title: Silverstone Circuit

text: A crowd of 27,000 welcomed back the World Touring Car Championship. The Alfa Romeo drivers dominated the first race, on a sunny 15 May 2005. Gabriele Tarquini scored a lights to flag victory, leading home an Alfa quartet. Behind the Italian, a tough fight for second between James Thompson and Fabrizio Giovanardi, with a number of overtaking and paint swapping moves, also involving the BMW 320i of Andy Priaulx. Augusto Farfus completed the quartet, with Priaulx dropping back to fifth. After a superb start, Priaulx led most of race two, until side-lined with a puncture. This enabled the SEAT duo of Rickard Rydell and Jason Plato to take the win for the Spanish manufacturer, with Tarquini in third.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Ducati took both legs of the 2005 World Superbike double-header. Régis Laconi scored the first win and Toseland doubled Ducati's pleasure. Laconi beat Troy Corser to the finishing line by 0.096secs. Toseland claimed third on the podium. Toseland turn came to Race 2, when he passed Croser and Haga.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: In the 2005 Le Mans Series race, Team ORECA Audi R8 scored a prestigious victory, with McNish, this time paired with Stéphane Ortelli, winning after a thrilling race-long battle with the Creation Autosportif's DBA 03S of Nicolas Minassian and Campbell-Walter, a car that provided much of the season's excitement.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Alonso would see the chequered flag first as he wins again at Silverstone in 2006. In doing so, the Spaniard became the youngest driver to get the hat-trick (pole position, winning and fastest lap). Alonso won by nearly 14 seconds from Schumacher and Räikkönen took third again.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Troy Bayliss gained a pair of wins in the 2006 World Superbike, aboard his Xerox Ducati. Haga (Yamaha) and Toseland (Honda) joined Bayliss on the podium in both races.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Following Hamilton's victory in the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix, Silverstone reported that ticket sales had "gone through the roof"; circuit director Ian Phillips added, "we haven't seen this level of interest since Mansell-mania in the late 80s and early 90s". Hamilton qualified his McLaren on pole. However, race day saw Räikkönen move ahead during the first round of pit stops. The other McLaren driver, Alonso, finished second.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Bayliss (Ducati) took the chequered flag in a solitary 2007 World Superbike race, with a heavy downpour causing the first race to be run in the wet, with Race 2 cancelled altogether. Naga and Corser completed the podium line-up.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: After a one-year hiatus, the Le Mans Series returned to Silverstone. At the head of the field, the Team Peugeot 908 HDi's lead was unchallenged and Minassian achieved his goal to do one better, partnered by Marc Gené. Emmanuel Collard/Jean-Christophe Boullion finished two laps down in second. Third place on the podium was for the Rollcentre Pescarolo, piloted by Stuart Hall and Joao Barbosa.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Hamilton won the 2008 British Grand Prix, when he crossed the line to win by 68 seconds. The margin of victory was the largest in Formula One since 1995. Once again, Barrichello finished on the podium, this time in a Honda.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: A spirited drive from the 2008 Le Mans winners Rinaldo Capello and McNish saw their Audi R10 TDI progress through the field after a trip in the gravel early in the race, all the way up to second behind their sister car. When the leading Audi came in for an unplanned pit stop and was pulled into the pit for some rear suspension repairs, this handed the lead to McNish and Capello, who took a well deserved win. The Charouz Lola-Aston Martin B08/60 was second, driven by Jan Charouz and Stefan Mücke. The Pescarolo of Romain Dumas and Boullion got a well deserved podium finish.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The 2009 British Grand Prix at Silverstone was due to be the last in Northamptonshire, as the event was moving to Donington Park from the 2010 season. The race was won by Sebastian Vettel for Red Bull Racing, 15.1secs ahead of his teammate Mark Webber. A further 25.9secs behind was Barrichello, in his Brawn. However, due to Donington Park funding issues, the Grand Prix would remain at Silverstone.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The 2009 1000 km of Silverstone saw Oreca take the chequered flag with the aid of their drivers Olivier Panis and Nicolas Lapierre. The next three cars home were also on the lead lap after 195 laps of racing, with second place going to Speedy Racing's Lola-Aston Martin B08/60 of Marcel Fässler, Andrea Belicchi and Nicolas Prost. The newer Lola-Aston Martin B09/60 of Aston Martin Racing took the next two places, with the partnership of Tomáš Enge, Charouz and Mücke claiming the final step on the podium.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Mark Webber (Red Bull) won the 2010 British Grand Prix, just over a second ahead of McLaren's Hamilton. Nico Rosberg claimed third place for Mercedes.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The FIM World Superbike Championship round at Silverstone in 2010 was dominated by British riders. In both races, Yamaha Sterilgarda's Cal Crutchlow won with Jonathan Rea second. Alstare Suzuki's Leon Haslam and Aprilla's Leon Camier made appearances in the top three, giving Britain a complete podium sweep of the event.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The 2010 British motorcycle Grand Prix returned to Silverstone for the first time since 1986, although the category had evolved into MotoGP. Jorge Lorenzo dominated the event for Fiat Yamaha, finishing nearly seven seconds clear of a battle for second place. Andrea Dovizioso won the battle for second for Repsol Honda, with the Tech 3 Yamaha of Ben Spies third, after passing fellow American Nicky Hayden on the last lap.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Anthony Davidson and Minassian won for Peugeot in the 2010 1000 km of Silverstone. Second place was enough for the Oreca team to be crowned as the 2010 champions, using a Peugeot instead their own race winning chassis from the 2009 event. This time Lapierre was co-driven by Stéphane Sarrazin. Audi were third with the R15 TDI of Capello and Timo Bernhard.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The 2011 British Grand Prix saw Fernando Alonso win for Ferrari, sixteen seconds ahead of the Red Bulls of Vettel and Webber.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The Althea Racing Ducati of Carlos Checa won ahead of Yamaha's Eugene Laverty with Laverty's teammate Marco Melandri finishing third in both races of the 2011 World Superbike meeting.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: MotoGP returned in June 2011, with the Repsol Hondas dominating the race in rainy conditions. Casey Stoner took pole position and beat his teammate Dovizioso by more than 15 seconds. The Tech 3 Yamaha of Colin Edwards completed the podium.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The 2011 6 Hours of Silverstone witnessed a nose-to-tail fight between the Audi R18 of Bernhard and Fässler and the Peugeot 908 of Sébastien Bourdais and Simon Pagenaud, but was temporarily finished after a spin by Bernhard. A conservative drive from Pagenaud saw him caught and then overtaken by Fässler. Pagenaud picked up the pace and the two cars were on each other's tails until the end of the fourth hour when damaged rear bodywork needed replacing on the Audi. This gave the Peugeot a one-minute advantage that it did not give up. Third was the OAK Racing's Pescarolo 01 piloted by Olivier Pla and Alexandre Prémat.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The 2012 British Grand Prix was won for the second time by Webber, with pole-sitter Alonso second for Ferrari, finishing three seconds behind. Webber's teammate Vettel rounded off the podium.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Silverstone is often the site of unpredictable weather, and the 2012 World Superbike event took place in mixed wet and dry conditions. Kawasaki Racing's Loris Baz won from the BMWs of Michel Fabrizio and Ayrton Badovini. Baz then took second behind PATA Racing's Ducati, piloted by Sylvain Guintoli in a shortened second race. Jakub Smrz took third, as nine riders went down before the official called an early end after eight laps.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The 2012 British MotoGP was won by the Yamaha factory rider, Lorenzo. He crossed the line 3.313 seconds ahead of the Respol Honda of Stoner, with Dani Pedrosa third on the other Honda.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The 2012 Le Mans 24 Hours winners Benoît Tréluyer, André Lotterer and Fässler steered their Audi R18 e-tron Quattro hybrid car to victory in the 6 Hours of Silverstone on 26 August 2012. The second Audi of Allan McNish, Rinaldo Capello and Tom Kristensen, finished third, with the Toyota TS030 hybrid of Alex Wurz, Kazuki Nakajima and Nicolas Lapierre splitting the two in second, having led early on.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The opening round of the 2013 World Endurance Championship saw Audi Sport Team Joest dominating. The race soon developed into a pattern of two Audi R18 e-tron quattros followed by two Toyota TS030 Hybrids and backed up by two Rebellion Lola B12/60s. Audis had a better early stage of the race when the Toyota's tyres did not work well, and by the middle of the race they were securely leading the race by one lap. McNish was behind Tréluyer by more than 20 seconds with some 15 laps to go. But McNish (partnered by Kristensen and Loïc Duval), and motivated to win the RAC Tourist Trophy award for the race, closed the gap and overtook Tréluyer (supported by Lotterer and Fässler) two laps before the finish. The podium was completed the Toyota of Davidson/Sarrazin/Sébastien Buemi.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Mercedes's Rosberg held off Red Bull's Webber to win the 2013 British Grand Prix. In a race featuring two safety car interventions and tyre failures on five cars (four of which blew the rear-right tyre), Ferrari's Alonso finished third from ninth on the grid. Rosberg's teammate, Hamilton, dropped to last with tyre failure, but recovered to finish fourth ahead of Lotus's Räikkönen.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Pata Honda's Jonathan Rea took advantage of the fluctuating weather conditions to take the lead mid-distance during the 2013 World Superbike Race 1, which he held until the end. Aprilia Racing's Eugene Laverty followed home for second place, with Crescent Suzuki's Leon Camier third. Race 2 started dry but deteriorated to treacherously damp by mid-race. This saw Baz prevailing, replicating his victory from 2012, in similar conditions. Jules Cluzel took his Crescent Suzuki up to second place, followed home by Laverty in third.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Reigning World MotoGP Champion, Lorenzo, ended Marc Márquez's four-race winning streak to take victory in the 2013 British MotoGP. Yamaha factory-rider, Lorenzo swapped the lead three times with Márquez through the last few corners, but Lorenzo managed to make the crucial pass and win. Márquez's Repsol Honda teammate, Pedrosa finished third, while Crutchlow was seventh. Meanwhile, in the supporting Moto2 race, Scott Redding won.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Easter Sunday 2014 saw the return of Porsche to top-level sportscar racing in the World Endurance Championship event. Toyota dominated the event, as the Toyota TS040 Hybrid of Sébastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson and Nicolas Lapierre took victory by a clear lap over their teammates, Alex Wurz, Kazuki Nakajima and Stéphane Sarrazin, at the end of a race that was red-flagged before its scheduled finish courtesy of heavy rain. Porsche claimed a podium on its return with the 919 Hybrid. The partnership of Mark Webber, Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley took third, finishing two laps down on the winner and one down on the second-placed Toyota.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won the 2014 British Grand Prix. He was catching his teammate and championship rival, Nico Rosberg, at the half-way stage of the race when Rosberg suffered a gearbox failure and was forced to retire, with Williams's Valtteri Bottas coming from 14th on the grid to finish second. Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo took third. The race had to be red flagged following a high-speed crash on the opening lap of Kimi Räikkönen.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The reigning world champion Marc Márquez won the Hertz British MotoGP for his 11th win in 12 starts. The Honda rider overtook the previous year's winner Jorge Lorenzo on a Yamaha with three laps to go to cross the line 0.732 seconds in front. The second works Yamaha of Valentino Rossi completed the podium, after fending off Honda's Dani Pedrosa.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: World Champion Lewis Hamilton's win at the 2019 British Grand Prix was his sixth win at the Silverstone circuit, and with it, he broke a 52-year-old record for most wins in the British Grand Prix by a Formula One driver. The previous record of five wins was set and held by Jim Clark in 1967. This record was then matched by Alain Prost in 1993, and Hamilton in 2017.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The 2020 British motorcycle Grand Prix, scheduled to be held at Silverstone, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The Silverstone Circuit held two Formula One World Championship races in one season in 2020 (behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic) on consecutive weekends with the races on 2 and 9 August; the second race was referred to as the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix to commemorate the 70 years since the inception of the Formula One World Championship in 1950.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: In December 2020 the BRDC named the pit straight after Lewis Hamilton in recognition of his achievements. This is the first time in the circuit's history that an area of the track has been named after an individual.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Leading up to the Sunday race of the 2022 British Motorcycle Grand Prix, it was confirmed that the 2023 race will start on the Hamilton Straight with Abbey becoming the new turn 1. This will be the first time that the MotoGP, 2 and 3 class will start there since the 2012 British Motorcycle Grand Prix, this is also the same as the F1 Configuration which has been a common feature.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Silverstone also hosts many club racing series and the world's largest historic race meeting, the Silverstone Classic. It is also host to one of the UK's only 24-hour car races, the Britcar 24, which is gaining in popularity, having run between 2005 and 2012.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: It has in the past hosted exhibition rounds of the D1 Grand Prix both in and . The course, starting from the main straight used in club races, makes use of both Brooklands and Luffield corners to form an S-bend – a requirement in drifting – and is regarded by its judge, Keiichi Tsuchiya, as one of the most technical drifting courses of all. The section, used in drifting events since 2002, is currently used to host a European Drift Championship round. The Course also hosts the Formula Student Competition by the iMechE yearly.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Max Verstappen's lap of 1:27.097 in the 2020 British Grand Prix is the official race lap record for the current Grand Prix configuration, which has only been in existence since 2011. The diagram at right illustrates the changes in configuration which have been made, a detailed description of the changes which have been made, see development history of Silverstone Circuit.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Official lap records are set in a race, although qualifying laps are typically faster. The official race lap records of Silverstone are listed as:


