title: Afro-Asians

text: For paternal (Y-chromosome) DNA, the haplogroups are European/Middle Eastern (85%) or East Asian (15%). The European lineages are R1b and I, the Middle Eastern one E1b1b1c (formerly E3b3) (also found in Northeast Africa), and the East Asian ones are R1a (found in many parts of the world including Europe and Central and Southern Asia but the particular sequence has been found in Asia) and O3.


title: Afro-Asians

text: More than 70% of the native population has Afro-Asian ancestry stemming from African, Malagasy, Indian and Chinese peoples, combined with additional British and French origins. However, the demographic is specifically proud of their African/Malagasy heritage and have formed an institute promoting their identity and cultural tolerance.


title: Afro-Asians

text: The Cape Coloured population descend from the indigenous Khoisan and Xhosa peoples, European immigrants and Malagasy, Ceylonese and Southeast Asian (primarily Indonesian) laborers and slaves brought by the Dutch from the mid-17th century to the late 18th century. The majority of Coloureds, particularly in the Western Cape and Northern Cape, speak Afrikaans as a first language, while those in other parts of South Africa tend to speak English as well. Coloureds with Javanese or other Indonesian ancestry may often be regarded as Cape Malay and are primarily Muslims, while the majority of Coloureds are Christian (generally Protestant) or agnostic. Due to similar social adversities experienced under the Apartheid regime from the late 1940s to the late 1980s, Coloured and indigenous South African communities generally fall under the black social category when it comes to employment and affirmative action policies.


title: Afro-Asians

text: The mtDNA study of ethnic people from South Africa shows substantial African genetic mtDNA contribution in both the Cape Malay and South African Indians. mtDNA of Cape Malay shows 10% African mtDNA contribution in their gene pool including 20% (1 in 5) of South African Indians; there appears to be no African Y-DNA contribution detected but this could be due to the fact that the sample size was small. mtDNA study also revealed that about 1 in 10 South African Black people have mtDNA lineages derived from Eurasian (3.0%) and Asian of Indian origins (7.1%).


title: Afro-Asians

text: There is a significant genetic mixture of European, African, Indian and East/Southeast Asian DNA in the modern ethnic group of Cape Coloured. The highest genetic contribution to the Cape Coloured is from African maternal mtDNA displaying very high frequencies at 79.04%, followed by African Paternal Y-DNA frequencies at 45.18%. European Genetic contribution is the second highest after Africans with a high frequency of 37.72% from European Y-DNA but with a low contribution of European mtDNA at 4.26%. The Indian genetics also displayed significant frequencies, the mtDNA contribution stands at 13.85% and Y-DNA at 9.65% and lastly the East/Southeast Asian Y-DNA in the Cape Coloured also displayed a significant frequency at 8.54% but with a very low contribution of Southeast/East Asian mtDNA at only 1.6%, some of the Southeast Asian contributions from the Cape colored gene pool may have partially derived from both East/Southeast Asian and Malagasy who both also exhibit haplogroups O1a and O2a and B4a, B5a, F1c. The only exception of the completely Southeast/East Asian lineage in Cape Coloured are haplogroup O3-M122 (3.58%) and K-M9 (1.32%) both which are found among Chinese and Southeast Asians but not among the Malagasy.


title: Afro-Asians

text: Afro-Asian admixture is also significant in the Muslim population of South Africa. Haplogroup O-M175, East Asian male ancestry ranges in various moderate to high frequencies in the ethnic minorities of South Africa. The frequency of this haplogroup is 6.14% in the Cape colored population. 18% in Cape Coloured Muslim, 38% in Cape Indian Muslims and 10% in other Cape Other Muslim. African maternal Haplogroup L lineages it's found 47% in the Cape Cultured Muslims, 44% in Cape Malay, 14% in Indian Muslims, 20% in other Muslim population in South Africa.


title: Afro-Asians

text: There was a widespread migration of Indians to Southeast Africa, during the time of the construction of the East African/Uganda railway. The Asian migrants married local Ugandans and gave rise to generations of Afro-Asians.


title: Afro-Asians

text: For the past decades. Chinese male workers, investors, contractors, traders, and entrepreneurs from China have been pouring into Uganda. In hopes of gaining residency, an increasing number of Chinese men are marrying Ugandan women to gain residency; many of them are sham marriages. A number of children of Chinese fathers and Ugandan mothers were born as a result.


title: Afro-Asians

text: An official from Uganda's directorate of citizenship and immigration control who were concerned with the marriages between Chinese men and Ugandan women, told the committee.


title: Afro-Asians

text: In Central and South America, significant numbers of Chinese first started arriving in the mid-19th century as part of the Coolie slave trade. By the mid-20th century, Cuba and Peru had the largest Chinese populations. By the end of WWII, there were considerable high numbers of Central and South America descended from local women and Chinese fathers. There are also small numbers of Central and South American residents of Asian and African descent in countries like Puerto Rico, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.


title: Afro-Asians

text: About 120,000 Cantonese coolies, all males, entered Cuba under contract for 80 years; most did not marry, but Hung Hui (1975:80) cites there was a frequency of sexual activity between black women and Cantonese coolies. According to Osberg (1965:69) the free Chinese conducted the practice of buying slave women and freeing them expressly for marriage. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Chinese men (Cantonese) engaged in sexual activity with both White and Black Cuban women and from such relations many children were born.


title: Afro-Asians

text: In the 1920s an additional 30,000 Cantonese and small groups of Japanese also arrived; both immigrations were exclusively male and there was rapid intermarriage with white, black and mulato populations. The CIA World Factbook Cuba, in 2008, claimed a population of 114,240 Chinese-Cubans, with only 300 being pure Chinese.


title: Afro-Asians

text: In the study of genetic origin, admixture and asymmetry in maternal and paternal human lineages in Cuba, thirty-five Y-chromosome SNPs were typed in the 132 male individuals of the Cuban sample. The study does not include any people with some Chinese ancestry. All the samples were White and Black Cubans. Two out of 132 male sample belong to East Asian Haplogroup O2, which is found in significant frequencies among Cantonese people, is found in 1.5% of the Cuban population.


title: Afro-Asians

text: In Haiti, there is a sizable percentage within the minority who are of Asian descent. Haiti is also home to Marabou peoples, a half African and half East Indian people who descent from East Indian immigrants who arrived from other Caribbean nations, such Martinique and Guadeloupe and African slave descendants. Most present-day descendants of the original Marabou are mostly of African in ancestry.


title: Afro-Asians

text: The country also has a sizable Chinese-Haitian population. One of the country's most notable Afro-Asians is the late painter Edouard Wah who was born to an Afro-Haitian mother and a Chinese immigrant father. There are a small number of residents that have Japanese ancestry as well.


title: Afro-Asians

text: About 100,000 Cantonese coolies (almost all males) in 1849 to 1874 migrated to Peru and intermarried with Peruvian women of European, African, Amerindian, mestizo and mulatto origin. Many Peruvian Chinese today are of mixed Spanish, Amerindian and Chinese lineages. Among this population exist many of African slave lineage. Estimates for the Chinese-Peruvian population range from about 1.3–1.6 million. Asian-Peruvians are estimated to be 3% of the population, but one source places the number of citizens with some Chinese ancestry at 4.2 million, which equates to 15% of the country's total population.


title: Afro-Asians

text: Brazil has the largest Japanese community outside Japan and a large Chinese and Korean minority as well. The country's brown population, which includes mixed race mestizo and mulatto Brazilians, is almost half of the entire population and it also includes people of Eurasian, Gypsy and indigenous descent. Interracial marriages between Asians, mostly Japanese and Brazilians of African descent are less common than those between East Asians and Brazilians of European, Arab and Jewish descent, which are not uncommon and known as hāfu or ainoko. Most East Asians live in São Paulo and Paraná. Afro-Asians can be found in Rio de Janeiro, where there is a sizeable Chinese minority as well as a Vietnamese and Indonesian population, and Bahia, where the majority of black people live.


title: Afro-Asians

text: In the 1860s, East Indian and Chinese immigrants arrived in the West Indies as indentured servants. Chinese male laborers and migrants went to Peru, Cuba, Haiti, Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica and Trinidad where they often intermarried with local black women which resulted in a large population of racially mixed children. According to the 1946 Census from Jamaica and Trinidad alone, 12,394 Chinese were located between Jamaica and Trinidad. 5,515 of those who lived in Jamaica were Chinese-Jamaican and another 3,673 were Chinese-Trinidadians living in Trinidad. The Chinese men who married African women in Guyana and Trinidad Tobago were mostly Cantonese, while the Chinese men who married African women in Jamaica were mostly Hakka but with a large minority of Cantonese men. In her book and documentary "Finding Samuel Lowe: China, Jamaica, Harlem", Afro-Chinese-Jamaican-American Paula Williams Madison explores her grandfather's life and travels. The journey ends with the reunion of the author's immediate relatives with their newly discovered extended family in Guangdong, China. 1871 the census was recorded at a population of 506,154 people, 246,573 of which were males and 259,581 females. Their races were recorded as 13,101 White people, 100,346 Coloured (mixed Black and White) and 392,707 Black people with a minority making up other races.


title: Afro-Asians

text: Many thousands males of Europeans, Indian, Chinese descent married local Black African women. Pub Med results were also issued in the same year (2012): "Our results reveal that the studied population of Jamaica exhibit a predominantly South-Saharan paternal component, with haplogroups A1b-V152, A3-M32, B2-M182, E1a-M33, E1b1a-M2, E2b-M98, and R1b2-V88 making up 66.7% of the Jamaican paternal gene pool. Yet, European derived chromosomes (i.e., haplogroups G2a*-P15, I-M258, R1b1b-M269, and T-M184) were detected at commensurate levels in Jamaica (18.9%), whereas Y-haplogroups indicative of Chinese [O-M175 (3.8%)] and Indian [H-M69 (0.6%) and L-M20 (0.6%)] ancestry were restricted to Jamaica. African paternal DNA 66.7%, European paternal DNA 18.9%, Chinese paternal DNA 3.8%, Indian paternal DNA 1.2%


title: Afro-Asians

text: In Jamaica, Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad, a percentage of the population of people are of Indian descent (from paternal Grandfather), some of whom have contributed to Afro-Asian-Caribbean children.


