title: Anri Okita

text: After retiring from adult films Okita remained highly popular in Japan, especially on social media and among the youth. In 2011, while still in the adult industry, Okita appeared in seven episodes of the popular Japanese tokusatsu television series "". In 2016, Okita joined the popular pop rock group Ebisu Muscats, touring with the group in November and December 2016. In mid-2017, Okita left the group to pursue a solo career, releasing her first solo album "Gorilla" in October 2017. She also starred in several mainstream movies including the comedy "Naked Ambition 2" and the action-thriller "Diamond Dogs."


title: Anri Okita

text: In late 2019, Okita started a YouTube channel where she uploads videos of her sketching and drawing. It is presented in a mix of English and Japanese. As of February 1, 2020, it had 23,000 subscribers and over 800,000 total channel views.


title: Anri Okita

text: In 2021, Okita applied to gradually remove the works from the official websites of various AV companies. On August 28, 2021, she tweeted that all her works had been taken off the shelves.


title: Anri Okita

text: In 2015, Okita said on the television show "MarsTalk": "I want to get a dedicated Chinese boyfriend."


title: Anri Okita

text: In December 2017, Okita married a Japanese businessman. In early 2018, the couple announced they would be having a baby-girl. On April 30, 2018, she announced that she had successfully delivered a healthy girl.


title: Teen Titans: The Judas Contract

text: Teen Titans: The Judas Contract is a 2017 American animated superhero film directed by Sam Liu from a screenplay by Ernie Altbacker based on "The Judas Contract" by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez. It is the 28th film of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies, the ninth film of the DC Animated Movie Universe and the sequel to "Justice League vs. Teen Titans" (2016). The film features the voices of Christina Ricci, Taissa Farmiga, Miguel Ferrer, Stuart Allan, Brandon Soo Hoo, Jake T. Austin, Kari Wahlgren, Sean Maher, Gregg Henry, and Meg Foster. It marked Ferrer's final film role before his death in 2017.


title: Teen Titans: The Judas Contract

text: This film had its world premiere at WonderCon on March 31, 2017. The film was released through digital download on April 4 and through home media on April 18 by Warner Home Video.


title: Teen Titans: The Judas Contract

text: Additionally in the film, Crispin Freeman, Jason Spisak and Masasa Moyo reprise their respective roles from "Young Justice" as Roy Harper / Speedy, Kid Flash and Karen Beecher / Bumblebee.


title: Teen Titans: The Judas Contract

text: Five years ago, the original Teen Titans—Dick Grayson as Robin, Speedy, Kid Flash, Beast Boy, and Bumblebee—rescue Princess Starfire of planet Tamaran from her captors sent by her evil older sister Blackfire who had staged a coup and forcibly taken the throne. As she is no longer able to return to her world, the Titans offer her a home on Earth as one of them, Dick, fell in love with Starfire at first sight and more when she kissed him in order to learn English.


title: Teen Titans: The Judas Contract

text: In the present, Dick Grayson - now known as Nightwing - rejoins the Teen Titans to track down a terrorist cult led by Brother Blood, who plans on capturing the team to absorb each of their unique abilities with a machine that he has tested on Jericho; the latter is later shot in the head by Brother Blood's lover and assistant, Mother Mayhem. To speed up the progress with his development, Brother Blood hires the mercenary Deathstroke to deliver the Titans to him; Deathstroke, who survived his apparent death a few years ago, still seeks revenge on Damian Wayne - the new Robin - for replacing him as Ra's al Ghul's heir before betraying the League of Assassins. Deathstroke monitors the Titans through his double agent Terra, who joined the team a year prior and whom he rescued after her parents turned their whole village against her and tortured her. When Damian grows suspicious of Terra's behavior and starts tracking her, he is confronted by Deathstroke; they fight until Terra subdues and captures Damian, thus revealing her affiliation to Deathstroke.


title: Teen Titans: The Judas Contract

text: Terra initially acts cold and distant towards the other Titans despite their welcoming attitude, but eventually warms up to them. During the night celebrating her one-year anniversary with the Titans, she shares a tender moment with Beast Boy and kisses him; they gradually form a relationship together. While attending a convention to do a podcast with filmmaker Kevin Smith, Beast Boy is captured by Deathstroke; Blue Beetle is snatched from the soup kitchen where he works; and Starfire is kidnapped at the apartment she shares with Nightwing. Meanwhile, Terra captures Raven at the Titan's headquarters. Nightwing soon learns about the conspiracy before Deathstroke ambushes him. Outmatched, he manages to escape by faking his own death.


title: Teen Titans: The Judas Contract

text: Terra reveals herself as a double agent to the captured Titans when she and Deathstroke bring them to Brother Blood, who intends to become a god-like figure by using the machine to absorb the Titans' powers. However, since Deathstroke had failed to capture Nightwing, the machine cannot operate properly without a sixth Titan (despite the fact that neither Nightwing nor Robin have any powers to take); in response, he betrays Terra by allowing Brother Blood to apprehend her - thus completing the deal between them. With his followers and Deathstroke present, Brother Blood proceeds to commence draining the Titans of their powers until Nightwing surprisingly intervenes. After rescuing the Titans, Nightwing and Robin fight Deathstroke while the others battle Brother Blood - who has absorbed all of their powers. The Titans struggle against the villains until Terra intervenes, furiously attacking Deathstroke for his betrayal while causing Brother Blood to get overpowered. The battle ends with Brother Blood being depowered by Raven unleashing her inner fury as a demon while Deathstroke is buried underneath multiple rocks thrown by Terra. Brother Blood is then shot and killed by Mother Mayhem to prevent him from being captured by the Titans. Too ashamed to face her former allies after betraying their trust, Terra decides to bring down the entire area. Beast Boy attempts to assist Terra in escaping the crumbling fortress, but Terra pushes him back and is buried underneath multiple layers of rubble. Beast Boy digs her up, and she dies in his arms.


title: Teen Titans: The Judas Contract

text: In the epilogue, Beast Boy goes on Kevin Smith's podcast and talks about the Titans with the host. He mentions that the team has a "wonderful new member" and that he will always miss Terra.


title: Teen Titans: The Judas Contract

text: In a post-credits scene, Jericho is shown to have survived the bullet Mother Mayhem shot at him earlier.


title: Teen Titans: The Judas Contract

text: An adaptation of "The Judas Contract" was planned as the third in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies series, to be released after "" (2007) and "" (2008), but this was later shelved. It was to be based on 1984's "The Judas Contract" story featured in "Tales of the Teen Titans" #42–44, and "Teen Titans Annual" #3 by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez. Warner Bros. Animation's writer/producer Bruce Timm confirmed in April 2010 that there were no current plans to revive the project, but in July 2016, Warner Bros. revived the project as "Teen Titans: The Judas Contract", serving as a sequel to "Justice League vs. Teen Titans". Farmiga, Austin, Wahlgren, Soo Hoo, Allan and Maher reprised their roles, and Christina Ricci and Miguel Ferrer joined the cast as Terra and Deathstroke, respectively. This was the final project for Ferrer before he died from throat cancer in January 2017.


title: Teen Titans: The Judas Contract

text: In January 2017, the first promotional images from the film were released by "The Hollywood Reporter". In early February, the first official trailer for "Teen Titans: The Judas Contract" was released, as well as an exclusive clip from the film.


title: Teen Titans: The Judas Contract

text: The film had its world premiere at the Los Angeles WonderCon on March 31, 2017. "Teen Titans: The Judas Contract" was then released via digital download on April 4, and was released straight-to-DVD and Blu-ray on April 18.


title: Teen Titans: The Judas Contract

text: The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of , with an average score of , based on reviews.


title: Teen Titans: The Judas Contract

text: Jesse Schedeen of IGN gave the film a 6.2/10 rating: "The film loses too much of what makes the source material memorable, while the limited run-time prevents the writers from fully taking advantage of the team dynamic or properly fleshing out the villains". Julian Roman of MovieWeb called the film a "marked improvement" over "Justice League vs. Teen Titans" and wrote: "The film slickly integrates adult themes into its entertaining plotline. "The Judas Contract" is action packed and moves at a fast pace. The Teen Titans are certainly on better footing here".


title: Mithridates VI Eupator

text: Mithridates or Mithradates VI Eupator (; 135–63 BC) was ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus in northern Anatolia from 120 to 63 BC, and one of the Roman Republic's most formidable and determined opponents. He was an effective, ambitious and ruthless ruler who sought to dominate Asia Minor and the Black Sea region, waging several hard-fought but ultimately unsuccessful wars (the Mithridatic Wars) to break Roman dominion over Asia and the Hellenic world. He has been called the greatest ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus. He cultivated an immunity to poisons by regularly ingesting sub-lethal doses; this practice, now called mithridatism, is named after him. After his death he became known as Mithridates the Great.


title: Mithridates VI Eupator

text: "Mithridates" is the Greek attestation of the Persian name "Mihrdāt", meaning "given by Mithra", the name of the ancient Iranian sun god. The name itself is derived from Old Iranian "Miθra-dāta-".


title: Mithridates VI Eupator

text: Mithridates Eupator Dionysus () was a prince of mixed Persian and Greek ancestry. He claimed descent from Cyrus the Great, the family of Darius the Great, the Regent Antipater, the generals of Alexander the Great as well as the later kings Antigonus I Monophthalmus and Seleucus I Nicator.


title: Mithridates VI Eupator

text: Mithridates was born in the Pontic city of Sinope, on the Black Sea coast of Anatolia, and was raised in the Kingdom of Pontus. He was the first son among the children born to Laodice VI and Mithridates V Euergetes (reigned 150–120 BC). His father, Mithridates V, was a prince and the son of the former Pontic monarchs Pharnaces I of Pontus and his cousin-wife Nysa. His mother, Laodice VI, was a Seleucid princess and the daughter of the Seleucid monarchs Antiochus IV Epiphanes and his sister-wife Laodice IV.


title: Mithridates VI Eupator

text: Mithridates V was assassinated in about 120 BC in Sinope, poisoned by unknown persons at a lavish banquet which he held. He left the kingdom to the joint rule of his widow Laodice VI, and their elder son Mithridates VI, and younger son Mithridates Chrestus. Neither Mithridates VI nor his younger brother were of age, and their mother retained all power as regent for the time being. Laodice VI's regency over Pontus was from 120 BC to 116 BC (even perhaps up to 113 BC) and favored Mithridates Chrestus over Mithridates. During his mother's regency, Mithridates escaped from his mother's plots against him and went into hiding.


