Early life and education.

Icahn was raised in a Jewish family in the Far Rockaway, Queens neighborhood of New York City, where he attended Far Rockaway High School. His father, Michael Icahn, an atheist, was a cantor, and later a substitute teacher. His mother, Bella (née Schnall) also worked as a schoolteacher. Icahn graduated from Princeton University with an A.B. in philosophy in 1957 after completing a senior thesis titled "The Problem of Formulating an Adequate Explication of the Empiricist Criterion of Meaning." He then entered New York University School of Medicine, but he dropped out after two years to join the army reserves.

Business career.

Early career 1961–2005.

Icahn began his career on Wall Street as a stockbroker in 1961. In 1968, with $150,000 of his own money and a $400,000 investment from his uncle, M. Elliot Schnall, which allowed him to buy a seat on the New York Stock Exchange, he formed Icahn & Co., a securities firm that focused on risk arbitrage and options trading. In 1978, he began taking controlling positions in individual companies. Icahn developed a reputation as a "corporate raider" after his hostile takeover of Trans World Airlines in 1985. Icahn systematically sold TWA's assets to repay the money he borrowed to purchase the company, which was described as "asset stripping." In 1988, Icahn took TWA private, gaining a personal profit of $469 million, and leaving TWA with a debt of $540 million. In 1991, he sold TWA's London routes to American Airlines for $445 million. He formed lowestfares.com to sell TWA tickets and acquired portions of Global Leisure Travel from Ramy El-Batrawi to merge into it.  Icahn launched an unsuccessful $7 billion hostile takeover for 89% of U.S. Steel in late 1986.  In July 2001, Icahn's Riverdale, LLC lent Genesisintermedia $100 million in exchange for an option to purchase 2 million shares of the company.  In 2004, after Mylan Laboratories had announced a deal to acquire King Pharmaceuticals, Icahn purchased a large block of stock and threatened a proxy fight over the acquisition. Mylan later gave up its efforts to acquire King.

Takeover offers and pharmaceutical holdings: 2005–2010.

In 2005, XO Holding announced its intention to sell the wired part of its business for $700 million to its majority shareholder and chairman Icahn; the money would be used to pay back its debts and to buy back its preferred stock for about $600 million from Icahn. Icahn would have then owned the wired business outright, and still own his 60% stake in XO. In spite of Icahn's majority ownership and the board of directors declaring the deal to be in the best interest of shareholders, R2 and other minority shareholders defeated the attempt through the Delaware Court in 2008, which awarded penalties for damages to the business caused by Icahn's self-dealing and/or conflict of interest.  In August 2006, Icahn bought stock in the video game publisher Take-Two Interactive, and later increased his holdings to 11.3% in 2009, becoming the company's second-largest shareholder.  In January 2007, he purchased a 9.2% stake in Telik, a biotech company engaged in cancer research. He also made an investment of 6.1 million shares of WCI Communities (acquired by Lennar Corporation). He also owned about 33.5 million shares of Motorola, but in May was refused a seat on its board of directors. On February 9, 2007, Lear Corporation's board of directors accepted a $2.3 billion takeover offer from Icahn. That month he also invested $50 million in Motricity, a North Carolina-based provider of mobile content delivery technology. In 2007, Icahn and his affiliates also owned majority positions in ACF Industries, American Railcar Industries, Philip Services, and NYSE-listed Icahn Enterprises. By September he also owned 8.5% of the business software company BEA Systems. He increased his holdings to 13% in October, two months before Oracle Corporation announced it was purchasing BEA Systems. Beginning in 2007, Icahn gradually increased his stake in biotechnology company Biogen.  Icahn sold his casino interests in Nevada in February 2008, including the Stratosphere, Arizona Charlie's Boulder, Arizona Charlie's Decatur, and Aquarius Casino Resort which were operated through American Entertainment Properties, a subsidiary of Icahn Enterprises. The sale price of $1.3 billion was roughly $1 billion more than he paid for the properties. In March 2008, Icahn sued Motorola as part of his effort to gain four seats on Motorola's board and force a sale of its mobile business. In May 2008, Icahn purchased a large block of shares in Yahoo, and shortly thereafter threatened to start a proxy fight to remove Yahoo's board of directors in response to their rejection of Microsoft's takeover bid. Instead, he forced an agreement to expand Yahoo's board to eleven members, including Icahn and two others of his choice. In June 2008, Icahn launched "The Icahn Report", which hosts United Shareholders of America where individual investors can sign up and campaign for shareholder rights. In September/October 2008 Icahn was involved in the rejected attempted purchase of Imclone by Bristol-Myers Squibb and in the eventual sale of Imclone to Eli Lilly and Company in an all-cash deal valued at $6.5 billion. In December that year he filed suit against Realogy over a proposed debt swap.  In April 2009, Icahn engaged in a proxy battle for Amylin. In September, he offered to buy the shares of XO he did not already own for 55 cents each. He later raised his offer to 80 cents, which ultimately expired. In October, he resigned from the board of directors at Yahoo!, and by the following February had reduced his equity stake from a one-time high of 75 million shares to 12 million shares.  Icahn was a director of Blockbuster until January 2010 and the chairman of Imclone, Icahn Enterprises, XO Communications, WestPoint Home, Cadus, and American Railcar Industries. He is a beneficial owner of Adventrx Pharmaceuticals, and Vector Group. Icahn also tried to take over Marvel Comics. Icahn, through a subsidiary of his Icahn Enterprises LP, acquired the Fontainebleau property in Las Vegas for about $150 million in February 2010. In March he was one of a group of lenders who purchased Tropicana Casino & Resort Atlantic City, bringing the company out of bankruptcy for $200 million. Also in March he conducted a failed takeover bid for Lionsgate Films. In May he announced ownership of about 12% of Hain Celestial Group, Inc., and the purchase of an 8.54% stake in Lawson Software.

Proxy battles and technology positions: 2010–2015.

In May 2010, Icahn held a 6.9% stake in Mentor Graphics, increasing to 14 percent in July. Mentor's retaliation with a poison-pill provision failed to deter Icahn who, in February of the next year, made an offer to buy the company for about $1.86 billion in cash.  In January 2011, Icahn once more made a bid to purchase the remaining shares of the XO Holder common stock. By February he had accumulated a 9.08% stake in The Clorox Company (CLX). On March 15, 2011, Mentor's board issued a strong warning to its shareholders against a proxy action by Icahn.  In October 2012, Icahn purchased a 10% stake in Netflix. In November, he tried to gain control of the Oshkosh Corp. board of directors.  In February 2013, Forbes listed Icahn as one of the 40 highest-earning hedge fund managers. By April he had accumulated a 9.2% stake in Nuance Communications, Inc. On August 2, 2013, Icahn sued computer giant Dell and its board in an attempt to derail a $24.4 billion buyout bid by the CEO, Michael Dell, in favor of his own rumored forthcoming bid. In October 2013, Icahn held 4.7 million shares of Apple, having been an outspoken proponent. The same month, Icahn acquired around 61 million shares in Talisman Energy prompting shares in the ailing Canadian oil producer to surge. Also that month he sold about 50% of his shares in Netflix for a profit in excess of $800 million in less than one year. In November he acquired a 12.5% interest in Hologic, a medical device and diagnostics manufacturer.  In January, 2014, Icahn paid another half billion dollars for Apple Inc. shares he considered "very cheap." Also in January, Icahn proposed to eBay to spin off PayPal, an e-commerce business. This started a proxy fight which was settled by April. In October 2014, Icahn took a stake in Canadian energy company Talisman Energy. The company's stock price went down by 71% and he sold his shares two months later.

Lyft, PayPal, and other pursuits: 2015–present.

