title: The Room

text: Sestero further postulates that Wiseau based Lisa's explicit conniving on the character Tom Ripley, after Wiseau had a profound emotional reaction to the film "The Talented Mr. Ripley", and matches elements of its three main characters to those in "The Room"; Sestero has likewise indicated that the character Mark was named for the Ripley actor Matt Damon, whose first name Wiseau had misheard. Wiseau also drew on the chamber plays of Tennessee Williams, whose highly emotional scenes he enjoyed acting out in drama school – many advertising materials for "The Room" make explicit parallels to the playwright's work through the tagline "A film with the passion of Williams."


title: The Room

text: In his direction and performance, Wiseau attempted to emulate Orson Welles, Clint Eastwood, Marlon Brando and James Dean, especially Dean's performance in the film "Giant", and went so far as to directly use quotes from their films – the famous line "You are tearing me apart, Lisa!" is derived from a similar line performed by Dean in "Rebel Without a Cause".


title: The Room

text: The script is characterized by numerous inexplicable mood and personality shifts in characters. In analyzing the film's abrupt tone shifts, Sestero highlighted two scenes in particular. In the first scene, Johnny enters the rooftop in the middle of a tirade about being wrongfully accused of domestic abuse, only to become abruptly cheerful upon seeing Mark; a few moments later, he laughs inappropriately upon learning that a friend of Mark's had been severely beaten. On set, Sestero and script supervisor Sandy Schklair repeatedly tried to convince Wiseau that the line should not be delivered as comical, but Wiseau refused to refrain from laughing. In the second instance, occurring later in the film, Mark attempts to kill Peter by throwing him off a roof after Peter expresses his belief that Mark is having an affair with Lisa; seconds later, however, Mark pulls Peter back from the edge of the roof, apologizes, and the two continue their previous conversation with no acknowledgment of what just occurred.


title: The Room

text: In addition to being rife with continuity errors, the film has several plots, subplots and character details whose inconsistencies have been commented on by critics and audiences. "The Portland Mercury" has stated that a number of "plot threads are introduced, then instantly abandoned." In an early scene, halfway through a conversation about planning a birthday party for Johnny, Claudette off-handedly tells Lisa: "I got the results of the test back. I definitely have breast cancer." The issue is casually dismissed and never revisited during the rest of the film. Similarly, the audience never learns the details surrounding Denny's drug-related debt to Chris-R, or what led to their violent confrontation on the roof.


title: The Room

text: Beyond being Johnny's friend, Mark's background receives no exposition; when he is first introduced, he claims to be "very busy" while sitting in a parked car in the middle of the day, with no explanation ever given as to his occupation or what he was doing. In "The Disaster Artist", Sestero states that he created a backstory for the character in which Mark was an undercover vice detective, which Sestero felt united several otherwise disparate aspects of Mark's character, including the secretive nature of various aspects of his behavior – including marijuana use – his mood swings, and his handling of the Chris-R incident. Wiseau dismissed adding any reference to Mark's past to the script. The makers of "The Room" video game would later introduce a similar idea as part of a subplot involving Mark's unexplained backstory, much to Sestero's amusement.


title: The Room

text: At one point, the principal male characters congregate in an alley behind Johnny's apartment to play catch with a football while wearing tuxedos. When Mark arrives, he is revealed to have shaved his beard, and the camera slowly zooms in on his face while dramatic music plays on the soundtrack. Nothing that is said or occurs during the scene has any effect on the plot; the scene ends abruptly when the men decide to return to Johnny's apartment after Peter trips. Similar to most of the other plot points of the film, the event is introduced abruptly and is never referenced elsewhere in the story. Wiseau received enough questions about the scene that he decided to address it in a Q&A segment featured on the DVD release; rather than explaining the scene, though, Wiseau states only that playing football without the proper protective equipment is fun and challenging. Sestero has been questioned about the significance of Mark's shaving, though his only response for several years was "if people only knew." He describes in "The Disaster Artist" that Wiseau insisted he shave his beard on-set just so that Wiseau would have an excuse for Johnny to call Mark "Babyface," Wiseau's own nickname for Sestero, and that the revealing of beardless Mark would be "a moment." Sestero further detailed how the football-in-tuxedos scene was concocted on set by Wiseau, who never explained the significance of the scene to the cast or crew and insisted that the sequence be filmed at the expense of other, relevant scenes.


title: The Room

text: According to Sestero, Wiseau submitted the film to Paramount Pictures, hoping to get them as the distributor. Usually, it takes about two weeks to get a reply. "The Room" however was rejected within 24 hours. Because of this, the film was promoted almost exclusively through a single billboard in Hollywood, located on Highland Avenue just north of Fountain Avenue, featuring an image Wiseau refers to as "Evil Man": an extreme close-up of his own face with one eye in mid-blink. Although more conventional artwork was created for the film, featuring the main characters' faces emblazoned over the Golden Gate Bridge, Wiseau chose the "Evil Man" for what he regarded as its provocative quality; around the time of the film's release, the image led many passers-by to believe that the movie was a horror film. Wiseau also paid for a small television and print campaign in and around Los Angeles, and hired publicist Edward Lozzi in his efforts to promote and self-distribute the film after it was turned down by Paramount.


title: The Room

text: Despite the film's failure to enjoy immediate success, Wiseau paid to keep the billboard up for over five years, at the cost of a month. Its bizarre imagery and longevity led to it becoming a minor tourist attraction. When asked how he managed to afford to keep the billboard up for so long in such a prominent location, Wiseau responded: "Well, we like the location, and we like the billboard. So, we feel that people should see "The Room". [...] we are selling DVDs, which are selling okay."


title: The Room

text: "The Room" premiered on June 27, 2003, at the Laemmle Fairfax and Fallbrook theaters in Los Angeles. Wiseau additionally arranged a screening for the cast and the press at one of the venues, renting a searchlight to sit in front of the theater, and arriving in a limousine. Ticket buyers were given a free copy of the film's soundtrack on CD. Actress Robyn Paris described the audience laughing at the film, and "Variety" reporter Scott Foundas, who was also in attendance, would later write that the film prompted "most of its viewers to ask for their money back—before even 30 minutes [had] passed." IFC.com described Wiseau's speaking voice in the film as "Borat trying to do an impression of Christopher Walken playing a mental patient." "The Guardian" described the film as a mix of "Tennessee Williams, Ed Wood, and R. Kelly's "Trapped in the Closet"."


title: The Room

text: "The Room" was unanimously panned by critics for its poor acting (particularly Wiseau's), screenplay, dialogue, production values, score, direction, and cinematography. The film is described by several publications as one of the worst films ever made. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 26% approval rating based on 31 reviews, with an average score of 3.60/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "A bona-fide classic of midnight cinema, Tommy Wiseau's misguided masterpiece subverts the rules of filmmaking with a boundless enthusiasm that renders such mundanities as acting, screenwriting, and cinematography utterly irrelevant. You will never see a football the same way again." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 9 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike." Despite disdain from critics, the film has retrospectively received ironic acclaim from audiences for its perceived shortcomings, with some viewers calling it the "best worst movie ever."


title: The Room

text: In 2013, "The Atlantic"s Adam Rosen wrote an article titled "Should Gloriously Terrible Movies Like "The Room" Be Considered 'Outsider Art'?" where he made the argument "The label [of outsider art] has traditionally applied to painters and sculptors... but it's hard to see why it couldn't also refer to Wiseau or any other thwarted, un-self-aware filmmaker."


title: The Room

text: In a 2017 interview for a "Vox" video, "The Disaster Artist" co-writer Tom Bissell explained his views on "The Room"s popularity, as well as his personal enjoyment of the film, by noting that:


title: The Room

text: "The Room" played in the Laemmle Fairfax and Fallbrook for the next two weeks, grossing a total of before it was pulled from circulation. Toward the end of its run, the Laemmle Fallbrook theatre displayed two signs on the inside of the ticket window in relation to the film: one that read "NO REFUNDS" and another citing a blurb from an early review: "This film is like getting stabbed in the head." During one showing in the second week of its run, one of the few audience members in attendance was 5-Second Films' Michael Rousselet, who found unintentional humor in the film's poor dialogue and production values. After treating the screening as his "own private "Mystery Science Theater"", Rousselet began encouraging friends to join him for future showings to mock the film, starting a word-of-mouth campaign that resulted in about 100 attending the film's final screening. Rousselet and his friends saw the film "four times in three days," and it was in these initial screenings that many of "The Room" traditions were born, such as the throwing of spoons and footballs during the film.


title: The Room

text: After the film was pulled from theaters, those who had attended the final showing began emailing Wiseau telling him how much they had enjoyed the film. Encouraged by the volume of messages he received, Wiseau booked a single midnight screening of "The Room" in June 2004, which proved successful enough that Wiseau booked a second showing in July, and a third in August. These screenings proved to be even more successful and were followed by monthly screenings on the last Saturday of the month, which began selling out and continued up until the theatre was sold in 2012. Wiseau frequently made appearances at these screenings, and often engaged with fans afterwards. On the fifth anniversary of the film's premiere, it sold out every screen at the Sunset 5 and both Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero did Q&As afterward. The film was featured on the 2008 Range Life tour, and expanded to midnight screenings in several other cities soon after. Celebrity fans of the film included Paul Rudd, David Cross, Will Arnett, Patton Oswalt, Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim, Seth Rogen, and James and Dave Franco. Kristen Bell acquired a film reel and hosted private viewing parties; "Veronica Mars" creator Rob Thomas would also slip references into episodes "as much as possible." The film eventually developed national and international cult status, with Wiseau arranging screenings around the United States and in Canada, Scandinavia, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.


title: The Room

text: The film had regular showings in many theaters worldwide, with many as a monthly event. Fans interact with the film in a similar fashion to "The Rocky Horror Picture Show"; audience members dress up as their favorite characters, throw plastic spoons in reference to an unexplained framed photo of a spoon on a table in Johnny's living room, toss footballs to each other from short distances, and yell insulting comments about the quality of the film as well as lines from the film itself. Wiseau has claimed that it was his intent for audiences to find humor in the film, although viewers and some of the cast members generally have viewed it as a poorly made drama.


