title: Chika Unigwe

texts:
<mask> (born 12 June 1974) is a Nigerian-born Igbo author who writes in English and Dutch. In April 2014 she was selected for the Hay Festival's Africa39 list of 39 Sub-Saharan African writers aged under 40 with potential and talent to define future trends in African literature. Previously based in Belgium, she now lives in the United States. Biography
<mask>we was born in 1974 in Enugu, Nigeria, the sixth of her parents' seven children. She attended secondary school at Federal Government Girls' college in Abuja and obtained a BA in English in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1995. In 1996, she earned an MA degree in English from the KU Leuven (KUL, the Catholic University of Leuven). She has a Ph.D in Literature (2004) from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands.Her debut novel, De Feniks, was published in 2005 by Meulenhoff and Manteau (of Amsterdam and Antwerp, respectively) and was shortlisted for the Vrouw en Kultuur debuutprijs for the best first novel by a female writer. She is also the author of two children's books published by Macmillan, London. She has published short fiction in several anthologies, journals and magazines, including Wasafiri (University of London), Moving Worlds (University of Leeds), Per Contra, Voices of the University of Wisconsin and Okike of the University of Nigeria. She won the 2003 BBC Short Story Competition and a Commonwealth Short Story Competition award. In 2004, she was shortlisted for the Caine Prize for African Writing. In the same year, her short story made the top 10 of the Million Writers Award for best online fiction. In 2005, she won third prize in the Equiano Fiction Contest.Her first novel, De Feniks, was published in Dutch in September 2005 and is the first book of fiction written by a Flemish author of African origin. Her second novel, Fata Morgana, was published in Dutch in 2008 and subsequently released in English as On Black Sisters' Street. On Black Sisters' Street is about African prostitutes living and working in Belgium, and was published to acclaim in London in 2009 by Jonathan Cape. On Black Sisters' Street won the 2012 Nigeria Prize for Literature; valued at $100,000 it is Africa's largest literary prize. Also in 2012, Zukiswa Wanner in The Guardian rated Unigwe as one of the "top five African writers". Still in 2012, she floored Olushola Olugbesan's Only A Canvass and Ngozi Achebe's Onaedo: The Blacksmith's Daughter to clinch the coveted $100,000 Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas NLNG Nigeria Prize for Literature, becoming the second Diaspora writer to win the prize. She attended the 2013 Adelaide festival in Australia and for the first time met an Aboriginal chief.She was so moved by the story of the Aborigin in Australia and she wrote an article titled what I'm thinking about ... forgiveness and healing. Unigwe sits on the Board of Trustees of pan-African literary initiative Writivism, and set up the Awele Creative Trust in Nigeria to support young writers. In April 2014, she was selected for the Festival's Africa39 list of 39 sub-Saharan African writers aged under 40 with potential and talent to define future trends in Africa. In autumn 2014 the University of Tübingen welcomed Unigwe and her fellow authors Taiye Selasi, Priya Basil and Nii Ayikwei Parkes to the year's Writers' Lectureship, all of them authors representing what Selasi calls Afropolitan literature. In the same year, she published Zwarte Messias, a novel about Olaudah Equiano. In 2016, Unigwe was appointed as the Bonderman Professor of Creative Writing at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Her novel Night Dancer (published in 2012) was also shortlisted for the NLNG Nigeria Prize for Literature; the winner was subsequently announced as Abubakar Adam Ibrahim.She was also a Man Booker International judge that year. In 2017, she was a visiting professor at Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia and stayed until 2019. In 2019, Cassava Republic Press in Abuja & London published a new collection of short stories entitled Better never than late. It is a collection of linked stories about Nigerian immigrants in Belgium. In the same year she contributed to New Daughters of Africa. The book was nominated for NAACP Awards for Outstanding Literary Work. It is a compilation of orature and literature by more than 200 women from Africa and the African diaspora, edited and introduced by Margaret Busby, who compared the process of assembling the volume to "trying to catch a flowing river in a calabash".In 2020 Unigwe contributed to The middle of a sentence: short prose anthology with Two Happy Meals. The Common Breath Short Prose Anthology is a celebration of fiction in its shortest form, uniting work from some of the greatest contemporary novelists, alongside an exciting selection from TCB’s open submissions process, and supplemented by pieces from a range of literary history’s finest artists. In July of the same year she was appointed a professor of creative writing at Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville, Georgia. In November 2020, she began writing a weekly column for Nigeria’s Daily Trust. In 2021, Unigwe was shortlisted for Dzanc Books Diverse Voices Award. Personal life
Unigwe formerly lived in Turnhout, Belgium, with her husband and four children. She emigrated to the United States in 2013.She writes in English and Dutch. Fellowships
 2007: Unesco-Aschberg Fellowship for creative writing
 2009: Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship (Bellagio Centre, Italy)
 2011: HALD Fellowship (HALD Centre, Denmark)
 2011 and 2016: Writing Fellowship at the Ledig House (Omi NY, USA)
 2013: Writing Fellowing at Cove Park (Scotland)
 2014: Writer-in-Residence, Haverford College (Philadelphia PA, USA)
 2014: Sylt Fellowship for African Writers

Bibliography
Tear Drops, Enugu: Richardson Publishers, 1993. Born in Nigeria, Enugu: Onyx Publishers, 1995. A Rainbow for Dinner. Oxford: Macmillan, 2002. In the Shadow of Ala; Igbo women's writing as an act of righting. Dissertation, Leiden University, 2004.Thinking of Angel, 2005. Dreams, 2004. The Phoenix. Lagos: Farafina Publishers, 2007. On Black Sisters Street (translation of Fata Morgana). London: Jonathan Cape, 2009. Night Dancer.London: Jonathan Cape, 2012. Black Messiah (2014)
Zwart, Amsterdam: Uitgeverij Atlas Contact, 2018. A collection of stories and essays in Dutch, collected and edited by Vamba Sherif and Ebissé Rouw. . Contains a story by Unigwe: Anekdotes om rond de tafel te vertellen. Better Never Than Late. Cassava Republic, 2019. The Middle Of A Sentence: Short Prose Anthology.The Common Breath, 2020. References

External links
 Author's website

 Writivism

1974 births
Living people
Writers from Enugu
Igbo women writers
Nigerian emigrants to Belgium
Nigerian writers
Nigerian women writers
Brown University faculty
Georgia College & State University faculty

masks:
Chika Nina Unigwe
Chika Unig


title: Françoise Foning

type: original

texts:
<mask> (1949 – 23 January 2015) was a Cameroonian businessperson and politician for the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM). She began a career in business at age 12, opening a restaurant before entering into the tourism, transportation, food, medical and education sectors. <mask> became president of CPDM's women's division in 1992 and was appointed the party's leader in Douala and the national committee five years later. In 2002, she was elected deputy mayor of Douala II and began serving in the National Assembly that same year. <mask> led the African Network and Cameroonian Businesswomen and consulted The World Bank, the African Development Bank along with several international agencies. She was founding president of the Association of Cameroonian Businesswomen and the NGO World Female Company Managers. A street in Douala was named in her memory.Biography
<mask> was born in 1949 to a modest Bamileke family in Cameroon's western region of Menoua. She did not have a proper background, and did not enroll at university but learnt English and French. After encouragement from her family to work, she went into tourism at age 12 in Douala, the Southern Cameroonian port city. In 1966, <mask> began a business career by establishing the restaurant New Style to earn extra money. She diversified into the transportation industry by purchasing 2 taxis from the Japanese car manufacturer Toyota, expanding to 150 by 2005. <mask> added the gravel company Les Graviers Unis, and the Socamac food and Ovicam export-import companies and the Anflo furniture company to export to Europe and the United States. She joined the Cameroonian Ministry of Tourism as a civil servant in the 1970s before deciding to focus on her business career.<mask> brought a medical clinic in Dschang and established the school Collége de la Faternité in the city. This led the government of Cameroon and the local authorities of <mask>'s home region to award her with honours for her activities. The kingdom of Bamun granted her the title of Nijh and Menoua's Bafou community crowned her as its queen. <mask> also received the Grand Officer Order of Merit. At Douala in 1992, she was appointed president of the women's wing of the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM). <mask> became president of the CPDM in Douala and its national central committee in 1997, following a 1996 reform by the political party to allow women to lead sections of the party. She was close to Chantal Biya, the wife of Paul Biya, the president of Cameroon, and the two worked at the Foundation Chantal Biya.In 2002, <mask> was elected the deputy mayor of Douala II, and began serving in the National Assembly that year. She focused on helping the young, building power lines, health centres, roads, schools, eliminating illness and organising funeral services. In June 2003, she was involved in the signing of a "partnership convention" to train Douala's "bendskin drivers" at professional driving schools. <mask> was involved in a car accident a month later. which fractured both her legs on the Douala-Bafoussam road in Nomayos I in Cameroon's Centre region, and caused her to be flown to France for medical attention on the orders of Paul Biya. The accident meant she walked with a limp. She was named African manager of the year in 2004.In 2005, <mask> was elected president of the World Association of Women Entrepreneurs, having been its vice-president since 1996. Later that year in October, she became the first black woman president of the NGO World Female Company Managers (WFCL). <mask> lost her seat in the 2007 Cameroonian parliamentary election by securing 41 per cent of the vote over the winning candidate's who garnered 48 per cent of votes. Although she was accused of embezzling money from the municipal government, she was re-elected to the National Assembly in 2009. <mask> left her role as president of the WFCL in 2012. She was the Association of Cameroonian Businesswomen's founding president, led the African Network for the Support for Female Entrepreneurship and consulted The World Bank, the African Development Bank and several international agencies. <mask> took part in several international conferences and meetings, including the USA/Africa summit in Washington, D.C. She was also international vice-president of the Francophone Business Forum, permanent secretary Africa of the AGOA training center (African Growth Opportunity Act), and was president of the Chamber of Commerce's Industry Department.Personal life and death
<mask> praised the Cameroonian presidential couple at official ceremonies and her fellow citizens called her "national leader" as a result. She had been married three times, and had six children. On 18 January 2015, <mask> attended a meeting of the 4th assembly of the United Cities and Councils of Cameroon in the Cameroonian capital of Yaoundé. After leaving the meeting, the driver of her car carrying her and her bodyguard lost control on the Yaoundé Bafoussam road in Ebebda after attempting to avoid a motorcycle passing a lorry holding sand in the opposite direction at high speed, causing the car to roll several times. <mask> broke her legs and ribs, and was immediately transported to the emergency unit at Central Hospital of Yaoundé. <mask> died from a sudden spike of blood pressure and hypertension on the morning of 23 January, with the news made public by hospital officials about midday. Funeral
On 18 March, Paul Biya signed an decree instituting the official funeral service for <mask> to be held five days later.A vigil and masses were held in her honor before the funeral. Work on the burial site by companies in Douala was completed on 20 March. The brief ecumenical service service was held in the palace of Johny Baleng in Menoua with members of her family and government officials in attendance on 21 March. <mask> was interned at the family home afterwards. Legacy
She was posthumously conferred the Grand Condor of the Order of Merit by Philémon Yang, the Prime Minister, and the foundation of the Francoise Foning Foundation to help retain the memory of her work in the public was announced by her son. <mask> was replaced as president of Association of Cameroonian Businesswomen by Agnès Ntube Ndode, and the contest to take her place as mayor of Douala 5 ended with Carlos Ngoualem winning the election on 5 August. At the request of her family, a  street in the Douala 5 district linking the Akwa-Nord Pharmacy to the Makepe Roundabout bearing the name Rue Françoise <mask> was renamed from No 5.508 to honour her in late 2016.An accompanying plaque was installed at both ends of the street and a monograph on the life and works of <mask> was published in 2017. References

