title: Kampala

text: The religious missions were also formally allocated land they were previously occupying. Thus, the Catholic White Fathers got Lubaga Hill, the Protestant Church Missionary Society got Namirembe Hill, the Muslims under Prince Nuhu Mbogo's leadership received Kibuli Hill, the British Catholic Mill Hill Missionaries received most of Nsambya Hill. The Uganda Protectorate government obtained land classified as Crown lands in the area such as Old Kampala Hill, Nakasero Hill, etc..


title: Kampala

text: To legalise the above changes, the following laws and ordinances were subsequently passed: The Crown lands Ordinance of 1903, The Land Law of 1908, The Registration of Land Titles ordinance of 1922, and the Busulu and Envujo law of 1928.


title: Kampala

text: In 1906, the Crown lands consisting of Old Kampala, Nakasero hills etc. and covering was consolidated and gazetted as Kampala Township.


title: Kampala

text: In 1912, Kampala Township received its first land-use plan and had a European and Asian population of 2,850.


title: Kampala

text: In 1922, Kampala's oldest university, Makerere, was founded as the Uganda Technical College at the present Makerere Hill and initially offered carpentry, building construction, mechanics, arts, education, agriculture, and medicine.


title: Kampala

text: In 1930, the first sewerage plan was prepared to target a population of 20,000 people in the Nakasero and Old Kampala areas of the Kampala township. This plan guided sewerage development from 1936 to 1940 in planned urban areas of the Kampala Township and excluded the "Kibuga" area occupied by the Baganda and other natives.


title: Kampala

text: In 1931, the Uganda Railway line reached Kampala, connecting Kampala to Mombasa Port, thirty-five years after the commencement of its construction.


title: Kampala

text: In 1938, The East African Power & Lighting Company was granted a licence for thermal electric power generation and distribution for the towns of Kampala and Entebbe, and in the same year Sir Philip Mitchel, the Governor of Uganda, switched on Kampala and Uganda's first electric street lights.


title: Kampala

text: In 1945, Ernst May, a German architect, was commissioned by the Uganda Protectorate Government to design a new physical plan for Kampala. Ernst May's plan of 1947 was intended to extend Kampala eastwards covering Kololo Hill and Naguru Hill, and with the commercial centre on the southern slopes of Nakasero Hill, an industrial zone in the southeast of Kampala, and, for the first time, a planned residential zone for the Ugandan natives. The plan was never fully implemented, and in 1951 the third physical plan by Henry Kendall was instead adopted, though it incorporated some elements of Ernst May's 1947 plan.


title: Kampala

text: Henry Kendall's 1951 plan expanded Kampala from the area of the 1930 plan to an area of incorporating areas like Kololo Hill, and the Industrial Area. However, like the first two planning schemes, the 1951 plan failed to achieve many of its stated objectives.


title: Kampala

text: On 9 October 1962, Uganda gained independence; subsequently the capital city was transferred from Entebbe to Kampala and in the same year, Kampala was granted city status.


title: Kampala

text: In 1968, six years after Uganda attained independence, the boundaries of Kampala were expanded incorporating the "Kibuga" (then known as Mengo Municipality), Kawempe and Nakawa Townships, and areas including Muyenga and Ggaba. This increased the administrative area of Kampala from to the current .


title: Kampala

text: In 1972, the fourth physical plan for Kampala was made covering the newly incorporated areas of Kampala's boundary extensions of 1968, but the subsequent political and economic turmoil of the 1970s and 1980s meant the plan was never implemented.


title: Kampala

text: The Battle of Kampala during the Ugandan Bush War occurred in January 1986. It resulted in the capture of the city by the National Resistance Movement, led by Yoweri Museveni and the subsequent surrender of the Ugandan government.


title: Kampala

text: Similarly, the fifth physical plan for Kampala, made in 1994, like the 1972 plan, was also never implemented.


title: Kampala

text: In 2010, the Kampala Capital City Authority Act was enacted, giving the Ugandan Government more control of the administration of Kampala. The act also created the Kampala Metropolitan Physical Planning Authority with the stated aims of improving the infrastructure of the City of Kampala and the surrounding districts of Wakiso, Mukono, Buikwe, Mpigi and Luwero.


title: Kampala

text: Kampala is a hilly place with its valleys filled with sluggish rivers/ swamps. The highest point in the city proper is the summit of Kololo hill at , located in the center of the city and the lowest point at the shores of Lake Victoria south of the city center at altitude of .


title: Kampala

text: Kampala was originally built on seven hills, but it has expanded to cover more than the original seven hills.


title: Kampala

text: Due to Kampala's hilly nature and tropical climate, the valleys have slow rivers/swamps that tend to flow southwards towards Lake Victoria or northwards. These seasonal and or permanent swamps cover 15% of Kampala's land area. They include:


title: Kampala

text: Kampala, due to the diversity of habitats that include wetlands and hills, was previously covered with short-grasses on the tops of the hills, elephant grass ("Pennisetum purpureum" Schumach.), "Cyperus papyrus", African water lily etc. in the swamps and evergreen forests with trees such as African olive (mpafu) and Natal fig (mutuba).


title: Kampala

text: Kampala is located on the East African Plateau between the two arms of the East African Rift and on the northern limits of Tanzania Craton.


title: Kampala

text: Kampala has a tropical rainforest climate ("Af") under the Köppen-Geiger climate classification system.


title: Kampala

text: A facet of Kampala's weather is that it features two annual wetter seasons. While the city does not have a true dry season month, it experiences heavier precipitation from August to December and from February to June. However, it is between February and June that Kampala sees substantially heavier rainfall per month, with April typically seeing the heaviest amount of precipitation at an average of around of rain.


title: Kampala

text: Pre-primary education is offered only by private entities which are located in the various neighborhoods of Kampala, and is lightly regulated by the Ministry of Education and Sports and starts from age of 6 weeks. Education in Kampala city is provided by a vast number of public and private institutions offering a wide range of educational training that includes pre-primary, primary, secondary, vocational, technical undergraduate and post-graduate education.


title: Kampala

text: Kampala has a number of both primary and secondary schools in every parish that are mostly privately owned and a handful that are state-owned and are also lightly regulated by the City Education directorate and Ministry of Education and Sports.


title: Kampala

text: Kampala has a number of both private and state institutions offering training in a broad range of fields as indicated in the table below:


title: Kampala

text: The population of Kampala city proper has been rapidly increasing from 62,264 in 1948 to 1,189,142 in 2002, then 1,507,080 in 2014. In 2019, the population was estimated to be 1,650,800.


title: Kampala

text: Kampala, being the capital city and economic engine of Uganda, has a diverse ethnic population drawn from all parts of the country and also from neighboring countries such as Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, South Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia, and even from countries as far away as India and China.


title: Kampala

text: Cross-cultural intimate relations in Kampala and even Uganda as a whole are still unusual. Although many of Kampala's residents live and work in close contact, they still define themselves by their ethnic origins. This is more evident in the native languages (alongside Luganda and English) that are used at home, work places, and public spaces. In addition to the Baganda and Banyankole, other large ethnic groups include the Basoga, Bafumbira, Batoro, Bakiga, Alur, Bagisu (better known as Bamasaba), Banyoro, Iteso, Langi, and Acholi.


title: Kampala

text: A prominent cultural centre in the Kampala area of Kisasi that aims to promote Ugandan and African cultural expressions through music, dance, and drama. The name Ndere is derived from the noun 'endere', which means flute. As an instrument found in all cultures, it is chosen as a peaceful symbol of the universality of cultural expressions. The Ndere centre is famous for its Ndere troupe, a music and dance troupe that perform several nights every week at the centre showcasing music and dance from all over Uganda as well as Rwanda and Burundi.


title: Kampala

text: Kampala is home to the City Oilers, one of East Africa's top basketball club teams. It is the only East African team that competes in the FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup. The Oilers play their home games in the MTN Arena, which is based in Kampala's Lugogo Area.


title: Kampala

text: Efforts are underway to relocate heavy industry to the Kampala Business and Industrial Park, located in Namanve, Mukono District, approximately east of the city's central business district, thereby cutting down on city traffic congestion. Some of the businesses that maintain their headquarters in the city center include all of the 25 commercial banks licensed in Uganda; the New Vision Group, the leading news media conglomerate and majority owned by the government; and the "Daily Monitor" publication, a member of the Kenya-based Nation Media Group. Air Uganda maintained its headquarters in an office complex on Kololo Hill in Kampala. Crown Beverages Limited, the sole Pepsi-Cola franchise bottler in the country, is situated in Nakawa, a division of Kampala, about east of the city centre.


title: Kampala

text: The informal sector is a large contributor to Kampala's GDP. Citizens who work in the formal sector also participate in informal activities to earn more income for their families. A public servant in Kampala, for example, may engage in agriculture in addition to working in the formal sector. Other informal fields include owning taxis and urban agriculture. The use of Kampala's wetlands for urban farming has increased over the past few decades. It connects the informal rural settlements with the more industrialized parts of the city. The produce grown in the wetlands is sold in markets in the urban areas.


title: Kampala

text: While more than 30 percent of Kampala's inhabitants practice urban agriculture, the city of Kampala donated to promote urban agriculture in the northeastern parish of Kyanja, in Nakawa Division.


title: Kampala

text: Boda-bodas (local motorbike transport) are a popular mode of transport that gives access to many areas within and outside the city. Standard fees for these range from USh:1,000 to 2,000 or more. Boda-bodas are useful for passing through rush-hour traffic, although many are poorly maintained and dangerous.


title: Kampala

text: In early 2007, it was announced that Kampala would remove commuter taxis from its streets and replace them with a comprehensive city bus service. (In Kampala, the term "taxi" refers to a 15-seater minibus used as public transport.) The bus service was expected to cover the greater Kampala metropolitan area including Mukono, Mpigi, Bombo, Entebbe, Wakiso and Gayaza. the service had not yet started. Having successfully completed the Northern Bypass, the government, in collaboration with its stakeholders, now plans to introduce the bus rapid transit (BRT) system in Kampala by 2014. On 12 March 2012, Pioneer Easy Bus Company, a private transport company, started public bus service in Kampala with an estimated 100 buses each with a 60-passenger capacity (30 seated and 30 standing), acquired from China. Another 422 buses were expected in the country in 2012. The buses operate 24 hours daily. The company has a concession to provide public transport in the city for the next five years. The buses were impounded for back taxes in December 2013. The company expected to resume operation in February 2015.


title: Kampala

text: In 2014, Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni and a Chinese transportation company signed a Memorandum of Understanding, to embark at some point on building a light rail system in Kampala, similar to the one in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.


