title: Luke Skywalker

text: In the novel "The Courtship of Princess Leia", set four years after the Battle of Endor, Luke travels to the planet Dathomir. There, he discovers a group of Force-sensitive witches called the Witches of Dathomir, banded into two separate groups: a collective of benign, matriarchal clans; the one he is in contact with being the "Singing Mountain Clan", and the witches who have turned to the dark side, called the "Nightsisters". Discovering a prophecy in which it was told a Jedi would change the way of life on the land, Luke eventually realizes truly what the Force is for the first time in his life. While there, he destroys most of the Nightsisters (including their powerful leader, Gethzirion, and the galaxy's most powerful remaining warlord, Warlord Zsinj). Thanks to the help of the prophecy and witches, Luke recovers old Jedi records left by Yoda about 400 years prior. He decides to start a new Jedi Academy, something he has been trying to do for six months before the start of the novel by finding old Jedi records and archives.


title: Luke Skywalker

text: In "The Thrawn Trilogy", Luke meets former Emperor's Hand Mara Jade, who is bound by Palpatine's disembodied voice that repeatedly commands "You will kill Luke Skywalker". Mara Jade is working with her boss, a fringe-of-the-galaxy smuggler named Talon Karrde, who also plays a crucial role in this era. Although she was ready to fulfill that order to stop the voice, circumstances force her to keep him alive long enough to have him help escape a mutual danger. Despite her threats, Luke learns of the spell Mara is under and vows to free her from it. Meanwhile, the rest of the New Republic is fighting against Grand Admiral Thrawn, and thanks to Leia's help, he is eventually defeated, although several times Luke had to avoid getting captured by Thrawn or seduced by his ally, Joruus C'baoth. Eventually, the he and Jade fights against Luke's clone, Luuke Skywalker, C'baoth's creation. During the fight, Mara Jade destroys the clone and, with Leia's help, destroys C'baoth. This entire time, C'baoth has been obsessed with "molding" Luke and Mara to serve him, perhaps due to the fact that the Spaarti cloning cylinders he was made from have a reputation of turning people insane later in life. Nonetheless, C'baoth is defeated by Mara along with Luuke, and Mara's acts silences her curse and completes her reconciliation with the Jedi, whom she later joins.


title: Luke Skywalker

text: In the "Jedi Academy" trilogy, Luke resigns his commission in the New Republic's starfighter corps to pursue his Jedi studies and rebuild the Jedi Order in the Massassi Temple on Yavin 4, a decision some anti-Jedi politicians use against him. Luke becomes the New Jedi Order's leader. His students in the ways of the Force include; Gantoris, Kam Solusar, Tionne, Streen, Cilghal, Kirana Ti and others. He is forced to contend with the spirit of ancient Sith Lord Exar Kun, who lures one of his most powerful students, Kyp Durron, to the dark side.


title: Luke Skywalker

text: In the "Hand of Thrawn Duology", Luke, now a Jedi Master, works again with Mara Jade, who has learned to better her Force knowledge since her training at Luke's Jedi Academy. He falls in love with her and they eventually marry. Later, in "", they have a son whom they name Ben, after Obi-Wan Kenobi's pseudonym.


title: Luke Skywalker

text: In the "New Jedi Order" series, Luke creates a New Jedi Council. He idealises a new conclave, made up of Jedi, politicians and military officers. In "", he spearheads the mission into the Unknown Regions during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion to find the mysterious planet of Zonama Sekot, a planet that creates living starships. After the invasion is defeated with the help of the new Mandalorian Warriors, a Sekotian fleet and a Galactic Alliance-Imperial Remnant fleet, Luke leads the New Jedi Order on Denon, the temporary capital of the Galactic Alliance and the site of the newly rebuilt Jedi Temple on Coruscant. In "The Swarm War", the New Jedi Order moves to Ossus, the site of Jedi temples and libraries that were mostly destroyed 4,000 years prior. Upon the Killik's invasion of Chiss space and the transformation of most of the Myrkr mission survivors into Killik Joiners, Luke determines that the Killik's collective mind is being unconsciously controlled by a hive called the Dark Nest. The Dark Nest is controlled by a former Nightsister named Lomi Plo, who became their Unseen Queen with her ability to become invisible by exploiting the doubts of inferiors.


title: Luke Skywalker

text: One of the Myrkr mission survivors, Alema Rar, attempts to plant seeds of doubt in Luke's mind by suggesting that his wife, Mara, may be somehow responsible for the death of his mother, Padmé Amidala, which he almost believes because of Mara's previous role as the Emperor's Hand. This allows Lomi to escape from Luke, who discovers recordings of his father Force-choking his mother on Mustafar, his own birth, and his mother's death hidden inside R2-D2's memory drive. Because of this, he is able to overcome his doubts about Mara and defeat Lomi Plo in the final battle of the Swarm War, cutting her into four pieces.


title: Luke Skywalker

text: Luke creates a New Jedi Council, and becomes the Grand Master of the New Jedi Order. He tells the Jedi to either follow his leadership, make the order their priority, or leave. Luke is also forced to exile the Padawans Tahiri, Lowbacca, and Tesar Sebatayne to Dagobah for divulging secret information to people outside the order.


title: Luke Skywalker

text: In the "Legacy of the Force" series, Luke begins having visions of a figure cloaked in darkness destroying the galaxy and the Jedi. Luke is troubled that he has been unable to discern the identity of this figure, who seems to be much like Darth Vader. Complicating matters even more is the recent schism that has developed between Luke and his nephew, Jacen Solo. Already a tremendously powerful Jedi Knight, Jacen has begun adopting radical interpretations of the Force, causing a dramatic change in his personality. Luke fears that Jacen is pursuing the same path that ultimately led to Anakin Skywalker's fall to the dark side.


title: Luke Skywalker

text: In "Bloodlines", the situation worsens when Luke's son, Ben, becomes Jacen's apprentice. Luke must also battle his wife, who refuses to confront Jacen for fear of alienating Ben. In "Tempest", Luke determines that the dark figure from his dreams is Lumiya, a former Emperor's Hand now known as the "Dark Lady of the Sith". When Mara is murdered in "Sacrifice", Lumiya deceives Luke into believing that she killed her. They battle again, and Luke saves a weaponless Lumiya from falling to her death simply so that he can kill her himself. Luke returns to Coruscant where he is found by Ben, standing guard over Mara's body; upon speaking with his son, he realizes that Lumiya could not have killed her. Later in his private cabin, Luke breaks down over the death of his wife, knowing that her murderer is still at large. He does not realize that the killer is his own nephew, Jacen, who has now taken the Sith name Darth Caedus. In "Revelation", Ben proves that Jacen killed Mara, but Luke is now reluctant to kill Jacen out of fear that he or his son will fall to the dark side in the process. The decision is taken out of his hands in "Invincible", when Jaina kills Jacen in a final lightsaber duel.


title: Luke Skywalker

text: In "Fate of the Jedi" novels, set about 40 years after the first film, Luke Skywalker, now in his early sixties, is deposed by the government from his position as Grand Master, and exiled from Coruscant. However, if he finds the reason of why Jacen Solo fell to the dark side, he can be allowed to return. Ben insists on coming with him. Together, father and son explore dangerous and little-known portions of the galaxy. Luke and Ben learn much about each other, about the Force, and about the great dangers threatening the Jedi. The great love the two surviving Skywalkers have for each other grows even greater as they repeatedly save each other's lives and explore the limits and powers and mysteries of the Force.


title: Luke Skywalker

text: "Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor" is a standalone novel that chronicles the Battle of Mindor, a fictional event in the "Star Wars" expanded universe. The novel was written by Matthew Stover and released in December 2008.


title: Luke Skywalker

text: The novel is set shortly after "Return of the Jedi" and the novel "Prophets of the Dark Side", with Luke Skywalker and the Rebel Alliance attempting to stop Lord Shadowspawn and his "shadow stormtroopers", culminating in the Battle of Mindor. Matthew Stover has said on his personal weblog,


title: Luke Skywalker

text: Luke Skywalker appears in the Marvel-published "Star Wars" comics adaptations of the original trilogy, as well as an ongoing series that ran from 1977 to 1986. When Dark Horse acquired the license two years later, he appeared in numerous projects based on the franchise as well. In "", set 125 years after the events of the original films, Luke appears as a spirit in the Force to his descendant Cade Skywalker and persuades him to once again become a Jedi in order to defeat the evil Darth Krayt and his burgeoning Sith Empire.


title: Luke Skywalker

text: Each of the "Star Wars" characters instantiates one of the archetypes in Joseph Campbell's hero's journey, with Luke Skywalker filling the hero archetype. As such, he is a relatable protagonist who encounters the basic struggle between good and evil in the same way as other heroic figures such as Harry Potter, Bilbo Baggins, and Jesus Christ. Luke's central dilemma is the ongoing war between good and evil, both externally and internally.


title: Luke Skywalker

text: Some argue that Luke mirrors fundamental values of Christianity and Abrahamic religion; Luke's journey is often compared to that of Jesus Christ. Scholars argue that Luke is a Christ-like figure, while Yoda represents a god, and Darth Vader represents the temptations of evil. Luke's struggle between good and evil is contrasted with that of his father, Anakin Skywalker, in a way that represents the story of the Prodigal Son.


