title: Ed Sullivan

text: Edward Vincent Sullivan was born on September 28, 1901, in Harlem, New York City: the son of Elizabeth F. (née Smith) and Peter Arthur Sullivan, a customs house employee. His twin brother, Daniel was sickly and lived only a few months. Ed grew up in Port Chester, New York, where the family lived in a small red brick home at 53 Washington Street. He was of Irish descent. The entire family loved music, and someone was always playing the piano or singing. A phonograph was a prized possession; the family loved playing all types of records on it. Sullivan was a gifted athlete in high school, earning 12 athletic letters at Port Chester High School. He played halfback in football; he was a guard in basketball; in track he was a sprinter. With the baseball team, Sullivan was catcher and team captain and he led the team to several championships. Baseball made an impression on him that would affect his career as well as the culture of America. Sullivan noted that, in the state of New York, integration was taken for granted in high school sports: "When we went up into Connecticut, we ran into clubs that had Negro players. In those days this was accepted as commonplace; and so, my instinctive antagonism years later to any theory that a Negro wasn't a worthy opponent or was an inferior person. It was just as simple as that."


title: Ed Sullivan

text: Sullivan landed his first job at "The Port Chester Daily Item": a local newspaper for which he had written sports news while in high school and then joined the paper full-time after graduation. In 1919, he joined "The Hartford Post". The newspaper folded in his first week there, but he landed another job on "The New York Evening Mail" as a sports reporter. After "The Evening Mail" closed in 1923, he bounced through a series of news jobs with The Associated Press, "The Philadelphia Bulletin", "The Morning World", "The Morning Telegraph", "The New York Bulletin" and "The Leader". Finally, in 1927, Sullivan joined "The Evening Graphic": first as a sports writer and then as a sports editor. In 1929, when Walter Winchell moved to "The Daily Mirror", Sullivan was made its Broadway columnist. He left the "Graphic" for the city's largest tabloid: the "New York Daily News". His column, "Little Old New York", concentrated on Broadway shows and gossip, as Winchell's had; and, like Winchell, he did show-business news broadcasts on radio. Again echoing Winchell, Sullivan took on yet another medium in 1933 by writing and starring in the film "Mr. Broadway", which has him guiding the audience around New York nightspots to meet entertainers and celebrities. Sullivan soon became a powerful starmaker in the entertainment world himself, becoming one of Winchell's main rivals, setting the El Morocco nightclub in New York as his unofficial headquarters against Winchell's seat of power at the nearby Stork Club. Sullivan continued writing for "The News" throughout his broadcasting career, and his popularity long outlived Winchell's. In the late 60's, however, Sullivan praised Winchell's legacy in a magazine interview, leading to a major reconciliation between the longtime adversaries.


title: Ed Sullivan

text: Throughout his career as a columnist, Sullivan had dabbled in entertainment—producing vaudeville shows with which he appeared as master of ceremonies in the 1920s and 1930s, directing a radio program over the original WABC (now WCBS), and organizing benefit reviews for various causes.


title: Ed Sullivan

text: In 1941, Sullivan was host of the "Summer Silver Theater", a variety program on CBS, with Will Bradley as bandleader and a guest star featured each week.


title: Ed Sullivan

text: In 1948, producer Marlo Lewis convinced the CBS network to hire Sullivan to do a weekly Sunday-night TV variety show, "Toast of the Town", which later became "The Ed Sullivan Show". Debuting in June 1948, the show was originally broadcast from the Maxine Elliott Theatre on West 39th Street in New York City. In January 1953, it moved to CBS-TV Studio 50, at 1697 Broadway (at 53rd Street) in New York City, which in 1967 was renamed the Ed Sullivan Theater (and was later the home of the "Late Show with David Letterman" and "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert"). From 1936 to 1950, Studio 50 was a CBS Radio playhouse. Before that it was variously known as Manhattan Theatre, Billy Rose's Music Hall, and Hammerstein's Theatre (it was built in 1927 by Arthur Hammerstein).


title: Ed Sullivan

text: Television critics gave the new show and its host poor reviews. Harriet Van Horne alleged that "he got where he is not by having a personality, but by having "no" personality." (The host wrote to the critic, "Dear Miss Van Horne: You bitch. Sincerely, Ed Sullivan.") Sullivan had little acting ability; in 1967, 20 years after his show's debut, "Time" magazine asked, "What exactly is Ed Sullivan's talent?" His mannerisms on camera were so awkward that some viewers believed the host suffered from Bell's palsy. "Time" in 1955 stated that Sullivan resembled


title: Ed Sullivan

text: "Yet," the magazine concluded, "instead of frightening children, Ed Sullivan charms the whole family." Sullivan appeared to the audience as an average guy who brought the great acts of show business to their home televisions. "Ed Sullivan will last", comedian Fred Allen said, "as long as someone else has talent." Frequent guest Alan King said, "Ed does nothing, but he does it better than anyone else in television." A typical show would feature a vaudeville act (acrobats, jugglers, magicians, etc.), one or two popular comedians, a singing star, a hot jukebox favorite, a figure from the legitimate theater, and for the kids, a visit with puppet "Topo Gigio, the little Italian mouse", or a popular athlete. The bill was often international in scope, with many European performers augmenting the American artists.


title: Ed Sullivan

text: Sullivan had a healthy sense of humor about himself and permitted—even encouraged—impersonators such as John Byner, Frank Gorshin, Rich Little, and especially Will Jordan, to imitate him on his show. Johnny Carson also did a fair impression, and even Joan Rivers imitated Sullivan's unique posture. The impressionists exaggerated his stiffness, raised shoulders, and nasal tenor phrasing, along with some of his commonly used introductions, such as "And now, right here on our stage...", "For all you youngsters out there...", and "a really big shew" (his pronunciation of the word "show"). The latter phrase was in fact in the exclusive domain of his impressionists, as Sullivan never actually spoke the phrase "really big show" in the opening introduction of any episode in the entire history of the series. Will Jordan portrayed Sullivan in the films "I Wanna Hold Your Hand", "The Buddy Holly Story", "The Doors", "Mr. Saturday Night", "Down with Love", and in the 1979 TV movie "Elvis".


title: Ed Sullivan

text: Sullivan played himself parodying his mannerisms as directed by Jerry Lewis in Lewis' 1964 film "The Patsy".


title: Ed Sullivan

text: Sullivan inspired a song in the musical "Bye Bye Birdie" and, in 1963, appeared as himself in the film.


title: Ed Sullivan

text: Sullivan was quoted as saying "In the conduct of my own show, I've never asked a performer his religion, his race or his politics. Performers are engaged on the basis of their abilities. I believe that this is another quality of our show that has helped win it a wide and loyal audience." Although he was wary of Elvis Presley's "bad boy" image, and initially said that he would never book him, Presley became too big a name to ignore; in 1956, Sullivan signed him for three appearances. In August 1956, Sullivan was injured in an automobile accident near his country home in Southbury, Connecticut, and missed Presley's first appearance on September 9. Charles Laughton wound up introducing Presley on the Sullivan hour. After Sullivan got to know Presley personally, he made amends by telling his audience, "This is a real decent, fine boy."


title: Ed Sullivan

text: Sullivan's failure to scoop the TV industry with Presley made him determined to get the next big sensation first. In November 1963, while in Heathrow Airport, Sullivan witnessed Beatlemania firsthand as the band returned from Sweden and the terminal was overrun by screaming teens. At first Sullivan was reluctant to book the Beatles because the band did not have a commercially successful single released in the US at the time, but at the behest of a friend, legendary impresario Sid Bernstein, Sullivan signed the group. Their initial Sullivan show appearance on February 9, 1964, was the most-watched program in TV history to that point. The Beatles appeared three more times in person, and submitted filmed performances afterwards. The Dave Clark Five, who claimed a "cleaner" image than the Beatles, made 13 appearances on the show, more than any other UK group.


title: Ed Sullivan

text: Unlike many shows of the time, Sullivan asked that most musical acts perform their music live, rather than lip-synching to their recordings. Examination of performances shows that exceptions were made, as when a microphone could not be placed close enough to a performer for technical reasons. An example was B.J. Thomas' 1969 performance of "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head", in which actual water was sprinkled on him as a special effect. In 1969, Sullivan presented the Jackson 5 with their first single "I Want You Back", which ousted the B.J. Thomas song from the top spot of "Billboard's" pop charts.


title: Ed Sullivan

text: Sullivan had an appreciation for African American talent. According to biographer Gerald Nachman, "Most TV variety shows welcomed 'acceptable' black superstars like Louis Armstrong, Pearl Bailey and Sammy Davis Jr. ... but in the early 1950s, long before it was fashionable, Sullivan was presenting the much more obscure black entertainers he had enjoyed in Harlem on his uptown rounds — legends like Peg Leg Bates, Pigmeat Markham and Tim Moore ... strangers to white America." He hosted pioneering TV appearances by Bo Diddley, the Platters, Brook Benton, Jackie Wilson, Fats Domino, and numerous Motown acts, including the Supremes, who appeared 17 times. As the critic John Leonard wrote, "There wasn't an important black artist who didn't appear on Ed's show."


title: Ed Sullivan

text: He defied pressure to exclude African American entertainers, and to avoid interacting with them when they did appear. "Sullivan had to fend off his hard-won sponsor, Ford's Lincoln dealers, after kissing Pearl Bailey on the cheek and daring to shake Nat King Cole's hand," Nachman wrote. According to biographer Jerry Bowles, "Sullivan once had a Ford executive thrown out of the theatre when he suggested that Sullivan stop booking so many black acts. And a dealer in Cleveland told him 'We realize that you got to have niggers on your show. But do you have to put your arm around Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson at the end of his dance?' Sullivan had to be physically restrained from beating the man to a pulp." Sullivan later raised money to help pay for Robinson's funeral. "As a Catholic, it was inevitable that I would despise intolerance, because Catholics suffered more than their share of it," he told an interviewer. "As I grew up, the causes of minorities were part and parcel of me. Negroes and Jews were the minority causes closest at hand. I need no urging to take a plunge in and help."


title: Ed Sullivan

text: At a time when television had not yet embraced Country and Western music, Sullivan featured Nashville performers on his program. This, in turn, paved the way for shows such as "Hee Haw", and variety shows hosted by Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell, and other country singers.


title: Ed Sullivan

text: The Canadian comedy duo Wayne & Shuster made the most appearances of any act throughout the show's run, 67 appearances between 1958 and 1969.