title: Kampala

text: On 11 April 2011, the pressure group Activists for Change (A4C) held its first Walk to Work protest near Kampala, in response to a comment by President Museveni on the increased cost of fuel, which had risen by 50 percent between January and April 2011. He said: "What I call on the public to do is to use fuel sparingly. Don't drive to bars." The protest, which called on workers to walk to work to highlight the increased cost of transport in Uganda, was disrupted by police, who fired tear gas and arrested three-time presidential candidate Kizza Besigye and Democratic Party leader Norbert Mao. In the course of the protest, Besigye was shot in the right arm by a rubber bullet. The government blamed the violence on protesters.


title: Kampala

text: In 2016, the Rift Valley Railways Consortium (RVR) and Kampala Capital City Authority established passenger rail service between Namanve and Kampala and between Kampala and Kyengera. Those services were temporarily discontinued after RVR lost its concession in Uganda in October 2017. However, when Uganda Railways Corporation took over the operations of the metre gauge railway system in Uganda in 2018, the service was restored in February that year. A new Kampala to Port Bell route is being planned to be added in the 2018/2019 financial year.


title: Kampala

text: Among the places of worship are predominantly Christian churches and temples: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kampala (Catholic Church), Church of Uganda (Anglican Communion), Presbyterian Church in Uganda (World Communion of Reformed Churches), Baptist Union of Uganda (Baptist World Alliance), and Assemblies of God. There are also Muslim mosques.


title: Kampala

text: Kampala hosts a Bahá'í House of Worship known as the Mother Temple of Africa which is situated on Kikaya Hill in the outskirts of the city. The temple was inaugurated in January 1961.


title: Richard Gilliland

text: Richard Gilliland (January 23, 1950 – March 18, 2021) was an American television and movie actor, best known as JD Shackleford in "Designing Women" (1986–1992).


title: Richard Gilliland

text: Gilliland was born in Fort Worth, Texas. He attended high school in Overland Park, Kansas (Shawnee Mission South), graduating in 1968. He was active in plays and musicals.


title: Richard Gilliland

text: He married actress Jean Smart in 1987. They met while working on the set of "Designing Women" (he played J. D. Shackelford, the boyfriend of Annie Potts' character, Mary Jo Shively). They have two sons, Connor Douglas (born 1989) and Forrest (adopted from China in May 2009).


title: Richard Gilliland

text: Gilliland first appeared onscreen in the 1970s. His notable appearances include "The Waltons", "Thirtysomething", "Party of Five", "Little Women", and a recurring role on "Designing Women" (where he met Smart, who starred as Charlene in that series). He played Ellis Kapp on "The Unit" and Captain Stan Cotter on "24". He also had a recurring role as serial killer Jeffrey Speidel in the NBC series "Matlock".


title: Richard Gilliland

text: Gilliland played Captain Stan Cotter on "24" during season five, while his wife Jean Smart played First Lady Martha Logan in the same season.


title: Neil Flynn

text: Neil Richard Flynn (born November 13, 1960) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his roles as Janitor on "Scrubs" and Mike Heck in the ABC comedy series "The Middle". He has had notable appearances in television series, such as "That '70s Show", "", and "Smallville" and the television films "It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie" and "."


title: Neil Flynn

text: His film career includes appearances in "The Fugitive", "Home Alone 3", "Mean Girls", "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" and "The Resurrection of Gavin Stone". His voice-over work extends to films such as "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs", TV shows including "Bob's Burgers", "Buzz Lightyear of Star Command", "Clone High", "King of the Hill" and the "Ratchet & Clank" video games.


title: Neil Flynn

text: In 2015, he starred in the DC Comics web series "Vixen", set in the Arrowverse. In 2019, he starred alongside Natalie Morales in the NBC sitcom "Abby's".


title: Neil Flynn

text: Flynn was born on the south side of Chicago, Illinois. He is of Irish descent and was raised in a devout Catholic household. He moved to Waukegan, Illinois, at an early age.


title: Neil Flynn

text: As a student at Waukegan East High School in 1978, he and partner Mike Shklair won an Illinois Individual Events championship for Humorous Duet Acting. He attended Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, where he was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity, acted in plays, and participated on the Bradley University Speech Team.


title: Neil Flynn

text: In Chicago, he acted with the renowned Goodman and Steppenwolf theaters. Flynn was nominated for a Joseph Jefferson Award (Actor in a Principal Role, for "The Ballad of the Sad Cafe", 1986). He also performed at the Improv Olympic and the Second City Comedy Troupe. In 1998, he founded the improv team Beer Shark Mice with David Koechner, which was still active as of 2015.


title: Neil Flynn

text: Although his role on "Scrubs" had been to that point the most visible, he had other small roles in a variety of different TV shows and movies, including "That '70s Show", "Baby's Day Out", "", "My Boys", "Seinfeld", and "Smallville".


title: Neil Flynn

text: In "The Fugitive", he plays a Chicago police officer who is killed by the one-armed man, Frederick Sykes (Andreas Katsulas) while he is fighting Dr. Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford). This role was used in a subplot of the "Scrubs" episode "My Friend the Doctor" when J.D. (Zach Braff) notices Flynn's character in the film and believes that Flynn's Janitor character is the actor in the film. In 2008, Flynn worked with Harrison Ford again, playing a suspicious law enforcement official as FBI agent Smith in "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull".


title: Neil Flynn

text: Flynn had a minor role in "Mean Girls" as the father of Lindsay Lohan's character. He then played the part of an anonymous police officer in ""; this scene was cut out of the final version of the film, though it can be viewed in the straight-to-DVD spin-off film "", and in the deleted scenes of the "Anchorman" DVD. He had a minor role in "Major League" as a longshoreman and fan of the Cleveland Indians. Flynn had a role on Phil Hendrie's animated pilot that was not picked up by FOX. He was also the first baseman in the movie "Rookie of the Year".


title: Neil Flynn

text: Flynn appeared in an episode of "The Drew Carey Show", playing the fake husband of future "Scrubs" co-star Christa Miller. He appeared in an episode of "Seinfeld", playing a police officer.


title: Neil Flynn

text: For "Scrubs", Flynn auditioned for the role of Dr. Cox, but was given the role of Janitor, instead. Flynn was originally only cast for the first episode ("My First Day"), but he became a regular, playing a character known only as the Janitor, who devotes much of his energy to menacing young Dr. John "J.D." Dorian. His name is not revealed in the series until the season 8 finale when, upon J.D.'s first time asking about it, he simply says his name is Glenn Matthews. This is also speculated to be false for two reasons: first, after J.D. leaves the shot, an orderly addresses the Janitor as "Tommy"; and second, while watching "The Fugitive" with Carla and Danni (Dr. Cox's sister-in-law, played by Tara Reid) in the season 3 episode 'My Friend The Doctor', J.D. notices the real-life Flynn's character in the train scene. When the Janitor confirms he was in the movie at the end of the episode, some fans speculated the Janitor's name in "Scrubs" is "Neil Flynn", but this was dismissed by Flynn in an interview. Flynn was a series regular with "Scrubs" through the first eight seasons. When "Scrubs" was cancelled by NBC and subsequently picked up by ABC, he signed a second position one-year deal for "Scrubs" season 9, which would have allowed him to continue on "Scrubs" if his pilot "The Middle" was not picked up. "The Middle" pilot was picked up, but he appeared as a guest star in "Scrubs" season 9 premiere.


title: Neil Flynn

text: Flynn's long-running role, Mike Heck, was on ABC's "The Middle" (2009–2018). The character had three children and worked at the Orson Limestone Quarry. The Heck Family was a working-class family in Indiana. In 2017, the series celebrated 200 episodes.


title: Neil Flynn

text: For his work on "The Middle", Flynn was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series at the 6th Critics' Choice Television Awards.


title: Neil Flynn

text: Flynn has also done voice acting for the animated series "Buzz Lightyear of Star Command", though he is better known for voicing the popular characters Skidd McMarx and the Plumber in the first three "Ratchet & Clank" games for the PlayStation 2. He also made a guest appearance in "Kim Possible".


title: Neil Flynn

text: As of 2015, he is providing the voice of Chuck, the foster father of the title character in the DC Comics animated web series "Vixen".


title: Michael Mosley (actor)

text: Michael Mosley (born September 16, 1978) is an American television and film actor, best known for his roles as Drew Suffin on "Scrubs", Ted Vanderway on "Pan Am", Johnny Farrell on "Sirens", Everett Lynch on "Criminal Minds", and Jerry Tyson on "Castle".


title: Michael Mosley (actor)

text: Mosley was born in Cedar Falls, Iowa. He was engaged to actress Anna Camp by September 2008; they married in 2010 and filed for divorce in 2013.


title: Tears of the Sun

text: Tears of the Sun is a 2003 American action thriller film depicting a fictitious U.S. Navy SEAL team rescue mission amidst the 21st-century version of the civil war in Nigeria. Lieutenant A.K. Waters (Bruce Willis) commands the team sent to rescue U.S. citizen Dr. Lena Fiore Kendricks (Monica Bellucci) before the approaching rebels reach her jungle hospital. The film was directed by Antoine Fuqua.


title: Tears of the Sun

text: Willis produced "Tears of the Sun" through Cheyenne Enterprises, his production company. The cast of "Tears of the Sun" includes actual African refugees living in the United States, incl. Sudanese Lost Boys.


title: Tears of the Sun

text: Turmoil erupts in Nigeria following a military "coup d'etat" led by exiled General Mustafa Yakubu in which President Samuel Azuka and his entire family are reportedly assassinated. The ethnic enmity is between the Fulani Moslems in the north and Christian Ibo in the south. Foreigners evacuate the country and Lieutenant A.K. Waters and his U.S. Navy SEAL team consisting of Zee, Slo, Red, Lake, Silk, Doc, and Flea, board the aircraft carrier , to be dispatched by Captain Bill Rhodes to extract Dr. Lena Fiore Kendricks, a U.S. citizen by marriage to the late Dr. John Kendricks who was killed by rebels in Sierra Leone. Their secondary mission is to extract the mission's priest and two nuns, should they choose to come.


title: Tears of the Sun

text: Waters gets to Kendricks, telling her that rebels are closing in on her hospital and the mission, and that his orders are to extract U.S. citizens; however, Kendricks refuses to leave without her patients that she loves so much. Waters calls Rhodes for options; after a brief conversation, he concedes to Kendricks' wishes and agrees to take those refugees able to walk. Kendricks begins assembling the able-bodied for the hike; the priest and the nuns stay behind to take care of the injured.


title: Tears of the Sun

text: Irritated and behind schedule, the team and the refugees leave the hospital mission after daybreak. At nightfall they take a short break. The rebels rapidly approach their position, and Waters stealthily kills one. Kendricks warns Waters that the rebels are going to the mission, but he is determined to carry out his orders, and they continue to the extraction point.


