title: Omar Little

text: Omar provides key information leading to the arrest of Barksdale's soldier Bird, and agrees to be a witness against him at his trial (though it is unlikely that Omar was an actual witness to the crime). While meeting with the police, he observes information which he uses to exact further revenge against the Barksdale Organization, killing Stinkum and wounding Wee-Bey Brice. McNulty and Bunk are forced to mislead Cole, the detective assigned to Stinkum's murder, in order to protect Omar.


title: Omar Little

text: Omar gets a shot at Avon himself, by giving stolen drugs to Eastside drug kingpin Proposition Joe for Avon's pager number. He tails Avon to Orlando's strip club, pages him and waits for him to emerge into the open. Avon narrowly escapes when Wee-Bey arrives and shoots Omar in the shoulder. Afterward, Stringer Bell offers Omar a truce, planning to kill him when he relaxes his guard. Omar, who has been wired up by McNulty for the meeting, realizes Stringer's duplicity and leaves town, temporarily relocating to New York City. In the last scene of the first season, he is seen robbing a drug dealer in the Bronx, merely saying that it's "all in the game, yo. All in the game."


title: Omar Little

text: Omar returns to Baltimore with a new boyfriend, Dante. He returns to his old business, targeting the Barksdales exclusively, and connects with Tosha and Kimmy, stick-up artists who join his crew.


title: Omar Little

text: Omar provides false testimony against Bird in open court as he had promised to do. Unabashed and unapologetic about who he is, he wins over the jury with his wit. When the Barksdales' shady attorney Maurice Levy attempts to discredit Omar by calling him a parasite who thrives on the drug trade, Omar fires back that Levy is just as culpable. Levy works intimately with the Barksdale organization as its corrupt attorney, often providing legal guidance and sensitive information.


title: Omar Little

text: In the end, the jury believes Omar's testimony, and Bird is sent to prison for life. Assistant State's Attorney Ilene Nathan promises Omar a favor as a thank you for his testimony. While waiting to be called to the witness stand, Omar helps the bailiff with a crossword puzzle clue, explaining that the Greek god of war is called Ares. He mentions that he was fascinated by Greek mythology in middle school.


title: Omar Little

text: Around this time, as Stringer Bell starts making business decisions on his own for the Barksdale operation, Avon hires Brother Mouzone from New York as new muscle. With the threat to his secret dealings apparent, Stringer arranges a meeting with Omar and tells him that Mouzone was the one who had tortured and killed Brandon. Omar finds Mouzone and shoots him once, but when Mouzone reveals that Omar had been given false information, Omar realizes he has been duped and lets Mouzone live, even calling the paramedics for him. He redirects his murderous intent at Stringer himself.


title: Omar Little

text: Omar and his crew continued robbing the Barksdale stashing houses, even though they are more difficult and risky than other potential targets. Tosha is killed during one such raid on a Barksdale house, and Omar contemplates giving up his war against the Barksdale organization. Bunk, investigating the deaths, makes Omar feel further guilt over the incident, giving a speech about how the neighborhood used to be closer-knit and with less violence. "And now all we got are bodies. And predatory motherfuckers like you."


title: Omar Little

text: Bunk mentions that when he went to the scene he found children arguing about whose turn it was "to be Omar." As a way of making amends with Bunk, Omar arranges the recovery of Kenneth Dozerman's service pistol, which Bunk had been tasked with finding.


title: Omar Little

text: Under orders from Stringer Bell, two of Avon's soldiers open fire on Omar while he is taking his grandmother to church. Omar forces her into a taxi, but she loses her best hat in the gunfire. This blatant violation of the longstanding "Sunday truce" between rival gangs, combined with the risk Omar's grandmother was put in during the incident, leads Omar to rededicate himself to war with the Barksdales, though Kimmy opts out. Avon, outraged at Stringer, forces the men responsible for the attack to buy Omar's grandmother a new hat.


title: Omar Little

text: Meanwhile, Brother Mouzone captures Dante, and forces him to reveal Omar's hiding place. Dante gives in, in contrast with Brandon, who never cracked. Mouzone suggests an alliance against Stringer. Together, Omar and Mouzone ambush Stringer during a meeting with Andy Krawczyk and murder him.


title: Omar Little

text: Brother Mouzone sets Dante free and returns to New York. Omar is tasked with disposing of Mouzone's gun, as well as the shotgun that killed Stringer. Both weapons are later thrown into the harbor. Omar is shown to be suspicious of the severity of Dante's injuries and his release by Mouzone is the last time he is seen. It is implied that Omar left him for giving him up so easily.


title: Omar Little

text: Omar feels dissatisfied with how easy work has become after the collapse of the Barksdale organization and worries that pursuing easy thefts would make him soft ("How you expect to run with the wolves come night when you spend all day sparring with the puppies?"). He and new boyfriend Renaldo pull a robbery of one of Marlo Stanfield's dealers, Old Face Andre, who runs a westside corner convenience store that was actually a drug front.


title: Omar Little

text: At Proposition Joe's suggestion, they rob a poker game, not knowing that Marlo Stanfield is participating there. While committing the robbery, Omar makes a point to take a large ring from Marlo, who had earlier taken the same ring from Old Face Andre as a debt for money owed. Though Marlo vows revenge, his right-hand man Chris Partlow convinces him to take a subtler approach.


title: Omar Little

text: Chris kills a deliverywoman during a staged robbery at Old Face Andre's store and instructs Andre to call the police and falsely implicate Omar as the culprit. Omar is subsequently jailed. During the arrest, he is robbed by Officer Eddie Walker, who takes the ring that Omar had stolen from Marlo. Before Omar is taken away in a police van, he is questioned by McNulty, who finds it out of character for Omar to have murdered an ordinary citizen not involved in the drug trade.


title: Omar Little

text: While imprisoned in Baltimore City's Central Booking, Omar is recognized by other inmates he'd previously robbed, a number of whom want to kill him for the bounty placed on his head. In retaliation for an attempt on his life, he brutally stabs an adversary in the rectum as a means of warning the other inmates not to attack him.


title: Omar Little

text: Omar reaches out to Bunk for help. Omar convinces Bunk that he would never kill a "citizen". After having Omar transferred to a safer prison in Harford County (calling in the favor from Ilene Nathan), Bunk and Vernon Holley revisit the crime scene and get Old Face Andre to recant his original statement. The charge against Omar is dropped. Bunk transports him out of Harford County with a warning: no more murders of anyone. Bunk threatens to bring up the unsolved murders at Omar's hands that he knew about, such as Stringer Bell, Stinkum, and Tosha if Omar was caught killing anyone else.


title: Omar Little

text: Omar learns that Marlo had framed him and was the one he had robbed at the card game. Omar demands that Proposition Joe help him rob Marlo, and Joe agrees to alert Omar when Joe's soldier Cheese is dropping off Marlo's package. Omar orchestrates an elaborate and successful hijacking of Joe's entire shipment of heroin as it enters port. As he had no wish to sell drugs on the street, he sells the heroin back to Proposition Joe at 25 cents on a dollar. Although the heist makes Omar a lot of money, it has all of the drug kingpins ready to put a contract on his head.


title: Omar Little

text: After the heist, Omar and Renaldo move to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Marlo Stanfield has Butchie tortured and executed while failing to learn where Omar is hiding. Word reaches Omar and he returns to Baltimore to punish those responsible.


title: Omar Little

text: Omar ambushes Slim Charles and confronts him. Omar knows that Slim Charles' employer "Proposition Joe" Stewart knew of his connection to Butchie and believes Proposition Joe may have been responsible. Slim Charles is able to convince Omar of Proposition Joe's innocence and Omar targets Stanfield. Along with Butchie's friend Donnie, Omar decides to go after Stanfield's people as Stanfield himself has gone into hiding. Omar targets Monk.


title: Omar Little

text: Stanfield's soldiers spot Omar outside Monk's apartment and bait Omar and Donnie into an ambush. Once inside they are attacked by Chris Partlow, Snoop, Michael Lee, and O-Dog. During the shootout, O-Dog is wounded in the leg and Donnie killed by a gunshot to the head. Out of ammunition, Omar is forced to jump from the fourth-story window, breaking his leg in the process.


title: Omar Little

text: He continues his mission around the city in search of Marlo, limping and supporting his weight on a makeshift crutch improvised from a broom. He terrorizes and robs many of Marlo's corners and shoots or kills several members of Stanfield's crew including Savino Bratton. Instead of keeping the drugs or money for himself, he destroys them each time to show that his motive is vengeance, not profit. At the scene of every action, Omar calls out loudly for Marlo to meet him on the streets.


title: Omar Little

text: Kenard follows Omar into a Korean-owned convenience store. Omar, seeing the small boy, pays no attention to him. Kenard shoots Omar in the side of the head, killing him. This is a reference to some of the foreshadowing in Season 3 when Kenard is witnessed by Bunk imitating Omar at the Barksdale stash house shootout. News of Omar's death is received with mild amusement and indifference. Bunk shows some sympathy, which he brushes aside when he learns Omar was once again "on the hunt". McNulty and Lester Freamon react with mere curious interest and instead focus on a list of names found on Omar's body. The newspaper makes no mention of the incident for lack of printing space.


title: Omar Little

text: An employee at the morgue believes the identification tag on Omar's body has been switched with that of a white male on the neighboring table and swaps the tags (Omar's ID tag gives his age as 47, which contradicts the previous age given for him, which was 34). In the series finale, Michael Lee is seen wielding a shotgun, carrying on with Omar's legacy, while robbing Vinson and shooting him in the leg.


title: Omar Little

text: After Omar's death, the tale of his downfall became glorified. The simple murder by a child soon evolves to Omar fending off an army of police or New York gangsters during the finale.


title: Omar Little

text: A brief prequel released online before season 5 and in the season 5 DVD set features a young Omar, his brother Anthony, and an unidentified older boy planning and executing a robbery of a man at a bus stop in 1985 Baltimore. Even as a young boy, Omar shows remarkable intelligence, morality, and force of character by first questioning the value of robbing the man and then compelling the unidentified older boy (at gunpoint) to return the money. Anthony expresses tired amusement at Omar's actions, demonstrating his familiarity with his brother's forceful personality. Omar is shown with his characteristic facial scar, indicating that he somehow received it as a child.


