title: Las Meninas

text: The painting is likely to have been influenced by Jan van Eyck's "Arnolfini Portrait", of 1434. At the time, van Eyck's painting hung in Philip's palace, and would have been familiar to Velázquez. The "Arnolfini Portrait" also has a mirror positioned at the back of the pictorial space, reflecting two figures who would have the same angle of vision as does the viewer of Velázquez's painting; they are too small to identify, but it has been speculated that one may be intended as the artist himself, though he is not shown in the act of painting. According to Lucien Dällenbach:


title: Las Meninas

text: Jonathan Miller asks: "What are we to make of the blurred features of the royal couple? It is unlikely that it has anything to do with the optical imperfection of the mirror, which would, in reality, have displayed a focused image of the King and Queen". He notes that "in addition to the "represented" mirror, he teasingly implies an unrepresented one, without which it is difficult to imagine how he could have shown himself painting the picture we now see".


title: Las Meninas

text: The elusiveness of "Las Meninas", according to Dawson Carr, "suggests that art, and life, are an illusion". The relationship between illusion and reality were central concerns in Spanish culture during the 17th century, figuring largely in "Don Quixote", the best-known work of Spanish Baroque literature. In this respect, Calderón de la Barca's play "Life is a Dream" is commonly seen as the literary equivalent of Velázquez's painting:


title: Las Meninas

text: Jon Manchip White notes that the painting can be seen as a résumé of the whole of Velázquez's life and career, as well as a summary of his art to that point. He placed his only confirmed self-portrait in a room in the royal palace surrounded by an assembly of royalty, courtiers, and fine objects that represent his life at court. The art historian Svetlana Alpers suggests that, by portraying the artist at work in the company of royalty and nobility, Velázquez was claiming high status for both the artist and his art, and in particular to propose that painting is a liberal rather than a mechanical art. This distinction was a point of controversy at the time. It would have been significant to Velázquez, since the rules of the Order of Santiago excluded those whose occupations were mechanical. Kahr asserts that this was the best way for Velázquez to show that he was "neither a craftsman or a tradesman, but an official of the court". Furthermore, this was a way to prove himself worthy of acceptance by the royal family.


title: Las Meninas

text: Michel Foucault devoted the opening chapter of "The Order of Things" (1966) to an analysis of "Las Meninas". Foucault describes the painting in meticulous detail, but in a language that is "neither prescribed by, nor filtered through the various texts of art-historical investigation". Foucault viewed the painting without regard to the subject matter, nor to the artist's biography, technical ability, sources and influences, social context, or relationship with his patrons. Instead he analyzes its conscious artifice, highlighting the complex network of visual relationships between painter, subject-model, and viewer:


title: Las Meninas

text: For Foucault, "Las Meninas" illustrates the first signs of a new "episteme", or way of thinking. It represents a midpoint between what he sees as the two "great discontinuities" in European thought, the classical and the modern: "Perhaps there exists, in this painting by Velázquez, the representation as it were of Classical representation, and the definition of the space it opens up to us ... representation, freed finally from the relation that was impeding it, can offer itself as representation in its pure form."


title: Las Meninas

text: Many aspects of "Las Meninas" relate to earlier works by Velázquez in which he plays with conventions of representation. In the "Rokeby Venus"—his only surviving nude—the face of the subject is visible, blurred beyond any realism, in a mirror. The angle of the mirror is such that although "often described as looking at herself, [she] is more disconcertingly looking at us". In the early "Christ in the House of Martha and Mary" of 1618, Christ and his companions are seen only through a serving hatch to a room behind, according to the National Gallery (London), who are clear that this is the intention, although before restoration many art historians regarded this scene as either a painting hanging on the wall in the main scene, or a reflection in a mirror, and the debate has continued. The dress worn in the two scenes also differs: the main scene is in contemporary dress, while the scene with Christ uses conventional iconographic biblical dress.


title: Las Meninas

text: In "Las Hilanderas", believed to have been painted the year after "Las Meninas", two different scenes from Ovid are shown: one in contemporary dress in the foreground, and the other partly in antique dress, played before a tapestry on the back wall of a room behind the first. According to the critic Sira Dambe, "aspects of representation and power are addressed in this painting in ways closely connected with their treatment in "Las Meninas"". In a series of portraits of the late 1630s and 1640s—all now in the Prado—Velázquez painted clowns and other members of the royal household posing as gods, heroes, and philosophers; the intention is certainly partly comic, at least for those in the know, but in a highly ambiguous way.


title: Las Meninas

text: Velázquez's portraits of the royal family themselves had until then been straightforward, if often unflatteringly direct and highly complex in expression. On the other hand, his royal portraits, designed to be seen across vast palace rooms, feature more strongly than his other works the bravura handling for which he is famous: "Velázquez's handling of paint is exceptionally free, and as one approaches "Las Meninas" there is a point at which the figures suddenly dissolve into smears and blobs of paint. The long-handled brushes he used enabled him to stand back and judge the total effect."


title: Las Meninas

text: In 1692, the Neapolitan painter Luca Giordano became one of the few allowed to view paintings held in Philip IV's private apartments, and was greatly impressed by "Las Meninas". Giordano described the work as the "theology of painting", and was inspired to paint "A Homage to Velázquez" (National Gallery, London). By the early 18th century his oeuvre was gaining international recognition, and later in the century British collectors ventured to Spain in search of acquisitions. Since the popularity of Italian art was then at its height among British connoisseurs, they concentrated on paintings that showed obvious Italian influence, largely ignoring others such as "Las Meninas".


title: Las Meninas

text: An almost immediate influence can be seen in the two portraits by Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo of subjects depicted in "Las Meninas", which in some ways reverse the motif of that painting. Ten years later, in 1666, Mazo painted Infanta Margaret Theresa, who was then 15 and just about to leave Madrid to marry the Holy Roman Emperor. In the background are figures in two further receding doorways, one of which was the new King Charles (Margaret Theresa's brother), and another the dwarf Maribarbola. A Mazo portrait of the widowed Queen Mariana again shows, through a doorway in the Alcázar, the young king with dwarfs, possibly including Maribarbola, and attendants who offer him a drink. Mazo's painting of "The Family of the Artist" also shows a composition similar to that of "Las Meninas".


title: Las Meninas

text: Francisco Goya etched a print of "Las Meninas" in 1778, and used Velázquez's painting as the model for his "Charles IV of Spain and His Family". As in "Las Meninas", the royal family in Goya's work is apparently visiting the artist's studio. In both paintings the artist is shown working on a canvas, of which only the rear is visible. Goya, however, replaces the atmospheric and warm perspective of "Las Meninas" with what Pierre Gassier calls a sense of "imminent suffocation". Goya's royal family is presented on a "stage facing the public, while in the shadow of the wings the painter, with a grim smile, points and says: 'Look at them and judge for yourself!' "


title: Las Meninas

text: The 19th-century British art collector William John Bankes travelled to Spain during the Peninsular War (1808–1814) and acquired a copy of "Las Meninas" painted by Mazo, which he believed to be an original preparatory oil sketch by Velázquez—although Velázquez did not usually paint studies. Bankes described his purchase as "the glory of my collection", noting that he had been "a long while in treaty for it and was obliged to pay a high price".


title: Las Meninas

text: A new appreciation for Velázquez's less Italianate paintings developed after 1819, when Ferdinand VII opened the royal collection to the public. In 1879 John Singer Sargent painted a small-scale copy of "Las Meninas", while his 1882 painting "The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit" is a homage to Velázquez's panel. The Irish artist Sir John Lavery chose Velázquez's masterpiece as the basis for his portrait "The Royal Family at Buckingham Palace, 1913". George V visited Lavery's studio during the execution of the painting, and, perhaps remembering the legend that Philip IV had daubed the cross of the Knights of Santiago on the figure of Velázquez, asked Lavery if he could contribute to the portrait with his own hand. According to Lavery, "Thinking that royal blue might be an appropriate colour, I mixed it on the palette, and taking a brush he [George V] applied it to the Garter ribbon."


title: Las Meninas

text: Between August and December 1957, Pablo Picasso painted a series of 58 interpretations of "Las Meninas", and figures from it, which currently fill the "Las Meninas" room of the Museu Picasso in Barcelona, Spain. Picasso did not vary the characters within the series, but largely retained the naturalness of the scene; according to the museum, his works constitute an "exhaustive study of form, rhythm, colour and movement". A print of 1973 by Richard Hamilton called "Picasso's Meninas" draws on both Velázquez and Picasso. Photographer Joel-Peter Witkin was commissioned by the Spanish Ministry of Culture to create a work titled "Las Meninas, New Mexico" (1987) which references Velázquez's painting as well as other works by Spanish artists.


title: Las Meninas

text: In 2004, the video artist Eve Sussman filmed "89 Seconds at Alcázar", a high-definition video tableau inspired by "Las Meninas". The work is a recreation of the moments leading up to and directly following the approximately 89 seconds when the royal family and their courtiers would have come together in the exact configuration of Velázquez's painting. Sussman had assembled a team of 35, including an architect, a set designer, a choreographer, a costume designer, actors, and a film crew.


title: Las Meninas

text: A 2008 exhibition at the Museu Picasso called "Forgetting Velázquez: "Las Meninas"" included art responding to Velázquez's painting by , Avigdor Arikha, Claudio Bravo, Juan Carreño de Miranda, Michael Craig-Martin, Salvador Dalí, Juan Downey, Goya, Hamilton, Mazo, Vik Muniz, Jorge Oteiza, Picasso, Antonio Saura, Franz von Stuck, Sussman, Manolo Valdés, and Witkin, among others. In 2009 the Museo del Prado published online photographs of "Las Meninas" in at a resolution of 14,000 megapixels.


title: Bang Bros

text: Bang Bros (stylized BangBros) is a pornographic film studio operating from Miami, Florida, United States. It was founded in 2000 by Kristopher Hinson while he was a student at the University of Florida. The network is now owned by WGCZ S.R.O. - Czech company based in Nové Město dictrict of Prague, which purchased the network and its associated websites in 2017.


title: Bang Bros

text: Bang Bros rose to prominence with its flagship sites Bangbus.com and Assparade.com. Along with multiple paysites, they also owned and operated the popular camming websites Camster.com and Naked.com, which were sold off in 2019.


title: Bang Bros

text: In 2014, they completed the purchase for the popular amateur pornographic film studio Girls Gone Wild.


title: Bang Bros

text: In 2019 Bang Bros completed the purchase of PornWikiLeaks.com. PornWikiLeaks.com was known for publishing the real names and information of actresses and actors within the pornography industry. When Bang Bros took control of the data and domain, they immediately destroyed and wiped all information associated with the site, which helped to protect associated workers in the pornography industry.