On May 15, 2015, Icahn made a $100 million investment in the ride-sharing service Lyft. In November 2015, Icahn hired CBRE Group Inc. to market the unfinished resort Fontainebleau Las Vegas to potential buyers. That month he swapped his stake in eBay for the same number of PayPal Holdings shares. At that time Icahn held a 7.13% stake in Xerox, making him the second-largest investor after The Vanguard Group. In December 2015 Icahn made a qualifying offer to purchase the auto-parts and maintenance chain Pep Boys for $15.50 a share. He also raised his stake in the Houston-based energy company Cheniere Energy to 13.8%, making him its largest shareholder. Icahn sold the unfinished Las Vegas casino, Fountainebleau, for $600 million in August 2017.  In January 2016, Icahn held a 4.66% stake in Gannett Co. Inc., and also held shares in Cheniere Energy and Freeport-McMoRan, both of which declined in value. Icahn sold his Apple shares in April 2016, citing concerns about Apple's relationship with China. In August of that year he purchased 10 percent ownership of Herbalife; his holdings in the company were about 19 million shares by October. Also in October, Icahn closed the Trump Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City, citing a $350 million loss over several years as well as failure to reach a deal with striking union workers. Nearly 3,000 workers lost their jobs. That year he also increased his holdings in the car rental company The Hertz Corporation, after the company's stock price had declined significantly.  On May 26, 2020, Icahn, 84, sold his entire 55.3 million shares of Hertz Global for 72 cents a share, according to a regulatory filing. His holding represented about 39 percent of the company’s stock. Hertz Global Holdings Inc., the rental-car company, had filed for bankruptcy the previous week. This roughly six-year bet lost Icahn almost $1.6 billion.  Icahn has been critical of passive investing and index funds, believing that the practice has led to a bubble in the price of US stocks.

Public policy and economic views.

Icahn endorsed Donald Trump for the 2016 U.S. presidential election. He also announced the formation of a super PAC pledging $150 million to push for corporate tax reform, in particular of inversions, which occur when corporations leave the U.S. to take advantage of lower tax rates elsewhere.  Upon becoming the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Trump announced that he would nominate Icahn for Treasury Secretary. However, this position went to Steve Mnuchin instead.  On December 21, 2016, it was announced that Icahn would serve as Special Advisor to the President on Regulatory Reform under President Donald Trump. CNBC reported that Icahn would aid Trump in an "individual capacity" rather than as a federal employee, and that he would not have "specific duties" and therefore would not have to relinquish his business interests while serving as an advisor to Trump. Icahn stepped down from this role on August 18, 2017 citing a desire not to interfere with the work of Neomi Rao as Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. In February 2018, Icahn avoided a $6 million loss by selling down his holdings in a steel-price sensitive stock just days before the Trump administration announced a new 25% tariff to be imposed on steel imports.  When the President had Icahn interview Scott Pruitt during consideration of his nomination as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Icahn specifically asked Pruitt about his position on the EPA's Renewable Fuel Standard. Icahn has also spoken directly to President Trump and to Gary Cohn about his proposed changes to the ethanol rule. CVR Energy, in which Icahn has 82% ownership, would save $205.9 million a year if Icahn's proposal is adopted. The Sugar Land, Texas oil refinery benefited when President Trump made an exception to his regulation freeze to expand the tax advantage of master limited partnerships. CVR Energy's stock doubled after President Trump's election, increasing $455 million in value.

Personal life.

In 1979, Icahn married Liba Trejbal, a ballerina from the former Czechoslovakia. They separated in 1993 and divorced in 1999 after years of litigation during which Liba sought to invalidate a prenuptial agreement, claiming duress as she was pregnant when she signed it. Liba originally fought Icahn's offer of roughly $1.5 million a year because he was worth billions at the time and eventually settled for an undisclosed amount. They have two children, Brett Icahn and Michelle Celia Icahn Nevin. His nephew is Rick Schnall.  In 1999, Icahn married his longtime assistant and former broker, Gail Golden. She has two children from a previous marriage.

Personal wealth.

According to "Forbes" magazine, Icahn had a net worth of $16.6 billion in 2017, making him the 26th-wealthiest person on the Forbes 400, and the fifth-wealthiest hedge fund manager.  Icahn Stadium on Randall's Island in New York City is named after him, as is the Carl C. Icahn Center for Science and Icahn Scholar Program at Choate Rosemary Hall, a prep school in Connecticut. This organization pays for tuition, room and board, books, and supplies for 10 students every year for four years (freshman–senior), an endowment valued at about $400,000 per annum.  Icahn made a substantial contribution to his alma mater, Princeton University, to fund a genomics laboratory which bears his name, the Carl C. Icahn Laboratory at the University's Institute for Integrated Genomics. He also made large contributions to Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, of which he is a trustee, which in return not only named a building the Icahn Medical Institute designed by Davis Brody Bond, but also, in 2013, renamed the Mount Sinai School of Medicine as the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The genomics institute led by Eric Schadt was also renamed and is now the Icahn Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology.  His foundation, the Children's Rescue Fund, built Icahn House in The Bronx, a 65-unit complex for homeless families consisting of single pregnant women and single women with children, and operates Icahn House East and Icahn House West, both of which are homeless shelters located in New York City.  In 2010, Icahn joined the Giving Pledge list, pledging to give away more than half his fortune, yet has not decided on the specific beneficiaries.

Awards and honours.

Icahn has received a number of awards, including the Starlight Foundation's Founders Award and its 1990 Man of the Year Award. He was also named Guardian Angel 2001 Man of the Year.  In 2004, he was honored by the Center for Educational Innovation Public Education Association for his work with charter schools.  In 2006, he was honored with the 100 Women in Hedge Funds Effecting Change Award for his outstanding contributions to improving education.

Thoroughbred horse racing.

In 1985, Icahn established Foxfield Thoroughbreds, a horse breeding operation. At that year's Newstead Farm Trust sale run by Fasig-Tipton, he paid $4 million for Larida, a 6-year-old mare and a record $7 million for the 4-year-old bay mare Miss Oceana who was in foal to champion sire, Northern Dancer.  Icahn's Meadow Star won the 1990 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and was voted the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Two-Year-Old Filly.  In 1992, Foxfield ended its racing operation and became a commercial breeder. Having bred more than 140 stakes horses.  In 2004 Icahn shut down Foxfield, selling all his mares and weanlings without reserve at the Keeneland Sales November breeding stock auction.

Carl Celian Icahn (; born February 16, 1936) is an American businessman. He is the founder and controlling shareholder of Icahn Enterprises, a diversified conglomerate holding company based in New York City, formerly known as American Real Estate Partners. He is also Chairman of Federal-Mogul, an American developer, manufacturer and supplier of powertrain components and vehicle safety products.

卡尔·瑟雷安·艾康(Carl Celian Icahn,1936年-2月16日)是一位美国商业富豪、投资家、股东积极主义者和慈善家。


History.

1991–1996: Early career.

In February 1991, bassist tetsuya (then known as TETSU) recruited vocalist hyde (then known as HIDE), guitarist hiro and drummer pero. Together, they formed a band and named themselves L'Arc-en-Ciel. A year later, after gaining popularity in their hometown of Osaka, hiro left the band on June 12, 1992. Tetsuya then convinced his friend ken to quit his university studies and join the band as guitarist. However, pero then left the group on December 30, 1992. The following year, sakura joined as L'Arc-en-Ciel's new drummer.  On April 1, 1993, the band released their debut album "Dune" on the independent, but well-known, record label Danger Crue. The album was a success and ranked number one on the Oricon indies charts. This caught the attention of some major labels. In 1994, L'Arc-en-Ciel signed a contract with Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Ki/oon division. They released their major debut album "Tierra" that same year. Their third album "Heavenly" followed in 1995. In 1996, their fourth album, "True", became their first to sell over a million copies.

1997: sakura's departure.

In February 1997, drummer sakura was arrested for heroin possession. He officially quit the band on October 4, 1997. When news of sakura's arrest became public, the group's CDs were removed from the shelves in record shops. Their song "The Fourth Avenue Cafe", was replaced as the fourth ending theme of the "Rurouni Kenshin" anime after only four episodes and the release of "The Fourth Avenue Cafe" single was postponed. It was eventually released in 2006.  Over the next few months, the group continued to be featured in magazines as a trio. The members formed "The Zombies", which was advertised as a "copy band" singing L'Arc-en-Ciel's songs. They also covered Marilyn Manson's "Irresponsible Hate Anthem". The return from the break was marked by a concert entitled "Reincarnation 97 Live in Tokyo Dome". During the concert, they also revealed their new drummer yukihiro, the former drummer of the groups and Die in Cries. This concert was also the group's first performance at the Tokyo Dome and had an attendance of 56,000 people, with the tickets sold out in a record-breaking four minutes.  In 1997, "Niji", L'Arc-en-Ciel's first single after sakura's departure, was released with yukihiro being listed as a support member. Not long after its release, yukihiro was signed on as the official drummer for L'Arc-en-Ciel.