title: Omar Little

text: At the end of this segment, the unidentified boy tells Anthony that his brother is not "cut out" for their line of work, an ironic foreshadowing of what would happen to Anthony some years later. In season one, it is revealed that after bungling a jewelry store heist, Anthony was pursued by police. Apparently sensing he was about to be caught, and unwilling to do hard time, Anthony put a gun to his chest and pulled the trigger. He survived the suicide attempt, however, only receiving a contact wound. After this incident, he earned the derisive nickname "No Heart" Anthony.


title: Omar Little

text: Michael K. Williams was cast in the role of Omar after a single audition. Williams has stated that he pursued the role because he felt it would make him stand out from other African Americans from Brooklyn with acting talent because of its contradictory nature.


title: Omar Little

text: Williams expressed that his relationship with and love of off-Broadway New York theatres, such as the National Black Theater in Harlem, gave him the skill set needed for his portrayal of Omar, in particular using the Meisner technique to create Omar from the ground up, immersing himself by researching details of inner-city Baltimore. The role presented a particular challenge as it was the first major recurring television character he had played.


title: Omar Little

text: David Simon has said that Omar is based on Shorty Boyd, Donnie Andrews, Ferdinand Harvin, Billy Outlaw, and Anthony Hollie, Baltimore stickup men who robbed drug dealers in the 1980s through early 2000s. Donnie Andrews later reformed, got married and helped troubled youths. In season 4 of "The Wire", Andrews plays one of the two men Butchie sends to help Omar in prison, in the episodes "Margin of Error" and "Unto Others", and Omar later meets with him at Blind Butchie's in "That's Got His Own" while planning the big drug robbery. Andrews died at age 58 in New York City on December 13, 2012, after suffering an aortic dissection.


title: Omar Little

text: Omar admits to an interest in Greek mythology in the season 2 episode "All Prologue". Omar's nascent love of Greek mythology has some truth in real life; according to a passage in David Simon and Ed Burns' non-fiction book, "", children in Baltimore schools pay little attention to most classes or stories (as seen in season 4 of "The Wire"), but are often interested by and appreciative of Greek mythology.


title: Omar Little

text: An earlier version of the Omar Little character appears in a season 3 episode of "NYPD Blue", entitled "Hollie and the Blowfish". The episode, written by future-"Wire" creator David Simon, featured a character named Ferdinand Hollie who, like Omar, was a stickup artist who made his living boldly and brazenly robbing (often-powerful) drug-dealers, but still lived his life by a code of honor, and was willing to cooperate with the police. However, unlike Omar, Hollie's thefts were largely in support of his own drug addiction, and he is infected by HIV.


title: Omar Little

text: No mention is made of Hollie's sexual orientation, but a reference is made of a deceased running partner who has died of AIDS. Hollie is killed by the end of the episode, and like Omar, is mourned by police who alternately worked with him and pursued him. Detective Bobby Simone, at the end of the episode, beat up the detective who leaked the information that got Hollie killed.


title: Omar Little

text: Hollie shares his first name with Ferdinand Harvin and his last name with Anthony Hollie, two real-life Baltimore stickup men whom Simon has cited as inspirational sources for Omar Little.


title: Omar Little

text: For his portrayal of Omar, Michael K. Williams was named by "USA Today" as one of ten reasons they still love television. The character was praised for his uniqueness in the stale landscape of TV crime dramas and for the wit and humor that Williams brought to the portrayal. Other commentators applauded the many dimensions of the character with his appearances in various story lines as "...a sawed-off shotgun toting terror, a vulnerable jailbird whose life lies in the balance, and a double crossing mastermind who outsmarts Baltimore's biggest drug dealers time and time again."


title: Omar Little

text: Omar was named as one of the first season's richest characters, not unlike the Robin Hood of Baltimore's west side projects, although his contradictory nature was questioned as a little too strange. The Baltimore City Paper named the character one of their top ten reasons not to cancel the show and called him "arguably the show's single greatest achievement." Little appeared in Comcast's list of TV's Most Intriguing Characters, with the website stating that "no character is more enigmatic and shocking than Omar".


title: Omar Little

text: Williams has stated that he feels that the character is well liked because of his honesty, lack of materialism, individuality and his adherence to his strict code. In January 2008 then-presidential candidate Barack Obama told the "Las Vegas Sun" that Omar was his favorite character on "The Wire" (which, in turn, is his favorite television show), adding, "That's not an endorsement. He's not my favorite person, but he's a fascinating character."


title: Mutulu Shakur

text: Mutulu Shakur (born Jeral Wayne Williams; August 8, 1950) is an American activist and former member of the Black Liberation Army, sentenced to sixty years in prison for his involvement in a 1981 robbery of a Brinks armored truck in which a guard and two police officers were murdered.


title: Mutulu Shakur

text: Shakur was politically active as a teen with the Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM) and later the black separatist movement the Republic of New Afrika. He was the stepfather of slain actor and rap artist Tupac Shakur.


title: Mutulu Shakur

text: On November 10, 2022, the United States Parole Commission granted Shakur's release on parole, effective December 16, 2022. The Commission noted that Shakur's terminal illness ensured that he was not a threat to commit another crime.


title: Mutulu Shakur

text: Shakur was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on 8 August 1950, as Jeral Wayne Williams. At age seven he moved to Jamaica, Queens, New York City with his mother and younger sister.


title: Mutulu Shakur

text: By his late teens, Shakur was politically active with the Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM) and later joined the Republic of New Afrika.


title: Mutulu Shakur

text: In 1970, Shakur began working with the Lincoln Detox program, which offered drug rehabilitation to heroin addiction using acupuncture — instead of the FDA-approved drug methadone. Eventually he became the program's assistant director and remained associated with the program until 1978. He became certified and licensed to practice acupuncture in the State of California in 1979. He went on to help found and direct the Black Acupuncture Advisory Association of North America (BAAANA) and the Harlem Institute of Acupuncture.


title: Mutulu Shakur

text: Shakur was one of several Black Liberation Army members to carry out the 1981 robbery of an armored car. Aided by the May 19 Communist Organization and former members of the Weather Underground, the BLA crew stole $1.6 million in cash from a Brink's armored car at the Nanuet Mall, in Nanuet, New York, killing a Brink's guard, Peter Paige, seriously wounding another Brinks guard, Joseph Trombino, and subsequently killing two Nyack police officers, Edward O'Grady and Waverly Brown (the first black member of the Nyack, New York, police department). Trombino recovered from the wounds he received in this incident, but was killed in 2001 in the September 11 attacks.


title: Mutulu Shakur

text: Shakur, the alleged ringleader of the group, evaded capture for six years and thus was the last one to go on trial on charges related to the robbery. In the 1980s, Shakur and Marilyn Buck were indicted on Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) charges. While at large, on July 23, 1982, he became the 380th person added to the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. He was arrested on February 12, 1986, in California by the FBI. Shakur and Buck were tried in 1987 and convicted on May 11, 1988.


title: Mutulu Shakur

text: Although federal parole was abolished pursuant to the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, Shakur's convictions were exempt because the Act's provisions did not take effect until 1987. Thus, under the rules in effect at the time of his conviction, he was due for a mandatory parole determination after serving thirty of his original sixty-year sentence, which came in 2016. However, the United States Parole Commission denied his release in 2016, 2018, and early 2022. On November 10, 2022, the Commission reconsidered and granted Shakur release on parole effective December 16, 2022, in light of his declining health. Shakur was in fact released on December 16, 2022.


title: Mutulu Shakur

text: During his incarceration, Shakur founded a New York-based organization named Dare 2 Struggle which released a tenth-anniversary tribute album for Tupac Shakur called "" in 2006 through music industry veteran Morey Alexander's First Kut Records and Canadian activist Deejay Ra's Lyrical Knockout Entertainment. The album features artists such as Mopreme Shakur, Outlawz, and Imaan Faith. As Shakur explains it, the CD was created in order to motivate, inspire, and challenge black people to struggle against their obstacles. He also recorded a radio PSA for Deejay Ra's "Hip-Hop Literacy" campaign, encouraging reading of books about Tupac. Shakur was interviewed in the Oscar-nominated documentary "Tupac: Resurrection", in which he described how he wrote a "Thug Life Handbook" with Tupac, expressing an anti-drug and anti-violence message.


title: Mutulu Shakur

text: In 1975, he married Afeni Shakur— mother of Tupac Shakur. They had a daughter, Sekyiwa. They divorced in 1982.


title: Mutulu Shakur

text: In October 2019, he renewed the motion for a reduction of sentence, by applying for compassionate release but it was once again denied.


title: England national rugby union team

text: The England national rugby union team represents England in men's international rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. England have won the championship on 29 occasions (as well as sharing 10 victories) – winning the Grand Slam 13 times and the Triple Crown 26 times – making them the most successful outright winners in the tournament's history. They are currently the only team from the Northern Hemisphere to win the Rugby World Cup, having won the tournament in 2003, and have been runners-up on three other occasions.


title: England national rugby union team

text: The history of the team extends back to 1871 when the English rugby team played their first official test match, losing 1–0 to Scotland. England dominated the early Home Nations Championship (now the Six Nations) which started in 1883. Following the schism of rugby football in 1895 into union and league, England did not win the Championship again until 1910. They first played against New Zealand in 1905, South Africa in 1906, and Australia in 1909. England was one of the teams invited to take part in the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987 and progressed to the final in the second tournament in 1991, losing 12–6 to Australia. Following their Grand Slam in 2003, England went on to win the 2003 Rugby World Cup, defeating Australia 20–17 in extra time. They contested the final again in 2007 in defence of their title, losing 15–6 to South Africa, and reached the final for the fourth time in 2019, once again losing to South Africa, 32–12.


title: England national rugby union team

text: England players traditionally wear a white shirt with a rose embroidered on the chest, white shorts, and navy blue socks with a white trim. England's home ground is Twickenham Stadium where they first played in 1910. The team is administered by the Rugby Football Union (RFU). Four former players have been inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame; one of these is also a member of the IRB Hall of Fame. Seven other former players are members of the IRB Hall – four solely for their accomplishments as players, two solely for their achievements in other roles in the sport, and one for achievements both as a player and administrator.


