to Sri Lanka as part of the Indo-Sri Lankan Accord, and he was accused of being anti-national for his outspoken criticism of the atrocities perpetrated by the IPKF. He viewed the expulsion of Muslims from the North by the LTTE in 1990 as "ethnic cleansing." His inaction against the LTTE in the state finally led to the Chandrasekhar government dismissing his cabinet in January 1991. After the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi by LTTE he was not friendly with the overt LTTE sympathizers in the state.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: He ordered a special investigation of the conditions in the Tamil refugee camps in 2006, and subsequently provided funds to repair deteriorating dwellings. In 2009, during the final stages of the war, Karunanidhi was unable to convince the UPA alliance to intervene.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Karunanidhi on multiple occasions, expressed his admiration for Thiruvalluvar. The DMK administration built Valluvar Kottam, a memorial in Chennai dedicated to Valluvar in the mid-1970s. However, the government was removed from power in 1976, just weeks before the memorial was to be opened. Karunanidhi awaited 13 years to visit the memorial, and when the DMK regained power in January 1989, he held the swearing-in ceremony there. Karunanidhi built the Silappadikaram Art Gallery in Poompuhar and a special department for Tamil development as Chief Minister. His administration passed an order making Tamil obligatory in all schools until Class 10th a few weeks after he became Chief Minister in May 2006. Karunanidhi, a supporter of the two-language formula, had stressed the need of retaining English as the sole additional language in educational institutions. After consulting with scholars, his government determined in 1972 that Thiruvalluvar was born in 31 BCE. Karunanidhi and Congress leader Sonia Gandhi were vital in ensuring classical language status to Tamil in 2004.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: He delivered the special address on the inaugural day of 3rd World Tamil Conference held in Paris in 1970, and also on the inaugural day of 6th World Tamil Conference held in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) in 1987. He penned the song "Semmozhiyaana Tamizh Mozhiyaam", the official theme song for the World Classical Tamil Conference 2010, that was set to tune by A. R. Rahman.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: In June 2010, his administration organized the World Classical Tamil Conference in Coimbatore. 'Ulaga Tamizh Manadu' (World Tamil Conference), was the first coined word for the conference in 2010, however the IATR organisation that had right to conduct the conference was not happy hence change in name. In the conference, Karunanidhi described Tamil as supreme among all classical languages. He reinforced the demand for Tamil to be recognized as a language of the Madras High Court. Karunanidhi announced the foundation of the World Tholkappiyar Classical Tamil Sangam, that would include worldwide academics and will be based in Madurai, to hold World Classical Tamil Conferences at periodic intervals in the future. and to bring dispersed Tamil research centres and develop connections with Tamil organizations throughout the world.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Karunanidhi began his career as a screenwriter in the Tamil film industry. His first movie as screenwriter was Rajakumari produced by Coimbatore-based Jupiter Pictures directed by A. S. A. Sami starring M. G. Ramachandran. During this period he and M. G. Ramachandran, then an upcoming actor and later day founder of AIADMK party started a long friendship eventually turning into rivals in later years politics. His stint with Jupiters Pictures then housed at Central Studios continued for another MGR starrer Abhimanyu, Marudhanaattu Ilavarasi (1950) starring M. G. Ramachandran and V. N. Janaki.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Around late 1949, T. R. Sundaram of Modern Theatres Studio in Salem engaged Karunanidhi as scriptwriter for the film Manthiri Kumari starring M. G. Ramachandran which would become be a blockbuster hit. Later T. R. Sundaram had Karunanidhi on permanent rolls at Modern Studio.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Karunanidhi chose to pen a script for a TV series based on the Vaishnavite philosopher-sage Ramanuja. He claimed that his party opposed Hindu fundamentalism, not Hindus.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: His most notable movie was "Parasakthi", a turning point in Tamil cinema, as it espoused the ideologies of the Dravidian movement and also introduced two prominent actors of Tamil filmdom, Sivaji Ganesan and S. S. Rajendran. The movie was initially marred with controversies and faced censorship troubles, but was eventually released in 1952. becoming a huge box office hit. The movie was opposed by orthodox Hindus since it contained elements that criticised Hinduism. The story contained condemnation of Tamil Nadu's severe social disparities, India's power difference between South and the North, and the moral corruption of the Hindu priestly caste. Upper caste Hindus sought to ban the movie.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Two other movies written by Karunanidhi that contained such messages were Panam (1952) directed by famous comedian and political activist N. S. Krishnan and Thangarathnam (1960) produced and acted by S. S. Rajendran another popular actor and DMK activist. These movies contained themes such as widow remarriage, abolition of untouchability, self-respect marriages, abolition of zamindari and abolition of religious hypocrisy. Another memorable hit movie was Manohara (1954) starring Sivaji Ganesan, S. S. Rajendran and P. Kannamba known for its crisp dialogues.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Through his wit and oratorical skills he rapidly rose as a popular politician. As his movies and plays with strong social messages became popular, they suffered from increased censorship; two of his plays in the 1950s were banned. He was famous for writing historical and social (reformist) stories which propagated the socialist and rationalist ideals of the Dravidian movement to which he belonged. Alongside C. N. Annadurai he began using Tamil cinema to propagate his political ideals through his movies. His compositions, which often chastised upper castes while it making heroes out of the poor and advocating secularism, were seen as revolutionary.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: At the age of 20, Karunanidhi went to work for Jupiter Pictures as a scriptwriter. His first film, "Rajakumaari", gained him much popularity. It was here that his skills as a scriptwriter were honed, which extended to several films. He was active in screenwriting even during his later political career until 2011 when he last wrote for historic movie Ponnar Shankar.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Karunanidhi is known for his contributions to Tamil literature. His contributions cover a wide range: poems, letters, screenplays, novels, biographies, historical novels, stage-plays, dialogues and movie songs. He has written "Kuraloviam" for Thirukural, Tholkaappiya Poonga, Poombukar, as well as many poems, essays and books. Apart from literature, Karunanidhi has also contributed to the Tamil language through art and architecture. Like the Kuraloviyam, in which Kalaignar wrote about Thirukkural, through the construction of Valluvar Kottam he gave an architectural presence to Thiruvalluvar, in Chennai. At Kanyakumari, Karunanidhi constructed a 133-foot-high statue of Thiruvalluvar in honour of the scholar.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: The books written by Karunanidhi include "Sanga Thamizh", "Thirukkural Urai", "Ponnar Sankar", "Romapuri Pandian", "Thenpandi Singam", "Vellikizhamai", "Nenjukku Needhi", "Iniyavai Irubathu" and "Kuraloviam". His books of prose and poetry number more than 100.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Karunanidhi's stage plays include: "Manimagudam", "Ore Ratham", "Palaniappan", "Thooku Medai", "Kagithapoo", "Naane Arivali", "Vellikizhamai", "Udhayasooriyan" and "Silappathikaram".