title: Tears of the Sun

text: Back at the mission, the staff and refugees are detained by the rebels. Despite the priest's pleas for mercy, the rebels murder him and the remaining occupants.


title: Tears of the Sun

text: When the team arrives at the extraction point, Waters' initial plan becomes clear: the SEALs suddenly turn away the refugees from the waiting SH-60B Seahawk helicopter. Waters forces Kendricks into the helicopter against her will, leaving the refugees stranded in the jungle, defenseless against the rebels. En route back to "Harry Truman", they fly over the original mission compound, seeing it destroyed and all its occupants murdered, as Kendricks had feared.


title: Tears of the Sun

text: Remorseful, Waters orders the pilot to return to the refugees. He then loads as many refugees as he can into the helicopter and decides to escort the remaining refugees to the Cameroonian border on foot.


title: Tears of the Sun

text: During the hike to Cameroon, the SEALs discover the rebels are somehow tracking them. As they escape and evade the rebels, the team enters a village whose inhabitants are being raped, tortured, and massacred by the rebels. Cognizant of his ability to stop it, Waters orders the team to kill the rebels. The team is visibly shaken by the atrocities they see the rebels have committed against the villagers.


title: Tears of the Sun

text: Again en route, Slo determines that a refugee is transmitting a signal allowing the rebels to locate them. A newer refugee picked up during the trek attempts to run but is shot. A transmitter is discovered on his body. As he bleeds out, he confesses that he is coerced to be the rat because his family had been captured by the rebels. The following search for his co-conspirators reveals the presence of Arthur Azuka, the surviving son of late President Samuel Azuka, which they realize is the reason the rebels are hunting them: Samuel Azuka was not only the president of the country, but also the tribal king of the Ibo. As the only surviving member of this royal bloodline, Arthur is the only person left with a legitimate claim to the Ibo Nation. Waters is angered that Kendricks knew this but did not inform him.


title: Tears of the Sun

text: The SEALs decide to continue escorting the refugees to Cameroon, regardless of the cost. A firefight ensues when the rebels finally catch up with them, and the SEALs decide to stay behind as rearguard to buy the refugees enough time to reach the border safely.


title: Tears of the Sun

text: Zee radios the Navy for air support; two F/A-18s take off and head towards them. The rebels kill Slo, Lake, Flea, and Silk. Waters, Red, Doc, and Zee are wounded, but direct the jets on where to attack. Arthur and Kendricks rush towards the now-closed Cameroonian border crossing when they hear the jets approach and bomb the pursuing rebels.


title: Tears of the Sun

text: Waters, Zee, Doc, and Red rise from the grass as Navy helicopters land in Cameroon, opposite the Nigerian border crossing. Rhodes arrives and orders the gate open, letting in the SEALs and the refugees. They are then escorted onto the helicopters.


title: Tears of the Sun

text: Rhodes promises Waters that he will recover the bodies of Waters' men. Kendricks bids tearful farewells to her Nigerian friends and flies away in a helicopter while comforting Waters, watching as Arthur is surrounded by his people proclaiming their freedom.


title: Tears of the Sun

text: The movie ends with, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" quote attributed to Edmund Burke.


title: Tears of the Sun

text: Harry Humphries, a former U.S. Navy SEAL, was the technical adviser to the film, having advised the earlier "Black Hawk Down". According to the Blu-ray factoid, the aircraft carrier scenes were filmed aboard the active USS "Harry S. Truman", east of Cape Hatteras in the Atlantic Ocean. The Navy repeatedly turned the carrier so that director Fuqua would have beneficial lighting conditions.


title: Tears of the Sun

text: The movie was shown in U.S. theaters on March 13, 2003, having premiered earlier on March 3. The 20-minutes longer "Director's Extended Cut" was released on DVD in 2005 and begins with the killing of the Nigerian president, adding political context. The Blu-ray theatrical cut was released in September 2006, containing low-definition deleted scenes instead of that extended cut.


title: Tears of the Sun

text: On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 33% based on 155 reviews and an average rating of 4.93/10. The website's critical consensus states that the film "tries to be high-minded, but in the end, it's just a stylish action movie." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 48 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: Tears of the Sun

text: Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of four and said, ""Tears of the Sun" is a film constructed out of rain, cinematography and the face of Bruce Willis. These materials are sufficient to build a film almost as good as if there had been a better screenplay."


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: Scott Charles Bigelow (September 1, 1961 – January 19, 2007) was an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Bam Bam Bigelow. Recognizable by his close to 400-pound frame and the distinctive flame tattoo that spanned most of his bald head, Bigelow was hailed by Ryan Murphy (a writer for Bigelow's former employer WWE) as "the most natural, agile and physically remarkable big man of the past quarter century", while former co-worker Bret Hart described him as "possibly the best working big man in the business."


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: Bigelow is best known for his appearances with promotions New Japan Pro-Wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) between 1987 and 2001. Over the course of his career, he held championships including the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, the ECW World Television Championship, the IWGP Tag Team Championship, the WAR World Six-Man Tag Team Championship, and the WCW World Tag Team Championship. Bigelow headlined seven pay-per-views: the first Survivor Series in 1987, Beach Brawl in 1991, King of the Ring in 1993 and 1995, WrestleMania XI in 1995, and November to Remember in 1997 and 1998.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: Bigelow was born on September 1, 1961 in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, United States. He attended Neptune High School in Neptune Township, New Jersey. While he did not graduate, he earned varsity letters in football and wrestling. He placed third in the 1979 New Jersey state wrestling tournament in his sophomore year, but missed his senior season due to a cyst in his lower back. In his late teens, Bigelow competed in arm wrestling tournaments. After dropping out of high school, Bigelow held various jobs including a bodyguard, a bouncer, and a bounty hunter. Bigelow stated that while working as a bounty hunter in Mexico, he was shot in the back by a fugitive and imprisoned for six months in Mexico City.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: After being released from prison in Mexico, Bigelow decided to train as a professional wrestler, reasoning "there wasn't much else I was qualified for." In May 1985, he began training at Larry Sharpe's Monster Factory wrestling school in Clementon, New Jersey, with Sharpe regarding him as his prize student. He made his professional wrestling debut on August 23, 1985 at a show held at the Studio 54 nightclub that was promoted by Paul Heyman.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: In mid-1986, Bigelow began wrestling for the Memphis, Tennessee-based Continental Wrestling Association under the ring name "Bam Bam Bigelow", with Sharpe acting as his manager. He was quickly established as a "monster", competing in multiple handicap matches and regularly being disqualified for illegally jumping off the top rope. Bigelow won his first championship on July 28, 1986, being crowned the new AWA Southern Heavyweight Champion after winning a battle royal. He lost the championship to Jerry Lawler on September 8, 1986 in a Texas Death Match. Following the loss, Bigelow departed the CWA for several months before returning to form a tag team with Lawler and feud with Austin Idol and Tommy Rich. Bigelow continued regularly appearing with the CWA until March 1987. He made brief returns to the CWA and its successor, the United States Wrestling Association, in 1989, 1990, 1991, and 1994.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: In late-1986, Bigelow wrestled for the Texas-based World Class Championship Wrestling promotion using the ring name "Crusher Yurkov", portraying a Russian. During his run, he won the WCWA Television Championship. Readers of the "Wrestling Observer Newsletter" voted Bigelow "Rookie of the Year" for 1986.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: Beginning in January 1987, Bigelow began making lengthy tours of Japan with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) under the ring name "Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow", with Larry Sharpe again serving as his manager, reuniting the trainer with Bigelow. Bigelow became a very popular monster heel thanks to his amazing agility and unusual aerial moves, and scored huge victories over the likes of Tatsumi Fujinami on April 13 and Akira Maeda in April 20. In January 1989, he formed a tag team with Big Van Vader known as "Big, Bad, and Dangerous" which lasted until May 1989. He unsuccessfully challenged for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship on several occasions, including a bout against incumbent champion Vader in September 1989 billed as the "Super Power Battle In Osaka". Bigelow and Vader reformed their tag team in 1990. In June 1990, Bigelow also appeared with All Japan Pro Wrestling, competing in its Super Power Series against opponents such as "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, Terry Gordy, Toshiaki Kawada, and Kenta Kobashi.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: In March 1991, Bigelow and Vader defeated Doom in the Tokyo Dome as part of the WCW/New Japan Supershow I. In March 1992, Bigelow and Vader defeated Hiroshi Hase and Keiji Muto for the IWGP Tag Team Championship. Their reign lasted until June 1992, when they were defeated by The Steiner Brothers. Bigelow made his final appearances with NJPW in October 1992, participating in the Super Grade Tag League with Keiji Muto, before leaving Japan to return to the WWF. Bigelow was unable to return to NJPW later in his career due to an exclusivity agreement signed between NJPW and World Championship Wrestling.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: Bigelow debuted in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in May 1987 as "Bam Bam Bigelow". He spent several months wrestling exclusively in dark matches and on house shows before making his televised debut. Upon his debut, Bigelow featured in a storyline in which various heel managers such as Bobby Heenan, Jimmy Hart, and Slick vied to have him as their client in what was dubbed "The Battle for Bam Bam". The storyline culminated in August 1987 when Bigelow denounced the heel managers and announced that his manager would be Oliver Humperdink, establishing him as a face.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: In September and October 1987, Bigelow won a series of battle royals. He made his pay-per-view debut at the inaugural Survivor Series, teaming with Don Muraco, Hulk Hogan, Ken Patera, and Paul Orndorff in a loss to André the Giant, King Kong Bundy, Butch Reed, One Man Gang, and Rick Rude; Bigelow was the last man eliminated for his team. Following the bout, he faced One Man Gang in a series of matches. At the Slammy Awards in December 1987, he received an award for "Best Head"; later in the evening, he joined the rest of the WWF roster to sing "". He began feuding with Ted DiBiase in January 1988, on several occasions teaming with Hogan to face DiBiase and André the Giant. At WrestleMania IV in March 1988, Bigelow took part in the tournament for the vacant WWF World Heavyweight Championship, losing to One Man Gang in the first round. Bigelow went on to face One Man Gang in a further series of matches throughout mid-1988. In June 1988, Bigelow lost to André the Giant in a Madison Square Garden bout airing on "WWF on MSG Network" in which Bret Hart stated that André "practically killed him" by working stiff due to tension between them; immediately following the match, Bigelow returned to the locker room, collected his bag, and left the Garden. Bigelow left the WWF in July 1988 due to a combination of knee injuries (tears to both anterior cruciate ligaments) and heat from other members of the roster resentful of the push he had received despite being a rookie.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: Bigelow debuted in Jim Crockett Promotions in September 1988, shortly before its rebranding as World Championship Wrestling. He was managed by Oliver Humperdink who had also joined the promotion. Bigelow quickly began feuding with The Four Horsemen. In November 1988, he unsuccessfully challenged Ric Flair, the leader of The Four Horsemen, for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in a dark match in the Charlotte Coliseum. In late-1988, he began challenging Horseman Barry Windham over the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship; he lost to Windham by count-out at Starrcade in December 1988 after being attacked by the Horsemen's manager, J. J. Dillon. Bigelow was unwilling to sign an exclusive contract with WCW due to his touring commitments with New Japan Pro-Wrestling, and he left the company in January 1989.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: Bigelow returned to WCW in April 1990, once again reuniting with Oliver Humperdink. He joined the villainous "Sullivan's Slaughterhouse" stable with Kevin Sullivan and Cactus Jack. At the Capital Combat pay-per-view in May 1990, Bigelow teamed with Sullivan and Cactus Jack in a loss to Norman the Lunatic and the Road Warriors. At Clash of the Champions XI: Coastal Crush, he lost to Tommy Rich via disqualification after refusing to break a choke. Bigelow's second stint with WCW lasted until August 1990 when he once again returned to New Japan Pro-Wrestling.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: Bigelow joined the fledgling Universal Wrestling Federation in March 1991, making several appearances on "UWF Fury Hour". During his time in the promotion, he had a short feud with "Cowboy" Bob Orton. His final appearance with the UWF was in June 1991 at the Beach Brawl pay-per-view, where he lost to Steve Williams in a main event bout to determine the inaugural UWF SportsChannel Television Champion.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: In February 1992, Bigelow began wrestling in Mexico for the Universal Wrestling Association, appearing on its "UWA TV" program. He primarily wrestled in six-man tag team matches, with his regular allies including André the Giant (with who he reconciled following their altercation in 1988), The Samoan SWAT Team, and Rambo and his opponents including El Canek, Fishman, and Villanos III, IV, and V. He was one of a series of foreign challengers to face El Canek. Bigelow did not enjoy working in Mexico, and he left the UWA in May 1992.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: Bigelow returned to the World Wrestling Federation in October 1992, scoring a series of wins on "WWF Superstars" and "WWF Wrestling Challenge". He made his pay-per-view return in January 1993, decisively defeating Big Boss Man at the Royal Rumble. Throughout early-1993, Bigelow wrestled primarily on house shows, including tours of Europe in February and April. He repeatedly unsuccessfully challenged Bret Hart for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. A scheduled match between Bigelow and Kamala at WrestleMania IX in April was cancelled due to time constraints. In June 1993, Luna Vachon was introduced as Bigelow's valet and "main squeeze" (love interest). Bigelow defeated Typhoon on the May 10 episode of "Monday Night Raw" to qualify for the first-ever televised King of the Ring tournament; at the King of the Ring pay-per-view on June 13, Bigelow defeated Jim Duggan in the quarter-finals and received a bye in the semi-finals, but lost to Bret Hart in the tournament final in what was his third pay-per-view main event.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: Following King of the Ring, Bigelow began feuding with Tatanka. In July and August, Bigelow toured Europe with the WWF Later in August, Bigelow teamed with Yokozuna to unsuccessfully challenge The Steiner Brothers for the WWF World Tag Team Championship. At SummerSlam on August 30, Bigelow and The Headshrinkers lost to Tatanka and The Smoking Gunns. In October 1993, Bigelow and Luna Vachon began feuding with Doink the Clown; The Brooklyn Brawler substituted for Bigelow in some matches after he took a brief leave of absence in early November to care for his pregnant wife. A match was scheduled for Survivor Series pitting Bigelow, Bastion Booger, and The Headshrinkers against four Doinks; at Survivor Series the four Doinks were revealed as being The Bushwhackers and Men on a Mission. Bigelow was defeated by Mabel. The match was poorly critically received, being named "Worst Worked Match of the Year" by the "Wrestling Observer Newsletter".