title: England national rugby union team

text: The expansion of rugby in the first half of the 19th century was driven by former pupils from many of England's public schools, especially Rugby, who, upon finishing school, took the game with them to universities, to London, and to the counties. England's first international match was against Scotland on 27 March 1871; not only was this England's first match, but it is also noted as being the first rugby union international. Scotland won the match by one goal and a try to England's one unconverted try, in front of a crowd of 4,000 people at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh. A subsequent international took place at the Oval in London on 5 February 1872, when England defeated Scotland by a goal, a drop goal and two tries to Scotland's one drop goal. The early matches did not use a structured points system; this would not be introduced until after 1890 when a suitable format for the scoring system had been devised. Up until 1875, international rugby matches were decided by the number of goals scored (conversions and dropped goals), but from 1876 the number of tries scored could be used to decide a match if the teams were level on goals.


title: England national rugby union team

text: In 1875, England played their first game against Ireland at the Oval, winning by one goal, one drop goal and one try to nil; this was Ireland's first test match. England defeated Scotland in 1880 to become the first winners of the Calcutta Cup. Their first match against Wales was played on 19 February 1881 at Richardson's Field in Blackheath, where England recorded their largest victory, winning by seven goals, six tries, and one drop goal to nil, and scoring 13 tries in the process. The subsequent meeting the following year at St. Helen's in Swansea was a closer contest, with England defeating Wales by two goals and four tries to nil. Two years later, England emerged as the inaugural winners at the first Home Nations championship. In 1889, they played their first match against a non-home nations team when they defeated the New Zealand Natives at Rectory Field in Blackheath by one goal and four tries to nil. England shared the Home Nations trophy with Scotland in 1890.


title: England national rugby union team

text: England first played New Zealand (known as the "All Blacks") in 1905 at Crystal Palace in London. New Zealand scored five tries, worth three points at the time, to win 15–0. England played France for the first time in March 1906 in Paris, winning 35–8, and later that year they first faced South Africa (known as the "Springboks"), again at Crystal Palace. James Peters was withdrawn from the England squad when the South Africans refused to play against a black player; the match was drawn 3–3. England first played Australia (known as the "Wallabies") in January 1909 at Blackheath's Rectory Field, where they were defeated 9–3.


title: England national rugby union team

text: The year 1909 saw the opening of Twickenham Stadium as the RFU's new home, heralding a golden era for English rugby union. England's first international at Twickenham in 1910 brought them victory over Wales on their way to winning the International Championship (known from then as the Five Nations) for the first time since 1892. Although England did not retain the Five Nations title in 1911, they did share it (with Ireland) in 1912. England then achieved their first Five Nations Grand Slam in 1913, another in 1914, and a third in 1921 after the First World War. A further two consecutive Grand Slams followed for the England team in 1924 and 1925, this despite having started 1925 with an 17–11 loss to the "Invincibles" in front of 60,000 fans at Twickenham.


title: England national rugby union team

text: After winning a sixth Grand Slam in 1928, England were subjected to a 7–0 defeat by the Springboks in front of 70,000 spectators at Twickenham in January 1932. Following the expulsion of France from the International Championship in 1931 due to professionalism, which reverted the Five Nations tournament back to the Home Nations, England proceeded to win the 1934 and 1937 championships with a Triple Crown, and achieved their first victory over the All Blacks at Twickenham in January 1936.


title: England national rugby union team

text: When the Five Nations resumed with the readmission of France in 1947 after the Second World War, England shared the championship with Wales. The early Five Nations competitions of the 1950s were unsuccessful for England, winning one match in the 1950 and 1951 championships. England won the 1953 Five Nations, and followed this up with a Grand Slam in 1957, and win in 1958. England broke France's four-championship streak by winning the 1963 Championship. After this victory, England played three Tests in the Southern Hemisphere and lost all three: 21–11 and 9–6 against the All Blacks, and 18–9 against Australia. England did not win a single match in 1966, and managed only a draw with Ireland. They did not win another Championship that decade.


title: England national rugby union team

text: Don White was appointed as England's first coach in 1969. According to former Northampton player Bob Taylor, "Don was chosen because he was the most forward-thinking coach in England". His first match in charge was an 11–8 victory over South Africa at Twickenham in 1969. Of the eleven games England played with White in charge they won three, and drew one and lost seven. He resigned as England coach in 1971.


title: England national rugby union team

text: England had wins against Southern Hemisphere teams in the 1970s; with victories over South Africa in 1972, New Zealand in 1973 and Australia in 1973 and 1976. The 1972 Five Nations Championship was not completed due to the Troubles in Northern Ireland when Scotland and Wales refused to play their Five Nations away fixtures in Ireland. England played in Dublin in 1973 and were given a standing ovation lasting five minutes. After losing 18–9 at Lansdowne Road, the England captain, John Pullin famously stated, "We might not be very good but at least we turned up."


title: England national rugby union team

text: England started the following decade with a Grand Slam victory in the 1980 Five Nations – their first for 23 years. However in the 1983 Five Nations Championship, England failed to win a game and picked up the wooden spoon. In the first Rugby World Cup in New Zealand and Australia, England were grouped in pool A alongside Australia, Japan and the United States. England lost their first game 19–6 against Australia. They went on to defeat Japan and the United States, and met Wales in their quarter-final, losing the match 16–3.


title: England national rugby union team

text: In 1989, England won matches against Romania and Fiji, followed by victories in their first three Five Nations games of 1990. They lost to Scotland in their last game however, giving Scotland a Grand Slam. England recovered in the following year by winning their first Grand Slam since 1980. England hosted the 1991 World Cup and were in pool A, along with the All Blacks, Italy and the United States. Although they lost to the All Blacks in pool play, they qualified for a quarter-final going on to defeat France 19–10. England then defeated Scotland 9–6 to secure a place in the final against Australia which they lost 12–6.


title: England national rugby union team

text: The next year, England completed another Grand Slam and did not lose that year, including a victory over the Springboks. In the lead up to the 1995 World Cup in South Africa, England completed another Grand Slam – their third in five years. In the World Cup, England defeated Argentina, Italy and Samoa in pool play and then defeated Australia 25–22 in their quarter-final. England's semi-final was dominated by the All Blacks and featured four tries, now worth five points each, by Jonah Lomu; England lost 45–29. They then lost the third-place play-off match against France.


title: England national rugby union team

text: England won their 20th Triple Crown title in 1997, but came second in the championship after a narrow 23–20 defeat against France at Twickenham. Sir Clive Woodward replaced Jack Rowell as the England head coach later that year. On 6 December 1997, England drew 26–26 with New Zealand at Twickenham, after being heavily defeated (29–11) by South Africa at the same venue the week before and by New Zealand (25–8) in Manchester two weeks previously. In 1998, England toured Australia, New Zealand and South Africa; many of the experienced players were unavailable for what was to become nicknamed the "Tour from Hell" during which England lost all of their matches including a punishing 76–0 defeat by the Wallabies. In the last Five Nations match on 11 April 1999, with England poised to win the championship, Welsh centre Scott Gibbs sliced through six English tackles to score a try in the last minute, and the ensuing conversion by Neil Jenkins handed the final Five Nations title to Scotland.


title: England national rugby union team

text: England commenced the new millennium by winning the inaugural Six Nations Championship, although they lost their last match to Scotland. They successfully defended their title the following year, but missed out on the Grand Slam by losing 20–14 to Ireland in a postponed match at Lansdowne Road. Although France won the 2002 Six Nations Championship, England defeated the other Home Nations teams to win the Triple Crown. In 2002, England beat Argentina 26–18 in Buenos Aires, and in the Autumn internationals they defeated New Zealand 31–28, Australia 32–31, and South Africa 53–3 at Twickenham. At the 2003 Six Nations Championship, England won the Grand Slam for the first time since 1995, followed by wins over Australia and the All Blacks on their June summer tour.


title: England national rugby union team

text: Going into the 2003 World Cup as one of the tournament favourites, England reached the final on 22 November 2003 against host Australia. The game went into extra time with the score tied at 14–14; after one penalty apiece and with just seconds to spare, a match-winning drop goal by fly-half Jonny Wilkinson brought the final score to 20–17, making England rugby world champions for the first time. Not only was this England's first Rugby World Cup victory, but it was the nation's first world cup since the England national football team won the 1966 FIFA World Cup. On 8 December, the England team were greeted by 750,000 supporters on a victory parade through London before meeting Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.


title: England national rugby union team

text: England finished third in the 2004 Six Nations Championship after losing their matches to both France and Ireland. Clive Woodward resigned as head coach on 2 September and Andy Robinson was appointed to replace him. Robinson's first Six Nations campaign in 2005 resulted in fourth place for England, and although they defeated Australia 26–16 at Twickenham in the Autumn internationals, this was followed by a 23–19 loss to the All Blacks.


title: England national rugby union team

text: A 25–14 loss to South Africa in the 2006 Autumn internationals was England's eighth defeat in nine test matches, their worst losing streak. Andy Robinson resigned as head coach after this run, and attack coach Brian Ashton was appointed as his replacement in December. England started the 2007 Six Nations Championship with a Calcutta Cup victory over Scotland. That year's championship included a historic match at Croke Park which England lost 43–13, their heaviest defeat against Ireland.


title: England national rugby union team

text: At the 2007 World Cup, England were grouped in Pool A with Samoa, Tonga, South Africa, and the United States. They progressed to the knockout stage despite a heavy 36–0 loss to South Africa, and narrowly defeated Australia 12–10 in the quarter-finals. England then faced hosts France in the semi-finals and triumphed 14–9 to qualify for the final, where they were subjected to a second defeat by the Springboks at this World Cup, losing the match 15–6. England followed up their World Cup disappointment with two consecutive second-place finishes in the Six Nations Championship, behind Wales (2008) and Ireland (2009). Former England team captain Martin Johnson took up the job of head coach in July 2008 but, unable to replicate his on-field success in the management role, he resigned in November 2011 following a miserable Rugby World Cup which featured a series of on- and off-field controversies and ended in quarter-final defeat by France.


title: England national rugby union team

text: In March 2012, the Rugby Football Union appointed Stuart Lancaster, the former Elite Rugby Director at Leeds Carnegie, as England's head coach. He had previously been employed in the position on a short-term basis, assisted by existing forwards coach Graham Rowntree, and Andy Farrell. Lancaster was considered a success in his first campaign as head coach: defending champions England took second place in the 2012 Six Nations Championship after losing 19–12 to Wales at Twickenham, but successfully defended the Calcutta Cup by defeating Scotland 13–6 at Murrayfield. England finished the year on a high when they beat World Cup holders New Zealand 38–21 at Twickenham in the Autumn internationals; the England team dominated the match and completely outplayed the All Blacks, who had been unbeaten in 20 matches.