title: The Room

text: "The Room" was released on DVD on November 4, 2003, and Blu-ray in December 2012. The DVD's special features include an interview with Wiseau, who is asked questions by an off-screen Greg Sestero. Wiseau sits directly in front of a fireplace, with a mantle cluttered by various props from the film; next to him sits a large framed theatrical poster for the film. A few of Wiseau's answers are dubbed in, although it is evident that the dubbed responses match what he was originally saying. Wiseau fails to answer several of the questions, instead offering non sequiturs.


title: The Room

text: Among the outtakes included on the Blu-ray is an alternate version of the Chris-R scene, set in a back alley; instead of tossing a football, Denny is playing basketball and attempts to get the drug dealer to "shoot some H-O-R-S-E" with him to distract him from the debt. Another bonus feature on the Blu-ray is a more than half-hour long fly-on-the-wall style documentary about the making of "The Room". The documentary includes no narration, very little dialogue, and only one interview (with cast member Carolyn Minnott), and consists largely of clips of the crew preparing to shoot.


title: The Room

text: Wiseau first announced plans in April 2011 for a 3D version of "The Room", scanned from the 35mm negative. Later, in 2018, he revealed his intentions to reshoot the film in 3D, citing cost-effectiveness reasons. "The Room" was uploaded to YouTube by Wiseau on September 21, 2018, but was removed the day afterwards.


title: The Room

text: In June 2011, it was announced that Greg Sestero had signed a deal with Simon & Schuster to write a book based on his experiences making the film. The book, titled "The Disaster Artist", was published in October 2013. The book was made into an audiobook with Sestero's reading in May 2014 and, in November 2014, won for Best Non-Fiction at the National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards.


title: The Room

text: A film adaptation of "The Disaster Artist" was announced in February 2014, produced by Seth Rogen and directed by James Franco. Franco described "The Disaster Artist" as "a combination of "Boogie Nights" and "The Master"." The film stars Franco as Wiseau and his brother Dave Franco as Sestero, with the script written by "The Fault in Our Stars" screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber. On October 15, 2015, it was announced Rogen would co-star (playing Sandy Schklair), and cinematographer Brandon Trost served as the DP. On October 29, 2015, it was announced that Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema would distribute "The Disaster Artist". Filming began December 7, 2015. A work-in-progress version was screened at South by Southwest in March 2017, with the wide release beginning on December 8, 2017. The movie opened with "impressive" box office returns and was nominated for the 2018 Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.


title: The Room

text: Besides "The Disaster Artist," a second memoir, "Yes, I Directed The Room: The Truth About Directing the "Citizen Kane of Bad Movies"", written by Schklair, was published on December 4, 2017, in which he again asserts his desire to receive credit for directing the film.


title: The Room

text: A Canadian documentary about the film, titled "Room Full of Spoons" and directed by Rick Harper, was initially given a brief theatrical release in April 2016. However, the film was pulled from theaters, and plans for a wide release in conjunction with the release of "The Disaster Artist" were hampered when it became the subject of legal proceedings by Wiseau, who claimed copyright infringement and defamation. Ultimately, Wiseau's lawsuit was dismissed in 2020 by Ontario Superior Court of Justice judge Paul Schabas, who ordered Wiseau to pay the filmmakers nearly $1 million CAD in countersuit damages and lost revenue.


title: The Room

text: In September 2010, Newgrounds owner Tom Fulp released a Flash game tribute, in the form of a 16-bit styled adventure game played entirely from Johnny's point of view. The game's artwork was provided by staff member Jeff "JohnnyUtah" Bandelin, with music transcribed by animator Chris O'Neill from the Mladen Milicevic score and soundtrack.


title: The Room

text: On June 10, 2010, the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center presented a live play/reading based on the film's original script. Wiseau reprised his role of Johnny and was joined by Sestero playing the role of Mark.


title: The Room

text: In 2011, Wiseau mentioned plans for a Broadway adaptation of the film, in which he would appear only on opening night: "It will be similar to what you see in the movie, except it will be musical. As well as you will see... like, for example, Johnny, we could have maybe 10 Johnnys at the same time singing or playing football. So, the decision have to be made at the time when we actually doing choreography, 'cause I'll be doing choreography, as well I'll be in it only one time, that's it, as Johnny." He mentioned the plans again during a 2016 interview, describing his idea for it to be a "musical/comedy."


title: The Room

text: On October 21, 2014, cast member Robyn Paris launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise the budget for her comedy mockumentary web series, "The Room Actors: Where Are They Now? A Mockumentary". On completion, the campaign had raised from 385 backers. Although a number of the original cast appeared in the series, Wiseau, Sestero and Holmes are not involved. The series premiered at the 24th Raindance Film Festival on September 30, 2016, and debuted on the website Funny or Die on November 30, 2017.


title: The Room

text: A satirical fan-made musical called "OH HAI!: The Rise of Chris-R", written by Tony Orozco and Peter Von Sholly, was released on SoundCloud on July 27, 2017. The work builds on the backstory of the film, particularly the character of Denny and his relationship with Chris-R.


title: The Room

text: In 2018, "Oh Hi, Johnny! The ‘Room’sical Parody Musical" premiered at the Orlando Fringe Festival. Written by Bryan Jager and Alex Syiek, the show subsequently ran at the Chicago Musical Theatre Festival in February 2019. The work explores what if Tommy Wiseau actually made a stage adaptation of "The Room".


title: The Room

text: The comedy show "Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!" on Adult Swim featured Wiseau prominently in the fourth season episode titled "Tommy". Recruited as a "guest director", Wiseau is interviewed in mockumentary style, along with the show's leading actors, during the production of a fake film titled "The Pig Man". Two scenes from "The Room" are featured during the episode. Adult Swim broadcast the movie three times from 2009 to 2011 as part of their April Fools' Day programming. In 2012, they showed the first 20 seconds of it before switching to Toonami for the remainder of the night.


title: The Room

text: On June 18, 2009, a RiffTrax for "The Room" was released, featuring commentary by Michael J. Nelson, Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy, formerly of "Mystery Science Theater 3000". This was followed up with a live theater show by RiffTrax on May 6, 2015, which was shown in 700 theaters across the U.S. and Canada. The show screened once more on January 28, 2016 as part of the Best of RiffTrax Live series.


title: The Room

text: On his 2009 DVD "My Weakness Is Strong", comedian Patton Oswalt parodied "The Room" with a fake infomercial. The spoof also features a cameo from Jon Hamm.


title: The Room

text: In 2010, the film was mocked on the Internet comedy series "Nostalgia Critic", which highlighted the film's bad acting and writing, but encouraged viewers to see the movie: "It truly is one of those films you have to see to believe." The episode was taken down following claims of copyright infringement from Wiseau-Films. It was replaced by a short video titled ""The Tommy Wi-Show"", in which host Doug Walker, dressed as Wiseau, mocked the threatened legal actions. The main review was later reinstated. Both Greg Sestero and Juliette Danielle have praised the review, and Sestero later made several cameo appearances on "The Nostalgia Critic", starting with the episode "Dawn of the Commercials", where he reprised his role of Mark. Both Wiseau and Sestero appeared in separate episodes on Walker's talk show, "Shut Up and Talk".


title: The Room

text: In 2011, Greg DeLiso and Peter Litvin directed and produced a video titled "The Room Rap", telling the story of "The Room"'s production while mocking the green screen work and sub-par acting found in the movie. The video was listed in the Acknowledgements of Greg Sestero's 2014 book "The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made".


title: The Room

text: In 2015, Sestero starred in the 5-Second Films feature "Dude Bro Party Massacre III", directed by Michael Rousselet, the patient zero of "The Room" cult movement.


title: The Room

text: In the 2016 Marvel comic book "Spider-Man/Deadpool" #12, Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers) receives a DVD copy of "The Room" as a Christmas gift from Deadpool, but complains that she actually wanted "Room", starring Brie Larson. She also goes on to state that Tommy Wiseau is actually an alien criminal wanted by the Guardians of the Galaxy.


title: The Room

text: The Sunday, July 5, 2015, installment of Amy Dickinson's advice column "Ask Amy" unwittingly featured a hoax letter that derived its situational premise from "The Room" and, even after being edited for publication, retained phrases from the film's dialogue; Dickinson addressed the hoax in the following Saturday's edition of July 11 of the National Public Radio comedy and quiz show "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!", where she appears as a regular panelist, and in her July 20, 2015 column.


title: The Room

text: Comic #1400 of the online comic "xkcd", which appeared July 28, 2014, presented a satirical equivalence between Wiseau and still-unidentified hijacker D. B. Cooper, with comparisons between the money, age, and speaking style of the two, and speculated on a connection between Wiseau's background and Cooper's fate.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. (born November 17, 1938) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music. He is credited with helping to define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s. He has been referred to as Canada's greatest songwriter and is known internationally as a folk-rock legend. Lightfoot's biographer Nicholas Jennings said "His name is synonymous with timeless songs about trains and shipwrecks, rivers and highways, lovers and loneliness."