1998–2000: Blockbuster success.

L'Arc-en-Ciel's single "Winter Fall", which was released in 1998, became the group's first number one single on the Oricon charts. They subsequently released their album "Heart" on February 25, 1998. The band was also included in the Japanese and Philippine releases of the official movie soundtrack of Godzilla. It was released on May 19, 1998, through Epic Records and mainly consists of alternative rock songs. They provided the track titled "Lose Control."  On July 1, 1999, the group released two albums, "Ark" and "Ray", simultaneously. These two albums became the first Japanese albums to be released simultaneously in other Asian countries outside Japan. Both albums topped the Oricon music charts, with "Ark" occupying number one and "Ray" at number two, with each selling over two million copies. This release, along with the "1999 Grand Cross Tour" which reunited over 650,000 people in 12 concerts, marked the commercial high point of the group's career.  In 2000, two of the band's songs were included in the soundtrack for "".  Their next album "Real", released on August 30, 2000, was their last studio album for some time. The song "Stay Away", was featured in the arcade game "DrumMania 4th Mix".

2001–2003: Hiatus and solo projects.

The compilation album "Clicked Singles Best 13" was released on March 14, 2001. It includes twelve songs chosen online by the group's fans. It also includes an additional thirteenth song, "Anemone". Their album "Real" was re-released as a Super Audio CD on July 4, 2001. "Spirit Dreams Inside (Another Dream)", L'Arc-en-Ciel's last new single before their hiatus, was released on September 5, 2001. The English-language version of the title track was adopted as ""'s ending theme song.  After "Spirit Dreams Inside (Another Dream)" was released, the band went on a hiatus. During this period of time, the members began working on solo projects. hyde released two solo albums ("Roentgen" and "666") and co-starred in the movie "Moon Child". He also played the part of Adam in the film "Kagen no Tsuki" ("Last Quarter of the Moon"). ken founded Sons of All Pussys with L'Arc-en-Ciel's former drummer sakura. tetsuya started his solo career as Tetsu69 and yukihiro formed Acid Android.  Three compilation albums; "The Best of L'Arc-en-Ciel 1994–1998", "The Best of L'Arc-en-Ciel 1998–2000" and "The Best of L'Arc-en-Ciel C/W", were released on March 19, 2003. The album series included all of their previous singles, with the exception of "Spirit Dreams Inside (Another Dream)".

2004: Comeback and U.S. concert debut.

In June 2003, L'Arc-en-Ciel performed a series of seven concerts in Tokyo entitled Shibuya Seven Days. During this event, the group announced that a new album would be released the following year. "Ready Steady Go", the group's first single in more than three years, was released in February 2004. This song was used as an opening theme song for the popular anime adaption of "Fullmetal Alchemist". The single topped the Oricon weekly singles charts. Additionally, a sample of this song was also used in a Nintendo DS game called "Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan". The group subsequently released another single, "Hitomi no Juunin", in early March 2004. This was followed by the group's album, "Smile", on March 31. Shortly after, on June 2, the single "Jiyuu e no Shoutai" was the first to feature a song by P'unk-en-Ciel.  On July 31, 2004, L'Arc-en-Ciel made their North American debut at the anime convention Otakon. Approximately 12,000 people attended the concert, which was held at the 1st Mariner Arena. They were the first Japanese band to perform at the arena. On May 31, 2005, Tofu Records, Sony Music Japan's U.S. label, released a DVD of their 2004 Otakon concert. On June 25, 2007, L'Arc-en-Ciel signed a record deal with HMV America.

2005–2006: Asian tour and solo projects.

In 2005, the band released various singles, including "Killing Me", "New World" and "Jojoushi". These were later complied onto the album "Awake", which was released on June 22, 2005. It features twelve tracks, including "Lost Heaven", the ending theme song of "". Another of the band's single, "Link", was released on July 20, 2005. This song was also featured in the movie as the opening theme song, and was included on their next album, entitled "Kiss".  In August 2005, the band went on a nationwide tour for their album "Awake". It was followed by another tour titled Asia Live 2005, which had the band performing in Seoul and Shanghai and ended at the Tokyo Dome.  Following these two tours, L'Arc-en-Ciel's members turned their attention back to their own solo projects. tetsuya began recording with, veteran metal vocalist of Dead End, Morrie for his solo project Creature Creature. yukihiro regrouped his band Acid Android and released the single "Let's Dance" on April 5, 2006. Acid Android joined Mucc to perform two concerts in Shanghai in April 2006.  hyde composed "Glamorous Sky", the theme song of the film adaption of the manga "Nana". The song was sung by pop singer Mika Nakashima, the first time hyde composed music for another vocalist. In addition, his own solo album, "Faith", was released on April 26, 2006. hyde also went on a five-month tour throughout Japan to publicize his album. After signing with Tofu Records, he held four small concerts in the United States in July 2006, making his US debut. This was the first of L'Arc-en-Ciel's solo projects to be held outside Japan.  On August 23, 2006, ken released a solo single entitled "Speed".

2006–2008: 15th Anniversary and Europe concert debut.

On November 25 and 26, 2006, L'Arc-en-Ciel played two shows at the Tokyo Dome to celebrate their 15th anniversary. The tickets for these concerts were sold out in two minutes, breaking the previous record, which was also set by them. A poll was created on their official website, during the weeks before the concert, which allowed fans to pick the songs they would like to hear at the show. The concert was later broadcast on the WOWOW channel on December 23, 2006, and was subsequently broadcast on Korean MTV on February 8, 2007.  L'Arc-en-Ciel recorded the song "Shine", which was to be used as the opening song for the NHK anime "". In the spring of 2007, the group kicked off their Mata Heart ni hi wo Tsukero 2007 tour in Japan. They also released the single "Seventh Heaven" on May 30, 2007, which topped the Oricon charts. Their song "My Heart Draws a Dream", which was used in a Subaru commercial, was also released as a single on August 29, 2007. This single also topped the Oricon charts.  L'Arc-en-Ciel subsequently recorded the song "Daybreak's Bell", which was used as the first opening theme for the anime "Mobile Suit Gundam 00". This song was released as a single on October 10, 2007, later topping the Oricon weekly charts. From November 14 to December 25, 2007, they released a limited edition single titled "Hurry Xmas", along with two new DVDs, titled "15th L'Anniversary Live" and "Chronicle 3". Their studio album "Kiss" was released on November 21, 2007, and debuted at number one on the Oricon charts.  L'Arc-en-Ciel then performed the Theater of Kiss tour, which was held from December 22, 2007, to February 17, 2008. The song "Drink It Down" was used as the Japanese opening song for the PS3/Xbox 360 game "Devil May Cry 4". It was released as a single on April 2, 2008, and topped the Oricon weekly charts. The band went on a tour, entitled Tour 2008 L'7: Trans Asia via Paris, which covered several major Asian cities, as well as Paris, France. On this tour, a live show hiatus until 2011 was announced, although new material would still continue to be released. Their double A-side single "Nexus 4/Shine" and the DVD "Tour 2007-2008 Theater of Kiss" were released together on August 27, 2008.

2009–2010: Live show hiatus.

On May 20, 2009, L'Arc-en-Ciel released the DVD of their live concert in Paris, titled "Live in Paris". hyde and K.A.Z formed the hard rock group Vamps and released their self-titled first album, "Vamps", on June 10, 2009.  On December 1, 2009, L'Arc-en-Ciel announced the release of a new single named "Bless" on January 27, 2010. This was used as the theme song for NHK's broadcast of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Also, tetsu announced that he had changed his stage name to "tetsuya" and released his first artist book. The book, which ranked number six amongst the Talent Book Charts, featured early live pictures and a 30,000 character interview with the bassist.  On March 10, 2010, L'Arc-en-Ciel released their fifth "best of" album, entitled "". It contains 4 CDs with 7 tracks per band member, chosen and remastered by each of them. The first press edition of this compilation also came with a DVD that includes a variety quiz show with the band titled "The L'Arquiz".

