Background.

A granddaughter of Round Table, she was owned by Daniel Wildenstein (1917–2001), the French art dealer. All Along was trained in France, first by Maurice Zilber (1981) and for the remainder of her career by Patrick-Louis Biancone.

Racing career.

1981: Two-year-old season.

As a two-year-old, the filly raced only one time and won.

1982: Three-year-old season.

The following year, she competed on turf courses in France, England, and in Japan, winning numerous prestigious races.

1983: Four-year-old season.

In 1983 All Along finished third to Zalataia in the Grand Prix de Chantilly but then finished seventh of the nine runners when favourite for the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud. After a summer break she returned for the Prix Foy at Longchamp Racecourse. Biancone decided to change the tactics used on the filly and instructed her jockey to hold up the filly for a late run. She made up a great deal of ground in the closing stages to finish second, a length behind the British-trained filly Time Charter.  Ridden by jockey Walter Swinburn, All Along started at odds of 17.3/1 France's most famous race, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. She was held up until the straight when she was produced with a strong run along the rail, catching the leader Sun Princess in the last 100 metres and winning by a length. Luth Enchantee beat Time Charter in a photograph for third, meaning that fillies filled the first four places. She was immediately shipped to Toronto, Ontario, Canada and won the Rothmans International at Woodbine Racetrack. Two weeks later, she won the Turf Classic at Aqueduct Racetrack in Jamaica, New York by 83⁄4 lengths, then won the Washington, D.C. International Stakes at Laurel, Maryland. Four consecutive wins against the best horses in the world all occurred within 41 days. She was the first horse to win the three prestigious North American races in a row, netting a million-dollar bonus for her owners and Horse of the Year honors in both France and the United States.  She was voted the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Female Turf Horse and became the first filly to win the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year since the voting system had been implemented in the 1970s.

1984: Five-year-old season.

In 1984, she competed in only four races, including a close second in the inaugural Breeders' Cup Turf.

Stud record.

All Along retired as a broodmare to the Three Chimneys Farm in Midway, Kentucky. She was the dam of:  She died in 2005 and was buried in the cemetery at the Old Bradley Place division of Three Chimneys Farm.

Assessment.

All Along was inducted in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2019. In the Blood-Horse magazine ranking of the top 100 U.S. Thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century, All Along was ranked #68.

All Along (7 April 1979 – 23 February 2005) was a champion Thoroughbred racemare that was foaled in France. She was one of the top fillies of the last part of the 20th century, racing mostly in Europe. All Along was named into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2019.

All Along (née le ; morte le ) était une jument pur-sang championne de course hippique. Courant surtout en Europe elle a été une des meilleures pouliches à la fin du.


Life and career.

The son of Guillaume Coustou the Elder and nephew of Nicolas Coustou, he trained in the family atelier and studied at the French Academy in Rome, 1736–39, as winner of the Prix de Rome (1735). He returned to Paris, where he completed the famous "Horse Tamers" ("Chevaux de Marly") commissioned from his father in 1739 for Marly, when the elder Coustou was too infirm to actively carry out the commissions. They were completed and installed in 1745.  He was accepted at the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture (1742) and pursued a successful official career, working fluently in styles that ranged from the Late Baroque of his "morceau de réception," a "Seated Vulcan" ("illustrated") to the sentimental early neoclassicism of the "Ganymede", whose affinities with Roman sculptures of Antinous have been suggested by Michael Worley. He produced portrait busts as well as his religious and mythological subjects.  His most prominent and ambitious official commission was the "Monument to the Dauphin" for the cathedral of Sens. The elaborate iconography of its somewhat overcharged design was worked up by the artist and connoisseur Charles-Nicolas Cochin.  His pupils included two minor neoclassical sculptors, Claude Dejoux and Pierre Julien, who were fellow pupils in the 1760s and went on to collaborate on sculptural projects and the young Danish sculptor, Johannes Widewelt, who was placed in his workshop through the offices of the secretary of the Danish legation. In the process, Widewelt picked up some of Coustou's clarity and his language of rhetorical gesture.

Guillaume Coustou the Younger (19 March 1716 – 13 July 1777) was a French sculptor of the late French Baroque or Style Louis XIV, and early neo-classicism.

Guillaume Coustou (fils) — également dénommé Guillaume II Coustou ou Guillaume Coustou le Jeune —, né le à Paris et mort dans la même ville le, est un sculpteur français.


Plot.

On the planet Krypton, the ruling council praises member Jor-El for exiling criminals General Zod, Ursa, and Non to the Phantom Zone. It disagrees with the scientist's claim, however, that Krypton will soon be destroyed when its red supergiant sun goes supernova. To save Kal-El, his infant son, Jor-El sends him in a spaceship to Earth, where his dense molecular structure will give him superhuman strength and other powers. Krypton's sun explodes, destroying the planet.  The ship lands near Smallville, Kansas. Kal-El, who is now three years old, is found by Jonathan and Martha Kent, who are astonished when he lifts their truck. Taking him back to their farm, they decide to raise him as their own, naming him Clark after Martha's maiden name. Jonathan tells the boy that he must have been given superhuman powers on Earth for "a reason".  At age 18, after Jonathan's death from a heart attack, Clark hears a psychic "call" and discovers a glowing green crystal in the remains of his spacecraft. It compels him to travel to the Arctic where it builds the Fortress of Solitude, resembling the architecture of Krypton. Inside, a hologram of Jor-El explains Clark's true origins, and after 12 further years of educating him on his reason for being sent to Earth and his powers, he leaves the Fortress wearing a blue and red suit with a red cape and the House of El family crest emblazoned on his chest. Becoming a reporter at the "Daily Planet" in Metropolis, Clark meets and develops a romantic attraction to coworker Lois Lane.  Lois becomes involved in a helicopter accident where conventional means of rescue are impossible. Clark uses his powers in public for the first time to save

Cast.

Kirk Alyn and Noel Neill have cameo appearances as Lois Lane's father and mother in a deleted scene that was restored in later home media releases. Alyn and Neill portrayed Superman and Lois Lane in the film serials "Superman" (1948) and "Atom Man vs. Superman"

Production.

Development.

Ilya Salkind had first conceived the idea for a Superman film in late 1973. In November 1974, after a long, difficult process with DC Comics, the Superman film rights were purchased by Ilya, his father Alexander Salkind, and their partner Pierre Spengler. DC wanted a list of actors that were to be considered for Superman, and approved the producer's choices of Muhammad Ali, Al Pacino, James Caan, Steve McQueen, Clint Eastwood and Dustin Hoffman. The filmmakers felt it was best to film "Superman" and "Superman II" back-to-back, and to make a negative pickup deal with Warner Bros. William Goldman was approached to write the screenplay, while Leigh Brackett was considered. Ilya hired Alfred Bester, who began writing a film treatment. Alexander felt, however, that Bester was not famous enough, so he hired Mario Puzo ("The Godfather") to write the screenplay at a $600,000 salary. Francis Ford Coppola, William Friedkin, Richard Lester, Peter Yates, John Guillermin, Ronald Neame and Sam Peckinpah were in negotiations to direct. Peckinpah dropped out when he produced a gun during a meeting with Ilya. George Lucas turned down the offer because of his commitment to "Star Wars".  Ilya wanted to hire Steven Spielberg to direct, but Alexander was skeptical, feeling it was best to "wait until [Spielberg's] big fish opens." "Jaws" was very successful, prompting the producers to offer Spielberg the position, but by then Spielberg had already committed to "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". Guy Hamilton was hired as director, while Puzo delivered his 500-page script for "Superman" and "Superman II" in July 1975. Jax-Ur appeared as one of General Zod's henchmen, with Clark Kent written as a television reporter. Dustin Hoffman, who was previously considered for Superman, turned down Lex Luthor.  In early 1975, Brando signed on as Jor-El with a salary of $3.7 million and 11.75% of the box office gross profits, totaling $19 million. He horrified Salkind by proposing in their first meeting that Jor-El appear as a green

Filming.