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: Lightfoot's songs, including "For Lovin' Me", "Early Morning Rain", "Steel Rail Blues", "Ribbon of Darkness"—a number one hit on the U.S. country chart with Marty Robbins's cover in 1965—and "Black Day in July", about the 1967 Detroit riot, brought him wide recognition in the 1960s. Canadian chart success with his own recordings began in 1962 with the No. 3 hit Me) I'm the One", followed by recognition and charting abroad in the 1970s. He topped the US Hot 100 or AC chart with the hits "If You Could Read My Mind" (1970), "Sundown" (1974); "Carefree Highway" (1974), "Rainy Day People" (1975), and "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" (1976), and had many other hits that appeared in the top 40.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: Several of Lightfoot's albums achieved gold and multi-platinum status internationally. His songs have been recorded by artists such as Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams Jr., The Kingston Trio, Jerry Lee Lewis, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, Barbra Streisand, Johnny Mathis, Herb Alpert, Harry Belafonte, Sarah McLachlan, Eric Clapton, John Mellencamp, Peter, Paul and Mary, Ian & Sylvia, Glen Campbell, Tony Rice, The Grateful Dead, Nico, Olivia Newton-John, Gene Clark, Dan Fogelberg, Jimmy Buffett, and Jim Croce. The Guess Who recorded a song called "Lightfoot" on their 1968 album "Wheatfield Soul"; the lyrics contain many Lightfoot song titles.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: Robbie Robertson of the Band described Lightfoot as "a national treasure". Bob Dylan, also a Lightfoot fan, called him one of his favorite songwriters and said, "I can't think of any Gordon Lightfoot song I don't like. Everytime I hear a song of his, it's like I wish it would last forever... Lightfoot became a mentor for a long time. I think he probably still is to this day". Lightfoot was a featured musical performer at the opening ceremonies of the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary, Alberta. He received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Trent University in Spring 1979 and was made a Companion of the Order of Canada in May 2003. In November 1997, the Governor General's Performing Arts Award, Canada's highest honour in the performing arts, was bestowed on Lightfoot. On February 6, 2012, Lightfoot was presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. June of that year saw his induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. On June 6, 2015, Lightfoot received an honorary doctorate of music in his hometown of Orillia from Lakehead University.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: Lightfoot was born in Orillia, Ontario, to Jessie Vick Trill Lightfoot and Gordon Lightfoot Sr., who owned a local dry cleaning business. He had an older sister, Beverley (1935–2017). His mother recognized Lightfoot's musical talent early on and schooled him to become a successful child performer. He first performed publicly in grade four, singing the Irish lullaby "Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ral", which was broadcast over his school's public address system during a parents' day event.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: As a youth, he sang in the choir of Orillia's St. Paul's United Church under the direction of choirmaster Ray Williams. According to Lightfoot, Williams taught him how to sing with emotion and how to have confidence in his voice. Lightfoot was a boy soprano; he appeared periodically on local Orillia radio, performed in local operettas and oratorios, and gained exposure through various Kiwanis music festivals. At the age of twelve, after winning a competition for boys whose voices had not yet changed, he made his first appearance at Massey Hall in Toronto.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: As a teenager, Lightfoot learned piano and taught himself to play drums and percussion. He held concerts in Muskoka, a resort area north of Orillia, singing "for a couple of beers". Lightfoot is of Scottish descent.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: Lightfoot performed extensively throughout high school, Orillia District Collegiate & Vocational Institute (ODCVI), and taught himself to play folk guitar. A formative influence on his music at this time was 19th-century master American songwriter Stephen Foster. He was also an accomplished high school track-and-field competitor and set school records for shot-put and pole vault, as well as playing the starting nose tackle on his school's Georgian Bay championship-winning football team. His athletic and scholarly aptitude earned him scholarships at McGill University's Schulich School of Music and the University of Toronto, Faculty of Music.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: Lightfoot moved to California in 1958 to study jazz composition and orchestration for two years at Hollywood's Westlake College of Music, which had many Canadian students.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: To support himself while there, he sang on demonstration records and wrote, arranged, and produced commercial jingles. Among his influences were the folk music of Pete Seeger, Bob Gibson, Ian and Sylvia Tyson, and The Weavers. He lived in Los Angeles for a time, but he missed Toronto and returned there in 1960, living in Canada since, though he has done much work in the United States, under an H-1B visa.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: After his return to Canada, Lightfoot performed with The Singin’ Swingin’ Eight, a group featured on CBC TV's "Country Hoedown," and with the Gino Silvi Singers. He soon became known at Toronto folk music oriented coffee houses. In 1962, Lightfoot released two singles, both recorded at RCA in Nashville and produced by Chet Atkins, that were local hits in Toronto and received some airplay elsewhere in Canada. Me) I'm the One" reached No. 3 on CHUM radio in Toronto in July 1962 and was a top 20 hit on Montreal's CKGM, then a very influential Canadian Top 40 radio station. The follow-up single was "Negotiations"/"It's Too Late, He Wins"; it reached No. 27 on CHUM in December. He sang with Terry Whelan in a duo called the "Two-Tones". They recorded a live album that was released in 1962 called "Two-Tones at the Village Corner" (1962, Chateau CLP-1012).


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: In 1963, Lightfoot travelled in Europe and in the UK, and for one year he hosted BBC TV's "Country and Western Show", returning to Canada in 1964. He appeared at the Mariposa Folk Festival and began to develop a reputation as a songwriter. Ian and Sylvia Tyson recorded "Early Mornin' Rain" and "For Lovin' Me"; a year later both songs were recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary; other performers who recorded one or both of these songs included Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Chad & Jeremy, George Hamilton IV, The Clancy Brothers, and the Johnny Mann Singers. Established recording artists such as Marty Robbins ("Ribbon of Darkness"), Leroy Van Dyke ("I'm Not Saying"), Judy Collins ("Early Morning Rain"), Richie Havens and Spyder Turner ("I Can't Make It Anymore"), and The Kingston Trio ("Early Morning Rain") all achieved chart success with Gordon Lightfoot's material.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: In 1965, Lightfoot signed a management contract with Albert Grossman, who also represented many prominent American folk performers, and signed a recording contract with United Artists who released his version of "I'm Not Sayin'" as a single. Appearances at the Newport Folk Festival, "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson", and New York's Town Hall increased his following and bolstered his reputation. 1966 marked the release of his debut album "Lightfoot!", which brought him greater exposure as both a singer and a songwriter. The album featured many now-famous songs, including "For Lovin' Me", "Early Mornin' Rain", "Steel Rail Blues", and "Ribbon of Darkness". On the strength of the "Lightfoot!" album, which blended Canadian and universal themes, Lightfoot became one of the first Canadian singers to achieve definitive home-grown stardom without having moved permanently to the United States to develop it.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: To kick off Canada's Centennial year, the CBC commissioned Lightfoot to write the "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" for a special broadcast on January 1, 1967. Between 1966 and 1969, Lightfoot recorded four additional albums for United Artists: "The Way I Feel" (1967), "Did She Mention My Name?" (1968), "Back Here on Earth" (1968), and the live recording "Sunday Concert" (1969), and consistently placed singles in the Canadian top 40, including "Go-Go Round", "Spin, Spin", and "The Way I Feel". His biggest hit of the era was a rendition of Bob Dylan's "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues", which peaked at No. 3 on the Canadian charts in December 1965. "Did She Mention My Name?", released in January 1968, featured "Black Day in July", about the 1967 Detroit riot. Weeks later, upon the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, radio stations in 30 states pulled the song for "fanning the flames", even though the song was a plea for racial harmony. Lightfoot stated at the time radio station owners cared more about playing songs "that make people happy" and not those "that make people think." Unhappy at a lack of support from United Artists, he defected to Warner Bros. Records, scoring his first major international hit in early 1971 with "If You Could Read My Mind".


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: Lightfoot's albums from this time were well received abroad but did not produce any hit singles. Outside of Canada, he remained better known as a songwriter than as a performer.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: His success as a live performer continued to grow throughout the late 1960s. He embarked on his first Canadian national tour in 1967, and also performed in New York City. Between 1967 and 1974, Lightfoot toured Europe and was well-received on two tours of Australia.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: UA continued to release "Best of" album compilations in the 1970s even after Lightfoot became a subsequent success at Warner Bros./Reprise.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: Lightfoot signed to Warner Bros./Reprise in 1970 and scored a major hit in the United States with "If You Could Read My Mind", which sold over one million copies by early 1971 and was awarded a gold disc. The song had originally appeared on the poorly-selling 1970 album "Sit Down Young Stranger." After the song's success, the album was reissued under the new title "If You Could Read My Mind;" it reached No. 5 nationally and represented a major turning point in Lightfoot's career. The album also featured a second recorded version of "Me and Bobby McGee", as well as "The Pony Man", "Your Love's Return (Song for Stephen Foster)", and "Minstrel of the Dawn".


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: Over the next seven years, he recorded a series of successful albums that established him as a singer-songwriter:


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: During the 1970s, Lightfoot's songs covered a wide range of subjects, including "Don Quixote", about Cervantes' famous literary character, "Ode to Big Blue", about the widespread killing of whales, "Beautiful", about the simple joys of love, "Carefree Highway", about the freedom of the open road, "Protocol", about the futility of war, and "Alberta Bound", which was inspired by a lonely teenaged girl named Grace he met on a bus while travelling to Calgary in 1971.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: In 1972, Lightfoot contracted Bell's palsy, a condition that left his face partially paralyzed for a time. The affliction curtailed his touring schedule but Lightfoot nevertheless continued to deliver major hits: in June 1974 his classic single "Sundown" from the album "Sundown" went to No.1 on the American and Canadian charts. It would be his only number one hit in the United States. He performed it twice on NBC's "The Midnight Special" series. "Carefree Highway" (about Arizona State Route 74 in Phoenix, Arizona) was the follow-up single from the same album. It charted in the Top 10 in both countries. Lightfoot wrote it after traveling from Flagstaff, Arizona on Interstate 17 to Phoenix.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: In late November 1975, Lightfoot read a "Newsweek" magazine article about the loss of the , which sank on November 10, 1975, on Lake Superior during a severe storm with the loss of all 29 crew members. The lyrics in his song, "The Wreck of the "Edmund Fitzgerald"", released the following year, were substantially based on facts in the article. It reached number two on the United States "Billboard" chart and was a number one hit in Canada. Lightfoot appeared at several 25th anniversary memorial services of the sinking, and continues personal contact with the family members of the men who perished in the "Edmund Fitzgerald."


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: "Sundown" and "The Wreck of the "Edmund Fitzgerald"" continue to receive heavy airplay on many classic rock stations. In 1978, Lightfoot had another top 40 hit on the United States Hot 100, a re-recorded version of "The Circle Is Small (I Can See It in Your Eyes)," which reached number 33.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: During the 1980s and the 1990s, Lightfoot recorded six more original albums and a compilation for Warner Bros./Reprise: "Dream Street Rose" (1980), "Shadows" (1982), "Salute" (1983), "East of Midnight" (1986), another compilation "Gord's Gold, Vol. 2" (1988), "Waiting for You" (1993), and "A Painter Passing Through" (1998).