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: In January 1994, Bigelow had a short feud with Bastion Booger after Booger kissed Vachon. At the Royal Rumble on January 22, 1994, Bigelow lost to Tatanka, substituting for Ludvig Borga. During the Royal Rumble match itself, Bigelow eliminated Tatanka, Doink, and several other wrestlers before being eliminated by Lex Luger. Bigelow was also one of multiple villainous wrestlers to interfere in WWF World Heavyweight Champion Yokozuna's title defence against The Undertaker, helping Yokozuna retain the Championship. Following the Royal Rumble, Bigelow continued his feud with Doink, culminating in a tag team match at WrestleMania X where Bigelow and Vachon defeated Doink and his ally Dink to end their rivalry. Following WrestleMania X, Bigelow took part in the WWF's tour of Europe and Israel. An April 24, 1993 bout between Bigelow and Bret Hart in Barcelona, Spain was included on the 2005 DVD documentary film "" at Hart's request. On the May 16, 1994 episode of "Monday Night Raw", Bigelow defeated Sparky Plugg to qualify for that year's King of the Ring tournament. The following month, he lost to Razor Ramon in the quarter-final at King of the Ring.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: On the June 27, 1994 episode of "Monday Night Raw", Bigelow broke ties with Luna Vachon, with Ted DiBiase subsequently announcing that he had bought Bigelow's contract. Bigelow became a member of DiBiase's new stable, The Million Dollar Corporation. Throughout the summer, Bigelow had a series of matches with Mabel; the two faced each other during the "Summer Fest" and "Hart Attack" tours of Europe. In July 1994, while under WWF contract, Bigelow returned to Japan to work for Genichiro Tenryu's Wrestle Association R as "Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow". Teaming with Tenryu and Atsushi Onita, he won the "Super Battle of 6 Men" tournament. At SummerSlam on August 29, Bigelow and fellow Million Dollar Corporation member Irwin R. Schyster defeated The Headshrinkers by disqualification. At Survivor Series on November 23, "The Million Dollar Team" (Bigelow, King Kong Bundy, Tatanka, and The Heavenly Bodies) defeated "Guts and Glory" (Adam Bomb, Lex Luger, Mabel, and The Smoking Gunns).


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: In November 1994, Bigelow and fellow Million Dollar Corporation member Tatanka entered a tournament for the vacant WWF World Tag Team Championship. They defeated Men on a Mission in the quarter-finals and The Headshrinkers in the semi-finals. Bigelow made another appearance with Wrestle Association R in Japan in December 1994, winning a round robin challenge match at the WAR MEGA-POWER event. On January 22, 1995 at the Royal Rumble, Bigelow and Tatanka lost to The 1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly in the WWF Tag Team Championship tournament final.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: The World Wrestling Federation had approached former New York Giants All-Pro linebacker Lawrence Taylor about performing at WrestleMania XI in an attempt to generate interest. After Taylor agreed to wrestle a match, Bigelow was selected as his opponent. The storyline saw Taylor introduced at the Royal Rumble, where he was sitting in the audience at ringside. After Bigelow was pinned by The 1-2-3 Kid, Bigelow took umbrage after noticing Taylor laughing. Upon Bigelow confronting Taylor at ringside, he offered Bigelow a handshake, but Bigelow instead shoved him to the ground. On the following episode of "Monday Night Raw", it was announced that Bigelow had been temporarily suspended. During an interview segment with Vince McMahon, Bigelow declined to apologize to Taylor, instead challenging him to a match "any time, anyplace." Taylor initially declined the match, but after repeated insults from Bigelow, he accepted the challenge on February 27, 1995 at the WrestleMania XI press conference. The build up to the match included Taylor staging a public workout in a ring that had been erected in Times Square in New York City at which he was confronted by Bigelow, resulting in a brawl. On April 2, 1995, Taylor defeated Bigelow in the main event of WrestleMania XI. The storyline garnered significant media coverage, with outlets such as "Sports Illustrated", "SportsCenter", and "USA Today" featuring it. Bigelow was credited as having carried the inexperienced Taylor.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: Following WrestleMania, Bigelow participated in the "WWF in High Gear" tour of Europe. Upon his return to the United States, he challenged Diesel for the WWF Championship on the April 24, 1995 episode of "Monday Night Raw". After Diesel defeated Bigelow, Ted DiBiase announced that he was firing Bigelow. After Bigelow retaliated, the other members of The Million Dollar Corporation attacked him until he was saved by Diesel, thus turning Bigelow face. In the main event of King of the Ring on June 25, 1995, Bigelow and Diesel teamed together to defeat Million Dollar Corporation members Sid and Tatanka. Following King of the Ring, Bigelow faced Million Dollar Corporation members Sid, Tatanka, King Kong Bundy, and Kama in a series of matches. At In Your House 2, he defeated Henry Godwinn, who was auditioning to join the Corporation. At In Your House 3, he lost to British Bulldog. In October 1995, he took part in the "Full Metal" tour, marking his final tour of Europe with the WWF. In late-1995, Bigelow negotiated an early release from his contract with WWF chairman Vince McMahon after becoming disillusioned by the creative influence of The Kliq. He made his final appearance with the WWF on November 19, 1995 at Survivor Series, losing to the recently debuted Goldust.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: After leaving the World Wrestling Federation in late-1995, Bigelow began working on the United States independent circuit. In March 1996, Bigelow became the inaugural NWA Northeast Heavyweight Champion of the newly founded NWA Northeast promotion, defeating Jim Neidhart in a tournament final. Although Bigelow only made a handful of appearances with the promotion, his reign officially lasted until October 1998 when the title was vacated. In May 1996, Bigelow defeated Typhoon to win the vacant Universal Superstars of America Heavyweight Championship. In July 1996, he defeated King Kong Bundy at NWA New Jersey. Bigelow returned to Wrestle Association R in August 1996 for a tour that lasted until the end of the year. He briefly held the WAR World Six-Man Tag Team Championship with Hiromichi Fuyuki and Yoji Anjo in October 1996. In 1997, Bigelow was named as the inaugural Heavyweight Champion of the newly founded World Star Wrestling Federation. In June 1997, Bigelow appeared at the World Wrestling Peace Festival, an inter-promotional supercard staged at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena by Antonio Inoki, where he faced Chris Jericho and Konnan in a three way dance. In April 1998, Bigelow wrestled two bouts for the Japanese promotion Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, participating in the "Fighting Creation" event.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: Bigelow debuted in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based Extreme Championship Wrestling promotion in February 1996 at Big Apple Blizzard Blast, confronting Taz. Later that month at Just Another Night he defeated Cactus Jack in an impromptu match after Jack mocked him for his loss to Lawrence Taylor. In March 1996 at Big Ass Extreme Bash he again confronted Taz. Bigelow made a further appearance in October 1996, defeating Terry "Bam Bam" Gordy at Ultimate Jeopardy in what was dubbed "The Battle of the Bam Bams".