title: Luke Skywalker

text: In 2015, Luke Skywalker was selected by "Empire" magazine as the 50th-greatest movie character of all time. Empire also ranked him as the third greatest "Star Wars" character. Luke was also on the ballot for the American Film Institute's "100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains". On their list of the "100 Greatest Fictional Characters", Fandomania.com ranked Luke at number 14. IGN listed Luke as their 4th top "Star Wars" character, and he was chosen twice by IGN's readers as one of their favorite "Star Wars" characters. IGN's Jesse Schedeen also picked Luke Skywalker as one of the characters they most wanted to appear on the Wii, as well as listing Skywalker as one of their favorite "Star Wars" heroes. Schedeen also listed the character as one of the "Star Wars" characters they wanted to see in "Soulcalibur". IGN also called the fight between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader in "Return of the Jedi" one of the ultimate movie "boss battles". In a feature on speeches made by Luke Skywalker, IGN's Todd Gilchrist said that his favorite of Luke's speeches is "I am a Jedi, like my father before me". UGO Networks listed Luke as one of their best heroes of all time, and he was voted as one of the coolest "Star Wars" characters by UGO's readers. Inventor Dean Kamen has also code-named his new prosthetic arm system "Luke" in honor of the character. One indication of the character's impact on fans is an elaborate fan theory, developed on the Internet since 2015, that there are actually two different Lukes in the original trilogy: the normal one and a "bigger Luke" of a slightly larger build who appears in some scenes.


title: Luke Skywalker

text: Mark Hamill was nominated a Saturn Award for Best Actor in for his portrayal of Luke Skywalker in "Star Wars", and won the award for his portrayal in "The Empire Strikes Back", "Return of the Jedi", and "The Last Jedi".


title: Luke Skywalker

text: In 1976, Hamill was in a serious car accident after filming "Star Wars", which involved an operation on his face. It was speculated that the Wampa attack at the beginning of "The Empire Strikes Back" was written in to explain his facial injuries, but George Lucas specifically disputed this in the DVD commentary of "The Empire Strikes Back".


title: Luke Skywalker

text: In regards to Luke's portrayal in "The Last Jedi", many fans expressed disappointment in how he was depicted "as a grumpy old man whose failures had driven him into hiding" and the actions the character takes in contributing to Kylo Ren's backstory, a stark departure in how Luke was characterized in the original trilogy. Hamill originally stated that he "pretty much fundamentally [disagreed] with every choice ["The Last Jedi" director Rian Johnson] made for this character," but that he had the utmost respect for Johnson and was willing to do his part to realize Johnson's vision. While regarding the possibility of a younger actor playing the role, Hamill expressed support towards Sebastian Stan, whose physical resemblance to a young Hamill went viral. However he noted that child actor Jacob Tremblay would be his top choice if the story were to be focused on a very young Luke.


title: Luke Skywalker

text: In 2016, when asked about the character's sexual orientation and if Luke could be gay, Hamill said Luke's sexual orientation "is meant to be interpreted by the viewer." He added, "if you think Luke is gay, of course he is. You should not be ashamed of it. Judge Luke by his character, not by who he loves." Hamill later said that he considered the possibility that Luke could have found love between "Return of the Jedi" and "The Force Awakens".


title: Luke Skywalker

text: Luke Skywalker remains an American cultural icon. He is often used by child psychotherapists to help children to project their thoughts and state of being in a way that is understandable to both the child and their therapist. Another way that therapists utilize "Star Wars" in sessions is to teach their patients that the Force represents the self-understanding that they achieve in therapy. Children are taught that they are Luke and their therapist is Obi-Wan, in that eventually, as Luke no longer needed his mentor, they will one day no longer need their therapist.


title: Luke Skywalker

text: "Star Wars" has been related back to cultural events of its time, such as the Cold War and Nixon-era politics. The severing of Luke's hand and Darth Vader's bionic presence supposedly, according to space.com, symbolize the unity of the military and amputees.


title: Henry Ruggs

text: Henry James Ruggs III (born January 24, 1999) is an American football wide receiver who has played in the National Football League (NFL) for two seasons with the Las Vegas Raiders. He played college football at Alabama, where he was a member of the team that won the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship. Ruggs was selected by the Raiders in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft.


title: Henry Ruggs

text: During his second season, Ruggs caused a car crash that killed a 23-year-old woman and was released by the Raiders the same day. As of December 2022, Ruggs is awaiting trial on charges of driving under the influence (DUI) resulting in death and reckless driving.


title: Henry Ruggs

text: Henry James Ruggs III grew up in Montgomery, Alabama. In the eighth grade, Ruggs was promoted to the varsity football team for the final two games of their season. He attended Robert E. Lee High School. Ruggs did not play high school football until his junior year and received his first scholarship offer after just his second game on the gridiron. As a senior, he had 38 catches for 639 yards in nine games. He scored 20 touchdowns: nine catches, seven rushes, three passes, and one kick return. Ruggs also played basketball and ran track in high school; his 100-meter dash time of 10.58 seconds is the Alabama High School Athletic Association's class 7A record. In 2017, 247Sports.com ranked Ruggs as the second-best high school football player in Alabama. Ruggs received scholarship offers from more than 20 colleges to play football; he chose the University of Alabama.


title: Henry Ruggs

text: As a true freshman at Alabama in 2017, Ruggs had 12 receptions for 229 yards and six touchdowns. As a true sophomore in 2018, he had 46 receptions for 741 yards and 11 touchdowns. As a true junior in 2019, he had 40 receptions for 746 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns. During his junior season, Ruggs was also the team's primary kick returner and averaged 23.8 yards per return. His 24 total career receiving touchdowns places him third on Alabama's all-time leaderboard. On January 6, 2020, Ruggs announced that he would forgo his true senior year and enter the 2020 NFL Draft.


title: Henry Ruggs

text: Ruggs ran a 4.27-second 40-yard dash at the 2020 NFL Combine; that was the year's fastest time by any prospect by .08 seconds, and it tied for the fourth-fastest ever at the event since electronic timing began in 1999. Ruggs' vertical jump was measured 42 inches, tied for second-best among wide receivers at the 2020 combine.


title: Henry Ruggs

text: At the 2020 NFL Draft, Ruggs was the first wide receiver to be drafted. The Las Vegas Raiders selected him with the 12th overall pick, their first since moving from Oakland earlier in the year. Ruggs was also the Raiders’ second consecutive first-round pick of a player from the University of Alabama, joining 2019 first round running back Josh Jacobs. On July 21, 2020, Ruggs signed a fully guaranteed four-year contract worth $16.67 million, with a team option for a fifth year.


title: Henry Ruggs

text: On September 13, 2020, Ruggs made his NFL debut in the season opener against the Carolina Panthers, including making his first career catch. During Week 5 against the Kansas City Chiefs, Ruggs recorded his first 100-yard game, with 118 receiving yards, which included his first career touchdown, a 72-yard reception. He was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list by the team on December 15, 2020, and activated on December 24. Ruggs finished his rookie year with 26 receptions, 452 receiving yards, and two touchdowns in 13 games played.


title: Henry Ruggs

text: Ruggs was released on November 2, 2021, following allegations of driving under the influence that led to a fatality. His two-season stint with the Raiders totaled 20 games, 1,197 all-purpose yards, and four touchdowns.


title: Henry Ruggs

text: Ruggs credits his friend Roderic Scott with encouraging him to play football in high school. Scott died in a car crash at 17 years of age, and Ruggs would honor him with a three-fingered salute after every touchdown because Scott wore number 3 on the basketball court. Ruggs’ brother Kevontae played college football for Ole Miss in 2018 before transferring to East Mississippi Community College in 2019. In April 2020, Henry Ruggs partnered with Three Square, a southern Nevada food bank, to donate meals to those in need because of the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 7, 2020, Ruggs’ daughter was born to his long-term girlfriend Rudy Washington.


title: Henry Ruggs

text: On November 2, 2021, Ruggs rear-ended another car at high speed in Las Vegas, killing 23-year-old Tina Tintor and her dog, according to Las Vegas police and county prosecutors. Ruggs has been charged with driving under the influence resulting in death and reckless driving.


title: Henry Ruggs

text: Hours before the incident, Ruggs and his girlfriend, Kiara Kilgo-Washington, were seen drinking at a Topgolf location in Las Vegas. They left after midnight in his heavily modified Chevrolet Corvette Stingray affectionately named, "Lizzy". Police produced digital evidence shortly thereafter that, about 3:39 a.m. 12:00, driving , Ruggs attempted to panic-stop the Corvette as he approached the Toyota RAV4 driven by Tintor, but lost control, slamming into her at . The Clark County Coroner determined that Tintor and her dog burned to death as her vehicle was engulfed in flames following the collision.


title: Henry Ruggs

text: Ruggs and Kilgo-Washington were transported to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada (UMCSN) with non-life-threatening injuries.


title: Henry Ruggs

text: Upon his release from the hospital, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department booked him into the Clark County Detention Center. Ruggs appeared in court the following day, and Judge Joe M. Bonaventure set bail at $150,000. On March 10, 2022 a judge postponed Ruggs' preliminary hearing until May 19, with Ruggs' attorney stating that various inspections still needed to be done. If convicted, he faces 3 to 26 years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines, 2–20 years for the fatal DUI crash, 1–6 years for reckless driving causing death, and up to $5,000 in fines for each.


