title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: In July 2000, on "The Howard Stern Show", Shyamalan said he had met with Spielberg and was in early talks to write the script for the fourth "Indiana Jones" film. This would have given Shyamalan a chance to work with his longtime idol. After the film fell through, Shyamalan later said it was too "tricky" to arrange and "not the right thing" for him to do.


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: Shyamalan followed "The Sixth Sense" by writing and directing "Unbreakable", released in 2000, a stealth comic book movie within a thriller which was both critically and financially successful.


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: Shyamalan's name was linked with the 2001 film "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", but it conflicted with the production of "Unbreakable". In July 2006, while doing press tours for "Lady in the Water", Shyamalan had said he was still interested in directing one of the last two "Harry Potter" films: "The themes that run through it ... the empowering of children, a positive outlook ... you name it, it falls in line with my beliefs", Shyamalan said. "I enjoy the humor in it. When I read the first "Harry Potter" and was thinking about making it, I had a whole different vibe in my head of it".


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: His 2002 film was "Signs", where he also played Ray Reddy. It was regarding how a man regains his faith in God during an alien invasion. It was both critically and financially successful and grossed $408 million from a budget of $72 million.


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: His next movie was "The Village" (2004), about an isolated community living in the woods. Although it received negative reviews, it was financially successful as it grossed $257 million from a budget of $60 million.


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: After the release of "The Village" in 2004, Shyamalan had been planning a film adaptation of Yann Martel's novel "Life of Pi" with 20th Century Fox, but later backed out so that he could make "Lady in the Water". In an interview he said about his reasons for dropping out of that project:


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: Released in 2006, "Lady in the Water", a bedtime story about a water nymph and an apartment superintendent, was both critically and financially unsuccessful.


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: Next was the film "The Happening", a B-movie about trees killing humans, featuring a teacher Elliott Moore and his wife fleeing from contaminated cities into the countryside. It was critically unsuccessful but financially successful as it grossed $163 million from a budget of $48 million.


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: In 2010, he directed "The Last Airbender", based on of the Nickelodeon TV series "". It was critically unsuccessful-with significant criticism aimed at its casting of white actors in Asian and Native American-inspired roles, yet was a financial success, grossing $319 million from a budget of $150 million.


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: In July 2008, it was announced that Shyamalan had partnered with Media Rights Capital to form a production company called Night Chronicles. Shyamalan would produce, but not direct, one film a year for three years. The first of the three films was "Devil", a supernatural thriller directed by siblings John and Drew Dowdle. The script was written by Brian Nelson, based on an original idea from Shyamalan. The movie was about a group of people stuck in an elevator with the devil, and starred Chris Messina. The film was not previewed by critics before its release.


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: In 2013, Shyamalan directed the film "After Earth", based on a script by Gary Whitta and starring Will Smith and Jaden Smith. It was received poorly by critics, and was financially unsuccessful. Shyamalan later described his thinking in 2013 as full of doubts, introspection and questioning.


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: Shyamalan announced in January 2014 that he would be working again with Bruce Willis on a film titled "Labor of Love". As of March 2022, and the retirement of Willis, this film had yet to be produced.


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: Shyamalan's reputation was poor and most Hollywood studios passed on his self-funded, low-budget horror-comedy "The Visit", featuring a brother and sister who are sent to their grandparents’ remote Pennsylvania farm for a weeklong trip. After revising the film, which Shyamalan had shot in secret, Universal picked up rights to "The Visit". The movie went on to gross $98 million worldwide on a budget of $5 million - the fifth-highest grossing thriller film of the year. Universal released the movie on September 11, 2015.


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: In 2017, Shyamalan released the movie "Split". It was both critically and financially successful and grossed $279 million from a budget of $9 million.


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: In 2019, he released "Glass" as the final installment in his 19-year trilogy inclusive of previous films "Unbreakable" and "Split". The movie grossed over $247 million worldwide.


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: M. Night Shyamalan's film, "Old", a thriller about tourists who begin aging rapidly on a mysterious beach, was shot in Dominican Republic and released on July 23, 2021. The film stars Gael Garcia Bernal, Eliza Scanlen, Thomasin McKenzie, Aaron Pierre, Alex Wolff, Abbey Lee, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Ken Leung, Vicky Krieps, Rufus Sewell, Embeth Davidtz, Alexa Swinton, Nolan River, and Emun Elliott. The film received mixed reviews from critics.


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: In October 2021, Shyamalan announced that his next film "Knock at the Cabin" would be released in cinemas on February 3, 2023.


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: Shyamalan is the executive producer on the Apple TV series "Servant". Shyamalan directed several episodes, including the pilot. "Servant" was renewed for a second series in advance of the season one premiere. The second season of "Servant" completed filming in fall 2020 under COVID protocols.


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: Shyamalan was also instrumental in the creation of the Fox science fiction series "Wayward Pines" (2015–2016), for which he executive produced and directed the pilot episode. The series became the most-watched show of that summer.


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: In 2016, TNT first announced that Shyamalan would be responsible for a reboot series for "Tales from the Crypt". the series had been cancelled due to a number of legal reasons.


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: In 2004, Shyamalan was involved in a media hoax with SyFy Channel, which was eventually uncovered by the press. SyFy claimed in its "documentary" special "The Buried Secret of M. Night Shyamalan", shot on the set of "The Village", that as a child, Shyamalan had been dead for nearly a half hour while drowned in a frozen pond in an accident, and that upon being rescued he had experiences of communicating with spirits, fueling an obsession with the supernatural.


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: In truth, Shyamalan developed the hoax with SyFy, going so far as having SyFy staffers sign non-disclosure agreements with a $5 million fine attached and requiring Shyamalan's office to formally approve each step. Neither the childhood accident nor a supposed rift with the filmmakers ever occurred. The hoax included a nonexistent SyFy publicist, "David Westover", whose name appeared on press releases regarding the special. SyFy also fed false news stories to the Associated Press, Zap2It, and the "New York Post", among others.


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: After an AP reporter confronted SyFy Channel president Bonnie Hammer at a press conference, Hammer admitted the hoax, saying it was part of a guerrilla marketing campaign to generate pre-release publicity for "The Village". This prompted SyFy's parent company, NBC Universal, to state that the undertaking was "not consistent with our policy at NBC. We would never intend to offend the public or the press and we value our relationship with both."


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: In 2003, a Pennsylvanian screenwriter named Robert McElhenney (unrelated to actor and producer Rob McElhenney) sued Shyamalan, alleging similarities between "Signs" and McElhenney's unpublished script "Lord of the Barrens: The Jersey Devil". In 2004, Margaret Peterson Haddix claimed that "The Village" has numerous similarities to her young adult novel "Running Out of Time" (1996), prompting discussions with publisher Simon & Schuster about filing a lawsuit. In response to both allegations, Disney and Shyamalan's production company Blinding Edge issued statements calling the claims "meritless".


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: Orson Scott Card has claimed that many elements of "The Sixth Sense" were plagiarized from his novel "Lost Boys", although he has said that enough had been changed that there was no point in suing.


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: Shyamalan married Bhavna Vaswani, a fellow student whom he met at New York University. The couple have three daughters, including director Ishana and musician Saleka. His production company, Blinding Edge Pictures, is located in Berwyn, Pennsylvania. Blinding Edge has produced "Servant", "Wayward Pines", "Devil", "The Happening", "Lady in the Water", "The Village", "Signs", "Unbreakable", "The Last Airbender", "After Earth", "The Visit", "Split", "Glass" and "Old". It is run by Shyamalan and Ashwin Rajan. His cousin is actor Ritesh Rajan.


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: Shyamalan and his family live near Philadelphia at Ravenwood, a 125-acre estate, built around a 27,000-square-foot 1937 Georgian Revival house.


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: "Rolling Stone" wrote that "The Sixth Sense" gave Shyamalan the reputation of, "the guy who makes the scary movies with a twist". In 2008, Shyamalan said it was a common misperception that "all my movies have twist endings, or that they're all scary. All my movies are spiritual and all have an emotional perspective". He nonetheless avoided plot twists for years, until again using them starting with "The Visit" in 2015. "Rolling Stone" wrote in 2018,


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: After the release of "The Village", "Slate"s Michael Agger noted that Shyamalan was following "an uncomfortable pattern" of "making fragile, sealed-off movies that fell apart when exposed to outside logic".


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: After the release of "The Happening", "The Guardian"s Kim Newman noted Shyamalan's earnestness and questioned, "Can it be a kind of racism that the Indian-born, Philadelphia-raised auteur is hammered for his apparent character (or funny name) rather more than, say, Quentin Tarantino or Spike Lee?"


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: Shyamalan has also been nominated for and in some cases won numerous Golden Raspberry Awards for "Lady in the Water" in 2006, "The Happening" in 2008, "The Last Airbender" in 2010, and "After Earth" in 2013. In 2016 he was also nominated for the Razzie Redeemer Award.


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: "The Village", "Lady in the Water" and "Split" have been included in "Cahiers du Cinéma" annual top ten lists.


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: In 2013, the British Film Institute (BFI) said that one of Shyamalan's challenges is presenting works that "(ask) for childlike wonder and rapt attention", seeking contemplation and childlike belief when popular culture has turned toward shorter attention spans with "snark and testosterone-fuelled arrested adolescence".


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: BFI also discussed the impact of racism on Shyamalan's career, pointing to frequent "'humorously' mangled rendering(s) of his apparently hard-to-pronounce last name and questioned "Why is one of the only truly interesting mainstream movie-makers of the Noughties so publicly derided whilst so many mediocrities get a pass?" By 2017, "Vice" said that "Shamalamadingdong" had become the "agreed-upon mockery of his name". "Vice" also criticized mispronunciations of his name, pointing to a "Robot Chicken" sketch on Shyamalan that did so repeatedly. "Vice" also said there was no reason to have Shyamalan's character in the sketch speak with an accent when Shyamalan never has. They also criticized the sketch's repeated mispronunciations of his name, and its conclusion with a "three-word condemnation of his whole career": "What a twist." "Vice" said that "it's time we stop treating him like a (shitty, racist, entirely undeserved when compared to other directors who continue to bomb with no end in sight) joke, and examine the entirely coincidental fact that Hollywood's most notable brown director is also the one we seem unwilling to forgive."