title: Afro-Asians

text: Between 1853 and 1879, roughly 14,000 Chinese indentured workers arrived in British Guiana on five-year indenture contracts to work on the colony's sugar plantations. They soon integrated into the local culture, converting to Christianity and learning English. The majority of workers were unmarried men, and intermarried with local Indo-Guyanese and Afro-Guyanese women.


title: Afro-Asians

text: The country is known for having a large Indian population stemming from the 18th and 19th-century colonial plantation economy and people of Indian descent now make up a narrow plurality. In Trinidad and Tobago, persons of African-Indian mixed descent are called "douglas". One of the country's most notable Afro-Asians is its former President George Maxwell Richards and singer Nicki Minaj.


title: Afro-Asians

text: In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed and Chinese workers who chose to stay in the U.S. could no longer be with their wives who stayed behind in China. Because White Americans looked at Chinese labor workers as stealing employment, they were harassed and discriminated against. Many Chinese men settled in black communities in states such as Mississippi and, in turn, married black women. In the mid-19th to 20th centuries, hundreds of thousands of Chinese men in the U.S., mostly of Cantonese origin from Taishan, migrated to the United States. Anti-miscegenation laws in many states prohibited Chinese men from marrying white women. After the Emancipation Proclamation, many intermarriages in some states were not recorded and historically, Chinese-American men married African-American women in high proportions to their total marriage numbers due to few Chinese-American women being in the United States. After the Emancipation Proclamation, many Chinese-Americans immigrated to the Southern states, particularly Arkansas, to work on plantations. For example, in 1880, the tenth US Census of Louisiana alone counted 57% of interracial marriages between these Chinese Americans to be with African Americans and 43% to be with European-American women. Between 20 and 30 percent of the Chinese who lived in Mississippi married black women before 1940. In a genetic study of 199 samples from African-American males found one belong to haplogroup O2a (or 0.5%).


title: Afro-Asians

text: According to the 2010 United States Census, there are 185,595 people of Native African or African-American and Asian descent in the United States. Reports further offer the following break-down of all groups having Native African or African-American and Asian descent:


title: Afro-Asians

text: Among the ethnic Hazara people who were descendants of Mongol invaders who mixed with the Iranian population it detected Sub-Saharan African lineages in both the paternal and maternal ancestry of Hazara there's 5.1% of African Y-DNA B and 7.5% of African mtDNA haplogroup L. The origin and date of when these admixture occurred are unknown but was believed to have been during the slave trades in Afghanistan.


title: Afro-Asians

text: Currently, Afro-Asian births are on the rise resulting from the arrival of African students in cities such as Nanjing, Hangzhou and Shanghai. Another contributing factor is the strengthened trade relationships between Africa and China which have invited an influx of African immigrants into China, primarily Nigerians who have formed a small, yet progressive, community in the country. In October 2010, Chinese officials estimated about 500 mixed marriages between Africans and Chinese. In places such as Guangzhou, a progressive population of about 10,000 African entrepreneurs continues to thrive.


title: Afro-Asians

text: Majority of the Chinese who live and marry Africans in Guangzhou come from the poorer provinces Sichuan, Hunan and Hubei.


title: Afro-Asians

text: China's new emerging population of Afro-Asians also includes Pate and Lamu Island descendants of ancient shipwrecked Chinese explorers. Awarded Chinese citizenship by the Chinese government, many students have been provided full scholarships to universities in China. Among China's most famous Afro-Asian natives are Shanghai-born Lou Jing who, in 2009, garnered national gossip as she rose to fame competing on popular reality TV show Dragon TV's "Go Oriental Angel" and half Chinese and half South African volleyball player Ding Hui.


title: Afro-Asians

text: In recent history, the hike in the African-Japanese population has been linked to the American occupation of Japan following the end of World War II, where African-Japanese children were born through either prostitution or legally binding marriage. Thus, over the years, an increased number of African-American male/Japanese female unions has produced a culturally mixed African-American and Japanese population living in Japan. Once given preferential treatment during the American military presence in Japan, the currently biracial population faces some severe public backlash and marginalization due to the reemergence of ethnic-based nationalism in Japan. These unions between Asian women and American G.I.s have also contributed to the increase of the Afro-Asian orphan population. In some cases many Asian wives accompanied their husbands in returning to and settling in the United States. Subsequently, many African-Japanese are products of unions between Native Japanese and continental Africans due to the increased numbers of immigrant Africans.


title: Afro-Asians

text: Notable African-Japanese include American author and playwright Velina Hasu Houston who was born in territorial waters off the coast of Japan to a native-born Japanese mother of partial Japanese ancestry and an African-American father. Popular American-born enka singer Jero was born into a multi-generational African-Japanese-American family and immigrated back to the birth country of his grandmother. He has become one of the most famous Black/African descendants in the country. There is also native-born wrestler Aja Kong, former professional basketball player Michael Takahashi and pop/R&B singer Thelma Aoyama who were all born to Japanese mothers and African-American fathers. Current Washington Wizards forward Rui Hachimura was born to a Japanese mother and Beninese father. Sprinter Asuka Cambridge was born to a Japanese mother and a Jamaican father.


title: Afro-Asians

text: Other notable African descendants in Japanese media include singer Crystal Kay and beauty queen Ariana Miyamoto.


title: Afro-Asians

text: The U.S. deployment of forces to South Korea between 1950 and 1954 resulted in a multitude of Afro-Asian births, mostly between native South Korean women and African-American servicemen. While many of these births have been to married African-American and Korean interracial couples, others have been born out-of-wedlock through prostitution. Already facing the dilemma of 85,000 children left homeless throughout the country after the Korean War, South Korea saw a spike in orphaned Afro-Korean infants.


title: Afro-Asians

text: Often, the Afro-Korean orphans were purposely starved, as the society deemed mixed-raced children less worthy of food needed by non-mixed Korean children. In some areas, the mixed-raced youth were even denied education. In 1955, the U.S. State Department made a public plea asking American families to open their doors to the ostracized youth and in 1956 the Holt Adoption Program launched a gateway for Christian faith-based adoption of children of G.I. soldiers that also included Eurasian offspring. However, in addition to the race-based discrimination faced in their country of birth, Afro-Korean orphans were still passed over by adopting American families based on skin color preferences. There is also a general stigma placed on Afro-Koreans based on illegitimacy, low socio-economic status, low educational attainment and aesthetics.


title: Afro-Asians

text: The British Mixed-Race population includes some Afro-Asian people. This ancestry may stem from a multi-generational mixed Caribbean lineage, as well as interracial unions between Asians and Africans from prominent populations such as British Indians and British Nigerians. Notable Afro-Asian Britons include multigenerational Afro-Chinese-Caribbean-descended Naomi Campbell, first generation biracial Iranian-Ghanaian-descended actress Freema Agyeman and first generation biracial Indo-Caribbean-descended musician David Jordan.


title: Afro-Asians

text: The Siddi, also known as Sidi, Siddhi, Sheedi or Habshi, are an ethnic group inhabiting India. The first members of the community arrived on the subcontinent in 628 AD at the port of Bharuch. Others followed in their footsteps during the Muslim conquests beginning in 712 AD. The latter group are believed to have been serving under Muhammad bin Qasim's army, and were called "Zanjis".


title: Afro-Asians

text: Some Siddis escaped slavery to establish communities in forested areas, and some also established the small Siddi principalities of Janjira State on Janjira Island and Jafarabad State in Kathiawar as early as the twelfth century. A former alternative name of Janjira was Habshan (i.e., land of the Habshis). In the Delhi Sultanate period prior to the rise of the Mughals in India, Jamal-ud-Din Yaqut was a prominent Siddi slave-turned-nobleman who was a close confidant of Razia Sultana (1235–1240 CE). Although this is disputed, he may also have been her lover, but contemporary sources do not indicate that this was necessarily the case.


title: Afro-Asians

text: Siddis were also brought as slaves by the Deccan Sultanates. Several former slaves rose to high ranks in the military and administration, the most prominent of which was Malik Ambar. The majority of them reside in Karnataka, Gujarat and Hyderabad. Siddis are primarily Muslims, although some are Hindus and others belong to the Catholic Church.


title: Afro-Asians

text: The Siddis, also known as Makranis, also inhabit Pakistan. They are descended from Bantu peoples from the African Great Lakes region. Some were merchants, sailors and mercenaries. Others were indentured servants, but the vast majority were brought to the Indian subcontinent as slaves by Portuguese and Arab merchants. The Siddi community is currently estimated at around 20,000–55,000 individuals with the cities of Makran and Karachi serving as the main population centres for them. Siddis in Pakistan are primarily Sufi Muslims.


title: Afro-Asians

text: Narang et al. (2011) examined the autosomal DNA of Siddis in Pakistan. According to the researchers, about 58% of the Siddis' ancestry is derived from Bantu peoples. The remainder is associated with local Indo-European-speaking North and Northwest Indian populations, due to recent admixture events. However, Guha et al. (2012) observed few genetic differences between the Makrani of Pakistan and adjacent populations. According to the authors, the genome-wide ancestry of the Makrani was essentially the same as that of the neighboring Indo-European-speaking Balochi and Dravidian-speaking Brahui.


title: Afro-Asians

text: The Sri Lanka Kaffirs are an ethnic group in Sri Lanka who are partially descended from 16th-century Portuguese traders and Bantu slaves with additional admixture from ethnic Sri Lankans who were brought by them to work as labourers and soldiers to fight against the Sinhala Kings. They are very similar to the Zanj-descended populations in Iraq and Kuwait, and are known in Pakistan as Sheedis and in India as Siddis. The Kaffirs spoke a distinctive creole based on Portuguese, the Sri Lanka Kaffir language, now extinct. Their cultural heritage includes the dance styles Kaffringna and Manja and their popular form of dance music Baila.


title: Afro-Asians

text: The term Kaffir is said to mean 'non-believer'. It does not hold the same meaning in Sri Lanka as it does in countries like South Africa, where it is used as a racial slur.


title: Afro-Asians

text: Most older Afro-Filipinos were born from African-American G.I. and Filipino parentage. More recently, the Overseas Filipino Worker communities have produced interracial marriages with people of African descent in the Americas or Europe, resulting in Afro-Filipinos who may return to the country as natural born Filipinos. In 2011, "The Nigerian Family Association" notified the Republic of the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs of its formation, opening membership to a growing number interracial Nigerian-Filipino/Filipino-Nigerian families and their children, living in the country.