title: Henry Ruggs

text: Police reports show Ruggs had refused to take a field sobriety test, and his blood test was taken 2 hours following the crash, revealing a blood alcohol content of 0.161%, more than twice the legal limit in Nevada. Ruggs defense attorney, David Chesnoff, argued that Ruggs was unable to submit a field sobriety test because of his injuries sustained in the accident, and claimed that the blood test should not be admissible as evidence since the police did not have probable cause to obtain a blood test. Justice of the Peace Ann Zimmerman rejected Chesnoff's arguments and ruled that the blood test is admissible as evidence in the case.


title: Henry Ruggs

text: Various football players and coaches made public statements. Derek Carr, a former Raiders teammate, said Ruggs needs to be loved and that "if no one else will do it, I'll do it". Ex-Raiders interim head coach Rich Bisaccia said, "We want to express our sincere condolences to the victim's family". Kadarius Toney of the New York Giants drew criticism for seeming to ignore the gravity of the situation and excuse Ruggs when he tweeted, "We young…..everybody make mistakes… he know he messed up don’t drag em for it……that's goofy to me…." Nick Saban, who coached Ruggs on the Alabama Crimson Tide college football team, said, "We're going to support him through it, but we also have a lot of compassion for the victims, and our thoughts and prayers are also with them." Quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts, who both played with Ruggs at Alabama, also spoke on the matter. Tagovailoa said, "You'd never think this guy could hurt a soul, so when you see something like that – I mean, I'm still kind of in disbelief. But, obviously my heart goes out to the family that has been affected by it. But my heart also goes out to Henry as my teammate, ex-teammate." Hurts said, "It's unfortunate to see a situation like that unfold, and I'll just kind of leave it at that. It hurts my heart for everybody involved."


title: Vic Morrow

text: Victor Morrow (born Victor Morozoff; February 14, 1929 – July 23, 1982) was an American actor. He came to prominence as one of the leads of the ABC drama series "Combat!" (1962–1967), which earned him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Series. Active on screen for over three decades, his film roles include "Blackboard Jungle" (1955), "King Creole" (1958), "God's Little Acre" (1958), "Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry" (1974), and "The Bad News Bears" (1976). Morrow continued acting up to his death during filming of "" (1983) when he and two child actors were killed by a helicopter crash during filming.


title: Vic Morrow

text: Morrow was born in the Bronx, New York City, to a middle-class Jewish family. He was a son of Harry Morozoff, an electrical engineer, and his wife Jean (Kress) Morozoff. Morrow dropped out of high school when he was 17 and enlisted in the United States Navy. Morrow and his family lived in Asbury Park, New Jersey for many years.


title: Vic Morrow

text: Morrow attracted attention playing Stanley Kowalski in a touring production of "A Streetcar Named Desire". His first movie role was in "Blackboard Jungle" (1955), playing a thug student who torments teacher Glenn Ford.


title: Vic Morrow

text: It was made by MGM, who then put Morrow in "Tribute to a Bad Man" (1956). Morrow appeared on television, guest starring on shows like "The Millionaire", "Matinee Theatre", "Climax!", "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", "The Restless Gun", "Trackdown", "Richard Diamond, Private Detective", and "Telephone Time".


title: Vic Morrow

text: Morrow had support roles in "Men in War" (1957), directed by Anthony Mann, and was third billed in "Hell's Five Hours" (1958). He starred alongside Elvis Presley and an all-star supporting cast including Walter Matthau and Carolyn Jones in the movie "King Creole" (1958), directed by Michael Curtiz. Mann asked him back for "God's Little Acre" (1958).


title: Vic Morrow

text: However Morrow remained mostly a television actor, appearing in "Naked City", "Wichita Town", "The Rifleman", "The Lineup", "Johnny Ringo", "The Brothers Brannagan", "The Law and Mr. Jones", "The Lawless Years", "The Barbara Stanwyck Show", "General Electric Theatre", "", "The Tall Man", "Outlaws", "Bonanza", and "The Untouchables".


title: Vic Morrow

text: He was cast in the early "Bonanza" episode "The Avenger" as a mysterious figure known only as "Lassiter" – named after his town of origin – who arrives in Virginia City, and helps save Ben and Adam Cartwright from an unjust hanging, while eventually gunning down one sought-after man, revealing himself as the hunter of a lynch mob who killed his father; having so far killed about half the mob, he rides off into the night, in an episode that resembles the later Clint Eastwood film "High Plains Drifter". Morrow later appeared in the third season "Bonanza" episode "The Tin Badge".


title: Vic Morrow

text: Mann used Morrow a third time in "Cimarron" (1960), again tormenting Glenn Ford. He took on Audie Murphy in "Posse from Hell" (1961).


title: Vic Morrow

text: Morrow was cast as soldier/engineer Lt. Robert Benson in the 1962 episode, "A Matter of Honor", on the syndicated anthology series, "Death Valley Days", hosted by Stanley Andrews. The story focuses on Benson's fiancé, Indiana (Shirley Ballard), who tries to persuade him to boost their income by selling inside Army information to criminal real estate moguls like Joseph Hooker (Howard Petrie). Trevor Bardette and Meg Wyllie were cast in the roles of Captain and Mrs. Warner.


title: Vic Morrow

text: He continued as mostly a television actor, appearing in "Death Valley Days", "Alcoa Premiere", and "Suspense".


title: Vic Morrow

text: Morrow was cast in the lead role of Sergeant "Chip" Saunders in ABC's "Combat!", a World War II drama, which aired from 1962 to 1967. Pop culture scholar Gene Santoro has written:


title: Vic Morrow

text: His friend and fellow actor on "Combat!", Rick Jason, described Morrow as "a master director" who directed "one of the greatest anti-war films I've ever seen". He was referring to the two-part episode of "Combat!" entitled "Hills Are for Heroes", which was written by Gene L. Coon.


title: Vic Morrow

text: Morrow also worked as a television director. Together with Leonard Nimoy, he produced the 1965 film "Deathwatch", an English-language film version of Jean Genet's play "Haute Surveillance", adapted by Morrow and Barbara Turner, directed by Morrow, and starring Nimoy.


title: Vic Morrow

text: After "Combat!" ended, Morrow played the lead in "" (1969), the pilot for a proposed series that was not picked up; Roger Corman directed.


title: Vic Morrow

text: Morrow wrote and directed a Spaghetti Western, produced by Dino DeLaurentiis, titled "A Man Called Sledge" (1970) and starring James Garner, Dennis Weaver and Claude Akins. After "Deathwatch", it was Morrow's first and only big screen outing behind the camera. "Sledge" was filmed in Italy with desert-like settings that were highly evocative of the Southwestern United States.


title: Vic Morrow

text: Morrow guest starred in "The Immortal", "Dan August", "Hawaii Five-O", "Mannix", "Sarge", "McCloud", and "Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law".


title: Vic Morrow

text: In the 1970s Morrow starred in some television movies including "A Step Out of Line" (1971), "Travis Logan, D.A." (1971) (playing the title role), "River of Mystery" (1971), "The Glass House" (1972), "The Weekend Nun", "Tom Sawyer" (1973), "Nightmare" (1974).


title: Vic Morrow

text: He guest starred in "Ironside", "", "", "The FBI", "Love Story", "The Streets of San Francisco", and "Police Story".


title: Vic Morrow

text: Morrow appeared in two episodes of Australian-produced anthology series "The Evil Touch" (1973), one of which he also directed.


title: Vic Morrow

text: He played the wily local sheriff in director John Hough's road classic "Dirty Mary Crazy Larry", as well as the homicidal sheriff, alongside Martin Sheen, in the television film "The California Kid" (1974), and "The Take" (1974).


title: Vic Morrow

text: Morrow had the lead in "Funeral for an Assassin" (1975). He had key roles in "Death Stalk" (1975), "" (1975), "The Night That Panicked America" (1975), "Treasure of Matecumbe" (1976) and had a key role as aggressive, competitive baseball coach Roy Turner, in the comedy "The Bad News Bears" (1976).


title: Vic Morrow

text: In the late 1970s Morrow worked increasingly in miniseries such as "Captains and the Kings" (1977), "Roots" and "The Last Convertible" (1979), as well as guest starring on shows like "Bronc", "Hunter", "The Littlest Hobo" and "Charlie's Angels".


title: Vic Morrow

text: He returned to directing, helming episodes of "Quincy, M.E." as well as "Lucan" and "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color".


title: Vic Morrow

text: Morrow had the lead in "The Ghost of Cypress Swamp" (1977), the Japanese film "Message from Space" (1978) and "The Evictors" (1979). He was in TV movies "The Man with the Power" (1977), "The Hostage Heart" (1977), "Curse of the Black Widow" (1977), "Wild and Wooly" (1978), "Stone" (1979), "Paris" (1980)


title: Vic Morrow

text: Morrow made "Humanoids from the Deep" (1980) for Roger Corman and "The Last Shark" (1981) and had a regular role in the series, "B.A.D. Cats" (1980).


title: Vic Morrow

text: Morrow's last roles included guest roles in "Charlie's Angels", "Magnum, P.I." and the films "" (1981) and "Abenko Green Berets" (1982).


title: Vic Morrow

text: In 1958, Morrow married actress and screenwriter Barbara Turner. They had two daughters, Carrie Ann Morrow (1958–2016) and actress Jennifer Jason Leigh (born 1962). Morrow's marriage to Turner ended in divorce after seven years. He married Gale Lester in 1975, but they separated just prior to Morrow's death in July 1982.


title: Vic Morrow

text: Morrow fell out with his daughter Jennifer after his divorce from her mother. She changed her last name to Leigh and they were still estranged at the time of his death.