title: Ed Sullivan

text: Sullivan appeared as himself on other television programs, including an April 1958 episode of the Howard Duff and Ida Lupino CBS situation comedy "Mr. Adams and Eve". On September 14, 1958, Sullivan appeared on "What's My Line?" as a mystery guest, and showed his comedic side by donning a rubber mask. In 1961, Sullivan was asked by CBS to fill in for an ailing Red Skelton on "The Red Skelton Show". Sullivan took Skelton's roles in the various comedy sketches; Skelton's hobo character "Freddie the Freeloader" was renamed "Eddie the Freeloader."


title: Ed Sullivan

text: Sullivan was quick to take offense if he felt that he had been crossed, and he could hold a grudge for a long time. As he told biographer Gerald Nachman, "I'm a pop-off. I flare up, then I go around apologizing." "Armed with an Irish temper and thin skin," wrote Nachman, "Ed brought to his feuds a hunger for combat fed by his coverage of, and devotion to, boxing." Bo Diddley, Buddy Holly, Jackie Mason, and Jim Morrison were parties to some of Sullivan's most storied conflicts.


title: Ed Sullivan

text: For his second Sullivan appearance in 1955, Bo Diddley planned to sing his namesake hit, "Bo Diddley", but Sullivan told him to perform Tennessee Ernie Ford's song "Sixteen Tons". "That would have been the end of my career right there," Diddley told his biographer, so he sang "Bo Diddley" anyway. Sullivan was enraged: "You're the first black boy that ever double-crossed me on the show," Diddley quoted him as saying. "We didn't have much to do with each other after that." Later, Diddley resented that Elvis Presley, whom he accused of copying his revolutionary style and beat, received the attention and accolades on Sullivan's show that he felt were rightfully his. "I am owed," he said, "and I never got paid." "He might have," wrote Nachman, "had things gone smoother with Sullivan."


title: Ed Sullivan

text: Buddy Holly and the Crickets first appeared on the Sullivan show in 1957 to an enthusiastic response. For their second appearance in January 1958, Sullivan considered the lyrics of their chosen number "Oh, Boy!" too suggestive, and ordered Holly to substitute another song. Holly responded that he had already told his hometown friends in Texas that he would be singing "Oh, Boy!" for them. Sullivan, unaccustomed to having his instructions questioned, angrily repeated them, but Holly refused to back down. Later, when the band was slow to respond to a summons to the rehearsal stage, Sullivan commented, "I guess the Crickets are not too excited to be on "The Ed Sullivan Show"." Holly, still annoyed by Sullivan's attitude, replied, "I hope they're damn more excited than I am." Sullivan retaliated by cutting them from two numbers to one, then mispronounced Holly's name during the introduction. He also saw to it that Holly's guitar amplifier volume was barely audible, except during his guitar solo. Nevertheless, the band was so well-received that Sullivan was forced to invite them back; Holly responded that Sullivan did not have enough money. Archival photographs taken during the appearance show Holly smirking and ignoring a visibly angry Sullivan.


title: Ed Sullivan

text: During Jackie Mason's October 1964 performance on a show that had been shortened by ten minutes due to an address by President Lyndon Johnson, Sullivan—on-stage but off-camera—signaled Mason that he had two minutes left by holding up two fingers. Sullivan's signal distracted the studio audience, and to television viewers unaware of the circumstances, it seemed as though Mason's jokes were falling flat. Mason, in a bid to regain the audience's attention, cried, "I'm getting fingers here!" and made his own frantic hand gesture: "Here's a finger for you!" Videotapes of the incident are inconclusive as to whether Mason's upswept hand (which was just off-camera) was intended to be an indecent gesture, but Sullivan was convinced that it was, and banned Mason from future appearances on the program. Mason later insisted that he did not know what the "middle finger" meant, and that he did not make the gesture anyway. In September 1965, Sullivan—who, according to Mason, was "deeply apologetic"—brought Mason on the show for a "surprise grand reunion". "He said they were old pals," Nachman wrote, "news to Mason, who never got a repeat invitation." Mason added that his earning power "...was cut right in half after that. I never really worked my way back until I opened on Broadway in 1986."


title: Ed Sullivan

text: When the Byrds performed on December 12, 1965, David Crosby got into a shouting match with the show's director. They were never asked to return.


title: Ed Sullivan

text: Sullivan decided that "Girl, we couldn't get much higher", from the Doors' signature song "Light My Fire", was too overt a reference to drug use, and directed that the lyric be changed to "Girl, we couldn't get much better" for the group's September 1967 appearance. The band members "nodded their assent", according to Doors biographer Ben Fong-Torres, then sang the song as written. After the broadcast, producer Bob Precht told the group, "Mr. Sullivan wanted you for six more shows, but you'll never work "the Ed Sullivan Show" again." Jim Morrison replied, "Hey, man, we just "did" the "Ed Sullivan Show"."


title: Ed Sullivan

text: The Rolling Stones famously capitulated during their fifth appearance on the show, in 1967, when Mick Jagger was told to change the titular lyric of "Let's Spend the Night Together" to "Let's spend some time together". "But Jagger prevailed," wrote Nachman, by deliberately calling attention to the censorship, rolling his eyes, mugging, and drawing out the word "t-i-i-i-me" as he sang the revised lyric. Sullivan was angered by the insubordination, but the Stones did make one additional appearance on the show, in 1969.


title: Ed Sullivan

text: Moe Howard of the Three Stooges recalled in 1975 that Sullivan had a memory problem of sorts: "Ed was a very nice man, but for a showman, quite forgetful. On our first appearance, he introduced us as the Three Ritz Brothers. He got out of it by adding, 'who look more like the Three Stooges to me'." Joe DeRita, who worked with the Stooges after 1959, had commented that Sullivan had a personality "like the bottom of a bird cage."


title: Ed Sullivan

text: Diana Ross, who was very fond of Sullivan, later recalled Sullivan's forgetfulness during the many occasions the Supremes performed on his show. In a 1995 appearance on the "Late Show with David Letterman" (taped in the Ed Sullivan Theater), Ross stated, "he could never remember our names. He called us 'the girls'."


title: Ed Sullivan

text: In a 1990 press conference, Paul McCartney recalled meeting Sullivan again in the early 1970s. Sullivan apparently had no idea who McCartney was. McCartney tried to remind Sullivan that he was one of the Beatles, but Sullivan obviously could not remember, and nodding and smiling, simply shook McCartney's hand and left. In an interview with Howard Stern around 2012, Joan Rivers said that Sullivan had been suffering from dementia toward the end of his life.


title: Ed Sullivan

text: Sullivan, like many American entertainers, was pulled into the Cold War anticommunism of the late 1940s and 1950s. Tap dancer Paul Draper's scheduled January 1950 appearance on "Toast of the Town" met with opposition from Hester McCullough, an activist in the hunt for "subversives". Branding Draper a Communist Party "sympathizer", she demanded that Sullivan's lead sponsor, the Ford Motor Company, cancel Draper's appearance. Draper denied the charge, and appeared on the show as scheduled. Ford received over a thousand angry letters and telegrams, and Sullivan was obliged to promise Ford's advertising agency, Kenyon & Eckhardt, that he would avoid controversial guests going forward. Draper was forced to move to Europe to earn a living.


title: Ed Sullivan

text: After the Draper incident, Sullivan began to work closely with Theodore Kirkpatrick of the anti-Communist "Counterattack" newsletter. He would consult Kirkpatrick if any questions came up regarding a potential guest's political leanings. Sullivan wrote in his June 21, 1950, "Daily News" column that "Kirkpatrick has sat in my living room on several occasions and listened attentively to performers eager to secure a certification of loyalty."


title: Ed Sullivan

text: Cold War repercussions manifested in a different way when Bob Dylan was booked to appear in May 1963. His chosen song was "Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues", which poked fun at the ultraconservative John Birch Society and its tendency to see Communist conspiracies in many situations. No concern was voiced by anyone, including Sullivan, during rehearsals; but on the day of the broadcast, CBS's Standards and Practices department rejected the song, fearing that lyrics equating the Society's views with those of Adolf Hitler might trigger a defamation lawsuit. Dylan was offered the opportunity to perform a different song, but he responded that if he could not sing the number of his choice, he would rather not appear at all. The story generated widespread media attention in the days that followed; Sullivan denounced the network's decision in published interviews.


title: Ed Sullivan

text: Sullivan butted heads with Standards and Practices on other occasions, as well. In 1956, Ingrid Bergman—who had been living in "exile" in Europe since 1950 in the wake of her scandalous love affair with director Roberto Rossellini while they were both married—was planning a return to Hollywood as the star of "Anastasia". Sullivan, confident that the American public would welcome her back, invited her to appear on his show and flew to Europe to film an interview with Bergman, Yul Brynner, and Helen Hayes on the "Anastasia" set. When he arrived back in New York, Standards and Practices informed Sullivan that under no circumstances would Bergman be permitted to appear on the show, either live or on film. Sullivan's prediction later proved correct, as Bergman won her second Academy Award for her portrayal, as well as the forgiveness of her fans.


title: Ed Sullivan

text: Sullivan was engaged to champion swimmer Sybil Bauer, but she died of cancer in 1927 at the age of 23. In 1926, Sullivan met and began dating Sylvia Weinstein. Weinstein tried to tell her Jewish family she was dating a man named Ed Solomon, but her brother figured out she meant Ed Sullivan. With both families strongly opposed to a Catholic–Jewish marriage, the affair was on-again-off-again for three years. They were finally married on April 28, 1930, in a City Hall ceremony, and 8 months later Sylvia gave birth to Elizabeth ("Betty"), named after Sullivan's mother, who had died that year. The Sullivans rented a suite of rooms at the Hotel Delmonico in 1944 after living at the Hotel Astor on Times Square for many years. Sullivan rented a suite next door to the family suite, which he used as an office until "The Ed Sullivan Show" was canceled in 1971. Sullivan was in the habit of calling his wife after every program to get her immediate critique.


title: Ed Sullivan

text: The Sullivans were always "on the town", eating out five nights a week at some of the trendiest clubs and restaurants, including the Stork Club, Danny's Hide-A-Way and Jimmy Kelly's. Sullivan socialized with the rich and famous, was friends with U.S. Presidents and was given audiences with several Popes. In 1952, Betty Sullivan married the "Ed Sullivan Show"'s producer, Bob Precht. From the Prechts, Ed had five grandchildren—Robert Edward, Carla Elizabeth, Vincent Henry, Andrew Sullivan and Margo Elizabeth.


title: Ed Sullivan

text: Sylvia Sullivan was a financial advisor for her husband. She died on March 16, 1973, at Mount Sinai Hospital from a rupture of the aorta.


title: Ed Sullivan

text: In 1990 Betty and Bob Precht moved to Missoula, Montana, where Bob managed television stations and other businesses. Betty died in Missoula on June 7, 2014, at the age of 83.