title: England national rugby union team

text: At the 2013 Six Nations Championship, England again finished in second place behind Wales, and were deprived of the opportunity to win the Grand Slam for the first time since 2003 when defeated by Wales in Cardiff 30–3. It was the first time since 1974 that every team in the Six Nations managed to win at least three competition points (the equivalent of a win and a draw, or three draws). However, England retained the Calcutta Cup by defeating Scotland 38–18 at Twickenham. Lancaster took an experimental side on a summer tour of Argentina in 2013; after beating a South American select XV on 2 June, England achieved a 2–0 series victory over Argentina, their first away series win against "the Pumas" for 32 years.


title: England national rugby union team

text: In 2015, England hosted the Rugby World Cup, but were eliminated in the pool stage. Despite this setback, and following the appointment of new head coach Eddie Jones, England won the Grand Slam in the 2016 Six Nations Championship, and remained unbeaten for the whole of 2016, including a series whitewash of Australia in Sydney. They went on to equal the world record of 18 consecutive test wins with an impressive 61–21 victory over Scotland in securing the 2017 Six Nations Championship.


title: England national rugby union team

text: 2018 began well for England, seeing off a spirited challenge from Italy 46–15, and winning a tight contest against Wales 12–6 in the first two rounds of the Six Nations. However, it wasn't until June before England recorded another win, as the team lost their remaining games against Scotland (25–13), France (22–16) and eventual Grand Slam winners Ireland (24–15) at home at Twickenham. A non-test loss against the Barbarians (63–45) followed.


title: England national rugby union team

text: On their summer tour of South Africa, England lost the first two matches 42–39 and 23–12, after leading both early in the first half, before winning the third test 25–10 against a mostly second-string Springbok side. That autumn, after adding former New Zealand and United States coach John Mitchell to the coaching setup, England won the return match against South Africa by a single point at 12–11, and lost an equally close contest with New Zealand 16–15, both in controversial circumstances. England rounded out the year with wins over Japan (35–15) and Australia (37–18). The win over Australia continued an unbroken run of victories over the Wallabies under former Australia coach Eddie Jones.


title: England national rugby union team

text: England finished second in the 2019 Six Nations Championship having lost to Wales in Cardiff and drawn 38-38 with Scotland at Twickenham after leading 31-0. In the 2019 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches they defeated Wales 33-19 at Twickenham before losing 13-6 in Cardiff. They then recorded their largest win over Ireland with a 57-15 victory at Twickenham before defeating Italy 37-0 at St James' Park. In the 2019 Rugby World Cup, England became the first team to qualify for the quarter-finals following a 39-10 win over Argentina in Chōfu. After their final match was cancelled due to Typhoon Hagibis, England topped Pool C and faced Australia in the quarter-finals. England won the quarter-final 40-16, recording a seventh successive victory over Australia in the Wallabies' largest-ever Rugby World Cup defeat. England then defeated New Zealand in the semi-final, equalling their largest Rugby World Cup defeat with a 19-7 victory in which the All Blacks were kept scoreless for 57 minutes. On 2 November 2019, England were defeated 12-32 by South Africa in the 2019 Rugby World Cup Final.


title: England national rugby union team

text: In the 2020 Six Nations Championship, England were defeated 24-17 in their opening game against France in Paris before recording victories against Scotland at Murrayfield and Ireland and Wales at Twickenham. The tournament was then halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resumed with the matches played in empty stadia in October. In the postponed matches, England recorded a bonus point win over Italy in Rome before France's defeat of Ireland by eight points meant that England won the championship on points difference. Due to the pandemic, the scheduled 2020 Autumn Internationals were replaced by the Autumn Nations Cup. England defeated Georgia, Wales and Ireland before facing France in the final match, winning 22-19 after extra time at Twickenham to secure the tournament.


title: England national rugby union team

text: England finished fifth in the 2021 Six Nations Championship, beating France and Italy but losing to all three home nations for the first time since 1976 and conceding defeat to Scotland at Twickenham for the first time since 1983. In the 2021 autumn internationals England played three matches at Twickenham. They secured a 69-3 victory over Tonga, recorded their eighth successive victory against Australia and defeated world champions South Africa 27-26.


title: England national rugby union team

text: England finished third in the 2022 Six Nations Championship after defeating Italy and Wales but losing to Ireland, France and Scotland.


title: England national rugby union team

text: Twickenham is the largest dedicated rugby stadium in the world. In the early years, the English rugby team used a number of venues in several different locations around England before settling at Twickenham Stadium in 1910. After sell-out matches at Crystal Palace against New Zealand in 1905 and South Africa in 1906, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) decided to invest in their own ground and arranged for sportsman and entrepreneur Billy Williams to find a home ground for English Rugby. The land for the ground was purchased in 1907 for £5,572 12s and 6d, and construction began the following year.


title: England national rugby union team

text: The first international match at Twickenham took place on 15 January 1910 between England and Wales. The home team ran out winners 11–6, beating Wales for the first time since 1898. The stadium was expanded in 1927 and again in 1932, but there were no further upgrades until the 1990s when new North, East and West stands were built; a South stand was erected in 2005 and 2006 to make the stadium into a complete bowl. England played their first test match at the redeveloped Twickenham on 5 November 2006 against the All Blacks, who won the match 41–20, dominating the England team in front of a record crowd of 82,076.


title: England national rugby union team

text: The pitch at Twickenham was replaced in June 2012 with a hybrid 'Desso' type, which uses artificial fibres entwined with real grass. This type of pitch surface is particularly hard wearing in wet conditions.


title: England national rugby union team

text: Although England have played home matches almost exclusively at Twickenham since 1910, they have occasionally used alternative English venues. England home matches have been hosted at Leicester's Welford Road (1923), London's Wembley Stadium (1992), Manchester's Old Trafford (1997 and 2009), Huddersfield's McAlpine Stadium (twice in 1998), Manchester's Etihad Stadium (2015), and St James' Park in Newcastle upon Tyne (2019).


title: England national rugby union team

text: The first of a two-test series, this match was originally scheduled to be held in Argentina but moved by the Argentine Rugby Union for financial reasons.


title: England national rugby union team

text: England also played a Five Nations match against Wales at Wembley Stadium on 11 April 1999. Wales was the "home team" on this occasion because Wembley was being used as a temporary base while their new stadium in Cardiff was being constructed. Wales won the match 32–31.


title: England national rugby union team

text: "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" is commonly sung at England fixtures – especially at Twickenham. In the last match of the 1988 season, against Ireland, three of England's tries were scored by Chris Oti. A group of boys from the Benedictine school Douai, following a tradition at their school games, sang the song on his final try, and other spectators around the ground joined in. Since then "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" became a song to sing at England home games. In 1991, the RFU marketing director Mike Coley for the team to launch a song leading up to that year's Rugby World Cup. He had wanted to use "Jerusalem", but it was used in the Rugby League Challenge Cup final that year, so the song was changed at short notice to "Swing Low". There were a number of versions recorded and the version released did reach the top 40 in the UK Singles Chart during the competition.


title: England national rugby union team

text: England rugby union players typically wear all-white jerseys and white shorts, with predominantly navy blue socks. The emblem on the jerseys is a red rose. As of 1 September 2020, the strip is manufactured by Umbro and the shirt sponsor is O. The away strip is usually red or dark grey (described as "anthracite"); prior to the introduction of the grey strip, red was the traditional change colour. Navy blue has also been used in the past and was reintroduced for the 2016–17 and 2020–21 seasons. Purple was used during the 2009 autumn internationals, reflecting the traditional colour of the original England tracksuits from the 1960s until the 1980s. The away strip was black for the first time during the 2011 Rugby World Cup.


title: England national rugby union team

text: The Rugby Football Union (RFU) had created the national side's emblem prior to an English team being sent to Edinburgh to play a Scottish side. A red rose was chosen to be the side's emblem. The white kit worn by the national team was taken from the kit used at Rugby School. Alfred Wright, an employee of the Rugby Football Union, is credited with the standardisation and new design of the rose, which up until 1920 had undergone many variations in its depiction. The Wright design is thought to have been used without minor alteration until the late 1990s. It was not until 1997 that the rose was modernised, when Nike became the official strip supplier (with the stem section of the rose being green rather than brown as previously).


title: England national rugby union team

text: In 2003, England first used a skin-tight strip. This was intended to make it more difficult for the opposition to grasp the shirt when tackling.


title: England national rugby union team

text: The current England strip for 2020–21 is made by Umbro. It features plain white shorts and a plain white jersey with red seams on the neck and sleeves. The current alternative kit is blue and features the same red seams. Shorts are also blue. Home socks are blue with a white top, alternative socks are plain blue.


title: England national rugby union team

text: England competes annually in the Six Nations Championship, which is played against five other European nations: France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, and Wales. The Six Nations started out as the Home Nations Championship in 1883 which England won with a Triple Crown. England have won the title outright 29 times (a record for the tournament) and shared victory ten times. Their longest wait between championships was 18 years (1892–1910). During the Six Nations, England also contests the Calcutta Cup with Scotland (which England first won in 1880) and the Millennium Trophy with Ireland (which England first won in 1988). The matches between England and France are traditionally known as "Le Crunch".


title: England national rugby union team

text: Note: England are the only team to have won more than two successive grand slams, doing so in 1913–1914, 1923–1924 and 1991–1992; while Wales and France the only other teams to have done so twice, in 1908–1909 for Wales and 1997–1998 for France.


title: England national rugby union team

text: England have contested every Rugby World Cup since the tournament began in 1987, reaching the final four times and winning the title in 2003.


title: England national rugby union team

text: In the inaugural tournament, England finished second in their pool before losing to Wales in the quarter-finals. They again finished pool runners-up in 1991 but recovered to beat France in the quarter-finals, and then Scotland in the semi-finals, en route to a 12–6 final defeat to Australia at Twickenham on 2 November 1991.


title: England national rugby union team

text: In 1995, England topped their pool and defeated Australia 25–22 at the quarter-final stage before being beaten by the All Blacks in the semi-final. Their third-place play-off match against France was lost 19–9.