title: Bang Bros

text: On September 15, 2019, Bang Bros made an offer to the Miami Heat to get the naming rights to the arena in which they play. The new name suggested was the Bang Bros Center (BBC). The company re-submitted a bid to sponsor the stadium in exchange for naming rights in November 2022, after the collapse of FTX, the former sponsor of the stadium.


title: Bang Bros

text: On June 20, 2020, Bang Bros sent a legal cease and desist order to Mia Khalifa, who they allege has been making false and defamatory allegations about the company. They also created the website FactsBeatFiction.com to dispute the "false, deceptive, and misleading statements" made by the former pornstar.


title: Bang Bros

text: Bang Bros used to operate a Spanish language service based out of Colombia called "Culioneros" which taped on location and had local versions of their own productions like their famous "bang bus".


title: Bang Bros

text: BangBros.com, Inc. was sued by the U.S. government in June 2005 for violating the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Adult Labeling Rule and Federal CAN-SPAM Act. The company failed to follow the rule that requires commercial e-mailers of sexually explicit material to use the phrase "sexually explicit" in the subject line. The company settled the lawsuit for $650,000, and also agreed to allow its operations to be monitored to ensure future compliance.


title: Alexandra Hedison

text: Alexandra Hedison (born July 10, 1969) is an American photographer, director, and actress. She is married to actress and filmmaker Jodie Foster.


title: Alexandra Hedison

text: Born in Los Angeles, California, on July 10, 1969, she is the daughter of Bridget (Mori) and the actor David Hedison. Hedison is of Italian and Armenian heritage. She attended the State University of New York at Purchase and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).


title: Alexandra Hedison

text: Alexandra Hedison is a fine art photographer. Hedison first exhibited her series of abstract landscapes in 2002 at Rose Gallery in Bergamot Station, Los Angeles with others.


title: Alexandra Hedison

text: As a photographer, in 2005, she exhibited the (Re)Building series, which addressed themes of loss, transition and recovery while using construction as a metaphor for memory in the architecture of the subconscious. Her series of large format photographs entitled "Ithaka", which takes its title from the CP Cavafy poem of the same name, was shot in the temperate rain forest of North America. First exhibited in London, "Ithaka" was included in "The New Yorker"s 2008 Passport to the Arts and Month of Photography Los Angeles the following year.


title: Alexandra Hedison

text: Hedison's work is represented in public and private collections worldwide, and her photographs have been shown in solo and group exhibitions in galleries and museums throughout the US and Europe, including Los Angeles, New York, and London.


title: Alexandra Hedison

text: In 2009 Hedison published a series of books sponsored by the Center of Cultural Intelligence in Singapore.


title: Alexandra Hedison

text: In 2009, the Ithaka series was exhibited at Frank Pictures Gallery in Santa Monica. This exhibition was the Month of Photography Los Angeles (MOPLA) Official Opening Night Exhibition, in conjunction with Pro'jekt LA. In 2010, her solo show "In the Woods" was exhibited at Meredith Gunderson Projects in London. The same year Hedison showed Ithaka in a solo exhibit at Mews 42 Gallery in London.


title: Alexandra Hedison

text: In 2011, Hedison did a residency with Myriam Blundell Projects at the Willums Art Foundation in Pourrieres, France.


title: Alexandra Hedison

text: In 2012, her work series "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" was exhibited in a solo show at Diane Rosenstein Gallery in Beverly Hills.


title: Alexandra Hedison

text: In 2013, Hedison was selected to be part of the "My Aim Is True" exhibition at the Frostig Collection in Los Angeles.


title: Alexandra Hedison

text: In 2013, Hedison was part of "First Anniversary - Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture and Photographs" at Diane Rosenstein Fine Art, Los Angeles, in a group exhibition with others.


title: Alexandra Hedison

text: In 2016 Hedison exhibited in "Both Sides of Sunset - Photographs of Los Angeles" at Kopeikin Gallery in Los Angeles, along with others.


title: Alexandra Hedison

text: In 2016 "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" opened at the Centro Cultural de Cascais in Cascais, Portugal, an exhibit that included photography and film installations. The show in was named in "Time Out" magazine as one of the top ten exhibitions in Lisbon during the year.


title: Alexandra Hedison

text: In 2017 Hedison and Jodie Foster co-chaired the 14th edition of the Hammer Museum's annual Gala in the Garden.


title: Alexandra Hedison

text: Hedison has also appeared in multiple television series including Showtime's "The L Word" as con artist Dylan Moreland.


title: Alexandra Hedison

text: Hedison was in a relationship with comedian and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres from 2000 to 2004. In April 2014, Hedison married Jodie Foster, after dating for a year.


title: George Kennedy

text: George Harris Kennedy Jr. (February 18, 1925 – February 28, 2016) was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 film and television productions. He played "Dragline" opposite Paul Newman in "Cool Hand Luke" (1967), winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the role and being nominated for the corresponding Golden Globe. He received a second Golden Globe nomination for portraying Joe Patroni in "Airport" (1970).


title: George Kennedy

text: Among the notable films he had a significant role in are "Cool Hand Luke", "Charade", "Strait-Jacket", "McHale's Navy", "Shenandoah", "The Sons of Katie Elder", "The Flight of the Phoenix", "The Dirty Dozen", "The Boston Strangler", "Guns of the Magnificent Seven", "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot", "The Good Guys and the Bad Guys", "Airport 1975", "Earthquake", "The Eiger Sanction", and "The Naked Gun".


title: George Kennedy

text: Kennedy was the only actor to appear in all four films in the "Airport" series, reprising the role of Joe Patroni three times. He also played Police Captain Ed Hocken in the "Naked Gun" series of comedy films, and corrupt oil tycoon Carter McKay on the original "Dallas" television series.


title: George Kennedy

text: Kennedy was born on February 18, 1925, in New York City, into a show business family. His father, George Harris Kennedy, a musician and orchestra leader, died when Kennedy was four years old. He was raised by his mother, Helen A. (née Kieselbach), a ballet dancer. His maternal grandfather was a German immigrant; his other ancestry was Irish and English.


title: George Kennedy

text: Kennedy made his stage debut at age two in a touring company of "Bringing Up Father", and by seven was a New York City radio DJ.


title: George Kennedy

text: Kennedy enlisted in the United States Army during World War II in 1943. He served 16 years, reaching the rank of captain. Kennedy served in the infantry under George S. Patton, fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and earned two Bronze Stars. He re-enlisted after the war and was discharged in the late 1950s due to a back injury.


title: George Kennedy

text: His first notable screen role was a military policeman on the TV sitcom "The Phil Silvers Show", where he also served as a technical adviser to ensure accuracy for the show's military base setting. Kennedy later described the Silvers show as "a great training ground".


title: George Kennedy

text: His film career began in 1961 in "The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come". He appeared in several Hollywood movies, including as a sadistic jail guard in the Kirk Douglas modern western "Lonely Are the Brave" (1962), a ruthless criminal in the Cary Grant suspense film "Charade" (1963), and in a Joan Crawford thriller, "Strait-Jacket" (1964).


title: George Kennedy

text: Kennedy was busy in 1965. He appeared with Gregory Peck in the mystery "Mirage", with a large cast led by James Stewart in the plane-crash adventure "The Flight of the Phoenix", with John Wayne in the war film "In Harm's Way," and with Wayne and Dean Martin in the western "The Sons of Katie Elder".


title: George Kennedy

text: He played the character "Blodgett" in a 1966 episode "Return to Lawrence" of the ABC Western series "The Legend of Jesse James".


title: George Kennedy

text: Then came the role for which he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in "Cool Hand Luke" (1967), that of "Dragline," a chain-gang convict who at first resents the new prisoner in camp played by Paul Newman, then comes to idolize the rebellious Luke.


title: George Kennedy

text: Kennedy followed with films such as "The Dirty Dozen", "Bandolero!", and "The Boston Strangler". In 1970, he appeared in the Academy Award-winning disaster film "Airport", in which he played one of its main characters, airline troubleshooter Joe Patroni. He reprised this role in "Airport 1975", "Airport '77" and "The Concorde ... Airport '79", the only cast member to appear in each film of the series.


title: George Kennedy

text: The "Airport" franchise helped inspire the Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker satire "Airplane!", in which the filmmakers hoped to cast Kennedy as the bumbling plane dispatcher. The role went to Lloyd Bridges, because Kennedy "couldn't kill off his "Airport" cash-cow", Jerry Zucker said in 2010.


title: George Kennedy

text: Kennedy co-starred with Clint Eastwood in two films, "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" and "The Eiger Sanction", and with ensemble casts in the disaster film "Earthquake" and the Agatha Christie mystery "Death on the Nile".


title: George Kennedy

text: He also starred in two television series: "Sarge", which aired from 1971 to 1972 on NBC, and "The Blue Knight", a CBS series that ran for 24 episodes from 1975 to 1976.


title: George Kennedy

text: Kennedy starred in two Japanese productions, Junya Satō's "Proof of the Man" in 1977 and Kinji Fukasaku's "Virus" in 1980. Both films were produced by Haruki Kadokawa and featured extensive international casts and shooting locations. Although "Proof of the Man" was only released theatrically in Japan and "Virus" saw a financially unsuccessful truncated cut in the U.S., Kennedy was highly enthusiastic towards his involvement.


title: George Kennedy

text: In 1984, Kennedy starred opposite Bo Derek in the box-office bomb "Bolero". His other films during the 1980s included "Savage Dawn", "The Delta Force" and "Creepshow 2", before playing a top supporting role in the comedy film "" in 1988, playing Captain Ed Hocken opposite Leslie Nielsen's comical cop Frank Drebin. There were two sequels in which Kennedy again co-starred.


title: George Kennedy

text: In 1990, Kennedy appeared in the Korean film "Mayumi" directed by Shin Sang-ok who was best known for having been kidnapped with actress and wife Choi Eun-hee by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. "Mayumi" was Shin's attempt at re-entering the South Korean film industry and was the country's submission for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 63rd Academy Awards, but it was not accepted as a nominee. Despite featuring Kennedy, it saw no wide release outside of South Korea and was ultimately a domestic box office failure.


title: George Kennedy

text: On television, Kennedy starred as Carter McKay in the CBS prime time serial "Dallas" (1978–1991), appearing from 1988 to 1991. From the mid- to late-1990s, he promoted "Breathasure" tablets in radio and television commercials. Around this time, he reprised his role as McKay in the television films "" and "". In the late 1970s, Kennedy also appeared as a celebrity guest on the television game show "Match Game".


