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Orson Welles (1915-1985)

George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985), best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio. Noted for his innovative dramatic productions as well as his distinctive voice and personality, Welles is widely acknowledged as one of the most accomplished dramatic artists of the twentieth century, especially for his significant and influential early work—despite his notoriously contentious relationship with Hollywood. His distinctive directorial style featured layered, nonlinear narrative forms, innovative uses of lighting such as chiaroscuro, unique camera angles, sound techniques borrowed from radio, deep focus shots, and long takes. Welles's long career in film is noted for his struggle for artistic control in the face of pressure from studios. Many of his films were heavily edited and others left unreleased. He has been praised as a major creative force and as "the ultimate auteur."

After directing a number of high-profile theatrical productions in his early twenties, including an innovative adaptation of Macbeth and The Cradle Will Rock, Welles found national and international fame as the director and narrator of a 1938 radio adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel The War of the Worlds performed for the radio drama anthology series Mercury Theatre on the Air. It was reported to have caused widespread panic when listeners thought that an invasion by extraterrestrial beings was occurring. Although these reports of panic were mostly false and overstated,they rocketed Welles to instant notoriety.

Citizen Kane (1941), his first film with RKO, in which he starred in the role of Charles Foster Kane, is often considered the greatest film ever made. Several of his other films, including The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), The Lady from Shanghai (1947), Touch of Evil (1958), Chimes at Midnight (1965), and F for Fake (1974), are also widely considered to be masterpieces.

In 2002, he was voted the greatest film director of all time in two separate British Film Institute polls among directors and critics, and a wide survey of critical consensus, best-of lists, and historical retrospectives calls him the most acclaimed director of all time. Well known for his baritone voice, Welles was also an extremely well regarded actor and was voted number 16 in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars list of the greatest American film actors of all time. He was also a celebrated Shakespearean stage actor and an accomplished magician, starring in troop variety shows in the war years.

Source: Wikipedia

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Neal Casal

Neal Casal is an American songwriter, singer, multi-instrumentalist and photographer who has maintained an acclaimed solo career as well as playing guitar for The Cardinals.

Casal began work on early solo demos from 1990 to 1993 at studios in Los Angeles, New York and New Jersey. During this period he teamed up with his manager Gary Waldman, keyboard player John Ginty and vocalist Angie McKenna. After signing a publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music, he forged a long standing professional relationship with producer/engineer Jim Scott.

In 1994, Casal signed with Zoo Entertainment and recorded his debut album at Palacio del Rio, formally owned by James Stewart and Dean Martin in Santa Ynez, California with producer Jim Scott. The album featured musicians Don Heffington, Bob Glaub, Greg Leisz. Casal released Fade Away Diamond Time in September 1994 that to critical acclaim and supported by a US tour with his band.



Casal parted ways with Zoo Records in 1996 and recorded Rain, Wind, and Speed released by Buy or Die Records.

In 1997, Casal signed with the Glitterhouse Records label and went on to release five albums, including Field Recordings and The Sun Rises Here. In 1998, Casal released the self-produced album Basement Dreams, named Americana Album of the Year in Mojo Magazine.

During the Spring of 1999, Casal teamed up with Six String Drag front man Kenny Roby and toured Europe, later that summer recording the live album Black River Sides.

Casal released his sixth solo album Anytime Tomorrow in 2000, produced by Jim Scott. Anytime Tomorow was the last album to be released by Glitterhouse in 2000 and prompted an extensive European tour into early 2001.

In 2002, Casal co-wrote, produced and released the EP Ran On Pure Lightning collaborating with Shannon McNally and other musicians which included Benmont Tench, Greg Leisz and Brent Rademaker. Around this time, Casal also started playing with bassist Jeff Hill and drummer Dan Fadel, forming Hazy Malaze.

Railroad Earth’s 2002 album Bird in a House featured a cover version of Casal’s song “Dandelion Wine”.



Shortly after signing to Paris based Fargo Records in 2003, Fargo released the compilation album Maybe California resulting in a European tour and Casal's first solo tour of Japan. The following year, Fargo released two compilation albums, Leaving Traces, a selection of Casal’s original songs from 1994–2004, and Return in Kind, a compilation of covers and he began recording his eighth solo album.

Casal joined Ryan Adams and The Cardinals in 2005. In December of that year he embarked on his third Japanese tour, which featured his first photography exhibition and upon his return released No Wish to Reminisce in early 2006. The album, produced by Michael Deming (Beachwood Sparks, Lilys), took his music in a different direction from his previous work, with a more layered, psychedelic production. All Directions, a compilation album of live and unreleased songs, was released in 2007.

In 2009, Casal teamed up with engineer Don Sternecker and recorded and produced Roots and Wings. The album included musicians Jon Graboff, Greg Leisz, Johnathan Rice, Jeff Hill, Dan Fadel and Andy Goessling.

Casal began recording his tenth solo album in March 2010 with producer Thom Monahan. While Casal toured Europe, Fargo re-released the albums Basement Dreams and Rain, Wind and Speed.

On March 6 it was announced that Casal had joined the Chris Robinson Brotherhood.

The album Sweeten The Distance will be released in June 2011.

Hazy Malaze

In the summer of 2002, while touring with Shannon McNally, Casal formed Hazy Malaze with fellow band members Dan Fadel and Jeff Hill. Their debut album Hazy Malaze was recorded and mixed at Village Recorders in Los Angeles in eleven days. Later that year they toured opening for Robert Randolph and the Family Band and during 2003 continued to tour the US, while beginning work on their second album Blackout Love.



In 2005, Hazy Malaze released their second album Blackout Love, supported by a French tour.

In 2009 Hazy Malaze released their third album Connections.

Ryan Adams & The Cardinals

Casal joined Ryan Adams & The Cardinals in 2005, shortly after the release of Jacksonville City Nights, replacing J.P. Bowerstock, and toured the US in the Summer of 2006, followed by a UK and European tour in the autumn.

In 2007, the Ryan Adams album Easy Tiger was released an went to number seven on Billboard album chart, resulting in a yearlong world tour and the album's producer, Jamie Candiloro, added to the lineup on piano. Candiloro also produced the Follow the Lights EP, released in October 2007, and reaching number 40 on the US Billboard 200 chart.

In 2008, Ryan Adams & The Cardinals released Cardinology, recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York and produced by Tom Schick. The album was reached number 11 on Billboard album chart and number 14 on Rolling Stone’s best albums of 2008 list. The Rolling Stone magazine also placed "Magick" at #13 on the 100 Best Singles of 2008 list.

In January 2009, Adams announced that he was leaving The Cardinals after their final show on March 20, 2009 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta. The band has been on indefinite hiatus ever since.