title: Ed Sullivan

text: In the fall of 1965, CBS began televising its weekly programs in color. Although the Sullivan show was seen live in the Central and Eastern time zones, it was taped for airing in the Pacific and Mountain time zones. Excerpts have been released on home video, and posted on the official Ed Sullivan Show YouTube Channel.


title: Ed Sullivan

text: By 1971, the show's ratings had plummeted. In an effort to refresh its lineup, CBS canceled the program in March 1971, along with some of its other long running shows throughout the 1970–1971 season (later known as the rural purge). Angered, Sullivan refused to host three more months of scheduled shows. They were replaced by reruns and a final program without him aired in June. He remained with the network in various other capacities and hosted a 25th anniversary special in June 1973.


title: Ed Sullivan

text: In early September 1974, Sullivan was diagnosed with an advanced stage of esophageal cancer. Doctors gave him very little time to live, and the family chose to keep the diagnosis secret from him. Sullivan, a life long smoker, believed his ailment to be yet another complication from a long-standing battle with gastric ulcers. Sullivan died on October 13, 1974, at New York's Lenox Hill Hospital. His funeral was attended by 2,000 people at St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York, on a cold, rainy day. Sullivan is interred in a crypt at the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York.


title: Ed Sullivan

text: Sullivan has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6101 Hollywood Blvd. In 1985, Sullivan was welcomed to the Television Academy Hall of Fame.


title: Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States

text: An associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States is any member of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the chief justice of the United States. The number of associate justices is eight, as set by the Judiciary Act of 1869.


text: Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the Constitution of the United States grants plenary power to the president to nominate, and with the advice and consent (confirmation) of the Senate, appoint justices to the Supreme Court. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution effectively grants life tenure to associate justices, and all other federal judges, which ends only when a justice dies, retires, resigns, or is removed from office by impeachment.


text: Each Supreme Court justice has a single vote in deciding the cases argued before it, and the chief justice's vote counts no more than that of any other justice; however, the chief justice leads the discussion of the case among the justices. Furthermore, the chief justice—when in the majority—decides who writes the court's opinion; otherwise, the senior justice in the majority assigns the writing of a decision. The chief justice also has certain administrative responsibilities that the other justices do not and is paid slightly more ($286,700 per year as of 2022, compared to $274,200 per year for an associate justice).


text: Associate justices have seniority in order of the date their respective commissions bear, although the chief justice is always considered to be the most senior justice. If two justices are commissioned on the same day, the elder is designated the senior justice of the two. Currently, the senior associate justice is Clarence Thomas. By tradition, when the justices are in conference deliberating the outcome of cases before the Supreme Court, the justices state their views in order of seniority. The senior associate justice is also tasked with carrying out the chief justice's duties when he is unable to, or if that office is vacant. Historically, associate justices were styled "Mr. Justice" in court opinions and other writings. The title was shortened to "Justice" in 1980, a year before Sandra Day O'Connor became the first female justice.


text: There are currently eight associate justices on the Supreme Court. The justices, ordered by seniority, are:


text: An associate justice who leaves the Supreme Court after attaining the age and meeting the service requirements prescribed by federal statute () may retire rather than resign. After retirement, they keep their title, and by custom may also keep a set of chambers in the Supreme Court building, and employ law clerks. The names of retired associate justices continue to appear alongside those of the active justices in the bound volumes of Supreme Court decisions. Federal statute () provides that retired Supreme Court justices may serve—if designated and assigned by the chief justice—on panels of the U.S. courts of appeals, or on the U.S. district courts. Retired justices are not, however, authorized to take part in the consideration or decision of any cases before the Supreme Court (unlike other retired federal judges who may be permitted to do so in their former courts); neither are they known or designated as a "senior judge". When, after his retirement, William O. Douglas attempted to take a more active role than was customary, maintaining that it was his prerogative to do so because of his senior status, he was rebuffed by Chief Justice Warren Burger and admonished by the whole Court.


text: There are currently four living retired associate justices: Sandra Day O'Connor, retired January 31, 2006; David Souter, retired June 29, 2009; Anthony Kennedy, retired July 31, 2018; and Stephen Breyer, retired June 30, 2022. Souter regularly serves on panels of the First Circuit Courts of Appeals, while O'Connor also served on panels of various circuit courts for several years following her retirement and prior to her later withdrawal from public life; Kennedy and Breyer have not performed any judicial duties since retiring.


text: Since the Supreme Court was established in 1789, the following 104 persons have served as an associate justice:


title: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

text: Methicillin-resistant "Staphylococcus aureus" (MRSA) is a group of Gram-positive bacteria that are genetically distinct from other strains of "Staphylococcus aureus". MRSA is responsible for several difficult-to-treat infections in humans. It caused more than 100,000 deaths attributable to antimicrobial resistance in 2019.


text: MRSA is any strain of "S. aureus" that has developed (through natural selection) or acquired (through horizontal gene transfer) a multiple drug resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics. Beta-lactam (β-lactam) antibiotics are a broad-spectrum group that include some penams (penicillin derivatives such as methicillin and oxacillin) and cephems such as the cephalosporins. Strains unable to resist these antibiotics are classified as methicillin-susceptible "S. aureus", or MSSA.


text: MRSA is common in hospitals, prisons, and nursing homes, where people with open wounds, invasive devices such as catheters, and weakened immune systems are at greater risk of healthcare associated infection. MRSA began as a hospital-acquired infection but has become community-acquired, as well as livestock-acquired. The terms HA-MRSA (healthcare-associated or hospital-acquired MRSA), CA-MRSA (community-associated MRSA), and LA-MRSA (livestock-associated MRSA) reflect this.


text: In humans, "Staphylococcus aureus" is part of the normal microbiota present in the upper respiratory tract, and on skin and in the gut mucosa. However, along with similar bacterial species that can colonize and act symbiotically, they can cause disease if they begin to take over the tissues they have colonized or invade other tissues; the resultant infection has been called a "pathobiont".


text: After 72 hours, MRSA can take hold in human tissues and eventually become resistant to treatment. The initial presentation of MRSA is small red bumps that resemble pimples, spider bites, or boils; they may be accompanied by fever and, occasionally, rashes. Within a few days, the bumps become larger and more painful; they eventually open into deep, pus-filled boils. About 75 percent of CA-MRSA infections are localized to skin and soft tissue and usually can be treated effectively.


text: People who are hospitalized, including the elderly, are often immunocompromised and susceptible to infection of all kinds, including MRSA; an infection by MRSA is called healthcare-associated or hospital-acquired methicillin-resistant "S. aureus" (HA-MRSA).


text: Generally, those infected by MRSA stay infected for just under 10 days, if treated by a doctor, although effects may vary from person to person.


text: Both surgical and nonsurgical wounds can be infected with HA-MRSA. Surgical site infections occur on the skin surface, but can spread to internal organs and blood to cause sepsis. Transmission can occur between healthcare providers and patients because some providers may neglect to perform preventative hand-washing between examinations.


text: People in nursing homes are at risk for all the reasons above, further complicated by their generally weaker immune systems.


text: Prisons and military barracks can be crowded and confined, and poor hygiene practices may proliferate, thus putting inhabitants at increased risk of contracting MRSA. Cases of MRSA in such populations were first reported in the United States and later in Canada. The earliest reports were made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in US state prisons. In the news media, hundreds of reports of MRSA outbreaks in prisons appeared between 2000 and 2008. For example, in February 2008, the Tulsa County jail in Oklahoma started treating an average of 12 "S. aureus" cases per month.


text: Antibiotic use in livestock increases the risk that MRSA will develop among the livestock; strains MRSA ST 398 and CC398 are transmissible to humans. Generally, animals are asymptomatic.


text: Domestic pets are susceptible to MRSA infection by transmission from their owners; conversely, MRSA-infected pets can also transmit MRSA to humans.


text: Locker rooms, gyms, and related athletic facilities offer potential sites for MRSA contamination and infection. Athletes have been identified as a high-risk group. A study linked MRSA to the abrasions caused by artificial turf. Three studies by the Texas State Department of Health found the infection rate among football players was 16 times the national average. In October 2006, a high-school football player was temporarily paralyzed from MRSA-infected turf burns. His infection returned in January 2007 and required three surgeries to remove infected tissue, and three weeks of hospital stay.


text: In 2013, Lawrence Tynes, Carl Nicks, and Johnthan Banks of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were diagnosed with MRSA. Tynes and Nicks apparently did not contract the infection from each other, but whether Banks contracted it from either individual is unknown. In 2015, Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Justin Turner was infected while the team visited the New York Mets. In October 2015, New York Giants tight end Daniel Fells was hospitalized with a serious MRSA infection.


text: MRSA is becoming a critical problem in children; studies found 4.6% of patients in U.S. health-care facilities, (presumably) including hospital nurseries, were infected or colonized with MRSA. Children and adults who come in contact with day-care centers, playgrounds, locker rooms, camps, dormitories, classrooms and other school settings, and gyms and workout facilities are at higher risk of contracting MRSA. Parents should be especially cautious of children who participate in activities where sports equipment is shared, such as football helmets and uniforms.


text: Needle-required drugs have caused an increase of MRSA, with injection drug use (IDU) making up 24.1% (1,839 individuals) of Tennessee Hospital's Discharge System. The unsanitary methods of injection causes an access point for the MRSA to enter the blood stream and begin infecting the host. Furthermore, with MRSA's high contagion rate, a common risk factor is individuals who are in constant contact with someone who has injected drugs in the past year.


text: Antimicrobial resistance is genetically based; resistance is mediated by the acquisition of extrachromosomal genetic elements containing genes that confer resistance to certain antibiotics. Examples of such elements include plasmids, transposable genetic elements, and genomic islands, which can be transferred between bacteria through horizontal gene transfer. A defining characteristic of MRSA is its ability to thrive in the presence of penicillin-like antibiotics, which normally prevent bacterial growth by inhibiting synthesis of cell wall material. This is due to a resistance gene, "mecA", which stops β-lactam antibiotics from inactivating the enzymes (transpeptidases) critical for cell wall synthesis.


