title: Samuel Loomis

text: In "" (1995), Loomis has retired and lives as a hermit in a small home on the outskirts of Haddonfield. He is visited by his old colleague Dr. Terence Wynn, chief administrator at Smith's Grove Sanitarium who tries to persuade Loomis to return to Smith's Grove, but the latter declines. At the same time they hear the voice of Jamie Lloyd on the radio begging Loomis to help her. The following morning Jamie's body is discovered, and Loomis is devastated. He is later approached by Tommy Doyle at the hospital who tells him about his discovery of Jamie's child, Steven. It is revealed that Michael is under control of the curse of "Thorn", a power he has been cursed with by a druid cult led by Dr. Wynn since he was a young boy after hearing voices telling him to kill his family. After this discovery, Loomis and Tommy are drugged and later follow Wynn to Smith's Grove who abducted Danny, his mother, and Steven with the help of his cult followers. Wynn reveals that Jamie's baby represents a new cycle of Michael's evil that he kept secret from most of the cult who were focused on inflicting the curse onto a new child, Danny. Loomis is knocked unconscious after criticizing Wynn. Later, Michael butchers Wynn's team of staff surgeons and Wynn himself during a medical procedure with Danny and Steven sitting in a room next door. Tommy then joins forces with Kara Strode (Danny's mother and Laurie Strode's cousin) in order to protect Jamie's baby from Michael. They succeed, and after regaining consciousness, Loomis helps them escape the hospital while Tommy subdues Michael by injecting him with large quantities of tranquilizers. As Tommy, Kara, Danny, and Steven leave, Loomis refuses to come with them as he has "a little business to attend to". Back inside the building, Michael's mask is seen lying on the floor of the lab room, and Loomis is heard screaming in the background, leaving the fate of both men unknown.


title: Samuel Loomis

text: In the original cut of the film, after telling the others he has got "a little business to attend to", Loomis walks back into the sanitarium to find a seemingly-defeated Michael lying on the floor of the main hallway, after being stopped by Tommy, who used runes. Upon removing the mask, Loomis finds Dr. Wynn, who was forced by Michael to switch outfits so he could escape. With his dying breath, Wynn grabs Loomis's hand and says, "It's your game now, Dr. Loomis." After Wynn dies, the Thorn symbol appears on Loomis's wrist; realizing now that he himself is now to act as the leader of the cult, Loomis screams in terror.


title: Samuel Loomis

text: Ignoring the events of the previous three films, "" (1998) establishes that Michael Myers has been missing for twenty years since the explosion in 1978. He kills Marion Chambers at Loomis's retirement house. Two investigators discuss what they know about Loomis's life in this alternate version of the series, following the events of the first two films. Having survived the explosion in 1978, Loomis was under Marion's care at this house in his final years before dying. However, even after nearly 20 years, Loomis refused to believe that Michael was dead, and devoted the rest of his life to studying all information about his former patient. The two investigators enter his private study, and find that the walls are covered with photographs, sketches, and newspaper articles about Michael. During the opening credits, Loomis' speech to Brackett about his first meeting with Michael is heard in a voiceover (provided by Tom Kane).


title: Samuel Loomis

text: A new version of Dr. Samuel Loomis appears in the remake (2007). In the film, Dr. Loomis seems not to have contempt for Michael, and Michael doesn't truly see him as his nemesis. Their relationship with one another is more of a tragic friendship. Loomis does not immediately shoot Michael, but tries to reason with him. Loomis is first seen as a child psychiatrist brought in by ten-year-old Michael Myers' school to speak with Michael's mother, Deborah. After seeing the various animals Michael has tortured and killed, he recommends that the boy get help. After Michael commits three murders on Halloween, he is put under Loomis's care at Smith's Grove Sanitarium. On some days the two talk peacefully, on others Michael has outbursts of violent rage. Fifteen years later, Loomis writes a best-selling book based on Michael's treatment called "The Devil's Eyes". On his last day at Smith's Grove, Loomis tells Michael that he has tried but cannot help him anymore. He also tells Michael that he has become something like his best friend.


title: Samuel Loomis

text: After Michael escapes, Loomis concludes that his former patient is going to Haddonfield. Once there, he enlists the help of Sheriff Lee Brackett, and also buys a gun. Loomis comes to believe that Michael has returned to find his little sister, Laurie, who Brackett helped get adopted by the Strodes after her mother committed suicide. Michael succeeds in tracking Laurie down, killing her friends and two police officers in the process. Loomis is alerted of Michael capturing Laurie by Tommy Doyle and Lyndsey Wallace, the children Laurie is babysitting, and sets off to the Myers house. There he confronts Michael as he approaches Laurie, begging Michael to stop, but as Michael ignores him and continues forward, Loomis is left with no choice but to shoot Michael. Loomis rescues Laurie, but Michael soon reawakens to continue the attack on his sister. Loomis again tries to reason with him at which point Michael lets Laurie go and subdues Loomis. In the unrated version of the film, when Michael is in pursuit of Laurie through the house, Loomis grabs his foot to try and stop him. Michael shakes him off and Loomis blacks out. In the film's original ending, Loomis is successful in convincing Michael to let go of Laurie as he is surrounded by police officers, telling Michael he "did the right thing". Despite Loomis's protests, however, Michael is killed shortly afterwards in a hail of gunfire, and the film ends with Loomis looking down sadly at his former patient's corpse.


title: Samuel Loomis

text: In the sequel (2009), Loomis's character is revised; he is now seen as a greedy, arrogant mercenary who is profiting from the murders of the previous film. He does not believe Michael is alive and becomes annoyed and angry when asked about it. He goes on a tour to promote a new book, "The Devil Walks Among Us", while his assistant is shown to be disgusted with his campaign. In the climax of the film Loomis, after realizing Michael is still alive, realizes that he has changed for the worse and tries to save Laurie, this time unarmed. Michael ambushes Loomis and kills him by slashing his face and stabbing him in the chest. In the unrated version, Michael tackles Loomis out of the shack and then stabs him in the stomach while Loomis is still trying to reason with him. With Loomis injured and unconscious (it is not revealed whether he lived or died), the police open fire on Michael, killing him. Laurie, now completely insane, leaves the shack, picks up Michael's knife and walks over to Loomis's unconscious body. Against Brackett's orders, the police open fire on Laurie, apparently killing her too.


title: Samuel Loomis

text: "Halloween" (2018) is a direct sequel to the first film, ignoring all other series entries. Taking place forty years later, it is established that Michael was arrested following his 1978 killing spree and has spent the last forty years imprisoned in Smith's Grove Sanitarium. Loomis does not appear in-person, having died an unspecified time ago prior to the film's events. True crime podcasters uncover a 1979 audio recording of Loomis (voiced by Colin Mahan) giving a statement on his "former patient", advocating for Myers' execution and immediate cremation and voicing a desire to witness as Myers is put to death and destroyed. Michael's new psychiatrist, Dr. Ranbir Sartain (Haluk Bilginer), is established as a former student of Loomis's and even referred to as "the new Loomis" by Laurie Strode; however, he has a different perspective on Michael than Loomis's belief that he is "pure evil".


title: Samuel Loomis

text: In the sequel, "Halloween Kills" (2021) Loomis (portrayed by Tom Jones Jr., and voiced by Mahan) is depicted in flashbacks portraying Myers' detainment by police forty years prior in the aftermath of his 1978 killing spree (events briefly mentioned in the prior film). Haddonfield officer Hawkins encountered Michael at the Myers residence, shortly before the arrival of Loomis accompanied by the rest of the police department. The doctor questions Hawkins if Michael killed the officer's partner, but gets no response. Loomis attempts to execute the detained Michael, but is stopped by a remorseful Hawkins who did not believe Michael deserved death for his crimes. Decades later, an older Hawkins blames himself for the deaths following Michael's 2018 escape and feels tremendous guilt for stopping Loomis that night.


title: Samuel Loomis

text: Samuel Loomis's first literary appearance was in October 1979, in Curtis Richards' novelization of "Halloween", which largely follows the events of the film. He also appeared in the 1981 adaptation of "Halloween II" written by Jack Martin; it was published alongside the first film sequel, with the novel following the film events, with an additional victim, a reporter, added to the novel. The final novelization to feature Loomis was "Halloween IV", released October 1988. The novel was written by Nicholas Grabowsky, and like the previous adaptations, follows the events of "Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers".


title: Samuel Loomis

text: Loomis appears in the online short story "Halloween: Sam", focusing on what happened to his character in the "H20" timeline after "Halloween II". Written by Hutchinson and featuring illustrations from "Autopsis" Marcus Smith, "Sam" is a prose short story available exclusively for download at the website HalloweenComics.com. It explores the life of Dr. Loomis, including his backstory and relationship with Elizabeth Worthington, a journalist he met during World War II. In 1995, Michael Myers visits the ailing Dr. Loomis in a hospital and murders Elizabeth in front of him. Loomis attempts to stop him, but dies of a coronary failure.


title: Samuel Loomis

text: In the comic "Halloween: One Good Scare", Loomis is revealed to have a son, David Loomis, who like him, is a doctor at Smith's Grove Sanitarium. Although continuing his father's work, David is careful not to inherit his obsession with Michael Myers. However, when Lindsey Wallace is admitted to Smith's Grove claiming that Michael is stalking her, he finds history repeating itself. David neglects his other patients to interview Lindsey, investigates Michael's history, and even visits his childhood home in Haddonfield. However, on Halloween night in 2003, Michael arrives at Smith's Grove, murdering his way through the staff to get to Lindsey. David tries to protect her, but his fear gets the better of him and he hides as Michael drags Lindsey away to her death. Michael leaves behind a cracked picture frame containing a photograph of David and his father, a message that he plans to return for him.


title: Samuel Loomis

text: Scott Froehlich describes Loomis in "Halloween" "as the uncommissioned bounty hunter attempting to return his patient to the institution. His character provides insight into Myers’ motives, or lack thereof, and fills the audience in on how disturbed the masked murderer truly is." Brad Miska refers to Loomis as the film's "hero figure" who calls Michael "it" in a series of acts of depersonalization of his patient. Miska explains Loomis as believing Michael is inhuman, furthering that Loomis spends much of the film as "one of the few individuals (but not the only one) to fear and acknowledge the threat Michael presents and immediately speculates that he will return to Haddonfield – and we, of course, know he’s right." Josh Greally calls Loomis one of film's "greatest harbingers of doom" and adds that in spite of Loomis barely interacting with Myers in the film, Loomis "instils a sense of fear in the audience for how calmly assured he is of Michael's evil nature. He knows what Michael is capable of and that he is the only one who can stop him." Doug Bradley observes that Dr. Loomis "spends a lot of the film warning people they don’t know what they are dealing with" and this provides Michael with "this supernatural, mysterious element that made him so powerful." Dustin Putman views Pleasence as having brought "authority, dignity, and vulnerability" to the Loomis role and defines the character as "a man who once cared for Michael, who can't help but feel as if he still shares a bond with him, but who has grown wearisome because he now knows that there is no way of getting through to him."


title: Samuel Loomis

text: Commentary on Loomis in the original film extends to discussing how his character relates to Laurie Strode.


title: Samuel Loomis

text: David McCallister notes the differences between Loomis and Laurie in their interactions with Michael in the original film that work together to form "a fantastic dynamic with" Myers that also demonstrates "an underlying look at how some perceive evil and how others like Loomis see mental health and the 'science' of people like Michael Myers." "SciFiFX" credits the film for focusing on Laurie more than Loomis, viewing him as being efficient "at telling everyone what sort of evil this man is. He makes sure everyone knows what sort of creature he believes Michael to be." M. Keith Booker, who saw Loomis as "playing the strict father to Michael", observes that "Loomis’s pursuit of Michael is so relentless that he becomes a sort of stalker figure in his own right, providing a third term that complicates the eventual moral opposition between Michael and innocent Final Girl Laurie Strode that enhances the allegorical structure of the film by providing a figure of righteous masculine authority so uncompromising that he becomes a sort of official representative of the structures and systems that somehow created Michael in the first place."


title: Samuel Loomis

text: In "Halloween 2", Geoff Cox asserts, viewers "witness Loomis grow increasingly more exasperated that Michael’s still on the loose, confused about how he took bullets to the chest and walked away but vindicated in his belief that Myers is less a man and more a force of pure evil." Devon Elson observes that the early demise of a Michael lookalike "mechanically serves as a narrative reset to have the police disbelieve Loomis again." John Hansen notes Loomis being blamed by Brackett for his daughter Annie's death despite Loomis spending years trying to keep Michael contained, and reasons that "there would be ample reason for Loomis to lose his mind, but as far as I can tell, his behavior and actions are perfectly in line with the reality of Michael’s killing spree". Seth Harris assesses that Loomis "really goes over the deep end throughout" the second film and becomes a lunatic just as out of control as Michael himself. Harris opines that this is when Loomis works best, as "a madman, obsessed with killing this force of nature, he feels responsible for." Kayleena Pierce-Bohen praises "Halloween II" as being where Pleasence shaped "Loomis into a more complex hero" who helped create the Myers mythos: "If Myers is the ultimate evil, then Dr. Loomis is the ultimate force for good, standing up to the forces of darkness with kindness in his heart, over and over again."


title: Samuel Loomis

text: Loomis is depicted in "Halloween 4" with burn scars from his near-fatal injuries at the end of "Halloween 2". Alan Smithee observed Loomis as "more world weary than ever" with physical scars to evidence his worry.


title: Samuel Loomis

text: Adam Tyner wrote that Loomis served as "more than just connective tissue with the first two films in the franchise. It makes the world of Haddonfield feel more real...more lived-in...that there are consequences that linger and matter." Jack Wilhelmi viewed the inclusion of the Jamie Lloyd character as giving both Loomis and Michael "a tremendous amount of depth and characterization" and "a foil to build off of and play against." "Within this fourth installment, Loomis brought sympathy and tragedy because of his elderly age," wrote Rodolfo Salas, who equated Pleasence's performance to that of a father who had failed their child and whose attempts to reach Michael "brought about a sense of care, depression, and exhaustion." Salas also notes the contrast between Loomis and his knowledge of Michael and Jamie and her being "nearly unaware of her murderous uncle." Patrick Bromley, who cited the "Halloween 4" iteration of the character as his favorite version of Loomis outside of the 1978 film, opined that Loomis's "concern isn't so much for Michael's sanity anymore; it's barely even for the safety of Haddonfield's residents" and that the film "is where Loomis really gives in to obsession, and it's interesting to see the character slide closer and closer to the brink of crazy." James Berardinelli called Pleasence "the stabilizing influence" in his review of "Halloween 4" and observed that "the character of Dr. Sam Loomis, even as beaten and broken as he is in the later installments, represents a rock of solidity. The ending of Halloween 4 would not have been as effective without Pleasance's entirely convincing reaction of unimaginable horror."


title: Samuel Loomis

text: The "Halloween 5" iteration of Loomis is described as "increasingly unbalanced" by Jason Barr, and as having "apparently lost his mind" by Jesse Sparks, the latter viewing Loomis as having developed an evident mistrust in Jamie and that "his motivations have changed from public servant to becoming strictly personal." Derek Anderson assesses the film as depicting Loomis with an increased obsession with Michael that has been "pushed to a dangerous and almost selfish level." Anderson explains that Loomis views himself as the only one who can stop Michael and "knowing that he may not have much time left on this Earth, his growing obsession with ending Myers at any cost is a believable progression in a character who has dedicated the second half of his life to containing and obliterating the evil that lives within Michael—even if it means putting Jamie squarely in harm’s way." Berardinelli theorizes that "one could construct an argument that the good doctor’s obsession, combined with the various physical and mental experiences he has gone through, might have taken him off the deep end" and that Loomis could be argued as having become just as deranged as Michael.


title: Samuel Loomis

text: Daniel Farrands, writer of "The Curse of Michael Myers", cited his intent to give Loomis an arc in the film, depicting Loomis as living in seclusion and seemingly having put his past with Michael behind him while writing a book about his patient. Farrands explained, "I thought that was a great way to start with him. Start him in a place of relative peace and end up right back in hell." He wanted the film to conclude "with this incredible battle for Michael Myers' soul between the good doctor and the evil doctor" and that he had written the part of Dr. Wynn with "the idea of casting a serious equal for Donald." "Culture Crypt" notes that Loomis "never even confronts Michael Myers one single time in "Halloween 6", often doing his own thing on a parallel arc to what Tommy Doyle and the Strodes do on the main one." Mark Ziobro expresses that Loomis "is not so much ranting and raving about how evil Michael is, but has accepted it" and has become a realist. Ziobro furthers that the filmmakers ran with the belief that Michael was unstoppable, as espoused by Loomis, "and leave his continued existence unanswered." In the first appearance of Loomis in the film, he is listening to a radio host who mistakes him as having been deceased, to which he replies, "Not dead, just very much retired." Richard Harrington, and Alan Jones have noted the line as being an epitaph for Pleasence.


title: Samuel Loomis

text: Due to both being doctors who serve as the archenemy to a supernatural antagonist, a number of commentators have compared Loomis to Dracula foe Abraham Van Helsing; the list includes Kyron Lewis, Christian Bone, Tony Fyler, Cody Hamman, and Padraig Cotter. Alternatively, Wicked Horror's Nat Brehmer argues, "Sam Loomis is not, when you break the character down and really study him, the Van Helsing of the Halloween series because Van Helsing was brought into the middle of a story he had no personal stake in." Brehmer likens Loomis to a personification of the Cassandra myth as Loomis is "someone who basically has a premonition" and "tries to warn everyone, and nobody listens, so exactly what he was trying to stop from happening just happens as scheduled."


title: Samuel Loomis

text: Carpenter's first choice for the role of Dr. Loomis was Peter Cushing, famous for his roles in Hammer Horror films; however, as he had just been in the high-profile "Star Wars", Cushing's agent rejected the offer out of hand due to the low salary. Christopher Lee was also approached for the role; he too turned it down, although the actor would later tell Carpenter and Hill that declining the role was the biggest mistake he made during his career. Producer Irwin Yablans then suggested Pleasence, who agreed to star because his daughter Lucy, a guitarist, had enjoyed "Assault on Precinct 13" for Carpenter's score. Nancy Stephens reflected, "The thrill for me in the first "Halloween" was that I got to work with Donald Pleasence." Tony Moran, who briefly portrays Michael when his mask is removed, initially refused to do the film until learning that Pleasence was involved.


title: Samuel Loomis

text: While filming the final scene of the movie, where Michael is revealed to have disappeared after being shot by Loomis and falling off a balcony, Pleasence asked Carpenter if he should do an expression of surprise or an "I knew it'?" Carpenter, "too naive to know the right answer", asked Pleasence if he could do both, to which Pleasence complied.


title: Samuel Loomis

text: "Halloween II" was supposed to be the last film in the "Halloween" franchise to revolve around Michael Myers. After the 1982 release of "", the lowest performing film in the series at the time, executive producer Moustapha Akkad wanted to make a sequel that brought back Michael Myers. On February 25, 1988, writer Alan B. McElroy, a Cleveland, Ohio native, was brought in to write the script for "Halloween 4". McElroy wanted to open the film with Loomis being thrown from the explosion at the end of "Halloween II" as a way of explaining how he survived. This was vetoed by director Dwight H. Little, who "didn't want to get tied up with a lot of 'logic police' questions about Michael and exactly what happened to Dr. Loomis, exactly what happened at the end of the hospital [sequence]." Little furthered that he did not want to be influenced by anything besides the original film.


title: Samuel Loomis

text: In reprising his role in "Halloween 4", Pleasence became the only actor from the first two films to return. According to Little, Pleasence was "committed conceptually" to the role, but did not sign on to the project until having read a finished screenplay. Little reflected that he had been impressed by Pleasence's performance in "The Great Escape" (1963). He asserted that Pleasence "carried a lot of film history and he carried a lot of weight as an actor" but was open to collaborating on scenes and Little would arrange a schedule to accommodate his health: "I did notice that after about four or five hours he would get quite tired. I don’t know if that was age or he was suffering with something. I started working with the AD to make sure we would do anything demanding in those first four to six hours, then for the last few hours just take it easy with him." Ellie Cornell, who portrayed Rachel Carruthers in "Halloween 4" and its sequel, called working with Pleasence "a huge honour" and recalled that Pleasence could "nail his scenes" very quickly before leaving. According to Cornell, Pleasence would stay at a different hotel from the rest of the cast and "was kind of on his own, but he was just tremendously professional, just so supportive." Pleasance portrayed the character until his death in 1995; "Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers" was released posthumously and dedicated to his memory.


title: Samuel Loomis

text: In 1998's "Halloween H20", the voice of Dr. Loomis is heard giving the same speech that he gave to Sheriff Brackett when they were inside Michael's abandoned childhood home in the original film. Sound-alike voice actor Tom Kane provided this voice-over rather than archival recordings of Pleasance. An audio recording of Loomis is featured in 2018's "Halloween"; Loomis is voiced by Colin Mahan. For "Halloween Kills", Loomis was physically portrayed by the film's construction foreman Tom Jones Jr., whose resemblance to Pleasance was enhanced with prosthetic makeup; Mahan again provided the voice via dubbing.


title: Samuel Loomis

text: "Empire" ranked Loomis as the 18th best horror movie character. In 2016, Dread Central ranked Loomis in second place (only behind Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates) on their "Top 5 Most Powerful Performances in Horror History Since 1960!" list, opining that Pleasence spoke "with pitch-perfectly clear intention" and created "one of the greatest characters in film history" in the original film. "Screen Rant" listed Loomis as the second best "Halloween" character (behind Michael Myers), asserting that "Pleasance truly gives one of the best performances in Horror films as the determined doctor." /Film cites Loomis as the greatest character John Carpenter made over his five-decade career. Joe Puccio described Loomis as legendary and called Pleasence "arguably the crown jewel of the series". Meagan Navarro called Loomis the pillar of the "Halloween" franchise and asserted that "Pleasance always gave Loomis his all, no matter where the story took his character." Matthew Chernov of the "Chicago Tribune" asserts that Pleasence gave credibility to Loomis' ominous warnings and that the actor "never gave anything less than 100 percent on screen", citing this as the reason "why, for many fans, he remains the series' stealth MVP."


title: Samuel Loomis

text: Justin Davis of "Complex" praised Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis for "star-making performances" in "Halloween". Ron Pennington of "The Hollywood Reporter" wrote that Pleasence as Loomis provided "a strong presence, but it’s basically a one-dimensional role, designed to provide necessary plot information." Berardinelli referred to Pleasence as the "saving grace of "Halloween II"" and that the film "belongs to Loomis, the gun-toting action figure who arrives in the nick of time and has more good one-liners than everyone else put together." Discussing "Halloween 4", Vinnie Mancuso cited Pleasence as "absolutely hamming it up to a new level". Cox wrote that bringing back Pleasence as Loomis was one of the "major things" "Halloween 4" did correctly and that the film was "anchored by solid performances from Pleasence and Harris". Reviewing "The Curse of Michael Myers", Ben Martin lauded Pleasence for giving "a good performance again. So good in fact that I’m reminded of why I liked Loomis in the first place."


title: Samuel Loomis

text: While admitting that Loomis was "the most interesting" character in "Halloween 4", Edison Smith viewed him as suffering the most from the film's repetition of the Myers storyline, with Pleasence's "once-iconic turn beginning to smack of self-parody" whose only growth was "becoming a John McClane style action hero who crashes through windows and leaps fifty feet through the air to avoid gas station explosions". The character's portrayal in "Halloween 5" has also received negative reception, with Richard Harrington of the "Los Angeles Times" rebuking Pleasence for giving "a flat two-note performance". A.A. Dowd of "The A.V. Club" writes that by the time of "Halloween 5", "Donald Pleasence’s shtick had shaded into self-parody. He spends most of this regrettable fourth sequel bellowing into a little girl’s face like a lunatic." Commentary was directed toward the reduced role of Loomis in "The Curse of Michael Myers", with Marc Savlov of "The Austin Chronicle" calling the role "hardly more than an extended cameo", and


title: Samuel Loomis

text: Jeremy Nichols lamenting that Pleasence's "role was cut down significantly so we don’t get to see him much." Eric Hatch and Berardinelli, both of whom disliked the sixth film, bemoaned that it was Pleasence's last appearance in the series, with Sparks asserting that "Pleasance deserved better, especially at the end of his career."


title: Samuel Loomis

text: Loomis has been featured in merchandise. In 2020, NECA released a figure of Loomis alongside Laurie Strode based on their appearance in "Halloween II" (1981). NECA produced a two-pack of 7-inch figures of Loomis and Michael from "Halloween II" to celebrate the film's fortieth anniversary the following year.


title: Samuel Loomis

text: Loomis has also been referenced in media. In the season eight episode of "The Simpsons" entitled "Hurricane Neddy", after Dr. Foster discovers that Ned Flanders has gone mad, he states, "May god have mercy on us all!" The episode's DVD commentary clarifies this as a reference to Loomis' reaction to Michael escaping at the start of the original film. In the 2010 "The Boondocks" episode "Smokin' with Cigarettes", the Dr. Doomis character is based on Loomis and voiced by his "H20" voice actor Tom Kane. In the 1996 film "Scream", Skeet Ulrich's character Billy Loomis is named after him. The fifth film in the "Scream" series stars Melissa Barrera as Sam Carpenter, who is revealed to be Billy's daughter, with her technical name being a nod to the "Halloween" character. Nicholas Brooks of "Comic Book Resources" writes extensively on the connections between Barrera and Pleasence's characters. In the 1985 Mexican slasher film "Cemetery of Terror", Hugo Stiglitz plays the psychiatrist of the film's antagonist in a role inspired by Loomis. In the 2002 film "", John McConnell and Mark McLachlan play detectives Dave Loomis and Mike Myers, named after the "Halloween" characters. Max Gail plays a character named Sam Loomis in an episode of "NCIS"; the episode also features characters named after "Halloween" characters Tommy Doyle and Bob Simms.


title: Samuel Loomis

text: Jamie Lee Curtis described her portrayal of Laurie Strode in the 2018 "Halloween" film as being similar to Loomis: "Laurie has been traumatized and Laurie also understands Michael Myers in a way that nobody else does. So, in a weird way, she’s become the new Loomis character because Loomis was the one who understood that he [Michael] needed to be stopped because he was pure evil."


title: Candi Staton

text: Canzetta Maria "Candi" Staton (, ) (born March 13, 1940) is an American singer–songwriter, best known in the United States for her 1970 remake of Tammy Wynette's "Stand by Your Man" and her 1976 disco chart-topper "Young Hearts Run Free". In Europe, Staton's biggest selling record is the anthemic "You Got the Love" from 1986, released in collaboration with the Source. Staton was inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame and is a four-time Grammy Award nominee.


title: Candi Staton

text: Born in Hanceville, Alabama, Staton and her sister Maggie were sent to Nashville, Tennessee at around age 11 or 12 for school. While attending Jewell Christian Academy, Staton's vocal abilities were soon noticed by her peers and the school's pastor. Amazed by her voice, the pastor paired Staton and her sister with a third girl, Naomi Harrison, and they formed the Jewell Gospel Trio. As teenagers, the group toured the traditional gospel circuit during the 1950s with the Soul Stirrers, C. L. Franklin and Mahalia Jackson. They recorded several sides for Nashbro, Apollo and Savoy Records between 1953 and 1963.


title: Candi Staton

text: In 1968, Staton was introduced to Rick Hall by Clarence Carter and launched her solo career as a Southern soul stylist, garnering 16 R&B hits for Rick Hall's Fame Studios and gaining the title of "First Lady of Southern Soul" for her Grammy-nominated R&B renditions of the songs "Stand by Your Man" and "In the Ghetto". Staton appeared on the September 23, 1972, edition (Season 2, Episode 1) of "Soul Train".


title: Candi Staton

text: In 1976, Staton began collaborating with producer David Crawford on disco songs such as "Young Hearts Run Free", which reached No. 1 on the US R&B charts, No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart and went Top 20 on the Pop Hot 100 during the summer of 1976. It was remixed and re-released in 1986, reaching the UK Top 50. Follow up song "Destiny" hit the Top 50 in the UK. and her version of "Nights on Broadway" hit the UK Top 10 in 1977;. In 1978, Staton scored another Top 50 hit in the UK with "Honest I Do Love You". In 1979 from her album "Chance", Staton released the single "When You Wake Up Tomorrow" (co-written by Patrick Adams and Wayne K. Garfield) and the title song "Chance", a top 20 R&B charted record. Other dance club chart hits included "When You Wake Up Tomorrow" and "Victim". In 1982, Staton again hit the UK chart with a version of Elvis Presley's "Suspicious Minds".


title: Candi Staton

text: In 1982, Staton returned to gospel music. Staton and her then-husband, John Sussewell, founded Beracah Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia, with help from Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker's PTL Ministries. Staton has since recorded twelve gospel albums, two of which received Grammy Award nominations. Staton appears on the United Nations Register of Entertainers, Actors And Others Who Have Performed in Apartheid South Africa.


title: Candi Staton

text: In 1991, Staton returned to UK popular charts by lending her vocals to the Source's British hit, "You Got the Love". Staton signed with Intersound Records in 1995. In 2000, she released her eleventh album, "Here's a Blessing". In 2004, the British record label Honest Jon's released a compilation album of her soul work from the late 1960s and early 1970s, the self-titled "Candi Staton". Staton followed it up with a secular project in 2006 entitled "His Hands", produced by Mark Nevers of Lambchop and with the title track written by Will Oldham. Two of Staton's children, Cassandra Williams-Hightower (background vocals) and Marcus Williams (drums), joined her on the album. A second studio album for Honest Jon's, titled "Who's Hurting Now?", appeared in 2009. She and Rick Hall reunited to make a half dozen more tracks for Staton's 2014 southern soul album, "Life Happens". The lead Americana radio single, "I Ain't Easy to Love", featured Jason Isbell and John Paul White (formerly of The Civil Wars). The trio performed the track on "The Late Show with David Letterman". Staton's television show "New Direction" aired on TBN. Staton has also made appearances on the "Praise the Lord" telecast with the late Paul Crouch and his late wife Jan Crouch, as well as regularly performing on Robert Tilton's "Success-N-Life" show. In August 2018, Staton released her 30th album, "Unstoppable," which has been touted as a retro psychedelic R&B project. NPR music journalist, Alison Fensterstock, wrote that it, "Delivers the kind of forthright confidence and soul-girding power that can only be summoned by a grown woman who has learned a thing or two. And Staton has lived many lives. Creatively, the quadruple Grammy nominee and Christian Music Hall of Famer has moved between soul and R&B, gospel, disco and even EDM before returning to her roots as an elder stateswoman."


title: Candi Staton

text: Staton has been married six times and has five children. Staton first married Pentecostal minister Joe Williams from 1960 until 1968. Together they have four children: Marcus Williams, Marcel Williams, Terry Williams and Cassandra Williams-Hightower. In 1970, Staton married singer Clarence Carter and together they had one child; Clarence Carter Jr. They divorced in 1973. Staton was married to Jimmy James from 1974 until 1977. Two years after divorcing James, Staton married John Sussewell (who was a drummer for Ashford & Simpson and also Dory Previn's sixth album) in 1980, they divorced in 1998 after 18 years of marriage. From 2010 until 2012, Staton was married to former baseball player Otis Nixon. Staton has been married to Henry Hooper since 2017. On October 30, 2018, Staton announced that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer.


title: Royal College of Art

text: The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offers postgraduate degrees in art and design to students from over 60 countries.


title: Royal College of Art

text: The RCA was founded in Somerset House in 1837 as the Government School of Design or Metropolitan School of Design. Richard Burchett became head of the school in 1852. In 1853 it was expanded and moved to Marlborough House, and then, in 1853 or 1857, to South Kensington, on the same site as the South Kensington Museum. It was renamed the Normal Training School of Art in 1857 and the National Art Training School in 1863. During the later 19th century it was primarily a teacher training college; pupils during this period included George Clausen, Christopher Dresser, Luke Fildes, Kate Greenaway and Gertrude Jekyll.


title: Royal College of Art

text: In September 1896 the school received the name Royal College of Art, and the emphasis of teaching there shifted to the practice of art and design. Teaching of graphic design, industrial design and product design began in the mid-twentieth century. The school expanded further in the 1960s, and in 1967 it received a Royal Charter which gave it the status of an independent university with the power to grant its own degrees.


title: Royal College of Art

text: The Darwin Building in Kensington Gore. South Kensington, was completed 1960-1963. It is a short distance from the RCA's home 1896-1967 in the Henry Cole Building, now part of the V&A Museum. The Darwin Building was designed by a team of RCA staff members, H. T. Cadbury-Brown, Hugh Casson and Robert Goodden. and since 2001 has been a Grade II listed building. It is named after painter Sir Robert Vere Darwin, known as Robin Darwin, who was RCA Rector at the time it was commissioned. Although there was modest development into the mews behind the Darwin Building, the restricted site meant further expansion had to be in another part of London.


title: Royal College of Art

text: In 1991 the sculpture department moved to a converted factory in Battersea. In the early 2000s the college conceived a substantial extension on the site, with a minibus service linking it to Kensington. After a redevelopment by Wright & Wright (budget £4.3m, floor area 2,500 sq m), the Sculpture Building opened in Battersea in January 2009. In 2018 the RCA was granted planning permission to redevelop the Sculpture building into a new Arts & Humanities building, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, with work planned for completion in late 2021.


title: Royal College of Art

text: A masterplan was commissioned from Haworth Tompkins and phase 1 of their three-phase design was completed with the opening of the Sackler Building on 19 November 2009, to house the painting department. Its name commemorates a major gift by The Dr Mortimer and Theresa Sackler Foundation.


title: Royal College of Art

text: The Dyson Building, named in honour of James Dyson, whose charity donated £5m towards the £21m cost, was opened on 24 September 2012. It houses printmaking and photography, and contains an innovation wing where start-up designers can launch their businesses. The Woo Building was opened on 30 September 2015, completing the Battersea project. It is named in honour of Sir Po-Shing and Lady Helen Woo, who have funded scholarships at the RCA since the 1990s. It accommodates the Ceramics & Glass and Jewellery & Metal programmes. The building's anodised aluminium gates were designed by alumnus Max Lamb.


title: Royal College of Art

text: In 2017 RCA White City became the third RCA campus, co-located with the BBC Media Village and accommodating the School of Communication, Animation and Digital Direction and Communication Design in buildings designed by Allies and Morrison.


title: Royal College of Art

text: The RCA offers a Graduate Diploma pre-masters conversion programme, MA, MRes, MPhil and PhD degrees in twenty-eight subject areas, divided into four schools: architecture, arts & humanities, communication, and design. The history of design programme is in collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum; there are two double MA/MSc programmes with Imperial College London.


title: Royal College of Art

text: In addition to formal qualifications the RCA also offers Summer school and Executive education courses throughout the year. English for academic purposes (EAP) courses are offered to applicants who need to improve their academic English ability to meet the College's entry requirements.


title: Royal College of Art

text: In early 2019, the RCA announced the launch of its new GenerationRCA programme. GenerationRCA -among other initiatives- will also "inject science disciplines into the mix of creative disciplines traditionally on offer." The new programmes will include Environmental Architecture and Digital Direction; with future programmes centred on nano and soft robotics, computer science, and machine learning, material science and the circular economy.


title: Royal College of Art

text: In 2022, the RCA was placed first in the art and design subject area in the QS World University Rankings published by Quacquarelli Symonds for the eighth year in a row, with an overall score of 99.6/100.


title: Royal College of Art

text: In August 2015 it was ranked first on a list of master's courses in fashion by Business of Fashion, a fashion website.


title: Royal College of Art

text: In April 2011 the RCA was ranked first on a list of UK graduate art schools compiled by "Modern Painters" magazine from a survey of professionals in the art world.


title: Royal College of Art

text: In the Research Assessment Exercise of December 2008, 40% of the research output of the school received the highest (4* or "world-leading") assessment, the third-highest rating in the art and design subject area; over all subject areas only about fifty institutions received a higher rating.


title: Royal College of Art

text: Among those who studied in the RCA predecessor bodies in the nineteenth century were Sir George Clausen, Christopher Dresser, Sir Luke Fildes, Kate Greenaway, Gertrude Jekyll and Edwin Lutyens.


title: Royal College of Art

text: Alumni from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries include the sculptors Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore, painters Frank Auerbach, David Hockney, Bridget Riley, Sir Peter Blake, Gavin Turk and Charles Tunnicliffe, artists Jake and Dinos Chapman, Tracey Emin and R. B. Kitaj, fashion designers Ossie Clark and Zandra Rhodes, industrial designers James Dyson, Sir Jonathan Ive and David Mellor, film directors Tony and Ridley Scott, writer Travis Jeppesen, designers Thomas Heatherwick and architect Sir David Adjaye, prominent member of the suffragette movement Sylvia Pankhurst, the musician Ian Dury, sound artist Janek Schaefer, and the actor Alan Rickman.


title: Royal College of Art

text: The Royal College of Art Society amalgamated with OSARCA (the Old Students Association of the RCA 1912) for the benefit of graduates and associates of the Royal College of Art.


title: Royal College of Art

text: On February 25, 2021, Virgil Abloh joined staff as a Visiting Professor "to reinforce the importance of education and hands on mentorship of future generations."


title: Royal College of Art

text: The Royal College of Art has several awards and prizes which it confers on its graduating students. These include the Sheila Robinson Drawing Prize.


title: Big Little Lies (novel)

text: Big Little Lies is a 2014 novel written by Liane Moriarty. It was published in July 2014 by Penguin Publishing. The novel made the "New York Times" Best Seller list. In 2015, it was a recipient of the Davitt Award.


title: Big Little Lies (novel)

text: Jane, a single mother, is on her way to Pirriwee Public School in Sydney's Northern Beaches, where her son Ziggy is starting kindergarten. On the way, she meets Madeline, another mother with a daughter of the same age. Madeline's friend Celeste is also sending her twin sons, Max and Josh, to school. The two strike up a friendship with Jane. All three of them have their own problems: Madeline is resentful that her daughter from her previous marriage is growing close to her ex-husband's new wife, Bonnie; Celeste is physically abused by her rich banker husband, Perry; and Jane was raped and left to raise her son Ziggy on her own. To make matters worse for her, Ziggy is accused of bullying Amabella, his future classmate, during orientation.


title: Big Little Lies (novel)

text: As months pass, the three become close and Jane shares her experience with the other women. Jane tells the two other women that Ziggy is the result of a rape by a man named Saxon Banks when Jane was 19. Celeste and Madeline realize that the father is Perry's cousin, but decide to keep it from Jane for the time being. Meanwhile, Celeste's marriage becomes even more violent and she starts meeting with a counselor and rents an apartment for herself and her sons without Perry's knowledge. Ziggy is once again accused of bullying Amabella, and again denies it. Jane finds out that Ziggy is keeping a secret about who is hurting Amabella and persuades him to write down the name of the child, which turns out to be Max, one of Celeste's twins, but she is not sure how to broach the subject with Celeste.


title: Big Little Lies (novel)

text: On the night of Pirriwee Public's Trivia Night, Josh tells Celeste that it is Max, not Ziggy, who is bullying the other children. She realizes that Max is emulating Perry and finally decides to leave him. Perry finds out about Celeste's apartment, and despite a heated argument, the couple still go to the Trivia Night.


title: Big Little Lies (novel)

text: Once they reach the school, Jane sees Perry and realizes that he is, in fact, the man who raped her and confronts him in front of Madeline and Celeste. Celeste recalls Perry's childhood stories where he used his cousin's name to avoid trouble for himself. Perry admits to raping Jane but shows no remorse. In the ensuing argument between them, Perry hits Celeste. Enraged by what she has witnessed, Bonnie pushes him, and he falls from the balcony to his death.


title: Big Little Lies (novel)

text: In the aftermath of the fall, Madeline finds out that Bonnie's father was abusive and seeing Perry's violence brought back memories of witnessing her father beat her mother. Everybody on the balcony decides to lie to protect Bonnie, but she turns herself in. She is convicted of accidental manslaughter and sentenced to 200 hours of community service. A year after Perry's death, Celeste works in a family law firm and sets up a trust fund for Ziggy. She speaks publicly about her abusive relationship, starting her speech with: "This can happen to anyone."


title: Big Little Lies (novel)

text: Moriarty's main inspiration for the story came from a radio interview she heard in which a woman recounted her parents' abusive relationship. The woman narrated how, even as an adult, she hid under her bed to escape her parents' fighting, an experience Moriarty ended up using as a scene in the book. Initially, the book was a first-person narrative from each of the three main characters, but Moriarty soon decided against it, instead interjecting minor characters' statements between portions of the story.


title: Big Little Lies (novel)

text: "Big Little Lies" has generally been well received by critics, who praised the book's balance of humour with more serious issues like domestic abuse. Janet Maslin of "The New York Times" wrote: "A seemingly fluffy book suddenly touches base with vicious reality, in ways that may give "Big Little Lies" even more staying power than "The Husband's Secret" [Moriarty's previous book]." Roberta Bernstein of "USA Today" gave it three stars out of four, deeming it "a fun, engaging and sometimes disturbing read, even if the characters are more conceits than flesh and blood." Leah Greenblatt of "Entertainment Weekly" gave it an A and noted that, while the book fell in the "chick-lit" category, Moriarty still offered "insights [that] aren’t any less wise or funny or true just because she sometimes likes a champagne metaphor or hangs her story on a shoe." Carol Memmott of "The Washington Post" wrote, "It takes a powerful stand against domestic violence even as it makes us laugh at the adults whose silly costume party seems more reminiscent of a middle-school dance."


title: Big Little Lies (novel)

text: A television mini-series adaptation of the novel was produced by HBO titled "Big Little Lies", filmed on location in Monterey, California. It was originally released February 19, 2017 on HBO. The mini-series stars Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley, Alexander Skarsgård, Adam Scott, Laura Dern, and Zoë Kravitz, and won 8 Emmy Awards at the 2017 Primetime Emmy Awards including Outstanding Limited Series.


title: Big Little Lies (novel)

text: Despite being called a miniseries, HBO announced in December 2017 that the series would return for a second season, based on a novella by Moriarty.


title: Academy Award for Best Film Editing

text: The Academy Award for Best Film Editing is one of the annual awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). Nominations for this award are closely correlated with the Academy Award for Best Picture. For 33 consecutive years, 1981 to 2013, every Best Picture winner had also been nominated for the Film Editing Oscar, and about two thirds of the Best Picture winners have also won for Film Editing. Only the principal, "above the line" editor(s) as listed in the film's credits are named on the award; additional editors, supervising editors, etc. are not currently eligible.


title: Academy Award for Best Film Editing

text: The nominations for this Academy Award are determined by a ballot of the voting members of the Editing Branch of the Academy; there were 220 members of the Editing Branch in 2012. The members may vote for up to five of the eligible films in the order of their preference; the five films with the largest vote totals are selected as nominees. The Academy Award itself is selected from the nominated films by a subsequent ballot of all active and life members of the Academy. This process is essentially the reverse of that of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA); nominations for the BAFTA Award for Best Editing are done by a general ballot of Academy voters, and the winner is selected by members of the editing chapter.


title: Academy Award for Best Film Editing

text: This award was first given for films released in 1934. The name of this award is occasionally changed; in 2008, it was listed as the Academy Award for Achievement in Film Editing.


title: Academy Award for Best Film Editing

text: To date, two film directors have won this award, James Cameron and Alfonso Cuarón for the films "Titanic" and "Gravity", respectively. Directors David Lean, Steve James, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen (under the alias "Roderick Jaynes"), Michel Hazanavicius, Jean-Marc Vallée (under the alias "John Mac McMurphy") and Chloé Zhao have been nominated for editing their own films, with Cameron, Cuarón, and the Coens each being nominated for the award twice. Additionally, Best Film Editing winner, Walter Murch, although known for film editing and sound, directed the Oscar nominated "Return to Oz" and is, to date, the only person with Oscars for both sound engineering and film editing, winning them in the same year for his work on "The English Patient". Also, nominated editors Robert Wise, Francis D. Lyon, winner for "Body and Soul" and Hal Ashby, winner for "In the Heat of the Night", became directors whose films were in turn nominated for Best Film Editing, namely "Somebody Up There Likes Me", "I Want to Live!", "West Side Story", "The Sound of Music", "The Sand Pebbles" and "The Andromeda Strain" for Wise, "Crazylegs" for Lyon and "Bound for Glory" and "Coming Home" for Ashby.


title: Academy Award for Best Film Editing

text: These listings are based on the Awards Database maintained by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.


title: Academy Award for Best Film Editing

text: The following editors have received multiple nominations for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing. This list is sorted by the number of total awards won (with the number of total nominations listed in parentheses).


title: Eurasian tree sparrow

text: The Eurasian tree sparrow (Passer montanus) is a passerine bird in the sparrow family with a rich chestnut crown and nape, and a black patch on each pure white cheek. The sexes are similarly plumaged, and young birds are a duller version of the adult. This sparrow breeds over most of temperate Eurasia and Southeast Asia, where it is known as the tree sparrow, and it has been introduced elsewhere including the United States, where it is known as the Eurasian tree sparrow or German sparrow to differentiate it from the native unrelated American tree sparrow. Although several subspecies are recognised, the appearance of this bird varies little across its extensive range.


title: Eurasian tree sparrow

text: The Eurasian tree sparrow's untidy nest is built in a natural cavity, a hole in a building or the disused nest of a European magpie or white stork. The typical clutch is five or six eggs which hatch in under two weeks. This sparrow feeds mainly on seeds, but invertebrates are also consumed, particularly during the breeding season. As with other small birds, infection by parasites and diseases, and predation by birds of prey take their toll, and the typical life span is about two years.


title: Eurasian tree sparrow

text: The Eurasian tree sparrow is widespread in the towns and cities of eastern Asia, but in Europe it is a bird of lightly wooded open countryside, with the house sparrow breeding in the more urban areas. The Eurasian tree sparrow's extensive range and large population ensure that it is not endangered globally, but there have been large declines in western European populations, in part due to changes in farming practices involving increased use of herbicides and loss of winter stubble fields. In eastern Asia and western Australia, this species is sometimes viewed as a pest, although it is also widely celebrated in oriental art.


title: Eurasian tree sparrow

text: The Eurasian tree sparrow is long, with a wingspan of about and a weight of , making it roughly 10% smaller than the house sparrow. The adult's crown and nape are rich chestnut, and there is a kidney-shaped black ear patch on each pure white cheek; the chin, throat, and the area between the bill and throat are black. The upperparts are light brown, streaked with black, and the brown wings have two distinct narrow white bars. The legs are pale brown, and the bill is lead-blue in summer, becoming almost black in winter.


title: Eurasian tree sparrow

text: This sparrow is distinctive even within its genus in that it has no plumage differences between the sexes; the juvenile also resembles the adult, although the colours tend to be duller. Its contrasting face pattern makes this species easily identifiable in all plumages; the smaller size and brown, not grey, crown are additional differences from the male house sparrow. Adult and juvenile Eurasian tree sparrows undergo a slow complete moult in the autumn, and show an increase in body mass despite a reduction in stored fat. The change in mass is due to an increase in blood volume to support active feather growth, and a generally higher water content in the body.


title: Eurasian tree sparrow

text: The Eurasian tree sparrow has no true song, but its vocalisations include an excited series of "tschip" calls given by unpaired or courting males. Other monosyllabic chirps are used in social contacts, and the flight call is a harsh "teck". A study comparing the vocalisations of the introduced Missouri population with those of birds from Germany showed that the US birds had fewer shared syllable types (memes) and more structure within the population than the European sparrows. This may have resulted from the small size of the founding North American population and a consequent loss of genetic diversity.


title: Eurasian tree sparrow

text: The Old World sparrow genus "Passer" is a group of small passerine birds that is believed to have originated in Africa, and which contains 15–25 species depending on the authority. Its members are typically found in open, lightly wooded, habitats, although several species, notably the house sparrow ("P. domesticus") have adapted to human habitations. Most species in the genus are typically long, predominantly brown or greyish birds with short square tails and stubby conical beaks. They are primarily ground-feeding seed-eaters, although they also consume invertebrates, especially when breeding. Genetic studies show that the Eurasian tree sparrow diverged from the other Eurasian members of its genus relatively early, before the speciation of the house, plain-backed and Spanish sparrows. The Eurasian species is not closely related to the American tree sparrow ("Spizelloides arborea"), which is in a different family, the New World sparrows.


title: Eurasian tree sparrow

text: The Eurasian tree sparrow's binomial name is derived from two Latin words: "passer", "sparrow", and "montanus", "of the mountains" (from "mons" "mountain"). The Eurasian tree sparrow was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 "Systema Naturae" as "Fringilla montana", but, along with the house sparrow, it was soon moved from the finches (family Fringillidae) into the new genus "Passer" created by French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. The Eurasian tree sparrow's common name is given because of its preference of tree holes for nesting. This name, and the scientific name "montanus", do not appropriately describe this species's habitat preferences: the German name "Feldsperling" ("field sparrow") comes closer to doing so.


title: Eurasian tree sparrow

text: This species varies little in appearance across its large range, and the differences between the seven extant subspecies recognised by Clement are slight. At least 15 other subspecies have been proposed, but they are considered to be intermediates of the listed subspecies.


title: Eurasian tree sparrow

text: The Eurasian tree sparrow's natural breeding range comprises most of temperate Europe and Asia south of about latitude 68°N (north of this the summers are too cold, with July average temperatures below ) and through Southeast Asia to Java and Bali. It formerly bred in the Faroes, Malta and Gozo. In South Asia it is found mainly in the temperate zone. It is sedentary over most of its extensive range, but northernmost breeding populations migrate south for the winter, and small numbers leave southern Europe for North Africa and the Middle East. The eastern subspecies "P. m. dilutus" reaches coastal Pakistan in winter and thousands of birds of this race move through eastern China in autumn.


title: Eurasian tree sparrow

text: The Eurasian tree sparrow has been introduced outside its native range, but has not always become established, possibly due to competition with the house sparrow. It was introduced successfully to Sardinia, eastern Indonesia, the Philippines and Micronesia, but introductions to New Zealand and Bermuda did not take root. Ship-carried birds colonised Borneo. This sparrow has occurred as a natural vagrant to Gibraltar, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Iceland.


title: Eurasian tree sparrow

text: In North America, a population of about 15,000 birds has become established around St. Louis and neighbouring parts of Illinois and southeastern Iowa. These sparrows are descended from 12 birds imported from Germany and released in late April 1870 as part of a project to enhance the native North American avifauna. Within its limited US range of about , the Eurasian tree sparrow has to compete with the house sparrow in urban centres, and is therefore mainly found in parks, farms and rural woods. The American population is sometimes referred to as the "German sparrow", to distinguish it from both the native American tree sparrow species and the much more widespread "English" house sparrow.


title: Eurasian tree sparrow

text: In Australia, the Eurasian tree sparrow is present in Melbourne, towns in central and northern Victoria and some centres in the Riverina region of New South Wales. It is a prohibited species in Western Australia, where it often arrives on ships from Southeast Asia.


title: Eurasian tree sparrow

text: Despite its scientific name, "Passer montanus", this is not typically a mountain species, and reaches only in Switzerland, although it has bred at in the northern Caucasus and as high as in Nepal. In Europe, it is frequently found on coasts with cliffs, in empty buildings, in pollarded willows along slow water courses, or in open countryside with small isolated patches of woodland. The Eurasian tree sparrow shows a strong preference for nest-sites near wetland habitats, and avoids breeding on intensively managed mixed farmland.


title: Eurasian tree sparrow

text: When the Eurasian tree sparrow and the larger house sparrow occur in the same area, the house sparrow generally breeds in urban areas while the smaller Eurasian tree sparrow nests in the countryside. Where trees are in short supply, as in Mongolia, both species may utilise man-made structures as nest sites. The Eurasian tree sparrow is rural in Europe, but is an urban bird in eastern Asia; in southern and central Asia, both "Passer" species may be found around towns and villages. In parts of the Mediterranean, such as Italy, both the tree and the Italian or Spanish sparrows may be found in settlements. In Australia, the Eurasian tree sparrow is largely an urban bird, and it is the house sparrow which utilises more natural habitats.


title: Eurasian tree sparrow

text: The Eurasian tree sparrow reaches breeding maturity within a year from hatching, and typically builds its nest in a cavity in an old tree or rock face. Some nests are not in holes as such, but are built among roots of overhanging gorse or similar bush. Roof cavities in houses may be used, and in the tropics, the crown of a palm tree or the ceiling of a verandah can serve as a nest site. This species will breed in the disused domed nest of a European magpie, or an active or unused stick nest of a large bird such as the white stork, white-tailed eagle, osprey, black kite or grey heron. It will sometimes attempt to take over the nest of other birds that breed in holes or enclosed spaces, such as the barn swallow, house martin, sand martin or European bee-eater.


title: Eurasian tree sparrow

text: Pairs may breed in isolation or in loose colonies, and will readily use nest boxes. In a Spanish study, boxes made from a mixture of wood and concrete (woodcrete) had a much higher occupancy rate than wooden boxes (76.5% versus 33.5%), and birds nesting in woodcrete sites had earlier clutches, a shorter incubation period and more breeding attempts per season. Clutch size and chick condition did not differ between nest box types, but reproductive success was higher in woodcrete, perhaps because the synthetic nests were 1.5 °C warmer than their wooden counterparts.


title: Eurasian tree sparrow

text: The male calls from near the nest site in spring to proclaim ownership and attract a mate. He may also carry nest material into the nest hole. The display and nest building is repeated in autumn. The preferred locations for the autumn display are old Eurasian tree sparrow nests, particularly those where nestlings had hatched. Empty nest boxes, and sites used by house sparrows or other hole nesting birds, such as tits, pied flycatchers or common redstarts, are rarely used for the autumn display.


title: Eurasian tree sparrow

text: The untidy nest is composed of hay, grass, wool or other material and lined with feathers, which improve the thermal insulation. A complete nest consists of three layers; base, lining and dome. The typical clutch is five or six eggs (rarely more than four in Malaysia), white to pale grey and heavily marked with spots, small blotches, or speckling; they are in size and weigh , of which 7% is shell. The eggs are incubated by both parents for 12–13 days before the altricial, naked chicks hatch, and a further 15–18 days elapse before they fledge. Two or three broods may be raised each year; birds breeding in colonies produce more eggs and fledglings from their first broods than solitary pairs, but the reverse is true for second and third clutches. Females which copulate frequently tend to lay more eggs and have a shorter incubation time, so within-pair mating may be an indicator of the pairs' reproductive ability. There is a significant level of promiscuity; in a Hungarian study, more than 9% of chicks were sired by extra-pair males, and 20% of the broods contained at least one extra-pair young.


title: Eurasian tree sparrow

text: Hybridisation between the Eurasian tree sparrow and the house sparrow has been recorded in many parts of the world with male hybrids tending to resemble the Eurasian tree sparrow while females have more similarities with the house sparrow. A breeding population in the Eastern Ghats of India, said to be introduced, may also hybridise with house sparrows. On at least one occasion a mixed pair has resulted in fertile young. A wild hybridisation with the resident sparrows of Malta, which are intermediate between the Spanish sparrow ("P. hispaniolensis") and Italian sparrows ("P. italiae"), was recorded in Malta in 1975.


title: Eurasian tree sparrow

text: The Eurasian tree sparrow is a predominantly seed and grain eating bird which feeds on the ground in flocks, often with house sparrows, finches, or buntings. It eats weed seeds, such as chickweeds and goosefoot, spilled grain, and it may also visit feeding stations, especially for peanuts. It will also feed on invertebrates, especially during the breeding season when the young are fed mainly on animal food; it takes insects, woodlice, millipedes, centipedes, spiders and harvestmen.


title: Eurasian tree sparrow

text: Adults use a variety of wetlands when foraging for invertebrate prey to feed nestlings, and aquatic sites play a key role in providing adequate diversity and availability of suitable invertebrate prey to allow successful chick rearing throughout the long breeding season of this multi-brooded species. Large areas of formerly occupied farmland no longer provide these invertebrate resources due to the effects of intensive farming, and the availability of supplementary seed food within of the nest-site does not influence nest-site choice, or affect the number of young raised.


title: Eurasian tree sparrow

text: In winter, seed resources are most likely to be a key limiting factor. At this time of year, individuals in a flock form linear dominance hierarchies, but there is no strong relation between the size of the throat patch and position in that hierarchy. This is in contrast to the house sparrow; in that species, fights to establish dominance are reduced by the display of the throat patch, the size of which acts as a signalling "badge" of fitness. Although there is evidence that the black throat patch of male, but not female, tree sparrows predicts fighting success in foraging flocks.


title: Eurasian tree sparrow

text: The risk of predation affects feeding strategies. A study showed increased distance between shelter and a food supply meant that birds visited a feeder in smaller flocks, spent less time on it and were more vigilant when far from shelter. Sparrows can feed as "producers", searching for food directly, or "scroungers", just joining other flock members who have already discovered food. Scrounging was 30% more likely at exposed feeding sites, although this is not due to increased anti-predator vigilance. A possible explanation is that riskier places are used by individuals with lower fat reserves.


title: Eurasian tree sparrow

text: Predators of the Eurasian tree sparrow include a variety of accipiters, falcons and owls, such as the Eurasian sparrowhawk, common kestrel, little owl, and sometimes long-eared owl and white stork. It does not appear to be at an increased risk of predation during its autumn moult, despite having fewer flight feathers at that time. Nests may be raided by Eurasian magpies, jays, least weasels, rats, cats, and constricting snakes such as the horseshoe whip snake.


title: Eurasian tree sparrow

text: Many species of bird lice are present on the birds and in their nests, and mites of the genus "Knemidocoptes" have been known to infest populations, resulting in lesions on the legs and toes. Parasitisation of nestlings by "Protocalliphora" blow-fly larvae is a significant factor in nestling mortality. Egg size does not influence nestling mortality, but chicks from large eggs grow faster.


title: Eurasian tree sparrow

text: Eurasian tree sparrows are also subject to bacterial and viral infections. Bacteria have been shown to be an important factor in the failure of eggs to hatch and in nestling mortality, and mass deaths due to "Salmonella" infection have been noted in Japan. Avian malaria parasites have been found in the blood of many populations, and birds in China were found to harbour a strain of H5N1 that was highly virulent to chickens.


title: Eurasian tree sparrow

text: The immune response of Eurasian tree sparrows is less robust than that of the house sparrow and has been proposed as a factor in the greater invasive potential of the latter. The house sparrow and Eurasian tree sparrow are the most frequent victims of roadkill on the roads of Central, Eastern and Southern Europe. The maximum recorded age is 13.1 years, but three years is a typical lifespan.


title: Eurasian tree sparrow

text: The Eurasian tree sparrow has a large range estimated as and a population of 190–310 million individuals. Although the population is declining, the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (that is, declining more than 30% in 10 years or three generations). For these reasons, the species' conservation status is evaluated at the global level as being of Least Concern.


title: Eurasian tree sparrow

text: Although the Eurasian tree sparrow has been expanding its range in Fennoscandia and eastern Europe, populations have been declining in much of western Europe, a trend reflected in other farmland birds such as the skylark, corn bunting and northern lapwing. From 1980 to 2003, common farmland bird numbers fell by 28%. The collapse in populations seems to have been particularly severe in Great Britain, where there was a 95% decline between 1970 and 1998, and Ireland, which had only 1,000–1,500 pairs in the late 1990s. In the British Isles, such declines may be due to natural fluctuations, to which Eurasian tree sparrows are known to be prone. Breeding performance has improved substantially as population sizes have decreased, suggesting that decreases in productivity were not responsible for the decline and that survival was the critical factor. The large decline in Eurasian tree sparrow numbers is probably the result of agricultural intensification and specialisation, particularly the increased use of herbicides and a trend towards autumn-sown crops (at the expense of spring-sown crops that produce stubble fields in winter). The change from mixed to specialised farming and the increased use of insecticides has reduced the amount of insect food available for nestlings.


title: Eurasian tree sparrow

text: The Eurasian tree sparrow is seen as a pest in some areas. In Australia, it damages many cereal and fruit crops and spoils cereal crops, animal feed and stored grain with its droppings. Quarantine rules prohibit the transport of this species into Western Australia.


title: Eurasian tree sparrow

text: The Paramount leader of China, Mao Zedong attempted in April 1958 to reduce crop damage by Eurasian tree sparrows, which was estimated to be of grain per bird each year, by mobilising millions of people and many scarecrows to drive the birds to death by exhaustion. Although successful at reducing the sparrow population, the "Four Pests campaign" had overlooked the numbers of locusts and other insect pests consumed by the birds. Crop yields collapsed, exacerbating a famine which led to the deaths of 30 million people between 1959 and 1961. The Eurasian tree sparrow's consumption of insects has led to its use in agriculture to control fruit tree pests and the common asparagus beetle ("Crioceris aspergi").


title: Eurasian tree sparrow

text: The Eurasian tree sparrow has long been depicted in Chinese and Japanese art, often on a plant spray or in a flying flock, and representations by oriental artists including Hiroshige have featured on the postage stamps of Antigua and Barbuda, Central African Republic, China, and the Gambia. More straightforward illustrations were used on the stamps of Belarus, Belgium, Cambodia, Estonia, and Taiwan. The fluttering of the bird gave rise to a traditional Japanese dance, the "Suzume Odori", developed in Sendai, which was depicted by artists such as Hokusai.


title: Eurasian tree sparrow

text: In the Philippines, where it is one of several species referred to as "maya", and is sometimes specifically referred to as the "mayang simbahan" ("church maya" or "church sparrow"), the Eurasian tree sparrow is the most common bird in the cities. Many urban Filipinos confuse it with the former national bird of the Philippines, the black-headed munia – also called a "maya", but specifically differentiated in folk taxa as the "mayang pula" ("red maya").


title: Linotype machine

text: The Linotype machine ( ) is a "line casting" machine used in printing; manufactured and sold by the former Mergenthaler Linotype Company and related It was a hot metal typesetting system that cast lines of metal type for individual uses. Linotype became one of the mainstay methods to set type, especially small-size body text, for newspapers, magazines, and posters from the late 19th century to the 1970s and 1980s, when it was largely replaced by phototypesetting and digital typesetting. The name of the machine comes from the fact that it produces an entire line of metal type at once, hence a "line-o'-type". It was a significant improvement over the previous industry standard of manual, letter-by-letter typesetting using a composing stick and shallow subdivided trays, called "cases".


title: Linotype machine

text: The Linotype machine operator enters text on a 90-character keyboard. The machine assembles "matrices", which are molds for the letter forms, in a line. The assembled line is then cast as a single piece, called a "slug", from molten type metal in a process known as hot metal typesetting. The matrices are then returned to the type magazine from which they came, to be reused continuously. This allows much faster typesetting and composition than original hand composition in which operators place down one pre-cast sort (metal letter, punctuation mark or space) at a time.


title: Linotype machine

text: The machine revolutionized typesetting and with it especially newspaper publishing, making it possible for a relatively small number of operators to set type for many pages daily. Ottmar Mergenthaler invented the Linotype in 1884 alongside James Ogilvie Clephane, who provided the financial backing for commercialization.


title: Linotype machine

text: In 1876, a German clock maker, Ottmar Mergenthaler, who had emigrated to the United States in 1872, was approached by James O. Clephane and his associate Charles T. Moore, who sought a quicker way of publishing legal briefs. By 1884, he conceived the idea of assembling metallic letter molds, called "matrices", and casting molten metal into them, all within a single machine. His first attempt proved the idea feasible and a new company was formed. Improving his invention, Mergenthaler further developed his idea of an independent matrix machine. In July, 1886, the first commercially used Linotype was installed in the printing office of the New York Tribune. Here, it was immediately used on the daily paper and a large book. The book, the first ever composed with the new Linotype method, was titled "The Tribune Book of Open-Air Sports".


title: Linotype machine

text: Initially, the Mergenthaler Linotype Company was the only company (led by Ottmar Mergenthaler and eventually also James O. Clephane) producing linecasting machines, but in time, other companies would begin manufacturing similar machines. The Intertype Company produced the Intertype, a machine closely resembling the Linotype, using the same matrices as the Linotype, which started production around 1914. Where Mergenthaler prided themselves on intricately formed cast-iron parts on their machine, Intertype machined many of their similar parts from steel and aluminum.


title: Linotype machine

text: Major newspaper publishers retired Linotype and similar "hot metal" typesetting machines during the 1970s and 1980s, replacing them with phototypesetting equipment and later computerized typesetting and page composition systems. , the last-known newspaper still using Linotype in the United States is "The Saguache Crescent". is the last one in Western Europe.


title: Linotype machine

text: The operator interacts with the machine via the keyboard, composing lines of text. The other sections are automatic; they start as soon as a line is completely composed.


title: Linotype machine

text: Some Linotype machines included a paper tape reader. This also allowed the text to be typeset to be supplied over a telegraph line (TeleTypeSetter). Perforator operators produced paper tape text at a much higher speed which then was cast by more productive tape-controlled Linotype machines.


title: Linotype machine

text: Each matrix contains the letter form for a single character of a font of type; i.e., a particular type face in a particular size. The letter forms are engraved into one side of the matrix. For sizes up to 14 points, and in some matrices of size 16 to 24 points, the matrix has two letter forms on it, the normal and auxiliary positions. The normal position has the upright (Roman) form of a given character, and on the auxiliary, the slanted ("Italic") form of that character will be used, but this can also be the boldface form or even a different font entirely. The machine operator can select which of the two faces will be cast by operating the "auxiliary rail" of the "assembler", or, when setting entire lines of italics, by using the "flap", which is a piece that can be turned under a portion of the first elevator column. This is the origin of the old typesetting terms "upper rail" for italic and "lower rail" for Roman characters. These terms have persisted in phototypesetting technology even though the mechanics of the auxiliary rail do not exist there. The character on a Linotype matrix, when viewed, is not inverted as a letter for conventional movable type would be, and the letter is incised below the surface rather than raised above it. This is because the matrix is not used directly to print onto the paper—rather, it is used as part of a mold from which a metal slug will be cast. The slug has its features reversed: therefore, the matrix does not.


title: Linotype machine

text: The magazine section is the part of the machine where the matrices are held when not in use, and released as the operator touches keys on the keyboard. The magazine is a flat box with vertical separators that form "channels", one channel for each character in the font. Most main magazines have 90 channels, but those for larger fonts carried only 72 or even 55 channels. The auxiliary magazines used on some machines typically contained 34 channels or, for a magazine carrying larger fonts, 28 channels.


title: Linotype machine

text: The magazine holds a particular font of type; i.e., a particular type design in a particular size. If a different size or style was needed, the operator would switch to a different magazine. Many models of the Linotype machine could keep several magazines (as many as four) available at a time. In some of these, the operator could shift to a different magazine by raising or lowering the stack of magazines with a crank. Such machines would not allow mixing fonts within a single line. Others, such as the Models 25 and 26 allowed arbitrary mixing of text from two magazines within the same line, and the Model 9 extended this capability to mixing from up to four magazines within a single line.


title: Linotype machine

text: In a linotype machine, the term "escapements" refers to the mechanisms at the bottom of the magazine that release matrices one at a time as keys are pressed on the keyboard. There is an escapement for each channel in the magazine.


title: Linotype machine

text: To keep the matrices circulating smoothly throughout the machine, it is necessary that oil not be allowed anywhere near the matrix path. Oil in the matrix's path (due to careless maintenance or over-lubrication of nearby parts) can combine with dust, forming a gummy substance that is eventually deposited in the magazine by the matrices. This can prevent the matrix to be released from the magazine slower than its usual speed, and usually results in a letter or two arriving out of sequence in the assembler—a "matrix transposition". When these machines were in heavy use, it was not uncommon for an operator to set type at the rate of over 4,000 ems per hour. The fastest operators could exceed 10,000 ems per hour (approximately 10 to 30 words per minute in today's units), hence careful lubrication and regular cleaning were essential to keep these machines operating at full potential.


title: Linotype machine

text: In the composing section, the operator enters the text for a line on the keyboard. Each keystroke releases a matrix from the magazine mounted above the keyboard. The matrix travels through channels to the assembler where the matrices are lined up side by side in the order they were released.


title: Linotype machine

text: When a space is needed, the operator touches the "spaceband lever" just to the left of the keyboard. This releases a "spaceband" from the spaceband box. Spacebands are stored separately from the matrices because they are too big to fit in the magazine.


title: Linotype machine

text: Once enough text has been entered for the line, the operator depresses the "casting lever" mounted on the front right corner of the keyboard. This lifts the completed line in the assembler up between two fingers in the "delivery channel", simultaneously tripping the catch holding it in position. The spring-operated delivery channel then transports the line into the casting section of the machine, and engages the clutch that drives the casting section and the subsequent transfer into the distribution section. The operator is now finished with the line; the remaining processing is automatic. While the line is being cast, the operator can continue entering text for the next line.


title: Linotype machine

text: The keyboard has 90 keys. The usual arrangement is that black keys on the left were for small letters, white keys on the right were for capital letters, and blue keys in the center for numbers, punctuation marks, spaces, small caps and other items. There is no shift key of the kind found on typewriters.


title: Linotype machine

text: The arrangement of letters corresponds roughly to letter frequency, with the most frequently used letters on the left. The first two columns of keys are: e, t, a, o, i, n; and s, h, r, d, l, u. A Linotype operator would often deal with a typing error by running the fingers down these two rows, thus filling out the line with the nonsense words etaoin shrdlu. This is known as a "run down". It is often quicker to cast a bad slug than to hand-correct the line within the assembler. The slug with the run down is removed once it has been cast, or by the proofreader.


title: Linotype machine

text: The linotype keyboard has the same alphabet arrangement given twice, once for lower-case letters, the keys in black, on the left side of the keyboard, and once for upper-case letters, the keys in white, located on the right side of the keyboard. The blue keys in the middle are punctuation, digits, small capital letters and fixed-width spaces. In proper keyboard operation, an experienced operator's left hand operates only the spaceband key and the left column of keys. The operator's right hand strokes the remaining keys on the entire keyboard.


title: Linotype machine

text: The keys of the keyboard are connected by vertical pushrods to the escapements. When a key is pressed, the corresponding escapement is actuated, which releases a matrix from the magazine. With one exception, each key corresponds directly to a channel in the standard ("90 channel") magazine. The one exception is the lower-case letter "e": that letter is used so often that the "90 channel" magazine actually has 91 channels, with two channels (the leftmost two) both used for the letter "e". Similarly, the "72 channel" magazine actually has 73 channels, with the leftmost two being used for lower-case "e". Alternate lines release matrices alternately from the two "e" channels in the magazine.


title: Linotype machine

text: On machines that support multiple magazines, there is a shifting mechanism that controls which magazine is currently connected to the keyboard. In most machines, this is done by raising or lowering the stack of magazines.


title: Linotype machine

text: In justified text, the spaces are not fixed width; they expand to make all lines equal in width. In linotype machines this is done by spacebands. A spaceband consists of two wedges, one similar in size and shape to a type matrix, one with a long tail. The wide part of the wedge is at the bottom of the tail, so pushing the tail up expands the spaceband.


title: Linotype machine

text: Due to their size, spacebands are not held in the magazine, but in a spaceband box and released one at a time by pressing the spaceband lever at the left edge of the keyboard.


title: Linotype machine

text: As the matrices are released from the magazine, they are guided by way of partitions in the assembler front down to a rapidly moving belt, which brings the matrices into the assembler. The spaceband box is positioned above the assembler, the bands dropping almost directly into the assembler. At the end of the moving belt is a rapidly rotating 'star wheel' that gives each incoming matrix or spaceband a small kick to make room for the next one (the star wheel is made of a phenolic-type material to minimize wear of the matrices and bands).


title: Linotype machine

text: The assembler itself is a rail that holds the matrices and spacebands, with a jaw on the left end set to the desired line width. When the operator judges that the line is close enough to full (some machines have an attached bell to accomplish the same thing), he raises the casting lever on the bottom of the keyboard to "send" the line to the casting section of the linotype machine. The remaining processing for that line is automatic; as soon as the finished line has been transferred to the casting section, the operator can begin composing the next line of text.


title: Linotype machine

text: The casting section of the machine operated intermittently when triggered by the operator at the completion of a line. The full casting cycle time was less than nine seconds. Motive power for the casting section came from a clutch-operated drive running large cams (the keyboard and distributor sections ran all the time, since distribution may take much longer; however, the front part of the distributor completed its job before the next line of matrices was distributed). The construction of the machine was such that both the return of the former line to the magazine and the composition of the next line could occur while the current line was being cast, enabling very high productivity.


title: Linotype machine

text: Older machines typically had a 850- or 1140-revolution-per-minute motor geared to the main clutch wheel, the inner shaft engaging this wheel while the casting cycle was in operation. An external leather belt on this wheel ran a second jackshaft, which powered the distributor and keyboard matrix conveyor and escapements through additional belting off this shaft. Gas fired pots, such as in the illustration below, were most common in the earlier years, with the pot being thermostatically controlled (high flame when under temperature and low flame when up to temperature), and then a second smaller burner for the mouth and throat heating, with the more modern installations running on 1500 watt electric pots with an initially rheostat controlled mouth and throat heaters (several hundred watts on the electric models). The temperature was precisely adjusted to keep the lead and tin type metal liquified just prior to being cast. Newer machines, and the larger machines above 36 EM Matrix size typically used the more standardized motor after v-belts came into common use in the 1930s. The large machines also had the so-called 'double pot', with either larger gas burners, or else 2250-watt pot heaters and larger mouth and throat heaters. The most modern Linotypes had the mouth and throat heaters thermostatically controlled, an improvement over the manual rheostat adjustment, or gas flame adjustment.


title: Linotype machine

text: The Linotype company supplied kerosene heaters and line-shaft operated machines for use in locales without electricity.


title: Linotype machine

text: The casting section receives completed lines from the assembler, and uses these to cast the type slugs that are the product of the linotype machine. The casting section is automatic: once it is activated by the operator sending a completed line by raising the casting lever, a series of cams and levers move the matrices through the casting section and control the sequence of steps that produce the slug.


title: Linotype machine

text: The casting material is an alloy of lead (85%), antimony (11%), and tin (4%), and produces a one-piece casting slug capable of 300,000 impressions before the casting begins to develop deformities and imperfections, and the type must be cast again.


title: Linotype machine

text: The continuous heating of the molten alloy causes the tin and antimony in the mixture to rise to the top and oxidize along with other impurities into a substance called "dross" which must be skimmed off. Excessive dross formation leads to the alloy softening as the proportion of lead increases. The mixture must then be assayed and tin and antimony added back (in the form of a specially proportioned alloy) to restore the original strength and properties of the alloy.


title: Linotype machine

text: From the assembler, the assembled line moves via the "first elevator" to the "justification vise". The vise has two jaws (1 and 2 in the illustration) which are set to the desired line width. The spacebands are now expanded to justify the line. When the line is justified, the matrices fit tightly between the vise jaws, forming a tight seal that will prevent the molten type metal from escaping when the line is cast.


title: Linotype machine

text: Justification is done by a spring-loaded ram (5) which raises the tails of the spacebands, unless the machine was equipped with a Star Parts automatic hydraulic quadding attachment or Linotype hydraquadder.


title: Linotype machine

text: If the operator did not assemble enough characters, the line will not justify correctly: even with the spacebands expanded all the way, the matrices are not tight. A safety mechanism in the justification vise detects this and blocks the casting operation. Without such a mechanism, the result would be a "squirt" of molten type metal spraying out through the gaps between the matrices, creating a time-consuming mess and a possible hazard to the operator. If a squirt did occur, it was generally up to the operator to grab the "hell bucket" and catch the flowing lead. It was so called because the bucket would often "go to hell", or melt, while holding the molten lead that was still extremely hot. Also, in conjunction with possible hazards facing an operator, toxic lead fumes were possible, as they were the result of melting the lead ingots for casting.


title: Linotype machine

text: The justification vise holds the assembled line against the face of the "mold disk". The mold disk has rectangular openings which correspond to the line length and point thickness of the "slugs" (cast lines) to be made. "Mold liners" fit into these openings for specific slug dimensions. The maximum line length of the typical linecaster is 30 picas. A less common variant was fitted with 42 pica molds, though these are now rare to non-existent.


title: Linotype machine

text: Directly behind the mold disk is the crucible, which contains molten type metal at an optimal 535°F. At the moment before casting, the mold disk moves forward on its slide. Studs in the mold disc engage with blocks on the vise so that the mold disc seats gently, yet tightly and squarely against the line of matrices held in the first elevator jaws and between the vise jaws. The vise jaws compress the line of matrices so molten metal is prevented from squeezing between the mats on cast. The crucible tilts forward, forcing the mouthpiece tightly against the back of the mold. The plunger in the well of the crucible quickly descends, forcing the molten metal up the crucible throat and injecting it into the mold cavity through the array of orifices in the mouthpiece. The jets of molten metal first contact against the casting face of the matrices, and then fills the mold cavity to provide a solid slug body. These have character shapes punched into them, so the result is a cast "slug" with the character shapes of the line on its top face. The mold disk is sometimes water-cooled, and often air-cooled with a blower, to carry away the heat of the molten type metal and allow the cast slugs to solidify quickly.


title: Linotype machine

text: When casting is complete, the plunger is drawn upward, pulling the metal back down the throat from the mouthpiece. The pot pulls backward away from the mold. The mold disk retracts from the vise studs which held it in perfect relation to the mold, thus breaking the slug away from the matrices. The mold disc then rotates counter-clockwise. In its travel, the slug base is trimmed by the back knife for height to paper (.918") and then returns to its neutral position in front of the "ejector blades" and aligned with the "knife block assembly" a pair of honed knives with a fixed knife, and a knife which is set to the point thickness of the mold liners being cast with. The knives are set to dead parallel. The fixed knife on the left bears against the smooth side of the slug (the mold body face of the slug) as it brushes next to it, and the right knife trims the ribs on the slug (the mold cap face of the slug). The disk stops when the mold is vertical, on the right, directly in front of the "ejector".


title: Linotype machine

text: The ejector is a stacked series of narrow blades that push the completed slug from the mold aperture in the mold disk. The blades are narrow enough to pass through a mold set to 6-points in thickness with .004" clearance between the fixed mold face and the left side of the blades. The blades are each 2 picas in width and the number of blades engaged on ejection are set based on the line length being cast. All blades are engaged for a 30 pica slug, fewer are engaged as the measure of the slug body is narrowed by the use of progressively longer mold liners. This prevents the ejector blades from striking the back of a mold liner on narrow slugs. As the slug is pushed from the mold, the slug passes a set of knife edges in the knife block, which trims off any small irregularities in the casting and produces a slug of exactly the desired point thickness. From there, the slug drops into the "galley tray" which holds the lines in the order in which they were cast.


title: Linotype machine

text: The most significant innovation in the linotype machine was that it automated the distribution step; i.e., returning the matrices and space bands back to the correct place in their respective magazines. This is done by the "distributor".


title: Linotype machine

text: After casting is completed, the matrices are pushed to the "second elevator" which raises them to the "distributor" at the top of the magazine. The space bands are separated out at this point and are returned to the spaceband box.


title: Linotype machine

text: The matrices have a pattern of teeth at the top, by which they hang from the "distributor bar". Some of the teeth are cut away; which pattern of teeth is cut away depends on the character on the matrix; i.e., which channel in the magazine it belongs in. Similarly, teeth are cut away along portions of the distributor bar. The bar on the elevator has all teeth, so it will hold any matrix (but not the space bands, which have no teeth at all).


title: Linotype machine

text: As the matrices are carried along the distributor bar by the distributor screws, they will hang on only so long as there are teeth to hold them. As soon as the matrix reaches the point where each of its teeth corresponds to a cut-away tooth on the distributor bar, it is no longer supported and will drop into the matrix channel below that point.


title: Linotype machine

text: The pattern of teeth is a 7-bit binary code, with the innermost pair of teeth at the bottom of the notch being the most significant bit. The codes count up from the left side of the main magazine. Code 0 (no teeth) is for spacebands, which are not carried up to the distributor. Code 1 is skipped (no reason for this is given in the Linotype manual). Codes 2 through 92 are for the 91-channel main magazine, and the codes above that are for the auxiliary magazine, if one is installed on the machine. The widest auxiliary magazine has 34 channels, so its rightmost channel is code 125. Code 126 is unused while code 127 is used for pi matrices (described below).