title: George Kennedy

text: In 1998, he voiced Brick Bazooka for the film "Small Soldiers". He then made several independent films, before making a 2003 comeback to television in the soap opera "The Young and the Restless", playing the character Albert Miller, the biological father to legendary character Victor Newman. In 2005, he made a cameo appearance in the film "Don't Come Knocking", playing the director of an ill-fated western.


title: George Kennedy

text: Kennedy made his final film appearance in "The Gambler" (2014) as Ed, the dying grandfather of Mark Wahlberg's Jim Bennett. His role lasts for less than two minutes during the film's opening scene, wherein Ed (moments before his death) bequeaths the responsibilities of patriarch to a heartbroken Jim.


title: George Kennedy

text: Kennedy was married four times, to three women. In the 1940s, he married Dorothy Gillooly (1926–2012), who had served in the Women's Army Corps. They had one son, Kevin Kennedy, before being divorced in the 1950s; Dorothy returned to her hometown, Buffalo, New York, and raised their son there. In 1959, Kennedy married Norma Wurman, also known as Revel Wurman (1929–2007). The couple had two children, son Christopher and daughter Karianna. Kennedy and Norma divorced the first time in 1971, remarried in 1973, and divorced a second and final time in 1978. That same year, Kennedy married Joan McCarthy (née Castagna), daughter of John Castagna and former wife of William James McCarthy. They remained married until her death in September 2015. The couple adopted three children including Shaunna Kennedy, who later developed drug-abuse problems. In 1998, after Shaunna was declared unfit to raise her daughter Taylor, Kennedy and Joan adopted that grandchild also.


title: George Kennedy

text: Kennedy was friends with James Stewart, and provided the voiceover in a Turner Classic Movies mini-tribute to Stewart. Kennedy was an aviator who enjoyed flying and owned a Cessna 210 and Beechcraft Bonanza. Following his experiences working for the Far East Network during WWII and professional involvement with "Proof of the Man" and "Virus", Kennedy maintained a lifelong affinity for Japan and its culture.


title: George Kennedy

text: Kennedy resided in Eagle, Idaho, at the time of his death. He died on the morning of February 28, 2016, of a heart ailment at an assisted living facility in Middleton, Idaho, 10 days after his 91st birthday. He had a history of heart disease.


title: George Kennedy

text: For his contributions to motion pictures, Kennedy received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6352 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.


title: George Kennedy

text: Kennedy wrote three books. In 1983, he wrote the murder mystery "Murder On Location", set on a film shoot. A second novel, "Murder on High", was released in 1984. In 2011, he wrote his autobiography, "Trust Me".


title: The Punisher (2004 film)

text: The Punisher is a 2004 American vigilante action film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, directed by Jonathan Hensleigh, written by Hensleigh and Michael France. It stars Thomas Jane as the antihero Frank Castle and John Travolta as Howard Saint, a crime boss who orders the death of Castle's entire family.


title: The Punisher (2004 film)

text: The film's story and plot were mainly based on two Punisher comic book stories: the 1994 miniseries "The Punisher: Year One" by writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, and the 2000-01 miniseries "Welcome Back, Frank" by writer Garth Ennis, though some scenes were derived from other Punisher stories, such as "Marvel Preview Presents: The Punisher" #2, "Marvel Super Action Featuring: The Punisher" #1, "The Punisher War Zone", and "The Punisher War Journal". "The Punisher" was shot on location in Tampa, Florida and environs in mid to late 2003. It was distributed by Lions Gate Films in North America, although Artisan Entertainment, which released a 1989 film adaptation of the same name on DVD, financed and co-distributed the film with eventual Artisan owner Lionsgate, while Columbia Pictures distributed the film in non-North American territories. Screenwriter Jonathan Hensleigh agreed to helm the film during its development stage despite a dispute with Marvel Studios, marking his directorial debut.


title: The Punisher (2004 film)

text: The film was released on April 16, 2004, by Lions Gate Films and Columbia Pictures, grossing $13 million in the United States over its opening weekend, and reached a total gross of $54 million against a budget of $33 million. Reviews were generally negative. Marvel Comics and Lionsgate began development on a sequel, "The Punisher 2", which instead became the 2008 reboot "" after Jane and Hensleigh left the project due to creative differences. This was the final film produced by Artisan Entertainment for theatrical distribution.


title: The Punisher (2004 film)

text: An FBI bust of smuggling operation in Tampa Bay results in the deaths of Bobby Saint, the son of mafia boss Howard Saint, and Otto Krieg, an arms dealer. However, Krieg's death was faked, and he is revealed to be undercover FBI agent Frank Castle on his final mission before retirement. Enraged at the death of his son, Saint orders his men to learn everything they can about Krieg, and acquires access by bribing corrupt federal law enforcement officers for his federal service history. He orders Castle killed at a family reunion, though Saint's wife Livia insists that Castle's family be killed as well. At the reunion, Saint's men, including Saint's best friend Quentin Glass, and Bobby's identical twin John, kill Castle's entire family. Though Frank Castle Sr. takes down some of the attackers, John then shoots Castle, leaving him for dead. However, Castle survives and is nursed back to health by a local fisherman.


title: The Punisher (2004 film)

text: With the police and FBI unwilling to pursue the killers due to Saint's power and influence, Castle moves into an abandoned apartment occupied by three outcasts—Joan, Bumpo, and Spacker Dave—and begins his mission to bring the Saints down. With the help of information provided by Mickey Duka, Saint's less malevolent henchman, Castle studies the Saint family and learns their every move, during which he discovers Glass to be a closeted homosexual. He openly attacks Saint's business and sabotages his partnership with his Cuban partners.


title: The Punisher (2004 film)

text: Saint discovers Castle is alive and sends assassins to kill him. The first, Harry Heck, ambushes Castle on a bridge, but is killed when Castle fires a ballistic knife into his throat. The second, a Russian behemoth, nearly beats Castle to death in his own apartment, but Castle manages to kill him as well. The tenants treat Castle's wounds and hide him in his hidden elevator as Saint's men arrive for him. When Dave and Bumpo refuse to reveal Castle's hideout, Glass tortures Dave by plucking each of his piercings with pliers. They leave one of their men to intercept Castle, but Castle kills him after they leave.


title: The Punisher (2004 film)

text: With Mickey's help, Castle poses as an anonymous blackmailer and arranges for Glass to be at certain places while planting Livia's car in the same location, and ultimately placing one of Livia's earrings in Glass's bed. When Saint finds the earrings, he stabs Glass to death and, despite her protest that Glass was gay, accuses Livia of having an affair with his best friend. He throws Livia off an overpass onto a railroad track, where she is run over by a train.


title: The Punisher (2004 film)

text: With Saint despondent, Castle assaults Saint's club and kills every member of his mob, including his remaining son John. Saint escapes the building, albeit wounded. Castle pursues him and shoots him in a duel. As Saint lies dying, Castle reveals his schemes that led Saint to kill his friend and wife. He ties Saint to a car and sends it into the club's parking lot, which is rigged with explosives, prompting a set of explosions that kills Saint, and which forms the shape of a skull when viewed from the air.


title: The Punisher (2004 film)

text: Castle returns home and prepares to kill himself with his mission fulfilled, but changes his mind after seeing a vision of his wife, instead deciding to continue to fight crime. He leaves some of Saint's money as a farewell gift to the tenants for protecting him. He is then seen standing alone on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge at sunset, where, in a voice-over, he vows to kill all killers, rapists, psychopaths, sadists, and anyone else who harms innocent people in any way in his new identity, the Punisher.


title: The Punisher (2004 film)

text: Hensleigh and Arad have said in many interviews that Jane was the first and only actor to be asked to play the title role. Arad had previously pursued Jane for other roles in Marvel Studios films. He turned down the Punisher twice, as he did not see himself as a superhero actor. Jane said, when asked the second time to play the Punisher, that he became interested when Arad sent Tim Bradstreet's artwork of the character. After learning more about the Punisher, he accepted. Jane went on to read as many "Punisher" comics he could find to understand the character, and became a fan of the Punisher in the process. Jane trained for six to seven months with the United States Navy SEALs and gained more than twenty pounds of muscle for the part.


title: The Punisher (2004 film)

text: Marvel Studios began development for a new "Punisher" film as early as 1997. In 2000, Marvel made a long-term agreement with Artisan Entertainment to turn 15 of their characters into films and TV shows, among them "The Punisher" with Gale Anne Hurd to produce. "The Punisher" marked Marvel's first major independent release as an equity owner, whereby it contributes characters and creative support to lower-budget pics in exchange for a financial stake in the negative cost. Screenwriter Jonathan Hensleigh signed on in April 2002, and "The Punisher" also became his directing debut. The story and plot were mainly based on two Punisher comic book stories, "Welcome Back, Frank" and "The Punisher: Year One". Hensleigh explained he had to excise much of the influence from "Welcome Back, Frank" as it would have likely been a four-hour-long film.


title: The Punisher (2004 film)

text: Before filming began, Hensleigh was not given the budget he wanted or needed from the studio, Hensleigh knew that most action pictures get a budget of around $64 million. He was only given $33 million, with only $15.5 million going towards the shooting budget and post-production for the film, with only 52 days to shoot, which is half the time allocated for most action pictures. Most of Hensleigh's original script had to be edited and re-written many times due to budget issues. According to the DVD commentary, the first scene in the film would have been a battle set in Kuwait during the Gulf War, but they were unable to film this scene as a result of the budget cuts.


title: The Punisher (2004 film)

text: Principal photography for "The Punisher" began in July 2003 on location in Tampa, Florida. Filming finished October 14, 2003 after 52 days of filming. The Florida location was first chosen at the insistence of screenwriter Michael France, who advised Marvel and Artisan that "it would be cheap to shoot [there]—that they'd get a lot more for their money than in New York or Chicago" as well as wanting to use "both sunny locations, and dark, industrial locations" in the screenplay. For inspiration, Hensleigh and cinematographer Conrad W. Hall looked at dozens of action films from the 1960s and 1970s, such as the "Dirty Harry" series, "The Getaway", "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", "The Godfather" and "Bonnie and Clyde". In an interview, Hensleigh also stated the film pays homage to "Mad Max" and William Shakespeare's "Othello", though while he was inspired by "Othello", the characters were reversed for the film, making the Punisher the instigator of the jealousy which leads to Howard Saint murdering his best friend and wife.


title: The Punisher (2004 film)

text: During shooting, Lionsgate (then known as Lions Gate Films) purchased Artisan. In an interview, Hensleigh said that even though the film is distributed under the Lionsgate imprint, they had nothing to do with the film. Lionsgate never gave a green light for the film to be made. The film was still under Artisan Entertainment. During shooting of a fight scene, Jane legitimately stabbed Nash in the collarbone with a blunted butterfly knife after a stunt co-ordinator forgot to change the props. Nash did not break character and continued the scene and accepted cold beers from the crew as compensation.


