text_chunks:
<mask> (January 21, 1918January 2, 2011) was an officer of the United States Army and a decorated war veteran. He is best known for having commanded Easy Company of the 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the 101st Airborne Division, during World War II. He was eventually promoted to major and put in command of the 2nd Battalion. As a first lieutenant, <mask> parachuted into Normandy in the early hours of D-Day, June 6, 1944, and later fought across France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and eventually Germany. After the German surrender in May 1945, he left the 506th and was stationed in France, where senior officers were needed to oversee the return home. In 1951, during the Korean War, <mask> was recalled to the Army from the inactive list and briefly served as a regimental planning and training officer on staff at Fort Dix, New Jersey. After volunteering and completing training to become a Ranger, <mask> was issued orders for deployment and was preparing to depart for Korea, but instead left the Army under a provision that allowed officers who had served in World War II but had been inactive since to resign their commission.<mask> was discharged from the Army and returned to civilian life, working first in New Jersey and later in Pennsylvania, where he set up his own company selling chocolate byproducts from The Hershey Company to producers of animal feed. He was a regular guest lecturer at the United States Military Academy at West Point until his retirement in 1997. <mask> has been featured within numerous books and was portrayed by English actor Damian Lewis in the 2001 HBO mini-series Band of Brothers. Early life and education
<mask> was born in New Holland, Pennsylvania, to <mask> and <mask> on January 21, 1918. The family soon moved to nearby Ephrata, and then to Lancaster when he was eight years old. He graduated from Lancaster Boys High School in 1937 and attended Franklin and Marshall College. At Franklin and Marshall, <mask> was a member of the Upsilon chapter of Delta Sigma Phi fraternity and participated in intramural football and basketball.He had to give up wrestling, his favorite sport, and most of his social activities for his studies and the part-time jobs that paid his way through college. He graduated in 1941 with a B.S. in Economics. He obtained the highest academic standing in the business college. Military service

World War II
On August 25, 1941, <mask> enlisted in the Army. He would write in his memoirs that he "had no desire to get into the war" but joined to fulfill a one-year requirement of service and to avoid being drafted later. In September, he underwent basic training at Camp Croft, South Carolina.He remained at Camp Croft to help train draftees and other volunteers, while the rest of his battalion was deployed to Panama. In April 1942, four months after the United States entered World War II, he was selected to attend Officer Candidate School (OCS) at Fort Benning, Georgia. There he became friends with Lewis Nixon, with whom he would serve throughout the war. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the infantry after graduating from OCS on July 2, 1942. During his officer training, <mask> decided to join the parachute infantry, part of the U.S. Army's new airborne forces. Upon completing training, he returned to Camp Croft to train another class of draftees as there were no positions available in the paratroopers at that time. After five weeks, he received orders to join the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment (506th PIR) at Camp Toccoa (formerly Camp Toombs) in Georgia.The 506th was commanded by Colonel Robert Sink. <mask> arrived at Toccoa in mid-August 1942 and was assigned to Company E, 2nd Battalion, 506th PIR, which later became better known as "Easy Company" in accordance with the contemporaneous Joint Army/Navy Phonetic Alphabet. Serving under First Lieutenant Herbert Sobel, <mask> was made platoon leader of 2nd Platoon, earning a promotion to first lieutenant in October 1942 and made acting company executive officer, although this was not made official until May 1943. The 506th PIR was an experimental unit, the first regiment to undertake airborne training as a formed unit. The training at Toccoa was very tough. Of the 500 officers who had volunteered, only 148 completed the course; of 5,000 enlisted volunteers, only 1,800 were ultimately selected for duty as paratroopers. On June 10, 1943, after more tactical training at Camp Mackall, North Carolina, the 506th PIR was attached to Major General William Lee's 101st "Screaming Eagles" Airborne Division.Later in the year, they embarked on the Samaria, and arrived in Liverpool on 15 September 1943. They proceeded to Aldbourne, Wiltshire, where they began intense training for the Allied invasion of Europe planned for spring 1944. In November and December 1943, while Easy Company was at Aldbourne, the tension that had been brewing between <mask> and Sobel came to a head. For some time, <mask> had privately held concerns over Sobel's ability to lead the company in combat. Many of the enlisted men in the company had come to respect <mask> for his competence and had also developed their own concerns about Sobel's leadership. <mask> later said that he never wanted to compete with Sobel for command of Easy Company; still, Sobel attempted to bring <mask> up on trumped-up charges for "failure to carry out a lawful order". Feeling that his punishment was unjust, <mask> requested that the charge be reviewed by court-martial.After <mask>' punishment was set aside by the battalion commander, Major Robert L. Strayer, Sobel brought <mask> up on another charge the following day. During the investigation, <mask> was transferred to the Headquarters Company and appointed as the battalion mess officer. In the wake of this incident, several of the company's non-commissioned officers (NCOs) delivered an ultimatum to the regimental commander, Colonel Sink, threatening to surrender their stripes unless Sobel was replaced. <mask> tried unsuccessfully to talk them out of taking this step. Sink was not impressed by the threat, and several of the NCOs were subsequently demoted and/or transferred out of the company. Nevertheless, he realized that something had to be done and decided to transfer Sobel out of Easy Company, giving him command of a new parachute training school at Chilton Foliat. <mask>' court-martial was set aside and he returned to Easy Company as leader of 1st Platoon.<mask> later said he felt that despite his differences with Sobel, at least part of Easy Company's success had been due to Sobel's strenuous training and high expectations. In February 1944, First Lieutenant Thomas Meehan was given command of Easy Company. Meehan remained in command of the company until the invasion of Normandy, when at about 1:15 a.m. on June 6, 1944, D-Day, the C-47 Skytrain transporting the company Headquarters Section was shot down by German anti-aircraft fire, killing everyone on board. <mask> jumped that night and landed safely near Sainte-Mère-Église. Losing his weapon during the drop, he nevertheless oriented himself, assembled several paratroopers, including members of the 82nd Airborne Division, and proceeded toward the unit's assigned objective near Sainte-Marie-du-Mont. With Meehan's fate unknown, <mask> became the de facto commanding officer (CO) of Easy Company, which he remained for the duration of the Normandy campaign. Later that day, <mask> led an attack that destroyed a battery of German 105mm howitzers, which were firing onto the causeways that served as the principal exits from Utah Beach.The Americans estimated that the guns were defended by about a platoon of 50 German troops, while <mask> had 13 men. This action south of the village of Le Grand-Chemin, called the Brécourt Manor Assault, has been taught at the military academy at West Point as an example of a textbook assault on a fixed position by a numerically inferior force. In addition to destroying the battery, <mask> also obtained a map that showed German gun emplacements near Utah Beach. On July 1, 1944, <mask> was told that he had been promoted to captain. The next day, he was presented with the Distinguished Service Cross by General Omar Bradley, then the commander of the U.S. First Army. Shortly after, the 506th Parachute Infantry was withdrawn from France and returned to Aldbourne, England, for reorganization. In September 1944, the 506th PIR parachuted into the Netherlands, near the village of Son, north of Eindhoven, as part of Operation Market Garden, a combined airborne and armored operation.On 5 October 1944, a German force attacked the 2nd Battalion's flank and threatened to break through the American lines. At the same time, four men in an Easy Company patrol were wounded. Returning to the headquarters, they reported that they had encountered a large group of Germans at a crossroads about  to the east of the company command post. Realizing the seriousness of the situation, <mask> took one squad from 1st Platoon, and moved off toward the crossroads, where they observed a German machine gun firing to the south, toward the battalion headquarters, from a long distance. After surveying the position, <mask> led the squad in an assault on the gun crew. Soon after taking the position, the squad took fire from a German position opposite them. Estimating that this position was held by at least a platoon, <mask> called for reinforcements from the rest of the 1st Platoon and led them in a successful assault.Later it was discovered there had been at least 300 Germans. On October 9, <mask> became the battalion executive officer (XO), following the death of the battalion's former XO, Major Oliver Horton. Although this position was normally held by a major, <mask> filled it as a captain. The 101st Airborne Division was withdrawn to France soon afterward. On December 16, 1944, German forces launched a counter-offensive against the Western Allies in Belgium, commencing the Battle of the Bulge. The 101st Airborne Division was trucked to the Bastogne area two days later. Still serving as XO of the 2nd Battalion, <mask> helped defend the line northeast of Bastogne near the town of Foy.The entire 101st Airborne and elements of the 10th Armored Division battled about 15 German divisions, supported by heavy artillery and armor, for nearly a week before General George Patton's U.S. Third Army broke through the German lines surrounding Bastogne, reopening ground supply lines. After being relieved by Patton, the 2nd Battalion attacked Foy on January 9, 1945. On March 8, 1945, the 2nd Battalion was moved to Haguenau in Alsace, after which <mask> was promoted to major. Shortly afterwards, Robert Strayer, now a lieutenant colonel, was elevated to the regimental staff and <mask> took over as acting commander of the 2nd Battalion. In April, the battalion carried out defensive duties along the Rhine before deploying to Bavaria later in the month. In early May, the 101st Airborne Division received orders to capture Berchtesgaden. The 2nd Battalion set out from the town of Thale through streams of surrendering German soldiers and reached the alpine retreat at noon on 5 May 1945.Three days later, the war in Europe ended. After the end of hostilities, <mask> remained in Europe as the process of occupation and demobilization began. Even though he had enough points to return to the United States, he was told that he was needed in Germany. Later, he was offered a regular (non-reserve) commission, but declined it. He finally embarked from Marseille aboard the Wooster Victory on 4 November 1945. He was separated from the Army on November 29, 1945, although he was not officially discharged until January 22, 1946, and he remained on terminal leave until then. <mask> was recommended for the Medal of Honor for his leadership at Brécourt Manor, but instead received the U.S. Army's second-highest award for combat valor, the Distinguished Service Cross.After the release of the Band of Brothers television miniseries, Representative Tim Holden (D-PA) introduced a bill asking the President to grant the Medal, but the bill  died in the House Armed Services Committee Subcommittee on Military Personnel in 2007. Korean War