title: Afro-Asians

text: Afro-Filipinos are not subject to socio-economical, cultural or political marginalization within Philippine society as other Afro-Asians may experience within more xenophobic neighboring Asian countries. This unique acceptance of Afro-Asians and biracials within the Philippines may be down to the full social integration of Afro-Asians who speak Philippine languages natively, Filipino familiarity with Aetas and other Negrito indigenous Filipinos who share some facial features and skin tones with Afro-Filipinos, popular affiliation to African-American culture and music as a relatable and non-colonial subculture or positive Afro-Filipino representation internationally, reflecting their patriotism and affinity to the Philippines.


title: Afro-Asians

text: Their social positions vary widely, with some living in poor or working class areas, while most are lower middle or upper middle class citizens. Most Afro-Filipinos live in and around Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Metro Cebu, or in Olongapo, Clark or Angeles cities in Central Luzon around the former American bases.


title: Afro-Asians

text: Many Afro-Filipinos represent the Philippines in international events like Kristina Knott and gold medalist Eric Cray (African-American-Filipino) in the 30th SEA games held in the Philippines in 2019 or Mau Marcelo, winner of Philippine Idol 2006. Afro-Filipino sportsmen gain popularity within the highly popular Philippine Basketball Association or on local TV and in the hospitality sectors.


title: Afro-Asians

text: Among the country's most recognizable Afro-Asians are half African-American/Filipino R&B singers Jaya, Mau Marcelo and Luke Mejares.


title: Afro-Asians

text: Mixed marriages between ethnic Asians and foreigners are becoming more common in Singapore. While most mixed marriages between ethnic Asians and foreigners involve marriages between Europeans and Asians, some marriages have involved Africans and Asians. Afro-Asians born out of these mixed marriages have added to the mixed race population of Singapore. The 2014 Miss Singapore Universe finalist Ijechi Nazirah Nwaozuzu is Afro-Asian. Her mother is Malay with additional Portuguese, Indian and Chinese ancestry and her father is Nigerian.


title: Afro-Asians

text: During the Vietnam War, African-American servicemen had children with local Vietnamese women. Some of these children were abandoned by the Vietnamese family or sent to orphanages. Many orphans and children were airlifted to adopting families in the United States in 1975 during "Operation Babylift" before the fall of South Vietnam. The Afro-Vietnamese (or Afro-Amerasian) children suffered much discrimination in Vietnam at that time. There was also some controversy as to how these orphaned Afro-Amerasian children were placed in new homes in the United States.


title: Afro-Asians

text: According to The World Factbook, around 10% of Saudi Arabia's population is of Afro-Asian descent. Most Afro-Asians living in Saudi Arabia are Afro-Arabs, who occasionally face discrimination due to their dark skin. Marriages between Saudi Arabs and Sub-Saharan Africans are quite common in Saudi Arabia.


title: Murray Hamilton

text: Murray Hamilton (March 24, 1923 – September 1, 1986) was an American stage, screen, and television character actor who appeared in such films as "Anatomy of a Murder", "The Hustler", "The Graduate", "Jaws" and "The Amityville Horror".


title: Murray Hamilton

text: Born in Washington, North Carolina, Hamilton displayed an early interest in performing during his days at Washington High School just before America's entry into World War II. Bad hearing kept him from enlisting, so he moved to New York City as a 19-year-old to find a career on stage.


title: Murray Hamilton

text: In an early role, he performed on stage with Henry Fonda in the classic wartime story "Mister Roberts" as a replacement for David Wayne, playing Ensign Pulver. In 1960, he was onstage again with Fonda in "Critic's Choice"; Howard Taubman of "The New York Times" called him "properly obnoxious as the director". Hamilton was teamed once more with Fonda in 1968 for the drama film "The Boston Strangler".


title: Murray Hamilton

text: His best known performance is as Larry Vaughn, the obdurate mayor of Amity, in the Steven Spielberg thriller "Jaws" (1975). Hamilton reprised the role in the sequel, "Jaws 2" in 1978. He was approached to reprise his role in "", but died in 1986 aged 63 . Other notable big-screen appearances include the critically acclaimed 1959 film "Anatomy of a Murder" with James Stewart, in which he played the bartender Al Pacquette, who gives testimony in the murder of Barney Quill. He also worked with Stewart in "The Spirit of St. Louis" (1957) and "The FBI Story" (1959).


title: Murray Hamilton

text: The actor made dozens of TV guest appearances. In 1955, Hamilton guest-starred on the NBC legal drama "Justice", based on case files of the Legal Aid Society of New York. Hamilton appeared in the "Perry Mason" episode "The Case of the Deadly Double" (air date March 1, 1958) as the shadowy boyfriend of a woman with a split personality who is the sister of Perry Mason's client.


title: Murray Hamilton

text: In 1957 he was a primary star on "Gunsmoke", playing a conniving cowboy who sets up Chester for a murder rap as “Jake Buley” in the episode “Chester’s Murder” (S2E27). In 1959, he appeared in a few episodes of the crime drama "The Untouchables", as well as co-starring in the second episode of Rod Serling's television series "The Twilight Zone", "One for the Angels", playing Mr. Death opposite Ed Wynn. Also, Hamilton portrayed Calhoun, on (S4E9) of Gunsmoke, which aired in April, 1959. His character is swindled in a land deal along with other members of a wagon train & his wife tries to leave Calhoun with the swindler.


title: Murray Hamilton

text: In the 1959-60 television season, Hamilton also co-starred with William Demarest, Jeanne Bal, and Stubby Kaye in the NBC sitcom "Love and Marriage". He played attorney Steve Baker, who resides in an apartment with his wife (played by Bal), two daughters and a father-in-law (portrayed by Demarest). He soon appeared as a guest star on another sitcom, "The Real McCoys", starring Walter Brennan, on ABC. In 1961, he appeared in another science fiction series, "'Way Out", hosted by Roald Dahl, with fellow guest stars Doris Roberts and Martin Huston. He guest-starred in an episode of the James Stewart legal drama "Hawkins" in 1973. In 1986, he played Curtis "Big Daddy" Hollingsworth, Blanche Devereaux's father, in a first-season episode of "The Golden Girls".


title: Murray Hamilton

text: Hamilton complained in a newspaper article about being typecast, stating "After I was first cast as a heavy on "The Untouchables", I couldn't ever persuade them [producers] that I could also do something else." While comic roles were rare for Hamilton during his Hollywood career, he had one opposite Andy Griffith in the 1958 military comedy "No Time for Sergeants", as well as an appearance in Steven Spielberg's raucous comedy "1941", released in 1979. He also appeared in a comedic guest spot on " Mama's Family " in the second-season episode, "Mama Cries Uncle", as Uncle Roy. He was more often cast in dramatic works, such as the stark science-fiction drama "Seconds" (1966), which starred Rock Hudson. In two of his most distinctive performances, Hamilton appeared with Paul Newman in "The Hustler" (1961), playing Findley, a wealthy billiards player who gambles for high stakes, and with Dustin Hoffman in "The Graduate" (1967) as Mr. Robinson, husband of the seductress Mrs. Robinson. In 1975, Hamilton appeared again with Newman in "The Drowning Pool". He also worked with Robert Redford in a pair of films, "The Way We Were" (1973) and "Brubaker" (1980). In early 1982 he appeared as a judge presiding over an impromptu court case on an episode of "Bret Maverick".


title: Murray Hamilton

text: For many years both before and during his film career, Hamilton was a prominent dramatic stage actor, earning a Tony Award nomination for his role in the 1965 production of "Absence of a Cello". "New York Times" theater critic Brooks Atkinson praised his work in the play "Stockade", which was based on a part of the James Jones novel "From Here to Eternity": "Murray Hamilton is an ideal Prewitt. Modest in manner, pleasant of voice, he has a steel-like spirit that brings Prewitt honestly to life." When the actor was suffering from cancer and found film roles harder to come by, his old co-star George C. Scott helped out by getting him a part in the made-for-television movie "The Last Days of Patton" (1986).