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: The album "Dream Street Rose" has the folk-pop sound that Lightfoot established during the previous decade. In addition to the title song, it includes songs such as "Ghosts of Cape Horn" and "On the High Seas". It also includes the Leroy Van Dyke 1950s composition "The Auctioneer", a bluegrass-like number that was a concert staple for Lightfoot from the mid-1960s to the 1980s.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: The album "Shadows" represents a departure from the acoustic sound of the 1970s and introduces an adult-contemporary sound. Songs like "Shadows" and "Thank You for the Promises" contain an underlying sadness and resignation. The 1982 American released single "Baby Step Back" marked his last time in the top 50 in that country.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: The 1983 album "Salute" produced no hit singles; the 1986 "East of Midnight" album had several Adult Contemporary songs like "A Passing Ship", "Morning Glory", and "I'll Tag Along" (East of Midnight). A single from "East of Midnight", "Anything for Love", made the Billboard Country & Western chart.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: In April 1987, Lightfoot filed a lawsuit against composer Michael Masser, claiming that Masser's melody for the song "The Greatest Love of All", versions of which were recorded and released by George Benson in 1977 and Whitney Houston in 1985, had stolen 24 bars from Lightfoot's 1971 hit song "If You Could Read My Mind". The transitional section that begins "I decided long ago never to walk in anyone's shadow" of the Masser song has the same melody as "I never thought I could feel this way and I got to say that I just don't get it; I don't know where we went wrong but the feeling's gone and I just can't get it back" of Lightfoot's song. Lightfoot later stated that he did not want people thinking that he had stolen his melody from Masser. The case was settled out of court and Masser issued a public apology.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: Lightfoot rounded out the decade with his follow-up compilation "Gord's Gold, Vol. 2," in late 1988, which contained re-recorded versions of his most popular songs, including a re-make of the 1970 song "The Pony Man". The original had been brisk in pace, acoustic, and about three minutes long. This new version was slower, clocking in at four minutes plus.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: Lightfoot performed with noted Canadian artist Ian Tyson at the opening ceremonies of the 1988 winter Olympics in Calgary.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: During the 1990s, Lightfoot returned to his acoustic roots and recorded two albums. "Waiting for You" (1993) includes songs such as "Restless", "Wild Strawberries", and Bob Dylan's "Ring Them Bells". 1998's "A Painter Passing Through" reintroduced a sound more reminiscent of his early recordings, with songs like "Much to My Surprise", "Red Velvet", "Drifters", and "I Used to Be a Country Singer". Throughout the decade, Lightfoot played about 50 concerts a year. In 1999 Rhino Records released "Songbook", a four-CD boxed set of Lightfoot recordings with rare and unreleased tracks from the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s plus a small hardback booklet for his fans that described how he created his songs and gave facts about his career.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: In April 2000, Lightfoot taped a live concert in Reno, Nevada; this one-hour show was broadcast by CBC in October, and as a PBS special across the United States. PBS stations offered a videotape of the concert as a pledge gift, and a tape and DVD were released in 2001 in Europe and North America. This was the first Lightfoot concert video released. In April 2001, Lightfoot performed at the Tin Pan South Legends concert at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, closing the show. In May, he performed "Ring Them Bells" at Massey Hall in honour of Bob Dylan's 60th birthday.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: By January 2002, Lightfoot had written 30 new songs for his next studio album. He recorded guitar and vocal demos of some of these new songs. In September, before the second concert of a two-night stand in Orillia, Lightfoot suffered severe stomach pain and was airlifted to McMaster Medical Centre in Hamilton, Ontario. He underwent emergency vascular surgery for a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm, and he remained in serious condition in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Lightfoot endured a six-week coma and a tracheotomy, and he underwent four surgical operations. All of his remaining 2002 concert dates were cancelled. More than three months after being taken to the McMaster Medical Centre, Lightfoot was released in December to continue his recovery at home.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: In 2003, Lightfoot underwent follow-up surgery to continue the treatment of his abdominal condition. In November he signed a new recording contract with Linus Entertainment and began rehearsing with his band for the first time since his illness. Also in 2003, Borealis Records, a related label to Linus Entertainment, released "Beautiful: A Tribute to Gordon Lightfoot". On this album, various artists, including The Cowboy Junkies, Bruce Cockburn, Jesse Winchester, Maria Muldaur, and The Tragically Hip interpreted Lightfoot's songs. The final track on the album, "Lightfoot", was the only song not previously released by Lightfoot. It was composed and performed by Aengus Finnan.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: In January 2004, Lightfoot completed work on his album "Harmony", which he had mostly recorded prior to his illness. The album was released on his new home label of Linus Records on May 11 of that year. It was his 20th original album and included a single and new video for "Inspiration Lady". Other songs were "Clouds of Loneliness", "Sometimes I Wish", "Flyin' Blind", and "No Mistake About It". The album contained the upbeat yet reflective track called "End of All Time"


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: In July 2004, he made a surprise comeback performance, his first since falling ill, at Mariposa in Orillia, performing "I'll Tag Along" solo. In August he performed a five-song solo set in Peterborough, Ontario, at a flood relief benefit. In November he made his long-awaited return to the concert stage with two sold-out benefit shows in Hamilton, Ontario.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: Lightfoot returned to the music business with his new album selling well and an appearance on "Canadian Idol", where the six top contestants each performed a song of his, culminating in a group performance – on their own instruments – of his "Canadian Railroad Trilogy". In 2005, he made a low-key tour called the "Better Late Than Never Tour".


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: On September 14, 2006, while in the middle of a performance, Lightfoot suffered a minor stroke that eventually left him without the use of the middle and ring fingers on his right hand. He returned to performing nine days later and for a brief time used a substitute guitarist for more difficult guitar work. Full recovery took longer, "I fought my way back in seven or eight months". In 2007, Lightfoot had full use of his right hand and played all of the guitar parts in concert as he originally wrote them. He continues to perform.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: While a tour was being planned for 2008, Lightfoot's manager, Barry Harvey, died at age 56 on December 4, 2007. In late 2009, Lightfoot undertook a 26-city tour.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: In February 2010, Gordon Lightfoot was the victim of a death hoax originating from Twitter, when then-CTV journalist David Akin posted on Twitter and Facebook that Lightfoot had died. Lightfoot was at a dental appointment at the time the rumors spread and found out when listening to the radio on his drive home. Lightfoot dispelled those rumors by phoning Charles Adler of CJOB, the DJ and radio station he heard reporting his demise, and did an interview expressing that he was alive and well. In 2012, Lightfoot continued to tour, telling a sold-out crowd June 15 at Ottawa's National Arts Centre that he still performs sixty times a year. Lightfoot played two shows at the NAC after his induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: Lightfoot performed at the 100th Grey Cup in November 2012, performing "Canadian Railroad Trilogy", and was extremely well received.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: Lightfoot's first tour of the United Kingdom in 35 years was announced in 2015, with 11 dates across England, Ireland and Scotland between May 18, 2016, and June 1, 2016. According to his website, 2017 tour dates include the United States and Canada.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: Lightfoot played at Canada's 150th birthday celebration on Parliament Hill, July 1, 2017, introduced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The Prime Minister mentioned that Mr. Lightfoot had played the same stage exactly 50 years earlier, during Canada's 100th birthday.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: In a 2016 interview with "The Canadian Press" Lightfoot said: "At this age, my challenge is doing the best show I can ... I'm very much improved from where I was and the seriousness with which I take it."


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: Lightfoot said in 2016 that he was not planning to return to songwriting later in life as he had concluded it was "such an isolating thing" for him earlier in his career, affecting his family life. However, that changed in 2019 when he announced plans for a new studio album for the first time in nearly two decades.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: Lightfoot's 2019 tour was interrupted when he was injured while working out in a gym. In March 2020 his concert schedule was interrupted by governmental restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: On March 20, 2020, Lightfoot released "Solo" without the accompaniment of other musicians. It was his 21st studio album, released more than 54 years after his debut album. It was released by Warner Music Canada, marking Lightfoot's return to Warner Music Group.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: Lightfoot's sound, both in the studio and on tour, is centred on Lightfoot's baritone voice and folk-based twelve-string acoustic guitar. From 1965 to 1970, lead guitarist Red Shea was an important supporting player, with bassists Paul Wideman and John Stockfish filling out the arrangements.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: In 1968 bassist Rick Haynes joined the band, and lead guitarist Terry Clements joined the following year. Shea left the touring band in 1970, but continued to record with Lightfoot until 1975. He hosted his own Canadian variety show, played with Ian Tyson, and became band leader for Tommy Hunter's TV show in the 1980s on CBC. Shea played on most of Lightfoot's early hits. Haynes and Clements remained with Lightfoot and composed the core of his band.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: In 1975, Pee Wee Charles added pedal steel guitar to Lightfoot's songs. Drummer Barry Keane joined the following year and in 1981, keyboardist Mike Heffernan completed the ensemble. This five-piece backup band remained intact until 1987, when Charles left the band to operate a radio station in Southern Ontario.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: Three members of Lightfoot's band have died over the years: Red Shea in June 2008 from pancreatic cancer, Clements at 63 on February 20, 2011, following a stroke and original bassist John Stockfish from natural causes on August 20, 2012, at 69.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: Haynes, Keane and Heffernan continue to tour and record with Lightfoot, having added in 2011 guitarist Carter Lancaster from Hamilton, Ontario, a "great player", according to Lightfoot.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: Lightfoot has been married three times. His first marriage in April 1963 was to a Swedish woman, Brita Ingegerd Olaisson, with whom he had two children, Fred and Ingrid. They divorced in 1973, the marriage ending in part because of his infidelity. Lightfoot has acknowledged that his musical touring and the fact that he found fidelity difficult in a long-distance relationship contributed to the failure of at least two relationships.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: The song "If You Could Read My Mind" was written in reflection upon his disintegrating marriage. At the request of his daughter, Ingrid, he performs the lyrics with a slight change now: the line "I'm just trying to understand the feelings that you lack" is altered to "I'm just trying to understand the feelings that "we" lack." He has said in an interview that the difficulty with writing songs inspired by personal stories is that there is not always the emotional distance and clarity to make lyrical improvements such as the one his daughter suggested.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: Lightfoot was unmarried for 16 years. He has two other children from relationships between his first and second marriages: Gaylen McGee and Eric Lightfoot.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: In the early 1970s, Lightfoot was involved with Cathy Smith; their volatile relationship inspired his songs "Sundown" and "Rainy Day People," among others. "Cathy was a great lady," Mr. Lightfoot told The Globe and Mail after her death. "Men were drawn to her, and she used to make me jealous. But I don’t have a bad thing to say about her." Smith later became notorious as the person who injected John Belushi with a fatal speedball.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: In 1989, he married Elizabeth Moon. They had two children: Miles and Meredith. They divorced in 2011 after a separation that Lightfoot said had lasted nine years.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: To stay in shape to meet the demands of touring and public performing, Lightfoot works out in a gym six days per week, but declared in 2012 that he was "fully prepared to go whenever I'm taken." He calmly stated, "I've been almost dead a couple times, once almost for real ... I have more incentive to continue now because I feel I'm on borrowed time, in terms of age."