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: Bigelow began appearing regularly with ECW in May 1997. He was reintroduced at Chapter 2, being named the new member of The Triple Threat alongside Shane Douglas, Chris Candido, and Francine. He was undefeated until August 1997, when he suffered an upset loss to the diminutive Spike Dudley at Born to be Wired. Bigelow made his ECW pay-per-view debut at Hardcore Heaven later that month, decisively defeating Dudley in a rematch. During the match, Bigelow pressed Dudley above his head and hurled him into the ECW Arena audience. Bigelow went on to defeat Dudley in a series of further matches over the following months.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: On the October 20, 1997 episode of "ECW Hardcore TV", Rick Rude selected Bigelow as challenger for Shane Douglas' ECW World Heavyweight Championship. Bigelow accepted the match and went on to win the Championship, renouncing his membership in The Triple Threat as a result. Over the course of his reign, Bigelow successfully retained the Championship in bouts with challengers including Al Snow, Chris Candido, Mikey Whipwreck, and Paul Diamond. He began feuding with Douglas, on one occasion accidentally breaking the pelvis of Douglas' valet Francine while performing a gorilla press slam on her. In the main event of November to Remember on November 30, 1997, Douglas defeated Bigelow to regain the Championship.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: Bigelow continued feuding with Douglas and the rest of The Triple Threat, allying with Taz. At Hostile City Showdown in January 1998, Bigelow and Taz faced The Triple Threat in a handicap match; during the match, Bigelow betrayed Taz, rejoining The Triple Threat. At Living Dangerously on March 1, 1998, Bigelow defeated Taz for the ECW World Television Championship in the Asbury Park Convention Hall in his adopted hometown. During the match, Bigelow collapsed backwards while Taz was applying his "Tazmission" hold, driving both men through the ring canvas. Bigelow's reign lasted until the April 4, 1998 episode of "ECW Hardcore TV" where he lost the Championship to Rob Van Dam.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: After defeating New Jack at Wrestlepalooza, Axl Rotten at It Ain't "Seinfeld", and Al Snow at A Matter of Respect, Bigelow unsuccessfully challenged Taz for the ECW FTW Heavyweight Championship in a falls count anywhere match at Heat Wave after both men fell through the entrance ramp. Bigelow subsequently teamed with Candido and then Douglas to unsuccessfully challenge Rob Van Dam and Sabu for the ECW World Tag Team Championship. The feud between The Triple Threat and Taz, Van Dam, and Sabu culminated in a six-man tag team match in the main event of November to Remember, in which Sabu pinned Douglas. This marked Bigelow's final appearance with ECW as he left the promotion to rejoin World Championship Wrestling immediately thereafter.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: In November 1998, Bigelow abruptly left ECW after experiencing bounced checks, signing what Brian Fitz and Christopher Murray described as a "lucrative" two-year contract with World Championship Wrestling. He made his return on the November 16, 1998 episode of "Monday Nitro", interrupting a match between Scott Putski and Chavo Guerrero Jr. After attacking both competitors, Bigelow called out World Heavyweight Champion Goldberg and brawled with him in the ring. At World War 3 on November 22, Bigelow interfered in the titular match, attacking Goldberg. In his first match back with the company, he wrestled Goldberg to a no contest on the December 7 episode of "Monday Nitro". At Starrcade on December 27, Bigelow was one of several wrestlers to interfere in the main event bout between Goldberg and Kevin Nash, helping Nash pin Goldberg for the first time in his career and win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. After defeating Wrath at Souled Out in January 1999, Bigelow lost to Goldberg at SuperBrawl IX the following month.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: In March 1999, Bigelow lost to Rey Mysterio Jr., helping establish him as a "giant killer". Later that month, he entered a tournament for the vacant WCW United States Heavyweight Championship, losing to Meng in the first round. He began competing in WCW's nascent hardcore division, including a triple threat falls count anywhere match against fellow ECW alumni Raven and Hardcore Hak at Uncensored, a hardcore match against Hak at Spring Stampede, a kendo stick match against Hugh Morrus on "Monday Nitro", and a hardcore match against Brian Knobbs at Slamboree.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: On the May 31, 1999 episode of "Monday Nitro", Bigelow and Diamond Dallas Page challenged Raven and Perry Saturn for the WCW World Tag Team Championship. After Bigelow and Page attacked Raven prior to the match, Saturn faced them alone until Chris Kanyon joined the match as a substitute for Raven; however, Bigelow and Page pinned Kanyon to win the Championship. The following week on "Nitro", Kanyon joined Page and Bigelow to form a stable, The Jersey Triad. Page and Bigelow lost the WCW World Tag Team Championship to Saturn and Chris Benoit on the June 10 episode of "Thunder". At The Great American Bash later that month, Page and Kanyon defeated Benoit and Saturn for the Championship following interference from Bigelow; subsequently, they enacted the "Freebird Rule", meaning Bigelow was also recognized as champion and any two members of The Jersey Triad could defend the Championship. At Bash at the Beach, The Jersey Triad successfully defended the Championship against Saturn and Benoit in a handicap match. Their reign lasted until Road Wild in August 1999, when they lost to Harlem Heat. The Jersey Triad disbanded the following month.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: After a short absence, Bigelow returned to WCW television on the October 25 episode of "Monday Nitro", losing to Norman Smiley in the first round of a tournament for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. He then returned to the hardcore division. On the February 7, 2000 episode of "Monday Nitro", Bigelow defeated Brian Knobbs for the WCW Hardcore Championship. He lost the championship back to Knobbs later that month at SuperBrawl X. In March 2000, Bigelow participated in WCW's "Millennium Tour" of the United Kingdom. Later that month, he began feuding with The Wall after he developed a sadistic streak and attacked various younger wrestlers, including David Flair and Crowbar. The feud culminated in a bout at Uncensored which Bigelow won by disqualification. In June 2000, Bigelow briefly reunited with his former Triple Threat stablemates Shane Douglas and Chris Candido, after which he was inactive for several months due to severe burns he had sustained in a fire.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: Bigelow returned to WCW television once more in October 2000. In November, he was paired with Mike Awesome in a "Lethal Lottery" tournament to determine the number one contender to the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. After Bigelow and Awesome lost to Scott Steiner and Sting, they began feuding. After Bigelow attacked Awesome prior to a scheduled match between them at Mayhem in November, Bigelow defeated Awesome's substitute, Sgt. A.W.O.L. The feud culminated in an ambulance match at Starrcade in December which was won by Awesome after Bigelow fell through the roof of the ambulance. Over the following months, Bigelow primarily wrestled on "Thunder". In early-2001, Bigelow began feuding with Shawn Stasiak, losing to him at WCW's final pay-per-view, Greed. The feud culminated in a match on the final episode of "Monday Nitro" on March 26 in which Stasiak defeated Bigelow.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: After World Championship Wrestling was purchased by the World Wrestling Federation in March 2001, Bigelow opted not to accept a buy-out on his contract with Time Warner (the parent company of WCW). He was one of the performers considered by the newly-formed NWA Total Nonstop Action promotion in early-2002 but was unavailable due to his contract. After his contract expired in June 2002, Bigelow returned to the independent circuit. He wrestled sporadically, mainly appearing with promotions in the Northeastern United States. In September 2002, Bigelow wrestled in Germany for the European Wrestling Promotion. He made several appearances for USA Pro Wrestling, winning the USA Pro Heavyweight Championship twice during 2002. In 2004, Bigelow announced he would no longer take major bumps or chair shots for fear of exacerbating his health problems. He wrestled his final match on November 7, 2006 (10 weeks before his death) for the Florida-based American Combat Wrestling promotion, teaming with Ralph Mosca as "The Syndicate" to defeat Overkill (Legion Cage and Marcus Hall) for the ACW Tag Team Championship; the titles were vacated later that month.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: Bigelow was noted for what Michael McAvennie described as "uncanny nimbleness" given his height and weight. Capable of executing cartwheels, forward rolls, and dropkicks, he was described by Jake Black as "a powerful giant who could move like a cruiserweight". Journalist Dave Meltzer commented "Bigelow was something of a phenomenon when he came into pro wrestling in 1986." He was nicknamed "The Beast from the East". His character was described by Michael Ball as a "punk".


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: Bigelow had a distinctive appearance, with a large frame, shaved head, 19 tattoos (including various animals and mythical creatures on his arms and a fireball on the top of his head), goatee, missing front tooth, and what journalist Jon Gelberg described as "perpetually narrowed" eyes. Initially wrestling in black cut-off shorts and a cut-off t-shirt with "I Am Monster" written on the back, after joining the World Wrestling Federation in 1987 he began wearing clothes illustrated with flames, a theme he continued throughout the remainder of his career.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: At the outset of his career, Bigelow used the "Nuclear Splash" (a diving splash) as his finisher. He later used a slingshot splash and an over-the-shoulder reverse piledriver that he named "Greetings From Asbury Park" in reference to his adopted hometown and the Bruce Springsteen album. Deceptively agile, Bigelow also used aerial maneuvers such as moonsaults and diving headbutts.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: On November 17, 1996, Bigelow faced Kimo Leopoldo in a mixed martial arts bout promoted by U-Japan in Tokyo. Bigelow was dominated through the bout, submitting to a rear naked choke in the first round. In a 1998 interview, Bigelow claimed that he had been asked to throw the fight and that he had been paid $100,000 () for the fight.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: During his professional wrestling career, Bigelow took on a number of acting roles, generally playing menacing villainous characters. He also appeared in a commercial for Slim Jim beef jerky. He was a member of the Screen Actors Guild.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: As a young man, Bigelow was repeatedly arrested on charges including aggravated assault, attempted kidnapping, criminal restraint, drug possession, robbery, and sexual assault. He spent nine months in the Albert C. Wagner Youth Correctional Facility as a teenager, and was later imprisoned for six months in Mexico City for illegally acting as a bounty hunter in Mexico.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: Bigelow married Asbury Park native Dana Fisher in 1987. The couple had three children before divorcing in 2000. Following the divorce, Fisher sued Bigelow for non-payment of child support.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: On July 4, 2000, Bigelow received second degree burns on 40% of his body while rescuing three children from a fire in Wayside, New Jersey. He spent 10 days in a hospital after the incident.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: In 2004, Bigelow opened a deli in Hamlin, Wayne County, Pennsylvania that sold a two pound "Beast Burger". The restaurant later folded. Bigelow later relocated to Florida in hope that the warm weather would help with his chronic pain.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: In May 2004, Bigelow was charged with endangering the welfare of a child through reckless driving. He attributed the incident to a seizure he had suffered, and the charges were dropped two months later. In August 2004, Bigelow was convicted of possession of marijuana.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: On October 2, 2005, Bigelow was hospitalized with a broken nose and several lacerations after crashing his Harley-Davidson motorcycle on Florida State Road 50 in Hernando County, Florida. Bigelow's girlfriend was his passenger at the time of the crash; she suffered severe injuries, but eventually made a complete recovery and remained with Bigelow until his death.