1949 births
2015 deaths
People from West Region (Cameroon)
African women in business
20th-century businesswomen
21st-century businesswomen
20th-century Cameroonian women
21st-century Cameroonian women
Cameroonian women in politics
Cameroon People's Democratic Movement politicians
Members of the National Assembly (Cameroon)
Consultants

masks:
Françoise Foning
Foning
Foning
Foning
Foning
Foning
Foning
Foning
Foning
Foning
Foning
Foning
Foning
Foning
Foning
Foning
Foning
Foning
Foning
Foning
Foning
Foning
Foning
Foning
Foning


title: Peter Vronsky

texts:
<mask> is a Canadian author, filmmaker and investigative historian. He holds a PhD in criminal justice history and espionage in international relations from the University of Toronto. He is the author of the bestseller true crime histories Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters (2004), Female Serial Killers: How and Why Women Become Monsters and Sons of Cain: A History of Serial Killers From the Stone Age to the Present (2018), a New York Times Editors' Choice, and most recently  American Serial Killers: The Epidemic Years 1950-2000 (2021), a history exploring the epidemic surge of serial killers in the second half of the 20th century. He is the director of several feature films, including Bad Company (1980) and Mondo Moscow (1992). Vronsky is the creator of a substantial body of formal video and electronic artworks and new media. He has also worked professionally in the motion picture and television industry as a producer and cinematographer in the field of documentary production and news broadcasting with CNN, CTV, CBC, RAI and other global television networks in North America and overseas. <mask>'s 2011 book, Ridgeway: The American Fenian Invasion and the 1866 Battle That Made Canada, is the definitive history of Canada's first modern battle – the Battle of Ridgeway  fought against Irish American Fenian insurgents who invaded across the border from the United States on the eve of Canadian Confederation shortly after the American Civil War.He currently lectures at Ryerson University's History Department in the history of international relations, terrorism, espionage, American Civil War, and the Third Reich. He consults as an investigative criminal historian to a number of law enforcement cold case homicide units including the NYPD, New York State Police, and Bergen County Prosecutor's Office New Jersey. 1970s
<mask> was a writer and film reviewer for Canada's national film magazine Cinema Canada and University of Toronto's The Varsity. He was a member of Toronto Filmmakers Coop and University of Toronto Film Board (Hart House). He studied with Canadian film directors Don Shebib, Clarke Mackey, and <mask> at the Toronto Filmmakers Coop. <mask> dropped out of the University of Toronto at the end of his second year to pursue filmmaking full-time. He wrote and directed two thirty-minute short drama films starring Paul Young from the Cardboard Brains: American Nights (1976) and The Sheep-Eaters (1977).He received several Canada Council and Ontario Arts Council Grants and directed and produced a thirty-minute music documentary special on punk rock for CBC television Crash'n'Burn (Dada's Boys) (1977) with the Viletones, Teenage Head, Dishes, The Ramones and The Deadboys, filmed at CBGB in New York and the New Yorker Theater and Crash'n’Burn in Toronto; (Not to be confused with Ross McLaren's independent Crash 'n' Burn made the same year on the same subject). Vronsky produced and directed a feature film, Bad Company (1980). He worked as an assistant-director on Canadian feature films:  Nothing Personal (1979), The Last Chase (1979) and Screwballs (1981). <mask> frequently collaborated with documentary filmmaker <mask> on Video Culture International projects and with horror film director Tibor Takacs who before he left for Hollywood worked as a D.O.P. and Art Director on several Vronsky films. 1980s
<mask> created numerous video art tapes and formal video installations exhibited in Canada and internationally in Tokyo, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, New York and London. He was the Artist-in-Residence with Sony Corporation at Video/Culture International, 1983.He frequently worked as an undercover video specialist – field producer with CBC's The Fifth Estate and CTV's W5. In 1984–1985 during the pioneering period of laserdisc development, Vronsky was the Head of Interactive Laser Optical Software Development, Sony Corporation-Video/Culture and the Project Director of the Berlin Wall Videodisc, Sony Canada-Image Over Time, 1985. He worked as a Field Producer/Cameraman for CNN International, Rome Bureau, 1986–1990. Vronsky was the Producer-director of Russian Rock Underground (1988), a thirty-minute music television special on underground ("unofficial") rock music in the Soviet Union, featuring Boris Grebenshchikov, Televizor, Zvuki Mu and Auktion. 1990s
Vronsky was the writer-producer-director of Mondo Moscow, a feature-length documentary on incipient Stalinism and underground culture in the USSR, 1990. In 1991 Vronsky investigated Lee Harvey Oswald's activities in the USSR in 1959–1962 and was the first Westerner ever to interview Oswald's friends, lovers and acquaintances in Russia. Vronsky was the cameraman-line producer on The Hunt for Red Mercury, an investigative one-hour documentary (Discovery Channel – CTV) on nuclear weapons material smuggling in Chechnya, 1992.He was the writer-director of The Uncanadians, a NFB feature documentary 1994–1995 (but withdrew his name from the director's credit in a dispute with the National Film Board over the film's controversial contents). <mask> was the Head of English Language Production, Panavideo, Venice Italy – service producer for Italy's national television network, RAI, 1997–1999. 2000s
<mask> was the Queens Park/Toronto Bureau Chief at E-Press, Canada's first online news streaming service, 2000 and the Broadband Content Specialist, Canada-Invest.com, financial news streaming service, 2000–2001. He was the Director of Photography on the feature-length music documentaries, Life Could Be A Dream (Bravo Television, 2002) and I'll Fly Away Home (Bravo Television, 2004). He authored two crime history books, Serial Killers The Method and Madness of Monsters (Berkley-Penguin Books, 2004) and Female Serial Killers:  How and Why Women Become Monsters (Berkley-Penguin Books, 2007). <mask> returned to the University of Toronto as a full-time student from 2003 to 2010, completing the following degrees:
 University of Toronto, Trinity College, Honours B.A., 2003. University of Toronto, Graduate School, M.A.(History) 2004. University of Toronto, Graduate School, Ph.D. (History), 2010. In 2015 Leah McLaren, writing in The Globe and Mail, reported on the strange disappearance in Cambodia of Dave Walker, a friend of <mask>'s. According to McLaren, Vronsky was working hard to determine what happened to Walker, when the Canadian government seemed to want his story to be forgotten. Walker had told <mask> that he had worked as an advisor for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) ferreting out genocidal Khmer Rouge perpetrators infiltrating Canada among legitimate refugees from Cambodia during the 1980s and 1990s. Vronsky suspected this could have played a role in his death in Cambodia. Currently
<mask> is currently writing American Lycanthrope: The Life and Crimes of Serial Killer Richard Cottingham, the Times Square Torso Killer and New Jersey Girls Murderer based on a series of prison interviews he is conducting with the notorious serial killer Richard Cottingham.In January 2020, <mask> revealed that Cottingham who has been incarcerated since 1980 in the Trenton State Prison for six murders committed between 1967-1980, had recently confessed to an additional three unsolved murders of school girls in New Jersey 1968-1969. Vronsky currently lectures at Ryerson University History Department in international relations, American Civil War, Third Reich, espionage and the history of terrorism. In 2017, he was chosen as the Writer-In-Residence at the Toronto Public Library. He recently appeared in Joe Berlinger's new Netflix show, Crime Scene (Season 2): The Times Square Killer (2021) about the 1979-80 torso murders in New York committed by serial killer Richard Cottingham who Vronsky is in the midst of interviewing since 2018. <mask> is fluent in English, Russian and Italian and resides in Toronto, Canada and Venice, Italy. References

External links
 <mask>ky Home Page:  CV, Streaming Video Excerpts, Websites, etc
 <mask>ky YouTube Channel
 Books by <mask>
 Battle of Ridgeway 1866
 Sons of Cain Table of Contents