In December 2010, Ryan Adams & The Cardinals released their final album Cardinals III/IV, a compilation of unreleased material. The album was recorded in 2006 during the same sessions that yielded Easy Tiger.

On April 16 Ryan Adams released Class Mythology, which is an EP of unreleased tracks recorded with the Cardinals during the Cardinology period.

Session Work/Collaborations

Casal contributed guitar work on Tift Merritt’s 2005 album Tambourine, featuring Mike Campbell, which as nominated for a Country Album of the Year and three Americana Music Awards. Casal played on Gin Wigmore’s 2009 album Holy Smoke” produced by Mike Elizondo, which won four of the six New Zealand Music Awards it was nominated for and went Quadruple Platinum.

Willie Nelson’s 2007 album Songbird produced by Ryan Adams and released by Lost Highway Records. Adams, along with The Cardinals, performed on the album’s eleven tracks, featuring Casal on guitar and piano. Songbird peaked at #87 on the Billboard 200 on November 18, 2006.

                                                           Photography

In 2004, Casal provided photos for Tift Merritt’s second record Tambourine.

In 2007, Casal shot the album cover photos for the Ryan Adams album Easy Tiger and the Ryan Adams and the Cardinals EP Follow the Lights. In 2008, he provided photos for the Ryan Adams and the Cardinals album Cardinology.

  

Casal provided photographs for the final album of Ryan Adams and The Cardinals Cardinals III/IV, which was released in 2010.

In January 2008 Casal exhibited his photography at the Bauhaus Gallery in Tokyo.

Casal shot the album cover and all photos for the artwork for Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion’s 2011 album Bright Examples.

Casal shot the album cover for Courtney Jaye's The Exotic Sounds of Courtney Jaye, released on January 10, 2010.

In 2010 Casal provided photographs for Danny And the Champions Of The World album Streets Of Our Time.

Casal provided never before seen photographs for the Ryan Adams and The Cardinals EP Class Mythology, released in April 2011.

Casal’s photographs have appeared in publications such as Mojo, Rolling Stone, Spin, Harp, USA Today.

Movies and TV

Director Ray Foley made a documentary about Casal’s influences and inspirations during the making of his sixth album in 2001 entitled Neal Casal: Anytime Tomorrow.

In 2009, two Hazy Malaze songs were featured on Private Practice season three, episode seven “The Hard Part” and Casal’s single “The Losing End Again” appeared in Fringe season two, episode seventeen “Olivia. In The Lab. With The Revolver.”.

Casal was Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn’s voice coach for the 2004 movie Starsky and Hutch and played guitar on Owen Wilson’s performance of "" which was also featured on the soundtrack.

Sang the lead vocals on “The Game” and “The Music of Jason Crigler”, released on Rudy Records. Casal co-wrote and sang backing vocals on “The Truest Kind” on the album “Danny and The Champions of The World”.

In 2011, Casal worked as Garrett Hedlund’s guitar instructor for the movie Country Strong and also appears in the film as Gwyneth Paltrow’s guitar player.

Books

In March 2010, Abrams Image published Casal’s first book of photography A View Of Other Windows. The book is a photographic documentary of life playing and touring with Ryan Adams and The Cardinals.

Source: Wikipedia

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Jerry Garcia

(August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995)

Band leader, guitarist, and songwriter. Born on August 1, 1942, in San Francisco, California. Garcia was the son of a Spanish immigrant who grew up to become a bandleader popular in the San Francisco area. He studied piano as a boy but turned to the guitar in his teens. He dropped out of school at age 17 and served nine months in the U.S. Army before being discharged for poor conduct.

He began to play folk and blues guitar, alone or with pickup groups, in clubs in the San Francisco area while working as a salesman and music teacher in a music store.



In 1965 he formed a band, the Warlocks, but on discovering another group with that name, it was changed to the Grateful Dead (1966). Closely involved with the San Francisco hippie movement and the use of drugs such as LSD, the band first played "psychedelic" rock but moved on to a more diverse repertory of rock styles in the 1970s. From around 1974 the band's members began to go their own ways, and Garcia made solo appearances and albums.

In the 1980s he became heavily addicted to drugs, and after being arrested in 1985 was sent to a treatment center. After emerging from a diabetic coma, he decided to turn his life around, and the band made a comeback (1987) with a hit single, "Touch of Gray" and an album, In the Dark.



Garcia and the rest of the band enjoyed this new wave of success and continued to tour, drawing legions of fans - new and old - to their shows. The Grateful Dead had built quite a following over the years and their loyal fans, sometimes called "Deadheads," were known to travel around the country to catch their concerts.



Unfortunately, the show could not go on forever. Despite Garcia's efforts to improve his lifestyle, all of the years of hard living caught up with him. He died of heart failure on August 9, 1995, in Forest Knolls, California.

Source: Biography.com

Flight of the Beard

American Idol Beard of the Day

GAB#39 - Tim Jones

GAB #38 - Andy Perri

GAB #37 - Justin Benoliel

Happy Birthday Beard of the Day

Dr. Seuss

U.S. writer and illustrator.He studied at Dartmouth College and did doctoral work at the University of Oxford. He began working in 1927 as a freelance cartoonist, illustrator, and writer. Under his pseudonym, Geisel began creating immensely popular children's books peopled with outlandish invented creatures and brimming with nonsense words. And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street (1937), his first Dr. Seuss book, was followed by such huge successes as Horton Hatches the Egg (1940), The Cat in the Hat (1957), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1957), Yertle the Turtle (1958), and Green Eggs and Ham (1960). Such perennial best-sellers, and his posthumous Oh, the Places You'll Go! (1993), made him the best-selling children's author in the world.



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Toy Caldwell - Marshall Tucker Band

Toy Caldwell was best known as the lead guitarist and main songwriter in the Marshall Tucker Band. A unique personality as well as a formidable musician, he was a peer of both Dickey Betts and Charlie Daniels, and his best work crossed effortlessly between country, blues, and rock & roll. A few years after the breakup of the Marshall Tucker Band in the late '80s, he re-emerged as leader of the Toy Caldwell Band, which played small-scale shows of the kind that the Marshall Tucker Band couldn't do. He also recorded one solo album before his death in early 1993. Although most of his fame inevitably rests with the Marshall Tucker Band, Caldwell left behind a small but glorious body of solo material. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi



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Nick Davis

Happy Birthday Beard of the Day

Peter Fonda

Actor, director, writer, producer. Born Peter Seymour Fonda on February 23, 1939 in New York City. Son of actor Henry Fonda and Frances Seymour Brokaw, who committed suicide when Peter was 11. His only sister, Jane, is also an actress. A brilliant student, Fonda left New York for Nebraska at age seventeen, where he entered the University of Omaha as a sophomore without even finishing high school.