title: The Punisher (2004 film)

text: The character of Microchip was originally included in an earlier Michael France draft (along with the character Jigsaw), but was excised from later drafts because of director Jonathan Hensleigh's distaste for him. Instead the character of Mickey Duka (who was heavily based upon the character Mickey Fondozzi) serves as an ally of Frank Castle. Regarding the exclusion of Microchip, Hensleigh had this to say:


title: The Punisher (2004 film)

text: "The Punisher" opened in 2,649 theaters on April 16, 2004, and grossed $13.8 million over its opening weekend, ranking at #2 at the box office, behind "". The film has a US gross of $33.8 million and an international gross of $20.9 million, giving it a worldwide total of $54.7 million.


title: The Punisher (2004 film)

text: On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 29% based on reviews from 170 critics, with an average rating of 4.5/10. The website's critical consensus states: "A good cast fails to elevate this overly violent and by-the-numbers revenge flick." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 33 based on reviews from 36 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of B+.


title: The Punisher (2004 film)

text: Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film two stars, stating, ""The Punisher" is so grim and cheerless, you wonder if even its hero gets any satisfaction from his accomplishments." Joe Leydon of "Variety" describes the film as "depressingly rote and sometimes laughably silly". Leydon praises Jane for his "appropriate physicality and brooding gravitas" but criticizes Travolta, saying he does "nothing to inject fresh life into bland archetype".


title: The Punisher (2004 film)

text: Some reviewers defended the film, stating that, compared to most comic book-based films, it is a well-done throwback to the old-school action films of the 1960s and 1970s. Critic A. O. Scott stated, "But lightness is not among Hensleigh's gifts. Making his directorial debut after a successful run as a screenwriter and producer (on projects like "Die Hard with a Vengeance", "Jumanji", and "The Rock") he has clearly conceived "The Punisher" as a throwback to the leathery, angry urban revenge movies of the 1970s."


title: The Punisher (2004 film)

text: Drew McWeeny of "Ain't It Cool News" said of the style of the film that ""The Punisher" has more in common with the work of Don Siegel and John Frankenheimer than it does with the work of Michael Bay or Simon West. Which isn't to say that it's the equal of those classics, but at least Hensleigh's got the right idea. ... "The Punisher" is pulp, served up gritty and ugly and brutal. It's not jam-packed full of one-liners. What humor there is in the film is dark."


title: The Punisher (2004 film)

text: The film was released via DVD on September 7, 2004 and sold nearly 1.8 million copies in its first five days and netted $10.8 million in rentals its first week, making it number one in DVD sales that week.


title: The Punisher (2004 film)

text: An extended cut DVD was released on November 21, 2006 with 17 minutes of additional footage, most of which revolves around the character Jimmy Weeks (Russell Andrews), and Castle realizing that it was his friend who had sold him out to Howard Saint. In retaliation, Castle forces Weeks to commit suicide. Features also include a black-and-white stop-motion animated scene, set in Kuwait, based on and partially done by artist Tim Bradstreet, and a Punisher comic book gallery. An extended version of "In Time" by Mark Collie also appears in the closing credits of the extended-cut DVD. This version does not include the special features on the standard DVD release.


title: The Punisher (2004 film)

text: Mark Chadwick won "Best Fire Stunt" at the Taurus World Stunt Awards. Several other crew members were nominated for work on the film: Donna Evans for Best Overall Stunt by a Stunt Woman, Gary Hymes for Best Stunt Coordinator or 2nd Unit Director, and Keii Johnston and Dane Farwell for Best Work with a Vehicle.


title: The Punisher (2004 film)

text: The score to "The Punisher" was composed and conducted by Italian composer Carlo Siliotto. Director Jonathan Hensleigh wanted the music to be very emotional, and was aware of Siliotto's previous work which led to him being chosen. When scoring the film Siliotto saw Frank Castle as a tragic figure stating, "This man, Frank Castle, is somebody who has a slaughtered family. He comes through that slaughter, and becomes a punisher. But he's a sad man—he drinks, and has bad memories always coming to him. There's a lot in the film, and at times it is like a modern version of a classic tragedy—like "Othello"." It doesn't matter that it's Travolta's character who inspired the Othello comment.


title: The Punisher (2004 film)

text: Prior to release, a novelization was written by D.A. Stern and released in March 2004. Jane reprised the role of Frank Castle in the 2005 video game "The Punisher".


title: The Punisher (2004 film)

text: Lions Gate Entertainment planned to produce a direct sequel titled "The Punisher 2", with Avi Arad, chairman and CEO of Marvel Studios, stating that the second film would "become the fifth Marvel property to become a sequel." Jonathan Hensleigh said that he was interested in working with Thomas Jane again for "The Punisher 2". Jane said that the villain for "The Punisher 2" would be Jigsaw. The project lingered in development for over three years. Jonathan Hensleigh completed a first draft of the script before pulling out around 2006. John Dahl was in talks to direct the film but pulled out due to script quality issues and the studio not wanting to spend a lot of money on the project. In a statement on May 15, 2007, and in two audio interviews Thomas Jane said that he pulled out of the project due to creative differences and the budget of the film being cut, in addition to director Walter Hill being turned down as director by Lionsgate. After reading the new script by Kurt Sutter, Jane stated:


title: The Punisher (2004 film)

text: In June 2007, it was reported announced that Lexi Alexander replaced Dahl as director, and that actor Ray Stevenson would replace Thomas Jane in the title role. "The Punisher 2" then became "", a reboot of "The Punisher" film series with no connection to the 2004 film. The reboot was released on December 5, 2008. This is the second time the film series has been rebooted, after the 2004 production rebooted 1989's "The Punisher". Later it was rebooted again for the third time as a television series released from 2017-2019.


title: The Punisher (2004 film)

text: In July 2012, Jane reprised his role as Frank Castle in the unofficial short film "", which premiered at the San Diego Comic-Con International. The 10-minute film also stars Ron Perlman.


title: Black Bird (miniseries)

text: Black Bird is an American crime drama miniseries developed by Dennis Lehane, based on the 2010 autobiographical novel "In with the Devil: a Fallen Hero, a Serial Killer, and a Dangerous Bargain for Redemption" by James Keene with Hillel Levin. The six-episode miniseries premiered on July 8, 2022, on Apple TV+. The series received critical acclaim with particular praise toward its cast.


title: Black Bird (miniseries)

text: James 'Jimmy' Keene was a promising young football star who was offered several college football scholarships; instead he decided to stay in the Chicago area to be close to his thriving business. He turned to a life of crime dealing narcotics until he was arrested as part of a wider sting called Operation Snowplow. He accepted a plea deal which he believed to be five years, released with parole after four years. However, in addition to his drug dealing, he was charged with possession of a number of illegally held firearms and was sentenced to ten years without parole.


title: Black Bird (miniseries)

text: Given his natural charming and charismatic personality and gift for talking, he was offered an opportunity for a commuted sentence with no conditions by federal authorities. This is the story of the dangerous deal he was offered and what happened next.


title: Black Bird (miniseries)

text: The series was announced in January 2021, with Taron Egerton and Paul Walter Hauser cast to star. Ray Liotta would be added to the cast in March, with Greg Kinnear and Sepideh Moafi joining the next month. The six-episode limited series premiered on July 8, 2022, on Apple TV+.


title: Black Bird (miniseries)

text: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 97% approval rating with an average rating of 8.3/10, based on 78 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Dennis Lehane's penchant for authentic grit is on full display in "Blackbird", an absorbing prison drama distinguished by its moral complexity and elevated by an outstanding ensemble." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 80 out of 100 based on 29 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Black Bird (miniseries)

text: Mike Hale of "The New York Times" stated, "Despite that imbalance in the dramatic weight, "Black Bird" is mostly engaging — Hauser is onscreen a lot, and the production has a hushed quality, with occasional expressionistic touches, that is reminiscent of David Fincher’s crime stories. It’s at its best in the fourth episode, directed by Jim McKay (“Our Song”): Egerton is more relaxed, and Hauser even sharper than usual, and their scenes together have an almost sexual charge. And McKay’s depictions of a prison riot and the subsequent cleanup, meticulously supervised by Hall, are among the show’s best moments." Brian Tallerico of "RogerEbert.com" gave the series 3.5 stars out of 4, commenting, "Its release in the era of a national obsession with true crime could lead people to dismiss "Black Bird", but this show is worth your time even if you don’t usually buy into the genre. It reminded me more of rich, character-driven material like "The Night Of" than so many of the 'ripped from the headlines' mini-series of late. It has the weight of some of Lehane’s best fiction, even though it’s all so disturbingly true." Daniel Fienberg of "The Hollywood Reporter" wrote, ""Black Bird" gains a tremendous amount of gravity from one of Liotta’s last screen appearances. Liotta’s death brings additional poignancy to a character who, through failing health and visits to his incarcerated son, is dealing with his own mortality and legacy... Black Bird is methodical (though not as methodical as "Mindhunter") in a way that gains power as the show goes along... There’s enough good drama here to make that worthwhile."


title: Lachlan Murdoch

text: Lachlan Keith Murdoch (; born 8 September 1971) is a British-Australian businessman and mass media heir. He is the executive chairman of Nova Entertainment, co-chairman of News Corp, executive chairman and CEO of Fox Corporation, and the founder of Australian investment company Illyria Pty Ltd.


title: Lachlan Murdoch

text: Lachlan Murdoch was born on 8 September 1971 at Wimbledon Hospital in Wimbledon, London, England. He is the eldest son of Scottish Australian-born American media mogul Rupert Murdoch, and his second wife, Scottish journalist and author Anna Murdoch Mann. He was raised in New York City where his father owned the "New York Post". He received his primary and secondary education at the Aspen Country Day School in Aspen, Colorado, Trinity School in New York City, and at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. In 1994, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Princeton University. While at Princeton, he studied philosophy with Béatrice Longuenesse and Alan Hajek.


title: Lachlan Murdoch

text: In 1989, Rupert Murdoch brought Lachlan Murdoch, then 18 years old, to Australia while on business, to have Lachlan trained for three months at the "Daily Mirror". At the age of 22, Murdoch was appointed general manager of Queensland Newspapers, the publisher of Brisbane's "Courier-Mail". One year later, he became publisher of Australia's first national paper, "The Australian". In 1995 he was appointed Deputy CEO of News Limited, executive director of News Corporation in 1996, Deputy Chief Operating Officer in 2000; he was made Senior Executive Vice President from 1999 to 2000, and has been Chairman of STAR since 1995.