Year of birth missing (living people)
Artists from Toronto
Canadian historians
Canadian male non-fiction writers
Canadian multimedia artists
Canadian people of Russian descent
Canadian video artists
Film directors from Toronto
Living people
Writers from Toronto

masks:
Peter Vronsky
Vronsky
Peter Vronsky
Peter Pearson
Vronsky
Vronsky
Peter Lynch
Peter Vronsky
Vronsky
Vronsky
Vronsky
Vronsky
Vronsky
Vronsky
Vronsky
Peter Vronsky
Peter Vrons
Peter Vrons
Peter Vronsky


title: Magic Johnson

texts:
Earvin "<mask><mask>. (born August 14, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player and former president of basketball operations of the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Often regarded as the best point guard of all time, <mask> played 13 seasons for the Lakers and was honored as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996. After winning championships in high school and college, <mask> was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA draft by the Lakers. He won a championship and an NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award in his rookie season, and won four more championships with the Lakers during the 1980s. <mask> retired abruptly in 1991 after announcing that he had contracted HIV, but returned to play in the 1992 All-Star Game, winning the All-Star MVP Award. After protests from his fellow players, he retired again for four years, but returned in 1996, at age 36, to play 32 games for the Lakers before retiring for the third and final time. <mask>'s career achievements include three NBA MVP Awards, nine NBA Finals appearances, twelve All-Star games, and ten All-NBA First and Second Team nominations.He led the league in regular season assists four times, and is the NBA's all-time leader in average assists per game, at 11.2. <mask> was a member of the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team ("The Dream Team"), which won the Olympic gold medal in 1992. After leaving the NBA in 1992, <mask> formed the <mask> All-Stars, a barnstorming team that traveled around the world playing exhibition games. <mask> became a two-time inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame—being enshrined in 2002 for his individual career, and again in 2010 as a member of the "Dream Team". His friendship and rivalry with Boston Celtics star Larry Bird, whom he faced in the 1979 NCAA finals and three NBA championship series, are well documented. Since his retirement, <mask> has been an advocate for HIV/AIDS prevention and safe sex, as well as an entrepreneur, philanthropist, broadcaster and motivational speaker. His public announcement of his HIV-positive status in 1991 helped dispel the stereotype, still widely held at the time, that HIV was a "gay disease" that heterosexuals need not worry about; his bravery in making this announcement was widely commended.Named by Ebony magazine as one of America's most influential black businessmen in 2009, <mask> has numerous business interests, and was a part-owner of the Lakers for several years. <mask> also is part of a group of investors that purchased the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2012 and the Los Angeles Sparks in 2014. During <mask>'s ownership of both teams, the Sparks won the 2016 WNBA championship, and the Dodgers won the 2020 World Series championship. Combining his playing career and sports ownership career, <mask> has 10 NBA championships, five each as a player and later as a minority-owner of the Lakers. Early life
Earvin <mask>. was born in Lansing, Michigan, the son of General Motors assembly worker Earvin Sr. and school janitor Christine. <mask>, who had six siblings and three half-siblings by his father's previous marriage, was influenced by his parents' strong work ethic. His mother spent many hours after work each night cleaning their home and preparing the next day's meals, while his father did janitorial work at a used car lot and collected garbage, all while never missing a day at General Motors.<mask> would often help his father on the garbage route, and he was teased by neighborhood children who called him "Garbage Man". <mask> came to love basketball as a young man. His favorite basketball player was Bill Russell, whom he admired more for his many championships than his athletic ability. He also idolized players such as Earl Monroe and Marques Haynes, and practiced "all day". <mask> came from an athletic family. His father played high school basketball in his home state of Mississippi, and <mask> learned the finer points about the game from him. <mask>'s mother, originally from North Carolina, had also played basketball as a child, and she grew up watching her brothers play the game.By the time he had reached the eighth grade, <mask> had begun to think about a future in basketball. He had become a dominant junior high player, once scoring 48 points in a game. <mask> looked forward to playing at Sexton High School, a school with a very successful basketball team and history that also happened to be only five blocks from his home. His plans underwent a dramatic change when he learned that he would be bused to the predominantly white Everett High School instead of going to Sexton, which was predominantly black. <mask>'s sister Pearl and his brother Larry had bused to Everett the previous year and did not have a pleasant experience. There were incidents of racism, with rocks being thrown at buses carrying black students and white parents refusing to send their children to school. Larry was kicked off the basketball team after a confrontation during practice, prompting him to beg his brother not to play.<mask> did join the basketball team but became angry after several days when his new teammates ignored him during practice, not even passing the ball to him. He nearly got into a fight with another player before head coach George Fox intervened. Eventually, <mask> accepted his situation and the small group of black students looked to him as their leader. When recalling the events in his autobiography, My Life, he talked about how his time at Everett had changed him:

<mask> was first dubbed "<mask>" as a 15-year-old sophomore playing for Everett High School, when he recorded a triple-double of 36 points, 18 rebounds, and 16 assists. After the game, Fred Stabley Jr., a sports writer for the Lansing State Journal, gave him the moniker despite the belief of <mask>'s mother, a Christian, that the name was sacrilegious. In his final high school season, <mask> led Everett to a 27–1 win–loss record while averaging 28.8 points and 16.8 rebounds per game, and took his team to an overtime victory in the state championship game. <mask> dedicated the championship victory to his best friend Reggie Chastine, who was killed in a car accident the previous summer.He gave Chastine much of the credit for his development as a basketball player and as a person, saying years later, "I doubted myself back then." <mask> and Chastine were almost always together, playing basketball or riding around in Chastine's car. Upon learning of Chastine's death, <mask> ran from his home, crying uncontrollably. <mask>, who finished his high school career with two All-State selections, was considered at the time to be the best high school player ever to come out of Michigan and was also named to the 1977 McDonald's All-American team. College career
Although <mask> was recruited by several top-ranked colleges such as Indiana and UCLA, he decided to play close to home. His college decision came down to Michigan and Michigan State in East Lansing. He ultimately decided to attend Michigan State when coach Jud Heathcote told him he could play the point guard position.The talent already on Michigan State's roster also drew him to the program. <mask> did not initially aspire to play professionally, focusing instead on his communication studies major and on his desire to become a television commentator. Playing with future NBA draftees Greg Kelser, Jay Vincent and Mike Brkovich, <mask> averaged 17.0 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 7.4 assists per game as a freshman, and led the Spartans to a 25–5 record, the Big Ten Conference title, and a berth in the 1978 NCAA Tournament. The Spartans reached the Elite Eight, but lost narrowly to eventual national champion Kentucky. During the 1978–79 season, Michigan State again qualified for the NCAA Tournament, where they advanced to the championship game and faced Indiana State, which was led by senior Larry Bird. In what was the most-watched college basketball game ever, Michigan State defeated Indiana State 75–64, and <mask> was voted Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. He was selected to the 1978–79 All-American team for his performance that season.After two years in college, during which he averaged 17.1 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 7.9 assists per game, <mask> entered the 1979 NBA draft. Jud Heathcote stepped down as coach of the Spartans after the 1994–95 season, and on June 8, 1995, <mask> returned to the Breslin Center to play in the Jud Heathcote All-Star Tribute Game. He led all scorers with 39 points. Professional career

Rookie season in the NBA (1979–1980)
<mask> was drafted first overall in 1979 by the Los Angeles Lakers. <mask> said that what was "most amazing" about joining the Lakers was the chance to play alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the team's 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) center who became the leading scorer in NBA history. Despite Abdul-Jabbar's dominance, he had failed to win a championship with the Lakers, and <mask> was expected to help them achieve that goal. Lakers coach Jack McKinney had the  rookie <mask>, who some analysts thought should play forward, be a point guard, even though incumbent Norm Nixon was already one of the best in the league.<mask> averaged 18.0 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 7.3 assists per game for the season, was selected to the NBA All-Rookie Team, and was named an NBA All-Star Game starter. The Lakers compiled a 60–22 record in the regular season and reached the 1980 NBA Finals, in which they faced the Philadelphia 76ers, who were led by forward Julius Erving. The Lakers took a 3–2 lead in the series, but Abdul-Jabbar, who averaged 33 points a game in the series, sprained his ankle in Game 5 and could not play in Game 6. Coach Paul Westhead, who had replaced McKinney early in the season after he suffered a near-fatal bicycle accident, decided to start <mask> at center in Game 6; <mask> recorded 42 points, 15 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals in a 123–107 win, while playing guard, forward, and center at different times during the game. <mask> became the only rookie to win the NBA Finals MVP award, and his clutch performance is still regarded as one of the finest in NBA history. He also became one of four players to win NCAA and NBA championships in consecutive years. Ups and downs (1980–1983)
Early in the 1980–81 season, <mask> was sidelined after he suffered torn cartilage in his left knee.He missed 45 games, and said that his rehabilitation was the "most down" he had ever felt. <mask> returned before the start of the 1981 playoffs, but the Lakers' then-assistant and future head coach Pat Riley later said <mask>'s much-anticipated return made the Lakers a "divided team". The 54-win Lakers faced the 40–42 Houston Rockets in the first round of playoffs, where Houston upset the Lakers 2–1 after <mask> airballed a last-second shot in Game 3. In 1981, after the 1980–81 season, <mask> signed a 25-year, $25 million contract with the Lakers (), which was the highest-paying contract in sports history up to that point. Early in the 1981–82 season, <mask> had a heated dispute with Westhead, who <mask> said made the Lakers "slow" and "predictable". After <mask> demanded to be traded, Lakers owner Jerry Buss fired Westhead and replaced him with Riley. Although <mask> denied responsibility for Westhead's firing, he was booed across the league, even by Laker fans.Buss was also unhappy with the Lakers' offense and had intended on firing Westhead days before the Westhead–<mask> altercation, but assistant GM Jerry West and GM Bill Sharman had convinced Buss to delay his decision. Despite his off-court troubles, <mask> averaged 18.6 points, 9.6 rebounds, 9.5 assists, and a league-high 2.7 steals per game, and was voted a member of the All-NBA Second Team. He also joined Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson as the only NBA players to tally at least 700 points, 700 rebounds, and 700 assists in the same season. The Lakers advanced through the 1982 playoffs and faced Philadelphia for the second time in three years in the 1982 NBA Finals. After a triple-double from <mask> in Game 6, the Lakers defeated the Sixers 4–2, as <mask> won his second NBA Finals MVP award. During the championship series against the Sixers, <mask> averaged 16.2 points on .533 shooting, 10.8 rebounds, 8.0 assists, and 2.5 steals per game. <mask> later said that his third season was when the Lakers first became a great team, and he credited their success to Riley.During the 1982–83 NBA season, <mask>'s first of nine consecutive double-double seasons, he averaged 16.8 points, 10.5 assists, and 8.6 rebounds per game, and earned his first All-NBA First Team nomination. The Lakers again reached the Finals, and for a third time faced the Sixers, who featured center Moses Malone as well as Erving. With <mask>'s teammates Nixon, James Worthy, and Bob McAdoo all hobbled by injuries, the Lakers were swept by the Sixers, and Malone was crowned the Finals MVP. In a losing effort against Philadelphia, <mask> averaged 19.0 points on .403 shooting, 12.5 assists, and 7.8 rebounds per game. Battles against the Celtics (1983–1987)

Prior to <mask>'s fifth season, West—who had become the Lakers general manager—traded Nixon to free <mask> from

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title: Magic Johnson

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 sharing the ball-handling responsibilities. <mask> averaged another double-double season, with 17.6 points, 13.1 assists, and 7.3 rebounds per game. The Lakers reached the Finals for the third year in a row, where <mask>'s Lakers and Bird's Celtics met for the first time in the postseason.The Lakers won the first game, and led by two points in Game 2 with 18 seconds to go, but after a layup by Gerald Henderson, <mask> failed to get a shot off before the final buzzer sounded, and the Lakers lost 124–121 in overtime. In Game 3, <mask> responded with 21 assists in a 137–104 win, but he made several crucial errors late in the contest during Game 4. In the final minute of the game, <mask> had the ball stolen by Celtics center Robert Parish, and then missed two free throws that could have won the game. The Celtics won Game 4 in overtime, and the teams split the next two games. In the decisive Game 7 in Boston, as the Lakers trailed by three points in the final minute, opposing point guard <mask> stole the ball from <mask>, a play that effectively ended the series. Friends Isiah Thomas and Mark Aguirre consoled him that night, talking until the morning in his Boston hotel room amidst fan celebrations on the street. During the Finals, <mask> averaged 18.0 points on .560 shooting, 13.6 assists, and 7.7 rebounds per game.<mask> later described the series as "the one championship we should have had but didn't get". In the 1984–85 regular season, <mask> averaged 18.3 points, 12.6 assists, and 6.2 rebounds per game, and led the Lakers into the 1985 NBA Finals, where they faced the Celtics again. The series started poorly for the Lakers when they allowed an NBA Finals record 148 points to the Celtics in a 34-point loss in Game 1. However, Abdul-Jabbar, who was now 38 years old, scored 30 points and grabbed 17 rebounds in Game 2, and his 36 points in a Game 5 win were instrumental in establishing a 3–2 lead for Los Angeles. After the Lakers defeated the Celtics in six games, Abdul-Jabbar and <mask>, who averaged 18.3 points on .494 shooting, 14.0 assists, and 6.8 rebounds per game in the championship series, said the Finals win was the highlight of their careers. <mask> again averaged a double-double in the 1985–86 NBA season, with 18.8 points, 12.6 assists, and 5.9 rebounds per game. The Lakers advanced to the Western Conference Finals, but were unable to defeat the Houston Rockets, who advanced to the Finals in five games.In the next season, <mask> averaged a career-high of 23.9 points, as well as 12.2 assists and 6.3 rebounds per game, and earned his first regular season MVP award. The Lakers met the Celtics for the third time in the NBA Finals, and in Game 4 <mask> hit a last-second hook shot over Celtics big men Parish and Kevin McHale to win the game 107–106. The game-winning shot, which <mask> dubbed his "junior, junior, junior sky-hook", helped Los Angeles defeat Boston in six games. <mask> was awarded his third Finals MVP title after averaging 26.2 points on .541 shooting, 13.0 assists, 8.0 rebounds, and 2.33 steals per game. Repeat and falling short (1987–1991)

Before the 1987–88 NBA season, Lakers coach Pat Riley publicly promised that they would defend the NBA title, even though no team had won consecutive titles since the Celtics did so in the 1969 NBA Finals. <mask> had another productive season with averages of 19.6 points, 11.9 assists, and 6.2 rebounds per game despite missing 10 games with a groin injury. In the 1988 playoffs, the Lakers swept the San Antonio Spurs in 3 games, then survived two 4–3 series against the Utah Jazz and the Dallas Mavericks to reach the Finals and face Thomas and the Detroit Pistons, who with players such as Bill Laimbeer, John Salley, <mask> and Dennis Rodman were known as the "Bad Boys" for their physical style of play.<mask> and Thomas greeted each other with a kiss on the cheek before the opening tip of Game 1, which they called a display of brotherly love. After the teams split the first six games, Lakers forward and Finals MVP James Worthy had his first career triple-double of 36 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 assists, and led his team to a 108–105 win. Despite not being named MVP, <mask> had a strong championship series, averaging 21.1 points on .550 shooting, 13.0 assists, and 5.7 rebounds per game. It was the fifth and final NBA championship of his career. In the 1988–89 NBA season, <mask>'s 22.5 points, 12.8 assists, and 7.9 rebounds per game earned him his second MVP award, and the Lakers reached the 1989 NBA Finals, in which they again faced the Pistons. However, after <mask> went down with a hamstring injury in Game 2, the Lakers were no match for the Pistons, who swept them 4–0. Playing without Abdul-Jabbar for the first time, <mask> won his third MVP award after a strong 1989–90 NBA season in which he averaged 22.3 points, 11.5 assists, and 6.6 rebounds per game.However, the Lakers bowed out to the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference semifinals, which was the Lakers' earliest playoffs elimination in nine years. Mike Dunleavy became the Lakers' head coach in 1990–91, when <mask> had grown to be the league's third-oldest point guard. He had become more powerful and stronger than in his earlier years, but was also slower and less nimble. Under Dunleavy, the offense used more half-court sets, and the team had a renewed emphasis on defense. <mask> performed well during the season, with averages of 19.4 points, 12.5 assists, and 7.0 rebounds per game, and the Lakers reached the 1991 NBA Finals. There they faced the Chicago Bulls, led by shooting guard Michael Jordan, a five-time scoring champion regarded as the finest player of his era. Although the series was portrayed as a matchup between <mask> and Jordan,  Bulls forward Scottie Pippen defended effectively against <mask>.Despite two triple-doubles from <mask> during the series, Finals MVP Jordan led his team to a 4–1 win. In the last championship series of his career, <mask> averaged 18.6 points on .431 shooting, 12.4 assists, and 8.0 rebounds per game. HIV announcement and Olympics (1991–1992)

After a physical before the 1991–92 NBA season, <mask> discovered that he had tested positive for HIV. In a press conference held on November 7, 1991, <mask> made a public announcement that he would retire immediately. He stated that his wife Cookie and their unborn child did not have HIV, and that he would dedicate his life to "battle this deadly disease". <mask> initially said that he did not know how he contracted the disease, but later acknowledged that it was through having numerous sexual partners during his playing career. He admitted to having "harems of women" and talked openly about his sexual activities because "he was convinced that heterosexuals needed to know that they, too, were at risk".At the time, only a small percentage of HIV-positive American men had contracted it from heterosexual sex, and it was initially rumored that <mask> was gay or bisexual, although he denied both. <mask> later accused Isiah Thomas of spreading the rumors, a claim Thomas denied. <mask>'s HIV announcement became a major news story in the United States, and in 2004 was named as ESPN's seventh-most memorable moment of the previous 25 years. Many articles praised <mask> as a hero, and the then-U.S. President George H. W. Bush said, "For me, <mask> is a hero, a hero for anyone who loves sports." Despite his retirement, <mask> was voted by fans as a starter for the 1992 NBA All-Star Game at Orlando Arena, although his former teammates Byron Scott and A. C. Green said that <mask> should not play, and several NBA players, including Utah Jazz forward Karl Malone, argued that they would be at risk of contamination if <mask> suffered an open wound while on court. <mask> led the West to a 153–113 win and was crowned All-Star MVP after recording 25 points, 9 assists, and 5 rebounds. The game ended after he made a last-minute three-pointer, and players from both teams ran onto the court to congratulate <mask>.<mask> was chosen to compete in the Barcelona 1992 Summer Olympics for the U.S. national team, dubbed the "Dream Team" because of the NBA stars on the roster. The Dream Team, which along with <mask> included fellow Hall of Famers such as Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, and Larry Bird, was considered unbeatable. After qualifying for the Olympics with a gold medal at the 1992 Tournament of the Americas, the Dream Team dominated in Olympic competition, winning the gold medal with an 8–0 record, beating their opponents by an average of 43.8 points per game. <mask> averaged 8.0 points per game during the Olympics, and his 5.5 assists per game was second on the team. <mask> played infrequently because of knee problems, but he received standing ovations from the crowd, and used the opportunity to inspire HIV-positive people. Post-Olympics and later life
Before the 1992–93 NBA season, <mask> announced his intention to stage an NBA comeback. After practicing and playing in several pre-season games, he retired again before the start of the regular season, citing controversy over his return sparked by opposition from several active players.In an August 2011 interview, <mask> said that in retrospect he wished that he had never retired after being diagnosed with HIV, saying, "If I knew what I know now, I wouldn't have retired." <mask> said that despite the physical, highly competitive practices and scrimmages leading up to the 1992 Olympics, some of those same teammates still expressed concerns about his return to the NBA. He said that he retired because he "didn't want to hurt the game." During his retirement, <mask> has written a book on safe sex, run several businesses, worked for NBC as a commentator, and toured Asia, Australia and New Zealand with a basketball team of former college and NBA players. In 1985, <mask> created "A Midsummer Night's Magic", a yearly charity event which included a celebrity basketball game and a black tie dinner. The proceeds went to the United Negro College Fund, and <mask> held this event for twenty years, ending in 2005. "A Midsummer Night's Magic" eventually came under the umbrella of the Magic Johnson Foundation, which he founded in 1991.The 1992 event, which was the first one held after <mask>'s appearance in the 1992 Olympics, raised over $1.3 million for UNCF. <mask> joined Shaquille O'Neal and celebrity coach Spike Lee to lead the blue team to a 147–132 victory over the white team, which was coached by Arsenio Hall. Return to the Lakers as coach and player (1994, 1996)