title: East Anglia

text: East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in what is now Northern Germany.


title: East Anglia

text: Definitions of what constitutes East Anglia vary. The Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of East Anglia, established in the 6th century, originally consisted of the modern counties of Norfolk and Suffolk and expanded west into at least part of Cambridgeshire, typically the northernmost parts known as The Fens. The modern NUTS 3 statistical unit of East Anglia comprises Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire (including the City of Peterborough unitary authority). Those three counties have formed the Roman Catholic Diocese of East Anglia since 1976, and were the subject of a possible government devolution package in 2016.


title: East Anglia

text: Essex has sometimes been included in definitions of East Anglia, including by the London Society of East Anglians. Although the Kingdom of Essex to the south was a separate element of the Heptarchy of Anglo-Saxon England and did not identify as Angles but Saxons, many people in Essex today still consider themselves to be East Anglian. For example, Colchester United F.C. is one of the clubs competing for the informal football title Pride of Anglia, but not Southend United F.C. from further south in the county. Culturally, north Essex has much more in common with Suffolk and the rest of East Anglia due to its similar rural landscape, when compared to the south which is much more urban given its proximity to London. However, the county of Essex by itself forms a NUTS 3 statistical unit in the East of England region.


title: East Anglia

text: Other definitions of the area have been used or proposed over the years. For example, the Redcliffe-Maud Report in 1969, which followed the Royal Commission on the Reform of Local Government, recommended the creation of eight provinces in England. The proposed East Anglia province would have included northern Essex, southern Lincolnshire and a small part of Northamptonshire as well as Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.


title: East Anglia

text: The kingdom of East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but the Isle of Ely also became part of it upon the marriage of East Anglian princess Etheldreda. It was formed around 520 by merging the North and South Folk, Angles who had settled in the former lands of the Iceni during the previous century, and it was one of the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy kingdoms as defined in the 12th century writings of Henry of Huntingdon. East Anglia has been cited by a number of scholars as being a region where settlement of continental Germanic speakers was particularly early and dense, possibly following a depopulation in the fourth century.


title: East Anglia

text: A 2016 study found that modern East Anglians share a strong genetic affinity with Anglo-Saxon era skeletons, but differ substantially from Iron Age and Roman era ones, which are more similar to the Welsh. This was taken to support a major influence of the Anglo-Saxon migrations on the genetic makeup of East Anglia.


title: East Anglia

text: East Anglia was the most powerful of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England for a brief period following a victory over the rival kingdom of Northumbria around 616, and its King Rædwald was Bretwalda (overlord of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms). However, this did not last; the Mercians defeated it twice over the next 40 years, and East Anglia continued to weaken in relation to the other kingdoms. Offa of Mercia finally had king Æthelberht killed in 794 and took control of the kingdom himself. Independence was temporarily restored by rebellion in 825, but the Danes killed King Edmund on 20 November 869 and captured the kingdom. Edward the Elder incorporated East Anglia into the Kingdom of England, and it later became an earldom.


title: East Anglia

text: Parts of East Anglia remained marshland until the 17th century drainage of the Fens, despite some earlier engineering work during the Roman occupation. The alluvial land was converted into wide swaths of productive arable land by a series of systematic drainage projects, mainly using drains and river diversions along the lines of Dutch practice. In the 1630s, thousands of Puritan families from East Anglia emigrated to New England in America, taking much East Anglian culture with them that can still be traced today. East Anglia based much of its earnings on wool, textiles, and arable farming and was a rich area of England until the Industrial Revolution caused a manufacturing and development shift to the Midlands and the North.


title: East Anglia

text: During the Second World War, the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Force constructed many airbases in East Anglia for the heavy bomber fleets of the Combined Bomber Offensive against German-occupied Europe. East Anglia was ideally suited to airfield construction, as it includes large areas of open, level terrain and is close to mainland Europe. Many of the airfields can still be seen today, particularly from aerial photographs, and a few remain in use, the most prominent being Norwich International Airport. Pillboxes were erected in 1940 to help defend the nation against invasion, and they can also be found throughout the area at strategic points. Similarly, but from the Napoleonic Wars, a number of Martello towers can be found along the coast.


title: East Anglia

text: East Anglia is bordered to the north and east by the North Sea, to the south by the estuaries of the rivers Orwell and Stour, and shares an undefined land border to the west with the rest of England. Much of northern East Anglia is flat, low-lying and marshy (such as the Fens of Cambridgeshire and Norfolk), although the extensive drainage projects of the past centuries actually make this one of the driest areas in the UK. Inland, much of the rest of Suffolk and Norfolk is gently undulating, with glacial moraine ridges providing some areas of steeper relief. The highest point in Norfolk is the Beacon Hill; the supposed flatness of Norfolk is noted in literature, including Noël Coward's "Private Lives" – "Very flat, Norfolk".


title: East Anglia

text: On the north-west corner East Anglia is bordered by a bay known as The Wash, where owing to deposits of sediment and land reclamation, the coastline has altered markedly within historical times; several towns once on the coast of the Wash (notably King's Lynn) are now some distance inland. Conversely, over to the east on the coast exposed to the North Sea the coastline is subject to rapid erosion and has shifted inland significantly since historic times.


title: East Anglia

text: Major rivers include the River Nene and Suffolk's Stour, running through country beloved of the painter John Constable. The River Cam is a tributary of the Great Ouse and gives its name to Cambridge, whilst Norwich sits on the River Yare and River Wensum. The River Orwell flows through Ipswich and has its mouth, along with the Stour at Felixstowe. The Norfolk and Suffolk Broads form a network of waterways between Norwich and the coast and are popular for recreational boating. The Ouse flows into the Wash at King's Lynn.


title: East Anglia

text: Major urban areas in East Anglia include the cities of Norwich, Cambridge and Peterborough, and the town of Ipswich. Other towns and cities include Bury St Edmunds, Ely, Lowestoft, Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn. Much of the area is still rural in nature with many villages surrounded by a mixture of breckland, fens, broads and agricultural land.


title: East Anglia

text: The climate of East Anglia is generally dry and mild. Temperatures range from an average of 1–10 °C in the winter to 12–22 °C in the summer, although it is not uncommon for daily temperatures to fall and rise significantly outside these averages. Although water plays a significant role in the Fenland and Broadland landscapes, the area is among the driest in the United Kingdom and during the summer months, tinder-dry conditions are frequently experienced, occasionally resulting in field and heath fires. Many areas receive less than 700 mm of rainfall a year and this is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year. Sunshine totals tend to be higher towards the coastal areas.


title: East Anglia

text: Transport in East Anglia consists of an extensive road and rail network. Main A roads, such as the A12 and A47 link the area to the rest of the UK, and the A14 links the Midlands to the Port of Felixstowe. This is the busiest container port in the UK, dealing with over 40% of UK container traffic and is a major gateway port into the country. There is very little motorway within East Anglia.


title: East Anglia

text: Rail links include the Great Eastern Main Line from Norwich to London Liverpool Street and the West Anglia Main Line connecting Cambridge to London. Sections of the East Coast Main Line run through the area and Peterborough is an important interchange on this line. The area is linked to the Midlands and north-west England by rail and has a number of local rail services, such as the Bittern Line from Norwich to Sheringham.