title: England national rugby union team

text: In the 1999 tournament, England again finished second in their pool. Although they proceeded to win a play-off game against Fiji, they went out of the tournament in the quarter-finals, losing 44–21 to South Africa.


title: England national rugby union team

text: England came top of their pool in 2003 and progressed to the final, beating Wales and France in the quarter- and semi-finals. With a drop goal in the last minute of extra time, England won the final 20–17 against Australia in Sydney on 22 November 2003.


title: England national rugby union team

text: England made a poor start to their defence of the World Cup in 2007, with a below par victory over the United States and a heavy 36–0 defeat to South Africa, leaving the title holders on the brink of elimination at the pool stage. Improved performances against Samoa and Tonga ensured that England again reached the knockout stage as pool runners-up, before a surprise 12–10 defeat of Australia in the quarter-finals followed by a narrow 14–9 victory over the host nation carried England to a second successive final appearance. In the final, held in Paris on 20 October, England lost 15–6 to South Africa, their second defeat by the Springboks during the 2007 tournament.


title: England national rugby union team

text: In 2015, England became the first sole host nation to fail to qualify for the knockout stage, after losing to Wales and Australia in the pool stage.


title: England national rugby union team

text: In 2019, England finished top of their pool before defeating Australia and New Zealand in the knockout stage. On 2 November 2019, they suffered a 32–12 final defeat to South Africa in Yokohama, becoming World Cup runners-up for the third time.


title: England national rugby union team

text: England's Jonny Wilkinson is the highest points scorer in the Rugby World Cup, having scored 277 points between 1999 and 2011. England have the fourth most points and the fourth most tries scored in the Rugby World Cup.


title: England national rugby union team

text: When the World Rugby Rankings were first introduced in early September 2003, England were ranked 1st; they fell to 2nd for a week in November 2003 before regaining 1st place. They again dropped to 2nd in the rankings, and then to 3rd, from mid-June 2004. Following the 2005 Six Nations Championship, they fell to 6th in the world rankings, where they remained until moving up to 5th place in December of that year. After a decline in form in 2006, England finished the year ranked 7th; however, they bounced back to 3rd in 2007 due to their good run in that year's World Cup, where they finished runners-up.


title: England national rugby union team

text: Their ranking slipped again in 2008 and during the 2009 Six Nations Championship they dropped to their lowest ranking of 8th, where they remained for the duration of the 2009 Autumn internationals. After a brief resurgence that saw them rise to a ranking of 4th in the world, England again slipped following a poor showing at the 2011 Rugby World Cup and were ranked 6th in February 2012. The team entered the 2015 Rugby World Cup ranked 4th, but after failing to progress beyond the pool stage, England again sank to 8th in the world in November 2015. In March 2016, after securing the Grand Slam in the 2016 Six Nations Championship, England rose to second place, where they remained the following year after winning the 2017 Six Nations Championship. A poor fifth-place performance in the 2018 Six Nations Championship saw them fall to sixth place.


title: England national rugby union team

text: In October 2019, England defeated New Zealand in the semi-final of the 2019 Rugby World Cup to top the World Rugby Rankings for the first time since 2004. After losing the final to South Africa, England were ranked third. In November 2020, they regained second place following New Zealand's loss to Argentina.


title: England national rugby union team

text: During the 2021 Six Nations, a fifth place finish saw England fall from second to third after defeats to Scotland, Wales and Ireland. After Australia won 5 matches in a row during the 2021 Rugby Championship, England fell to fourth until defeats of Australia and South Africa in the 2021 Autumn Nations Series saw them regain third place.


title: England national rugby union team

text: During the 2022 Six Nations, England again suffered three defeats to Scotland, Ireland and France and fell from third to fifth.


title: England national rugby union team

text: On 17 October 2022, England named a 36-man squad for their 2022 Autumn Nations Series test matches against Argentina, Japan, South Africa and New Zealand.


title: England national rugby union team

text: On 24 October 2022, Owen Farrell and Jonny May withdrew from England's pre-series training camp in Jersey due to injury, although both remained part of the autumn test squad. Tom Pearson, Adam Radwan, Tom Roebuck and Henry Slade were added to the squad, while Charlie Atkinson was also named as an apprentice player.


title: England national rugby union team

text: On 6 December 2022, head coach Eddie Jones was sacked and forwards coach Richard Cockerill took charge as interim.


title: England national rugby union team

text: On 19 December 2022, former England captain and Leicester Tigers head coach Steve Borthwick appointed as head coach by the RFU.


title: England national rugby union team

text: Four former England representatives have been inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame: Bill Beaumont, Martin Johnson, Jason Leonard and Wavell Wakefield.


title: England national rugby union team

text: Seven former England internationals are also members of the IRB Hall of Fame. Four of them – Johnson, Alan Rotherham, Harry Vassall and Robert Seddon – were inducted for their accomplishments as players. Two other former England players, John Kendall-Carpenter and Clive Woodward, were inducted into the IRB Hall for non-playing accomplishments in the sport. Another former England player, Alfred St. George Hamersley, was inducted for achievements as both a player and a rugby administrator.


title: England national rugby union team

text: Wavell Wakefield represented England in 31 Tests between 1920 and 1927, including 13 Tests as captain. He was involved in three Five Nations Grand Slams in 1921, 1923 and 1924. Playing as flanker, Wakefield introduced new elements to back row tactics which beforehand concentrated on the set piece. He became a Member of Parliament in 1935, and was knighted in 1944. He became the RFU President in 1950 and following his retirement from politics was awarded the title the first Baron Wakefield of Kendal.


title: England national rugby union team

text: Between 1975 and 1982, Bill Beaumont represented England in 34 Tests. Playing at lock, he was captain between 1978 and 1982 in 21 Tests including the 1980 Grand Slam – England's first since 1957. Later that year, he captained the British Lions to South Africa – the first time an Englishman had captained the Lions since 1930. Furthermore, Beaumont represented the Barbarians FC on fifteen occasions.


title: England national rugby union team

text: At 22 the youngest England captain of modern times was Will Carling who represented England in 72 Tests, and as captain 59 times between 1988 and 1996. He was best known as a superlative leader, motivating England to a remarkable three Grand Slams in five years, including back to back slams in 1991 and 1992. He also led England to the final of the 1991 World Cup, and captained the Barbarians FC. His playing talents were not as flamboyant as some of his colleagues, but his effectiveness cemented him as a first choice at centre. It is possible he would already be in the Hall of Fame were it not for outspoken tendencies with respect to the English RFU committee ("Old Farts"), who may, as a result, be reluctant to acknowledge his achievements. He was made an OBE in 1991. Carling is not, however, the youngest England captain of all time; that honour goes to Frederic Stokes, who captained England against Scotland on 27 March 1871 aged just 20 years and 258 days.


title: England national rugby union team

text: Described as arguably "the greatest forward" to play for England, Martin Johnson played 84 Tests for England, and 8 Tests for the British and Irish Lions. He first represented England in 1993, and later that year the Lions. He captained the Lions to South Africa in 1997, and in 1999 was appointed captain of England. He became England's most successful ever captain. He became the first player to captain two Lions tours when he captained them in Australia in 2001. He retired from Test rugby after he led England to a Six Nations Grand Slam and World Cup victory in 2003 and has since become the team Manager. At the 2011 IRB Awards ceremony in Auckland on 24 October 2011, the night after the World Cup Final, Johnson was inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame alongside all other World Cup-winning captains from 1987 through 2007 (minus the previously inducted Australian John Eales).


title: England national rugby union team

text: Jason Leonard, also known as "The Fun Bus", appeared 114 times for England at prop, which was the world record for international appearances for a national team until 2005, when it was surpassed by Australia scrum-half George Gregan. He was on the England team that finished runners up to Australia in the 1991 Rugby World Cup final, but avenged this 12 years later, coming on as a substitute for Phil Vickery in England's victorious 2003 Rugby World Cup final appearance. He also went on three British and Irish Lions tours where he was capped five times.


title: England national rugby union team

text: Alan Rotherham and Harry Vassall, both 19th-century greats for Oxford and England, were inducted into the IRB Hall in April 2011. The IRB recognised them for "their unique contribution to the way that Rugby was played", specifically stating that they "are credited with pioneering the passing game and the three-man backline, which became widespread during the 1880s".


title: England national rugby union team

text: Two other England internationals, John Kendall-Carpenter and Clive Woodward, were inducted into the IRB Hall alongside Johnson at the 2011 IRB Awards. Although both had notable careers for England, they were recognised for accomplishments in other roles in the sport. Kendall-Carpenter was cited as one of four key figures in the creation of the Rugby World Cup, whilst Woodward was inducted as coach of the 2003 World Cup winners, alongside all other World Cup-winning coaches from 1987 to 2007.


title: England national rugby union team

text: England's most recent inductees into the IRB Hall are 19th-century internationals Alfred St. George Hamersley and Robert Seddon, both inducted in 2013. Hamersley played for England in the first rugby union international against Scotland in 1871, and captained England in the last of his four appearances in 1874. He went on to play significant roles in the early development of the sport in both New Zealand and Canada. Seddon, capped three times for England in 1887, was most notable as the captain of the unofficial British side that toured Australia and New Zealand in 1888; he died in a boating accident during the tour. This venture proved to be the genesis of the modern British and Irish Lions. The touring team was also inducted alongside Seddon.


title: England national rugby union team

text: Ben Youngs holds the record for most appearances for England with 120. Jonny Wilkinson holds the England record for most points with 1,179, placing him second all-time in international rugby. Rory Underwood scored 49 tries - placing him sixth all-time in international rugby.


title: England national rugby union team

text: Pennyhill Park Hotel in Bagshot, Surrey, is the chosen training base for the team in the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Loughborough University, Bisham Abbey and the University of Bath grounds served as training bases prior to this agreement. Martin Johnson noted the hotel's facilities and its proximity to Twickenham and Heathrow as deciding factors in this decision. The team had their own pitchside gym and fitness rooms constructed on the hotel premises at the start of the long-term arrangement. Since its completion in 2010 the team also regularly use Surrey Sports Park at the University of Surrey in nearby Guildford for much of their training.


