title: Marxism and religion

text: During the Russian Civil War, Jews were seen as Communist sympathizers and thousands were murdered in pogroms by the White Army. During the Red Scare in the United States in the 1950s, a representative of the American Jewish Committee assured the powerful House Committee on Un-American Activities that "Judaism and Communism are utterly incompatible". On the other hand, some Orthodox Jews, including a number of prominent religious figures, actively supported either anarchist or Marxist versions of communism. Examples include Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag, an outspoken libertarian communist, Russian revolutionary and territorialist leader Isaac Steinberg and Rabbi Abraham Bik, an American Communist activist.


title: Marxism and religion

text: Analysis reveals that the Baháʼí Faith as both a doctrinal manifest and as a present-day emerging organised community is highly cooperative in nature with elements that correspond to various threads of Marxist thought, anarchist thought and more recent liberational thought innovations. Such elements include, for example, no clergy and themes that relate to mutualism, libertarian socialism and democratic confederalism. There are many similarities and differences between the schools of thought, but one of the most common things they share are the time frame within which both ideologies were founded as well as some social and economic perspective. A book by the Association for Baháʼí Studies was written as a dialogue between the two schools of thought.


title: Marxism and religion

text: Buddhism has been said to be compatible with communism given that both can be interpreted as atheistic and arguably share some similarities regarding their views of the world of nature and the relationship between matter and mind. Regardless, Buddhists have still been persecuted in some Communist states, notably China, Mongolia and Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge.


title: Marxism and religion

text: Many supporters of the Viet Cong were Buddhists, strongly believing in the unification of Vietnam, with many opposing South Vietnam due to former President Ngo Dinh Diem's persecution of Buddhism during the early 1960s. The current Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso speaks positively of Marxism despite the heavy persecution of the Tibetan people by the post-Mao Zedong and post-Cultural Revolution Chinese government. The Dalai Lama further stated that "[o]f all the modern economic theories, the economic system of Marxism is founded on moral principles, while capitalism is concerned only with gain and profitability. [...] The failure of the regime in the former Soviet Union was, for me, not the failure of Marxism but the failure of totalitarianism. For this reason I still think of myself as half-Marxist, half-Buddhist".


title: Marxism and religion

text: In India, B. R. Ambedkar wrote in his essay "Buddha or Karl Marx" that "[t]he Russians are proud of their Communism. But they forget that the wonder of all wonders is that the Buddha established Communism so far as the Sangh was concerned without dictatorship. It may be that it was a communism on a very small scale but it was communism without dictatorship a miracle which Lenin failed to do."


title: Marxism and religion

text: Because of the perceived atheistic nature of communism, some have accused communism of persecuting religion. Another criticism suggests that communism – despite its own claims for a scientific basis in dialectical materialism, and disregarding Marxism's open and evolving canon of scriptures from Marx to Mao and beyond – is in itself a religion – or at least a "caricature of religion".


title: Marxism and religion

text: Throughout the Second Red Scare of the late 1940s and 1950s, the fear of the "Godless communist" rooted itself as an epithet and a warning to the United States in a changing global environment. As the perceived threat of the "Godless communist" and of materialism to the American way of life grew, "the choice between Americanism and Communism was vital, without room for compromise".


title: Amaranthaceae

text: Amaranthaceae is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference to its type genus "Amaranthus". It includes the former goosefoot family Chenopodiaceae and contains about 165 genera and 2,040 species, making it the most species-rich lineage within its parent order, Caryophyllales.


title: Amaranthaceae

text: Most species in the Amaranthaceae are annual or perennial herbs or subshrubs; others are shrubs; very few species are vines or trees. Some species are succulent. Many species have stems with thickened nodes. The wood of the perennial stem has a typical "anomalous" secondary growth; only in subfamily Polycnemoideae is secondary growth normal.


title: Amaranthaceae

text: The leaves are simple and mostly alternate, sometimes opposite. They never possess stipules. They are flat or terete, and their shape is extremely variable, with entire or toothed margins. In some species, the leaves are reduced to minute scales. In most cases, neither basal nor terminal aggregations of leaves occur.


title: Amaranthaceae

text: The flowers are solitary or aggregated in cymes, spikes, or panicles and typically perfect (bisexual) and actinomorphic. Some species have unisexual flowers. Bracts and bracteoles are either herbaceous or scarious. Flowers are regular with an herbaceous or scarious perianth of (one to) mostly five (rarely to eight) tepals, often joined. One to five stamens are opposite to tepals or alternating, inserting from a hypogynous disc, which may have appendages (pseudostaminodes) in some species. The anthers have two or four pollen sacs (locules). In tribe Caroxyloneae, anthers have vesicular appendages. The pollen grains are spherical with many pores (pantoporate), with pore numbers from a few to 250 (in "Froelichia"). One to three (rarely six) carpels are fused to a superior ovary with one (rarely two) basal ovule. Idioblasts are found in the tissues.


title: Amaranthaceae

text: The diaspores are seeds or fruits (utricles), more often the perianth persists and is modified in fruit for means of dispersal. Sometimes even bracts and bracteoles may belong to the diaspore. More rarely the fruit is a circumscissile capsule or a berry. The horizontal or vertical seed often has a thickened or woody seed coat. The green or white embryo is either spirally (and without perisperm) or annular (rarely straight).


title: Amaranthaceae

text: Widespread in the Amaranthaceae is the occurrence of betalain pigments. The former Chenopodiaceae often contain isoflavonoids.


title: Amaranthaceae

text: In phytochemical research, several methylenedioxyflavonols, saponins, triterpenoids, ecdysteroids, and specific root-located carbohydrates have been found in these plants.


title: Amaranthaceae

text: Although most of the family use the more common photosynthesis pathway, around 800 species are plants; this makes the Amaranthaceae the largest group with this photosynthesis pathway among the eudicots (which collectively includes about 1,600 species). Within the family, several types of photosynthesis occur, and about 17 different types of leaf anatomy are realized. Therefore, this photosynthesis pathway seems to have developed about 15 times independently during the evolution of the family. About two-thirds of the species belong to the former Chenopodiaceae. The first occurrence of photosynthesis dates from the early Miocene, about 24 million years ago, but in some groups, this pathway evolved much later, about 6 (or less) million years ago.


title: Amaranthaceae

text: The multiple origin of photosynthesis in the Amaranthaceae is regarded as an evolutionary response to inexorably decreasing atmospheric levels, coupled with a more recent permanent shortage in water supply as well as high temperatures. Species with higher water-use efficiency had a selective advantage and were able to spread out into arid habitats.


title: Amaranthaceae

text: Amaranthaceae is a widespread and cosmopolitan family from the tropics to cool temperate regions. The Amaranthaceae ("sensu stricto") are predominantly tropical, whereas the former Chenopodiaceae have their centers of diversity in dry temperate and warm temperate areas. Many of the species are halophytes, tolerating salty soils, or grow in dry steppes or semi-deserts.


title: Amaranthaceae

text: Some species, such as spinach ("Spinacia oleracea") or forms of beet ("Beta vulgaris") (beetroot, chard), are used as vegetables. Forms of "Beta vulgaris" include fodder beet ("Mangelwurzel") and sugar beet. The seeds of "Amaranthus", lamb's quarters ("Chenopodium berlandieri"), quinoa ("Chenopodium quinoa") and kañiwa ("Chenopodium pallidicaule") are edible and are used as pseudocereals.


title: Amaranthaceae

text: "Dysphania ambrosioides" (epazote) and "Dysphania anthelmintica" are used as medicinal herbs. Several amaranth species are also used indirectly as a source of soda ash, such as members of the genus "Salicornia" (see glasswort).


title: Amaranthaceae

text: A number of species are popular garden ornamental plants, especially species from the genera "Alternanthera", "Amaranthus", "Celosia", and "Iresine". Other species are considered weeds, e.g., redroot pigweed ("Amaranthus retroflexus") and alligatorweed ("Alternanthera philoxeroides"), and several are problematic invasive species, particularly in North America, including "Kali tragus" and "Bassia scoparia". Many species are known to cause pollen allergies.


title: Amaranthaceae

text: In the APG IV system of 2016, as in the previous Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classifications, the family is placed in the order Caryophyllales and includes the plants formerly treated as the family Chenopodiaceae. The monophyly of this broadly defined Amaranthaceae has been strongly supported by both morphological and phylogenetic analyses.


title: Amaranthaceae

text: The family Amaranthaceae was first published in 1789 by Antoine Laurent de Jussieu in "Genera Plantarum", p. 87–88. The first publication of family Chenopodiaceae was in 1799 by Étienne Pierre Ventenat in "Tableau du Regne Vegetal", 2, p. 253. The older name has priority and is now the valid scientific name of the extended Amaranthaceae ("s.l." = "sensu lato").


title: Amaranthaceae

text: Some publications still continued to use the family name Chenopodiaceae. Phylogenetic research revealed the important impact of the subfamily Polycnemoideae on the classification (see cladogram): if Polycnemoideae are considered a part of Chenopodiaceae, then Amaranthaceae ("s.str." = "sensu stricto") have to be included, too, and the name of the extended family is Amaranthaceae. If Polycnemoideae would be separated as its own family, Chenopodiaceae and Amaranthaceae ("s.str.") would form two distinct monophyletic groups and could be treated as two separate families.


title: Amaranthaceae

text: Amaranthaceae ("s.l.") includes the former families Achyranthaceae , Atriplicaceae , Betaceae , Blitaceae , Celosiaceae , Chenopodiaceae "nom. cons.", Corispermaceae , Deeringiaceae , Dysphaniaceae "nom. cons.", Gomphrenaceae , Polycnemaceae , Salicorniaceae , Salsolaceae , and Spinaciaceae .


title: Amaranthaceae

text: The systematics of Amaranthaceae are the subject of intensive recent research. Molecular genetic studies revealed the traditional classification, based on morphological and anatomical characters, often did not reflect the phylogenetic relationships.


title: Amaranthaceae

text: The former Amaranthaceae (in their narrow circumscription) are classified into two subfamilies, Amaranthoideae and Gomphrenoideae, and contain about 65 genera and 900 species in tropical Africa and North America. The Amaranthoideae and some genera of Gomphrenoideae were found to be polyphyletic, so taxonomic changes are needed.


title: Amaranthaceae

text: Current studies classified the species of former Chenopodiaceae to eight distinct subfamilies (the research is not yet completed): Polycnemoideae, which are regarded as a basal lineage, Betoideae, Camphorosmoideae, Chenopodioideae, Corispermoideae, Salicornioideae, Salsoloideae, and Suaedoideae. In this preliminary classification, the Amaranthaceae "s.l." are divided into 10 subfamilies with approximately 180 genera and 2,500 species.