title: Mithridates VI Eupator

text: Mithridates emerged from hiding and returned to Pontus between 116 and 113 BC and was hailed as king. By this time he had grown to become a man of considerable stature and physical strength. He could combine extraordinary energy and determination with a considerable talent for politics, organization and strategy. Mithridates removed his mother and brother from the throne, imprisoning both, becoming the sole ruler of Pontus. Laodice VI died in prison, ostensibly of natural causes. Mithridates Chrestus may have died in prison also, or may have been tried for treason and executed. Mithridates gave both royal funerals. Mithridates took his younger sister Laodice, aged 16, as his first wife. His goals in doing so were to preserve the purity of their bloodline, to solidify his claim to the throne, to co-rule over Pontus, and to ensure the succession to his legitimate children.


title: Mithridates VI Eupator

text: Mithridates entertained ambitions of making his state the dominant power on the Black Sea and in Anatolia. He first subjugated Colchis, a region east of the Black Sea occupied by present-day Georgia, and prior to 164 BC, an independent kingdom. He then clashed for supremacy on the Pontic steppe with the Scythian king Palacus. The most important centres of Crimea, Tauric Chersonesus and the Bosporan Kingdom readily surrendered their independence in return for Mithridates' promises to protect them against the Scythians, their ancient enemies. After several abortive attempts to invade the Crimea, the Scythians and the allied Rhoxolanoi suffered heavy losses at the hands of the Pontic general Diophantus and accepted Mithridates as their overlord.


title: Mithridates VI Eupator

text: The young king then turned his attention to Anatolia, where Roman power was on the rise. He contrived to partition Paphlagonia and Galatia with King Nicomedes III of Bithynia. It was probably on the occasion of the Paphlagonian invasion of 108 BC that Mithridates adopted the Bithynian era for use on his coins in honour of the alliance. This calendar era began with the first Bithynian king Zipoites I in 297 BC. It was certainly in use in Pontus by 96 BC at the latest.


title: Mithridates VI Eupator

text: Yet it soon became clear to Mithridates that Nicomedes was steering his country into an anti-Pontic alliance with the expanding Roman Republic. When Mithridates fell out with Nicomedes over control of Cappadocia, and defeated him in a series of battles, the latter was constrained to openly enlist the assistance of Rome. The Romans twice interfered in the conflict on behalf of Nicomedes (95–92 BC), leaving Mithridates, should he wish to continue the expansion of his kingdom, with little choice other than to engage in a future Roman-Pontic war. By this time Mithridates had resolved to expel the Romans from Asia.


title: Mithridates VI Eupator

text: The next ruler of Bithynia, Nicomedes IV of Bithynia, was a figurehead manipulated by the Romans. Mithridates plotted to overthrow him, but his attempts failed and Nicomedes IV, instigated by his Roman advisors, declared war on Pontus. Rome itself was at the time involved in the Social War, a civil war with its Italian allies; as a result, there were only two legions present in all of Roman Asia, both in Macedonia. These legions combined with Nicomedes IV's army to invade Mithridates' Kingdom of Pontus in 89 BC. Mithridates won a decisive victory, scattering the Roman-led forces. His victorious forces were welcomed throughout Anatolia. The following year, 88 BC, Mithridates orchestrated a genocide of Roman and Italian settlers remaining in several major Anatolian cities, including Pergamon and Tralles, essentially wiping out the Roman presence in the region. As many as 80,000 people are said to have perished in the massacre. The episode is known as the Asiatic Vespers.


title: Mithridates VI Eupator

text: The Kingdom of Pontus comprised a mixed population in its Ionian Greek and Anatolian cities. The royal family moved the capital from Amasia to the Greek city of Sinope. Its rulers tried to fully assimilate the potential of their subjects by showing a Greek face to the Greek world and an Iranian/Anatolian face to the Eastern world. Whenever the gap between the rulers and their Anatolian subjects became greater, they would put emphasis on their Persian origins. In this manner, the royal propaganda claimed heritage both from Persian and Greek rulers, including Cyrus the Great, Darius I of Persia, Alexander the Great and Seleucus I Nicator. Mithridates too posed as a champion of Hellenism, but this was mainly to further his political ambitions; it is no proof that he felt a mission to promote its extension within his domains. Whatever his true intentions, the Greek cities (including Athens) defected to the side of Mithridates and welcomed his armies in mainland Greece, while his fleet besieged the Romans at Rhodes. His neighbor to the southeast, the King of Armenia Tigranes the Great, established an alliance with Mithridates and married one of Mithridates’ daughters, Cleopatra of Pontus. The two rulers would continue to support each other in the coming conflict with Rome.


title: Mithridates VI Eupator

text: The Romans responded to the massacre of 88 BC by organising a large invasion force to defeat Mithridates and remove him from power. The First Mithridatic War, fought between 88 and 84 BC, saw Lucius Cornelius Sulla force Mithridates out of Greece proper. After achieving victory in several battles, Sulla received news of trouble back in Rome posed by his rival Gaius Marius and hurriedly concluded peace talks with Mithridates. As Sulla returned to Italy, Lucius Licinius Murena was left in charge of Roman forces in Anatolia. The lenient peace treaty, which was never ratified by the Senate, allowed Mithridates VI to restore his forces. Murena attacked Mithridates in 83 BC, provoking the Second Mithridatic War from 83 to 81 BC. Mithridates defeated Murena's two green legions at the Battle of Halys in 82 BC before peace was again declared by treaty.


title: Mithridates VI Eupator

text: When Rome attempted to annex Bithynia (bequested to Rome by its last king) nearly a decade later, Mithridates attacked with an even larger army, leading to the Third Mithridatic War from 73 BC to 63 BC. Lucullus was sent against Mithridates and the Romans routed the Pontic forces at the Battle of Cabira in 72 BC, driving Mithridates into exile in Tigranes' Armenia. While Lucullus was preoccupied fighting the Armenians, Mithridates surged back to retake Pontus by crushing four Roman legions under Valerius Triarius and killing 7,000 Roman soldiers at the Battle of Zela in 67 BC. He was routed by Pompey's legions at the Battle of the Lycus in 66 BC.


title: Mithridates VI Eupator

text: After this defeat, Mithridates fled with a small army to Colchis and then over the Caucasus Mountains to Crimea and made plans to raise yet another army to take on the Romans. His eldest living son, Machares, viceroy of Cimmerian Bosporus, was unwilling to aid his father. Mithridates had Machares killed, and Mithridates took the throne of the Bosporan Kingdom. He then ordered conscription and preparations for war. In 63 BC, another of his sons, Pharnaces II of Pontus, led a rebellion against his father, joined by Roman exiles in the core of Mithridates' Pontic army. Mithridates withdrew to the citadel in Panticapaeum, where he committed suicide. Pompey buried Mithridates in the rock-cut tombs of his ancestors in Amasia, the old capital of Pontus.


title: Mithridates VI Eupator

text: During the time of the First Mithridatic War, a group of Mithridates' friends plotted to kill him. These were Mynnio and Philotimus of Smyrna, and Cleisthenes and Asclepiodotus of Lesbos. Asclepiodotus changed his mind and became an informant. He arranged to have Mithridates hide under a couch to hear the plot against him. The other conspirators were tortured and executed. Mithridates also killed all of the plotters' families and friends.


title: Mithridates VI Eupator

text: Where his ancestors pursued philhellenism as a means of attaining respectability and prestige among the Hellenistic kingdoms, Mithridates VI made use of Hellenism as a political tool. Greeks, Romans and Asians were welcome at his court. As protector of Greek cities on the Black Sea and in Asia against barbarism, Mithridates VI logically became protector of Greece and Greek culture, and used this stance in his clashes with Rome. Strabo mentions that Chersonesus buckled under the pressure of the barbarians and asked Mithridates VI to become its protector (7.4.3. c.308). The most impressive symbol of Mithridates VI's approbation with Greece (Athens in particular) appears at Delos: a heroon dedicated to the Pontic king in 102/1 by the Athenian Helianax, a priest of Poseidon Aisios. A dedication at Delos, by Dicaeus, a priest of Sarapis, was made in 94/93 BC on behalf of the Athenians, Romans, and "King Mithridates Eupator Dionysus". Greek styles mixed with Persian elements also abound on official Pontic coins – Perseus was favored as an intermediary between both worlds, East and West.


title: Mithridates VI Eupator

text: Certainly influenced by Alexander the Great, Mithridates VI extended his propaganda from "defender" of Greece to the "great liberator" of the Greek world as war with the Roman Republic became inevitable. The Romans were easily translated into "barbarians", in the same sense as the Persian Empire during the war with Persia in the first half of the 5th century BC and during Alexander's campaign. How many Greeks genuinely agreed with this claim will never be known. It served its purpose; at least partially because of it, Mithridates VI was able to fight the First War with Rome on Greek soil, and maintain the allegiance of Greece. His campaign for the allegiance of the Greeks was aided in no small part by his enemy Sulla, who allowed his troops to sack the city of Delphi and plunder many of the city's most famous treasures to help finance his military expenses.


title: Mithridates VI Eupator

text: After Pompey defeated him in Pontus, Mithridates VI fled to the lands north of the Black Sea in the winter of 66 BC in the hope that he could raise a new army and carry on the war through invading Italy by way of the Danube. His preparations proved to be too harsh on the local nobles and populace, and they rebelled against his rule. He reportedly attempted suicide by poison, which failed because of his immunity to the substance. According to Appian's "Roman History", he then requested his Gallic bodyguard and friend, Bituitus, to kill him by the sword:


title: Mithridates VI Eupator

text: At the behest of Pompey, Mithridates' body was later buried alongside his ancestors (in either Sinope or Amaseia). Mount Mithridat in the central Kerch and the town of Yevpatoria in Crimea commemorate his name.


title: Mithridates VI Eupator

text: In his youth, after the assassination of his father Mithridates V in Mithridates is said to have lived in the wilderness for seven years, inuring himself to hardship. While there and after his accession, he cultivated an immunity to poisons by regularly ingesting sub-lethal doses of poisons, particularly the arsenic that killed his father Mithridates V. This form of hormesis is effective against some but not all toxins and subsequently became known as Mithridatism or Mithridatization. After he became king of Pontus, Mithridates continued to study poisons and develop antidotes, whose initial efficacies were tested on Pontic criminals condemned to death. Attalus III of Pergamon (d. 133 BC) is also known to have studied poisons and antidotes in this way. In keeping with most medical practices of his era, Mithridates' antitoxin routines included a religious component; they were supervised by the "Agari", a group of Scythian shamans who never left him. (He was also reportedly guarded in his sleep by a horse, a bull, and a stag, which would whinny, bellow, and bleat whenever anyone approached the royal bed.) The Greek doctor Crateuas the Rootcutter may have worked directly under Mithridates or may have only been in correspondence with him. Mithridates was also said to have received samples including megalium and kyphi from Zopyrus of Alexandria and treatises from Asclepiades in lieu of a requested visit. By the time of his death in Mithridates was reported to have developed a complex "universal antidote" against poisoning, which he took every day with cold spring water and which became known as mithridate or mithridatium. He was said to consume it daily. The original formula has been entirely lost, although Pliny reports that Mithridates' various antidotes usually included the blood of Pontic ducks (possibly ruddy shelducks), which fed on poisonous plants like hellebore and hemlock and thus provided a kind of serum against them. Elsewhere, Pliny reports that surviving notes of Mithridates' work did not include exotic ingredients and that Pompey found an antidote recipe among Mithridates' notes that consisted of 2 dried walnuts, 2 figs, and 20 rue leaves, which were supposed to be crushed together and taken with a pinch of salt by a person who had fasted for at least one day.