Though he spent much of his childhood trying to live up to his famous father's expectations, it wasn't until college that Fonda broke into acting. After appearing in the Omaha Playhouse's production of Harvey, he moved back to New York, debuting on Broadway at the age of 21 in a production of Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole. In 1963, he made his first Hollywood film, Tammy and the Doctor starring Sandra Dee.

With all-American good looks and a reputation that preceded him through his father, Fonda continued to play romantic leads during much of the early to mid-1960s. But in 1966, Fonda turned on his golden boy persona as he began to take on roles that were increasingly anti-establishment, earning him notoriety as both a delinquent and rebel. Such films included Roger Corman's The Wild Angels in 1966 where he played a motorcycle gang leader and 1967's The Trip.

In 1969, Fonda pushed the envelope even further when he produced and starred in Easy Rider as Wyatt "Captain America" Earp. Co-starring Dennis Hopper and Jack Nicholson as freewheeling, pot-smoking adventurers, the film became one of the era's cultural landmarks. But it also proved to be an unexpected commercial success, grossing over $19 million at the box office and earning Fonda an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay.



Casting Fonda as a cult hero, the success of Easy Rider proved hard to live up to. In 1971, he teamed up again with Hopper for The Last Movie to lukewarm critical reviews. Increasingly, Fonda became better known for his activities off-screen than on. John Lennon's She Said She Said was reportedly inspired by a bad acid trip the musician had taken, during which Fonda repeatedly told him, "I know what it's like to be dead, man." In 1969, Fonda left Los Angeles to live in Montana.
His screen career continued its downward spiral during the 1980s, and was eventually eclipsed by that of his daughter, Bridget. But in the mid-1990s, he staged a comeback, starting with a cameo appearance in Bodies, Rest & Motion. In 1994, he had a starring role in Michael Almereyda's Nadja and created a self-parody in John Carpenter's Escape From L.A. in 1996.

Fonda's true comeback came in 1997 with Ulee's Gold, Victor Nunez's 1997 exploration of loss and family ties. He won raves for his portrayal of the title character, as well as a Best Actor Oscar nomination. Always one to play by his own rules, Fonda rejected mainstream Hollywood fare to next star in Steven Soderbergh's The Limey in 1999. He also appeared in The Passion of Ayn Rand as the author's long-suffering husband for which he received a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor.

Fonda was married to Susan Brewer from 1961-1972. They have two children, Bridget and Justin. He married Portia Rebecca Crockett (aka Becky McGuane) in 1975.

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Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt (born February 17, 1981) is an American actor whose career as both a child and adult has included television series, theatrical films, and stage performances.

Beginning in commercials as a young child, he went on to appear in a number of television films and series, including a lead role in a television revival of Dark Shadows and a film debut in 1992's Beethoven. An appearance in A River Runs Through It followed, along with a starring role in the 1994 movie Angels in the Outfield, as Roger Bomman. Gordon-Levitt subsequently co-starred in the television sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996–2001) as the young Tommy Solomon, and had a major supporting role in the 1999 film 10 Things I Hate About You.

After a hiatus during which he attended Columbia University, Gordon-Levitt abandoned television but returned to film acting as an adult, appearing in various independent films, beginning with the 2001 film Manic, followed by the acclaimed roles in 2004's Mysterious Skin and 2005's Brick. In 2009, he played the lead role in the well-reviewed (500) Days of Summer, which gained him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. In 2010, he starred in the Christopher Nolan film Inception. He runs an online collaborative production company titled HitRECord.

Gordon-Levitt was born in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in Sherman Oaks. His family is Jewish. His father, Dennis Levitt, was once the news director for the Pacifica Radio station, KPFK-FM. His mother, Jane Gordon, ran for the United States Congress in California during the 1970s for the Peace and Freedom Party; she met Dennis Levitt while she was working as the program guide editor for KPFK-FM. Gordon-Levitt's maternal grandfather, Michael Gordon, was a Hollywood film director between the 1940s and 1970s, known for helming the 1959 Doris Day/Rock Hudson film Pillow Talk. Gordon-Levitt had an older brother, Dan, who was a photographer and fire spinner; he was born in 1974 and died in October 2010.

Gordon-Levitt joined a musical theater group at the age of four and played the Scarecrow in a production of The Wizard of Oz. Subsequently, he was approached by an agent and began appearing on television and in commercials for Sunny Jim peanut butter, Cocoa Puffs, Pop-Tarts, and Kinney Shoes.

Gordon-Levitt began his acting career at the age of six, appearing in several late 1980s made-for-television films, two episodes of the series Family Ties and in Quantum Leap Series 4 episode 5 "Permanent Wave". After having a lead role on the short-lived 1991 revival of the television series Dark Shadows as David Collins, he made his feature-film debut with a background role in 1992's Beethoven. Later that same year, he played a young version of Craig Sheffer's character in A River Runs Through It. At the age of twelve, Gordon-Levitt took the lead role of Gregory in the film Switching Parents, which was based on the true story of Gregory Kingsley, a boy who won the right to legally divorce his parents. In 1994, he played a Hutterite boy in the comedy Holy Matrimony and appeared in the lead role of the successful Disney film Angels in the Outfield. From 1993 to 1995 he had a recurring role on the sitcom Roseanne.

In 1996, Gordon-Levitt began playing Tommy Solomon on the sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun, a role that put him on the map and for which he is most well-known.[5] The San Francisco Chronicle noted the coincidence that Gordon-Levitt was a "Jewish kid playing an extraterrestrial pretending to be a Jewish kid". In 1998, he was a guest star in the first season of That '70s Show, appearing in the episode "Eric's Buddy" as a gay schoolmate of Eric Forman's. During the late 1990s, he also appeared in several films, including The Juror (1996), Sweet Jane (1998) opposite Samantha Mathis, and the Shakespeare-based teen comedy 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), in which he and Heath Ledger had the male leading roles. He performed the voice of the main character Jim Hawkins in the Disney animated feature Treasure Planet (2002), which is a science fiction adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's adventure novel Treasure Island.



Gordon-Levitt was attending Van Nuys High School while acting on 3rd Rock from the Sun. During the 1990s, he was frequently featured in teenage magazines, something he resented. He has also said that during this time period, he did not enjoy being recognized in public, specifying that he "hates celebrity". As part of starring in 3rd Rock, Levitt appeared in five of NBC's public service announcements, The More You Know. His topics covered drinking while driving, peer pressure, hate crimes, staying in school, and violence prevention. He also appeared in the annual White House television special Christmas in Washington during the Bill Clinton administration in 1996, the thirteenth season of Celebrity Jeopardy! in 1996, The Daily Show on March 18, 1999, and in the Fox Family television special Dear Santa in 2002.