title: Murray Hamilton

text: Hamilton died of lung cancer at age 63, and is interred at Oakdale Cemetery in his native Washington, North Carolina. He and his wife, Terri DeMarco Hamilton (of The DeMarco Sisters fame), had a son, David.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: The Professional Fighters League (PFL) is an American mixed martial arts league founded by venture capitalist Donn Davis in 2017 and launched in 2018, following the acquisition and restructuring of the former World Series of Fighting (WSOF) promotion in 2017 by MMAX Investment Partners. It is the first major MMA organization in which individual athletes compete in a regular season, post-season and championship, rather than on a year-round basis.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: The PFL currently puts on fights across six weight-divisions: featherweight, women's lightweight, lightweight, welterweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight. The PFL's matches are held inside a 10-sided mixed martial arts cage known as the SmartCage, and adhere to the unified rules of mixed martial arts, with the exception of the prohibition of elbow strikes.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: The PFL's inaugural event took place on June 7, 2018 at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. At the end, each champion of the six weight classes won a championship prize of $1 million each.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: The World Series of Fighting (WSOF) was formed in 2012, after signing a broadcast deal with the NBC Sports Network. Soon after WSOF's first event was announced, it would be confirmed that Bas Rutten and Michael Schiavello would serve as commentators.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: The WSOF held over 35 events in multiple countries including the United States, Canada, Japan, China and the Philippines, and was best known for featuring fighters such as Justin Gaethje, Marlon Moraes and Lance Palmer.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: In 2017, MMAX Investment Partners, a group of McLean, Virginia investors, which included financier Russ Ramsey, Mark Leschly, businessman Ted Leonsis, Washington Nationals' owner Mark Lerner and Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin, acquired the assets of the WSOF. It was announced that the WSOF would be restructured as the Professional Fighters League (PFL), with owner Davis as founder and with the inaugural season taking place in 2018. After the restructuring, WSOF president and co-founder Ray Sefo joined PFL as president of fight operations. Sefo was previously a MMA fighter and a six-time Muay Thai world champion. In January 2018, former National Football League executive Peter Murray was appointed CEO of the league. That year, in its inaugural season as the PFL, the promotion introduced a league model, the first MMA promotion to do so.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: In April 2022, games publisher Rival Games signed a partnership with PFL, its first with an MMA company. The deal was intended to create a gaming community for PFL and allow fans to host tournaments. In that same month, PFL signed a deal with social platform millions.co for group/party streaming. In May 2022, PFL revealed that they completed a $30 million equity round to aid in global expansion efforts and a new Pay-per-view division. Baseball player Alex Rodriguez was involved the raise and, with Daniel Leff, joined PFL's board of directors. That same month, Murray told daily newspaper the New York Post that PFL was coming back to New York City for its 2022 playoffs, with the first playoff held at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden on August 5, 2022. Later that month, Live Nation Entertainment signed a deal with PFL to broadcast the 2022 playoffs in the UK, as PFL planned to host playoffs in the Cardiff International Arena in Cardiff and the Copper Box Arena in London in August 2022, following a first event in New York City.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: In June 2022, PFL fighter and two-time lightweight champion Kayla Harrison was nominated for an ESPY award. In July 2022, PFL announced plans for a European league, starting in 2023. The regional league will be called PFL Europe.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: Following a partnership with blockchain reward app Socios.com in October 2020, PFL launched a fan non-fungible token (NFT) and became the first sports league to launch such a token.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: In February 2021, PFL announced a $65 million financing round which expanded the total funding to $175 million. The funding round was led by Ares Capital, Elysian Park Ventures, and Knighthead Capital.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: In March 2021, Hall of Fame American football player Ray Lewis joined the PFL athlete advisory board.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: In April 2021, former NFL running back Marshawn Lynch and rapper Wiz Khalifa both became PFL investors. Lynch joined the ownership group, while Khalifa serves as an advisor. That same month, DraftKings was named the first official sportsbook and daily fantasy partner of the PFL. DraftKings would sponsor the league's pre-fight shows and use their in-fighting technology and capturing real-time data for future prop bets.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: In August 2021, PFL announced a long-term partnership with Legends Hospitality, with the company purchasing a minority ownership stake.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: The PFL's matches are held inside a 10-sided mixed-martial arts cage known as the SmartCage, and adhere to the unified rules of mixed martial arts, with the exception of the prohibition of elbow strikes.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: A fighter who is overweight on the scale at weigh-ins will be deducted one point in the standings in the PFL's season structure and will be ineligible to win any points from that bout.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: The PFL follows a point-based scoring system, consisting of outcome-based elimination, with a proprietary scoring and bonuses for an early win. Under the outcome-based scoring system, fighters compete twice during the regular season. Four fighters with the most points in their respective divisions advance to the playoffs. Fights are three-round bouts, and the winners are awarded three points. Bonus points are awarded for knockouts and submission wins. If a fighter finishes a bout in the first round, they are awarded three bonus points. Second and third-round finishes are awarded two and one points, respectively. If a fighter wins in the first round, they are awarded six total points. A second-round finish awards them five total points, and a third-round finish awards them four total points. The loser of the fight is not awarded any points. If a fight ends in a draw, both fighters are awarded a single point. For example, if a fighter wins a fight in the first round, the fighter will receive six total points. A win by decision doesn't earn bonus points.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: In the playoffs, the player with the most points is ranked number one and will face number four. The number two and three ranked players will face each other. The semi-finals are three-round bouts. The winners of these bouts will face each other in a five-round championship fight for a $1 million prize.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: In 2021, PFL changed the playoff structure, the top four fighters per division after the regular season will make the playoffs, a number down from the eight who made the playoffs in men's divisions in previous seasons. In the women's lightweight division, the top four fighters make the playoffs, similar to the 2019 rules. The four fighters who make the playoffs advance directly to the semifinals in each division. There are no quarterfinals, nor a situation where a fighter must win twice in a single night.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: PFL Challenger Series is an American mixed martial arts series. Young and up-and-coming male and female MMA fighters will compete for a slot in the PFL tournament season and a chance at $1 million. Each week, the PFL Challenger Series will consist of a celebrity guest panel featuring personalities in film, athletics and sports. In the 2021 debut airing of the PFL Challenger Series, the celebrity guest panel included NFL stars Ray Lewis and Todd Gurley and entertainers Jeremy Piven and Wiz Khalifa.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: The inaugural PFL Challenger Series streamed on FuboTV and Fubo Sports Network from February 2022 to April 2022.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: Starting in 2023 PFL Europe will feature the top emerging European MMA fighters, and will be broadcast during prime local hours with all events staged in Europe.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: For each season, the PFL roster begins with 72 fighters in six weight classes: five men’s weight classes and one women’s weight class. PFL additionally signs fighters to development contracts from the PFL Challenger Series. These fighters occasionally appear as alternates in the league season or as showcase fights opening the league events.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: For the 2018 season, the PFL roster included 72 fighters in six weight classes. The 2019 roster included 68 fighters in six weight classes, including a new Women's Lightweight division.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: In November 2020, two-time Olympic gold medalist and #2 pound-for-pound women's boxer Claressa Shields signed a three-year contract with the Professional Fighters League to compete in the women's lightweight division. Shields plans to compete in both boxing and MMA. In December 2020, former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis joined the Professional Fighters League ahead of the 2021 regular season, departing from the UFC promotion where he fought for nearly a decade.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: The inaugural season had 72 fighters in six weight-classes, competing in seven regular season events on Thursday nights in June, July and August. The top eight in each weight-class faced off in bracket-style, single elimination playoff fights on Saturday nights in October. The PFL 2018 season concluded on December 31, 2018 with six championship bouts back-to-back with a $10 million prize pool. The first season was headlined by a fight between Andre Harrison about Jumabieke Tuerxun and featured bouts in the featherweight and heavyweight divisions.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: In 2018, the seven regular-season events were held at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, the Chicago Theatre, GWU Smith Center, Nassau Coliseum and Ocean Resort Casino. The playoff events was held at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, the Long Beach Arena, and the St. Elizabeths East Entertainment and Sports Arena. The championship event was held at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: The PFL 2019 regular season consisted of six weight classes and six events spanning from May to August. Playoffs consisted of three events and the season culminates with the Championship Event on New Year's Eve 2019.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: The PFL 2020 season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a measure to relieve the financial pressure of the athletes, the organization decided to hand out monthly stipends to the contracted fighters. Reactions to the stipend were mixed, with fighter Lance Palmer complaining about the amount of the stipend and with fighter Natan Schulte applauding the monthly stipend. According to multiple fighters, the stipend was $1,000 per month.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: In September 2020, PFL introduced a new series called "Inside the Season," produced in partnership with the United States Marine Corp, that detailed the journey fighters go on through training, regular season, playoffs and championships. The series is narrated by actor John C. McGinley and airs on ESPNews.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: Two-time Olympic gold medalist and top pound-for-pound women's boxer Claressa Shields signed a three-year contract with the Professional Fighters League to compete in the Women's Lightweight division and former UFC lightweight champ Anthony Pettis who joined the Professional Fighters League ahead of the 2021 regular season.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: PFL's 2021 roster included 60 fighters competing across six weight classes. The late additions to the season were the welterweights Gleison Tibau, Alexey Kunchenko and Jason Ponet, featherweights Chris Wade and Anthony Dizy, women's lightweights Kaitlin Young and Taylor Guardado and light heavyweight Nick Roehrick.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: In December 2021, PFL announced a multi-year partnership for its new PFL Challenger Series with streaming television provider fuboTV on its Fubo Sports Network. Set to debut in February 2022, the new event will see fighters competing for a chance to earn a PFL contract and will incorporate a celebrity judging panel, a fan vote, sports betting and gamification.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: On January 29, 2018, the League announced it had reached a multi-platform distribution deal for the inaugural 2018 season with NBC Sports Group and Facebook. Within the United States, NBC Sports Group established a live Thursday night PFL franchise, presenting seven regular-season live events in prime time exclusively on NBCSN beginning June 7, 2018, through the end of August 2018. Events televised by NBCSN also streamed on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app. All regular season events had encore telecasts on NBCSN later the same night. Outside the U.S., Facebook streamed up to six hours of live coverage for each event. Facebook also opened each event with a live 30-minute pre-fight show and closed each with a live 30-minute post-fight show. In the U.S., fans were able to watch the first three hours of undercard coverage of each event on Facebook prior to NBCSN's presentation of the main bouts.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: Beginning in February 2019, the PFL's events are broadcast by ESPN in the United States and TSN in Canada. PFL events and playoff matches air on ESPN+ and ESPN2, with the Championship Event on New Year's Eve airing exclusively on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: The PFL international distribution is handled by combat sports rights distributor Fighting Spirit. PFL airs on Claro Sports in Hispanic America, Combate in Brazil, MMA TV in the United Kingdom, MMA TV in Nordic countries, Match TV and Boets TV in Russia, JSBC in China, beIN Sports in the Middle East and Northern Africa, and ESPN in sub-Saharan Africa.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: In August 2020, the PFL launched an over the top (OTT) platform via its mobile app. In October 2021, the PFL signed a distribution deal with sports media company Wave.tv.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: As of 2021, the PFL is broadcast in 160 countries, through media partners like ESPN in the United States, Globo in Brazil, Bild in Germany, RMC Sports in France, Eurosport in India, and Telesport in Russia. In January 2022, it was announced that PFL and ESPN struck a multi-year contract extension for broadcasting rights in the United States.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: PFL's 2018 broadcast team for live events and pre- and post-event shows included Randy Couture, Bas Rutten, Yves Edwards, Caroline Pearce and Todd Harris. Harris provided play-by-play while Couture provided color commentary. Rutten and Pearce conducted pre- and post-fight interviews and Edwards offered video breakdowns and fight analysis.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: The 2019 broadcast team for live events and pre- and post-event shows included 2018 PFL light heavyweight champion Sean O'Conell, Randy Couture, Caroline Pearce and former UFC lightweight Yves Edwards, with former WWE ring announcer Lilian Garcia as in-cage announcer.


title: Professional Fighters League

text: The 2021 broadcast team included Randy Couture, Kenny Florian, Sean O'Connell, Lillian Garcia and Chael Sonnen. The 2022 broadcast team includes Couture, Florian, O'Connell and Garcia.