title: Mithridates VI Eupator

text: The legions under Pompey who had defeated Mithridates killed his secretary Callistratus and burnt some of his papers, but were also reported to have taken an extensive medicinal library and collection of specimens back to Rome, where Pompey's slave Lenaeus translated them into Latin and the Roman doctors like A. Cornelius Celsus began prescribing various recipes under the name of Mithridates' antidote (). Numerous recipes survive from the 1st century, all consisting of a polypharmiceutical electuary including castor from willow-consuming beavers and opium sweetened with honeyPontic honey tending to contain mild amounts of poison from local plants like rhododendron and oleanderbut otherwise all differing in both ingredients and amounts. It seems likely Pompey and Lenaeus kept Mithridates' personal recipe secret, leading to various attempts to recreate it after their deaths. A foreign father and son both named Paccius seem to have become rich selling their own secret recipe under Tiberius. Around the same time, Celsus advocated taking an almond-sized amount of his ginger-heavy preparation daily with wine. Andromachus the Elder, Nero's court physician, developed theriac () by supplementing the versions of Mithridates' formula known in his day with more opium, poppy seeds, and a homeopathic addition of viper flesh. One of the vats uncovered at Pompeii seems to have been used to create this version of Mithridates' antidote. Galen added still more opium and a skink in his version of the recipe. Of the plants shared across these early forms of mithridate, many seem to be strongly odoriferous or to exhibit antibacterial and anti-inflammatory abilities; it is also noteworthy that bioactive alkaloids and poisons are "not" widely represented.


title: Mithridates VI Eupator

text: Mithridate and theriac continued to be staples of Western and Islamic medicine into the 19th century, consumed by Caesar and emperors, kings, and queens including Marcus Aurelius, Septimus Severus, Alfred the Great, Charlemagne, Henry VIII, and Queen Elizabeth. Some medieval preparations had as many as 184 ingredients. Owing to the idea that disease could be caused by "internal poisons", the antidotes also came to be thought of as panaceas able to cure damage from falls, some illnesses, or even all illnesses. When it failed, the problem was believed to be improper preparation or storage, leading some jurisdictions to legally require its preparation in full view of the public in city squares. Concerns about mithridate's purity and later inefficacy were closely involved with the development of medical and pharmaceutical regulation. Mithridate remains available from some doctors, particularly in the Middle East. As early as Pliny, however, some considered it quackery and its various components and proportions pseudoscientific. Chinese doctors received samples of mithridate from Muslim ambassadors in the Tang Dynasty but never popularized or advocated it. The Islamic scientist Averroes, meanwhile, believed it may be helpful in some cases but cautioned against regular consumption by the healthy as it "could actually transform human nature into a kind of poison". It notably failed as a cure to plague and epilepsy, and William Heberden's 1745 "Antitheriaca" (, "Antithēriaka") helped fully discredit it in England. By the 19th century, it was only being prescribed for dyspepsia or described as of historical interest only.


title: Mithridates VI Eupator

text: In Pliny the Elder's account of famous polyglots, Mithridates could speak the languages of all the twenty-two nations he governed. This reputation led to the use of Mithridates' name as title in some later works on comparative linguistics, such as Conrad Gessner's "Mithridates de differentiis linguarum" (1555), and Adelung and Vater's "Mithridates oder allgemeine Sprachenkunde" (1806–1817).


title: Mithridates VI Eupator

text: Mithridates VI had wives and mistresses, by whom he had several children. The names he gave his children are a representation of his Persian and Greek heritage and ancestry.


title: Mithridates VI Eupator

text: His first wife was his sister Laodice. They were married from 115/113 BC until about 90 BC. They had several children. Their sons were Mithridates, Arcathius, Machares and Pharnaces II of Pontus.


title: Mithridates VI Eupator

text: Their daughters were Cleopatra of Pontus (sometimes called Cleopatra the Elder to distinguish her from her sister of the same name) and Drypetina (a diminutive form of "Drypetis"). Drypetina was Mithridates VI's most devoted daughter. Her baby teeth never fell out, so she had a double set of teeth.


title: Mithridates VI Eupator

text: His second wife was a Greek Macedonian noblewoman, Monime. They were married from about 89/88 BC until 72/71 BC and had a daughter, Athenais, who married King Ariobarzanes II of Cappadocia. His next two wives were also Greek: he was married to his third wife Berenice of Chios, from 86 to 72/71 BC, and to his fourth wife Stratonice of Pontus, from sometime after 86 to 63 BC. Stratonice bore Mithridates a son Xiphares. His fifth wife is unknown. His sixth wife Hypsicratea, famed for her loyalty and prowess in battle, was Caucasian, and they were married from an unknown date to 63 BC.


title: Mithridates VI Eupator

text: One of his mistresses was the Galatian Celtic princess Adobogiona the Elder. By Adobogiona, Mithridates had two children: a son called Mithridates I of the Bosporus and a daughter called Adobogiona the Younger.


title: Mithridates VI Eupator

text: His sons born from his concubines were Cyrus, Xerxes, Darius, Ariarathes IX of Cappadocia, Artaphernes, Oxathres, Phoenix (Mithridates' son by a mistress of Syrian descent), and Exipodras, named after kings of the Persian Empire, which he claimed ancestry from. His daughters born from his concubines were Nysa, Eupatra, Cleopatra the Younger, Mithridatis and Orsabaris. Nysa and Mithridatis, were engaged to the Egyptian Greek Pharaohs Ptolemy XII Auletes and his brother Ptolemy of Cyprus.


title: Mithridates VI Eupator

text: In 63 BC, when the Kingdom of Pontus was annexed by the Roman general Pompey, the remaining sisters, wives, mistresses and children of Mithridates VI in Pontus were put to death. Plutarch, writing in his "Lives" (Pompey, v. 45), states that Mithridates' sister and five of his children took part in Pompey's triumphal procession on his return to Rome in 61 BC.


title: Mithridates VI Eupator

text: The Cappadocian Greek nobleman and high priest of the temple-state of Comana, Cappadocia, Archelaus was descended from Mithridates VI. He claimed to be a son of Mithridates VI; but the chronology suggests that Archelaus may actually have been a maternal grandson of the Pontic king, and the son of Mithridates VI's favourite general, who may have married one of the daughters of Mithridates VI.


title: Bombay Velvet

text: Bombay Velvet is a 2015 Indian period crime thriller film directed and co-produced by Anurag Kashyap, based on historian Gyan Prakash's book "Mumbai Fables". It stars Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma and Karan Johar in lead roles, with Kay Kay Menon, Manish Choudhary, Vivaan Shah and Siddhartha Basu appearing in supporting roles. The film was released on 15 May 2015.


title: Bombay Velvet

text: The film, made on a budget of 120 crore, grossed around 23 crore in the first week. It opened to negative reviews and was declared a commercial disaster upon failing miserably at the box office.


title: Bombay Velvet

text: In 1969 Bombay, Balraj is a street fighter/boxer who is in love with the jazz singer Rosie. Seeing Rosie with wealthy men further sparks his dream of becoming a "big-shot", believing that if he manages to become rich, he might win Rosie's heart. Balraj and his friend Chimman then catch the eye of Kaizad Khambatta, a wealthy businessman who is impressed by Balraj and offers him the chance to manage his club "Bombay Velvet", which Khambatta uses to further his illegal tasks and activities. He also nicknames Balraj "Johnny", which then becomes his identification. As well as this, Johnny and Chimman fulfill minor tasks for Khambatta, including capturing a dirty photograph of a minister who Khambatta wants to blackmail. This news reaches Jimmy Mistri, a media reporter, who also happens to be the same wealthy man Johnny had previously seen Rosie with.


title: Bombay Velvet

text: Remembering that Johnny has a crush on Rosie, Mistri takes advantage of this and sends Rosie to Johnny's club to get her hands on the photograph of the minister. However, Rosie and Johnny eventually fall in love, and Mistri threatens to reveal Rosie's true identity to Johnny. Therefore, Rosie begins to supply information about Johnny & Khambatta's activities to Mistri. After a photograph of a secret meeting between Bombay's big-shots is leaked, Khambatta guesses that it was Rosie supplying the information and orders her to be killed. Johnny hears of this and forms an enmity with Khambatta, the man who brought him into the crime world.


title: Bombay Velvet

text: Johnny fakes Rosie's death and makes her act as if she is her long dead twin sister Rita. But soon Khambatta realises the truth, kidnaps Rosie and tries to kill Johnny and they get into a standoff at Bombay Velvet. Khambatta shoots Rosie to provoke Johnny. Johnny angry at this stabs Khambatta and is himself shot dead while trying to carry Rosie to the hospital, outside the club. It is revealed before the end credits that Rosie survived her gunshot.


title: Bombay Velvet

text: Kashyap was inspired to make such a film after reading "L.A. Quartet", a sequence of four crime fiction novels by James Ellroy, set in the late 1940s through the late 1950s in Los Angeles. The novels inspired him to "dig into the dark trenches of the history of Bombay", where he "found a treasure trove that was never-ending".


title: Bombay Velvet

text: "Bombay Velvet" was initially to be produced by Viacom18, but Fox STAR Studios decided to co-produce it with Phantom Films. It is based on Gyan Prakash's book "Mumbai Fables" and set in early 1950s towards 1970s, before Mumbai became a metropolis. Prakash is also one of the scriptwriters for the film.


title: Bombay Velvet

text: Although Hrithik Roshan, Aamir Khan, Ranveer Singh and Saif Ali Khan were considered, Ranbir Kapoor was cast as a street fighter, and Anushka Sharma was cast as a jazz singer. Kapoor explained his casting, "The script of "Bombay Velvet" just fell into my lap. I read it and I knew immediately that I wanted to be part of Anurag's grand vision, his innovative storytelling, his movie-making process; everything that he does so perfectly." This was director Karan Johar's second film after "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge" (1995); he was cast as the film's primary antagonist, Kaizad Khambata. His role is said to have been inspired from Russi Karanjia.


title: Bombay Velvet

text: Principal photography began in mid-July 2013 and continued till early September 2013. The first schedule was shot at Sri Lanka's Ranmihitenna Mahinda Rajapaksa National Tele Cinema Park, Hambantota. Filming was also done in Colombo, Galle, and Pasikudah. The second schedule was also in Mahinda Rajapaksa National Tele Cinema Park, Sri Lanka, where Sharma and Kapoor rejoined the filming in February. The second schedule completed in March. Parts of the set was left at the National Tele Cinema Park, rather than being dismantled, as it will be used as a tourist attraction site. The third and final schedule was in Mumbai where shooting was held for a ten-day period.


title: Bombay Velvet

text: The film was released in only one version and was edited in collaboration by Prerna Saigal ("The Lunchbox" (2013)) and Academy Award-winning editor Thelma Schoonmaker.


title: Bombay Velvet

text: "Bombay Velvet" is influenced by Classic Hollywood cinema including Film Noir with its stereotypical caricatures like gangsters, gun molls and femme fatales. The movie draws inspiration from gangster films of the '30s and the '40s like "The Roaring Twenties" (1939) and "White Heat" (1949) and neo-noir films like "Chinatown" (1974) and "L.A. Confidential" (1997).


title: Bombay Velvet

text: A teaser of the film's first-look was released on 28 January 2015, it featured Ranbir Kapoor's avatar in the film "Johnny Balraj", the "big shot". On 29 January 2015, the official first poster was revealed, featuring Johnny Balraj wearing a pinstriped suit and wielding a Thompson submachine gun in each arm. An official trailer was released during the India vs Bangladesh 2015 Cricket World Cup quarter final match, with Kapoor present at the Star Sports 3 studio with the commentators. The film also attracted brand associations worth Rs. 20 Crore with brands like Reliance Jio Chat, Saavn, Gillete, GoDaddy among others. To build hype and buzz around the film, Fox Star India and Phantom Films crowdsourced the official fan art for the movie by running a poster design contest on Cupick.


title: Bombay Velvet

text: The soundtrack for "Bombay Velvet" is composed by Amit Trivedi, which he began working on the soundtrack after the release of "Dev D." Amit stated in an interview that, "The music of "Bombay Velvet will" reflect the age of 1960s Jazz era of Bollywood." The lyrics were written by Amitabh Bhattacharya. The album was released on 24 April 2015 by Zee Music Company, which took care of the film's audio rights.


title: Bombay Velvet

text: The song "Fifi" is a remake of the Hindi song "Jaata Kahaan Hai Deewane" from the 1956 film "C.I.D." which was originally composed by O. P. Nayyar and written by Majrooh Sultanpuri. It was re-created by Mickey McCleary.


title: Bombay Velvet

text: Devesh Sharma writing for "Filmfare" stated that, "The album won’t appeal to you on first listening. Give it time to grow on you and then you’ll appreciate what Amit Trivedi and his singers and musicians have achieved. But in this era of instant gratification, does one have that patience? Also, the album is true to the narrative. There are no stand-alone songs in it. That also goes against making it a popular choice. One can only say that let the music play – and you sure will be rewarded with a rich listening experience." "Koimoi" rated the album 3 out of 5 stars, with penning the final word: "The "Bombay Velvet" album is true to its theme – a complete vintage treat. Amit Trivedi does a damn good job at re-creating the 50s era and the Jazz is truly a masterpiece."


title: Bombay Velvet

text: Joginder Tuteja of "Bollywood Hungama" rated the album 2.5 out of 5 stars stating "The music of "Bombay Velvet" is pretty much on the expected lines, which means it doesn't really follow Bollywood norms and instead treads a path of its own. While this doesn't necessarily mean that there is a plethora of chartbusters in the offering, the songs seem good enough to fit into the storytelling of the film." "BollywoodLife" gave 2/5 rating with a statement "To sum up, the album is a mixed bag. Some songs are really good while some are really not that great. When Amit Trivedi is there as the composer you really expect all the songs to be fab. Maybe, commercially this album might not work, but some tracks will definitely be one of the best period tracks for years to come. To be honest, even after being a period drama, the music seems more jazzy than giving you that nostalgic feel. Maybe all the songs would make more sense once you see it with the movie. As a separate album, this is just a bit thanda!"


title: Bombay Velvet

text: The album was ranked #91 on Top 100 Bollywood Albums, listed by "Film Companion". It was listed as the Best Bollywood Album of 2015 by "Deccan Music".


title: Bombay Velvet

text: Performances of Kapoor, Sharma and Johar received positive reviews, but the incoherent script and direction were heavily criticized. Arunava Chatterjee of "Indiatoday" rated it 3.5 stars and said, "While vintage seems to be the new fad in Bollywood, "Bombay Velvet" deserves a standing ovation in this age of run-of-the-mill Friday releases." "Bollywood Hungama" also gave it 3.5 stars and said, "On the whole, "Bombay Velvet" is a visual masterpiece that is rich in form. If you want to be wowed by the detailing of the 1960s, superb performances of Kapoor, Sharma and Johar, then go ahead and watch this film." Shubha Saha of "Mid-Day" gave "Bombay Velvet" 3.5 stars and said, ""Bombay Velvet" is more like a roller coaster ride, as it takes you on a dizzy high with its charming ambience and music that is bound to stay with you for long, but later you are brought down not so gently with the underwhelming plot and lack of punches. Watch it for the experience." However, in its screening in Locarno, the film was met with critical acclaim.


title: Bombay Velvet

text: The film opened to dull occupancy ranging 10%–20% on first day and on the second day half of the theatres removed it. On the third day it disappeared from all cinemas as the halls were empty. The film collected on first day


title: Shin Kamen Rider (film)

text: Anno first proposed the project after becoming close with Toei producer Muneyuki Kii during the production of his 2012 film "". Initially, Toei aimed for the film to be released in 2021, however, production was delayed due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Principal photography began on October 3, 2021 and wrapped in either late 2021 or at the end of January 2022.


title: Shin Kamen Rider (film)

text: College student and motorcycle enthusiast Takeshi Hongo is abducted by the evil organization Sustainable Happiness Organization with Computational Knowledge Embedded Remodeling, otherwise known as "Shocker", and converted into the cyborg Batta Augment-01 as part of their plans for world domination. Before they can brainwash him to do their bidding, he escapes and uses his new enhanced abilities, renaming himself Kamen Rider, to wage a one-man war against Shocker.


title: Shin Kamen Rider (film)

text: Anno first proposed "Shin Kamen Rider" after growing close with Toei producer Muneyuki Kii during the production of his 2012 film "". Planning for the film began in 2015 with Anno as director and screenwriter. Toei initially aimed for release in 2021, the year of the Kamen Rider franchise’s 50th anniversary; however, production was delayed due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Shin Kamen Rider (film)

text: The film was announced in a press conference on April 3, 2021, the 50th anniversary of the franchise's first episode. Anno, who grew up with the original 1971 "Kamen Rider" series, expressed his admiration for the franchise, calling it “epoch-making” and expressing a desire to "give back in some small way". Executive producer Shinichirō Shirakura revealed the teaser poster, illustrated by Mahiro Maeda, as well as plans for a Japanese release in March 2023.


title: Shin Kamen Rider (film)

text: In September 2021, the film's official Twitter account announced the script had been finalized, and shooting was soon to begin. The first teaser was revealed at a press conference on September 30, along with the casting of leads Ikematsu and Hamabe. The teaser is a faithful recreation of the original series’ opening title sequence, and revealed the designs of Kamen Rider, his Cyclone motorcycle and the iconic villain Spider Man. A statue of the film’s iteration of Kamen Rider was displayed at the Hideaki Anno Exhibition, alongside statues of "Shin Godzilla" and "Shin Ultraman"’s titular characters.


title: Shin Kamen Rider (film)

text: On October 10, the film's official Twitter account revealed that Hayato Ichimonji/Kamen Rider 2 will appear in the film. On January 1, 2022, it was revealed that Tasuku Emoto would play the role.


title: Shin Kamen Rider (film)

text: The film's version of Kamen Rider was designed by Anno, Maeda, and Ikuto Yamashita. A number of approaches to modernizing the design were considered, but the designers felt they steered too close to previous reimaginings such as "" and "Kamen Rider Black". It was ultimately decided to go "back to basics," retaining the overall design of the original 1971 suit with only subtle alterations.


title: Shin Kamen Rider (film)

text: Yamashita also designed the film’s incarnation of the Cyclone, Kamen Rider's motorcycle. Use of a fully computer-generated bike was proposed, but ultimately rejected due to concerns over budget and screentime. The designer realized it would be impossible to faithfully recreate the original Cyclone’s silhouette with a modern bike; As such, production focused on finding a practical vehicle suited for the film’s action sequences, which then served as the base for Yamashita’s design.


title: Shin Kamen Rider (film)

text: Yutaka Izubuchi, a veteran designer who worked on the previous film reboot, "Kamen Rider: The First", designed the Kumo Augment-01, the film's incarnation of Spider Man.


title: Shin Kamen Rider (film)

text: Principal photography began on October 3, 2021. While the film's official Twitter account proclaimed filming wrapped in late 2021, Anno stated that he completed filming at the end of January 2022 in "Shin Ultraman Design Works".


title: Shin Kamen Rider (film)

text: In February 2022, Toho, Khara, Toei, and Tsuburaya Productions announced a collaborative project titled "Shin Japan Heroes Universe" for merchandise, special events and tie-ins. The project will unite properties that Anno had worked on bearing the title "Shin", such as "Rebuild of Evangelion", "Shin Godzilla", "Shin Ultraman" and "Shin Kamen Rider".


title: Shin Kamen Rider (film)

text: The theatrical release poster and a second trailer, as well as additional casting information, were unveiled on May 13th, 2022, alongside the theatrical release of "Shin Ultraman".


title: Shin Kamen Rider (film)

text: "Shin Kamen Rider" is targeted for a March 2023 release in Japan. In April 2021, Shirakura declared the film would be released internationally, but the exact date was undecided.


title: Epididymis

text: The epididymis (; plural: epididymides or ) is a tube that connects a testicle to a vas deferens in the male reproductive system. It is a single, narrow, tightly-coiled tube in adult humans, in length. It serves as an interconnection between the multiple efferent ducts at the rear of a testicle (proximally), and the vas deferens (distally).


title: Epididymis

text: The epididymis is situated posterior and somewhat lateral to the testis. The epididymis is invested completely by the tunica vaginalis (which is continuous with the tunica vaginalis covering the testis).


title: Epididymis

text: The epididymis is covered by a two layered pseudostratified epithelium. The epithelium is separated by a basement membrane from the connective tissue wall which has smooth muscle cells. The major cell types in the epithelium are:


title: Epididymis

text: The stereocilia of the epididymis are long cytoplasmic projections that have an actin filament backbone. These filaments have been visualized at high resolution using fluorescent phalloidin that binds to actin filaments.


title: Epididymis

text: The stereocilia in the epididymis are non-motile. These membrane extensions increase the surface area of the cell, allowing for greater absorption and secretion. It has been shown that epithelial sodium channel ENaC that allows the flow of Na ions into the cell is localized on stereocilia.


title: Epididymis

text: Because sperm are initially non-motile as they leave the seminiferous tubules, large volumes of fluid are secreted to propel them to the epididymis. The core function of the stereocilia is to resorb 90% of this fluid as the spermatozoa start to become motile. This absorption creates a fluid current that moves the immobile sperm from the seminiferous tubules to the epididymis. Spermatozoa do not reach full motility until they reach the vagina, where the alkaline pH is neutralized by acidic vaginal fluids.


title: Epididymis

text: In the embryo, the epididymis develops from tissue that once formed the mesonephros, a primitive kidney found in many aquatic vertebrates. Persistence of the cranial end of the mesonephric duct will leave behind a remnant called the "appendix of the epididymis". In addition, some mesonephric tubules can persist as the "paradidymis", a small body caudal to the efferent ductules.


title: Epididymis

text: Spermatozoa formed in the testis enter the caput epididymis, progress to the corpus, and finally reach the cauda region, where they are stored. Sperm entering the caput epididymis are incomplete—they lack the ability to swim forward (motility) and to fertilize an egg. Epididymal transit takes 2 to 6 days in humans and 10–13 in rodents. During their transit in the epididymis, sperm undergo maturation processes necessary for them to acquire motility and fertility. Final maturation ("capacitation") is completed in the female reproductive tract.


title: Epididymis

text: The epididymis secretes immobilin, a large glycoprotein that is responsible for the creating of the viscoelastic luminal environment that serves to mechanically immobilize spermatozoa until ejaculation. Immobilin is predominantly secreted into the proximal caput epididymis prior to the acquisition of the potential for sperm motility.


title: Epididymis

text: During emission, sperm flow from the "cauda epididymis" (which functions as a storage reservoir) into the vas deferens where they are propelled by the peristaltic action of muscle layers in the wall of the vas deferens, and are mixed with the diluting fluids of the prostate, seminal vesicles, and other accessory glands prior to ejaculation (forming semen).


title: Epididymis

text: Contrary to popular belief, sperm are capable of causing a pregnancy even without ever travelling through the epididymis. This has been proven in two cases in the United States in the 1980s where a couple of men's vasa deferentia were directly surgically attached to their efferent ducts and these men both subsequently impregnated their partners within the next couple of years. This has also been proven in a similar case in Western Europe in the early 1990s.


title: Epididymis

text: During their transit through the epididymis, the spermatozoa undergo a series of transformations in preparation for their ultimate task of fertilizing the oocyte. In order to protect the spermatozoa during their transit through the epididymis, the epididymal epithelium produces a variety of antioxidant proteins that help protect the spermatozoa from oxidative damage. The antioxidant proteins produced include catalase, glutathione peroxidases, glutathione-S-transferases, peroxiredoxins, superoxide dismutases, thioredoxin reductase and thioredoxins. Deficiencies in the availability of these antioxidant proteins reduces sperm quality by affecting a variety of the proteins necessary for the motility needed to fertilize oocytes. Reduced antioxidant activity also causes increased oxidative damage to the sperm DNA.


title: Epididymis

text: An inflammation of the epididymis is called epididymitis. It is much more common than testicular inflammation, termed orchitis.


title: Epididymis

text: Epididymotomy is the placing of an incision into the epididymis and is sometimes considered as a treatment option for acute suppurating epididymitis.


title: Epididymis

text: Epididymectomy is the surgical removal of the epididymis sometimes performed for post-vasectomy pain syndrome and for refractory cases of epididymitis.


title: Epididymis

text: Epididymectomy is also performed for sterilization on some male animals of livestock species so they can be used to detect estrus in females ready for artificially insemination.


title: Epididymis

text: In reptiles, there is an additional canal between the testis and the head of the epididymis and which receives the various efferent ducts. This is, however, absent in all birds and mammals.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Ernest Edward Kovacs (January 23, 1919 – January 13, 1962) was a Hungarian-American comedian, actor, and writer.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Kovacs's visually experimental and often spontaneous comedic style influenced numerous television comedy programs for years after his death. Kovacs has been credited as an influence by many individuals and shows, including Johnny Carson, "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In", "Saturday Night Live", "Monty Python's Flying Circus", Jim Henson, "Max Headroom", Chevy Chase, Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, "Captain Kangaroo", "Sesame Street", "The Electric Company", "Pee-wee's Playhouse", "The Muppet Show", Dave Garroway, Andy Kaufman, "You Can't Do That on Television", "MST3K", Uncle Floyd, among others. Chase even thanked Kovacs during his acceptance speech for his Emmy award for "Saturday Night Live".


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: While Kovacs and his wife Edie Adams received Emmy nominations for best performances in a comedy series during 1957, his talent was not recognized formally until after his death. The 1962 Emmy for Outstanding Electronic Camera Work and the Directors' Guild award came a short time after his fatal accident. A quarter century later, he was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame. Kovacs also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in television. In 1986, the Museum of Broadcasting (later to become the Museum of Television & Radio and now the Paley Center for Media) presented an exhibit of Kovacs's work, called "The Vision of Ernie Kovacs". The Pulitzer Prize–winning television critic, William Henry III, wrote for the museum's booklet: "Kovacs was more than another wide-eyed, self-ingratiating clown. He was television's first significant video artist."


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Kovacs's father, Andrew John Kovacs, was born in 1890 and emigrated from Tornaújfalu, Hungary, which is now known as Turnianska Nová Ves, Slovakia. Andrew sailed on the S.S. Würzburg via Bremen, arriving at Ellis Island on February 8, 1906, at age 16. He worked as a policeman, restaurateur, and bootlegger, the last so successfully that he moved his wife Mary, son Tom, and his half-brother Ernest Edward Kovacs into a 20-room mansion in the better part of Trenton.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Though a poor student, Kovacs was influenced by his Trenton Central High School drama teacher, Harold Van Kirk, and received an acting scholarship to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1937 with Van Kirk's help. The end of Prohibition and the onset of the Great Depression resulted in difficult financial times for the family. When Kovacs began drama school, all he could afford was a fifth-floor walk-up apartment on West 74th Street in New York City.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: During this time, he watched many "Grade B" movies; admission was only ten cents. Many of these movies influenced his comedy routines later.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: A 1938 local newspaper photograph shows Kovacs as a member of the Prospect Players, not yet wearing his trademark mustache. Kovacs used his class vacation time to pursue roles in summer stock companies. While working in Vermont in 1939, he became so seriously ill with pneumonia and pleurisy that his doctors didn't expect him to survive. During the next year and a half, his comedic talents developed as he entertained both doctors and patients with his antics during stays at several hospitals. While hospitalized, Kovacs developed a lifelong love of classical music by the gift of a radio, which he kept tuned to WQXR. By the time he was released his parents had separated, and Kovacs went back to Trenton, living with his mother in a two-room apartment over a store. He began work as a cigar salesman, which resulted in a lifelong tobacco-smoking habit.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Kovacs's first paid entertainment work was during 1941 as an announcer for Trenton's radio station WTTM. He spent the next nine years with WTTM, becoming the station's director of special events; in this job he did things like trying to see what it was like to be run over by a train (leaving the tracks at the last minute) and broadcasting from the cockpit of a plane for which he took flying lessons. Kovacs was also involved with local theater; a local newspaper published a photograph of him and the news that he was doing some directing for the Trenton Players Guild in early 1941. "The Trentonian", a local weekly newspaper, offered Kovacs a column in June 1945; he named it "Kovacs Unlimited".


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Arriving at NBC's Philadelphia affiliate, WPTZ, for an audition wearing a barrel and shorts got Kovacs his first television job in January 1950. His first show was "Pick Your Ideal", a fashion and promotional program for the Ideal Manufacturing Company. Before long, Kovacs was also the host of "Deadline For Dinner" and "Now You're Cooking", shows featuring advice from local chefs. When Kovacs's guest chef did not arrive in time for the show, he offered a recipe for "Eggs Scavok" (Kovacs spelled backward). Kovacs seasoned the egg dish with ashes from his cigar. The sponsor was a local propane company. Hosting these shows soon resulted in his becoming host of a program named "Three to Get Ready", named for WPTZ's channel 3 spot on television dials.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Premiering in November 1950, "Three to Get Ready" was innovative because it was the first regularly scheduled early morning (7–9am) show in a major television market, predating NBC's "Today" by more than a year. Prior to this, it had been assumed that few people would watch television at such an early hour. While the show was advertised as early morning news and weather, Kovacs provided this and more in an original manner. When rain was in the weather forecast, Kovacs would get on a ladder and pour water down on the staff member reading the report. Goats were auditioned for a local theater performance and tiny women appeared to walk up his arm. Kovacs also went outside of the studio for some of his skits, running through a downtown Philadelphia restaurant in a gorilla suit in one; in another, he looked into a construction pit, saying it was deep enough to see to China, when a man in Chinese clothing popped up, said a few words in the language, and ran off. Despite its popularity, the weekly prop budget for the show was just $15. Kovacs once asked his viewers to send unwanted items to Channel 3; they filled the station's lobby.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: The only character no one ever saw inspired more gifts; he was Howard, the World's Strongest Ant. From the time of his WPTZ debut, Howard received more than 30,000 gifts from Kovacs's viewers, including a mink-lined swimming pool. Kovacs began his Early Eyeball Fraternal & Marching Society (EEFMS) while doing "Three to Get Ready". There were membership cards with by-laws and ties; the password was a favorite phrase of Kovacs's: "It's Been Real". Kovacs continued the EEFMS on his morning show when he moved to WCBS in New York in 1952. The success of "Three to Get Ready" proved that people did indeed watch early-morning television, and it was one of the factors that caused NBC to create "The Today Show". WPTZ did not begin broadcasting "Today" when it premiered on January 14, 1952; network influence caused the station to end "Three to Get Ready" at the end of March of that year.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: During early 1952, Kovacs was also doing a late morning show for WPTZ named "Kovacs on the Corner". Kovacs would walk through an imaginary neighborhood, talking with various characters such as Pete the Cop and Luigi the Barber. As with "Three to Get Ready", there were some special segments. "Swap Time" was one of them: Viewers could bring their unwanted items to the WPTZ studios to trade them live on the air with Kovacs. The show made its debut on January 4, 1952, with Kovacs losing creative control of the program soon after it was begun. "Kovacs on the Corner" was short-lived; it ended on March 28, 1952, along with "Three to Get Ready". Kovacs then began work for WCBS-TV in New York with a local morning show and a later network one. Both programs were canceled; Kovacs lost the local morning program for the same reason as "Three to Get Ready"—the broadcasting time was confiscated by the station's network in 1954.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: At WPTZ, Kovacs began using the ad-libbed and experimental style that would become his reputation, including video effects, superimpositions, reverse polarities and scanning, and quick blackouts. He was also noted for abstraction and carefully timed non-sequitur gags and for allowing the fourth wall to be breached. Kovacs's cameras commonly showed his viewers activity beyond the boundaries of the show set—including crew members and outside the studio itself. Kovacs also liked talking to the off-camera crew and even introduced segments from the studio control room. He frequently made use of accidents and happenstance, incorporating the unexpected into his shows. In one of Kovacs's Philadelphia broadcasts, Oscar Liebetrau, an elderly crew member who was known for often sleeping for the duration of the telecast, was introduced to the audience as "Sleeping Schwartz." Kovacs was once knocked unconscious when a pie smashed into his face still had the plate under it.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Kovacs's love of spontaneity extended to his crew, who would occasionally play on-air pranks on him to see how he would react. During one of his NBC shows, Kovacs was appearing as the inept magician Matzoh Heppelwhite. The sketch called for the magician to frequently hit a gong, which was the signal for a sexy female assistant to bring out a bottle and shot glass for a quick snort of alcohol. Stagehands substituted real liquor for the iced tea normally used for the skit. Kovacs realized that he would be called upon to drink a shot of liquor for each successive gong. He pressed on with the sketch and was quite inebriated by the end of the show.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Kovacs helped develop camera tricks still common decades after his death. His character Eugene sat at a table to eat his lunch, but as he removed items one at a time from a lunch box, he watched them inexplicably roll down the table into the lap of a man reading a newspaper at the other end. When Kovacs poured milk from a thermos bottle, the stream flowed in a seemingly unusual direction. Never seen on television before, the secret was using a tilted set in front of a camera tilted at the same angle.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: He constantly sought new techniques and used both primitive and improvised ways of creating visual effects that would later be done electronically. One innovative construction involved attaching a kaleidoscope made from a toilet paper roll to a camera lens with cardboard and tape and setting the resulting abstract images to music. Another was a soup can with both ends removed fitted with angled mirrors. Used on a camera and turning it could put Kovacs seemingly on the ceiling. An underwater stunt involved cigar smoker Kovacs sitting in an easy chair, reading his newspaper and somehow smoking a cigar. Removing it from his mouth, Kovacs was able to exhale a puff of white smoke, all while floating underwater. The trick: the "smoke" was a small amount of milk which he filled his mouth with before submerging. Kovacs repeated the effect for a Dutch Masters television commercial on his ABC game show, "Take A Good Look".


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: One of the special effects he employed made it appear as if he was able to look through his assistant, Barbara Loden's, head. The illusion was performed by placing a black patch on Loden's head and standing her against a black background while one studio camera was trained on her. A second one photographed Kovacs, who used the studio monitor to position himself exactly so that his eye would appear to be looking through a hole in her head.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: He also developed such routines as an all-gorilla version of "Swan Lake", a poker game set to Beethoven's "Fifth Symphony", the skit "Silent Show", in which Eugene interacts with the world accompanied solely by music and sound effects, parodies of typical television commercials and movie genres, and various musical segments with everyday items (such as kitchen appliances or office equipment) moving in sync to music. A popular recurring skit was The Nairobi Trio, three derby-hatted apes miming mechanically and rhythmically to the tune of Robert Maxwell's "Solfeggio".


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Kovacs used extended sketches and mood pieces or quick blackout gags lasting only seconds. Some could be expensive, such as his famous used-car salesman routine with a jalopy and a breakaway floor: it cost $12,000 to produce the six-second gag. He was one of the first television comedians to use odd fake credits and comments between the legitimate credits and, at times, during his routines.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Kovacs reportedly disliked working in front of a live audience, as was the case with the shows he did for NBC during the 1950s. He found the presence of an audience distracting, and those in the seats frequently did not understand some of the more elaborate visual gags and special effects, which could only be appreciated by watching studio monitors instead of the stage.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Like many comedians of the era, Kovacs created a rotation of recurring roles. In addition to the silent "Eugene," his most familiar characters were the fey, lisping poet Percy Dovetonsils, and the heavily accented German radio announcer, Wolfgang von Sauerbraten. Mr. Question Man, who answered viewer queries, was a satire on the long-run (1937–56) radio series, "The Answer Man". Others included horror show host Auntie Gruesome, bumbling magician Matzoh Heppelwhite, Frenchman Pierre Ragout and Miklos Molnar, the sardonic Hungarian host of a cooking show. The Miklos character wasn't always confined to a kitchen; Kovacs performed a parody of "The Howdy Doody Show" with "Buffalo Miklos" as the host. Poet Percy Dovetonsils can be found playing Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" on a disappearing piano and as a "Master Detective" on the "Private Eye-Private Eye" presentation of the "US Steel Hour" on CBS March 8, 1961. On the same show, the Nairobi Trio abandons its instruments for a safe-cracking job; still with a background of "Solfeggio", but speaking, two of the three appear in an "Outer Space" sketch.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Kovacs became a regular on NBC Radio's program "Monitor" beginning during late 1958, often using his Mr. Question Man character in his radio monologues.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Kovacs never hesitated to lampoon those considered institutions of radio and television. In April 1954, he started the late-night talk show, "The Ernie Kovacs Show", on DuMont Television Network's New York flagship station, WABD. Stage, screen and radio notables were often guests. Archie Bleyer, head of Cadence Records, came to chat one evening. Bleyer had been the long-time orchestra director for Arthur Godfrey's radio and television shows. He had been dismissed by Godfrey the year before, together with fellow cast member, singer Julius La Rosa. In La Rosa's case, he hired a manager, defying an unwritten Godfrey policy. With Bleyer, Godfrey was angered when he found that Bleyer's record company Cadence Records had produced spoken-word material by Don McNeill, host of ABC's "Don McNeill's Breakfast Club", which Godfrey considered competition to his show. Bleyer and Kovacs were shown in split screen, with Kovacs wearing a red wig, headphones, and playing a ukulele in a Godfrey imitation, while talking with his guest.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Kovacs's television programs included "Three to Get Ready" (an early morning program seen on Philadelphia's WPTZ from 1950 through 1952), "It's Time for Ernie" (1951, his first network series), "Ernie in Kovacsland", (a summer replacement show for Kukla, Fran and Ollie, 1951), "The Ernie Kovacs Show" (1952–56 on various networks), a twice-a-week job filling in for Steve Allen as host of "The Tonight Show" on Mondays and Tuesdays (1956–57), and game shows "Gamble on Love", "One Minute Please", "Time Will Tell" (all on DuMont), and "Take a Good Look" (1959–61). Kovacs was also the host of a program, "Silents Please", which showed silent movies on network television, with serious discussion about the movies and their actors.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Kovacs had a brief stint as a celebrity panelist for the television series "What's My Line?", but took his responsibilities less than seriously, often eschewing a legitimate question for the sake of a laugh. An example: Industrialist Henry J. Kaiser, the founder of an automobile company, was the program's "mystery guest." Previous questioning had established that the mystery guest's name was synonymous with an automobile brand, Kovacs asked, "Are you – and this is just a wild guess – but are you Abraham Lincoln?"—a reference to the Ford Motor Company's Lincoln automobiles. When Kovacs gave an interview admitting that he was absent from the show when he wanted to go out for dinner on a Sunday, his stint on the panel show was ended.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: He also did several television specials, including the famous "Silent Show" (1957), featuring his character, Eugene: the first all-pantomime prime-time network program. After the end of the Dean Martin-Jerry Lewis partnership, NBC offered Lewis the opportunity to host his own 90-minute color television special. Lewis opted to use only 60 minutes, leaving the network 30 minutes to fill; no one wanted this time slot, but Kovacs was willing to have it. The program contained no spoken dialogue and contained only sound effects and music. Featuring Kovacs as the mute, Charlie Chaplin-like character "Eugene", the program contained surreal sight gags. Kovacs developed the Eugene character during the autumn of 1956, when hosting the television series "The Tonight Show". Expectations were high for the Lewis program, but it was Kovacs' special that received the most attention; Kovacs received his first movie offer, had a cover story in "Life" magazine, and received the Sylvania Award that year.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: In 1961, Kovacs and his co-director, Joe Behar, were recipients of the Directors Guild of America Award for a second version of this program broadcast by the American Broadcasting Company network.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: A series of monthly half-hour specials for ABC during 1961–62 is often considered his best television work. Produced on videotape using new editing and special effects techniques, it won a 1962 Emmy Award. Kovacs and co-director Behar also won the Directors Guild of America award for an "Ernie Kovacs Special" based on the earlier, silent "Eugene" program. Kovacs' last ABC special was broadcast posthumously, on January 23, 1962.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: The Dutch Masters cigar company became well-known during the late 1950s and early 1960s for its sponsorship of various television projects of Ernie Kovacs. The company allowed Kovacs total creative control in the creation of their television commercials for his programs and specials. He produced a series of non-speaking television commercials for Dutch Masters during the run of his television series "Take A Good Look" which was praised by both television critics and viewers.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: While praised by critics, Kovacs rarely had a highly-rated show. The Museum of Broadcast Communications says, "It is doubtful that Ernie Kovacs would find a place on television today. He was too zany, too unrestrained, too undisciplined. Perhaps Jack Gould of "The New York Times" said it best for Ernie Kovacs: 'The fun was in trying'."