Principal photography began on March 28, 1977 at Pinewood Studios for Krypton scenes, budgeted as the most expensive film ever made at that point. Since "Superman" was being shot simultaneously with "Superman II", filming lasted nineteen months, until October 1978. Filming was originally scheduled to last between seven and eight months, but problems arose during production. John Barry served as production designer, while Stuart Craig and Norman Reynolds worked as art directors. Derek Meddings and Les Bowie were credited as visual effects supervisors. Stuart Freeborn was the make-up artist, while Barry, David Tomblin, John Glen, David Lane, Robert Lynn and an uncredited Peter Duffell and André de Toth directed second unit scenes. Vic Armstrong was hired as the

Effects.

"Superman" contains large-scale visual effects sequences. The Golden Gate Bridge scale model stood 70 feet long and 20 feet wide. Other miniatures included the Krypton Council Dome and the Hoover Dam. Slow motion was used to simulate the vast amount of water for the Hoover Dam destruction. The Fortress of Solitude was a combination of a full-scale set and matte paintings. The car crashes on the Golden Gate Bridge were a mixture of models and stunt drivers on a disused runway. Young Clark Kent's long-distance football punt was executed with a wooden football loaded into an air blaster placed in the ground. The Superman costume was to be a much darker blue, but the use of blue screen made it

Music.

Jerry Goldsmith, who scored Donner's "The Omen", was originally set to compose "Superman". Portions of Jerry Goldsmith's work from "Planet of the Apes" were used in "Superman"'s teaser trailer. He dropped out over scheduling conflicts, and John Williams was hired. Williams conducted the London Symphony Orchestra to record the soundtrack. The music was one of the last pieces to come into place. Williams' "Theme from Superman (Main Title)" was released as a single, reaching #81 on the U.S. "Billboard" Hot 100 and #69 "Cash Box". Williams liked that the film did not take itself too seriously and that it had a theatrical camp feel to it.

Themes.

"Superman" is divided into three basic sections, each having a distinct theme and visual style. The first segment, set on Krypton, is meant to be typical of science fiction films, but also lays the groundwork for an analogy that emerges in the relationship between Jor-El and Kal-El. The second segment, set in Smallville, is reminiscent of 1950s films, and its small-town atmosphere is meant to evoke a Norman Rockwell painting. The third (and largest) segment, set mostly in Metropolis, was an attempt to present the superhero story with as much realism as possible (what Donner called "verisimilitude"), relying on traditional cinematic drama and using only subtle humor instead of a campy approach.  In each of the three acts, the mythic status of Superman is enhanced by events that recall the hero's journey (or monomyth) as described by Joseph Campbell. Each act has a discernible cycle of "call" and journey. The journey is from Krypton to Earth in the first act, from Smallville to the Fortress of Solitude in the second act, and then from Metropolis to the whole world in the third act.  Many have noted the examples of apparent Christian symbolism. Donner, Tom Mankiewicz and Ilya Salkind have commented on the use of Christian references to discuss the themes of "Superman". Mankiewicz deliberately fostered analogies with Jor-El (God) and Kal-El (Jesus). Donner is somewhat skeptical of Mankiewicz' actions, joking "I got enough death threats because of that."  Several concepts and items of imagery have been used in Biblical comparisons. Jor-El casts out General Zod from Krypton, a parallel to the casting out of Satan from Heaven.

Release.

"Superman" was originally scheduled to be released in June 1978, the 40th anniversary of "Action Comics 1", which first introduced Superman, but the problems during filming pushed the film back by six months. Editor Stuart Baird reflected, "Filming was finished in October 1978 and it is a miracle we had the film released two months later. Big-budgeted films today tend to take six to eight months." Donner, for his part, wished that he had "had another six months; I would have perfected a lot of things. But at some point, you've gotta turn the picture over." Warner Bros. spent $7 million to market and promote the film.  "Superman" premiered at the Uptown Theater in Washington, D.C. on December 10, 1978, with director Richard Donner and several cast members in attendance. Three days later, on December 13, it had a European Royal Charity Premiere at the Empire, Leicester Square in London in the presence of HM Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Andrew.  The film set a new all-time U.S. industry record for business during a pre-Christmas week with $12,044,352 and set new records for Warner Bros. for their best opening day ($2,762,112) and three-day weekend ($7,465,343). In the week of December 22–28, it set an all-time U.S. weekly record of $18,517,515. It also set a record single day gross for Warner Bros. with a gross of $3,833,000. In its third weekend it grossed $13,135,498 for the four day holiday weekend setting a record 18 day gross of $43,697,365.  It went on to gross $134.21 million in North America and $166 million internationally, totaling $300.21 million worldwide. "Superman" was the highest-grossing film of 1978 in North America, and became the sixth-highest-grossing film of all time after its theatrical run. It was also Warner Bros.'s most successful film at the time.

Critical reception.

According to Rotten Tomatoes, 94% of 68 critics gave "Superman" a positive review, with an average rating of 8.08/10. The website's critical consensus reads, ""Superman" deftly blends humor and gravitas, taking advantage of the perfectly cast Reeve to craft a loving, nostalgic tribute to an American pop culture icon." Metacritic collected an average score of 80, resulting in "generally favorable reviews", based on 19 reviews. The film was widely regarded as one of top 10 films of 1978. "Superman" creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster gave a positive reaction. Shuster was "delighted to see Superman on the screen. I got

Subsequent TV and home media releases.

The extended TV version.

While, by contract, Richard Donner had major editorial control over what was theatrically released, the Salkinds had editorial control on what was shown outside of theaters. This was the result of deals that had been made between the producers and the ABC television network prior to the film's release. Financially, the more footage that was restored for television, the more revenue that could be made for the broadcast (the producers charged by the minute for every bit of footage added back in). During production of the film, Alexander and Ilya Salkind had been relegated to having to sell more and more of their rights back to Warner Bros. in exchange for

Other editions.

When Michael Thau and Warner Home Video started working on a film restoration in 2000, only eight minutes of the added footage that had been used in the TV cut could be considered restored into a version that director Richard Donner now calls his preferred version of the film. Thau determined that some of the extra footage could not be added because of poor visual effects. Thau felt "the pace of the film's storyline would be adversely affected [and there were] timing problems matching [footage] with John Williams' musical score, etc... The cut of the movie shown on KCOP was put together to make the movie longer when shown on TV as the Television Station paid per minute to air the movie. The "Special Edition" cut is designed for the best viewing experience in the true spirit of movie making." There was a special test screening of the Special Edition in 2001 in Austin, Texas, on March 23 with plans for a possible wider theatrical release later that year, which did not occur. In May 2001, Warner Home Video released the special edition on DVD. Director Donner also assisted, working slightly over a year on the project. The release included making-of documentaries directed by Thau and eight minutes of restored footage.

Legacy.