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Karunanidhi married three times. Karunanidhi's parents were eager to marry him off to Padma, the sister of C.S Jayaraman. He made one condition that the bride side must accept a reformist wedding. He hoped they would call off the marriage as he was not earning and the bride's father was religious but their family agreed to their marriage also held the marriage of their son C.S Jayaraman the same day. He married Padmavathi Ammal on 13 September 1944, under the Dravidian movement's Self-Respect form of marriage where the bride and groom exchanged garlands, without a thaali (mangalsutra), and specifically without Brahmin priests presiding. They had a son M. K. Muthu, who was briefly active in Tamil films and politics. Padmavathi died in 1948 soon after childbirth. In September of that year, Karunanidhi's marriage was arranged with Dayalu Ammal, with whom he had three sons, M. K. Alagiri, M. K. Stalin and M. K. Tamilarasu, and a daughter, M. K. Selvi. Alagiri and Stalin are active in state politics and competed to be their father's political successors, before Stalin prevailed. Tamilarasu is a businessman and film-producer and campaigner for his father and his party; Selvi campaigned for Karunanidhi elections too. With his third marriage with Rajathi Ammal, Karunanidhi had a daughter, Kanimozhi.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Karunanidhi's left eye got critically injured in 1953 when the vehicle in which he was travelling got involved in an accident near Tirupattur. An eye surgery was performed and doctors recommended him to wear sunglasses to protect his eyes from the sun. Karunanidhi used regular spectacles, However, after American ophthalmologists recommended for his ongoing discomfort in his left eye, which he had been suffering from since the mid-1950s, he switched to his trade-mark dark glasses in 1971. Doctors determined that the dark glass frames were too hefty for him in November 2017 and advised a lighter frame.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Since 2004, he has had to deal with his deteriorating health and struggled to stand when a spinal operation went wrong and became wheelchair-dependent. After a few years, he upgraded to a motorised wheelchair and a customized van with a hydraulic system to raise the chair into or out of the vehicle easily.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Due to a drug-induced allergy, Karunanidhi became unwell in October 2016. He was hospitalized in the first week of December 2016 for "optimization of nutrition and hydration" and subsequently for a throat and lung infections. He went through a tracheostomy surgery to improve his breathing. He has stayed out of politics since then, making just a few public appearances. His last public appearance was on 3 June 2018, when he turned 94.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: On 28 July 2018, Karunanidhi's health deteriorated and became "extremely critical and unstable", and he was admitted at Kauvery Hospital in Chennai for treatment. He died there at 6:10 p.m. on 7 August 2018 due to age-related illness, which led to multiple organ failure.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: The government of Tamil Nadu declared a public holiday on 8 August 2018 and a seven-day mourning after Karunanidhi's death. A national mourning on 8 August 2018 was announced by the government of India. The national flag flew half-mast in Delhi, all state capitals and across Tamil Nadu on 8 August 2018. The governments of Karnataka and Bihar announced one-day and two-days state mourning respectively.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: On 18 August 2018, the DMK said that as many as 248 party workers died, 'shocked' by Karunanidhi's demise, and announced a solatium of Rs 200,000 to their families.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Karunanidhi contested and won in all Tamil Nadu Assembly general elections (then Madras) since 1957 except 1984 when he didn't contest the election. He resigned immediately after being elected in 1991, due to the routing of his party (only 2 seats out of 234).