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: For much of his professional wrestling career, Bigelow suffered from an addiction to OxyContin. By the end of his life, Bigelow was suffering from multiple health issues and receiving Social Security Disability Benefits. He had a heart problem (arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease), diabetes, and a persistent infection. He also had severe back problems; back surgeries had reduced his height by .


title: Bam Bam Bigelow

text: Bigelow's girlfriend found him dead in his home in Hudson, Florida at approximately 10a.m. EST on the morning of January 19, 2007. He was 45 years old. An autopsy found that Bigelow's death was due to multiple drugs found in his system including toxic levels of cocaine and anti-anxiety drugs benzodiazepines. A contributing factor in Bigelow's passing was arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, narrowing of small blood vessels that supply blood and oxygen to the heart. His death was ruled an accident by the Pasco-Pinellas Medical Examiner.


title: Nigel Hawthorne

text: Sir Nigel Barnard Hawthorne (5 April 1929 – 26 December 2001) was an English actor. He is most known for his stage acting and his portrayal of Sir Humphrey Appleby, the permanent secretary in the 1980s sitcom "Yes Minister" and the Cabinet Secretary in its sequel, "Yes, Prime Minister". For this role, he won four BAFTA TV Awards for Best Light Entertainment Performance.


title: Nigel Hawthorne

text: He won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for portraying King George III in "The Madness of King George" (1994). He later won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor, for the 1996 series "The Fragile Heart". He was also an Olivier Award and Tony Award winner for his work in theatre.


title: Nigel Hawthorne

text: Hawthorne was born in Coventry, Warwickshire, England, the second of four children of Agnes Rosemary (née Rice) and Charles Barnard Hawthorne, a physician.


title: Nigel Hawthorne

text: When Nigel was three years old, the family moved to Cape Town, South Africa, where his father had bought a practice. Initially they lived in the Gardens and then moved to a newly built house near Camps Bay.


title: Nigel Hawthorne

text: He attended St George's Grammar School, Cape Town, and, although the family was not Catholic, at a now-defunct Christian Brothers College, where he played on the rugby team. He described his time at the latter as not being a particularly happy experience.


title: Nigel Hawthorne

text: He enrolled at the University of Cape Town, where he met and sometimes acted in plays with Theo Aronson (later a well-known biographer), but withdrew and returned to the United Kingdom in the 1950s to pursue a career in acting.


title: Nigel Hawthorne

text: Hawthorne made his professional stage debut in 1950, playing Archie Fellows in a Cape Town production of "The Shop at Sly Corner". Unhappy in South Africa, he decided to move to London, where he performed in various small parts before becoming recognized as a great character actor.


title: Nigel Hawthorne

text: Finding success in London, Hawthorne decided to try his luck in New York City and eventually got a part in a 1974 production of "As You Like It" on Broadway. Around this time, he was persuaded by Ian McKellen and Judi Dench to join the Royal Shakespeare Company. He also supplemented his income by appearing in television advertisements, including one for Mackeson Stout.


title: Nigel Hawthorne

text: He returned to the New York stage in 1990 in "Shadowlands" and won the 1991 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play.


title: Nigel Hawthorne

text: Although Hawthorne had appeared in small roles in various British television series since the late 1950s, his most famous role was as Sir Humphrey Appleby, the Permanent Secretary of the fictional Department of Administrative Affairs in the television series "Yes Minister" (and Cabinet Secretary in its sequel, "Yes, Prime Minister"), for which he won four BAFTA awards during the 1980s. He became a household name throughout the United Kingdom, which finally opened the doors to film roles. In 1982, Hawthorne appeared in Richard Attenborough's "Gandhi", alongside a distinguished international cast including Martin Sheen, John Mills, Candice Bergen, John Gielgud, Ian Charleson and Ben Kingsley. That same year, he starred opposite Clint Eastwood in the cold war thriller "Firefox", where he played a dissident Russian scientist.


title: Nigel Hawthorne

text: Other film roles during this time included "Demolition Man", which he detested for being "brainless" and a "cheap picture". However, it led to his most famous role: that of King George III in Alan Bennett's stage play "The Madness of George III" (for which he won a Best Actor Olivier Award) and then the film adaptation entitled "The Madness of King George", for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor and won the BAFTA Film Award for Best Actor.


title: Nigel Hawthorne

text: After this success, his friend Ian McKellen asked him to play his doomed brother Clarence in "Richard III", and Steven Spielberg asked him to play lame duck president Martin Van Buren in "Amistad". He won a sixth BAFTA for the 1996 TV mini-series "The Fragile Heart". He also drew praise for his role of Georgie Pillson in the London Weekend Television series "Mapp and Lucia."


title: Nigel Hawthorne

text: Hawthorne was also a voice actor, and lent his voice to two Disney films: Fflewddur Fflam in "The Black Cauldron" (1985) and Professor Porter in "Tarzan" (1999). He also voiced Captain Campion in the animated film adaptation of "Watership Down" (1978).


title: Nigel Hawthorne

text: An intensely private person, he was upset at having been outed as gay in 1995 in the publicity surrounding the Academy Awards, but he did attend the ceremony with his long-time partner Trevor Bentham, and afterward, he spoke openly about being gay in interviews and in his autobiography, "Straight Face", which was published posthumously.


title: Nigel Hawthorne

text: They met in 1968 when Bentham was stage-managing the Royal Court Theatre. From 1979 until Hawthorne's death in 2001, they lived together in Radwell and then at Thundridge, both in Hertfordshire. The two of them became fund raisers for the North Hertfordshire hospice and other local charities.


title: Nigel Hawthorne

text: Hawthorne died from a heart attack at his home on 26 December 2001, aged 72. He had recently undergone several operations for pancreatic cancer, which he was diagnosed with in mid-2000, but had been discharged from hospital for the Christmas holidays. He was survived by Bentham, and his funeral service was held at St Mary's, the Parish Church of Thundridge near Ware, Hertfordshire, following which he was cremated at Stevenage Crematorium. His funeral was attended by Derek Fowlds, Maureen Lipman, Charles Dance, Loretta Swit and Frederick Forsyth along with friends and local people. The service was led by the Right Reverend Christopher Herbert, the Bishop of St Albans. The coffin had a wreath of white lilies and orchids and Bentham was one of the pallbearers.


title: Nigel Hawthorne

text: On hearing of Hawthorne's death, Alan Bennett described him in his diary: "Courteous, grand, a man of the world and superb at what he did, with his technique never so obvious as to become familiar as, say, Olivier's did or Alec Guinness's."


title: Nigel Hawthorne

text: He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1987 New Years Honours List, and was knighted in the 1999 New Years Honours List.


title: Wamiqa Gabbi

text: Wamiqa Gabbi (born 29 September 1993) is an Indian actress, who works in Punjabi, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu films. She made her screen debut in the Hindi film "Jab We Met" (2007) with a small role. But her major success came with "Tu Mera 22 Main Tera 22" (2013) alongside Yo Yo Honey Singh and Amrinder Gill. For which she was nominated in the PTC Punjabi Film Awards in the category of best supporting actress. Then she went onto star in many Punjabi films like "Ishq Brandy" (2014), "Nikka Zaildar 2" (2017), "Parahuna" (2018), "Dil Diyan Gallan" (2019) and "Nikka Zaildar 3" (2019).


title: Wamiqa Gabbi

text: Gabbi was born in a Punjabi family in Chandigarh on 29 September 1993. Her father Govardhan Gabbi is an author and writes in Hindi and Punjabi language, who uses "Gabbi" as a pseudonym.


title: Wamiqa Gabbi

text: She is a trained Kathak dancer. Her big break came with the Punjabi film with Yo Yo Honey Singh and Amrinder Gill, "Tu Mera 22 Mai Tera 22". She went on to star in two other Punjabi films "Ishq Brandy" and "Ishq Haazir Hai" as a co-star to actor Diljit Dosanjh.


title: Wamiqa Gabbi

text: She gave her first female lead role as Tanisha in "Sixteen". She starred as the lead actress in the Telugu film "Bhale Manchi Roju" as the female lead.


title: Wamiqa Gabbi

text: Gabbi starred as the female lead in a Tamil film "Maalai Nerathu Mayakkam" (2016). She was the female lead in the Malayalam film Godha alongside Tovino Thomas. In March 2017, Wamiqa signed onto a new Tamil film, "Iravaakaalam", directed by Ashwin Saravanan, also starring Sshivada and S. J. Surya. Wamiqa played the lead role in "9", also starring Prithviraj Sukumaran and Mamta Mohandas.


title: Ed Koch

text: Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989.


title: Ed Koch

text: Koch was a lifelong Democrat who described himself as a "liberal with sanity". The author of an ambitious public housing renewal program in his later years as mayor, he began by cutting spending and taxes and cutting 7,000 employees from the city payroll. As a congressman and after his terms as the third Jewish mayor of New York City (after Fiorello LaGuardia and Abraham Beame), Koch was a fervent supporter of Israel. He crossed party lines to endorse Rudy Giuliani for mayor of New York City in 1993, Al D'Amato for Senate in 1998, Michael Bloomberg for mayor of New York City in 2001, and George W. Bush for president in 2004.


title: Ed Koch

text: A popular figure, Koch rode the New York City Subway and stood at street corners greeting passersby with the slogan "How'm I doin'?" He was a lifelong bachelor, had no children and did not come out as gay during his lifetime. A 2022 "New York Times" article posthumously identified him as gay.


title: Ed Koch

text: Koch was first elected mayor of New York City in 1977, and he won reelection in 1981 with 75% of the vote. He was the first New York City mayor to win endorsement on both the Democratic and Republican party tickets. In 1985, Koch was elected to a third term with 78% of the vote. His third term was fraught with scandal regarding political associates (although the scandal never touched him personally) and with racial tensions, including the killings of Michael Griffith and Yusuf Hawkins. In a close race, Koch lost the 1989 Democratic primary to his successor, David Dinkins.


title: Ed Koch

text: Koch was born in Crotona Park East section of The Bronx borough of New York City, the son of Yetta (or Joyce, née Silpe) and Louis (Leib) Koch, Polish-Jewish immigrants from Kozliv and Uścieczko in Eastern Galicia. He came from a family of Conservative Jews who resided in Newark, New Jersey, where his father worked at a theater. As a child, he worked as a hatcheck boy in a Newark dance hall. He graduated from South Side High School in Newark in 1941.