Gordon-Levitt left 3rd Rock from the Sun during its final season, becoming a recurring character and appearing in only half of the season's episodes. For the two years following, he quit acting and attended Columbia University (the only university to which he had applied). He entered in 2000 and attended from 2001 to 2004, studying history, literature, and French poetry in General Studies. Since his study at Columbia, he has become an avid and self-confirmed Francophile, and a speaker of the French language. He has said that moving to New York City (he currently resides in Manhattan's Lower East Side) from his hometown "forced" him to grow as a person. Gordon-Levitt dropped out of the university in 2004 to concentrate on acting again.

Gordon-Levitt has said that he made a conscious decision to "be in good movies" after returning to acting. Since the early 2000s, he has appeared in what has been described by the Boston Herald as a series of "acclaimed and underseen indies" that "pegged him as a rising star on the indie film circuit." Gordon-Levitt has received praise and positive reviews for his performances. Observing Gordon-Levitt's acclaim from critics and audiences alike, Showbiz notes that he has "defied the cliched fates that befall most underage actors when they grow up", while The New York Times has described him as "one of the hottest young stars in the indie firmament." Although he regularly researches his roles by exposing himself to real-life versions of the character before shooting, Gordon-Levitt does not label himself as a method actor.

His films include 2001's drama Manic, which was set in a mental institution, Mysterious Skin (2004), in which he played a gay prostitute and child sexual abuse victim, and Brick (2005), a modern-day film noir set at a high school, in which he had the lead role of Brendan Frye, a teen who becomes involved in an underground drug ring while investigating a murder. Brick received positive reviews, with The Minnesota Daily's critic commenting that Gordon-Levitt played the character "beautifully", "true to film's style", "unfeeling but not disenchanted", and "sexy in the most ambiguous way." Another reviewer described the performance as "astounding". His roles in Mysterious Skin and 2005's Brick prompted Salon.com to describe him as "one of the most interesting leading men in independent film, a thoughtful performer, simultaneously outspoken and introverted, who specializes in playing troubled characters at war with themselves and the world." He also starred opposite Steve Sandvoss as a young judgmental missionary in Latter Days (2003), a film that centers on a sexually confused Mormon missionary (Sandvoss) who falls for his gay neighbor. Gordon-Levitt had originally auditioned for Sandvoss' part, but was eventually cast as Elder Paul Ryder because of his good sense of humor and aggressiveness. In 2005, he also had roles in the youth drama Havoc and the critical failure Shadowboxer, a film about a terminally ill assassin, played by Helen Mirren, carrying out one final killing.

His next role was in The Lookout, where he played Chris Pratt, a janitor involved in a bank heist, which was released on March 30, 2007. In reviewing the film, The Philadelphia Inquirer described Gordon-Levitt as a "surprisingly formidable, and formidably surprising, leading man", while New York magazine stated that he is a "major tabula rasa actor ... a minimalist", and that his character worked because he "doesn't seize the space ... by what he takes away from the character." The San Francisco Chronicle specified that he "embodies, more than performs, a character's inner life." Several critics suggested that his role in The Lookout would turn Gordon-Levitt into a mainstream actor. His 2008 films include Killshot, in which he played a hoodlum partnered with a hired killer played by Mickey Rourke, and Stop-Loss, directed by Kimberly Peirce and revolving around American soldiers returning from the Iraq War.

He played a lead role opposite Zooey Deschanel in (500) Days of Summer, a 2009 release about the deconstruction of a relationship, which received positive reviews.[19] His performance, described as "the real key" to what makes the film work, credits him with using "his usual spell in subtle gradations." Variety's Todd McCarthy praised his performance, saying he "expressively alternates between enthusiasm and forlorn disappointment in the manner Jack Lemmon could". Peter Travers of Rolling Stone said the movie "hits you like a blast of pure romantic oxygen" and credited both lead actors for playing "it for real, with a grasp of subtlety and feeling that goes beyond the call of breezy duty." He was subsequently nominated for a Golden Globe Award. The same year, he appeared in Uncertainty, which details about a couple who thrust into two alternative realities by the flip of a coin, and his first blockbuster, portraying villain Cobra Commander in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, a live-action film of the toy series. In G.I. Joe Gordon-Levitt wore a mask and prosthetic makeup underneath it. After seeing concept art of the role he was being offered, he signed on saying that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. He later explained that the film was a welcome relief after the heavy films he filmed in between 2007 and 2008. The movie grossed over $300 million,but received mixed reviews, with Stephen Whitty of Newark Star-Ledger calling it "incredibly silly". On November 21, he hosted Saturday Night Live.



In 2010, Gordon-Levitt starred opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in Christopher Nolan's science fiction thriller Inception, replacing James Franco in the role of Arthur, who is the "Point Man", Dom Cobb's (DiCaprio) partner and the person responsible for researching the team's targets. Inception received critical acclaim and was number 1 at the US box office for 3 consecutive weeks and has made over $800 million, becoming his most successful film to date. His other 2010 films include Hesher, an independent drama co-starring Natalie Portman in which he plays the title character who becomes a mentor and tormentor to a young boy. Other films he will appear in are Live with It, opposite Seth Rogen and Anna Kendrick, which is a dramedy about an adult male's struggle with cancer and Premium Rush, where Gordon-Levitt plays a bicycle messenger who is pursued by a dirty cop for information. While filming the latter he crashed into the back of a cab while riding a bicycle; the injury required 31 stitches. In addition, he will play the younger version of Bruce Willis' character in the time-traveling thriller Looper.

Snow beard of the day

Colin Schneider

Winter Beards

           Matt Lee                                                          Merl                   

RIP Beard of the Day

Walter Brown "Brownie" McGhee

(born Nov. 30, 1915, Knoxville, Tenn., U.S.—died Feb. 16, 1996, Oakland, Calif.)

American blues singer, guitarist, pianist, songwriter, and longtime partner of the vocalist and harmonica player Sonny Terry.

The son of a singer and guitarist, McGhee developed an interest in the guitar at about age six and was taught by his sister to play the piano at age eight. He was impressed by itinerant blues musicians and dropped out of high school in the late 1920s to perform for carnivals, minstrel shows, dances, and informal gatherings throughout Tennessee. In the mid-1930s he led his own washboard band. McGhee first met Terry in North Carolina in 1939 and worked with him and the singer Paul Robeson in Washington, D.C., in 1940. Settling in New York City in the early 1940s, he roomed with Terry and the blues musician Leadbelly ( Huddie Ledbetter), and the three performed with Woody Guthrie and others as the Headline Singers. Terry and McGhee's partnership began in 1941 and lasted (with frequent interruptions) until the late 1970s. From 1942 to 1950 McGhee ran his own music school, Home of the Blues, in Harlem.