"Superman" was nominated for three Academy Awards (Best Film Editing – (Stuart Baird), Best Original Score – (John Williams) and Best Sound – (Gordon K. McCallum, Graham V. Hartstone, Nicolas Le Messurier and Roy Charman)) and received a Special Achievement Academy Award for its visual effects. Donner publicly expressed disgust that production designer John Barry and cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth had not been recognized by the Academy.  "Superman" was successful at the 32nd British Academy Film Awards. Reeve won Best Newcomer, while Hackman, Unsworth, Barry, and the sound designers earned nominations. The film won the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. At the Saturn Awards, Kidder, Barry, John Williams, and the visual effects department received awards, and the film won Best Science Fiction Film. Reeve, Hackman, Donner, Valerie Perrine, and costume designer Yvonne Blake were nominated for their work as well. In addition, Williams was nominated at the 36th Golden Globe Awards and won the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media. In 2007, the Visual Effects Society listed "Superman" as the 44th-most influential use of visual effects of all time. In 2008, "Empire" magazine named it the 174th-greatest film of all time on its list of 500. In 2009, "Entertainment Weekly" ranked Superman 3rd on their list of "The All-Time Coolest Heroes in Pop Culture".  With the film's success, it was immediately decided to finish "Superman II". Ilya and Alexander Salkind and Pierre Spengler did not ask Donner to return because Donner had criticized them during the film's publicity phase. Donner commented in January 1979, "I'd work with Spengler again, but only on my terms. As long as he has nothing to say as the producer, and is just liaison between Alexander Salkind and his money, that's fine. If they don't want it on those terms, then they need to go out and find another director, it sure as shit ain't gonna be me." Kidder, who portrayed Lois Lane, was dissatisfied by the producers' decision, and also criticized the Salkinds during publicity. Kidder said that as a result, she was only given a cameo appearance for "Superman III", and not a main supporting role. Jack O'Halloran, who portrayed Non, stated, "It was great to work with Donner. Richard Lester was as big an asshole as the Salkinds." Two more films, "Superman III" (1983) and "" (1987), were produced. "Superman Returns" was released in 2006. Director Bryan Singer credited the 1978 "Superman" as an influence for "Superman Returns", and used restored footage of Brando as Jor-El. "" also was released in 2006.  The film's final sequence, which features Superman flying high above the Earth at sunrise, and breaking the fourth wall to smile briefly at the camera, is featured at the end of every Superman film starring Reeve. "Superman Returns" recreated the shot with lead actor Brandon Routh.  Because "Superman" went into production prior to the releases of "Star Wars" (May 1977) and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (November 1977), some observers credit the three films collectively for launching the reemergence of a large market for science fiction films in the 1980s. This is certainly the view of "Superman" producer Ilya Salkind and some who have interviewed him, as well as of film production assistant Brad Lohan. Other observers of film history tend to credit the resurgence of science fiction films simply to the Lucas and Spielberg productions, and see "Superman" as the first of the new cycle of films launched by the first two. Ilya Salkind denies any connection between "Superman"—which began filming in March 1977—and the other films, stating that "I did not know about 'Star Wars'; 'Star Wars' did not know about 'Superman'; 'Close Encounters' did not know about 'Superman.' It really was completely independent—nobody knew anything about anybody." "Superman" also established the superhero film genre as viable outside the production of low-budget Saturday matinee serials. Director Christopher Nolan cited Richard Donner's vision and scope of "Superman" when pitching the concept for "Batman Begins" to Warner Bros. in 2002.  The movie inspired The Kinks' 1979 song "(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman", when the band's main songwriter, Ray Davies, watched the film in late 1978.  In 2006 the "Last Son" comic book story arc debuted in Action Comics, co-written by "Superman" director Richard Donner.  The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:  In December 2017, the film was selected for preservation by the United States Library of Congress National Film Registry, for being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".

Superman (also known as Superman: The Movie) is a 1978 superhero film directed by Richard Donner and based on the DC Comics character of the same name. An international co-production between the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Panama and the United States, the film stars an ensemble cast featuring Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Jeff East, Margot Kidder, Glenn Ford, Phyllis Thaxter, Jackie Cooper, Trevor Howard, Marc McClure, Terence Stamp, Valerie Perrine, Ned Beatty, Jack O'Halloran, Maria Schell, and Sarah Douglas. It depicts the origin of Superman (Reeve), including his infancy as Kal-El of Krypton, son of Jor-El (Brando) and his youthful years in the rural town of Smallville. Disguised as reporter Clark Kent, he adopts a mild-mannered disposition in Metropolis and develops a romance with Lois Lane (Kidder), while battling the villainous Lex Luthor (Hackman).

Superman ou Superman, le film au Québec est un film de super-héros britannico-helvético-panaméo-américain réalisé par Richard Donner, sorti en 1978, avec dans les rôles principaux Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder et Marlon Brando.


Early life and education.

Warren received his M.B.B.S. degree from the University of Adelaide, having completed his high school education at St Peter's College, Adelaide.

Career.

Warren trained at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and became Registrar in Clinical Pathology at the Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science (IMVS), where he worked in laboratory haematology which generated his interest in pathology.  In 1963, Warren was appointed Honorary Clinical Assistant in Pathology and Honorary Registrar in Haematology at Royal Adelaide Hospital. Subsequently, he lectured in pathology at Adelaide University, then took up the position of Clinical Pathology Registrar at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. In 1967, Warren was elected to the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia and became a senior pathologist at the Royal Perth Hospital where he spent the majority of his career.

Nobel Prize work.

At the University of Western Australia, with his colleague Barry J. Marshall, Warren proved that the bacterium is the infectious cause of stomach ulcers. Warren helped develop a convenient diagnostic test (-urea breath-test) for detecting "H. pylori" in ulcer patients.  In 2005, Warren and Marshall were awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine.  An Australian documentary was made in 2006 about Warren and Marshall's road to the Nobel Prize, called "The Winner's Guide to the Nobel Prize". He was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2007.  Asteroid 254863 Robinwarren, discovered by Italian amateur astronomer Silvano Casulli in 2005, was named in his honour. The official was published by the Minor Planet Center on 22 April 2016 ().

Personal life.

Warren married Winifred Theresa Warren (née Williams) in the early 1960s and together they had five children. Winifred Warren went on to become an accomplished psychiatrist. Following her death in 1997, Warren retired from medicine.

John Robin Warren AC (born 11 June 1937, in Adelaide) is an Australian pathologist, Nobel Laureate and researcher who is credited with the 1979 re-discovery of the bacterium "Helicobacter pylori", together with Barry Marshall. The duo proved to the medical community that the bacterium "Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori)" is the cause of most peptic ulcers.

J. Robin Warren, né le à Adélaïde, est un chercheur australien. Il a obtenu le prix Nobel de physiologie ou médecine en 2005 (avec Barry J. Marshall) pour avoir découvert l'implication de la bactérie "Helicobacter pylori" dans l'évolution des ulcères de l'estomac.


Taxonomy.

The earliest known descriptions of the broad-billed parrot were provided by Dutch travellers during the Second Dutch Expedition to Indonesia, led by the Dutch Admiral Jacob Cornelis van Neck in 1598. They appear in reports published in 1601, which also contain the first illustration of the bird, along with the first of a dodo. The Dutch sailors who visited Mauritius categorised the broad-billed parrots separately from parrots, and referred to them as "Indische ravens" (translated as either "Indian ravens" or "Indian crows") without accompanying useful descriptions, which caused confusion when their journals were studied.  The British naturalist Hugh Edwin Strickland assigned the "Indian ravens" to the hornbill genus "Buceros" in 1848, because he interpreted the projection on the forehead in the 1601 illustration as a horn. The Dutch and the French also referred to South American macaws as "Indian ravens" during the 17th century, and the name was used for hornbills by Dutch, French, and English speakers in the East Indies. The British traveller Sir Thomas Herbert referred to the broad-billed parrot as "Cacatoes" (cockatoo) in 1634, with the description "birds like Parrats, fierce and indomitable", but naturalists did not realise that he was referring to the same bird. Even after subfossils of a parrot matching the descriptions were found, the French zoologist Emile Oustalet argued in 1897 that the "Indian raven" was a hornbill whose remains awaited discovery. The Mauritian ornithologist France Staub was in favour of this idea as late as 1993. No remains of hornbills have ever been found on the island, and apart from an extinct species from New Caledonia, hornbills are not found on any oceanic islands.  The first known physical remain of the broad-billed parrot was a subfossil mandible collected along with the first batch of dodo bones found in the Mare aux Songes swamp. The British biologist Richard Owen described the mandible in 1866 and identified it as belonging to a large parrot species, to which he gave the binomial name "Psittacus mauritianus". This holotype specimen is now lost. The common name "broad-billed parrot" was first used by Owen in a 1866 lecture. In 1868, shortly after the 1601 journal of the Dutch East India Company ship "Gelderland" had been rediscovered, the German ornithologist Hermann Schlegel examined an unlabelled pen-and-ink sketch in it. Realising that the drawing, which is attributed to the Dutch artist Joris Joostensz Laerle, depicted the parrot described by Owen, Schlegel made the connection with the old journal descriptions. Because its bones and crest are significantly different from those of "Psittacus" species, the British zoologist Alfred Newton assigned it to its own genus in 1875, which he called "Lophopsittacus". "Lophos" is the Ancient Greek word for crest, referring here to the bird's frontal crest, and "psittakos" means parrot.  In 1973, based on remains collected by the French amateur naturalist Louis Etienne Thirioux in the early 20th century, the British ornithologist Daniel T. Holyoak placed a small subfossil Mauritian parrot in the same genus as the broad-billed parrot and named it "Lophopsittacus bensoni". In 2007, on the basis of a comparison of subfossils, correlated with 17th and 18th century descriptions of small grey parrots, Hume reclassified it as a species in the genus "Psittacula" and called it Thirioux's grey parrot. In 1967, the American ornithologist James Greenway had speculated that reports of grey Mauritian parrots referred to the broad-billed parrot.