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: In September 2007, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) opposed Sethusamudram Canal project stating that it will demolish limestone shoals the party claimed to be remains of a bridge built by Rama to get to Lanka to save his wife Sita. He replied, "It is said that there was a God thousands of years ago called Ram. Do not touch the bridge built by him. I ask who is this Ram? Which engineering college did he graduate from?" BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad accused Karunanidhi of religious discrimination when noting "We would like to know from Karunanidhi if he would make a similar statement against the head of any other religion." CPM general secretary Prakash Karat came to his support and said "in this country, there are individuals with religious views and people like us. It is not wrong to voice an opinion". Later, Karunanidhi clarified his remarks by saying that "I'm not against Ram, my conscience is my God".


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Suspected Sangh Parivar activists attacked the house of Karunanidhi's daughter Selvi in Bangalore with petrol bombs and stones over his comments. A bus bound to Chennai was set on fire in Bangalore by a mob which burnt alive two people. The police blamed the attack on Hindu activists who were enraged over his comments. Karunanidhi reiterated his statement and said the attacks showed the "true culture of Ram Sevaks."


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: In an April 2009 interview to NDTV, Karunanidhi made a controversial remark stating that "Prabhakaran is my good friend" and also said, "India could not forgive the LTTE for assassinating Rajiv Gandhi". An interim report of Justice Jain Commission, which oversaw the investigation into Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, had indicted Karunanidhi for abetting Rajiv Gandhi's murderers, who belonged to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). but the final report contained no such allegations.


title: M. Karunanidhi

text: Karunanidhi has been accused by opponents, by some members of his party, and by other political observers of trying to promote nepotism. Many political opponents and DMK party senior leaders have been critical of the rise of M. K. Stalin in the party. But some of the party men have pointed out that Stalin has come up on his own. Stalin was jailed under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) during the Emergency that a fellow DMK party prisoner died trying to save him.


title: Helen (actress)

text: Helen Ann Richardson Khan (born as Helen Ann Richardson; 21 November 1938), known mononymously as Helen, is an Indian actress and dancer. She has appeared in over 700 films, making her a prolific performer in Hindi cinema. She is known for her supporting, character roles and guest appearances in a career spanning seventy years.


title: Helen (actress)

text: Helen has received two Filmfare Awards, and is often cited as one of the most popular nautch dancers of her time. In 2009, Helen was awarded with the Padma Shri by the Government of India. She was the inspiration for four films and a book.


title: Helen (actress)

text: Helen Ann Richardson was born on 21 November 1938 in Rangoon, Burma to an Anglo Indian father and a Burmese mother. Her father's name was George Desmier and her mother's name was Marlene. She has a brother named Roger and a sister named Jennifer. Their father died during World War II. The family then trekked to Dibrugarh of Assam in 1943 in order to escape from the Japanese occupation of Burma. Helen told "Filmfare" during an interview in 1964: ...we trekked alternately through wilderness and hundreds of villages, surviving on the generosity of people, for we were penniless, with no food and few clothes. Occasionally, we met British soldiers who provided us with transport, found us refuge and treated our blistered feet and bruised bodies and fed us. By the time we reached Dibrugarh in Assam, our group had been reduced to half. Some had fallen ill and been left behind, some had died of starvation and disease. My mother miscarried along the way. The survivors were admitted to the Dibrugarh hospital for treatment. Mother and I had been virtually reduced to skeletons and my brother's condition was critical. We spent two months in hospital. When we recovered, we moved to Calcutta, and sadly my brother died there due to smallpox". She quit her schooling to support her family because her mother's salary as a nurse was not enough to feed a family of four. In a documentary called "Queen of the Nautch girls", Helen said she was 19 years old in 1958 when she got her first big break in "Howrah Bridge".


title: Helen (actress)

text: Helen was introduced to Bollywood (Hindi cinema) when a family friend, an actress known as Cuckoo, helped her find jobs as a group dancer in the films "Shabistan" (1951) and "Awaara" (1951). She was soon working regularly and was featured as a solo dancer in films such as "Alif Laila" (1954) and "Hoor-e-Arab" (1955). She also featured as Street singer in film "Mayurpankh" (1954).


title: Helen (actress)

text: She got her major break in 1958, aged 19, when she performed on the song "Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu" in Shakti Samanta's film, "Howrah Bridge", which was sung by Geeta Dutt. After that, offers started pouring in throughout the 1960s and 1970s. During her initial career, Geeta Dutt sang many songs for her. In the plot of many of the films of this period, Helen performs a song or dance then is killed, leaving the film's "good woman" available for the hero.


title: Helen (actress)

text: The Bollywood playback singer Asha Bhosle also frequently sang for Helen, particularly during the 1960s and the early 1970s. She was nominated for the "Filmfare" Best Supporting Actress Award in 1965 for her role as Kitty Kelly in "Gumnaam". She played dramatic roles in films like "China Town" and "Sachaai" starring Shammi Kapoor which went on to be very successful at the box office. She also played a sensitive character in the film "Chhote Sarkar" (1974) starring Shammi Kapoor and Sadhana. With Shammi Kapoor she did many hit dance numbers like 'Suku suku' in "Junglee", ' Yamma yamma' in "Chinatown", 'O haseena zulfonwali' in "Teesri Manzil", 'Hai pyar ka hi naam' in "Singapore", and 'Muqabla humse na karo' in "Prince".