McGhee's first recordings were for the OKeh label in 1940; he later recorded extensively with Terry and others, exhibiting an authentic rural style. He appeared in Tennessee Williams' play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof on Broadway (1955–57) and toured with that show. McGhee recorded several motion-picture soundtracks, including that for A Face in the Crowd (1957).



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Happy Birthday Beard of the Day

LeVar Burton

Born Levardis Robert Martyn Burton, Jr. on February 16, 1957, in Landstuhl, West Germany. Burton's father, Levardis, Sr. worked as a photographer for the U.S. Army and his mother, Erma, was an English teacher. Burton's parents divorced when he was three, and he and his two siblings relocated to Sacramento, California, with their mother.


As a teacher, Erma instilled in her children the importance of a good education and a love of reading. Also a practicing Catholic, LeVar's mother sent him and his sisters to parochial school in order to provide them with religious instruction. Strongly influenced by his religious background, Burton entered the Catholic seminary at the age of 13 with the intention of becoming a priest. But after reading the works of philosphers such as Nietzsche and Kierkegaard, Burton had his doubts about the dogma. He left the seminary at the age of 17 and headed to the University of California on a drama scholarship instead.


Two years into his education at U of C, Burton auditioned for a role in writer Alex Haley's television show, Roots, which told the story of seven generations of Haley's family. Burton's life was forever changed when he was chosen for the lead role as slave Kunta Kinte. When Roots hit the TV airwaves in 1977, it broke all viewing records, and Burton became a poster boy for the discussion of race relations.


In addition to his performance in Roots, Burton appeared in several TV movies, including the Emmy-nominated Dummy (1979) and Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones (1980). But his big reinvention as an actor would come in 1983, when he became the host of the Public Broadcasting System's Reading Rainbow, a show aimed at teaching young children to read. The series won five Emmys in its more than 20 years on the air, and Burton—who eventually became a contributing producer to the show in 1987—earned high marks from critics for his warm delivery. In 2005, he earned an N.A.A.C.P. award for his contributions to the show.



Already a household name to thousands of grade-school children, Burton became a household name for science fiction fans in 1987 as a co-star on Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek: The Next Generation. Playing the blind chief engineer, Lieutenant Commander Geordi LeForge. In 1993, he got his chance to direct an episode of the show, in which he cast Dr. Mae Jemison, the first real-life African-American female astronaut, as a guest star.


Since the cancelation of Star Trek in 1994, Burton has been directing film and television projects.


Burton currently lives in Sherman Oaks, California, with his wife, make-up artist Stephanie Cozart Burton, and his two children.

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Happy Birthday Beard of the Day

Mike Shinoda - Linkin Park

Michael Kenji "Mike" Shinoda (Japanese: 篠田賢治, born February 11, 1977)is an American musician, record producer, artist, and actor. He is best known as the rapper, songwriter, keyboardist, vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Linkin Park, along with his co-frontman and lead singer Chester Bennington, and as a solo rapper in his side-project, Fort Minor. He also provides artwork, production, and mixing for both groups.

Shinoda was born and raised in the Los Angeles suburb of Agoura Hills. His father is Japanese American, and his mother is European American.He also has a younger brother, Jason Shinoda. Shinoda attended Parkman Elementary and Lindero Canyon Middle School.

As per his mother's wishes, Shinoda began his classical piano training with lessons around the age of six, his enthusiasm eventually growing. At the age of thirteen, he expressed the desire to move towards playing jazz, blues, and even hip-hop. During his middle school and high school years, he added the guitar and, eventually, rap-style vocals to his repertoire.

After his teens, Mike Shinoda's rap interests found a source of encouragement in Brad Delson, with whom he started to write and record songs in a makeshift studio set up in his bedroom. Shinoda attended Agoura High School with Linkin Park bandmates Brad Delson and Rob Bourdon as well as with members of the band Hoobastank. By the end of high school, Bourdon had become involved in their musical ventures. The trio formed the band Xero, and began to make a more serious attempt to pursue a career in the music industry.

After high school, Shinoda enrolled in the Art Center College of Design to study graphic design and illustration. It was here that he made the acquaintance of DJ and turntablist Joseph Hahn, who, along with Delson's college-mate Dave "Phoenix" Farrell, was soon added to Xero's line-up. It was also here that he experienced a form of identity crisis. Years later, in an interview he said:

"I think it was probably in college that I realized that there was a difference between Japanese and Japanese-American. That's important to realize. It's not the same thing and then eventually with Linkin Park, I toured in Japan. I've been there now I think four times. I remember the first time I went, how familiar it seemed, just getting out of the plane, it smelled like my aunt's house, in the airport, it smelled like Japan. I don't know if anybody else even noticed it but I walked out of the plane and thought this is definitely familiar to me, didn't even see anything yet. And then going to Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya, you just recognize things about the way people act, the small things that people do such as how you'll grab a piece of paper. There are things that are more obvious like taking somebody's business card with two hands. You don't do that in the States. When I saw somebody do that I went, "Oh yeah, my uncle always does that," you know. There are little things that culturally come from Japan but they also exist in Japanese American culture and it made me feel like the connection was there and I kind of hadn't realized how much of it was there."

At only 21 years old, Shinoda eventually graduated from college with a degree in illustration, securing himself a job as a graphic designer right after graduation.[1] With his background as a graphic artist, Shinoda has taken it upon himself in designing all of Linkin Park's artwork with Hahn, and has even designed the album cover for Styles of Beyond's debut album, 2000 Fold. In later years he would go on to showcase his art skills; he had his debut art showcase (Diamonds Spades Hearts & Clubs) at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles in the time leading up to Linkin Park's album Minutes to Midnight.

Shinoda's band brought in second vocalist Chester Bennington, replacing Mark Wakefield. From the onset, Shinoda was closely involved in the technical aspects of the band's recordings, and over the subsequent releases that role continued to expand. Shinoda, with guitarist Brad Delson, engineered and produced the band's Hybrid Theory EP, and performed similar roles in the recording of the Hybrid Theory album. Mike executively organized and oversaw the band's remix album Reanimation (2002), contributing his own production remixes that he made in his home studio for "Crawling" and "Pushing Me Away." In his spare time, he produced and performed on a song by The X-Ecutioners entitled "It's Goin' Down."

On the second Linkin Park Warner Bros. studio release Meteora (2003) Shinoda continued to expand upon his duties as a musician and studio technician/engineer. Additionally, for the backbone of the album artwork, Shinoda collaborated with graffiti artist DELTA, graphic designer Frank Maddocks, and band-mate Joe Hahn.

By the release of the Linkin Park and Jay-Z 'mash-up' album Collision Course in 2004, Shinoda's involvement in the creation of the albums continued to grow. He produced and mixed the album, which won a Grammy Award for "best rap / sung collaboration" in 2006.