After leaving the Army, <mask> worked for his close wartime friend Captain Lewis Nixon at Nixon's family business, Nixon Nitration Works of Edison, New Jersey, rising to become general manager in 1950. On May 16, 1948, <mask> married Ethel Estoppey and continued to pursue his education through the GI Bill, attending a number of business and personnel management courses at Rutgers University. In June 1951, <mask> was recalled to active duty in the Army during the Korean War. He was ordered to join the 11th Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, but he was given six months to report and in this time he traveled to Washington, D.C., to speak to General Anthony McAuliffe, in the hope that he could convince the Army not to send him to Korea. He explained to McAuliffe that he had seen enough of war and apparently McAuliffe understood his position, but explained that he was needed because of his command experience. <mask> then reported to Fort Dix, New Jersey, where he was assigned as a regimental planning and training officer.While at Fort Dix, <mask> became disillusioned with his job, finding that he had little enthusiasm for training officers who lacked discipline and did not attend their scheduled classes. As a result, he volunteered to attend Ranger School, where he passed and became a Ranger. He then received orders to deploy to Korea and traveled to Seattle, where, during pre-deployment administration, he was offered the option of resigning his commission, which he accepted. Later life
<mask> was discharged from the Army and became a production supervisor at a plastics adhesive business, Nixon Nitration Works in New Brunswick, New Jersey. In 1951, he and his wife bought a small farm where later they built a home and raised two children. In 1972, <mask> went into business for himself, starting his own company and selling animal feed products to farmers throughout Pennsylvania. Soon afterward, he moved his family to Hershey, Pennsylvania.He retired in 1997. During the 1990s, <mask> was featured in a number of books and television series about his experiences and those of the men in Easy Company. In 1992, Stephen Ambrose wrote the book Band of Brothers: Easy Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest, which was subsequently turned into an HBO mini-series Band of Brothers, with Damian Lewis portraying <mask>. When the miniseries won Primetime Emmy awards, <mask> attended the ceremony to accept on behalf of Easy Company while other surviving members of the company watched from the St. Regis Hotel in Los Angeles. <mask> was also the subject of the 2005 book Biggest Brother: The Life of Major <mask>, The Man Who Led the Band of Brothers, written by Larry Alexander. His own memoir, Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major <mask>, co-written by military historian and retired U.S. Army Colonel Cole C. Kingseed, was published in early 2006. He also gave a number of lectures on leadership to cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point.On May 16, 2009, Franklin and Marshall College conferred an honorary doctorate in humane letters upon <mask>. Despite the many accolades he had received, <mask> remained humble about his service. During the interview segment of the miniseries Band of Brothers, <mask> quoted a passage from a letter he received from Sergeant Myron "Mike" Ranney: "I cherish the memories of a question my grandson asked me the other day when he said, 'Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?' Grandpa said 'No...but I served in a company of heroes'." Death

<mask> died on January 2, 2011, at an assisted living facility in Campbelltown, Pennsylvania, 19 days before his 93rd birthday. He had suffered from Parkinson's disease for several years. <mask> was buried in a private funeral service, which was held on 8 January 2011.He was buried in the Bergstrasse Evangelical Lutheran Church cemetery in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, next to his parents in the <mask>' family plot. His grave is marked "<mask><mask>, World War II 101st Airborne". His wife Ethel died in 2012, at age 89. Memorials
On June 6, 2012, the 68th anniversary of the D-Day landings, a 12-foot bronze statue of <mask> by sculptor Stephen C. Spears was unveiled near the village of Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, France . <mask> agreed for the statue to bear his resemblance on the condition that the monument would be dedicated to all junior officers who served and died during the Normandy landings. A cast of the sculpture was placed in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, in a plaza on the Ephrata-to-Warwick linear trail park near Railroad Avenue and East Fulton Street, where <mask> lived with his family from ages two to eight. That statue was dedicated on May 25, 2015.Some of <mask>' World War II uniforms and memorabilia are on display at three museums:
 December 44 Museum – Battle of the Bulge – La Gleize, Belgium
 Gettysburg Museum of History - Gettysburg Pennsylvania

Medals and decorations

 Five Overseas Service Bars for serving 2½ years overseas in Europe. In 2001, <mask>, as a representative on behalf of the U.S. Army, was one of five World War II veterans to be awarded the Freedom Medal & Freedom from Fear Medal from the Roosevelt Institute. References

External links

 Beyond Band of Brothers : The war memoirs of Major <mask>
 <mask>' military records, courtesy of the national Archives

1918 births
2011 deaths
United States Army personnel of World War II
American Lutherans
Band of Brothers characters
Franklin & Marshall College alumni
Operation Overlord people
People from New Holland, Pennsylvania
People from Lancaster, Pennsylvania
People from Hershey, Pennsylvania
Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United States)
United States Army officers
Recipients of the Croix de Guerre (France)
20th-century Lutherans
Military personnel from Pennsylvania

masks:
Richard Davis Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Richard
Edith Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Dick Winters
Dick Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Richard D
. Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Winters
Dick Winters
Winters


text_chunks:
<mask> (also Frassi) was born c. 1730 and died in 1772 or after May 1774. She was an Italian soprano who was primarily active in London. She sang in every one of Handel's English oratorios (with the exception of Semele), including various world premières for which the composer wrote roles specifically for her. Early life and career

Italy
There is very little biographical information about <mask>. She was born in or around Milan before 1730. She had a younger brother named Giovanni who, like her, settled in England and died there in 1795 at 65, after having worked extensively as a tailor-embroiderer for the Prince of Wales. In her native Italy <mask> studied singing with Milanese composer Giuseppe Ferdinando Brivio.She also performed there for a few years during the early 1740s making her operatic debut at Lodi (1740) and then singing in Alessandria (1740), Bergamo (1741), and Modena (1742). London
She moved to London in autumn 1742 – perhaps following Giuseppe Ferdinando Brivio – with her friend and fellow singer the contralto Caterina Galli. In England she joined Lord Middlesex's Italian opera company. Lord Middlesex was director of Italian opera at the Haymarket Theatre whose purpose was to challenge Handel's solid hold on London opera goers. She studied under the English educator, musician and historian Charles Burney. Her English career began shortly after her arrival, first performing in comprimario roles at the King's Theatre. Her profile rising gradually within the company, she soon appears in secondary roles, including breeches roles (for example: Taxiles (1743) and Cleon (1747–8), both in Rossane, and the giant Briareus in the première of Gluck's La caduta de' giganti in 1746).Her actual London début took place on 2 November 1742 at the King's Theatre as Mahobeth in the pasticcio Gianguir with music by Giovanni Battista Lampugnani, Johann Adolph Hasse and Giuseppe Ferdinando Brivio. The latter's music will also be used in two other pasticcios produced at the King's Theatre during the 1740s: Mandane, premièred on 12 December 1742 (and later, L'incostanza delusa, premièred on 9 February 1745). This was followed straight away by a period of intense artistic activity on the London stage, still at the King's Theater, singing works by Giovanni Battista Lampugnani, Johann Adolph Hasse, Nicola Porpora, Baldassare Galuppi. However, just a couple of years after her arrival in the British capital, shortly after the première of the pasticcio L'incostanza delusa, all theatres in London were closed because of the political turmoil caused by the Stuart rising. When the political situation improved theatrical activities recommenced with a première of Christoph Willibald Gluck's opera La caduta de' giganti (The Fall of the Giants) on 17 January 1746. La caduta de' giganti, a command from Lord Middlesex, with a libretto by Vanneschi, glorified the hero of the battle of Culloden, the Duke of Cumberland. <mask>, who had created the role of the giant Briareo for Gluck, was back on stage and continued her intense musical activity: first with a role in Gluck's second London opera (Artamene) and then with works by Matteo Capranica, Antonio Caldara, Francesco Maria Veracini, Domènec Terradellas, Pietro Domenico Paradisi and others.In addition, her association with the annual charity concerts in aid of the Fund for Decay'd - known today as the Royal Society of Musicians - started as early as 1743. The earliest documented occasion (a fundraiser event) on which she performed English-language airs, including some by Handel, in public was as early as March 1746. Her charity fundraising also included benefactors such as the Foundling Hospital, where Handel held regular benefit concerts and annual performances of Messiah that continued until Handel's death and beyond, the Jermyn Lying-in Hospital, in aid of which she sang in a performance of Arne's revised version of Alfred organised at the King's Theatre on 12 May 1753, and many others. Noticed by Handel
A few years after her London début she is noticed by Handel, who, appreciating her singing, her determination to sing articulately in English and, above all, her musical expressiveness, hires her for his 1749 season. That same year she becomes his principal soprano and sings the title role in Susanna (her first Handel oratorio). Handel takes her under his wing and she quickly becomes one of his favourites. "The subtle artistry and emotional depth of Handel's [powerful] writing for Frasi" is a testament to how expressive her singing must have been and to how much Handel must have estimated this particular talent of hers.For example, in Theodora (premièred in 1750 with <mask> being once again the principal soprano in a title role written specifically for her by Handel), Act II, Scene 2 opens with "a plaintive symphony for flutes and strings establish[ing] the lonely despair of the character, and [then] her dread for the violation of her chastity is sublimely expressed in 'With Darkness deep as is my Woe' – in the extraordinary key of F sharp minor; [...with] pathos-generating rolling strings and almost unbearable uses of silence between phrases. After an interlude of 'soft Musick' the desperate woman prays effusively for divine deliverance in 'O that I on Wings cou'd rise'." 1749, a busy year
Some of <mask> <mask>'s engagements during the year 1749:

 Twice weekly: noon concerts at Ranelagh with the tenor John Beard. revival of Handel's Messiah. revival of Handel's Hercules. 10 February: production of Handel's Susanna (including première and creation of the role of Susanna). 17 March: production of Handel's Solomon (including première and creation of the principal soprano roles).6 April: puts on her own benefit concert at the New Theatre. 10 April: concert for the benefit of the five-year-old singer Cassandra Frederick, with whom <mask> may later have starred in the première of Handel's The Triumph of Time and Truth (1757) and the revivals of Handel's oratorios Belshazzar (1758), Jephtha (1758), Messiah (1758), Judas Maccabaeus (1759), and Thomas Arne's The Masque of Alfred (1759). 13 April: benefit concert for her friend and colleague Caterina Galli. 24 April: Mr Tozzi's concert at Hickford's Room. Private life

Addresses in London
From 1745 to 1752 <mask> lived in Great Pulteney street, not far from Golden Square. Great Pulteney Street had just been laid out during the area's redevelopment in the early eighteenth century (Many of the houses built at this time still survive today). The street was never fashionable though, nor was it identified with any trade or craft.Yet there was a large brewery and there were famous musical instrument makers as well: notably Kirkman's, which had been established there in 1739 and remained until 1750, and, from 1742 to 1774, the harpsichord-maker Burkat Shudi, founder of the firm now known as Broadwood & Sons. Composer Michael Festing also lived there between 1747 and 1752. Then she moved to Gerrard Street, which is now part of London's Chinatown. She lived there at Charles Churchill's (Horace Walpole's future brother-in-law) for many years with her daughter (born in 1743). At the time, the City of Westminster had its Penny Post offices at number 39. In 1740, No. 44 had become an apothecary's shop and was occupied until 1765 by the apothecary to George III's household.Many artists lived in Gerrard Street, for instance: the painter Chevalier Andrea Casali, or the architect John Crunden. The tavern at number 9 was the first home of The Club, founded in 1764 by Joshua Reynolds and Dr. Samuel Johnson. Wages