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: The Black Knight is the alias of several fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: The first is a medieval knight created by writer Stan Lee and artist Joe Maneely, who made his first appearance in "Black Knight" #1 (May 1955), during the Silver Age of Comics, when Marvel Comics was previously known as Atlas Comics. The second is a supervillain descendant of the original, created by Lee and artist and co-plotter Dick Ayers, who first appeared in "Tales to Astonish" #52 (Feb. 1964). The third, created by writer Roy Thomas, production editor John Verpoorten, and artist George Tuska, is the villain's nephew, a superhero and a member of the superhero team the Avengers, who first appeared in "The Avengers" #47 (Dec. 1967). A fourth Black Knight with no revealed genetic connection debuted in "The Black Panther" #3 (June 2005), created by writer Reginald Hudlin and penciler John Romita Jr.


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: Dane Whitman appears in the live-action Marvel Cinematic Universe film "Eternals" (2021), portrayed by Kit Harington.


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: Marvel Comics' first Black Knight, Sir Percy of Scandia, first appeared in the medieval-adventure series "Black Knight" #1–5 (cover-dated May 1955–April 1956) from Atlas Comics, the 1950s precursor to Marvel Comics.


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: Sir Percy's descendant, Professor Nathan Garrett, debuted as the modern-day supervillain Black Knight in "Tales to Astonish" #52 (Feb. 1964). This villainous Black Knight appeared in "The Avengers" #6, #14–15 (July 1964, March–April 1965), and in the feature "Iron Man" in "Tales of Suspense" #73 (Jan. 1966), in which he was mortally wounded.


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: Dane Whitman, Garrett's nephew, made his first appearance in "The Avengers" #47 (Dec. 1967) and became a heroic version of the Black Knight in the subsequent issue. Whitman sporadically appeared with the Avengers until becoming a core member, regularly appearing in #252–300 (1985–1989) and #329–375 (1991–1994).


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: The Gatherers storyline running through "The Avengers" #343–375 (1992–1994) placed the spotlight on the Black Knight, as the book's focus turned toward his tumultuous relationship with the Eternal Sersi and mysterious connection to the other-dimensional villain Proctor. Whitman later starred in Malibu Comics' "UltraForce" #8–10 (1995) and "UltraForce vol. 2" #1–12 (1995–1996), leading a new team of heroes on a parallel world. Returning to the Marvel Universe proper, Whitman appeared in "Heroes for Hire" #1–16 (1997–1998) and, later, "Captain Britain and MI13" #1–15 (2008–2009). The Black Knight has yet to return to the Avengers, the team with which the character is most closely associated. In 2015, as part of All-New All-Different, a solo series was launched featuring Dane Whitman; however, it was canceled after 5 issues due to low sales.


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: Whitman and Sir Percy also starred in the limited series "Black Knight" #1–4 (June–Sept. 1990), written by Roy and Dann Thomas and drawn by successive pencillers Tony DeZuniga and Rich Buckler. In 1995, Percy had a cameo in "Namor" #60 as part of the Atlantis Rising story. Whitman and Sersi then headlined the one-shot "Black Knight: Exodus" (Dec. 1996), written by Ben Raab and illustrated by Jimmy Cheung and Andy Lanning. Another Black Knight one-shot starring Sir Percy, written by Thomas and illustrated by Tom Grummett and Scott Hanna, was published as "Mystic Arcana: Black Knight" #1 (Sept. 2007), the second of four "Mystic Arcana" one-shot issues.


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: The original Black Knight is Sir Percy of Scandia, a 6th-century knight who serves at the court of King Arthur as his greatest warrior. Recruited by the wizard Merlin, Percy adopts a double identity, and pretends to be very incompetent until changing into the persona of the Black Knight. As the Black Knight, Percy wields the Ebony Blade, which Merlin forged from a meteorite. A constant foe of the evil knight Mordred the Evil (Arthur's traitorous nephew), Percy is eventually killed by him during the fall of Camelot when stabbed from behind with an enchanted blade – although Mordred then dies himself of wounds inflicted by Arthur. Merlin ensures that Percy's spirit will live on by casting a spell that will revive his ghost if Mordred should ever return. Percy's spirit has appeared several times to counsel his descendant, Dane Whitman.


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: Biologist Professor Nathan Garrett is the direct descendant of Sir Percy (although it has been implied Percy's nephew Raston inherited the blade), and found Sir Percy's tomb and the Ebony Blade. Garrett's evil tendencies make him unworthy of wielding the sword, and Sir Percy’s ghost shuns him. An embittered Garrett then devises an arsenal of medieval weapons that employ modern technology and has genetic engineers create a winged horse. Calling himself the Black Knight, Garrett embarks on a life of crime to spite his ancestor. After a battle with the hero Giant-Man Garrett joins the supervillain team the Masters of Evil at the request of master villain Baron Zemo and like the others spreads Adhesive X over the city, but is first defeated by Thor. After two unsuccessful battles with the Avengers, the second time of which he was broken out of jail by the Enchantress, he battled Iron Man due to Doctor Doom's mind-control machine (which made supervillains attack Mister Fantastic's and the Invisible Woman's wedding, which the affected villains subsequently forget due to a machine created by Mister Fantastic). Garrett is mortally wounded falling from his winged horse while trying to kill Iron Man. A dying Garrett reveals his secret identity to his nephew, Dane Whitman, and repents for his life of crime. Whitman then adopts the identity of the Black Knight himself.


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: Dane Whitman is the Black Knight who has been a longtime member of the Avengers as well as a member of the Defenders, Ultraforce, Heroes for Hire, and MI: 13.


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: A Vatican Black Knight named Augustine du Lac received the Ebony Blade after Vatican agents retrieved it from an Iraqi vampire nest. He is a member of a team of supervillains that invades the African nation of Wakanda. A devout Catholic, du Lac hopes to convert the populace to Catholicism. Black Panther takes the Ebony Blade and defeats him. He had his own version of Aragorn to use as a steed. This Aragorn was later captured by Alyosha Kravinoff and killed for food.


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: A teenage female Black Knight later appears in the "Vengeance" limited series as a member of the Young Masters. Like Garrett, this incarnation is a villain, and appears to possess the Ebony Blade. How she came into possession of the sword and what happened to Augustine has yet to be revealed. She was with the Young Masters when they were at an abandoned HYDRA base in Pennsylvania. While inspecting Bullseye's corpse, they were attacked by Lady Bullseye. Later targeting Doctor Octopus for "execution", the Young Masters found themselves battling the Sinister Six while being assisted by the Teen Brigade, with Black Knight being assisted in taking down Sandman by Teen Brigade member Ultimate Nullifier. While visiting a nightclub, Black Knight encountered Ultimate Nullifier at the time when the Young Masters plotted to recruit a reborn Loki to their side. In the morning, Black Knight showed Ultimate Nullifier a letter that spurred the Young Masters on their quest to kill older villains along with a CIA file discussing genocide on Russian prisoners carried out by Red Skull in World War II Poland. Informing Ultimate Nullifier that she was going to leave the Young Masters and had plans that did not involve evil, she left the Young Masters' base leaving behind the CIA file for Nullifier. Black Knight was later seen with the Young Masters where they are seen as members of the Shadow Council's Masters of Evil, which is led by Baron Helmut Zemo following Max Fury's death.


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: Nathan Garrett and Dane Whitman are part of a lineage of Black Knights stretching back to the 6th century. In "New Excalibur" #10, the first part of the "Last Day of Camelot" storyline, it is revealed that Dane has turned Garrett Castle into a Black Knight museum with various exhibits on the Black Knights, including the body of Sir Percy. There is a long line of paintings of the Knights including, according to the curator, "Sir Ralston["sic"] and Sir Eobar or lesser known knights like Sir William and Sir Henry." These Black Knights are:


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: Later in "The Last Days of Camelot", Sir Percy reveals to Dane that he was not the first Black Knight and that eight knights had carried the Ebony Blade before him, the last being King Arthur's cousin Sir Reginald. Each one had been driven mad by the sword and had to be killed until it was decided there were only three people who could take the sword, but King Arthur and Merlin were needed in other capacities, so the "burden" fell to Sir Percy who accepted despite knowing the risks.


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: In the Earth X series, Ahura – the son of Black Bolt and Medusa – becomes the Black Knight. Dane Whitman was turned to stone by the Grey Gargoyle.


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: Dane becomes one of the dozens of super-powered zombies that are laying siege to the castle of Doctor Doom. The zombies have detected delicious humans hiding inside, all of whom ultimately escape.


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: In the Ultimate Marvel universe, the Black Knight (real name Alex) is a member of the would-be superhero team the Defenders. He is long-haired, bearded, and out-of-shape, with a piece of armor, and resembles a LARPer. He later shows up in "", alongside the super-powered Defenders from a mysterious source.


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: The Dane Whitman version of Black Knight appears in the pages of "" as a member of an Ultimates team that preceded the current one by almost a decade. This Black Knight was highly unstable and was kept from officially joining the team until he stabilized. This never came to pass as the team bungled a mission and the project was shut down immediately after.


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: The Ebony Blade was created by comic book writer Stan Lee in "Black Knight Comics" #1, published under Atlas Comics in 1955. Its history was later revealed in "Marvel Super-Heroes" #17 (Nov 1968), written by Roy Thomas. The blade was shown to have been carved from a meteor and enchanted by the wizard Merlin for Sir Percy of Scandia, the first Black Knight. Due to all the blood that Sir Percy shed with the blade, it acquired a curse. The sword passed down through the generations until it came to Sir Percy's descendant Dane Whitman. Dane used the blade for many years. It passed briefly to Valkyrie when Dane's body was turned to stone and his soul sent back in time to the 13th century, but it was soon returned to him. Due to the curse, Dane eventually gave up the Ebony Blade by driving it deep into the same meteor that it was forged from, now residing in his castle. Only another deemed worthy would be able to withdraw it.


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: Sean Dolan, Dane's ex-squire, was able to draw the blade during an attack on Whitman's castle. This transformed Dolan into Bloodwraith. Dolan fought with the curse and was able to give up the sword for a brief time. During this time, it was trapped in the Negative Zone barrier outside of Attilan. In the meantime, a second Ebony Blade had been brought into this dimension by Proctor, an alternate reality version of Dane. When Proctor was killed, his blade was taken into Avengers custody.