title: Vic Morrow

text: Rick Jason, co-star of "Combat!", wrote in his memoirs that Morrow "had an absolute dislike of firearms. He used a Thompson submachine gun in our series, but that was work. In any other respect he'd have nothing to do with them."


title: Vic Morrow

text: In 1982, Morrow was cast in a feature role in "", in a segment directed by John Landis. Morrow was playing the role of Bill Connor, a racist who is taken back in time and placed in various situations where he would be a persecuted victim: as a Jewish man in Vichy France, a black man about to be lynched by the Ku Klux Klan, and a Vietnamese man about to be killed by U.S. soldiers.


title: Vic Morrow

text: In the early morning hours of July 23, 1982, Morrow and two child actors, seven-year-old Myca Dinh Le and six-year-old Renee Shin-Yi Chen, were filming on location in California, in an area that was known as Indian Dunes, near Santa Clarita. They were performing in a scene for the Vietnam sequence, in which their characters attempt to escape out of a deserted Vietnamese village from a pursuing U.S. Army helicopter. The helicopter was hovering at approximately above them when the heat from special effect pyrotechnic explosions reportedly delaminated the rotor blades and caused the helicopter to plummet and crash on top of them, killing all three instantly. Morrow and Le were decapitated and mutilated by the helicopter rotor blades, while Chen was crushed by a helicopter skid.


title: Vic Morrow

text: Landis and four other defendants, including the helicopter pilot Dorsey Wingo, were ultimately acquitted of involuntary manslaughter after a nearly nine-month trial. The parents of Le and Chen sued and settled out of court for an undisclosed amount. Both of Morrow's daughters also sued and settled for an undisclosed amount.


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: Tarzan is a 1999 American animated adventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation for Walt Disney Pictures. The 37th Disney animated feature film, and the tenth and last released during the Disney Renaissance era, it is based on the 1912 story "Tarzan of the Apes" by Edgar Rice Burroughs, being the first animated major motion picture version of the story. The film was directed by Kevin Lima and Chris Buck (in his feature directorial debut) and produced by Bonnie Arnold, from a screenplay written by Tab Murphy and the writing team of Bob Tzudiker and Noni White. The film stars the voices of Tony Goldwyn, Minnie Driver, Glenn Close, Rosie O'Donnell, Brian Blessed, Lance Henriksen, Wayne Knight, and Nigel Hawthorne.


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: Pre-production of "Tarzan" began in 1995, with Lima selected as director and Buck joining him the same year. Following Murphy's first draft, Tzudiker, White, and Dave Reynolds were brought in to reconstruct the third act and add additional material to the screenplay. English recording artist Phil Collins was recruited to compose and record songs integrated with a score by Mark Mancina. Meanwhile, the production team embarked on a research trip to Uganda and Kenya to study the gorillas. The animation of the film combines 2D hand-drawn animation with the extensive use of computer-generated imagery, and it was done in California, Orlando, and Paris, with the pioneering computer animation software system Deep Canvas being predominantly used to create three-dimensional backgrounds.


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: "Tarzan" premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on June 12, 1999, and was released in the United States on June 16. It received positive reviews from critics, who praised its voice performances, music, and animation (particularly its action sequences). Against a production budget of $130 million (then the most expensive traditionally animated film ever made until "Treasure Planet" in 2002), the film grossed $448.2 million worldwide, becoming the fifth highest-grossing film of 1999, the second highest-grossing animated film of 1999 behind "Toy Story 2", and the first Disney animated feature to open at first place at the North American box office since "Pocahontas" (1995). It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song ("You'll Be in My Heart" by Phil Collins). The film has led to many derived works, such as a Broadway adaptation, a television series, and two direct-to-video followups, "Tarzan & Jane" (2002) and "Tarzan II" (2005).


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: In the 1880s, a British couple and their infant son are shipwrecked in Equatorial Africa. The adults build a treehouse but are killed by Sabor, an African leopard. Kala, a gorilla who lost her son to Sabor, adopts the human infant and names him Tarzan; although Kerchak, her mate and the gorilla leader, objects.


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: Years later, Tarzan begins to befriend other animals, including Kala’s niece Terk and the paranoid elephant, Tantor. Tarzan finds himself treated differently because of his different physique, so he makes valiant efforts to improve himself. As an adult, Tarzan manages to kill Sabor with a spear, gaining Kerchak's reluctant approval.


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: Meanwhile, a team of human explorers from England, consisting of Professor Archimedes Q. Porter, his daughter Jane, and their hunter escort William Cecil Clayton, are looking to study the gorillas. Jane accidentally becomes separated from the group and is chased by a baboon troop, until Tarzan rescues her out of sheer curiosity. After comparing her to himself, he realizes they are similar. Jane leads Tarzan back to their camp, where Porter and Clayton both take interest in him; the former in terms of scientific progress, while the latter hopes to have Tarzan lead the group to the gorillas. Despite Kerchak's warnings to avoid the strangers, Tarzan repeatedly returns to the camp. Porter, Clayton, and Jane teach him how to speak English properly, and tell him what the human world is like. Tarzan and Jane begin to fall in love; however, she has difficulty convincing Tarzan to lead the humans to the gorillas, as Tarzan fears Kerchak's fury.


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: The explorers' ship soon returns to retrieve them. Jane asks Tarzan to return with them to England, but Tarzan, in turn, asks Jane to stay with him when Jane says it is unlikely that they will ever return. Clayton convinces Tarzan that Jane will stay with him forever as long as he leads them to the gorillas; Tarzan agrees, and leads the trio to the nesting grounds while Terk and Tantor lure Kerchak. Porter and Jane are excited to mingle with the gorillas, but Kerchak returns and attacks the humans on sight. Tarzan restrains Kerchak while the humans escape; afterwards, Kerchak accuses Tarzan of betraying his family, causing Tarzan to flee in shame. Kala takes Tarzan to the treehouse where she found him, reveals his true past, and says that she wants him to be happy whatever he decides. Tarzan puts on his late father's suit, signifying his decision to go to England.


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: When Tarzan boards the ship with Jane and Porter the next day, they are ambushed by Clayton and his traitorous band of stowaway thugs. Now aware of the location of the nesting grounds, Clayton reveals his plans to capture and sell the gorillas for a fortune, and imprisons Tarzan, Jane, and Porter to prevent them from interfering. Tarzan manages to escape with the help of Terk and Tantor, and he returns to the jungle, rallying the animals to come to the aid of the gorillas and scare off the thugs. Clayton then mortally wounds Kerchak and battles Tarzan across the treetops. Although Tarzan spares Clayton's life and breaks his rifle, Clayton tries to kill him with his machete. Their battle comes to a cluster of vines, and Clayton tries to cut free when a vine becomes tangled around his neck, hanging him to death. Kerchak, with his dying breath, finally accepts Tarzan as his son, and names him the leader of the gorilla troop.


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: The next day, Porter and Jane prepare to leave on the ship while Tarzan stays behind with the gorillas. As the ship's rowboat leaves shore, Porter encourages his daughter to stay with the man she loves, and Jane jumps overboard, followed soon after by her father. The Porters reunite with Tarzan and his family, and embark on their new life together.


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: Disney's "Tarzan" was the first Tarzan film to be animated. Thomas Schumacher, then-president of Walt Disney Feature Animation, expressed surprise there hadn't been any previous attempts to animate a "Tarzan" film, saying, "Here is a book that cries out to be animated. Yet we're the first filmmakers to have ever taken Tarzan from page to screen and presented the character as Burroughs intended." He noted that in animated form, Tarzan can connect to the animals on a deeper level than he can in live-action versions.


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: In 1994, when "A Goofy Movie" (1995) was nearly finished, Kevin Lima was approached to direct "Tarzan" by then-studio chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg. He had desired to have the film animated through the Disney Television Animation division with a new animation studio established in Canada. Lima was reluctant to the idea because of the animation complexities being done by inexperienced animators. Following Katzenberg's resignation from the Walt Disney Company, Lima was again contacted about the project by Michael Eisner, who decided to have the film produced through the Feature Animation division, by which Lima signed on.


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: Following this, Lima decided to read "Tarzan of the Apes" where he began to visualize the theme of two hands being held up against each other. That image became an important symbol of the relationships between characters in the film, and a metaphor of Tarzan's search for identity. "I was looking for something that would underscore Tarzan's sense of being alike, yet different from his ape family", Lima said, "The image of touching hands was first conceived as an idea for how Tarzan realizes he and Jane are physically the same."


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: Following his two-month study of the book, Lima approached his friend, Chris Buck, who had just wrapped up work as a supervising animator on "Pocahontas" (1995), to ask if he would be interested in serving as co-director. Buck was initially skeptical but accepted after hearing Lima's ideas for the film. By April 1995, the "Los Angeles Times" reported that the film was in its preliminary stages with Lima and Buck directing after Disney had obtained the story rights from the estate of Edgar Rice Burroughs.