She was paid 6 guineas, very high wages at the time, for the charity revivals of Handel's Solomon at the Foundling Hospital in 1754, 1758 and 1759. She was the highest paid singer at Handel's Foundling Hospital performances of Messiah. Voice
<mask> <mask> was endowed with a beautiful and robust soprano voice whose expressive qualities were greatly valued by Handel,  much more than her technical ones. Indeed, allegedly, <mask> had a very limited interest in studying and practicing; Burney tells us an anecdote showing the composer's sarcasm about Giulia's motivation regarding training: "When Frasi told him, that she should study hard; and was going to learn Thorough-Base, in order to accompany herself: Handel, who well knew how little this pleasing singer was addicted to application and diligence, says, 'Oh – vaat may we not expect!' " Nonetheless she did study under Handel -  along with Caterina Galli -  and benefited greatly from his tuition.In his General History of Music (1789), Charles Burney remembers her at the beginning of her career as "[being...] young, and interesting in person, with a sweet and clear voice, and a smooth and chaste style of singing, which, though, cold and unimpassioned, pleased natural ears, and escaped the censure of critics." She had excellent reviews, especially in Salisbury, and was highly appreciated by the British public, whose preference yet was the nightingale singing of castrati rather than a voice whose abilities had nothing exceptional however delicate it was.Although it is to be noted that she did reprise some castrati roles in revivals (for example in Artaxerxes) and that arias written specifically for her do occasionally include fiery - if short - coloraturas. "Gracious Heav'n, O hear me!" composed by Arne for Frasi and added to The Masque of Alfred is a "lively da capo aria di bravura." "Là per l'ombrosa sponda! ", found in Vincenzo Ciampi's Trionfo di Camilla is another example of virtuoso aria written for Frasi. Both arias are strongly influenced by the Neapolitan school, whose composers Frasi had sung earlier in her career.Burney also recorded that a virtuoso aria by Pergolesi "was sung at concerts by Frasi for ten years, at least." However, inspired by her rare and particular talent in musical expressiveness, Handel composed for her music of overwhelming sensitivity and beauty. "Time and time again [you] feel [yourself] drawn to the empathetic temperament and lyrical ease of the vocal writing, embodied in the music Handel wrote for her." Her roles contain vivid scenes of emotional and spiritual drama; they depict suffering and distress along with courage, dignity, and selflessness,  a whole palette of subtle and complex human emotions. The wonderful series of oratorio parts Handel composed for her, including the two Queens in Solomon, the title roles in Susanna and Theodora, and Iphis in Jephtha, are an indication of his regard for her expressive powers, though they are not technically arduous; their extreme compass is B3 to A5. Following in Handel's steps, Smith's Paradise Lost required Frasi to express innocence, culpability, pious sorrow and penitence when Eve faces the consequences of her new and inevitable mortality. The aria "It comes" is a showcase of Smith's and <mask>'s abilities in conveying such emotions.Rebecca is another example of Smith showcasing <mask>'s talent at expressing human feelings in music. On a different note, Burney highlights that "having come to this country at an early period of her life, she pronounced our language in singing in a more articulate and intelligible manner than the natives". Repertoire
Note that the table below is not exhaustive.

masks:
Giulia Frasi
Giulia Frasi
Frasi
Frasi
Frasi
Giulia
Frasi
Frasi
Giulia
Giulia
Frasi
Giulia
Frasi
Frasi


text_chunks:
 Note also that the works/events listed in bold are documented; the ones not in bold are plausible suppositions. Second part and end of career

Handel's last prima donna
As of 1749 Giulia sings in all of the Covent Garden concerts that Handel gave for the rest of his life  and she remained Handel's Prima Donna in all his later seasons, creating and interpreting parts he often wrote specifically for her. Her greatest successes were Handel's oratorios. From 1750 Messiah had annual performances at the Foundling Hospital until Handel's death and beyond.Based on Frasi's professional relationship with Handel and her involvement in charity, she is likely to have taken part in most of them. Indeed, David Vickers states that "Frasi participated in all of Handel's annual performances of Messiah, in the chapel of the Foundling Hospital (from 1750)." Many of Handel's oratorios had numerous revivals with her, including in provencial cities: Oxford in 1754, 1756, 1759, Salisbury in 1758, 1761, 1765, Ranelagh in 1751, 1752, and for nine consecutive years at the Three Choir festival (1756- 64). For instance:

On Saturday 22 June 1754 the Oxford Journal published the following advertising:

 On Wednesday the 3rd, Thursday the 4th and Friday the 5th of July, being the three Days following the Commemoration of Founders and Benefactors to the University, L'Allegro, il Penseroso, &c. Judas Macchabæus, and Messiah will be performed in the Theatre. The principal Vocal Parts by SIGNORA FRASI, Mr. BEARD, Mr. WASS, and others; and the Instrumental Parts by many of the most excellent Performers of every Kind from LONDON. Further particulars will be specified in the Bills of each Days Performance.On Saturday 30 June 1759 the Oxford Journal published the following advertising:

 On Tuesday the 3rd of July (the Day of the Installation) will be performed, in the Theatre, the Oratorio of SAMSON; on Wednesday the 4th (the Day appointed for commemorating our Founders and  Benefactors), the Oratorio of ESTHER; and on the 5th MESSIAH, or the SACRED ORATORIO; together with select pieces between the Acts (as will be specified in the Bill of each Days Performance) by a numerous and excellent Band  from London, Bath and other Places. The principal Vocal Parts by Signora <mask>, Miss Brent, Mess. BEARD, CHAMPNES, WASS and HUDSON from London and Master NORRIS from Salisbury. TICKETS are to be had at Mr. Cross's Music Shop and at the Coffee Houses; Price FIVE SHILLINGS. Throughout the 1750s, "<mask>'s concert repertoire stretched from Purcell to Terradellas." She was considered a paramount principal soprano in English oratorios or other works of the sort by Handel and by other composers. <mask> was at nine consecutive meetings of the Three Choirs Festival: she sang for William Boyce at Hereford in 1756, then she performed for Arne, and so on.She gave regular concerts in Oxford too. She also continued to be part of the Covent Garden oratorio concerts given by Handel and, later, by John Christopher Smith and John Stanley. (The latter two would produce their own oratorios (or other works suitable for the occasion) whilst also putting together revivals of Handel's.) In fact, after Handel's death in 1759, <mask> continued as Prima Donna under his successors until about 1768. In total <mask> also participated in at least fourteen opera seasons at the King's Theatre between 1742 and 1761. In addition to which, during the 1754-1756 seasons, <mask> regularly covered for Regina Mingotti. (Mingotti's fits of temper, antagonisms with the director of the opera company of the King's Theatre and ailings often made her "indisposed".<mask> covered for her many a time, more often than not ending up taking over Mingotti's role for the rest of the performances as Regina Mingotti "[would] not yet [have] recovered of her indisposition". Michael Burden quotes the following newspaper clip:

 Signora Mingotti having acquainted Sig Vanneschi Yesterday Afternoon that she continues very much indisposed, and is not able to sing To morrow night, by which Reason the Opera called Ezio cannot be performed; instead thereof Sig. Vanneschi begs Leave to perform the Opera of Andromaca, in which Signora <mask> will do the part of Signora Mingotti; and Signora Peralta is to do the part of Signora <mask>. During the 1760s, <mask> continued to play a prominent part in the musical life of London. She seems to have transitioned smoothly to the new music style of the generation of composers younger than her; composers like Philip Hayes, who announce the advent of the Classical Era. She was part of the London Stage for about 31 years in total. Aside from interpreting Handel's and other composers' music on stage, <mask> also continued to sing regularly in charity concerts; she also took part regularly in the annual Musicians Fund (and other) benefits, and sang at the Castle and Swan concerts, at Ranelagh and elsewhere.Progressive retirement
From 1764 onwards her public appearances became less frequent. In 1767 she appeared at London's Covent Garden in Esther  and at Haberdashers' Hall in Messiah. She made her last appearances in 1769 in Handel's Judas Maccabaeus at the King's Theatre, and as Arbaces in Artaxerxes by Thomas Arne. The latter is her last known appearance on the stage in an opera. Finally, in 1770 - after having been "confined for some Time by a bad State of Health" - she appeared again at the Little Theatre for a charity concert to her own benefit singing Judas Maccabaeus. But the organisation of the concert was plagued with difficulties which eventually lead her to give a "full-scale oratorio [...] at the unsociable hour of noon." Three years later she appeared in a few concerts, making a new "come-back" about which The Morning Post and Daily Advertiser wrote sarcastically: "Signora Frazi, who may be said, with respect to the musical world, to have been long since dead and buried, is expected to rise again in Lent[.]"Vickers adds that "the soprano's comeback comprised a few scattered concerts at inauspicious venues". A significant musical figure
<mask> <mask> was not only able to quickly win over the London Opera Stage, but she had Handel's assent as well. She also gained the affection and became a favourite of the English public. The thirty-one-year career that <mask> enjoyed in London was much broader and varied than being Handel's last prima donna. She also sang composers as varied as Gluck, the Venetian heritage style of Galuppi, the Neapolitans like Porpora, Pergolesi, Lampugnani, Hasse, Cocchi, and English composers, among which Boyce, Smith, Hayes and Arne. Operas and oratorios on the London stage were a rather important part of her career but so was her music making in other occasions. She did have a non-negligeable place in London's community of musicians and participated in the cultural richness and musical diversity of London and Britain during the mid-Georgian era.Ruby Hughes says of the roles written by Handel for <mask> <mask> that they "seem to engender a depth of female characterisation which may well have subverted the norm at a time". She adds that "Encountering Frasi through the music that was written for her, and contemplating her career as a musician, has been a tremendous source of inspiration" [...and that she is]  "struck by the significance of [<mask>'s] considerable achievements." Undoubtedly, <mask> <mask> was one of the significant musical figures of London from the 1740s to the 1760s. Death
<mask>'s infamous profligacy inevitably caused problems when her vocal powers ran out. Her accumulated debts due to her expensive and extravagant lifestyle reduced her to poverty, so much so that, in her latest years, after her last documented concert at Hickford's Room on 16 May 1774, she found herself forced to flee to Calais where she died destitute. Discography
 There are countless commercial recordings of Handel's works, including the ones sung by <mask> <mask>. Handel's Last Prima Donna: <mask> <mask> In London.Ruby Hughes (soprano); Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Laurence Cummings. (Chaconne Hybrid SACD, Chandos CHSA0403, 2018). This CD is a tribute to <mask> <mask> and includes 4 world première recordings of works by Ciampi, Hayes and Smith. There is a historical and musicological essay by David Vickers in the CD booklet. Mozart in London. Helen Sherman (soprano); The Mozartists, Ian Page. (Signum Classics, B07BF2482X, 2018).This CD offers a musical landscape of the London of the 1760s. The tracklist encompasses works by J. C. Bach, Abel, Pescetti, Perez, Rush and Bates, many of which are world première recordings. It also includes two arias from Artaxerxes by Thomas Arne and both are arias <mask> <mask> would have sung in the 1763 revival: Act I, Scene 2: "Amid a thousand racking Woes" and Act I, Scene 13: "O too lovely, too unkind." Notes