text: Staphylococcal cassette chromosome "mec" (SCC"mec") is a genomic island of unknown origin containing the antibiotic resistance gene "mecA". SCC"mec" contains additional genes beyond "mecA", including the cytolysin gene "psm-mec", which may suppress virulence in HA-acquired MRSA strains. In addition, this locus encodes strain-dependent gene regulatory RNAs known as "psm-mec"RNA. SCC"mec" also contains "ccrA" and "ccrB"; both genes encode recombinases that mediate the site-specific integration and excision of the SCC"mec" element from the "S. aureus" chromosome. Currently, six unique SCC"mec" types ranging in size from 21 to 67 kb have been identified; they are designated types I–VI and are distinguished by variation in "mec" and "ccr" gene complexes. Owing to the size of the SCC"mec" element and the constraints of horizontal gene transfer, a minimum of five clones are thought to be responsible for the spread of MRSA infections, with clonal complex (CC) 8 most prevalent. SCC"mec" is thought to have originated in the closely related "Staphylococcus sciuri" species and transferred horizontally to "S. aureus."


text: Different SCC"mec" genotypes confer different microbiological characteristics, such as different antimicrobial resistance rates. Different genotypes are also associated with different types of infections. Types I–III SCC"mec" are large elements that typically contain additional resistance genes and are characteristically isolated from HA-MRSA strains. Conversely, CA-MRSA is associated with types IV and V, which are smaller and lack resistance genes other than "mecA".


text: These distinctions were thoroughly investigated by Collins et al. in 2001, and can be explained by the fitness differences associated with carriage of a large or small SCC"mec" plasmid. Carriage of large plasmids, such as SCC"mec"I–III, is costly to the bacteria, resulting in a compensatory decrease in virulence expression. MRSA is able to thrive in hospital settings with increased antibiotic resistance but decreased virulence – HA-MRSA targets immunocompromised, hospitalized hosts, thus a decrease in virulence is not maladaptive. In contrast, CA-MRSA tends to carry lower-fitness cost SCC"mec" elements to offset the increased virulence and toxicity expression required to infect healthy hosts.


text: "mecA" is a biomarker gene responsible for resistance to methicillin and other β-lactam antibiotics. After acquisition of "mecA", the gene must be integrated and localized in the "S. aureus" chromosome. "mecA" encodes penicillin-binding protein 2a (PBP2a), which differs from other penicillin-binding proteins as its active site does not bind methicillin or other β-lactam antibiotics. As such, PBP2a can continue to catalyze the transpeptidation reaction required for peptidoglycan cross-linking, enabling cell wall synthesis even in the presence of antibiotics. As a consequence of the inability of PBP2a to interact with β-lactam moieties, acquisition of "mecA" confers resistance to all β-lactam antibiotics in addition to methicillin.


text: "mecA" is under the control of two regulatory genes, "mecI" and "mecR1". MecI is usually bound to the "mecA" promoter and functions as a repressor. In the presence of a β-lactam antibiotic, MecR1 initiates a signal transduction cascade that leads to transcriptional activation of "mecA". This is achieved by MecR1-mediated cleavage of MecI, which alleviates MecI repression. "mecA" is further controlled by two co-repressors, "blaI" and "blaR1". "blaI" and "blaR1" are homologous to "mecI" and "mecR1", respectively, and normally function as regulators of "blaZ", which is responsible for penicillin resistance. The DNA sequences bound by "mecI" and "blaI" are identical; therefore, "blaI" can also bind the "mecA" operator to repress transcription of "mecA".


text: The arginine catabolic mobile element (ACME) is a virulence factor present in many MRSA strains but not prevalent in MSSA. SpeG-positive ACME compensates for the polyamine hypersensitivity of "S. aureus" and facilitates stable skin colonization, wound infection, and person-to-person transmission.


text: Acquisition of SCC"mec" in methicillin-sensitive "S. aureus" (MSSA) gives rise to a number of genetically different MRSA lineages. These genetic variations within different MRSA strains possibly explain the variability in virulence and associated MRSA infections. The first MRSA strain, ST250 MRSA-1, originated from SCC"mec" and ST250-MSSA integration. Historically, major MRSA clones ST2470-MRSA-I, ST239-MRSA-III, ST5-MRSA-II, and ST5-MRSA-IV were responsible for causing hospital-acquired MRSA (HA-MRSA) infections. ST239-MRSA-III, known as the Brazilian clone, was highly transmissible compared to others and distributed in Argentina, Czech Republic, and Portugal.


text: In the UK, the most common strains of MRSA are EMRSA15 and EMRSA16. EMRSA16 has been found to be identical to the ST36:USA200 strain, which circulates in the United States, and to carry the SCC"mec" type II, enterotoxin A and toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 genes. Under the new international typing system, this strain is now called MRSA252. EMRSA 15 is also found to be one of the common MRSA strains in Asia. Other common strains include ST5:USA100 and EMRSA 1. These strains are genetic characteristics of HA-MRSA.


text: Community-acquired MRSA (CA-MRSA) strains emerged in late 1990 to 2000, infecting healthy people who had not been in contact with healthcare facilities. Researchers suggest that CA-MRSA did not evolve from HA-MRSA. This is further proven by molecular typing of CA-MRSA strains and genome comparison between CA-MRSA and HA-MRSA, which indicate that novel MRSA strains integrated SCC"mec" into MSSA separately on its own. By mid-2000, CA-MRSA was introduced into healthcare systems and distinguishing CA-MRSA from HA-MRSA became a difficult process. Community-acquired MRSA is more easily treated and more virulent than hospital-acquired MRSA (HA-MRSA). The genetic mechanism for the enhanced virulence in CA-MRSA remains an active area of research. The Panton–Valentine leukocidin (PVL) genes are of particular interest because they are a unique feature of CA-MRSA.


text: In the United States, most cases of CA-MRSA are caused by a CC8 strain designated , which carries SCC"mec" type IV, Panton–Valentine leukocidin, PSM-alpha and enterotoxins Q and K, and . The ST8:USA300 strain results in skin infections, necrotizing fasciitis, and toxic shock syndrome, whereas the ST1:USA400 strain results in necrotizing pneumonia and pulmonary sepsis. Other community-acquired strains of MRSA are ST8:USA500 and ST59:USA1000. In many nations of the world, MRSA strains with different genetic background types have come to predominate among CA-MRSA strains; USA300 easily tops the list in the U.S. and is becoming more common in Canada after its first appearance there in 2004. For example, in Australia, ST93 strains are common, while in continental Europe ST80 strains, which carry SCC"mec" type IV, predominate. In Taiwan, ST59 strains, some of which are resistant to many non-beta-lactam antibiotics, have arisen as common causes of skin and soft tissue infections in the community. In a remote region of Alaska, unlike most of the continental U.S., USA300 was found only rarely in a study of MRSA strains from outbreaks in 1996 and 2000 as well as in surveillance from 2004 to 2006.


text: A MRSA strain, CC398, is found in intensively reared production animals (primarily pigs, but also cattle and poultry), where it can be transmitted to humans as LA-MRSA (livestock-associated MRSA).


text: Diagnostic microbiology laboratories and reference laboratories are key for identifying outbreaks of MRSA. Normally, a bacterium must be cultured from blood, urine, sputum, or other body-fluid samples, and in sufficient quantities to perform confirmatory tests early-on. Still, because no quick and easy method exists to diagnose MRSA, initial treatment of the infection is often based upon "strong suspicion" and techniques by the treating physician; these include quantitative PCR procedures, which are employed in clinical laboratories for quickly detecting and identifying MRSA strains.


text: Another common laboratory test is a rapid latex agglutination test that detects the PBP2a protein. PBP2a is a variant penicillin-binding protein that imparts the ability of "S. aureus" to be resistant to oxacillin.


text: Like all "S. aureus" (also abbreviated SA at times), methicillin-resistant "S. aureus" is a Gram-positive, spherical (coccus) bacterium about 1 micron in diameter. It does not form spores and it is not motile. It is frequently found in grape-like clusters or chains. Unlike methicillin-susceptible "S. aureus" (MSSA), MRSA is slow-growing on a variety of media and has been found to exist in mixed colonies of MSSA. The "mecA" gene, which confers resistance to a number of antibiotics, is always present in MRSA and usually absent in MSSA; however, in some instances, the "mecA" gene is present in MSSA but is not expressed. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing is the most precise method for identifying MRSA strains. Specialized culture media have been developed to better differentiate between MSSA and MRSA and, in some cases, such media can be used to identify specific strains that are resistant to different antibiotics.


text: Other strains of "S. aureus" have emerged that are resistant to oxacillin, clindamycin, teicoplanin, and erythromycin. These resistant strains may or may not possess the "mecA" gene. "S. aureus" has also developed resistance to vancomycin (VRSA). One strain is only partially susceptible to vancomycin and is called vancomycin-intermediate "S. aureus" (VISA). GISA, a strain of resistant" S. aureus", is glycopeptide-intermediate "S. aureus" and is less suspectible to vancomycin and teicoplanin. Resistance to antibiotics in "S. aureus" can be quantified by determining the amount of the antibiotic that must be used to inhibit growth. If "S. aureus" is inhibited at a concentration of vancomycin less than or equal to 4 μg/ml, it is said to be susceptible. If a concentration greater than 32 μg/ml is necessary to inhibit growth, it is said to be resistant.


text: In health-care settings, isolating those with MRSA from those without the infection is one method to prevent transmission. Rapid culture and sensitivity testing and molecular testing identifies carriers and reduces infection rates. It is especially important to test patients in these settings since 2% of people are carriers of MRSA, even though in many of these cases the bacteria reside in the nostril and the patient won't present any symptoms.


text: MRSA can be identified by swabbing the nostrils and isolating the bacteria found there. Combined with extra sanitary measures for those in contact with infected people, swab screening people admitted to hospitals has been found to be effective in minimizing the spread of MRSA in hospitals in the United States, Denmark, Finland, and the Netherlands.


text: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers suggestions for preventing the contraction and spread of MRSA infection which are applicable to those in community settings, including incarcerated populations, childcare center employees, and athletes. To prevent the spread of MRSA, the recommendations are to wash hands thoroughly and regularly using soap and water or an alcohol-based sanitizer. Additional recommendations are to keep wounds clean and covered, avoid contact with other people's wounds, avoid sharing personal items such as razors or towels, shower after exercising at athletic facilities, and shower before using swimming pools or whirlpools.


text: Excluding medical facilities, current US guidance does not require workers with MRSA infections to be routinely excluded from the general workplace. The National Institutes of Health recommend that those with wound drainage that cannot be covered and contained with a clean, dry bandage and those who cannot maintain good hygiene practices be reassigned, and patients with wound drainage should also automatically be put on "Contact Precaution," regardless of whether or not they have a known infection. Workers with active infections are excluded from activities where skin-to-skin contact is likely to occur. To prevent the spread of staphylococci or MRSA in the workplace, employers are encouraged to make available adequate facilities that support good hygiene. In addition, surface and equipment sanitizing should conform to Environmental Protection Agency-registered disinfectants. In hospital settings, contact isolation can be stopped after one to three cultures come back negative. Before the patient is cleared from isolation, it is advised that there is dedicated patient-care or single-use equipment for that particular patient. If this is not possible, the equipment must be properly disinfected before it is used on another patient.