title: Helen (actress)

text: She performed onstage in London, Paris, and Hong Kong. In 1973, "Helen, Queen of the Nautch Girls", a 30-minute documentary film from Merchant Ivory Films, was released. Anthony Korner directed and narrated the film. A book about Helen was published by Jerry Pinto in 2006, titled "The Life and Times of an H-Bomb", which went on to win the National Film Award for Best Book on Cinema in 2007. Writer Salim Khan helped her get roles in some of the films he was co-scripting with Javed Akhtar: "Immaan Dharam", "Don", "Dostana", and "Sholay". This was followed by a role in Mahesh Bhatt's film "Lahu Ke Do Rang" (1979), for which she won a Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award. In 1999 Helen was given India's Filmfare lifetime achievement award.


title: Helen (actress)

text: Helen officially retired from movies in 1983, but she has since then appeared in a few guest roles such as "" (1996) and "Mohabbatein" (2000). She also made a special appearance as the mother of real-life step-son Salman Khan's character in "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam". She also appeared in Humko Deewana Kar Gaye in 2006.


title: Helen (actress)

text: Helen was selected for the Padma Shri awards of 2009 along with Aishwarya Rai and Akshay Kumar. She appeared as a judge in the semifinals and finals of India's 2009 "Dancing Queen" television series.


title: Helen (actress)

text: Helen's first marriage was in 1957 to film director Prem Narayan Arora of Dil Daulat Duniya fame, who was 27 years older than her. She divorced him in 1974. In 1981, Helen married Salim Khan, a prominent Bollywood screenplay writer. Khan was already married and the father of four children; Helen joined the Khan family and had a large role (along with Khan and his first wife Salma) in keeping the family united. All of Helen's step-children have bonded closely with her, and Helen is almost invariably accompanied in public appearances by Salma Khan, Salim's first wife. Helen is a Christian.


title: Cab Calloway

text: Cabell Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, conductor and dancer. He was associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he was a regular performer and became a popular vocalist of the swing era. His niche of mixing jazz and vaudeville won him acclaim during a career that spanned over 65 years.


title: Cab Calloway

text: Calloway was a master of energetic scat singing and led one of the most popular dance bands in the United States from the early 1930s to the late 1940s. His band included trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie, Jonah Jones, and Adolphus "Doc" Cheatham, saxophonists Ben Webster and Leon "Chu" Berry, guitarist Danny Barker, bassist Milt Hinton, and drummer Cozy Cole.


title: Cab Calloway

text: Calloway had several hit records in the 1930s and 1940s, becoming known as the "Hi-de-ho" man of jazz for his most famous song, "Minnie the Moocher", originally recorded in 1931. He reached the "Billboard" charts in five consecutive decades (1930s–1970s). Calloway also made several stage, film, and television appearances until his death in 1994 at the age of 86. He had roles in "Stormy Weather" (1943), "Porgy and Bess" (1953), "The Cincinnati Kid" (1965), and "Hello Dolly!" (1967). His career saw renewed interest when he appeared in the 1980 film "The Blues Brothers."


title: Cab Calloway

text: Calloway was the first African-American musician to sell a million records from a single and to have a nationally syndicated radio show. In 1993, Calloway received the National Medal of Arts from the United States Congress. He posthumously received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008. His song "Minnie the Moocher" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999, and added to the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry in 2019. Three years later in 2022, the National Film Registry selected his home films for preservation as "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant films". He is also inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame and the International Jazz Hall of Fame.


title: Cab Calloway

text: Calloway was born in Rochester, New York, on December 25, 1907 to an African American family. His mother, Martha Eulalia Reed, was a Morgan State College graduate, teacher, and church organist. His father, Cabell Calloway Jr., graduated from Lincoln University of Pennsylvania in 1898, and worked as a lawyer and in real estate. The family moved to Baltimore, Maryland, when Calloway was 11. Soon after, his father died and his mother remarried to John Nelson Fortune.


title: Cab Calloway

text: Calloway grew up in the West Baltimore neighborhood of Druid Hill. He often skipped school to earn money by selling newspapers, shining shoes, and cooling down horses at the Pimlico racetrack where he developed an interest in racing and betting on horse races. After he was caught playing dice on the church steps, his mother sent him to Downingtown Industrial and Agricultural School in 1921, a reform school run by his mother's uncle in Chester County, Pennsylvania.


title: Cab Calloway

text: Calloway resumed hustling when he returned to Baltimore and worked as a caterer while he improved his studies in school. He began private vocal lessons in 1922, and studied music throughout his formal schooling. Despite his parents' and teachers' disapproval of jazz, he began performing in nightclubs in Baltimore. His mentors included drummer Chick Webb and pianist Johnny Jones. Calloway joined his high school basketball team, and in his senior year he started playing professional basketball with the Baltimore Athenians, a team in the Negro Professional Basketball League. He graduated from Frederick Douglass High School in 1925.