title: Lachlan Murdoch

text: Encouraged to invest in One.Tel by his friend Australian businessman James Packer, the son of television network owner Kerry Packer, Murdoch was extensively criticised for encouraging News Corporation's multi-hundred million-dollar investment in the start-up telecommunications company. In April 2014, Murdoch and Packer agreed to an 40 million settlement over the failure of One.Tel. The settlement was approved by the Supreme Court of New South Wales on 17 April 2014, with 14.93 million to be paid by the Packer family's Consolidated Press Holdings, 11.77 million to be paid by Packer's Crown Resorts and 13.3 million to be paid by News Corp.


title: Lachlan Murdoch

text: Murdoch led an initial $10.75 million investment, of which only $2.25 million was in cash, in REA Group, and subsequently championed the retention of the investment over the objections of those who wished to sell it. The company later emerged as Australia's market leader in online real estate advertising, and in 2014 was assessed as worth more than $3.6 billion to News Corp. With a personal interest in Australian rugby league, on 30 March 1995 Murdoch was at the first Super League meeting in the Atanaskovic Hartnell offices in Sydney. He and former Brisbane Broncos chief John Ribot signed up leading Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players on documents which were not legally effective. Murdoch was the Broncos' number one ticket holder. For the year 2001, Murdoch earned a salary of 2.59 million. In June 2005, Murdoch received the Press & Outdoor Advertising "Media Person of The Year" award in Cannes. Murdoch is one of the founding patrons (along with Anthony Pratt, Peter Lowy and Lisa Fox) of an organisation called "Advance", formerly known as the Young Australian Professionals in America.


title: Lachlan Murdoch

text: In July 2005, the 33-year-old Murdoch abruptly resigned as an executive at the News Corp. The unexplained departure apparently dashed News Corp. Chief executive Rupert Murdoch's hopes that his son would one day take over as CEO of the global media empire, which then included the Twentieth Century Fox movie studio (now a subsidiary of Disney Studios) and includes the Fox television network, several satellite broadcasters, and newspapers in Britain, Australia, and the United States. Roger Ailes, the chairman of Fox News Channel, was named chairman of News Corp's group of television stations to succeed Murdoch junior. Media speculated that his brother, James Murdoch, then chief executive of UK satellite TV company BSkyB, may succeed Rupert Murdoch. During his time as an executive at News Corp, Murdoch was the Deputy Chief Operating Officer of News Corporation (now 21st Century Fox). He had oversight of HarperCollins and the company's lines of business in Australia, including REA. He also served on the board of Foxtel and as chairman of Fox Television stations and was the publisher of the "New York Post". He was appointed to the News Corp board in 1996.


title: Lachlan Murdoch

text: On leaving News Corp with a twoyear noncompete agreement, Murdoch founded an Australian private investment company, Illyria Pty Ltd., and developed an eclectic mix of investments, with stakes in the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket team Rajasthan Royals, online DVD rental company Quickflix, toy marketer Funtastic and digital media company Destra. On 21 January 2008, Murdoch and James Packer announced that their companies, Illyria and Consolidated Press Holdings would seek to privatise the publicly-listed Consolidated Media Holdings. It was expected that the proposed 3.3 billion deal would deliver Murdoch and Packer with private stakes in Foxtel, Fox Sports, Universal Media Firm, LLC and PBL Media, with the latter owning the Nine Network and ACP Magazines. Packer eventually decided to sell down his stake in media companies in a series of transactions between 2006 and 2008, and the deal with Murdoch collapsed.


title: Lachlan Murdoch

text: In November 2009, Murdoch acquired 50% of Nova Entertainment via Illyria and he became chairman. In September 2012 Illyria acquired the balance of shares it did not own.


title: Lachlan Murdoch

text: In 2010, Packer purchased an 18% stake in Network Ten, quickly offloading half to Murdoch. Both Packer and Murdoch joined the Ten board. In February 2011, Murdoch was appointed acting CEO of Ten Network Holdings after the company's board terminated the contract of CEO Grant Blackley. The following month Packer unexpectedly resigned from the board. In February 2012, the Ten board appointed Murdoch non-executive chairman of Ten Network Holdings. Although Ten was already in some financial difficulties before Murdoch became CEO, by late 2012, on paper Illyria had lost 110 million of the original 150 million invested since 2010. The share price had fallen by about 80% and network profits had dropped by over half. In an attempt to control costs, Ten had reduced employment numbers by 160 people, and the problems were mainly attributed to falling advertising revenues and restructuring at the network. Ten purchased, at three times its original cost, the Australian rights for "MasterChef" from the Australian subsidiary of the Shine Group, itself a subsidiary of the News Corpowned 21st Century Fox. On 14 June 2017, Ten went into voluntary administration after Murdoch and fellow shareholder Bruce Gordon declined to extend the company's credit facility. Two bids were received for Ten; one from Murdoch and Gordon and one from CBS Corporation - Ten's largest creditor. The CBS bid was preferred by both the administrators and creditors. CBS's successful bid meant Murdoch lost his entire investment in the network.


title: Lachlan Murdoch

text: In March 2014, Murdoch was appointed as non-executive co-chairman of News Corp. and 21st Century Fox Inc. in a move that was seen as succession planning for the media empire. Murdoch stood aside as chairman and a Director of Ten Network Holdings. In June 2015 he was named as Executive Chairman of 21st Century Fox.


title: Lachlan Murdoch

text: After Fox was acquired by Disney in March 2019, Murdoch was named as the chairman and CEO of the Fox Corporation.


title: Lachlan Murdoch

text: Lachlan Murdoch and his father Rupert are currently defendants in a $1.6 billion lawsuit filed by voting machine maker Dominion on March 26, 2021, for knowingly and maliciously spreading a false narrative accusing Dominion of election fraud. Dominion claims in the aftermath of Donald Trump's loss of the 2020 election, Fox News began to lose viewership and was negatively impacted as President Trump criticized Fox News and bolstered competitors that would spread his narrative of fraud. Dominion continued that, under the direction of Lachlan Murdoch, Fox News connected Dominion with unsubstantiated fraud and intentionally provided a platform for guests that Fox News' hosts knew were making false and defamatory statements, while Fox News' hosts endorsed, repeated and amplified known defamatory and false statements.


title: Lachlan Murdoch

text: Fox News Corporation requested that the case be dismissed and on December 16, 2021 the court rejected the request of Fox News with the opinion that "Dominion adequately pleaded actual malice by Fox News." June 6, 2022 Fox News Corp asked Judge Eric M. Davis to drop the lawsuit. In his opinion Judge Davis denied the request with the opinion that Dominion had shown enough evidence of actual malice on behalf of Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch of Fox Corporation to allow the case to continue.


title: Lachlan Murdoch

text: In a lawsuit similar to Dominion's, voting machine maker Smartmatic filed a lawsuit implicating both Lachlan Murdoch and his father Rupert for 2.7 billion dollars on February 4, 2021. Smartmatic claims "Fox News engaged in conspiracy to spread disinformation about Smartmatic. They lied, and did so knowingly and intentionally." In March 2022, Justice David Cohen allowed the removal of several hosts as co-defendants but rejected Fox's motion for dismissal of the suit allowing it to go to the discovery phase. In a second attempt from Fox News to dismiss the lawsuit, Justice David Cohen again rejected Fox's request and gave the opinion that Smartmatic had showed a "substantial basis" for their claim that Fox News "showed a reckless disregard for the truth." Both Lachlan and Rupert Murdoch's emails are being sought in discovery to show the extent to which they knew their statements were false.


title: Lachlan Murdoch

text: Lachlan Murdoch sent a series of legal threats to the Crikey website after political editor Bernard Keane tied the Murdochs to Donald Trump's January 6 attempted coup in a June 29 article. Keane gave the opinion “If Trump ends up in the dock for a variety of crimes committed as president, as he should be, not all his co-conspirators will be there with him. Nixon was famously the “unindicted co-conspirator” in Watergate. The Murdochs and their slew of poisonous Fox News commentators are the unindicted co-conspirators of this continuing crisis.” Crikey originally removed the article to avoid legal persecution but later republished it with Editor Peter Fray accusing Murdoch of "using the law to silence public debate," and "seeking to intimidate us."


title: Lachlan Murdoch

text: Murdoch married British-born Australian model/actress Sarah O'Hare in 1999. The couple have two sons, Kalan Alexander, born on 9 November 2004, and Aidan Patrick, born on 6 May 2006; and one daughter, Aerin Elisabeth, named for his sister and grandmother, born on 12 April 2010.


title: Lachlan Murdoch

text: The Murdochs owned "Berthong", a house in , Sydney, until it was sold to Russell Crowe in 2003. In November 2009, Murdoch purchased "Le Manoir", a mansion in Bellevue Hill for $23 million; and purchased an adjoining property two years later. In 2017, Murdoch and his wife paid 29 million for a large equestrian property in Aspen, Colorado, that contains a six-bedroom home. In 2019, they purchased the Chartwell Estate in Los Angeles for an estimated 150 million.


title: Lachlan Murdoch

text: "This article contains content from the defunct wiki, HierarchyPedia, used here under the GNU Free Documentation License"


title: French Riviera

text: The French Riviera (known in French as the ; ; literal translation "Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend from Toulon, Le Lavandou or Saint-Tropez in the west to Menton at the France–Italy border in the east. The coast is entirely within the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France. The Principality of Monaco is a semi-enclave within the region, surrounded on three sides by France and fronting the Mediterranean. The French Riviera contains the seaside resorts of Cap-d'Ail, Beaulieu-sur-Mer, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, Villefranche-sur-Mer, Antibes, Juan-les-Pins, Cannes, Saint-Raphaël, Fréjus, Sainte-Maxime and Saint-Tropez.


title: French Riviera

text: "Riviera" is an Italian word that originates from the ancient Ligurian territory of Italy, wedged between the Var and Magra rivers. The "Côte d'Azur" (coast of azure) is a nickname given by France to the County of Nice after its annexation in 1860, because the climate was similar to that of the north of Italy, even in winter, with a sky as blue as its sea. When the Mistral (northwest) and the Tramontane (north) winds are blowing in the Languedoc and Provence areas, the temperature of the Mediterranean can be very cool in summer. This phenomenon is observed very little or not at all on the coast between the French Riviera and the Italian Riviera.


title: French Riviera

text: After the 2000s, the French Riviera was extended to the rest of Southern France, although the geography, culture, and climate are different.