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: Tab Murphy, who had just finished work on "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1996), was attracted to the theme of man-versus-nature in "Tarzan", and began developing a treatment in January 1995. For the third act, Murphy suggested that Tarzan should leave for England, as he did in the book, but the directors felt that it was incompatible with their central theme of what defines a family. In order to keep Tarzan in the jungle, the third act needed to be restructured by redefining the role of the villain and inventing a way to endanger the gorillas. In this departure from Burroughs' novel, a villain named Clayton was created to serve as a guide for Professor Archimedes Q. Porter and his daughter, Jane. In addition to this, Kerchak was re-characterized from a savage silverback into the protector of the gorilla tribe. Also the Mangani, the apes that raised Tarzan in the original book were changed and portrayed as gorillas which were called Bolgani in the original story. Originally Sabor was portrayed as a lioness but was changed to a leopard due to the fact the film takes place in the jungle a place where leopards hunt rather than lions who roam in open grasslands, also leopards in the original novel where called Sheeta.


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: In January 1997, husband-and-wife screenwriting duo Bob Tzudiker and Noni White were hired to help refocus and add humor to the script as a way to balance the emotional weight of the film. Comedy writer Dave Reynolds was also brought on to write humorous dialogue for the film. "I was initially hired on for six weeks of rewriting and punch-up", Reynolds said, "A year and a half later, I finished. Either they liked my work, or I was very bad at time management." One challenge the writers faced was how Tarzan should learn about his past. "When Kala takes Tarzan back to the tree house, she is essentially telling him that he was adopted", Bonnie Arnold, the producer for "Tarzan", said, "This is necessitated by him encountering humans and recognizing he is one of them." As a way to explore the feelings in that scene, Arnold brought in adoptive parents to talk with the story team. Another issue was the inherent and overt racism in the original Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan. The writers consciously chose to not include any African characters in order to avoid this topic.


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: Brendan Fraser auditioned twice for the title character before portraying the lead role in "George of the Jungle" (1997). Tony Goldwyn auditioned for the title role as well, and according to co-director Kevin Lima, Goldwyn landed it because of "the animal sense" in his readings, along with some "killer baboon imitations". For the signature Tarzan yell, Lima and Buck desired the traditional yell, although Goldwyn faced difficulties with providing the yell stating, "It's really hard to do, physically." His co-star Brian Blessed who does the voice of Clayton in the film ultimately provided the yell. Terk was originally written as a male gorilla, but following Rosie O'Donnell's audition, Terk was re-characterized as a female. Furthermore, Woody Allen was initially cast as the neurotic elephant Tantor. However, Katzenberg persuaded Allen to leave the project for DreamWorks Pictures' "Antz" (1998) and in exchange, the studio would distribute his next four films. Agreeing to the deal, Allen departed from "Tarzan" in 1996 and was replaced by Wayne Knight.


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: The animators were split into two teams, one in Paris and one in Burbank. The 6000-mile distance and difference in time zones posed challenges for collaboration, especially for scenes with Tarzan and Jane. Glen Keane was the supervising animator for Tarzan at the Paris studio, while Ken Duncan was the supervising animator for Jane at the studio in Burbank. To make coordinating scenes with multiple characters easier, the animators used a system called a "scene machine" that could send rough drawings between the two animation studios. Meanwhile, following production on "Mulan" (1998), two hundred animators at the Feature Animation Florida satellite studio provided character animation and special effects animation where the filmmakers had to discuss their work through daily video conferences among the three studios.


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: Keane was inspired to make Tarzan "surf" through the trees because of his son's interest in extreme sports, and he began working on a test scene. The directors expressed concern that Tarzan would be made into a "surfer dude", but when Keane revealed the test animation to them they liked it enough to use it in the film during the "Son of Man" sequence, with movements inspired by skateboarder Tony Hawk. Although Keane initially thought that Tarzan would be easy to animate because he only wears a loincloth, he realized that he would need a fully working human musculature while still being able to move like an animal. To figure out Tarzan's movements, the Paris animation team studied different animals in order to transpose their movements onto him. They also consulted with a professor of anatomy. This resulted in Tarzan being the first Disney character to accurately display working muscles.


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: To prepare for animating the gorillas, the animation team attended lectures on primates, made trips to zoos, and studied nature documentaries, with a group of animators also witnessing a gorilla dissection to learn about their musculature. In 1996, the animation team went on a two-week safari in Kenya to take reference photographs and observe the animals. On the trip, they visited Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda to view mountain gorillas in the wild, and get inspiration for the setting. In 2000, Chris Buck repeated the journey accompanied by journalists to promote the film's home video release.


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: To create the sweeping 3D backgrounds, "Tarzan"s production team developed a 3D painting and rendering technique known as "Deep Canvas" (a term coined by artist/engineer Eric Daniels). This technique allows artists to produce CGI backgrounds that look like a traditional painting, according to art director Daniel St. Pierre. (The software keeps track of brushstrokes applied in 3D space.) For this advancement, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded the creators of "Deep Canvas" a Technical Achievement Award in 2003. After "Tarzan", "Deep Canvas" was used for a number of sequences in "" (2001), particularly large panoramic shots of the island and several action sequences. Expanded to support moving objects as part of the background, "Deep Canvas" was used to create about 75 percent of the environments in Disney's next major animated action film, "Treasure Planet" (2002).


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: In 1995, Phil Collins was initially brought onto the project as a songwriter following a recommendation by Disney music executive Chris Montan. Early into production, directors Kevin Lima and Chris Buck decided not to follow Disney's musical tradition by having the characters sing. "I did not want Tarzan to sing", Lima stated, "I just couldn't see this half-naked man sitting on a branch breaking out in song. I thought it would be ridiculous." Instead, Collins would perform the songs in the film serving as the narrator. The choice of Collins, a popular and well established adult contemporary artist, led to comparisons with Elton John's earlier music for "The Lion King" (1994). "Tarzan" was dubbed in thirty-five languages—the most for any Disney movie at the time, and Collins recorded his songs in French, Italian, German, and Spanish for the dubbed versions of the film's soundtrack. According to Collins, most of the songs he wrote for "Tarzan" came from improvisation sessions and his reactions while reading the treatment. Three of the songs he wrote, "Son of Man", "Trashin' the Camp", and "Strangers Like Me", were based on his initial impressions after he read the source material. The other two songs were "You'll Be in My Heart", a lullaby sung to Tarzan by Kala (voiced by Glenn Close), and "Two Worlds", a song Collins wrote to serve as the anthem for "Tarzan".


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: The instrumental scoring for the film was composed by Mark Mancina, who had previously produced music for "The Lion King", and the musical of the same name. Mancina and Collins worked closely to create music that would complement the film's setting and used many obscure instruments from Mancina's personal collection in the score. "The idea of score and song arrangement came together as one entity, as Phil and I worked in tandem to create what's heard in the film", Mancina said.


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: On June 12, 1999, the film premiered at the El Capitan Theater with the cast and filmmakers as attendees followed by a forty-minute concert with Phil Collins performing songs from the film. On July 23, 1999, Disney launched a digital projection release of "Tarzan" released only in three theatrical venues including Walt Disney World's Pleasure Island multiplex for three weeks. Although "" and "An Ideal Husband" had been given earlier digital projection releases despite being shot on photographic film, "Tarzan" was notable for being the first major feature release to have been produced, mastered, and projected digitally.


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: Disney Consumer Products released a series of toys, books, and stuffed animals for "Tarzan", partnering with Mattel to produce a line of plush toys and action figures. Mattel also produced the Rad Repeatin' Tarzan action figure, but discontinued it after complaints regarding the toy's onanistic arm motions. Continuing its advertising alliance with McDonald's, its promotional campaign began on the film's opening day with several toys accompanied with Happy Meals and soda straws that replicated the Tarzan yell. Disney also worked with Nestle to create "Tarzan" themed candies, including a banana-flavored chocolate bar. In early 2000, Disney partnered again with McDonald's to release a set of eight Happy Meal toys as a tie-in for the film's home video. They also offered" Tarzan" themed food options, such as banana sundaes and jungle burgers.


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: On February 1, 2000, the film was released on VHS and DVD, as well as on LaserDisc on June 23, 2000 only in Japan, making "Tarzan" the last Disney animated feature to be released on the latter format. The DVD version contained bonus material, including the "Strangers Like Me" music video, the making of "Trashin' the Camp" featuring Collins and 'N Sync, and an interactive trivia game. A 2-Disc Collector's Edition was released on April 18, 2000. It included an audio commentary track recorded by the filmmakers, behind-the-scenes footage, and supplements that detailed the legacy of "Tarzan" and the film's development. These THX certified DVD releases featured the same bonus features, a sneak peek for "Dinosaur" and DVD-ROM. Both editions were placed in moratorium on January 31, 2002 and placed back into the Disney Vault. By January 2001, the film was the most successful home video release of 2000, earning retail revenues of $268 million.


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: On October 15, 2005, Disney released the "Tarzan" Special Edition on DVD. "Tarzan"s first Blu-ray edition was released throughout Europe in early 2012, and on August 12, 2014, Disney released the "Tarzan" Special Edition on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD.


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: Pre-release box office tracking indicated that "Tarzan" was appealing to all four major demographics noticeably for the first time for a Disney animated film since "The Lion King" (1994). The film was given a limited release on June 16, 1999, and its wide release followed two days later in 3,005 screens. During the weekend of June 18–21, "Tarzan" grossed $34.1 million ranking first at the box office, beating out "" (1999). At the time, it also ranked second behind "The Lion King" (1994), which had earned $40.9 million, as the highest-earning box office opening for a Disney animated film. By August 1999, the domestic gross was projected to approach $170 million. Ultimately, the film closed its box office run earning $448.2 million worldwide.