title: Cab Calloway

text: In 1927, Calloway joined his older sister, Blanche Calloway, on tour for the popular black musical revue "Plantation Days". His sister became an accomplished bandleader before him, and he often credited her as his inspiration for entering show business. Calloway's mother wanted him to be a lawyer like his father, so once the tour ended he enrolled at Crane College in Chicago, but he was more interested in singing and entertaining. While at Crane he refused the opportunity to play basketball for the Harlem Globetrotters to pursue a singing career.


title: Cab Calloway

text: Calloway spent most of his nights at Chicago's Dreamland Café, Sunset Cafe, and Club Berlin, performing as a singer, drummer, and master of ceremonies. At Sunset Cafe, he was an understudy for singer Adelaide Hall. There he met and performed with Louis Armstrong, who taught him to sing in the scat style. He left school to sing with the Alabamians band.


title: Cab Calloway

text: In 1929, Calloway relocated to New York with the band. They opened at the Savoy Ballroom on September 20, 1929. When the Alabamians broke up, Armstrong recommended Calloway as a replacement singer in the musical revue "Connie's Hot Chocolates". He established himself as a vocalist singing "Ain't Misbehavin'" by Fats Waller. While Calloway was performing in the revue, the Missourians asked him to front their band.


title: Cab Calloway

text: In 1930, the Missourians became known as Cab Calloway and His Orchestra. At the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York, the band was hired in 1931 to substitute for the Duke Ellington Orchestra while Ellington's band was on tour. Their popularity led to a permanent position. The band also performed twice a week for radio broadcasts on NBC. Calloway appeared on radio programs with Walter Winchell and Bing Crosby and was the first African American to have a nationally syndicated radio show. During the depths of the Great Depression, Calloway was earning $50,000 a year at 23 years old.In 1931, Calloway recorded his most famous song, "Minnie the Moocher." It was the first single record by an African American to sell a million copies. Calloway performed the song and two others, "St. James Infirmary Blues" and "The Old Man of the Mountain," in the Betty Boop cartoons "Minnie the Moocher" (1932), "Snow-White" (1933), and "The Old Man of the Mountain" (1933). Calloway performed voice-over for these cartoons, and through rotoscoping, his dance steps were the basis of the characters' movements.


title: Cab Calloway

text: As a result of the success of "Minnie the Moocher", Calloway became identified with its chorus, gaining the nickname "The Hi De Ho Man". He performed in the 1930s in a series of short films for Paramount. Calloway's and Ellington's groups were featured on film more than any other jazz orchestras of the era. In these films, Calloway can be seen performing a gliding backstep dance move, which some observers have described as the precursor to Michael Jackson's moonwalk. Calloway said 50 years later, "it was called The Buzz back then." The 1933 film "International House" featured Calloway performing his classic song, "Reefer Man", a tune about a man who smokes marijuana. Fredi Washington was cast as Calloway's love interest in "Cab Calloway's Hi-De-Ho" (1934). Lena Horne made her film debut as a dancer in "Cab Calloway's Jitterbug Party" (1935).


title: Cab Calloway

text: Calloway made his first Hollywood feature film appearance opposite Al Jolson in "The Singing Kid" (1936). He sang several duets with Jolson, and the film included Calloway's band and 22 Cotton Club dancers from New York. According to film critic Arthur Knight, the creators of the film intended to "erase and celebrate boundaries and differences, including most emphatically the color line...when Calloway begins singing in his characteristic style – in which the words are tools for exploring rhythm and stretching melody – it becomes clear that American culture is changing around Jolson and with (and through) Calloway".


title: Cab Calloway

text: Calloway's band recorded for Brunswick and the ARC dime-store labels (Banner, Cameo, Conqueror, Perfect, Melotone, Banner, Oriole) from 1930 to 1932, when he signed with RCA Victor for a year. He returned to Brunswick in late 1934 through 1936, then moved to Variety, run by his manager, Irving Mills. He remained with Mills when the label collapsed during the Depression. Their sessions were continued by Vocalion through 1939 and OKeh through 1942. After an AFM recording ban due to the 1942–44 musicians' strike, Calloway continued to record.


title: Cab Calloway

text: In 1938, Calloway released "Cab Calloway's Cat-ologue: A "Hepster's" Dictionary", the first dictionary published by an African American. It became the official jive language reference book of the New York Public Library. A revised version of the book was released with "Professor Cab Calloway's Swingformation Bureau" in 1939. He released the last edition, "The New Cab Calloway's Hepsters Dictionary: Language of Jive," in 1944. On a BBC Radio documentary about the dictionary in 2014, Poet Lemn Sissay stated, "Cab Calloway was taking ownership of language for a people who, just a few generations before, had their own languages taken away."


title: Cab Calloway

text: Calloway's band in the 1930s and 1940s included many notable musicians, such as Ben Webster, Illinois Jacquet, Milt Hinton, Danny Barker, Doc Cheatham, Ed Swayze, Cozy Cole, Eddie Barefield, and Dizzy Gillespie. Calloway later recalled, "What I expected from my musicians was what I was selling: the right notes with precision, because I would build a whole song around a scat or dance step." Calloway and his band formed baseball and basketball teams. They played each other while on the road, play against local semi-pro teams, and play charity games. His renown as a talented musician was such that, in the opening scene of the 1940 musical film "Strike Up the Band", starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, Rooney's character is admonished by his music teacher, "You are not Cab Calloway," after playing an improvised drum riff in the middle of a band lesson.