title: French Riviera

text: This coastline was one of the first modern resort areas. It began as a winter health resort for the British upper class at the end of the 18th century. With the arrival of the railway in the mid-19th century, it became the playground and vacation spot of British, Russian, and other aristocrats, such as Queen Victoria, Tsar Alexander II and King Edward VII, when he was Prince of Wales. In the summer, it also played home to many members of the Rothschild family. In the first half of the 20th century, it was frequented by artists and writers, including Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Francis Bacon, Edith Wharton, Somerset Maugham and Aldous Huxley, as well as wealthy Americans and Europeans. After World War II, it became a popular tourist destination and convention site. Many celebrities, such as Elton John and Brigitte Bardot, have homes in the region.


title: French Riviera

text: Officially, the French Riviera is home to 163 nationalities with 83,962 foreign residents, although estimates of the number of non-French nationals living in the area are often much higher. Its largest city is Nice, which has a population of 340,017 as of 2017. The city is the centre of a "métropole"—Nice-Côte d'Azur—bringing together 49 communes and more than 540,000 inhabitants and 943,000 in the urban area. Nice is home to Nice Côte d'Azur Airport, France's third-busiest airport (after Charles de Gaulle Airport and Orly Airport), which is on an area of partially reclaimed coastal land at the western end of the Promenade des Anglais. A second airport at Mandelieu was once the region's commercial airport, but is now mainly used by private and business aircraft.


title: French Riviera

text: The A8 autoroute runs through the region, as does the old main road generally known as the Route nationale 7 (officially now DN7 in Var and D6007 in Alpes-Maritimes). High-speed trains serve the coastal region and inland to Grasse, with the TGV Sud-Est service reaching Nice-Ville station in five and a half hours from Paris. The French Riviera has a total population of more than two million. It is home to a high tech and science park (French: "technopole") at Sophia-Antipolis (north of Antibes) and a research and technology centre at the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis. The region has 35,000 students, of whom 25 percent are working toward a doctorate. The French Riviera is a major yachting and cruising area with several marinas along its coast. According to the Côte d'Azur Economic Development Agency, each year the Riviera hosts 50 percent of the world's superyacht fleet, with 90 percent of all superyachts visiting the region's coast at least once in their lifetime. As a tourist centre, the French Riviera benefits from 310 to 330 days of sunshine per year, of coastline and beaches, 18 golf courses, 14 ski resorts and 3,000 restaurants.


title: French Riviera

text: The term "French Riviera" comes by analogy with the term Italian Riviera, which extends east of the French Riviera (from Ventimiglia to La Spezia). As early as the 19th century, the British referred to the region as the "Riviera" or the "French Riviera", usually referring to the eastern part of the coast, between Monaco and the Italian border. Originally, "riviera" is an Italian noun which means "coastline".


title: French Riviera

text: The name "Côte d'Azur" was given to the coast by the writer Stéphen Liégeard in his book, "La Côte d’azur", published in December 1887. Liégeard was born in Dijon, in the French department of Côte-d'Or, and adapted that name by substituting the azure colour of the Mediterranean for the gold of Côte-d'Or.


title: French Riviera

text: In Occitan (Niçard and Provençal) and French, the only usual names are "Còsta d'Azur" in Occitan and "Côte d'Azur" in French. A term like "French Riviera" ("Ribiera Francesa" in Occitan, "Riviera Française" in French) would only be used in literal translation, or adaptations of it. For instance, in French, "Riviera Française" is found in the online Larousse encyclopedia to refer to the holidays of a group of English workers (moreover, in Occitan, the word "ribiera" "coastline" mostly works as a common name, whereas in French, the old-fashioned term "Rivière de Gênes" was used to refer to the Italian Riviera whose center is Genoa).


title: French Riviera

text: Côte d'Azur and the French Riviera have no official boundaries. Some sources put the western boundary at Saint-Tropez. Others include Saint Tropez, Hyères or Toulon in the Var (departement), or as far as Cassis in the Bouches-du-Rhône departement.


title: French Riviera

text: In her 1955 novel, "The Talented Mr. Ripley", Patricia Highsmith describes the Riviera as including all of the coast between Toulon and the Italian border.


title: French Riviera

text: The region of the French Riviera has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Primitive tools dating to between 1,000,000 and 1,050,000 years ago were discovered in the Grotte du Vallonnet, near Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, with stones and bones of animals, including bovines, rhinoceros, and bison. At Terra Amata (380,000 to 230,000 years ago), near the Nice Port, a fireplace was discovered that is one of the oldest found in Europe.


title: French Riviera

text: Stone dolmens, monuments from the Bronze Age, can be found near Draguignan, while the Valley of Marvels (Vallée des Merveilles) near Mount Bégo, at elevation, is presumed to have been an outdoor religious sanctuary, having over 40,000 drawings of people and animals, dated to about 2000 BC.


title: French Riviera

text: Beginning in the 7th century BC, Greek sailors from Phocaea in Asia Minor began to visit and then build emporia along the Côte d'Azur. Emporia were started at Olbia (Hyères); Antipolis (Antibes) and Nikaia (Nice). These settlements, which traded with the inhabitants of the interior, became rivals of the Etruscans and Phoenicians, who also visited the Côte d'Azur.


title: French Riviera

text: In 8 BC the Emperor Augustus built an imposing trophy monument at La Turbie (the Trophy of the Alps or Trophy of Augustus) to mark the pacification of the region.


title: French Riviera

text: Roman towns, monuments and amphitheatres were built along the Côte d'Azur and many still survive, such as the amphitheatre and baths at Cimiez, above Nice, and the amphitheatre, Roman walls and other remains at Fréjus.


title: French Riviera

text: Roman Provence reached the height of its power and prosperity during the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. In the mid-3rd century, Germanic peoples began to invade the region, and Roman power weakened.


title: French Riviera

text: In the same period, Christianity started to become a powerful force in the region. The first cathedrals were built in the 4th century, and bishoprics were established: in Fréjus at the end of the 4th century, Cimiez and Vence in 439, and Antibes in 442. The oldest Christian structure still in existence on the Côte d'Azur is the baptistery of Fréjus Cathedral, built at the end of the 5th century, which also saw the founding of the first monastery in the region, Lerins Monastery on an island off the coast at Cannes.


title: French Riviera

text: The fall of the Western Roman Empire in the first half of the 5th century was followed by invasions of Provence by the Visigoths, the Burgundians and the Ostrogoths. There was then a long period of wars and dynastic quarrels, which in turn led to further invasions by the Saracens and the Normans in the 9th century.


title: French Riviera

text: Some peace was restored to the coast by the establishment in 879 of a new kingdom of Provence, ruled first by the Bosonids dynasty (879–1112), then by the Catalans (1112–1246), and finally by the Angevins (1246–1382, elder branch, 1382–1483 (younger branch).


title: French Riviera

text: In the 13th century, another powerful political force appeared, the House of Grimaldi. Descended from a Genoese nobleman expelled from Genoa by his rivals in 1271, members of the different branches of the Grimaldis took power in Monaco, Antibes and Nice, and built castles at Grimaud, Cagnes-sur-Mer and Antibes. Albert II, the current Prince of Monaco is a descendant of the Grimaldis.


title: French Riviera

text: In 1388, the city of Nice and its surrounding territory, from the mouth of the Var to the Italian border, were separated from Provence and came under the protection of the House of Savoy. The territory was called the "Comté de Nice" after 1526, and thereafter its language, history and culture were separate from those of Provence until 1860, when it was re-attached to France under Napoleon III.


title: French Riviera

text: Provence retained its formal independence until 1480, when the last "Comte de Provence", René I of Naples, died and left the Comté to his nephew, Charles du Maine, who in turn left it to Louis XI of France. In 1486, Provence formally became part of France.


title: French Riviera

text: Until the end of the 18th century, the area later known as the Côte d'Azur was a remote and impoverished region, known mostly for fishing, olive groves and the production of flowers for perfume (manufactured in Grasse).


title: French Riviera

text: A new phase began when the coast became a fashionable health resort for the British upper class in the late 18th century. The first British traveller to describe its benefits was the novelist Tobias Smollett, who visited Nice in 1763 when it was still an Italian city within the Kingdom of Sardinia. Smollett brought Nice and its warm winter climate to the attention of the British aristocracy with "Travels through France and Italy", written in 1765. At about the same time, a Scottish doctor, John Brown, became famous for prescribing what he called climato-therapy, a change in climate, to cure a variety of diseases including tuberculosis, known then as consumption. The French historian Paul Gonnet wrote that, as a result, Nice was filled with "a colony of pale and listless English women and listless sons of nobility near death".


title: French Riviera

text: In 1834, a British nobleman and politician named Henry Peter Brougham, First Baron Brougham and Vaux, who had played an important part in the abolition of the slave trade, travelled with his unwell daughter to the south of France, intending to go to Italy. A cholera epidemic in Italy forced him to stop at Cannes, where he enjoyed the climate and scenery so much that he bought land and built a villa. He began to spend his winters there and, owing to his fame, others followed: Cannes soon had a small British enclave.


title: French Riviera

text: Robert Louis Stevenson was a later British visitor who came for his health. In 1882 he rented a villa called La Solitude at Hyères, where he wrote much of "A Child's Garden of Verses".


title: French Riviera

text: In 1864, six years after Nice became part of France following the Second Italian War of Independence the first railway was completed, making Nice and the Riviera accessible to visitors from all over Europe. One hundred thousand visitors arrived in 1865. By 1874, residents of foreign enclaves in Nice, most of whom were British, numbered 25,000.


title: French Riviera

text: In the mid-19th century, British and French entrepreneurs began to see the potential of promoting tourism along the Côte d'Azur. At the time, gambling was illegal in France and Italy. In 1856, the Prince of Monaco, Charles III, began constructing a casino in Monaco, which was called a health spa to avoid criticism by the church. The casino was a failure, but in 1863 the Prince signed an agreement with François Blanc, a French businessman already operating a successful casino at Baden-Baden (southwestern Germany), to build a resort and new casino. Blanc arranged for steamships and carriages to take visitors from Nice to Monaco, and built hotels, gardens and a casino in a place called Spélugues. At the suggestion of his mother, Princess Caroline, Charles III renamed the place Monte Carlo after himself. When the railway reached Monte Carlo in 1870, many thousands of visitors began to arrive and the population of the principality of Monaco doubled.


title: French Riviera

text: The French Riviera soon became a popular destination for European royalty. Just days after the railway reached Nice in 1864, Tsar Alexander II of Russia visited on a private train, followed soon afterwards by Napoleon III and then Leopold II, the King of the Belgians.