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Other shows had greater success while using elements of Kovacs's style. George Schlatter, producer of the later television series "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In", was married to actress Jolene Brand, who had appeared in Kovacs' comic troupes over the years and had been a frequent participant in his pioneering sketches. "Laugh-In" made frequent use of the quick blackout gags and surreal humor that marked many Kovacs projects. Another link was a young NBC staffer, Bill Wendell, Kovacs's usual announcer and sometimes a sketch participant. From 1980 to 1995, Wendell was the announcer for David Letterman.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Kovacs was also known for his eclectic musical taste. His main theme song was named "Oriental Blues" by Jack Newton. The rendition most often heard was a piano-driven trio version, but, for his primetime show during 1956, music director Harry Sosnik presented a full-blown big-band version. The German song "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer" from "The Threepenny Opera" (anglicized to "Mack the Knife"), frequently underscored his blackout routines. Songwriter Robert Maxwell's "Solfeggio" became associated with the derby-hatted apes, 'The Nairobi Trio'.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: In the 1982 TV special "Ernie Kovacs: Television's Original Genius", Edie Adams recalled that when Kovacs first heard the melody, he immediately knew what he wanted to do with it, creating a music-box-like trio that moved in time to the tune. Kovacs was introduced to the song in 1954 by Barry Shear, his director at DuMont Television Network.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Kovacs matched an unusual treatment of "Sentimental Journey", by Mexican bandleader Juan García Esquivel, to video of an empty office in which various items (pencil sharpeners, water coolers, wall clocks) come to life in rhythm with the music; it was a variation on several famous animations of a decade earlier. The original three-minute presentation was outlined by Kovacs in a four-page, single-spaced memo to his staff. The perfectionist Kovacs describes in minute detail what had to be done and how to do it. The memo ends with this: "I don't know how the hell you're going to get this done by Sunday – but 'rots of ruck." (signed) "Ernie (with love)". Kovacs also made careful use of the shrill singer Leona Anderson—who had somewhat less than a classical (or even listenable) voice, by some estimations—in comic vignettes.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Kovacs used classical music as background for silent skits or abstract visual routines, including "Concerto for Orchestra", by Béla Bartók; music from the opera "The Love of Three Oranges", by Sergei Prokofiev; the finale of Igor Stravinsky's suite "The Firebird"; and Richard Strauss' "Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks"; and, from George Gershwin, "Rialto Ripples"--the theme to his shows--as well as parts of Gershwin's "Concerto in F". He may have been known best for using Joseph Haydn's "String Quartet, Opus 3, Number 5" (the "Serenade," actually composed by Roman Hoffstetter) for a series of 1960–61 commercials he created and videotaped for his sponsor, Dutch Masters.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: For the show of May 22, 1959, "Kovacs on Music", Kovacs began by saying, "I have never really understood classical music, so I would like to take this opportunity to explain it to others." He presented a gorilla version of "Swan Lake" which differed from the usual performance only in the persona of the dancers, along with giant paper clips moving to music and other sketches.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: He also served as host on a jazz album to benefit the American Cancer Society in 1957, "Listening to Jazz with Ernie Kovacs". It was a 15-minute recording featuring some of the celebrities of the art, including pianist Jimmy Yancey and old original New Orleans Jazz Trumpeter Bunk Johnson, soprano saxophonist Sidney Bechet, guitarist Django Reinhardt, composer/pianist/bandleader Duke Ellington and longtime Ellington trumpeter Cootie Williams. Both the Library of Congress and the National Library of Canada have copies of this recording in their collections.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Kovacs wrote a novel, "Zoomar: A Sophisticated Novel about Love and TV" (Doubleday, 1957), based on television pioneer Pat Weaver; it took Kovacs only 13 days to write. The book took its title from the Zoomar brand zoom lenses frequently used on television cameras at the time. In a 1960 interview, Edie Adams related that the novel was written after Kovacs' experiences with network television while he was preparing to broadcast the "Silent Show". The 1961 British edition was retitled "T.V. Medium Rare" by its London-based publisher, Transworld.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: While he worked on several other book projects, Kovacs's only other published title was "How to Talk at Gin", published posthumously in 1962. He intended part of the book's proceeds to benefit Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. During 1955–58, he wrote for "Mad" (his favorite humor magazine), including the feature "Strangely Believe It!" (a parody of "Ripley's Believe It or Not!" that was a regular feature of his television shows) and "Gringo", a board game with ridiculously complicated rules that was renamed "Droongo" for the television show. Kovacs also wrote the introduction to the 1958 collection "Mad For Keeps: A Collection of the Best from Mad Magazine".


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Kovacs and Edie Adams guest starred on what turned out to be the final episode of "The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show", (syndicated as "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour" or "We Love Lucy") "Lucy Meets the Moustache", which was in rehearsals during the week of February 28 and filmed on March 3 for an April 1, 1960 network broadcast. "Lucy Meets the Moustache" was the last time Arnaz and Ball worked together and the last time their famous characters appeared in a first-run broadcast. According to Adams, Ball and Arnaz 'avoided contact and barely talked to each other in rehearsals and in-between scenes'. Adams also said that they were not told their episode was the last or that the famous couple was to divorce (Ball entered the uncontested divorce request March 4, 1960).


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Kovacs also appeared in roles on other television programs. For "General Electric Theater's" "I Was a Bloodhound" in 1959, Kovacs played the role of detective Barney Colby, whose extraordinary sense of smell helped him solve many seemingly-impossible cases. Colby was hired by a foreign country to recover its symbol of royalty, a baby elephant, who was being held for ransom.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Kovacs found Hollywood success as a character actor, often typecast as a swarthy military officer (almost always a "Captain" of some sort) in such films as "Operation Mad Ball", "Wake Me When It's Over" and "Our Man in Havana". While working in his first film role for "Operation Mad Ball", Kovacs was filming a wild party scene after midnight; it was decided to use real champagne for realism. After a few hours of work, someone came up to Kovacs and remarked that he had been having quite a good time chasing starlets all night. Kovacs told the stranger to go to hell, since he was following the script; he later learned the stranger was Harry Cohn, head of Columbia Pictures. Kovacs and Cohn later became friends despite the way they had met, with Cohn giving Kovacs roles in "Bell, Book and Candle" (1958) and "It Happened to Jane" (1959).


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: He garnered critical acclaim for film roles such as the perennially-inebriated writer in "Bell, Book and Candle" and as the cartoonishly-evil head of a railroad company (who resembled Orson Welles' title character in "Citizen Kane") in "It Happened to Jane", where he had his head shaved and his remaining hair dyed grey for the role. In 1960, he played the base commander Charlie Stark in the comedy "Wake Me When It's Over" and the con man Frankie Cannon trying to steal John Wayne's gold mine in the western comedy, "North to Alaska". His own personal favorite was said to have been the offbeat "Five Golden Hours" (1961), in which he portrayed a larcenous professional mourner who meets his match in a professional widow played by Cyd Charisse. Kovacs's last movie, "Sail a Crooked Ship" (also 1961), was released one month before his death.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Kovacs and his first wife, Bette Wilcox, were married on August 13, 1945. When the marriage ended, he fought for custody of their children, Elizabeth ("Bette") and Kip Raleigh ("Kippie"). The court awarded Kovacs full custody upon determining that his former wife was mentally unstable. The decision was extremely unusual at the time, setting a legal precedent. Wilcox subsequently kidnapped the children, taking them to Florida. After a long and expensive search, Kovacs regained custody. These events were portrayed in the television movie "Ernie Kovacs: Between the Laughter" (1984), which garnered an Emmy Award nomination for its writer, April Smith. Kovacs was portrayed by Jeff Goldblum.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Kovacs's first wife made a legal attempt to gain custody of her two daughters soon after his death. She began August 2, 1962, by claiming (equivalent to $ million in ) was her share of Kovacs's estate and charging that her ex-husband had abducted the girls in 1955; Kovacs had been granted legal custody of his daughters in 1952. On August 30, Wilcox filed an affidavit claiming that Kovacs's widow, Edie Adams, the stepmother to the girls, was "unfit" to care for them. Both daughters, Bette and Kippie, testified that they wanted to stay with their stepmother, Edie. Kippie's testimony was very emotional; in it she referred to Edie as "Mommy" and her birth mother as "the other lady." Upon hearing the verdict that the girls would remain in their home, Adams wept, saying, "This is what Ernie would have wanted. Now I can smile." Bette's reaction was "I'm so happy I can hardly express myself", after learning she and her sister would not be forced to leave Edie.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Kovacs and Adams met in 1951 when she was hired to work for his WPTZ show, "Three to Get Ready". Her appearance on "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts" caught the eye of Kovacs's producer, and he asked her to audition for the program. A classically-trained singer, she was able to perform only three popular songs. Edie said later, "I sang them all during the audition, and if they had asked to hear another, I never would have made it." Quoting Kovacs, "I wish I could say I was the big shot that hired her, but it was my show in name only – the producer had all the say. Later on I did have something to say and I said it: 'Let's get married.'"


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: After the couple's first date, Kovacs proceeded to buy a Jaguar car, telling Adams he wanted to take her out in style. He was seriously taken with the beautiful and talented young woman, courting her with imagination and flair. Kovacs's attempts to win Adams' affection included hiring a mariachi band to serenade her backstage at the Broadway musical she was performing in and the sudden gift of a diamond engagement ring, telling her to wear it until she made up her mind. Kovacs continued this romantic quest after the show went out of town.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Adams booked a six-week European cruise, which she hoped would let her make up her mind whether or not to marry Kovacs. After only three days away and many long-distance telephone calls, she curtailed her trip and returned to say "yes". They eloped and were married on September 12, 1954, in Mexico City. The ceremony was presided over by former New York City mayor William O'Dwyer and was performed in Spanish, which neither Kovacs nor Adams understood; O'Dwyer had to prompt each of them to say ""Sí"" at the "I do" portion of the vows. Adams, who had a middle-class upbringing, was smitten by Kovacs's quirky ways; the couple remained together until his death. (She later said about Kovacs, "He treated me like a little girl, and I loved it—Women's Lib be damned!")


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Adams also aided Kovacs's struggle to reclaim his two older children after the kidnapping by their mother. She also was a regular partner on his television shows. Kovacs usually introduced or addressed her in a businesslike way, as "Edith Adams". Adams was usually willing to do anything he envisioned, whether it was singing seriously, performing impersonations (including a well-regarded impression of Marilyn Monroe) or taking a pie in the face or a pratfall if and when needed. The couple had one daughter, Mia Susan Kovacs, born June 20, 1959.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Kovacs and his family shared a 16-room apartment in Manhattan on Central Park West that seemed perfect until he went to California for his first film role in "Operation Mad Ball". The experience of the totally different, laid-back lifestyle of Hollywood made a big impression on him. He realized he was working too much in New York; in California he would be able to work fewer hours, do just as well or better and have more time for Edie and his daughters. At the time, he was working most of the time and sleeping about two or three hours a night. Kovacs claimed that he realized it was time for a change when he was telling his girls a bedtime story and found himself thinking of using it for a show instead. Kovacs relocated his family there in 1957, after Edie finished work for the Broadway play "Li'l Abner".


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: In the early morning hours of January 13, 1962, Kovacs lost control of his Chevrolet Corvair station wagon while turning quickly and crashed into a power pole in Beverly Hills. He was thrown halfway out the vehicle's passenger side and died almost instantly from chest and head injuries.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: A photographer arrived soon after and images of Kovacs' bodywith an unlit cigar on the pavement near his outstretched handappeared in newspapers across the United States.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: In keeping Kovacs's wishes, a simple service was held at the Beverly Hills Community Presbyterian Church. The pallbearers included Jack Lemmon, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Billy Wilder, and Mervyn LeRoy, and George Burns, Groucho Marx, Edward G. Robinson, Kirk Douglas, Jack Benny, James Stewart, Charlton Heston, Buster Keaton and Milton Berle also attended. The pastor said that Kovacs had summed up his life thus: "I was born in Trenton, New Jersey in 1919 to a Hungarian couple. I've been smoking cigars ever since."


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: He is buried in Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles. His epitaph reads "Nothing in moderation—We all loved him."


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: A frequent critic of the U.S. tax system, Kovacs owed the Internal Revenue Service several hundred thousand dollars in back taxes, due to his refusal to pay the bulk of them. Up to 90% of his earnings were garnished as a result. His long battles with the IRS inspired Kovacs to invest his money in a convoluted series of paper corporations in the U.S. and Canada. He would give them bizarre names, such as "The Bazooka Dooka Hicka Hocka Hookah Company". In 1961, Kovacs was served with a $75,000 lien for back taxes; that same day he bought the California Racquet Club with the apparent hope of being able to use it as a tax write-off. The property had mortgages at the time of purchase which were later paid by Edie Adams.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: His tax woes also affected Kovacs's career, forcing him to take any offered work to pay his debt. This included the ABC game show "Take a Good Look", appearances on variety shows such as NBC's "The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford", and some of his less-memorable film roles. He also filmed an unaired 1962 pilot episode for a proposed CBS series, "Medicine Man" (co-starring Buster Keaton; the pilot episode titled "A Pony for Chris"). Kovacs' role was that of Dr. P. Crookshank, a traveling medicine salesman in the 1870s, who was selling Mother McGreevy's Wizard Juice, also known as "man's best friend in a bottle". This was abandoned after his death, which occurred the day after filming some scenes for the pilot in Griffith Park. CBS initially intended to broadcast the show as part of a summer replacement program, "The Comedy Spot", but decided against it due to problems with Kovacs' estate. The pilot is part of the public collection of the Paley Center for Media.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Some of the issues regarding Kovacs' tax problems were still unresolved years after his death. Kovacs had purchased two insurance policies in 1951; his mother was named as the primary beneficiary of them. The IRS placed a lien against them both for their cash value in 1961. To stop the actions being taken against her, Mary Kovacs had to go to Federal court. The court's early 1966 ruling resolved the issue, with the last sentence of the document reading: "Prima facie, it looks as if, within the limits of discretion permitted the government by the relevant statutes, an injustice is being done Mary Kovacs."


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Adams, who married and divorced twice after Kovacs' death, refused help from celebrity friends who planned a benefit for the purpose. "I can take care of my own children," she said, and resolved to accept offers only from those who wanted to hire her for her talents. Adams eventually paid all of Kovacs's debts.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Most of Kovacs's early television work was performed live: few kinescopes have survived. Some videotapes of his ABC specials were preserved; others, such as his quirky game show, "Take a Good Look", were available mostly in short segments until recently, with the release of some complete, videotaped episodes. After Kovacs's death, Adams discovered not only that her husband owed ABC a great deal of money, but that some networks were systematically erasing and reusing tapes of Kovacs's shows or disposing of the kinescopes and videotapes. She succeeded in purchasing the rights to surviving footage with the proceeds from Kovacs' insurance policy and her own earnings after Kovacs' IRS debts were paid. In March 1996, Adams detailed her experiences before the National Film Preservation Board.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Adams first used some of the videotapes she had purchased for a 1968 ABC television special, "The Comedy of Ernie Kovacs"; to produce the show, she hired Kovacs's former producer and editor. The hour-long program was sponsored by Kovacs's former sponsor, Dutch Masters.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: Most of Kovacs's salvaged work is available to researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles Library's Department of Special Collections: additional material is available at the Paley Center for Media.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: The 1984 television film "" helped return Kovacs to the public's attention, though the show emphasized his bid to retrieve his kidnapped children instead of his professional life. Jeff Goldblum portrayed Kovacs, Madolyn Smith portrayed Bette and Melody Anderson portrayed Adams in the movie. Edie Adams appeared in a cameo in this film, playing Mae West; it was one of the impressions she performed in shows with Kovacs. Telecasts of edited compilations of some of his work by PBS (station WTTW, Chicago) under the title "The Best of Ernie Kovacs" in 1977, inspired the film. These broadcasts were made available on VHS and DVD. The DVD set features extras that are not in the VHS set. The series was narrated by Jack Lemmon.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: During the early 1990s, The Comedy Channel broadcast a series of Kovacs' shows under the generic title of "The Ernie Kovacs Show". The series included both the ABC specials and some of his 1950s shows from NBC. By 2008, there were no broadcast, cable, or satellite channels broadcasting any of Kovacs's television work, other than his panel appearances on "What's My Line?" on the Game Show Network.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: On April 19, 2011, Shout! Factory released "The Ernie Kovacs Collection", six DVDs spanning Kovacs's television career. The company's website also offers an extra disc with material from "Tonight!" and "The Ernie Kovacs Show", as well as a rare color kinescope of the complete 30-minute 1957 NBC color broadcast featuring "Eugene". On October 23, 2012, Shout! Factory released The Ernie Kovacs Collection: Volume 2 on DVD.


title: Ernie Kovacs

text: In 1961, Kovacs recorded a record album of poetry in the character of Percy Dovetonsils named "Percy Dovetonsils Thpeakth", but was unable to release it due to contractual obligations with other record companies. After he was given the masters, Kovacs donated them to a Los Angeles area hospital. Adams was able to re-acquire the tapes in 1967, and they remained part of her private collection until her death in 2008. The tapes were labeled as movie material and were thought to be such until further examination proved they were Kovacs as Percy reading his poems with no music background. The album was finally released in 2012.


title: 2010–11 FC Barcelona season

text: The 2010–11 season was FC Barcelona's 111th in existence and the club's 80th consecutive season in the top flight of Spanish football. Barcelona started the season with a new president after Joan Laporta reached his term limit on 30 June, leaving behind a very successful club tenure.


title: 2010–11 FC Barcelona season

text: Sandro Rosell was elected president on 13 June by securing a record total of 35,021 votes (61.35%), more than the 27,138 achieved by Laporta in 2003. Rosell began his tenure on 1 July as the 39th president in Barcelona's history.


title: 2010–11 FC Barcelona season

text: This team is widely considered to be the greatest in Barcelona's history. Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has described this squad as the best he had ever faced.


title: 2010–11 FC Barcelona season

text: Barcelona started their transfer window only three days after the end of the 2009–10 season, by reaching an agreement with Valencia for Spanish international David Villa worth €40 million.


title: 2010–11 FC Barcelona season

text: On 30 June, Xavier Sala-i-Martin, treasurer and director in charge of the economic area, announced that Barcelona earned a record €445.5 million in revenue during the 2009–10 season. According to Xavier, "that's the highest revenues achieved by any club, in any sport including the U.S." This means FC Barcelona is the richest club in the world in terms of revenue.


title: 2010–11 FC Barcelona season

text: Coach Pep Guardiola later expressed disapproval of the transfer of Ukrainian centre-back Dmytro Chyhrynskyi, indicating he was pressed to let him go. Speaking at a press-conference, Guardiola said, "My opinion counts, but the needs of the club go above that and that's why he was sold, I would like to have kept him." Speaking on the departing Yaya Touré, Guardiola said he would have preferred him to stay, but the player was set on moving.


title: 2010–11 FC Barcelona season

text: On 14 July, Thierry Henry and Barcelona agreed to rescind his contract in order for Henry to become a free agent, where he subsequently signed a new four-and-a-half year contract with Major League Soccer's New York Red Bulls. He stated, "This is a new and exciting chapter in my career." The club also agreed with Pep Guardiola on a one-year extension to stay as coach of the first team, along with long-time assistant Tito Vilanova.


title: 2010–11 FC Barcelona season

text: On 27 August, Barcelona reached an agreement with English club Liverpool for the services of Argentine international Javier Mascherano. The deal was worth €24 million and was reached "after considerable effort from the club [Barcelona] over the last few hours and the willingness and desire of the player to make the move". On the same day, Barcelona's executive committee of the board of directors publicly "denounced the conduct over the last few days of the agent of our player Zlatan Ibrahimović, Mino Raiola, whose declarations have put into question the honour and moral integrity of our coach Pep Guardiola". The club's legal department considered the possibility of rescinding the contract and the cessation of the annual payment Raiola's company receives from the club as part of their agreement. The next day, Barcelona and Italian club Milan agreed to a one-year loan for the Swedish international, with Milan paying all his earnings for the 2010–11 season and including in the agreement the option for Milan to make the move permanent next summer for a fee of €24 million.


title: 2010–11 FC Barcelona season

text: Coach Guardiola stated, "It will cost us a lot. We expect a difficult year in which things have to be won by ourselves. Right now, the team is not at full strength at this point in the season."


title: 2010–11 FC Barcelona season

text: On 19 September, Lionel Messi suffered an ankle injury due to an ill-advised tackle by Atlético Madrid defender Tomáš Ujfaluši in the 92nd minute of their Round Three match at the Vicente Calderón Stadium. At first sight, it was feared that Messi suffered a broken ankle that could have kept the star player away from the pitch for a minimum of six months, but MRIs performed the next day in Barcelona showed he suffered a sprain in the internal and external ligaments of his right ankle. Teammate David Villa stated "the tackle on Messi was brutal" after watching the video of the play and also added that he believed the Atlético defender "didn't go into the tackle to hurt". The incident caused widespread media attention because of Messi's high profile in the football world and brought up the debate of equality in protecting all players in the game. Debates whether the fact that Messi's status prompted the intensive media and fans scrutiny of Ujfaluši and subsequent two match ban by the Competition Committee


title: 2010–11 FC Barcelona season

text: Due to the findings of the audit, Barcelona "compromisarios" (commissioners) voted to enforce the social action of responsibility against the club's previous board with 468 in favour, 439 against and 113 abstaining. Ex-president Laporta's board will be called upon to respond in court due to €48.7 million that went missing during his presidency.