title: Ed Koch

text: In 1943 he was drafted into the United States Army, where he served as an infantryman with the 104th Infantry Division, landing in Cherbourg, France, in September 1944. He earned a European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with two campaign stars, a World War II Victory Medal, and the Combat Infantryman Badge for service in the European Theater of Operations. After V-E Day, because he could speak German, Koch was sent to Bavaria to help remove Nazi public officials from their jobs and find non-Nazis to take their place. He was honorably discharged with the rank of Sergeant in 1946.


title: Ed Koch

text: Koch returned to New York City to attend City College of New York, graduating in 1945, and New York University School of Law, receiving his law degree in 1948. Koch was a sole practitioner from 1949 to 1964, and a partner with Koch, Lankenau, Schwartz & Kovner from 1965 to 1968. A Democrat, he became active in New York City politics as a reformer and opponent of Carmine DeSapio and Tammany Hall. In 1962 Koch ran for office for the first time, unsuccessfully opposing incumbent William Passannante, a DeSapio ally, for the Democratic nomination for the State Assembly.


title: Ed Koch

text: In 1963, Koch defeated DeSapio for the position of Democratic Party leader for the district which included Greenwich Village, and Koch won again in a 1965 rematch. Koch served on the New York City Council from 1967 to 1969.


title: Ed Koch

text: Koch ran for Congress in New York's 17th congressional district after Republican Theodore Roosevelt Kupferman retired. He defeated Republican Whitney Seymour Jr. and Conservative Richard J. Callahan, who partly split the conservative vote. He won 48.5% of the vote to Seymour's 45.6% and Callahan's 5.9%.


title: Ed Koch

text: Koch was reelected with 62% of the vote, defeating Republican Peter J. Sprague and Conservative Callahan who finished with 32% and 6%, respectively.


title: Ed Koch

text: In advance of the 1972 elections, Koch's district was redistricted into the 18th district. He defeated Republican Jane Pickens Langley and Socialist Workers nominee Rebecca Finch, 70%-29%-1%.


title: Ed Koch

text: Koch briefly ran for mayor in 1973, but garnered little support and dropped out before the Democratic primary. He threw his support to State Assemblyman Albert H. Blumenthal, but Blumenthal's bid was derailed by a scandal and he came in third. Comptroller Abraham Beame won the election.


title: Ed Koch

text: Koch won reelection (with career-best 76.7% of the vote) to the 18th district against John Boogaerts Jr. (Republican, 18.8%), Gilliam M. Drummond (Conservative, 3.7%), and Katherine Sojourner (Socialist Workers, 0.8%).


title: Ed Koch

text: Koch was again reelected, this time with 75.7% of the vote, defeating Sonia Landau (Republican, 20.1%), and James W. McConnell (Conservative, 4.3%).


title: Ed Koch

text: Koch announced his campaign for mayor of New York City against incumbent Beame. Koch and future governor Mario Cuomo finished first (19.8%) and second (18.7%) in the Democratic primary, eliminating Beame (18%). In the runoff, Koch defeated Cuomo, 55%-45%.


title: Ed Koch

text: Koch ran to the right of the other candidates on a "law and order" platform. According to historian Jonathan Mahler, the New York City blackout of July 1977 and the subsequent rioting helped catapult Koch and his message of restoring public safety to front-runner status.


title: Ed Koch

text: Koch won both the Democratic and Republican nominations and appeared on the ballot with both of their lines. He faced opposition only from third parties. He won 74.6% of the vote, with Unity candidate Frank Barbaro netting next-best 13.3%. John A. Esposito (Conservative) and Mary T. Codd (Liberal) also ran. Koch swept all five boroughs by landslide margins, breaking 60% of the vote in Manhattan and 70% in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island.


title: Ed Koch

text: After incumbent Hugh Carey announced he would not run for reelection, Koch announced his candidacy for governor of New York. Cuomo, who had been elected lieutenant governor, also ran. Koch received the party's endorsement with 61% of the convention vote, but Cuomo won the Democratic primary. "The New York Times" called Cuomo's victory a "stunning upset" that relied on "an unusual coalition of liberal Democrats, labor, minorities and upstaters". Koch ran strongly in Jewish communities, while Cuomo won black, liberal, and Italian communities by a similar margin. A key to Cuomo's victory was his strong showing in New York City itself; though Koch won the city and its four suburban counties (Rockland, Westchester, Suffolk, and Nassau) as expected, Cuomo kept the margin close and won half of the city's Assembly districts. That, combined with large victories in nearly every upstate county, allowed Cuomo to win. Koch endorsed Cuomo immediately, declaring "what's important to all of us is that we keep a Democrat in Albany." Many say the deciding factor in Koch's loss was an interview with "Playboy" magazine in which he called the lifestyle of suburbia and upstate New York "sterile" and lamented the thought of having to live in "the small town" of Albany as governor. Koch's remarks are thought to have alienated many voters from outside New York City. Cuomo was elected governor over Republican Lewis Lehrman, and served three terms.


title: Ed Koch

text: Koch was reelected to a third term in a landslide. He defeated Carol Bellamy (Liberal) and Dian McGrath (Republican/Conservative), 78%-10%-9%, respectively, and was sworn into his third and final term in January 1986. As of 2021, this is the most recent mayoral election in which a Democrat carried Staten Island. During the campaign, Koch visited the Lubavitcher Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, seeking his blessing and endorsement.


title: Ed Koch

text: Koch ran for an unprecedented fourth term in 1989. No mayor had ever won a fourth term, though Fiorello La Guardia and Robert Wagner also served three terms, and Wagner attempted to run for a fourth in 1969. Koch lost the Democratic primary to Manhattan Borough President David Dinkins, who finished with 547,901 votes to Koch's 456,313. Dinkins was helped in part by large margins in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn, while Koch carried Staten Island and Queens. Dinkins defeated Rudy Giuliani in the general election by a narrow margin, with Giuliani carrying both counties Koch won in the primary. Giuliani won a rematch against Dinkins in 1993.


title: Ed Koch

text: Koch was the Democratic U.S. Representative from New York's 17th congressional district from January 3, 1969, until January 3, 1973, when, after a redistricting, he represented New York's 18th congressional district until December 31, 1977, when he resigned to become Mayor of New York City.


title: Ed Koch

text: Koch said he began his political career as "just a plain liberal", with positions including opposing the Vietnam War and marching in the South for civil rights. In April 1973, Koch coined the term "Watergate Seven" when, in response to U.S. Senator Lowell P. Weicker, Jr.'s indicating that one of the men in Watergate scandal had been ordered in the spring of 1972 to keep certain senators and representatives under surveillance, he posted a sign on his office door reading, "These premises were surveilled by the Watergate Seven. Watch yourself". At about the same time, Koch began his rightward shift toward being a "liberal with sanity" after reviewing the 1973 controversy around then-New York City Mayor John Lindsay's attempt to place a 3,000-person housing project in a middle-class community in Forest Hills, Queens. Koch met with residents of the community, most of whom were against the proposal. He was convinced by their arguments, and spoke out against the plan, shocking some of his liberal allies.


title: Ed Koch

text: Koch was active in advocating for a greater U.S. role in advancing human rights within the context of fighting Communism. He had particular influence in the foreign aid budget, as he sat on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations. In 1976, Koch proposed that the U.S. cut off military aid and supplies to the military dictatorship of Uruguay. In mid-July 1976, the CIA learned that two high-level Uruguayan intelligence officers had discussed a possible assassination attempt on Koch by Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA), the Chilean secret police under dictator Augusto Pinochet. The CIA did not regard these threats as credible until after the September 1976 assassination of Orlando Letelier in Washington, D.C., by DINA agents coordinated by Operation Condor. After that, Director of Central Intelligence George H. W. Bush informed Koch of the threat. Koch subsequently asked both the CIA and the FBI for protection, but none was extended.


title: Ed Koch

text: When Koch took office, the city was reeling from high crime, a devastating blackout, and a fiscal crisis. During his first term, which many considered his best, he instituted austerity measures and moderated the municipal unions, measures that helped bolster the city’s finances during his second term. During his first term, a number of major events occurred in New York City. John Lennon's abrupt assassination sent shock waves around the world. Grief-stricken New Yorkers walked the streets openly crying for days after the shooting, which took place in front of The Dakota, Lennon's place of residence on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Koch also dealt with the second transit strike, and pushed for the 1980 Democratic National Convention to be in NYC. His first term also saw a sister city relationship begin with Beijing.


title: Ed Koch

text: Among the events of Koch's second term as mayor were the Brooklyn Bridge's 100th anniversary, the appointing of Benjamin Ward as the city's first ever African American police commissioner in 1983, the emergence of AIDS as a public health crisis, extensive media coverage of Bernhard Goetz's shooting of four African American teenagers in the subway in 1984, and the United Nations' 40th anniversary.


title: Ed Koch

text: Koch often deviated from the conventional liberal line, strongly supporting the death penalty, adding 3,500 officers to the NYPD in the 1980s, and taking a hard line on "quality of life" issues, such as giving police broader powers in dealing with the homeless and signing legislation banning the playing of radios on subways and buses. These positions prompted harsh criticism from the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and many African-American leaders, particularly Reverend Al Sharpton.


title: Ed Koch

text: In 1984, Koch published his first memoir, "Mayor", which became a best-seller and was adapted into an off-Broadway and later Broadway musical, "Mayor".


title: Ed Koch

text: In 1986, Koch signed a lesbian and gay rights ordinance for the city after the City Council passed the measure (on March 20), after 15 years of failed attempts by that body to approve such legislation. Despite his overall pro-lesbian and pro-gay-rights stance, he nonetheless backed up the New York City Health Department's decision to shut down the city's gay bathhouses in 1985 in response to concerns over the spread of AIDS. The enactment of the measure the next year placed the city in a dilemma, as it apparently meant that the bathhouses would have to be reopened because many heterosexual "sex clubs"such as Plato's Retreatwere in operation in the city at the time, and allowing them to remain open while keeping the bathhouses shuttered would have been a violation of the newly adopted anti-discrimination law. The Health Department, with Koch's approval, reacted by ordering the heterosexual clubs, including Plato's Retreat, to close as well. Also in 1986, Koch participated in Hands Across America and in the Statue of Liberty's 100th anniversary celebration. The career-ending face-slashing of model Marla Hanson, the paralyzing shooting of NYCPD detective Steven McDonald, crack cocaine and its related gangs, the Robert Chambers "preppie murder" case, the Howard Beach incident, and the racially motivated murder of Yusef Hawkins also happened during Koch's third term.