The band released their next album, Minutes to Midnight, on May 14, 2007. On this album, Shinoda shared a production credit with producer Rick Rubin, overseeing the musical evolution of the band's sound. This album was also the first time that Shinoda, best known for his rapping, sang a featured vocal. Mike sang in the songs "In Between" and the b-side song, "No Roads Left," as well as rapping and singing in the songs "Bleed It Out" and "Hands Held High." Despite the uncommonness of Shinoda-fronted singing tracks, Hit Parader ranked Mike at number 72 of the Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time.[8] Mike and Rick Rubin again shared a production credit for Linkin Park's latest album, A Thousand Suns, released on September 14, 2010.

Shinoda formed a side project named "Fort Minor" between 2003 and 2004 because he could not demonstrate as much of his hip-hop background in Linkin Park. He explained the name of his project in an interview:

“'Fort' represents the more aggressive side of the music. 'Minor' can mean a few things: if you're talking about music theory, the minor key is darker. I wanted to name the album rather than having my name on the cover, because I want people to focus on the music, not me.”

The debut album from Fort Minor, titled The Rising Tied, was released on November 13, 2005, and includes guest appearances from Styles of Beyond, Lupe Fiasco, Common, Black Thought of The Roots, John Legend, Holly Brook, Jonah Matranga, Celph Titled, and features Jay-Z (Shawn Carter) as an executive producer.

For the NBA 2006-2007 season, "Remember the Name", the second single from The Rising Tied, became the soundtrack for NBA Overtime on TNT. It was an NBA remix version, and remains the staple song for NBA on TNT to this day.[citation needed] Furthermore the Big East used "Remember the Name" as its theme song for the Big East Basketball Tournament in 2006.

He also scored a Top 10 smash with the surprise hit single "Where'd You Go", which peaked at #4 on Billboard Hot 100 chart.

After the release of the album, Shinoda also contributed to the iTunes Store by creating his own celebrity playlist.

Fort Minor won an MTV VMA for "Best Ringtone" in 2006, and was featured in the following films and TV programs (2005–2006 and 2010): Entourage, Boston Legal, Gridiron Gang, Freedom Writers, Friday Night Lights (TV), The Karate Kid, and Numbers.

Shinoda has also continued his Fort Minor musical style in an executive producer role on the upcoming Styles Of Beyond album, "Reseda Beach" He is contributing music and vocals to the album, which was slated for release sometime in 2009. However, the album has not been released till date and Styles of Beyond is under hiatus.

Mike was the youngest of his graduating class from Art Center College of Design of Pasadena in 1998, with a Bachelor of Arts in Illustration. He has had a hand in most artistic facets of Linkin Park's imagery, including album artwork, band merchandise, web design, and on-stage production art.

During time off in 2003, he did a collaborative "remix" shoe for DC Shoes, remixing the "Clientele." He reworked the colors and materials for the shoe, and additionally designed all the packaging and print advertisements. The following year, he also designed a customizable Kid Robot "Munny" doll for a charity auction.

In 2004, Shinoda created a series of ten paintings which became the basis of the Fort Minor album The Rising Tied. That series became the backbone for the packaging of the album, and was featured in Shinoda's first public art show "Diamonds Spades Hearts & Clubs." In addition to the ten Fort Minor pieces, the show also featured thirteen more original works and five collaborative pieces. “Diamonds Spades Hearts & Clubs” opened at Gallery 1988 on Sunday, November 19, 2006.

Additionally in 2004, Shinoda started a college scholarship at Art Center College of Design to benefit future illustration and graphic design students. Named the Michael K. Shinoda Endowed Scholarship, it is awarded based on financial need and merit. The scholarship was awarded for the first time in 2006. The scholarship fund is made possible through the sale of his original artwork on his website, art shows and his DC Shoes projects.

2008 has proved to be a busy year thus far artistically for Mike. On July 11, Shinoda’s second public art show “Glorious Excess (BORN)” premiered at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. The show included nine new pieces, with an exclusive signing on opening night. The show served as part one of the “Glorious Excess” two-part series, with the second installment “Glorious Excess (DIES)” due at JANM at August 22, 2009.

Concerning the inspiration behind the Glorious Excess series, Mike stated that it:

"Got to a point where the pervasiveness of “celebrity news” concerned me. It seemed like it has jumped out of its niche into places where it doesn’t belong. I would be watching the news, and thinking, “of all the things going on in the world right now, why are they covering so-and-so’s breakup?” It didn’t make sense to me. Add to that the fact that I’m supposed to somehow “belong” to that celebrity group—and I really don’t feel like I do in a lot of ways—and you can see how the topic started to become really interesting to me. The Glorious Excess (BORN) show was my way of diving into those topics, trying to find answers. It follows a central “celebrity” character, who is filthy rich, slightly violent, and famous without any particular skill or talent."

Also in 2008, Mike partnered up with DC Shoes again on a second DC Remix Series project. The project would feature a "great juxtaposition of Mike's unique influences: accomplished artist versus recording-breaking musician, American upbringing versus Japanese heritage." The MS/DC limited edition remix has two different versions - Xander and Pride. Roughly 2000 pairs of the limited edition shoes were made available for purchase when the sneaker was released on August 1, 2008.

In an interview with Sneaker Freaker Magazine, Shinoda had this to say about the latest DC Shoe project:

"This remix is a little slimmer than most of DC’s skate shoes; the Xander feels almost like the skate shoes I grew up wearing in the late 80s. But the art brings it up to date—my work is laser-etched into the panels on the side of the shoe, and the sole is a clear gum sole with a koi fish pattern, and four-color artwork beneath. That way, when you’re walking, and your foot lifts up, it’s a little surprise under there. We also took the time to add extra padding and a satin inner lining to make it as comfortable as possible. They come with three pairs of lightly waxed laces instead of two, because I like to flip up the look sometimes. Each pair also comes with a booklet of my art."

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Travis Tritt

Country musician. Born James Travis Tritt on February 9, 1963 in Marietta, Georgia. Though Tritt loved country music from a young age, it wasn't until 1982 that he began to seriously pursue his dream of becoming a professional musician. For several yaers, he recorded demo tapes with Warner Brothers and performed in small venues throughout the South developing his bluesy country-rock sound.


In 1989, Tritt released his first album, Country Club, which was followed by several platinum albums and chart-topping singles throughout the 1990s. Though the Nashville music industry was reluctant to endorse Tritt due his blatant rock-and-roll leanings, the musician continued to persevere with one success after another. Notable hits include "Can I Trust You With My Heart," "Foolish Pride" and "Here's a Quarter."


In 2010, Tritt signed a management deal with Parallel Entertainment to continue his music career.