title: England national rugby union team

text: Although the England team is governed by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), players have been contracted to their clubs since the advent of professionalism in late 1995. Since then, players have often been caught in a "power struggle" between their clubs and the RFU; this is commonly referred to as a "club versus country" conflict. The first major dispute between England's top clubs (who play in the English Premiership) and the RFU occurred in 1998, when some of the clubs refused to release players to tour Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The tour became known as the "Tour from hell" after an England squad of second-string players were defeated in all four Tests, including a 76–0 defeat by Australia. The clubs also withdrew from the 1998–99 Heineken Cup.


title: England national rugby union team

text: In 2001, the top clubs and the RFU formed "England Rugby" to help govern the club and international game. The parties agreed to restrict the number of matches at club and international level that elite players (a group of 50 or 60 players selected by the RFU) could play in order to reduce player burnout and injuries. In return for releasing players from club commitments, the clubs were to receive compensation from the RFU. This agreement was considered central to the England victory in the 2003 World Cup. Clive Woodward, England coach from November 1997, resigned in 2004 because he was unable to get the access to the players that he wanted: "I wanted more from the union – more training days with the players, more influence over the way they were treated – and ended up with less." Andy Robinson, Woodward's successor, blamed the lack of control over players for his team's unsuccessful record. Brian Ashton, who took over from Robinson, intentionally named his playing squad for Six Nations matches in 2007 early in the hope that their clubs would not play them in the weekend prior to a Test. The RFU and the Premiership clubs are negotiating a similar deal to the one in 2001 that will enable international players to be released into the England squad prior to international matches.


title: England national rugby union team

text: The following is a list of all England coaches. The first appointed coach was Don White in 1969. The most recent coach was Eddie Jones. He took over from Stuart Lancaster a week after Lancaster's resignation. Jones became the first foreigner to coach the English side.


title: England national rugby union team

text: Cockerill served briefly as interim head coach following the dismissal of Jones. No tests were played during his tenure.


title: England national rugby union team

text: Between September 2015 and March 2017, England won 18 test matches in a row – equalling the record for a top tier nation – 17 of which were under Eddie Jones.


title: England national rugby union team

text: England's autumn internationals are televised live by Prime Video. Highlights of the autumn tests are broadcast by the BBC. As of 2016, all Six Nations games are broadcast free-to-air on the BBC and ITV.


title: Jaume Collet-Serra

text: Jaume Collet-Serra (; born 23 March 1974) is a Spanish-American film director and producer. He directed the horror films "House of Wax" (2005), "Orphan" (2009), and "The Shallows" (2016), as well as the Liam Neeson-led thriller films "Unknown" (2011), "Non-Stop" (2014), "Run All Night" (2015), and "The Commuter" (2018). Collet-Serra also directed the Dwayne Johnson-starrers "Jungle Cruise" (2021), based on the eponymous theme park attraction from Disney, and "Black Adam" (2022), based on the comic book character of the same name from DC.


title: Jaume Collet-Serra

text: Collet-Serra was born in Sant Iscle de Vallalta, Catalonia, Spain. At the age of 18, he moved to Los Angeles, California and attended Columbia College Hollywood, working as an editor on the side. After graduating in 1996, he began directing music videos and television commercials for brands such as PlayStation, Budweiser, and Verizon.


title: Jaume Collet-Serra

text: In 2005, Collet-Serra was given an opportunity to direct his first feature film by producer Joel Silver. The film, "House of Wax", was a remake of the 1953 film of the same name, and starred Elisha Cuthbert and Chad Michael Murray and featured Paris Hilton. Despite a negative critical reception, it was a financial success. Two years later, Collet-Serra directed "", the second film in the "Goal!" film trilogy, in which the main character, star Mexican footballer Santiago Muñez (Kuno Becker), goes to play for Real Madrid. Collet-Serra reunited with producer Silver for his third film, "Orphan", a 2009 American psychological horror film starring Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, and Isabelle Fuhrman, about on a couple who, after the death of their unborn child, adopt a mysterious nine-year-old girl. The film received mixed critical reviews but was a box office success, earning around $80 million on a $20 million budget.


title: Jaume Collet-Serra

text: Collet-Serra then directed "Unknown", a 2011 action thriller starring Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones, Aidan Quinn, Bruno Ganz, and Frank Langella. The film is based on the 2003 French novel published in English as "Out of My Head", by Didier Van Cauwelaert. Collet-Serra made his television directing debut with the ABC pilot "The River", a horror drama from "Paranormal Activity" writer-director Oren Peli. The show was met with generally favourable reviews. In December 2012, he began filming for his next film "Non-Stop", which starred Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore.


title: Jaume Collet-Serra

text: Collet-Serra formed his own production house Ombra Films. With money from StudioCanal, the small company set out to make low-budget English-language horror films, with an eye toward launching the careers of up-and-coming Spanish filmmakers. Juan Sola, Collet-Serra's producing partner, told "Deadline Hollywood", "We've seen how many talented directors are coming out of Spain, but there hasn't really been a platform for them to find work in films. They look up to Jaume as a guy they want to become and we thought, how about a company that creates a bridge between Spain and the U.S., similar to what Luc Besson provided in France? Already, we are being bombarded, and we feel directors will find Ombra a fantastic platform. Jaume loves mentoring new talent." The venture's first film was "Mindscape", a psychological thriller about a man with the ability to enter people's memories, starring Taissa Farmiga, Mark Strong, and Brian Cox. Collet-Serra executive produced the found footage comedy-horror film "Hooked Up", which was directed by Pablo Larcuen and was shot on an iPhone.


title: Jaume Collet-Serra

text: Collet-Serra directed and executive produced "The Shallows", a 2016 horror-thriller starring Blake Lively, from a script by Anthony Jaswinski, and "The Commuter", an action-thriller starring Liam Neeson, which was released on January 12, 2018, and also features Vera Farmiga, Sam Neill, and Elizabeth McGovern.


title: Jaume Collet-Serra

text: Collet-Serra served as director for "Jungle Cruise" from The Walt Disney Company, starring Dwayne Johnson. The film was based on the concept of the ride of the same name at Disneyland.


title: Jaume Collet-Serra

text: In June of 2019, Collet-Serra signed on to direct "Black Adam", written by Adam Sztykiel and starring Dwayne Johnson. Johnson served as a producer on the project alongside Hiram Garcia, Dany Garcia, Beau Flynn, and Scott Sheldon. Collet-Serra emerged as the frontrunner to direct after his work on "Jungle Cruise". The film is a co-production between Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, Seven Bucks Productions, and FlynnPicturesCo. film studios. Production began in April 2021.


title: Jaume Collet-Serra

text: In March of 2019 "TheWrap" reported that Collet-Serra was to direct "Victory", a remake of the 1981 film "Escape to Victory".


title: Jaume Collet-Serra

text: Collet-Serra is also set to direct an upcoming thriller for Netflix, titled "Carry-On". It will follow a TSA agent blackmailed into allowing a dangerous package onboard a flight and will star Taron Egerton and Jason Bateman.


title: Timeline of religion

text: Religion has been a factor of the human experience throughout history, from pre-historic to modern times. The bulk of the human religious experience pre-dates written history. Written history (the age of formal writing) is only roughly 5,000 years old. A lack of written records results in most of the knowledge of pre-historic religion being derived from archaeological records and other indirect sources, and from suppositions. Much pre-historic religion is subject to continued debate.


title: Timeline of religion

text: Despite claims by some researchers of bear worship, belief in an afterlife, and other rituals, current archaeological evidence does not support the presence of religious practices by modern humans or Neanderthals during this period.


title: Big Mama Thornton

text: Willie Mae Thornton (December 11, 1926 – July 25, 1984), better known as Big Mama Thornton, was an American singer and songwriter of the blues and R&B genres. She was the first to record Leiber and Stoller's "Hound Dog", in 1952, which became her biggest hit, staying seven weeks at number one on the "Billboard" R&B chart in 1953 and selling almost two million copies. Thornton's other recordings included the original version of "Ball and Chain", which she wrote.


title: Big Mama Thornton

text: Her recording of "Hound Dog", written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller in 1952, and later recorded by Elvis Presley, reached Number 1 on the Rhythm & Blues Records chart. According to Maureen Mahon, a music professor at New York University, "the song is seen as an important beginning of rock-and-roll, especially in its use of the guitar as the key instrument".


title: Big Mama Thornton

text: Thornton's birth certificate states that she was born in Ariton, Alabama, but in an interview with Chris Strachwitz, she claimed Montgomery, Alabama, as her birthplace, probably because Montgomery was better known than Ariton.


title: Big Mama Thornton

text: She was introduced to music in a Baptist church, where her father was a minister and her mother a singer. Thornton and her six siblings began to sing at early ages. Her mother died young, and Willie Mae left school and got a job washing and cleaning spittoons in a local tavern. In 1940 she left home and, with the help of Diamond Teeth Mary, joined Sammy Green's Hot Harlem Revue and was soon billed as the "New Bessie Smith". Her musical education started in the church but continued through her observation of the rhythm-and-blues singers Bessie Smith and Memphis Minnie, whom she deeply admired.


title: Big Mama Thornton

text: Thornton's career began to take off when she moved to Houston in 1948. "A new kind of popular blues was coming out of the clubs in Texas and Los Angeles, full of brass horns, jumpy rhythms, and wisecracking lyrics."


title: Big Mama Thornton

text: In 1951 she signed a recording contract with Peacock Records and performed at the Apollo Theater in 1952. Also in 1952, while working with another Peacock artist Johnny Otis, she recorded "Hound Dog", the first record produced by its writers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. The pair were present at the recording, with Leiber demonstrating the song in the vocal style they had envisioned; "We wanted her to growl it," Stoller said, which she did. Otis played drums, after the original drummer was unable to play an adequate part. The record sold more than half a million copies, and went to number one on the R&B chart, helping to bring in the dawn of rock 'n' roll. Although the record made Thornton a star, she reportedly saw little of the profits.


title: Big Mama Thornton

text: On Christmas Day 1954 in a theatre in Houston, Texas, she witnessed fellow performer Johnny Ace, also signed to Duke and Peacock record labels, accidentally shoot and kill himself while playing with a .22 pistol. Thornton continued to record for Peacock until 1957 and performed in R&B package tours with Junior Parker and Esther Phillips.


title: Big Mama Thornton

text: Thornton's success with "Hound Dog" was followed over three years later by Elvis Presley recording his hit version of the song.