<mask> returned to the NBA as coach of the Lakers near the end of the 1993–94 NBA season, replacing Randy Pfund, and Bill Bertka, who served as an interim coach for two games. <mask>, who took the job at the urging of owner Jerry Buss, admitted "I've always had the desire (to coach) in the back of my mind." He insisted that his health was not an issue, while downplaying questions about returning as a player, saying, "I'm retired. Let's leave it at that." Amid speculation from general manager Jerry West that he may only coach until the end of the season, <mask> took over a team that had a 28–38 record, and won his first game as head coach, a 110–101 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.He was coaching a team that had five of his former teammates on the roster: Vlade Divac, Elden Campbell, Tony Smith, Kurt Rambis, James Worthy, and Michael Cooper, who was brought in as an assistant coach. <mask>, who still had a guaranteed player contract that would pay him $14.6 million during the 1994–95 NBA season, signed a separate contract to coach the team that had no compensation. The Lakers played well initially, winning five of their first six games under <mask>, but after losing the next five games, <mask> announced that he was resigning as coach after the season. The Lakers finished the season on a ten-game losing streak, and <mask>'s final record as a head coach was 5–11. Stating that it was never his dream to coach, he chose instead to purchase a 5% share of the team in June 1994. At the age of 36, <mask> attempted another comeback as a player when he re-joined the Lakers during the 1995–96 NBA season. During his retirement, <mask> began intense workouts to help his fight against HIV, raising his bench press from 135 to 300 pounds, and increasing his weight to 255 pounds.He officially returned to the team on January 29, 1996, and played his first game the following day against the Golden State Warriors. Coming off the bench, <mask> had 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 10 assists to help the Lakers to a 128–118 victory. On February 14, <mask> recorded the final triple-double of his career, when he scored 15 points, along with 10 rebounds and 13 assists in a victory against the Atlanta Hawks. Playing power forward, he averaged 14.6 points, 6.9 assists, and 5.7 rebounds per game in 32 games, and finished tied for 12th place with Charles Barkley in voting for the MVP Award. The Lakers had a record of 22–10 in the games <mask> played, and he considered his final comeback "a success." While <mask> played well in 1996, there were struggles both on and off the court. Cedric Ceballos, upset over a reduction in his playing time after <mask>'s arrival, left

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title: Magic Johnson

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 the team for several days.He missed two games and was stripped of his title as team captain. Nick Van Exel received a seven-game suspension for bumping referee Ron Garretson during a game on April 9. <mask> was publicly critical of Van Exel, saying his actions were "inexcusable." <mask> was himself suspended five days later, when he bumped referee Scott Foster, missing three games. He also missed several games due to a calf injury. Despite these difficulties, the Lakers finished with a record of 53–29 and fourth seed in the NBA Playoffs. Although they were facing the defending NBA champion Houston Rockets, the Lakers had home court advantage in the five-game series.The Lakers played poorly in a Game 1 loss, prompting <mask> to express frustration with his role in coach Del Harris' offense. <mask> led the way to a Game 2 victory with 26 points, but averaged only 7.5 points per game for the remainder of the series, which the Rockets won three games to one. After the Lakers lost to the Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs, <mask> initially expressed a desire to return to the team for the 1996–97 NBA season, but he also talked about joining another team as a free agent, hoping to see more playing time at point guard instead of power forward. A few days later, <mask> changed his mind and retired permanently, saying, "I am going out on my terms, something I couldn't say when I aborted a comeback in 1992." <mask> Johnson All-Stars

Determined to play competitive basketball despite being out of the NBA, <mask> formed the Magic Johnson All-Stars, a barnstorming team composed of former NBA and college players. In 1994, <mask> joined with former pros Mark Aguirre, Reggie Theus, John Long, Earl Cureton, Jim Farmer, and Lester Conner, as his team played games in Australia, Israel, South America, Europe, New Zealand, and Japan. They also toured the United States, playing five games against teams from the CBA.In the final game of the CBA series, <mask> had 30 points, 17 rebounds, and 13 assists, leading the All-Stars to a 126–121 victory over the Oklahoma City Cavalry. By the time he returned to the Lakers in 1996, the Magic Johnson All-Stars had amassed a record of 55–0, and <mask> was earning as much as $365,000 per game. <mask> played with the team frequently over the next several years, with possibly the most memorable game occurring in November 2001. At the age of 42, <mask> played with the All-Stars against his alma mater, Michigan State. Although he played in a celebrity game to honor coach Jud Heathcoate in 1995, this was <mask>'s first meaningful game played in his hometown of Lansing in 22 years. Playing in front of a sold-out arena, <mask> had a triple-double and played the entire game, but his all-star team lost to the Spartans by two points. <mask>'s half-court shot at the buzzer would have won the game, but it fell short.On November 1, 2002, <mask> returned to play a second exhibition game against Michigan State. Playing with the Canberra Cannons of Australia's National Basketball League instead of his usual group of players, <mask>'s team defeated the Spartans 104–85, as he scored 12 points, with 10 assists and 10 rebounds. Brief period in Scandinavia
In 1999, <mask> joined the Swedish squad M7 Borås (now known as 'Borås Basket'), and was undefeated in five games with the team. <mask> also became a co-owner of the club; however, the project failed after one season and the club was forced into reconstruction. He later joined the Danish team The Great Danes. Rivalry with Larry Bird

<mask> and Bird were first linked as rivals after <mask>'s Michigan State squad defeated Bird's Indiana State team in the 1979 NCAA finals. The rivalry continued in the NBA, and reached its climax when Boston and Los Angeles met in three out of four NBA Finals from 1984 to 1987.<mask> asserted that for him, the 82-game regular season was composed of 80 normal games, and two Lakers–Celtics games. Similarly, Bird admitted that <mask>'s daily box score was the first thing he checked in the morning. Several journalists hypothesized that the <mask> rivalry was so appealing because it represented many other contrasts, such as the clash between the Lakers and Celtics, between Hollywood flashiness ("Showtime") and Boston/Indiana blue collar grit ("Celtic Pride"), and between blacks and whites. The rivalry was also significant because it drew national attention to the faltering NBA. Prior to <mask> and Bird's arrival, the NBA had gone through a decade of declining interest and low TV ratings. With the two future Hall of Famers, the league won a whole generation of new fans, drawing both traditionalist adherents of Bird's dirt court Indiana game and those appreciative of <mask>'s public park flair. According to sports journalist Larry Schwartz of ESPN, <mask> and Bird saved the NBA from bankruptcy.Despite their on-court rivalry, <mask> and Bird became close friends during the filming of a 1984 Converse shoe advertisement that depicted them as enemies. <mask> appeared at Bird's retirement ceremony in 1992, and described Bird as a "friend forever"; during <mask>'s Hall of Fame ceremony, Bird formally inducted his old rival. In 2009, <mask> and Bird collaborated with journalist Jackie MacMullan on a non-fiction book titled When the Game Was Ours. The book detailed their on-court rivalry and friendship with one another. The following year, HBO developed a documentary about their rivalry titled Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals, which was directed by Ezra Edelman. NBA legacy

In 905 NBA games, <mask> tallied 17,707 points, 6,559 rebounds, and 10,141 assists, translating to career averages of 19.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 11.2 assists per game, the highest assists per game average in NBA history. <mask> shares the single-game playoff record for assists (24), holds the Finals record for assists in a game (21), and has the most playoff assists (2,346).He is the only player to average 12 assists in an NBA Finals series, achieving it six times. He holds the All-Star Game single-game record for assists (22), and the All-Star Game record for career assists (127). <mask> introduced a fast-paced style of basketball called "Showtime", described as a mix of "no-look passes off the fastbreak, pin-point alley-oops from halfcourt, spinning feeds and overhand bullets under the basket through triple teams." Fellow Lakers guard Michael Cooper said, "There have been times when [<mask>] has thrown passes and I wasn't sure where he was going. Then one of our guys catches the ball and scores, and I run back up the floor convinced that he must've thrown it through somebody." <mask> could dominate a game without scoring, running the offense and distributing the ball with flair. In the 1982 NBA Finals, he was named the Finals MVP averaging just 16.2 points, the lowest average of any Finals MVP award recipient in the three-point shot era.<mask> was exceptional because he played point guard despite being 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m), a size reserved normally for frontcourt players. His career 138 triple-double games places him third all-time behind Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook. <mask> is the only player in NBA Finals history to have triple-doubles in multiple series-clinching games. For his feats, <mask> was voted as one of the 50 Greatest Players of All Time by the NBA in 1996, and selected to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inducted him in 2002. ESPN's SportsCentury ranked <mask> #17 in their "50 Greatest Athletes of the 20th Century" In 2006, ESPN.com rated <mask> the greatest point guard of all time, stating, "It could be argued that he's the one player in NBA history who was better than Michael Jordan." Bleacher Report also listed <mask> first in its all-time NBA point guard rankings.Several of his achievements in individual games have also been named among the top moments in the NBA. At the 2019 NBA Awards, <mask> received the NBA Lifetime Achievement Award (shared with Larry Bird). Basketball executive career
On February 21, 2017, <mask> replaced Jim Buss as the president of basketball operations for the Los Angeles Lakers. Under <mask>, the Lakers sought to acquire multiple star players and cleared existing players, including future All-Star D'Angelo Russell, off of their roster in an attempt to free up room under the league's salary cap. The franchise reached an agreement with free agent LeBron James on a four-year contract in 2018, but efforts to trade for Anthony Davis during the 2018–19 season proved unsuccessful. The Lakers did not reach the playoffs during <mask>'s executive tenure. In an impromptu news conference on April 9, 2019, <mask> resigned from the Lakers, citing his desire to return to his role as an NBA ambassador.Outside basketball