title: East Anglia

text: East Anglia is ideal for cycling and National Cycle Route 1 passes through it. Cambridge has the largest proportion of its residents in the UK cycling to work with 25% commuting by bicycle. The city is also home to the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway, which at 13.3 miles (21.4 km) was the longest stretch of guided bus-way in the world when it opened in 2011.


title: East Anglia

text: The only major commercial airport is Norwich Airport, although London Stansted Airport, the fourth busiest passenger airport in the UK, lies just south of Cambridge in north-west Essex.


title: East Anglia

text: The University of Cambridge, established at the start of the 13th century and in the town of the same name, is East Anglia's best-known institution of higher learning and is among the oldest and most famous universities in the world. Other institutions include the University of East Anglia (in Norwich), University of Essex, Norwich University of the Arts, Anglia Ruskin University (based in Cambridge), University of Suffolk (based in Ipswich) and University Centre Peterborough.


title: East Anglia

text: Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft Enterprise Zone, an enterprise zone initiated by New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership, was announced in 2011 and launched in April 2012. It includes six sites with a total area of , which have attracted a number of energy-related businesses. The sites are Beacon Park and South Denes in Great Yarmouth, Mobbs Way, Riverside Road and South Lowestoft Industrial Estate in Lowestoft and Ellough Business Park in Ellough near Beccles. There is also an enterprise zone in Cambridgeshire, Alconbury Enterprise Campus in Huntingdon.


title: East Anglia

text: A shield of three golden crowns, placed two above one, on a blue background has been used as a symbol of East Anglia for centuries. The coat of arms was ascribed by medieval heralds to the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of East Anglia and the Wuffingas dynasty which ruled it. The arms are effectively identical to the coat of arms of Sweden.


title: East Anglia

text: The three crowns appear, carved in stone, on the baptismal font (c.1400) in the parish church of Saxmundham, and on the 15th-century porch of Woolpit church, both in Suffolk. They also appear in local heraldry and form part of the arms of the diocese of Ely and the arms of the borough of Bury St Edmunds, where the crowns are shown pierced with arrows to represent the martyrdom of Edmund the Martyr, the last king of East Anglia. Other users of the arms include the former Isle of Ely County Council, the Borough of Colchester and the University of East Anglia. The flag of Cambridgeshire (adopted in 2015) includes the three gold crowns on a blue field.


title: East Anglia

text: The East Anglian flag as it is known today was proposed by George Henry Langham and adopted in 1902 by the London Society of East Anglians (established in 1896). It superimposes the three crowns in a blue shield on a St George's cross.


title: East Anglia

text: East Anglia features heavily in English literature, notably in Noël Coward's "Private Lives" and the history of its waterways and drainage forms the backdrop to Graham Swift's novel "Waterland". The area also figures in works by L.P. Hartley, Arthur Ransome and Dorothy L. Sayers, among many others.


title: East Anglia

text: "Suffolk pink" and similar pastel colours of whitewash are commonly seen on houses in Suffolk, Norfolk and their neighbouring counties.


title: East Anglia

text: East Anglia has holiday resorts that range from the traditional coastal towns of Felixstowe and Lowestoft in Suffolk and Great Yarmouth and Hunstanton in Norfolk, to towns like Aldeburgh and Southwold in Suffolk. Other tourist attractions include historic towns and cities like Bury St Edmunds, Cambridge and Ely as well as areas such as Constable Country, the Broads and the North Norfolk coast.


title: Wicked Witch of the West

text: The Wicked Witch of the West is a fictional character who appears in the classic children's novel "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" (1900), created by American author L. Frank Baum. In Baum's subsequent "Oz" novels, it is the Nome King who is the principal villain; the Wicked Witch of the West is rarely even referred to again after her death in the first book.


title: Wicked Witch of the West

text: The witch's most popular depiction was in the classic 1939 film based on Baum's novel, where she was portrayed by Margaret Hamilton. Hamilton's characterization introduced green skin and this has been continued in later literary and dramatic representations, including Gregory Maguire's revisionist "Oz" novel "" (1995) and its musical stage adaptation "Wicked" (2003), the 2013 film "Oz the Great and Powerful", and the television series "Once Upon a Time" and "Emerald City".


title: Wicked Witch of the West

text: The Wicked Witch of the West is the malevolent ruler of the Winkie Country. Her castle is described as beautiful instead of being the sinister fortress shown in the film. In all versions, she is seriously aquaphobic. The Wicked Witch of the West was not related to the Wicked Witch of the East, but leagued together with her, the Wicked Witch of the South, and the Wicked Witch of the North to conquer the Land of Oz and divide it among themselves, as recounted in L. Frank Baum's "Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz". She shows no interest in the death of the Eastern Witch and all she cares about is obtaining the Silver Shoes which will increase her power. W. W. Denslow's illustrations for "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" depict her as a paunched old hag with three pigtails and an eyepatch. Baum himself specified that she only had one eye, but that it "was as powerful as a telescope", enabling the witch to see what was happening in her kingdom from her castle windows. Other illustrators, such as Paul Granger, placed her eye in the center of her forehead, as a cyclops. Usually, she is shown wearing an eyepatch, however, some illustrations show her with two eyes.


title: Wicked Witch of the West

text: Most of her power resides in the creatures she controls. She has a pack of 40 great wolves, a swarm of black bees, a flock of 40 crows, and an army of Winkies. She possesses the enchanted Golden Cap, which compels the winged monkeys to obey her on three occasions. First, the witch commanded the creatures to help her enslave the Winkies and to seize control of the western part of the Land of Oz. Second, she made the winged monkeys drive Oz out of the Winkie Country, when he attempted to overthrow her.


title: Wicked Witch of the West

text: When Dorothy Gale and her companions were sent by the Wizard to destroy her, the Witch attacked them with her various creatures. Each of these attempts was thwarted, but the protagonists are eventually subdued by the Witch's third and final permitted use of the winged monkeys. Nevertheless, the old witch cannot kill Dorothy because the girl is protected by the Good Witch of the North's kiss. She, therefore, settles for enslaving Dorothy, and tries to force the Cowardly Lion into submission by starving him, though Dorothy sneaks him food. Upon seeing the Silver Shoes on the girl's feet, the Wicked Witch decides to steal them, and thereby acquire even more power.


title: Wicked Witch of the West

text: When she succeeds in acquiring one silver shoe by making Dorothy trip over an invisible bar, the little girl angrily throws a bucket of water onto the Wicked Witch. This causes the old witch to melt away. The Wicked Witch's dryness was enumerated in some clues before this. Furthermore, when Toto had bitten her, she had not bled; her wickedness had dried her up long ago. Unfortunately, L. Frank Baum did not explain precisely why water had this effect on her, nor did he ever imply that all evil witches could be likewise destroyed. However, the wicked witch Mombi is similarly disposed of in "The Lost King of Oz" and the wicked witch Singra is clearly afraid of the same fate in the early chapters of "The Wicked Witch of Oz".


title: Wicked Witch of the West

text: The Witch did not carry a broom in the novel, but rather an umbrella, which she uses on one occasion to strike Dorothy's dog Toto. Her nature is a volatile and yet somewhat cowardly one. Despite her immense power, she avoids face-to-face contact with her enemies, and is frightened of Dorothy at first when she sees the girl wearing the Silver Shoes. She is also afraid of the dark in Baum's original story for reasons unknown. For that reason, the Witch never tried to steal the Silver Shoes while Dorothy was sleeping. Despite her fear of water and the dark, the Wicked Witch of the West was one of the most powerful witches in all of Oz. In ensuing Oz books, her power is described as having been so great that even Glinda the Good Witch of the South feared her.


title: Wicked Witch of the West

text: The 1910 silent film "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" features a character similar to the Wicked Witch of the West, identified in intertitles as "Momba the Witch" (Compare the character Mombi from "The Marvelous Land of Oz"). In the film, Momba has an unspecified hold over the Wizard, who promises his crown to anyone who can release him from Momba's power. Momba captures Dorothy and her companions, evoking the events in Baum's original novel, and is destroyed when Dorothy throws a bucket of water over her.


title: Wicked Witch of the West

text: Mombi's likeness and costume in the 1914 silent film, "His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz" is based on Denslow's illustrations of the Wicked Witch of the West.


title: Wicked Witch of the West

text: In the 1939 version of "The Wizard of Oz", Margaret Hamilton plays the Wicked Witch of the West as a green-skinned witch dressed in a long black dress with a black pointed hat. She does not wear an eye-patch like in the novel. This representation of the Wicked Witch has become a standard for what witches resemble and an archetype of human wickedness. While the relationship is not mentioned in Baum's books, in the movie, the Witch is the sister of the Wicked Witch of the East. The movie makes her even more of a primary antagonist, and consequently, she appears in the film much earlier (and more often), than in Baum's original novel. She demands the Munchkins reveal who killed her sister, not long after Dorothy's arrival in Oz. She is described by Glinda the Good Witch of the North, not the South as in the book, as "worse than the other one". She actively seeks revenge against Dorothy for killing her sister, even though it was "accidental". However, as soon as the Witch is reminded of the ruby slippers, all interest in her sister's death vanishes and all she cares about is obtaining her slippers, which will enable her to conquer Oz. She is more menacing than her literary counterpart, making Dorothy too afraid to ever lose her temper with the Witch. She makes sure that Dorothy knows her power when Dorothy meets the Scarecrow by throwing a ball of fire at them. Before Dorothy and her friends get to the city, the Witch casts a sleeping spell over a field of poppies through which the group must pass. Glinda remotely counteracts the spell with snowfall. The Wicked Witch then flies on her broom over the Emerald City, demanding that the citizens of the Emerald City surrender Dorothy to her, and the Wizard demands the destruction of the Witch, with her broom as proof, in exchange for granting the wishes of Dorothy and her companions. Unlike Baum's original depiction, the Wicked Witch sends the Winged Monkeys as the first wave of attack. The Golden Cap is not mentioned but, after the failure of her poppy spell, the Witch does hold and then angrily cast away a costume piece that could be considered the cap (It greatly resembles the Cap as depicted in W. W. Denslow's original illustrations for "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz") and was mentioned as her "wishing cap" in the original shooting script. She is killed when Dorothy throws a bucket of water on her, in attempt to put out a fire the witch bestowed on the Scarecrow. In the novel, Dorothy simply throws it on her in a fit of anger. There is no prior mention of the Wicked Witch's vulnerability to water in the movie, save for a split-second before the water actually douses her when she screams "Don't throw that water!" (this line does not appear in the film's shooting script). After the Wicked Witch of the West is dead, her soldiers are glad to be free of her power, and quote "Hail to Dorothy! The Wicked Witch is dead!" The character ranks No. 4 in the American Film Institute's list of the 50 Best Movie Villains of All Time alongside Darth Vader, Norman Bates, and Hannibal Lecter, making her the highest ranking female villain, as well as placing 90th on "Empire" magazine's "100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time".