2011–2013: 20th Anniversary and world tour.

On January 1, 2011, L'Arc-en-Ciel celebrated both their 20th anniversary and the New Year with the midnight concert L'A Happy New Year! at Makuhari Messe. On February 16, 2011, they released the compilation album "Twenity". This album consists of three parts: "Twenity 1991-1996", "Twenity 1997-1999", and "Twenity 2000-2010". A box set entitled "Twenity Box" was later released on March 9, 2011. The albums are an all-around "best of" collection of the band, covering everything from the formation of the group, including their hit singles till to their newest works. "Twenity 1991-1996" covers their work from their album "Dune" until their album "True". "Twenity 1997-1999" covers the releases from their single "Niji" to the single "Love Flies". "Twenity 2000-2010" covers their releases from the double A-side "Neo Universe/Finale" up to their commercial-only song from 2010, a cover of "I Love Rock 'n Roll". The "Twenity Box" released on March 9 contains all three of the albums. It also came with a special digest DVD that covered the 20-year history of the band, a deluxe booklet, and a special music box that contained either "Flower", "Anata", "New World", or "My Heart Draws a Dream" at random.  Later, it was announced that L'Arc-en-Ciel would provide the theme song for "", entitled "Good Luck My Way". This is their fourth contribution to the "Fullmetal Alchemist" franchise. The song was released as their first 20th L'Anniversary single on June 29, 2011. To further celebrate their 20 years together, L'Arc-en-Ciel put on a "20th L'Anniversary Concert" at Ajinomoto Stadium in Tokyo on May 28–29, 2011, with each day dedicated to one half of their career. All of the proceeds from the concerts were donated to the Great East Japan earthquake relief efforts. Additionally, at the end of the concert, it was announced that there would be a L'Anniversary Japan Tour in 2011, as well as a world tour in 2012.  On October 12, the second 20th L'Anniversary single was released, entitled "XXX" (Kiss Kiss Kiss). L'Arc-en-Ciel was subsequently approached by the producers of the "Wild 7" live-action film to perform the movie's theme song. Entitled "Chase", the song was released as the group's third L'Anniversary single on December 21, 2011.  L'Arc-en-Ciel then announced that they would be releasing their twelfth studio album, and gave fans who bought "Chase" a sneak peek with a live internet broadcast of the band mastering the album on December 26 on Ustream. They also announced that their alter ego band P'unk-en-Ciel would be releasing their first album, titled "P'unk is Not Dead", the same day. The band's twelfth album, "Butterfly", was released on February 8, 2012. It includes all their singles from the single "Drink it Down" onwards and four new songs.  The band's 2012 world tour took them to Hong Kong on March 3, Bangkok on March 7, Shanghai on March 10, Taipei on March 17, New York on March 25, London on April 11, Paris on April 14, Singapore on April 28, Jakarta on May 2, Seoul on May 5, Yokohama on May 12–13, Osaka on May 19–20, Tokyo on May 26–27, and Honolulu on May 31. Their show in New York was originally scheduled to be at The Theater at Madison Square Garden on March 23, but was later moved to the main arena. Making L'Arc-en-Ciel the first Japanese artist to be the lead act at the legendary venue. They ended the tour by returning to the US for two nights in Honolulu, Hawaii on May 31 and June 1, the latter being for the group's fan club members only. At the first day, the mayor of Honolulu Peter Carlisle made a surprise appearance and declared May 31 "L’Arc~en~Ciel Day", saying he felt the band "made a great contribution to cultural activities, and built a bridge of friendship between Hawaii and Japan".

2014–2016: Return to the National Stadium and L'ArCasino.

On March 21 and 22, the band played a two-day concert at the iconic National Stadium in Tokyo, where they also played and announced the future release of their new single "Everlasting".  In June 2015, the band announced a two-day concert under the name of L'ArCasino, held on Umeshima Outdoor Special Stage, Osaka, on September 21 and 22. As they did with the previous live performances in Tokyo, they played a single for a Christmas release, "Wing's Flap".  In December 2016, the single "Don't be Afraid" was released. The song was used as the main theme song for the film "", and the video game "". To promote their release, the band recorded a VR music video for the PlayStation 4, which features the band members fighting zombies in a location of Racoon City. The music video is available on the PlayStation Store in Japan.

2017–2019: 25th Anniversary & L'ArChristmas.

L'Arc-en-Ciel celebrated their 25th anniversary with two shows (April 9 and 10) at Tokyo Dome. Only 110,000 seats were available for the almost 600,000 fans who signed up for the ticket lotteries.  In December 2018, L'Arc~en~Ciel's first Christmas live was held at Tokyo Dome. The stage theme is about Ice Kingdom with a Frozen Christmas tree in the center of the stage.  In late 2019 the band reinforced their presence in social media, opening an official account on Instagram, as well as an official channel in YouTube. They also released most of their music albums across different music streaming services, including Apple Music and Spotify.

2020: MMXX Arena Tour.

The band started the year with a new arena tour, the first one in 8 years. A total of 12 live shows will be held across five cities between January and March, starting with their home town at the Osaka-jō Hall.

P'unk-en-Ciel.

P'unk-en-Ciel (stylized as P'UNK~EN~CIEL) is an alter ego of L'Arc-en-Ciel. Introduced in 2004, hyde takes over the guitar, ken the drums, yukihiro plays the bass, while tetsuya performs the vocals. P'unk-en-Ciel's songs have a more punk sound and their music is usually heavier and faster with a different tone due to tetsuya's vocals. hyde wears a pirate patch over his left eye in P'unk-en-Ciel performances. yukihiro is known to wear a gas mask; however, this has only been seen once at a live concert during their "Smile" tour in 2004.  Each member is called in capital letters; T.E.Z P'UNK (formerly TETSU P'UNK), KEN P'UNK, HYDE P'UNK and YUKI P'UNK. Each member produces one song of their choice, and they alternate their productions.  P'unk-en-Ciel is the re-visitation of D'ark-en-Ciel (stylized as D'ARK~EN~CIEL), a special event that took place during concerts in the years when sakura was their drummer. The only material released from D'ark-en-Ciel is the 18-minute self-titled B-side found on the (then) unreleased "The Fourth Avenue Cafe" single. Each member was called; DARK TETSU, HYDE DARK, Suck・D'ark・La and Kën D'Ark.  P'unk-en-Ciel songs have been recorded and used as B-sides on singles since 2004 and their performances can be found on live DVDs. They also featured television personality Sayaka Aoki (called P'UNK ) in the song "Round and Round 2005". On February 8, 2012 P'unk-en-Ciel released their first album "P'unk is Not Dead", which contains all twelve songs they released up to that point.

P'unk-en-Ciel songs.

Recorded versions released on singles:  Commercially released live performances:

L'Arc-en-Ciel ("The Rainbow" in French, stylized as L'Arc~en~Ciel) is a Japanese rock band, founded in Osaka in 1991. With a reported 40 million records sold, they were the first Japanese act to headline at Madison Square Garden. In 2003, they were ranked 58 on a list of the top 100 Japanese pop musicians by HMV Japan. While they first got their start as a visual kei band, they have not had any association with the movement since their major label debut in 1994.

彩虹乐团()为日本著名的摇滚团体,由hyde、tetsuya、ken、yukihiro所组成。1991年2月以tetsuya作为中心在大阪成立。官方歌迷会为「LE-CIEL」(1994年设立)。在2003年,他们被大型音乐行HMV Japan评为历代百大流行歌手当中的第58名。


Description.