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Happy Birthday Beard of the Day #2

Nick Nolte

Actor. Born Nicholas King Nolte on February 8, 1941 in Omaha, Nebraska. From the beginning of Nick Nolte’s career, he has played with the media, openly admitting to lying about his private life to create a fiction for public consumption. For that reason, no published biography can be relied on to be entirely accurate. A recovering alcoholic and former drug abuser, Nick Nolte has been divorced three times. His best performances draw on this troubled past and often portray broken men on the path to redemption.


Nick Nolte briefly attended Arizona State University where he showed talent as a football player before being expelled for bad grades. He then moved to Los Angeles to study acting at the Pasadena Playhouse and Stella Adler’s Academy. He was thirty-five before he made his debut as black sheep Tom Jordache in the acclaimed television mini-series Rich Man, Poor Man in 1976.


Nick Nolte made several notable screen performances, including Who'll Stop the Rain in 1978 and Heartbeat in 1980, before achieving commercial success opposite Eddie Murphy in the cop comedy 48 Hours. He scored big at the box office again with 1986’s Down and Out in Beverly Hills. In 1991, he starred opposite Barbra Streisand in the screen adaptation of the seminal Pat Conroy novel The Prince of Tides. His performance as the emotionally wrecked Tom Wingo earned the actor an Oscar nod and a Golden Globe for Best Actor. He finished his winning streak with a nuanced turn opposite Susan Sarandon in 1992’s Lorenzo’s Oil.


After a series of forgettable films, Nick Nolte caught his stride again in 1997 with two smaller projects, Afterglow and Affliction. He received his second Best Actor Oscar nomination for the latter. Other strong performances include 2000’s The Golden Bowl, 2002’s The Good Thief, 2004’s Hotel Rwanda, 2006’s Off the Black.


Nick Nolte was married three times: to Sheila Page from 1966 to 1970, to Sharyn Haddad from 1978 to 1983, and to Rebecca Linger from 1984 to 1994. He and Linger have a son, Brawley King Nolte. Nolte has also been paired with Cannery Row co-star Debra Winger, Karen Louise Eklund (who sued him for palimony), and actress Vicki Lewis. The actor has had a long struggle with drug and alcohol abuse. His 2002 arrest for driving under the influence—and the subsequent mug shot that quickly circulated through the media—inspired him to return to rehab and revitalize his career.



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Happy Birthday Beard of the Day

Alzono Mourning

Born Alonzo Mourning, Jr., on February 8, 1970, in Chesapeake, VA; son of Alonzo, Sr., and Julia Mourning; married Tracy; son: Alonzo, III, Myka Sydney
Education: Georgetown University, BA, 1992.


Career


Charlotte Hornets NBA basketball team, center, 1992-95; Miami Heat NBA basketball team, center, 1995-2003; New Jersey Nets NBA basketball team, center, 2003-.


Life's Work


Alonzo Mourning has been called a prodigy and an enigma. Through hard work and dedication, he turned from a clumsy, awkward preteen into a star professional basketball player. Mourning was one of the most sought after high school players in his graduating class. In the 1992 National Basketball Association (NBA) Draft, he was second only to Shaquille O'Neal. He was a part of Dream Team II, the elite basketball team that won the gold in the World Championships in 1994. Mourning played exciting games for the Miami Heat and later for the New Jersey Nets. But within a few years, Mourning became less an inspiration for his basketball skills and more for his determination to play despite a debilitating chronic kidney disease he developed. By 2003, when Mourning's health forced him to retire, he had become a leading spokesperson for kidney health.


Early Basketball Career


Alonzo Harding Mourning was born in Chesapeake, Virginia, on February 8, 1970, to Alonzo, Sr., and Julia. When he was 12 years old, his parents divorced. He was sent to live with Fannie Threet, a friend of the family. Mourning took his parents' divorce hard and began getting in trouble.


To keep Mourning out of trouble, friends and teachers suggested that he play basketball. After all, he was tall; at six foot three inches he stood out. Basketball was not an easy sport for Mourning, who was more apt to fall down than slam dunk a ball. "I was very awkward, very clumsy," Mourning recollected in Boy's Life magazine. "People were laughing at me, but that made me work harder," he continued. Mourning put his all into basketball and soon word spread about this giant kid "who could erase your shot faster than chalk off a blackboard," according to Boy's Life. Mourning possessed a raw talent that needed some guidance. He found that and more in Bill Lassiter, coach of the Indian River High School basketball team.


As Mourning improved his game, college coaches from across the country approached him, extending invitations to play at their colleges. Mourning was even approached by an agent who wanted to represent him while still a high school junior. Things became pretty tense for the teen. "It was kind of exciting at first. But it was tough keeping things in perspective," he said in Boy's Life. After seeing games of Patrick Ewing playing there, Mourning chose Georgetown University. Before entering college, he was invited to try out for the 1988 Olympics. Although he was cut from the team, he was the second to the last person cut. But the exhibition game for the Olympic team gave Mourning the chance to turn his dream of playing against Patrick Ewing into a reality. During the game, Mourning faked out Ewing to make a basket.


Learned About Life and Basketball


Mourning's days at Georgetown began well. In 1989 he led the nation in blocked shots, with a total of 169 in his freshman season. Mourning proved to be a graceful center. Under Coach John Thompson's tutelage, he developed skills that could serve him well in the NBA.


But Mourning needed more than basketball skills to get to the NBA, he needed to learn how to control his personal life and to take care of his health. Mourning started learning these lessons at the beginning in his sophomore season. Not one to shy from partying and fun, he hung out with Washington, D.C., drug lord Rayful Edmond III. He was called to testify in federal court about his friendship with Edmond, who is now serving a life sentence for selling crack cocaine. Later that season, Mourning drew criticism for allegedly making an anti-Semitic remark to Nadav Henefeld, Connecticut's Israeli forward. However, everyone involved denied the comment was anti-Semitic. In his junior year Mourning suffered a serious foot injury that caused him to miss nine games. NBA scouts were skeptical about Mourning's playing power, but Coach Thompson silenced the naysayers in Sports Illustrated, "These NBA people, coming through here with their questionnaires, wanting to see film, they're hilarious to me. Dikembe was the new kid on the block.... Last year 'Zo would have gotten all the blocked shots and rebounds Dikembe got if I'd put 'Zo at center."


By his senior year, Mourning had the control and focus he needed to succeed. He took a break from basketball the summer before his senior year. He worked out with Patrick Ewing and Dikembe Mutombo, his closest friends in the NBA, and he answered constituent mail for U.S. Representative Thomas Billey. During this time he became so focused that Coach Thompson would have to chase him out of the weight room to ensure he got some rest from the mental and physical strain of being the team leader.