title: Cab Calloway

text: In 1941, Calloway fired Gillespie from his orchestra after an onstage fracas erupted when Calloway was hit with spitballs. He wrongly accused Gillespie, who stabbed Calloway in the leg with a small knife.


title: Cab Calloway

text: From 1941 to 1942, Calloway hosted a weekly radio quiz show called "The Cab Calloway Quizzicale". Calling himself "Doctor" Calloway, it was a parody of "The College of Musical Knowledge", a radio contest created by bandleader Kay Kyser. During the years of World War II, Calloway entertained troops in United States before they departed overseas. The Calloway Orchestra also recorded songs full of social commentary including "Doing the Reactionary," "The Führer's Got the Jitters," "The Great Lie," "We'll Gather Lilacs," and "My Lament for V Day."


title: Cab Calloway

text: In 1943, Calloway appeared in the film "Stormy Weather", one of the first mainstream Hollywood films with a black cast. The film featured other top performers of the time, including Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Lena Horne, the Nicholas Brothers, and Fats Waller. Calloway would host Horne's character Selina Rogers as she performed the film's title song as part of a big all-star revue for World War II soldiers.


title: Cab Calloway

text: Calloway wrote a humorous pseudo-gossip column called "Coastin' with Cab" for "Song Hits" magazine. It was a collection of celebrity snippets, such as the following in the May 1946 issue: "Benny Goodman was dining at Ciro's steak house in New York when a very homely girl entered. 'If her face is her fortune,' Benny quipped, 'she'd be tax-free.'" In the late 1940s, however, Calloway's bad financial decisions and his gambling caused his band to break up.


title: Cab Calloway

text: In 1953, he played the prominent role of Sportin' Life in a production of "Porgy and Bess" with William Warfield and Leontyne Price as the title characters.


title: Cab Calloway

text: Calloway and his daughter Lael recorded "Little Child", an adaption of "Little Boy and the Old Man". Released on ABC-Paramount, the single charted on the "Billboard" Hot 100 in 1956.


title: Cab Calloway

text: In 1956, Clarence Robinson, who produced revues at the original Cotton Club and the Apollo Theater, and choreographed the movie "Stormy Weather", cast Calloway as the main attraction for his project in Miami. The Cotton Club of Miami featured a troupe of 48 people, including singer Sallie Blair, George Kirby, Abbey Lincoln, and the dance troupe of Norma Miller. The success of the shows led to the Cotton Club Revue of 1957 which had stops at the Royal Nevada Hotel in Las Vegas, the Theatre Under The Sky in Central Park, Town Casino in Buffalo.


title: Cab Calloway

text: For the second season, Lee Sherman was the choreographer of The Cotton Club Revue of 1958, which starred Calloway. The revue featured tap dancing prodigies Maurice Hines and Gregory Hines.


title: Cab Calloway

text: In March 1958, Calloway released his album "Cotton Club Revue of 1958" on Gone Records. It was produced by George Goldner, conducted and arranged by Eddie Barefield. That year, Calloway appeared in the film "St. Louis Blues", the life story of W.C. Handy, featuring Nat King Cole and Eartha Kitt.


title: Cab Calloway

text: The Cotton Club Revue of 1959 traveled to South America for engagements in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. They also stopped in Uruguay and Argentina before returning to North America which included a run on Broadway. Directed by Mervyn Nelson and choreographed by Joel Nobel, this edition featured Ketty Lester, The Three Chocolateers. The revue toured Europe in 1959 and 1960, bringing their act to Madrid, Paris, and London.


title: Cab Calloway

text: Calloway remained a household name due to TV appearances and occasional concerts in the US and Europe. In 1961 and 1962, he toured with the Harlem Globetrotters, providing halftime entertainment during games.


title: Cab Calloway

text: Calloway was cast as "Yeller" in the film "The Cincinnati Kid" (1965) with Steve McQueen, Ann-Margret, and Edward G. Robinson. Calloway appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" on March 19, 1967, with his daughter Chris Calloway. In 1967, he co-starred with Pearl Bailey as Horace Vandergelder in an all-black cast of "Hello, Dolly!" on Broadway during its original run. Chris Calloway also joined the cast as Minnie Fay. The new cast revived the flagging business for the show and RCA Victor released a new cast recording, rare for the time. In 1973–74, Calloway was featured in an unsuccessful Broadway revival of "The Pajama Game" with Hal Linden and Barbara McNair.


title: Cab Calloway

text: His autobiography, "Of Minnie the Moocher and Me" was published in 1976. It included his complete "Hepster's Dictionary" as an appendix. In 1978, Calloway released a disco version of "Minnie the Moocher" on RCA which reached the "Billboard" R&B chart. Calloway was introduced to a new generation when he appeared in the 1980 film "The Blues Brothers" performing "Minnie the Moocher".


title: Cab Calloway

text: In 1985, Calloway and his Orchestra appeared at The Ritz London Hotel where he was filmed for a 60-minute BBC TV show called "The Cotton Club Comes to the Ritz". Adelaide Hall, Doc Cheatham, Max Roach, and the Nicholas Brothers also appeared on the bill. A performance with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra directed by Erich Kunzel in August 1988 was recorded on video and features a classic presentation of "Minnie the Moocher", 57 years after he first recorded it.