title: Big Mama Thornton

text: His recording at first annoyed Leiber who wrote, "I have no idea what that rabbit business is all about. The song is not about a dog, it's about a man, a freeloading gigolo." But Elvis' version sold ten million copies, so today few fans know that "Hound Dog" began as "an anthem of black female power." Similarly, Thornton originally recorded her song "Ball 'n' Chain" for Bay-Tone Records in the early 1960s, "and though the label chose not to release the song... they did hold on to the copyright" — which meant that Thornton missed out on the publishing royalties when Janis Joplin recorded the song later in the decade. However, in a 1972 interview, Thornton acknowledged giving Joplin permission to record the song and receiving royalty payments from its sales.


title: Big Mama Thornton

text: As her career began to fade in the late 1950s and early 1960s, she left Houston and relocated to the San Francisco Bay area, "playing clubs in San Francisco and L.A. and recording for a succession of labels", notably the Berkeley-based Arhoolie Records. In 1965, she toured with the American Folk Blues Festival in Europe, where her success was notable "because very few female blues singers at that time had ever enjoyed success across the Atlantic."


title: Big Mama Thornton

text: While in England that year, she recorded her first album for Arhoolie, "Big Mama Thornton – In Europe". It featured backing by blues veterans Buddy Guy (guitar), Fred Below (drums), Eddie Boyd (keyboards), Jimmy Lee Robinson (bass), and Walter "Shakey" Horton (harmonica), except for three songs on which Fred McDowell provided acoustic slide guitar.


title: Big Mama Thornton

text: In 1966, Thornton recorded her second album for Arhoolie, "Big Mama Thornton with the Muddy Waters Blues Band – 1966", with Muddy Waters (guitar), Sammy Lawhorn (guitar), James Cotton (harmonica), Otis Spann (piano), Luther Johnson (bass guitar), and Francis Clay (drums). She performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1966 and 1968. Her last album for Arhoolie, "Ball n' Chain", was released in 1968. It was made up of tracks from her two previous albums, plus her composition "Ball and Chain" and the standard "Wade in the Water". A small combo, including her frequent guitarist Edward "Bee" Houston, provided backup for the two songs. Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company's performance of "Ball 'n' Chain" at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and the release of the song on their number one album "Cheap Thrills" renewed interest in Thornton's career.


title: Big Mama Thornton

text: By 1969, Thornton had signed with Mercury Records, which released her most successful album, "Stronger Than Dirt", which reached number 198 in the Billboard Top 200 record chart. Next, Thornton signed a contract with Pentagram Records and finally fulfilled one of her biggest dreams. A blues woman and the daughter of a preacher, Thornton loved the blues and what she called the "good singing" of gospel artists like the Dixie Hummingbirds and Mahalia Jackson. She had always wanted to record a gospel record, and did so with the album "Saved" (PE 10005). The album includes the gospel classics "Oh, Happy Day", "Down By The Riverside", "Glory, Glory Hallelujah", "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands", "Lord Save Me", "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot", "One More River", and "Go Down Moses".


title: Big Mama Thornton

text: By then, the American blues revival had come to an end. While the original blues acts like Thornton mostly played smaller venues, younger people played their versions of blues in massive arenas for big money. Since the blues had seeped into other genres of music, the blues musician no longer needed impoverishment or geography for substantiation; the style was enough. While at home the offers became fewer and smaller, things changed for good in 1972, when Thornton was asked to rejoin the American Folk Blues Festival tour. She thought of Europe as a good place for herself, and, with the lack of engagements in the United States, she agreed happily. The tour, beginning on March 2, took Thornton to Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Sweden, where it ended on March 27 in Stockholm. With her on the bill were Eddie Boyd, Big Joe Williams, Robert Pete Williams, T- Bone Walker, Paul Lenart, Hartley Severns, Edward Taylor and Vinton Johnson. As in 1965, they garnered recognition and respect from other musicians who wanted to see them.


title: Big Mama Thornton

text: In the 1970s, years of heavy drinking began to damage Thornton's health. She was in a serious auto accident but recovered to perform at the 1973 Newport Jazz Festival with Muddy Waters, B.B. King, and Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson (a recording of this performance, "The Blues—A Real Summit Meeting", was released by Buddha Records). Thornton's last albums were "Jail" and "Sassy Mama" for Vanguard Records in 1975. Other songs from the recording session were released in 2000 on "Big Mama Swings". "Jail" captured her performances during mid-1970s concerts at two prisons in the northwestern United States.


title: Big Mama Thornton

text: She was backed by a blues ensemble that featured sustained jams by George "Harmonica" Smith and included the guitarists Doug MacLeod, Bee Houston and Steve Wachsman; the drummer Todd Nelson; the saxophonist Bill Potter; the bassist Bruce Sieverson; and the pianist J. D. Nicholson. She toured extensively through the United States and Canada, played at the Juneteenth Blues Fest in Houston and shared the bill with John Lee Hooker.


title: Big Mama Thornton

text: She performed at the San Francisco Blues Festival in 1979 and the Newport Jazz Festival in 1980. Big Mama also performed in the "Blues Is a Woman" concert that year, alongside classic blues legend Sippie Wallace, sporting a man's three-piece suit, straw hat, and gold watch. She sat at center stage and played pieces she wanted to play, which were not on the program. Thornton took part in the Tribal Stomp at Monterey Fairgrounds, the Third Annual Sacramento Blues Festival, and the Los Angeles Bicentennial Blues with BB King and Muddy Waters. She was a guest on an ABC-TV special hosted by actor Hal Holbrook and was joined by Aretha Franklin and toured through the club scene. She was also part of the award-winning PBS television special "Three Generations" of the blues with Sippie Wallace and Jeannie Cheatham.


title: Big Mama Thornton

text: Thornton was found dead at age 57 by medical personnel in a Los Angeles boarding house on July 25, 1984. She died of heart and liver disorders due to her longstanding alcohol abuse. She had lost in a short time as a result of illness, her weight dropping from .


title: Big Mama Thornton

text: Thornton's performances were characterized by her deep, powerful voice and strong sense of self. She was given her nickname, "Big Mama," by Frank Schiffman, the manager of Harlem's Apollo Theater, because of her strong voice, size, and personality. Thornton stated that she was louder than any microphone and did not want a microphone to ever be as loud as she was. Alice Echols, the author of a biography of Janis Joplin, said that Thornton could sing in a "pretty voice" but did not want to. Thornton said, "My singing comes from my experience... My own experience. I never had no one teach me nothin’. I never went to school for music or nothin’. I taught myself to sing and to blow harmonica and even to play drums by watchin' other people! I can't read music, but I know what I'm singing! I don't sing like nobody but myself."


title: Big Mama Thornton

text: Her style was heavily influenced by gospel music that she listened to growing up in the home of a preacher, though her genre could be described as blues. Thornton was quoted in a 1980 article in the "New York Times": "when I was comin' up, listening to Bessie Smith and all, they sung from their heart and soul and expressed themselves. That's why when I do a song by Jimmy Reed or somebody, I have my own way of singing it. Because I don't want to be Jimmy Reed, I want to be me. I like to put myself into whatever I'm doin' so I can feel it".


title: Big Mama Thornton

text: Scholars such as Maureen Mahon have praised Thornton for subverting traditional roles of African-American women. She added a female voice to a field that was dominated by white males, and her strong personality transgressed stereotypes of what an African-American woman should be. This transgression was an integral part of her performance and stage persona.


title: Big Mama Thornton

text: During her career, Thornton was nominated for the Blues Music Awards six times. In 1984, she was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. In addition to "Ball 'n' Chain" and "They Call Me Big Mama," Thornton wrote twenty other blues songs. Her "Ball 'n' Chain" is included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame list of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll".


title: Big Mama Thornton

text: It was not until Janis Joplin covered Thornton's "Ball 'n' Chain" that it became a hit. Though Thornton did not receive financial compensation for her song, Joplin arranged for Thornton to open shows for her. Joplin found her singing voice through Thornton, who praised Joplin's version of "Ball 'n' Chain", saying, "That girl feels like I do."


title: Big Mama Thornton

text: Thornton subsequently received greater recognition for her popular songs, but she is still underappreciated for her influence on the blues, rock & roll and soul music. Thornton's music was also influential in shaping American popular music. The lack of appreciation she received for "Hound Dog" and "Ball 'n' Chain" as they became popular hits is representative of the lack of recognition she received during her career as a whole.


title: Big Mama Thornton

text: Many critics argue that Thornton's lack of recognition in the music industry is a reflection of an era of racial segregation in the United States, both physically and in the music industry. Scholars suggest that Thornton's lack of access to broader audiences (both white and black), may have been a barrier to her commercial success as both a vocalist and a composer.


title: Big Mama Thornton

text: The first full-length biography of Thornton, "Big Mama Thornton: The Life and Music", by Michael Spörke, was published in 2014.


title: Big Mama Thornton

text: In 2004, the nonprofit Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls, named for Thornton, was founded to offer a musical education to girls from ages eight to eighteen.


title: Big Mama Thornton

text: In 2022, Big Mama Thornton was featured as a character in a biopic about Elvis Presley, simply titled "Elvis". In the movie, Thornton (played by Shonka Dukureh) is depicted in much the same way she was in real life. Namely, as the original singer of "Hound Dog" and Thornton is shown prominently in the movie singing the song. Presley (played by Austin Butler) hears Thornton sing "Hound Dog" at a concert and decides to make a cover of the song. Dukureh's performance of "Hound Dog" was included in full on the soundtrack. Both the movie and soundtrack were critical and commercial hits and gave greater public attention to Thornton.


title: Franz, Duke of Bavaria

text: Franz Bonaventura Adalbert Maria Herzog von Bayern (born 14 July 1933), commonly known by the courtesy title Duke of Bavaria, is the head of the House of Wittelsbach, the former ruling family of the Kingdom of Bavaria. His great-grandfather King Ludwig III was the last ruling monarch of Bavaria until being deposed in 1918.


title: Franz, Duke of Bavaria

text: Franz was born in Munich. During the Second World War, the Wittelsbachs were anti-Nazi. The family initially left Nazi Germany for Hungary but were eventually arrested when Germany invaded the country in 1944. Franz was 11 at the time. He spent time in several Nazi concentration camps, including Sachsenhausen concentration camp, then Flossenbürg concentration camp and finally Dachau.


