title: Gregory van der Wiel

text: In October 2009, Van der Wiel became embroiled in a controversy after he was unable to travel with the Dutch squad to Australia for a friendly match due to a concussion sustained while playing for Ajax. However, Van der Wiel later attended a Lil Wayne concert and posted a picture of himself with the rapper on his Twitter page. Several prominent figures in Dutch football criticised the player for his actions, including Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk, who said, "It's rather strange that he was able to go to a concert, given that he told me that he was not allowed to fly by the Ajax medical staff." Ajax manager Martin Jol defended the player, saying the incident was blown out of proportion by the media and that it should not be seen as a lack of respect on the part of the player for the Dutch national team. Van Marwijk has since forgiven Van der Wiel for the incident, saying, "[H]e should not expect that this incident will have consequences for his place in the team."


title: Gregory van der Wiel

text: Van der Wiel was actively involved in the Netherlands' 2010 World Cup qualification campaign, having competed with John Heitinga for the starting right-back position. After the Netherlands secured qualification to the tournament proper, Van der Wiel was named to the 23-man squad by manager Bert van Marwijk. He previously aimed for his goal to make a selection for the World Cup squad prior to that.


title: Gregory van der Wiel

text: The player was in the starting line-up for their first two matches in the competition, 2–0 victory over Denmark and 1–0 victory over Japan. After missing two matches, Van der Wiel returned to the starting lineup for the match against Slovakia in the round of 16 on 28 June 2010. After the match, Van der Wiel said that although he was concerned at receiving a second yellow card, he was unhappy with his performance, describing it as his "least match so far".


title: Gregory van der Wiel

text: Van der Wiel also started in the quarter-final against Brazil, which saw the Dutch win 2–1 to send them through to the semi-final for the first time since the 1998 World Cup. However, he was once again suspended for the semi-final after he was booked for the second time in the tournament. After the match, he acknowledged his fault in receiving the yellow card.


title: Gregory van der Wiel

text: Van der Wiel returned to the squad for the final against Spain, where he started and played all 120 minutes of the match as the Dutch lost following a late goal by Andrés Iniesta in extra time. In total, Van der Wiel made four appearances during the World Cup campaign. At the end of 2010, Van der Wiel said about the World Cup: "The final was so beautiful, the stadium was very big and you only saw flashes of the cameras in the audience." I feel honored to have played the final. As a young boy, it is of course beautiful. Previously, it was a dream, now I have experienced it myself."


title: Gregory van der Wiel

text: Van der Wiel was Bert van Marwijk's first-choice right-back for the Netherlands' UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying Group E matches. He started the "Oranje"s qualifying campaign well when he set up a Ruud van Nistelrooy goal against San Marino, the Netherlands' fifth goal in a 5–0 win on matchday 1. Van der Wiel also set-up two goals for Robin van Persie and Ibrahim Afellay to help the Netherlands defeat Hungary on 25 March 2011. He then made his 25th international appearance on 2 September 2011 in an 11–0 win over San Marino.


title: Gregory van der Wiel

text: In late May 2012, Van der Wiel was named to Van Marjiwk's 23-man squad for the final tournament, held in Poland and Ukraine. However, at Euro 2012, Van der Wiel was widely criticized for his performances, notably a back-pass against Portugal in the first-half which presented Hélder Postiga with a clear sight of goal, though Postiga missed the opportunity.


title: Gregory van der Wiel

text: Following the arrival of new Dutch team manager Louis van Gaal after Euro 2012, Van der Wiel was rarely featured for the remainder of 2012, despite his determination to fight for his place in the squad. One year later, in November 2013, he was recalled for the first time and played his first match since Euro 2012, starting and playing the entire match at right-back in a 0–0 draw against Colombia on 19 November 2013. However, due to an injury sustained at Paris Saint-Germain towards the end of the 2013–14 season, Van der Wiel was omitted from the 23-man Dutch squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. In response from the World Cup, Van der Wiel said it didn't work out, due to his ongoing injuries.


title: Gregory van der Wiel

text: A versatile defender, Van der Wiel usually played as an attacking right-back or wing-back and is known for his speedy runs down the flank, as well as his defensive skills, ability on the ball and distribution. He is also capable of playing as a wide midfielder on either flank, or even as a centre-back.


title: Gregory van der Wiel

text: Born in Amsterdam, Van der Wiel has a Dutch-Antillean father from Curaçao and a Dutch mother. He has three younger sisters: Layla, Ambar and Hind. When asked about his religion, he said, "I believe in God, but do not believe in faith. I keep my superstition for myself." Van der Wiel is friends with Hurşut Meriç, having grown up together in Amsterdam, and Jan-Arie van der Heijden, having known each other at their early careers at Ajax.


title: Gregory van der Wiel

text: Van der Wiel has numerous tattoos of which he said, "[I] have two quotes (pronouns), my mother's name, my father's initials, the first letters of the names of my sisters, some decorations and my own name, that was my first tattoo. My parents thought eighteen was a good age for my first tattoo.. But they would rather not see me get a tattoo. Nowadays you see children getting tattooed at an earlier age. I think eighteen is a good age myself." He has also said hip hop is his culture.


title: Gregory van der Wiel

text: In November 2009, Van der Wiel donated money to help Dutch club HFC Haarlem in its financial difficulties. However, his efforts were ultimately unsuccessful as the club declared bankruptcy on 25 January 2010. Later in 2010, the Johan Cruyff Foundation dedicated a "Cruyff Court" in Van der Wiel's name. Van der Wiel had the court built in the Sapaté district in Curaçao—where his family is from—which was officially opened on 15 June 2011.


title: Gregory van der Wiel

text: In August 2015, Van der Wiel was a victim of the robbery after thieves broke into his apartment and stole his luxury watches. In May 2017, he also revealed he was a victim of a scam by businessman Ümit Akbulut after Van der Wiel gave him $4.5 million. Upon joining Toronto FC, Van der Wiel reflected on the incident: "I met somebody there, influential, and I wanted to invest some money, like I'm still doing to this day. I like to do things on the side of football to be smart about my money, but it was not a smart move. I trusted somebody and in the end, I never saw my money back."


title: Gregory van der Wiel

text: Van der Wiel lived with his girlfriend, Belgian model Rose Bertram in Los Angeles. Their daughter, Naleya Rose, was born on 24 February 2018 in Toronto.


title: Gregory van der Wiel

text: In November 2020, Van der Wiel spoke about mental health, having been dealing with panic attacks and feelings of anxiety for over a year.


title: Contemporary folk music

text: Contemporary folk music refers to a wide variety of genres that emerged in the mid 20th century and afterwards which were associated with traditional folk music. Starting in the mid-20th century a new form of popular folk music evolved from traditional folk music. This process and period is called the (second) folk revival and reached a zenith in the 1960s. The most common name for this new form of music is also "folk music", but is often called "contemporary folk music" or "folk revival music" to make the distinction. The transition was somewhat centered in the US and is also called the American folk music revival. Fusion genres such as folk rock and others also evolved within this phenomenon. While contemporary folk music is a genre generally distinct from traditional folk music, it often shares the same English name, performers and venues as traditional folk music; even individual songs may be a blend of the two.


title: Contemporary folk music

text: While the Romantic nationalism of the first folk revival had its greatest influence on art music, the "second folk revival" of the later 20th century brought a new genre of popular music with artists marketed through concerts, recordings and broadcasting. One of the earliest figures in this revival was Woody Guthrie, who sang traditional songs in the 1930s and 1940s as well as composing his own. In the United Kingdom, the folk revival fostered a generation of singer-songwriters such as Donovan, who achieved initial prominence in the 1960s. The folk revival spawned Canada's first folk wave of internationally successful artists such as Gordon Lightfoot, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, and Buffy Sainte-Marie.


title: Contemporary folk music

text: Major performers who emerged from the 1940s to the early 1960s included Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs, Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan. The mid-1960s through the early 1970s was associated with large musical, political, lifestyle, and counterculture changes. Folk music underwent a related rapid evolution, expansion and diversification at that same time. Major changes occurred through the evolution of established performers such as Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, and Peter, Paul and Mary, and also through the creation of new fusion genres with rock and pop. During this period, the term "protest music" was often used to characterize folk music with topical political themes. The Canadian performers Gordon Lightfoot, Leonard Cohen, Bruce Cockburn and Joni Mitchell represented such fusions and enjoyed great popularity in the U.S. Starting in the 1970s folk music was fueled by new singer-songwriters such as Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, and Harry Chapin.


title: Contemporary folk music

text: Other subgenres of folk include anti folk, folk punk (e.g., the Irish band the Pogues in the 1980s), indie folk, folktronica, freak folk and Americana and fusion genres such as folk metal, progressive folk, psychedelic folk, and neofolk.


title: Contemporary folk music

text: Definitions of "contemporary folk music" are generally vague and variable. Here, it is taken to mean all music that is called folk that is not traditional folk music, a set of genres that began with and then evolved from the folk revival of the mid-20th century. According to Hugh Blumenfeld, for the American folk scene:


title: Contemporary folk music

text: While the Romantic nationalism of the folk revival had its greatest influence on art-music, the "second folk revival" of the later 20th century brought a new genre of popular music with artists marketed through concerts, recordings and broadcasting. This is the genre that remains as "contemporary folk music" even when traditional music is considered to be a separate genre. One of the earliest figures in this revival was Woody Guthrie, who sang traditional songs in the 1930s and 1940s as well as composing his own. Among Guthrie's friends and followers as a collector, performer, and composer was Pete Seeger.


title: Contemporary folk music

text: In the 1930s, Jimmie Rodgers, in the 1940s Burl Ives, in the early 1950s Seeger's group the Weavers and Harry Belafonte, and in the late 1950s the Kingston Trio as well as other professional, commercial groups became popular. Some who defined commercialization as the beginning of this phase consider the commercial hit "Tom Dooley" by the Kingston Trio in 1958 as marking the beginning of this era. In 1963–1964, the ABC television network aired the "Hootenanny" television series devoted to this brand of folk music and also published the associated magazine "ABC-TV Hootenanny". Starting in 1950, the "Sing Out!", "Broadside", and "The Little Sandy Review" magazines helped spread both traditional and composed songs, as did folk-revival-oriented record companies.


title: Contemporary folk music

text: In the United Kingdom, the folk revival fostered young artists like the Watersons, Martin Carthy and Roy Bailey and a generation of singer-songwriters such as Bert Jansch, Ralph McTell, Donovan and Roy Harper; all seven achieved initial prominence in the 1960s. Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and Tom Paxton visited Britain for some time in the early 1960s, the first two especially making later use of the traditional English material they heard.