title: Ed Koch

text: Koch consistently demonstrated a fierce love for New York City, which some observers felt he carried to extremes on occasion: in 1984 he went on record as opposing the creation of a second telephone area code for the city, claiming that this would divide the city's population; and when the National Football League's New York Giants won Super Bowl XXI in January 1987, he refused to grant a permit for the team to hold their traditional victory parade in the city, quipping famously, "If they want a parade, let them parade in front of the oil drums in Moonachie" (a town in New Jersey adjacent to the East Rutherford site of the Meadowlands Sports Complex, where the Giants play their home games).


title: Ed Koch

text: In his third term, Koch's popularity was shaken after a series of corruption scandals, touched off by Donald Manes's suicide and the PVB scandal, which revealed that he had acceded to the requests of political allies (most notably Queens Borough President Manes, Bronx Democratic Party official Stanley M. Friedman and Brooklyn Democratic Party chairman Meade Esposito, an American Mafia associate long perceived as New York City's preeminent political leader) to stack city agencies with patronage appointments. There were no allegations that Koch obtained any financial benefit from the corruption, but the scandals undermined Koch's claims that he ran a patronage-free municipal government. Michael Tager attributes the scandals not to Koch's failures but to the steadily declining power of the Democratic machine and its bosses' desperate efforts to reverse the collapse.


title: Ed Koch

text: In July 1987, Koch proposed banning bicycling on Fifth, Park and Madison Avenues during weekdays, but many bicyclists protested and had the ban overturned.


title: Ed Koch

text: It has been said that race relations in Koch's last years in office were poor. He became a controversial figure in the 1988 presidential campaign with his public criticism of Democratic candidate Jesse Jackson, who surprised many political observers by winning key primaries in March and running even with the front-runner, Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis. As the April New York primary approached, Koch reminded voters of Jackson's earlier anti-Semitic statements, and said that Jews would be "crazy" to vote for Jackson. Koch endorsed Tennessee Senator Al Gore, who had run well in his native South, but hadn't won 20% in a northern state. As Koch's anti-Jackson rhetoric intensified, Gore seemed to shy away from Koch. On primary day, Gore finished a weak third place with 10% of the vote and dropped out of the race. Jackson ran ten points behind Dukakis, whose nomination became assured after his New York win.


title: Ed Koch

text: In the years following his mayoralty, Koch became a partner in the law firm of Robinson, Silverman, Pearce, Aronsohn, and Berman LLP (now Bryan Cave LLP) and a commentator on politics, as well as reviewing movies and restaurants for newspapers, radio and television. He also became an adjunct professor at New York University (NYU) and the judge on "The People's Court" for two years (1997–99) following the retirement of Judge Joseph Wapner. In 1999, he was a visiting professor at Brandeis University. Koch regularly appeared on the lecture circuit, and had a high-rated talk show on WABC radio. He also hosted his own online movie review show, "The Mayor at the Movies".


title: Ed Koch

text: A street in southern Tel Aviv was named after Koch in an August 12, 1993, ceremony attended by him alongside prominent Israeli and American dignitaries.


title: Ed Koch

text: In 2004, together with his sister Pat (also Pauline) Koch Thaler, Koch wrote a children's book, "Eddie, Harold's Little Brother"; it tells the story of Koch's childhood, when he tried unsuccessfully to emulate his older brother Harold's baseball talents, before realizing that he should instead focus on what he was already good at, which was telling stories and speaking in public.


title: Ed Koch

text: The New York City Council voted to rename the Queensboro Bridge the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge on March 23, 2011. Later, city councilman Peter Vallone introduced legislation banning the naming of New York City property after people who are still alive, but the legislation failed.


title: Ed Koch

text: Koch formed an organization called New York Uprising to push for statewide redistricting reform. In April 2011, he publicly upbraided 42 state legislators he claimed had broken their promises to support redistricting reform.


title: Ed Koch

text: In May 2011, Koch sat for a portrait by that has been exhibited at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, DePaul University, Brecht Forum, and CUNY Graduate Center, and is included in the Catalog of American Portraits at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.


title: Ed Koch

text: Koch began appearing in weekly movie review segments for an online show, "Mayor at the Movies", in the summer of 2009. He was an avid moviegoer who often saw two or three movies a weekend. Although he was invited to private screenings, Koch preferred to see films with a public audience and was often approached by moviegoers who were surprised to find him there. His reviews were outspoken and wry, with his rating system consisting not of stars but of a "plus" for a good film or a "minus" for a bad one. He sought out great documentaries, and had a particular passion for anything of Jewish interest.


title: Ed Koch

text: He had a particular passion for independent cinema and documentaries, but enjoyed dramas and action films as well. In addition to "Mayor at the Movies", his film reviews were regularly featured on "The Huffington Post" and in the New York newspaper "The Villager". Koch also appeared in more than 60 Hollywood films and television shows as himself, including "Sex and the City", "Spin City", and "Double Rush", and also hosted "Saturday Night Live". A documentary about his life, "Koch", had its world premiere at the Hamptons International Film Festival on October 8, 2012, and was released theatrically on February 1, 2013 (coincidentally, the day of Koch's death).


title: Ed Koch

text: After leaving office, Koch frequently endorsed prominent Republican candidates, including Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg for mayor, Al D'Amato for U.S. Senate, Peter T. King for U.S. House, George Pataki for governor, and, in 2004, George W. Bush for president. Koch also endorsed Democrats, including Eliot Spitzer for governor in the 2006 election. He endorsed Bill Bradley for president in 2000.


title: Ed Koch

text: Koch took back his endorsement of Spitzer in the aftermath of the governor's prostitution scandal. He said, "At the time the prostitution episode emerged, I commented that nothing could explain his behavior other than the fact that he had a screw loose in his head. Probably several."


title: Ed Koch

text: Though Koch supported Giuliani's first mayoral bid, he became opposed to him in January 1996, and began writing a series of columns in the New York "Daily News" criticizing Giuliani, most frequently accusing him of being authoritarian and insensitive. In 1999, the columns were compiled into the book "Giuliani: Nasty Man". He resumed his attacks, and had the book republished, in 2007, after Giuliani announced his candidacy for president. In May 2007, Koch called Giuliani "a control freak" and said that "he wouldn't meet with people he didn't agree with. That's pretty crazy." He also said that Giuliani "was imbued with the thought that if he was right, it was like a God-given right. That's not what we need in a president."


title: Ed Koch

text: Koch originally endorsed Hillary Clinton for president during the 2008 campaign, then endorsed Democratic nominee Barack Obama in the general election. In his endorsement of Obama, Koch wrote that he felt that (unlike in 2004) both candidates would do their best to protect both the United States and Israel from terrorist attacks, but that he agreed with Obama's domestic policies much more and that the idea of Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin ascending to the presidency "would scare me". In 2010, he rescinded his support for Obama, saying that Obama could very well harm American–Israeli relations.


title: Ed Koch

text: Koch endorsed Republican Bob Turner for Congress in 2011 because he "wanted to send a message to Obama to take a stronger position in support of Israel."


title: Ed Koch

text: In October 2012, Koch told Al Sharpton that after a conversation with Obama about his position on Israel he was satisfied, and endorsed his reelection.


title: Ed Koch

text: Early in 2013, Koch endorsed Christine Quinn in the Democratic primary for that year's mayoral election.


title: Ed Koch

text: Koch often wrote in defense of Israel and against anti-Semitism. He also appeared in the documentary "FahrenHYPE 9/11" defending President Bush and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and blasting Michael Moore. Koch was quoted in the film saying of Moore's film "Fahrenheit 9/11", "It's not a documentary, it's a lie."


title: Ed Koch

text: Koch praised New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, saying that he had the right approach in reducing government spending and refraining from raising taxes.


title: Ed Koch

text: Koch was an early supporter of the Iraq War. In July 2007, Koch wrote that he was "bailing out" of his previous support for that war, due to the failure of the United States' NATO allies, and other Arab countries, to contribute to the war effort. Koch wrote, "I would support our troops remaining in Iraq if our allies were to join us. But they have made it clear they will not." He added that the U.S. must still "prepare for the battles that will take place on American soil by the Islamic forces of terror who are engaged in a war that will be waged by them against Western civilization for at least the next 30 years."


title: Ed Koch

text: On April 8, 2010, Koch wrote a piece in "The Jerusalem Post" excoriating what he saw as increasing anti-Catholicism in the media, largely made evident by coverage of the priest sex abuse scandals. While denouncing the abuse, Koch wrote, "the procession of articles on the same events are, in my opinion, no longer intended to inform, but simply to castigate." He also wrote that he believed that many in the media, some themselves Catholic, exhibited such anti-Catholicism largely because of their opposition to the Catholic Church's teachings on such issues as abortion, homosexuality, and artificial contraception. He stated that, while he opposed the Church's teaching in all these matters, he firmly believed that the Church had the right to espouse these beliefs and to expect its members to espouse them as well, calling the Church "a force for good in the world, not evil."


title: Ed Koch

text: Koch was a resident of Greenwich Village for most of his adult life. At the time of his death, he lived at 2 Fifth Avenue, overlooking Washington Square Park.


title: Ed Koch

text: Koch never married, and rumors about his sexual orientation became an issue in the 1977 mayoral election with the appearance of placards and posters (disavowed by the Cuomo campaign) with the slogan "Vote for Cuomo, Not the Homo." Koch denounced the attack.


title: Ed Koch

text: In 1989, Koch was interviewed about a book he had coauthored with Cardinal John J. O'Connor. When the interviewer asked Koch to clarify his views on homosexuality relative to O'Connor, Koch responded, "I happen to believe that there's nothing wrong with homosexuality. It's whatever God made you. It happens that I'm a heterosexual." He once told "New York" magazine, "Listen, there's no question that some New Yorkers think I'm gay, and voted for me nevertheless. The vast majority don't care, and others don't think I am. And I don't give a shit either way!" He was frequently accompanied at political functions by his friend Bess Myerson, who acted as a beard.


title: Ed Koch

text: A 2022 "New York Times" article confirmed Koch's homosexuality, based on interviews with close confidants. The "Times" reported that Koch disclosed his sexuality only to friends he knew were gay, and was only known to have had one long-term relationship, with health care consultant Richard W. Nathan, which Koch ended when he was elected mayor, apparently out of fear that the relationship would become public. In the 1980s, activist and writer Larry Kramer, who was sharply critical of Koch's handling of the AIDS epidemic, unsuccessfully attempted to out him after learning of his relationship with Nathan. This reportedly influenced Koch's insistence on remaining closeted for the duration of his life, as he did not "want to give activists like Mr. Kramer the satisfaction of seeing him come out, after they had tried so hard to see him outed".


title: Ed Koch

text: Koch had a mild stroke in 1987, but was able to resume his duties as mayor within about a week. In 2022, his former spokesman, George Arzt, suggested that the anxiety Koch experienced amid efforts to out him during the period caused a decline in his health, which he said might have contributed to the stroke.