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: Rotten Tomatoes reported that of critics gave the film a positive review based on reviews, with an average score of . The critical consensus reads that "Disney's "Tarzan" takes the well-known story to a new level with spirited animation, a brisk pace, and some thrilling action set-pieces." Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 from top reviews from mainstream critics, calculated a score of 79 based on 27 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: "Entertainment Weekly" compared the film's advancement in visual effects to that of "The Matrix," stating that it had "the neatest computer-generated background work since Keanu Reeves did the backstroke in slow motion". They elaborate by describing how the characters moved seamlessly through the backgrounds themselves, giving the film a unique three-dimensional feel that far surpassed the quality of previous live-action attempts. Roger Ebert gave the film his highest rating of four stars, and he had similar comments about the film, describing it as representing "another attempt by Disney to push the envelope of animation", with scenes that "move through space with a freedom undreamed of in older animated films, and unattainable by any live-action process". Awarding the film three stars, James Berardinelli wrote: "From a purely visual standpoint, this may be the most impressive of all of Disney's traditionally animated features. The backdrops are lush, the characters are well realized, and the action sequences are dizzying, with frequent changes of perspectives and camera angles. No conventional animated film has been this ambitious before." Desson Howe, writing for "The Washington Post", claimed the film "isn't up there with "Aladdin", "The Lion King" and "The Little Mermaid", but it's easily above the riffraff ranks of "Hercules" and "Pocahontas"". Todd McCarthy of "Variety" proved to be less amused by the animation, claiming it was "richly detailed and colorfully conceived, but the computer animation and graphics are often intermingled and combined in ways that are more distracting in their differences than helpful in their vividness".


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: Lisa Schwarzbaum, who graded the film an A−, applauded the film as "a thrilling saga about a natural man, untainted by the complications of 'civilized' life, who can anticipate changes in the air by sniffing the wind — swings because the Disney team, having sniffed the wind, went out on a limb and kept things simple". Peter Stack of the "San Francisco Chronicle" admired the film for tackling "meanings of family relationships and ideas about society, guardianship and compassion" and "cunning and greed and the ultimate evil", as well as remaining faithful to Burroughs's original novel. Kenneth Turan of "Los Angeles Times" wrote that the "story unfolds with dangers as well as warm humor; a jungle jam session called 'Trashin' the Camp' is especially hard to resist. We may have seen it all before, but when it's done up like this, experiencing it all over again is a pleasure." Janet Maslin, reviewing for "The New York Times", similarly opined that ""Tarzan" initially looks and sounds like more of the same, to the point where Phil Collins is singing the words 'trust your heart' by the third line of his opening song. But it proves to be one of the more exotic blooms in the Disney hothouse, what with voluptuous flora, hordes of fauna, charming characters and excitingly kinetic animation that gracefully incorporates computer-generated motion."


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: The "Radio Times" review was not positive, stating the film "falls way short of Disney's best output" and featured "weak comic relief". The review concluded, "Lacking the epic sweep of "Mulan" or "The Lion King", and laced with feeble background songs from Phil Collins (inexplicably awarded an Oscar), this King of the Swingers may be merchandise-friendly, but it's no jungle VIP." Michael Wilmington of the "Chicago Tribune", while giving the film three stars, wrote that "Tarzan" "lacks that special pizazz that the string of Disney cartoon features from "The Little Mermaid" through "The Lion King" all had". He found faults in the film's removal of all African characters, lack of romantic tension between Tarzan and Jane, and the songs by Phil Collins, comparing them unfavorably with Elton John's "showstoppers" for "The Lion King". He wrote "depriving the characters of big numbers weakens the movie".


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: Ty Burr of "Entertainment Weekly" gave the soundtrack a B−, stating that it was awkwardly split between Collins's songs and the traditional score, was burdened by too many alternate versions of the tracks, and in some instances bore similarities to the scores of "The Lion King" and "Star Wars".


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: A spin-off animated series, "The Legend of Tarzan", ran from 2001 to 2003. The series picks up where the film left off, with Tarzan adjusting to his new role as leader of the apes following Kerchak's death, and Jane (whom he has since married) adjusting to life in the jungle. In July 1999, Disney announced that they were planning a sequel for "Tarzan". In 2002, "Tarzan & Jane" was released as a direct-to-video sequel, with Michael T. Weiss replacing Goldwyn as the voice of Tarzan. "Tarzan II", a direct-to-video follow-up, was released in 2005.


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: A Broadway musical produced by Disney Theatrical, also titled "Tarzan", began previews on March 24, 2006. It had an official opening night on May 10 of the same year. After running for over a year on Broadway, the show closed on July 8, 2007.


title: Tarzan (1999 film)

text: Five "Tarzan" video games have been released on various platforms. Tarzan's home is also featured as a playable world, "Deep Jungle", in the 2002 game "Kingdom Hearts", and in the 2013 HD remaster "Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix", in which Goldwyn and Blessed were the only actors from the film to reprise their roles, while Jane was voiced by Naia Kelly and Audrey Wasilewski reprised her role as Terk from the 1999 video game based on the film. The world was originally meant to return in "", but ultimately did not appear and has not appeared in any subsequent "Kingdom Hearts" games.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (; ; born Rubén Zaldívar, January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was a Cuban military officer and politician who served as the elected president of Cuba from 1940 to 1944 and as its U.S.-backed military dictator from 1952 to 1959, when he was overthrown by the Cuban Revolution.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: Batista initially rose to power as part of the 1933 Revolt of the Sergeants, which overthrew the provisional government of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada. Batista then appointed himself chief of the armed forces, with the rank of colonel, and effectively controlled the five-member "pentarchy" that functioned as the collective head of state. He maintained control through a string of puppet presidents until 1940, when he was elected president on a populist platform. He then instated the 1940 Constitution of Cuba and served until 1944. After finishing his term, Batista moved to Florida, returning to Cuba to run for president in 1952. Facing certain electoral defeat, he led a military coup against President Carlos Prío Socarrás that pre-empted the election.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: Back in power and receiving financial, military and logistical support from the United States government, Batista suspended the 1940 Constitution and revoked most political liberties, including the right to strike. He then aligned with the wealthiest landowners who owned the largest sugar plantations, and presided over a stagnating economy that widened the gap between rich and poor Cubans. Eventually it reached the point where most of the sugar industry was in U.S. hands, and foreigners owned 70% of the arable land. As such, Batista's repressive government then began to systematically profit from the exploitation of Cuba's commercial interests, by negotiating lucrative relationships both with the American Mafia, who controlled the drug, gambling, and prostitution businesses in Havana, and with large U.S.-based multinational companies who were awarded lucrative contracts. To quell the growing discontent amongst the populace—which was subsequently displayed through frequent student riots and demonstrations—Batista established tighter censorship of the media, while also utilizing his Bureau for the Repression of Communist Activities secret police to carry out wide-scale violence, torture and public executions. These murders mounted in 1957, as socialist ideas became more influential. Many people were killed, with estimates ranging from hundreds to about 20,000 people killed.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: These tactics ultimately failed to quell unrest and instead were the catalyst for more widespread resistance. For two years (December 1956 – December 1958) Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement and other rebelling elements led an urban- and rural-based guerrilla uprising against Batista's government, which culminated in his eventual defeat by rebels under the command of Che Guevara at the Battle of Santa Clara on New Year's Day 1959. Batista immediately fled the island with an amassed personal fortune to the Dominican Republic, where strongman and previous military ally Rafael Trujillo held power. Batista eventually found political asylum in Oliveira Salazar's Portugal, where he first lived on the island of Madeira and then in Estoril. He was involved in business activities in Spain and was staying there in Guadalmina at the time of his death from a heart attack on August 6, 1973.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: Batista was born in the town of Veguita, located in the municipality of Banes, Cuba in 1901 to Belisario Batista Palermo and Carmela Zaldívar González, who had fought in the Cuban War of Independence. He was of Spanish, African, Chinese, and possibly some Taíno descent. His mother named him Rubén and gave him her last name, Zaldívar. His father did not want to register him as a Batista. In the registration records of the Banes courthouse, he was legally Rubén Zaldívar until 1939, when, as Fulgencio Batista, he became a presidential candidate and it was discovered that this name did not exist in the birth certificates; he thus had to postpone the presentation of his candidacy and pay 15,000 pesos to the local judge.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: Both Batista's parents are believed to have been of mixed race and one may have had Indigenous Caribbean blood. Batista was initially educated at a public school in Banes and later attended night classes at an American Quaker school. He left home at age 14, after the death of his mother. Coming from a humble background, he earned a living as a laborer in the cane fields, docks, and railroads. He was a tailor, mechanic, charcoal vendor and fruit peddler. In 1921, he traveled to Havana, and in April joined the army as a private. After learning shorthand and typing, Batista left the army in 1923, working briefly as a teacher of stenography before enlisting in the "Guardia Rural" (rural police). He transferred back to the army as a corporal, becoming secretary to a regimental colonel. In September 1933, he held the rank of sergeant stenographer and as such acted as the secretary of a group of non-commissioned officers who led a "sergeants' conspiracy" for better conditions and improved prospects of promotion.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: In 1933, Batista led an uprising called the Sergeants' Revolt, as part of the coup that overthrew the government of Gerardo Machado. Machado was succeeded by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada, who lacked a political coalition that could sustain him and was soon replaced.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: A short-lived five-member presidency, known as the Pentarchy of 1933, was established. The Pentarchy included a representative from each anti-Machado faction. Batista was not a member, but controlled Cuba's armed forces. Within days, the representative for the students and professors of the University of Havana, Ramón Grau San Martín, was made president—and Batista became the Army Chief of Staff, with the rank of colonel, effectively putting him in control of the presidency. The majority of the commissioned officer corps were forced to retire or, some speculate, were killed.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: Grau remained president for just over 100 days before Batista, conspiring with the U.S. envoy Sumner Welles, forced him to resign in January 1934. Grau was replaced by Carlos Mendieta, and within five days the U.S. recognized Cuba's new government, which lasted eleven months. Batista then became the strongman behind a succession of puppet presidents until he was elected president in 1940. After Mendieta, succeeding governments were led by José Agripino Barnet (five months) and Miguel Mariano Gómez (seven months) before Federico Laredo Brú ruled from December 1936 to October 1940.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: Batista, supported by the Democratic Socialist Coalition which included Julio Antonio Mella's Communist Party, defeated Grau in the first presidential election under the new Cuban constitution in the 1940 election, and served a four-year term as President of Cuba, the first and to this day only, non-white Cuban in that office. Batista was endorsed by the original Communist Party of Cuba (later known as the Popular Socialist Party), which at the time had little significance and no probability of an electoral victory. This support was primarily due to Batista's labor laws and his support for labor unions, with which the Communists had close ties. In fact, Communists attacked the anti-Batista opposition, saying Grau and others were "fascists" and "reactionaries." During this term in office, Batista carried out major social reforms and established numerous economic regulations and pro-union policies.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: Cuba entered World War II on the side of the Allies on December 9, 1941, declaring war on Japan two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. On December 11, the Batista government declared war on Germany and Italy. In December 1942, after a friendly visit to Washington, Batista said Latin America would applaud if the Declaration by United Nations called for war with Francisco Franco's Spain, calling the regime "fascist".