title: Wicked Witch of the West

text: Hamilton's other role in this film is the Witch's Kansas sepia tone counterpart, Miss Almira Gulch, newly created for the film by screenwriter Noel Langley. She is a socialite who owns half the county. She arrives on her bicycle at the farm and says to Uncle Henry: "Mr. Gale! I'd like to speak with you and your wife right away about Dorothy!" Dorothy's dog, Toto, has bitten her leg, and she wants to take him to the sheriff and make sure he's destroyed. Dorothy calls her "a wicked old witch." Miss Gulch takes Toto away in her basket, but he escapes. In the tornado scene, Dorothy sees Miss Gulch on her bicycle transform into a Wicked Witch, flying on her broom.


title: Wicked Witch of the West

text: Gale Sondergaard was originally cast as the Wicked Witch of the West, but withdrew from the role when the witch's persona shifted from sly and glamorous (thought to emulate the Evil Queen in Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs") to the familiar "ugly hag".


title: Wicked Witch of the West

text: On a 1976 episode of the American children's TV show "Sesame Street", the Witch, once again played by Hamilton, drops her broom and falls onto the street. Big Bird and a Sesame Street resident, David, have the broom and refuse to give it back because of her nasty and disrespectful attitude (Oscar the Grouch is the only Sesame Street resident who finds her pleasant; he even develops a crush on her). Enraged, the Wicked Witch threatens to turn them into a feather duster and a basketball, respectively, unless they comply with her wishes; she also makes it rain inside of Mr. Hooper’s store as an intimidation tactic. Realizing that threats and intimidation have failed to yield the desired result, she resorts to trickery, disguising herself as a sweet old lady in an effort to steal the broom back. David turns the tables on her by willingly giving it back after talking her into asking for it politely and with respect. Unfortunately, she does not learn the lesson about being nice and heads home on discourteous terms with the locals (except, perhaps, for Big Bird, who says he will miss her because the events of the episode were an exciting change). The Wicked Witch drops accidentally drops the broom again while showing off on her flight home, and David, again in possession of it, laments his prediction that the whole ordeal will now repeat itself.


title: Wicked Witch of the West

text: This episode received a very negative reception. After it was aired, the Children’s Television Workshop (CTW) and series creators Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett received numerous letters from parents, who complained that the Wicked Witch was too scary for their children, using phrases such as "screams and tears" and "the threat of the witch's power remains in children's eyes." As a result of these complaints, Anna Herera, of the CTW Research Department, told the creators of "Sesame Street" to not re-air the episode. The episode was leaked anonymously on June 18, 2022.


title: Wicked Witch of the West

text: The Museum of the Moving Image in New York City screened part of the Wicked Witch episode on November 24, 2019, as part of a "Lost and Found" event that celebrated the 50th anniversary of "Sesame Street". It was accompanied by many other clips, including the unaired episode "Snuffy's Parents Get a Divorce", along with a discussion panel with Jim Henson Legacy president Craig Shemin, former Sesame Street head writer Norman Stiles, and Sesame Workshop's Rosemarie Truglio.


title: Wicked Witch of the West

text: Hamilton also played the Wicked Witch of the West in "The Paul Lynde Halloween Special" (1976), and reprised her role several times on stage, most notably at the St. Louis Municipal Opera.


title: Wicked Witch of the West

text: Hamilton also appeared as herself on "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" three times between 1975 and 1976. In these appearances, she demonstrated how her costume and acting skills made her appear to be the Witch, and assured her young viewers that there was nothing about her to be feared, because her portrayal in the film was only make-believe.


title: Wicked Witch of the West

text: The story line of the stage adaptation "goes far afield" from the 1995 novel. As Winnie Holzman observed in an interview with "Playbill", "It was [Maguire's] brilliant idea to take this hated figure and tell things from her point of view, and to have the two witches be roommates in college, but the way in which their friendship develops – and really the whole plot – is different onstage." Schwartz justified the deviation, saying "Primarily we were interested in the relationship between Galinda – who becomes Glinda – and Elphaba...the friendship of these two women and how their characters lead them to completely different destinies." In addition to this change in focus, other major plot modifications include Fiyero's appearance as the scarecrow, Elphaba's survival at the end, Nessarose using a wheelchair instead of being born without arms, Boq having a continuing love interest for Glinda – and eventually becoming the Tin Woodman instead of Nick Chopper, the complete cutting of Elphaba's years in the Vinkus, the deletion of Liir's birth, Fiyero not having a wife and children, and Doctor Dillamond not being murdered.


title: Wicked Witch of the West

text: Mila Kunis portrays the Wicked Witch of the West, who is named Theodora, in the 2013 Disney film "Oz the Great and Powerful". In this version, she is portrayed as a 'good witch' and as the younger sister of Evanora (Rachel Weisz), who is at war with Glinda (Michelle Williams) for control of Oz; Theodora wants nothing more than for peace to come back to their land. She falls in love with Oscar Diggs (James Franco), but her feelings for him are one-sided; Theodora wants to be Oscar's queen when he rules Oz. After Oscar goes to meet with Glinda, Evanora convinces Theodora that Oscar had betrayed her, offering her a magic apple that will help Theodora forget her disappointment. Theodora immediately takes a bite from it, but she realizes too late that Evanora had deceived her. Before Theodora can do anything, she starts feeling great pain and delirium, as the apple, tainted with dark magic causes her heart to wither. Her skin turns green as a side effect of the magic, while her nose becomes crooked due to her falling on it. Though Evanora offers to cover up Theodora's new appearance with an enchantment, Theodora embraces her new appearance and helps her sister attempt to kill Glinda, get revenge on Oscar, and take control of Oz. However, she and Evanora are defeated by Oscar's illusions. Theodora is forced to flee the city on her broom, but she threatens to return. Oscar tells her he knows her wickedness isn't her doing and, if she ever finds the goodness within her, she is welcome to return. However, she refuses and flies off to the West (at this point now officially beginning her reign as The Wicked Witch Of The West), vowing revenge.


title: Wicked Witch of the West

text: The Wicked Witch appears as the main antagonist of the second half of Season Three of "Once Upon a Time", played by Rebecca Mader. This version goes by the name of Zelena (which means "green" in some Slavic languages). Zelena is discovered to be the daughter of the Queen of Hearts/the Miller's Daughter/Cora (Barbara Hershey/Rose McGowan), making her the older, long-lost half-sister of Regina the Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla). Zelena visited Rumplestiltskin (Robert Carlyle) and learned from him how to control her own powerful magic. Her storyline revolves around her efforts to create a time-travel spell that will allow her to go back and prevent the birth of Snow White's mother, Ava, who informed Prince Leopold (Cora's fiancé) that Cora was with child to sabotage Cora's attempts to infiltrate the royal family (before she can ruin Zelena's life), and thus Zelena would be raised as royalty. But despite Zelena's efforts to create the deadly time portal Emma Swan (supposedly the only wielder of light magic powerful enough to oppose her) her plans are halted when the Evil Queen masters light magic in time to oppose her (although her time-travel spell is completed, it takes effect after her presumed death, transporting Emma and Captain Hook (Colin O'Donoghue) back to before the original curse was cast). She was later thought to have been killed by Rumplestiltskin.


title: Wicked Witch of the West

text: It was later discovered that Zelena's soul actually went back in time, where she managed to revive herself and assumed Maid Marian's (Christie Laing) place after killing her in the past and taking her appearance; to allow the heroes to take her back to the present, where she poses as Marian without Robin Hood (Sean Maguire) knowing. This way, she can resume making Regina Mills suffer by complicating her romantic relationship with the believed widower Robin. Zelena also copies the other villains' idea to try to force the Author to write them happy lives at the expense of the heroes. Zelena swaps out the Elixir of the Wounded Heart and when Mr. Gold (Rumplestiltskin) is dying, saves his life with it, but only after he agrees to drop his grudge against her and begins helping her. Regina is informed of this by Rumplestiltskin himself and rushes to New York with Emma. Upon arriving there with Lily, Emma and Regina confront Robin Hood. Even though Robin Hood is now aware of what happened to Maid Marian, he couldn't leave Zelena because she is pregnant. Zelena is taken back to Storybrooke and locked in the hospital basement's asylum. Regina almost has the Author write Zelena and the pregnancy out of existence and memory. Regina changes her mind after she realizes it is something their mother would do, and she can choose to be happy with Robin and the rest of her family, raising the baby herself after the birth. When the Author warps reality to serve his own purposes, the roles of heroes and villains are switched. In the alternate Enchanted Forest Zelena is the fiancé of Robin Hood and their marriage will make all the changes permanent. When Regina is slashed almost fatally by Rumplestiltskin, Zelena complains she is bleeding on her wedding dress and taking the attention away from her on her wedding day. She begins turning green again and runs off. When reality is returned to normal she is still pregnant in the hospital.


title: Wicked Witch of the West

text: Zelena travels with the heroes to Camelot in search of Emma after she becomes the Dark One to save Regina from the same fate. She is told to pretend to be Regina's mute handmaiden (Regina having taken her voice). In Camelot, Zelena is threatened by Regina that her baby will be taken by Regina once it has been born. She later kidnaps Mary Margaret (Ginnifer Goodwin) as the rest of the group tries to sneak into Camelot (having been thrown out) and regains her magic with King Arthur's (Liam Garrigan) help. She enchants the main hilt of Excalibur to bind Merlin's (Elliot Knight) soul, allowing its holder to control him. Zelena, Arthur and Merlin hold Emma's friends captive with the Protheum flame and the Dark One Dagger as ransom. Before she can do anything, she is tricked by Emma and tied by magic around a tree. After a battle between Merlin and Emma, Zelena transports herself and Arthur back to Camelot. Arthur and Zelena plan to take a magical helm from the kingdom of DunBroch. After many failed attempts to reach the helm, including a battle between Arthur, Zelena and Red Riding Hood (Meghan Ory), Mulan (Jamie Chung) and Merida (Amy Manson, she transports herself back to Camelot, where Emma casts the Dark Curse, ripping everyone back to Storybrooke without their memories of ever stepping foot in Camelot.