The white-faced whistling duck a long grey bill, a long head, and longish legs. It has a black neck and head, and distinctive white face that gives them their name, though the amount of white color visible has regional variations among the species. For example, the white-faced whistling ducks with more black coloration are commonly found in western Africa where rainfall superseeds the dry season. The back and wings are dark brown to black, and the underparts are black with a fine white barring on the flanks. The neck is chestnut. Males and females have similar plumage. Juveniles are similar in color to adults, but have a much less contrasted head pattern.

Range and habitat.

The white-faced whistling duck has a peculiar disjunctive distribution, occurring in Africa and South America. It has been suggested that they may have been transported to new locations worldwide by humans. The habitat is still freshwater lakes or reservoirs, with plentiful vegetation, where this duck feeds on seeds and other plant food.  The white-faced whistling duck has escaped or been deliberately released in to Florida, USA, but there is no evidence that the population is breeding and may only persist due to continuing releases or escapes.

Ecology.

This is an abundant species. It is largely resident, apart from local movements which can be 100 km or more.

Breeding.

It nests on a stick platform near the ground, and lays 8-12 eggs. Trees are occasionally used for nesting.

Conservation.

The white-faced whistling duck is one of the species to which the "Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds" (AEWA) applies.

The white-faced whistling duck ("Dendrocygna viduata") is a whistling duck that breeds in sub-Saharan Africa and much of South America.

白脸树鸭(" Dendrocygna viduata")是分布在撒哈拉以南非洲及南美洲的一种树鸭属。


History.

CGT arose in relation to the theory of impartial games, in which any play available to one player must be available to the other as well. One such game is nim, which can be solved completely. Nim is an impartial game for two players, and subject to the "normal play condition", which means that a player who cannot move loses. In the 1930s, the Sprague–Grundy theorem showed that all impartial games are equivalent to heaps in nim, thus showing that major unifications are possible in games considered at a combinatorial level, in which detailed strategies matter, not just pay-offs.  In the 1960s, Elwyn R. Berlekamp, John H. Conway and Richard K. Guy jointly introduced the theory of a partisan game, in which the requirement that a play available to one player be available to both is relaxed. Their results were published in their book "Winning Ways for your Mathematical Plays" in 1982. However, the first work published on the subject was Conway's 1976 book "On Numbers and Games", also known as ONAG, which introduced the concept of surreal numbers and the generalization to games. "On Numbers and Games" was also a fruit of the collaboration between Berlekamp, Conway, and Guy.  Combinatorial games are generally, by convention, put into a form where one player wins when the other has no moves remaining. It is easy to convert any finite game with only two possible results into an equivalent one where this convention applies. One of the most important concepts in the theory of combinatorial games is that of the sum of two games, which is a game where each player may choose to move either in one game or the other at any point in the game, and a player wins when his opponent has no move in either game. This way of combining games leads to a rich and powerful mathematical structure.  John Conway states in ONAG that the inspiration for the theory of partisan games was based on his observation of the play in go endgames, which can often be decomposed into sums of simpler endgames isolated from each other in different parts of the board.

Examples.

The introductory text "Winning Ways" introduced a large number of games, but the following were used as motivating examples for the introductory theory:  The classic game Go was influential on the early combinatorial game theory, and Berlekamp and Wolfe subsequently developed an endgame and "temperature" theory for it (see references). Armed with this they were able to construct plausible Go endgame positions from which they could give expert Go players a choice of sides and then defeat them either way.  Another game studied in the context of combinatorial game theory is chess. In 1953 Alan Turing wrote of the game, "If one can explain quite unambiguously in English, with the aid of mathematical symbols if required, how a calculation is to be done, then it is always possible to programme any digital computer to do that calculation, provided the storage capacity is adequate." In a 1950 paper, Claude Shannon estimated the lower bound of the game-tree complexity of chess to be 10, and today this is referred to as the Shannon number. Chess remains unsolved, although extensive study, including work involving the use of supercomputers has created chess end-game tablebases, which shows the result of perfect play for all end-games with seven pieces or less. Infinite chess has an even greater combinatorial complexity than chess (unless only limited end-games, or composed positions with a small number of pieces are being studied).

Overview.

A game, in its simplest terms, is a list of possible "moves" that two players, called "left" and "right", can make. The game position resulting from any move can be considered to be another game. This idea of viewing games in terms of their possible moves to other games leads to a recursive mathematical definition of games that is standard in combinatorial game theory. In this definition, each game has the notation {L|R}. L is the set of game positions that the left player can move to, and R is the set of game positions that the right player can move to; each position in L and R is defined as a game using the same notation.  Using Domineering as an example, label each of the sixteen boxes of the four-by-four board by A1 for the upper leftmost square, C2 for the third box from the left on the second row from the top, and so on. We use e.g. (D3, D4) to stand for the game position in which a vertical domino has been placed in the bottom right corner. Then, the initial position can be described in combinatorial game theory notation as  In standard Cross-Cram play, the players alternate turns, but this alternation is handled implicitly by the definitions of combinatorial game theory rather than being encoded within the game states.  The zero game is a loss for the first player.  The sum of number games behaves like the integers, for example 3 + −2 = 1.

Star.

"Star", written as ∗ or {0|0}, is a first-player win since either player must (if first to move in the game) move to a zero game, and therefore win.  The game ∗ is neither positive nor negative; it and all other games in which the first player wins (regardless of which side the player is on) are said to be "fuzzy with" or "confused with" 0; symbolically, we write ∗ || 0.

Up.

"Up", written as ↑, is a position in combinatorial game theory. In standard notation, ↑ = {0|∗}.  Up is strictly positive (↑ > 0), but is infinitesimal. Up is defined in "Winning Ways for your Mathematical Plays".

Down.

"Down", written as ↓, is a position in combinatorial game theory. In standard notation, ↓ = {∗|0}.  Down is strictly negative (↓ < 0), but is infinitesimal. Down is defined in "Winning Ways for your Mathematical Plays".

"Hot" games.

Consider the game {1|−1}. Both moves in this game are an advantage for the player who makes them; so the game is said to be "hot;" it is greater than any number less than −1, less than any number greater than 1, and fuzzy with any number in between. It is written as ±1. It can be added to numbers, or multiplied by positive ones, in the expected fashion; for example, 4 ± 1 = {5|3}.

Nimbers.

An impartial game is one where, at every position of the game, the same moves are available to both players. For instance, Nim is impartial, as any set of objects that can be removed by one player can be removed by the other. However, domineering is not impartial, because one player places horizontal dominoes and the other places vertical ones. Likewise Checkers is not impartial, since the players own different colored pieces. For any ordinal number, one can define an impartial game generalizing Nim in which, on each move, either player may replace the number with any smaller ordinal number; the games defined in this way are known as nimbers. The Sprague–Grundy theorem states that every impartial game is equivalent to a nimber.  The "smallest" nimbers – the simplest and least under the usual ordering of the ordinals – are 0 and ∗.

Combinatorial game theory (CGT) is a branch of mathematics and theoretical computer science that typically studies sequential games with perfect information. Study has been largely confined to two-player games that have a "position" in which the players take turns changing in defined ways or "moves" to achieve a defined winning condition. CGT has not traditionally studied games of chance or those that use imperfect or incomplete information, favoring games that offer perfect information in which the state of the game and the set of available moves is always known by both players. However, as mathematical techniques advance, the types of game that can be mathematically analyzed expands, thus the boundaries of the field are ever changing. Scholars will generally define what they mean by a "game" at the beginning of a paper, and these definitions often vary as they are specific to the game being analyzed and are not meant to represent the entire scope of the field.

组合博弈论是博弈论的一个分支,但跟主流博弈论不同的是,组合博弈论学者的研究对象绝大部分是资讯全知的且不带几率成分的。


Early life.