Evolution.

The taxonomic affinities of the broad-billed parrot are undetermined. Considering its large jaws and other osteological features, the British ornithologists Edward Newton and Hans Gadow thought it to be closely related to the Rodrigues parrot ("Necropsittacus rodricanus") in 1893, but were unable to determine whether they both belonged in the same genus, since a crest was only known from the latter. The British ornithologist Graham S. Cowles instead found their skulls too dissimilar for them to be close relatives in 1987.  Many endemic Mascarene birds, including the dodo, are derived from South Asian ancestors, and the British palaeontologist Julian Hume has proposed that this may be the case for all the parrots there as well. Sea levels were lower during the Pleistocene, so it was possible for species to colonise some of the then less isolated islands. Although most extinct parrot species of the Mascarenes are poorly known, subfossil remains show that they shared features such as enlarged heads and jaws, reduced pectoral bones, and robust leg bones. Hume has suggested that they have a common origin in the radiation of the tribe Psittaculini, basing this theory on morphological features and the fact that "Psittacula" parrots have managed to colonise many isolated islands in the Indian Ocean. The Psittaculini may have invaded the area several times, as many of the species were so specialised that they may have evolved significantly on hotspot islands before the Mascarenes emerged from the sea.

Description.

The broad-billed parrot possessed a distinct frontal crest of feathers. Ridges on the skull indicate that this crest was firmly attached, and that the bird, unlike cockatoos, could not raise or lower it. The 1601 "Gelderland" sketch was examined in 2003 by Hume, who compared the ink finish with the underlying pencil sketch and found that the latter showed several additional details. The pencil sketch depicts the crest as a tuft of rounded feathers attached to the front of the head at the base of the beak, and shows long primary covert feathers, large secondary feathers, and a slightly bifurcated tail. Measurements of sub-fossils known by 1893 show that the mandible was in length, in width, the femur was in length, the tibia was, and the metatarsus. Unlike other Mascarene parrots, the broad-billed parrot had a flattened skull.  Subfossils show that the males were larger, measuring to the females' and that both sexes had disproportionately large heads and beaks. The sexual dimorphism in size between male and female skulls is the largest among parrots. Differences in the bones of the rest of the body and limbs are less pronounced; nevertheless, it had greater sexual dimorphism in overall size than any living parrot. The size differences between the two birds in the 1601 sketch may be due to this feature. A 1602 account by the Dutch sailor Reyer Cornelisz has traditionally been interpreted as the only contemporary mention of size differences among broad-billed parrots, listing "large and small Indian crows" among the animals of the island. A full transcript of the original text was only published in 2003, and showed that a comma had been incorrectly placed in the English translation; "large and small" instead referred to "field-hens", possibly the red rail and the smaller Cheke's wood rail.  There has been some confusion over the colouration of the broad-billed parrot. The report of van Neck's 1598 voyage, published in 1601, contained the first illustration of the parrot, with a caption stating that the bird had "two or three colours". The last account of the bird, and the only mention of specific colours, was by the German preacher Johann Christian Hoffman in 1673–75:  In spite of the mention of several colours, authors such as the British naturalist Walter Rothschild claimed that the "Gelderland" journal described the bird as entirely blue-grey, and it was restored this way in Rothschild's 1907 book "Extinct Birds". Later examination of the journal by Julian Hume has revealed only a description of the dodo. He suggested that the distinctively drawn facial mask may represent a separate colour. The British ecologist Anthony S. Cheke suggested in 1987 that in addition to size dimorphism, the sexes may have had different colours, which would explain some of the discrepancies in the old descriptions. The head was evidently blue, and in 2007, Hume suggested the beak may have been red, and the rest of the plumage greyish or blackish, which also occurs in other members of Psittaculini.  In 2015, a translation of the 1660s report of the Dutch soldier Johannes Pretorius about his stay on Mauritius (from 1666 to 1669) was published, wherein he described the bird as "very beautifully coloured". Hume accordingly reinterpreted Hoffman's account, and suggested the bird may have been brightly coloured with a red body, blue head, and red beak; the bird was illustrated as such in the paper. Possible iridescent or glossy feathers that changed appearance according to angle of light may also have given the impression that it had even more colours. The Australian ornithologist Joseph M. Forshaw agreed in 2017 that the bill was red (at least in males), but interpreted Hoffman's account as suggesting a more subdued reddish-brown colouration in general, with a pale bluish-grey head, similar to the Mascarene parrot.

Behaviour and ecology.

Pretorius kept various now-extinct Mauritian birds in captivity, and described the behaviour of the broad-billed parrot as follows: Though the broad-billed parrot may have fed on the ground and been a weak flier, its tarsometatarsus was short and stout, implying some arboreal characteristics. The Newton brothers and many authors after them inferred that it was flightless, due to the apparent short wings and large size shown in the 1601 "Gelderland" sketch. According to Hume, the underlying pencil sketch actually shows that the wings are not particularly short. They appear broad, as they commonly are in forest-adapted species, and the alula appears large, a feature of slow-flying birds. Its sternal keel was reduced, but not enough to prevent flight, as the adept flying "Cyanoramphus" parrots also have reduced keels, and even the flightless kakapo, with its vestigial keel, is capable of gliding. Furthermore, Hoffman's account states that it could fly, albeit with difficulty, and the first published illustration shows the bird on top of a tree, an improbable position for a flightless bird. The broad-billed parrot may have been behaviourally near-flightless, like the now-extinct Norfolk Island kaka.  Sexual dimorphism in beak size may have affected behaviour. Such dimorphism is common in other parrots, for example in the palm cockatoo and the New Zealand kaka. In species where it occurs, the sexes prefer food of different sizes, the males use their beaks in rituals, or the sexes have specialised roles in nesting and rearing. Similarly, the large difference between male and female head size may have been reflected in the ecology of each sex, though it is impossible to determine how.  In 1953, the Japanese ornithologist Masauji Hachisuka suggested the broad-billed parrot was nocturnal, like the kakapo and the night parrot, two extant ground-dwelling parrots. Contemporary accounts do not corroborate this, and the orbits are of similar size to those of other large diurnal parrots. The broad-billed parrot was recorded on the dry leeward side of Mauritius, which was the most accessible for people, and it was noted that birds were more abundant near the coast, which may indicate that the fauna of such areas was more diverse. It may have nested in tree cavities or rocks, like the Cuban amazon. The terms "raven" or "crow" may have been suggested by the bird's harsh call, its behavioural traits, or just its dark plumage. The following description by the Dutch bookkeeper Jacob Granaet from 1666 mentions some of the broad-billed parrot's co-inhabitants of the forests, and might indicate its demeanour: Many other endemic species of Mauritius were lost after the arrival of man, so the ecosystem of the island is severely damaged and hard to reconstruct. Before humans arrived, Mauritius was entirely covered in forests, almost all of which have since been lost to deforestation. The surviving endemic fauna is still seriously threatened. The broad-billed parrot lived alongside other recently extinct Mauritian birds such as the dodo, the red rail, the Mascarene grey parakeet, the Mauritius blue pigeon, the Mauritius owl, the Mascarene coot, the Mauritian shelduck, the Mauritian duck, and the Mauritius night heron. Extinct Mauritian reptiles include the saddle-backed Mauritius giant tortoise, the domed Mauritius giant tortoise, the Mauritian giant skink, and the Round Island burrowing boa. The small Mauritian flying fox and the snail "Tropidophora carinata" lived on Mauritius and Réunion but became extinct in both islands. Some plants, such as "Casearia tinifolia" and the palm orchid, have also become extinct.