title: Cab Calloway

text: In January 1990, Calloway performed at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, with the Baltimore Symphony. That year he made a cameo in Janet Jackson's music video "Alright". He continued to perform at Jazz festivals, including the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Greenwood Jazz. In 1992, he embarked on a month-long tour of European jazz festivals. He was booked to headline "The Jazz Connection: The Jewish and African-American Relationship," at New York City's Avery Fisher Hall in 1993, but he pulled out due to a fall at home.


title: Cab Calloway

text: In January 1927, Calloway had a daughter named Camay with Zelma Proctor, a fellow student. His daughter was one of the first African-Americans to teach in a white school in Virginia. Calloway married his first wife Wenonah "Betty" Conacher in July 1928. They adopted a daughter named Constance and divorced in 1949. Calloway married Zulme "Nuffie" MacNeal on October 7, 1949. They lived in Long Beach on the South Shore of Long Island, New York, on the border with neighboring Lido Beach. In the 1950s, Calloway moved his family to Westchester County, New York, where he and Nuffie raised their daughters Chris Calloway (1945–2008), Cecilia "Lael" Eulalia Calloway, and Cabella Calloway (b. 1952).


title: Cab Calloway

text: In December 1945, Calloway and his friend Felix H. Payne Jr. were beaten by a police officer, William E. Todd, and arrested in Kansas City, Missouri after attempting to visit bandleader Lionel Hampton at the whites-only Pla-Mor Ballroom. They were taken to the hospital for injuries, then charged with intoxication and resisting arrest. When Hampton learned of the incident he refused to continue the concert. Todd said he was informed by the manager, who did not recognize Calloway, that they were attempting to enter. He claimed they refused to leave and struck him. Calloway and Payne denied his claims and maintained they had been sober; the charges were dismissed. In February 1946, six civil rights organizations, including the NAACP, demanded that Todd be fired, but he had already resigned after a pay cut.


title: Cab Calloway

text: In 1952, Calloway was arrested in Leesburg, Virginia on his way to the race track in Charles Town, West Virginia. He was charged with speeding and attempted bribery of a policeman.


title: Cab Calloway

text: On June 12, 1994, Calloway suffered a stroke at his home in Westchester County, New York. He died five months later from pneumonia on November 18, 1994, a month before his 87th birthday, at a nursing home in Hockessin, Delaware. He was survived by his wife, five daughters, and seven grandsons. Calloway was buried at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York.


title: Cab Calloway

text: Music critics have written of his influence on later generations of entertainers such as James Brown, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, as well as modern-day hip-hop performers. John Landis, who directed Calloway in the 1980 film "The Blues Brothers", stated, "Cab Calloway is hip-hop." Journalist Timothy White noted in "Billboard" (August 14, 1993): "No living pathfinder in American popular music or its jazz and rock 'n' roll capillaries is so frequently emulated yet so seldom acknowledged as Cabell "Cab" Calloway. He arguably did more things first and better than any other band leader of his generation."


title: Cab Calloway

text: In 1998, the Cab Calloway Orchestra directed by Calloway's grandson Chris "CB" Calloway Brooks was formed. In 2009, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy released an album covering Calloway's music titled "". In 2012, Calloway's legacy was celebrated in an episode of PBS's "American Masters" titled "Cab Calloway: Sketches".


title: Cab Calloway

text: In 2019, plans were announced to demolish Calloway's boyhood home at 2216 Druid Hill Avenue in Baltimore, replacing the abandoned structure and the rest of that block with a park to be named "Cab Calloway Legends Park" in his honor. Family members and the National Trust for Historic Preservation advocated preservation of the house, however, as a significant artifact of African-American cultural heritage. Although the block is designated "historically significant" on the National Register of Historic Places, Baltimore City officials said at a hearing on July 9, 2019, that there is "extensive structural damage" to the Calloway house as well as adjacent ones. The Commission on Historical and Architectural Preservation's executive director, however, said that properties in worse condition than the Calloway House have been restored with financial support from a city tax credit program. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan also urged that demolition of the Calloway House be forestalled for its potential preservation as a historic house museum akin to the Louis Armstrong House in New York. Design options for the planned Cab Calloway Square may include an archway from the facade "(pictured)" as part of the Square's entrance, as proposed by architects working with Baltimore City and the Druid Heights Community Development Corporation, a Non-Profit community oriented group. Despite objections, the house was razed on September 5, 2020.


title: Cab Calloway

text: In 2022, his home films were selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".


title: Cab Calloway

text: In 1985, Town Supervisor Anthony F. Veteran issued a proclamation, declaring a <nowiki>"Cab Calloway Day"</nowiki> in Greenburgh, New York.


title: Cab Calloway

text: In 1990, Calloway was presented with the Beacons in Jazz Award from The New School in New York City. New York City Mayor David Dinkins proclaimed the day "Cab Calloway Day".


title: Cab Calloway

text: In 1994, Calloway's daughter Camay Calloway Murphy founded the Cab Calloway Museum at Coppin State College in Baltimore, Maryland.