title: Wicked Witch of the West

text: Zelena awakens in Granny's Diner and is almost immediately put back in her cell. Zelena is met by the Dark Swan (name for Emma as the Dark One) and is told she will need an ally in the town after people learn the truth. Zelena eats darkly enchanted onion rings (made by Emma) and as a result, her pregnancy is sped up from two months to nine. She gives birth to a baby girl and is taken away by Emma into her basement with Hook at her side. She is freed from her cuff once again by Hook and leaves Hook in Emma's house, wanting to get answers. Zelena steps back inside after Emma finds him. She brings in an enchanted dreamcatcher, which holds the memories of Hook becoming a Dark One (in Emma's fault) in order to save him. Zelena learns that Robin and Regina are allowing her to see her baby, as long as one of them is with her. This is when she shares a bonding moment with her child. During the Dark Siege of Storybrooke, Zelena plans to take Regina's place in Storybrooke including her office. After claiming full custody of her baby, Zelena is transported by Regina (using the Apprentice's Wand) back to Oz, and she claimed they will see each other again.


title: Wicked Witch of the West

text: On Zelena's return to Oz, she confronts Dorothy, who is currently in possession of the silver slippers which can transport her to any realm. She holds Dorothy's dog, Toto, hostage in exchange for the shoes. Dorothy tries to knock Zelena out with poppy powder, but before she does, Zelena puts her under a sleeping curse. Now in possession of the silver slippers, she goes back to Storybrooke and assumes the form of the Blue Fairy to trick Belle into giving her back her daughter, who is residing at the convent with the fairies. During their conversation, a portal to the Underworld appears and Belle, holding the baby, goes through it. In a desperate attempt not to lose her daughter again, Zelena jumps through it. However, due to a sprained ankle and her diminished magic in the Underworld, Zelena is helpless as Belle runs away with her daughter. Regina reunites with Zelena in the underworld where it is revealed that Zelena and Hades have a romantic history. The sisters eventually become close as she tries to change for her daughter. She shares True Love's Kiss with Hades, which allows him to go to Storybrooke and the two go together with the baby as she believes Hades has changed. However, Hades kills Robin Hood, proving his evil to Zelena who kills him with the Olympian Crystal. She names the baby Robin after her father.


title: Wicked Witch of the West

text: In season 6, Zelena and Regina get into a fight where Regina reveals that she blames Zelena for Robin's death; Regina's dark half, the Evil Queen has now become a human manifestation and she and Zelena work together until the Queen tries to kill her. Regina saves Zelena from the Evil Queen but does not forgive her for Robin's death. Later in the series, the town is threatened by Rumplestiltskin's mother, the Black Fairy. Zelena goes into the mines to confront her, but is held back by Regina, who does not trust her to take care of the situation. The Black Fairy takes control of the unstable magic Zelena uses to attack the fairy, and uses it to fuel crystals with dark magic. Regina takes her frustration out on Zelena after they leave the mines, and tells her to go back to Oz. In a distressed state, Zelena takes the Apprentice's wand and creates a portal to Oz, but instead of going though, she retrieves a magical artefact and uses it to take away her magic, which removes the dark magic fuelling the crystals, therefore ruining the Black Fairy's plans.


title: Wicked Witch of the West

text: After the Black Fairy's dark curse is broken, Zelena remains in Storybrooke and raises Robin. Zelena eventually regains her magic after a confrontation between herself, Robin, Mother Gothel and Captain Hook.


title: Wicked Witch of the West

text: The Witch of the West appears as one of the main characters in the television series "Emerald City", portrayed by Ana Ularu. Here she is one of the last Cardinal Witches of Oz and the "Mistress of the Western Fields, Vessel of Truth and Solace", along with her sisters Glinda of the North and the Witch of the East. West seemingly obeys the Wizard of Oz's law against magic, owns a brothel in the Emerald City and is a poppy opium addict, deteriorating her magical skill. She is very emotional, especially when compared to the reserved behavior of Glinda's. Despite claiming to hate magic because it could not save her mother and sister witches during the Beast Forever's last attack, she resorts to it quickly when in pursuit of Dorothy after she accidentally killed East.


title: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

text: Conan the Barbarian is a 2011 American sword and sorcery film based on the character of the same name created by Robert E. Howard. The film is a new interpretation of the "Conan" myth and is not related to the films featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger. It stars Jason Momoa in the title role, alongside Rachel Nichols, Rose McGowan, Stephen Lang, Ron Perlman, and Bob Sapp, with Marcus Nispel directing. Morgan Freeman narrates the film.


title: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

text: The film had spent several years in development at Warner Bros. before the rights were shifted to Nu Image/Millennium Films in 2007, with a clause wishing for immediate start on production. Lionsgate and Sony Pictures entered negotiations for distribution, with the film seeing many directors, prominently Brett Ratner, before settling on Nispel in 2009 and subsequently bringing together a cast and crew. Filming began on March 15, 2010, and concluded June 5, 2010. The film was first released on August 17, 2011, in four countries, Belgium, France, Iceland, and the Philippines, prior to the North American release on August 19. The film was a box office bomb and received generally negative reviews.


title: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

text: Conan is the son of Corin, barbarian chieftain. Conan passes the trials to become a warrior whilst also slaying attackers during an ambush. He returns with their heads, proving that he is a skilled but violent warrior, whom his father believes is not ready to wield his own sword. Their village is attacked by Khalar Zym, a warlord who wishes to reunite the pieces of the Mask of Acheron to revive his dead wife and conquer Hyboria. The mask, crafted by a group of sorcerers and used to subjugate the world, was broken into many pieces, scattered among the barbarian tribes. After locating Corin's piece of the mask and murdering the entire village, Zym leaves. Conan is the only survivor. He swears revenge.


title: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

text: Years later, Conan is a pirate. He encounters a slave colony and frees it by killing the slave handlers. In the city of Messantia, he encounters Ela-Shan, a thief being chased by Lucius, one of Zym's soldiers from years before. Conan allows himself to be captured alongside Ela-Shan. Conan escapes imprisonment, kills several of the guards, and confronts Lucius, forcing him to reveal that Zym seeks a girl, the pure-blood descendant of the sorcerers of Acheron; sacrificing the descendant and using blood from the girl will unleash the mask's power. Conan helps the prisoners escape, and Ela-Shan tells Conan he will find him at the City of Thieves, Argalon. The prisoners kill Lucius.


title: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

text: Zym and his daughter, the sorceress Marique, attack a monastery to find the pure-blood descendant. Sensing something is wrong, Fassir, an elderly monk, tells one of his students, Tamara, to quickly leave and return to her birthplace. When Fassir refuses to reveal his knowledge of the descendant, Zym kills him. Marique slays several priestesses. Tamara's carriage is chased by Zym's men, but Conan rescues her, kills three of her pursuers, and captures Remo. After forcing him to reveal Tamara's importance as the pure-blood, Conan catapults Remo into Zym's nearby camp, killing him.


title: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

text: Zym and Marique confront Conan, who pretends to be interested in exchanging Tamara for gold. Conan attacks Zym, but Marique invokes soldiers made of sand and poisons Conan with a boomerang sword. Tamara rescues him. They return to Conan's ship, where his friend Artus helps him recover. The boat is attacked by Zym's men, who kill several of Conan's men, but they are defeated. Conan orders Artus to return to Messantia with Tamara and departs to confront Zym in his kingdom. Artus tells Tamara that Conan left a map behind. She follows him, meeting with him in a cave, where they have sex. The next day, as she is returning to the boat, Zym's men and daughter capture her.


title: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

text: Conan learns of Tamara's capture and departs to Argalon, where he asks Ela-Shan to help him break into Zym's castle. Zym prepares to drain Tamara's blood, mending the mask. He plans to use the girl's body as a vessel for his wife's soul. After confronting an octopus-like monster that guards the dungeons and killing its handlers, Conan infiltrates Zym's followers, kills a guard, steals his robe, and watches as Zym puts on the empowered mask. Conan releases Tamara, and she escapes as he battles Zym, reclaiming the sword Marique had stolen from his father. Marique attacks Tamara, but Conan hears Tamara's scream and cuts off Marique's hand. Tamara kicks her into a pit, where she is impaled.


title: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

text: Zym swears revenge upon Conan. Conan and Tamara are trapped on a bridge as Zym attacks. He uses the mask's power to call forth the spirit of his deceased wife, Maliva, a powerful sorceress, and her spirit begins to possess Tamara's body. She begs Conan to let her fall, but he instead destroys the bridge before jumping to safety with Tamara. Zym cries out to his wife as he falls into the lava.


title: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

text: Conan and Tamara escape, and he returns her to her birthplace, telling her that they will meet again. He returns to Corin's village and tells the memory of his father that he has avenged his death and recovered the sword Marique stole from him, restoring his honor.


title: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

text: There had been talk in the late 1990s of a second "Conan" sequel following "Conan the Destroyer", about an older Conan, set to be titled "King Conan: Crown of Iron"; however, due to Schwarzenegger's election in 2003 as governor of California, this project came to an end.


title: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

text: Warner Bros. spent seven years trying to get the project off the ground, with development attempts made by The Wachowskis, John Milius, and Robert Rodriguez who was closest to completing development but left the project for "Grindhouse". Boaz Yakin was hired in 2006 to start again, however, in June 2007 the rights reverted to Paradox Entertainment, though all drafts made under Warner remained with them. Paradox's CEO Fredrik Malmberg told "Variety" "we have great respect for Warner Bros., but after seven years, we came to the point where we needed to see progress to production." Paradox were auctioning the rights after and various groups took interest in producing, including New Line Cinema, Hollywood Gang, and Millennium Films.


title: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

text: Due to development-time frustrations felt when the rights were with Warner, Malmberg made deal terms where he was asking for $1 million for a one-year option, with another $1 million for each year's renewal. In August 2007, it was announced that Millennium had acquired the right to the project in an unrevealed seven-figure deal, with Malmberg and Millennium's Avi Lerner, Boaz Davidson, Joe Gatta, and George Furla set to produce. The deal was brokered by Gatta, who originally made the deal between Paradox and Warner in 2002. Production was aimed for a Spring 2006 start, with intention of having stories more faithful to the Robert E. Howard creation.