Personal life

<mask> first fathered a son in 1981, when <mask> was born to Melissa Mitchell. Although Andre was raised by his mother, he visited <mask> each summer, and later worked for Magic Johnson Enterprises as a marketing director. In 1991, <mask> married Earlitha "Cookie" Kelly in a small wedding in Lansing which included guests Thomas, Aguirre, and Herb Williams. <mask> and Cookie have one son, Earvin III (EJ), who is openly gay and a star on the reality show Rich Kids of Beverly Hills. The couple adopted a daughter, Elisa, in 1995. <mask> resides in Beverly Hills and has a vacation home in Dana Point, California. <mask> is a Christian and has said his faith is "the most important thing" in his life.In 2010, <mask> and current and former NBA players such as LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Bill Russell, as well as Maya Moore from the WNBA, played a basketball game with President Barack Obama as an exhibition for a group of military troops who had been injured in action. The game was played at a gym inside Fort McNair, and reporters covering the president were not allowed to enter. The basketball game was part of festivities organized to celebrate Obama's 49th birthday. Relationship with Jerry Buss
<mask> had an extremely close relationship with Lakers owner Jerry Buss, whom he saw as a mentor and a father figure. Calling Buss his "second father" and "one of [his] best friends", <mask> spent five hours visiting Buss at the hospital just a few months before his death from cancer. Speaking to media just hours after Buss had died, <mask> was emotional, saying, "Without Dr. Jerry Buss, there is no Magic." Buss acquired the team from Jack Kent Cooke in 1979, shortly before he drafted <mask> with the #1 pick in the 1979 NBA draft.In addition to playing 13 seasons for the Lakers and coaching the team briefly in 1994, <mask> also had an ownership stake in the team for nearly twenty years. Buss took a special interest in <mask>, introducing him to important Los Angeles business contacts and showing him how the Lakers organization was run, before eventually selling <mask> a stake in the team in 1994. <mask> credits Buss with giving him the business knowledge that enabled him to become part owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Buss supported <mask> as he revealed his diagnosis of HIV in 1991, and he never hesitated to keep <mask> close to the organization, bringing him in as part-owner, and even as a coach. <mask> had never seriously considered coaching, but he agreed to take the head coaching position with the Lakers in 1994 at Buss' request. In 1992, Buss had given <mask> a contract that paid him $14 million a year, as payback for all the years he was not the league's highest-paid player. Although <mask>'s retirement prior to the 1992–93 NBA season voided this contract, Buss insisted that he still be paid.It was this arrangement that allowed <mask> to coach the team without receiving any additional salary. After <mask> ended his coaching stint, Buss sold him a 4% stake in the Lakers for $10 million, and <mask> served as a team executive. Media figure and business interests

In 1997, his production company Magic Johnson Entertainment signed a deal with Fox. In 1998, <mask> hosted a late night talk show on the Fox network called The Magic Hour, but the show was canceled after two months because of low ratings. Shortly after the cancellation of his talk show, <mask> started a record label. The label, initially called Magic 32 Records, was renamed Magic Johnson Music when <mask> signed a joint venture with MCA in 2000. Magic Johnson Music signed R&B artist Avant as its first act.<mask> also co-promoted Janet Jackson's Velvet Rope Tour through his company Magicworks. He has also worked as a motivational speaker, and was an NBA commentator for Turner Network Television for seven years, before becoming a studio analyst for ESPN's NBA Countdown in 2008. <mask> runs Magic Johnson Enterprises, a conglomerate company that has a net worth of $700 million; its subsidiaries include Magic Johnson Productions, a promotional company; Magic Johnson Theaters, a nationwide chain of movie theaters; and Magic Johnson Entertainment, a film studio. In addition to these business ventures, <mask> has also created the Magic Card, a pre-paid MasterCard aimed at helping low-income people save money and participate in electronic commerce. In 2006, <mask> created a contract

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title: Magic Johnson

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 food service with Sodexo USA called Sodexo-Magic. In 2004, <mask> and his partner Ken Lombard, sold Magic Johnson Theaters to Loews Cineplex Entertainment in 2004. The first Magic Johnson Theater located in the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, closed in 2010 and re-opened in 2011 as Rave Cinema 15.In 2012, <mask> launched a cable TV network called Aspire, featuring programming targeted at black audiences, similar to networks such as Black Entertainment Television (BET) and TV One. <mask> began thinking of life after basketball while still playing with the Lakers. He wondered why so many athletes had failed at business, and sought advice. During his seventh season in the NBA, he had a meeting with Michael Ovitz, CEO of Creative Artists Agency. Ovitz encouraged him to start reading business magazines and to use every connection available to him. <mask> learned everything he could about business, often meeting with corporate executives during road trips. <mask>'s first foray into business, a high-end sporting goods store named Magic 32, failed after only one year, costing him $200,000.The experience taught him to listen to his customers and find out what products they wanted. <mask> has become a leading voice on how to invest in urban communities, creating redevelopment opportunities in underserved areas, most notably through his movie theaters and his partnership with Starbucks. He went to Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz with the idea that he could successfully open the coffee shops in urban areas. After showing Schultz the tremendous buying power of minorities, <mask> was able to purchase 125 Starbucks stores, which reported higher than average per capita sales. The partnership, called Urban Coffee Opportunities, placed Starbucks in locations such as Detroit, Washington, D.C., Harlem, and the Crenshaw District of Los Angeles. <mask> sold his remaining interest in the stores back to the company in 2010, ending a successful twelve-year partnership. He has also made investments in urban real estate through the Canyon-Johnson and Yucaipa-Johnson funds.Another major project is with insurance services company Aon Corp. In 2005–2007, <mask> was part of a syndicate that bought the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower, then the tallest building in Brooklyn, for $71 million and converted the 512-foot high landmark structure from an office building into luxury condominiums. In 1990, <mask> and Earl Graves Sr. obtained a large interest in the Washington, D.C. PepsiCo bottling operation, making it the company's largest minority-owned facility in the U.S. <mask> became a minority owner of the Lakers in 1994, having reportedly paid more than $10 million for part ownership. He also held the title of team vice president. <mask> sold his ownership stake in the Lakers in October 2010 to Patrick Soon-Shiong, a Los Angeles surgeon and professor at UCLA, but continued as an unpaid vice president for the team. In February 2017, <mask> returned to the Lakers as an advisor to Jeanie Buss. In the wake of the Donald Sterling controversy, limited media reports indicated that <mask> had expressed an interest in purchasing the Los Angeles Clippers franchise.In 2015, <mask> completed his planned acquisition for a "majority, controlling interest" in EquiTrust Life Insurance Company, which manages $14.5 billion in annuities, life insurance and other financial products. He is an investor for aXiomatic eSports, the ownership company of Team Liquid. Sports franchise ownership
In January 2012, <mask> joined with Guggenheim Partners and Stan Kasten in a bid for ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team. In March 2012, <mask>'s ownership group was announced as the winner of the proceedings to buy the Dodgers. The Johnson-led group, which also includes movie executive Peter Guber, paid $2 billion for the Dodgers, the largest amount paid for a professional sports team. While <mask> is considered the leader of the ownership group, the controlling owner is Mark Walter, chief executive officer for Guggenheim Partners. Peter Guber, who is the co-owner of the Golden State Warriors, owns a small stake in the Dodgers along with <mask>.The Dodgers won the 2020 World Series, giving <mask> a Major League Baseball title to his credit. <mask> and Guber were also partners in the Dayton Dragons, a Class-A minor league baseball team in Dayton, Ohio, that sold out more than 1,000 consecutive games, a record for professional sports. <mask> and Guber sold their stake in the Dragons in 2014. Together with Guggenheim, <mask> was also involved in the February 2014 purchase of the Los Angeles Sparks team in the WNBA. As such, in 2014, <mask> was named one of ESPNW's Impact 25. He won the WNBA championship as the owner in 2016. <mask> announced his co-ownership of a Major League Soccer expansion franchise based in Los Angeles on October 30, 2014.The temporary name was Los Angeles Football Club, which later became permanent in 2015. Politics

<mask> is a supporter of the Democratic Party. In 2006, he publicly endorsed Phil Angelides for Governor of California, in 2007 he supported Hillary Clinton in her presidential campaign, and in 2010 he endorsed Barbara Boxer in her race for re-election to the U.S. Senate. In 2012, he endorsed Barack Obama for president. He endorsed and appeared in campaign ads for unsuccessful Los Angeles mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel in 2013. In 2015, he once again endorsed Hillary Clinton in her second presidential campaign. He hosted a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign on August 22, 2016.HIV activism

After announcing his infection in November 1991, <mask> created the Magic Johnson Foundation to help combat HIV, although he later diversified the foundation to include other charitable goals. In 1992, he joined the National Commission on AIDS, a committee appointed by members of Congress and the Bush Administration. <mask> left after eight months, saying that the White House had "utterly ignored" the work of the panel, and had opposed the commission's recommendations, which included universal healthcare and the expansion of Medicaid to cover all low-income people with AIDS. He was also the main speaker for the United Nations (UN) World AIDS Day Conference in 1999, and has served as a United Nations Messenger of Peace. HIV had been associated with intravenous drug users and homosexuals, but <mask>'s campaigns sought to show that the risk of infection was not limited to those groups. <mask> stated that his aim was to "help educate all people about what [HIV] is about" and teach others not to "discriminate against people who have HIV and AIDS". <mask> was later criticized by the AIDS community for his decreased involvement in publicizing the spread of the disease.To prevent his HIV infection from progressing to AIDS, <mask> takes a daily combination of drugs. He has advertised GlaxoSmithKline's drugs, and partnered with Abbott Laboratories to publicize the fight against AIDS in African American communities. Awards and honors

NBA
 10-time NBA champion (five as a player, five as owner/executive)
 Three-time NBA MVP
 Three-time Finals MVP
 Nine-time All-NBA First Team
 12-time NBA All-Star
 Two-time All-Star Game MVP
 1992 J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award
 Named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996
 Selected on the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021
 No. 32 retired by the Lakers
 Statue in front of the Staples Center

USA Basketball
 1992 Olympic gold medal (U.S. national team)

NCAA
 1979 NCAA champion (Michigan State)
 No. 33 retired by Michigan State
 Statue at Michigan State

High school
 1977 Michigan high school state champion (Lansing Everett High School)

Halls of Fame
 Two-time Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame inductee:
 2002 – individual
 2010 – member of "The Dream Team"
 College Basketball Hall of Fame (class of 2006)
 FIBA Hall of Fame (class of 2017 as a member of "The Dream Team")
 Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Sports ownership
 2016 WNBA champion (as part owner of the Sparks)
 2020 World Series champion (as part owner of the Dodgers)

NAACP  Image Awards
 1992 Jackie Robinson Sports Award

Entertainment
 1993 Grammy Award (Best Spoken Word Album)

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers
| 77 || 72 || 36.3 || .530 || .226 || .810 || 7.7 || 7.3 || 2.4 || 0.5 || 18.0
|-
| style="text-align:left"|
| style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers
| 37 || 35 || 37.1 || .532 || .176 || .760 || 8.6 || 8.6 || style="background:#cfecec;"|3.4* || 0.7 || 21.6
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|L.A.Lakers
| 78 || 77 || 38.3 || .537 || .207 || .760 || 9.6 || 9.5 || style="background:#cfecec;"|2.7* || 0.4 || 18.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers
| 79 || 79 || 36.8 || .548 || .000 || .800 || 8.6 || style="background:#cfecec;"|10.5* || 2.2 || 0.6 || 16.8
|-
| style="text-align:left"|
| style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers
| 67 || 66 || 38.3 || .565 || .207 || .810 || 7.3 || style="background:#cfecec;"|13.1* || 2.2 || 0.7 || 17.6
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers
| 77 || 77 || 36.1 || .561 || .189 || .843 || 6.2 || 12.6 || 1.5 || 0.3 || 18.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers
| 72 || 70 || 35.8 || .526 || .233 || .871 || 5.9 || style="background:#cfecec;"|12.6* || 1.6 || 0.2 || 18.8
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers
| 80 || 80 || 36.3 || .522 || .205 || .848 || 6.3 || style="background:#cfecec;"|12.2* || 1.7 || 0.4 || 23.9
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers
| 72 || 70 || 36.6 || .492 || .196 || .853 || 6.2 || 11.9 || 1.6 || 0.2 || 19.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|L.A.Lakers
| 77 || 77 || 37.5 || .509 || .314 || style="background:#cfecec;"|.911* || 7.9 || 12.8 || 1.8 || 0.3 || 22.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers
| 79 || 79 || 37.2 || .480 || .384 || .890 || 6.6 || 11.5 || 1.7 || 0.4 || 22.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers
| 79 || 79 || 37.1 || .477 || .320 || .906 || 7.0 || 12.5 || 1.3 || 0.2 || 19.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers
| 32 || 9 || 29.9 || .466 || .379 || .856 || 5.7 || 6.9 || 0.8 || 0.4 || 14.6
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career
| 906 || 870 || 36.7 || .520 || .303 || .848 || 7.2 || style="background:#E0CEF2;"|11.2 || 1.9 || 0.4 || 19.5
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|All-Star
| 11 || 10 || 30.1 || .489 || .476 || .905 || 5.2 || 11.5 || 1.9 || 0.6 || 16.0

Playoffs

|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"|1980
| style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers
| 16 || 16 || 41.1 || .518 || .250 || .802 || 10.5 || 9.4 || 3.1 || 0.4 || 18.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|1981
| style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers
| 3 || 3 || 42.3 || .388 || .000 || .650 || 13.7 || 7.0 || 2.7 || 1.0 || 17.0
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"|1982
| style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers
| 14 || 14 || 40.1 || .529 || .000 || .828 || 11.3 || 9.3 || 2.9 || 0.2 || 17.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|1983
| style="text-align:left;"|L.A.Lakers
| 15 || 15 || 42.9 || .485 || .000 || .840 || 8.5 || 12.8 || 2.3 || 0.8 || 17.9
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|1984
| style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers
| 21 || 21 || 39.9 || .551 || .000 || .800 || 6.6 || 13.5 || 2.0 || 1.0 || 18.2
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"|1985
| style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers
| 19 || 19 || 36.2 || .513 || .143 || .847 || 7.1 || 15.2 || 1.7 || 0.2 || 17.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|1986
| style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers
| 14 || 14 || 38.6 || .537 || .000 || .766 || 7.1 || 15.1 || 1.9 || 0.1 || 21.6
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"|1987
| style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers
| 18 || 18 || 37.0 || .539 || .200 || .831 || 7.7 || 12.2 || 1.7 || 0.4 || 21.8
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"|1988
| style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers
| 24 || 24 || 40.2 || .514 || .500 || .852 || 5.4 || 12.6 || 1.4 || 0.2 || 19.9
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|1989
| style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers
| 14 || 14 || 37.0 || .489 || .286 || .907 || 5.9 || 11.8 || 1.9 || 0.2 || 18.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|1990
| style="text-align:left;"|L.A.Lakers
| 9 || 9 || 41.8 || .490 || .200 || .886 || 6.3 || 12.8 || 1.2 || 0.1 || 25.2
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|1991
| style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers
| 19 || 19 || 43.3 || .440 || .296 || .882 || 8.1 || 12.6 || 1.2 || 0.0 || 21.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|1996
| style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers
| 4 || 0 || 33.8 || .385 || .333 || .848 || 8.5 || 6.5 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 15.3
|- class=sortbottom
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career
| 190 || 186 || 39.7 || .506 || .241 || .838 || 7.7 || style="background:#E0CEF2;"|12.3 || 1.9 || 0.3 || 19.5
|-

Head coaching record

|-
| style="text-align:left;"|L.A. A Los Angeles Times photo gallery of <mask>'s stint as head coach of the

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Johnson
Johnson
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Johnson
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Magic Johnson


title: Gowri Lakshmi Bayi

texts:
<mask> (1791–1815) was the Maharani of the Indian state of Travancore from 1810 till 1813 and Regent from 1813 till her death in 1815 for her son Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma. She was the only Queen of Travancore to have reigned in her own right which she did for two years before becoming a regent. Background
<mask> was born in the year 1791 to Princess <mask>, Senior Rani of Attingal of the Travancore Royal Family, adopted sister of Maharajah Balarama Varma. Bharani Thirunal was adopted into the Travancore family from Kolathunad in 1788. The Maharanis of Travancore were styled as the "Ranis of Attingal". <mask> was one of Travancore's most popular Queens and introduced several reforms in the state. She also had a sister Uthrattathi <mask>.Accession to the throne and rule
The unpopular Maharajah Bala Rama Varma, during whose reign Travancore faced a number of internal and external problems, revolts and unnecessary battles and conspiracies, including the most important revolt of Velu Thampi Dalawa, died in 1809. At the death of the Maharajah, Gowri <mask>, the senior Rani of Attingal, was barely twenty years of age. There were no eligible male members in the family which meant she would have to take over Travancore and rule it as regent till such an heir would be born to her. However her accession was not easy because a member from the Mavelikara branch of the royal family, a distant cousin, Prince Kerala Varma, who was the pet of the previous ruler, staked a claim on the throne which was anything but substantiated. The Princess placed in the hands of the British Resident Col. John Munro, one of Travancore's most loved British Residents, a document asserting her claim and proving the claim of Kerala Varma untenable. This irked Kerala Varma who resorted to tact and tried to convince the Princess to give up her claim. However the Resident sided with Gowri <mask> and she was made the Regent Maharani of Travancore in 1811.Kerala Varma was permitted to reside at Thiruvananthapuram, the capital. But when he tried to create further troubles, he was imprisoned and banished from Travancore. Selection of the Dewan
One of the earliest acts of Regent Gowri <mask> was to dismiss the existing Dewan or Prime Minister, Ummini Thampi. Ummini Thampi was accused of squandering money and acquiring all the property of the vanquished rebel freedom fighter Velu Thampi Dalawa and others. He was dismissed and when he tried to cause further trouble, he was imprisoned and punished after being found guilty of conspiracy against the Regent Maharani Gowri <mask>. The Maharani was now asked to nominate some individual for the post of Dewan, to which she stated that she found no eligible individual and would like to appoint the Resident Colonel John Munro as her Dewan. Accordingly, Munro became Dewan of Travancore in 1811.Government reforms
 The Dewan Col. Munro informed the Maharani of the widespread corruption in her Government owing to the practice of giving all power, administrative and judicial, to a single officer right from village level to district level. To end this the Proverticars (village officers), Kariakkars (Taluka officers) and the district officials were all deprived of their judicial powers and instead a Court of Appeal and five District Courts at Padmanabhapuram, Mavelikara, Trivandrum, Vaikam and Alwaye were established and modern judicial system was introduced in Travancore. The Courts had each two judges and a Brahmin Sastri. For the trial of Government servants another court known as the Huzhur court was also established. The Police was reorganised in Travancore during the reign of Maharani Gowri <mask> at the suggestion of Col. John Munro Dewan. Deprived of magisterial and judicial power, the district and village officials now could concentrate their attention on the collection of revenue alone, curtailing their power greatly and making them subject to judicial trial in case of misconduct. The revenue department was cleaned of corruption and revenue collection became smoother and organised.Social reforms
 Taxes on festivals, taxes on inheritance of property were abolished. Travancore contained a large number of Devaswoms or Temple Corporations that held vast areas of land and controlled most of the important and wealthy temples in the country. These corporations had fallen prey to corruption and mismanagement and they next engaged the Dewan's attention. More than three hundred of the biggest temples of Travancore were appropriated by the Government under a Devaswom Board and cleared of corruption and mismanagement. By a Royal Proclamation in 1812 5 December, Her Highness Maharani Gowri <mask> abolished the purchase and sale of all slaves and granted them independence excepting those attached to the soil for agricultural purposes. Castes like the Ezhavas, Kaniyans etc. were given independence from their Lords.A restriction put on the Sudras and others regarding the wearing of gold and silver ornaments was removed. A vaccination department was started in Travancore in 1813 under her regency. Finding orthodox reservations amongst her subjects with regard to vaccination, the Queen first vaccinated herself and other members of the Royal family to reassure her people. Secretariat system was introduced under the guidelines of Col. Munro. Change in Dewanship
In 1814, Colonel John Munro resigned his Dewanship as it was not a permanent arrangement for the Resident to take that post. In his stead the Judge of the Appeal Court, Devan Padmanabhan was appointed as Dewan. However he soon after died from smallpox.In his place, one of Col. Munro's assistants, Bappu Rao, was appointed as Dewan of Travancore in that same year. Family