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: Lightfoot band members have displayed loyalty to him, as both musicians and friends, recording and performing with him for as many as 45 years.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: As an individual, apart from various awards associated with his albums and singles, Gordon Lightfoot has received sixteen Juno Awards—for top folk singer in 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1977, for top male vocalist in 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1973, and as composer of the year in 1972 and 1976. He has received ASCAP awards for songwriting in 1971, 1974, 1976, and 1977, and has been nominated for five Grammy Awards. In 1974 Lightfoot's song "Sundown" was named pop record of the year by the Music Operators of America. In 1980 he was named Canadian male recording artist of the decade, for his work in the 1970s.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: Lightfoot was chosen as the celebrity captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs for the NHL's 75th anniversary season in 1991–1992.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: Lightfoot was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001. He was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 1998. In May 2003 he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada, the country's highest civilian honour. Lightfoot is a member of the Order of Ontario, the highest honour in the province of Ontario. In 1977, he received the Vanier Award from the Canadian Jaycees. In 2007 Canada Post honoured Lightfoot and three other Canadian music artists (Anne Murray, Paul Anka, and Joni Mitchell) with postage stamps highlighting their names and images. On June 24, 2012, Lightfoot was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in a New York City ceremony, along with Bob Seger.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: Between 1986 and 1988, Lightfoot's friend Ken Danby (1940–2007), the realist painter, worked on a large (60 × 48 inches) portrait of Lightfoot dressed in the white suit he wore on the cover of the album "East of Midnight". The picture was backlit by the sun, creating a visually iconic image of the singer.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: On June 16, 2014, Lightfoot was awarded the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award by SOCAN at the 2014 SOCAN Awards in Toronto.


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: On October 23, 2015, Lightfoot was honoured with a 4-metre tall bronze sculpture in his hometown of Orillia, Ontario. The sculpture, called "Golden Leaves—A Tribute to Gordon Lightfoot", features Lightfoot sitting cross-legged, playing an acoustic guitar underneath an arch of golden maple leaves. Many of the leaves depict scenes from Lightfoot's 1975 greatest hits album, "Gord's Gold".


title: Gordon Lightfoot

text: In 2017, Lightfoot rated fifth in the CBC's list of the "25 best Canadian songwriters ever," and was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Bhumibol Adulyadej (; ; ; (Sanskrit: "bhūmi·bala atulya·teja" - "might of the land, unparalleled brilliance"); 5 December 192713 October 2016), conferred with the title King Bhumibol the Great in 1987 (officially conferred by King Vajiralongkorn in 2019), was the ninth monarch of Thailand from the Chakri dynasty, titled Rama IX. Reigning since 9 June 1946, he was the world's longest-reigning current head of state from the death of Emperor Hirohito of Japan in 1989 until his own death in 2016, and is the third-longest verified reigning sovereign monarch in world history after King Louis XIV and Queen Elizabeth II, reigning for 70 years and 126 days. During his reign, he was served by a total of 30 prime ministers beginning with Pridi Banomyong and ending with Prayut Chan-o-cha.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Bhumibol became King of Thailand during a period of military dictatorship characterized by the loss in influence of the Thai monarchy in favor of the military and Khana Ratsadon (People's Party), which had gained power following the Siamese revolution of 1932, which had toppled the centuries' long absolute monarchy. Bhumibol allied with pro-monarchy generals and was tacitly aided by the US government in restoring the influence of the Thai monarchy throughout his reign. His status as a semi-divine monarch provided Thailand with sense of unity and stability during the Cold War, when the monarchies of neighboring Laos and Cambodia were toppled by Communist forces. Bhumibol's dedication to agricultural and technological initiatives and routine visits to rural areas won the hearts and minds of people. Bhumibol however created a shadow absolute monarchy, one in which the monarchy was carefully crafted to be above politics while also tacitly backing the military in the routine toppling of democratically-elected civilian governments, in spite of increasing global democratization in the 1990s and 2000s following the end of the Cold War. The end of Bhumibol's reign was marked by severe political instability and the return of a military government in the 2014 Thai coup d'état, led by General Prayut Chan-o-cha.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: "Forbes" estimated Bhumibol's fortune – including property and investments managed by the Crown Property Bureau, a body that is neither private nor government-owned (assets managed by the Bureau were owned by the crown as an institution, not by the monarch as an individual)– to be US$30 billion in 2010, and he headed the magazine's list of the "world's richest royals" from 2008 to 2013. In May 2014, Bhumibol's wealth was again listed as US$30 billion.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: After a period of deteriorating health which left him hospitalized on several occasions, Bhumibol died on 13 October 2016 in Siriraj Hospital. He was highly revered by the people in Thailand – some saw him as close to divine. Notable political activists and Thai citizens who criticized the king or the institution of monarchy were often forced into exile or to suffer frequent imprisonments, yet many cases were dropped before being proceeded or were eventually given royal pardon. His cremation was held on 26 October 2017 at the royal crematorium at Sanam Luang. His son, Maha Vajiralongkorn, succeeded him as King.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Bhumibol was born at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the United States, on 5 December 1927. He was the youngest son of Prince Mahidol Adulyadej, the Prince of Songkla, and his commoner wife Mom Sangwan (later Princess Srinagarindra, the Princess Mother). His father was enrolled in the public health program at Harvard University, which is why Bhumibol was the only monarch to be born in the US. Bhumibol had an older sister, Princess Galyani Vadhana, and an older brother, Prince Ananda Mahidol.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Bhumibol came to Thailand in 1928, after his father obtained a certificate from Harvard. His father died of kidney failure in September 1929, when Bhumibol was less than two years old. He briefly attended Mater Dei school in Bangkok, but in 1933 his mother took her family to Switzerland, where he continued his education at the École nouvelle de la Suisse romande in Lausanne. In 1934 Bhumibol was given his first camera, which ignited his lifelong enthusiasm for photography. When Bhumibol's childless uncle Prajadhipok abdicated in 1935, his nine-year-old brother Ananda Mahidol became King Rama VIII. However, the family remained in Switzerland and the affairs of the head of state were conducted by a regency council. They returned to Thailand for only two months in 1938. In 1942, Bhumibol became a jazz enthusiast, and started to play the saxophone, a passion that he kept throughout his life. He received the "baccalauréat des lettres" (high-school diploma with a major in French literature, Latin, and Greek) from the Gymnase Classique Cantonal de Lausanne, and by 1945 had begun studying sciences at the University of Lausanne, when World War II ended and the family was able to return to Thailand.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Bhumibol ascended the throne following the death by gunshot wound of his brother, King Ananda Mahidol, on 9 June 1946, under circumstances that remain unclear. While a first government statement stated that Ananda had accidentally shot himself, an investigation committee ruled this was virtually impossible. Two palace aides were eventually convicted of regicide and executed. A third possibility, that Bhumibol accidentally shot his brother while the brothers played with their pistols, was never officially considered.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Bhumibol succeeded his brother, but returned to Switzerland before the end of the 100-day mourning period. Despite his interest in science and technology, he changed his major and enrolled in law and political science to prepare for his duties as head of state. His uncle, Rangsit, Prince of Chainat, was appointed Prince Regent. In Bhumibol's name, Prince Rangsit acknowledged a military coup that overthrew the government of Thamrongnawasawat in November 1947. The regent also signed the 1949 constitution, which returned to the monarchy many of the powers it had lost by the 1932 Revolution.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: In December 1946, the Siamese government allocated several hundred thousand dollars for the ceremonial cremation of the remains of the late King Ananda, a necessary preliminary to the coronation of Bhumibol who was required by religious custom to light the funeral pyre. Unsettled conditions in 1947 following a coup d'état resulted in a postponement, and court astrologers determined that 2 March 1949 was the most auspicious date.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: While doing his degree in Switzerland, Bhumibol visited Paris frequently. It was in Paris that he first met Mom Rajawongse Sirikit Kitiyakara, daughter of the Thai ambassador to France (Nakkhatra Mangala) and a great-granddaughter of King Chulalongkorn and thus a cousin of Bhumibol. She was then 15 years old and training to be a concert pianist.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: On 4 October 1948, while Bhumibol was driving a Fiat Topolino on the Geneva-Lausanne road, he collided with the rear of a braking truck 10 km outside Lausanne. He injured his back, suffered paralysis in half of his face and incurred cuts on his face that cost him the sight of his right eye. Both the royal cremation and coronation had to be postponed once more. While he was hospitalised in Lausanne, Sirikit visited him frequently. She met his mother, who asked her to continue her studies nearby so that Bhumibol could get to know her better. Bhumibol selected for her a boarding school in Lausanne, Riante Rive. A quiet engagement in Lausanne followed on 19 July 1949, and they were married on 28 April 1950, just a week before his coronation. Their wedding was described by "The New York Times" as "the shortest, simplest royal wedding ever held in the land of gilded elephants and white umbrellas". The ceremony was performed by Bhumibol's ageing grandmother, Savang Vadhana.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: After presiding over the long-delayed, ceremonial cremation of his brother Ananda Mahidol, Bhumibol was crowned King of Thailand on 5 May 1950 in the Phaisan Thaksin Throne Hall in the Grand Palace in Bangkok. It was the first coronation ceremony of a Thai sovereign to rule under the system of constitutional monarchy. During the ceremony, he pledged that he would "reign with righteousness for the benefit and happiness of the Siamese people" ("เราจะครองแผ่นดินโดยธรรม เพื่อประโยชน์สุขแห่งมหาชนชาวสยาม"). Notable elements associated with the coronation included the beneath the Great White Umbrella of State and royal regalia and utensils.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: In 1950 on Coronation Day, Bhumibol's consort was made queen (Somdej Phra Boromarajini). The date of his coronation is celebrated each 5 May in Thailand as Coronation Day, a public holiday. On 9 June 2006, Bhumibol celebrated his 60th anniversary as the King of Thailand, becoming the longest reigning monarch in Thai history.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: The royal couple spent their honeymoon at Hua Hin before they returned to Switzerland, where the king completed his university studies. They returned to Thailand in 1951.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Following the death of his grandmother Queen Savang Vadhana, Bhumibol entered a 15-day monkhood (22 October 19565 November 1956) at Wat Bowonniwet, as is customary for Buddhist males on the death of elder relatives. He was ordained by the Supreme Patriarch on 22 October 1956 at the Royal Chapel of the Emerald Buddha in the Grand Palace. At this time, Sirikit was appointed his regent. She was later appointed Queen Regent (Somdej Phra Boromarajininat) in recognition of this.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Although Bhumibol was sometimes referred to as King Rama IX in English, Thais referred to him as "Nai Luang" or "Phra Chao Yu Hua" (ในหลวง or พระเจ้าอยู่หัว), which translated to "the King" and "Lord Upon our Heads", respectively. He was also called "Chao Chiwit" ("Lord of Life"). Formally, he was referred to as "Phrabat Somdet Phra Chao Yu Hua" (พระบาทสมเด็จพระเจ้าอยู่หัว) or, in legal documents, "Phrabat Somdet Phra Paraminthara Maha Bhumibol Adulyadej" (พระบาทสมเด็จพระปรมินทรมหาภูมิพลอดุลยเดช), and in English as "His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej". He signed his name as ภูมิพลอดุลยเดช ป.ร. (Bhumibol Adulyadej Por Ror, the Thai equivalent of "Bhumibol Adulyadej R[ex])".