title: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

text: After the partnership on "Rambo", Nu Image, Millennium, and Lionsgate partnered on this film due to the strength of that relationship, and the happiness by Millennium producers with the handling of "Rambo". Lionsgate were announced to be handling North America's distribution in January 2008. At this point, Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer had been courted to write the script. Nu Image/Millennium founders Lerner and Danny Dimbort were set to fully finance the film at an estimated $100 million. With a brief effort of developing "Red Sonja" with Rose McGowan as the lead, Robert Rodriguez had mentioned in July 2008 he had been in discussions to produce "Conan" also. Dirk Blackman and Howard McCain were announced in August to have been hired for a re-write of the script, with the intention of returning to the original source material and in the desire of making an R-rated film.


title: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

text: In November 2008, Brett Ratner was prematurely announced to be the director of "Conan" to "The Hollywood Reporter" by Lerner, something which displeased him as he pointed out "I am not doing "Conan" now. This is totally premature. For now, "Conan" is only a development deal. I have a deal at Paramount and I'm doing "" first, no matter what. Avi shouldn't be telling you or anyone else in the press what I'm doing." However, Gatta revealed in May 2009 that after six months of discussions on developing the film, Ratner was off the project due to his busy schedule. Regardless, Gatta was hopeful of still meeting the intention of Millennium to start filming on August 24 in Bulgaria. June 2009 revealed Marcus Nispel would take the reins as director to the film. Sean Hood was announced in February 2010 to be rewriting the script once more for the producers.


title: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

text: Early in pre-production, "Conan" was a temporary title for the film, until it was changed to "Conan 3D". Finally, early in December 2010, the title was definitely changed to "Conan the Barbarian", the same title as the 1982 film.


title: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

text: In January 2010, Jason Momoa was selected for the role of Conan. Momoa beat Kellan Lutz for the role. He was enrolled in an intense six-week training program at a stunt and martial arts academy in Los Angeles for his part, while still finalising negotiations for the film. Momoa intended to add 10 pounds of muscle to his 215-pound frame, with the help of "The Bourne Ultimatum's" stunt performer David Leitch, and the martial arts stunt coordinator for "The Matrix Reloaded" and "The Matrix Revolutions", Chad Stahelski.


title: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

text: Leo Howard was cast as the younger Conan in the film, as the first 15 minutes focused on Conan's youth.


title: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

text: The casting call for Conan's father, Corin, reveals the character to be "powerfully built, intelligent, graceful, master swordsman, skilled blacksmith, de facto leader of Cimmerians and Conan's father. He resolves to answer the terrible request of his dying wife and cuts Conan out of her so she can see him. He then shoulders the burden of raising Conan, which proves to be daunting given the boy's savage nature. Corin teaches his son the meaning of the sword: a hot blade must be cooled and tempered. When Khalar finally corners him and tortures him to death, he shows no regret nor pain, hiding his concern for his son's safety from the eyes of the enemy." Mickey Rourke first entered negotiations. Originally, talks had happened before but after a period of no talk, offers were returned to Rourke in February 2010. Rourke left the project for a second time, in apparent favor of the "Immortals" film. Ron Perlman took on the character in March 2010.


title: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

text: Bob Sapp portrays Ukafa, "a leader of Kushite Tribemen from the savannahs of Kush. Ukafa is Khalar Zym's second in command, jealous that Zym's daughter, Marique, will one day be warlord. He obeys his leader but plots the overthrow of his daughter. He is a mighty warrior and unbeatable in battle—until he meets Conan."


title: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

text: Rachel Nichols joined the cast as Tamara, described as "the Queen's servant, bodyguard and best friend. She and many other female bodyguards to the queen have been in hiding most of their lives because of the curse of Acheron, which would take the queen’s life to bring almost immortal power to its king. When Khalar Zym, a powerful warlord with ambitions to become the king of Acheron, storms the monastery and captures all of the novitiates, she is separated from Ilira, the one she must protect. With all of her strength and will, Tamara is determined to find and rescue her. She finds herself in league with Conan because of a mutual need to find Khalar Zym. She is not in the least intimidated by Conan’s size or grim demeanor and their alliance eventually blossoms into something that surprises them both."


title: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

text: Stephen Lang plays Khalar Zym, described to be "commanding in size and manner, a warlord and formidable warrior, brilliant, cruel, weathered and tanned by the many campaigns he has waged and won. He is driven in his quest to find the Queen of Acheron and has been building an empire to do so."


title: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

text: Rose McGowan also stars as "an evil half-human/half-witch", as announced by "Variety" in March 2010. She plays Marique, the daughter of Khalar Zym (Stephen Lang). Although the part was originally written as a male character called Fariq, McGowan impressed the producers with her take of the role, so her character was rewritten to be female. McGowan attempted to inject an Electra complex for the character, noting: “Initially, that obsession with trying to seduce her father was not scripted; it was something that the writer and I talked about quite a bit. But, unsurprisingly, the studio was freaked out by it. A lot of the dialogue that we’d come up with to support that, and really give it a deviant, complicated feel, had to be taken out. So I just figured, 'OK, then, I'll just act it and make it as uncomfortable as possible without any dialogue!'" When asked about preparation to play a witch, McGowan stated that her costume had significance in her preparation and that makeup for her character took 6 hours.


title: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

text: Dolph Lundgren had spoken to the producers in November 2009 about an unspecified role. This never came to fruition.


title: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

text: Principal photography was first hoped to be started in Spring 2008. Nothing was set until Ratner came on board. Filming had a set date for August 24, 2008, in Bulgaria. Ratner departed in May that year, and the start-date for filming was pushed back, with South Africa being revealed as another filming destination. Filming finally began in Bulgaria on March 15, 2010, wrapping on June 15.


title: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

text: The Bulgarian shooting locations were Nu Boyana Film Studios, Bolata, Pobiti Kamani, Bistritsa, Zlatnite Mostove, Pernik, and Vitosha.


title: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

text: "Conan the Barbarian" was first released on August 17, 2011 in France, Belgium, Iceland, and the Philippines. It was released in Australia, Italy, and Israel on August 18; in the United States, Canada, and Spain on August 19, in Switzerland on August 21, in the United Kingdom on August 26, among others.


title: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

text: "Conan the Barbarian" was released on DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D on November 22, 2011 by Lionsgate Home Entertainment.


title: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

text: In its first weekend, "Conan" made $10,021,215 in 3,015 theaters and opened at #4 in the United States domestic box office. By the end of its run, the film had grossed $21,295,021 domestically and $27,500,000 internationally, for a worldwide total of $48,795,021. Based on its $90 million budget, the film was a box office bomb.


title: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

text: The film has received generally negative reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of based on reviews from critics, with average score of . The website's consensus states: "While its relentless, gory violence is more faithful to the Robert E. Howard books, "Conan the Barbarian" forsakes three-dimensional characters, dialogue, and acting in favor of unnecessary 3D effects." At Metacritic the film received a score of 36 out of 100, based on reviews from 29 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews . Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

text: Not all reviews were negative. Betsy Sharkey of the "Los Angeles Times" wrote that "it is with a certain amount of guilt that I say it's kind of a wicked blast to watch." Scott Weinberg of Twitchfilm.com stated, "Some action scenes are tighter and more cohesive than others, but there's little denying that Nispel's "Conan" moves like a shot, tosses a lot of hardcore lunacy at the screen, and shows a decent amount of respect for basic matinée action-fests." Although criticizing the stock characters and cliché-ridden script, "Variety" magazine also gave a mildly positive review, stating "With all earnestness, Nispel embraces the property's classic roots, placing this new "Conan" squarely within the tradition of sword-and-sorcery pics."


title: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

text: Momoa said making the film was a great experience but that it was "taken over" and that the end result was a disappointment.


title: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

text: Director Marcus Nispel said that making the film was difficult, describing it as being like "a dog on many leashes" and that it was "the worst experience that I had and I was as unhappy with the result" but that "I am happy though that none of this got in the way of Jason's career path…I always stood by the decision to make Conan with him."


title: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

text: Shaun Smith and Scott Wheeler's work on the film was nominated at the Saturn Awards for Best Make-Up, but lost to "". Lionsgate and Ignition Creative were nominated at the 13th Golden Trailer Awards (2012) in the category "Best Standee for Feature Film".