title: Cab Calloway

text: The New York Racing Association (NYRA) annually honors the jazz legend, a native of Rochester, N.Y., with a stakes races restricted to NY-bred three-year-olds, as part of their New York Stallion Series. First run in 2003, The Calloway has since undergone various distance and surface changes. The race is currently run at Saratoga Racecourse, Saratoga Springs, NY, one of America's most popular, premier racetracks. The Cab Calloway Stakes celebrated its 13th renewal on July 24, 2019, and was won by Rinaldi. In 2020 Calloway was inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame


title: Paul McGann

text: Paul John McGann (; born 14 November 1959) is an English actor. He came to prominence for portraying Percy Toplis in the television serial "The Monocled Mutineer" (1986), then starred in the dark comedy "Withnail and I" (1987), which was a critical success and developed a cult following. McGann later became more widely known for portraying the eighth incarnation of the Doctor in the 1996 "Doctor Who" television film. He is also known for playing Lieutenant William Bush in the series "Hornblower".


title: Paul McGann

text: Paul John McGann was born in Liverpool on 14 November 1959, into a Roman Catholic family. His ancestors immigrated from Ireland in the mid-19th century, having left due to the Great Famine. His mother, Clare, was a teacher, and his father Joe who died in 1984 was a metallurgist. His cousin, Ritchie Routledge, was in the 1960s band The Cryin' Shames. He has an older brother, Joe, and three younger siblings: brothers Mark and Stephen and sister Clare. All three of his brothers are also actors and the four of them played brothers in the 1995 TV serial "The Hanging Gale". The same year, McGann also played Grigori Potemkin in the television film "Catherine the Great" alongside Mark and Stephen.


title: Paul McGann

text: McGann attended Cardinal Allen Grammar School in the Liverpool suburb of West Derby. He was 17 and working in a shoe shop when he acted on the advice of one of his teachers and successfully auditioned for a place on the acting course at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. In 1980, the Principal of RADA, Hugh Cruttwell, selected a scene from an adaptation of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth", which McGann co-wrote with Bruce Payne, to be performed in front of Queen Elizabeth II in one of her rare visits to the academy. Kenneth Branagh performed a soliloquy from "Hamlet" at the same event.


title: Paul McGann

text: McGann's breakthrough role was in "Give Us a Break", devised by Geoff McQueen, McGann played a good snooker player who got into scrapes with Robert Lindsay, who played his wideboy manager. The series was a comedy drama in the vein of the popular ITV series of the time, "Minder". The series only lasted for one season and it was concluded by a one-off special. His first major dramatic role was the British World War I deserter and criminal Percy Toplis in the 1986 BBC serial "The Monocled Mutineer". The film was based on the 1978 book of the same name, written by William Alison and John Fairley.


title: Paul McGann

text: Following on from the part of Percy Toplis, McGann sought a less controversial and more comedic role for his next project. In 1986, he was cast as the anonymous main character (Marwood) in Bruce Robinson's cult film, "Withnail and I". He also starred as Anton Skrebensky in Ken Russell's 1989 adaptation of D.H. Lawrence's "The Rainbow". McGann's other early film appearances include "The Monk", "Dealers", "Tree of Hands" and the epic war film "Empire of the Sun". McGann and other young British actors who were becoming established film actors such as Tim Roth, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth and Bruce Payne were dubbed the 'Brit Pack'.


title: Paul McGann

text: Since 1989, McGann has concentrated primarily on television work, including "Nice Town" and "Nature Boy" for the BBC, and "The One That Got Away" and the second series of "Hornblower" for ITV. However, he has had small roles in a number of high-profile American films like "The Three Musketeers" and "Alien 3". His role in "Alien 3" was originally larger, but much of it was edited out of the final print. The cut footage can be seen in the extended version of the film.


title: Paul McGann

text: In 1992, he was cast as Richard Sharpe, the lead character in the Sharpe series of made-for-TV films based on Bernard Cornwell's novels; however he injured his knee while playing football just days into filming "Sharpe's Rifles" in Ukraine. He was replaced by Sean Bean and the role effectively kick-started Bean's career and is the one that he is most closely identified with.


title: Paul McGann

text: McGann played the eighth incarnation of the Doctor, in the "Doctor Who" 1996 television film. The television film also starred Eric Roberts, Daphne Ashbrook and featured the outgoing Seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy. McGann's brother, Mark McGann, also auditioned for the title role.


title: Paul McGann

text: The "Doctor Who" television film was a joint venture between the BBC, Universal Studios and the Fox Broadcasting Network. McGann had signed a contract to appear as the Eighth Doctor in a new Doctor Who series, if Fox or Universal exercised their option. Thus, the television film was supposed to be a "back door pilot" in that, if it obtained respectable ratings, the new series would continue to be produced. The film was shown on 14 May 1996 in the US and on 27 May 1996 in the UK. Although it had 9.08 million viewers and was very successful in the UK, ratings were very low in the United States. As a consequence, Fox did not exercise its option to pick up the series and Universal could not find another network interested in airing a new "Doctor Who" series. Thus no new series was produced until 2005, after all the contractual rights had returned to the BBC.