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: Dolan was drawn to this second Blade, and once again became Bloodwraith. Crystal retrieved the original Blade, and The Vision threatened to destroy it if Bloodwraith did not surrender. Bloodwraith tossed the alternate Blade aside and reclaimed his own. Crystal picked up the second Blade and said it would be important to the future of the Inhumans. Bloodwraith was last known to have the Blade in his possession in Slorenia, where he was trapped by the Scarlet Witch.


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: At some point Dracula replaced Dane Whitman's blade with a fake one (see below), and the real Blade came to be in Iraq and was secured by the Vatican after it was found by Opus Dei in a purging of a vampire nest. The Vatican sent a new Black Knight assassin (Augustine du Lac) to kill Black Panther, who took it from the Knight for his own uses. Black Panther used the blade in several battles, including the Skrull invasion.


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: Upon learning the blade was fake for a second time, Dane Whitman retrieved the real blade from Black Panther's Wakandan nation where he was presented it by Queen Ororo T'Challa.


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: During "War of the Realms" event, when Malekith attacked Black Knight, Union Jack, and Spitfire, he acquired the Ebony Blade and was ready to kill them until the War Avengers arrived.


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: It comes to light in "King in Black" that the wizard Merlin had lied about how a wielder uses the cursed sword. Knull, primordial dark god of all symbiotes, revealed it only gives its true power to those who prove to be the most "baneful" and hate-filled of individuals, not those who are pure in body and mind; it takes one who is able to come to grips with their own faults and push on despite them to utilize what the evil deity described as "World Ender".


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: The sword also gives its users a state of resurrective immortality wherein if the wielder were to fall in battle, a blood offering of sorts can be used to restore them to life.


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: The Ebony Blade is a powerful enchanted weapon. It is said to be indestructible, and only the extremely powerful Iron Ogre, a magic creature, could split it in half. The blade has many mystical or quasi-mystical capabilities, including the ability to:


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: Dane Whitman discovered most of these abilities through scientific testing of the Blade. Additionally, the Blade bonds to its wielder in such a way that the wielder can summon it back to himself or herself using a mystical ceremony if it is ever lost, even if it is in a different time period. The Blade cannot be used against its owner, as seen when Caden Tar tries to use it to kill Dane Whitman, but cannot pierce his skin. The Blade formerly rendered its wielder invulnerable to everything except another weapon carved from the same meteor, such as the Ebony Dagger.


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: Other notable wielders of the Blade include Whitman's ancestors Sir Percy of Scandia, Eobar Garrington, Valkyrie, and Ares.


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: The Ebony Blade was afflicted with a blood curse due to all the blood the original Black Knight had spilled. Dane Whitman eventually purged the Blade of its curse at Doctor Strange's behest by plunging it into the Brazier of Truth while Strange bathed them both in magic fire. The curse returned, however, when the Sub-Mariner used it to kill his wife Marrina. The curse seems to affect different people in different ways. It turned Dane into a statue, it amplified Proctor's "gann'josin"-based powers, and it granted Sean Dolan great physical powers as Bloodwraith.


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: The Blade was sometimes known to subtly compel Dane to do things or go places that were tied to its previous wielders, as well. It was revealed by the symbiote god Knull that its power relies on the curse. As it thrives on the negative proclivities of flawed and imperfect wielders to maximize on its inherent power. Something that only the unworthy can utilize as its edge dulls when wielded by a chivalrous soul.


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: On occasion, the Ebony Blade appears in two separate comic series simultaneously, most notably in 2006 when it was in use by Dane Whitman (Black Knight) in the "New Excalibur" series whilst it was in use in a "Black Panther" ongoing by another Black Knight and subsequently Black Panther.


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: In a 2006 interview, when addressing a question about the confusion of the Ebony Blades appearing in two comics, Marvel Comics' editor Nick Lowe had this response:


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: At the end of those issues no full explanation was given. Whitman was shown to have sensed that his Ebony Blade was not the real one and left to find the original, then being used by Black Panther. Though both Captain Britain and Pete Wisdom knew the location of the real blade, Whitman had somehow forgotten it was fake during his next comic appearance in "Captain Britain and MI-13" #1.


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: Writer Paul Cornell revealed a full explanation within the Captain Britain series, having Dracula replace Dane Whitman's blade with a fake version at some point between "The Avengers" vol. 3 #37 and "New Excalibur" #10. This fake blade has a vampire fang within it, which has shown some signs of sentience as people have talked to the blade directly. This mystical sentience has acted in the same fashion as the original's curse; convincingly enough to fool Whitman. Even after Whitman first realized it was fake in "New Excalibur", it affected his memories so that he forgot, meaning he thought he held the real one by the time of "Captain Britain and MI-13".


title: Black Knight (Marvel Comics)

text: Upon learning that the blade was fake for the second time in #7 of that series, Whitman retrieved the real blade from Black Panther's Wakandan nation where he was presented it by Queen Ororo T'Challa.


title: Alouette (song)

text: "Alouette" () is a popular French-language children's song, commonly thought to be about plucking the feathers from a lark. Although it is in French, it is well known among speakers of other languages; in this respect, it is similar to "Frère Jacques". Many US Marines and other Allied soldiers learned the song while serving in France during World War I and took it home with them, passing it on to their children and grandchildren.


title: Alouette (song)

text: The song's origin is uncertain, but the most popular theory is that it is French-Canadian. It was first published in "A Pocket Song Book for the Use of Students and Graduates of McGill College" (Montreal, 1879). Canadian folklorist Marius Barbeau was of the opinion that the song's origin was France, though the first printed copy in France came 14 years after the original Canadian (McGill) publication.


title: Alouette (song)

text: The Canadian theory is based on the French fur trade that was active for over 300 years in North America. Canoes were used to transport trade goods in exchange for furs through established expansive trade routes consisting of interconnecting lakes, and rivers, and portages in the hinterland of present-day Canada and United States. The songs of the French fur trade were adapted to accompany the motion of paddles dipped in unison. Singing helped to pass the time and made the work seem lighter. In fact, it is likely that the Montreal Agents and Wintering Partners (precursor to the North West Company of fur traders) sought out and preferred to hire "voyageurs" who liked to sing and were good at it. They believed that singing helped the "voyageurs" to paddle faster and longer. French colonists ate horned larks, which they considered a game bird. "Alouette" informs the lark that the singer will pluck its head, beak, eyes, wings and tail. "En roulant ma boule" sings of ponds, bonnie ducks and a prince "on hunting bound". Many of the songs favored by the voyageurs have been passed down to the present era.


title: Alouette (song)

text: "Alouette" has become a symbol of French Canada for the world, an unofficial national song. Today, the song is used to teach French- and English-speaking children in Canada, and others learning French around the world, the names of body parts. Singers will point to or touch the part of their body that corresponds to the word being sung in the song.


title: Alouette (song)

text: Ethnomusicologist Conrad LaForte points out that, in song, the lark ("l'alouette") is the bird of the morning, and that it is the first bird to sing in the morning, hence waking up lovers and causing them to part, and waking up others as well, something that is not always appreciated. In French songs, the lark also has the reputation of being a gossip, a know-it-all, and cannot be relied on to carry a message, as it will tell everyone; it also carries bad news. However, the nightingale, being the first bird of spring, in Europe, sings happily all the time, during the lovely seasons of spring and summer. The nightingale (i.e., rossignol) also carries messages faithfully and dispenses advice, in Latin, no less, a language that lovers understand. LaForte explains that this alludes to the Middle Ages, when only a select few still understood Latin. And so, as the lark makes lovers part or wakes up the sleepyhead, this would explain why the singer of "Alouette" wants to pluck it in so many ways if he can catch it, for, as LaForte notes, this bird is flighty as well.


title: Alouette (song)

text: The lark was eaten in Europe, and when eaten was known as a "mauviette", which is also a term for a sickly person.


title: Alouette (song)

text: The tune has been used in Season 3 of the television series "Evil", possibly because the dark side of the lyrics could be seen as demonic influence/possession for the Kurt Fuller -played psychiatrist, a recurring character.


title: Alouette (song)

text: "Alouette" usually involves audience participation, with the audience echoing every line of each verse after the verse's second line. It is a cumulative song, with each verse built on top of the previous verses, much like the English carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas".


title: Women of Wrestling

text: WOW – Women of Wrestling, is an American women's professional wrestling promotion founded in 2000 by David McLane (who also founded Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (GLOW)). WOW is based in Los Angeles, California, and is owned by McLane and Los Angeles Lakers owner/president Jeanie Buss.


title: Women of Wrestling

text: Initially broadcasting in syndication during in the 2000–01 television season, WOW is a sports entertainment-styled product where its talent portrays heavily dramatized characters.


title: Women of Wrestling

text: WOW has been recognized as one of the few nationally broadcast wrestling promotions featuring an all-female roster. Only twenty-four television episodes and a pay-per-view event were produced during its initial run. In 2002, McLane sought a partnership with Kiss frontman Gene Simmons to revive the promotion. In July 2011, WOW TV reruns began airing on the ABC affiliate KTNV in Las Vegas.


title: Women of Wrestling

text: On May 29, 2012, McLane and Buss announced their intention to revive WOW and produce new episodes. Later that year, WOW reruns began airing on The CW Las Vegas station KVCW starting on December 9.


title: Women of Wrestling

text: In December 2014, WOW announced that it would be producing content for digital media in 2015. Marketed as "WOW Superheroes", its roster of characters are portrayed as empowered women from all different backgrounds and professions. A second season premiered on March 1, 2016, on YouTube. Its fourth season premiered February 28, 2017.


title: Women of Wrestling

text: On April 20, 2017, MGM Television announced that Mark Burnett, MGM's President, Television Group & Digital, and Jeanie Buss formed a partnership to develop new WOW content across a range of unscripted programming and digital formats. In June 2018, it was announced that tapings for a new weekly program on AXS TV titled "WOW: Women of Wrestling" would begin on October 10, 2018 at the Belasco Theater in Los Angeles, with episodes airing in early 2019. WOW debuted that January 18 as part of AXS TV's "Friday Night Fights" lineup of shows. The AXS TV premiere marked WOW's first television broadcast of new content in almost eighteen years. "WOW: Women of Wrestling" ran for just two seasons on AXS TV. In June 2020, it was reported that AXS had cancelled the series.