text: To prevent the spread of MRSA in the home, health departments recommend laundering materials that have come into contact with infected persons separately and with a dilute bleach solution; to reduce the bacterial load in one's nose and skin; and to clean and disinfect those things in the house that people regularly touch, such as sinks, tubs, kitchen counters, cell phones, light switches, doorknobs, phones, toilets, and computer keyboards.


text: Glycopeptides, cephalosporins, and in particular, quinolones are associated with an increased risk of colonisation of MRSA. Reducing use of antibiotic classes that promote MRSA colonisation, especially fluoroquinolones, is recommended in current guidelines.


text: Mathematical models describe one way in which a loss of infection control can occur after measures for screening and isolation seem to be effective for years, as happened in the UK. In the "search and destroy" strategy that was employed by all UK hospitals until the mid-1990s, all hospitalized people with MRSA were immediately isolated, and all staff were screened for MRSA and were prevented from working until they had completed a course of eradication therapy that was proven to work. Loss of control occurs because colonised people are discharged back into the community and then readmitted; when the number of colonised people in the community reaches a certain threshold, the "search and destroy" strategy is overwhelmed. One of the few countries not to have been overwhelmed by MRSA is the Netherlands: an important part of the success of the Dutch strategy may have been to attempt eradication of carriage upon discharge from hospital.


text: As of 2013, no randomized clinical trials had been conducted to understand how to treat nonsurgical wounds that had been colonized, but not infected, with MRSA, and insufficient studies had been conducted to understand how to treat surgical wounds that had been colonized with MRSA. As of 2013, whether strategies to eradicate MRSA colonization of people in nursing homes reduced infection rates was not known.


text: Care should be taken when trying to drain boils, as disruption of surrounding tissue can lead to larger infections, including infection of the blood stream. Mupirocin 2% ointment can be effective at reducing the size of lesions. A secondary covering of clothing is preferred. As shown in an animal study with diabetic mice, the topical application of a mixture of sugar (70%) and 3% povidone-iodine paste is an effective agent for the treatment of diabetic ulcers with MRSA infection.


text: Maintaining the necessary cleanliness may be difficult for people if they do not have access to facilities such as public toilets with handwashing facilities. In the United Kingdom, the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 require businesses to provide toilets for their employees, along with washing facilities including soap or other suitable means of cleaning. Guidance on how many toilets to provide and what sort of washing facilities should be provided alongside them is given in the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Approved Code of Practice and Guidance L24, available from Health and Safety Executive Books, but no legal obligations exist on local authorities in the United Kingdom to provide public toilets, and although in 2008, the House of Commons Communities and Local Government Committee called for a duty on local authorities to develop a public toilet strategy, this was rejected by the Government.


text: The World Health Organization advocates regulations on the use of antibiotics in animal feed to prevent the emergence of drug-resistant strains of MRSA. MRSA is established in animals and birds.


text: Treatment of MRSA infection is urgent and delays can be fatal. The location and history related to the infection determines the treatment. The route of administration of an antibiotic varies. Antibiotics effective against MRSA can be given by IV, oral, or a combination of both, and depend on the specific circumstances and patient characteristics. The use of concurrent treatment with vancomycin or other beta-lactam agents may have a synergistic effect.


text: Both CA-MRSA and HA-MRSA are resistant to traditional anti-staphylococcal beta-lactam antibiotics, such as cephalexin. CA-MRSA has a greater spectrum of antimicrobial susceptibility to sulfa drugs (like co-trimoxazole (trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole), tetracyclines (like doxycycline and minocycline) and clindamycin (for osteomyelitis). MRSA can be eradicated with a regimen of linezolid, though treatment protocols vary and serum levels of antibiotics vary widely from person to person and may affect outcomes.


text: The effective treatment of MRSA with linezolid has been successful in 87% of people. Linezolid is more effective in soft tissue infections than vancomycin. This is compared to eradication of infection in those with MRSA treated with vancomycin. Treatment with vancomycin is successful in approximately 49% of people. Linezolid belongs to the newer oxazolidinone class of antibiotics which has been shown to be effective against both CA-MRSA and HA-MRSA. The Infectious Disease Society of America recommends vancomycin, linezolid, or clindamycin (if susceptible) for treating those with MRSA pneumonia.


text: Ceftaroline, a fifth-generation cephalosporin, is the first beta-lactam antibiotic approved in the US to treat MRSA infections in skin and soft tissue or community-acquired pneumonia.


text: Vancomycin and teicoplanin are glycopeptide antibiotics used to treat MRSA infections. Teicoplanin is a structural congener of vancomycin that has a similar activity spectrum but a longer half-life. Because the oral absorption of vancomycin and teicoplanin is very low, these agents can be administered intravenously to control systemic infections. Treatment of MRSA infection with vancomycin can be complicated, due to its inconvenient route of administration. Moreover, the efficacy of vancomycin against MRSA is inferior to that of anti-staphylococcal beta-lactam antibiotics against methicillin-susceptible "S. aureus" (MSSA).


text: Several newly discovered strains of MRSA show antibiotic resistance even to vancomycin and teicoplanin. Strains with intermediate (4–8 μg/ml) levels of resistance, termed glycopeptide-intermediate "S. aureus" (GISA) or vancomycin-intermediate "S. aureus" (VISA), began appearing in the late 1990s. The first identified case was in Japan in 1996, and strains have since been found in hospitals in England, France, and the US. The first documented strain with complete (>16 μg/ml) resistance to vancomycin, termed vancomycin-resistant "S. aureus" (VRSA), appeared in the United States in 2002. In 2011, a variant of vancomycin was tested that binds to the lactate variation and also binds well to the original target, thus reinstating potent antimicrobial activity. Linezolid, quinupristin/dalfopristin, daptomycin, ceftaroline, and tigecycline are used to treat more severe infections that do not respond to glycopeptides such as vancomycin. Current guidelines recommend daptomycin for VISA bloodstream infections and endocarditis.


text: Oxazolidinones such as linezolid became available in the 1990s and are comparable to vancomycin in effectiveness against MRSA. Linezolid resistance in "S. aureus" was reported in 2001, but infection rates have been at consistently low levels. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, no linezolid resistance was found in staphylococci collected from bacteremia cases between 2001 and 2006.


text: One of the novel and under development treatment ways are nanoparticles. It is reported that core-shell magnetic nanoparticles, particularly cobalt ferrite, possess antimicrobial properties against MRSA. It is known that the size of the magnetic nanoparticles performs a critical role, as the smaller the particles, the more significant the antimicrobial effect.


text: In skin abscesses, the primary treatment recommended is removal of dead tissue, incision, and drainage. More information is needed to determine the effectiveness of specific antibiotics therapy in surgical site infections (SSIs). Examples of soft-tissue infections from MRSA include ulcers, impetigo, abscesses, and SSIs.


text: In surgical wounds, evidence is weak (high risk of bias) that linezolid may be better than vancomycin to eradicate MRSA SSIs.


text: MRSA colonization is also found in nonsurgical wounds such as traumatic wounds, burns, and chronic ulcers (i.e.: diabetic ulcer, pressure ulcer, arterial insufficiency ulcer, venous ulcer). No conclusive evidence has been found about the best antibiotic regimen to treat MRSA colonization.


text: In skin infections and secondary infection sites, topical mupirocin is used successfully. For bacteremia and endocarditis, vancomycin or daptomycin is considered. For children with MRSA-infected bone or joints, treatment is individualized and long-term. Neonates can develop neonatal pustulosis as a result of topical infection with MRSA. Clindamycin is not approved for the treatment of MRSA infection, but it is still used in children for soft-tissue infections.


text: Evaluation for the replacement of a prosthetic valve is considered. Appropriate antibiotic therapy may be administered for up to six weeks. Four to six weeks of antibiotic treatment is often recommended, and is dependent upon the extent of MRSA infection.


text: CA-MRSA in hospitalized patients pneumonia treatment begins before culture results. After the susceptibility to antibiotics is performed, the infection may be treated with vancomycin or linezolid for up to 21 days. If the pneumonia is complicated by the accumulation of pus in the pleural cavity surrounding the lungs, drainage may be done along with antibiotic therapy. People with cystic fibrosis may develop respiratory complications related to MRSA infection. The incidence of MRSA in those with cystic fibrosis increased during 2000 to 2015 by five times. Most of these infections were HA-MRSA. MRSA accounts for 26% of lung infections in those with cystic fibrosis.


text: There is insufficient evidence to support the use of topical or systematic antibiotics for nasal or extra-nasal MRSA infection.


text: Cleaning the wound of dead tissue and draining abscesses is the first action to treat the MRSA infection. Administration of antibiotics is not standardized and is adapted by a case-by-case basis. Antibiotic therapy can last up to 3 months and sometimes even longer.


text: MRSA infection can occur associated with implants and joint replacements. Recommendations on treatment are based upon the length of time the implant has been in place. In cases of a recent placement of a surgical implant or artificial joint, the device may be retained while antibiotic therapy continues. If the placement of the device has occurred over 3 weeks ago, the device may be removed. Antibiotic therapy is used in each instance sometimes long-term.


text: MRSA can infect the central nervous system and form brain abscess, subdural empyema, and spinal epidural abscess. Excision and drainage can be done along with antibiotic treatment. Septic thrombosis of cavernous or dural venous sinus can sometimes be a complication.


text: Treatment is not standardized for other instances of MRSA infection in a wide range of tissues. Treatment varies for MRSA infections related to: subperiosteal abscesses, necrotizing pneumonia, cellulitis, pyomyositis, necrotizing fasciitis, mediastinitis, myocardial, perinephric, hepatic, and splenic abscesses, septic thrombophlebitis, and severe ocular infections, including endophthalmitis. Pets can be reservoirs and pass on MRSA to people. In some cases, the infection can be symptomatic and the pet can develop a MRSA infection. Health departments recommend that the pet be taken to the veterinarian if MRSA infections keep occurring in the people who have contact with the pet.


text: Worldwide, an estimated 2 billion people carry some form of "S. aureus"; of these, up to 53 million (2.7% of carriers) are thought to carry MRSA. "S. aureus" was identified as one of the six leading pathogens for deaths associated with resistance in 2019 and 100,000 deaths caused by MRSA were attributable to antimicrobial resistance.