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: In 1957, a military coup overthrew the government of Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram with allegations of "lèse-majesté", corruption and manipulation of the election held earlier that year. This began a new and long-lasting relationship between the monarch and military, leading some to perceive that the king condones the Thammasat University massacre in defense of his throne, and support a series of military dictatorships. However, during his interview given to the BBC in 1979, the king reiterated that the monarchy should remain impartial and be in peaceful co-existence with everybody. Bhumibol invited public criticism in a 2005 speech, but the "lèse majesté" laws have not been revoked by the Thai parliament yet.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: In the early years of his reign, during the government of military dictator Plaek Phibunsongkhram, Bhumibol had no real political power and was little more than a ceremonial figure under the military-dominated government. In August 1957, six months after parliamentary elections, General Sarit Thanarat accused the government of Field Marshal Phibunsongkhram of "lèse-majesté" due to its conduct of the 2,500th anniversary celebration of Buddhism. On 16 September 1957, Phibunsongkhram went to Bhumibol to seek support for his government. Bhumibol advised the field marshal to resign to avoid a coup. Phibunsongkhram refused. That evening, Sarit Thanarat seized power. Two hours later Bhumibol imposed martial law throughout the kingdom. Bhumibol issued a proclamation appointing Sarit as "military defender of the capital" without anyone countersigning the proclamation. It included the following:


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Whereas it appears that the public administration by the government under the premiership of Field Marshal P. Phibunsongkhram is untrustworthy, and that the government could not maintain the public order; and whereas the military, led by Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat, has successfully taken over the public administration and now acts as the Military Defender of the Capital; now, therefore, I do hereby appoint Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat as the Military Defender of the Capital, and command that all the citizens shall remain calm whilst all the government officers shall serve the orders issued by Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat. This Proclamation shall come into force immediately. Done this 16th Day of September, Buddhist Era 2500 (1957). Sarit later admitted in a rare interview with foreign correspondent that the king had no involvement and did not acknowledge anything about the coup until it had been done successfully.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: During Sarit's dictatorship, the monarchy was revitalised. Bhumibol attended public ceremonies, toured the provinces and patronised development projects, he also visited the United States in June 1960, addressing Congress, and many countries in Europe, including a visit to Rome, hosted by PM Giovanni Gronchi, in September 1960.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Under Sarit, the practice of crawling in front of royalty during audiences, banned by King Chulalongkorn, was revived in certain situations and the royal-sponsored Thammayut Nikaya order was revitalised. For the first time since the absolute monarchy was overthrown, a king was conveyed up the Chao Phraya River in a Royal Barge Procession to offer robes at temples.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Other disused ceremonies from the classical period of the Chakri Dynasty, such as the royally patronised ploughing ceremony (Thai: พิธีพืชมงคล), were also revived. Bhumibol's birthday (5 December) was declared the national day, replacing the previous national day, the anniversary of the Siamese revolution of 1932 (24 June). Upon Sarit's death on 8 December 1963, an unprecedented 21 days of mourning were declared in the palace. A royal five-tier umbrella shaded his body while it lay in state. Long-time royal adviser Phraya Srivisaravacha later noted that no Prime Minister ever had such an intimate relationship with Bhumibol as Sarit.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Bhumibol biographer Paul Handley, in "The King Never Smiles", writes that the dictator Sarit was Bhumibol's tool. Political scientist Thak Chaloemtiarana writes that Sarit used Bhumibol in order to build his own credibility.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Following Sarit's death General Thanom Kittikachorn rose to power to lead Thailand's military dictatorship, ultimately challenged by the 1973 Thai popular uprising. Bhumibol initially asked student protestors to disband. When police attacked and killed dozens of students, sparking protest riots, Bhumibol announced general Thanom's resignation and departure from Thailand.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: According to William Stevenson, the king had asked the three tyrants to avoid bloodshed, although the three tyrants had agreed, they later changed their minds. Eventually, it led to the incidents of October 1973.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Bhumibol distanced himself from the Thai military after Thanom's fall. Political events in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos brought powerful guerrilla and communist movements into power or prominence, which threatened the Thai monarchy and political establishment. Fearing unrest, Bhumibol began to court the military in 1975, visiting camps throughout the country, and publicly warning of internal and external threats. At this time, Bhumibol increasingly cultivated far-right militias and paramilitary forces, including the Red Gaurs and the Village Scouts, warning that students and political dissidents planned to bring communists to power in Thailand. Finally, Bhumibol provoked outrage among students and legal groups by inviting general Thanom back into the country.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: The ensuing chaos was used as a pretext for a military coup, which Bhumibol backed and described as a manifestation of the people's will. The event that catalyzed the coup was the Thammasat University massacre, carried out in the name of defending Bhumibol's throne. The victorious military junta submitted three names to the king as possible premiers: Deputy President of the king's Privy Council , right-wing Bangkok Governor , and staunchly anti-communist Supreme Court judge Thanin Kraivichien. Thanin was a member of the Nawaphon monarchist paramilitary group, which had the backing of the CIA, and which Bhumibol was alleged to have sponsored. Bhumibol chose Thanin as the most suitable premier, leading student protesters to flee to join the communists in the jungle. Thanin was overthrown in a military coup in October 1977 led by General Kriangsak Chamanan.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Kriangsak was succeeded in 1980 by the popular Army Commander-in-Chief, General Prem Tinsulanonda, who later became the Privy Council President.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Bhumibol's refusal to endorse military coups in 1981 (the April Fool's Day coup) and 1985 (the Share Rebellion) ultimately led to the victory of forces loyal to the government, despite some violence – including, in 1981, the seizure of Bangkok by rebel forces. The coups led many to believe that Bhumibol had misjudged Thai society and that his credibility as an impartial mediator between various political and military factions had been compromised.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Following the death of Emperor Hirohito of Japan in 1989, he overtook the distinction as the world's longest-reigning living monarch.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: In 1992, Bhumibol played a key role in Thailand's transition to a democratic system. The 1991 Thai coup d'état on 23 February returned Thailand to military dictatorship. After a general election in 1992, the majority parties invited General Suchinda Kraprayoon, a leader of the coup group, to be prime minister. This caused much dissent, which escalated into demonstrations called Black May that led to a large number of deaths when the military was brought in to control protesters. The situation became increasingly critical as police and military forces clashed with protesters. Violence and riots spread to many areas of the capital with rumours of a rift among the armed forces.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Amidst the fear of civil war, Bhumibol intervened. He summoned Suchinda and the leader of the pro-democracy movement, retired Major General Chamlong Srimuang, to a televised audience, and urged them to find a peaceful resolution. At the height of the crisis, the sight of both men appearing together on their knees (in accordance with royal protocol) made a strong impression on the nation. Bhumibol then signed Suchinda's amnesty decree that applied to both side of a conflict, with the reason to protect security and unity of the country. Suchinda resigned soon afterwards.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: It was one of the few occasions in which Bhumibol directly and publicly intervened in a political conflict. A general election was held shortly afterward, leading to a civilian government.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Weeks before the April 2006 legislative election, the Democrat Party-led opposition and the People's Alliance for Democracy petitioned Bhumibol to appoint a replacement prime minister and cabinet. Demands for royal intervention were met with much criticism from the public. Bhumibol, in a speech on 26 April 2006, responded, "Asking for a Royally-appointed prime minister is undemocratic. It is, pardon me, a mess. It is irrational".