The Maharani was married to a Koil Thampuran, Prince Rajaraja Varma Avargal of the Changanassery Royal Family. From this marriage Gowri <mask> had issue, two sons and a daughter. Her daughter was Maharani Gowri Rukmini Bayi born in 1809. Her eldest son was born on 16 April 1813, the famous King Swathi Thirunal who was a musician and artist and ruled independently from 1829 to 1846. He married a lady who belonged to the Thiruvattar Ammaveedu family. The Maharani next had a son in 1814, Maharajah Uthram Thirunal who ruled from 1846 to 1860.Illness and Death
The Maharani Gowri <mask> started losing her health after giving birth to Uthram Thirunal and died in 1815. She was succeeded as Regent Maharani by her sister, Gowri Parvati <mask>. Succession
Her only daughter, who was now the only female in the matriarchal Travancore Royal Family, Gowri Rukmini <mask> married Rama Varma Koil Thampuran of Thiruvalla Royal Family in 1819 and had seven children, five sons and two daughters. One of these daughters died soon while the other married and had two sons, including Moolam Thirunal Sri Rama Varma. She too died in 1857 after the birth of Moolam Thirunal and so in 1858 two princesses were adopted from the Mavelikara Royal family into Travancore. Full Title
Her Highness Sri Padmanabha Sevini Vanchi Dharma Vardhini Raja Rajeshwari Maharani Ayilyam Thirunal Gowri <mask>, Attingal Mootha Thampuran, Maharani of Travancore. See also
 Travancore
 Maharani
 Swathi Thirunal
 Moolam Thirunal
 Nair
 Ammaveedu

References

Sources
  (3 volumes)

Deaths in childbirth
Travancore royal family
Indian female royalty
Maharajas of Travancore
1791 births
1814 deaths
Hindu monarchs
19th-century women rulers
18th-century Indian royalty
19th-century Indian royalty
Women in Kerala politics
19th-century Indian monarchs
Kerala politicians
Women in Tamil Nadu politics
18th-century Indian monarchs
Women of the Kingdom of Travancore
People of the Kingdom of Travancore
19th-century Indian women politicians
19th-century Indian politicians
18th-century Indian women
18th-century Indian people
People from Thiruvananthapuram district
Women from Kerala

masks: Maharani Ayilyom Thirunal Gouri Lakshmi Bayi


title: Guy Pearce

texts:
<mask> (born 5 October 1967) is an English-born Australian actor, musician, singer, and songwriter. <mask> started his career portraying Mike Young in the Australian television series Neighbours. He received international attention for his breakout role in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) and subsequently took starring roles in Curtis Hanson's L.A. Confidential (1997), Christopher Nolan's Memento (2000) and Simon Wells's The Time Machine (2002). <mask> is known for his performances in the film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's The Road (2009), Kathryn Bigelow's war drama The Hurt Locker (2010) and Tom Hooper's historical drama The King's Speech (2010). More recently, he has appeared in Ridley Scott's Prometheus (2012) and Alien: Covenant (2017), the Marvel action film Iron Man 3 (2013) and the historical biopic Mary Queen of Scots (2018). In Australian cinema, he has appeared in The Proposition (2005), Animal Kingdom (2010), 33 Postcards (2011), The Rover (2014), Holding the Man (2015) and The Wizards of Aus (2016).Since 2012, he has played the title role in the TV adaptations of the Jack Irish stories by Australian crime writer Peter Temple. <mask> starred in Todd Haynes' limited series Mildred Pierce (2011) and the HBO crime miniseries Mare of Easttown. <mask> won a Primetime Emmy Award for Mildred Pierce and has received numerous award nominations including for a Golden Globe Award, three Screen Actors Guild Awards and an Australian Academy Film Award. Early life
<mask> was born in Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. His father, <mask>, was a Royal New Zealand Air Force pilot and RAF test pilot, and his mother, Anne Cocking (née Pickering), was an English schoolteacher. He has an elder sister, Tracy. When <mask> was three years old,  the family relocated to Geelong, Victoria, Australia.When <mask> was eight years old, his father died in a flying accident. <mask> attended Geelong College, and was a member of the Geelong Society of Dramatic Arts (GSODA) Junior Players. At the age of 16, he was a competitive amateur bodybuilder, leading to the title of Junior Mr. Victoria. He lived in Box Hill North, Victoria in the late 1980s while working on the Australian drama series Neighbours. His first film appearance, while still at Geelong College, was in a Victorian Vice Chancellors-funded film Life and Study at University, produced and directed by Peter Lane of Deakin University. <mask> was 17 years old and played a 21-year-old student. Career

Film and television
<mask> transitioned to television when he was cast in the Australian soap opera Neighbours in 1985, playing the role of Mike Young for several years.<mask> also found roles in other television series such as Home and Away (1988) and Snowy River: The McGregor Saga (1993). The director/producer/writer Frank Howson cast <mask> in his first three films, Heaven Tonight, Hunting and Flynn, and paid for him to go to the Cannes Film Festival in 1991 for the premiere of the Howson-directed Hunting. The accompanying Howson-funded publicity campaign brought <mask> to the attention of the international film industry. He made his first major film breakthrough shortly after, with his role as a drag queen in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert in 1994. Since then, he has appeared in several US productions including L.A. Confidential, Ravenous, Rules of Engagement, Memento, The Count of Monte Cristo and The Time Machine. <mask> portrayed pop artist Andy Warhol in Factory Girl and Harry Houdini in Death Defying Acts.He also appeared in The Road and in Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler. <mask> continued to perform in Australian films, such as The Hard Word (2002) and The Proposition (2005), written by fellow Australian Nick Cave. In January 2009, <mask> returned to the stage after a seven-year absence. He performed in the Melbourne Theatre Company's production of Poor Boy, a play with music, co-written by Matt Cameron and Tim Finn. In 2009, he portrayed Staff Sergeant Matthew Thompson in The Hurt Locker. In 2010, he appeared as David, Prince of Wales, who became King Edward VIII, in The King's Speech. Both films won the Academy Award for Best Picture, making <mask> the first actor to appear in back-to-back Best Picture winners since Michael Peña (who appeared in Million Dollar Baby and Crash).<mask> starred as the eponymous lead in the Australian TV miniseries Jack Irish, an adaptation of the detective novels of author Peter Temple broadcast on the ABC network in 2012. In May 2012, <mask> was cast to star in David Michôd's The Rover. In 2013, <mask> played the villain character Aldrich Killian in Iron Man 3. <mask> had a supporting role in Neil Armfield's romantic-drama film Holding the Man, as Dick Conigrave. The 2015 film stars Ryan Corr and Craig Stott, with supporting performances from <mask>, Anthony LaPaglia and Geoffrey Rush. Holding the Man was adapted from Timothy Conigrave's 1995 memoir of the same name. Music
Next to acting, <mask> has a lifelong passion for music and songwriting.He released his first album, Broken Bones, in November 2014. <mask> appeared in a documentary special celebrating Neighbours 30th anniversary titled Neighbours 30th: The Stars Reunite, which aired in Australia and the UK in March 2015. <mask> released his second studio album The Nomad in 2018. <mask> appeared in Australian band Silverchair's music video for "Across the Night" and in Razorlight's video for "Before I Fall to Pieces." Furthermore, he appeared in the video for the song "Follow Me Around" by Radiohead. He recorded the soundtrack for A Slipping-Down Life, singing and playing guitar on cover versions of songs by Ron Sexsmith, Vic Chesnutt and Robyn Hitchcock. Personal life
<mask> married his childhood sweetheart, psychologist Kate Mestitz, in March 1997.In October 2015, <mask> confirmed he and Mestitz had ended their marriage after 18 years. <mask> is in a relationship with Dutch actress Carice van Houten; they have a son, Monte, who was born in August 2016. As an Australian rules football fan who supports the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League, <mask> has done media work with the club, including a documentary narration. <mask> supports a number of charitable organisations for many causes such as animal rights, animal welfare, and protecting the Earth's ecology. Filmography

Film

Television

Music Videos

Awards and nominations

On 18 September 2011, <mask> won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for his work in Todd Haynes' limited series Mildred Pierce as Monty Beragon. <mask> received a Golden Globe Award nomination for his performance. <mask> has been nominated for three Screen Actors Guild Awards winning for Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture along with the cast of The King's Speech (2010).<mask> was nominated with the cast of L.A. Confidential (1997) and Mildred Pierce (2011). Discography
 Broken Bones (2014)
 The Nomad (2018)

References

External links

 Actor Profile at Local World's Ely News

1967 births
20th-century Australian male actors
21st-century Australian male actors
21st-century Australian singers
Australian bodybuilders
Australian expatriate male actors in the United States
Australian expatriates in the Netherlands
Australian male film actors
Australian male voice actors
Australian male singer-songwriters
Australian male soap opera actors
Australian male stage actors
Australian people of New Zealand descent
English emigrants to Australia
Living people
Male actors from Cambridgeshire
Male actors from Geelong
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners
Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie Primetime Emmy Award winners
People educated at Geelong College
People from Ely, Cambridgeshire
Singers from Cambridgeshire

masks:
Guy Edward Pearce
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Pearce
Stuart Pearce
Pearce
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Guy
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Pearce
Pearce
Pearce
Pearce
Pearce
Pearce
Pearce