title: Women of Wrestling

text: On October 6, 2021, it was announced that ViacomCBS (now Paramount Global) had entered into a multi-year distribution agreement for WOW that will see new episodes produced for weekend syndication on 160 U.S. TV stations (CBS or The CW affiliates) owned by ViacomCBS or Sinclair Broadcast Group, with new episodes airing starting in Fall 2022. On October 7, WOW announced that April Mendez (fka AJ Lee in WWE) joined the company as an executive producer and color commentator.


title: Women of Wrestling

text: On January 21, 2022, WOW announced in a press release that "never-before-seen" episodes from "season 7" would debut on Pluto TV and The CW app starting January 22. On August 1, 2022, it was announced that new episodes of the series will begin airing on September 17, 2022 via Paramount Global Content Distribution. The series is carried in the U.S on CBS-owned-and-operated stations, Sinclair Communications, Nexstar Broadcasting, Hearst Television, TEGNA Media, Weigel Broadcasting, Gray Media and Cox Television. It has also been licensed for broadcast in Canada, Australia and Indonesia.


title: Women of Wrestling

text: WOW Unleashed was a professional wrestling pay-per-view from Women of Wrestling. It took place on February 4, 2001, from the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California. The PPV suffered from technical difficulties and a low buyrate. A second PPV, Spring Vengeance, was announced for April 8, 2001, during Unleashed, but never came to fruition. The announcers were Lee Marshall and former manager Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. Regular announcer David McLane, also the promotion's President, served as Master of Ceremonies.


title: Women of Wrestling

text: The following section pertains to announcers who cover WOW broadcasts. This group includes presenters, ringside commentators, ring announcers and backstage interviewers.


title: Open carry in the United States

text: In the United States, open carry refers to the practice of visibly carrying a firearm in public places, as distinguished from concealed carry, where firearms cannot be seen by the casual observer. To "carry" in this context indicates that the firearm is kept readily accessible on the person, within a holster or attached to a sling. Carrying a firearm directly in the hands, particularly in a firing position or combat stance, is known as "brandishing" and may constitute a serious crime, but that is not the mode of "carrying" discussed in this article.


title: Open carry in the United States

text: The practice of open carry, where gun owners openly carry firearms while they go about their daily business, has seen an increase in the United States in recent years, and is a hotly debated topic in gun politics. This has been marked by a number of organized events intended to increase the visibility of open carry and public awareness about the practice. Proponents of open carry point to history and statistics, noting that criminals usually conceal their weapons, in contrast to the law-abiding citizens who display their weapons. As of 2022, almost all US states allow for open carry either without a permit or with a permit/license.


title: Open carry in the United States

text: The gun rights community has become supportive of the practice, while gun control groups are generally opposed.


title: Open carry in the United States

text: Today in the United States, the laws vary from state to state regarding open carry of firearms. The categories are defined as follows:


title: Open carry in the United States

text: In the United States, the laws concerning open carry vary by state and sometimes by municipality. The following chart lists state policies for openly carrying a loaded handgun in public.


title: Open carry in the United States

text: Open carry has never been authoritatively addressed by the United States Supreme Court. The most obvious predicate for a federal right to do so would arise under the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution.


title: Open carry in the United States

text: In the majority opinion in the case of "District of Columbia v. Heller" (2008), Justice Antonin Scalia wrote concerning the entirety of the elements of the Second Amendment; "We find that they guarantee the individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation." However, Scalia continued, "Like most rights, the Second Amendment right is not unlimited. It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose."


title: Open carry in the United States

text: Forty five states' constitutions recognize and secure the right to keep and bear arms in some form, and none of those prohibit the open carrying of firearms. Five state constitutions provide that the state legislature may regulate the manner of keeping or bearing arms, and advocates argue that none rule out open carry specifically. Nine states' constitutions indicate that the "concealed" carrying of firearms may be regulated and/or prohibited by the state legislature. Open carry advocates argue that, by exclusion, open carrying of arms may "not" be legislatively controlled in these states.


title: Open carry in the United States

text: Section 1.7 of Kentucky's state constitution only empowers the state to enact laws prohibiting "concealed carry". Open carry without a permit is a specifically protected right in the Kentucky State Constitution and that right may not be questioned, in Holland v Commonwealth(1956) as mentioned " We observe, via obiter dicta, that although a person is granted the right to carry a weapon openly, a severe penalty is imposed for carrying it concealed. If the gun is worn outside the jacket or shirt in full view, no one may question the wearer's right so to do." Concealed Carry was decided to not be protected in the state constitution.


title: Open carry in the United States

text: The North Carolina Supreme Court ruled in State v. Kerner that requiring any form of permit, fee or license to open carry a firearm off one's own premises is unconstitutional according to article 1, Section 30 of the states constitution which says " A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed... " The court also held that concealed carry was not a right protected by the state's constitution and thus could be regulated by law.


title: Open carry in the United States

text: In July 2018, a divided panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found that Hawaii's licensing requirement for open carry violated the Second Amendment. That ruling was vacated on February 8, 2019 and the case is scheduled to be heard en banc.


title: Open carry in the United States

text: Several courts have ruled that the mere carriage of a firearm, where it is allowable by law, is not reasonable suspicion to detain someone, however, some courts have ruled that simply being armed is grounds for seizure.


title: Open carry in the United States

text: In "Terry v. Ohio" (1968), the Supreme Court ruled that police may stop a person only if they have a reasonable suspicion that the person has committed or is about to commit a crime, and may frisk the suspect for weapons if they have reasonable suspicion that the suspect is armed and dangerous. In an analog case, the Supreme Court ruled in "Delaware v. Prouse" (1979) that stopping automobiles for no reason other than to check the driver's license and registration violates the Fourth Amendment. In the case "Florida v. J. L." (2000), the court ruled that a police officer may not legally stop and frisk anyone based solely on an anonymous tip that simply described that person's location and appearance without information as to any illegal conduct that the person might be planning.


title: Open carry in the United States

text: Unless otherwise stated, the following courts ruled that carrying a firearm is not reasonable suspicion to detain someone or being armed is not a justifiable reason to frisk someone:


title: Open carry in the United States

text: The Third Circuit issued its ruling in "United States v. Ubiles" (2000), "United States v. Navedo" (2012), and "United States v. Lewis" (2012).


title: Open carry in the United States

text: The Fourth Circuit issued its ruling in "United States v. Black" (2013), however the decision "United States v. Robinson" (2017) found that a suspect stopped for a lawful reason can be frisked if the officer reasonably suspects them to be armed regardless of whether in legal possession or not.


title: Open carry in the United States

text: The Ninth Circuit issued its ruling in "United States v. Brown" (2019), however the decision "United States v. Orman" (2007) held that a police officer seizing a firearm for safety did not violate the Fourth Amendment.


title: Open carry in the United States

text: The Tenth Circuit issued its ruling in "United States v. King" (1993) and "United States v. Roch" (1993), however the decision "United States v. Rodriguez" (2013) found that the presence of a handgun in a waistband is grounds for reasonable suspicion of unlawfully carrying a deadly weapon thus justifying a stop and frisk.


title: Open carry in the United States

text: The Illinois Supreme Court issued its ruling in "People v. Granados" (2002) however the decision "People v. Colyar" (2013) found that the presence of a bullet justified officers searching for weapons for officer safety.


title: Open carry in the United States

text: The New Mexico Supreme Court issued its ruling in "State v. Vandenberg and Swanson" (2003) holding that frisking for weapons was reasonable.


title: Open carry in the United States

text: The Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued its ruling in "Commonwealth v. Hawkins" (1997) and "Commonwealth v. Hicks" (2019).""


title: Open carry in the United States

text: Four states, the Territory of the U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia fully prohibit the open carry of handguns. Twenty-five states permit open carry of a handgun without requiring the citizen to apply for any permit or license. Fifteen states require some form of permit (often the same permit as allows a person to carry concealed), and the remaining five states, though not prohibiting the practice in general, do not preempt local laws or law enforcement policies, and/or have significant restrictions on the practice, such as prohibiting it within the boundaries of an incorporated urban area. Illinois allows open carry on private property only.


title: Open carry in the United States

text: On October 11, 2011, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law that it would be a "misdemeanor to openly carry an exposed and unloaded handgun in public or in a vehicle." This does not apply to the open carry of rifles or long guns or persons in rural areas where permitted by local ordinance.


title: Open carry in the United States

text: On November 1, 2011, Wisconsin explicitly acknowledged the legality of open carry by amending its disorderly conduct statute (Wis. Stat. 947.01). A new subsection 2 states "Unless other facts and circumstances that indicate a criminal or malicious intent on the part of the person apply, a person is not in violation of, and may not be charged with a violation of, this section for loading, carrying, or going armed with a firearm, without regard to whether the firearm is loaded or is concealed or openly carried."


title: Open carry in the United States

text: On May 15, 2012, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed Senate Bill 1733, an amendment to the Oklahoma Self Defense Act, which will allow people with Oklahoma concealed weapons permits to open carry if they so choose. The law took effect November 1, 2012. "Under the measure, businesses may continue to prohibit firearms to be carried on their premises. SB 1733 prohibits carrying firearms on properties owned or leased by the city, state or federal government, at corrections facilities, in schools or college campuses, liquor stores and at sports arenas during sporting events."


title: Open carry in the United States

text: The Federal Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 limits where a person may legally carry a firearm by generally prohibiting carry within 1,000 ft of the property line of any K–12 school in the nation, with private property excluded.


title: Open carry in the United States

text: In a 1995 Supreme Court case, the Act was declared unconstitutional (on Federalism, not Second Amendment grounds), but was reenacted in the slightly different form in 1996.


title: Spitting Image

text: Spitting Image is a British satirical television puppet show, created by Peter Fluck, Roger Law and Martin Lambie-Nairn. First broadcast in 1984, the series was produced by 'Spitting Image Productions' for Central Independent Television over 18 series which aired on the ITV network. The series was nominated and won numerous awards, including ten BAFTA Television Awards, and two Emmy Awards in 1985 and 1986 in the Popular Arts Category. The series features puppet caricatures of contemporary celebrities and public figures, including British Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major and the British royal family. The series was the first to caricature Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (as an elderly gin-drinker with a Beryl Reid voice).