Born at 69 Stewart Avenue, Jamestown, New York, Lucille Désirée Ball was the daughter of Henry Durrell Ball (1887–1915), a lineman for Bell Telephone, and Désirée "DeDe" Evelyn Ball (née Hunt; 1892–1977). Her family belonged to the Baptist church. Her ancestors were mostly English, but a few were Scottish, French, and Irish. Some were among the earliest settlers in the Thirteen Colonies, including Elder John Crandall of Westerly, Rhode Island, and Edmund Rice, an early emigrant from England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony.  As part of her father's work for Bell Telephone, he was frequently transferred and the family moved often during her childhood. The family had moved from Jamestown to Anaconda, Montana, and later to Trenton, New Jersey. In February 1915, while living in Wyandotte, Michigan, her father died from typhoid fever at 27-years-old, when Ball was three. At the time of Henry's death, DeDe Ball was pregnant with her second child, Fred Henry Ball (1915–2007). Ball recalled little from the day her father died, except a bird getting trapped in the house which caused her lifelong ornithophobia.  Ball's mother returned to New York, where maternal grandparents helped raise her and brother Fred in Celoron, a summer resort village on Lake Chautauqua, west of downtown Jamestown. Ball loved Celoron Park, a popular amusement area in the United States at that time. Its boardwalk had a ramp to the lake that served as a children's slide, the Pier Ballroom, a roller-coaster, a bandstand, and a stage where vaudeville concerts and regular theatrical shows were presented.  Four years after Henry Ball's death, DeDe Ball married Edward Peterson. While her mother and stepfather looked for work in another city, Peterson's parents cared for her and her brother. Ball's step-grandparents were a puritanical Swedish couple who banished all mirrors from the house except one over the bathroom sink. When the young Ball was caught admiring herself in it, she was severely chastised for being vain. This period of time affected Ball so deeply that, in later life, she said that it lasted seven or eight years.  When Ball was twelve, her stepfather encouraged her to audition for his Shriner's organization that was in need of entertainers for the chorus line of their next show. While Ball was onstage, she realized performing was a great way to gain praise and her appetite for recognition was awakened. During this time in 1927, her family was forced to relocate into a small apartment in Jamestown after they suffered a misfortune when their house and furnishings were sold to settle a financial legal judgment. A neighborhood boy was accidentally shot and paralyzed by someone target shooting in their yard under the supervision of Ball's grandfather.

Career.

Early career.

In 1925, Ball, then only 14, started dating Johnny DeVita, a 21-year-old local hoodlum. Her mother was unhappy with the relationship, and hoped the romance she was unable to influence her daughter to end would burnout. After about a year, her mother tried to separate them by exploiting Ball's desire to be in show business. Despite the family's meager finances, in 1926 she enrolled Ball in the John Murray Anderson School for the Dramatic Arts, in New York City, where Bette Davis was a fellow student. Ball later said about that time in her life, "All I learned in drama school was how to be frightened." Ball's instructors felt she would not be successful in the entertainment business, and were not afraid to say this to her face.  In the face of this harsh criticism, Ball was determined to prove her teachers wrong and returned to New York City in 1928. That same year, she began working for Hattie Carnegie as an in-house model. Carnegie ordered Ball to dye her then-brown hair blonde, and Ball complied. Of this time in her life, Ball said, "Hattie taught me how to slouch properly in a $1,000 hand-sewn sequin dress and how to wear a $40,000 sable coat as casually as rabbit."  Ball's acting forays were still at this early stage when she became ill with rheumatic fever and was unable to work for two years.  In 1932, she moved back to New York City to resume her pursuit of an acting career and supported herself again by working for Carnegie and as the Chesterfield cigarette girl. Using the name Diane (sometimes spelled Dianne) Belmont, she started getting chorus work on Broadway, but it was not lasting. Ball was hired – but then quickly fired – by theatre impresario Earl Carroll, from his "Vanities", and by Florenz Ziegfeld, from a touring company of "Rio Rita".

Hollywood.

After an uncredited stint as a Goldwyn Girl in "Roman Scandals" (1933), starring Eddie Cantor and Gloria Stuart, Ball moved permanently to Hollywood to appear in films. She had many small movie roles in the 1930s as a contract player for RKO Radio Pictures, including a two-reel comedy short with the Three Stooges ("Three Little Pigskins", 1934) and a movie with the Marx Brothers ("Room Service", 1938). She also appeared in several Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers RKO musicals: as one of the featured models in "Roberta" (1935); as the flower girl in "Top Hat" (1935); and in a brief supporting role at the beginning of "Follow the Fleet" (1936). Ball and Ginger Rogers, who were distant maternal cousins, played aspiring actresses in the film "Stage Door" (1937) alongside Katharine Hepburn.  In 1936, she landed the role she hoped would lead her to Broadway, in the Bartlett Cormack play "Hey Diddle Diddle", a comedy set in a duplex apartment in Hollywood. The play premiered in Princeton, New Jersey, on January 21, 1937, with Ball playing the part of Julie Tucker, "one of three roommates coping with neurotic directors, confused executives, and grasping stars, who interfere with the girls' ability to get ahead". The play received good reviews, but problems existed with star Conway Tearle, who was in poor health. Cormack wanted to replace him, but producer Anne Nichols said the fault lay with the character and insisted the part needed to be rewritten. Unable to agree on a solution, the play closed after one week in Washington, DC, when Tearle became gravely ill.  Ball later auditioned for the role of Scarlett O'Hara for "Gone with the Wind" (1939), but Vivien Leigh got the part, winning an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role. In 1940, Lucy appeared as the lead in the musical "Too Many Girls" when she met and fell in love with Desi Arnaz, who played one of her character's four bodyguards in the movie.  Ball signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the 1940s, but never achieved major stardom there. She was known in Hollywood circles as "Queen of the B's" – a title previously held by Fay Wray and later more closely associated with Ida Lupino and Marie Windsor – starring in a number of B-movies, such as "Five Came Back" (1939).  Like many budding actresses, Ball picked up radio work to supplement her income and gain exposure. In 1937, she appeared regularly on "The Phil Baker Show". When its run ended in 1938, Ball joined the cast of "The Wonder Show" starring Jack Haley (best remembered as the Tin Woodman in "The Wizard of Oz", 1939). There began her 50-year professional relationship with the show's announcer, Gale Gordon. "The Wonder Show" lasted one season, with the final episode airing on April 7, 1939.  MGM producer Arthur Freed purchased the Broadway hit musical play "DuBarry Was a Lady" (1943) especially for Ann Sothern, but when she turned down the part, that role went to Ball, Sothern's real-life best friend. In 1946, Ball starred in "Lover Come Back". In 1947, she appeared in the murder mystery "Lured" as Sandra Carpenter, a taxi dancer in London.

"I Love Lucy" and Desi.

In 1948, Ball was cast as Liz Cooper (at first "Cugat"; this was changed because listeners were getting the characters confused with a real-life bandleader, Xavier Cugat, who sued), a wacky wife, in "My Favorite Husband", a radio comedy for CBS Radio.  The show was successful, and CBS asked her to develop it for television. She agreed but insisted on working with her real-life husband, Cuban bandleader Desi Arnaz. CBS executives were reluctant, thinking the public would not accept an All-American redhead and a Cuban as a couple. CBS was initially unimpressed with the pilot episode, produced by the couple's Desilu Productions company. The pair went on the road with a vaudeville act, in which Lucy played the zany housewife, wanting to get into Arnaz's show. Given the great success of the tour, CBS put "I Love Lucy" into their lineup.  "I Love Lucy" was not only a star vehicle for Lucille Ball, but also a potential means for her to salvage her marriage to Arnaz. Their relationship had become badly strained, in part because of their hectic performing schedules, which often kept them apart, but mostly due to Desi's attraction to other women.  Along the way, Ball created a television dynasty and achieved several firsts. She was the first woman to head a TV production company: Desilu, which she had formed with Arnaz. After their divorce in 1960, she bought out his share and became a very actively engaged studio head. Desilu and "I Love Lucy" pioneered a number of methods still in use in TV production today, such as filming before a live studio audience with a number of cameras, and distinct sets, adjacent to each other. During this time, Ball taught a 32-week comedy workshop at the Brandeis-Bardin Institute. She was quoted as saying, "You cannot teach someone comedy; either they have it or they don't."  During the run of "I Love Lucy", Ball and Arnaz wanted to remain in their Los Angeles home, but time-zone logistics made that difficult. Since prime time in L.A. was too late at night on the East Coast to air a major network series, filming in California would have meant giving most of the TV audience an inferior kinescope picture – and, at least, a day later.  Sponsor Philip Morris did not want to show day-old kinescopes to major East Coast markets, nor did they want to pay the extra cost that filming, processing, and editing would require. So, the company pressured Ball and Arnaz to relocate to New York City. The couple offered to take a pay cut to finance filming, on the condition that Desilu would retain the rights of each episode once it aired. CBS agreed to relinquish the post-first-broadcast rights to Desilu, not realizing they were giving up a valuable and enduring asset. In 1957, CBS bought back the rights for $1,000,000 ($ in today's terms), providing Ball and Arnaz's down payment for the purchase of the former RKO Pictures studios, which they turned into Desilu Studios.  "I Love Lucy" dominated U.S. ratings for most of its run. An attempt was made to adapt the show for radio using the "Breaking the Lease" episode, (in which the Ricardos and Mertzes argue, and the Ricardos threaten to move but find themselves stuck in a firm lease) as the pilot. The resulting radio audition disc has survived, but never aired.  A scene in which Lucy and Ricky practice the tango, in the episode "Lucy Does The Tango", evoked the longest recorded studio audience laugh in the history of the show – so long that the sound editor had to cut that section of the soundtrack in half. During the show's production breaks, Lucy and Desi starred together in two feature films: "The Long, Long Trailer" (1954) and "Forever, Darling" (1956). After "I Love Lucy" ended its run in 1957, the main cast continued to appear in occasional hour-long specials under the title "The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour" until 1960.  Desilu produced several other popular shows, such as "The Untouchables", "", and "". The studio was eventually sold in 1967 for $17,000,000 ($ in today's terms) and merged into Paramount Pictures.