title: Contemporary folk music

text: In 1950, prominent American folklorist and collector of traditional songs Alan Lomax came to Britain and met A. L. 'Bert' Lloyd and Ewan MacColl, a meeting credited as inaugurating the second British folk revival. In London, the colleagues opened the Ballads and Blues Club, eventually renamed the Singers' Club, possibly the first folk club in the UK; it closed in 1991. As the 1950s progressed into the 1960s, the folk revival movement gathered momentum in both Britain and America.


title: Contemporary folk music

text: In much of rural Canada, traditional and country-folk music were the predominant styles of music until the 1950s, ahead even of the globally popular jazz and swing. Traditional folk took this predominance into early Canadian television with many country-themed shows on its early airwaves. "All Around the Circle" (1964–1975) showcased the traditional Irish- and English-derived music of Newfoundland, for example. But by far the most important of these was "Don Messer's Jubilee" (1957–1973), which helped to bridge the gap between rural country-folk and the folk revival that was emerging from urban coffee shops and folk clubs. The show helped to launch the careers of country-folk singers Stompin' Tom Connors and Catherine McKinnon.


title: Contemporary folk music

text: The folk revival spawned Canada's first folk wave of internationally successful artists such as Gordon Lightfoot, Leonard Cohen, Ian & Sylvia, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and Buffy Sainte-Marie. At the same time, Quebec folk singer-songwriters like Gilles Vigneault and groups such as La Bottine Souriante were doing the same in the French-speaking world. English-speaking Canadian folk artists tended to move the United States to pursue larger audiences until the introduction of so-called "Canadian content" rules for radio and television in the 1970s. At the same time, Canadian folk music became more formalized and commercialized with the rise of specialized folk festivals (beginning with the Miramichi Folksong Festival in 1958), increased radio airplay on rock, pop, and easy listening radio stations, the introduction of the Juno Award for Folk Artist of the Year in 1971, and even an academic journal the "Canadian Folk Music Journal" in 1973. The mid- and late 1960s saw fusion forms of folk (such as folk rock) achieve prominence never before seen by folk music, but the early 1960s were perhaps the zenith of non-fusion folk music prominence in the music scene.


title: Contemporary folk music

text: During the Great Depression, folk music reflected social realities of poverty and disempowerment of common people through vernacularized lyrics expressing the harsh realities of hard times and poverty. Often newly composed songs in traditional style by writers like Guthrie also featured a humorous and satirical tone. Most of the audience for folk music in those years were part of the working class, and many of these songs expressed resistance to the social order and an anger towards the government.


title: Contemporary folk music

text: The large musical, political, lifestyle, and counterculture changes most associated with "the 60s" occurred during the second half of the decade and the first year or two of the 1970s. Folk music underwent a related rapid evolution, expansion and diversification at that same time. Major changes occurred through the evolution of established performers such as Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, the Seekers and Peter Paul and Mary, and also through the creation of new fusion genres with rock and pop. Much of this evolution began in the early 1960s and emerged into prominence in the mid and late 1960s. One performance "crucible" for this evolution was Greenwich Village New York. Dylan's use of electric instruments helped inaugurate the genres of folk rock and country rock, particularly by his album "John Wesley Harding".


title: Contemporary folk music

text: These changes represented a further departure from traditional folk music. The Byrds with hits such as Seeger's "Turn! Turn! Turn!" were emblematic of a new term folk rock. Barry McGuire left the New Christy Minstrels and recorded "Eve of Destruction" in 1965. Other performers such as Simon & Garfunkel and the Mamas & the Papas created new, hard-to-classify music that was folk-inflected and often included in discussions of folk rock.


title: Contemporary folk music

text: During this period, the term "protest music" was often used to characterize folk music with topical political themes. The convergence of the civil rights movement and folk music on the college campus led to the popularity of artists like Bob Dylan and his brand of protest music. As Folk singers and songwriters such as Phil Ochs, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Arlo Guthrie and Tom Paxton followed in Woody Guthrie's footsteps, writing "protest music" and topical songs and expressing support for various causes including the American Civil Rights Movement and anti-war causes associated with the Vietnam War. Songs like Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" became an anthem for the civil rights movement, and he sang ballads about many other current issues of the time, such as "Hard Rain's Gonna Fall" about the Cuban missile crisis. Dylan is quoted having said "there's other things in this world besides love and sex that're important, too." A number of performers who had begun their careers singing largely traditional material, as typified by Joan Baez and Judy Collins, began to write their own material.


title: Contemporary folk music

text: The Canadian performers Gordon Lightfoot, Leonard Cohen, Bruce Cockburn and Joni Mitchell represented such fusions and enjoyed great popularity in the U.S.; all four were eventually invested with the Order of Canada. Many of the acid rock bands of San Francisco began by playing acoustic folk and blues. The Smothers Brothers television shows featured many folk performers, including the formerly blacklisted Pete Seeger.


title: Contemporary folk music

text: Bonnie Koloc is a Chicago-based American folk music singer-songwriter who made her recording debut in 1971. In 1968 Melanie, released her first album in 1968 with several popular songs with a folk/pop blend.


title: Contemporary folk music

text: The mid to late Sixties saw the development of British folk rock, with a focus on indigenous (European, and, emblematically, English) songs. A key British folk rock moment was the release of Fairport Convention's album "Liege and Lief". Guitarist Richard Thompson declared that the music of the band demanded a corresponding "English Electric" style, while bassist Ashley Hutchings formed Steeleye Span to pursue a more traditional repertoire performed in the folk rock style. Following his own departure from the group, Thompson and his wife Linda released six albums as a duo which integrated folk rock and art rock. Fairport Convention, Pentangle, Alan Stivell and Mr. Fox's work included lectrification of traditional musical forms.


title: Contemporary folk music

text: Starting in the 1970s, folk music was fueled by new singer-songwriters such as Steve Goodman, John Prine, Emmylou Harris, Joni Mitchell, John Denver, Harry Chapin, and many more. In the British Isles, the Pogues in the early 1980s and Ireland's the Corrs in the 1990s brought traditional tunes back into the album charts. The Corrs were active from 1990 to 2006 and performed Celtic and pop music, and created a blend of the two. Carrie Newcomer emerged with Stone Soup in 1984 and has been performing individually since 1991. Brandi Carlile, Patty Griffin, and Rising Appalachia are popular folk artists circa 2019.


title: Contemporary folk music

text: In the 1980s, the Washington Squares played "throwback" folk music. Suzanne Vega performed folk and protest folk-oriented music. The Knitters promulgated cowpunk or folk punk, which eventually evolved into alt country. More recently the same spirit has been embraced and expanded on by artists such as Miranda Stone and Steve Earle.


title: Contemporary folk music

text: In the second half of the 1990s, once more, folk music made an impact on the mainstream music via a younger generation of artists such as Eliza Carthy, Kate Rusby and Spiers and Boden. Canada's biggest-selling folk group of the 1990s and 2000s was the Celtic, rock-tinged Great Big Sea from Newfoundland, who have had four albums certified platinum in Canada.


title: Contemporary folk music

text: Folk metal bands such as Korpiklaani, Skyclad, Waylander, Ensiferum, Ithilien and Finntroll meld elements from a wide variety of traditions, including in many cases instruments such as fiddles, tin whistles, accordions and bagpipes. Folk metal often favours pagan-inspired themes.


title: Contemporary folk music

text: Viking metal is defined in its folk stance, incorporating folk interludes into albums (e.g., Bergtatt and Kveldssanger, the first two albums by once-folk metal, now-experimental band Ulver). Mumford & Sons a folk rock and indie folk band was formed in 2007 and achieved prominence in 2010. Shenandoah Run formed in 2011 to bring contemporary American folk music of the 1960s to modern listeners.


title: Contemporary folk music

text: Filk music can be considered folk music stylistically and culturally (though the 'community' it arose from, science fiction fandom, is an unusual and thoroughly modern one). Neofolk began in the 1980s, fusing traditional European folk music with post-industrial music, historical topics, philosophical commentary, traditional songs and paganism. The genre is largely European but it also influences other regions. Pagan Folk music is prominent in Germany, the United Kingdom, Scandinavian countries and Slavic countries with singers like David Smith (Aka Damh the bard) and Bands like Danheim, Faun, Omnia, Wardruna and Arkona. Most bands join the folk genre with other musical genres like metal or electronica.


title: Contemporary folk music

text: Anti folk began in New York City in the 1980s. Folk punk, known in its early days as rogue folk, is a fusion of folk music and punk rock. It was pioneered by the London-based Irish band the Pogues in the 1980s. Industrial folk music is a characterization of folk music normally referred to under other genres, and covers music of or about industrial environments and topics, including related protest music.


title: Contemporary folk music

text: Other subgenres include indie folk, progressive folk, folktronica, freak folk and Americana and fusion genres such as folk metal, psychedelic folk, and neofolk.


title: Contemporary folk music

text: Music mixing elements of folk and electronic music, or "folktronica", (or "ethnic electronica") that features uses of acoustic instruments with variable influences and choice of sounds. "The Ashgate Research Companion to Popular Musicology" describes folktronica as "a catch-all [term] for all manner of artists who have combined mechanical dance beats with elements of acoustic rock or folk."<ref name="Scott/Ashgate"></ref>


title: Contemporary folk music

text: The 1993 album "Every Man and Woman is a Star" by Ultramarine is credited as a progenitor of the new music; it featured a pastoral sound and incorporated traditional instruments such as violin and harmonica with techno and house elements. According to "The Sunday Times Culture's Encyclopedia of Modern Music", essential albums of the genre are Four Tet's "Pause" (2001), Tunng's "Mother's Daughter and Other Songs" (2005), and Caribou's "The Milk of Human Kindness" (2005).


title: Contemporary folk music

text: More "worldbeat" influenced electronic folk acts include Bryn Jones with his project Muslimgauze (before his death in 1999), the artists of Asian underground movement (Cheb i Sabbah, Asian Dub Foundation, Joi, State of Bengal, Transglobal Underground, Natacha Atlas), Shpongle, Home Sweet Somewhere, Mavka (Ukrainian group), Ott, Zavoloka, Linda George, Banco de Gaia, AeTopus, Zingaia, Afro-Celt Sound System, Métisse, A Tribe Called Red, early work by Yat-Kha (with Ivan Sokolovsky).