title: French Riviera

text: Queen Victoria was a frequent visitor. In 1882 she stayed in Menton, and in 1891 spent several weeks at the Grand Hotel at Grasse. In 1892 she stayed at the Hotel Cost-belle in Hyères. In successive years from 1895 to 1899 she stayed in Cimiez in the hills above Nice. First, in 1895 and 1896, she patronised the Grand Hôtel, while in later years she and her staff took over the entire west wing of the Excelsior Hôtel Régina, which had been designed with her needs specifically in mind (part of which later became the home and studio of the renowned artist Henri Matisse). She travelled with an entourage of between sixty and a hundred, including chef, ladies in waiting, dentist, Indian servants, her own bed and her own food.


title: French Riviera

text: The Prince of Wales was a regular visitor to Cannes, starting in 1872. He frequented the Club Nautique, a private club on the Croisette, the fashionable seafront boulevard of Cannes. He visited there each spring for a two-month period, observing yacht races from shore while the royal yacht, Britannia, was sailed by professional crewmen. After he became King in 1901, he never again visited the French Riviera.


title: French Riviera

text: By the end of the 19th century the Côte d'Azur began to attract artistic painters, who appreciated the climate, the bright colors and clear light. Among them were Auguste Renoir, who settled in Cagnes-sur-Mer and in Mougins, Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso.


title: French Riviera

text: The First World War brought down many of the royal houses of Europe and altered the nature and the calendar of the French Riviera. Following the war, greater numbers of Americans began arriving, with business moguls and celebrities eventually outnumbering aristocrats. The 'High Society' scene moved from a winter season to a summer season.


title: French Riviera

text: Americans began coming to the south of France in the 19th century. Henry James set part of his novel "The Ambassadors" on the Riviera. James Gordon Bennett Jr., the son and heir of the founder of the "New York Herald", had a villa in Beaulieu. Industrialist John Pierpont Morgan gambled at Monte Carlo and bought 18th-century paintings by Fragonard in Grasse – shipping them to the Metropolitan Museum in New York.


title: French Riviera

text: A feature of the French Riviera in the inter-war years was the Train Bleu, an all first-class sleeper train which brought wealthy passengers down from Calais. It made its first trip in 1922, and carried Winston Churchill, Somerset Maugham, and the future King Edward VIII over the years.


title: French Riviera

text: While Europe was still recovering from the war and the American dollar was strong, American writers and artists started arriving on the Côte d'Azur. Edith Wharton wrote "The Age of Innocence" (1920) at a villa near Hyères, winning the Pulitzer Prize for the novel (the first woman to do so). Dancer Isadora Duncan frequented Cannes and Nice, but died in 1927 when her scarf caught in a wheel of the Amilcar motor car in which she was a passenger and strangled her. The writer F. Scott Fitzgerald first visited with his wife Zelda in 1924, stopping at Hyères, Cannes and Monte Carlo – eventually staying at Saint-Raphaël, where he wrote much of "The Great Gatsby" and began "Tender Is the Night".


title: French Riviera

text: While Americans were largely responsible for making summer the high season, a French fashion designer, Coco Chanel, made sunbathing fashionable. She acquired a striking tan during the summer of 1923, and tans then became the fashion in Paris.


title: French Riviera

text: During the abdication crisis of the British Monarchy in 1936, Wallis Simpson, the intended bride of King Edward VIII, was staying at the Villa Lou Viei in Cannes, talking with the King by telephone each day. After his abdication, the Duke of Windsor (as he became) and his new wife stayed at the Villa La Croë on the Cap d'Antibes.


title: French Riviera

text: The English playwright and novelist Somerset Maugham also became a resident in 1926, buying the Villa La Mauresque toward the tip of Cap Ferrat, near Nice.


title: French Riviera

text: When Germany invaded France in June 1940, the remaining British colony was evacuated to Gibraltar and eventually to Britain. American Jewish groups helped some of the Jewish artists living in the south of France, such as Marc Chagall, to escape to the United States. In August 1942, 600 Jews from Nice were rounded up by French police and sent to Drancy, and eventually to death camps. In all about 5,000 French Jews from Nice perished during the war.


title: French Riviera

text: Following D-Day in Normandy, Operation Dragoon (initially Operation Anvil), the code name for the Allied invasion of Southern France, commenced on 15 August 1944, when American parachute troops landed near Fréjus, and a fleet landed 60,000 troops of the American Seventh Army and French First Army between Cavalaire and Agay, east of Saint-Raphaël. German resistance was not as fanatical as Hitler and the High Command had ordered, and crumbled in days.


title: French Riviera

text: Saint-Tropez was badly damaged by German mines at the time of the liberation. The novelist Colette organized an effort to assure the town was rebuilt in its original style.


title: French Riviera

text: The Cannes Film Festival was launched in September 1946, marking the return of French cinema to world screens. The Festival Palace was built in 1949 on the site of the old Cercle Nautique, where the Prince of Wales had met his mistresses in the late 19th century. The release of the French film "Et Dieu… créa la femme" ("And God Created Woman") in November 1956 was a major event for the Riviera, making an international star of Brigitte Bardot, and making an international tourist destination of Saint-Tropez, particularly for the new class of wealthy international travellers called the jet set.


title: French Riviera

text: The marriage of American film actress Grace Kelly to Prince Rainier of Monaco on 18 April 1956, attracted world attention once again. It was viewed on television by 30 million people.


title: French Riviera

text: During the 1960s, the Mayor of Nice, Jacques Médecin, decided to reduce the dependence of the Riviera on ordinary tourism, and to make it a destination for international congresses and conventions. He built the "Palais des Congrès" at the Acropolis in Nice, and founded a Chagall Museum and a Matisse Museum at Cimiez. High-rise apartment buildings and real estate developments began to spread.


title: French Riviera

text: At the end of August 1997, Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed spent their last days together on his father's yacht off Pampelonne Beach near Saint-Tropez, shortly before they were killed in a traffic accident in the Alma Tunnel in Paris.


title: French Riviera

text: Places on the Côte d'Azur (following the broadest definition), following the coast from south-west to north-east, include:


title: French Riviera

text: The French Riviera is mostly subtropical, featuring a Mediterranean climate, with sunny, hot, dry summers and mild winters. Winter temperatures are moderated by the Mediterranean; days of frost are rare. The average daily low temperature in Nice in January is ; the January average daily low temperature in Toulon is . The average high temperature in August in Nice is ; in Toulon the average daily high temperature is


title: French Riviera

text: The Côte d'Azur receives more rainfall annually than Paris ( annually in Nice and in Toulon compared with in Paris), but the rainy days are much less frequent and the Riviera is considerably sunnier; 111 rainy days a year in Paris compared with 61 days in Toulon and 63 in Nice. Rain is generally more common in the Autumn and Winter months while the summers are drier. Toulon has 2,793 hours of sunshine a year, Nice has 2,668 hours.


title: French Riviera

text: Micro-climates exist in these coastal regions, and there can be great differences in the weather between various locations. Strong winds such as the mistral, a cold dry wind from the northwest or from the east, are another characteristic, particularly in the winter. Nice, in particular is surrounded by mountains to the North, protecting it from the Mistral winds making it feel milder on sunny days.


title: French Riviera

text: The Sirocco is a southerly wind, coming from the African continent and often felt on the Mediterranean coast of Europe. It is a hot and humid wind, occasionally carrying sand from the Sahara which is then deposited in coastal areas across Southern Europe.


title: French Riviera

text: The French Riviera is one of the mildest locations in the world for its latitude, owing to the Gulf Stream which moderates the temperatures in Western Europe, particularly in winter and the warming effect of the Mediterranean Sea. Because of this, the region boasts a long growing season and supports the growth of exotic flora such as Citrus Fruits and Palm Trees. Snow is very uncommon in the winters and the long, hot and sunny summers have long been a draw for tourists since the days of British Aristocracy.


title: French Riviera

text: Nice and the Alpes-Maritimes département are sheltered by the Alps. The winds are usually gentle, from the sea to the land, though sometimes the mistral blows strongly from the northwest, or, turned by the mountains, from the east. In 1956 a mistral from the northwest reached at Nice Airport. Sometimes, in summer, the sirocco brings high temperatures and reddish desert sand from the Sahara (see Winds of Provence).


title: French Riviera

text: Rain can be torrential, particularly in the autumn, when storms and rain are caused by the difference between the colder air inland and the warm Mediterranean water temperature (). The rainiest months are September ( average rainfall); October (); November () and December ().


title: French Riviera

text: Snow on the coast is rare, falling on average once every ten years. 1956 was exceptional, when blanketed the coast. In January 1985 the coast between Cannes and Menton received . In the mountains, snow is present from November to May.


title: French Riviera

text: The département of Var (which includes Saint-Tropez and Hyères) has a climate slightly warmer, drier and sunnier than Nice and Alpes-Maritimes, but is less sheltered from the wind.


title: French Riviera

text: The mistral, which brings cold and dry air down from the upper Alpine regions via the Rhône valley and extends with diminishing intensity along the Côte d'Azur, blows frequently during the winter. Strong winds blow for about 75 days a year in Fréjus.


title: French Riviera

text: The climate and vivid colors of the Mediterranean attracted many famous artists during the 19th and 20th centuries. They included:


title: Mikey Day

text: Michael William Day (born March 20, 1980) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is the host of the Netflix show "Is It Cake?" He joined "Saturday Night Live" as a writer in its 39th season, became a featured player in its 42nd, and was promoted to a repertory player beginning in its 44th season. He previously was an on-air correspondent for "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and "The Jay Leno Show".


title: Mikey Day

text: Day was born March 20, 1980, in Orange, California. He attended Panorama Elementary School and later graduated from El Modena High School, the same high school as actor Milo Ventimiglia, in the city of Orange. There, he was involved in the drama program and the student government. He wrote comedic sketches for monthly assemblies and made the theme for his homecoming, "Batman". He also experienced extreme bullying, seeking refuge in theater. Day graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a degree in theater.


title: Mikey Day

text: Day began his career with the Groundlings, a Los Angeles-based improvisational theater group. With the Groundlings, Day and Michael Naughton wrote and co-starred in "David Blaine Street Magic", a parody of magician David Blaine, portrayed by Mitch Silpa. The video, posted to YouTube, was once one of the most-viewed videos on the site.


title: Mikey Day

text: Day was an original cast member on the improvisational comedy series "Wild 'n Out" on MTV. He played various characters in the Groundling stage show "Groundlings, In The Study, With The Candlestick" in early 2009 and directed "Groundlings Space Camp". Day wrote for Showtime's "The Underground" in 2006.


title: Mikey Day

text: Day starred in NBC's "Kath & Kim remake" (2009), wrote for and co-produced the Cartoon Network show "Incredible Crew" (2013), and wrote for Adult Swim's "Robot Chicken" in 2014. Day hosted a recurring segment parodying "TMZ" from 2010 to 2013 on "The Jay Leno Show" and "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno". Day was a featured cast member of NBC variety show "Maya & Marty", alongside Maya Rudolph, Martin Short, and Kenan Thompson. He also served as one of the show's co-head writers.