Activities 1960–1979.

The 1960 Broadway musical "Wildcat" ended its run early when producer and star Ball couldn't recover from a virus and continue the show after several weeks of returned ticket sales. The show was the source of the song she made famous, "Hey, Look Me Over", which she performed with Paula Stewart on "The Ed Sullivan Show". Ball hosted a CBS Radio talk show entitled "Let's Talk to Lucy" in 1964–65. She also made a few more movies including "Yours, Mine, and Ours" (1968), and the musical "Mame" (1974), and two more successful long-running sitcoms for CBS: "The Lucy Show" (1962–68), which costarred Vivian Vance and Gale Gordon, and "Here's Lucy" (1968–74), which also featured Gordon, as well as Lucy's real-life children, Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz, Jr. She appeared on the Dick Cavett show in 1974 and spoke of her history and life with Arnaz. Ball's close friends in the business included perennial co-star Vivian Vance and film stars Judy Garland, Ann Sothern, and Ginger Rogers, and comedic television performers Jack Benny, Barbara Pepper, Mary Wickes and Mary Jane Croft; all except Garland appeared at least once on her various series. Former Broadway co-stars Keith Andes and Paula Stewart also appeared at least once on her later sitcoms, as did Joan Blondell, Rich Little and Ann-Margret. Ball mentored actress and singer Carole Cook, and befriended Barbara Eden, when Eden appeared on an episode of "I Love Lucy".  In 1959, Ball became a friend and mentor to Carol Burnett. She guested on Burnett's highly successful CBS-TV special "Carol + 2" and the younger performer reciprocated by appearing on "The Lucy Show". It was rumored that Ball offered Burnett a chance to star on her own sitcom, but in truth Burnett was offered (and declined) "Here's Agnes" by CBS executives. She instead chose to create her own variety show due to a stipulation that was on an existing contract she had with CBS. The two women remained close friends until Ball's death in 1989. Ball sent flowers every year on Burnett's birthday. When Burnett awoke on the day of her 56th birthday in 1989, she discovered via the morning news that Lucille Ball had died. Later that afternoon, flowers arrived at Burnett's house with a note reading, "Happy Birthday, Kid. Love, Lucy."  Ball was originally considered by Frank Sinatra for the role of Mrs. Iselin in the Cold War thriller "The Manchurian Candidate". Director/producer John Frankenheimer, however, had worked with Angela Lansbury in a mother role in "All Fall Down" and insisted on having her for the part.  Ball was the lead actress in a number of comedy television specials to about 1980, including "Lucy Calls the President" which featured Vivian Vance, Gale Gordon and Mary Jane Croft, and "Lucy Moves to NBC", a special depicting a fictionalization of her move to the NBC television network.  Aside from her acting career, she became an assistant professor at California State University, Northridge in 1979.

1980s.

During the mid-1980s, Ball attempted to resurrect her television career. In 1982, she hosted a two-part "Three's Company" retrospective, showing clips from the show's first five seasons, summarizing memorable plotlines, and commenting on her love of the show.  A 1985 dramatic made-for-TV film about an elderly homeless woman, "Stone Pillow", received mixed reviews. Her 1986 sitcom comeback "Life with Lucy", costarring her longtime foil Gale Gordon and co-produced by Ball, Gary Morton, and prolific producer/former actor Aaron Spelling was cancelled less than two months into its run by ABC. In February 1988, Ball was named the Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year.  In May 1988, Ball was hospitalized after suffering a mild heart attack. Her last public appearance, just one month before her death, was at the 1989 Academy Awards telecast in which she and fellow presenter Bob Hope were given a standing ovation.

Testimony before the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

When Ball registered to vote in 1936, she listed her party affiliation as Communist. (She was registered as a Communist in 1938 as well.)  To sponsor the Communist Party's 1936 candidate for the California State Assembly's 57th District, Ball signed a certificate stating, "I am registered as affiliated with the Communist Party." The same year, she was appointed to the State Central Committee of the Communist Party of California, according to records of the California Secretary of State. In 1937, Hollywood writer Rena Vale, a self-identified former Communist, attended a Communist Party new members' class at Ball's home, according to Vale's testimony before the United States House of Representatives' Special House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), on July 22, 1940. Two years later, Vale affirmed this testimony in a sworn deposition:  In a 1944 British Pathé newsreel, titled "Fund Raising for Roosevelt", Ball was featured prominently among several stage and film stars at events in support of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's fundraising campaign for the March of Dimes. She stated that in the 1952 US Presidential Election, she voted for Republican Dwight Eisenhower.  On September 4, 1953, Ball met privately with HUAC investigator William A. Wheeler in Hollywood and gave him sealed testimony. She stated that she had registered to vote as a Communist "or intended to vote the Communist Party ticket" in 1936 at her socialist grandfather's insistence. She stated she "at no time intended to vote as a Communist",  Immediately before the filming of episode 68 ("The Girls Go Into Business") of "I Love Lucy", Desi Arnaz, instead of his usual audience warm-up, told the audience about Lucy and her grandfather. Reusing the line he had first given to Hedda Hopper in an interview, he quipped: "The only thing red about Lucy is her hair, and even that is not legitimate."

Personal life.

Marriage, children, and divorce.

In 1940, Ball met Cuban-born bandleader Desi Arnaz while filming the Rodgers and Hart stage hit "Too Many Girls". When they met again on the second day, the two connected immediately and eloped the same year. Although Arnaz was drafted into the Army in 1942, he ended up being classified for limited service due to a knee injury. As a result, Arnaz stayed in Los Angeles, organizing and performing USO shows for wounded GIs being brought back from the Pacific.  Ball filed for divorce in 1944, obtaining an interlocutory decree; however, she and Arnaz reconciled, which precluded the entry of a final decree. On July 17, 1951, one month before her 40th birthday, Ball gave birth to daughter Lucie Désirée Arnaz. A year and a half later, Ball gave birth to her second child, Desiderio Alberto Arnaz IV, known as Desi Arnaz, Jr. Before he was born, "I Love Lucy" was a solid ratings hit, and Ball and Arnaz wrote the pregnancy into the show. (Ball's necessary and planned caesarean section in real life was scheduled for the same date that her television character gave birth.)  Several demands were made by CBS, insisting that a pregnant woman could not be shown on television, nor could the word "pregnant" be spoken on-air. After approval from several religious figures the network allowed the pregnancy storyline, but insisted that the word "expecting" be used instead of "pregnant". (Arnaz garnered laughs when he deliberately mispronounced it as "'spectin'".) The episode's official title was "Lucy Is Enceinte", borrowing the French word for pregnant; however, episode titles never appeared on the show.  The episode aired on the evening of January 19, 1953, with 44 million viewers watching Lucy Ricardo welcome little Ricky, while in real life Ball delivered her second child, Desi Jr., that same day in Los Angeles. The birth made the cover of the first issue of "TV Guide" for the week of April 3–9, 1953.  In October 1956, Ball, Arnaz, Vance, and William Frawley all appeared on a Bob Hope special on NBC, including a spoof of "I Love Lucy", the only time all four stars were together on a color telecast. By the end of the 1950s, Desilu had become a large company, causing a good deal of stress for both Ball and Arnaz.  On March 3, 1960, a day after Desi's 43rd birthday (and one day after the filming of Lucy and Desi's last episode together), Ball filed papers in Santa Monica Superior Court, claiming married life with Desi was "a nightmare" and nothing at all as it appeared on "I Love Lucy".  On May 4, 1960, just two months after filming the final episode of "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour", the couple divorced. Until his death in 1986, however, Arnaz and Ball remained friends and often spoke very fondly of each other. Her real-life divorce indirectly found its way into her later television series, as she was always cast as an unmarried woman.  The following year, Ball starred in the Broadway musical "Wildcat", which co-starred Keith Andes and Paula Stewart. It marked the beginning of a 30-year friendship between Lucy and Stewart, who introduced Lucy to Lucy's second husband, Gary Morton, a Borscht Belt comic who was 13 years her junior. According to Ball, Morton claimed he had never seen an episode of "I Love Lucy" due to his hectic work schedule. Ball immediately installed Morton in her production company, teaching him the television business and eventually promoting him to producer. Morton played occasional bit parts on Ball's various series.  Ball was outspokenly against the relationship her son had with actress Patty Duke. Later, commenting on when her son dated Liza Minnelli, she was quoted as saying, "I miss Liza, but you cannot domesticate Liza."

Illness and death.

On April 18, 1989, Ball complained of chest pains at her home in Beverly Hills and was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she was diagnosed with dissecting aortic aneurysm and underwent an eight-hour aortic transplant. The surgery was successful, and Ball was soon able to walk around her room with little assistance. She received a flurry of get-well wishes.  Shortly after dawn on April 26, Ball awoke with severe back pains then lost consciousness; she died at 5:47 a.m. PDT at the age of 77. Doctors determined that Ball had succumbed to a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm not directly related to her ascending aortic aneurysm and surgery. Ball had been a heavy smoker most of her life, increasing her risk of abdominal aortic aneurysm.  In accordance with Ball’s wishes, her body was cremated and the ashes were initially interred in Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles. In 2002, her children moved her remains to the Hunt family plot at Lake View Cemetery in Jamestown, New York, where her parents and grandparents are buried. Her brother's remains were also interred there in 2007.

Recognition and legacy.

Ball received many prestigious awards throughout her career. On February 8, 1960, Ball was awarded two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: one at 6436 Hollywood Boulevard for contributions to motion pictures, and one at 6100 Hollywood Boulevard for television.  In 1976, CBS paid tribute to Ball with the special "CBS Salutes Lucy: The first 25 Years."  On December 7, 1986, Ball received recognition as a Kennedy Center Honors recipient. The portion of the Honors event focused on Ball was particularly poignant, as Desi Arnaz, who was scheduled to introduce Lucy at the event, had died from cancer just five days earlier. Friend and former Desilu star Robert Stack delivered the emotional introduction in the place of Arnaz.  Posthumously, Ball received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George H. W. Bush on July 6, 1989, and The Women's International Center's 'Living Legacy Award'.  The Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Museum & Center for Comedy is in Ball's hometown of Jamestown, New York. The Little Theatre was renamed the Lucille Ball Little Theatre in her honor. The street she was born on was renamed "Lucy Street." Ball was among "Time" magazine's "100 Most Important People of the Century".  On June 7, 1990, Universal Studios Florida opened a walk-through attraction dedicated to Ball, "Lucy – A Tribute", which featured clips of shows, as well as various pieces of trivia about her, along with items owned by or associated with Lucille, and an interactive quiz for guests. The attraction was permanently closed on August 17, 2015.  On August 6, 2001, which would have been her 90th birthday, the United States Postal Service honored her with a commemorative postage stamp as part of its Legends of Hollywood series.  Ball appeared on the cover of "TV Guide" more than any other person; she appeared on 39 covers, including the first cover in 1953 with her baby son, Desi Arnaz Jr. "TV Guide" voted Lucille Ball as the 'Greatest TV Star of All Time' and it later commemorated the 50th anniversary of "I Love Lucy" with eight collector covers celebrating memorable scenes from the show. In another instance it named "I Love Lucy" the second-best television program in American history, after "Seinfeld".  Due to her contributions to the Women's Movement, Ball was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 2001.  The Friars Club named a room in its New York clubhouse for Lucille Ball (the Lucille Ball Room). She was posthumously awarded the 'Legacy of Laughter' award at the fifth Annual TV Land Awards in 2007. In November 2007, Lucille Ball was chosen as number two on a list of the '50 Greatest TV Icons'; a public poll, however, chose her as number one.  On August 6, 2011, which would have been her 100th birthday, Google honored Ball with an interactive doodle on their homepage, which displayed six classic moments from "I Love Lucy". On the same day, a total of 915 Ball look-alikes converged on Jamestown to celebrate the birthday and set a new world record for such a gathering.  Since 2009, a statue of Ball has been on display in Celoron, New York. Residents deemed that statue "scary" and not accurate, earning it the nickname "Scary Lucy". On August 1, 2016, it was announced that a new statue of Ball would replace it. The new statue replaced the old one on August 6, 2016. However, since the old statue became a local tourist attraction after receiving media attention, it was placed from its original location so visitors could visit both statues.  In 2015, it was announced that Ball would be played by Cate Blanchett in an untitled biographical film, to be written by Aaron Sorkin.  Ball was portrayed by Gillian Anderson, as her character Lucy Ricardo, in the "American Gods" episode "The Secret of Spoons" (2017).  Ball was portrayed by Sarah Drew in "I Love Lucy: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Sitcom", a comedy about how Ball and her husband battled to get their sitcom on the air. It had its world premiere in Los Angeles on July 12, 2018, co-starring Oscar Nuñez as Desi Arnaz, and Seamus Dever as "I Love Lucy" creator-producer-head writer Jess Oppenheimer. The play, written by Jess Oppenheimer's son, Gregg Oppenheimer, was recorded in front of a live audience for nationwide public radio broadcast and online distribution.  Ball was a well-known gay rights supporter, stating in a 1980 interview with "People": "It's perfectly all right with me. Some of the most gifted people I've ever met or read about are homosexual. How can you knock it?"

Awards and nominations.

Ball's awards and nominations references:

External links.

Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedian, model and studio executive and producer. She was the star and producer of sitcoms "I Love Lucy", "The Lucy Show", "Here's Lucy", and "Life with Lucy", as well as comedy television specials aired under the title "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour".

露西尔·戴泽蕾·鲍尔(Lucille Désirée Ball,1911年-8月6日-1989年-4月26日)是美国著名的喜剧女演员,在她的一生中,她一直活跃在电影、电视、舞台、电台等各种媒体上,成为了美国文化一个时代的象征。她的一些经典作品如《我爱露西》、《》、《》等至今还时常出现在银幕之上,给观众们带来欢声笑语。 在露西尔的一生中,她成为了美国最受欢迎、最具影响力的演员之一,同时也是好莱坞生涯最长的演员之一。露西尔在1930年代就开始了她在电视上的表演生涯,她在1940年代不仅是一名电台表演员,同时还成为了一名B级片明星。到了1950年代,露西尔成为了一名电视明星,直到1970年代她都还一直在制作电影。1962年,露西尔·鲍尔成为了第一个经营电视音像公司的女性。她的公司—德西路制片厂,创作了许多流行一时的电视系列节目。