title: Contemporary folk music

text: Country folk as a genre label is a rather nebulous one, but one that has been employed often at least since the mid-1970s. For dedicated enthusiasts, the category largely includes the works of contemplative post-Dylan singer-songwriters, who were influenced by his and other late 1960s' and 1970s' artists' country rock sounds, but who, recording slightly later, preferred a gentler, more acoustic-dominant sound that allowed focus on the lyrics. The significant element that distinguishes "country folk" from the "folk" music on Dylan's contemporaries' recordings in the 1960s was the re-admission of country and bluegrass music instrumentation—mandolin, banjo, fiddle, and resophonic and electric steel guitars—into the mix; country rock's success with urban audiences had paved the way for this hybrid. For aficionados, viewing country folk as a subgenre of country is inaccurate, as it is not aimed at a country music audience, in the main.


title: Contemporary folk music

text: Some of the definitive country folk artists from the early years include Harry McClintock, John Prine, Kate Wolf, and Nanci Griffith—all singer-songwriters with thoughtful lyrics whose arrangements are backed by the aforementioned instruments. By the 1980s, record labels such as Rounder and Sugar Hill specialized in recording country folk artists


title: Contemporary folk music

text: The category does overlap with the post-country rock trajectories of other artists who moved away from the mainstream market as country rock's own fortunes waned at the close of the 1970s. Emmylou Harris moved into neo-traditionalist country, Chris Hillman into progressive bluegrass, brother harmony duo (with Herb Pedersen), and Bakersfield revival. By the start of the 1990s, these sounds, as well as others, would inspire musical amalgams categorized as alternative country music and americana, yet "country folk" continues to be used for the gentler sounds of singers such as Iris DeMent, Billy Strings, and Gillian Welch.


title: Contemporary folk music

text: Even during the 1970s, as the acoustic, early country music-inflected sounds of country folk were making it distinct from other styles of post-1960s singer-songwriter music, it had varying degrees of overlaps with the sounds of progressive country music (such as Kris Kristofferson, Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark), outlaw country (Billy Joe Shaver, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash), progressive bluegrass (Tony Rice albums Cold on the Shoulder and Native American), and other country rock inflected recordings (Tom Rush's "Tom Rush" and "Merrimack County" and Gordon Lightfoot and Jimmy Buffett's 1970s catalog). None of these were specifically marketed or received as "country folk," however. Still, later low-key, acoustic-dominant country-inflected recordings by these and many other earlier artists have at times loosely, but not inaccurately, been defined as country folk by some sources.


title: Contemporary folk music

text: More recently, the majority of artists whose music could be classified as country folk find their home in the americana genre, including Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell, Parker Millsap, Patty Griffin and Amanda Shires, with several artists being interchangeably described as both folk and americana artists, most notably Sarah Jarosz who has received Grammy Awards in both genre categories.


title: Contemporary folk music

text: In Europe, the term "folk" is used just for a special modern genre (the traditional folk is called folklore or national music).


title: Contemporary folk music

text: The Czech folk music is influenced by Czech traditional music an songwriters, "tramping" music, as well as by English-language country and contemporary-folk music, spirituals and traditionals, bluegrass, chanson etc. In the second half of the 20th century, all the similar genres coexisted as a protest multigenre, in contrast to the official pop music, to the rock music etc. Since 1967, the "Porta" festival became the centre of this genre, originally defined as a festival of country & western & tramping music. Acoustic guitars were the most typical instrument for them all.


title: Miss Potter

text: Miss Potter is a 2006 biographical drama film directed by Chris Noonan. It is based on the life of children's author and illustrator Beatrix Potter, and combines stories from her own life with animated sequences featuring characters from her stories, such as Peter Rabbit. Scripted by Richard Maltby Jr., the director of the Tony Award-winning Broadway revue, "Fosse", the film stars Renée Zellweger in the title role, Ewan McGregor as her publisher and fiancé, Norman Warne, and Lloyd Owen as solicitor William Heelis. Emily Watson stars as Warne's sister, Millie. Lucy Boynton also stars as the young Beatrix Potter and Justin McDonald appears as the young William Heelis. It was filmed in St. Peter's Square Hammersmith, Cecil Court, Osterley Park, Covent Garden, the Isle of Man, Scotland and the Lake District.


title: Miss Potter

text: "Miss Potter" received a limited release in the United States on 29 December 2006 so that the film could compete for the 2007 Academy Awards. The film was intended to be released generally on 12 January 2007, but "Variety" reported that The Weinstein Company had decided to push a wider release date until after the Academy Awards on 25 February 2007. The date seemed to fluctuate a number of times, but the Weinstein Company website ultimately listed its release date as 9 March. The film received generally positive reviews, and Zellweger was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical. This was her sixth nomination.


title: Miss Potter

text: The story begins with Beatrix Potter nervously packing her portfolio and narrating that she is a London spinster, and that her ambition to become a children's author meets with wide disapproval. She and her chaperone, Miss Wiggin, visit the publishing house of Harold and Fruing Warne, who decide to publish her "The Tale of Peter Rabbit". Beatrix is thrilled and returns home, taking a drive through the parks to celebrate. However, it is revealed the Warne brothers think her book is ridiculous and will no doubt be a failure. The only reason they agreed to publish it is because they promised their younger brother, Norman, a project.


title: Miss Potter

text: When Norman visits Beatrix, they make decisions about her book regarding size, colour and price. Norman admits he has never done anything like this before but has given her book a great deal of thought. Beatrix realises what Norman's brothers have done, but she and Norman become determined to prove them wrong. Norman takes Beatrix to the printer, and she has her drawings reproduced and copies of her book sold. Beatrix and Norman visit the Warne family, where Beatrix meets wheelchair user Mrs. Warne, and Norman's sister, Millie. Millie has decided that she and Beatrix are going to be friends and is overjoyed that Beatrix is a spinster, as is Millie, who believes men to be nothing but bores. The family befriends Beatrix, yet Helen Potter, Beatrix's social-climbing mother, is unhappy about her daughter spending time in the company of tradesmen.


title: Miss Potter

text: When she returns home, Beatrix and Helen bicker about Beatrix's decision not to marry. Beatrix reminds her mother of the book she wrote, and her mother retorts she believes the venture will fail. However, the book sales are very successful and copies are displayed in many store windows. Norman encourages Beatrix to submit other stories for publication. Even Beatrix's father, Rupert, buys a copy of "The Tale of Two Bad Mice" after hearing how his friends at the Reform Club were buying them. Encouraged by this success and her father's support, Beatrix invites Norman and Millie to her family's Christmas party. At the party everyone enjoys themselves and Beatrix shows Norman a story she is writing especially for him, "The Rabbits' Christmas Party". She shows him a drawing from the story and shows him her studio where she writes and draws. Miss Wiggin falls asleep from too much brandy (a generous portion of which had been added to her coffee cup by Norman), and Norman plucks up the courage to propose to Beatrix. Mrs. Potter interrupts before Beatrix can reply, and they join the other guests in the drawing room. Beatrix confides in Millie about Norman proposing, and Millie encourages her to say yes. Beatrix then tells the guests of the stories she writes and they are delighted and amused. Mrs. Potter, however, can not see what all the fuss is about. As the guests leave, Beatrix whispers her agreement to marry Norman, who is overjoyed.


title: Miss Potter

text: Norman visits Rupert Potter at his club to ask his consent and is dismissed within minutes. At the Potter household, Beatrix and her parents argue about her decision to marry Norman. Beatrix is adamant. Mrs. Potter tells her no Potter can marry into trade, but Beatrix reminds her that her grandfathers were both tradesmen. When Mrs. Potter threatens to cut her daughter off financially, Beatrix reminds them of her brother, Bertram, who married a wine merchant's daughter and was not disowned. She states she can survive on her own with her books. Mr. Potter attempts to reason with his daughter, but she tells him she wants to be loved and not simply marry someone because he can provide for her.


title: Miss Potter

text: Beatrix inquires with the bank about her royalty earnings, wondering if she would perhaps someday be able to buy a house in the country. She is amazed and delighted to learn that her book sales have made her wealthy enough to buy several estates and a house in town if she wishes. When she returns home her parents make a proposition: that Beatrix keep her engagement to Norman a secret and holiday with them in the Lake District for the summer. If she still wishes to marry him at the end of the summer, they agree that they will not object to the marriage. Beatrix agrees to the proposition and is quite convinced that she will not change her mind, telling her parents to prepare for an October wedding.


title: Miss Potter

text: Norman and Beatrix kiss each other goodbye at the railway station (Horsted Keynes on the Bluebell Line) and write many letters during their time apart, until one day a letter arrives from his sister Millie, informing her that Norman is ill. Beatrix travels back to London only to find that Norman has died. Overcome with grief, Beatrix shuts herself up in her room. She turns to her drawing, but discovers that her characters disappear off the page. Millie comes to visit and comfort her, and Beatrix decides she must leave the house.


title: Miss Potter

text: Beatrix buys a farm in the country in the Lake District and moves there to resume her work. She hires a farmhand to run the farm and finds comfort in her surroundings. With the help of her solicitor, William Heelis, she outbids developers at auctions and buys many other farms and land in the area to preserve nature. In captions, it is explained that eight years after moving to the Lake District she marries William (to her mother's disapproval) and the land she purchased eventually forms part of the Lake District National Park in North West England.


title: Miss Potter

text: The film was director Chris Noonan's first in 10 years (since he made "Babe"), having waited for many years until he finally found a script that inspired him. Cate Blanchett, who originally suggested Noonan for the role of director, was at one point set to star in the film but apologetically left the project when one of her other films was green-lit before this one. Zellweger ended up becoming an executive producer on the film because she was dissatisfied with the script and wanted to get more involved.


title: Miss Potter

text: The film was first brought to Ewan McGregor's attention by Zellweger, who had kept in contact with him after collaborating on "Down with Love." McGregor described the film as having a somewhat similar appeal as that film, and noted that he was familiar with Beatrix Potter's stories, which he read to his children. To prepare for the role, McGregor studied photographs of Norman Warne and visited the modern-day Warne publishing house. Zellweger read actual letters between Beatrix Potter and Norman Warne and Millie to prepare for the role, but had difficulty with the accent, which she said was very different from Bridget Jones'.


title: Miss Potter

text: As there were no records of Beatrix Potter's speaking voice, they had to guess; ultimately the voice was softened so as not to irritate contemporary audiences with the tight, high voice a woman of Beatrix Potter's standing at that time may have had. Zellweger said that she had read a few of Beatrix Potter's stories growing up, but that she had never known anything about the woman herself. Noonan said that when growing up he had never read Beatrix Potter's stories, and that, "I was aware of her because of all that crockery with her characters on it."


title: Miss Potter

text: The film used animated versions of Beatrix Potter's characters and illustrations, which were composited into the live-action shots. According to Chris Knott (who had previously worked on "Who Framed Roger Rabbit"), VFX supervisor on the film for Passion Pictures, they were given access to collections of Potter's original work to help them recreate it for the animations. Noonan said that it was hard to find anyone who still did cel animation, but did end up finding such a person in Alyson Hamilton, who already had a great deal of appreciation for Potter's work. Costumes for the film were designed by Academy Award winner Anthony Powell. The score for the film was composed by Nigel Westlake (who had previously worked with Noonan on "Babe") although Rachel Portman was brought in to record some of the music for the Lake District scenes. Westlake was asked by Noonan during filming to come up with a waltz-like tune for some of their lyrics, and, with the collaboration of Mike Batt and Katie Melua, this same song was also turned into a pop song used in the end credits of the film.


title: Miss Potter

text: The film received positive reviews. , the film holds a 67% approval rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 129 reviews with an average rating of 6.22 out of 10. The critics' consensus is that it is a "charming biopic that maintains its sweetness even in sadder moments."


title: David Troughton

text: David Troughton (born 9 June 1950) is an English actor. He is known for his Shakespearean roles on the British stage and for his many roles on British television, including Dr Bob Buzzard in "A Very Peculiar Practice" and Ricky Hanson in "New Tricks".


title: David Troughton

text: David Troughton was born in Hampstead, London. He comes from an acting family of Jewish ancestry. He is the son of Patrick Troughton, elder brother of Michael Troughton, and father of actors Sam Troughton and William Troughton. He attended Orange Hill Grammar School in Edgware with his brother Michael. Another son is the Warwickshire cricketer Jim Troughton. Troughton is also an uncle of the actor Harry Melling.


title: David Troughton

text: His memorable performances include King Richard in "Richard III" (RSC, 1996), Bolingbroke in "Richard II" (RSC, 2000) and Duke Vincentio in "Measure for Measure" (Théâtre de Complicité, 2004).


title: David Troughton

text: On television, his roles have included Ham Peggotty in "David Copperfield"; guest appearances in "Survivors", "The Life and Times of David Lloyd George", "Rab C. Nesbitt" and "Doctor Who", first as an extra in "The Enemy of the World" (1967–1968), then as a soldier in "The War Games" (1969), both times alongside his father who played the Second Doctor, and in a considerably larger role as King Peladon in "The Curse of Peladon" (1972) alongside Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor; as Sergeant Pritchard in the BBC television sitcom "Hi-de-Hi!" series 2 episode 12 and as Brinsley in the episode "Sons and Lovers" in "Sorry!". In the television adaptation of Alan Ayckbourn's trilogy "The Norman Conquests" (1977), Troughton appeared as Tom, the veterinarian; later he was the physician Bob Buzzard in the two series of "A Very Peculiar Practice" (1986 and 1988). Also in 1986, he appeared as himself in the ITV children's TV show "Rainbow", appearing as the guest storyteller in the episode "What's Wrong with Bungle". He was Uncle Sid in "Cider with Rosie" (1998) and also appeared in the role of Sir Arthur Wellesley (the Duke of Wellington) in the first two episodes of "Sharpe". He appeared as an alien hunter in the comedy/drama mini-series "Ted and Alice" in 2002, and in 2005 he also played Sgt. Clive Harvey, side-kick to the title character of the ITV detective show "Jericho". He appeared in an episode of "Agatha Christie's Poirot" in 1993 ("The Yellow Iris"), and in two separate episodes of "Midsomer Murders", in 1998 and 2007, playing two separate characters. He appeared in the first episode of the TV adaptation of "The Last Detective" in which his "A Very Peculiar Practice" co-star Peter Davison (also ex-"Doctor Who") starred.


title: David Troughton

text: He appeared in the 2008 series of "Doctor Who" as Professor Hobbes, in the episode "Midnight". He has also performed in a "Big Finish" "Doctor Who" audio production titled "Cuddlesome" where he plays the Tinghus. He also played the Black Guardian in two audios: "The Destroyer of Delights" and "The Chaos Pool". Finally, he returned as King Peladon in "The Prisoner of Peladon" audio, and in 2011 in "The Crimes of Thomas Brewster".


title: David Troughton

text: In 2011, it was announced that David Troughton would be taking on his father's role as the Second Doctor in two audio plays, also featuring Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor. He has also performed regularly as a notable villain in the BBC series "New Tricks". In the same year he appeared (uncredited) in the US remake of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" alongside Daniel Craig.


title: David Troughton

text: He toured alongside Alison Steadman in a production of "Enjoy" by Alan Bennett, playing the role of Dad. He starred alongside Kevin Spacey in a production of "Inherit the Wind" by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee at London's Old Vic theatre which ran from 18 September to 20 December 2009.


title: David Troughton

text: In 2011, he appeared as Stan Astill in the Sky1 comedy series "The Café". In 2012, he guest starred in an episode of "Holby City" as a character named Ritchie Mooney. Although they did not appear in the same episode, his real-life son Sam Troughton appeared five weeks later as his character's son Nick Mooney. In November 2013, Troughton appeared in the one-off 50th anniversary comedy homage "The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot".


title: David Troughton

text: In January 2014, he took on the role of Tony Archer, from Colin Skipp who, for 46 years, had played the part in the BBC radio series "The Archers". In November that year, fiction caught up with reality when his actor son, William Troughton, took over the role of Tom Archer, Tony Archer's son, from Tom Graham.


title: David Troughton

text: David Troughton played the role of Simon Eyre in "The Shoemaker's Holiday" for the Royal Shakespeare Company from 11 December 2014 to 7 March 2015; he also played the role of Gloucester in Gregory Doran's version of King Lear. He returned to the Company in 2017 to play the title role in "Titus Andronicus", before playing Falstaff in "The Merry Wives of Windsor" in 2018.


title: David Troughton

text: Troughton co-starred with Fiona O'Shaughnessy in the romantic horror comedy film "Nina Forever" (2015).


title: Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch)

text: Ghost Rider (Daniel "Danny" Ketch) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the third Marvel character to don the identity of Ghost Rider, after Johnny Blaze (the first supernatural Ghost Rider and brother to Danny) and the Western hero known as the Phantom Rider, who used the name in 1967.


title: Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch)

text: The third Ghost Rider debuted in "Ghost Rider" vol. 3 #1 (May 1990). The series ended with a cliffhanger in vol. 3 #93 (Feb. 1998). Marvel finally published the long-awaited final issue nine years later as "Ghost Rider Finale" (Jan. 2007), which reprints vol. 3 #93 and the previously unpublished #94. Ketch appears in the current "Ghost Rider" series alongside Johnny Blaze. In support of the series, Ketch received his own miniseries titled "Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch", written by Simon Spurrier.


title: Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch)

text: Daniel Ketch was born in Brooklyn, New York. One night, Daniel and his sister Barbara were attacked by gangsters; with his sister grievously wounded by Deathwatch, Daniel fled and hid in a junkyard, where he found a motorcycle bearing a mystical sigil. Upon touching the sigil, he was transformed into the Ghost Rider. This Ghost Rider was nearly identical to the previous, though his costume and bike had undergone a modernized tailoring. He beat the gangsters, but was unable to save Barbara, who had slipped into a coma as a result from her injury. She was eventually killed by Blackout, whom Ketch had acquired as a mortal enemy.


title: Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch)

text: Ketch later learned the origin of Zarathos from the mystical dream lord Nightmare, who believed the entity to which Ketch was bound was Zarathos reborn and freed from the Soul Crystal. Ghost Rider denied this, though others, including Mephisto, believed otherwise.


title: Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch)

text: When Ghost Rider becomes a part of the team the Midnight Sons, he dies twice. The first person who killed Ghost Rider was the vampire hunter Blade, who was at the time possessed by the mystical book the Darkhold. He was soon revived by the Darkhold Redeemers, along with everyone else killed by Blade. The second time Daniel Ketch was killed was by Zarathos, but, as previously, was resurrected.


title: Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch)

text: Ketch and Johnny Blaze later learned they were long-lost brothers and that their family was the inheritor of a mystical curse related to the Spirits of Vengeance. Danny Ketch seemed to die by the hand of Blackout, but the Spirit of Vengeance to which he had been bound through the bike's talisman lived on. During this time Ketch's only existence remained inside a void and he was only able to communicate with Ghost Rider via the spirit world.


title: Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch)

text: In "Peter Parker: Spider-Man" #93, Ghost Rider is seen being summoned forth on the streets of New York, his powers out of control due to lacking a host. He encounters Spider-Man and Ketch, who tells him that he is Noble Kale even though Ghost Rider denies this, and should be in Mephisto's realm. The trio contend with a bomb created by a group of terrorists who wish to incinerate the city. Although Ghost Rider takes possession of the bomb, he lacks the strength to contain the impending explosion, and thus Ketch rejoins with him to become Ghost Rider once more, and aids Spider-Man in neutralizing the threat.


title: Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch)

text: This Ketch/Kale hybrid version of Ghost Rider eventually becomes the King of Hell in a brokered arrangement with then-ruler Blackheart. In return for Ghost Rider coming to Hell and marrying two hand-picked demon brides, Pao Fu and the Black Rose, Blackheart will free the Ketch line from the curse. Kale accepts. On the night after the dual wedding, Black Rose betrays Kale and tries to kill him. When she fails, Blackheart revealed that the entire arrangement had been a plan to kill Kale and destroy his soul. Black Rose is revealed to be Roxanne Simpson, the supposedly dead wife of Johnny Blaze. In response, Kale kills Blackheart, becomes King of Hell, and learns he is in fact the angel of death.


title: Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch)

text: Ketch slipped into a coma in the mortal plane and was later revived by his dead mother, Naomi Kale-Blaze, and brother, Johnny Blaze, and goes on to live a seemingly normal life. However, his longtime girlfriend Stacy Dolan learns she is pregnant with Ketch's child and runs away.


title: Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch)

text: In the 2008 miniseries "Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch", Ketch is tormented that his life has fallen apart due to his family curse, and thus has the Noble Kale Ghost Rider exorcised from his body by the technomancer Mary LeBow. Ketch falls into a deep alcoholic depression. He is repeatedly approached by Mister Eleven, a talking crow who gives him "doses" of the Ghost Rider power and reveals to him the history of the Spirits of Vengeance and how some past Ghost Riders were unable to cope with the Rider's power, which drove them insane and burned out their souls. Mister Eleven also explains that Verminus Rex, from Blackheart's old Spirit of Vengeance, is hunting other Spirits of Vengeance. Ketch vanquishes Rex, and absorbs the spirits Rex had taken in the past, but this drives Ketch insane. Zadkiel intervenes and absorbs the other Spirits of Vengeance from Ketch's soul, upon which Ketch becomes a knight in Zadkiel's service.


title: Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch)

text: In a 2014 story, Ketch is briefly consulted by Otto Octavius regarding his old foe Blackout, who had just kidnapped May Parker. After informing Spider-Man of Blackout's abilities and weaknesses, Ketch tells him how evil and cruel the half-demon is, referencing Barbara's death at his hands. He advises Spider-Man to kill Blackout if he gets the chance.


title: Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch)

text: During "Absolute Carnage", Johnny, now the new King of Hell, convinced Daniel to go help another fellow Spirit of Vengeance, Alejandra Jones. In his Ghost Rider form, he arrived at Alejandra's village where he found her battling Dark Carnage. He tried to help her, but Carnage eventually killed her, after ripping and devouring her spine. Ketch tried to get revenge, but Carnage got empowered by Jones' Spirit of Vengeance, and battled Ketch. Thankfully, Alejandra, possessing the body of a village girl, Imara, and the other villagers, helped Ketch in fight, while Carnage's cult got their leader. Afterwards, Ketch apologized to Alejandra, but she thanked him for protecting her village before returning to hell. Ketch them promised to the village to come to protect them in need before leaving.


title: Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch)

text: While transformed, Danny exhibits much of the same powers as Johnny Blaze; supernatural strength, heightened reflexes, and a resistance to injuries that makes him effectively immortal to all but otherworldly weapons such as those forged in Heaven or Hell. Like Blaze, Ketch can inflict the Penance Stare through eye contact. Uniquely, Danny has been seen to be able to control the degree of trauma his Stare inflicts; such as when he freed Wolverine from mind control by making him relive the pain and sorrow he inflicted during a single day of his time as a soldier during World War I.


title: Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch)

text: As the Ghost Rider, Ketch uses a length of heavy chain approximately long which possesses magical properties. For instance, when it is thrown it is able to separate into individual links which behave like shuriken, later reintegrating and returning to the Ghost Rider's hand. The chain can grow in length, is supernaturally strong, and can transform into other weapons such as a spear. He can also spin it fast to be used as a drill.


title: Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch)

text: The common theme of the Ghost Rider is a human host who transforms into a flaming-headed motorcyclist with supernatural powers. When riding their bikes, the vehicles can travel faster than conventional motorcycles and can maneuver impossible feats such as riding straight up a vertical surface or across water. In a one-shot comic featuring Doctor Strange and the Daniel Ketch/Noble Kale version of Ghost Rider, it was shown to be capable of riding on nothing but air. This was repeated shortly after Kale started to regain his memories, causing him to alter his suit by sheer force of will, and create an entirely new bike.


title: Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch)

text: When empowered, Ketch's motorcycle undergoes a more radical transformation. It changes from a conventional looking motorcycle to one that appears powerful and high-tech. Along with flaming wheels, the bike includes a shield-like battering ram on the front. Ghost Rider also created two other bikes that he could utilize in the same manner as the one he normally rode, one out of necessity when Blackheart stole the original in a crossover graphic novel that brought together Ghost Rider, Wolverine, and the Punisher, and again in the regular series as a spare in case something made him unable to get to his regular cycle. The latter would wind up in the hands of Johnny Blaze.


title: Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch)

text: He has displayed some other powers briefly, like the ability to summon a wall of flame. In the beginning, Ketch could only transform "when innocent blood was spilled" and had to touch the gas cap of his motorcycle. Later it was revealed that this was only a psychological limitation he imposed on himself, and which he later overcame.


title: Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch)

text: He possessed hellfire powers similar to the Zarathos/Blaze version, but he also had the ability to destroy the undead and was supposedly the incarnation of the angel of death and judgement, which detailed the supposed origins of the Noble Kale version of the Ghost Rider.


title: Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch)

text: In addition, Ketch and Noble Kale worked together to an extent, unlike Blaze and Zarathos, who battled for dominance and control over their shared body. Kale had a compassionate side and while there were times that he seemed tempted to simply take over completely, he refused to do so, though he felt anger at condemning Daniel to only being able to live his life out half the time, while he dominated the other half. Kale and Ketch, like Blaze and Zarathos, could sometimes communicate through dreams, and in at least one issue communicated via messages written on a mirror in lipstick.


title: Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch)

text: In the "Ultimate Marvel" reality, Danny Ketch, known as "The Ghost" was a master spy and one of the many newest recruits of General Nick Fury's Howling Commandos in order to battle Reed Richards and his Dark Ultimates, who violently started remolding the world their own shape. He is entirely normal in his appearance but has the ability to breathe fire. During the events of Cataclysm, he sacrificed himself to save those infected by MODOK and the Gah Lak Tus virus and destroy the City of Tomorrow. Though his body died, his consciousness was placed in a mechanical body by S.H.I.E.L.D. to create the Machine Man.


title: Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch)

text: In the alternate-dimension "Marvel Zombies" universe, the Daniel Ketch version of Ghost Rider is seen in his living form in the "Marvel Zombies" prequel "Dead Days". He is part of the resistance organized by Nick Fury to take down the Marvel Zombies but is later seen being overwhelmed in a battle with the infected. In the "Marvel Zombies" miniseries, a zombified version of Ghost Rider appears as one of the infected superheroes trying to attack and devour the Silver Surfer and part of the zombified superhero attack on Dr. Doom's fortress. It is suggested that he did not survive the attack of the Silver Surfer as he no longer appears with the survivors in the aftermath. He later resurfaces in "Marvel Zombies 3" as part of Kingpin's undead alliance and tries to attack Machine Man. He is dispatched quickly when Machine Man slices his head off and steals his motorcycle to evade the zombies.


title: Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch)

text: Danny Ketch appears on the last page of the "Marvels" series where he is shown as a young newspaper delivery boy. The main character of "Marvels", Phil Sheldon, refers to him as "A nice, normal, ordinary boy" and has a picture taken of him as a symbol of ordinary humanity.


title: Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch)

text: A younger version of Ketch is seen during the third issue of the "Spider-Man/Human Torch" miniseries written by Dan Slott. He is interviewed about Spider-Man and the Human Torch, and is approximately the same age as his appearance in "Marvels".


title: Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch)

text: In a reality where the Fantastic Four were killed, Ketch joins Spider-Man, Wolverine, and the Hulk in forming the new Fantastic Four, the group defeating—among other foes—a new Frightful Four consisting of Venom, Sandman, Sabretooth, and the Abomination which has been brought together by Doctor Doom and given enhanced powers by Mephisto. In the story's sequel, Ketch is one of the many heroes killed by Thanos' use of the Infinity Gauntlet, resulting in the other three team members recruiting Iron Man as a temporary replacement.


title: Candi Milo

text: She has voiced various characters on many animated series including "Tiny Toon Adventures", "", "Dexter's Laboratory" (from season 3 onwards), "Johnny Bravo", "Cow and Chicken", "ChalkZone", "The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius", "¡Mucha Lucha!", "", "My Life as a Teenage Robot", "Loonatics Unleashed", "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends", "Maya & Miguel", "W.I.T.C.H.", "The Life and Times of Juniper Lee," "The Replacements", and "The Adventures of Puss in Boots". Since 2017, she has voiced the Looney Tunes character Granny.


title: Candi Milo

text: Milo was born on January 9, 1961 in Palm Springs, California. Her family moved to San Jose shortly after her birth. In San Jose, Milo attended the all-girls Presentation High School. Her father, Tony Migliaccio, was a child actor who changed his last name to Milo when he started playing adult roles. Her first appearance on stage was with her father at Turk Murphy's in 1964, where they sang "Me and My Shadow" together. By the time Milo was eleven, she was participating in children's musical theater.


title: Candi Milo

text: In 1977, she began singing in theme park attractions, most notably at Disneyland in Anaheim. Afterwards, she started appearing in roles in movies and television series, such as "Gimme a Break!", "Knots Landing", and "Perfect Strangers". Milo was also a member of "The Mighty Carson Art Players" on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson". She accidentally got into voiceover acting after singing on stage. She was signed by The William Morris Agency for voice acting, which was initially disappointing to her because Milo originally wanted a singing career.


title: Candi Milo

text: Milo's first voice role was Sweetie Pie in "Tiny Toon Adventures" in 1990. Milo first auditioned in 1988 for Tiny Toons by reading "The Three Little Pigs", but made the wolf kosher and the three pigs suicidal and she booked the job. She later played Lonette, an attractive animated waitress; Bob, a member of Holli Would's gang of goons who was a cross-dresser and other characters in "Cool World" in addition to feeding lines to the other actors.


title: Candi Milo

text: She went on to be very active in cartoons, voicing Pakka in "Cro", Ann Gora in "", Little Red Riding Hood in "2 Stupid Dogs", and the main characters' Mom, who was an unseen character and their teacher in "Cow and Chicken".


title: Candi Milo

text: Later, she replaced Christine Cavanaugh as the voice of Dexter in "Dexter's Laboratory" in 2001 when Cavanaugh retired from voice acting. Milo voiced Dexter until the end of the series. Her other voice credits include Snap from "ChalkZone", The Flea on "¡Mucha Lucha!" and the title character in the U.S. version of the 2003 "Astro Boy" ("Tetsuwan Atomu") series.


title: Candi Milo

text: From 2003 to 2009, she did the voice of Dr. Nora Wakeman in "My Life as a Teenage Robot". For this role, she was subsequently nominated for the Annie Award in 2004 and 2005.


title: Candi Milo

text: During this time, the actress also voiced the Ophelia Ramirez in "The Life and Times of Juniper Lee", Irma Lair in "W.I.T.C.H.", Zadavia in "Loonatics Unleashed", as well as Coco, Madame Foster and Cheese in "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends".


title: Candi Milo

text: Milo says that when creating a unique voice the artist's drawings speak to her and that she prides herself on creating "a full life" for each character.


title: Candi Milo

text: In October 2015, she made her return to the stage, playing the role of Grandmama Addams in the 3-D Theatricals version of "The Addams Family".


title: Candi Milo

text: Milo returned once again to stage in February 2020 with another 3-D Theatricals play called "Kinky Boots", with her playing Trish.


title: Candi Milo

text: Milo is divorced and has one daughter, Gabriella, who is also an actress. She has described herself as being of partial Latin American descent.


title: Alida Valli

text: Alida Maria Laura, "Freiin" Altenburger von Marckenstein-Frauenberg (31 May 1921 – 22 April 2006), better known by her stage name Alida Valli (or simply Valli), was an Italian actress who appeared in more than 100 films in a 70-year career, spanning from the 1930s to the early 2000s. She was one of the biggest stars of Italian film during the Fascist era, once being coined "the most beautiful woman in the world" by Benito Mussolini, but managed to find continued international success post-World War II. According to Frédéric Mitterrand, Valli was the only actress in Europe to equal Marlene Dietrich or Greta Garbo.


title: Alida Valli

text: Valli worked with many significant directors both in Italy and abroad, including Alfred Hitchcock ("The Paradine Case"; 1947), Carol Reed ("The Third Man"; 1949), Luchino Visconti ("Senso"; 1954), Michelangelo Antonioni ("Il Grido"; 1957), Georges Franju ("Eyes Without a Face"; 1960), Pier Paolo Pasolini ("Oedipus Rex"; 1967), Mario Bava ("Lisa and the Devil"; 1972), Bernardo Bertolucci ("1900," 1976; "La Luna"; 1979), and Dario Argento ("Suspiria"; 1977). Within her lifetime, Valli was invested a Knight of the Italian Republic, and received the Lifetime Achievement Golden Lion at the 1997 Venice Film Festival for her contributions to cinema.


title: Alida Valli

text: Valli was born in Pola, Istria, Italy (today Pula, Croatia; until 1918 it had formed part of Austria-Hungary). She was of Austrian, Slovenian and Italian descent, although "she was never considered to be anything other than Italian." Her paternal grandfather was the Baron Luigi Altenburger (also: Altempurger), an Austrian-Italian from Trento, a descendant of the Counts d'Arco; her paternal grandmother was Elisa Tomasi from Trento, a cousin of the Roman senator Ettore Tolomei. Valli's mother, Silvia Oberecker Della Martina, born in Pola, was a "culturally sophisticated" housewife of half Slovene and half Italian descent. Valli's mother was the daughter of Felix Oberecker (also: Obrekar) from Laibach, Austria (now Ljubljana, Slovenia) and Virginia Della Martina from Pola, Istria (then part of Austria). Valli's maternal granduncle, Rodolfo, was a close friend of Gabriele D'Annunzio. Valli was multi-lingual. She grew up speaking Slovene, Italian, and German and was fluent as well in Serbo-Croatian, French, and English. In European films with international casts she would routinely film her dialogue in the language of the actors opposite her and dub herself (usually in Italian) for the soundtrack.


title: Alida Valli

text: Valli was christened Freiin Altenburger von Marckenstein-Frauenberg. During her lifetime she also gained the titles Dr.h.c. of the III. University of Rome, Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres of France and Knight of the Italian Republic.


title: Alida Valli

text: Intellectually gifted, at fifteen Valli travelled to Rome, where she attended the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, the oldest school for film actors and directors in Western Europe and still one of the most prestigious. At that time, she lived with her uncle Ettore Tolomei. Valli started her movie career in 1934, in "Il cappello a tre punte" ("The Three Cornered Hat") during the so-called Telefoni Bianchi cinema era. Her first big success came with the movie "Mille lire al mese" (1939). After many roles in a large number of comedies, she earned her success as a dramatic actress in "Piccolo mondo antico" (1941), directed by Mario Soldati, for which she won a special Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival. During the Second World War, she starred in many movies, including "Stasera niente di nuovo" (1942) (whose song "Ma l'amore no" became the leitmotif of the Italian forties) and the diptych "Noi Vivi / Addio Kira!" (1943) (based on Ayn Rand's novel "We the Living"). These latter two movies were nearly censored by the Italian government under Benito Mussolini, but they were finally permitted because the novel upon which they were based was anti-Soviet. The films were successful, and the public easily realized that they were as much against fascism as communism. After several weeks, however, the films were pulled from theaters as the German and Italian governments, which abhorred communism, found out the story also carried an anti-fascist message.


title: Alida Valli

text: By her early 20s, already widely regarded as the "most beautiful woman in the World", Valli had a career in English-language films through David Selznick, who signed her to a contract, thinking that he had found a second Ingrid Bergman. In Hollywood, she performed in great successes and memorable movies, in Alfred Hitchcock's "The Paradine Case" (1947) with Gregory Peck; with Fred MacMurray and Frank Sinatra (in his first non-musical performance), in "The Miracle of the Bells" (1948); alongside Orson Welles and Joseph Cotten in Carol Reed's "The Third Man" (1949), regarded as one of the best movies ever made worldwide and the British Film Institute selection as the greatest British film of all time; and again with Cotten in "Walk Softly, Stranger" (1950). Through these and other movies she gained international renown, often credited with the cursive word "Valli", which would become her characteristic 'wordmark' in America "to make her sound even more exotic." In 1951, she complained that she disliked the single-name reference. "I feel silly going around with only one name," she said. "People get me mixed up with Rudy Vallée." The actress could not tolerate the strict rules of Selznick, who imposed total control on his actors, and managed to gain her contract's rescission, though with the payment of a high penalty.


title: Alida Valli

text: She returned to Europe in the early 1950s and starred in many French and Italian films. In 1954, she had great success in the melodrama "Senso", directed by Luchino Visconti. In that film, set in mid-19th-century Venice during the Risorgimento, she played a Venetian countess torn between patriotic ideals and an adulterous love for an officer (played by Farley Granger) of the occupying Austrian forces.


title: Alida Valli

text: In 1956, Valli decided to stop making movies, concentrating instead on the stage. She was in charge of a company that produced Broadway plays in Italy.


title: Alida Valli

text: She appeared in Georges Franju's horror film "Eyes Without a Face" ("Les Yeux sans visage", 1959) ("Eyes Without a Face", 1959) with Pierre Brasseur. From the 1960s, she worked in several pictures with prominent directors, such as Pier Paolo Pasolini's "Edipo re" ("Oedipus Rex"), 1967; Bernardo Bertolucci's "La strategia del ragno", 1972; "Novecento", 1976, and Dario Argento's "Suspiria", 1977. Her final movie role was in "Semana Santa" (2002), with Mira Sorvino. In Italy, she was also well known for her stage appearances in such plays as Ibsen's "Rosmersholm"; Pirandello's "Henry IV"; John Osborne's "Epitaph for George Dillon"; and Arthur Miller's "A View from the Bridge". At the 54th Venice International Film Festival in 1997 Alida Valli obtained the Golden Lion award for her career.


title: Alida Valli

text: Her teenage love, , was a famous Italian acrobatic pilot. He served as a fighter pilot with the "Regia Aeronautica" and was killed during a mission over British-held Tobruk on 14 April 1941.


title: Alida Valli

text: Valli married Oscar de Mejo in 1943 and filed for divorce from him in 1949, but they reconciled. They had two sons together before their marriage ended in divorce in 1952 and she returned to Italy. She married Italian film director Giancarlo Zagni in the early 1960s, divorcing in 1970.


title: Alida Valli

text: Valli's movie career suffered in 1953 from a scandal surrounding the death of Wilma Montesi, whose body was found on a public beach near Ostia. Prolonged investigations resulted, involving allegations of drug and sex orgies in Roman society. Among the accused – all of whom were acquitted, leaving the case unsolved – was Valli's lover, jazz musician Piero Piccioni (son of the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs).


title: Alida Valli

text: Valli's death at her home on 22 April 2006 was announced by the office of the mayor of Rome, Walter Veltroni.


title: Alida Valli

text: The critic David Shipman wrote in his book "The Great Movie Stars: The International Years", that on the basis of her best-known films before 1950, she might seem to be "one of Hollywood's least successful continental imports", but a viewer of "any two or three of the films she has made since then ... will probably regard her as one of the half-dozen best actresses in the world". The French critic Frédéric Mitterrand wrote: "[She] was the only actress in Europe to equal Marlene Dietrich or Greta Garbo".


title: Alida Valli

text: "Lux Radio Theatre" broadcast "The Paradine Case" in a radio adaptation of the film on 9 May 1949, starring Joseph Cotten, with Alida Valli and Louis Jourdan reprising their roles.


title: Japanese battleship Kongō

text: Kongō (金剛, Japanese equivalent of Vajra, translation variants include "Divine Thunder", "Indestructible Diamond" or "Indra's Spear", named for Mount Kongō) was a warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War I and World War II. She was the first battlecruiser of the , among the most heavily armed ships in any navy when built. Her designer was the British naval engineer George Thurston, and she was laid down in 1911 at Barrow-in-Furness in Britain by Vickers Shipbuilding Company. "Kongō" was the last Japanese capital ship constructed outside Japan. She was formally commissioned in 1913, and patrolled off the Chinese coast during World War I.


title: Japanese battleship Kongō

text: "Kongō" underwent two major reconstructions. Beginning in 1929, the Imperial Japanese Navy rebuilt her as a battleship, strengthening her armor and improving her speed and power capabilities. In 1935, her superstructure was completely rebuilt, her speed was increased, and she was equipped with launch catapults for floatplanes. Now fast enough to accompany Japan's growing carrier fleet, "Kongō" was reclassified as a fast battleship. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, "Kongō" operated off the coast of mainland China before being redeployed to the Third Battleship Division in 1941. In 1942, she sailed as part of the Southern Force in preparation for the Battle of Singapore.


title: Japanese battleship Kongō

text: "Kongō" fought in many major naval actions of the Pacific War during World War II. She covered the Japanese Army's amphibious landings in British Malaya (part of present-day Malaysia) and the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) in 1942, before engaging American forces at the Battle of Midway and during the Guadalcanal Campaign. Throughout 1943, "Kongō" primarily remained at Truk Lagoon in the Caroline Islands, Kure Naval Base (near Hiroshima), Sasebo Naval Base (near Nagasaki), and Lingga Roads, and deployed several times in response to American aircraft carrier air raids on Japanese island bases scattered across the Pacific. "Kongō" participated in the Battle of the Philippine Sea and the Battle of Leyte Gulf in 1944 (22–23 October), engaging and sinking American vessels in the latter. "Kongō" was torpedoed and sunk by the submarine while transiting the Formosa Strait on 21 November 1944. She was the only Japanese battleship sunk by submarine in the Second World War.


title: Japanese battleship Kongō

text: "Kongō" was the first of the Imperial Japanese Navy's "Kongō"-class battlecruisers, which were almost as large, costly and well-armed as battleships, but which traded off armored protection for higher speeds. These were designed by the British naval engineer George Thurston and were ordered in 1910 in the Japanese Emergency Naval Expansion Bill after the commissioning of in 1908. These four battlecruisers of the "Kongō" class were designed to match the naval capabilities of the battlecruisers of the other major naval powers at the time, and they have been called the battlecruiser versions of the British (formerly Turkish) battleship . Their heavy armament of 14-inch naval guns and their armor protection (which took up about 23.3% of their approximately 30,000-ton displacements in 1913) were greatly superior to those of any other Japanese capital ship afloat at the time.


title: Japanese battleship Kongō

text: The keel of "Kongō" was laid down at Barrow-in-Furness by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering on 17 January 1911. Under Japan's contract with Vickers, the first vessel of the class was constructed in the United Kingdom, with the remainder built in Japan. "Kongō" was launched on 18 May 1912, and then transferred to the dockyards of Portsmouth, England, where her fitting-out began in mid-1912. All parts used in her construction were manufactured in the U.K. "Kongō" was completed on 16 April 1913.


title: Japanese battleship Kongō

text: In January 1914, a telegram leaked from Siemens' Tokyo office to Reuters along with further reporting by the New York Times and Asahi Shimbun led to an investigation by Japanese authorities which revealed a pattern of bribery and kickbacks by German and English armaments corporations. Siemens had been paying senior Japanese officials a secret 15% kickback, until Vickers had outbid them by offering 25%. Vickers had paid 210,000 yen to Admiral Fuji of the Imperial Japanese Navy procurement in 1911 and 1912, and 40,000 yen to Vice Admiral Kazu, related to obtaining the contract for building "Kongō". Kazu was court-martialed in May 1914, fined 400,000 yen and sentenced to 3 years in prison. As a result of the Siemens-Vickers Scandal revolving around the contracts of building "Kongō", the government of Prime Minister Yamamoto resigned March 23, 1914. Senior executives of the Mitsui corporation, Japanese partners of Vickers, also resigned.


title: Japanese battleship Kongō

text: "Kongō"s main battery consisted of eight heavy-caliber main naval guns in four twin turrets (two forward and two aft). The turrets were noted by the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence to be "similar to the British 15-inch turrets", with improvements made in flash-tightness. Each of her main guns could fire high explosive or armor-piercing shells at a rate of about two shells per minute.<ref name="14/45"></ref> In keeping with the Japanese doctrine of deploying more powerful vessels before their opponents, "Kongō" and her sister ships were the first vessels in the world equipped with guns. Her main guns carried ammunition for 90 shots, and they had an approximate barrel lifetime of 250 to 280 shots. In 1941, separate dyes were introduced for the armor-piercing shells of the four "Kongō"-class battleships to assist with targeting, with "Kongō"s armor-piercing shells using red dye.


title: Japanese battleship Kongō

text: The secondary battery of "Kongō" originally consisted of sixteen 50 calibre guns in single casemates located amidships ("50 calibre" means that the lengths of the guns were 50 times their bore, or 300 inches), eight guns, and eight submerged torpedo tubes. Her six-inch naval guns could fire five to six rounds per minute, with a barrel lifetime of about 500 rounds. The 6-inch/50 calibre gun was capable of firing both antiaircraft and antiship shells, though the positioning of these guns on "Kongō" made antiaircraft firing mostly impractical. During her second reconstruction, the older three-inch guns were removed and then replaced with eight 5-inch/40 calibre dual-purpose guns. These guns could fire from eight to 14 rounds per minute, with a barrel lifetime of about 800 to 1,500 rounds. Of "Kongō"s guns, the 5-inch guns had the widest variety of shell types: antiaircraft, antiship, and illumination shells. "Kongō" was also armed with many antiaircraft machine guns. By October 1944, "Kongō"s secondary armament was reconfigured to eight guns, eight guns, and 122 Type 96 antiaircraft rapid-fire cannons.


title: Japanese battleship Kongō

text: On 16 August 1913, "Kongō" was completed and commissioned into the Imperial Japanese Navy (I.J.N.). Twelve days later, she departed from Portsmouth headed for Japan. She was docked at Singapore from 20 to 27 October, before arriving at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal on 5 November, where she was placed in First Reserve. In January 1914, she docked at Kure Naval Base for armament checks. On 3 August 1914, the German Empire declared war on France and then invaded via Belgium, sparking the beginning of World War I in the West. Twelve days later, Japan issued a warning to Kaiser Wilhelm II of the German Empire, ordering him to withdraw the German troops from their base at Tsingtao, China. When the German Empire did not respond, Japan declared war on Germany on 23 August, occupying the former German possessions in the Caroline Islands, Palau Islands, Marshall Islands, and Marianas Islands. "Kongō" was quickly deployed towards the Central Pacific to patrol the sea lines of communication of the German Empire. "Kongō" returned to the port of Yokosuka, Japan, on 12 September, and one month later, she was assigned to the First Battleship Division. In October, "Kongō" and her new sister ship sortied off the Chinese coast in support of Japanese army units during the Siege of Tsingtao. Then "Kongō" returned to Sasebo Naval Base for upgrades to her searchlights. On 3 October 1915, "Kongō" and "Hiei" participated in the sinking of the old as a practice target. She was a Russian pre-dreadnought that had been captured in 1905 during the Russo-Japanese War that had next served as an I.J.N. warship. With the defeat of the German East Asia Squadron by the Royal Navy at the Battle of the Falkland Islands in December 1914, there was little or no need for I.J.N. operations in the Pacific Ocean. "Kongō" spent the rest of World War I either based at Sasebo, or on patrol off the coast of China. In December 1918, following the end of the hostilities of World War I, "Kongō" was placed in "Second Reserve". In April 1919, she was fitted with a new seawater flooding system for her ammunition magazines.


title: Japanese battleship Kongō

text: With the conclusion of World War I, and the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty on 6 February 1922, the size of the I.J.N. was significantly limited, with a ratio of 5:5:3 required between the capital ships of the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Japanese Empire, since the latter was responsible for only one ocean, rather than the two of the other countries, and fewer warships for France and Italy. This Treaty also banned the signatories from building any new capital ships until 1931, with no capital ship permitted to exceed in displacement. Provided that new additions did not exceed 3,000 tons of displacement, the existing capital ships were allowed to be upgraded with improved anti-torpedo bulges and armored main decks. By the time that the Washington Naval Treaty had been fully implemented in Japan, only three classes of World War I type capital ships remained active: the s, the "Kongō"-class battlecruisers, and the s.


title: Japanese battleship Kongō

text: In April 1923, "Kongō" gave transportation to Crown Prince Hirohito during his official visit to the Japanese possession of Taiwan. On 14 June 1924, she collided with "Submarine No. 62" during maneuvers. In November 1924, "Kongo" docked at Yokosuka, where modifications were made to her main armament, increasing the elevation of her main guns and improving her fire-control systems. In 1927, "Kongō" underwent major modifications to her superstructure, rebuilding it into the pagoda mast style to accommodate the growing number of fire-control systems for her main guns. In May 1928, her steering equipment was upgraded, before she was placed in reserve in preparation for major modifications and reconstruction in 1929–31.


title: Japanese battleship Kongō

text: Prohibited by the Washington Treaty from constructing new capital ships until 1931, Japan resorted to upgrading their World War I era battleships and battlecruisers. Beginning in September 1929, "Kongō" underwent extensive modernization and modification in drydock at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal. Over the next two years, "Kongō"s horizontal armor near her ammunition magazines was strengthened, and the machinery spaces within the hull were given increased torpedo protection. Anti-torpedo bulges were added along the waterline, as permitted by the Washington Treaty. She was refitted to accommodate three Type 90 Model 0 floatplanes, though no aircraft catapults were fitted. To increase her speed and power, all 36 of her Yarrow boilers were removed, and then replaced with 16 newer boilers, and Brown-Curtis direct-drive turbines were installed. "Kongō"s forward funnel was removed, and her second funnel was enlarged and lengthened. The modifications to her hull increased her armor weight from 6,502 to 10,313 long tons, directly violating the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty. In March 1931, "Kongō"—now capable of a speed of —was reclassified as a battleship.


title: Japanese battleship Kongō

text: On 22 April 1930, Japan signed the London Naval Treaty, placing further restrictions on the signatories' naval forces. Several of her older battleships were scrapped, and no new capital ships were built as replacements. After minor fitting-out work, "Kongō"s reconstruction begun in September 1929 and was declared complete on 31 March 1931. On 1 December 1931, two months after the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, "Kongō" was assigned to the First Battleship Division and also designated the flagship of the Combined Fleet. Additional rangefinders and searchlights were fitted to her superstructure in January 1932, and Captain Nobutake Kondō assumed command of the vessel in December. In 1933, aircraft catapults were fitted between the two rear turrets.


title: Japanese battleship Kongō

text: On 25 February 1933, following a report by the Lytton Commission, the League of Nations agreed that Japan's invasion of China had violated Chinese sovereignty. Refusing to accept the judgement of this organization, Japan withdrew from the League of Nations on the same day. Japan also immediately withdrew from the Washington Naval Treaty and the London Naval Treaty, thus removing all restrictions on the numbers and sizes of her capital warships. In November 1934, "Kongō" was placed in Second Reserve in preparation for further modifications. On 10 January 1935, "Kongō" was toured by the Nazi German naval attaché to Japan, Captain Paul Wenneker, as part of a gunnery demonstration.


title: Japanese battleship Kongō

text: On 1 June 1935, "Kongō" was dry-docked at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal in preparation for upgrades that would enable her to escort Japan's growing fleet of aircraft carriers. Her stern was lengthened by to improve her fineness ratio and her 16 older boilers were removed and then replaced with 11 oil-fired Kampon Boilers and newer geared turbines. In addition, her bridge was completely reconstructed according to Japan's pagoda mast style of forward superstructure, and catapults were added to support three Nakajima E8N or Kawanishi E7K reconnaissance and spotter floatplanes.


title: Japanese battleship Kongō

text: "Kongō"s armor was also extensively upgraded. Her main belt was strengthened to a uniform thickness of eight inches (up from varying thicknesses of six to eight inches), and also diagonal bulkheads of depths ranging from were added to reinforce the main armored belt. The turret armor was strengthened to , while were added to portions of the deck armor. "Kongō"s ammunition magazine protection was also strengthened to . This reconstruction was finished on 8 January 1937. Capable of greater than , despite the significant increase in her hull displacement, "Kongō" was now reclassified as a fast battleship.


title: Japanese battleship Kongō

text: In February 1937, "Kongō" was assigned to the Sasebo Naval District, and in December she was placed under the command of Takeo Kurita in the Third Battleship Division. In April 1938, two float planes from "Kongō" bombed the Chinese town of Foochow during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Throughout 1938 and 1939, "Kongō" steamed off the Chinese coast in support of Japanese Army operations during the war. In November 1939, Captain Raizo Tanaka assumed command of "Kongō". From November 1940 to April 1941, additional armor was added to "Kongō"s armament barbettes and ammunition tubes, while ventilation and firefighting equipment was also improved. In August 1941, she was assigned to the Third Battleship Division under the command of Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa alongside her fully modified sister warships "Hiei", and the .