title: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

text: Various projects to produce a follow-up film, or a different sequel to the original 1982 film, starring variously Momoa, Arnold Schwarzenegger, or even Amber Heard as Red Sonja, have all fallen through.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: María Guadalupe Villalobos Vélez (July 18, 1908 – December 13, 1944), known professionally as Lupe Vélez, was a Mexican actress, singer and dancer during the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: Vélez began her career as a performer in Mexican vaudeville in the early 1920s. After moving to the United States, she made her first film appearance in a short in 1927. By the end of the decade, she was acting in full-length silent films and had progressed to leading roles in "The Gaucho" (1927), "Lady of the Pavements" (1928) and "Wolf Song" (1929), among others. Vélez made the transition to sound films without difficulty. She was one of the first successful Latin-American actresses in Hollywood. During the 1930s, her explosive screen persona was exploited in successful comedic films like "Hot Pepper" (1933), "Strictly Dynamite" (1934) and "Hollywood Party" (1934). In the 1940s, Vélez's popularity peaked while appearing as Carmelita Fuentes in eight "Mexican Spitfire" films, a series created to capitalize on her fiery personality.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: Nicknamed "The Mexican Spitfire" by the media, Vélez's personal life was as colorful as her screen persona. She had several highly publicized romances with Hollywood actors and a stormy marriage with Johnny Weissmuller. Vélez died at age 36 in December 1944 of an intentional overdose of the barbiturate drug Seconal. Her death and the circumstances surrounding it were the subject of speculation and controversy.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: Vélez was born in the city of San Luis Potosí in Mexico, the daughter of Jacobo Villalobos Reyes, a colonel in the armed forces of the dictator Porfirio Diaz, and his wife Josefina Vélez, an opera singer according to some sources, or vaudeville singer according to others. She was one of five children; she had three sisters: Mercedes, Reina and Josefina and a brother, Emigdio. The Villalobos were considered a prominent, financially comfortable family in San Luis Potosí. According to Vélez's second cousin, they lived in a large home, and most of the male members received a college education.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: At the age of 13, her parents sent her to study at Our Lady of the Lake (now Our Lady of the Lake University) in San Antonio, Texas, where Vélez learned to speak English and dance. She later admitted that she liked dance class, but was otherwise a poor student.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: Vélez began her career in Mexican revues in the early 1920s. She initially performed under her paternal surname (see Hispanic American naming customs) of Villalobos, but after her father returned home from the war (he did not die in combat as some sources state), he was outraged that his daughter had decided to become a stage performer. She chose her maternal surname Vélez as her stage name.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: Their mother introduced Vélez and her sister Josefina to the popular Spanish Mexican vedette María Conesa, "La Gatita Blanca". Vélez debuted in a show led by Conesa, where she sang "Oh Charley, My Boy" and danced the shimmy. In 1924, Aurelio Campos, a young pianist and friend of the Vélez sisters, recommended Vélez to stage producers Carlos Ortega and Manuel Castro. Ortega and Castro were preparing a season revue at the Regis Theatre, and hired Vélez to join the company in March 1925. Later that year, Vélez starred in the revues "Mexican Rataplan" and "¡No lo tapes!" (both parodies of the Bataclan's shows in Paris). Her suggestive singing and provocative dancing was a hit with audiences, and she soon established herself as one of the main stars of vaudeville in Mexico. After a year and a half, Vélez left the revue after the manager refused to give her a raise. She then joined the "Teatro Principal", but was fired after three months due to her "feisty attitude". Vélez was quickly hired by the "Teatro Lirico", where her salary rose to 100 pesos a day.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: Vélez, whose volatile and spirited personality and feuds with other performers were often covered by the Mexican press, also honed her ability for garnering publicity. Her most bitter rivals included the Mexican vedettes Celia Padilla, Celia Montalván, and Delia Magaña. Called "La Niña Lupe" because of her youth, Vélez soon established herself as one of the main stars of vaudeville in Mexico. Among her admirers were notable Mexican poets and writers like José Gorostiza and Renato Leduc.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: In 1926, Frank A. Woodyard, an American who had seen Vélez perform, recommended her to stage director Richard Bennett (the father of actresses Joan and Constance Bennett). Bennett was looking for an actress to portray a Mexican cantina singer in his upcoming play "The Dove". He sent Vélez a telegram inviting her to Los Angeles to appear in the play. Vélez had been planning to go to Cuba to perform, but quickly changed her plans and traveled to Los Angeles. However, upon arrival, she discovered that she had been replaced by another actress.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: While in Los Angeles, she met the comedian Fanny Brice. Brice was taken with Vélez and later said she had never met a more fascinating personality. She promoted Vélez's career as a dancer and recommended her to Flo Ziegfeld, who hired her to perform in New York City. While Vélez was preparing to leave Los Angeles, she received a call from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer producer Harry Rapf, who offered her a screen test. Producer and director Hal Roach saw Vélez's screen test and hired her for a small role in the comic Laurel and Hardy short "Sailors, Beware!".


title: Lupe Vélez

text: After her debut in the short film "Sailors, Beware!", Vélez appeared in the Hal Roach short, "What Women Did for Me", opposite Charley Chase. Later that year, she did a screen test for the upcoming Douglas Fairbanks full-length film "The Gaucho". Fairbanks was impressed by Vélez and he quickly signed her to a contract. Upon its release in 1927, "The Gaucho" was a hit and critics were duly impressed with Vélez's ability to hold her own alongside Fairbanks, who was well known for his spirited acting and impressive stunts.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: Vélez made her second major film, "Stand and Deliver" (1928), directed by Cecil B. DeMille. That same year, she was named one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars. In 1929, Vélez appeared in "Lady of the Pavements", directed by D. W. Griffith and "Where East Is East", playing a young Chinese woman. In the Western film "Wolf Song", directed by Victor Fleming, she appears alongside Gary Cooper. As she was regularly cast as "exotic" or "ethnic" women that were volatile and hot tempered, gossip columnists took to referring to Vélez as "Mexican Hurricane", "The Mexican Wildcat", "The Mexican Madcap", "Whoopee Lupe" and "The Hot Tamale".


title: Lupe Vélez

text: By 1929, the film industry was transitioning from silents to sound films. Several stars of the era saw their careers abruptly end due to heavy accents or voices that recorded poorly. Studio executives predicted that Vélez's accent would probably hamper her ability to make the transition. That idea was dispelled after she appeared in her first all-talking picture in 1929, the Rin Tin Tin vehicle, "Tiger Rose". The film was a hit and Vélez's sound career was established.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: With the arrival of talkies, Vélez appeared in a series of Pre-Code films like "Hell Harbor" (directed by Henry King), "The Storm" (1930, directed by William Wyler), and the crime drama "East Is West" opposite Edward G. Robinson (1930). In 1931, she appeared in her second film for Cecil B. DeMille, "Squaw Man", opposite Warner Baxter, and in "Resurrection", directed by Edwin Carewe. In 1932, Vélez filmed "The Cuban Love Song" (1931), with the popular singer Lawrence Tibbett. That same year, she had a supporting role in "Kongo" (a sound remake of "West of Zanzibar"), with Walter Huston. She also starred in Spanish-language versions of some of her movies produced by Universal Studios like "Resurrección" (1931, the Spanish version of "Resurrection"), and "Hombres en mi vida" (1932, the Spanish version of "Men in Her Life"). Vélez soon found her niche in comedy, playing beautiful, but volatile, characters.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: In February 1932, Vélez took a break from her film career and traveled to New York City where she was signed by Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. to take over the role of "Conchita" in the musical revue "Hot-Cha!". The show also starred Bert Lahr, Eleanor Powell and Buddy Rogers.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: In 1933, Vélez appeared in the films "The Half-Naked Truth" with Lee Tracy and "Hot Pepper", with Victor McLaglen and Edmund Lowe. Later that year, she returned to Broadway where she starred opposite Jimmy Durante in the musical revue "Strike Me Pink". In 1934, she filmed "Palooka" and "Strictly Dynamite" (both also with Durante). That same year, Vélez was cast as "Slim Girl" in "Laughing Boy" with Ramón Novarro. The film was quietly released and largely ignored. The few reviews it received panned the film, but praised Vélez's performance. She had more success with her brief appearance in the all-comedy-cast film "Hollywood Party", where she has a magnificent egg-breaking routine with Laurel and Hardy.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: Although Vélez was a popular actress, MGM Studios did not renew her contract in 1934. Over the next few years, Vélez worked for various studios as a freelance actress; she also spent two years in England where she filmed "The Morals of Marcus" and "Gypsy Melody" (both 1936). She returned to Los Angeles the following year where she appeared in the final part of the Wheeler & Woolsey comedy "High Flyers" (1937).


title: Lupe Vélez

text: Vélez last Broadway performance was in the 1938 musical "You Never Know", by Cole Porter. The show received poor reviews from critics, but received a large amount of publicity due to the feud between Vélez and fellow cast member Libby Holman. Holman was also irritated by the attention Vélez garnered from the show with her impressions of several actresses including Gloria Swanson, Katharine Hepburn and Shirley Temple. The feud came to a head during a performance in New Haven, Connecticut after Vélez punched Holman between curtain calls and gave her a black eye. The feud effectively ended the show.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: Upon her return to Mexico City in 1938 to star in her first Mexican film, Vélez was greeted by ten thousand fans. The film "La Zandunga" directed by Fernando de Fuentes, co-starring Mexican actor Arturo de Córdova, was a critical and financial success and Vélez was slated to appear in four more Mexican films. She instead returned to Los Angeles and went back to work for RKO.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: In 1939, Vélez was cast opposite Leon Errol and Donald Woods in a B-comedy, "The Girl from Mexico". Despite being a B film, it was a hit with audiences and RKO re-teamed her with Errol and Woods for a sequel, "Mexican Spitfire". That film was also a success and led to a series of "Spitfire" films (eight in all). In the series, Vélez portrays "Carmelita Lindsay", a temperamental yet friendly Mexican singer married to Dennis "Denny" Lindsay (Woods), an elegant American gentleman. The "Spitfire" films rejuvenated Vélez's career. Moreover, they were films in which a Latina headlined for eight movies straight –a true rarity.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: In addition to the "Spitfire" series, she was cast in other musical and comedy features for RKO, Universal Pictures, and Columbia Pictures. Some of these films were "Six Lessons from Madame La Zonga" (with Leon Errol, 1941), "Playmates" (opposite John Barrymore, 1941), and "Redhead from Manhattan" (1943). The latter film has Vélez playing the dual role of a Broadway star and her visiting twin sister, and offers the viewer a rare chance to hear Lupe Vélez's actual speaking voice. She plays the visiting sister with her customary, exaggerated Mexican accent, but plays the actress with her own, gently inflected voice, betraying only a trace of an accent.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: In 1943, the final film in the "Spitfire" series, "Mexican Spitfire's Blessed Event", was released. By that time, the mistaken-identity scripts and situations had been repeating themselves, and the novelty of the series had begun to wane, but Vélez's energy and Errol's clowning never flagged.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: Vélez co-starred with Eddie Albert in a 1943 romantic comedy, "Ladies' Day", about an actress and a baseball player. In 1944, Vélez returned to Mexico to star in an adaptation of Émile Zola's novel "Nana", which was well received. It would be her final film. After filming wrapped, Vélez returned to Los Angeles and began preparing for another stage role in New York.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: On the evening of December 13, 1944, Vélez dined with her two friends, the silent-film star Estelle Taylor and Venita Oakie. Vélez retired to her bedroom, where she consumed 75 Seconal pills and a glass of brandy. Her secretary, Beulah Kinder, said that she found the actress's body on her bed later that morning. A suicide note addressed to Harald Ramond was found nearby. It read:


title: Lupe Vélez

text: To Harald, May God forgive you and forgive me too, but I prefer to take my life away and our baby's before I bring him with shame or killing him. – Lupe.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: How could you, Harald, fake such a great love for me and our baby when all the time, you didn't want us? I see no other way out for me, so goodbye, and good luck to you, Love Lupe.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: The day after Vélez's death, Harald Ramond told the press that he was "so confused" by Vélez's suicide, and claimed that even though the two had broken up, he had agreed to marry Vélez. He admitted that he once asked Vélez to sign an agreement stating that he was only marrying her to "give the baby a name", but claimed he only did so because he and Vélez had had a fight, and he was in a "terrible temper". Actress Estelle Taylor, who was with Vélez from 9:00 the previous night until 3:30 the morning Vélez died, told the press that Vélez had told her of her pregnancy, but said she would rather kill herself than have an abortion (Vélez was a devout Roman Catholic). Beulah Kinder, Vélez's secretary, later told investigators that after Vélez broke off the relationship with Ramond, she planned to go to Mexico to have her baby. Kinder said Vélez soon changed her mind after concluding that Ramond "faked" the relationship and considered having an abortion.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: The day after Vélez's death, the Los Angeles County coroner requested that an inquest be opened to investigate the circumstances surrounding her death. On December 16, the coroner dropped the request, after determining that Vélez had written the notes, and that she had intended to kill herself. On December 22, a funeral for Vélez was held at the mortuary at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles. Among the pallbearers were Vélez's ex-husband, Johnny Weissmuller, and actor Gilbert Roland. After the service, Vélez's body was sent by train to Mexico City, where a second service was held on December 27. Her body was then interred at Panteón Civil de Dolores Cemetery.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: Despite the coroner's ruling that Vélez committed suicide to avoid the shame of bearing an illegitimate child, some authors have speculated that this was not entirely true.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: In the book "From Bananas to Buttocks: The Latina Body in Popular Film and Culture", Rosa-Linda Fregoso wrote that Vélez was known for her defiance of contemporary moral convention, and that it seems unlikely that she could not have reconciled having a child out of wedlock. Fregoso believes that in the final year of her life, Vélez exhibited signs of extreme mania and depression. Fregoso goes on to speculate that Vélez's death may have been the result of an untreated mental illness such as bipolar disorder.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: Robert Slatzer (who later claimed to have been secretly married to Marilyn Monroe) claimed that a few weeks before Vélez's death, he interviewed her at her home and she confided in him that she was pregnant with Gary Cooper's child (by that time, Cooper was married to socialite Veronica "Rocky" Balfe). According to Slatzer, Vélez said that Cooper refused to acknowledge the child, believing that Harald Ramond was the father. After Vélez died, Slatzer said he asked Cooper about the situation and Cooper confirmed that it was possible he might have been the father. Slatzer further claimed that he also interviewed Clara Bow (who had also dated Cooper in the 1920s), who revealed that shortly before Vélez's death, Cooper called her and screamed that he was going to kill Harald Ramond for impregnating Vélez. Slazter claimed that Bow told him that she never believed Vélez's baby was fathered by Ramond, and that she was convinced that Vélez had attempted to get Ramond to marry her to protect Cooper's reputation. Biographer Michelle Vogel speculated that if Cooper was the father, his rejection of Vélez and their child coupled with the idea of having to raise a child alone may have sent Vélez "over the edge".


title: Lupe Vélez

text: In the 2002 book "Tarzan, My Father", Johnny Weissmuller Jr. recounted the events surrounding Vélez's death as a mystery caused by an attempt to "put a lid" on what happened. It states her housekeeper discovered her body and called Bo Roos, Vélez's business manager, who called his friend and Beverly Hills Police Chief Anderson to the scene. The book states after Vélez arranged to meet Ramond, decorated her room, and dressed in a negligee, her ingestion of Seconal was either to calm her nerves to meet him or a failed dramatic gesture to scare him. The book also suggested the baby was fathered possibly by Cooper, not Ramond.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: Vélez's death was recounted in the 1959 book "Hollywood Babylon" by Kenneth Anger, and has become urban legend. In his telling, Vélez planned to stage a beautiful suicide scene atop her satin bed, but the Seconal did not mix well with the "Mexi-Spice Last Supper" she had eaten earlier that evening. As a result, she became violently ill, stumbled to the bathroom to vomit, slipped on the bathroom floor tile, and fell head first into the toilet, where she subsequently drowned. Anger claimed that Vélez's "chambermaid" Juanita found her the next morning. Despite the fact that his version of events contradicts published reports and the official ruling, his story is often repeated as fact or for comedic effect – it was recounted in the pilot episode of the television comedy series "Frasier", referred in an episode of the cartoon "The Simpsons" and mentioned in the song "I Wanna O.D." by the Demolition Doll Rods. Vélez's biographer, Michelle Vogel, points out that it would have been "virtually impossible" for Vélez to have "stumbled to the bathroom" or even get off her bed after having consumed such a large amount of Seconal. Seconal, a barbiturate, is noted for being fast acting even in small doses, and Vélez's death was probably instantaneous. Her death certificate lists "Seconal poisoning" due to "ingestion of Seconal" as the cause of death, not drowning. Further, there was also no evidence to suggest Vélez had vomited.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: Throughout her career, Vélez's onscreen persona of a hot-tempered, lusty "wild" woman was closely tied to her off-screen personality. The press often referred to her by such names as "The Mexican Spitfire", "The Mexican It girl" and "The Mexican Kitten". Publicly promoted with the "Whoopee Lupe" persona that tried to define her, she dismissed the idea that she was uncontrollably wild. In an interview, she said:


title: Lupe Vélez

text: Vélez's off-screen behavior blurred the line between her onscreen persona and her real personality. After her death, journalist Bob Thomas recalled that Vélez was a "lively part of the Hollywood scene" who wore loud clothing and made as much noise as possible. She attended boxing matches every Friday night at the Hollywood Legion Stadium and would stand on her ringside seat and scream at the fighters.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: Vélez's temper and jealousy in her often tempestuous romantic relationships were well documented and became tabloid fodder, often overshadowing her career. Vélez was straightforward with the press and was regularly contacted by gossip columnists for stories about her romantic exploits. One such incident included Vélez chasing her lover Gary Cooper around with a knife during an argument and cutting him severely enough to require stitches. After their breakup, Vélez attempted to shoot Cooper while he boarded a train.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: During her marriage to actor Johnny Weissmuller, stories of their frequent physical fights were regularly reported in the press. Vélez reportedly inflicted scratches, bruises, and love-bites on Weissmuller during their fights and "passionate love-making".


title: Lupe Vélez

text: Vélez often targeted fellow actresses whom she deemed as rivals, professionally or otherwise, a habit which began back in her vaudeville days and continued in films.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: Vélez's image was that of a wild, highly sexualized woman who spoke her mind and was not considered a "lady", while fellow Mexican actress Dolores del Río projected herself as sensual, but elegant and restrained, often hailing from aristocratic roots. Vélez hated del Río, and called her "bird of bad omen". Del Río was terrified to meet her in public places. When this happened, Vélez was scathing and aggressive. Vélez openly mimicked del Río, ironically making fun of her elegance. Vélez also disliked Marlene Dietrich whom she suspected of having an affair with Gary Cooper while filming "Morocco" in 1930. Her rivalries with Jetta Goudal, Lilyan Tashman and Libby Holman were also well documented. In retaliation, Vélez would perform scathing impersonations of the women she disliked at Hollywood parties. Also notable are her imitations of figures such as Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Fanny Brice, Gloria Swanson, Katharine Hepburn, Simone Simon, and Shirley Temple.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: Vélez was involved in several highly publicized and often stormy relationships. Upon arriving in Los Angeles, she was linked to actors Tom Mix, Charlie Chaplin and Clark Gable. Her first long-term, high-profile relationship was with Gary Cooper. Vélez and Cooper met while filming 1929s "Wolf Song" and began a two-year relationship that was passionate and often stormy. When angered, Vélez was reported to have physically assaulted Cooper. Cooper eventually ended the relationship in mid-1931, at the behest of his mother Alice who after meeting her, strongly disapproved of Vélez. With plans to marry him gone, she spoke to the press in 1931: "I turned Cooper down because his parents didn't want me to marry him and because the studio thought it would injure his career. Now its over, I'm glad I feel so free ... I must be free. I know men too well they are all the same, no? If you love them they want to be boss. I will never have a boss." The rocky relationship had taken its toll on Cooper, who had lost 45 pounds and was suffering from nervous exhaustion. Paramount Pictures ordered him to take a vacation to recuperate and while he was boarding the train, Vélez showed up at the station and fired a pistol at him.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: After her breakup with Cooper, Vélez began a short-lived relationship with actor John Gilbert. They began dating in late 1931, while Gilbert was separated from his third wife Ina Claire. Rumors of an engagement were fueled by the couple, but Gilbert ended the relationship in early 1932, and attempted to reconcile with Claire.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: Shortly thereafter, Vélez met "Tarzan" actor Johnny Weissmuller while the two were in New York. They dated off and on when they returned to Los Angeles, while Vélez also dated actor Errol Flynn. On October 8, 1933, Vélez and Weissmuller were married in Las Vegas. There were reports of domestic violence and public fights. In July 1934, after ten months of marriage, Vélez filed for divorce citing "cruelty". She withdrew the petition a week later after reconciling with Weissmuller. On January 3, 1935, she filed for divorce a second time and was granted an interlocutory decree. That decree was dismissed when the couple reconciled a month later. In August 1938, Vélez filed for divorce for a third time, again charging Weissmuller with cruelty. Their divorce was finalized in August 1939.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: After the divorce became final, Vélez began dating polo player Guinn "Big Boy" Williams in late 1940. The couple were engaged, but never married. In late 1941, she became involved with author Erich Maria Remarque. Actress Luise Rainer recalled that Remarque told her "with the greatest of glee" that he found Vélez's volatility wonderful when he recounted to her an occasion where Vélez became so angry with him that she took her shoe off and hit him with it. After dating Remarque, Vélez was linked to boxers Jack Johnson and Jack Dempsey.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: In 1943, Vélez began an affair with her "La Zandunga" co-star Arturo de Córdova. De Córdova had recently moved to Los Angeles after signing with Paramount. Despite the fact that de Córdova was married to Mexican actress Enna Arana with whom he had four children, Vélez granted an interview to gossip columnist Louella Parsons in September 1943 and announced that the two were engaged. She told Parsons that she planned to retire after marrying de Córdova to "cook ... and keep house". Vélez ended the engagement in early 1944, after de Córdova's wife refused to give him a divorce.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: Vélez then met and began dating a struggling young Austrian actor named Harald Maresch, whose stage name was Harald Ramond. In September 1944, she discovered she was pregnant with Ramond's child. She announced their engagement in late November 1944. On December 10, four days before her death, Vélez announced she had ended the engagement and kicked Ramond out of her home.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Vélez has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6927 Hollywood Boulevard.


title: Lupe Vélez

text: In 2017, artist Emilio Borjas's sculpture in honor of Vélez was placed in the Garden of San Sebastian, the neighborhood where the actress was born in San Luis Potosí, Mexico.