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: In 1944, Batista's handpicked successor, Carlos Saladrigas Zayas, was defeated by Grau. In the final months of his presidency, Batista sought to handicap the incoming Grau administration. In a July 17, 1944, dispatch to the U.S. Secretary of State, U.S. Ambassador Spruille Braden wrote:


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: Shortly after, Batista left Cuba for the United States. "I just felt safer there," he said. He divorced his wife, Elisa, and married Marta Fernández Batista in 1945. Two of their four children were born in the United States.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: For the next eight years, Batista remained in the background, spending time in the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City and a home in Daytona Beach, Florida.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: He continued to participate in Cuban politics, and was elected to the Cuban Senate "in absentia" in 1948. Returning to Cuba, he decided to run for president and received permission from President Grau, whereupon he formed the United Action Party. On taking power he founded the Progressive Action Party, but he never regained his former popular support, though the unions supported him until the end.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: In 1952, Batista again ran for president. In a three-way race, Roberto Agramonte of the Orthodox Party led in all the polls, followed by Carlos Hevia of the Authentic Party. Batista's United Action coalition was running a distant third.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: On March 10, 1952, three months before the elections, Batista, with army backing, staged a coup and seized power. He ousted outgoing President Carlos Prío Socarrás, canceled the elections and took control of the government as a provisional president. The United States recognized his government on March 27. When asked by the U.S. government to analyze Batista's Cuba, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. said


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: The corruption of the Government, the brutality of the police, the government's indifference to the needs of the people for education, medical care, housing, for social justice and economic justice ... is an open invitation to revolution.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: Upon his seizure of power, Batista inherited a country that was relatively prosperous for Latin America. According to Batista's government, although a third of Cubans still lived in poverty, Cuba was one of the five most developed countries in the region. In the 1950s, Cuba's gross domestic product (GDP) per capita was roughly equal to that of Italy at the time, although still only a sixth of that of the United States. Moreover, although corruption and inequality were rife under Batista, Cuban industrial workers' wages rose significantly. In 1953, the average Cuban family only had an income of $6.00 a week, 15% to 20% of the labor force was chronically unemployed, and only a third of the homes had running water. Despite this, according to the International Labour Organization, the average industrial salary in Cuba became the world's eighth-highest in 1958, and the average agricultural wage was higher than some European nations (although, according to one sample from 1956-7, agricultural workers could only find employment for an average of 123 days per year while farm owners, rural tenants and sharecroppers worked an average of only 135 days per year).


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: Throughout the 1950s, Havana served as "a hedonistic playground for the world's elite", producing sizable gambling, prostitution and drug profits for the American mafia, corrupt law-enforcement officials, and their politically elected cronies. In the assessment of the Cuban-American historian Louis Perez, "Havana was then what Las Vegas has become." Relatedly, it is estimated that by the end of the 1950s the city of Havana had 270 brothels. In addition, drugs, be it marijuana or cocaine, were so plentiful at the time that one American magazine in 1950 proclaimed "Narcotics are hardly more difficult to obtain in Cuba than a shot of rum. And only slightly more expensive." As a result, the playwright Arthur Miller described Batista's Cuba in "The Nation" as "hopelessly corrupt, a Mafia playground, (and) a bordello for Americans and other foreigners."


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: In a bid to profit from such an environment, Batista established lasting relationships with organized crime, notably with American mobsters Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano, and under his rule Havana became known as "the Latin ". Batista and Lansky formed a friendship and business relationship that flourished for a decade. During a stay at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York in the late 1940s, it was mutually agreed that, in return for kickbacks, Batista would give Lansky and the Mafia control of Havana's racetracks and casinos. After World War II, Luciano was paroled from prison on the condition that he permanently return to Sicily. Luciano secretly moved to Cuba, where he worked to resume control over American Mafia operations. Luciano also ran a number of casinos in Cuba with the sanction of Batista, though the American government eventually succeeded in pressuring the Batista government to deport him.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: Batista encouraged large-scale gambling in Havana. In 1955, he announced that Cuba would grant a gaming license to anyone who invested US$1 million in a hotel or $200,000 in a new nightclub—and that the government would provide matching public funds for construction, a 10-year tax exemption, and waive duties on imported equipment and furnishings for new hotels. Each casino would pay the government $250,000 for the license, plus a percentage of the profits. The policy omitted background checks, as required for casino operations in the United States, which opened the door for casino investors with illegally obtained funds. Cuban contractors with the right connections made windfalls by importing, duty-free, more materials than needed for new hotels and selling the surplus to others. It was rumored that, besides the $250,000 to obtain a license, an additional "under the table" fee was sometimes required.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: Lansky became a prominent figure in Cuba's gambling operations, and exerted influence over Batista's casino policies. The Mafia's Havana Conference was held on December 22, 1946, at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba; this was the first full-scale meeting of American underworld leaders since the Chicago meeting in 1932. Lansky set about cleaning up the games at the Montmartre Club, which soon became the "place to be" in Havana. He also wanted to open a casino in the Hotel Nacional, the most elegant hotel in Havana. Batista endorsed Lansky's idea over the objections of American expatriates such as Ernest Hemingway, and the renovated casino wing opened for business in 1955 with a show by Eartha Kitt. The casino was an immediate success.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: As the new hotels, nightclubs, and casinos opened, Batista collected his share of the profits. Nightly, the "bagman" for his wife collected 10% of the profits at Santo Trafficante's casinos, the Sans Souci cabaret, and the casinos in the hotels Sevilla-Biltmore, Commodoro, Deauville, and Capri (partly owned by the actor George Raft). His take from the Lansky casinos—his prized Habana Riviera, the Hotel Nacional, the Montmartre Club, and others—was said to be 30%. Lansky was said to have personally contributed millions of dollars per year to Batista's Swiss bank accounts.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: In a manner that antagonized the Cuban people, the U.S. government used its influence to advance the interests of and increase the profits of the private American companies, which "dominated the island's economy". By the late 1950s, U.S. financial interests owned 90% of Cuban mines, 80% of its public utilities, 50% of its railways, 40% of its sugar production and 25% of its bank deposits—some $1 billion in total. According to historian Louis A. Pérez Jr., author of the book "On Becoming Cuban", "Daily life had developed into a relentless degradation, with the complicity of political leaders and public officials who operated at the behest of American interests." As a symbol of this relationship, ITT Corporation, an American-owned multinational telephone company, presented Batista with a Golden Telephone, as an "expression of gratitude" for the "excessive telephone rate increase", at least according to Senator John F. Kennedy, that Batista granted at the urging of the U.S. government.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: Earl E.T. Smith, former U.S. Ambassador to Cuba, testified to the U.S. Senate in 1960 that, "Until Castro, the U.S. was so overwhelmingly influential in Cuba that the American ambassador was the second most important man, sometimes even more important than the Cuban president." In addition, nearly "all aid" from the U.S. to Batista's government was in the "form of weapons assistance", which "merely strengthened the Batista dictatorship" and "completely failed to advance the economic welfare of the Cuban people". Such actions later "enabled Castro and the Communists to encourage the growing belief that America was indifferent to Cuban aspirations for a decent life."