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: BFI asked if critical attacks are the result of egotistical statements on Shyamalan's part. They question whether his strong statements of self-assurance coupled with the remarkable success of "The Sixth Sense" set up a fall from grace which was soon realized when a run of very successful films ("The Sixth Sense", "Unbreakable", "Signs" and "The Village") seemingly collapsed with a string of critical failures. ("Lady in the Water", "The Happening", "The Last Airbender", and "After Earth").


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: BFI said that "in a cultural climate in which a particularly vulgar form of atheism has become common, his polymorphous, holistic sense of the spiritual has rendered his work deeply unfashionable." They also mentioned that "his supposedly overweening self-assurance seems to derive from an uncynical enthusiasm, even awe for the power of storytelling. He is hardly the first director reputed to have a healthy sense of self-worth. The emphasis on the teller rather than the tales obscures the commercially and artistically successful run of films he had with "The Sixth Sense", "Unbreakable", "Signs" and "The Village"."


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: In 2019, Tim Griveing of "The Washington Post" said that "his confidence was interpreted as arrogance by some, especially after he cast himself in "Lady in the Water" as a brilliant writer whose book is prophesied as a world-saver." Bryce Dallas Howard, who has worked twice with Shyamalan, differs: "Night is not an arrogant person," she said. "Night is really creatively ambitious. Very ambitious. He will engage in a conversation—he will talk through it, he will work through it—but he might take a leap. The most important thing in the world is: You just don't want to make something that's ignorable." Griveing continued, "Howard, who expressed pride in him for forging ahead despite his turn among critics, noted how rare it was for such a young filmmaker to write, direct and produce original material. She wondered whether that placed a bigger target on his back, as his reputation for doggedness was perpetuated within the industry and reinforced by critics."


title: M. Night Shyamalan

text: While working on his film "The Happening", Shyamalan developed an interest in improving the delivery of education in American schools. He hired doctoral student James Richardson to do most of the background research and as a result published "I Got Schooled: The Unlikely Story of How a Moonlighting Movie Maker Learned the Five Keys to Closing America's Education Gap." John Willol of NPR reviewed the book by stating ""I Got Schooled" is a breezily written, research driven call to change America's approach to education. Shyamalan is smart and sincere, and his innovative ideas are unbound by the educational establishment."


title: Dave Bautista

text: David Michael Bautista Jr. (born January 18, 1969) is an American actor and retired professional wrestler. He had several stints in WWE between 2002 and 2019. In his acting career, he is most widely known for his portrayal of Drax the Destroyer in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since "Guardians of the Galaxy" (2014).


title: Dave Bautista

text: Bautista began his wrestling career in 1999, and in 2000 signed with the then-World Wrestling Federation (WWF, renamed WWE in 2002). From 2002 to 2010, he gained fame under the ring name Batista and became a six-time world champion by winning the World Heavyweight Championship four times and the WWE Championship twice. His first reign with the World Heavyweight Championship is the longest reign for that title at 282 days. He has also held the World Tag Team Championship three times (twice with Ric Flair and once with John Cena) and the WWE Tag Team Championship once (with Rey Mysterio). He was the winner of the 2005 Royal Rumble match and went on to headline WrestleMania 21, one of the top five highest-grossing pay-per-view events in professional wrestling history. After leaving WWE in 2010, he re-signed in December 2013, making his first appearance back in January 2014 and won that year's Royal Rumble match. He headlined WrestleMania XXX before again departing that June. In October 2018, Bautista made his second return to WWE and faced Triple H at WrestleMania 35 in April 2019, before retiring from wrestling. Altogether Bautista won a total of eleven championships throughout his wrestling career.


title: Dave Bautista

text: Bautista began acting in 2006 and has starred in "The Man with the Iron Fists" (2012), "Riddick" (2013), the James Bond film "Spectre" (2015), "Blade Runner 2049" (2017), "Army of the Dead" (2021), and "Dune" (2021). He has also appeared in several direct-to-video films since 2009.


title: Dave Bautista

text: In August 2012, Bautista signed a contract with Classic Entertainment & Sports to fight in mixed martial arts (MMA). He won his lone MMA fight on October 6, 2012, defeating Vince Lucero via technical knockout in the first round.


title: Dave Bautista

text: Bautista was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Donna Raye ("née" Mullins) and hairdresser David Michael Bautista. His mother is of Greek descent, and his father is the son of Filipino immigrants. His paternal grandfather served in the Philippine military, worked as a taxi driver and barber, and held other jobs to feed the family. His mother is a lesbian. Bautista has said that he lived in poverty, and that he had a hard life—before he reached the age of nine, three murders had occurred on his front lawn. As young as age 13, he was stealing cars. By 17, he was estranged from his parents and living on his own. He later said, "I am proud of my parents. They are good, honest, hard-working folks. They taught me the values of working hard."


title: Dave Bautista

text: He was a nightclub bouncer until he was arrested after a fight that left two patrons injured, one of whom was rendered unconscious. After a trial, he was sentenced to one year of probation. He also worked as a lifeguard before pursuing a career in bodybuilding, which he credits with saving his life. He said he decided to turn his life around and become a wrestler after having a breakdown from the shame he felt after asking a coworker to lend him money so he could buy Christmas presents for his children.


title: Dave Bautista

text: During his wrestling career, Bautista used the ring name "Batista", with a modified spelling. As an actor, he reverted to his name's original spelling, and is billed as Dave Bautista.


title: Dave Bautista

text: Bautista tried out at the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) Power Plant, but was told he would never make it in the wrestling business by Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker. He then went to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), who advised him to train with Afa Anoa'i in the Wild Samoan Training Center wrestling school, where he went to train and compete in Anoa'i's World Xtreme Wrestling (WXW) promotion. He had his debut match as Khan on October 30, 1999. Bautista also trained with Marrese Crump in Muay Thai and Eskrima. Most recently, he trained at Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu under Cesar Gracie and has become a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.


title: Dave Bautista

text: Upon signing with the WWF in 2000, Bautista was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), a WWF developmental territory. He made his OVW debut later that year under the ring name Leviathan, where he immediately joined forces with Synn. As a member of the Disciples of Synn stable, he went undefeated until being beaten at "Christmas Chaos" by Kane with help from Stone Cold Steve Austin. He later won the OVW Heavyweight Championship from "The Machine" Doug Basham before losing the belt to The Prototype. A few months later, Bautista left OVW after he was promoted to WWE's main roster.


title: Dave Bautista

text: While still in OVW, Bautista began appearing on non-televised WWE events. He began his televised WWE career on May 9, 2002, on an episode of "SmackDown!" as Deacon Batista, a heel enforcer for Reverend D-Von. He made his WWE in-ring debut in a tag team match teaming with D-Von against Faarooq and Randy Orton, pinning Orton. Over several weeks, Orton tried to beat D-Von and Batista with different partners, but ultimately lost each time. Batista suffered his first loss in a match against Rikishi after D-Von accidentally punched him, allowing Rikishi to take advantage and pin Batista. Batista and D-Von argued over the forthcoming weeks, with Batista eventually turning on D-Von. On the November 14 episode of "SmackDown!", Batista defeated D-Von to end their feud. After splitting with D-Von, he was assigned to the Raw brand and was renamed Batista. He aligned himself with Ric Flair and feuded with Kane, whom he defeated at Armageddon.


title: Dave Bautista

text: In January 2003, Batista joined Triple H, Ric Flair and Randy Orton to form the heel stable Evolution. Batista, however, was sidelined for much of 2003 after he tore his right triceps muscle at a "Raw" live event in a tag team match alongside Orton against The Dudley Boyz. While training after the injury, Batista re-tore his triceps, extending his stay on the sidelines. Batista made his return on October 20 episode of "Raw", interfering in a match between Goldberg and Shawn Michaels. At Armageddon, Batista and Ric Flair became the World Tag Team Champions. while Triple H won the World Heavyweight Championship and Randy Orton the Intercontinental Championship. Batista and Flair held the title until February 16, 2004, episode of "Raw", when they were defeated by Booker T and Rob Van Dam. They later defeated Booker and Van Dam on the March 22 episode of "Raw" to regain the titles before losing them to Chris Benoit and Edge on the April 19 episode of "Raw".


title: Dave Bautista

text: Since late 2004, the relationship between Batista and Triple H began to deteriorate in kayfabe. After a loss to Chris Jericho, Triple H verbally insulted Batista. Batista teased leaving Evolution that night, but declared that he was still part of Evolution and that they tricked everyone. Despite this ploy, Batista began behaving more like a face over the next few weeks in comparison to Evolution's heel tactics. One particular moment saw Batista express disgust as Triple H and Ric Flair boasted about how they had intimidated and/or beat up Jim Ross, Danny Hodge, and Stacy Keibler. Regardless, he continued to show his loyalty to Triple H and Evolution by running down to the ring and assisting them in matches.


title: Dave Bautista

text: As 2005 began, Triple H realized the possibility of Batista becoming a threat to his World Heavyweight Championship. Triple H suggested that he not enter the Royal Rumble, claiming that it would be selfish of him to do so, and to simply focus on Triple H retaining the title. Batista entered anyway and went on to win the Rumble earning the right to participate in the main event of WrestleMania 21 against the World Champion of his choice. In an attempt to persuade Batista to challenge WWE Champion John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) and challenger John Cena in a triple-threat match rather than him, Triple H concocted a scheme to have Batista run over in a limousine resembling the one used by JBL. Initially, Batista did not want help from Evolution and wanted to confront JBL by himself. Triple H insisted that Evolution stick together and accompanied Batista anyway, saving him from the oncoming vehicle. Batista became aware of the plot while sneakily eavesdropping on fellow Evolution members and signed a contract guaranteeing him a match with the World Heavyweight Champion Triple H at WrestleMania 21, thus leaving Evolution and officially turning face. Batista initially pretended that he would sign with SmackDown!, giving Triple H and Flair the "thumbs up", but turned it into a "thumbs down" before attacking the pair. He emphasized his departure by powerbombing Triple H through the table used for the contract signing.


title: Dave Bautista

text: Batista won the World Heavyweight Championship on April 3 in the main event of WrestleMania 21. WrestleMania 21 received 1.09 million pay-per-view buys worldwide – the then-highest ever number of buys for any non-boxing pay-per-view. Batista's match with Triple H was described by sports journalist Dave Meltzer as "the peak of one of [WWE's] best storylines in years". Batista won a rematch with Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship at Backlash. After Batista retained his title against Edge on the May 23 episode of "Raw", he was betrayed by Ric Flair, who helped Triple H viciously attack the champion as Triple H challenged Batista to a Hell in a Cell match at Vengeance. Batista won the match at Vengeance, retaining his title yet again. With this win, Batista became the first wrestler to pin Triple H in a Hell in a Cell match.


title: Dave Bautista

text: On the June 30 episode of "SmackDown!", Batista was drafted to the SmackDown! brand as the last pick in the 2005 WWE Draft Lottery, making a surprise appearance to attack JBL, who was celebrating his victory in a six-man elimination match to crown the inaugural "SmackDown! Champion". JBL defeated Batista at The Great American Bash by disqualification after the referee saw Batista use a steel chair. They had a rematch at SummerSlam in a No Holds Barred match in which Batista pinned JBL. The feud culminated in a Texas Bull Rope match on the September 9 episode of "SmackDown!" with Batista retaining his championship. Soon after retaining the title in a feud with Eddie Guerrero at No Mercy, WWE.com reported that Batista suffered a muscle tear in his back at the taping for the November 11 episode of "SmackDown!" due to a double chokeslam from Big Show and Kane. Plans had been made for Batista to defend the title in a Triple Threat match with Eddie Guerrero and Randy Orton on the November 18 episode of "SmackDown!", but the match did not take place due to the unexpected death of Guerrero on November 13, the date of the taping. Batista paid homage to Guerrero during the "Raw" and "SmackDown!" tribute shows dedicated to Guerrero's memory.


title: Dave Bautista

text: Batista led Team SmackDown! against Team Raw in an inter-brand feud before Survivor Series. The feud saw Big Show and Kane chokeslamming Batista several more times in the weeks leading up to Survivor Series in an on-camera explanation for Batista's injury. Batista ultimately helped his team win the match at Survivor Series. After Batista saved Rey Mysterio from Big Show and Kane on the December 2 episode of "SmackDown!", leading to a match with Mysterio teaming with Batista to face Big Show and Kane at Armageddon.


title: Dave Bautista

text: On December 16 episode of "SmackDown!", Batista and Mysterio defeated WWE Tag Team Champions MNM to win the titles in a match they dedicated to Eddie Guerrero, and thus Batista became a double champion. After this, the clash with Big Show and Kane at Armageddon turned into a Champions vs. Champions encounter. Batista and Mysterio lost to Big Show and Kane at Armageddon. Two weeks later on "SmackDown!", MNM defeated Batista and Mysterio after help from the returning Mark Henry to regain the WWE Tag Team Championship. During the interference, Henry attacked Batista, and performed his "World's Strongest Slam". The teams met again in a steel cage match the following week that Henry also became involved in, and Batista and Mysterio were defeated again. Batista tore his right triceps during a match with Mark Henry at a house show on January 6, forcing him to vacate the World Heavyweight Championship at the "SmackDown!" tapings on January 13, two days after surpassing Triple H's previous mark of 280 days for longest reigning champion. In his book, "Batista Unleashed", Batista said that he believed that Henry was "careless" during their match as he never gave Batista any warning that the move was coming. Batista went on to have successful surgery on his arm on January 12.


title: Dave Bautista

text: Batista made an appearance at No Way Out and told the crowd that once his arm had healed he would return to regain the World Heavyweight Championship. At WrestleMania 22, he interrupted a Randy Orton interview, putting SmackDown! on notice that the World Heavyweight Championship would return to him by WrestleMania 23.


title: Dave Bautista

text: Batista made his official return during the July 7 episode of "SmackDown!" immediately calling out and entering into a feud with Mark Henry. At "Saturday Night's Main Event XXXIII", Batista won a six-man tag match with teammates Rey Mysterio and Bobby Lashley, defeating World Heavyweight Champion King Booker, Finlay, and Mark Henry. Henry was legitimately injured and was ruled out of the scheduled match between the two at The Great American Bash, thus further delaying a potential feud between the two after being delayed by Batista's initial injury.


title: Dave Bautista

text: Batista put out an open challenge to replace the injured Henry, which was answered by Mr. Kennedy. At The Great American Bash, Batista lost this match via disqualification for failing to stop choking Mr. Kennedy into the turnbuckle with his boot, but continued to attack Kennedy resulting in a laceration on his forehead so severe that it exposed his cranium and required more than 20 stitches to close. Batista lost another match with Kennedy via count out in a rematch on the July 28 episode of "SmackDown!" before finally defeating Kennedy by pinfall on the August 4 episode of "SmackDown!".


title: Dave Bautista

text: Batista faced Big Show for the ECW World Championship on the August 1 episode of "ECW", winning the match by disqualification but failing to win the championship as titles cannot change hands by disqualification. He then set his sights on King Booker's World Heavyweight Championship, with the two facing in a match for the title at SummerSlam on August 20. However, Batista also won this match by disqualification. Batista continued his pursuit of the championship, failing to capture it once again in a fatal-four way at No Mercy in October also involving Finlay and Bobby Lashley, before finally defeating Booker to regain the World Heavyweight Championship at Survivor Series on November 26. The following month at Armageddon, Batista teamed with John Cena to defeat King Booker and Finlay, putting an end to the rivalry.


title: Dave Bautista

text: Going into 2007, Batista began a short feud with Mr. Kennedy over the championship. Batista retained the championship over Kennedy at the Royal Rumble on January 28. Batista's next challenger was The Undertaker, the winner of the Royal Rumble match. The two formed a reluctant alliance to face John Cena and Shawn Michaels at No Way Out in February, which they lost after Batista turned on Undertaker midway through the match. At WrestleMania 23 on April 1, Batista lost the World Heavyweight Championship to The Undertaker. They continued their feud with a Last Man Standing match at Backlash later that month, which ended in a draw. The two wrestled again in a Steel Cage Match on the May 11 episode of "SmackDown!", which also ended in a draw. Following the match, Edge took advantage and won the title from The Undertaker by cashing in his Money in the Bank contract. Afterward, Batista challenged Edge unsuccessfully for the World Heavyweight Championship at Judgment Day, One Night Stand (in a Steel Cage Match), and (in a Last Chance match). The loss at Vengeance stipulated that Batista could no longer get another chance at the World Heavyweight Championship while Edge remained champion.


title: Dave Bautista

text: Batista accepted an open challenge from The Great Khali at The Great American Bash. Edge relinquished the title due to an injury the week before The Great American Bash, and Khali became the new World Heavyweight Champion, winning a Battle Royal and eliminating Batista. Batista and Kane, Edge's title opponent, faced Khali at The Great American Bash in a Triple Threat match where Khali retained the title. Batista received a disqualification victory against Khali at SummerSlam after Khali used a steel chair, thus Khali retained the title again. Batista finally claimed his third World Heavyweight Championship after eight consecutive attempts, by defeating Khali in a triple threat match that included Rey Mysterio at Unforgiven. His first challenge was from The Great Khali in a Punjabi Prison Match at No Mercy where Batista retained his title. He won the match by leaping from the inner bamboo structure to the outer one, shortening his escape route and beating Khali to the floor.


title: Dave Bautista

text: After the return of The Undertaker at Unforgiven, the duo reignited their feud at Cyber Sunday where the fans chose Stone Cold Steve Austin as the Special Guest Referee. Batista pinned The Undertaker after two Batista Bombs. The feud continued with a Hell in a Cell match at Survivor Series. During the match, Edge returned and interfered by giving The Undertaker a con-chair-to. He then pulled an unconscious Batista on top of The Undertaker for the pinfall to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. At Armageddon, Edge won a Triple Threat match, alongside The Undertaker for Batista's World Heavyweight Championship.


title: Dave Bautista

text: Batista appeared in the Royal Rumble and made the final three before being eliminated by Triple H. At No Way Out, he was part of the SmackDown Elimination Chamber Match and eliminated Big Daddy V, but was last eliminated by The Undertaker. At WrestleMania XXIV, he defeated Umaga in an interpromotional match. After Shawn Michaels defeated Ric Flair in a Career Threatening match (forcing Flair to retire) later that night, Batista began a feud with Michaels, calling him selfish and egotistical. The two faced off at Backlash with Chris Jericho as the special guest referee. Michaels won after faking a knee injury and performing Sweet Chin Music. Batista then defeated Michaels at One Night Stand in a stretcher match, thus ending their feud.


title: Dave Bautista

text: On the June 23 episode of "Raw", Batista was drafted from SmackDown to the Raw brand during the 2008 WWE Draft. After failing to win the World Heavyweight Championship from Edge at Night of Champions, Batista attacked Edge the following night on "Raw", allowing CM Punk to cash in his Money in the Bank contract on Edge. This set up a title match between Batista and Punk at The Great American Bash which ended in a double disqualification after Kane interfered and attacked both men. The following night on "Raw", Batista and Punk had a rematch, Batista won by disqualification after he was attacked by JBL. As John Cena came to the ring to fight JBL, he inadvertently punched Batista as JBL ducked. This started a program between Cena and Batista leading up to SummerSlam, for which a match was made official by Raw general manager Mike Adamle. This was the first time a match between the two would occur as they had each been on separate brands since they both debuted in 2002. On the August 4 episode of "Raw", Batista and Cena won the World Tag Team Championship from Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase, making Batista a three-time World Tag Team Champion. The next week on "Raw", Batista and Cena lost the World Tag Team Championship back to Rhodes and DiBiase. After losing the titles, the two had to be separated by multiple officials. Batista defeated Cena at SummerSlam, legitimating injuring Cena's neck in the process. Batista then competed in the World Heavyweight Championship championship scramble match at Unforgiven and was eight seconds away from being a four-time world champion, but Chris Jericho snuck in and pinned Kane in the waning seconds. On October 26 at Cyber Sunday, Batista defeated Jericho for his fourth World Heavyweight Championship in a match in which Stone Cold Steve Austin was voted in as the special guest referee. Batista's reign, however, only lasted eight days when Jericho won the title back in a Steel Cage match on the 800th episode of "Raw" on November 3.


title: Dave Bautista

text: Batista then entered a feud with former Evolution partner, Randy Orton; at Survivor Series, Batista led a team of himself, CM Punk, Kofi Kingston, Matt Hardy, and R-Truth to face the team of Randy Orton, Shelton Benjamin, William Regal, Cody Rhodes, and Mark Henry. Orton's team won with Orton pinning Batista, winning the match for his team. His feud with Orton continued up to Armageddon where Batista defeated Orton. On the December 15 episode of "Raw", Batista was put into a handicap match against The Legacy with John Cena as his partner. During the match, Orton struck Batista with a punt to the head. Batista was knocked out and put out of action indefinitely due to a storyline head injury. WWE.com later reported that Batista elected to undergo surgery to repair a hamstring tear. His hamstring was injured at SummerSlam, in the same match that John Cena was forced out of action with a neck injury. He was expected to be out of action for six to eight months.


title: Dave Bautista

text: Batista returned on the "Raw" after WrestleMania 25, to save Triple H, Shane McMahon, and Vince McMahon from The Legacy (Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr.). Vince McMahon then scheduled Batista to team up with WWE Champion Triple H and Shane McMahon to face The Legacy at Backlash. During the match, Batista had brought out a chair, but Triple H tried to stop him, so they would not get disqualified (which would have cost Triple H the championship). This distraction, however, cost Triple H his championship, after he lost it to Orton. The following night on "Raw", Batista won a singles match against Big Show due to a distraction by John Cena, to become the number one contender for the WWE Championship at Judgment Day, which he won by disqualification. Batista went on to defeat Orton in a rematch at Extreme Rules in a Steel Cage match to capture his first WWE Championship. However, on the June 8 episode of "Raw", Batista was to vacate the title due to a staged brutal attack by Orton and the Legacy. It was later revealed that Batista had suffered a legitimate torn left biceps similar to what he suffered in 2006. Legacy was given on-screen credit for his injury.


title: Dave Bautista

text: Batista returned on the September 14 episode of "Raw" with his arm still in a vice. Randy Orton, assuming Batista was retiring, claimed that he ended Batista's career. Batista then removed his arm vice, which turned to be fake, and attacked Orton. He then stated that he would not retire, but move to SmackDown instead. Later that night, he defeated Orton in a no-holds barred match which was to be his last match on "Raw".


title: Dave Bautista

text: Following his return to SmackDown, Batista defeated Unified WWE Tag Team Champions Jeri-Show (Chris Jericho and Big Show) in singles competition. These two victories culminated in a tag team title match against Jeri-Show with his partner Rey Mysterio on October 4 at Hell in a Cell, which Jeri-Show won. That same month at Bragging Rights, Batista was unsuccessful in winning the World Heavyweight Championship in a Fatal Four-Way match including CM Punk, Rey Mysterio, and champion The Undertaker. During the match, Mysterio broke up Batista's pin on Undertaker costing him the match and the title. After the match (which Undertaker won), Batista and Mysterio appeared to patch things up, but Batista said he was tired of coming so close only to be stabbed in the back and told Mysterio he was going to rip his head off. Batista proceeded to brutally attack Mysterio, turning heel for the first time since 2005. Batista faced Mysterio on November 22 at Survivor Series, where Batista won via referee stoppage after delivering three "Batista Bomb"s to Mysterio. Batista defeated Mysterio again in a street fight on the December 11 episode of "SmackDown". On December 13 at , Batista faced Undertaker for the World Heavyweight Championship in a Chairs match. Batista initially won the match and the title, but SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long reversed the decision because Batista had hit Undertaker with a low blow behind the referee's back. The match was restarted with The Undertaker winning and retaining the championship. Five days later, Batista lost to Mysterio in a number one contenders match for the World Heavyweight Championship; Mysterio's title match against The Undertaker on the December 25 episode of "SmackDown" ended as a no-contest after interference from Batista.


title: Dave Bautista

text: At the Royal Rumble in January 2010, Batista entered the Royal Rumble match at number 30, but failed to win as he was eliminated by John Cena. Batista then became involved in WWE Chairman Vince McMahon and Bret Hart's rivalry by assisting McMahon in attacking Hart; John Cena attempted to save Hart, but was assaulted by Batista. On February 21 at Elimination Chamber, as payment for Batista attacking Hart, McMahon allowed Batista to face Cena for the WWE Championship immediately after Cena won the title in an Elimination Chamber match. Batista won the match and thus his second WWE Championship, which resulted in Batista moving back to Raw. On March 28 at WrestleMania XXVI, Batista lost the WWE Championship to John Cena in a rematch, ending his reign at 35 days. Batista received his rematch for the title in a Last Man Standing match on April 25 at Extreme Rules, but was defeated by Cena after Cena duct-taped his legs around a ring post, preventing him from standing up. Batista and Cena faced off once again for the WWE Championship on May 23 at Over the Limit, but he failed again to regain the title from Cena in an "I Quit" match, quitting as Cena threatened to give him the "Attitude Adjustment" off the roof of a car. Cena did so anyway, throwing Batista off of the car and through the stage below.


title: Dave Bautista

text: The following night on "Raw", Batista opened the show in a wheelchair and claimed that he would be pursuing legal action against Cena and WWE for his injuries (which he revealed in 2014 to be a legitimate compression fracture of his L1 spine). His promo was interrupted by new Raw General Manager Bret Hart, who ordered he face an injured Randy Orton to qualify for a shot at WWE Championship against Cena again at the new Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view. Batista refused and quit the company after Hart named Orton winner by forfeit. His profile was subsequently moved to the alumni page on WWE's website. He later said in an interview that he left WWE because he "did not like the direction the company was going in".


title: Dave Bautista

text: On the December 23, 2013, episode of "Raw", a vignette advertised the return of Batista on January 20, 2014, episode of "Raw". Batista returned as a face to confront WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton on the January 20 "Raw", and vowed to win the 2014 Royal Rumble match and become champion at WrestleMania XXX. Later that night, Batista confronted Alberto Del Rio, who had been trash talking him for several weeks, and eventually attacked him with a "Batista Bomb". Six days later at the Royal Rumble, Batista entered the Rumble match at number 28 and last eliminated Roman Reigns to win the match, becoming the fifth wrestler to win multiple Rumble matches, and the first, and so far only multi-time Royal Rumble winner to win from the same entrant number (28). The live crowd reacted negatively towards Batista's win, as Daniel Bryan did not take part in the match. Despite a positive reaction originally, the crowd began to boo Batista after Reigns was eliminated. After the show went off the air, Batista mocked Bryan and gestured his middle finger at the crowd. According to Batista, he thought a return as a face was a bad idea because of the fans being so invested in Daniel Bryan's "Yes Movement". On the February 3 "Raw", Batista was confronted and was ultimately assaulted by Del Rio before chasing him off. Batista retaliated the following week, powerbombing Del Rio through the broadcast table.


title: Dave Bautista

text: At the Elimination Chamber event and on the following "Raw", Batista was heavily booed by the fans during matches against Del Rio. Batista won the match at Elimination Chamber, but continued to suffer a torrid fan reaction with "Boo-tista" chants. Batista responded to the audience on the February 28 episode of "SmackDown", saying that he did not come back to be liked, then mocked the other wrestlers, Bryan in particular, by stating that they were not "real men" and promised to be the next WWE World Heavyweight Champion, thus turning heel. After Orton retained his title at the Elimination Chamber, the scheduled WrestleMania XXX main event was Batista vs. Orton, however Bryan was added to the match after defeating Triple H in the opening contest of the show. Batista ultimately lost the triple threat match at WrestleMania after Bryan forced him to submit to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.


title: Dave Bautista

text: The next night on "Raw", Batista and Orton teamed together to face The Usos for the WWE Tag Team Championship, but the match ended in a double count out. Later that night, Batista and Orton, along with Kane, attacked Bryan before he was set to defend his title against Triple H. Before Triple H could defeat Bryan, The Shield interrupted by spearing Triple H and taking out Batista, Orton and Kane, causing the match to end in a no-contest. On the April 14 episode of "Raw", Batista, Triple H and Randy Orton came down to the ring to attack The Shield after their 11-on-3 handicap match, using the name and the theme of Evolution. At both Extreme Rules and Payback, Evolution lost to The Shield. On the June 2 episode of "Raw", Batista quit WWE after Triple H denied him a shot at the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Batista legitimately quit the WWE due to creative differences soon after.


title: Dave Bautista

text: In April 2015, Batista said that he would be interested in returning to WWE, but only at non-televised events. He was contacted to appear at WrestleMania 32 in 2016, but turned down the offer. Regarding his brief tenure in professional wrestling, he said that his greatest achievement was "putting guys over" and "repaying favors".


title: Dave Bautista

text: On October 16, 2018, Batista reunited with the rest of Evolution for an appearance on "SmackDown"s 1000th episode, where Batista teased a match with Triple H, as Triple H had never beaten Batista in singles competition. On February 25, 2019, Batista returned to "Raw" and attacked Ric Flair backstage as Flair was about to make an appearance for his 70th birthday celebration as well as subsequently calling out Triple H. On the March 11 episode of "Raw", Batista and Triple H had a face-to-face confrontation, in which Batista challenged Triple H to a match at WrestleMania 35 in order to end his career in his own terms, while also vowing to end Triple H's, in which Triple H accepted, while also adding the match would be a No Holds Barred match. On the March 25 episode of "Raw", Triple H put his career on the line against Batista, per the order's of Batista's lawyers. At WrestleMania on April 7, Batista lost to Triple H after interference from Ric Flair. On April 8, 2019, Batista announced his retirement from professional wrestling.


title: Dave Bautista

text: On December 9, 2019, WWE officially announced that Batista would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as a part of the Class of 2020. The event was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and it was announced that the class of 2020 would be inducted alongside the class of 2021 at the 2021 event. Prior to the event, however, he was removed from the list. Batista posted to Twitter, confirming his removal, citing previous obligations as a reason for why he could not attend the 2021 event. He also said that WWE honored his request to induct him at a future ceremony.


title: Dave Bautista

text: Upon his return to WWE in 2014, Batista was heavily booed by the crowd after winning the Royal Rumble, despite playing a face character. In an interview with WWE.com, he said the crowd reaction "...was weird. It wasn't like a normal response. It was almost like a personal attack. It had to do with factors that were not in my control, factors and things that were going on in the company with other people, stuff that really had nothing to do with me. To me, it was a little frustrating, a little confusing, and, you know, I don’t want to say I completely took it personal, but I did somewhat." The fan reaction caused Batista to turn prematurely heel. He was declared as the 50th greatest wrestling villain of all time by a WWE article in 2012. WWE has also ranked him as the second best World Heavyweight Champion of all time.


title: Dave Bautista

text: WWE advertised the Batista character as being 6 feet 6 inches tall and weighing 290 pounds. (Both statistics are different from his actual height and weight as of August 2020.)


title: Dave Bautista

text: After leaving WWE, Bautista attended "", a mixed martial arts (MMA) event, on June 16, 2010, having previously registered an interest in competing in MMA. On June 21, 2010, Bautista stated that he would be embarking on an MMA career. He also became a purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under the tutelage of


title: Dave Bautista

text: Cesar Gracie. Bautista and Strikeforce agreed on a price and were negotiating a contract. However, in April 2011, Bautista stated that negotiations fell through when the organization was bought by the Zuffa company.


title: Dave Bautista

text: Bautista was expected to make his MMA debut against Rashid Evans (not Rashad Evans) on October 6, 2012, at the "Classic Entertainment and Sports: Real Pain" event in Providence, Rhode Island. However, on October 1, 2012, Evans was forced out of the bout after a probation violation landed him back in jail. Evans was replaced by journeyman and 40-fight veteran Vince Lucero. Bautista went on to win the fight by technical knockout (TKO) at 4:05 in the first round.


title: Dave Bautista

text: Bautista has acted and guest-starred in several television shows as both himself and in-character as Batista. He guest-starred in the eighth episode of season 6 of the American drama action/adventure television series "Smallville", where he played Aldar, an extraterrestrial alien who escaped from the Phantom Zone, who sucks the bones out of people for nourishment. In June 2009, he made a cameo appearance as himself on the Australian soap opera "Neighbours". In 2010, he appeared in an episode of "Chuck", and also made a cameo appearance in "Relative Strangers". He worked alongside Rob Van Dam, Marrese Crump and Ja Rule on the 2010 action film "Wrong Side of Town".


title: Dave Bautista

text: Bautista appeared as the villainous Brass Body in the Universal Studios film "The Man with the Iron Fists". He played Drax the Destroyer in the 2014 Marvel Studios film "Guardians of the Galaxy", which was a critical and commercial success. He played Mr. Hinx in the James Bond film "Spectre" (2015), and starred as the villain Tong Po in the reboot of the 1989 martial arts film "Kickboxer", opposite Georges St-Pierre. He had a minor role in the science fiction film "Blade Runner 2049", released in 2017 to critical praise. He reprised his role as Drax in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" (released May 2017); "" (April 2018); and "" (April 2019).


title: Dave Bautista

text: In 2018, Bautista joined his castmates in support of "Guardians of the Galaxy" director James Gunn after Gunn's firing over old tweets joking about pedophilia and rape. Bautista called Gunn's firing "nauseating", and declared that if Disney (parent company of Marvel Studios) did not use Gunn's script for "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3", he would ask to be recast. Gunn was reinstated as the film's director in March 2019. On May 24, 2021, during an appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show", Bautista confirmed that the upcoming "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" would be his final appearance as the character.


title: Dave Bautista

text: Bautista starred in Zack Snyder's "Army of the Dead" (2021). He had a villainous role in "Dune", a film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Frank Herbert, which was released to glowing reviews. He appeared in "", the sequel to "Knives Out" (2019), playing 'Duke'. He is to set to star in the fantasy-adventure film "In the Lost Lands" with Milla Jovovich, directed by Paul W.S. Anderson. On December 6, 2021, he was cast in "Knock At The Cabin", written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan.


title: Dave Bautista

text: Bautista appeared on the covers of the April 2005 "Flex", and "Muscle & Fitness" for September 2008. Along with John Cena and Ashley Massaro, he appeared representing WWE on an episode of "" in January 2007, giving the kids of the family whose house was renovated WWE merchandise and eight tickets to WrestleMania 23.


title: Dave Bautista

text: According to the Wrestling Figure Checklist, Bautista had 171 action figures released in the 2000s and 2010s; most were released in the mid-to-late 2000s by Jakks Pacific. He remarked on his 2007 appearance on MTV Cribs, "I was trying to collect my action figures, but I gave up, there became too many".


title: Dave Bautista

text: On October 16, 2007, his autobiography, "Batista Unleashed", was released. In an interview about it, he claimed, "I didn't want to tell my story unless it was honest... You have to go through three sets of lawyers: Simon & Schuster lawyers, WWE lawyers, my lawyers. Everything now being the way it is, you can be sued for the simplest thing." There was controversy over the book's mention of Chris Benoit, a wrestler who killed his wife and strangled his son in a murder-suicide, and about whom other details were removed from the book. Bautista said, "I loved the guy. I despise what he did, but that doesn't erase him from my life. I fought to keep him in there and am glad they did."


title: Dave Bautista

text: When asked about his ex-wife, Angie, Bautista says, "[We] have really become close again, which we really haven't been in years. I really learned a lot about her, and she learned a lot about me from reading the book. She actually saw things from a different perspective from reading the book. So that was definitely therapeutic."


title: Dave Bautista

text: During the week of November 5, 2007, Bautista appeared on "Family Feud" with several other WWE wrestlers.


title: Dave Bautista

text: On September 7, 2008, he was a judge on an episode of "Iron Chef America", with snails as the theme ingredient. Along with Candice Michelle, Shelton Benjamin, and Josh Mathews, he represented the WWE at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in an effort to persuade fans to register to vote in the 2008 presidential election. He has also appeared on "MTV Cribs" showing his house and cars. His first biographical DVD, "Batista: I Walk Alone", was released through WWE Productions on October 20, 2009. A second DVD, "WWE Batista: The Animal Unleashed" (released June 2014) continued his life story, detailing his departure from WWE in 2010 and his return to it in 2014.


title: Dave Bautista

text: Bautista married his first wife, Glenda, in 1990. They had two daughters together, Keilani (born 1990) and Athena (born 1992), before they divorced in 1998. Bautista married his second wife, Angie, on October 13, 1998. They have a son together, Oliver, and divorced in 2006. Before the age of 40, Bautista already had two grandsons through Keilani. During his marriage to Angie, he became an avid collector of vintage metal lunchboxes. His favorite is the 1967 Green Hornet lunchbox, as it has Bruce Lee on it. The collection started when he bought Angie an "E.T." lunchbox and she did not want to break it, so he bought a second one. In October 2015, he married competitive pole dancer Sarah Jade. They separated in early 2019.


title: Dave Bautista

text: As of August 2020, Bautista is 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 275 pounds. He has numerous tattoos, including a large dragon on his back, red kanji lettering on his upper left biceps which says "Angel" (in tribute to Angie), a signature design on his upper right biceps, and a small sun on his abdomen which encircles his navel. He also has a tattoo on his arm of the flags of Greece and the Philippines. While taking time off due to injury in 2009, he had both upper arms covered in large, tribal style tattoos, and the phrase "DC soldier" added to his right biceps.


title: Dave Bautista

text: Bautista supported Bernie Sanders in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries. He endorsed Joe Biden in the 2020 United States presidential election and appeared in an ad for his presidential campaign.


title: Dave Bautista

text: During a commercial shoot for the 2006 SummerSlam pay-per-view, Bautista got into a legitimate fistfight with Booker T. The incident was reported on WWE.com, with both men telling their sides of the story. Booker T believed that Bautista considered himself better than the rest of the roster due to his main-event status and relatively quick climb to achieve it. Wrestlers backstage praised Booker for speaking his mind to Bautista about his attitude.


title: Dave Bautista

text: In August 2007, ESPN included Bautista on a list they claimed were clients of Signature Pharmacy of Orlando, Florida, which was under investigation for illicitly selling anabolic steroids. Bautista denied the allegations, and said that he was "tested regularly by the WWE" and "in full compliance with the WWE Wellness Program".


title: Goldie Hawn

text: Goldie Jeanne Hawn (born November 21, 1945) is an American actress, dancer, producer, and singer. She rose to fame on the NBC sketch comedy program "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" (1968–1970), before going on to receive the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in "Cactus Flower" (1969).


title: Goldie Hawn

text: Hawn maintained bankable star status for more than three decades, while appearing in such films as "There's a Girl in My Soup" (1970), "Butterflies Are Free" (1972), "The Sugarland Express" (1974), "Shampoo" (1975), "Foul Play" (1978), "Seems Like Old Times" (1980), and "Private Benjamin" (1980), for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for playing the title role. She later starred in "Overboard" (1987), "Bird on a Wire" (1990), "Death Becomes Her" (1992), "Housesitter" (1992), "The First Wives Club" (1996), "The" "Out-of-Towners" (1999), and "The Banger Sisters" (2002). Hawn made her return to film with roles in "Snatched" (2017), "The Christmas Chronicles" (2018), and "The Christmas Chronicles 2" (2020).


title: Goldie Hawn

text: Hawn is the mother of actors Oliver Hudson, Kate Hudson and Wyatt Russell and has been in a relationship with Kurt Russell since 1983. In 2003, she founded The Hawn Foundation, which educates underprivileged children.


title: Goldie Hawn

text: Hawn was born in Washington, D.C. to Laura (née Steinhoff), a jewelry shop/dance school owner, and Edward Rutledge Hawn, a band musician who played at major events in Washington. She was named after her mother's aunt. She has one sister, entertainment publicist Patti Hawn; their brother, Edward Jr., died in infancy before Patti was conceived. The girls were unaware of their deceased brother's existence growing up.


title: Goldie Hawn

text: Her father was a Presbyterian of German and English descent. Her mother was Jewish, the daughter of immigrants from Hungary Hawn was raised Jewish in Takoma Park, Maryland, and attended Montgomery Blair High School in nearby Silver Spring, Maryland.


title: Goldie Hawn

text: Hawn began taking ballet and tap dance lessons at the age of three and danced in the corps de ballet of the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo production of "The Nutcracker" in 1955. She made her stage debut in 1964, playing Juliet in a Virginia Shakespeare Festival production of "Romeo and Juliet".


title: Goldie Hawn

text: In 1964, Hawn ran and taught in a ballet school, having dropped out of American University where she was majoring in drama. She made her professional dancing debut in a production of "Can-Can" at the Texas Pavilion of the New York World's Fair. She began working as a professional dancer a year later and appeared as a go-go dancer in New York City and at the Peppermint Box in New Jersey.


title: Goldie Hawn

text: Hawn moved to California to dance in a show at Melodyland Theatre, a theater in the round across from Disneyland, joining the chorus of "Pal Joey" and "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" during the June 14 to September 1966 season. Hawn began her acting career as a cast member of the short-lived sitcom "Good Morning World" during the 1967–1968 television season, her role being that of the girlfriend of a radio disc jockey, with a stereotypical "dumb blonde" personality.


title: Goldie Hawn

text: Her next role, which brought her to international attention, was also as a dumb blonde, as one of the regular cast members on the 1968–1973 sketch comedy show "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In". On the show, she often broke out into high-pitched giggles in the middle of a joke, then delivered a polished performance a moment after. Noted equally for her chipper attitude as for her bikini-attired and painted body, Hawn was seen as a 1960s "It" girl.


title: Goldie Hawn

text: Her "Laugh-In" persona was parlayed into three popular film appearances in the late 1960s and early 1970s: "Cactus Flower", "There's a Girl in My Soup", and "Butterflies Are Free". Hawn made her film debut in a bit role as a giggling dancer in the 1968 film "The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band", in which she was billed as "Goldie Jeanne", but in her first major film role, in "Cactus Flower" (1969), she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress as Walter Matthau's suicidal fiancée. The same year, she appeared in "The Spring Thing", a television special hosted by Bobbie Gentry and Noel Harrison. Other guests were Meredith MacRae, Irwin C. Watson, Rod McKuen, Shirley Bassey and Harpers Bizarre.


title: Goldie Hawn

text: After Hawn's Academy Award win, her film career took off. She starred in a string of above average and successful comedies starting with "There's a Girl in My Soup" (1970), "$" (1971), and "Butterflies Are Free" (1972). She continued proving herself in the dramatic league in 1974 with the satirical dramas "The Girl from Petrovka" and Steven Spielberg's theatrical debut "The Sugarland Express". She then co-starred in Hal Ashby's classic satire "Shampoo" (1975). She also hosted two television specials: "Pure Goldie" in 1971 and "The Goldie Hawn Special" in 1978. The latter was a sort of comeback for Hawn, who had been out of the spotlight for two years since the 1976 release of the romantic comedy western "The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox", while she was focusing on her marriage and the birth of her son.


title: Goldie Hawn

text: On the special she performed show tunes and comedy bits alongside comic legend George Burns, teen matinee idol Shaun Cassidy, television star John Ritter (during his days on "Three's Company"), and even the Harlem Globetrotters joined her for a montage. The special later went on to be nominated for a primetime Emmy. Four months later the film "Foul Play" (with Chevy Chase), was released and became a box office smash, reviving Hawn's film career. The plot centered around an innocent woman in San Francisco who becomes mixed up in an assassination plot.


title: Goldie Hawn

text: In 1972, Hawn recorded and released a solo country LP for Warner Brothers, titled "Goldie". It was recorded with the help of Dolly Parton and Buck Owens. AllMusic gives the album a favorable review, calling it a "sweetly endearing country-tinged middle of the road pop record".


title: Goldie Hawn

text: Hawn's popularity continued into the 1980s, starting with another primetime variety special alongside actress and singer Liza Minnelli, "Goldie and Liza Together" (1980), which was nominated for four Emmy Awards. In the same year, Hawn took the lead role in "Private Benjamin", a comedy she co-produced with her friend Nancy Meyers, who co-wrote the script. Meyers recalls Hawn's reaction when she first described the idea for the story with Hawn as its lead:


title: Goldie Hawn

text: "Private Benjamin" also stars Eileen Brennan and Armand Assante and garnered Hawn her second Academy Award nomination, this time for Best Actress. Hawn's box office success continued with comedies like "Seems Like Old Times" (1980), written by Neil Simon; "Best Friends" (1982), written by Valerie Curtin and Barry Levinson; "Protocol" (1984), co-written by Nancy Meyers; "Wildcats" (1986)—Hawn also served as executive producer on the latter two; and the World War II romantic drama "Swing Shift" (1984).


title: Goldie Hawn

text: At the age of thirty-nine, Hawn posed for the cover of "Playboy" January 1985 issue and was the subject of the Playboy Interview. Her last film of the 1980s was opposite partner Kurt Russell, for the third time, in the comedy "Overboard" (1987).


title: Goldie Hawn

text: In 1990, she starred in the action comedy "Bird on a Wire", a critically panned but commercially successful picture that paired Hawn with Mel Gibson. Hawn had mixed success in the early 1990s, with the thriller "Deceived" (1991), the drama "CrissCross" and opposite Bruce Willis and Meryl Streep in "Death Becomes Her" (both 1992). Earlier that year, she starred in "Housesitter", a screwball comedy with Steve Martin, which was a commercial success.


title: Goldie Hawn

text: Hawn was absent from the screen for four years while caring for her mother, who died of cancer in 1994. Hawn made her entry back into film as producer of the satirical comedy "Something to Talk About" starring Julia Roberts and Dennis Quaid and made her directorial debut in the television film "Hope" (1997) starring Christine Lahti and Jena Malone.


title: Goldie Hawn

text: Hawn returned to the screen again in 1996 as the aging, alcoholic actress Elise Elliot in the financially and critically successful "The First Wives Club", opposite Bette Midler and Diane Keaton, with whom she covered the Lesley Gore hit "You Don't Own Me" for the film's soundtrack. Hawn also performed a cover version of the Beatles' song, "A Hard Day's Night", on George Martin's 1998 album, "In My Life".


title: Goldie Hawn

text: She also starred in Woody Allen's musical "Everyone Says I Love You" (1996) and reunited with Steve Martin for the comedy "The Out-of-Towners" (1999), a remake of the 1970 Neil Simon hit. The film was critically panned and was not successful at the box office. In 1997, Hawn, along with her co-stars from "The First Wives Club", Diane Keaton and Bette Midler, received the Women in Film Crystal Awards.


title: Goldie Hawn

text: In 2001, Hawn was reunited with former co-stars Warren Beatty (her co-star in "$" and "Shampoo") and Diane Keaton for the comedy "Town & Country", a critical and financial fiasco. Budgeted at an estimated US$90 million, the film opened to little notice and grossed only $7 million in its North American theatrical release. In 2002, she starred in "The Banger Sisters", opposite Susan Sarandon and Geoffrey Rush, her last live action film for fifteen years. In 2005 Hawn's autobiography, "A Lotus Grows in the Mud", was published.


title: Goldie Hawn

text: In 2013, Hawn guest-starred, along with Gordon Ramsay, in an episode of "Phineas and Ferb", in which she provided the voice of neighbor Peggy McGee. In 2017, Hawn returned to the big screen for the first time since 2002, co-starring with Amy Schumer in the comedy "Snatched", playing mother and daughter. In 2018, Hawn cameoed as Mrs. Claus in the Netflix film "The Christmas Chronicles". She played Mrs. Claus again, now in a starring role, in its 2020 sequel "The Christmas Chronicles 2."


title: Goldie Hawn

text: Hawn has studied meditation. In a 2012 interview, she stated, "I don't think of myself as a Buddhist. I was born Jewish, and I consider that my religion." She also stated, "It's not the idea of a particular religion that's important; it's the development of a spiritual life."


title: Goldie Hawn

text: Hawn is a supporter of the LGBT community. Speaking on nations such as Nigeria and others which have criminalized gay people, she denounced these laws, stating, "This is man's inhumanity to man, of the first order."


title: Goldie Hawn

text: Hawn's pre-fame boyfriends included actor Mark Goddard and singer Spiro Venduras. Her first husband was (later director) Gus Trikonis, who appeared as a Shark in "West Side Story" and with whom she shares the same birthday. They married on May 16, 1969, in Honolulu, Hawaii and separated on April 9, 1973. Hawn then dated stuntman Ted Grossman, Swedish actor Bruno Wintzell and Italian actor Franco Nero, but did not file for divorce from Trikonis until New Year's Eve 1975, after becoming engaged to musician Bill Hudson of the Hudson Brothers, whom she met the previous summer on a first-class flight from New York to Los Angeles. Hawn was granted a divorce in June 1976 and married Hudson on July 3, 1976, in Takoma Park, Maryland. They had two children, son Oliver (born September 7, 1976) and daughter Kate (born April 19, 1979). Hudson filed for divorce on August 15, 1980. Hawn subsequently had a romance with French actor Yves Rénier. The divorce from Hudson was finalized in March 1982.


title: Goldie Hawn

text: Hawn has been in a relationship with actor Kurt Russell since Valentine's Day 1983. The couple first met while filming "The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band" in 1966, but became involved after reconnecting on the set of "Swing Shift". They have a son, Wyatt (born July 10, 1986). In 2000 and again in 2004, news outlets reported that Hawn and Russell were on the verge of breaking up. During the alleged separations, Hawn was linked to newsman Charles Glass and Pakistani cricketer and Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan. Hawn and Russell, who celebrated 35 years together in 2018, own homes in Vancouver, Snowmass, Manhattan, Santa Ynez Valley, Brentwood; and Palm Desert. Hawn has revealed that she has no plans to marry Russell, stating that she "would have been long divorced if [she'd] been married," and that she and Russell chose to stay together and they do not feel that marriage "cements" a relationship.


title: Goldie Hawn

text: In 2003, Hawn founded the Hawn Foundation, a non-profit organization which provides youth education programs intended to improve academic performance through "life-enhancing strategies for well-being". The Hawn Foundation has supported research studies conducted by external researchers to evaluate the effectiveness of its educational program for children, called MindUP.


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) was a U.S. Marine veteran who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, on November 22, 1963.


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at the age of 12 for truancy, during which time he was assessed by a psychiatrist as "emotionally disturbed", due to a lack of normal family life. After attending 12 schools in his youth, he quit repeatedly, and finally when he was 17, joined the Marines. Oswald was court-martialed twice while in the Marines, and jailed. He was honorably released from active duty in the Marine Corps into the Marine Corps Reserve, then flew to Europe and defected to the Soviet Union in October 1959. He lived in Minsk, Byelorussia, married a Russian woman named Marina, and had a daughter. In June 1962, he returned to the United States with his wife, and eventually settled in Dallas, where their second daughter was born.


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: Oswald shot and killed Kennedy on November 22, 1963, from a sixth-floor window of the Texas School Book Depository as Kennedy traveled by motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas. About 45 minutes after assassinating Kennedy, Oswald shot and killed Dallas police officer J. D. Tippit on a local street. He then slipped into a movie theater, where he was arrested for Tippit's murder. Oswald was charged with the assassination of Kennedy, but he denied responsibility for the killing, claiming that he was a "patsy". Two days later, Oswald was fatally shot by local nightclub owner Jack Ruby on live television in the basement of Dallas Police Headquarters.


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: In September 1964, the Warren Commission concluded that Oswald had acted alone when assassinating Kennedy. This conclusion, though controversial, was supported by investigations from the Dallas Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the United States Secret Service, and the House Select Committee on Assassinations.


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: Despite forensic, ballistic, and eyewitness evidence supporting the official findings, public opinion polls have shown that most Americans still do not believe that the official version tells the whole truth of the events, and the assassination spawned numerous conspiracy theories.


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: Oswald was born at the old French Hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana, on October 18, 1939, to Robert Edward Lee Oswald Sr. (1896–1939) and Marguerite Frances Claverie (1907–1981). Robert Oswald was a third cousin of President Theodore Roosevelt and a distant cousin of Confederate general Robert E. Lee and served in the Marines during World War I. Robert died of a heart attack two months before Lee was born. Lee's elder brother Robert Jr. (1934–2017) was also a former Marine. Through Marguerite's first marriage to Edward John Pic Jr., Lee and Robert Jr. were the half-brothers of Air Force veteran John Edward Pic (1932–2000).


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: In 1944, Marguerite moved the family from New Orleans to Dallas, Texas. Oswald entered the first grade in 1945 and over the next half-dozen years attended several different schools in the Dallas and Fort Worth areas through the sixth grade. Oswald took an IQ test in the fourth grade and scored 103; "on achievement tests in [grades 4 to 6], he twice did best in reading and twice did worst in spelling".


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: As a child, Oswald was described as withdrawn and temperamental by several people who knew him. When Oswald was 12 in August 1952, his mother took him to New York City where they lived for a short time with Oswald's half-brother, John. Oswald and his mother were later asked to leave after an argument in which Oswald allegedly struck his mother and threatened John's wife with a pocket knife.


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: Oswald attended seventh grade in the Bronx, New York, but was often truant, which led to a psychiatric assessment at a juvenile reformatory. The reformatory psychiatrist, Dr. Renatus Hartogs, described Oswald as immersed in a "vivid fantasy life, turning around the topics of omnipotence and power, through which [Oswald] tries to compensate for his present shortcomings and frustrations". Dr. Hartogs concluded:


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: Lee has to be diagnosed as "personality pattern disturbance with schizoid features and passive-aggressive tendencies". Lee has to be seen as an emotionally, quite disturbed youngster who suffers under the impact of really existing emotional isolation and deprivation, lack of affection, absence of family life and rejection by a self involved and conflicted mother.


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: Hartogs recommended that Lee be placed on probation on condition that he seek help and guidance through a child guidance clinic, and that Oswald seek "psychotherapeutic guidance through contact with a family agency". Evelyn D Siegel, a social worker who interviewed both Lee and Marguerite Oswald at Youth House, while describing "a rather pleasant, appealing quality about this emotionally starved, affectionless youngster which grows as one speaks to him", found that he had detached himself from the world around him because "no one in it ever met any of his needs for love". Hartogs and Sigel indicated that Oswald's mother gave Lee very little affection, with Siegel concluding that Lee "just felt that his mother never gave a damn for him. He always felt like a burden that she simply just had to tolerate." Furthermore, his mother did not apparently indicate an awareness of the relationship between her conduct and Lee's psychological problems, with Siegel describing Marguerite Oswald as a "defensive, rigid, self-involved person who had real difficulty in accepting and relating to people" and who had "little understanding" of Lee's behavior and of the "protective shell he has drawn around himself". Hartogs reported that she did not understand that Lee's withdrawal was a form of "violent but silent protest against his neglect by her and represents his reaction to a complete absence of any real family life".


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: When Lee returned to school for the 1953 Fall semester, his disciplinary problems continued. When Oswald failed to cooperate with school authorities, they sought a court order to remove him from his mother's care so he could be placed into a home for boys to complete his education. This was postponed, perhaps partially because his behavior abruptly improved. Before the New York family court system could address their case, the Oswalds left New York in January 1954, and returned to New Orleans.


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: Oswald completed the eighth and ninth grades in New Orleans. He entered the tenth grade in 1955 but quit school after one month. After leaving school, Oswald worked for several months as an office clerk and messenger in New Orleans. In July 1956, Oswald's mother moved the family to Fort Worth, Texas, and Oswald re-enrolled in the tenth grade for the September session at Arlington Heights High School in Fort Worth. A few weeks later in October, Oswald quit school at age 17 to join the Marines; he never earned a high school diploma. By this point, he had resided at 22 locations and attended 12 schools.


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: Though Oswald had trouble spelling in his youth and may have had a "reading-spelling disability", he read voraciously. By age 15, he considered himself a socialist. According to his diary, "I was looking for a key to my environment, and then I discovered socialist literature. I had to dig for my books in the back dusty shelves of libraries." At 16, he wrote to the Socialist Party of America for information on their Young People's Socialist League, saying he had been studying socialist principles for "well over fifteen months". Edward Voebel, "whom the Warren Commission had established was Oswald's closest friend during his teenage years in New Orleans", said "reports that Oswald was already 'studying Communism' were a 'lot of baloney. Voebel said that "Oswald commonly read 'paperback trash.


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: As a teenager in 1955, Oswald became a cadet member of Civil Air Patrol in New Orleans. Fellow cadets variously recalled him attending CAP meetings "three or four" times, or "10 or 12 times", over a one- to three-month period.


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: Oswald enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on October 24, 1956, just a week after his seventeenth birthday; because of his age, his brother Robert Jr. was required to sign as his legal guardian. Oswald also named his mother and his half-brother John as beneficiaries. Oswald idolized his older brother Robert Jr., and wore his Marine Corps ring. John Pic (Oswald's half-brother) testified to the Warren Commission that Oswald's enlistment was motivated by wanting "to get from out and under ... the yoke of oppression from my mother".


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: Oswald's enlistment papers recite that he was tall and weighed , with hazel eyes and brown hair. His primary training was in radar operation, which required a security clearance. A May 1957 document stated that he was "granted final clearance to handle classified matter up to and including confidential after careful check of local records had disclosed no derogatory data".


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: At Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi, Oswald finished seventh in a class of thirty in the Aircraft Control and Warning Operator Course, which "included instruction in aircraft surveillance and the use of radar". He was given the military occupational specialty of Aviation Electronics Operator. On July 9, he reported to the Marine Corps Air Station El Toro in California. There he met fellow Marine Kerry Thornley, who co-created Discordianism. Thornley wrote the 1962 fictional book "The Idle Warriors" based on Oswald. This was the only book written about Oswald before the Kennedy assassination. Oswald departed for Japan the following month, where he was assigned to Marine Air Control Squadron 1 at Naval Air Facility Atsugi near Tokyo.


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: Like all Marines, Oswald was trained and tested in shooting. In December 1956, he scored 212, which was slightly above the requirements for the designation of "sharpshooter". In May 1959 he scored 191, which reduced his rating to "marksman".


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: Oswald was court-martialed after he accidentally shot himself in the elbow with an unauthorized .22 caliber handgun. He was court-martialed a second time for fighting with a sergeant who he thought was responsible for his punishment in the shooting matter. He was demoted from private first class to private and briefly imprisoned. Oswald was later punished for a third incident: while he was on a night-time sentry duty in the Philippines, he inexplicably fired his rifle into the jungle.


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: Slightly built, Oswald was nicknamed "Ozzie Rabbit" after the cartoon character; he was also called "Oswaldskovich" because he espoused pro-Soviet sentiments. In November 1958, Oswald transferred back to El Toro where his unit's function "was to serveil for aircraft, but basically to train both enlisted men and officers for later assignment overseas". An officer there said that Oswald was a "very competent" crew chief and was "brighter than most people".


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: While Oswald was in the Marines, he taught himself rudimentary Russian. Although this was an unusual endeavor, on February 25, 1959, he was invited to take a Marine proficiency exam in written and spoken Russian. His level at the time was rated "poor" in understanding spoken Russian, though he fared rather reasonably for a Marine private at the time in reading and writing. On September 11, 1959, he received a hardship discharge from active service, claiming his mother needed care. He was placed on the United States Marine Corps Reserve.


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: Oswald traveled to the Soviet Union just before he turned 20 in October 1959. He had taught himself Russian and saved $1,500 of his Marine Corps salary (). Oswald spent two days with his mother in Fort Worth, then embarked by ship on September 20 from New Orleans to Le Havre, France, and immediately traveled to the United Kingdom. Arriving in Southampton on October 9, he told officials he had $700 and planned to stay for one week before proceeding to a school in Switzerland. On the same day, he flew to Helsinki, where he checked in at the Hotel Torni, room 309, then moved to Hotel Klaus Kurki, room 429. He was issued a Soviet visa on October 14. Oswald left Helsinki by train on the following day, crossed the Soviet border at Vainikkala, and arrived in Moscow on October 16. His visa, valid only for a week, was due to expire on October 21.


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: Almost immediately after arriving, Oswald informed his Intourist guide of his desire to become a Soviet citizen. When asked why by the various Soviet officials he encountered—all of whom, by Oswald's account, found his wish incomprehensible—he said that he was a communist, and gave what he described in his diary as "vauge ["sic"] answers about 'Great Soviet Union'". On October 21, the day his visa was due to expire, he was told that his citizenship application had been refused, and that he had to leave the Soviet Union that evening. Distraught, Oswald inflicted a minor but bloody wound to his left wrist in his hotel room bathtub soon before his Intourist guide was due to arrive to escort him from the country, according to his diary because he wished to kill himself in a way that would shock her. Delaying Oswald's departure because of his self-inflicted injury, the Soviets kept him in a Moscow hospital under psychiatric observation for a week, until October 28, 1959.


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: According to Oswald, he met with four more Soviet officials that day, who asked if he wanted to return to the United States. Oswald replied by insisting that he wanted to live in the Soviet Union as a Soviet national. When pressed for identification papers, he provided his Marine Corps discharge papers.