title: Franz, Duke of Bavaria

text: After the war, Franz was a student at the University of Munich and became a collector of modern art. Franz succeeded as head of the House of Wittelsbach, and as pretender to the Bavarian throne, on the death of his father in 1996. He lives at Nymphenburg Palace in Munich and Berg Palace.


title: Franz, Duke of Bavaria

text: Franz was born on 14 July 1933 in Munich, the son of Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria, and his morganatic wife, Countess Maria Draskovich of Trakostjan of the House of Drašković, a Croatian noble family. On 18 May 1949, when Franz was 15, his grandfather Crown Prince Rupprecht recognised the marriage of Franz's parents as dynastic, and Franz became a prince of Bavaria.


title: Franz, Duke of Bavaria

text: The Wittelsbach dynasty were opposed to the Nazi regime in Germany, and in 1939, Franz's father took his family to Hungary. They lived in Budapest for four years before moving to their Castle at Sárvár in late 1943. In March 1944, Nazi Germany occupied Hungary, and on 6 October 1944 the entire family, including the 11-year-old Franz, were arrested. They were sent to a series of Nazi concentration camps, including Oranienburg and Dachau. At the end of April 1945, they were liberated by the United States Third Army.


title: Franz, Duke of Bavaria

text: After the war, Franz received his secondary education at the Benedictine Abbey of Ettal. He then studied business management at the University of Munich and in Zurich. Franz developed a passion for collecting modern art. Items from his private collection are on permanent loan to the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich. He is also an honorary trustee of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.


title: Franz, Duke of Bavaria

text: His 80th birthday party, in 2013, was held at the Schleissheim Palace near Munich. The party was attended by 2,500 guests, including the then-incumbent Minister-President of Bavaria, Horst Seehofer.


title: Franz, Duke of Bavaria

text: In 2016, he became the donor of the project of restoration of the Statue of St. John of Nepomuk in Divina, Slovakia, realised under auspices of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Slovakia. The project was honoured by patronage of Norodom Sihamoni, the king of Cambodia and Simeon II, the last tsar of Bulgaria. The project was completed in the year 2017.


title: Franz, Duke of Bavaria

text: Duke Franz has a longtime partner, Thomas Greinwald, although they have never married. They sat for a photo portrait for Erwin Olaf that was widely published in spring 2021.


title: Franz, Duke of Bavaria

text: Franz has never married. The heir presumptive to the headship of the House of Wittelsbach is his brother Prince Max, Duke in Bavaria. Because Max has five daughters but no sons, he is followed in the line of succession by his and Franz's first cousin (second cousin in the male line) Prince Luitpold and, in the next generation, by the latter's son Prince Ludwig of Bavaria (born 1982).


title: Franz, Duke of Bavaria

text: Franz is a direct descendant of the House of Stuart. Were it not for the Act of Settlement 1701, Franz would be the successor to the British and Irish crowns of the Stuart kings. His spokesman has, however, made it clear that this is a purely 'hypothetical' issue and not a claim that Franz pursues and Franz personally issued condolences to the British royal family upon Queen Elizabeth II's death.


title: Franz, Duke of Bavaria

text: Franz is traditionally styled as His Royal Highness the Duke of Bavaria, of Franconia and in Swabia, Count Palatine of the Rhine.


title: Franz, Duke of Bavaria

text: Franz was styled "Prinz von Bayern" at birth. In 1996, after the death of his father, he changed his style to "Herzog von Bayern" ('Duke of Bavaria').


title: Illeana Douglas

text: Illeana Hesselberg (born July 25, 1961 or 1965), known professionally as Illeana Douglas, is an American actress and filmmaker. She appeared in three episodes of "Six Feet Under", for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination as Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series and won the Best Guest Actress in a Drama Series award from OFTA, the Online Film & Television Association, and in the TV series "Action" opposite Jay Mohr, for which she won a Satellite Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy. , she can be seen on Turner Classic Movies where she hosts specials focused on unheralded women directors from film history.


title: Illeana Douglas

text: Douglas was born in Quincy, Massachusetts, the daughter of Joan Douglas (née Georgescu), a schoolteacher, and Gregory Hesselberg, a painter. Douglas's father was the son of Hollywood actor Melvyn Douglas and his wife, the artist Rosalind Hightower. Douglas had two older brothers, the late Stefan Gregor Hesselberg, a technician in the histology laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who also trained racehorses in Verona, Italy, and Erik Hesselberg, a journalist.


title: Illeana Douglas

text: Douglas grew up in Connecticut, in the Old Saybrook area, and has said that she was also raised in many other cities, in Massachusetts where her father lived, Connecticut where her mother lived, and New York, where her extended family lived. During her childhood she spent time going back and forth between relatives during the summer. Douglas said that her parents were heavily influenced by the 1970s hippie culture—her father especially by the movie "Easy Rider". They had a loose parenting style and did not pressure her to go to college. Comedy albums were popular in her family. They would put on dramatic interpretations and performances.


title: Illeana Douglas

text: Douglas's mother's side is Roman Catholic—Italian and Romanian from Astoria, Queens. Her maternal grandmother worked in the restaurant at Gertz department store in Astoria; her maternal grandfather was a welder. Douglas said that her maternal grandmother, a former Rockette, had wanted to be an actor. She instilled in Douglas a love for the movies, which they attended together frequently when she was a child.


title: Illeana Douglas

text: As a child she would visit her paternal grandfather, the actor Melvyn Douglas, in his apartment in Manhattan on the Upper West Side as well as at his home in the Hollywood Hills section of Los Angeles. Douglas said that during her summers with her grandfather, he introduced her to his interests, which included theater, elocution, reading, art, and history.


title: Illeana Douglas

text: Douglas has said that her grandfather's performance in "Being There" was influential on her own career. In the 1940s, Douglas' grandfather and Peter Sellers both served in the military during WWII and met in Burma. In the 1960s, the two men reconnected in London and talked about their time together in the war. During high school, Douglas visited the set while they were shooting on location in Asheville, North Carolina and met Sellers, whose work she admired greatly. It was the first time she was on a film set.


title: Illeana Douglas

text: Douglas notes the contrast between her working-class Italian roots and the glamorous Hollywood world of her paternal side of the family. Famous people including Myrna Loy, Gore Vidal, Gloria Steinem, politicians, writers, and others were often present, in a salon-like environment. Douglas has said it took her a long time to reconcile the different lifestyles she was exposed to in her youth. She identifies more with the Italian side of her family, and has said that she developed more of their "rhythms and ways" due to the amount of time she spent with them in Queens.


title: Illeana Douglas

text: After graduating from high school, Douglas moved to New York City. Having been interested in movies from her childhood, Douglas wanted to be in show business. She stayed with relatives in various temporary arrangements. Douglas attended American Academy of Dramatic Arts, where she was a contemporary of Elias Koteas and Lou Mustillo. Following their first year, Mustillo and Douglas were not invited back to the school.


title: Illeana Douglas

text: When she was 18 years old, Douglas went to work for Steve Rubell at the Morgans Hotel. While there, Douglas decided to reinvent herself, and began attending Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre, where she studied with the acting teacher Richard Pinter. While she was working in a sketch comedy group called Manhattan Punchline, one of the troupe members suggested she try stand-up comedy. Douglas worked briefly at Stand Up New York, and found the writing and acting easy, but found the performing difficult. She did not like the raw comedy style then in vogue, and did not enjoy the lifestyle of a standup comic.


title: Illeana Douglas

text: Douglas began working for a well-known publicist, Peggy Siegal. Through this position, she tried to send her headshot to Martin Scorsese's casting director, but was not successful. At that time, Scorsese was editing his film "Last Temptation of Christ" in an office down the hall from Siegal's offices. The editors needed a sound effect to convey Mary Magdalene screaming, and asked her to help out. In this way, Douglas met Scorsese, his editor, Thelma Schoonmaker, as well as filmmaker Michael Powell, and provided many ADR of crowd sounds. The group bonded over discussion of old films, which was a long-standing interest. Scorsese and Douglas eventually began a long-term relationship.


title: Illeana Douglas

text: Soon afterwards, she got her first movie role: a small part in Scorsese's segment of "New York Stories." Douglas said that Lorraine Bracco took Douglas under her wing during the shooting of Scorsese's "Goodfellas", helping her to find an agent. It was then that Douglas became Scorsese's girlfriend.


title: Illeana Douglas

text: Douglas appeared in Scorsese's "Cape Fear" (1991) – one of four Scorsese films in which she has appeared. After "Cape Fear," she had several film roles where her character was eventually cut, including in "Household Saints", "Jungle Fever", and "Quiz Show". "It was kind of depressing," she commented.


title: Illeana Douglas

text: Douglas acted in a low-budget movie called "Grief" that was accepted into Sundance, which led to her meeting director Allison Anders.


title: Illeana Douglas

text: Douglas and Anders wanted to collaborate on a film, and began work on a biography of Anne Sexton, which never came to fruition. As they were both interested in music, Douglas suggested a movie about the personalities of the Brill Building, where she had worked. This led to her first starring role as singer-songwriter Denise Waverly in Anders' 1996 film, "Grace of My Heart".


title: Illeana Douglas

text: Douglas had a supporting role in 1995's "To Die For", where the director Gus Van Sant taught her about the technical aspects of filmmaking, such as camera blocking, film lenses, and modulating a performance for film. It was also a movie where she felt that the Meisner technique she learned at the Neighborhood Playhouse started to connect for her.


title: Illeana Douglas

text: On television, Douglas appeared in a memorable role as one of Garry Shandling's love interests towards the end of the series, "The Larry Sanders Show," in 1998. In 1999, she had a starring role opposite Jay Mohr in the series "Action". She played a television executive who started out as a prostitute who had Mohr as a regular customer.


title: Illeana Douglas

text: She guest starred on "Seinfeld", "Frasier" and "The Drew Carey Show", and has played a public defender on several episodes of "" in 2002 and 2003. She appeared in two episodes of the HBO TV series "Six Feet Under", both of which earned Emmy nominations for Guest Actress in a Drama. She appeared as Mrs. Ari's sister Marci in the Season 7 finale of "Entourage".


title: Illeana Douglas

text: In 2006, she starred in the Lifetime TV film "Not Like Everyone Else" and played herself in "Pittsburgh" opposite Jeff Goldblum. In 2007, Douglas was added to the cast of "Ugly Betty", playing Sheila, an editor for "MODE" magazine.