title: Mikey Day

text: Day was hired as a writer for "Saturday Night Live" in 2013 for its 39th season. He was recommended for the job by Nasim Pedrad who had worked with him before and was a cast member of SNL at the time. On "SNL" he wrote many sketches featuring cast member & former "Wild 'n Out" co-star Taran Killam, with whom he wrote the screenplay to "Brother Nature" (2016).


title: Mikey Day

text: He was promoted to featured player for season 42 and was promoted to a repertory player in the beginning of season 44. For his audition, he impersonated Donald Trump Jr. and "SNL" actor Kyle Mooney. His debut appearance was in season 42's first episode, October 1, 2016, hosted by Margot Robbie. Bobby Moynihan, Streeter Seidell, and Day wrote the sketch "Haunted Elevator" for the October 22, 2016 episode of "SNL". Starring Tom Hanks as David S. Pumpkins, Day played one of two dancing skeletons in the sketch. The sketch went viral, and he reprised the role for "The David S. Pumpkins Halloween Special" (2017).


title: Mikey Day

text: Day and his writing partner Streeter Seidell have completed one project and have two projects in development for Disney. The first of these, "Home Sweet Home Alone", the sixth film in the "Home Alone" franchise, was released on Disney+ on November 12, 2021. A live-action Inspector Gadget film is in pre-production. A remake of "SpaceCamp" produced by Walt Disney Pictures is also planned.


title: Hemorrhoid

text: Hemorrhoids (or haemorrhoids), also known as piles, are vascular structures in the anal canal. In their normal state, they are cushions that help with stool control. They become a disease when swollen or inflamed; the unqualified term "hemorrhoid" is often used to refer to the disease. The signs and symptoms of hemorrhoids depend on the type present. Internal hemorrhoids often result in painless, bright red rectal bleeding when defecating. External hemorrhoids often result in pain and swelling in the area of the anus. If bleeding occurs, it is usually darker. Symptoms frequently get better after a few days. A skin tag may remain after the healing of an external hemorrhoid.


title: Hemorrhoid

text: While the exact cause of hemorrhoids remains unknown, a number of factors that increase pressure in the abdomen are believed to be involved. This may include constipation, diarrhea, and sitting on the toilet for long periods. Hemorrhoids are also more common during pregnancy. Diagnosis is made by looking at the area. Many people incorrectly refer to any symptom occurring around the anal area as "hemorrhoids", and serious causes of the symptoms should not be ruled out. Colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy is reasonable to confirm the diagnosis and rule out more serious causes.


title: Hemorrhoid

text: Often, no specific treatment is needed. Initial measures consist of increasing fiber intake, drinking fluids to maintain hydration, NSAIDs to help with pain, and rest. Medicated creams may be applied to the area, but their effectiveness is poorly supported by evidence. A number of minor procedures may be performed if symptoms are severe or do not improve with conservative management. Surgery is reserved for those who fail to improve following these measures.


title: Hemorrhoid

text: Approximately 50% to 66% of people have problems with hemorrhoids at some point in their lives. Males and females are both affected with about equal frequency. Hemorrhoids affect people most often between 45 and 65 years of age, and they are more common among the wealthy. Outcomes are usually good. The first known mention of the disease is from a 1700 BC Egyptian papyrus.


title: Hemorrhoid

text: In about 40% of people with pathological hemorrhoids, there are no significant symptoms. Internal and external hemorrhoids may present differently; however, many people may have a combination of the two. Bleeding enough to cause anemia is rare, and life-threatening bleeding is even more uncommon. Many people feel embarrassed when facing the problem and often seek medical care only when the case is advanced.


title: Hemorrhoid

text: If not thrombosed, external hemorrhoids may cause few problems. However, when thrombosed, hemorrhoids may be very painful. Nevertheless, this pain typically resolves in two to three days. The swelling may, however, take a few weeks to disappear. A skin tag may remain after healing. If hemorrhoids are large and cause issues with hygiene, they may produce irritation of the surrounding skin, and thus itchiness around the anus.


title: Hemorrhoid

text: Lidocaine is a local anesthetic that blocks the calcium channel by blocking the transmission of nerve messages before reaching the central nervous system. As a result, the patient does not feel any pain. In addition, this drug is anti-inflammatory and is effective in treating hemorrhoids. Lidocaine is not recommended if you are pregnant or have a local allergy.


title: Hemorrhoid

text: Internal hemorrhoids usually present with painless, bright red rectal bleeding during or following a bowel movement. The blood typically covers the stool (a condition known as hematochezia), is on the toilet paper, or drips into the toilet bowl. The stool itself is usually normally coloured. Other symptoms may include mucous discharge, a perianal mass if they prolapse through the anus, itchiness, and fecal incontinence. Internal hemorrhoids are usually painful only if they become thrombosed or necrotic.


title: Hemorrhoid

text: The exact cause of symptomatic hemorrhoids is unknown. A number of factors are believed to play a role, including irregular bowel habits (constipation or diarrhea), lack of exercise, nutritional factors (low-fiber diets), increased intra-abdominal pressure (prolonged straining, ascites, an intra-abdominal mass, or pregnancy), genetics, an absence of valves within the hemorrhoidal veins, and aging. Other factors believed to increase risk include obesity, prolonged sitting, a chronic cough, and pelvic floor dysfunction. Squatting while defecating may also increase the risk of severe hemorrhoids. Evidence for these associations, however, is poor.


title: Hemorrhoid

text: During pregnancy, pressure from the fetus on the abdomen and hormonal changes cause the hemorrhoidal vessels to enlarge. The birth of the baby also leads to increased intra-abdominal pressures. Pregnant women rarely need surgical treatment, as symptoms usually resolve after delivery.


title: Hemorrhoid

text: Hemorrhoid cushions are a part of normal human anatomy and become a pathological disease only when they experience abnormal changes. There are three main cushions present in the normal anal canal. These are located classically at left lateral, right anterior, and right posterior positions. They are composed of neither arteries nor veins, but blood vessels called sinusoids, connective tissue, and smooth muscle. Sinusoids do not have muscle tissue in their walls, as veins do. This set of blood vessels is known as the hemorrhoidal plexus.


title: Hemorrhoid

text: Hemorrhoid cushions are important for continence. They contribute to 15–20% of anal closure pressure at rest and protect the internal and external anal sphincter muscles during the passage of stool. When a person bears down, the intra-abdominal pressure grows, and hemorrhoid cushions increase in size, helping maintain anal closure. Hemorrhoid symptoms are believed to result when these vascular structures slide downwards or when venous pressure is excessively increased. Increased internal and external anal sphincter pressure may also be involved in hemorrhoid symptoms. Two types of hemorrhoids occur: internals from the superior hemorrhoidal plexus and externals from the inferior hemorrhoidal plexus. The pectinate line divides the two regions.


title: Hemorrhoid

text: Hemorrhoids are typically diagnosed by physical examination. A visual examination of the anus and surrounding area may diagnose external or prolapsed hemorrhoids. A rectal exam may be performed to detect possible rectal tumors, polyps, an enlarged prostate, or abscesses. This examination may not be possible without appropriate sedation because of pain, although most internal hemorrhoids are not associated with pain. Visual confirmation of internal hemorrhoids may require anoscopy, insertion of a hollow tube device with a light attached at one end. The two types of hemorrhoids are external and internal. These are differentiated by their position with respect to the pectinate line. Some persons may concurrently have symptomatic versions of both. If pain is present, the condition is more likely to be an anal fissure or external hemorrhoid rather than internal hemorrhoid.


title: Hemorrhoid

text: Internal hemorrhoids originate above the pectinate line. They are covered by columnar epithelium, which lacks pain receptors. They were classified in 1985 into four grades based on the degree of prolapse:


title: Hemorrhoid

text: External hemorrhoids occur below the dentate (or pectinate) line. They are covered proximally by anoderm and distally by skin, both of which are sensitive to pain and temperature.


title: Hemorrhoid

text: Many anorectal problems, including fissures, fistulae, abscesses, colorectal cancer, rectal varices, and itching have similar symptoms and may be incorrectly referred to as hemorrhoids. Rectal bleeding may also occur owing to colorectal cancer, colitis including inflammatory bowel disease, diverticular disease, and angiodysplasia. If anemia is present, other potential causes should be considered.


title: Hemorrhoid

text: Other conditions that produce an anal mass include skin tags, anal warts, rectal prolapse, polyps, and enlarged anal papillae. Anorectal varices due to portal hypertension (blood pressure in the portal venous system) may present similar to hemorrhoids but are a different condition. Portal hypertension does not increase the risk of hemorrhoids.


title: Hemorrhoid

text: A number of preventative measures are recommended, including avoiding straining while attempting to defecate, avoiding constipation and diarrhea either by eating a high-fiber diet and drinking plenty of fluid or by taking fiber supplements and getting sufficient exercise. Spending less time attempting to defecate, avoiding reading while on the toilet, and losing weight for overweight persons and avoiding heavy lifting are also recommended.


title: Hemorrhoid

text: Conservative treatment typically consists of foods rich in dietary fiber, intake of oral fluids to maintain hydration, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, sitz baths, and rest. Increased fiber intake has been shown to improve outcomes and may be achieved by dietary alterations or the consumption of fiber supplements. Evidence for benefits from sitz baths during any point in treatment, however, is lacking. If they are used, they should be limited to 15 minutes at a time. Decreasing time spent on the toilet and not straining is also recommended.


title: Hemorrhoid

text: While many topical agents and suppositories are available for the treatment of hemorrhoids, little evidence supports their use. As such, they are not recommended by the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons. Steroid-containing agents should not be used for more than 14 days, as they may cause thinning of the skin. Most agents include a combination of active ingredients. These may include a barrier cream such as petroleum jelly or zinc oxide, an analgesic agent such as lidocaine, and a vasoconstrictor such as epinephrine. Some contain Balsam of Peru to which certain people may be allergic.


title: Hemorrhoid

text: Flavonoids are of questionable benefit, with potential side effects. Symptoms usually resolve following pregnancy; thus active treatment is often delayed until after delivery. Evidence does not support the use of traditional Chinese herbal treatment.


title: Hemorrhoid

text: Several professional organizations weakly recommend the use of phlebotonics in the treatment of the symptoms of haemorrhoids grade I to II, although these drugs are not approved in the United States and in Germany, and restricted in Spain for the treatment of chronic venous diseases.


title: Hemorrhoid

text: A number of office-based procedures may be performed. While generally safe, rare serious side effects such as perianal sepsis may occur.