text: In a US cohort study of 1,300 healthy children, 2.4% carried MRSA in their nose. Bacterial sepsis occurs with most (75%) of cases of invasive MRSA infection. In 2009, there were an estimated 463,017 hospitalizations due to MRSA, or a rate of 11.74 per 1,000 hospitalizations. Many of these infections are less serious, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that there are 80,461 invasive MRSA infections and 11,285 deaths due to MRSA annually. In 2003, the cost for a hospitalization due to MRSA infection was US$92,363; a hospital stay for MSSA was $52,791.


text: Infection after surgery is relatively uncommon, but occurs as much as 33% in specific types of surgeries. Infections of surgical sites range from 1% to 33%. MRSA sepsis that occurs within 30 days following a surgical infection has a 15–38% mortality rate; MRSA sepsis that occurs within one year has a mortality rate of around 55%. There may be increased mortality associated with cardiac surgery. There is a rate of 12.9% in those infected with MRSA while only 3% infected with other organisms. SSIs infected with MRSA had longer hospital stays than those who did not.


text: Globally, MRSA infection rates are dynamic and vary year to year. According to the 2006 SENTRY Antimicrobial Surveillance Program report, the incidence of MRSA bloodstream infections was 35.9 per cent in North America. MRSA blood infections in Latin America was 29%. European incidence was 22.8%. The rate of all MRSA infections in Europe ranged from 50% per cent in Portugal down to 0.8 per cent in Sweden. Overall MRSA infection rates varied in Latin America: Colombia and Venezuela combined had 3%, Mexico had 50%, Chile 38%, Brazil 29%, and Argentina 28%.


text: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that about 1.7 million nosocomial infections occurred in the United States in 2002, with 99,000 associated deaths. The estimated incidence is 4.5 nosocomial infections per 100 admissions, with direct costs (at 2004 prices) ranging from $10,500 (£5300, €8000 at 2006 rates) per case (for bloodstream, urinary tract, or respiratory infections in immunocompetent people) to $111,000 (£57,000, €85,000) per case for antibiotic-resistant infections in the bloodstream in people with transplants. With these numbers, conservative estimates of the total direct costs of nosocomial infections are above $17 billion. The reduction of such infections forms an important component of efforts to improve healthcare safety. (BMJ 2007) MRSA alone was associated with 8% of nosocomial infections reported to the CDC National Healthcare Safety Network from January 2006 to October 2007.


text: The British National Audit Office estimated that the incidence of nosocomial infections in Europe ranges from 4% to 10% of all hospital admissions. As of early 2005, the number of deaths in the United Kingdom attributed to MRSA has been estimated by various sources to lie in the area of 3,000 per year.


text: In the United States, an estimated 95 million people carry "S. aureus" in their noses; of these, 2.5 million (2.6% of carriers) carry MRSA. A population review conducted in three U.S. communities showed the annual incidence of CA-MRSA during 2001–2002 to be 18–25.7/100,000; most CA-MRSA isolates were associated with clinically relevant infections, and 23% of people required hospitalization.


text: In a US cohort study of 1,300 healthy children, 2.4% carried MRSA in their noses. There are concerns that the presence of MRSA in the environment may allow resistance to be transferred to other bacteria through phages (viruses that infect bacteria). The source of MRSA could come from hospital waste, farm sewage, or other waste water.


text: In 2004, MRSA was first isolated on a Dutch pig farm leading to further investigations of livestock associated MRSA (LA-MRSA). Livestock associated MRSA (LA-MRSA) has been observed in Korea, Brazil, Switzerland, Malaysia, India, Great Britain, Denmark, and China.


text: In 1961, the first known MRSA isolates were reported in a British study, and from 1961 to 1967, infrequent hospital outbreaks occurred in Western Europe and Australia, with methicillin then being licensed in England to treat resistant infections. Other reports of MRSA began to be described in the 1970s. Resistance to other antibiotics was documented in some strains of "S. aureus". In 1996, vancomycin resistance was reported in Japan. In many countries, outbreaks of MRSA infection were reported to be transmitted between hospitals. The rate had increased to 22% by 1995, and by 1997 the level of hospital "S. aureus" infections attributable to MRSA had reached 50%.


text: The first report of community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA) occurred in 1981, and in 1982, a large outbreak of CA-MRSA occurred among intravenous drug users in Detroit, Michigan. Additional outbreaks of CA-MRSA were reported through the 1980s and 1990s, including outbreaks among Australian Aboriginal populations that had never been exposed to hospitals. In the mid-1990s, scattered reports of CA-MRSA outbreaks among US children were made. While HA-MRSA rates stabilized between 1998 and 2008, CA-MRSA rates continued to rise. A report released by the University of Chicago Children's Hospital comparing two periods (1993–1995 and 1995–1997) found a 25-fold increase in the rate of hospitalizations due to MRSA among children in the United States. In 1999, the University of Chicago reported the first deaths from invasive MRSA among otherwise healthy children in the United States. By 2004, the genome for various strains of MRSA were described.


text: The observed increased mortality among MRSA-infected people arguably may be the result of the increased underlying morbidity of these people. Several studies, however, including one by Blot and colleagues, that have adjusted for underlying disease still found MRSA bacteremia to have a higher attributable mortality than methicillin-susceptible "S. aureus" (MSSA) bacteremia.


text: A population-based study of the incidence of MRSA infections in San Francisco during 2004–05 demonstrated that nearly one in 300 residents had such an infection in the course of a year and that greater than 85% of these infections occurred outside of the healthcare setting. A 2004 study showed that people in the United States with "S. aureus" infection had, on average, three times the length of hospital stay (14.3 vs. 4.5 days), incurred three times the total cost ($48,824 vs. $14,141), and experienced five times the risk of in-hospital death (11.2% vs 2.3%) than people without this infection. In a meta-analysis of 31 studies, Cosgrove "et al.", concluded that MRSA bacteremia is associated with increased mortality as compared with MSSA bacteremia (odds ratio= 1.93; 95% ). In addition, Wyllie "et al." report a death rate of 34% within 30 days among people infected with MRSA, a rate similar to the death rate of 27% seen among MSSA-infected people.


text: In the US, the CDC issued guidelines on October 19, 2006, citing the need for additional research, but declined to recommend such screening.


text: According to the CDC, the most recent estimates of the incidence of healthcare-associated infections that are attributable to MRSA in the United States indicate a decline in such infection rates. Incidence of MRSA central line-associated blood-stream infections as reported by hundreds of intensive care units decreased 50–70% from 2001 to 2007. A separate system tracking all hospital MRSA bloodstream infections found an overall 34% decrease between 2005 and 2008. In 2010, vancomycin was the drug of choice.


text: Across Europe, based mostly on data from 2013, seven countries (Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, and Estonia, from lowest to highest) had low levels of hospital-acquired MRSA infections compared to the others, and among countries with higher levels, significant improvements had been made only in Bulgaria, Poland, and the British Isles.


text: A 1,000-year-old eye salve recipe found in the medieval "Bald's Leechbook" at the British Library, one of the earliest known medical textbooks, was found to have activity against MRSA "in vitro" and in skin wounds in mice.


text: MRSA is frequently a media topic, especially if well-known personalities have announced that they have or have had the infection. Word of outbreaks of infection appears regularly in newspapers and television news programs. A report on skin and soft-tissue infections in the Cook County jail in Chicago in 2004–05 demonstrated MRSA was the most common cause of these infections among those incarcerated there. Lawsuits filed against those who are accused of infecting others with MRSA are also popular stories in the media.


text: Various antibacterial chemical extracts from various species of the sweetgum tree (genus "Liquidambar") have been investigated for their activity in inhibiting MRSA. Specifically, these are: cinnamic acid, cinnamyl cinnamate, ethyl cinnamate, benzyl cinnamate, styrene, vanillin, cinnamyl alcohol, 2-phenylpropyl alcohol, and 3-phenylpropyl cinnamate.


text: The delivery of inhaled antibiotics along with systematic administration to treat MRSA are being developed. This may improve the outcomes of those with cystic fibrosis and other respiratory infections. Phage therapy has been used for years in MRSA in eastern countries, and studies are ongoing in western countries.


text: A 2015 Cochrane systematic review aimed to assess the effectiveness of wearing gloves, gowns and masks to help stop the spread of MRSA in hospitals, however no eligible studies were identified for inclusion. The review authors concluded that there is a need for randomized controlled trials to be conducted to help determine if the use of gloves, gowns, and masks reduces the transmission of MRSA in hospitals.


title: Takeoff (rapper)

text: Kirshnik Khari Ball or Kirsnick Khari Ball (June 18, 1994 – November 1, 2022), known professionally as Takeoff, was an American rapper. He was best known as a third of the hip hop trio Migos along with his uncle Quavo and first cousin once removed Offset. The group scored multiple top ten hits on the "Billboard" Hot 100 including "MotorSport" featuring Nicki Minaj and Cardi B, "Stir Fry", "Walk It Talk It" featuring Drake, and "Bad and Boujee" featuring Lil Uzi Vert, the latter of which peaked at the top of the chart (although Takeoff was not present on the single). He also received two Grammy Award nominations. On November 1, 2022, Takeoff was shot and killed in Houston, Texas.


title: Takeoff (rapper)

text: Takeoff was born on June 18, 1994, in Lawrenceville, Georgia, where he was also raised by his mother, along with family members Quavo and Offset. He started making beats and developing rhythms in the seventh grade, but did not start producing music professionally until 2011.


title: Takeoff (rapper)

text: Along with fellow family members Quavo and Offset, Takeoff began rapping in 2008. The group initially performed under the stage name Polo Club, but eventually changed their name to Migos. The group released their first full-length project, a mixtape titled Juug Season, on August 25, 2011. They followed with the mixtape No Label, on June 1, 2012.


title: Takeoff (rapper)

text: Migos initially rose to prominence after the release of their single "Versace", in 2013. The song was remixed by Canadian rapper Drake and peaked at number 99 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart and number 31 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Their debut studio album, "Yung Rich Nation", was released in July 2015, and featured guest appearances from Chris Brown and Young Thug, and production from Zaytoven and Murda Beatz. The album peaked at number 17 on the "Billboard" 200.


title: Takeoff (rapper)

text: Migos achieved their first number one single in 2016 with "Bad and Boujee" featuring Lil Uzi Vert, peaking on the "Billboard" Hot 100 during the week of January 21, 2017. The song has gone on to be certified four times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). While he can be seen in one of the background scenes in the music video, Takeoff is not featured nor credited on the song. Takeoff claimed that he was not featured on the song because he was busy at the time of recording.


title: Takeoff (rapper)

text: During filming of "Complex"'s Everyday Struggle at the BET Awards 2017, he was questioned about his absence by hosts Joe Budden and DJ Akademiks, to which he replied, "Do it look like I'm left off 'Bad and Boujee'?". Takeoff's response caused Budden to leave the set, and an altercation between Migos and Budden and their entourages almost took place before it was broken up by security.