title: Japanese battleship Kongō

text: "Kongō" and "Haruna" departed from the Hashirajima fleet anchorage on 29 November 1941 to begin the War in the Pacific as part of the Southern (Malay) Force's Main Body, under the overall command of Vice-Admiral Nobutake Kondō. On 4 December 1941, the Main Body arrived off the coast of southern Thailand and northern Malaya in preparation for the invasion of Thailand and the Malayan Peninsula four days later. When Britain's "Force Z"—consisting of the battleship and the battlecruiser —was quickly defeated by Japan's land-based aircraft from southern Vietnam, "Kongō"s battlegroup withdrew from Malayan waters. This battlegroup subsequently sortied from Indochina for three days in mid-December to protect a reinforcement convoy traveling to Malaya, and again on 18 December to cover the Japanese Army's landing at Lingayen Gulf, Luzon, in the Philippines. The Main Body departed Cam Ranh Bay in French Indochina on 23 December bound for Taiwan, arriving two days later. In January 1942, "Kongō" and the heavy cruisers and provided distant cover for air attacks on Ambon Island.


title: Japanese battleship Kongō

text: On 21 February, "Kongō" was joined by "Haruna", four fast aircraft carriers, five heavy cruisers and numerous support ships in preparation for "Operation J", Japan's invasion of the Dutch East Indies. On 25 February, the Third Battleship Division provided cover for air attacks on the Island of Java. "Kongō" bombarded Christmas Island off the western coast of Australia on 7 March 1942, and then she returned to Staring-baai for 15 days of standby alert. In April 1942, "Kongō" joined five fleet carriers in attacks on Colombo and Trincomalee on Ceylon. Following the destruction of the British heavy cruisers and on 5 April 1942, this naval task force moved southwest to locate the remainder of the British Eastern Fleet, then under the command of Admiral James Somerville. On 9 April, one of "Haruna"s reconnaissance seaplanes spotted the aircraft carrier south of Trincomalee. On the same day, Japanese air attacks sank the carrier, and "Kongō" was attacked but missed by nine British medium bombers. Having crippled the offensive capability of Britain's Eastern Fleet, the Third Battleship Division returned to Japan. "Kongō" reached Sasebo on 22 April. From 23 April to 2 May, "Kongō" was drydocked for reconfiguration of her antiaircraft armament.


title: Japanese battleship Kongō

text: On 27 May 1942, "Kongō" sortied with "Hiei" and the heavy cruisers "Atago", , , and as part of Admiral Nobutake Kondō's invasion force during the Battle of Midway. Following the disastrous loss of four of the Combined Fleet's fast carriers on 4 June 1942, Kondō's force withdrew to Japan. On 14 July she was assigned as the flagship of the restructured Third Battleship Division. In August, "Kongō" was drydocked at Kure to receive surface-detection radar and additional range finders. In September, "Kongō" embarked with "Hiei", "Haruna", "Kirishima", three carriers, and numerous smaller warships in response to the U.S. Marine Corps's amphibious landing on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. On 20 September, this task force was ordered to return to the Truk Naval Base in the Central Pacific north of the equator.


title: Japanese battleship Kongō

text: In the aftermath of the Battle of Cape Esperance, the Japanese Army opted to reinforce its troops on Guadalcanal. To protect their transport convoy from enemy air attack, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto sent "Haruna" and "Kongō", escorted by one light cruiser and nine destroyers, to bombard the American air base at Henderson Field. Because of their high speeds, these two battleships could bombard the airfield and then withdraw before being subjected to air attack from either land-based warplanes or American aircraft carriers. On the night of 13 – 14 October, these two battleships shelled the area of Henderson Field from a distance of about , firing 973 14-inch high-explosive shells. In the most successful Japanese battleship action of the war, the bombardment heavily damaged both runways, destroyed almost all of the U.S. Marines' aviation fuel, destroyed or damaged 48 of the Marines' 90 warplanes, and killed 41 Marines. A large Japanese troop and supply convoy reached Guadalcanal on the next day.


title: Japanese battleship Kongō

text: During the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands on 26 October 1942, "Kongō" was attacked by four Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bombers, but she received no hits. In mid-November, this battleship and other warships provided distant cover for the unsuccessful mission by the I.J.N. to bombard Henderson Field again and to deliver more Army reinforcements to Guadalcanal. On 15 November 1942, following the Japanese defeat and the sinking of "Hiei" and "Kirishima" during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, the Third Battleship Division returned to Truk, where it remained for the rest of 1942.


title: Japanese battleship Kongō

text: Throughout 1943, "Kongō" engaged no enemy targets. In late January 1943, she participated in "Operation Ke" as part of a diversionary and distant covering force to support I.J.N. destroyers that were evacuating Army troops from Guadalcanal. From 15 February through 20 February 1943, the Third Battleship Division was transferred from Truk to the Kure Naval Base. On 27 February, "Kongō" was drydocked to receive upgrades to her antiaircraft armament, with the additions of two triple 25 mm gun mounts and the removal of two of her 6-inch turrets, while additional concrete protection was added near her steering gear. On 17 May 1943, in response to the U.S. Army's invasion of Attu Island, "Kongō" sortied alongside , the Third Battleship Division, two fleet carriers, two cruisers, and nine destroyers. Three days later, the American submarine spotted this naval task force, but she was unable to attack it. On 22 May 1943, the task force arrived in Yokosuka, where it was joined by an additional three fleet carriers and two light cruisers. This force was disbanded when Attu fell to the U.S. Army before the necessary preparations for a counterattack had been finished.


title: Japanese battleship Kongō

text: On 17 October 1943, "Kongō" again left Truk as part of a larger task force consisting of five battleships, three fleet carriers, eight heavy cruisers, three light cruisers, and numerous destroyers. These sortied in response to U.S. Navy air raids on Wake Island. No contact between the two forces was made, and the Japanese task force returned to Truk on 26 October 1943. She soon left Truk for home waters, and on 16 December 1943, "Kongō" arrived at Sasebo for refits and training in the Inland Sea.


title: Japanese battleship Kongō

text: In January 1944, "Kongō" was dry-docked for a reconfiguration of her anti-aircraft suite. Four 6-inch guns and a pair of twin 25 mm mounts were removed and replaced with six twin 5-inch guns and four triple 25 mm mounts. The Third Battleship Division departed from Kure on 8 March 1944. Arriving at Lingga on 14 March 1944, the division remained for training until 11 May 1944. On 11 May 1944, "Kongō" and Admiral Ozawa's Mobile Fleet departed from Lingga bound for Tawitawi, where they were joined by Vice-Admiral Takeo Kurita's "Force C". On 13 June, Ozawa's Mobile Fleet departed from Tawitawi bound for the Mariana Islands. During the Battle of the Philippine Sea, "Kongō" escorted Japanese fast carriers, and remained undamaged in counterattacks from US carrier aircraft on 20 June. When she returned to Japan, 13 triple and 40 single 25-mm mounts were added to her anti-aircraft armament, for a total of over 100 mounts. In August, two more 6-inch guns were removed and another eighteen single mounts installed.


title: Japanese battleship Kongō

text: In October 1944, "Kongō" departed from Lingga in preparation for "Operation Sho-1", Japan's counterattack during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval engagement in history. On 24 October, "Kongō" was undamaged by several near misses from American carrier aircraft in the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea. On 25 October, during the Battle off Samar, "Kongō"—as part of Admiral Kurita's Centre Force—engaged the US 7th Fleet's "Taffy 3", a battlegroup of escort carriers and destroyers. She succeeded in scoring numerous hits on the escort carrier as well as the destroyers and . At 09:12, she sank the destroyer escort . After a fierce defensive action by the American ships, which sank three Japanese heavy cruisers, Admiral Kurita elected to withdraw, ending the battle. While retreating, "Kongō" suffered damage from five near misses from attacking aircraft. The fleet arrived at Brunei on 28 October.


title: Japanese battleship Kongō

text: On 16 November, following a US air raid on Brunei, "Kongō" along with , and the rest of the First Fleet, departed from Brunei bound for Kure in preparation for a major reorganization of the fleet and battle repairs. On 20 November, they entered the Formosa Strait. Shortly after midnight on 21 November, the submarine made radar contact with the fleet at . Maneuvering into position at 02:45, "Sealion" fired six bow torpedoes at "Kongō" followed by three stern torpedoes at "Nagato" fifteen minutes later. One minute after the first salvo was launched, two of the torpedoes were seen to hit "Kongō" on the port side, while a third sank the destroyer with all hands. The torpedoes flooded two of "Kongō"s boiler rooms, but she was still able to make . By 05:00, she had slowed to and was given permission to break off from the fleet and head to the port of Keelung in Formosa along with the destroyers and as escort. Within fifteen minutes of detaching from the main force, "Kongō" was listing 45 degrees and flooding uncontrollably. At 5:18 the ship lost all power and the order was given to abandon ship. At 5:24, while the evacuation was under way, the forward 14-inch magazine exploded, and the broken ship sank quickly, with the loss of over 1,200 of her crew, including the commander of the Third Battleship Division and her captain.


title: Japanese battleship Kongō

text: "Kongō" is believed to have sunk in of water approximately northwest of Keelung. She was one of only three British-built battleships sunk by submarine attack during World War II. The other two were the British and the .


title: Autocephaly

text: Autocephaly (; from , meaning "property of being self-headed") is the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. The term is primarily used in Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches. The status has been compared with that of the churches (provinces) within the Anglican Communion.


title: Autocephaly

text: In the first centuries of the history of the Christian church, the autocephalous status of a local church was promulgated by canons of the ecumenical councils. There developed the pentarchy, i.e., a model of ecclesiastical organization where the universal Church was governed by the primates (patriarchs) of the five major episcopal sees of the Roman Empire: Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. The independent (autocephalous) position of the Church of Cyprus by ancient custom was recognized against the claims of the Patriarch of Antioch, at the Council of Ephesus (431); it is unclear if the Church of Cyprus has always been independent or if it was once part of the Church of Antioch. When the Patriarch of Antioch claimed the Church of Cyprus was under its jurisdiction, the Cypriot clergy denounced this before the Council of Ephesus. The Council ratified the autocephaly of the Church of Cyprus by a resolution which conditionally states: "If, as it is asserted in memorials and orally by the religious men who have come before the Council - it has not been a continuous ancient custom for the bishop of Antioch to hold ordinations in Cyprus, - the prelates of Cyprus shall enjoy, free from molestation and violence, their right to perform by themselves the ordination of bishops [for their island]". After the Council of Ephesus, the Church of Antioch never claimed that Cyprus was under its jurisdiction. The Church of Cyprus has since been governed by the Archbishop of Cyprus, who is not subject to any higher ecclesiastical authority.