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: On October 31, Oswald appeared at the United States embassy in Moscow and declared a desire to renounce his U.S. citizenship. "I have made up my mind", he said; "I'm through." He told the U.S. embassy interviewing officer, Richard Edward Snyder, that "he had been a radar operator in the Marine Corps and that he had voluntarily stated to unnamed Soviet officials that as a Soviet citizen he would make known to them such information concerning the Marine Corps and his specialty as he possessed. He intimated that he might know something of special interest." Such statements led to Oswald's "hardship/honorable" military reserve discharge being changed to "undesirable". The story of the defection of a former U.S. Marine to the Soviet Union was reported by both the Associated Press and United Press International.


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: Though Oswald had wanted to attend Moscow State University, in January 1960 he was sent to Minsk, Belarus, to work as a lathe operator at the Gorizont Electronics Factory, which produced radios, televisions, and military and space electronics. Stanislau Shushkevich, who later became independent Belarus's first head of state, also worked at Gorizont at the time, and was assigned to help Oswald improve his Russian. Oswald received a government-subsidized, fully furnished studio apartment in a prestigious building and an additional supplement to his factory pay, which allowed him to have a comfortable standard of living by working-class Soviet standards, though he was kept under constant surveillance.


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: From mid-1960 to early 1961, Oswald was in a relationship with Ella German (), a Belarusian coworker born in 1937.


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: German later described Oswald as "a pleasant-looking guy with a good sense of humor... not as rough and rude as the men here were back then";


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: she did not love him, but thought he was lonely and continued to date him out of pity. Their relationship became more seriousin Oswald's eyesduring the summer and fall of 1960,


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: but began to deteriorate after German learned in October that Oswald had been seeing other women. On January 2, 1961, Oswald proposed, but German refused.


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: Oswald wrote in his diary in January 1961: "I am starting to reconsider my desire about staying. The work is drab, the money I get has nowhere to be spent. No nightclubs or bowling alleys, no places of recreation except the trade union dances. I have had enough." Shortly afterwards, Oswald (who had never formally renounced his U.S. citizenship) wrote to the Embassy of the United States, Moscow requesting the return of his American passport, and proposing to return to the U.S. if any charges against him would be dropped.


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: In March 1961, Oswald met Marina Prusakova (born 1941), a 19-year-old pharmacology student; they married six weeks later. The Oswalds' first child, June, was born on February 15, 1962. On May 24, 1962, Oswald and Marina applied at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow for documents that enabled her to immigrate to the U.S. On June 1, the U.S. Embassy gave Oswald a repatriation loan of $435.71. Oswald, Marina, and their infant daughter left for the United States, where they received less attention from the press than Oswald expected.


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: The Oswalds soon settled in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, where Lee's mother and brother lived. Lee began a manuscript on Soviet life, though he eventually gave up the project. The Oswalds also became acquainted with a number of anti-Communist Russian and East European émigrés in the area. In testimony to the Warren Commission, Alexander Kleinlerer said that the Russian émigrés sympathized with Marina, while merely tolerating Oswald, whom they regarded as rude and arrogant.


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: Although the Russian émigrés eventually abandoned Marina when she made no sign of leaving her husband, Oswald found an unlikely friend in 51-year-old Russian émigré George de Mohrenschildt, a well-educated petroleum geologist with international business connections. A native of Russia, Mohrenschildt later told the Warren Commission that Oswald had a "remarkable fluency in Russian". Marina, meanwhile, befriended Ruth Paine, a Quaker trying to learn Russian, and her husband Michael Paine, who worked for Bell Helicopter.


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: In July 1962, Oswald was hired by the Leslie Welding Company in Dallas; he disliked the work and quit after three months. On October 12, he started working for the graphic-arts firm of Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall as a photoprint trainee. A fellow employee at Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall testified that Oswald's rudeness at his new job was such that fights threatened to break out, and that he once saw Oswald reading a Russian-language publication. Oswald was fired in the first week of April 1963.


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: In March 1963, Oswald used the alias "A. Hidell" to make a mail-order purchase of a secondhand 6.5 mm caliber Carcano rifle for $29.95. He also purchased a .38 Smith & Wesson Model 10 revolver by the same method. The Warren Commission concluded that Oswald attempted to kill retired U.S. Major General Edwin Walker on April 10, 1963, and that Oswald fired the Carcano rifle at Walker through a window from less than away as Walker sat at a desk in his Dallas home. The bullet struck the window-frame and Walker's only injuries were bullet fragments to the forearm. The United States House Select Committee on Assassinations stated that the "evidence strongly suggested" that Oswald carried out the shooting.


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: General Walker was an outspoken anti-communist, segregationist, and member of the John Birch Society. In 1961, Walker had been relieved of his command of the 24th Division of the U.S. Army in West Germany for distributing right-wing literature to his troops. Walker's later actions in opposition to racial integration at the University of Mississippi led to his arrest on insurrection, seditious conspiracy, and other charges. He was temporarily held in a mental institution on orders from President Kennedy's brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, but a grand jury declined to indict him.


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: Marina Oswald testified that her husband told her that he traveled by bus to General Walker's house and shot at Walker with his rifle. She said that Oswald considered Walker to be the leader of a "fascist organization". A note Oswald left for Marina on the night of the attempt, telling her what to do if he did not return, was found ten days after the Kennedy assassination.


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: Before the Kennedy assassination, Dallas police had no suspects in the Walker shooting, but Oswald's involvement was suspected within hours of his arrest following the assassination. The Walker bullet was too damaged to run conclusive ballistics studies on it, but neutron activation analysis later showed that it was "extremely likely" that it was made by the same manufacturer and for the same rifle make as the two bullets which later struck Kennedy.


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: George de Mohrenschildt testified that he "knew that Oswald disliked General Walker". Regarding this, de Mohrenschildt and his wife Jeanne recalled an incident that occurred the weekend following the Walker assassination attempt. The de Mohrenschildts testified that on April 14, 1963, just before Easter Sunday, they were visiting the Oswalds at their new apartment and had brought them a toy Easter bunny to give to their child. As Oswald's wife Marina was showing Jeanne around the apartment, they discovered Oswald's rifle standing upright, leaning against the wall inside a closet. Jeanne told George that Oswald had a rifle, and George joked to Oswald, "Were you the one who took a pot-shot at General Walker?" When asked about Oswald's reaction to this question, George de Mohrenschildt told the Warren Commission that Oswald "smiled at that". When de Mohrenschildt's wife Jeanne was asked about Oswald's reaction, she said, "I didn't notice anything"; she continued, "we started laughing our heads off, big joke, big George's joke". Jeanne de Mohrenschildt testified that this was the last time she or her husband ever saw the Oswalds.


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: Oswald returned to New Orleans on April 24, 1963. Marina's friend Ruth Paine drove her by car from Dallas to join Oswald in New Orleans the following month. On May 10, Oswald was hired by the Reily Coffee Company as a machinery greaser. He was fired in July "because his work was not satisfactory and because he spent too much time loitering in Adrian Alba's garage next door, where he read rifle and hunting magazines".


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: In his 1988 book "On the Trail of the Assassins", New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison claimed that Oswald really spent that time across the street at 544 Camp Street. These were the law offices of Guy Banister, a former FBI agent, an avid segregationist, and a local politician. Garrison added that Guy Banister during the summer of 1963 in New Orleans, was most interested in infiltrating the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, and used Oswald as his spy. In their 1978 investigation, the House Select Committee on Assassinations investigated a possible connection between Oswald and Banister at the Camp Street address. The HSCA wrote that it "could find no documentary proof that Banister had a file on Lee Harvey Oswald nor could the committee find credible witnesses whoever saw Lee Harvey Oswald and Guy Banister together. There are indications, however, that Banister at least knew of Oswald's leafletting activities and probably maintained a file on him."


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: On May 26, Oswald wrote to the New York City headquarters of the pro-Fidel Castro Fair Play for Cuba Committee, proposing to rent "a small office at my own expense for the purpose of forming a FPCC branch here in New Orleans". Three days later, the FPCC responded to Oswald's letter advising against opening a New Orleans office "at least not ... at the very beginning". In a follow-up letter, Oswald replied, "Against your advice, I have decided to take an office from the very beginning."


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: On May 29, Oswald ordered the following items from a local printer: 500 application forms, 300 membership cards, and 1,000 leaflets with the heading, "Hands Off Cuba". According to Marina, Lee told her to sign the name "A.J. Hidell" as chapter president on his membership card.


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: According to anti-Castro militant Carlos Bringuier, Oswald visited him on August 5 and 6 at a store he owned in New Orleans. Bringuier was the New Orleans delegate for the anti-Castro organization Directorio Revolucionario Estudantil (DRE). Bringuier would later tell the Warren Commission that he believed Oswald's visits were an attempt by Oswald to infiltrate his group. On August 9, Oswald turned up in downtown New Orleans handing out pro-Castro leaflets. Bringuier confronted Oswald, claiming he was tipped off about Oswald's leafleting by a friend. A scuffle ensued and Oswald, Bringuier, and two of Bringuier's friends were arrested for disturbing the peace. Prior to leaving the police station, Oswald requested to speak with an FBI agent. Oswald told the agent that he was a member of the New Orleans branch of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee which he claimed had 35 members and was led by A. J. Hidell. In fact, Oswald was the branch's only member and it had never been chartered by the national organization.


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: A week later, on August 16, Oswald again passed out Fair Play for Cuba leaflets with two hired helpers, this time in front of the International Trade Mart. The incident was filmed by WDSU, a local TV station. The next day, Oswald was interviewed by WDSU radio commentator William Stuckey, who probed Oswald's background. A few days later, Oswald accepted Stuckey's invitation to take part in a radio debate with Carlos Bringuier and Bringuier's associate Edward Scannell Butler, head of the right-wing Information Council of the Americas (INCA).


title: Lee Harvey Oswald

text: Marina's friend Ruth Paine transported Marina and her child by car from New Orleans to the Paine home in Irving, Texas, near Dallas, on September 23, 1963. Oswald stayed in New Orleans at least two more days to collect a $33 unemployment check. It is uncertain when he left New Orleans; he is next known to have boarded a bus in Houston on September 26 – bound for the Mexican border, rather than Dallas – and to have told other bus passengers that he planned to travel to Cuba via Mexico. He arrived in Mexico City on September 27, where he applied for a transit visa at the Cuban consulate, claiming he wanted to visit Cuba on his way to the Soviet Union. The Cuban consular officials insisted Oswald would need Soviet approval, but he was unable to get prompt co-operation from the Soviet consulate. CIA documents note Oswald spoke "terrible hardly recognizable Russian" during his meetings with Cuban and Soviet officials.