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: After publicly claiming victory in the boycotted April parliamentary elections, Thaksin Shinawatra had a private audience with the king. A few hours later, Thaksin appeared on national television to announce that he would be taking a break from politics. Due to the election result, Bhumibol took the unprecedented step of calling the elections undemocratic.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: In May 2006, the Sondhi Limthongkul-owned "Manager Daily" newspaper published a series of articles describing the "Finland Plot", alleging that Thaksin and former members of the Communist Party of Thailand planned to overthrow the king and seize control of the nation. No evidence was ever produced to verify the existence of such a plot, and Thaksin and his Thai Rak Thai party vehemently denied the accusations and sued the accusers.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: In a rare, televised speech to senior judges, Bhumibol requested the judiciary to take action to resolve the political crisis. On 8 May 2006, the Constitutional Court invalidated the results of the April elections and ordered new elections scheduled for 15 October 2006. The Criminal Court later jailed the Election Commissioners.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: On 14 July 2006, Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda addressed graduating cadets of the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy, telling them that the Thai military must serve the nation and the king—not the government.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: On 20 July, Bhumibol signed a royal decree endorsing new House elections for 15 October 2006. In an unprecedented act, the King wrote a note on the royal decree calling for a clean and fair election. That very day, Bhumibol underwent spinal surgery.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: On the evening of 19 September, the Thai military overthrew the Thaksin government and seized control of Bangkok in a bloodless coup. The junta, led by the Sonthi Boonyaratglin, Commander of the Army, called itself the Council for Democratic Reform under the Constitutional Monarchy. It accused the deposed prime minister and his regime of crimes, including lèse majesté, and pledged its loyalty to Bhumibol. Martial law was declared, the constitution repealed and the October elections cancelled. Protests and political meetings were banned.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: The king's role in the coup was the subject of much speculation among Thai analysts and the international media, although publication of such speculation was banned in Thailand. The king had an audience with Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda at the same time that special forces troops were mobilised. Anti-coup protesters claimed that Prem was the mastermind of the coup, although the military claimed otherwise and banned any discussion of the topic. In a BBC interview, Thitinan Pongsudhirak of Chulalongkorn University noted, "This coup was nothing short of Thaksin versus the King... He [the king] is widely seen as having implicitly endorsed the coup." In the same interview, social critic Sulak Sivaraksa claimed, "Without his [the king's] involvement, the coup would have been impossible." Sulak added that the king is "very skillful. He never becomes obviously involved. If this coup goes wrong, Sonthi will get the blame, but whatever happens, the King will only get praise." On Saturday, 23 September 2006, the junta warned it would "urgently retaliate against foreign reporters whose coverage has been deemed insulting to the monarchy." Prem did help secure the appointment of Surayud Chulanont, another member of the King's Privy Council, as Premier, and allegedly had a say in the appointment of Surayud's Cabinet. Critics claimed the cabinet was full of "Prem's boys".


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: On 20 April 2009, Thaksin claimed in an interview with the "Financial Times" that Bhumibol had been briefed by Privy Councillors Prem Tinsulanonda and Surayud Chulanont about their plans to stage the 2006 coup. He claimed that General Panlop Pinmanee, a leader of the People's Alliance for Democracy, had told him of the briefing. The Thai embassy in London denied Thaksin's claims.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: The junta appointed a constitutional tribunal to rule on alleged polling fraud involving the Thai Rak Thai and Democrat political parties. Guilty rulings would have dissolved both parties, Thailand's largest and oldest, respectively, and banned the parties' leadership from politics for five years. The weeks leading up to the verdicts saw rising political tensions. On 24 May 2007, about a week before the scheduled verdict, Bhumibol gave a rare speech to the Supreme Administrative Court (the president of which is also a member of the constitutional tribunal). "You have the responsibility to prevent the country from collapsing", he warned them in the speech, which was shown on all national television channels simultaneously during the evening. "The nation needs political parties... In my mind, I have a judgment but I cannot say", he said. "Either way the ruling goes, it will be bad for the country, there will be mistakes". The tribunal later acquitted the Democrat Party, but dissolved the Thai Rak Thai Party and banned 111 of its executives from politics for five years.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: The junta-appointed Constitution Drafting Assembly later tried to use the King in a propaganda campaign to increase public support for its widely criticised draft constitution. The CDA placed billboards saying "Love the King. Care about the King. Vote in the referendum" throughout northeast Thailand, where opposition to the junta was greatest.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: The military's constitution passed the referendum, and a general election was held in December 2007. The People's Power Party (PPP), consisting of many former Thai Rak Thai Party MPs and supporters, won the majority and formed a government. The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) refused to accept the election results and started protests, eventually laying siege to Government House, Don Mueang Airport, and Suvarnabhumi Airport. Although the PAD claimed they were defending the monarchy, Bhumibol remained silent. However, after a PAD supporter died in a clash with police, Queen Sirikit presided over her cremation. Princess Sirindhorn, when asked at a US press conference whether PAD was acting on behalf of the monarchy, replied, "I don't think so. They do things for themselves." Questioning and criticism over Bhumibol's role in the crisis increased, particularly from the international press. "It is more and more difficult for them to hold the illusion that the monarchy is universally adored", says a Thai academic.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: In April 2008, Bhumibol appointed alleged coup plotter General Surayud Chulanont to the Privy Council of Thailand. In the weeks leading up to the 2011 general election, Bhumibol appointed Air Chief Marshal Chalit Pukbhasuk, a leader of the 2006 military coup, to his privy council.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: After Prayut Chan-o-cha, Commander of the Royal Thai Army launched a coup d'état, the 12th since the country's first coup in 1932, against the caretaker government, following six months of political crisis. On 24 May 2014, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) said Bhumibol had acknowledged the coup, but stopped short of describing the response as an endorsement. However, on 26 May 2014 Bhumibol formally appointed General Prayut to run the country. In Thailand the monarchy is highly respected and royal endorsement was seen as legitimation of the takeover.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Paul Chambers said that the military is the only institution that can sustain the power of Bhumibol monarch, and Bhumibol gave legitimacy to the military and blessing each of the coups. Past two coups showed relationship between the military and the monarch. Serhat Uenaldi said that Bhumibol helped kill off democracy since last 2006 coup by endorsed a military coup against the popular Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Bhumibol suffered from lumbar spinal stenosis, and received a microsurgical decompression for the condition in July 2006. He was admitted to the hospital in October 2007 and diagnosed with a blood shortage to his brain. He received treatment for various ailments including heart problems and was released after three weeks.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Bhumibol was again admitted to Siriraj Hospital in September 2009, apparently suffering from flu and pneumonia. In 2011, it was revealed as part of WikiLeaks' leak of United States diplomatic cables that he had suffered from Parkinson's disease and depression. He was diagnosed with diverticulitis in hospital in November 2011, and was treated for the condition in January 2012. Bhumibol suffered minute subdural bleeding in the left frontal area of his brain for which he was treated in July 2012. Bhumibol left the hospital in July 2013, and travelled to Klai Kangwon Palace at Hua Hin on 2 August 2013, but returned intermittently in the following years, most recently on 1 June 2015. Bhumibol was too ill to appear for the public celebration of his birthday on 5 December 2015, but made a televised appearance on 14 December, his first in several months. The King temporarily left hospital to visit Chitralada Royal Villa on 11 January 2016 but returned later that day.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: On 1 October 2016, the palace released a bulletin stating that after recovering from a fever, King Bhumibol underwent tests that revealed a blood infection and an X-ray found inflammation on his left lung, along with water in his lungs. He had been in kidney failure for some time and received dialysis. By 9 October, he had been placed on a ventilator and doctors pronounced him "not yet stable". Crowds of well-wishers, many dressed in pink symbolizing good health and luck, gathered outside Siriraj Hospital and the Grand Palace to offer prayers and support.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: By 12 October, the royal children had arrived at Siriraj Hospital and Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn had met with the prime minister. There were some internal concerns about the succession of the crown prince, in that he was not perceived to be as well-respected as his father and it was speculated that some palace elites, responding to the people's admiration for Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, might try to position her to take the throne.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: King Bhumibol Adulyadej died in Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand on 13 October 2016, at 15:52 local time, at the age of 88, as announced by the royal palace later that day. The following day, his body was taken by motorcade to the Grand Palace for the customary bathing rite. Thousands of the bereaved public lined the route, demonstrating their affection for their "king of kings". The royal procession arrived at the Grand Palace through Viset Chaisri Gate at 17:00. His only son and the next in line to rule the kingdom, Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, presided over the bathing ritual at Phiman Rattaya Throne Hall.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: A royal cremation ceremony took place over five days at the end of October 2017. The actual cremation, which was not broadcast on television, was held in the late evening of 26 October 2017. Following cremation his ashes were taken to the Grand Palace and were enshrined at the Chakri Maha Phasat Throne Hall (royal remains), the Royal Cemetery at Wat Ratchabophit and the Wat Bowonniwet Vihara Royal Temple (royal ashes). Following burial, the mourning period officially ended on midnight of 30 October 2017, after which Thais resumed wearing regular colours while they awaited the future coronation of King Vajiralongkorn, which was hosted between 4–6 May 2019.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Bhumibol retained enormous powers, partly because of his immense popularity and partly because his powers – although clearly defined in the Thai constitution – were often subject to conflicting interpretations. This was highlighted by the controversy surrounding the appointment of Jaruvan Maintaka as Auditor-General. Jaruvan had been appointed by The State Audit Commission, but in July 2004, the Constitutional Court ruled that her appointment was unconstitutional. Jaruvan refused to vacate her office without an explicit order from Bhumibol, on the grounds that she had previously been royally approved. When the Senate elected a replacement for Jaruvan, Bhumibol refused to approve him. The Senate declined to vote to override Bhumibol's veto. Finally in February 2006 the Audit Commission reinstated Jaruvan when it became clear from a memo from the Office of the King's Principal Private Secretary that King Bhumibol supported her appointment.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Bhumibol only vetoed legislation on rare occasions. In 1976, when the Parliament voted 149–19 to extend democratic elections down to district levels, Bhumibol refused to sign the law. The Parliament refused to vote to overturn the King's veto. In 1954, Bhumibol vetoed parliamentary-approved land reform legislation twice before consenting to sign it. The law limited the maximum land an individual could hold to 50 rai (), at a time when the Crown Property Bureau was the kingdom's largest land-owner. The law was not enforced as General Sarit soon overthrew the elected government in a coup and repealed the law.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Bhumibol had the constitutional prerogative to pardon criminals, although there are several criteria for receiving a pardon, including age and remaining sentence. The 2006 pardoning of several convicted child rapists, including an Australian rapist and child pornographer, caused controversy. However, under the Thai constitution, the king has the prerogative to grant pardons and all laws, royal rescripts, and royal commands relating to state affairs must be countersigned by a minister unless otherwise provided for in the constitution.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Several academics outside Thailand, including Duncan McCargo and Federico Ferrara, noted the active but indirect political involvement of Bhumibol through a "network monarchy", whose most significant proxy is Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda. McCargo claimed that Bhumibol's conservative network worked behind the scenes to establish political influence in the 1990s, but was threatened by the landslide election victories of Thaksin Shinawatra in 2001 and 2005. Ferrara claimed, shortly before the Thai Supreme Court delivered its verdict to seize Thaksin Shinawatra's assets, that the judiciary was a well-established part of Bhumibol's network and represented his main avenue to exercise extra-constitutional prerogatives despite having the appearance of being constitutional. He also noted how, in comparison to the Constitutional Court's 2001 acquittal of Thaksin, the judiciary was a much more important part of the "network" than it was in the past.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: The network's ability to exercise power is based partly on Bhumibol's popularity and strict control of Bhumibol's popular image. According to Jost Pachaly of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, Bhumibol "plays an important role behind the scenes. But the role is difficult to assess because nothing is reported about it and no one really knows anything specific", due to lese majeste laws forbidding discussion about Bhumibol's political activities. Bhumibol's popularity was demonstrated following the 2003 Phnom Penh riots in Cambodia, when hundreds of Thai protesters, enraged by rumors that Cambodian rioters had stomped on photographs of Bhumibol, gathered outside the Cambodian embassy in Bangkok. Photographs of the stomping were not published in Thailand, but were available on the internet. The situation was resolved peacefully only when Police General Sant Sarutanonda told the crowd that he had received a call from royal secretary Arsa Sarasin conveying Bhumibol's request for calm. The crowd dispersed.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Bhumibol was involved in many social and economic development projects. The nature of his involvement varied by political regime.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: The government of Plaek Phibunsongkhram (1951–1957) limited Bhumibol to a ceremonial role. During that period Bhumibol produced some films and operated a radio station from Chitlada Palace using personal funds.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: In the military governments of Sarit Thanarat and his successors (1958–1980), Bhumibol was portrayed as the "development King" and the inspiration for the economic and political goals of the regime. Royally ordered projects were implemented under the financial and political support of the government, including projects in rural areas and communities under the influence of the Communist Party of Thailand. Bhumibol's visits to these projects were heavily promoted by the Sarit government and broadcast in state-controlled media.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: During the governments of General Prem Tinsulanonda (1981–1987), the relationship between the Thai state and the monarch was at its closest. Prem, later to become President of Bhumibol's Privy Council, officially allocated government budgets and manpower to support royal projects. Most activities in this period involved the development of large-scale irrigation projects in rural areas.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: During the modern period (post-1988), the structured development of the royal projects reached its apex. Bhumibol's Chaipattana Foundation was established, promoting his "sufficiency economy" theory, an alternative to the export-oriented policies adopted by the period's elected governments. Following the 2006 coup, establishment of a "sufficiency economy" was enshrined in the constitution as being a primary goal of the government, and government financial support for royal projects was boosted.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Also called the Diamond Jubilee, the 60th anniversary celebrations of the king's accession to the throne were a series of events marking Bhumibol's reign in June 2006. Events included a royal barge procession on the Chao Phraya River, fireworks displays, art exhibitions, and the pardoning of 25,000 prisoners, concerts, and dance performances.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Tied in with the anniversary, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan presented Bhumibol with the United Nations Development Programme's first Human Development Lifetime Achievement Award on 26 May 2006. National holidays were observed on 9 June and 12–13 June 2006. On 9 June, the king and queen appeared on the balcony of Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall before hundreds of thousands of people. The official royal barge procession on 12 June was attended by the king and queen and royal visitors from 26 other countries. On 13 June, a state banquet for the royal visitors was held in the newly constructed Rama IX Throne Hall at the Grand Palace, the first official function of the hall. The Chiang Mai Royal Floral Expo was also held to honour the anniversary.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: On 16 January 2007, the CDRM officially declared the end of the 60th anniversary celebrations and commenced year-long celebrations of Bhumibol's 80th birthday.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Bhumibol was a painter, musician, photographer, author and translator. His book "Phra Mahachanok" is based on a traditional "Jataka" story of Buddhist scripture. "The Story of Thong Daeng" is the story of his dog Thong Daeng.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: In his youth, Bhumibol was greatly interested in firearms. He kept a carbine, a Sten gun and two automatic pistols in his bedroom, and he and his elder brother, King Ananda Mahidol, often used the gardens of the palace for target practice.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: There are two English-language books that provide extensive detail—albeit not always verifiable—about Bhumibol's life, especially his early years and then throughout his entire reign. One is "The Revolutionary King" (2001) by William Stevenson, the other is "The King Never Smiles" (2006) by Paul M. Handley. A third and earlier work, "The Devil's Discus" (1964), is also available in Thai and English. The latter two books are banned in Thailand, while the first has never been sold in the country due to its "inaccuracies", despite having been written with royal patronage.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Bhumibol's creativity in, among other things, music, art and invention, was the focus of a two-minute long documentary created by the government of Abhibisit Vejjajiva that was screened at all branches of the Major Cineplex Group and SF Cinema City, the two largest cinema chains in Thailand.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Bhumibol was an accomplished jazz saxophone player and composer, playing Dixieland and New Orleans jazz, and also the clarinet, trumpet, guitar, and piano. It is widely believed that his father, Mahidol Adulyadej, may have inspired his passion for artistic pursuits at an early age. Bhumibol initially focused on classical music exclusively for two years but eventually switched to jazz since it allowed him to improvise more freely. It was during this time that he decided to specialize in wind instruments, especially the saxophone and clarinet. By the time Bhumibol turned 18, he started to compose his own music with the first being "Candlelight Blues". He continued to compose even during his reign following his coronation in 1946. Bhumibol performed with Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Benny Goodman, Stan Getz, Lionel Hampton, and Benny Carter. Throughout his life, Bhumibol wrote a total of 49 compositions. Much of it is jazz swing but he also composed marches, waltzes, and Thai patriotic songs. His most popular compositions were "Candlelight Blues", "Love at Sundown", and "Falling Rain" which were all composed in 1946. Bhumibol's musical influences included Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, Benny Carter, and Johnny Hodges. The Bhumibol Adulyadej (King of Thailand) Collection, 1946–1954 at the Library of Congress Music Division includes some of his compositions, including 13 music manuscripts, 100 pieces of printed music, clippings, correspondence, and other miscellaneous documents.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Bhumibol initially received general music training privately while he was studying in Switzerland, but his older brother, then King Ananda Mahidol, who had bought a saxophone, sent Bhumibol in his place. King Ananda would later join him on the clarinet. On his permanent return to Thailand in 1950, Bhumibol started a jazz band, Lay Kram, whom he performed with on a radio station he started at his palace. The band grew, being renamed the Au Sau Wan Suk Band and he would perform with them live on Friday evenings, occasionally taking telephoned requests. Bhumibol also performed with his band at Thai universities, composing anthems for the universities of Chulalongkorn, Thammasat, and Kasetsart. Bhumibol performed with Benny Goodman at the Amphorn Sathan Residential Hall, in 1956, and later played at Goodman's home in New York in 1960. Many bands such as Les Brown and His Band of Renown, Claude Bolling Big Band, and Preservation Hall Jazz Band recorded some of Bhumibol's compositions and can still be heard in Thailand. A 1996 documentary, "Gitarajan", was made about Bhumibol's music.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Bhumibol still played music with his Au Sau Wan Suk Band in later years, but was rarely heard in public. In 1964, Bhumibol became the 23rd person to receive the Certificate of Bestowal of Honorary Membership on behalf of Vienna's University of Music and Performing Arts. In 2000, he was awarded the Sanford Medal for his contribution in music from Yale School of Music. He was the first Asian in both cases to be honored as such. In 2003, the University of North Texas College of Music awarded him an honorary doctorate in music. Bhumibol's influence is widely regarded as one reason why Thailand, and Bangkok in particular, has for decades had a strong jazz and improvised music "scene" relative to other Asian nations.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Bhumibol was an accomplished sailor and sailboat designer. He won a gold medal for sailing in the Fourth Southeast Asian Peninsular (SEAP) Games in 1967, together with Princess Ubol Ratana whom he tied for points. This accomplishment was all the more remarkable given Bhumibol's lack of binocular depth perception. On 19 April 1966, Bhumibol also sailed the Gulf of Thailand from Hua Hin to Toey Ngam Harbour in Sattahip, covering in a 17-hour journey on the "Vega 1", an OK Class dinghy he built.


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Like his father, a former military naval engineer, Bhumibol was an avid boat designer and builder. He produced several small sailboat designs in the International Enterprise, OK, and Moth classes. His designs in the Moth class included the "Mod", "Super Mod", and "Micro Mod".


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Bhumibol was a radio amateur with the call sign HS1A. He was also the patron of the Radio Amateur Society of Thailand (RAST).


title: Bhumibol Adulyadej

text: Bhumibol was the only Thai monarch to hold a patent. He obtained one in 1993 for a waste water aerator named "Chai Pattana", and several patents on rainmaking after 1955: the "sandwich" rainmaking patent in 1999 and the "supersandwich" patent in 2003.