title: Spitting Image

text: One of the most-watched shows of the 1980s, "Spitting Image" satirised politics, entertainment, sport and British popular culture of the era. At its peak, the show was watched by 15 million people. The popularity of the show saw collaborations with musicians, including Phil Collins and Sting. The series was cancelled in 1996 after viewing figures declined. ITV had plans for a new series in 2006, but these were scrapped after a dispute over the Ant & Dec puppets used to host "Best Ever Spitting Image", which were created against Roger Law's wishes. In 2018, Law donated his entire archive – including scripts, puppet moulds, drawings and recordings – to the University of Cambridge. In 2019, Law announced the show would be returning with a new series. The revived series debuted on 3 October 2020 on BritBox, and featured caricatures of Boris Johnson and Donald Trump.


title: Spitting Image

text: Martin Lambie-Nairn proposed a satirical television show featuring caricature puppets created by Peter Fluck and Roger Law. Fluck and Law, who had both attended the Cambridge School of Art, had no previous television experience, but had, for several years, constructed plasticine caricatures to illustrate articles in "The Sunday Times" magazine. The idea for the series was rejected by many in the industry, who thought it would only be suitable for children, but the series was finally accepted for development and first broadcast in 1984.


title: Spitting Image

text: English comedy writer and "National Lampoon" editor Tony Hendra was brought in as a writer; Fluck and Law had met him while they were working in the US. Hendra brought in John Lloyd, producer of "Not The Nine O'Clock News". They were joined by Jon Blair, a documentary producer. They then hired Muppet puppeteer Louise Gold. Development was funded by the entrepreneur Clive Sinclair.


title: Spitting Image

text: The puppets, based on public figures, were designed by Fluck and Law, assisted by caricaturists including David Stoten, Pablo Bach, Steve Bendelack and Tim Watts. The episodes included musical parodies by Philip Pope (former member of "Who Dares Wins" and The Hee Bee Gee Bees) and later Steve Brown.


title: Spitting Image

text: In 1984, the first episode of "Spitting Image" was aired with a laugh track, apparently at the insistence of Central Television. This episode was shown to a preview audience before transmission. In the early years of the show, "Spitting Image" was filmed and based in the enterprise zone at London Docklands at the Limehouse Studios, where scriptwriters convened and puppets were manufactured. Impressionist Steve Nallon recalls that "they were able to get away with no health and safety, so all of the building of the puppets with all the toxic waste from the foam was just in a warehouse. There were no extractor fans; it was quite Dickensian." In later series, "Spitting Image" was recorded at Central's studios in Nottingham with last minute additions being recorded at the Limehouse Studios at Canary Wharf, London.


title: Spitting Image

text: Before the first episode was broadcast, the parodies of the Royal Family were cut as a courtesy to the Duke of Edinburgh, who opened the East Midlands Television Centre a few days later. The scenes were all reinstated in later episodes. Stephen Fry has written that Diana, Princess of Wales told him around 1991 that ""They" hate it of course. I absolutely adore it." Avalon Television executive producer Jon Thoday stated that Ronald Reagan directly contacted NBC asking for the show to be cancelled.


title: Spitting Image

text: The first episode had an audience of 7.9 million, but numbers rapidly dropped, which meant economies had to be introduced since the series cost £2.6 million to make, nearly double the price of other prime time series.


title: Spitting Image

text: The series had been originally scheduled to have 13 episodes, but was cut to 12 after the series was nearly cancelled. Rob Grant and Doug Naylor were then brought in as head writers to save the show; by 1986, under their supervision, "Spitting Image" had become popular, producing a number one song on the UK Singles Chart ("The Chicken Song"). However, Grant and Naylor subsequently left to create "Red Dwarf" for BBC2. "Spitting Image" had a short-running dispute with the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) in 1985, over the use of subliminal images.


title: Spitting Image

text: When Margaret Thatcher resigned as both Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party in November 1990, her successor was Chancellor of the Exchequer John Major. This marked a shift in the tone of the show, with the writers moving from the Punch and Judy style to more subtle and atmospheric sketches, notably a series in which an awkward Major and wife Norma ate peas for dinner. The producers dressed Major, skin and all, in shades of grey, and invented an affair between him and Virginia Bottomley.


title: Spitting Image

text: The show added animated sketches from 1989 and again from 1994 (with short, animated segments before 1989). For the 1992 Election Special, a studio audience was used; this format was revisited for two episodes in late 1993. A spoof "Question Time" took questions from the audience. The 1992 show was fronted by a puppet Robin Day, a puppet Jeremy Paxman filling the role in the episodes broadcast on 14 November 1993 and 12 December 1993.


title: Spitting Image

text: Many British politicians in parliament during Margaret Thatcher's tenure were parodied. By far the most prominent was Thatcher herself, portrayed as an abusive, tyrannical, cigar-chomping cross-dresser (she wore suits, shaved, used the urinals, and was addressed by her Cabinet as "Sir").


title: Spitting Image

text: In the first series, Thatcher sought advice from her enraptured neighbour Herr Jeremy Von Wilcox (who is actually an elderly Adolf Hitler, living at 9 Downing Street) about the unions and the unemployed. In the third episode, Mr. Wilcox/Hitler compares the trade unions with the Soviet Union and advises not to attack in winter. In that same episode, regarding unemployment, he says that people out of work should be put in the army, and tells Thatcher that he thinks the SS (meaning SAS) are a "great bunch of guys".


title: Spitting Image

text: Thatcher's Cabinet were often depicted as bickering schoolchildren, with Thatcher acting as teacher. In one skit she treats her Cabinet to a meal at a restaurant. The waitress asks: "Would you like to order, sir?" Thatcher responds: "Yes. I will have the steak" Waitress: "And what about the Vegetables?" Thatcher: "Oh, they'll [The Cabinet] have the same as me".


title: Spitting Image

text: Thatcher's successor John Major was portrayed as a dull, boring grey character who enjoyed a meal of peas with his wife Norma and was constantly mocked by Humphrey, the Downing Street cat. Before Thatcher's resignation, Major had been portrayed as wearing a leopard print suit and swinging in on a trapeze, referencing his background as the son of a circus acrobat (which he would frequently remind everyone about). Upon his appointment to Prime Minister, Major was initially portrayed as robot with a spinning antenna on his head (it was explained in a sketch that Thatcher used it to control Major, standing behind Thatcher in the crowd of sycophantic cabinet members, eager to repeat whatever the Thatcher puppet screeched).


title: Spitting Image

text: Arthur Scargill, who was a member of the Labour Party until 1997, appeared as head of the National Union of Mineworkers, and was portrayed as a big-nosed egotist who was ignorant about mining.


title: Spitting Image

text: In 1994, a puppet of Tony Blair made his appearance. He was originally a public school boy, wearing grey shorts, blazer and cap. His catchphrase was "I'M THE LEADER" in reference to his attempt to lead the Labour Party. When Blair did become Labour leader, the puppet changed and he was portrayed with his grin replaced with an even bigger smile if he said something of importance. The deputy leader, John Prescott, was portrayed as a fat bumbling assistant, along with a squeaky voiced Robin Cook, and an enormous bespectacled Jack Straw.


title: Spitting Image

text: The SDP-Liberal Alliance was portrayed by the election-losing, populist, arrogant and undecided David Owen, with whining, bedwetting David Steel in his pocket. They were soon replaced by Paddy Ashdown, whose "equidistance" from the larger parties was satirised by his frequent appearance at the side of the screen during unrelated sketches, saying: "I am neither in this sketch nor not in it, but somewhere in-between". This running gag was used when Ashdown's extramarital affair was revealed, and his puppet commented that "I didn't touch her on the left leg, or the right leg, but somewhere in-between." Former Liberal MP Cyril Smith also made a few appearances as a morbidly obese giant.


title: Spitting Image

text: In the first series, Former Prime Ministers Harold Wilson, James Callaghan, Harold Macmillan and Alec Douglas-Home were depicted as living in a highly restrictive retirement home named Exchequers, where they were frequently abused by Queen Victoria. Wilson constantly attempted escape, whilst Callaghan took delight in tormenting him. Edward Heath was also said to have resided there, but he was not seen on screen; later, he would appear as a naked piano player.


title: Spitting Image

text: Other members who were parodied include nymphomaniac Prince Andrew, envious and heavily freckled Sarah, Duchess of York, grumpy Princess Anne, poorly informed Prince Edward, Panzer-driving Princess Michael of Kent, and always-tipsy Princess Margaret.


title: Spitting Image

text: "Spitting Image" lampooned US President Ronald Reagan as a bumbling, nuke-obsessed fool in comparison with his advisors Edwin Meese and Caspar Weinberger. Next to his bed were red buttons labelled 'Nuke' and 'Nurse'. His wife Nancy was the butt of cosmetic surgery jokes.


title: Spitting Image

text: Mikhail Gorbachev's forehead birthmark was shaped like a hammer and sickle. All other Russians looked like Leonid Brezhnev, often said "da" ("yes") and talked about potatoes. In Russia it was snowing even indoors and the Soviet television had extremely low-tech visual effects.


title: Spitting Image

text: Yitzhak Shamir often appeared wearing a hard hat with the Star of David on it, holding a brick and referring to building a "legitimate Israeli settlement" (referring to the practice of building houses on the West Bank for Israeli people).


title: Spitting Image

text: François Mitterrand was wearing a beret and a garlic wreath, his successor Jacques Chirac was depicted as being obsessed and callous with nuclear weapons. P. W. Botha was shown as a racist cleverly disguising his views (once he had a badge "anti-anti-apartheid"). Some appearances were also made by Idi Amin, Robert Mugabe, Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, Ruhollah Khomeini, Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi. Khomeini appear to parody Iranian law and policy.


title: Spitting Image

text: Khomeini and Botha along with the more recurring Reagan, Thatcher, Pope John Paul II, and Gorbachev appear in the Spitting Image video game.


title: Spitting Image

text: Other international caricatures included Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger; George H. W. Bush and Dan Quayle; Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, Konstantin Chernenko, Raisa Gorbachova and Boris Yeltsin.


title: Spitting Image

text: England manager Bobby Robson was a senile worrier nicknamed 'Rubbisho'. Emlyn Hughes was portrayed with a high pitched and annoying voice. England midfielder Paul Gascoigne appeared, frequently crying – a parody of the 1990 World Cup semi-final against West Germany, in which he famously cried after being booked, which would have ruled him out of the final had England won the game.