title: Takeoff (rapper)

text: Migos' second studio album, "Culture", was released on January 27, 2017, debuting at number 1 on the US "Billboard" 200, moving 131,000 album-equivalent units, including 44,000 copies sold, during its first week of release. The album went on to achieve platinum certification in the country in July 2017. The group's third album, "Culture II", was released on January 26, 2018. It became Migos' second album to debut at number 1 on the "Billboard" 200, moving 199,000 equivalent units, including 38,000 copies sold, in its first week of release.


title: Takeoff (rapper)

text: Following the release of "Culture II", on October 23, 2018, Takeoff announced an upcoming solo project titled "The Last Rocket" to be released the following month. Two days after the announcement, he released his first single off the album, "Last Memory", along with the music video. The album was released on November 2, 2018.


title: Takeoff (rapper)

text: The fourth Migos album, "Culture III", was released on June 11, 2021. This would be the final Migos album released during Takeoff's lifetime.


title: Takeoff (rapper)

text: In October 2022, rumors surrounding a possible disbandment of Migos arose, based on reports that Quavo's ex-girlfriend Saweetie had slept with Offset. Following this, Quavo and Takeoff released a collaborative album titled "Only Built for Infinity Links" on October 7, 2022, 25 days before Takeoff's death.


title: Takeoff (rapper)

text: On April 18, 2015, Migos were scheduled to headline Georgia Southern University's 2015 Spring concert at Hanner Fieldhouse. The show started at 7:00 p.m. with local opening acts; however, the group took to the stage nearly an hour and a half later than their scheduled 9:00 p.m. set time. Although their performance contract stipulated a minimum 45-minute set length, the group performed for less than 30 minutes before leaving the stage.


title: Takeoff (rapper)

text: The University Police Department, the Statesboro Police Department and the Bulloch County Sheriff's Office, who were present at the concert as security detail, detected a strong scent of marijuana from the group's vans, and the drivers were questioned by law enforcement. Upon further investigation, the rap trio and 12 members of their entourage were arrested for possession of marijuana and another controlled substance, possession of firearms within a school safety zone, possession of firearms during the commission of a crime, and possession of firearms by convicted felons.


title: Takeoff (rapper)

text: While university officials had been aware of Migos' reputation, the group were allowed to perform as the student body had voted to have the group perform among seven acts that were up for consideration, and student fees and ticket sales were used to pay for the concert. According to the performance contract, the group were to be paid $30,000 with their promoter Big House Collective receiving an additional $3,000. University officials initially sought to put Migos in breach of contract due to the group's late arrival, shortened performance, and possession of contraband on university property; however, the university ultimately paid half of the agreed-upon fees.


title: Takeoff (rapper)

text: On April 20, 2015, Takeoff, Quavo, and six members of their entourage were released on bond by the Bulloch County District Attorney's Office while Offset and six others remained in custody without bond. As a result of their arrests, on April 28, 2015, Migos announced they would postpone their Yung Rich Nation Tour until July.


title: Takeoff (rapper)

text: On August 5, 2020, news broke that Takeoff was named as the perpetrator in a civil lawsuit filed by a female victim on charges of "sexual battery, assault, false imprisonment, gender violence, and interference with civil rights" at a June 2020 party in Los Angeles. it was reported that the Los Angeles District Attorney's office would not be filing criminal charges against Takeoff due to insufficient evidence. The civil suit court proceedings were still in progress


title: Takeoff (rapper)

text: On November 1, 2022, Takeoff was shot three times in the torso and head and was killed at 810 Billiards & Bowling in Houston, Texas, located inside the GreenStreet commercial development. He and about 40 people gathered outside the bowling alley after a private party ended there around 1:00 a.m. CDT, according to Houston's KHOU-11 TV.


title: Takeoff (rapper)

text: Quavo had posted a video earlier in the night in which he had been driving around Houston with Jas Prince (the second son of James Prince), who was celebrating his father's birthday. Houston Police Sergeant Michael Arrington stated that an altercation broke out as a large group gathered outside the venue's third-floor entrance, and at least two guns were fired. In a statement, Takeoff's record label said that he was killed by a "stray bullet", and Houston police chief Troy Finner said that he did not believe Takeoff to be the intended target.


title: Takeoff (rapper)

text: The Houston Police Department reported that a fatal shooting had taken place at 2:40 a.m. CDT and that the victim was found dead on arrival while two other victims were "taken in private vehicles to hospitals". The department later added: "We are not releasing an identity of the deceased victim until his family is notified & ID verified by Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences." Houston police later confirmed that Takeoff had been killed in the shooting.


title: Takeoff (rapper)

text: A nurse who lived near the bowling alley heard the shots and ran to the scene. She checked the rapper's pulse, but at the time of her arrival, he was already dead.


title: Takeoff (rapper)

text: Two other people, 24-year-old Joshua "Wash" Washington (a business associate of Quavo) and a 23-year-old woman, suffered non-life-threatening injuries during the shooting.


title: Takeoff (rapper)

text: Rapper Desiigner announced in a live broadcast on Instagram that he is leaving rap and can no longer be creative due to the death of Takeoff. Blogger DJ Akademiks held a three-hour stream in honor of Takeoff, in which he analyzed videos from the moment of the murder of Takeoff, and also called for fighting the ideology of violence in hip-hop, including stopping imitating rappers YNW Melly and Tay-K, who were charged with murder. Rapper 50 Cent announced a moment of silence in honor of Takeoff during a concert in Finland, during which photos of him appeared on large screens. French soccer player Benjamin Pavard celebrated a goal for Bayern Munich by making a dab gesture, popularized by Migos. The Buffalo Bills football players held their traditional post-practice karaoke broadcast on Instagram, but before the party began, the players honored Takeoff with a minute. The Atlanta football team Atlanta Falcons paid tribute to Takeoff in their game against the Los Angeles Chargers, with pictures of him on big screens and his song playing in the background. Basketball player LeBron James changed his profile photo on his Instagram account to a black and white Takeoff photo. A couple of days later, LeBron came to the match against the Cleveland Cavaliers, wearing a suit and chain, exactly repeating the outfit of the rapper in one of his photo shoots. On November 15, rapper Gucci Mane released the track and video "Letter to Takeoff" dedicated to Ball.


title: Takeoff (rapper)

text: Takeoff's cousin and fellow rapper Offset has postponed the release of his second solo album, previously reported to be released on November 11, 2022.


title: Takeoff (rapper)

text: On November 26, 2022, 22-year-old Joshua Cameron, also known as Lil Cam 5th, was detained in Houston. On December 2, 33-year-old Patrick Xavier Clark was detained. The police believe it was Clark's shot that killed Takeoff.


title: Takeoff (rapper)

text: On November 5, Takeoff's friends and family held a farewell ceremony for the rapper, and a memorial was formed at the site of his death.


title: Takeoff (rapper)

text: On November 10, Takeoff's private commemoration was held. On November 11, Takeoff's "Celebration of Life" was held at the State Farm Arena. Free tickets were offered for the event and eventually sold out. Offset, Quavo, Cardi B, Drake, Justin Bieber, Yolanda Adams, and Chloe Bailey performed at the ceremony. Attendace totalled over 20,000, including Gucci Mane, City Girls, YG, Lil Yachty, Cee-Lo Green, Teyana Taylor. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens posthumously presented Takeoff with the Phoenix Award Those present were not allowed to use their phones or take pictures of the event.


title: Takeoff (rapper)

text: A few hours before the shooting, Quavo released a joint video with Takeoff for their song "Messy". After the incident, the clip gained several million views in a couple of hours and topped YouTube's trending list.


title: Takeoff (rapper)

text: Migos' single "Cross the Country", released in 2014, reached number one on the online magazine chart "HotNewHipHop". Takeoff and Quavo's joint album "Only Built for Infinity Links" climbed from number 84 to number 12 on the "Billboard" 200 chart after Takeoff's death. Takeoff's only solo album "The Last Rocket" (2018), took the 189th place on the chart. Migos' albums, "Culture" and "Culture II", recharted at 193rd and 116th, respectively. Quavo and Takeoff's collaborative track, "Hotel Lobby (Unc And Phew)", charted at number 78 on the "Billboard" Hot 100.


title: Takeoff (rapper)

text: On December 2, 2022, producer and frequent collaborator Metro Boomin released the album "Heroes & Villains", which contains the track "Feel the Fiyaaah", a collaboration with fellow American rapper A$AP Rocky featuring Takeoff.


title: Takeoff (rapper)

text: Quavo and Takeoff's single "Hotel Lobby (Unc & Phew)" was certified platinum on November 30th, exactly 4 weeks after Takeoff's death.


title: The Dirty Dozen

text: The Dirty Dozen is a 1967 American war film directed by Robert Aldrich and starring Lee Marvin with an ensemble supporting cast including Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Richard Jaeckel, George Kennedy, Ralph Meeker, Robert Ryan, Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland, Clint Walker and Robert Webber. Set in 1944 during the Second World War, it was filmed in England at MGM-British Studios and released by MGM. The film was a box office success and won the Academy Award for Best Sound Editing at the 40th Academy Awards in 1968. In 2001, the American Film Institute placed it at number 65 on their 100 Years... 100 Thrills list. The screenplay is based on the 1965 bestseller by E. M. Nathanson which was inspired by a real-life WWII unit of behind-the-lines demolition specialists from the 101st Airborne Division named the "Filthy Thirteen". Another possible inspiration was the public offer to President Franklin D. Roosevelt by 44 prisoners serving life sentences at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary to serve in the Pacific on suicide missions against the Japanese.


title: The Dirty Dozen

text: In March 1944, OSS officer Major John Reisman is ordered by the commander of ADSEC in Britain, Major General Sam Worden, to undertake Project Amnesty, a top-secret mission to train some of the Army's worst prisoners and turn them into commandos to be sent on a virtual suicide mission just before D-Day. The target is a château near Rennes where dozens of high-ranking German officers will be eliminated in order to disrupt the chain of command of the Wehrmacht in Northern France before the Allied invasion. The prisoners who survive the mission will receive pardons for their crimes.


title: The Dirty Dozen

text: Five prisoners are condemned to death while the others face lengthy sentences which include hard labor. With a detachment of MPs led by Sgt. Bowren acting as guards, the prisoners gradually learn how to operate together when they are forced to build their own training camp. However, when an act of insubordination is instigated by the rebellious Franko, all shaving and wash kits are withheld as punishment which leads to their nickname "The Dirty Dozen." During their training the prisoners are psychoanalyzed by Capt. Kinder who warns Reisman that they would all quite likely kill him if given the chance; and rapist/killer Maggott is by far the most dangerous.