His senior season showed a new level of maturity in Mourning. He blocked a total of 118 shots. He was also credited with numerous rebounds. According to Sports Illustrated, by "keeping his blocked shots in play, kicking the ball out when he's double-teamed and making efficient work at the free throw line," Mourning had learned his duties as a center and team leader. He was named Big East Conference Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and Tournament Player--all in the same year.


Succeeded in the NBA


In 1992 Mourning was selected by the NBA's Charlotte Hornets as the second pick overall. The Hornets immediately felt the presence of their rookie center. According to the NBA on the Internet, "it took Mourning only 49 games to become the leading shotblocker in [Hornets'] history." Along with teammate Larry Johnson he led the Charlotte Hornets to their first playoffs in 1993. Mourning also set a team single season record for attempting 634 free throws. He made the All-Rookie first team and was runner-up for the Rookie of the Year award. And to complete his first season, Mourning had the highest scoring average of any rookie in Hornets' franchise history. To say he had a good season would be an understatement.


Though plagued by injuries during his second NBA season, Mourning took part in Dream Team II and won the gold medal at the World Basketball Championships, held in Canada. His third season with the Charlotte Hornets, he was one of four players to lead an NBA team in four major categories--scoring, rebounding, blocked shots, and field-goal percentage. He played in his first All-Star Game and helped the Hornets crack the 50-win barrier for the first time ever.


At the end of the 1994-95 season, the Charlotte Hornets began talks with Mourning to extend his contract. Mourning asked for $13 million per season and the Hornets countered with $11.2 million. Since Mourning declined the offer, the Charlotte Hornets traded him to the Miami Heat on opening day of the 1995-96 season. Some say Mourning was lured away to the Heat by new coach and part owner Pat Riley, who left the New York Knicks under unusual circumstances. Mourning said in Sports Illustrated, "...basically he just said, 'Zo come to Miami, and let's go to work.'" And to work he went. Mourning led the Heat in points, rebounds, and blocks. He suffered an injury but still started 70 games. The Miami Heat went to the playoffs, but were eliminated in the first round.


After signing a contract with the Miami Heat for reportedly $13 million per season through the year 2003, Mourning became the franchise player--meaning the Heat would build a team to accentuate Mourning. He continued to excel in the NBA. Mourning led the Heat to 61 wins in the 1996-97 season, another record, and the team won the Atlantic Division title. Although sidelined by injuries, he helped the Miami Heat reach the playoffs all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals where they were beaten by the Chicago Bulls. After his contract with the Heat ran out, Mourning joined the New Jersey Nets in July of 2003, signing a contract for $22 million over four years.


As a relatively short center, Mourning employed a unique, intimidating style, including scowls, growls, and generally angry facial expressions. A loose cannon in his youth and college days, Mourning has learned to control his intense moodiness, which has both helped and hindered his performance. When asked by Sport magazine about his training, Mourning replied, "It's nothing really unique. I do a lot of basketball drills, simple stuff, along with plenty of strength conditioning." He also changed his diet and cut down on his red meat intake in an effort to stay healthy and prevent injuries.


On the court, Mourning took the initiative by studying his opponents' moves and analyzing scouting reports before each game. He was described as a hard worker by Miami Heat coach Pat Riley. Riley told Sports Illustrated that, "Alonzo is a whirling dervish, a cyclone of a player. He embodies everything we want this team to be--passionate, committed, aggressive, tireless."





Sickness Forced Early Retirement


Accustomed to a high level of energy and stamina, Mourning found himself growing increasingly tired and weak over the years. He learned the source of his difficulties in 2000 when he was diagnosed with a chronic kidney disease called focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (or FSGS) that inhibits the kidney from filtering toxins out of the body and causes kidney failure and anemia, a related condition that saps the body of red blood cells. There is no single cause of FSGS; it is a rare and incurable illness that was considered untreatable as recently as the early 1990s. Studies have also shown that FSGS predominantly strikes members of the black community.


Medication helped Mourning continue his basketball career for a time. He played 88 games with the Miami Heat from 2001 to 2002 and another 12 games during the 2003 season with the New Jersey Nets. But by November of 2003, Mourning's illness had advanced to the point where he could no longer compete on the court. Medical tests indicated that Mourning's kidney function had deteriorated and that the chemical imbalances in his blood made it dangerous for him to continue playing, and he was forced to retire. Rick Thorn, general manager of the Nets, announced Mourning's retirement, saying "It is with great sadness that I make this announcement.... Alonzo is a true champion and a very courageous athlete who attempted to defy the odds with his comeback to the NBA. Unfortunately, his medical condition will not allow him to continue his basketball career. Our thoughts and prayers are with him as he continues his fight against this disease."


Mourning immediately started seeking a donor for a kidney transplant. The Kidney and Urology Foundation of America reports that the average wait in America for a kidney transplant is two to four years. But many people came forward to offer Mourning one of their own kidneys. However, by December of 2003, a cousin Mourning had not seen since childhood proved to be a good match and transplant surgery was scheduled. Grateful for the overwhelming outpouring of support, Mourning encouraged those who offered him a kidney to extend their generosity toward others in need.


Mourning was released from the hospital with his new kidney on December 23, 2003. When asked if he would likely ever play professional basketball again, Mourning told the ESPN website: "I haven't even thought about that. All of my focus has been on really just trying to keep this kidney in my body."


Mourning's recovery is much anticipated. Nets coach Lawrence Frank remained hopeful about Mourning's future, telling the New York Post that, "Alonzo, that's a very, very special guy. So you never forget. And we remember Alonzo every day.... At some time, he's going to be back with us hopefully in one capacity or another. We haven't talked about that, but ... God-willing, if everything looks great with his health, we'd love to have him around." Whether or not he returns to the NBA, he will continue to inspire others as he continues to live his life to the fullest.




Off The Court


Without seeking recognition, Mourning has offered support to those less fortunate than himself. He helped to build basketball courts in poverty-stricken neighborhoods in Charlotte, North Carolina. He traveled to South Africa with Patrick Ewing and Dikembe Mutombo to conduct youth basketball clinics and visit schools. Mourning founded 'Zo's Summer Groove, a charity banquet, concert, and basketball game. Mourning was the NBA's national spokesman for the prevention of child abuse and also participated in the NBA's Healthy Family America program. Mourning won the Professional Basketball Writer's Association J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award in 2001-2002 for exemplary community service.


Mourning enjoys spending time with wife, Tracy and son, Alonzo III, whom he nicknamed Trey. Mourning believes his family is the best thing that has ever happened to him. He feels his son gives him an increased ability to handle adversity. And Mourning certainly has had difficulties to handle.


Awards


NBA All-Rookie First Team, 1993; All-Star player 1994; Olympic "Dream Team II," 1994; NBA Defensive Player of the Year, 1998-2000; J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award, 2001-2002.


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