Diet.

Species that are morphologically similar to the broad-billed parrot, such as the hyacinth macaw and the palm cockatoo, may provide insight into its ecology. "Anodorhynchus" macaws, which are habitual ground dwellers, eat very hard palm nuts. The Brazilian ornithologist Carlos Yamashita suggested in 1997 that these macaws once depended on now-extinct South American megafauna to eat fruits and excrete the seeds, and that they later relied on domesticated cattle to do this. Similarly, in Australasia the palm cockatoo feeds on undigested seeds from cassowary droppings. Yamashita also suggested that the abundant "Cylindraspis" tortoises and dodos performed the same function on Mauritius, and that the broad-billed parrot, with its macaw-like beak, depended on them to obtain cleaned seeds. Many types of palms and palm-like plants on Mauritius produce hard seeds that the broad-billed parrot may have eaten, including "Latania loddigesii", "Mimusops maxima", "Sideroxylon grandiflorum", "Diospyros egrettorium", and "Pandanus utilis". On the basis of radiographs, Holyoak claimed that the mandible of the broad-billed parrot was weakly constructed and suggested that it would have fed on soft fruits rather than hard seeds. As evidence, he pointed out that the internal trabeculae were widely spaced, that the upper bill was broad whereas the palatines were narrow, and the fact that no preserved upper rostrum had been discovered, which he attributed to its delicateness. The British ornithologist George A. Smith, however, pointed out that the four genera Holyoak used as examples of "strong jawed" parrots based on radiographs, "Cyanorhamphus", "Melopsittacus", "Neophema" and "Psephotus", actually have weak jaws in life, and that the morphologies cited by Holyoak do not indicate strength. Hume has since pointed out that the mandible morphology of the broad-billed parrot is comparable to that of the largest living parrot, the hyacinth macaw, which cracks open palm nuts with ease. It is therefore probable that the broad-billed parrot fed in the same manner.

Extinction.

Though Mauritius had previously been visited by Arab vessels in the Middle Ages and Portuguese ships between 1507 and 1513, they did not settle on the island. The Dutch Empire acquired the island in 1598, renaming it after the Dutch stadtholder Maurice of Nassau, and it was used from then on for the provisioning of trade vessels of the Dutch East India Company. To the Dutch sailors who visited Mauritius from 1598 and onwards, the fauna was mainly interesting from a culinary standpoint. Of the eight or so parrot species endemic to the Mascarenes, only the echo parakeet of Mauritius has survived. The others were likely all made extinct by a combination of excessive hunting and deforestation.  Because of its poor flying ability, large size and possible island tameness, the broad-billed parrot was easy prey for sailors who visited Mauritius, and their nests would have been extremely vulnerable to predation by introduced crab-eating macaques and rats. Various sources indicate the bird was aggressive, which may explain why it held out so long against introduced animals after all. The bird is believed to have become extinct by the 1680s, when the palms it may have sustained itself on were harvested on a large scale. Unlike other parrot species, which were often taken as pets by sailors, there are no records of broad-billed parrots being transported from Mauritius either live or dead, perhaps because of the stigma associated with ravens. The birds would not in any case have survived such a journey if they refused to eat anything but seeds.

The broad-billed parrot or raven parrot ("Lophopsittacus mauritianus") is a large extinct parrot in the family Psittaculidae. It was endemic to the Mascarene island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar. It is unclear what other species it is most closely related to, but it has been classified as a member of the tribe Psittaculini, along with other Mascarene parrots. It had similarities with the Rodrigues parrot ("Necropsittacus rodricanus"), and may have been closely related.

Lophopsittacus mauritianus est une espèce de Psittacidés aujourd'hui disparue autrefois endémique de l'île Maurice. Son existence est avérée par de nombreux os et des récits de voyageurs. Il était grand et son vol peu assuré. Ses os réduits et ses ailes très courtes indiquent qu'il était probablement inapte au vol, bien que l'information soit encore débattue. Il fut beaucoup chassé et c'est là la cause la plus probable de sa disparition. Hoffman signale en 1680 que les dernières observations de l'oiseau datent de 1673 à 1675.


History.

Ancient History.

The origin of the name Bagram is not clear, with several theories proposed to describe its origins. Kapisa, an ancient site near the town is known to be the location of a city once ruled by the Indo-Iranian Kamboja dynasty. While the Diadochi were warring amongst themselves, the Mauryan Empire was developing in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. The founder of the empire, Chandragupta Maurya, confronted a Macedonian invasion force led by Seleucus I in 305 BC and following a brief conflict, an agreement was reached as Seleucus ceded Gandhara and Arachosia (centered on ancient Kandahar) and areas south of Bagram (corresponding to the extreme south-east of modern Afghanistan) to the Mauryans. During the 120 years of the Mauryans in southern Afghanistan, Buddhism was introduced and eventually become a major religion alongside Zoroastrianism and local pagan beliefs. The ancient Grand Trunk Road was built linking what is now Kabul to various cities in the Punjab and the Gangetic Plain. Commerce, art, and architecture (seen especially in the construction of stupas) developed during this period. It reached its high point under Emperor Ashoka whose edicts, roads, and rest stops were found throughout the subcontinent. Although the vast majority of them throughout the subcontinent were written in Prakrit, Afghanistan is notable for the inclusion of 2 Greek and Aramaic ones alongside the court language of the Mauryans.  The last ruler in the region was probably Subhagasena (Sophagasenus).  Bagram became the capital of the Kushan Empire in the 1st century, from here they invaded and conquered Peshawar in the south. The "Bagram treasure" as it has been called, is indicative of intense commercial exchanges between all the cultural centers of the classical time, with the Kushan empire at the junction of the land and sea trade between the east and west. However, the works of art found in Bagram, such as the Begram ivories, are either quite purely Hellenistic, Roman, Chinese or Indian, with only little indications of the cultural syncretism found in Greco-Buddhist art. kapisa is a Sanskrit word used in Hindu epic ramayana for van Nara vanara ( Arabic bandar or ape like featured race). Arabic word kafir is Arabic for kapir.Bagram city is named after lots Ram as kapi race was having great friendship with ikahvaku lineages Ram and bagh of grapes are famous in this region. Hence Bagram ( baghram ).

Islamic conquest.

The Islamic conquest of Afghanistan and the adjoining Pashtun region began in 7th century after conquest of Persia. However, the complete Islamization of Afghanistan wasn't achieved until the Ghaznavid rule. The modern-day town is believed to be founded by Babur at the site of the ancient city. In Babur's memoirs, the "Baburnama", the emphasis of his visit in 1519 is on the colony of Hindu ascetics at Gurh Kattri (Kur Katri), who fascinated him.

Recent history.

Bagram hosts the strategic Bagram Airfield, from which most US air activity in Afghanistan takes place. The runway was built in 1976, and it was a Soviet air base from 1979 to 1989. There is also a Provincial Reconstruction Team which is led by the US.  Bagram is also the location of the Parwan Detention Facility; this detention facility was the last prison in Afghanistan under management of the US. It was handed back to the Afghan government on 25 March 2013. The detention centre had earlier come into the attention of the news media as it was claimed that prisoners were tortured (see the article Bagram torture and prisoner abuse). At the time of the hand-over of the facility, human-rights groups like Amnesty International have raised concerns about the treatment of prisoners there.  On December 21, 2015, Bagram was the site of a suicide bombing killing 6 people.