title: Amaranthaceae

text: A short synoptic list of genera is given here. For further and more detailed information, see the subfamily pages.


title: Victorian morality

text: Victorian morality is a distillation of the moral views of the middle class in 19th-century Britain, the Victorian era.


title: Victorian morality

text: Victorian values emerged in all classes and reached all facets of Victorian living. The values of the period—which can be classed as religion, morality, Evangelicalism, industrial work ethic, and personal improvement—took root in Victorian morality. Current plays and all literature—including old classics like Shakespeare—were cleansed of content considered to be inappropriate for children, or "bowdlerized".


title: Victorian morality

text: Contemporary historians have generally come to regard the Victorian era as a time of many conflicts, such as the widespread cultivation of an outward appearance of dignity and restraint, together with serious debates about exactly how the new morality should be implemented. The international slave trade was abolished, and this ban was enforced by the Royal Navy. Slavery was ended in all the British colonies, child labour was ended in British factories, and a long debate ensued regarding whether prostitution should be totally abolished or tightly regulated. Homosexuality remained illegal.


title: Victorian morality

text: Opposition to slavery was the main evangelical cause from the late 18th century, led by William Wilberforce (1759–1833). The cause organized very thoroughly, and developed propaganda campaigns that made readers cringe at the horrors of slavery. The same moral fervor and organizational skills carried over into most of the other reform movements. Victoria ascended to the throne in 1837, only four years after the abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire. The anti-slavery movement had campaigned for years to achieve the ban, succeeding with a partial abolition in 1807 and the full ban on slave trading, but not slave ownership, which only happened in 1833. It took so long because the anti-slavery morality was pitted against powerful economic interests which claimed their businesses would be destroyed if they were not permitted to exploit slave labour. Eventually, plantation owners in the Caribbean received £20 million in cash compensation, which reflected the average market price of slaves. William E. Gladstone, later a famous reformer, handled the large payments to his father for their hundreds of slaves. The Royal Navy patrolled the Atlantic Ocean, stopping any ships that it suspected of trading African slaves to the Americas and freeing any slaves found. The British had set up a Crown Colony in West Africa—Sierra Leone—and transported freed slaves there. Freed slaves from Nova Scotia founded and named the capital of Sierra Leone "Freetown".


title: Victorian morality

text: William Wilberforce, Thomas Fowell Buxton and Richard Martin introduced the first legislation to prevent cruelty to animals, the Cruel Treatment of Cattle Act 1822; it pertained only to cattle and it passed easily in 1822.


title: Victorian morality

text: In the Metropolitan Police Act 1839, "fighting or baiting Lions, Bears, Badgers, Cocks, Dogs, or other Animals" was made a criminal offence. The law laid numerous restrictions on how, when, and where animals could be used. It prohibited owners from letting mad dogs run loose and gave police the right to destroy any dog suspected of being rabid. It prohibited the use of dogs for drawing carts. The law was extended to the rest of England and Wales in 1854. Dog-pulled carts were often used by very poor self-employed men as a cheap means to deliver milk, human foods, animal foods (the cat's-meat man), and for collecting refuse (the rag-and-bone man). The dogs were susceptible to rabies; cases of the disease among humans had been on the rise. They also bothered the horses, which were economically much more vital to the city. Evangelicals and utilitarians in the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals persuaded Parliament it was cruel and should be illegal; the Utilitarian element added government inspectors to provide enforcement. The owners had no more use for their dogs, and killed them. Cart dogs were replaced by people with handcarts.


title: Victorian morality

text: Evangelical religious forces took the lead in identifying the evils of child labour, and legislating against them. Their anger at the contradiction between the conditions on the ground for children of the poor and the middle-class notion of childhood as a time of innocence led to the first campaigns for the imposition of legal protection for children. Reformers attacked child labor from the 1830s onward. The campaign that led to the Factory Acts was spearheaded by rich philanthropists of the era, especially Lord Shaftesbury, who introduced bills in Parliament to mitigate the exploitation of children at the workplace. In 1833 he introduced the Ten Hours Act 1833, which provided that children working in the cotton and woollen mills must be aged nine or above; no person under the age of eighteen was to work more than ten hours a day or eight hours on a Saturday; and no one under twenty-five was to work nights. The Factory Act of 1844 said children 9–13 years could work for at most 9 hours a day with a lunch break. Additional legal interventions throughout the century increased the level of childhood protection, despite the resistance from the laissez-faire attitudes against government interference by factory owners. Parliament respected laissez-faire in the case of adult men, and there was minimal interference in the Victorian era.


title: Victorian morality

text: Unemployed street children suffered too, as novelist Charles Dickens revealed to a large middle class audience the horrors of London street life.


title: Victorian morality

text: Historians Peter Gay and Michael Mason both point out that modern society often confuses Victorian etiquette for a lack of knowledge. For example, people going for a bath in the sea or at the beach would use a bathing machine. Despite the use of the bathing machine, it was still possible to see people bathing nude. Contrary to popular conception, however, Victorian society recognised that both men and women enjoyed copulation.


title: Victorian morality

text: Verbal or written communication of sexual feelings was also often proscribed so people instead used the language of flowers. However, they also wrote explicit erotica, perhaps the most famous being the racy tell-all "My Secret Life" by the pseudonym Walter (allegedly Henry Spencer Ashbee), and the magazine "The Pearl", which was published for several years and reprinted as a paperback book in the 1960s. Victorian erotica also survives in private letters archived in museums and even in a study of women's orgasms. Some current historians now believe that the myth of Victorian repression can be traced back to early twentieth-century views, such as those of Lytton Strachey, a homosexual member of the Bloomsbury Group, who wrote "Eminent Victorians".


title: Victorian morality

text: The enormous expansion of police forces, especially in London, produced a sharp rise in prosecutions for illegal sodomy at midcentury. Male sexuality became a favorite subject of study especially by medical researchers whose case studies explored the progression and symptoms of institutionalized subjects. Henry Maudsley shaped late Victorian views about aberrant sexuality. George Savage and Charles Arthur Mercier wrote about homosexuals living in society. Daniel Hack Tuke's "Dictionary of Psychological Medicine" covered sexual perversion. All these works show awareness of continental insights, as well as moral disdain for the sexual practices described.


title: Victorian morality

text: Simeon Solomon and poet Algernon Charles Swinburne, as they contemplated their own sexual identities in the 1860s, fastened on the Greek lesbian poet Sappho. They made Victorian intellectuals aware of Sappho, and their writings helped to shape the modern image of lesbianism.


title: Victorian morality

text: The Labouchere Amendment to the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885, for the first time, made all male homosexual acts illegal. It provided for two years' imprisonment for males convicted of committing, or being a party to public or private acts of homosexuality. Lesbian acts—still scarcely known—were ignored. When Oscar Wilde was convicted of violating the statute, and imprisoned for such violations, in 1895, he became the iconic victim of English puritanical repression.


title: Victorian morality

text: Prostitution had been a factor in city life for centuries. The reformers started mobilizing in the late 1840s, major news organisations, clergymen, and single women became increasingly concerned about prostitution, which came to be known as "The Great Social Evil". Estimates of the number of prostitutes in London in the 1850s vary widely (in his landmark study, "Prostitution", William Acton reported that the police estimated there were 8,600 in London alone in 1857).


title: Victorian morality

text: While the Magdalene asylums had been reforming prostitutes since the mid-18th century, the years between 1848 and 1870 saw a veritable explosion in the number of institutions working to "reclaim" these "fallen women" from the streets and retrain them for entry into respectable society—usually for work as domestic servants. The theme of prostitution and the "fallen woman" (any woman who has had sexual intercourse out of marriage) became a staple feature of mid-Victorian literature and politics. In the writings of Henry Mayhew, Charles Booth, Charles Dickens and others, prostitution began to be seen as a social problem.


title: Victorian morality

text: When Parliament passed the first of the Contagious Diseases Acts (CD) in 1864 (which allowed the local constabulary in certain defined areas to force any woman suspected of venereal disease to submit to its inspection), Josephine Butler's crusade to repeal the CD Acts yoked the anti-prostitution cause with the emergent feminist movement. Butler attacked the long-established double standard of sexual morality.


title: Victorian morality

text: Prostitutes were often presented as victims in sentimental literature such as Thomas Hood's poem "The Bridge of Sighs", Elizabeth Gaskell's novel "Mary Barton", and Dickens' novel "Oliver Twist". The emphasis on the purity of women found in such works as Coventry Patmore's "The Angel in the House" led to the portrayal of the prostitute and fallen woman as soiled, corrupted, and in need of cleansing.


title: Victorian morality

text: This emphasis on female purity was allied to the stress on the homemaking role of women, who helped to create a space free from the pollution and corruption of the city. In this respect, the prostitute came to have symbolic significance as the embodiment of the violation of that divide. The double standard remained in force. The Matrimonial Causes Act 1857 allowed for a man to divorce his wife for adultery, but a woman could only divorce for adultery combined with other offences such as incest, cruelty, bigamy, desertion, etc., or based on cruelty alone.


title: Victorian morality

text: The anonymity of the city led to a large increase in prostitution and unsanctioned sexual relationships. Dickens and other writers associated prostitution with the mechanisation and industrialisation of modern life, portraying prostitutes as human commodities consumed and thrown away like refuse when they were used up. Moral reform movements attempted to close down brothels, something that has sometimes been argued to have been a factor in the concentration of street-prostitution.


title: Victorian morality

text: The extent of prostitution in London in the 1880s gained national and global prominence through the highly publicised murders attributed to Whitechapel-based serial killer Jack the Ripper, whose victims were exclusively prostitutes living destitute in the East End. Given that many prostitutes were living in poverty as late as the 1880s and 1890s, offering sex services was a source of desperate necessity to fund their meals and temporary lodging accommodation from the cold, and as a result prostitutes represented easy prey for criminals as they could do little to personally protect themselves from harm.


title: Victorian morality

text: After 1815, there was widespread fear of growing crimes, burglaries, mob action, and threats of large-scale disorder. Crime had been handled on an ad-hoc basis by poorly organized local parish constables and private watchmen, supported by very stiff penalties, including hundreds of causes for execution or deportation to Australia. London, with 1.5 million people—more than the next 15 cities combined—over the decades had worked out informal arrangements to develop a uniform policing system in its many boroughs. The Metropolitan Police Act 1829, championed by Home Secretary Robert Peel, was not so much a startling innovation, as a systemization with expanded funding of established informal practices. It created the Metropolitan Police Service, headquartered at Scotland Yard. London now had the world's first modern police force. The 3000 policemen were called "bobbies" (after Peel's first name). They were well-organized, centrally directed, and wore standard blue uniforms. Legally they had the historic status of constable, with authority to make arrests of suspicious persons and book offenders before a magistrate court. They were assigned in teams to specified beats, especially at night. Gas lighting was installed on major streets, making their task of surveillance much easier. Crime rates went down. An 1835 law required all incorporated boroughs in England and Wales to establish police forces. Scotland, with its separate legal system, was soon added. By 1857 every jurisdiction in Great Britain had an organized police force, for which the Treasury paid a subsidy. The police had steady pay, were selected by merit rather than by political influence, and were rarely used for partisan purposes. The pay scale was not high (one guinea a week in 1833), but the prestige was especially high for Irish Catholics, who were disproportionately represented in every city where they had a large presence.


title: Victorian morality

text: Intellectual historians searching for causes of the new morality often point to the ideas by Hannah More, William Wilberforce, and the Clapham Sect. Perkin argues this exaggerates the influence of a small group of individuals, who were "as much an effect of the revolution as a cause." It also has a timing problem, for many predecessors had failed. The intellectual approach tends to minimize the importance of Nonconformists and Evangelicals—the Methodists, for example, played a powerful role among the upper tier of the working class. Finally, it misses a key ingredient: instead of trying to improve an old society, the reformers were trying to lead Britain into a new society of the future.


title: Victorian morality

text: Victorian era movements for justice, freedom, and other strong moral values made greed, and exploitation into public evils. The writings of Charles Dickens, in particular, observed and recorded these conditions.


title: Victorian morality

text: Peter Shapely examined 100 charity leaders in Victorian Manchester. They brought significant cultural capital, such as wealth, education and social standing. Besides the actual reforms for the city they achieved for themselves a form of symbolic capital, a legitimate form of social domination and civic leadership. The utility of charity as a means of boosting one's social leadership was socially determined and would take a person only so far.


title: Victorian morality

text: The Marxist intellectual Walter Benjamin connected Victorian morality to the rise of the bourgeoisie. Benjamin alleged that the shopping culture of the petite bourgeoisie established the sitting room as the centre of personal and family life; as such, the English bourgeois culture is a "sitting-room culture" of prestige through conspicuous consumption. This acquisition of prestige is then reinforced by the repression of emotion and of sexual desire, and by the construction of a regulated social-space where propriety is the key personality trait desired in men and women.


title: Victorian morality

text: It seems necessary to clarify that the sense of moral exceptionality shared by Victorians did not come into being the moment that Queen Victoria took to the throne. Before the Victorian Era, there had already been some foundation — built upon decades and centuries of evolving ideologies and discourses — for a Victorian culture of dignity, restraint, and moral goodness to emerge. Moreover, just as the Victorians were not the sole originators of the social rules that governed their society and political climate, they were also not beholden to them to the same rigid degree as the modern-day person may think. That is to say, practices on the ground associated with the Victorian Era morality — a gendered public and private binary, for example — did not always align with abstract ideals found in contemporary documents and literature.


title: Victorian morality

text: In "The History of Sexuality" philosopher Michel Foucault rejects the notion that power relationships emanate from a single source or have any solid foundation capable of imparting legitimacy. He writes that the viewpoint from which one understands power “must not be sought in the primary existence of a central point, in a unique source of sovereignty from which secondary and descendent forms would emanate” that, rather, power is “the moving substrate of force relations… [that is] always local and unstable.” Foucault forces a reimagining of power that requires a rejection of normative narratives and blanket analyses of historical eras and entreats us to destabilize entrenched understandings. The established concept of “Victorian morality” seems vulnerable to such a treatment.


title: El Cid (TV series)

text: El Cid is a Spanish historical action drama streaming television series about Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar "El Cid", the 11th-century Castilian knight and warlord. Created by José Velasco and Luiz Arranz for Amazon Prime Video, the series stars Jaime Lorente alongside José Luis García Pérez, Elia Galera, Carlos Bardem, Alicia Sanz and Jaime Olías, among others. The 5-episode first season was released on Prime Video on December 18, 2020, and the 5-episode second season was released on July 15, 2021.


title: El Cid (TV series)

text: Ruy is the son of a low-ranking nobleman who died in the service of Ferdinand, Count of Castile (José Luis García Pérez).


title: El Cid (TV series)

text: Ferdinand, married to Queen Sancha, has become King of León by defeating in battle Sancha's brother, Bermudo. Bermudo's sister, Sancha, was next in line to the throne, and Ferdinand seized the opportunity to become king after Bermudo's death. Sancha plots with a group of Leonese nobles, notably Flaín, Count of León, and Ruy's grandfather Rodrigo, to overthrow her husband and take the throne that rightfully belongs to her. Sancha is torn between her desire to be queen and her love for her husband. She does not want him harmed, but the nobles have other ideas.


title: El Cid (TV series)

text: The king's three sons, Sancho, Alfonso, and García are not involved in the plot, but each has his own individual ambitions to succeed his father. Sancha is particularly concerned by the activities of her daughter Urraca, Ferdinand's eldest child, who resents being excluded from the line of succession because she is a woman, despite the fact that she older than Sancho, the king's chosen heir. Urraca's ambition and resentment lead her to stir up trouble in the Royal Court in the hopes of finding any possible means of obtaining power and territory for herself.


title: El Cid (TV series)

text: Ruy is taken by his grandfather to Ferdinand's court where he eventually becomes squire to Sancho. He is attracted to Jimena, who has been brought to court for an arranged marriage with Count Flain's son Orduño. Ruy soon makes an enemy of Orduño due to their rivalry over Jimena.


title: El Cid (TV series)

text: Ruy becomes aware of the plot against Ferdinand and realizes that his grandfather Rodrigo is involved. He has to find a way to prove his loyalty by preventing the death of the king (whom he despises) and at the same time avoid implicating his grandfather.


title: El Cid (TV series)

text: Filming began in the province of Soria on 1 October 2019. Shooting locations in the province included Almenar de Soria, Almazán, Calatañazor, Duruelo de la Sierra, and the Montes de Ucero in the Cañón del Río Lobos Natural Park. Conversely, shooting locations in the province of Burgos included the medieval bridge in Frías and the . The Aljafería Palace was used to recreate indoor locations of the Taifa of Zaragoza. Production also moved to province of Teruel (Albarracín) and the Madrid region (including Navalcarnero and Madrid). The five-part first season was released on December 18, 2020, on Prime Video. In January 2021, the confirmation of a second season was reported in media, and a release date for July 15, 2021 was announced in June 2021.


title: El Cid (TV series)

text: The series' direction crew included Marco A. Castillo, Adolfo Martínez Pérez, Miguel Alcantud, Arantxa Echevarría, Manuel Carballo and Alberto Ruiz Rojo. The score was composed by Gustavo Santaolalla and .


title: El Cid (TV series)

text: The original languages of "El Cid" are Spanish and Arabic. The series is also available on Amazon in English, French, Portuguese, German, and other languages.


title: Kaante

text: Kaante () is a 2002 Indian Hindi-language action-thriller film directed by Sanjay Gupta, written by Milap Zaveri, and starring an ensemble cast including Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Kumar Gaurav, Sunil Shetty, Lucky Ali, Mahesh Manjrekar, Namrata Singh Gujral, Rati Agnihotri, Rohit Roy, Isha Koppikar and Malaika Arora. Set in Los Angeles, the film follows six Indian men who are detained without evidence by the police. Feeling wronged and vengeful, they team up to plot a bank heist that would leave the Los Angeles Police Department penniless. However, once things go out of hand, they start suspecting each other's identities, resulting in violence and chaos.


title: Kaante

text: "Kaante" was heavily inspired by Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs" (1992) as well as the film that inspired it, Ringo Lam's "City on Fire" (1987). According to Tarantino, "Kaante" is his favorite among the many films that were heavily inspired by his work.


title: Kaante

text: "Kaante" was released theatrically on 20 December 2002. The film was a success at the box office, with first-week earnings of £1.8million in India, nearly $1million in the United States, and £268,507 in Britain. The film's final worldwide gross was 430million ($9million), including 331.2million in India and $2.05 million overseas.


title: Kaante

text: In Los Angeles, six men of Indian origin, with a criminal record, are detained by the police, and interrogated about stealing a truck full of laptops and its whereabouts. Their deep antipathy towards the police for arresting them without any evidence, just because the witnesses had seen an Indian at the crime scene, grows into a daring plot. Sparked off by Jay "Ajju" Trehan (Sanjay Dutt) and seconded by Yashvardhan "Major" Rampal (Amitabh Bachchan), they all hatch a plan to rob the bank in which lies the funding for the Los Angeles Police Department. In return, Ajju reveals that he stole the truck and splits the steal with everyone else.


title: Kaante

text: Marc Issak (Suniel Shetty) is a bouncer who hates that his girlfriend has to work as a club-dancer and wants to rescue her from the club owner Cyrus (Gulshan Grover), by paying him the required money. He also has an ongoing spat with Ajju about his girlfriend. Major has a sick wife who he has to look after by supplying her with medicines and injections. Andy (Kumar Gaurav) is a software engineer having divorce and custody troubles, as his wife won't let him meet their child. He is also jobless and has financial troubles. Bali (Mahesh Manjrekar) and Mak (Lucky Ali) are two drug-peddlers who live off the street selling and buying illicit drugs under a drug lord. They meet when Bali is being chased by some drug dealers and meets Mak in an alley where he is adjusting something in his car. He agrees to save him only if he splits his loot. They agree to work thereafter.


title: Kaante

text: After the six guys get released from jail, they meet up again to discuss the bank robbery. Andy believes the loot from the truck Ajju stole earlier would be enough to gain custody of his son, but when his lawyer tells him that the money is insufficient, he again goes back to the gang. On a hotel roof top, they start planning the robbery in which they familiarise themselves with the bank and get cars, weapons and gadgets to do this. Soon they establish their hideout in a warehouse where Major reveals that the bank will be looted the next day instead of the day after as previously planned, to thwart anyone's hidden agendas.


title: Kaante

text: The robbery proceeds as planned, but they find a SWAT team waiting for them outside the bank. They are engaged in a gunfight, and Mak is hit by a bullet while saving Major. They all escape and meet at their hideout. Mak, who was hit, is not allowed to be taken to the hospital, and Major treats his wound with some Whiskey. They all have verbal scuffles after which, Ajju, reveals that he has kidnapped the Police Chief. They interrogate him and learn that one of them is an undercover cop. This strikes suspicion among them, and they decide to bring the stolen amount to their hideout. Major learns that his wife has died. Ajju befriends Marc and tells him to elope with his girlfriend, where he also reveals that he actually knows English and was purposefully talking nonsense to the cops. When they return, they find Bali dead, killed by Mak for being inhuman in his interrogation of the Police Chief. Ajju reasons that Mak is the undercover cop, but Major disagrees because he believes Mak saved him during the gunfight at the bank. Marc backs up Ajju and points his gun at Major. They all arrive at a Mexican stand-off, as Andy retreats and runs away with the money. The four of them shoot each other, after which Major apologizes to Mak for not saving him. In reply, Mak apologizes, saying he was just doing his duty as he is the undercover cop, and that he was the one who buzzed the cops at the bank to arrive. Major realises his mistake and shoots the already dying Mak in the head. Marc's girlfriend is shown waiting for him at the airport, and Andy is shown at the end driving off the highway pursued by a police helicopter, with Mak's voice narrating the story, leaving the end to the discretion of the audience, followed by ending credits.


title: Kaante

text: The film was to star Sanjay Dutt, Sunil Shetty, Mahesh Manjrekar, Kumar Gaurav, Akshaye Khanna, Shilpa Shetty and Lisa Ray initially. Akshaye Khanna opted out and was replaced by Lucky Ali, Malaika Arora stepped into Lisa Ray's shoes and Namrata Singh Gujral was cast opposite Kumar Gaurav in lieu of Shilpa Shetty. Sunny Deol was offered Kumar Gaurav's role at one point. Isha Koppikar was signed for a full-fledged role opposite Sanjay Dutt which got relegated to just the song "Ishq Samandar" because of length concerns. Rohit Roy (from "Shootout at Lokhandwala" and a popular television actor) also makes an appearance in the song.


title: Kaante

text: The film was the first Bollywood film to be completely shot in Los Angeles. The film's production team used Hollywood technicians. The filming was completed in 35 days. Namrata Singh Gujral was the only role cast in Hollywood from the principal cast. All other principals including Amitabh Bachchan were flown in from Mumbai for the Hollywood shoot.


title: Kaante

text: "Kaante" holds an 83% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a website that rates films based on published reviews by critics, averaging a score of 6.4 out of 10 from 6 reviews. Taran Adarsh of "Bollywood Hungama" gave the film three and a half stars out of five and stated, ""Kaante" takes a step forward in terms of content and technique. An apt example of progressive cinema that breaks the shackles of stereotype, the film has everything to woo the cinegoer: an impressive cast, grandiose look, an excellent second half, well executed stunts, popular music and eroticism in plenty". Prem Panicker of "Rediff" criticized the film saying "A more taut script, a little less of indulgence in directing, a tad more ruthlessness in editing, and this film could have pulled off a badly needed box office heist." A reviewer at "Sify" awarded the film three and a half stars out of five and wrote, "A film far ahead of its time in terms of execution, "Kaante" is a visual delight. And combined with good performances and superb action, it's a must-see this season."


title: Kaante

text: Derek Elley of "Variety" praised the direction and performances of the lead cast, saying, "From the protags' initial meeting, heavy on closeups, Gupta directs the film primarily as a character piece, with Bachchan, Dutt and semi-comic relief Manjrekar driving the drama with richly characterized roles. Shetty, a tightly wound actor at the best of times, strikes few sparks as the nightclub bouncer, and his scenes with Arora as the chanteuse are flat." Dave Kehr of "The New York Times" reviewed the film writing, "A delirious Bollywood reimagining of "Reservoir Dogs," complete with musical numbers, Sanjay Gupta's "Kaante" shifts as fluidly between cinematic idioms as it does between Hindi and English." Kevin Thomas of the "Los Angeles Times" said, "there is a steadfast earnestness in director Sanjay Gupta's deluded attempt to equal or even better Hollywood on its own ground that is rather touching -- but not to the degree that it sustains the film's many tedious stretches."


title: Kaante

text: Quentin Tarantino cited "Kaante" as his favourite among the many films that were heavily inspired by his work. He praised the film's character-building for going beyond what he was able to do with "Reservoir Dogs". Tarantino stated: "Here I am, watching a film that I've directed and then it goes into each character's background. And I'm like, 'Whoa'. For, I always write backgrounds and stuff, and it always gets chopped off during the edit. And so I was amazed on seeing this. I felt, this isn't "Reservoir Dogs". But then it goes into the warehouse scene, and I am like, 'Wow, it's back to Reservoir Dogs'. Isn't it amazing!" He also praised Amitabh Bachchan's performance. Tarantino later screened "Kaante" at his New Beverly Cinema alongside "Reservoir Dogs" and "City on Fire".


title: Kaante

text: The songs were mainly composed by Anand Raj Anand, while Vishal–Shekhar and Lucky Ali were guest composers. Lyrics are penned by Dev Kohli and Vishal Dadlani. According to the Indian trade website Box Office India, with around 18,00,000 units sold, this film's soundtrack addalbum was the year's fourth highest-selling. Tracks like 'Maahi ve', 'Rama re' and 'Ishq Samundar' got good popularity.


title: Kaante

text: The song "Ishq Samundar", was re-made for the Film Teraa Surroor which was sung by Himesh Reshammiya and Kanika Kapoor. The song "Maahi Ve" was recreated by Gourav-Roshin in the voice of Neha Kakkar for the film Wajah Tum Ho.


title: The Borrowers (1997 film)

text: The Borrowers is a 1997 fantasy comedy film directed by Peter Hewitt. The film stars John Goodman, Jim Broadbent, Celia Imrie, Mark Williams, Hugh Laurie and Bradley Pierce. The film is loosely based on the 1952 children's novel of the same name by author Mary Norton. In 1998, it was nominated for Best British Film in the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards, but lost to Gary Oldman's film "Nil by Mouth".


title: The Borrowers (1997 film)

text: Some of the film's scenes were shot on location in the village of Theale, near Reading, Berkshire, where all of the buildings and shops in the High Street were painted dark green. When the film was released in the United Kingdom, it opened on No. 2, behind "Alien Resurrection". The next week, the film regained the position, though under "Tomorrow Never Dies".


title: The Borrowers (1997 film)

text: Young Pete Lender sets up traps throughout his home, explaining to his parents, Joe and Victoria, that small household items, which they believe are simply misplaced, are being stolen. In actuality, the Clock family of tiny people known as "Borrowers" are secretly living in the house, taking things without being seen by "human beans". Lawyer Ocious P. Potter informs the Lenders that he cannot find the will of Victoria’s late aunt Mary Alabaster – the family’s only evidence that their house rightfully belongs to them – and he has already made plans to demolish their house and build condominiums, forcing the Lenders to move.


title: The Borrowers (1997 film)

text: Pod Clock and his children, Arrietty and Peagreen, make their way through the kitchen to "borrow" a battery to bring back to his wife, Homily. Arrietty treats herself to ice cream in the freezer, and is accidentally trapped inside as the Lenders return. Pod rescues her via the ice dispenser, but is forced to leave one of his gadgets behind. Later, Arrietty ventures out alone and is caught by Pete, who explains that the house is being demolished in the absence of the will. Arrietty warns her family and, despite her parents’ misgivings, Pod reluctantly agrees and Pete smuggles the Clocks onto the Lenders’ moving truck to join them at their new home. Pete repairs and returns Pod’s gadget to him, earning his trust. As the truck pulls away, Arrietty and Peagreen accidentally fall out, and make their way back to the house.


title: The Borrowers (1997 film)

text: Potter soon arrives at the house, revealing that he lied to the Lenders; having a distrust of banks, Mrs. Alabaster had actually hidden her will – officially leaving her property to the family – inside the house. He finds the will in a hidden safe and prepares to burn it, but Arrietty and Peagreen flee with the document. Discovering the Clocks’ home beneath the floorboards, Potter summons Exterminator Jeff to eliminate the Borrowers, and is sprayed with caustic foam and electrocuted in the process. Police Officer Oliver Steady responds to the disturbance, but Potter manages to throw off his suspicions while Arrietty and Peagreen escape with the will.


title: The Borrowers (1997 film)

text: Peagreen accidentally stumbles and falls into an empty milk bottle and is collected and brought back to the dairy, with Potter, Jeff, and Jeff’s flatulent bloodhound in pursuit, followed by Pete, Pod, and Homily. Spud Spiller, an "outie" Borrower living on the street, takes Arrietty to the dairy, where Pod rescues Peagreen from the assembly line. Potter captures the Borrowers and leaves them to drown in liquid cheese. Spiller taunts Potter, who drops him in a machine, seemingly killing him, and departs with the will. Pete saves the Clocks, and Jeff, realizing Potter's scheme, has a change of heart and drives them to City Hall to stop Potter from arranging the house’s demolition.


title: The Borrowers (1997 film)

text: In retaliation for Potter’s rudeness, the City Hall clerk gives him confusing directions. Eventually reaching the demolitions office, Potter is confronted by Jeff and Pete, but then pushes them out of the way. He then enters the office, only to find himself tricked and locked in a supply room. The Clocks tie him up with electrical tape, but he breaks free and recaptures them. Before Potter can vacuum up the family, Spiller arrives with an army of Borrowers who subdue him, and Pod delivers a warning to Potter on behalf of all Borrowers. They disappear as Pete and Jeff arrive with Officer Steady. Pete shows Steady the will, proving Potter’s plan to cheat the Lenders out of their house, and Potter is promptly arrested.


title: The Borrowers (1997 film)

text: The Lenders move back into their home, as do the Clocks, now with food and assistance from Pete. As the Clocks enjoy the company of their old Borrower friends, Minty Branch, Swag Moss and Dustbunny Bin, Arrietty and Spiller sneak away to ride his aerosol paint-propelled roller skate.


title: The Borrowers (1997 film)

text: During the pre-credits, Potter attempts to explain the existence of the Borrowers, only for the whole stationboth cops and convictsto laugh at him uproariously. The film closes with Potter getting his mugshots taken (which he actually seems to enjoy).


title: The Borrowers (1997 film)

text: The film received generally positive reviews upon its release. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 74% based on reviews from 27 critics. The site's consensus states: "Rousing and inventive, "The Borrowers" is a delightfully spirited children's adventure." Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B+" on scale of A to F.


title: The Borrowers (1997 film)

text: "The Guardian" has described the film as "A spirited screen version of the Mary Norton stories about the tiny folk who live under the floorboards, and off human scraps. Jim Broadbent and Celia Imrie are a joy as the parents of little Arrietty..."


title: The Borrowers (1997 film)

text: Roger Ebert in his review described the film, in the wake of numerous television adaptations, as a "big-screen, big-budget version with special effects so amusing it's like "Toy Story" has come to life...the charm comes in the way "The Borrowers" makes its world look like a timeless story book. If the action and the physical humour are designed to appeal to kids, the look of the film will impress adults who know what to look for."


title: The Borrowers (1997 film)

text: This film was released on 19 May 1998, on VHS and on 1 April 2003 on DVD by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.


title: Ray Wilkins

text: Born into a footballing family with his father and three brothers involved in the game, Wilkins played as a midfielder. He began his career at Chelsea, where he was appointed captain at the age of 18, and later played for clubs including Manchester United, A.C. Milan, Queens Park Rangers and Rangers. He won 84 caps for the England national football team from 1976 to 1986, playing at UEFA Euro 1980 and the 1982 and 1986 FIFA World Cups.


title: Ray Wilkins

text: After his playing career ended, he worked as a television pundit, and as a coach and manager with Queens Park Rangers, Fulham and Chelsea. He managed Jordan at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup and his last coaching job was as the assistant manager of Aston Villa later that year.


title: Ray Wilkins

text: Born in Hillingdon, Middlesex, Wilkins started his career with the Sunday League team Senrab that play in Wanstead Flats, East London.


title: Ray Wilkins

text: Wilkins made his name in the 1970s with boyhood club Chelsea, which he joined as an apprentice, progressing to his first team debut against Norwich City at the age of 17 on 26 October 1973 as a substitute in a 3–0 home league win.


title: Ray Wilkins

text: In 1975, following the club's relegation and the departure of many established players, an 18-year-old Wilkins was handed the captaincy of Chelsea by new manager Eddie McCreadie, taking it from long-time Blues captain John Hollins. He took to the role well, keeping it for four years. He emerged as Chelsea's key player of that period, leading a team of mainly young players to promotion again in 1976–1977 and, in the next season, consolidation of their place in the First Division. His rapid success, along with his "dark good looks", also saw Wilkins becoming a regular pin-up feature in British teenybopper magazines.


title: Ray Wilkins

text: In 1979, after Chelsea were relegated, Wilkins signed for Manchester United for a fee of £825,000, the highest fee received for a Chelsea player at the time. He scored ten goals in his five years with the Red Devils, including a long-range strike in the 2–2 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion in the 1983 FA Cup Final (United won the replay).


title: Ray Wilkins

text: He was voted player of the year by the team's supporters at the end of the 1983–1984 season. His midfield performances drew the attention of A.C. Milan, who made United a £1.5 million offer for the player.


title: Ray Wilkins

text: Wilkins signed with A.C. Milan in summer 1984. He later remarked that the most difficult part of adapting to the Italian game was the focus on fitness – the coaching staff made him work to reduce his body fat levels and Wilkins described the result as being in the best shape of his career. The Italian team was struggling during this period, having suffered relegation in the 1981–82 Serie A season, and Wilkins was joined by fellow Englishman Mark Hateley (himself replacing another compatriot — Luther Blissett). The only foreign players in the squad, the pair helped the team to victory over rivals Inter Milan in the Milan Derby that October, winning plaudits from Italian press and the club's fans. In his first year there, Wilkins played 28 Serie A games to bring the team to fifth in the league and also won a runner-up medal in the Coppa Italia (having eliminated Inter in the semis).


title: Ray Wilkins

text: The following season he remained a key player in A.C. Milan's midfield, appearing in 29 league games and scoring two goals – one late goal to salvage a draw at Avellino and another goal the following game against Sampdoria. These were the only Serie A goals of his career. Overall, the team struggled for goals, with Pietro Paolo Virdis's total of 13 making him the club's only goalscorer in double figures that year. The club also suffered off the pitch, with owner Giuseppe Farina absconding to South Africa following accusations of bribery and theft.


title: Ray Wilkins

text: In Wilkins' final season there (1986–1987), he fell out of the first team structure, following the signing of Roberto Donadoni and the continued presence of both Agostino Di Bartolomei and Alberigo Evani. The team finished fifth in the league, beating Inter twice, in Silvio Berlusconi's first year as owner. Wilkins played 105 games (74 in Serie A) for Milan between 1984 and 1987. "Corriere della Sera" eulogised him as a "serious and meticulous professional who was immediately appreciated for his long and precise passes".


title: Ray Wilkins

text: Wilkins signed for Paris Saint-Germain in the middle of 1987, but this proved to be short-lived: he failed to break into the team ahead of Gabriel Calderón and Safet Sušić so he eagerly took the option to move to Scotland to sign for Rangers for £250,000 that November.


title: Ray Wilkins

text: He made his debut for Rangers on 28 November 1987 in a 3–2 win over Hearts at Ibrox. He became an integral part of the team for the rest of the season, making twenty-nine appearances, which included both legs of the European Cup quarter-final against Steaua Bucharest. However, it would be the following season he would truly make his mark at Rangers. Reigning Scottish champions, and Old Firm rivals, Celtic played Rangers on 27 August 1988. With the score tied at 1–1, Wilkins scored a "thunderous volley" from the edge of the penalty box to put Rangers ahead, and his side eventually recorded an emphatic 5–1 win that day over their rivals. Rangers went on to win the league title that season, the first of their eventual nine-in-a-row. Wilkins also played in Rangers' win over Aberdeen in the 1988 Scottish League Cup Final. He remained an important team member into season 1988–89, playing in almost every game for the first half of the season, but his family wished to return to London. As such, he left Rangers in December 1989 to sign for Queens Park Rangers. Following his last appearance for Rangers, Wilkins received a standing ovation from the 40,000 crowd. Despite only playing two seasons for the Glasgow club, he was later inducted into their Hall of Fame.


title: Ray Wilkins

text: The longest stint of his late career was at Queens Park Rangers, for whom he was a regular first team player from November 1989 to 1994, including the team's first two Premier League seasons. He made his debut in the 3–0 away win versus Crystal Palace. Wilkins left QPR in the summer of 1994 on a free transfer to join Crystal Palace as a player-coach under manager Alan Smith, but only made one appearance due to breaking his left foot on his debut.


title: Ray Wilkins

text: Wilkins re-joined QPR as player-manager on 15 November 1994, following the exit of Gerry Francis. The rest of that season was a success with the team finishing eighth in the Premiership. However the close season of 1995 saw the departure of Les Ferdinand to Newcastle and the following season the team struggled and were relegated. As player-manager, he appeared in a further 21 games for the club from 1994 to 1996. Wilkins left QPR by mutual agreement in September 1996 after the club was bought by media tycoon Chris Wright following their relegation from the FA Premier League.


title: Ray Wilkins

text: Wilkins played for four clubs in the 1996–1997 season. He played one game at Wycombe Wanderers before moving to Hibernian for a 16-game stint. Toward the end of the season he played three times for Millwall in the Second Division and, finally, three Third Division games for Leyton Orient before retiring.


title: Ray Wilkins

text: Wilkins scored three goals in 84 games for England, captained the team on ten occasions, and played at the 1982 and 1986 World Cups. Wilkins was called up to play for England for the first time in 1976 by coach Don Revie, then made his debut on 28 May in a 3–2 win over Italy at the U.S.A. Bicentennial Cup Tournament in New York.


title: Ray Wilkins

text: He achieved one of his career highs after helping England qualify for the 1980 European Championships in Italy — the first tournament England had reached for a decade. During a group game against Belgium, Wilkins scored a memorable goal when he lobbed the whole Belgian defence (thereby breaching the Belgians' obvious offside trap) and delivered a second lob, this time over the head of the goalkeeper and into the net to put England ahead. The Belgians swiftly equalised, however, and England failed to progress beyond the group stage.


title: Ray Wilkins

text: Wilkins was a fixture in the England squad through a successful campaign to qualify for the 1982 World Cup in Spain, which England exited at the second group stage. Over the season 1983/84, Wilkins continued to play for England under new coach Bobby Robson but the team failed to qualify for the 1984 European Championships.


title: Ray Wilkins

text: Wilkins remained an England regular during his spell at A.C. Milan and he was chosen for the squad which qualified for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. He played in the opening defeat against Portugal. Wilkins became the first Englishman to be sent off at the World Cup in a goalless draw with Morocco in 1986, for throwing the ball at Gabriel González. The ball hit the referee having been thrown in protest at being deemed offside. He was suspended for the next two games and was not reinstated by the time the quarter final against Argentina came round, a game which England lost 2–1.


title: Ray Wilkins

text: Wilkins was QPR manager from 1994 to 1996, and managed fellow West London club Fulham in 1997–1998. In March 1999, Wilkins was appointed Chelsea's first-team coach after Graham Rix was jailed for child sex offences. Wilkins and Rix were Chelsea's interim managers after the sacking of Gianluca Vialli at the start of the 2000–01 FA Premier League season, but both were sacked from the club on the orders of new manager Claudio Ranieri in November 2000.


title: Ray Wilkins

text: When Vialli was hired by First Division club Watford, Wilkins again assisted him until their dismissal in June 2002. From 2003 to 2005, Wilkins assisted former Chelsea player Dennis Wise in his managing of Millwall, but announced his exit when he took exception at Dave Bassett being hired in the coaching staff.


title: Ray Wilkins

text: From 2004 on Wilkins was assistant coach to Peter Taylor with the England under-21s until Taylor left in early 2007. Wilkins was not retained by incoming head coach Stuart Pearce.


title: Ray Wilkins

text: In September 2008, Wilkins was appointed assistant first team coach to Luiz Felipe Scolari at Chelsea, following Steve Clarke's departure to West Ham United. In February 2009, following Scolari's shock sacking, Wilkins was appointed as Chelsea's caretaker manager for the Fifth round FA Cup tie with Watford. Chelsea won the game 3–1, through a Nicolas Anelka hat-trick, with the club's new manager Guus Hiddink watching from the stands.


title: Ray Wilkins

text: On 11 November 2010, it was announced that Wilkins' contract with Chelsea "would not be renewed" and that he was to leave the club "with immediate effect". On 1 December 2010, Wilkins reached what he described as a "harmonious conclusion" with Chelsea following his unexpected departure from Stamford Bridge. While appearing as a guest on Sky Sports Champions League coverage on 7 December 2010, Wilkins said that Chelsea still had not given him a reason for his sacking.


title: Ray Wilkins

text: Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti, who was himself sacked at the end of the 2010–2011 season, wrote about Wilkins, in his autobiographical book "The Beautiful Games of an Ordinary Genius": "Ray is one of those select few, always present, noble in spirit, a real blue-blood, Chelsea flows in his veins ... without him we wouldn't have won a thing."


title: Ray Wilkins

text: On 30 December 2013, Wilkins was appointed assistant head coach of Fulham. He and technical director Alan Curbishley were sacked on 17 February 2014 and the season ended with relegation.


title: Ray Wilkins

text: On 3 September 2014, Wilkins was appointed as the new head coach of Jordan. He led Jordan at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, where they were eliminated in the group-stages for the first time after two losses against Iraq and Japan and a win over Palestine.


title: Ray Wilkins

text: On 25 June 2015, Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood appointed Wilkins as his assistant manager. On 26 October 2015, Wilkins was sacked along with Tim Sherwood and the rest of the coaching team.


title: Ray Wilkins

text: In the 1990s Wilkins was part of the team that contributed to the Football Italia show that aired on Channel 4. Wilkins later appeared as a commentator for Sky Sports, particularly on their Champions League coverage. He also worked for Talksport. Wilkins was also featured as a commentator on the 1990s Tango soft drink commercials, 'You know when you've been Tango'd'.


title: Ray Wilkins

text: The son of professional footballer George Wilkins, he had two sisters and three footballer brothers: Graham Wilkins (born 28 June 1955 in Hillingdon), a former professional, who played in the Football League as a full-back for Chelsea, Brentford, and Southend United; former Brighton & Hove Albion manager and player, Dean Wilkins; and Stephen Wilkins, who was signed by Chelsea and later made one appearance for Brentford, before playing for a number of non-League teams, including Dagenham and Hayes. Throughout his life, Wilkins was known by his childhood nickname of "Butch".


title: Ray Wilkins

text: In March 2013, he was stopped whilst driving and found to be "nearly four times" over the legal alcohol limit. In February 2014, he said that he had ulcerative colitis. In July 2016, Wilkins was given a four-year ban for drink driving. In August 2016, he admitted he was an alcoholic.


title: Ray Wilkins

text: On 28 March 2018, Wilkins had a cardiac arrest, resulting in a fall, and was placed into an induced coma at St George's Hospital in Tooting. He died at the age of 61 on 4 April 2018.


title: Ray Wilkins

text: Hours after his death, Milan played rivals Inter Milan in the "Derby della Madonnina" at the San Siro. His former captain Franco Baresi laid a bouquet of flowers next to Wilkins' shirt by the side of the pitch. A section of Milan fans held aloft a banner which read "Ciao Ray: Leggenda Rossonera" (English: "Goodbye Ray: Legend of the Red and Blacks"). During Chelsea's home game against West Ham United on 8 April, fans at Stamford Bridge gave a minute's applause in the eighth minute to pay tribute to Wilkins. They also held a banner which read "Ray was one those select few, he knew what it meant to be one of us a real blue blood. Chelsea flowed through his veins, may you rest in peace Ray."


title: Ray Wilkins

text: A memorial service was held for Wilkins on 1 May at St Luke's Church, Chelsea, attended by many figures from the world of football. His son made a speech about Wilkins' struggles with depression and alcoholism. On 19 May, his widow Jackie was the guest of honour at the FA Cup final between two of Wilkins' former clubs, Chelsea and Manchester United. Chelsea won the match 1–0 and she presented the trophy to Gary Cahill, the winning captain.


title: Kendrick Sampson

text: Kendrick Sampson (born March 8, 1988) is an American actor and activist, best known for his appearances on "The Vampire Diaries", "Gracepoint", "How to Get Away with Murder", "The Flash," and his role as Nathan on HBO's "Insecure".


title: Kendrick Sampson

text: Sampson was born and raised in Houston, Texas, the son of Daphne Smith Sampson and Hoyle Sampson Sr. He is biracial. As a child, Sampson was enrolled in music lessons. Sampson expressed an interest in acting at 10 after he saw a Gap commercial. After finding an agent, Sampson was referred to the Kim Terry Studio in Texas. He began performing in theater productions while attending Elkins High School. Sampson is a devout Christian.


title: Kendrick Sampson

text: In 2008, Sampson appeared in two episodes of the ABC Family series "Greek" and followed that up with an episode of "" in 2010. In July 2013, Sampson booked the recurring role of Jesse in the fifth season of The CW series, "The Vampire Diaries". In January 2014, Sampson was cast in the role of Dean Iverson in the Fox miniseries, "Gracepoint". In November 2014, Sampson starred in the music video for Hayley Kiyoko's song "This Side of Paradise." In early 2015, Sampson shot the pilot for a potential ABC series called "The Kingmakers" but the series wasn't picked up. In July 2015, Sampson booked the recurring role of Caleb Hapstall in season 2 of ABC's prime time legal drama, "How to Get Away with Murder", produced by Shonda Rhimes. Sampson has also started his own production company called Sampson Studios.


title: Kendrick Sampson

text: In May 2019 he founded the organization BLD PWR for new development, empowerment and change within marginalized groups and American society. Following the Murder of George Floyd, Sampson actively participated in and organized Black Lives Matter protests in Los Angeles. During the protests, Sampson reported that police officers shot rubber bullets at him and assaulted him. Sampson called for a one-day strike in Hollywood over the Shooting of Jacob Blake.


title: Kendrick Sampson

text: In 2020, Sampson collaborated with JusticeLA to create a public service announcement #SuingToSaveLives about the health of people in Los Angeles County Jails amid the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Pej Vahdat

text: Pejman "Pej" Vahdat ( ) is an American actor known for his role of Arastoo Vaziri in "Bones" from 2009 to 2017. In 2022, Vahdat was cast as Dex Dexter for the fifth season of the CW reboot series "Dynasty".


title: Pej Vahdat

text: Before his acting career he attended San Diego State University, where he was a member of the San Diego State Aztecs men's tennis team. He also played Kash during the first season of the Showtime series "Shameless."


title: The Fragile

text: The Fragile is the third studio album by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released as a double album by Nothing Records and Interscope Records on September 21, 1999. It was produced by Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor and English producer Alan Moulder, a longtime Reznor collaborator. It was recorded throughout 1997 to 1999 in New Orleans.


title: The Fragile

text: Looking to depart from the distorted production of their previous album, "The Downward Spiral" (1994), the album features elements of ambient and electronic music alongside the band's signature industrial rock sound. The album continues some of the lyrical themes from "The Downward Spiral", including depression and drug abuse. The album notably contains more instrumental sections than their previous work, with some entire tracks being instrumentals. "The Fragile" is also one of the band's longest studio releases, clocking in at nearly 1 hour and 45 minutes long. The record was promoted with three singles: "The Day the World Went Away", "We're in This Together", and "Into the Void", as well as the promotional single "Starfuckers, Inc." and an accompanying tour, the Fragility Tour, which spanned two legs. Several accompanying recordings were also released, including a remix album, "Things Falling Apart" (2000), a live album, "And All That Could Have Been" (2002), as well as an alternate version of the record, "The Fragile: Deviations 1" (2016).


title: The Fragile

text: Upon release, critics applauded the album's ambition and composition, although some criticized its length and perceived lack of lyrical substance. However, in the years following its release, it has come to be regarded by many critics and listeners to be among the band's best work, with some critics who initially gave the album negative reviews writing new reviews praising the album and its impact. Numerous musicians have cited the album's production as having an influence on how they approached the creation of their own work. The album debuted at number one in the U.S. to become the band's first chart-topper, and was eventually certified double platinum by the RIAA.


title: The Fragile

text: "The Fragile" was produced by Trent Reznor and Alan Moulder at Nothing Studios in New Orleans. There were some personnel changes within Nine Inch Nails after the Self-Destruct tour, which saw drummer Chris Vrenna replaced by Bill Rieflin and Jerome Dillon, the latter of whom would become Nine Inch Nails' full-time drummer until late 2005. Charlie Clouser and Danny Lohner contributed occasional instrumentation and composition to several tracks although the album was predominantly written and performed by Reznor alone. "The Fragile" was mixed by Alan Moulder and mastered by Tom Baker. The packaging was created by David Carson and Rob Sheridan.


title: The Fragile

text: Over a year before the album's release, Reznor suggested – in what is presumed to be a deliberately misleading fashion – that the album would "be irritating to people because it's not traditional Nine Inch Nails. Think of the most ridiculous music you could ever imagine with nursery rhymes over the top of it. A bunch of pop songs."


title: The Fragile

text: In contrast to the heavily distorted instruments and gritty industrial sounds of their previous album, "The Downward Spiral", "The Fragile" relies more on soundscapes, electronic beats, ambient noise, rock-laden guitar, and the usage of melodies as harmonies. Several critics noted that the album was seemingly influenced by progressive rock, art rock, electronica, and avant-garde music. It is categorized as an art rock album by "The Rolling Stone Album Guide" (2004), Edna Gundersen of "USA Today", and Will Hermes of "Entertainment Weekly". Hermes views that, like "art-rockers" King Crimson and David Bowie, Reznor incorporates elements of 20th-century classical music on the album, "mixing prepared piano melodies à la John Cage with thematic flavor from Claude Debussy". Music journalist Ann Powers observes elements of progressive rock bands King Crimson and Roxy Music, Reznor's influences, and the experimentation of electronica artists such as Autechre and Squarepusher, and writes that "The Fragile" uses funk bass lines, North African minor-key modalities, and the treatment of tonality by Symbolist composers like Debussy. The album also features several distorted guitar parts which Powers suggests that fans can enjoy. Rob Sheffield observes a "prog-rock vibe" akin to Pink Floyd's 1979 album "The Wall" and feels that "The Fragile" is similarly "a double album that vents ... alienation and misery into paranoid studio hallucinations, each track crammed with overdubs until there's no breathing room".


title: The Fragile

text: Described by Reznor as a sequel to "The Downward Spiral"—an album with a plot detailing the destruction of a man—"The Fragile" is a concept album dealing with his personal issues, including depression, angst, and drug abuse. His vocals, for the most part, are more melodic and somewhat softer, a departure from his harsh and often angry singing in previous works. However, several music critics including Reznor noticed the lack of lyrics on the album. "The Bulletin" interprets it as an industrial rock album about "fear and loathing that could compete with Pink Floyd's "The Wall"". In some ways, "The Fragile" is a response to "The Downward Spiral". Reznor compared the lyrical content of the two albums:


title: The Fragile

text: The song "I'm Looking Forward to Joining You, Finally" is credited in the album's booklet as ""for clara"", suggesting that the song's topic, like "The Day the World Went Away", is about Reznor's grandmother, Clara Clark.


title: The Fragile

text: "Fight Club" author Chuck Palahniuk singled out "The Wretched" for comment: "I remember being amazed when I first heard this... This wasn't just ennui: this was an active, aggressive, angry lack of caring. It's not 'Let's kill ourselves'; it's 'Let's kill each other'... It's not rock 'n' roll and it's not classical. It's something in between."


title: The Fragile

text: According to a CIA document entitled "Guidelines for Interrogation Methods" the song "Somewhat Damaged" was one of 13 songs played to detainees at Guantanamo Bay, supposedly as a means of torture.


title: The Fragile

text: The cover artwork was designed by David Carson. A section within his book "Fotografiks" reveals that the top section of the album cover is from a photo of a waterfall and the bottom section is from a closeup photo of the inside of a seashell. Carson elaborated on this further in an image on his website:


title: The Fragile

text: On September 10, 1998, at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards, a thirty-second teaser trailer was shown on television to promote the then untitled album. It would be more than a year before the album was finally released.


title: The Fragile

text: The first single, "The Day the World Went Away", was released two months before the album. "Into the Void" and "We're in This Together" proved to be the album's most successful singles. The B-side "Starfuckers, Inc." was released on the album as a track at the last minute , and served as a promotional single for "The Fragile".


title: The Fragile

text: In support of "The Fragile", the Nine Inch Nails live band reformed for the Fragility tour. The tour began in late 1999 and lasted until mid-2000, spanning Europe, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, and North America. The tour consisted of two major legs, labeled Fragility 1.0 and Fragility 2.0. The live band lineup remained largely the same from the previous tour in support of "The Downward Spiral", featuring Robin Finck on guitar, Charlie Clouser on keyboards, and Danny Lohner on bass guitar. Reznor held open auditions to find a new drummer, eventually picking then-unknown Jerome Dillon.


title: The Fragile

text: Nine Inch Nails' record label at the time, Interscope Records, reportedly refused to fund the promotional tour following "The Fragile"'s lukewarm sales. Reznor instead committed to fund the entire tour himself, which quickly sold out. He concluded that "the reality is, I'm broke at the end of the tour", but also added, "I will never present a show that isn't fantastic."


title: The Fragile

text: The tour featured increasingly large production values, including a triptych video display created by contemporary video artist Bill Viola. "Rolling Stone" magazine named Fragility the best tour of 2000.


title: The Fragile

text: In 2002, the tour documentary "And All That Could Have Been" was released featuring performances from the Fragility 2.0 tour. While making the DVD, Reznor commented on the tour in retrospect by saying "I thought the show was really, really good when we were doing it", but later wrote that "I can't watch it at all. I was sick for most of that tour and I really don't think it was Nine Inch Nails at its best."


title: The Fragile

text: On September 21, 2009—the tenth anniversary of the album's release—a Nine Inch Nails official Twitter update hinted that a deluxe 5.1 surround audio reissue of "The Fragile" was in the works and was scheduled for a 2010 release.


title: The Fragile

text: During an interview with "The New York Times" that was broadcast on January 7, 2011, after questioned about the album Reznor explained:


title: The Fragile

text: While on tour in 2014 in Australia and New Zealand, Reznor was interviewed by a local reporter and was quoted about the reissue stating:


title: The Fragile

text: In June 2015, an instrumental version of the album was released to Apple Music. This version of the album also includes alternative versions of "The Frail", "Just Like You Imagined", "Pilgrimage", "La Mer", "The Mark Has Been Made", and "Complication", the instrumental version of "The Day the World Went Away (Quiet)", an extended version of "+Appendage", a demo version of "10 Miles High" called "Hello, Everything Is Not OK", and two previously unreleased tracks from "The Fragile" ("The March" and "Can I Stay Here?")


title: The Fragile

text: In 2017 a reissue of the vinyl version of "The Fragile" was released, alongside an expanded, instrumental version, titled "The Fragile: Deviations 1." This version of "The Fragile" contains all songs in either instrumental or alternate formats, and combines them with newly released songs written and recorded during the sessions for "The Fragile". "Deviations 1" consists of a one-off 4×LP pressing.


title: The Fragile

text: "The Fragile" received generally positive reviews from contemporary critics. "Mojo" called it "an impressively multi-textured, satisfyingly violent sonic workout", and "Alternative Press" found it "nothing short of astounding". Edna Gundersen of "USA Today" called it "meticulously honed and twisted to baffle, tantalize, disarm and challenge the listener", and wrote that "the coats of polish ... can't camouflage Trent Reznor's perverse and subversive paths to musical glory." Ann Powers of "Spin" called the album "a good old-fashioned strap-on-your-headphones experience". Jon Pareles of "The New York Times" wrote that, although he "doesn't approach suicide as he did on" "The Downward Spiral", "Reznor can hide in the studio and piece together music that's as cunning, and disquieting, as his raw anger used to be." Will Hermes of "Entertainment Weekly" viewed that, even "if [Reznor's] emotional palette is limited, it remains broader than any of his metalhead peers", and that, "right now, hard rock simply doesn't get any smarter, harder, or more ambitious than this." Robert Hilburn of the "Los Angeles Times" wrote that, despite its length, "this is a profoundly challenging and moving work that strikes at the hollowness of most contemporary pop-rock with bullwhip force." "The Guardian"s Adam Sweeting praised it as "a fearsomely accomplished mix of monster riffing, brooding melodies and patches of minimalist soul-searching". "Rolling Stone" writer Rob Sheffield felt that the album's "excess is Reznor's chosen shock tactic here, and what's especially shocking is how much action he packs into his digital via dolorosa."


title: The Fragile

text: In a negative review, "Pitchfork"s Brent DiCrescenzo panned the album's lyrics as "overly melodramatic". John Aizlewood of "Q" felt that it is "let down by Reznor's refusal to trouble himself with melody and by some embarrassing lyrics". "NME"s Victoria Segal panned its music as ""background"" and accused it of "chas[ing] 'crossover'", with "grey rock sleet masquerading as a storm beneath a haze of 'experimental' textures." Scott Seward of "The Village Voice" facetiously commended Reznor for "once again ... pioneering the marriage of heavy guitars, moody atmospherics, electronic drones and beats, and aggressive singing. Just like Killing Joke 20 years ago." "Village Voice" critic Robert Christgau was even less receptive: "After six fucking years, genius-by-acclamation Trent Reznor delivers double-hoohah, every second remixed till it glistens like broken glass on a prison wall. Is the way he takes his petty pain out on the world a little, er, immature for a guy who's pushing 35? Never mind, I'm told—just immerse in the music. So I do. 'Dream job: emperor,' it says. 'More fun than death by injection.'"


title: The Fragile

text: "The Fragile" was included on several magazines' "end-of-year" album lists, including "The Village Voice" (number 14), "Rolling Stone" (number four), and "Spin" (number one). In a retrospective review, "The Rolling Stone Album Guide" (2004) gave it three-and-a-half out of five stars and wrote that, as "NIN's monumental double-disc bid for the art-rock crown, "The Fragile" sounds fantastic from start to finish, but there aren't enough memorable tunes underneath the alluring surfaces." AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine offered similar criticism, writing that "Reznor's music is immaculately crafted and arranged, with every note and nuance gliding into the next — but he spent more time constructing surfaces than songs. Those surfaces can be enticing but since it's just surface, "The Fragile" winds up being vaguely unsatisfying." In 2005, "The Fragile" was ranked number 341 in "Rock Hard" magazine's book "The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time". But, even if initial reception was mixed, the album has gotten a cult following from Nine Inch Nails fans. In 2016, "Exclaim!" listed "The Fragile" at number two on their "Essential Albums" list for Nine Inch Nails, citing it as their most ambitious work and "a tragic if not stunning portrait of depression." "Pitchfork" would later reassess the album in their review of the album's 2017 "Definitive Edition", with a score change going from 2.0 to 8.7, describing it as Reznor's "magnum opus... "The Fragile" scrapes the sky like never before."


title: The Fragile

text: In "Metal Hammer", it was named one of the 10 best industrial metal albums as well as one of the 20 best metal albums of 1999.


title: The Fragile

text: "The Fragile" debuted atop the "Billboard" 200 with first-week sales of 229,000 copies, earning the band their first number-one album on the chart. The album fell to number 16 the following week, becoming the largest drop from number one at the time. On January 4, 2000, the album was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and by May 2005, it had sold 898,000 copies in the United States.


title: The Fragile

text: Steven Hyden of "The A.V. Club" writes that Reznor developed Nine Inch Nails from its role as a prominent rock act and by the time he finished recording "The Fragile", alternative rock's overall popularity declined with several of Nine Inch Nails' contemporaries being disestablished or displaced by newer bands. Hyden also attributes the album's commercial performance to the rise of file-sharing on the Internet, which deviated from the alternative rock movement's emphasis on "fetishized vinyl" and "music festivals as peaceful places for young people to commune and dream of better futures."


title: The Fragile

text: This release is identical to the CD pressing, with the exclusive addition of "+Appendage" attached to the end of "Please".


title: The Fragile

text: This release of "The Fragile" contains the songs "10 Miles High" and "The New Flesh" (both of which were later released as part of the "We're in This Together" and "Into the Void" singles, dependent on territory.) "The Day the World Went Away", "The Wretched", "Even Deeper" and "La Mer" are all extended mixes, while the opening and closing of each side eliminates the crossfading between songs found on the CD and cassette versions, due to the nature of the vinyl medium. Finally, "Ripe" was shortened by removing the conclusive "(With Decay)" portion of the song. All of these changes made for the vinyl carry over to the Definitive Edition pressings, released digitally in 2016 and on vinyl in 2017.


title: The Fragile

text: "The Fragile: Deviations 1" is an alternate version of "The Fragile" that contains all of the original songs in either instrumental or alternate forms, and combines them with newly released tracks written and recorded during the sessions for "The Fragile". "Deviations 1" consists of a one-off, limited edition four-LP pressing that was not made available on CD.


title: The Fragile

text: Neil Z. Yeung of AllMusic recommended that fans listen to and understand the original album first before delving into "Deviations 1". Ultimately, he said that the release "serves as both a sonic time capsule and a reminder of one of NIN's most rewarding and underrated efforts." Writing for "Pitchfork", Sean T. Collins found "Deviations 1" interesting but simultaneously perplexing, saying "Far too many of "Deviations"' freshly vocal-free songs sound like karaoke versions rather than instrumentals that can stand on their own. The result is a listening experience that outstays its welcome on a song-by-song basis, let alone over the course of its massive 150-minute running time."


title: Charlie Rowe

text: Charlie John Rowe (born 23 April 1996) is an English film and television actor. His film roles include Young Tommy in "Never Let Me Go", James in "The Boat That Rocked", Billy Costa in "The Golden Compass", Peter in the SyFy/Sky Movies "Peter Pan" prequel "Neverland", and recently played Leo Roth on the Fox medical comedy-drama series "Red Band Society" alongside Octavia Spencer and Dave Annable.


title: Charlie Rowe

text: Rowe was born in Islington, London, and grew up with a sister in Crouch End. He attended St Michael's Primary School, Highgate. His mother, Sara, is a drama teacher, and his father, Chris Rowe, is an actor and writer.


title: Charlie Rowe

text: He got his start in the 2007 fantasy adventure film "The Golden Compass" and continued to make films throughout his young years, like SyFy's "Neverland". His aunt is the English actress Claire Price, known from the drama television series "Rebus.


title: Charlie Rowe

text: Rowe was among the front runners for the role of Spider-Man in "" alongside Asa Butterfield, Charlie Plummer and Tom Holland but he, Butterfield, and Plummer ultimately lost to Holland who got the part.


title: Charlie Rowe

text: Rowe is based in Haringey and is studying theatre studies, English literature, music and photography.


title: Vienna State Opera

text: The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll, and designs by Josef Hlávka. The opera house was inaugurated as the "Vienna Court Opera" ("Wiener Hofoper") in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth of Austria. It became known by its current name after the establishment of the First Austrian Republic in 1921. The Vienna State Opera is the successor of the Vienna Court Opera, the original construction site chosen and paid for by Emperor Franz Joseph in 1861.


title: Vienna State Opera

text: The members of the Vienna Philharmonic are recruited from the Vienna State Opera's orchestra. The building is also the home of the Vienna State Ballet, and it hosts the annual Vienna Opera Ball during the carnival season.


title: Vienna State Opera

text: The opera house was the first major building on the Vienna Ringstrasse commissioned by the Viennese "city expansion fund". Work commenced on the house in 1861 and was completed in 1869, following plans drawn up by architects August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll. It was built in the Neo-Renaissance style by the renowned Czech architect and contractor Josef Hlávka.


title: Vienna State Opera

text: The Ministry of the Interior had commissioned a number of reports into the availability of certain building materials, with the result that stones long not seen in Vienna were used, such as Wöllersdorfer Stein, for plinths and free-standing, simply-divided buttresses, the famously hard stone from Kaisersteinbruch, whose colour was more appropriate than that of Kelheimerstein, for more lushly decorated parts. The somewhat coarser-grained Kelheimerstein (also known as Solnhof Plattenstein) was intended as the main stone to be used in the building of the opera house, but the necessary quantity was not deliverable. Breitenbrunner stone was suggested as a substitute for the Kelheimer stone, and stone from Jois was used as a cheaper alternative to the Kaiserstein. The staircases were constructed from polished Kaiserstein, while most of the rest of the interior was decorated with varieties of marble.


title: Vienna State Opera

text: The decision was made to use dimension stone for the exterior of the building. Due to the monumental demand for stone, stone from Sóskút, widely used in Budapest, was also used. Three Viennese masonry companies were employed to supply enough masonry labour: Eduard Hauser (still in existence today), Anton Wasserburger and Moritz Pranter. The foundation stone was laid on 20 May 1863.


title: Vienna State Opera

text: The building was, however, not very popular with the public. On the one hand, it did not seem as grand as the Heinrichshof, a private residence which was destroyed in World War II (and replaced in 1955 by the Opernringhof). Moreover, because the level of Ringstraße was raised by a metre in front of the opera house after its construction had begun, the latter was likened to "a sunken treasure chest" and, in analogy to the military disaster of 1866 (the Battle of Königgrätz), was deprecatingly referred to as "the 'Königgrätz' of architecture". Eduard van der Nüll committed suicide, and barely ten weeks later Sicardsburg died from tuberculosis so neither architect saw the completion of the building. The opening premiere was "Don Giovanni", by Mozart, on 25 May 1869. Emperor Franz Josef and Empress Elisabeth (Sissi) were present.


title: Vienna State Opera

text: Towards the end of World War II, on 12 March 1945, the opera was set alight by an American bombardment. The auditorium and stage were destroyed by flames, as well as almost the entire décor and props for more than 120 operas with around 150,000 costumes. The front section, which had been walled off as a precaution, however, remained intact including the foyer, with frescoes by Moritz von Schwind, the main stairways, the vestibule and the tea room. The State Opera was temporarily housed at the Theater an der Wien and at the Vienna Volksoper.


title: Vienna State Opera

text: Lengthy discussion took place about whether the opera house should be restored to its original state on its original site, or whether it should be completely demolished and rebuilt, either on the same location or on a different site. Eventually the decision was made to rebuild the opera house as it had been, and the main restoration experts involved were Ernst Kolb (1948–1952) and Udo Illig (1953–1956).


title: Vienna State Opera

text: The Austrian Federal Chancellor Leopold Figl made the decision in 1946 to have a functioning opera house again by 1949. An architectural competition was announced, which was won by Erich Boltenstern. The submissions had ranged from a complete restructuring of the auditorium to a replica of the original design; Boltenstern decided on a design similar to the original with some modernisation in keeping with the design of the 1950s. In order to achieve a good acoustic, wood was the favoured building material, at the advice of, among others, Arturo Toscanini. In addition, the number of seats in the parterre (stalls) was reduced, and the fourth gallery, which had been fitted with columns, was restructured so as not to need columns. The façade, entrance hall and the "Schwind" foyer were restored and remain in their original style.


title: Vienna State Opera

text: In the meantime, the opera company, which had at first been performing in the Volksoper, had moved rehearsals and performances to Theater an der Wien, where, on 1 May 1945, after the liberation and re-independence of Austria from the Nazis, the first performances were given. In 1947, the company went on tour to London.


title: Vienna State Opera

text: Due to the appalling conditions at Theater an der Wien, the opera company leadership tried to raise significant quantities of money to speed up reconstruction of the original opera house. Many private donations were made, as well as donations of building material from the Soviets, who were very interested in the rebuilding of the opera. The mayor of Vienna had receptacles placed in many sites around Vienna for people to donate coins only. In this way, everyone in Vienna could say they had participated in the reconstruction and feel pride in considering themselves part owners.


title: Vienna State Opera

text: However, in 1949, there was only a temporary roof on the Staatsoper, as construction work continued. It was not until 5 November 1955, after the Austrian State Treaty, that the Staatsoper could be reopened with a performance of Beethoven's "Fidelio", conducted by Karl Böhm. The American Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, was present. The state broadcaster ORF used the occasion to make its first live broadcast, at a time when there were only c. 800 televiewers in the whole of Austria. The new auditorium had a reduced capacity of about 2,276, including 567 standing room places. The ensemble, which had remained unified until the opening, crumbled in the following years, and slowly an international ensemble formed.


title: Vienna State Opera

text: In 1945, the Wiener Mozart-Ensemble was formed, which put on world-renowned guest performances and became known particularly for its singing and playing culture. The Austrian conductor Josef Krips was the founder and mentor, who had only survived the Nazi era (given his Jewish heritage) thanks to luck and help from colleagues. At the end of the war, Krips started the renovation of the Staatoper, and was able to implement his aesthetic principles, including the departure from the Romantic Mozart ideal with a voluminous orchestral sound. Instead, qualities more associated with chamber music were featured, as well as a clearer, lighter sound, which would later come to be known as "typically Viennese". Singers who worked with Krips during this time were Erich Kunz, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Wilma Lipp, among others.


title: Vienna State Opera

text: As early as 1947, the Mozart-Ensemble was playing guest performances at the Royal Opera House in London, with Mozart's "Don Giovanni". Richard Tauber, who had fled from the Nazis, sang "Don Ottavio"; three months later he died, and was remembered for singing with "half a lung" in order to fulfil his dream, many other artists became associated with the Mozart-Ensemble, for example Karl Böhm, but their role was still greatly peripheral, in a straightforward or assisting role. This was the beginning of Krips' worldwide career, which would take him to the most prominent houses in the world. Until his death in 1974, Krips was regarded as one of the most important "Maestri" (conductors/music directors) of the Staatsoper.


title: Vienna State Opera

text: On 1 July 1998, a historical broadcast took place, as Austria undertook its first presidency of the European Union. "Fidelio" was broadcast live from the Vienna State Opera to the 15 capital cities of the EU.


title: Vienna State Opera

text: The Vienna State Opera is closely linked to the Vienna Philharmonic, which is an incorporated society of its own, but whose members are recruited from the orchestra of the Vienna State Opera.


title: Vienna State Opera

text: The is one of the busiest opera houses in the world producing 50 to 60 operas in a repertory system per year and ten ballet productions in more than 350 performances. It is quite common to find a different opera being produced each day of a week. The employs over 1000 people. As of 2008, the annual operating budget of the was 100 million euros with slightly more than 50% as a state subsidy.


title: Vienna State Opera

text: The company's 2019 production of Olga Neuwirth's opera "Orlando" marked the first production of an opera by a female composer in the history of the Vienna State Opera.


title: Vienna State Opera

text: Gustav Mahler was one of the many conductors who have worked in Vienna. During his tenure (1897–1907), Mahler cultivated a new generation of singers, such as Anna Bahr-Mildenburg and Selma Kurz, and recruited a stage designer who replaced the lavish historical stage decors with sparse stage scenery corresponding to modernistic, Jugendstil tastes. Mahler also introduced the practice of dimming the lighting in the theatre during performances, which was initially not appreciated by the audience. However, Mahler's reforms were maintained by his successors.


title: Vienna State Opera

text: Herbert von Karajan introduced the practice of performing operas exclusively in their original language instead of being translated into German. He also strengthened the ensemble and regular principal singers and introduced the policy of predominantly engaging guest singers. He began a collaboration with La Scala in Milan, in which both productions and orchestrations were shared. This created an opening for the prominent members of the Viennese ensemble to appear in Milan, especially to perform works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Richard Strauss.


title: Vienna State Opera

text: At the beginning of the 2005–2006 season, the ballet companies of the Staatsoper and the Vienna Volksoper were merged under the direction of Gyula Harangozó, which led to a reduction in the number of performers in the resulting ensemble. This has resulted in an increase in the number of guest stars engaged to work in the ballet. The practice of combining the two ballet companies proved an artistic failure, and Harangozó left when his contract expired in 2010.