References

 Vickers, David: Handel's last prima donna: <mask> <mask> in London. CHSA0403, Chaconne Super Audio CD. Colchester, England: Finn S. Gundersen & Chandos Early Music, 2008. Dean, Winton: "Frasi [Frassi], <mask>".(2001), OxfordMusicOnline. Campi, Paola, in "Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani", 1998. Enciclopedia Treccani. E. Ferrettini, C. W. Gluck, Torino 1914, p. 31
 P.H. Lang, Händel, Milano 1985, pp. 511 s., 536, 555, 560, 585
 A. Loewenberg, Annals of opera, I, 1597-1940, Genêve 1955, col. 228
 P.H. Highfill - K.A.Buenim - E.A. Langhans, A biographical Dict. of actors, actress, musicians... in London, 1660–1800, V, Carbondale, IL, 1978, pp. 398 s.
 W. Dean, "G. F.", in The New Grove Dict. of music and musicians, London 1980, VI, p. 808
 Diz. enc. univ.della musica e dei musicisti, App., pp. 292 s.
 BHO - British History Online
 New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2ª Ed. (2001)
 Bucciarelli, Melania (2006). Italian opera in Central Europe (La ópera italiana en Centroeuropa) (in English). Berlín: Berliner Wissenschafts / Verlag. Burden, Michael (2013). Regina Mingotti: Diva and Impresario at the King's Theatre, London.London: Royal Musical Association Monographs, Ashgate. Pascual, Josep (2004). Ed. Robinbook, ed. Guía Universal de la Música Clásica.. 8496222098. p. 445. . Consultado el 22 de octubre de 2010. (enlace roto disponible en Internet Archive; véase el historial y la última versión). AA., VV.(1999). Ópera. Könemann Verlagsgesellschaft. The New Grove Dict. of Opera, II, pp. 289 s.
 Metastasio, Pietro (1751). Demetrio.Ed. Lorenzo Francisco Mojados. Madrid. Howell, Caro (2014). "How Handel's Messiah helped London's orphans – and vice versa". Guardian News & Media Limited. Shaw (1965).A Textual and Historical Companion to Handel's Messiah. Burney, Charles (1935) [1789]. F. Mercer (ed.). A General History of Music from the Earliest Ages to the Present Period. Oxford Publishing Company. Morin, Alexander J. (1998)."CD Review - George Frideric Handel, Alceste - Incidental Music HWV 45". ClassicalNet
 Croll, Gerhard. "Christoph Willibald Gluck, German composer". Encyclopædia Britannica. The Oxford Journal (1754 and 1759), British Newspaper Archive
 http://www.quellusignolo.fr/

Italian operatic sopranos
Year of birth unknown
Year of death unknown
18th-century Italian women opera singers
Singers from Milan
1730s births
1770s deaths
Italian expatriates in

masks: Frasi Frasi Frasi Frasi Frasi Giulia Frasi Frasi Frasi Frasi Giulia Giulia Frasi Frasi Giulia Frasi Frasi Giulia Frasi Frasi Giulia Frasi Giulia Frasi Giulia Frasi Giulia Frasi Giulia Frasi Giulia


text_chunks:
<mask> (born 1966) is an independent Canadian filmmaker. She is a writer and director of award-winning feature films, numerous shorts and has created site specific installations and theatre. Her features, Double Happiness and Long Life, Happiness & Prosperity both premiered in the US at the Sundance Film Festival and Double Happiness won the Wolfgang Staudte Prize for Best First Feature at the Berlin Film Festival and the Audience Award at Torino. She was director resident at the Canadian Film Centre in Toronto. She was also a member of an alternative rock band called Playdoh Republic. Early life
<mask> was born in Hong Kong in 1966 and came to Vancouver with her family at the age of one. Her family, who had originally left Maoist China, settled in Vancouver as part of the first wave of Chinese immigration.In her early school years, Shum was interested in acting and theatre, and decided to pursue these interests despite her parents' disapproval. Shum attended the University of British Columbia from 1983 to 1989, and received a B.A. in theatre as well as a Diploma in Film Production. At the age of 19, Shum decided that she wanted to be a filmmaker after watching a film by Peter Weir titled, Gallipoli. From Gallipoli she discovered that "one, you could make a film that wasn't American-centric as well as find an audience and two, you could marry beautiful visuals with a very intimate story." After receiving her degree, she was briefly part of the director's program at the Canadian Film Centre, in Toronto. Shum is also close friends with fellow filmmaker, Ann Marie Fleming, whom she met in 1989 while they were both students.Career
Although she is often pigeonholed as a "Chinese-Canadian woman film director," Shum prefers to be known as an "independent filmmaker", rather than one of national identity. She views this label as one way to get audiences to view her film without prejudice. When discussing her association with feminism and multiculturalism Shum says, "Because I'm a living breathing human being in Vancouver, which is a very multicultural city, and I'm a woman, I tend to get tagged as someone who might write about "issues." But that's not where it starts for me, it starts on a very human level. I use narrative to reveal things that people don't see." Shum describes herself as being an enthusiastic consumer of ideas, movies, art, theatre, music, dance, fiction, and non-fiction. When discussing her inspirations she says, "I read interviews with people I've never heard of.And I listen to both friends and strangers speak. I live entirely, throw myself into situations, get my heart broken, soar with infatuations. And somehow all that gets funneled through my guiding intention, which is to reflect and reveal how we can be happier. How to live more authentically, how to make the most out of this one life." Short films
Shum's first short film, Picture Perfect, is a 1989 release about a man obsessed with pornography and the effects of media on his personal life. The film is based on Shum's ex-boyfriend being a pornography addict and her experiences finding out about it. She ended up casting him in the lead role.Picture Perfect was nominated for "Best Short Drama" at the 1989 Yorkton Film Festival. In 1993, Shum released a 20-minute documentary about her family titled, Me, Mom and Mona. The film is reminiscent of a television talk show surrounding the lives of three women. Through the duration of the film, the women discuss the complexities of familial history and the sometimes strained relationship with the patriarch of the family. The film was well-received and won "Best Short Film" at the Toronto International Film Festival. Shum has written and directed several other short films, including: Shortchanged, Love In, Hunger, and Thirsty. Her most recent short film titled, Hip Hop Mom, was released online in 2011 and has garnered thousands of hits.Feature films
Shum has directed four feature-length films. Her first feature-length film, Double Happiness, was released in 1994, and stars Sandra Oh. Double Happiness, is a semi-autobiographical film based on Shum's early experiences of leaving home as a teenager. The film is about an aspiring actress trying to assert her independence from the expectations of her Chinese Canadian family. Double Happiness won numerous awards including: the "Wolfgang Staudte Award" at the Berlin International Film Festival, the "Audience Award" at the Torino International Festival of Young Cinema, and "Best Canadian Feature Film" at the Toronto International Film Festival. <mask>'s second feature film, Drive, She Said, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 1997 and was in official competition at the Turin Delle Donne Film Festival. Drive, She Said, is about a woman that is willingly taken hostage by a bank robber and accompanies him cross country to visit his ailing mother and her estranged family.Her third feature film, Long Life, Happiness & Prosperity was screened as part of the Canadian Perspective Program at the 2002 Toronto International Film Festival and at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. The film is about a young girl who uses Taoist magic to help her mother's financial situation and love life. In her three narrative feature films, Double Happiness, Drive, She Said, and Long Life, Happiness, and Prosperity, Shum uses a comedic approach to depict the Chinese Canadian family in multicultural Canada. She says that as a Chinese immigrant, she uses humour to characterize society in general. Shum's films often features ironic, discontented young women that want to leave home for something better. In her films, Shum characterizes home as being a place of conflict, boredom, and disappointment. Her depiction of familial negotiations ensure conflicts for her protagonists.In February 2014, Shum began shooting in Montreal on a National Film Board of Canada feature documentary entitled Ninth Floor, about the Sir George Williams Affair student protest. Filming coincided with the 45th anniversary of the incident. Ninth Floor premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. It deals with an incident in 1969 at Sir George Williams University (later merged into Concordia University) where students occupied a ninth-floor computer lab to protest the handling by school officials of a complaint about racial discrimination. At the 2015 Vancouver International Film Festival, Shum was awarded the Women in Film+Television Artistic Merit Award for Ninth Floor. Filmography

 Picture Perfect (1989)
  Shortchanged (1990) (Short)
  Love In (1991) (Short)
  Hunger (1991) (Short)
 Me, Mom, and Mona (1993) (Short)
 Double Happiness (1994)
 Drive, She Said (1997)
  Thirsty (1998) (Short)
 You are What You Eat (2001) (Installation)
 Bliss (2002) (TV)
 Long Life, Happiness & Prosperity (2002)
 Mob Princess (2003) (TV movie)
 The Shields Stories (2004) (TV)
 Romeo! References

External links

 Interview with <mask>m: The Director's Question
 Rusty Talk with <mask>m

1966 births
Living people
Canadian television directors
Canadian women film directors
Hong Kong emigrants to Canada
Naturalized citizens of Canada
Film directors from Vancouver
University of British Columbia alumni
Canadian Film Centre alumni
Canadian women television directors
Asian-Canadian filmmakers

masks:
Mina Shum
Mina Shum
Shum
Mina Shu
Mina Shu


text_chunks:
<mask> "<mask>" <mask> (born March 2, 1931) is an American information scientist. From 1972 until 1989 she was director of the Network Information Systems Center at the Stanford Research Institute (SRI International). Her group operated the Network Information Center (NIC) for the ARPANET as it evolved into the Defense Data Network (DDN) and the Internet. Early life and education
<mask> was born on March 2, 1931 in Wheeling, West Virginia, where she also grew up. She received an undergraduate degree from West Liberty State College, the first from her family to attend college. Career

Early career
She was working toward a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Purdue University when she decided to earn some money by working for a year or two before starting on her thesis. Working at the Chemical Abstracts Service in Columbus, Ohio, she served as an assistant editor on a huge project to index the world's chemical compounds.There she became intrigued with the challenges of creating such large data compilations and never returned to biochemistry. Instead, in 1960, she relocated to California and joined the Information Research Department at the Stanford Research Institute (now SRI International) where she worked to develop the Handbook of Psychopharmacology and the Chemical Process Economics Handbook. ARPANET and NIC
Feinler was leading the Literature Research section of SRI's library when, in 1972, Doug Engelbart recruited her to join his Augmentation Research Center (ARC), which was sponsored by the Information Processing Techniques Office of the US Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA). Her first task was to write a Resource Handbook for the first demonstration of the ARPANET at the International Computer Communication Conference. By 1974 she was the principal investigator to help plan and run the new Network Information Center (NIC) for the ARPANET. The NIC provided reference service to users (initially over the phone and by physical mail), maintained and published a directory of people (the "white pages"), a resource handbook (the "yellow pages", a list of services) and the protocol handbook. After the Network Operations Center at Bolt, Beranek and Newman brought new hosts onto the network, the NIC registered names, provided access control for terminals, audit trail and billing information, and distributed Request for Comments (RFCs).<mask>, working with Steve Crocker, <mask>, <mask> and other members of the Network Working Group (NWG), developed RFCs into the official set of technical notes for the ARPANET and later the Internet. The NIC provided the first links to on-line documents using the NLS Journal system developed at ARC. Engelbart continued leading-edge research in the ARC, while the NIC provided a service to all network users. This led to establishing the NIC as a separate project with <mask> as manager. The NWG and <mask>'s team defined a simple text file format for host names in 1974, and revised the format several times as the networks evolved. The host table itself was continuously updated on almost a daily basis. In 1975, the Defense Communication Agency (DCA) took operational control and support, and over time split the ARPANET into research and military networks.DCA used the name Defense Data Network to refer to the combination, and the NIC served as its information center. When e-mail and the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) became available around 1976, the NIC used them to deliver information to users via the network. In 1977, Postel moved to the Information Sciences Institute, and the RFC editor and number assignment functions moved with him, while the NIC stayed at SRI. By 1979, <mask> and her group were working on ways to scale up the name service. In 1982, an Internet protocol was defined by Ken Harrenstien and Vic White in her group to access the online directory of people, called Whois. As the Internet expanded, the Domain Name System was designed to handle the growth by delegating naming authority to distributed name servers. Her group became the overall naming authority of the Internet, developing and managing the name registries of the top-level domains of .mil, .gov, .edu, .org, and .com.Even the names of the top-level domains, based on generic categories such as .com were suggestions of the NIC team, approved by the Internet developer community. Later career
After <mask> left SRI, in 1989, she worked as a network requirements manager and helped develop guidelines for managing the NASA Science Internet (NSI) NIC at the NASA Ames Research Center. <mask> donated an extensive collection of early Internet papers to the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California and after she retired from NASA in 1996 worked as a volunteer at the museum to organize the material. She published a history of the NIC in 2010. In 2012, <mask> was inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame by the Internet Society. In July, 2013 she received the Jonathan B. Postel Service Award "for her contributions to the early development and administration of the Internet through her leadership of the Network Information Center (NIC) for the ARPANET". Nickname
<mask> explains how she got her nickname, "<mask>":
When I was born, double names were popular.My real name is <mask> <mask>, and my family was going to call me <mask> to match my sister’s name, Mary Lou. Only two at the time, my sister’s version of <mask> sounded like <mask>. I always say, Thank goodness they dropped the "Baby". References

External links
<mask>'s bibliography from dblp: Computer Science Bibliography
"Internet History 1969", web pages, Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA, USA
"<mask> (<mask>) Feinler photos", MouseSite Photo Gallery, Science and Technology in the Making (STIM) web site, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
  Video of interview. Internet pioneers
Women Internet pioneers
Living people
People from Wheeling, West Virginia
Purdue University alumni
SRI International people
West Liberty University alumni
1931 births
21st-century American chemists
American women chemists
Scientists from West Virginia
21st-century American women
20th-century American women

masks:
Elizabeth Jocelyn
Jake
Feinler
Feinler
Feinler
Jon Postel
Joyce Reynolds
Feinler
Feinler
Feinler
Feinler
Feinler
Feinler
Feinler
Jake
Elizabeth Jocelyn
Feinler
Betty Jo
Betty Jo
Baby Jake
Elizabeth Feinler
Elizabeth
Jake


text_chunks:
<mask>. (April 23, 1961 – July 16, 2001) was an American professional wrestler. Gordy appeared in the United States with promotions such as Mid-South Wrestling, Georgia Championship Wrestling, World Class Championship Wrestling, Jim Crockett Promotions/World Championship Wrestling and the Universal Wrestling Federation as a member of The Fabulous Freebirds. He also appeared in Japan with All Japan Pro Wrestling as one-half of The Miracle Violence Connection. Championships held by <mask> over the course of his career include the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, AJPW World Tag Team Championship, WCW World Tag Team Championship, NWA World Tag Team Championship, UWF Heavyweight Championship and SMW Heavyweight Championship. He has been posthumously inducted into the Wrestling Observer, Professional Wrestling, and WWE Hall of Fame. Professional wrestling career

Early career (1975–1982)
A standout high school football and baseball player at Rossville High School, <mask> dropped out of high school following his freshman year and started wrestling in 1975 at the age of 14 as <mask> for the International Wrestling Association. In early 1979, he began wrestling under his real name and formed The Fabulous Freebirds with Michael Hayes, with Buddy Roberts later added to the group.In 1980, the Freebirds moved to Georgia Championship Wrestling, where they won the territory’s tag team championship. The Fabulous Freebirds had feuds while there, including those against Tommy Rich, Junkyard Dog, Kevin Sullivan, Austin Idol, and Ted DiBiase. One match on the Saturday night WTBS Georgia Championship Wrestling show saw the Freebirds take on the Junkyard Dog and Ted DiBiase. Towards the end of the match, <mask> gave DiBiase 4 consecutive piledrivers, which led to DiBiase being taken away in an ambulance. In 1981, the Freebirds split up when Buddy Roberts left the area. Michael and <mask> then had a falling out, which led to a feud against each other. <mask> and Michael eventually put their differences aside, and reformed the Freebirds as a duo in 1982 where they feuded with Ole Anderson and Stan Hansen.Memphis CWA Wrestling and Mid South Wrestling (1979–1985)
The Freebirds came to Memphis the first time in 1979 and feuded mainly with Jerry Lawler & Bill Dundee. When in mid South Wrestling, he formed The Fabulous Freebirds as the suggestion by Bill Watts with Michael Hayes and Buddy Roberts. They returned in 1984 to feud with Lawler & Austin Idol and later with Lawler & Phil Hickerson. World Class Championship Wrestling (1982–1989)
In 1982, the Freebirds went to World Class Championship Wrestling and had a feud with the Von Erichs (David, Kevin, Kerry and Mike) that was kicked off when <mask> slammed the Cage door on Kerry during his Cage Match at WCCW Star Wars (1982) against Ric Flair where Michael Hayes was the special guest Referee, inciting a riot among fans attending. They traded the six man title back and forth a few times over the years. <mask> was also at one time one half of the WCCW American Tag Team champions. While in WCCW, Killer Khan taught <mask> how to perform the Oriental Spike.All Japan Pro Wrestling (1983–1994)
<mask> teamed with Stan Hansen beginning in 1983 in All Japan Pro Wrestling. <mask> later teamed with Steve Williams as The Miracle Violence Connection. During his time there, he also held the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship on two occasions. World Wrestling Federation (1984)
The Freebirds spent a brief time in the World Wrestling Federation in 1984, but were fired after missing a show and showing up late and drunk. Universal Wrestling Federation (1986)
In 1986, when the Freebirds were in the Universal Wrestling Federation, the former Mid South Wrestling, <mask> won the UWF Heavyweight Championship
title and held it for six months, before losing it via forfeit to The One Man Gang, after an angle the same night in which <mask> was injured by "Dr. Death" Steve Williams. During this time, <mask> and the Freebirds had an ongoing feud with the Hacksaw Jim Duggan, in which Duggan and <mask> squared off, usually ending in a disqualification because of outside interference. Jim Crockett Promotions/NWA World Championship Wrestling (1987, 1989, 1992)
The Freebirds spent some time in the National Wrestling Alliance's Jim Crockett Promotions where they split to feud briefly, but later reunited.In 1989, <mask> helped Hayes to reform the Freebirds, with Jimmy Garvin, in the NWA, which became World Championship Wrestling in 1991. Later he alongside of Dr. Death Steve Williams defeated the Steiners to become World Tag Team Champions. <mask> and Williams returned to World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1992 and won the WCW World Tag Team titles. They also won the NWA World Tag Team titles in a tournament at the Great American Bash card in Albany, Georgia, one week later, and unified the titles. Their feud with Rick and Scott Steiner; in Japan, this was hyped as a feud between the best foreign teams of the two top Japanese promotions (the Steiners were competing for rival New Japan Pro-Wrestling at the time). Despite advances by New Japan, <mask> and Williams, out of loyalty to the AJPW founder and promoter, Giant Baba, refused to compete for the promotion (which had business ties with WCW at the time), leading to <mask>'s departure from WCW before Halloween Havoc and Williams' departure after Starrcade. In 1993 <mask>, while traveling from the United States to Japan for a tour, took an overdose of pain medication and slipped into a coma, ultimately suffering permanent brain damage.He returned to action later that year, but never received a shot at the Triple Crown again. In 1994, <mask> had a small reunion with Hayes and Garvin as the Freebirds in the Global Wrestling Federation where he and Garvin won the GWF Tag Team titles. Various promotions (1989-1995)
After World Class folded in 1989, <mask> wrestled in various promotions. He started working for United States Wrestling Association (USWA). In 1991, he worked for Universal Wrestling Federation where he feuded with Don Muraco. In 1994, he reunited with The Freebirds (Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin) for Global Wrestling Federation in Texas where they feuded with Bill Irwin, Black Bart and Moadib. <mask> returned to USWA in 1995 where he teamed with Tracy Smothers.Smokey Mountain Wrestling (1995)
In 1995 <mask> worked for Smokey Mountain Wrestling teaming with Tommy Rich as the Militia. He would feud with Brad Armstrong. <mask> won the SMW Heavyweight Championship defeating Armstrong when he teamed with Thrasher to defeat Armstrong and the Wolfman on October 27. A month later he dropped the title back to Armstrong in a Country whipping match. <mask> left SMW before its closed its doors at the end of the year. Extreme Championship Wrestling (1996)
In 1996, <mask> appeared in Extreme Championship Wrestling to challenge Raven for the ECW World Heavyweight title, as the "internationally recognized #1 contender". He had been working for the International Wrestling Association of Japan promotion in Japan, wrestling deathmatches.He lost, but went on to team up with Tommy Dreamer and later to reunite with "Dr. Death" Steve Williams to wrestle The Eliminators. He also wrestled Bam Bam Bigelow at Ultimate Jeopardy in what was billed as the second ever "Battle Of The Bam Bams" (The first happened on a Windy City Wrestling show). <mask> lost the match due to outside interference from The Eliminators. Return to World Wrestling Federation (1995, 1996–1997, 1998)
On February 11 and 12 1995 <mask> worked as the Executioner teaming with Mike Bell losing to The Smoking Gunns. <mask> had a brief run in the WWF as The Executioner in 1996 and 1997. He teamed up with Mankind, both managed by Paul Bearer, and feuded with The Undertaker. The Executioner came to the ring under a mask and carrying an axe and Paul Bearer 's "hired assassin".He made his TV debut at the In Your House pay-per-view, Buried Alive, where he interfered in The Undertaker's Buried Alive match with Mankind, hitting Undertaker with a shovel and burying him with the help of Mankind and several other wrestlers. However, at In Your House 12: It's Time, The Undertaker defeated The Executioner in an Armageddon Rules match, and <mask> left the promotion shortly afterwards. His final televised appearance was on the January 12, 1997 episode of WWF Superstars, where he lost to Goldust, after which Paul Bearer turned on him by hitting him with his urn. He was advertised to be one of the 30 participants in the 1997 Royal Rumble match, but did not make an appearance. He returned to WWF one last time at a house show as the Executioner on April 28, 1998 losing to Wellington Wilkins. On an episode of Something to Wrestle With, Bruce Prichard claimed that the Executioner gimmick was given to <mask> because McMahon had doubts that <mask> could still compete effectively and the use of a mask was intended to protect <mask> so that if that were the case, <mask>'s legacy would not be tainted. Had Gordy been able to compete at a high level then there would have been the opportunity later for <mask> to unmask.It was mentioned that the hiring was mostly done as a favor for Michael Hayes. International Wrestling Association of Japan and WAR (1995–1997, 1998)
<mask> returned to Japan working for International Wrestling Association of Japan where he wrestled in deathmatches. Mainly worked in tag teams. He left IWA Japan in 1997. In 1998, <mask> returned to Japan for the final time working for Wrestle Association R where he feuded with Genichiro Tenryu. Later career (1998–2001)
After leaving the WWF and Japan, <mask> worked in the independent circuit. On February 21, 1998 <mask> teamed with Dan Severn in a losing effort to Doug Gilbert and Dutch Mantel at the Eddie Gilbert Memorial Show for IWA Mid-South.<mask> would reunite with Hayes as they fought Glen Kulka and JR Smooth to a no contest for Power Pro Wrestling on May 28, 1999. He wrestled his last match returning to IWA Japan on February 4, 2001 with Shoichi Ichimiya, Tomohiro Ishii, Yukihide Ueno,  and Yuji Kito defeating Doug Gilbert, TJ Shinjuku, Ultra Sebun, Takashi Uwano and Keizo Mastuda. Personal life
<mask> had two daughters and a son, <mask>, who wrestled for WWE as "Jesse" and "Slam Master J" before being released in 2010. His nephew is Richard Aslinger, who competed for All Japan Pro Wrestling as Richard Slinger. His daughter Miranda currently wrestles on the independent circuit and has also competed in Japan. Death
<mask> died of a heart attack caused by a blood clot on July 16, 2001. In 2014, he was posthumously inducted into the Southern Wrestling Hall of Fame.A year later, he was also posthumously inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum. On April 2, 2016, <mask> was posthumously inducted by his son into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of The Fabulous Freebirds. Championships and accomplishments

All Japan Pro Wrestling
Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
World Tag Team Championship (7 times) – with Stan Hansen (2) and Steve Williams (5)
World's Strongest Tag Determination League (1988, 1990, 1991) – with Stan Hansen (1988) and Steve Williams (1990 and 1991)
World's Strongest Tag Determination League Fighting Spirit Award (1989) – with Bill Irwin
Georgia Championship Wrestling
NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Michael Hayes
NWA National Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Michael Hayes (3) and Jimmy Snuka (1)
Global Wrestling Federation
GWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jimmy Garvin
Mid-South Wrestling Association | Universal Wrestling Federation
Mid-South Louisiana Championship (1 time)
Mid-South Mississippi Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Mid-South Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Michael Hayes (1) and Buddy Roberts
UWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
UWF Heavyweight Championship Tournament (1986)
NWA Mid-America
NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Michael Hayes
Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
Class of 2015 as a member of The Fabulous Freebirds
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (1986)
Tag Team of the Year (1981) – with Michael Hayes
Tag Team of the Year (1992) – with Steve Williams
Ranked No. 31 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1992
Ranked No. 36 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003
Ranked No. 2The Freebirds' 5th reign carried over after the title's name was changed to the WCWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship since they were the champions at the time the title was renamed. See also
 List of premature professional wrestling deaths

References

External links

1961 births
2001 deaths
American male professional wrestlers
Expatriate professional wrestlers in Japan
Professional wrestlers from Tennessee
Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
Sportspeople from Chattanooga, Tennessee
WWE Hall of Fame inductees

masks:
Terry Ray Gordy Sr
Gordy
Gordy
Terry Mecca
Terry Gordy
Terry
Terry
Gordy
Gordy
Gordy
Gordy
Gordy
Gordy
Gordy
Gordy
Gordy
Gordy
Gordy
Gordy
Gordy
Gordy
Gordy
Gordy
Gordy
Gordy
Gordy
Gordy
Gordy
Gordy
Gordy
Gordy
Gordy
Gordy
Gordy
Gordy
Gordy
Gordy
Gordy
Gordy
Gordy
Gordy
Gordy
Gordy
Ray Gordy
Gordy
Gordy


text_chunks:
Hugo Pierre Leclercq (; born 30 May 1994), better known by his stage name <mask> (), is a French musician, DJ, record producer, singer and songwriter from Nantes, currently based in Los Angeles. He initially came to widespread public attention at 17 through a YouTube video, "Pop Culture", where he performed a mash-up of 39 different popular songs in real-time using a Novation Launchpad. It received millions of hits in its first few days of release. Leclercq has cited The Beatles and Daft Punk as his greatest musical influences. Leclercq's first EP, The City, was released in 2012. His debut studio album, Adventure, was released on 27 March 2015, supported by a 22-stop North American tour. On 15 November 2019, Leclercq released his second album, Good Faith, as part of the Good Faith Live tour.He was ranked at number 105 on DJ Mags top DJs for 2017. In 2017, he was nominated for two Electronic Music Awards with Porter Robinson for Single of the Year and Live Act of the Year. Good Faith was nominated for a 2021 Best Electronic Album Grammy Award. Career beginnings
Leclercq started composing music at the age of 11, producing hands-up under the name of "Daemon" and Wayne Mont until 2010 when he began producing house music under his current name, <mask>, which is an anagram of his previous nickname. He won a remix competition for "The Island" by Pendulum the same year. He went on to remix tracks by other electronic artists the following year. A clip of Leclercq performing his mash-up "Pop Culture", uploaded to YouTube on 11 July 2011, propelled him to international fame.It featured samples from thirty-nine songs mixed together on-the-fly using a Novation Launchpad. The clip went viral and reached over six million views in just a few days. According to a Reddit AMA he hosted in November 2019, he had the idea, purchased the Launchpad, and recorded the song all on the same day. During live performances, apart from the Launchpads, he also uses Allen & Heath's Xone:K2, Novation's Launch Control XL and Ableton Live. His first live performance was in Paris in April 2011 where he was a support act to Yelle, and his UK debut was at The Nest in Dalston, London where he performed alongside the likes of Jacques Lu Cont. Leclercq has been featured several times on "15 Minutes of Fame", a segment of Pete Tong's radio show on BBC Radio 1, with both his debut single "Icarus" and his remix for deadmau5's "Raise Your Weapon" given their first full play on the show. His live recorded performance debut was for Pete Tong's BBC Radio 1 gala event in Hull on 27 January 2012, where he played a 20-minute-long set.A debut EP was scheduled to be released at the end of 2011, but then cancelled in favour of multiple singles. The first single, "Icarus", was released on 24 February 2012 on his independent label popcultur. Madeon toured with Lady Gaga as an opening act during her Born This Way Ball. He later worked with Gaga on three tracks, "Gypsy", "Mary Jane Holland", and "Venus" on her third studio album, Artpop. In 2012, he was invited to play four major American festivals, the Ultra Music Festival in Miami, Coachella in California, Lollapalooza in Chicago and Electric Daisy Carnival in New York, as well as several UK dance music festivals, including the Dance Arena at the BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend; he also provided support for Swedish House Mafia's headlining set at the Milton Keynes Bowl. Leclercq was listed at number 54 on DJ Mag in 2012. Madeon released a new single on 3 August 2013 titled "Technicolor."On 25 February 2014, Leclercq released a track available for a free download on his website called "Cut the Kid", stating that it was created circa 2011 or 2012. Many of his songs have been used in media franchises: "Icarus" was featured in the US show Dancing with the Stars in May 2012 and 21 May 2013 (finals with Aly Raisman) and on the in-game soundtrack of Forza Horizon; "Finale" and "Imperium" have been featured in EA Sports' FIFA 13 and FIFA 15 respectively. "You're On" was also featured in Pro Evolution Soccer 2016. "Finale" has also been included in the opening cinematic of PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale; "The City" appears in EA Sports' NHL 15, Need for Speed: Most Wanted and "Technicolor (Club Extended)" in Need for Speed Rivals. "Finale" and Leclercq's remix of "The Night Out" by Martin Solveig were featured on the official soundtrack of ESPN's Winter X Games XVII event in Tignes, France and both received several plays on air. "Finale" continues to be used as the bumper music for X Games broadcasts. 2015: Adventure

In September 2014, Leclercq released "Imperium" as the lead single from his debut studio album, Adventure.On 8 December 2014, Leclercq released the second single from the album, titled "You're On", featuring Kyan. On 9 February 2015, Leclercq released the album's third single, "Pay No Mind," featuring Passion Pit. The album's fourth single, "Home," was released on 10 March 2015. On 24 March 2015, the final single of Adventure, "Nonsense," was released, featuring Mark Foster of Foster the People. On 27 March 2015, Adventure was released. The album peaked at number 43 on the US Billboard 200 and at number one on the US Dance/Electronic Albums chart. In mid-2015, Leclercq embarked on his first headlining tour, Adventure Live, consisting of 22 stops in North America.The tour ended on 9 May 2015. Leclercq further promoted his debut studio album on his Pixel Empire US Tour in early 2016, which ended on 21 February 2016. 2016–2017: Shelter

On 11 August 2016, Leclercq released with his close friend Porter Robinson a new track called "Shelter". Throughout 2016–2017, he toured the US and Europe alongside Porter Robinson on a live show they called the Shelter Live Tour. This back to back set contained tracks made by both artists, often mixed together between themselves. Throughout the tour both Madeon and Porter also would sing their own songs. Their last performance was on 23 April 2017 at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.In August 2016, the new gameplay trailer of EA Sports' FIFA 17 was released, featuring <mask>'s remix of "Song 2" by Blur, which was also featured in a BBC Radio 1's Essential Mix in 2012. Leclercq's collaboration with Porter Robinson, "Shelter" was included in the FIFA 17 soundtrack. 2018–present: Good Faith

On 13 November 2017, Leclercq announced that he would be releasing his next project in 2018. Further hints about the project were not officially revealed until 20 August 2018, when Leclercq's creative director was interviewed via a Madeon-inspired podcast called the Pixel Empire Podcast. On 30 January 2018, Leclercq stated on his Instagram and Twitter that he had moved to the United States to finish his upcoming album. On 20 March 2019, Leclercq announced his new live show would debut on Lollapalooza 2019. He stated this would not be a DJ set but rather a new live show; fans will be expecting new music.Later that year, on 28 May 2019, Leclercq announced that he would be releasing a new song on 29 May 2019 through a new website, goodfaith.world. On 29 May 2019, the goodfaith.world website was updated with a video previewing the new song, titled "All My Friends", along with locations of record stores in four cities: Los Angeles, New York, Ålesund, and Nantes. Each record store was issued two copies of the new single on clear 7" vinyl. On 30 May 2019, the full official audio was released on YouTube. On 10 July 2019, Leclercq premiered the first episode of Good Faith Radio (Beats Radio on Apple Music), where he officially played and released his next single, "Dream Dream Dream". Along with the single, he played tracks by other artists, including some sent by his own fans accompanied by fan-made art. He described the radio show as "...a space I want us to share, I want to introduce you to my favorite things and showcase some of the amazing music and art you create."Along with the radio premiere, it was released on music streaming platforms and a visualizer video was released on YouTube. The Good Faith Live tour was premiered at Lollapalooza 2019, followed by headlining shows in London, Amsterdam, and Paris. A longer North American leg started on 30 October in Vancouver and ended on 14 December in Austin, followed by an Australian tour as part of FOMO Festival in January 2020. On 29 October 2019, Leclercq revealed that Good Faith would be released on 15 November 2019. In an interview with NPR Music, Leclercq said the album was based on his relationship to joy and his mental health: "I wanted to make music that was celebratory but that hinted at the fact that that joy had to have been reclaimed and fought for a little bit." Madeon worked again with Lady Gaga on the track "911" from her 2020 studio album, Chromatica. On 9 May 2020, Madeon played a DJ set for the virtual Secret Sky music festival.During the set, he previewed a song called "The Prince". The song was released on 14 August that year. Along with the release, <mask> launched an alternate reality game. When it was solved, a 6-track EP named 12122017  was found, reportedly named for the date it was made. However, after an email correspondence with Leclercq, he revealed that the EP was produced on 6 December 2017. The creation of the EP is attributed to Madeon's own anger due to "not feeling anything from music", and has referred to the EP as a document that serves as context to the Good Faith album instead of an EP. On 18 September 2021, Madeon premiered the Good Faith Forever Live set at Second Sky music festival in Oakland, California.Discography

 Adventure (2015)
 Good Faith (2019)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

 "Pop Culture" on Madeon's official YouTube channel

1994 births
21st-century French musicians
Ableton Live users
FL Studio users
Electro house musicians
Electronic dance music DJs
French DJs
French electronic musicians
French house musicians
French record producers
French songwriters
Male songwriters
Living people
Musicians from Nantes
Nu-disco musicians
Remixers

masks: Madeon Madeon Madeon Madeon


text_chunks:
<mask> (; born 30 April 1960) is a Polish-American actress, film director, poet, painter and an Earphones Award-winning narrator. She is also a human rights activist who introduced the first bill in the history of US Congress to officially recognize International Women's Day in the United States. Early life
Poźniak was born in Gdańsk, Poland. Her mother was born in Wilno, Lithuania and her father's family is from Ukraine. She passed her entrance exam to the National Film School in Łódź PWSFTViT with the highest score in the country, and received a Master's of Fine Arts degree with High Honors at age 22. Her very first film role, while still in high school, was as an extra in the Academy Award winning film The Tin Drum which happened to be filming near her home. She later made many film appearances and worked as a fashion model and was the calendar girl for Poland's national soccer team.Career

Film and television work
Poźniak was discovered by the U.S. audiences when Oliver Stone cast her in JFK as Marina Oswald. This memorable role in an Academy Award-nominated film was her U.S. feature debut and it led to her appearances in over 30 film and TV projects worldwide. After playing Earth Alliance President Susanna Luchenko in Babylon 5 and a fiery young revolutionary in George Lucas' The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, as well as a sharp scientist Ludmilla in Dark Skies or Eva in Pensacola she becomes known for playing badass female characters. Other powerful roles have included Paramount's JAG where she appeared as an exotic Israeli spy, a double agent working for the Mossad and CIA. In the television series Melrose Place, she created a ground-breaking character, Dr. Katya Fielding, a "straight" woman and mother who decides to marry a gay man - the role that is still very much talked about, making Poźniak one of the show's most popular former cast members. Her other diverse roles include Masha in Mad About You, Raisa on The Drew Carey Show and Tambor, the Japanese nanny in Oliver Stone's Wild Palms miniseries. In the CBS movie of the week A Mother's Gift, she was seen as a character that aged thirty years, whereas in a World War II drama entitled “Miriam” she played a Catholic woman who risks her life to save a Jewish girl from the Nazis.She also stars as Laina in the interactive movie/video game Psychic Detective, premiered at Sundance Film Festival as the first video game in the New Media category. An experimental film "All These Voices" where she stars as <mask>, a World War II Survivor wins a Student Academy Award. Voiceover work
Poźniak narrated the bestseller, The Winter Palace: A Novel of Catherine the Great, a 19-hour audiobook for Random House, where she made use of her European background in bringing to life the 78 characters and their colorful accents. After embodying one of the most intriguing women in history, she read another 19 hour story of the Empress of the Night: A Novel of Catherine the Great. This was followed by a teen romance/adventure/sci-fi thriller, "The Illuminae Files", by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, which won an Audie Award. After that, she co-narrated "The Tsar of Love and Techno" by Anthony Marra which was selected in the Top 5 Best Audiobooks of the year by The Washington Post. As a producer and narrator she takes on "Libretto for the Desert – Poetry Dedicated to the Victims of Genocide and War" a project that acknowledges the universality of loss, persecution, and intolerance.Poźniak received the 2019 Earphones Award for the best read audiobook Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead written by Nobel Prize Winner Olga Tokarczuk. In the video game world, she voiced Skarlet, the Blood Queen in Mortal Kombat 11. She also narrated documentaries such as, "The Officer's Wife" about the mass murder of Polish officers in the Katyn forest and co-narrated Freedom from Despair, a film about communism, which won several Awards and received an honorable mention in the US Congress. She narrated the 2020 novel Light in Hidden Places by Sharon Cameron, based on the true story of Stefania Podgorska a Polish Catholic teenager who hid 13 Jewish persons during World War 2,

Theatre and performance art
Seeking a new voice for herself in a uniquely contemporary style that declares "anything is possible," she founded Theater Discordia. Creating performance-art pieces that have been part of the L.A. Theatre Festival, and the L.A. Poetry Festival, she directed and wrote "Poeticus Umbilicus", "Poetry Discordia", "Return of Umbilicus", "We & They" and "Changing Flags." Her Theater Discordia evolved, with the participation of Peter Sellars, into a celebrated venue for experimental theater works. Visual Arts
Poźniak is also a painter, and continues to work in film, often appearing in experimental and independent productions, several of which she has also directed.In her directorial debut, which was a short film, "Mnemosyne", she used several art pieces made by herself. Praised by F.X. Feeney LA Weekly: "the multitalented Pozniak rapidly intercuts news footage of violence with live models and her own sensual sculptures to express a fierce moral sense." Through her art, Poźniak often explores what it is to be a woman in today's world with recurring themes of women's rights, social justice and women's history. Her artworks combine the choreographic traditions of theater with symbolic and surreal imagery of painting and sculpture. In her early mask series, Poźniak connects an ancient and mythological theatrical device with the surrealism of Man Ray to produce a stunning range of fantastical masks made from feathers and other found objects. Her more recent paintings and sculptures explore the collision of ancient myths and the modern world.By combining imagery reminiscent of surrealist dreamscapes with found objects, these works challenge our notions of continuity between past and present. Poźniak says:
"Surrealism is a lens through which I view many of the events and circumstances occurring in the world today. Whether it is the horrors of war or inspirational insights found in ancient mythology, I am constantly exploring fantastical juxtapositions that express something about the experience of being a woman. That is why my paintings and sculptures are often surreal and full of symbolism. Feministic, poetical, and political." Charity and causes
Poźniak's art is often auctioned off for charity and support different causes including Children's Hospital and Looking Above & Beyond, an organization dedicated to creating awareness and the enrichment of children with special needs or Our House, an organization providing grief support services, education, resources, and hope. She also hosted Domestic Violence Prevention Awards, National Women's Political Caucus's - Women's Leadership Awards.International Women's Day

Beginning in the late 1980s, soon after her arrival in America, Poźniak began a campaign to get the US Government to recognize International Women's Day. She was very successful, and she accomplished the introduction of the first bill in the history of the U.S. Congress for national recognition of the holiday (H.J. Res. 316) designating March 8 as International Women's Day occurred on 8 March 1994. She made the headlines of the Los Angeles Times, who hailed her as "Taking the Banner For Women Everywhere". Furthermore, Poźniak established an educational organization Women's Day USA, which aims to raise a public awareness of women's inspirational achievements all over the world. She also works on projects that help bring awareness to third world issues with a special emphasis on the representation of women's voices and their untold stories.She received official recognition from the Los Angeles City Council, which commended her for her efforts in establishing International Women's Day as a day to be celebrated in the United States and from Mayor Richard Riordan for her vision in creating International Women's Day, and from Mayor Tom Bradley for bringing the idea to Los Angeles. Poźniak has been acknowledged for her ability to work across both political parties in seeking greater recognition for women's rights. In 1995, at a public awards event, a women's rights attorney, Gloria Allred acknowledged Poźniak for her contributions to human rights and to women's history and also named Poźniak as being her personal hero. Furthermore, Poźniak established an educational organization Women's Day USA,. In 1994, to commemorate the introduction of the first bill in the history of the U.S. Congress (H.J. Res. 316) to recognize International Women's Day in the United States, Poźniak created a painting "Mnemosyne - International Women's Day", the Mother of Memory which celebrates the many contributions to human rights by women from all over the world.A symbol of International Women's Day, the work depicts a community of all races of the world in a female form. It evokes the achievements of women along their struggle for peace and equality in the face of discrimination and war. Awards and honors

 Recognized by Congresswoman Maxine Waters for "bringing International Women's Day to the forefront and for initiating an official bill and for making this day a larger part of our nation's support of women here and around the world". Recognized by Senator Dianne Feinstein for seeing that "International Women's Day would not go by unnoticed" in the United States (1993)
 Presented and acknowledged by Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg for Poźniak's commitment for International Women's Day and creating Women's Day USA (1998)
 Awarded with a star, a bronze handprint at Festiwal Gwiazd, Poland's "Hollywood Walk of Fame." Past honorees include: Volker Schlöndorff, Peter Greenaway, David Lynch, Faye Dunaway, Ian Gillan, Anna Paquin among others (2017)
 Recognized by the Mayors of Los Angeles: Tom Bradley (1993) and Richard Riordan (1997) for her "vision in creating International Women's Day"
 Awarded a "Lifetime Achievement Award" - Presented by Osobowosci i Sukcesy Magazine (2018)
 Voice Arts Awards Nominee - "Outstanding Video Game Character - Best Voiceover" Category for Skarlet (voice) in Mortal Kombat 11 Warner Bros (2019)
 International Maria Konopnicka Prize – "For Outstanding Achievements in the Arts and for Championing Women's Rights Around the World". Presented at the GRAMMY LA Live (2019)
 The Ianicius Klemens Janicki Award – "For Artistic and Literary Achievements (2019)
 Voice Arts Awards Nominee - "Outstanding Spoken Word or Storytelling - Best Performance" Category for "Libretto for the Desert: Poetry Dedicated to the Victims of Genocide and War" (2019)
 The Earphones Award Winner (2019) – for narrating Penguin Random House Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, written by Nobel Prize winner, Olga Tokarczuk (2019)
 The Earphones Award Winner (2020) – for narrating "The Light in Hidden Places" audiobook for Scholastic (2020)
 Voice Arts Award nomination in the Outstanding Spoken Word or Storytelling - Best Performance Category - for "Tribute to Nobel Prize Winning Poet. Beata Pozniak at the HAMMER Museum Reads LIVE" (2020)
 Voice Arts Award nomination "Audiobook Narration – History – Best Voiceover" for The Light in Hidden Places by Sharon Cameron • Publisher: Scholastic Audio (2020).Voice Arts Award Winner, Outstanding Video Game Character, Best Voiceover Skarlet, Mortal Kombat 11 • Warner Bros. Games • NetherRealm Studio (2020)
 The Tadeusz Micinski Award "Feniks" for outstanding interpretation of poetry dedicated to victims of war. (2020)
 Poet of the Month - selected by Quarry Press
 The Modjeska Prize - For continuing the traditions and legacy of an extraordinary Polish immigrant who succeeded as a Shakespearean actress in the U.S. (2021)

Filmography

Video Games

Audiobooks and Spoken Word

Further reading
 "Before the Camera Rolled", a book about the craft of acting by Jason Norman. Poźniak is one of the studies for her portrayal of Marina Oswald in Oliver Stone's JFK,
 "Die Nacht der Zeitlosen" by Patrick Roth. Poźniak appears in the title-story of a cycle of 5 tales as an actress at a Hollywood party who played Marina Oswald in Oliver Stone's JFK,
 "Portraits: Polish Artists in America" by Czeslaw Czaplinski, Rosikon Press
 "The Official Melrose Place Companion" by David Wild, Harper Collins Poźniak is one of the cast members, plays Dr. Katya Petrova Fielding. References

External links

Beata Poźniak. beata.com. About Women's Day USA.womensday.org. Noriyuki, Duane (8 March 1996). "Taking the Banner for Women Everywhere". Los Angeles Times. <mask> Poźniak. Huffington Post. McCabe, Maureen (29 April 2014).<mask> <mask>: Empress of the AudioBook. The Hollywood Times. 1960 births
Polish film actresses
Polish stage actresses
Polish people of Lithuanian descent
Polish people of Ukrainian descent
Polish television actresses
Polish video game actresses
Polish voice actresses
American film actresses
American stage actresses
American television actresses
American people of Lithuanian descent
American people of Ukrainian descent
American video game actresses
American voice actresses
Polish emigrants to the United States
Actresses from Gdańsk
Living people
Łódź Film School alumni
20th-century American actresses
21st-century American actresses
20th-century Polish actresses
21st-century Polish actresses
People

masks:
Beata Poźniak
Beata
Beata
Beata
Poźniak


text_chunks:
<mask> (; born 14 September 1976, Novosibirsk) is a Russian musician, singer, songwriter, sound producer, DJ, and journalist. He is the founder of Hot Zex and the frontman of Punk TV. Biography
<mask> became interested in modern pop music when his mother brought a tape recorder and some Beatles cassettes when he was six years old. In 1989, <mask> left music school after completing eight years as a major in piano and three years in a Jazz and Pop faculty. On 1 September 1991, he started an art-punk band named Shoe Repair (Remont Obuvi) with his school, which morphed into a more serious project, Hot Zex, in the next couple of months. After graduating from World Culture Studies at the Novosibirsk State Pedagogic University History Department, <mask> enrolled as a social philosophy postgraduate at the Novosibirsk State Architectural University Philosophy Department. He left in 2001 with a thesis on the Nature and Typology of Nationalism and continued as a journalist.In 2002, he completed a Management Training Program at Manchester University Business School. In the summer of 2006, <mask>'s project, Punk TV, signed with Moscow production company Soundhunters, and moved to Moscow to become a professional musician. Hot Zex and Punk TV earned international acclaim in the Russian indie rock and indietronica scene. Music

Hot Zex

Hot Zex is a Russian rock group formed in Novosibirsk in 1991. The line-up changed several times with <mask> as the only constant member. <mask> started out as the band's drummer, but after a few failed attempts at recruiting a singer, he took on vocal duties in January 1995. The exact date of the band's founding is unknown.Between September 1 and December 26, 1991, they used a primitive tape recorder to track their first demo which consisted of four instrumental songs. The band continued to play rare gigs in Moscow and Saint-Petersburg (with Alexander Bogdan on bass), the most recent of which dates back to 2010. Hot Zex never officially broke up. <mask> and Nikonov are rumored to have put the project on hiatus, with a collection of rare and unissued recordings in the pipeline. Punk TV

Punk TV is a Russian electro-rock band, formed in Novosibirsk in 2004. Miscellaneous projects

 In Autumn 2007, <mask> recorded vocals on "Bely List" for Bi-2 side project Nechetny Voin 2. In 2008, he played live with Bi-2 at Nashestvie festival and a series of TV shows.The Bi-2 gig at Moscow Modern Play Theatre, 3 March 2008, was released on DVD in 2011. In 2008, <mask> collaborated with Oleg Kostrov on his Supersonic Future album "The best of the worst". He recorded the bulk of the guitar tracks throughout the album and sang on "Dead Boys". In 2008, <mask> recorded synth parts for "Anyday Anytime" by Moscow indie band Lost Weekend. The song was included on Lost Weekend's "Lights and Fears" album released by Fusion/Gala in 2010. In April 2012, the cinema release of Yusup Bakshiev's "Rendezvous", with most of the original soundtrack written by <mask>. He also made a small on-screen appearance as the soundman for a school girl-group The Poisoned Peaches.<mask> took part in the recording of Novosibirsk band FPRF's album, due for release on Hopneck Sound. In Spring 2012, <mask> founded WOW!, an electro-garage duo with Dmitry Wild in New York. In September 2012, they released an online single "Have Fun" and continue work on their debut EP at Stratosphere Sound, NY. July 2013, <mask> and Moscow's Revoltmeter joined forces in a trans-Atlantic collaboration and released "Death Electric" EP. 4 tracks release was met with warm reviews. A Russia Magazine named title song as a "track of the week" while LA-based website FFM used words "A fresh breath of Manhattan air..." to describe the atmosphere of the song. <mask> frequently plays DJ sets.In 2007-2011 he was resident DJ at Moscow club Krizis Zhanra. Sound production
<mask>'s debut as other artists' sound producer took place at Riga's Sound Division Studio in Autumn 2006 when he produced 4 songs by Moscow indie band Dairy High. "Evil Lullaby" was released in 2007 as a 7" vinyl split single with "Honeypod In My Head" by New Zealand band The Cakekithchen. A year later, "Evil Lullaby" and the other three tracks from the same record session ("The Crooked Mile (Without a Song)", "Flickering Light", "Most Expensive Crash") were released on Dairy High's eponymous album. The remaining 6 album tracks were done by legendary Welsh producer Greg Haver. Apart from sound production, <mask> also played grand piano, melodica, provided backing vocals and arranged the acoustic ballad "Running Aground". In late 2007, <mask> started recording and mixing the Moscow post-punk band Manicure's debut album.The record, released in spring 2009 by Fusion/Gala, was a major hit in Russia and was noted abroad. Rolling Stone Russia called the album "a full-fledged contender for Best National Debut of the Year", Afisha dubbed it "perfect English-language post-punk". "Another Girl" was used in an ad by a famous alcohol brand and featured in the original film soundtrack to Antikiller D.K. Apart from sound production, <mask> also programmed rhythm machines and bass synthesizers on "I Wanna Be Free" and "The One", played guitar on "Magic is Shit". <mask> has remixed tracks by Ian Brown, Ash, SPC ECO, Asbo Kid, Craig Walker, Kontakte, Electric Mainline, The Nova Saints, Bondage Fairies, Brittle Stars, Bi-2, Mars Needs Lovers feat. Ilya Lagutenko, Illuminated Faces, Aerofall, A Headphones, Blast. Journalism
<mask> worked as a journalist from autumn 2001 to summer 2005 at Kontinent Sibir, a Serbian business weekly.In September–December 2002 he was an intern at Financial Times, London. Since 2011, he has contributed to Russian editions of Rolling Stone and GQ, Soundengineer, Stereo&Video, and the Look At Me website. References

Russian rock musicians
Russian DJs
Living people
1976 births
Russian record producers
Musicians from Novosibirsk

masks:
Vladimir Andreevich Komarov
Komarov
Vladimir
Komarov
Vladimir
Komarov
Komarov
Komarov
Vladimir
Vladimir
Vladimir
Vladimir
Vladimir
Vladimir
Vladimir
Vladimir
Komarov
Komarov
Komarov
Komarov
Komarov
Komarov