Bagram (;, ) is a town and seat in Bagram District in Parwan Province of Afghanistan, about 25 kilometers north of the capital Kabul. It is the site of an ancient city located at the junction of the Ghorband and Panjshir Valley, near today's city of Charikar, Afghanistan. The location of this historical town made it a key passage from Ancient India along the Silk Road, leading westwards through the mountains towards Bamiyan, and north over the Kushan Pass to the Baghlan Valley and, past the impressive statement of Kushan power at Surkh Kotal, to the great commercial centre of Balkh and the rest of northern Afghanistan.

Begrâm (persan : بگرام), ou Bagrâm, est une localité d'Afghanistan située à 60 km au nord de Kaboul, voisine de la cité de Charikar. Construite au confluent des vallées du Ghorband et du Panjshir, elle devint un point de passage obligé pour l'Inde sur la route de la soie, vers Kaboul et Bamiyan fameuse pour ses Bouddhas géants.


Early life.

Stokes was born in Rankin, Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh, one of four children — he had a twin sister and two brothers. His father worked in a steel mill and his mother was a domestic. When Maurice was age 8, the family moved to nearby Homewood, where he later attended Westinghouse High School. Stokes did not start his first two years at Westinghouse, but in his last two years, he helped lead the Bulldogs to back-to-back city championships in 1950 and 1951.

College career.

Stokes attended and graduated from Saint Francis College in Loretto, Pennsylvania. There he led the Red Flash to the 1955 National Invitation Tournament and was named Most Valuable Player although his team finished fourth in the tournament. In his first college season, Stokes averaged 23.1 points and 26.5 rebounds per game. In the following season, he averaged 27.1 points and 26.2 rebounds per game. Stokes remains St. Francis' all-time leading rebounder with 1,819 and is second in scoring with 2,282 points. The Red Flash were 79-30 during Stokes' four seasons. He was later inducted in the St. Francis University Athletic Hall of Fame.

NBA career.

Playing for the National Basketball Association's Rochester Royals, which became the Cincinnati Royals in 1957, from 1955 to 1958, Stokes averaged 16.3 rebounds per game during his rookie season and was named NBA Rookie of the Year. The next season, he set a league record for most rebounds in a single season with 1,256 (17.4 per game). Stokes was second in the NBA in rebounds and third in assists in 1957–58; a feat only Wilt Chamberlain has matched for a full season.  During his three seasons in the NBA (1955–58), he grabbed more rebounds than any other player with 3,492 (Bob Pettit was second with 3,417) and also amassed 1,062 assists, which was second in the NBA only to Boston Celtics' point guard Bob Cousy (1,583). Stokes was named an All-Star and All-NBA Second Team for all three seasons of his career. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in September 2004.  He is one of eight NBA players who have recorded four consecutive triple-doubles.

Injury and paralysis.

On March 12, 1958, in the last game of the 1957–58 NBA regular season, Stokes was knocked unconscious after he drove to the basket, drew contact, and struck his head as he fell to the court. He was revived with smelling salts and returned to the game. Three days later, after recording 12 points and 15 rebounds in an opening-round playoff game against the Detroit Pistons, he became ill on the team's flight back to Cincinnati. Stokes later suffered a seizure and was left permanently paralyzed. He was diagnosed with post-traumatic encephalopathy, a brain injury that damaged his motor-control center.  During the years that followed, Stokes would be supported and cared for by his lifelong friend and teammate, Jack Twyman, who became Stokes' legal guardian. Although permanently paralyzed, Stokes was mentally alert and communicated by blinking his eyes. He adopted a grueling physical therapy regimen that eventually allowed him limited physical movement, and he eventually regained limited speaking ability. Stokes' condition deteriorated through the 1960s and was later transferred to Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati, where Twyman continued to be a regular visitor.

Death.

Twelve years after he went into the post-injury coma, he died at age 36 from a heart attack on April 6, 1970. At his own request, he was buried in Franciscan Friar Cemetery on the campus of Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pennsylvania.

Legacy.

After Jack Twyman became his legal guardian, he organized a charity exhibition basketball game in 1958 to help raise funds for Stokes' medical expenses. That game, spearheaded by Milton Kutsher, became an annual tradition and was named the Maurice Stokes Memorial Basketball Game. It was later changed to the Maurice Stokes/Wilt Chamberlain Celebrity Pro-Am Golf Tournament due to NBA and insurance company restrictions regarding athletes.  Stokes' life, injury, and relationship with Twyman are all depicted in the 1973 National General Pictures film "Maurie".

NBA Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award.

On June 9, 2013, the NBA announced that both Stokes and Jack Twyman would be honored with an annual award in their names, the Twyman–Stokes Teammate of the Year Award, which recognizes the player that embodies the league's ideal teammate that season.

The Maurice Stokes Athletics Center.

The Maurice Stokes Athletics Center (originally called the Maurice Stokes Physical Education Building when it opened in 1971) on the St. Francis University campus is named after him.

References.

Farabaugh, Pat. "An Unbreakable Bond: The Brotherhood of Maurice Stokes and Jack Twyman", Haworth, N.J.: St. Johann Press, 2014.

Maurice Stokes (June 17, 1933 – April 6, 1970) was an American professional basketball player in the 1950s for the Cincinnati/Rochester Royals of the National Basketball Association (NBA) until his career — and later his life — was cut short by a debilitating injury. Stokes is a namesake of the NBA's Twyman–Stokes Teammate of the Year Award. Stokes was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004.

Maurice Stokes est un joueur de basket-ball, évoluant au poste d'intérieur, de 2,01 mètres né le à Rankin en Pennsylvanie. Il est l’un des tout premiers joueurs de l’histoire à combiner une grande rapidité avec une puissance et une taille imposante. Choisi par les Rochester Royals, il a un impact immédiat dans l’équipe puisqu’il en est le meilleur marqueur, rebondeur et passeur.


Education.

Glauber was born in 1925 in New York City, the son of Felicia (Fox) and Emanuel B. Glauber. He was a member of the 1941 graduating class of the Bronx High School of Science, the first graduating class from that school. He then went on to do his undergraduate work at Harvard University. After his sophomore year he was recruited to work on the Manhattan Project, where (at the age of 18) he was one of the youngest scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory. His work involved calculating the critical mass for the atom bomb. After two years at Los Alamos, he returned to Harvard, receiving his bachelor's degree in 1946 and his PhD in 1949.

Research.

Glauber's recent research dealt with problems in a number of areas of quantum optics, a field which, broadly speaking, studies the quantum electrodynamical interactions of light and matter. He also continued work on several topics in high-energy collision theory, including the analysis of hadron collisions, and the statistical correlation of particles produced in high-energy reactions.  Specific topics of his research included: the quantum mechanical behavior of trapped wave packets; interactions of light with trapped ions; atom counting-the statistical properties of free atom beams and their measurement; algebraic methods for dealing with fermion statistics; coherence and correlations of bosonic atoms near the Bose–Einstein condensation; the theory of continuously monitored photon counting-and its reaction on quantum sources; the fundamental nature of "quantum jumps"; resonant transport of particles produced multiply in high-energy collisions; the multiple diffraction model of proton-proton and proton-antiproton scattering.

Awards and honors.

Glauber received many honors for his research, including the Albert A. Michelson Medal from the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia (1985), the Max Born Award from the Optical Society of America (1985), the Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics from the American Physical Society (1996), and the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physics. Professor Glauber was awarded the 'Medalla de Oro del CSIC' ('CSIC's Gold Medal') in a ceremony held in Madrid, Spain. He was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 1997.

Ig Nobel.

For many years before winning his Nobel Prize, Glauber was familiar to audiences of the Ig Nobel Prize ceremonies, where he took a bow each year as "Keeper of the Broom," sweeping the stage clean of the paper airplanes that have traditionally been thrown during the event. He missed the 2005 event, though, as he was being awarded his real Nobel Prize for Physics.

Personal life.

Glauber lived in Arlington, Massachusetts.  Glauber was a guest scientist at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in 1967, during a sabbatical.  Glauber had a son and a daughter, and five grandchildren. He died on December 26, 2018 in Newton, Massachusetts. His remains were laid to rest in Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, NY.

Roy Jay Glauber (September 1, 1925 – December 26, 2018) was an American theoretical physicist. He was the Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics at Harvard University and Adjunct Professor of Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona. Born in New York City, he was awarded one half of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his contribution to the quantum theory of optical coherence", with the other half shared by John L. Hall and Theodor W. Hänsch. In this work, published in 1963, he created a model for photodetection and explained the fundamental characteristics of different types of light, such as laser light (see coherent state) and light from light bulbs (see blackbody). His theories are widely used in the field of quantum optics. In statistical physics he pioneered the study of the dynamics of first-order phase transitions, since he first defined and investigated the stochastic dynamics of a Ising model in a largely influential paper published in 1963. He served on the National Advisory Board of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, the research arms of Council for a Livable World.

Roy Jay Glauber (né le à New York et mort le à Newton au Massachusetts) est un physicien américain. Il est colauréat du prix Nobel de physique de 2005.


Cast types.

Actors are selected to play various types of roles. Main cast or starring roles consist of several actors whose appearances are significant in film, theatre, or television. The largest role who plays protagonist is called a leading actor (or leading actress for a woman). When there is no a single leading actor, the main roles are called ensemble cast which comprises multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time. A supporting actor is an actor who performs a role in a play or film below that of the leading actor(s). Supporting roles are above that of a bit part which is direct interaction with the principal actors and no more than five lines of dialogue, often referred to as a five-or-less or under-five in the United States, or under sixes in British television. When a well-known actor or other celebrity appears in a bit part, it is called cameo appearance.

Casting process.

The casting process involves a series of auditions before a casting panel, composed of individuals within a theatrical production such as theatrical producer, and theater director. However, within a given television production a casting panel can consist of a television producer, or within film production a casting panel could contain a film producer, film director, and/or choreographer. Usually, in nearly all areas of show business, a casting director is on this panel as well. In the early stages of this process performers often may present, or are presented with prepared "audition pieces" such as monologues, songs, choreography, scripts and or sides.  These audition pieces are usually video taped, typically in the form of screen tests and then attached with resumes, as well as head shots and or viewed online via websites such as IMDb, then shared with film producers, film directors and or studio executives. Later stages may involve groups of actors both union, (SAG-AFTRA) and non union depending on the size and scope of the production, attempting to read material from the work under consideration, paired off in various combinations of two, three or more. With each of the actor's overall motivational choices evaluated, the casting panel considers both the individual actor, and the "chemistry" created from either one of the combinations set forth within the read-through, such as boy meets girl, etc.  Within the production of a prestigious work under consideration for film or television, and depending on the difficulty in finding a lead or supporting actor for the role, such as with the casting of the biopic films Notorious, Straight Outta Compton and All Eyez on Me, casting calls may go out into the general public at large, this is referred to as a Cattle Call (typical for community theater), to professional and semi-professional local actors where a similar process is followed (for supporting roles in theater and film) or for specifically selected actors (for leading roles, especially in films).  Casting character breakdowns, not to be confused with script breakdowns, are often provided by production agents who submit their clients to casting, which provides a brief summary of character (age, gender, race or ethnicity, situations they may be involved in). A more robust version of this painstaking task can be made through the Breakdown Services, which was founded by former actor Gary Marsh over 40 years ago. This was due to the difficult logistics issues for agents to get their actors submitted for acting roles from major film studios and casting directors.  This casting breakdown service provides a complete character breakdown of various scripts and projects from production companies for film, television, modeling, commercials etc., to only agencies and managers who meet certain criteria.  These agents and managers are positioned all over the world, and subscribe to this service that literally has an entire suite of services for just about every aspect of the breakdown, for a monthly service subscription fee. This suite includes services such as Breakdown Express, which offer representatives, casting and those who subscribe, a quicker way to post projects themselves. Another more limited version of the breakdown service, also for a monthly subscription fee is called Actors Access where acting can subscribe to what is only made available to them, more like an entry-level acting position, like under-five, or a bit part, a great tool for the actor whom is without an agent or manager.  An actor may go through several casting calls before receiving a part, and even though well known actors or actresses oftentimes still go through this very necessary process, some are privileged enough to have well known writers, screenwriters and or directors /producers pitch a project for their intent to be cast in a role. The well known actor or actress oftentimes negotiates producer credit as well as very lucrative monetary compensation.  Independent casting studios like Film Independent who hosts the annual Independent Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival are often utilized for casting calls so that auditions can take place in one location, as well as possible affiliated various locations saving valuable time, energy and money.

Casting directors.

For some major productions, the process of selecting actors for sometimes hundreds of speaking parts and roles, may often require a specialized staff. While the last word remains with the people in charge such as the director, producer, artistic departments and overall production team, a casting director or "CD" (and sometimes the casting associate) is in charge of most of the daily work involved in this process during pre-production. A casting director is sometimes assisted by a casting associate; productions with large numbers of extras may have their own extras casting director as well, however in all aspects of a film or television production's budget, they are all a part of the above-the-line, answering to the director as part of his or her staff.  The "CD" remains as a liaison between director, actors and their agents/managers and the studio/network to get the characters in the script cast. Some casting directors build an impressive career working on numerous Hollywood productions such as Marion Dougherty, Mary Jo Slater, Mary Selway, Lynn Stalmaster, April Webster, Tammara Billik, Marci Liroff, Avy Kaufman, Mindy Marin, and Robi Reed.  At least in the early stages of casting and or extras casting, the process may be decentralized geographically, often in conjunction with actual shooting planned in different locations. Another reason may be tapping into each home market in the case of an international co-production. However, for the top parts, the choice of one or more beautiful people, whose presence is of enormous commercial importance, may rather follow strictly personal channels, e.g. direct contact with the director. During this time known as the "attachment phase" of a film, the casting director's job is to send out copies of the current script to agents for what is known as coverage. Coverage is when a script yet to be cast is read, summarized into a one-pager, and a brief set of character descriptions established. At this time, if an agency agrees to give coverage to a film, they will submit a list of ideas to the casting directors of actors available, capable, and in the price range of the film. Also, casting directors create their own idea lists and can "check avails" or call the actor representation to see if they are available and interested in taking on potential projects. If an idea that is generated from a casting director and a subsequent avail check or from an agent's recommendation is "approved" by the director, producers, and financiers (or studio), the casting director sends out what is called an "Offer." The offer, usually contains a letter to the actor's representative explaining the role in question, a copy of the script, why the actor has been selected, the length of time commitment, the approximate start date of filming, the filming location, and the proposed salary offering. If the actor does not respond to the material or for whatever reason cannot accept the job, they respond to casting with what is called a "pass." If they accept the offer, the agent engages the casting director and a deal memo is sent from casting to the representative. It is at this time when negotiations between agency and production happen to finalize any deal points before the entertainment lawyers step in and draw up the attachment contracts. If this process happens very early on in the development of a movie but the official shoot dates and details are not yet known, a Letter of Intent or "LOI" is drafted, to indicate, if and when the project is "green lit" or begins active production, the actor is already hired to portray that particular role.  After the attachment phase is complete (which depends on many factors—including but not limited to: financial backers, studio heads, availability of other above the line personnel), the physical auditions begin for all of the remaining roles. During this time, depending on the budget of the film, they could have what is called "pre-screens" where you audition only for a casting director (or associate) to see if the actor is right for the material. After pre-screens would be a "director session", during this time the actor comes in and auditions (usually with the same material) and now performs for the casting director and the film director. If there is a next step, it is usually a "callback" or producer session, where anyone who has decision making power is in the room for your audition. In television, this phase is referred to as a "screen test" and Network Executives would also be in attendance. Once actors are selected from the pool of available actors, the same booking process that happens in the attachment phase takes place for any actor except extras.  The resulting list of actors who were selected to play a character for a production, is called a cast list, which is incorporated into a production company's daily call sheet, and reflected in the projects title sequence especially with film and television.

Casting office personnel.

Readers: This person reads all other character's lines opposite the actor who is currently auditioning. A good reader is someone who has acting skills, but who has no interest in booking a role through that casting director's office at that time. A reader will know how to give and take and play with other actors without ever outshining the auditioning actors.  Interns: Interns are more common to commercial casting offices which host as many as a dozen different casting directors holding different auditions per day. While some commercial casting offices hold permanent casting space, many rent out studios on a project to project basis. A key intern will work with many busy casting directors sorting mail, copying sides and transcribing them onto "cue cards" or large boards to be read off of as prompts in the casting room, help actors sign in, and keep the flow of actors going in and out of the casting room as smooth as possible.  Casting Assistants: This is the entry-level position in the field of casting. These people go above and beyond the call of duty of your typical office assistant. They do everything from covering phones, to making copies, setting up audition (aka "session") equipment like lights, the camera, sound equipment, etc. They sometimes can be found in the office relaying audition appointments, checking actors avails, or in the casting room making sure the recording software is running smoothly so the Casting Director can focus on each actor's performance.  Casting Associates: Associates is the second chain of command in a casting office. Once a casting associate has worked for two years in the field of casting, they can apply for membership in Casting Society of America. Typically, the work under a Casting Director running pre-read sessions, prepping deal memos, and doing any calls to agents. Many associates begin to take on smaller scale projects so they can amass enough credits to move up in rank in CSA to a full-fledged Casting Director.  Casting Director: Their job is to know a lot about a lot of actors, so that they can advise and present to the director the best of the existing possibilities. Casting directors are highly influential and is usually on the project because the director trusts their judgements. They are also the ones who decides who the director does see. Good casting directors "discover" actor by carefully setting it up so that the director and producer will feel as if they've made the discovery of the new actor. On the occasion when the director or producer does not respond to the actor presented, they must keep in mind that they aren't directing the production, the director is the one who's going to have to work with that actor—therefore, it is casting's responsibility to delicately balance between showcasing the actor available to them and the director and producer's sensibilities, tastes, and expectations.

Casting Society of America (CSA).

The significant organization of professional screen, television, reality, and theater casting in the US is the Casting Society of America (CSA), but membership is optional. Casting directors organized in 2005 and became members of a collective bargaining unit, the Hollywood Teamsters Local 399 and New York Teamsters Local 817.

Casting director workshops.

A common practice of many casting directors and casting associates have been casting director workshops. The types of workshop practices vary, but typically aspiring actors pay to perform in front of a casting professional who gives back feedback on the performance. Actors and industry professionals against workshops argue that casting directors are paid to find talent, not have talent pay to be seen by them. Supporters of the workshops argue that the workshops have classroom like settings and are a good source of feedback and networking.  Because of their mixed reception, casting director workshops have not been met without controversy. Former Criminal Minds casting director Scott David was fired after The Hollywood Reporter published a story about his casting director workshops. In February 2017, five casting director workshops were charged with criminal charges for charging actors to audition for projects. In January 2018, Lindsay Chag, the casting director of films like and, was convicted guilty of violating the Talent Scam Prevention Act for her role in casting director workshops.

Artios Awards.

The highest honor a casting director can receive is awarded by their peers in the Casting Society of America. "Artios", comes from the Greek word meaning, "perfectly fitted." The Artios award excellence in casting for all genres of casting except commercials. The Artios are currently held mid-January annually with ceremonies in New York, Los Angeles, and (beginning in 2018) London. Since their incarnation in 1985, they were held in November but were moved in the 2013–2014 season to align with the rest of the film and television industry's awards season. The Artios is awarded to those CSA members who receive primary screen (or program) credit for casting on the winning project. Location Casting Directors, Casting Executives and Department Heads who are CSA members and who receive credit on winning projects also receive an Artios Award. CSA Associates on those projects are recognized in the press and with a certificate.

Emmy Awards.

The Emmy Awards has a category for casting directors. As of 2017, Junie Lowry-Johnson has won the most casting Emmys as an individual, all in the drama category. She has six awards for her work on "NYPD Blue", "Six Feet Under", "True Blood" and "Homeland". The only shows to win casting Emmys three times were "30 Rock" and "Veep", both in the comedy category. In 2017, at the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences introduced the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Casting for a Reality Program.

British Academy Film Awards.

In 2020, the British Academy Film Awards introduced award for best casting.

In the performing arts industry such as theatre, film, or television, a casting (or casting call) is a pre-production process for selecting a certain type of actor, dancer, singer, or extra for a particular role or part in a script, screenplay, or teleplay. This process is typically utilized for a motion picture, television program, documentary, music video, play, or television advertisement, etc. This involvement in a dramatic production, advertisement, and or industrial video is intended for an audience, or studio audience.

Dans le domaine des arts du spectacle, le ou audition est l'étape qui permet de choisir une équipe d'acteurs, danseurs, chanteurs, techniciens, etc. en vue d'une production théâtrale ou cinématographique.


History.

The Leonard de Vinci Engineering School (ESILV) was created in 1995 by the Conseil général des Hauts-de-Seine. It is an engineering school which is located in La Défense. Since 2003, the diploma of ESILV is a recognized diploma by the Commission des Titres d'Ingénieur (CTI). This accreditation has been renewed in 2013.

Missions.

The ESILV mission is to train professionals in mastering the use of new technologies – particularly the IT tools in advanced applications of design, production, computer communication, and management. The ESILV meets the great challenges of the contemporary world: the evolution of businesses, the globalization and the creation of new professions.

Departments.

The ESILV is composed of four departments:  The majors offered apply in the area of modeling and numerical simulation, computer networks and databases, new energies, new information technologies, computational mechanics, and financial engineering.

Admission.

Students enter after high school graduation (e.g. French Baccalauréat). Application is made during the senior year through Concours Avenir. Students may also enter after the Classe Préparatoire aux Grandes Écoles and spend three years in the school or after a Licence and spend two years in the school.

Studies.

Located in the heart of the Parisian business quarter, La Defense, the ESILV is in partnership with several industrial and research institutes.  In today's global economy there is an increasing need for multi-disciplinary engineers who can work cooperatively with their counterparts in overseas organizations. The Engineering School Leonard de Vinci works in partnership with numerous industries, many of which provide potential professional links for its students.  Exchange programs at the graduate and undergraduate levels further expand the educational horizons of the school. Its teaching philosophy is "learn by doing". ESILV emphasizes the applications of mathematics and computer science that are used in technology and in industry.  There are a wide variety of classes taught at the Engineering School Leonard de Vinci: mathematics, scientific computation, computer science, mechanical engineering and financial engineering to name a few. In addition, students take classes at the partnering management school EMLV in areas such as marketing and management. For further real-world experience, their curriculum includes two six-month internships with industrial partners.  Since the graduation of the first senior class in July 2000, all of the alumni of the ESILV have successfully joined the work force and were hired as:  Thanks to a tailored pedagogy along with the direct contact with today’s industries (projects, internships, numerous instructors coming from the business world), ESILV gives students the opportunity to build their own professional endeavors and profit from the direct contact with the companies of tomorrow.  The Engineering School Leonard de Vinci brings together tomorrow’s realms of research and teaching.

The Leonard de Vinci Engineering School (ESILV) is a five-year engineering school in Paris, France. It was placed 10th among French engineering schools "Post-bac" in the 2010 "Le Point" rankings. It is fully accredited to award the title of "ingénieur" by the French Commission of Engineering Titles. ESILV is part of the "Pole Universitaire Léonard de Vinci". The director of the school is Professor Michel Bernadou.

L'École supérieure d'ingénieurs Léonard-de-Vinci (ESILV) est l'une des françaises accréditées au à délivrer un diplôme d'ingénieur. L'école est située au sein du pôle universitaire Léonard-de-Vinci au cœur du quartier d'affaires de La Défense, dans le département des Hauts-de-Seine, en île-de-France.