title: The Dirty Dozen

text: With their commando training almost complete, the "Dirty Dozen" are sent for parachute training at a facility commanded by Reisman's nemesis Colonel Everett Dasher Breed of the 101st Airborne Division. When Reisman's men run afoul of Breed, especially after Pinkley – under Reisman's orders – poses as a general to inspect Breed's best troops, the Airborne colonel attempts to discover Reisman's mission by having two of his men beat a confession out of one of the prisoners. The convicts blame Reisman for the attack but realize their mistake after Breed and his men arrive at their camp looking for answers. Reisman infiltrates his own camp and the convicts disarm Breed's paratroops forcing the colonel to leave in humiliation.


title: The Dirty Dozen

text: Upon the men's completion of their training, Reisman rewards them with prostitutes, which raises the ire of General Worden and his chief of staff, Brigadier General Denton. Termination of the project is considered, which would result in sending the men back to prison for execution of their sentences. However, Reisman ferociously defends the prisoners saying each one is worth ten of Breed's best troops. Reisman's friend, Major Max Armbruster, suggests a test. During upcoming military maneuvers in southwest England, the "Dirty Dozen" will attempt to capture Colonel Breed's headquarters. The unit successfully infiltrates and captures Breed's war games headquarters using various unorthodox tactics. An impressed General Worden green-lights Reisman's mission.


title: The Dirty Dozen

text: The men parachute into northern France, but Jiminez breaks his neck during the jump. With a man down, the mission proceeds with German-speaking Wladislaw and Reisman infiltrating the chateau disguised as German officers. Pinkley stands outside posing as a German officer. Gilpin is on the roof of the building, but his leg breaks through and gets stuck. However, all surprise is lost when the psychopathic Maggott breaks cover and sets off an alarm. Gilpin with his leg stuck in the roof sacrifices himself by blowing up the antenna with hand grenades. Pinkley shoots and kills several officers before he himself is gunned down. Maggot is then shot and killed by Jefferson to protect the mission. The sound of gunfire makes the Wehrmacht officers and their companions retreat to a locked underground bomb shelter, but after gasoline has been poured down ventilation shafts, Jefferson throws the hand grenades down the shafts and runs for his life but is shot dead.


title: The Dirty Dozen

text: After extensive fighting, only Reisman, Sgt Bowren, and Wladislaw escape alive. Back in England, a voiceover from Armbruster confirms that General Worden exonerated the sole surviving member of the Dirty Dozen and communicated to the next of kin of the rest that "they lost their lives in the line of duty".


title: The Dirty Dozen

text: Although Robert Aldrich had failed to buy the rights to E.M. Nathanson's novel "The Dirty Dozen" while it was just an outline, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer succeeded in May 1963. On publication, the novel became a best-seller in 1965. It was adapted to the screen by veteran scriptwriter and producer Nunnally Johnson, and Lukas Heller. A repeated rhyme was written into the script where the twelve actors verbally recite the details of the attack in a rhyming chant to help them remember their roles while approaching the mission target:


title: The Dirty Dozen

text: The cast included many World War II US veterans including Lee Marvin, Robert Webber and Robert Ryan (US Marine Corps); Telly Savalas and George Kennedy (US Army); Charles Bronson (US Army Air Forces); Ernest Borgnine (US Navy); and Clint Walker (US Merchant Marine).


title: The Dirty Dozen

text: John Wayne was the original choice for Reisman, but he turned down the role because he objected to the adultery present in the original script, which featured the character having a relationship with an Englishwoman whose husband was fighting on the Continent. Jack Palance refused the "Archer Maggott" role when they would not rewrite the script to make his character lose his racism; Telly Savalas took the role instead.


title: The Dirty Dozen

text: Six of the dozen were experienced American stars, while the "Back Six" were actors resident in the UK, Englishman Colin Maitland, Canadians Donald Sutherland and Tom Busby, and Americans Stuart Cooper, Al Mancini, and Ben Carruthers. According to commentary on "The Dirty Dozen: 2-Disc Special Edition", when Trini Lopez left the film early, the death scene of Lopez's character where he blew himself up with the radio tower was given to Busby (in the film, Ben Carruthers' character Glenn Gilpin is given the task of blowing up the radio tower while Busby's character Milo Vladek is shot in front of the château). Lopez's character dies off-camera during the parachute drop that begins the mission. The impersonation of the general scene was to have been done by Clint Walker, but when he thought the scene was demeaning to his character, who was a Native American, Aldrich picked out Sutherland for the bit.


title: The Dirty Dozen

text: Jim Brown, the Cleveland Browns running back, announced his retirement from American football at age thirty during the making of the film. The owner of the Browns, Art Modell, demanded Brown choose between football and acting. With Brown's considerable accomplishments in the sport (he was already the NFL's all-time leading rusher, was well ahead statistically of the second-leading rusher, and his team had won the 1964 NFL Championship), he chose acting. In Spike Lee's 2002 documentary "" Modell admitted he made a huge mistake in forcing Jim Brown to choose between football and Hollywood. He said that if he had it to do over again, he would never have made such a demand. Modell fined Jim Brown the equivalent of over $100 per day, a fine which Brown said that "today wouldn't even buy the doughnuts for a team".


title: The Dirty Dozen

text: The production was filmed in the U.K. during the summer of 1966. Interiors and set pieces took place at MGM-British Studios, Borehamwood, where the château set was built under the direction of art director William Hutchinson. It was wide and high, surrounded with of heather, 400 ferns, 450 shrubs, 30 spruce trees and six weeping willows. Construction of the faux château proved problematic. The script required its explosion, but it was so solid that 70 tons of explosives would have been required for the effect. Instead, a cork and plastic section was destroyed.


title: The Dirty Dozen

text: Exteriors were shot throughout southeast England. The credit scenes at the American military prison – alluded in the movie to be Shepton Mallett – were shot in a courtyard at Ashridge House in Hertfordshire. Co-star Richard Jaeckel recalled that when the introductory lineup scene was first shot, Aldrich, who liked to play pranks on his actors, initially placed Charles Bronson between Clint Walker and Donald Sutherland, which provoked an angry response from the diminutive Bronson, making Aldrich laugh.


title: The Dirty Dozen

text: The jump school scene was shot at the former entrance to RAF Hendon in London. The wargame was filmed in and around the village of Aldbury. Bradenham Manor was the Wargames' Headquarters. Beechwood Park School in Markyate was also used as a location during the school's summer term, where the training camp and tower were built and shot in the grounds and the village itself as parts of "Devonshire". The main house was also used, appearing in the film as a military hospital. After filming finished, the training camp huts were relocated and used as sports equipment storage for the school's playing fields. Residents of Chenies, Buckinghamshire complained to MGM when filming caused damage around their village.


title: The Dirty Dozen

text: While making the film, some of the cast members gave an interview to "ABC Film review", in which they contrasted their own real wartime ranks to their officer roles in the film:


title: The Dirty Dozen

text: George Kennedy: Took me two years to make Private First Class.Lee Marvin: I didn't even make that in the Marines.Ernest Borgnine: I was beneath notice in the NavyFor punks, we're doing all right, said Marvin. I wonder how the generals are doing?


title: The Dirty Dozen

text: Heavy rains throughout the summer caused filming delays of several months, leading to $1 million in overruns and bringing the final cost to $5 million. In the early hours of 21 September 1966 part of the Chateau set burned down prematurely. Night-time film had been stopped at 03:30 due to fog, and the set - which was due to be destroyed during filming - caught fire at 06:29. Principal photography wrapped at MGM-British Studios in September 1966 with post-production to be completed at MGM studios in Culver City, California.


title: The Dirty Dozen

text: Nathanson states in the prologue to his novel "The Dirty Dozen" that, while he heard a legend that such a unit may have existed, he incorrectly heard that they were convicts. He was unable to find any corroboration in the archives of the US Army in Europe. He instead turned his research of convicted felons into the subsequent novel. He does not state where he acquired the name, but Arch Whitehouse coined the name "Dirty Dozen" as the 12 enlisted men of the airborne section that became the "Filthy Thirteen" after the lieutenant joined their ranks. In Arch Whitehouse's article in "True Magazine", he claimed that all the enlisted men were full-blood Indians, but in reality only their leader Jake McNeice was one-quarter Choctaw. The parts of the Filthy Thirteen story that carried over into Nathanson's book were not bathing until the jump into Normandy, their disrespect for military authority, and the pre-invasion party. The Filthy Thirteen was actually a demolitions section with a mission to secure bridges over the Douve on D-Day.


title: The Dirty Dozen

text: A unit called the "Filthy Thirteen" was an airborne demolition unit documented in the eponymous book, and this unit's exploits inspired the fictional account. Barbara Maloney, the daughter of John Agnew, a private in the Filthy Thirteen, told the "American Valor Quarterly" that her father felt that 30 percent of the film's content was historically correct, including a scene where officers are captured. Unlike the Dirty Dozen, the Filthy Thirteen were not convicts; however, they were men prone to drinking and fighting and often spent time in the stockade.


title: The Dirty Dozen

text: "The Dirty Dozen" premiered at the Capitol Theatre in New York City on June 15, 1967 and opened at the 34th Street East theatre the following day. Despite being shot in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, the film was initially shown in 70 mm which cut off 15% of the film and resulted in a grainy look.


title: The Dirty Dozen

text: "The Dirty Dozen" was a massive commercial success. In its first five days in New York, the film grossed $103,849 from 2 theatres. Produced on a budget of $5.4 million, it earned theatrical rentals of $7.5 million in its first five weeks from 1,152 bookings and 625 prints, one of the fastest-grossing films at the time; however, on "Variety"'s weekly box office survey, based on a sample of key city theatres, it only reached number two at the U.S. box office behind "You Only Live Twice" until it finally reached number one in its sixth week. It eventually earned rentals of $24.2 million in the United States and Canada from a gross of $45.3 million. It was the fourth-highest-grossing film of 1967 and MGM's highest-grossing film of the year. It was also a hit in France, with admissions of 4,672,628.


title: The Dirty Dozen

text: The film holds an 81% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 52 reviews, with an average rating of 8.00/10. The critical consensus reads, "Amoral on the surface and exuding testosterone, "The Dirty Dozen" utilizes combat and its staggering cast of likable scoundrels to deliver raucous entertainment." On release, the film was criticized for its level of violence. Roger Ebert, who was in his first year as a film reviewer for the "Chicago Sun-Times", wrote sarcastically: