Club career.

Inter Bratislava.

Košický began his professional career with hometown club Inter Bratislava, where he advanced from the youth system into the senior squad. He made 12 appearances for the club before being sold to Sicilian giants, Calcio Catania in the Italian Serie A.

Calcio Catania.

In the summer of 2008, Košický officially signed for Calcio Catania as a reserve goalkeeper. In his first season with the Sicilian club, Košický was the third choice goalkeeper, behind Albano Bizzarri and Ciro Polito. During the January 2009 transfer window, however, Košický became the club's second choice as Catania opted to loan Ciro Polito to US Grosseto FC. In return, Paolo Acerbis was brought in from Grosseto, also on loan.  In April 2009 it was confirmed that first choice goalkeeper, Albano Bizzarri would not be renewing his contract with Catania, and thus head coach Walter Zenga opted to use Košický as the starting keeper in order for the young Slovak to gain experience. Košický even served as captain for Catania in the 16 May 2009 Serie A fixture versus AS Roma. Košický began the new season as a reserve goalkeeper again, following the transfer of Argentine International, Mariano Andújar, as well as veteran Andrea Campagnolo. Košický made his 2010 Serie A debut in a March 2010 match away to Chievo Verona, the game ended 1–1. That match proved to be his only appearance of the 2009-10 season, and the Slovakian failed to make an appearance during the 2010-11 Serie A season.  During the 2011-12 Serie A season, Košický again remained third choice, behind Andújar and Campagnolo for the third season in the running, however, following a mid-season fallout with the club, Andújar was released on loan to former club Estudiantes, and following his departure, Košický had appeared in three Serie A fixtures following an injury to Campagnolo in late January. However, after eventually losing his place to loan-signing Juan Pablo Carrizo, the player failed to feature again, and eventually transferred to the recently relegated Novara Calcio, as part of the deal that saw Takayuki Morimoto return to Catania.

Novara Calcio.

On 22 June 2012 Košický officially transferred to Serie B side Novara Calcio.

Asteras Tripolis.

On 22 July 2014 Košický officially transferred to Superleague Greece side Asteras Tripolis.

Tomáš Košický (born 11 March 1986) is a Slovak goalkeeper who currently plays for Hapoel Ra'anana A.F.C. in the Israeli Premier League.

Tomáš Košický (* 11. března 1986, Bratislava, Československo) je slovenský fotbalový brankář, od léta 2017 bez angažmá. Jeho fotbalovými vzory jsou Gianluigi Buffon a Petr Čech. Na svém kontě má jeden start ve slovenském národním týmu (v roce 2013).


Background and early career.

Kermit Gosnell was born on February 9, 1941, in Philadelphia, the only child of a gas station operator and a government clerk in an African-American family. He was a student at the city's Central High School from which he graduated in 1959. Gosnell graduated from Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA with a bachelor's degree. Gosnell received his medical degree at the Jefferson Medical School in 1966. It has been reported that he spent four decades practicing medicine among the poor, including opening the Mantua Halfway House, a rehab clinic for drug addicts in the impoverished Mantua neighborhood of West Philadelphia near where he grew up, and a teen aid program. He became an early proponent of abortion rights in the 1960s and 1970s and, in 1972, he returned from a stint in New York City to open up an abortion clinic on Lancaster Avenue in Mantua. Gosnell told a "Philadelphia Inquirer" reporter in October 1972: "as a physician, I am very concerned about the sanctity of life. But it is for this precise reason that I provide abortions for women who want and need them".  In the same year, he also performed fifteen televised second-trimester abortions, using an experimental "Super Coil" method invented by Harvey Karman. The coils were inserted into the uterus, where they caused irritation leading to the expulsion of the fetus. However, complications from the procedure were reported by nine of the women, with three of these reporting severe complications.  The 1972 "Inquirer" article also said that Gosnell was a "respected man" in his community, a finalist for the Junior Chamber of Commerce's "Young Philadelphian of the Year" because of his work directing the Mantua Halfway House. By the late 1980s, however, public records showed state tax liens were piling up against the halfway house, and the abortion clinic had a $41,000 federal tax lien.  Gosnell has been married three times. His third and current wife, Pearl, had worked at the Women's Medical Society as a full-time medical assistant from 1982 until their marriage in 1990. They have two children; the younger, being a minor, is being cared for by friends. Gosnell has four other children from his two previous marriages. In covering his background, media commentators drew attention to the "incredibly diverse" portrayals of Gosnell, touching on both his community works – the creation of a drugs halfway house and teen aid program – contrasted with portrayals of his practice as an abortion mill in which viable fetuses and babies were routinely killed following illegal late-term procedures.

Medical practice.

In 2011, he was reported to be known in Philadelphia for providing abortions to poor minority and immigrant women. It was also claimed that Gosnell charged $1,600–$3,000 for each late-term abortion. Gosnell was also associated with clinics in Delaware and Louisiana. Atlantic Women's Services in Wilmington, Delaware, was Gosnell's place of work one day a week. The owner of Atlantic Women's Services, Leroy Brinkley, also owned Delta Clinic of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and facilitated the hiring of staff from there for Gosnell's operation in Philadelphia.

Legal case.

Known prior complaints.

In total during the course of his career, 46 known lawsuits had been filed against Gosnell over some 32 years. Observers claimed that there was a complete failure by Pennsylvania regulators who had overlooked other repeated concerns brought to their attention, including lack of trained staff, "barbaric" conditions, and a high level of illegal late-term abortions.

2010 raid.

The Women's Medical Society was raided on February 18, 2010, under a search warrant by investigators from the FBI and state police. The raid was the result of a months-long investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Philadelphia Police Department, and the state's Dangerous Drug-Offender Unit into suspected illegal drug prescription use at the practice. The investigation had also revealed the suspicious death of patient Karnamaya Mongar in 2009, which had in turn brought to light further information about unsanitary operations, use of untrained staff, and use of powerful drugs without proper medical supervision and control. Thus, when the February 2010 raid took place, staff from the Pennsylvania Department of State and Pennsylvania Department of Health also attended, as these issues were under their remit:  Gosnell's license to practice was suspended on February 22, 2010, and these and other findings were presented to a grand jury on May 4, 2010. Public discussion focused on claims of unsanitary conditions and other unacceptable conditions at the practices. Media reports stated that furniture and blankets were stained with blood, that freely roaming cats defecated wherever they pleased, and that non-sterilized equipment was used and reused on patients. According to the grand jury report, patients were given labor-inducing drugs by staff who had no medical training. Once labor began, the patient would be placed on a toilet. After the fetus fell into the toilet, it would be fished out, so as not to clog the plumbing. In the recovery room, patients were seated on dirty recliners covered in blood-stained blankets. Prosecutors alleged that Gosnell had not been certified in either gynecology or obstetrics. The grand jury estimated that Gosnell's practice "took in $10,000 to $15,000 a night" of additional income from his exceedingly high level of prescriptions.

2011 arrest.

Gosnell was arrested on January 19, 2011, five days after the certification of the grand jury's report. He was charged with eight counts of murder. Prosecutors alleged that he killed seven babies born alive by severing their spinal cords with scissors, and that he was also responsible for the death in 2009 of Karnamaya Mongar, a 41-year-old refugee from Bhutan, who died in his care. Gosnell's wife, Pearl, and eight other suspects were also arrested in connection with the case. The Drug Enforcement Administration, The Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Office of the Inspector General also sought a 23-count indictment charging Gosnell and seven members of his former staff with drug conspiracy, relating to the practice's illegally prescribing highly-addictive painkillers and sedatives outside the usual course of professional practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose.  The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania also alleges that Gosnell's former office staff at Family and Women's Medical Society (WMS) ran a prescription "pill mill". From June 2008 through February 18, 2010, Gosnell allegedly engaged in a continuing criminal enterprise by writing and dispensing fraudulent prescriptions for thousands of pills of the frequently abused tablets OxyContin, Percocet, and Xanax, and the frequently abused syrups Phenergan and Promethazine with codeine. Authorities further allege that Gosnell and his staff allowed customers to purchase multiple prescriptions under multiple names. For the first office visit, Gosnell allegedly charged $115, but around December 2009 he allegedly increased the initial office visit fee to $150. Staff at the clinic went from writing several hundred prescriptions for controlled substances per month filled at pharmacies in 2008 to over 2,300 filled at pharmacies in January 2010. Gosnell, with the assistance of his staff, is said to have distributed and dispensed more than 500,000 pills containing oxycodone; more than 400,000 pills containing alprazolam; and more than 19,000 ounces of cough syrup containing codeine.  Gosnell's lawyer states that "Everybody's made him the butcher, this, that and the other thing without any trial, without anything being exposed to the public and everybody's found him guilty, that's not right". He accused the government of a "lynching" and stated, "This is a targeted, elitist and racist prosecution of a doctor who's done nothing but give (back) to the poor and the people of West Philadelphia."

Cases cited in the media.

Examples of cases cited in the media include:

Lack of government oversight.

Reports state that state officials had failed to visit or inspect Gosnell's practices since 1993. The grand jury report noted that the medical examiner of Delaware County alerted the Pennsylvania Department of Health that Gosnell had performed an illegal abortion on a 14-year-old who was thirty weeks pregnant; it is also claimed the Pennsylvania Department of Health did not act when they became aware of Gosnell's involvement in the death of Karnamaya Mongar.  Brenda Green, executive director of CHOICE, a nonprofit that connects the underinsured and uninsured with health services, told Katha Pollitt of "The Nation" that "it tried to report complaints from clients, but the department wouldn't accept them from a third party. Instead, the patients had to fill out a daunting five-page form, available only in English, that required them to reveal their identities upfront and be available to testify in Harrisburg. Even with CHOICE staffers there to help, only two women agreed to fill out the form, and both decided not to submit it. The Department of State and the Philadelphia Public Health Department also had ample warning of dire conditions and took no action."  In 2011, it was reported that none of Pennsylvania's 22 abortion clinics had been inspected by the government for more than 15 years. Inspections (other than those triggered by complaints) had ceased under Ridge's governorship, as they were perceived to create a barrier to women seeking abortion services.

Grand jury report.

The grand jury published its 280-page report in January 2011. It stated that, while some might see the issue and case through the lens of pro- and anti-abortion politics, it was in reality: The grand jury concluded that the practice was a corrupt organization within the meaning of racketeering law, based upon what it considered evidence of deliberate "standard" use of "bogus" doctors, falsification of records, grossly unprofessional procedures with little or no regard for human life, and flagrant disregard for medical and abortion laws and their consequences. Key findings included:

Culpability.

The report divided offenses by Gosnell and other practice employees into three categories: "charges arising from the baby murders and illegal abortions; charges in connection with the death of Karnamaya Mongar; and charges stemming generally from the ongoing operation of a criminal enterprise". The charges recommended were:  The report also examined the failings of official parties, and the key findings, analyzed in two categories:

Trial.

In 2011, Gosnell, his wife Pearl, and eight other clinic employees were charged in the case. Eight, including Gosnell's wife, subsequently pleaded guilty, most of whom would testify against Gosnell, and three of these pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, carrying a 20- to 40-year term. A gag order was imposed on both defense and prosecution in April 2011, to bar them from talking to the media before the trial. In December 2011 Pearl Gosnell pleaded guilty to performing illegal abortions, conspiracy, criminal conspiracy and corrupt organization; due to spousal privilege, she would not have to testify against Gosnell, although she could still go to prison. She had testified to the grand jury that she alone assisted on Sundays, and that her role was to "help do the instruments" in the procedure room and to monitor patients in the recovery room. Another employee testified that she assisted with late-term abortions "on Sundays or days we were closed [to] do special cases."  As a result, the only employee on trial with Gosnell was Eileen O'Neill, who allegedly held herself out as a doctor at the clinic when she was not licensed. Her lawyer told jurors she never did so, and performed medical duties only under Gosnell's orders.  On March 18, 2013, opening statements were given in a Philadelphia court. On April 23, after the prosecution had rested its case, the judge dismissed three of the seven first-degree murder charges (the next day the judge reinstated charges related to one and dismissed another, explaining the wrong charge had been mistakenly dismissed), the one count of infanticide, and all five charges of abusing a corpse Gosnell had been charged with, as well as six of the nine charges of theft by deception faced by O'Neill. No formal ruling has yet been given for these dismissals. Media sources following the trial have suggested that there may have been insufficient evidence of post-procedure life to sustain charges in law. Although prosecutors had argued the movements were voluntary and therefore signs of life, it was argued that the evidence offered by prosecutors was equally capable of being interpreted in some or all of these as single autonomous post-mortem motor movements or spasms instead of clinical signs of life, and additionally that none of the seven were capable of being alive as all had been previously killed clinically "in utero" by means of drugs as part of the procedure. Also, although staff had used descriptions such as "jumping" and "screaming" in their testimony, Gosnell's defense noted that testimony had shown only single movements or breaths, stating that the testimony was not evidence of "the movements of a live child", and the medical examiner had also testified that tests could not determine whether or not any of the 47 fetuses found had been born alive due to tissue deterioration.  The remaining four first-degree murder charges could still have led to the death penalty. The third-degree murder charges in the death of Karnamaya Mongar, the racketeering charge, and over 200 charges related to multiple violations of abortion law were also left standing. Gosnell's defense attorney rested his case summarily without calling or questioning any witnesses, and without Gosnell taking the stand in his defense, leaving the defense case until final arguments (under US law, a defendant may choose not to take the stand; if so then the jury is instructed that no inference or assumption may be drawn from this). O'Neill also did not testify in her defense. The case went to jury deliberation on April 30, 2013.

Defendants, related charges, verdicts and sentencing.

Gosnell was charged with seven counts of first-degree murder (reduced to four counts at trial) and one count of third-degree murder, as well as infanticide (dismissed at trial), five counts of abusing a corpse (all dismissed at trial), multiple counts of conspiracy, criminal solicitation and violation of a state law that forbids abortions after the 24th week of pregnancy. The non-murder charges included 24 counts of violating Pennsylvania's Abortion Act by performing illegal third-trimester abortions, 227 counts of violating a 24-hour waiting-period requirement, failing to counsel patients, and racketeering. His co-defendants were:  On May 13, 2013, the jury reported that they were deadlocked on two counts. After returning to deliberations, the jury convicted Gosnell of three counts of murder, one count of involuntary manslaughter, and many lesser counts. He was found not guilty on one of the counts of murder. The murder charges Gosnell was convicted of concerned babies referred to as Baby Boy A (also known as Baby Abrams and as Adam), Baby C and Baby D.  On May 14, 2013, Gosnell struck a deal with prosecutors in which he agreed to waive all his appeal rights regarding his conviction on the day earlier. In exchange, prosecutors allowed Gosnell to be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.  On May 15, 2013, Gosnell was sentenced to three life terms.

Impact and aftermath.

Other bodies and persons claiming to have made reports.

In April 2011 the University of Pennsylvania Health System claimed as early as 1999 that they had provided to authorities reports about botched procedures by Gosnell. The only case for which any reports were produced was that of Semika Shaw, a 22-year-old, who died at the University of Pennsylvania hospital as a result of bleeding and sepsis caused by a botched procedure by Gosnell. Gosnell's insurers settled a lawsuit with family members of Shaw for $900,000. The health system also claims other undocumented reports were made orally, for which they did not have records.

Regulatory and legislative impact.

The Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee of the Pennsylvania State Senate, led by Robert M. Tomlinson, began a hearing in February 2011 to look into the failure of the Pennsylvania Department of State — which is responsible for licensing doctors — to provide any oversight of Gosnell's activities. At the same time, the Public Health and Welfare Committee of the state Senate, chaired by Pat Vance, conducted hearings on the Pennsylvania State Health Department's failure to put a stop to Gosnell's activities.  In part as a result of the grand jury report on Gosnell, in late 2011, Pennsylvania passed a law, SB 732, that places abortion clinics under the same health and safety regulations as other outpatient surgical centers. Among those who supported the bill was Democrat Margo L. Davidson, whose cousin Semika Shaw died as a result of procedures done by Gosnell. Davidson specifically linked her support for the additional regulations to her cousin's death, which she attributed to poor medical practices.  In May 2013, as a result of the Kermit Gosnell case, Representative Joe Pitts (R-Pennsylvania), chair of the health-matters subcommittee of the United States House of Representatives' Energy and Commerce Committee, began an inquiry into states' oversight of abortion clinics.  In June 2013, the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives passed the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. Speaker of the House John Boehner said the bill was in response to Gosnell's convictions. The legislation was viewed as mostly symbolic, as it stood little chance of being approved by the Democratic-led U.S. Senate.

Non-legislative actions resulting from the case.

In February 2011 Pennsylvania Governor and former State Attorney General Tom Corbett fired six employees and commenced action to fire eight others where for legal or contractual reasons, more extensive dismissal procedures were required. These included Basil Merenda, the acting head of the Pennsylvania Department of State, Christine Dutton, the Department of Health's chief counsel (who, in reaction to being questioned why the Department did not react to a death at Gosnell's clinic, said "people die"), and Stacy Mitchell, a deputy secretary in the health department (whom the grand jury cited as a key figure in the Health Department's indifference to, and non-regulation of, abortion clinics). Some of the people most connected by the grand jury report with the failure of the government to act, such as Janice Staloski, had retired by this point and so no action was taken against them.

Civil cases.

The family of Karnamaya Mongar brought a wrongful death suit against Gosnell and sought to freeze his assets to prevent him from transferring them to other people to avoid paying. In September 2015, a judge in Philadelphia Common Pleas court awarded nearly $4 million in compensatory damages to Mongar's daughter, Yashoda Devi Gurung. However, reports that Gosnell had few assets by this time made it doubtful whether any of the money would be paid.

Media coverage and public reactions.

Gosnell's arrest has been the subject of much public comment and expressions of condemnation and shock by senior public figures of all parties. Mayor Michael Nutter (D-PA) said, "I think it's quite clear that, if these allegations are true, we've had a monster living in our midst" while vowing to watch the city's remaining abortion clinics more closely. Outgoing Governor Ed Rendell (D-PA) criticized Department of Health officials saying, "I was flabbergasted to learn that the Department of Health did not think their authority to protect public health extended to clinics offering abortion services", while incoming Governor Tom Corbett (R-PA) stated through a spokesperson that he was "appalled at the inaction on the part of the Health Department and the Department of State," and District Attorney of the city of Philadelphia R. Seth Williams said "My comprehension of the English language can't adequately describe the barbaric nature of Dr. Gosnell... Pennsylvania is not a third-world country... There were several oversight agencies that stumbled upon and should have shut down Kermit Gosnell long ago."  Gosnell also practiced in other states, including Delaware. In January 2011, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden (D-Delaware) promised a wide-ranging investigations into the abortions Gosnell performed in Delaware saying; "I'm disturbed by the allegations that were handed up by the grand jury in Philadelphia".  A spokesperson for the National Abortion Federation, an association of abortion providers, noted that Gosnell had been rejected for membership following inspection, because his clinics did not meet appropriate standards of care, but that "they'd cleaned the place up and hired an RN [registered nurse] for our visit. We only saw first-trimester procedures." She adding that "Unfortunately, some women don't know where to turn. You sometimes have substandard providers preying on low-income women who don't know that they do have other (safe) options." A spokesperson for Planned Parenthood in Southeastern Pennsylvania, condemned Gosnell, saying, "We would condemn any physician who does not follow the law or endangers anyone's health... All women should have access to high-quality care when they are vulnerable and facing difficult decisions." Dayle Steinberg, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania, says she knew that Gosnell had provided abortions in Philadelphia for many years, but says she hadn't heard of any problems at his clinic until the allegations surfaced. She has been quoted as stating that "when Gosnell was in practice, women would sometimes come to Planned Parenthood for services after first visiting Gosnell's West Philadelphia clinic, and would complain to staff about the conditions there. We would always encourage them to report it to the Department of Health." She clarified that "when Gosnell was arrested, I asked our staff if anyone had ever heard of him, and clinic staff members reported that a few women over the years said they were concerned about the uncleanliness of his facility and came to Planned Parenthood instead... if we had heard anything remotely like the conditions that have since come to light about Gosnell's facility, of course we would have alerted the state and other authorities".  Kermit Gosnell himself gave an interview to Fox 29 in February 2011, in which he stated that:

Criticism of media coverage.

A perception had built up among some journalists and pro-life groups that there had been a reluctance to report on the trial among mainstream media. In an April 11, 2013 opinion column for "USA Today", Kirsten Powers wrote: "A Lexis-Nexis search shows none of the news shows on the three major national television networks has mentioned the Gosnell trial in the last three months", and that national press coverage was represented by a "Wall Street Journal" columnist who "hijacked" a segment on "Meet the Press", a single page A-17 story on the first day of the trial by "The New York Times", and no original coverage by "The Washington Post".  While Kirsten Powers is credited by some for drawing media coverage to the Gosnell trial, Dave Weigel at Slate.com reported it was conservatives' aggressive use of social media, especially Twitter, that "goaded" the press into covering the trial in Philadelphia. According to Weigel, Troy Newman, president of the Kansas-based pro-life Operation Rescue, had organized a Twitter campaign using "#Gosnell" to break the "Gosnell Media Blackout." Key to that social media campaign was a picture of rows of empty media seats in the Gosnell courtroom taken by Calkins Media columnist J.D. Mullane.  Mullane told Weigel he was struck by the absence of media at the trial, and took out his iPhone and snapped the picture, tweeting it later that night.  "Mullane retweeted the photo a few more times, with different captions, because it had been packed into a snowball (of criticism)" which included Powers' column for "USA Today", Weigel wrote. The empty seats photograph was used by pro-life activists to show "proof" of media dereliction. Weigel wrote: "It worked. An estimated 106,000 #Gosnell tweets later, on April 15, Mullane reported that major networks and newspapers had sent their reporters to cover the trial—Fox News, the New York Times, the Washington Post."  Writing for "The Washington Post", Melinda Henneberger responded that "we didn't write more because the only abortion story most outlets ever cover in the news pages is every single threat or perceived threat to abortion rights. In fact, that is so fixed a view of what constitutes coverage of that issue that it's genuinely hard, I think, for many journalists to see a story outside that paradigm as news. That's not so much a conscious decision as a reflex, but the effect is one-sided coverage". Explaining why some of her colleagues did not report on the story, Henneberger wrote, "One colleague viewed Gosnell's alleged atrocities as a local crime story, though I can't think of another mass murder, with hundreds of victims, that we ever saw that way. Another said it was just too lurid, though that didn't keep us from covering Jeffrey Dahmer, or that aspiring cannibal at the NYPD." Writing for Bloomberg View, Jeffrey Goldberg said that this story "upsets a particular narrative about the reality of certain types of abortion, and that reality isn't something some pro-choice absolutists want to discuss".  The "Los Angeles Times", "The Atlantic", "Slate", and "Time" all published opinion columns where the writer thought the incident was not getting as much media coverage as it deserved. Megan McArdle explains that she didn't cover it because it made her ill, but also how being pro-choice influenced writers saying "most of us tend to be less interested in sick-making stories if the sick-making was done by 'our side,'" saying, "this story should have been covered much more than it was — covered as a national policy issue, not a 'local crime story.'" Martin Baron, "The Post"'s executive editor, claims he wasn't aware of the story until Thursday, 11 April, when readers began emailing him about it, saying "I wish I could be conscious of all stories everywhere, but I can't be". They ultimately decided that, in fact, the story warranted attention because of "the seriousness and scope of the alleged crimes and because this was a case that resonated in policy arguments and national politics", adding "In retrospect, we regret not having staffed the trial sooner. But, as you know, we don't have unlimited resources, and [...] there is a lot of competition for our staff's attention". He insisted that "we never decide what to cover for ideological reasons, no matter what critics might claim. Accusations of ideological motives are easy to make, even if they're not supported by the facts". "The New York Times" also acknowledged the lack of coverage and reported on the online campaign and subsequent increase in coverage of the case. While Powers' piece clearly sparked debate among journalists, Katherine Bindley also highlights contrasting views, as does Paul Farhi. A column on Salon.com questioned whether the Gosnell case was an example of liberal media bias, saying that conservative media and politicians had also given little attention to the story until April 2013.  In April 2013, 71 other Members of Congress joined Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn in a letter condemning the media "blackout" on the Gosnell trial.

Movie.

In early 2014, filmmakers Ann McElhinney, Phelim McAleer, and Magdalena Segieda announced they would be producing a true crime drama film of the Gosnell crimes. Nick Searcy would direct, and John Sullivan would serve as executive producer. The working title for the film is "Gosnell: America's Biggest Serial Killer". The producers raised money for production of the movie on the crowdfunding site Indiegogo, receiving $2.3 million from backers. Andrew Klavan was hired to be the screenwriter for the movie. Earl Billings would play Gosnell, and Dean Cain would play Detective James Wood.  The producers announced on June 26, 2018, that they had signed a distribution deal for the movie, which opened in about 750 theaters in October 12, 2018.  As well, the filmmakers wrote a book titled, "Gosnell: The Untold Story of America's Most Prolific Serial Killer". The book was released on January 24, 2017. The book quickly rose to the number three spot on Amazon's "Best Seller" list, and number one on their "Hot New Releases" list.

Kermit Barron Gosnell (born February 9, 1941) is an American physician and former abortion provider who was convicted of murdering three infants who were born alive during attempted abortion procedures; he was also convicted of involuntary manslaughter of one woman during an abortion procedure.

Kermit Barron Gosnell (* 9. února 1941 Filadelfie, Pensylvánie) je americký lékař z Filadelfie odsouzený na doživotí. Provozoval vlastní potratovou kliniku, kde prokazatelně způsobil smrt tří živě narozených dětí. Při vyšetřování se zjistilo, že prováděl umělé potraty za 24. týdnem těhotenství (nejpozdější možná doba ve státu Pensylvánie). K těmto porušením zákona došlo ve stovkách případů. Živě narozeným dětem přestříhával páteř. Odsouzen byl také za smrt 41leté Kanmaraje Mongarové z Bhútánu, která zemřela na předávkování sedativy a anestetiky, když u ní prováděl potrat.


Plot.

PC Nicholas Angel is a high-achieving officer of the London Metropolitan Police Service. He is promoted to Sergeant, but his jealous colleagues arrange for him to be reassigned to the small rural town of Sandford, Gloucestershire, a regular "Village of the Year" winner. Angel is soon frustrated by his lazy and incompetent colleagues. His partner, PC Danny Butterman, is a fan of buddy cop films and son of Inspector Frank Butterman, Angel's superior.  The two lead actors of a poorly acted "homage to "Romeo and Juliet"", whom Angel had pulled over earlier for speeding, are murdered by a cloaked figure, who disguises it as a car accident. Angel is the only officer who suspects foul play. Sent to resolve a dispute, Angel discovers a stash of illegal weapons, including an old naval mine, and locks them in the police station. Angel warms to Danny, and they binge-watch action movies at Danny's home. That night, wealthy land developer George Merchant is killed in an apparent gas explosion caused by his stove, and his body is launched out of a window by the explosion.  Angel suspects that the killings are connected to a recent property deal. A local journalist, Tim Messenger, approaches Angel at a church, claiming to have information, but is killed by falling masonry. Leslie Tiller, the village florist, tells Angel about her plans to sell her house to Merchant's business partners. While Angel is distracted, she is stabbed in the neck with her garden shears; Angel gives chase but loses the killer. Angel suspects Simon Skinner, the sinister manager of the local supermarket, as the property deal would have built a rival supermarket, but Skinner has an alibi.  Angel is attacked in his hotel room by one of Skinner's employees. Angel knocks him out and learns of a secret Neighbourhood Watch Alliance (NWA) meeting at Sandford Castle. Angel confronts the NWA, led by Frank, who reveal that they carried out the murders for various petty reasons, as each victim supposedly threatened Sandford's chances of winning Village of the Year and staging the murders as accidents. Frank's motive is his late wife had put everything into helping Sandford win the first "Village of the Year", but travellers ruined their chances the night before the judges arrived, driving her to suicide. Angel flees and falls into the castle's catacombs, where he finds the bodies of the NWA's other victims. Danny appears and fakes killing Angel. Pretending to dispose of the body, Danny drives Angel away and urges him to return to London for his own safety.  The next day, Angel returns to Sandford and arms himself with the confiscated guns. He and Danny engage in a shootout with the NWA. When Frank sends the other officers to arrest them, Angel and Danny convince them that Frank is the culprit. Frank flees and the officers besiege the supermarket, with Skinner fleeing in a car with Frank. After a car chase, Angel corners Skinner at a model version of the village, and Skinner is impaled through the jaw by a miniature church steeple, while Frank is caught after being attacked by a swan that Angel and Danny had in their car earlier.  Angel's former superiors ask him to return to London, as the crime rate has risen heavily in his absence, but Angel decides to remain in Sandford. While the Sandford Police are going over the paperwork of the arrests, the elderly Tom Weaver, the last NWA member, bursts into the station wielding a blunderbuss. He shoots at Angel, but Danny jumps in front. In the resulting struggle, Weaver accidentally activates the naval mine, killing himself and destroying the station.  One year later, Angel has been promoted to Inspector and head of the Sandford police. Danny has survived and is now Sergeant. After visiting Danny's mother's grave, the two drive off to their next crime scene.

Production.

Writing.

Director Edgar Wright wanted to write and direct a cop film because "there isn't really any tradition of cop films in the UK... We felt that every other country in the world had its own tradition of great cop action films and we had none." Wright and Pegg spent eighteen months writing the script. The first draft took eight months to develop, and after watching 138 cop-related films for dialogue and plot ideas and conducting over fifty interviews with police officers for research, the script was completed after another nine months. The title was based on the various two-word titles of action films in the 1980s and 1990s. In one interview Wright declared that he "wanted to make a title that really had very little meaning... like "Lethal Weapon" and "Point Break" and "Executive Decision"." In the same interview, Pegg joked that many action films' titles "seem to be generated from two hats filled with adjectives and nouns and you just, 'Okay, that'll do.'" While writing the script, the film's director and writer, Edgar Wright, as well as Pegg, intended to include Frost as the partner for Pegg's character. Frost revealed that he would do the film only if he could name his character, and he chose "Danny Butterman".

Preparation and filming.

During the latter half of 2005, Working Title Films approached several towns in South West England looking for an appropriate filming location. Pegg commented, "We're both [Pegg and Wright] from the West Country so it just seemed like it was the perfect and logical thing to drag those kind of ideas and those genres and those clichés back to our beginnings to where we grew up, so you could see high-octane balls-to-the-wall action in Frome". Stow-on-the-Wold was considered amongst others, but after being turned away, the company settled upon Wells in Somerset, Wright's hometown, of which he has said "I love it but I also want to trash it". Wells Cathedral was digitally painted out of every shot of the cathedral city, as Wright wanted the Church of St Cuthbert to be the centre building for the fictional town of Sandford; however, the Bishop's Palace is identifiable in some shots (and was itself used as the setting for some scenes). While shooting scenes in their uniforms, Pegg and Frost were often mistaken for genuine police officers and asked for directions by passers-by. Filming also took place at the Hendon Police College, including the driving school skid pan and athletic track. Next to Hendon is Mill Hill where Finchley Nurseries is located which is where the flower shop scene was filmed. Filming commenced on 19 March 2006 and lasted for eleven weeks. After editing, Wright ended up cutting half an hour of footage from the film.

Outside references.

Self-references.

Wright has said that "Hot Fuzz" takes elements from his final amateur film, "Dead Right", which he described as both ""Lethal Weapon" set in Somerset" and "a "Dirty Harry" film in Somerset". He uses some of the same locations in both films, including the Somerfield supermarket, where he used to work as a shelf-stacker.  References to "Shaun of the Dead" are also present in the film. In one scene, Nicholas wants to chase a shoplifter by jumping over garden fences; however, Danny is reluctant. Nicholas says, "What's the matter, Danny? You never taken a shortcut before?" He smiles assuredly before jumping over three in a row (according to the DVD commentary, Pegg vaulted over three fences, and a stunt man did a back flip over the fourth). When Danny attempts it, he trips and falls through the fence. This is almost identical to a scene in "Shaun of the Dead", including the fall-through-fence gag, albeit with the pratfalling role reverse: in "Shaun of the Dead" it happens to Pegg's character rather than Frost's, and he falls over the fence rather than through it. The DVD commentary says that Frost purposely looked back at the camera after crashing through the fence, to show that he had done the stunt rather than someone else.  Frost's characters (Danny in "Hot Fuzz", Ed in "Shaun of the Dead") have a liking for Cornetto ice cream. Pegg and Wright have referred to "Hot Fuzz" as being the second film in "Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy" with "Shaun of the Dead" as the first and "The World's End" as the third.

Other films.

Various scenes in "Hot Fuzz" feature a variety of action film DVDs such as "" and scenes from "Point Break" and "Bad Boys II". Wright revealed that he had to get permission from every actor in each video clip, including stunt men, to use the clips and for the use of the DVD covers had to pay for the rights from the respective studios. The film parodies clichés used in other action movies. On the topic of perceived gun fetishes in these movies, Pegg has said, "Men can't do that thing, which is the greatest achievement of humankind, which is to make another human, so we make metal versions of our own penises and fire more bits of metal out of the end into people's heads... It's our turn to grab the gun by the hilt and fire it into your face." Despite this, Pegg maintains that the film is not a spoof, in that "They lack the sneer that a lot of parodies have that look down on their source material. Because we're looking up to it." The film also includes various references to "The Wicker Man", in which Edward Woodward had played a policeman tough on law and order.

Effects.

To illustrate the destruction of the mansion as a result of the gas explosion, gas mortars were placed in front of the building to create large-scale fireballs. The wave of fire engulfs the camera, and to achieve that effect, gas mortars were used again but were fired upwards into a black ceiling piece that sloped up towards the camera. When the sequence was shot at a high speed, the flames appeared to surge across the ground. For one of the final scenes of the film, the Sandford police station is destroyed by an explosion. Part of the explosion was created by using a set model that showed its windows being blown out, while the building remained intact. The actual destruction of the building was depicted by exploding a miniature model of the station.  Similar to the work in "Shaun of the Dead", blood and gore was prevalent throughout the film. Visual effects supervisor Richard Briscoe revealed the rationale for using the large amounts of blood: "In many ways, the more extreme you make it, the more people know it is stylised and enjoy the humour inherent in how ridiculous it is. It's rather like the (eventually) limbless Black Knight in ["Monty Python and the Holy Grail"]." The most time-consuming gore sequence involved a character's head being crushed by a section of a church. A dummy was used against a green screen and the head was detonated at the point when the object was about to impact the body. Throughout the film, over seventy gunfight shots were digitally augmented; Briscoe's rationale for adding the additional effects was that "The town square shootout, for example, is full of extra little hits scattered throughout, so that it feels like our hero characters really do have it all going off, all around them. It was a great demonstration of [how] seemingly very trivial enhancements can make a difference when combined across a sequence."

Promotion.

The first two teaser trailers were released on 16 October 2006. Wright, Pegg, and Frost maintained several video blogs, which were released at various times throughout the production of the film. Wright and Frost held a panel at the 2006 Comic-Con convention in San Diego, California to promote "Hot Fuzz", which included preliminary footage and a question and answer session. The two returned to the convention again in 2007 to promote the US DVD release. Advance screenings of the film took place on 14 February 2007 in the UK and the world premiere was on 16 February 2007. The premiere included escorts from motorcycle police officers and the use of blue carpet instead of the traditional red carpet.

Release.

Critical reception.

"Hot Fuzz" received critical acclaim. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 91% approval rating with an average rating of 7.65/10 based on 203 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "The brilliant minds behind "Shaun of the Dead" successfully take a shot at the buddy cop genre with "Hot Fuzz". The result is a bitingly satiric and hugely entertaining parody." It has a Metacritic score of 81 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Olly Richards of "Empire" praised the chemistry between Pegg and Frost, saying: "After almost a decade together, they're clearly so comfortable in each other's presence that they feel no need to fight for the punchline, making them terrific company for two hours". Philip French of "The Observer", who did not care for "Shaun of the Dead", warmed to the comedy team in this film. The film also received positive reviews in the United States. Derek Elley of "Variety" praised Broadbent and Dalton as "especially good as Angel's hail-fellow-well-met superior and oily No. 1 suspect". As an homage to the genre, the film was well received by screenwriter Shane Black.  Despite being mostly praised, not all reviews were positive. "The Daily Mirror" gave "Hot Fuzz" only 2/5, stating that "many of the jokes miss their target" as the film becomes more action-based. Anthony Quinn of "The Independent" said, "The same impish spirit [as in "Spaced"] is uncorked here, but it has been fatally indulged".  In 2016, "Empire" magazine ranked "Hot Fuzz" 50th on their list of the 100 best British films, with their entry stating, “the second in their planned trilogy again nails the genre clichés, with everything from "Point Break" to "Bad Boys II" (both openly referenced) humorously homaged. Pegg’s natural chemistry with long-time real-life pal Frost remains endearing as ever. Elsewhere, the "Scooby-Doo"-meets-"Scream" mystery is peppered with Britain's finest talent, playing up the English small-town clichés to great effect in a brilliantly incongruous meeting of sleepy rural life and stabby violent action.”

Box office.

The film generated £7.1 million in its first weekend of release in the United Kingdom on 14 February 2007. In 20 April US opening weekend, the film grossed $5.8 million from only 825 cinemas, making it the highest per-cinema average of any film in the top ten that week. Its opening weekend take beat the $3.3 million opening weekend gross of Pegg and Wright's previous film, "Shaun of the Dead". In its second weekend of release, Rogue Pictures expanded the film's cinema count from 825 to 1,272 and it grossed $4.9 million, representing a 17% dip in the gross. Altogether, "Hot Fuzz" grossed $80,573,774 worldwide. In nine weeks, the film earned nearly twice what "Shaun of the Dead" made in the US, and more than three times its gross in other countries.

Home media.

The DVD was released on 11 June 2007 in the UK. Over one million DVDs were sold in the UK in the first four weeks of its release. The two-disc set contains the feature film with commentaries, outtakes, storyboards, deleted scenes, a making-of documentary, video blogs, featurettes, galleries, and some hidden easter eggs. The DVD also features Wright's last amateur film, "Dead Right", which he described as ""Hot Fuzz" without the budget". Due to the above release date, the film arrived on region 2 DVD earlier than the theatrical release date in Germany on 14 June 2007. In the commentary with director Wright and fellow filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, they discuss nearly 200 films.  The US DVD and HD DVD release was on 31 July 2007. It opened at #2 at the American DVD sales chart, selling 853,000 units for over $14m in revenue. 1,923,000 units have been sold, acquiring revenue of $33.3 million. The HD DVD edition has more special features than the standard DVD release. A three-disc collector's edition was released on 27 November 2007 and a Blu-ray edition on 22 September 2009.

Soundtrack.

The soundtrack album, "Hot Fuzz: Music from the Motion Picture", was released on 19 February 2007 in the United Kingdom, and on 17 April 2007 in the United States and Canada. The UK release contains 22 tracks, and the North American release has 14. The film's score is by British composer David Arnold, who scored the James Bond film series from 1997 to 2008. The soundtrack album's "Hot Fuzz Suite" is a compilation of excerpts from Arnold's score. According to the DVD commentary, the scenes where Nicholas Angel is at a convenience store, while leaving Sandford, and his return to the police station while arming for the final shootout (found in the track "Avenging Angel"), were scored by Robert Rodríguez, who did not see the rest of the film while writing the music.  Other music from the film is a mix of 1960s and 1970s British rock (The Kinks, T. Rex, The Move, Sweet, The Troggs, Arthur Brown, Cozy Powell, Dire Straits), new wave (Adam Ant, XTC) and a Glaswegian indie band (The Fratellis). The soundtrack album features dialogue extracts by Pegg, Frost, and other cast members, mostly embedded in the music tracks. The song selection also includes some police-themed titles, including Supergrass' "Caught by the Fuzz" as well as "Here Come the Fuzz", which was specially composed for the film by Jon Spencer's Blues Explosion.

Hot Fuzz is a 2007 action comedy film directed by Edgar Wright who co-wrote the script with Simon Pegg. Pegg and Nick Frost play police officers investigating a series of mysterious deaths in a West Country village. It is the second film in the "Three Flavours Cornetto" trilogy by Wright, Pegg, Frost and producer Nira Park.

Jednotka příliš rychlého nasazení je britsko-francouzská akční komedie z roku 2007, kterou režíroval Edgar Wright a hlavní role ztvárnili Simon Pegg a Nick Frost. Jako inspirace ke scénáři, který napsali společně Wright a Pegg, bylo použito přes sto akčních filmů. Wright, Pegg, Frost a producentka Nira Park už spolu předtím pracovali na televizním seriálu "Spaced" a na filmu "Soumrak mrtvých" (2004). Film se odehrává na začátku roku 2006 a je o dvou policistech, kteří se pokouší vyřešit sérii záhadných úmrtí v malém anglickém městu.


Early life and education.

Nixon was born in Manhattan, the only child of Walter Elmer Nixon Jr. (1920–1998), a radio journalist from Texas, and Anne Elizabeth (née Knoll; died 2013), an actress originally from Chicago. She credits her mother with "indoctrinating" her into theatre. She is of English and German descent. Her grandparents were Adolph Knoll, Etta Elizabeth Williams, Walter E. Nixon, and Grace Truman McCormack. Nixon's parents divorced when she was six years old. According to Nixon, her father was often unemployed and her mother was the household's main breadwinner: Nixon's mother worked on the game show "To Tell the Truth", coaching the "impostors" who claimed to be the person described by the host. Nixon made her first television appearance on the show at 9 as one of the "impostors", pretending to be a junior horse riding champion. Nixon was an actress all through her years at Hunter College Elementary School and Hunter College High School (class of 1984), often taking time away from school to perform in film and on stage. Nixon also acted in order to pay her way through Barnard College, where she received a B.A. in English Literature. Nixon was also a student in the Semester at Sea Program in the Spring of 1986.

Career.

Early career.

Nixon's first onscreen appearance was as an imposter on "To Tell the Truth", where her mother worked. She began acting at 12 as the object of a wealthy schoolmate's crush in "The Seven Wishes of a Rich Kid", a 1979 ABC Afterschool Special. She made her feature debut co-starring with Kristy McNichol and Tatum O'Neal in "Little Darlings" (1980). She made her Broadway debut as Dinah Lord in a 1980 revival of "The Philadelphia Story". Alternating between film, TV, and stage, she did projects like the 1982 ABC movie "My Body, My Child", the features "Prince of the City" (1981) and "I Am the Cheese" (1983), and the 1982 Off-Broadway productions of John Guare's "Lydie Breeze".  In 1984, while a freshman at Barnard College, Nixon made theatrical history by simultaneously appearing in two hit Broadway plays directed by Mike Nichols. They were "The Real Thing", where she played the daughter of Jeremy Irons and Christine Baranski; and "Hurlyburly", where she played a young woman who encounters sleazy Hollywood executives. The two theaters were just two blocks apart and Nixon's roles were both short, so she could run from one to the other. Onscreen, she played the role of Salieri's maid/spy, Lorl, in "Amadeus" (1984). In 1985, she appeared alongside Jeff Daniels in Lanford Wilson's "Lemon Sky" at Second Stage Theatre.  She landed her first major supporting role in a movie as an intelligent teenager who aids her boyfriend (Christopher Collet) in building a nuclear bomb in Marshall Brickman's "The Manhattan Project" (1986). Nixon was part of the cast of the NBC miniseries "The Murder of Mary Phagan" (NBC, 1988) starring Jack Lemmon and Kevin Spacey, and portrayed the daughter of a presidential candidate (Michael Murphy) in "Tanner '88" (1988), Robert Altman's political satire for HBO. She reprised the role for the 2004 sequel, "Tanner on Tanner".

1990s.

On stage, Nixon portrayed Juliet in a 1988 New York Shakespeare Festival production of "Romeo and Juliet", and acted in the workshop production of Wendy Wasserstein's Pulitzer Prize-winning "The Heidi Chronicles", playing several characters after it came to Broadway in 1989. She was the guest star in the second episode of the long running NBC television series "Law & Order". She played the role of an agoraphobic woman in a February 1993 episode of "Murder, She Wrote", titled "Threshold of Fear".  Nixon succeeded Marcia Gay Harden as Harper Pitt in Tony Kushner's "Angels in America" (1994), received a Tony nomination for her performance in "Indiscretions" ("Les Parents Terribles") (1996), her sixth Broadway show, and, although she originally lost the part to another actress, eventually took over the role of Lala Levy in the Tony-winning "The Last Night of Ballyhoo" (1997).  Nixon was a founding member of the Off-Broadway theatrical troupe Drama Dept., which included Sarah Jessica Parker, Dylan Baker, John Cameron Mitchell and Billy Crudup among its actors, appearing in the group's productions of "Kingdom on Earth" (1996), "June Moon" and "As Bees in Honey Drown" (both 1997), "Hope is the Thing with Feathers" (1998), and "The Country Club" (1999).  She had supporting roles in "Addams Family Values" (1993), "Baby's Day Out" (1994), "Marvin's Room" (1996), and "The Out-of-Towners" (1999).

Stardom.

She raised her profile significantly as one of the four regulars on HBO's successful comedy "Sex and the City" (1998–2004), as the lawyer Miranda Hobbes. Nixon received three Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (2002, 2003, 2004), winning the award in 2004, for the show's final season. The immense popularity of the series led Nixon to enjoy her first leading role in a feature, playing a video artist who falls in love, despite her best efforts to avoid commitment, with a bisexual actor who just happens to be dating a gay man (her best friend) in "Advice from a Caterpillar" (2000), as well as starring opposite Scott Bakula in the holiday television movie "Papa's Angels" (2000). In 2002, she also landed a role in the indie comedy "Igby Goes Down", and her turn in the theatrical production of Clare Boothe Luce's play "The Women" was captured for PBS' "Stage on Screen" series.  Post-"Sex and the City", Nixon made a guest appearance on "ER" in 2005, as a mother who undergoes a tricky procedure to lessen the effects of a debilitating stroke. She followed up with a turn as Eleanor Roosevelt for HBO's "Warm Springs" (2005), which chronicled Franklin Delano Roosevelt's quest for a miracle cure for his polio. Nixon earned an Emmy nomination as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for her performance. In December 2005, she appeared in the Fox TV series "House" in the episode "Deception", as a patient who suffers a seizure.  In 2006, she appeared in David Lindsay-Abaire's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama "Rabbit Hole" in a Manhattan Theatre Club production, and won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Play). (This part was later played by Nicole Kidman in the movie adaptation of the play.) In 2008, she revived her role as Miranda Hobbes in the "Sex and the City" feature film, directed by HBO executive producer Michael Patrick King and co-starring the cast of the original series.  Also in 2008, she won an Emmy for her guest appearance in an episode of "", portraying a woman pretending to have dissociative identity disorder. In 2008, Nixon made a brief uncredited cameo in the comedy "Forgetting Sarah Marshall". She appears in the background when Jason Segel's character mimics characters from "Sex and the City" at a bar.  In 2009, Nixon won the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album along with Beau Bridges and Blair Underwood for the album "An Inconvenient Truth" (Al Gore).

2010s.

In March 2010, Nixon received the Vito Russo Award at the GLAAD Media Awards. The award is presented to an openly LGBT media professional "who has made a significant difference in promoting equality for the LGBT community". It was announced in June 2010 that Nixon would appear in four episodes of the Showtime series "The Big C". Nixon appeared in a "" episode based on the problems surrounding the Broadway musical "". Her character is "Amanda Reese, the high-strung and larger-than-life director behind a problem-plagued Broadway version of "Icarus"," loosely modeled after "Spider-Man" director, Julie Taymor.  In 2012, Nixon starred as Professor Vivian Bearing in the Broadway debut of Margaret Edson's Pulitzer Prize–winning play "Wit". Produced by the Manhattan Theatre Club, the play opened January 26, 2012 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. Nixon received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play for the performance.  In 2012, Nixon also starred as Petranilla in the TV miniseries of Ken Follett's "World Without End" broadcast on the ReelzChannel, alongside Ben Chaplin, Peter Firth, Charlotte Riley, and Miranda Richardson.  In 2015, Nixon appeared in two films which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival: "Stockholm, Pennsylvania" and "James White". She received critical acclaim for both performances, especially for the latter, which many considered as "Oscar-worthy." Nixon played the leading role of reclusive American poet Emily Dickinson in the biographical film "A Quiet Passion" directed and written by Terence Davies. The film premiered in February 2016 at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival. In May 2016, it was announced that Nixon would play Nancy Reagan in the upcoming television film adaptation of "Killing Reagan". Filming began in late May and the film aired in October 2016.  Nixon appeared on Broadway in the revival of "The Little Foxes", officially opening on April 19, 2017 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. She alternated the roles of Regina and Birdie with Laura Linney, winning her second Tony Award for her performance as Birdie.  In January 2019, it was announced that Nixon will star in the upcoming Netflix drama series "Ratched".

Political activism.

Nixon is a long-time advocate for public education. She is a spokesperson for New York's Alliance for Quality Education, a public education fairness advocacy organization.  Nixon also has a history of advocacy in support of women's health.  She endorsed Bill de Blasio in the 2013 New York City mayoral election, who went on to win the Democratic nomination and the general election. Nixon campaigned actively for de Blasio, whom she had worked with since the early 2000s when campaigning against Michael Bloomberg's education policies. De Blasio credited Nixon and union leader George Gresham as the two "architects of (his) campaign" in the Democratic primaries, when he defeated the favorite Christine Quinn. After his election, de Blasio appointed Nixon as his representative to The Public Theater.  In the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, Nixon endorsed Bernie Sanders before campaigning for him in early February 2020 in Las Vegas. She stated, "In the same terrifying and muscular way that Trump is a force for so much of what is bad in this country, in this world, Bernie has that same kind of muscularity of vision but for good. A candidate who is too beholden to big money and the establishment and just basically doesn’t want to rock the boat is never going to be a powerful enough counterbalance to what Donald Trump has to offer. You need someone as vigorous and who is wanting to turn the system upside down."

2018 New York gubernatorial election.

In 2018, it was reported that Nixon was preparing a progressive challenge to the incumbent governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo. On March 19, 2018, she announced via Twitter that she was running for governor.  Nixon was expected to secure the nomination of the Working Families Party of New York during its annual convention in April 2018, thus guaranteeing her a spot on the general election ballot. On April 15, Nixon won 91.5 percent of the vote at the Party's statewide committee meeting after Cuomo withdrew himself from consideration at the last minute. Nixon stated that in the event that she did not also secure the Democratic nomination, she would "confer with the Working Families Party and we will make the decision we think is best".  The endorsement caused a schism in the party, as labor unions, including the Service Employees International Union, and Communications Workers of America, indicated they would not support the party in the election. The withdrawal, it was believed, would significantly hurt the party's finances which, in 2018, were at a level of $1.7 million and supported a statewide staff of about 15 people. The battle received considerable attention since there were concerns that Nixon might drain enough votes from Cuomo in the general election to allow a Republican to be elected (although Cuomo was comfortably leading the polls at the time). Cuomo had vigorously campaigned to get the nomination before withdrawing when it was clear he would not get it.  In contrast to Cuomo, Nixon supported the legalization of marijuana. The most important reason, she said, was racial justice. "People across all ethnic and racial lines use marijuana at roughly the same rate, but the arrests for marijuana are 80 percent black and Latino." To undo that damage, Nixon said that the revenues from legalization should be prioritized to the communities that had been harmed by them, as a form of "reparations." She said that people in jail on marijuana charges should be released, criminal records for marijuana use should be expunged, and marijuana revenues should be used to help them reenter society. However, many black leaders were offended by her use of the term "reparations."  On May 23, 2018, Nixon and other potential Democratic challengers to Cuomo were eliminated from the Democratic party endorsement at the state Democratic Convention after failing to meet the 25% state delegate threshold needed to appear on the ballot. Nixon filed a petition with 65,000 signatures, more than four times the 15,000 required, to force a primary election. The primary was held on September 13. With 93% of precincts reporting, Cuomo received 65% of votes and Nixon got 35%. On October 5, 2018, the Working Families Party removed Nixon's name from their ticket after agreeing to endorse Cuomo and Hochul, thus ensuring that Nixon would not appear on the general election ballot.

Personal life.

From 1988 to 2003, Nixon was in a relationship with schoolteacher Danny Mozes. They have two children together. In June 2018, Nixon revealed that their older child is transgender.  In 2004, Nixon began dating education activist Christine Marinoni. Nixon and Marinoni became engaged in April 2009, and married in New York City on May 27, 2012, with Nixon wearing a custom-made, pale green dress by Carolina Herrera. Marinoni gave birth to a son, Max Ellington, in 2011.  Regarding her sexual orientation, Nixon remarked in 2007: "I don't really feel I've changed. I'd been with men all my life, and I'd never fallen in love with a woman. But when I did, it didn't seem so strange. I'm just a woman in love with another woman." She identified herself as bisexual in 2012. Prior to the legalization of same-sex marriage in Washington state (Marinoni's home), Nixon had taken a public stand supporting the issue, and hosted a fundraising event in support of Washington Referendum 74.  Nixon and her family attend Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, an LGBT synagogue.  In October 2006, Nixon was diagnosed with breast cancer during a routine mammography. She initially decided not to go public with her illness because she feared it might hurt her career, but in April 2008, she announced her battle with the disease in an interview with "Good Morning America". Since then, Nixon has become a breast cancer activist. She convinced the head of NBC to air her breast cancer special in a prime time program, and became an Ambassador for Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Awards and nominations.

Accolades.

Accolade references:

Cynthia Ellen Nixon (born April 9, 1966) is an American actress and activist. For her portrayal of Miranda Hobbes in the HBO series "Sex and the City" (1998–2004), she won the 2004 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. She reprised the role in the films "Sex and the City" (2008) and "Sex and the City 2" (2010). Her other film credits include "Amadeus" (1984), "James White" (2015), and playing Emily Dickinson in "A Quiet Passion" (2016).

Cynthia Ellen Nixon (* 9. dubna 1966, New York City, New York, Spojené státy americké) je americká herečka nejvíce známá za ztvárnění Mirandy Hobbes v seriálu "Sex ve městě" (1998–2004), ve filmu "Sex ve městě" a i v jeho pokračování "Sex ve městě 2". Získala dvě ceny Screen Actors Guild Awards, dvě ceny Emmy, cenu Tony, cenu Grammy a cenu GLAAD Media Award. Nixon je taktéž politická aktivistka.


History.

Construction started April 26, 1991 and was completed September 1991. First power was achieved in May 1992 and a powerline to Hradec, Czech Republic was completed September 3, 1992. Trial operation started January 27, 1993 with official opening July 9, 1993. It was shut down after synchronisation of the German and the Czech Power Grid on October 18, 1995.  After the synchronization of the power grids between Germany and Czech, the maximum amount of power which can be transmitted between Etzenricht and Hradec increased from 600 MW to 1316 MW. The inauguration of the second 380 kV-interconnection to Prestice substation on July 29, 1997 increased the transmission capacity from Etzenricht to Czech to further 1579 MW, so via Etzenricht substation today a maximum power exchange of 2895 MW between Czechia and Germany is possible.  In 1997, after inauguration of the second 380 kV-powerline to Czechia, which ends at Prestice substation, most external components of GKK Etzenricht were dismantled and stored on the area of the facility. Since beginning of this dismantling, the facility was not in working condition any more. Only the transformers, the smoothing reactor and one harmonic filter remained on their original sites. Since shutdown of the static inverter, it was planned to sell the installation to eastern Europe, where it would have allowed the construction of an HVDC back-to-back station for exchanging power between eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. As the static inverter went more and more out of date and one was meanwhile able to build static inverters like that of GKK Etzenricht much simpler by using photo thyristors, no such deal ever took place. In 2006 the facility was sold to IDPC, an Austrian recycling company, which wanted first to sell the installation completely and as this did not work, part by part. However, only a few components were sold. In spring 2009 all remaining components of GKK Etzenricht were dismantled and scrapped.

Technical features.

GKK Etzenricht had a maximum transmission power of 600 megawatts (MW) and worked with a DC voltage of 160 kV. The two static inverters are in a high hall with of surface area, which was built in a combination of local and finished concrete building method. Each static inverter consists of 432 thyristors, which are put in six thyristor towers arranged in a row. Each thyristor tower has 2 valve functions and consist of 8 thyristor modules, which are arranged one on top of the other. Each thyristor module consists of 9 thyristors switched in series and the necessary auxiliary equipment as the saturation coils, which are in series with the thyristors. Parallel to each thyristor a series combination of a resistor and a capacitor is switched, which limits the speed of current grow. From this combination the power for the supply of the electronic used for thyristor steering is gained. The electronic used for thyristor steering has at operation a high voltage potential against ground. It is connected to the main control electronic on ground potential by fiber-optic cables, which allow a bidirectional data transmission. Parallel to each thyristor module a capacitor and parallel to each valve function a varistor is switched. As thyristors the model U78 S346 S34 manufactured by Siemens, which has a maximum power rating of 4100 amperes and which was when GKK Etzenricht was built the most powerful thyristor in the world. At both ends of the hall there are three bays for the accommodation of the static inverter transformers, which are built as single-phase units.

Power transmission line to the Czech Republic.

GKK Etzenricht was used in connection with the power transmission line between Germany and the Czech Republic. The single-circuit 380kV power transmission link runs from the (Ex) GKK Etzenricht to the Czech substations at Hradec u Kadaně. In 1997 a second single-circuit 380 kV-interconnection from Etzenricht to Přeštice substation was realized. Its conductors, which are of the same type as that used for the line to Hradec, are between Etzenricht and Straz installed on the same pylons. For overvoltage protection the whole powerline is equipped with two ground conductors, which are installed on a separate crossbar on the top of the pylons. One conductor contains a fiber optic cable for data transmission.  The link from Etzenricht to Hradec has a maximum power transmission capacity of 1639 MW at an operating voltage of 380 kV. However it is limited by substation equipment to 1316 MW. On the German section of the line the conductors are bundles of four ropes consisting of steel and aluminum. Each conductor has a cross section of 340 mm2 aluminum and 30 mm2 steel. Between Weiden and Etzenricht this line is installed on 14 pylons of the "Danube type". One of these pylons was built after the shutdown of the GKK, in order to run the line directly - past the static inverter hall - into the switchyard of the Etzenricht substation. By this the length of the German section of the line grow by 180 metres to 33.8 kilometres. Except of the first pylon, these pylons were used before 1992 for the 110 kV-powerline from Etzenricht to Weiden. In 1992 this line was rebuilt on pylons running parallel to the old 110 kV-powerline to Weiden, whose pylons were equipped with a third crossbar for the ground conductors and with the 380 kV-conductors for the line to Czech.  The section between Weiden/Oberpfalz and Eslarn consists of 60 pylons with a fourth crossbar under the crossbars for the 380 kV conductors in order to carry the two 110 kV circuits of the powerline Weiden/Oberpfalz - Vohenstrauss and the two 30 kV-circuits for the powerline between Vohenstrauss and Eslarn. This was necessary because, due to environmental protection, only one right of way was available. Therefore, the circuits of these lines, which existed in 1992 already since several years, had to be installed on the pylons of the powerline with the 380 kV-circuits to the Czech Republic. In Vohenstrauss the 110 kV-circuits run to the local substation, which is situated close to the right of way of the powerline to the Czech Republic.  Behind Vohenstrauss on the lowest crossbar the circuits of the 30 kV-line Vohenstrauss-Eslarn are installed. For a future upgrade of this line to 110 kV, the conductors of this line are mounted on insulators for 110 kV on the pylons. Near Riedlhof this line leaves the track of the line to Czech and runs on concrete pylons to Eslarn substation. From Riedlhof the 380 kV-line to the Czech Republic runs on 15 pylons of "Danube type" to the border between Germany and the Czech Republic. The border is crossed close north of the border crossing of the motorway A6 near Furth in Forest.  After the border the construction type of pylon does not change, but their design and the type of conductors. In the Czech Republic the line uses conductors, which are bundles of 3 conductors with a cross section of 450 mm2 aluminum and 50 mm2 steel. 31.5 kilometers behind the frontier near Straz the line splits off in two 380kV-lines with a single circuit. One of these lines is the long line section to Hradec in Northern Bohemia and the other is the line to Přeštice, which was built in 1997. Both lines are installed on Delta type pylons.  A very remarkable feature is, that the powerline to Hradec substation is implemented on its last section on the area of Hradec substation between the termination portal and the busbar as underground cable.

Directional Radio Tower.

South of the facility on a hill at 49°37'28" N and 12°6'55" E there is a 55 meters tall free-standing lattice tower, which was built in 1973. It is used for directional radio links for remote controlling Etzenricht substation and GKK Etzenricht, which are both not permanently manned.

Natural gas compressor station.

Southwest of the facility at 49°37'29" N and 12°7'33" E there is a compressor station for natural gas owned by MEGAL.

GKK Etzenricht, an abbreviation of Gleichstromkurzkupplung Etzenricht, meaning Etzenricht HVDC-back-to-back station, was an HVDC back-to-back facility near Etzenricht in the district of Neustadt an der Waldnaab in Bavaria, Germany. It was built on the site of the Etzenricht substation, a 380 kV/220 kV/110 kV-substation, which went into service in 1970 and expanded afterwards several times. The facility was used between 1993 and 1995 for exchange of power between Germany and the Czech Republic, operated by Bayernwerk AG (now part of TenneT).

GKK Etzenricht jinak „HVDC krátká spojka“ byla postavená v Bavorsku, v místě rozvodny Etzenricht a sloužila k připojení německé a české elektrické sítě. GKK Etzenricht postavil a uvedl do provozu v roce 1993 Siemens. GKK Etzenricht dosáhla mezi německou a českou elektrickou sítí kapacity až 600 MW při napětí 160 kV. Po porovnání německé a české elektrické sítě v roce 1995 bylo rozhodnuto, že GKK Etzenricht je již zbytečná. V roce 1997 až 2009 byla GKK Etzenricht úplně rozebrána.


Greatest Hits – Chapter One (Kelly Clarkson album)

Background and release.

Clarkson was first approached on releasing a greatest hits album after releasing "My December" in December 2007, but found the idea appalling. She insisted: "Doing a greatest hits would be crazy. I am not 50. Artists who do one after three albums think their career is coming to an end." On September 11, 2012, the UK branch of Sony Music Entertainment revealed on a press conference that a greatest hits album from Clarkson would be released by the end of 2012. In an interview with "The Insider" promoting the release of her promotional single "Get Up (A Cowboys Anthem)" (2012), Clarkson hinted that she would release a new set of songs by the end of the year. On October 4, 2012, Clarkson announced that a new single from the compilation album, "Catch My Breath", would be released the following week. RCA Records later announced that the album's title would be "Greatest Hits – Chapter One"; the album was released on November 19, 2012 in the United States and was preceded by the release of "Catch My Breath" on October 16, 2012.

Content and artwork.

"Greatest Hits – Chapter One" contains seventeen tracks spanning ten years of music material from Clarkson's career, including a collaborative work with country artist Jason Aldean and three newly recorded tracks specifically made for the greatest hits album. "A Moment Like This", representing the oldest material on the compilation, is taken from her non-album single "Before Your Love"/"A Moment Like This" in 2002. "Miss Independent" is the only song from her debut album, "Thankful" (2003). "Breakaway" first appeared on the soundtrack of the Disney film "" (2004). "Breakaway" also appeared on her 2004 album "Breakaway", along with "Since U Been Gone", "Behind These Hazel Eyes", "Because of You", and "Walk Away". "Never Again" is the only song from her 2007 album "My December". Tracks from her 2009 album "All I Ever Wanted" are "My Life Would Suck Without You" "I Do Not Hook Up" and "Already Gone". "Mr. Know It All" and "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" both originally appeared on her 2011 album "Stronger". "Don't You Wanna Stay" first appeared on Aldean's 2010 album, "My Kinda Party", and was also included in "Stronger". The remaining track, a cover of "I'll Be Home for Christmas", originally appeared on her second extended play, "iTunes Session" (2011).  The compilation features three previously unreleased tracks: "Catch My Breath", "Don't Rush" and "People Like Us". "Catch My Breath", an electropop song, was written by Clarkson along with her musical director Jason Halbert and Eric Olson. It was released as the first single from the compilation album. "Don't Rush" features the country artist Vince Gill. The international version of the compilation includes the songs "The Trouble with Love Is", "Beautiful Disaster", "I Do Not Hook Up" and "Dark Side". "The Trouble with Love Is" first appeared on the soundtrack of the Universal film "Love Actually" (2003), and also appeared on "Thankful". The live version of "Beautiful Disaster" (originally from "Thankful") also appeared as the final track from "Breakaway". "I Do Not Hook Up" appeared on "All I Ever Wanted" and "Dark Side" appeared on "Stronger". The deluxe edition DVD contains almost all of Clarkson's music videos including the accompanying music videos of "Low" and "Don't Waste Your Time" (which weren't included on the compilation). The photographic artwork for the album was shot by Canadian-American photographer Jill Greenberg, who was known for producing portrait covers of "Time", "Wired", "Fast Company", and "Entertainment Weekly". It also marked the first time Greenberg designed a phonographic cover despite photographing Clarkson back in 2002.

Promotion.

Live performances.

Clarkson performed "Don't Rush" at the 46th Annual Country Music Association Awards with Vince Gill on November 1, 2012. On November 18, 2012 she performed a medley of "Miss Independent", "Since U Been Gone", "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" and "Catch My Breath" at the 40th Annual American Music Awards. On November 20, 2012, she performed "Catch My Breath" on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show".

Singles.

The compilation's lead single, "Catch My Breath", premiered on "On Air with Ryan Seacrest" on October 10, 2012 and was released to retail on October 15, 2012. It debuted on the "Billboard" Hot 100 at number 54 and peaked at number 19, becoming Clarkson's 15th top-40 hit on the chart. It also peaked at number 14 on the "Billboard" Pop Songs chart and at number 5 on the "Billboard" Adult Pop Songs chart. The second single, "Don't Rush", featuring Vince Gill, was released on October 30, 2012 exclusively for country music radio and retail, fifteen days after the release of "Catch My Breath". It entered the "Billboard" Hot 100 at number 97, eventually peaking at number 87, and at the "Billboard" Hot Country Songs chart at number 23. In January 2013, "People Like Us" was confirmed as the third single from the album. It was released to radio stations in the United States on April 8, 2013.

Critical reception.

AllMusic's senior editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine lauded Clarkson's transcendence from her "American Idol" image and her endurance throughout the 2000s, writing that "Consequently, "Greatest Hits – Chapter One" winds up sounding like pop sounded in the new millennium: alternatively calculated and inspired, a pop star who always seemed in control of her fate even when she aspired to be heard as bumper music in malls from sea to shining sea." Robert Copsey of "Digital Spy" opined that "the sailing has been pretty smooth for Kelly ever since, turning out big pop songs (courtesy of Dr. Luke and Max Martin) with even bigger vocals that are, for the most part, wholly reassuring." Philip Matusavage of "musicOMH" wrote a positive review, remarking: ""Chapter One" is a testament to Clarkson’s durability and she is one of the few artists to use such an ‘I’m still relevant, dammit!’ suffix whom you can envisage releasing a "Chapter Two"." Jonathan Keefe of "Slant Magazine" noted: "Clarkson's five studio albums have been a mixed bag, both in terms of quality and overall style, ranging from the R&B-lite of "Thankful" to the slick pop-rock of "Breakaway" and "All I Ever Wanted". Clarkson has yet to settle on a distinct POV as an artist, but the smart sequencing of "Chapter One" downplays this limitation."

Commercial performance.

"Greatest Hits – Chapter One" debuted at number eleven on the "Billboard" 200 Albums Chart, selling about 75,000 copies in its first week. It has sold over 728,000 copies as of September 2017. It also debuted on the Swiss Albums Chart at number 92 on the week ending December 2, 2012. On the Japanese Oricon Albums Chart, the compilation debuted at number 80 on December 3, 2012.

Track listing.

Notes

Greatest Hits – Chapter One (stylized as Greatest Hits • Chapter One) is the first greatest hits album by American singer Kelly Clarkson, released on November 16, 2012 by RCA Records. It contains material from Clarkson's first five studio albums: "Thankful" (2003), "Breakaway" (2004), "My December" (2007), "All I Ever Wanted" (2009), and "Stronger" (2011). Its three newly recorded songs, "Catch My Breath", "Don't Rush" and "People Like Us", served as singles; contributions to their production came from Sound Kollectiv, Greg Kurstin and Dann Huff.

Greatest Hits: Chapter One je první kompilační album americké zpěvačky Kelly Clarkson, vydané 16. listopadu 2012 hudebním vydavatelstvím RCA Records. Kombinuje singly z pěti jejích předchozích alb za dobu 10 let její hudební kariéry a obsahuje tři nové singly včetně country singlu Don't Rush se zpěvákem Vincem Gillem.


Club career.

Utrecht.

Braafheid began his professional career at FC Utrecht in 2003 and made 81 appearances for the side.

FC Twente.

On 10 February 2007, Braafheid played his first Eredivisie match for FC Twente against Feyenoord. His current contract at the club lasts until 2010.  Braafheid came to Twente on a free transfer after his contract with Utrecht expired; he was a talented left-back, but Braafheid impressed friend and foe when playing for Twente as a strong, sturdy central defender instead of his former position. He kept talented central defender Ramon Zomer out of the Twente squad ever since he made the position his own. Former Twente coach Fred Rutten is to thank for that, turning Braafheid from a noticeably talented back to an impressive central defender, despite his mediate height.

Bayern Munich.

Braafheid joined Bayern Munich for the 2009–10 season after the German club and Twente agreed on a €2 million transfer deal on 11 June 2009. He was not able to secure himself a place in the starting squad, however, during the first half of the season, he asked for a transfer in order to have a chance of being nominated for the Dutch 2010 World Cup team.

Celtic.

Braafheid was signed by Celtic of Scotland on a loan deal until the end of the 2009–10 season on 1 February.  Braafheid made his debut for Celtic on 7 February 2010 in a 4–2 victory over Dunfermline Athletic in the Scottish Cup. He failed to make an impression afterwards, and played in several draws and defeats in crucial games for Celtic. He was finally dropped from the first team following the sacking of Tony Mowbray on 25 March 2010.

1899 Hoffenheim.

After Braafheid made only three appearances in the first leg of the new season, he moved to fellow Bundesliga side 1899 Hoffenheim on 27 January, following teammate David Alaba. On 5 February 2011, Braafheid made his debut for the team in the 3–2 home win against 1. FC Kaiserslautern, but was sent off only six minutes after coming on as a substitute for Vedad Ibišević.  Returning from a one-season loan spell at FC Twente and despite his contract running until June 2014, Braafheid was no longer part of Hoffenheim's Bundesliga squad for the 2013-14 campaign. His former shirt number 28 was assigned to Alexander Stolz. After the summer transfer window had closed, he started to participate in the U23 training sessions.

S.S. Lazio.

On 1 August 2014, S.S. Lazio announced that they had signed Braafheid on a free transfer. He renewed contract on 6 July 2015.

FC Utrecht.

On 17 August 2016, Braafheid signed a one-year contract at his first club FC Utrecht. In early January 2018, he agreed the termination of his contract with Utrecht citing family reasons and lack of playing time.

International career.

In 2006, Braafheid was part of the Netherlands squad that won the UEFA U-21 Championship 2006 in Portugal.  In a column in early 2008, critic Hugo Borst had named Braafheid as a true defender, and stated he should have been in the Dutch squad for Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland under manager Marco van Basten. Dutch fans heavily criticised the defence after Jaap Stam, Frank de Boer, and other highly rated defenders said goodbye to the "Oranje" shirt. Even despite the defenders since then continued to concede very few goals in the post-Stam era, defence was considered as the greatest weakness. On 11 February 2009, Braafheid made his debut for the Dutch national team against Tunisia.

2008 Summer Olympics.

In early summer of 2008, Braafheid was selected for the Dutch Olympic Squad going to Beijing, along with fellow Twente defender Rob Wielaert, as one of the three possible dispensation players. But as Twente qualified for UEFA Champions League football in play-offs by beating Ajax, Braafheid and Wielaert were no longer allowed to go, as their Champions League matches were early in the season.

2010 World Cup.

Braafheid was included in the preliminary squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. On 27 May 2010, Netherlands manager Bert van Marwijk announced that the player would be part of the final squad of 23 competing in South Africa. Braafheid came on as a substitute in the World Cup final. Near the end of the second half of extra time he was hit in the back of his head by an accidental volley. Luckily, the ball fell right into the arms of the Dutch keeper Maarten Stekelenburg. The Netherlands went on to lose the match, thus making them the runners up for a third time in a World Cup final. Braafheid and the rest of his team were rewarded with a silver medal.

Edson René Braafheid (; born 8 April 1983) is a Dutch footballer who currently plays as a left-back for USL club Austin Bold FC.

Edson René Braafheid (* 8. dubna 1983, Paramaribo, Surinam) je nizozemský fotbalový obránce a reprezentant, který působí v italském klubu SS Lazio.


Club career.

ADO Den Haag.

Born in Paramaribo, Suriname, Castelen started his professional career with ADO Den Haag, playing two full seasons in the second division. He made his first-team debut at not yet 18, and contributed with nine goals in 24 games in 2002–03 as the club returned to the Eredivisie, as champions.  Castelen made his top level debut on 16 August 2003, in a 0–1 away loss against RKC Waalwijk. He only missed six matches during the campaign as The Hague side narrowly avoided relegation (15th position).

Feyenoord.

Castelen moved to Feyenoord for 2004–05, making his official debut for his new team on 15 August and scoring a brace in a 6–1 home win against De Graafschap. He netted 19 goals in his first two years with the Rotterdam side combined, as it finished fourth and third respectively.  Together with Salomon Kalou and Dirk Kuyt, Castelen was part of an efficient Feyenoord attack. He only appeared in 23 contests in his second year however, due to injury.  Castelen could only amass 12 league matches in 2006–07 due to an ankle ailment, as Feyenoord finished in seventh position. On 22 April 2007 he scored his only game of the season, in a 1–1 home draw against NEC Nijmegen.

Hamburger SV.

Castelen was declared fit prior to the start of the 2007–08 campaign, with his contract expiring at the end of that season. He was offered a new deal, but declined to sign it after deeming his future at the club as not very bright due to its recent results. However, when players like Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Kevin Hofland and Roy Makaay were signed, he reconsidered, but eventually agreed on terms with Hamburger SV from Germany in late July 2007, signing a four-year contract; he appeared in 79 official games for Feyenoord, scoring 21 goals.  Castelen made his Bundesliga debut on 11 August 2007, playing seven minutes in a 1–0 away win against Hannover 96. During his spell at the Volksparkstadion, however, he was plagued with constant injury problems, and he was released in June 2012 after his contract was not renewed.

Later years.

After nearly one year out of football, Castelen signed with Russian Premier League team FC Volga Nizhny Novgorod on 15 February 2013. He was released at the end of the season.  On 3 July 2013, Castelen returned to his homeland and its top division, joining RKC. Roughly one year later, he signed a two-year contract with A-League club Western Sydney Wanderers FC. He participated with his new team at the 2014 FIFA Club World Cup, scoring the opener against ES Sétif in the fifth-place match, which ended in a penalty shootout loss after a 2–2 draw.  In the 2015–16 campaign, Castelen netted seven goals overall. Three of those came in the final series' semi-finals, a 5–4 extra time win over Brisbane Roar FC. However, on 5 May 2016, he was released.  On 14 July 2016, Castelen signed with K-League Classic team Suwon Samsung Bluewings. In the 2018 January transfer window, the 34-year old returned to his country and joined VVV-Venlo, making his debut against former club Den Haag.

International career.

Castelen's solid beginnings with Feyenoord impressed newly appointed Dutch national team manager Marco van Basten, and the player made his debut with "Oranje" on 18 August 2004, starting in a 2–2 friendly draw in Sweden. His physical condition, however, denied him a spot in the squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.  Also in 2006, Castelen helped the under-21 team win the UEFA European Championship in Portugal.

Personal life.

In 1989, both Castelen's mother and sister died in the Surinam Airways Flight PY764 crash in which 15 Surinamese footballers lost their lives.

Honours.

Club.

Den Haag

Romeo Erwin Marius Castelen (born 3 May 1983) is a former footballer who played as a right winger. Born in Suriname, Castelen represented the Netherlands national football team.

Romeo Erwin Maurits Castelen (* 3. května 1983, Paramaribo, Surinam) je nizozemský fotbalový záložník a bývalý reprezentant, od léta 2016 bez angažmá. Mimo Nizozemsko působil na klubové úrovni v Německu, Rusku a Austrálii.