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: According to historian and author James S. Olson, the U.S. government essentially became a "co-conspirator" in the arrangement because of Batista's strong opposition to communism, which, in the rhetoric of the Cold War, seemed to maintain business stability and a pro-U.S. posture on the island. Thus, in the view of Olson, "The U.S. government had no difficulty in dealing with him, even if he was a hopeless despot." On October 6, 1960, Senator John F. Kennedy, in the midst of his campaign for the U.S. presidency, decried Batista's relationship with the U.S. government and criticized the Eisenhower administration for supporting him:


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: Fulgencio Batista murdered 20,000 Cubans in seven years ... and he turned Democratic Cuba into a complete police state—destroying every individual liberty. Yet our aid to his regime, and the ineptness of our policies, enabled Batista to invoke the name of the United States in support of his reign of terror. Administration spokesmen publicly praised Batista—hailed him as a staunch ally and a good friend—at a time when Batista was murdering thousands, destroying the last vestiges of freedom, and stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from the Cuban people, and we failed to press for free elections.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: On July 26, 1953, just over a year after Batista's second coup, a small group of revolutionaries attacked the Moncada Barracks in Santiago. Government forces easily defeated the assault and jailed its leaders, while many others fled the country. The primary leader of the attack, Fidel Castro, was a young attorney who had run for parliament in the canceled 1952 elections. Although Castro was never officially nominated, he felt that Batista's coup had sidetracked what would have been a promising political career for him. In the wake of the Moncada assault, Batista suspended constitutional guarantees and increasingly relied on police tactics in an attempt to "frighten the population through open displays of brutality."


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: Batista held an election in 1954, running as the candidate of a political coalition that included the Progressive Action Party, the Radical Union Party and the Liberal Party. The opposition divided into abstentionists and electoralists. The abstentionists favored boycotting the elections regardless of the circumstances in which they were held, whereas the electoralists sought certain rights and guarantees to participate. The CIA had predicted that Batista would use any means necessary to ensure he won the election. Batista lived up to their expectations, utilizing fraud and intimidation to secure his presidency. This led most of the other parties to boycott the elections. Former President Ramón Grau San Martín, leading the electoralist factions of the Cuban Revolutionary Party, participated through the political campaign but withdrew from the campaign days before election day, charging that his supporters had been terrorized. Thus Batista was elected president with the support of 45.6% of registered voters. Despite the boycott, Grau received the support of 6.8% of those who voted. The remaining voters abstained.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: By late 1955, student riots and anti-Batista demonstrations had become frequent, and unemployment became a problem as graduates entering the workforce could not find jobs. These were dealt with through increasing repression. All youth were seen as suspected revolutionaries. Due to its continued opposition to Batista and the large amount of revolutionary activity taking place on its campus, the University of Havana was temporarily closed on November 30, 1956 (it did not reopen until 1959 under the first revolutionary government). On March 13, 1957, student leader José Antonio Echeverría was killed by police outside Radio Reloj in Havana after announcing that Batista had been killed in a student attack on the Presidential Palace. In reality, Batista survived, and the students of the Federation of University Students (FEU) and the Directorio (DR) who led the attack were killed in the response by the military and police. Castro quickly condemned the attack, since July 26 Movement had not participated in it.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: In April 1956, Batista called popular military leader Col. Ramón Barquín back to Cuba from his post as military attaché to the United States. Believing Barquín would support his rule, Batista promoted him to General. However, Barquín's "Conspiración de los Puros" (Conspiracy of the Pure) was already underway and had already progressed too far. On April 6, 1956, Barquín led hundreds of career officers in a coup attempt, but was frustrated by Lieutenant Ríos Morejón, who betrayed the plan. Barquín was sentenced to solitary confinement for eight years on the Isle of Pines, while some officers were sentenced to death for treason. Many others were allowed to remain in the military without reprimand.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: The purge of the officer corps contributed to the inability of the Cuban army to successfully combat Castro and his guerrillas. Batista's police responded to increasing popular unrest by torturing and killing young men in the cities. However, his army was ineffective against the rebels based in the Sierra Maestra and Escambray Mountains. Another possible explanation for the failure to crush the rebellion was offered by author Carlos Alberto Montaner: "Batista does not finish Fidel out of greed ... His is a government of thieves. To have this small guerrilla band in the mountains is to his advantage, so that he can order special defense expenditures that they can steal." Batista's rule became increasingly unpopular among the population, and the Soviet Union began to secretly support Castro. Some of Batista's generals also criticized him in later years, saying that Batista's excessive interference in his generals' military plans to defeat the rebels hampered Army morale and rendered all operations ineffective.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: In an effort to gather information about Castro's army, Batista's secret police pulled in people for questioning. Many innocent people were tortured by Batista's police, while suspects, including youth, were publicly executed as a warning to others who were considering joining the insurgency. Additionally, "Hundreds of mangled bodies were left hanging from lamp posts or dumped in the streets in a grotesque variation of the Spanish colonial practice of public executions." The brutal behavior backfired and increased support for the guerrillas. In 1958, 45 organizations signed an open letter supporting July 26 Movement, among them national bodies representing lawyers, architects, dentists, accountants, and social workers. Castro, who had originally relied on the support of the poor, was now gaining the backing of the influential middle classes.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: The United States supplied Batista with planes, ships, tanks and the latest technology, such as napalm, which he used against the insurgency. However, in March 1958, the U.S. announced it would stop selling arms to the Cuban government. Soon after, the U.S. imposed an arms embargo, further weakening the government's position, although land owners and others who benefited from the government continued to support Batista.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: Elections were scheduled for June 1958, as required by the Constitution, but were delayed until November 1958, when Castro and the revolutionaries called for a general strike and placed several bombs in civilian areas of the country. Three main candidates ran in the elections: Carlos Márquez Sterling of the Party of the Free People, former President Ramón Grau San Martín of the Cuban Revolutionary Party-Authentic, and Andrés Rivero Agüero of the government coalition. According to Carlos Márquez Sterling, all three were threatened by Castro, and several assassination attempts were made on both Ramón Grau San Martín and Carlos Márquez Sterling. On Election Day, estimates on the turnout range from 30 to 50% in the areas where voting took place, which did not include parts of Las Villas and Oriente, which were controlled by Castro. Márquez Sterling also stated that the initial results were favorable to him, but the military ordered the counting to stop as they changed the actual ballots for fraudulent ones. However, Grau San Martín, as he had previously done in the 1954 elections, withdrew his candidacy within a few hours of the election day. Batista declared Rivero Agüero the winner.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: The U.S. rejected the results of the elections and announced plans to withhold diplomatic recognition of the Rivero Agüero government. The American ambassador to Cuba Earl Smith informed Agüero that the United States would not give aid and support to his government. Smith also informed Batista that the U.S. believed him incapable of maintaining effective control and that he should retire.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: On December 31, 1958, at a New Year's Eve party, Batista told his cabinet and top officials that he was leaving the country. After seven years, Batista knew his presidency was over, and he fled the island in the early morning. At 3:00 a.m. on January 1, 1959, Batista boarded a plane at Camp Columbia with 40 of his supporters and immediate family members and flew to Ciudad Trujillo in the Dominican Republic. A second plane flew out of Havana later in the night, carrying ministers, officers and the Governor of Havana. Batista took along a personal fortune of more than $300 million that he had amassed through graft and payoffs. Critics accused Batista and his supporters of taking as much as $700 million in fine art and cash with them as they fled into exile.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: As news of the fall of Batista's government spread through Havana, "The New York Times" described jubilant crowds pouring into the streets and automobile horns honking. The black and red flag of July 26 Movement waved on cars and buildings. The atmosphere was chaotic. On January 8, 1959, Castro and his army rolled victoriously into Havana. Already denied entry to the United States, Batista sought asylum in Mexico, which also refused him. Portugal's leader António Salazar allowed him to settle there on the condition that he completely abstain from politics.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: Historians and primary documents estimate between hundreds and 20,000 Cubans were killed under the Batista regime.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: Batista married Elisa Godínez y Gómez (1900–1993) on July 10, 1926. They had three children: Mirta Caridad (1927–2010), Elisa Aleida (born 1933), and Fulgencio Rubén Batista Godínez (1933–2007). By all accounts, she was devoted to him and their children throughout their marriage, and their daughter remembered them as a "happy, young couple" until their sudden divorce. Much to her surprise, he divorced her in October 1945 against her will in order to marry his longtime mistress Marta Fernandez Miranda.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: He married Marta Fernández Miranda (1923–2006) on November 28, 1945, shortly after his divorce became final, and they had five children: Jorge Luis (born 1942), Roberto Francisco (born 1947), Carlos Manuel (1950–1969), Fulgencio José (born 1953) and Marta María Batista Fernández (born 1957).


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: Batista was an inveterate philanderer who engaged in numerous extramarital affairs throughout his first marriage. He cheated on his first wife with multiple women, and his children eventually became aware of his relationships. His first wife, who supported her husband throughout his political career and found his philandering humiliating, never considered divorce and tolerated his multiple affairs. However, Batista became enamored with the much younger Marta Fernandez Miranda, who became his longtime mistress. He filed divorce papers shortly before his first grandchild was born. His first wife and their children were astounded and devastated by the divorce.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: In 1935, he fathered an illegitimate daughter, Fermina Lázara Batista Estévez, whom he supported financially. Biographers suggest that Batista may have fathered several more children out of wedlock.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: After he fled to Portugal, Batista lived in Madeira, then later in Estoril. He died of a heart attack on August 6, 1973, at Marbella, Spain, two days before a team of assassins from Castro's Cuba allegedly were planning to assassinate him.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: Marta Fernández Miranda de Batista, Batista's widow, died on October 2, 2006. Roberto Batista, her son, says that she died at her home in West Palm Beach, Florida. She had suffered from Alzheimer's disease. She was buried with her husband and son in the Cementerio Sacramental de San Isidro in Madrid.


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: Actors who have portrayed Batista in film include Tito Alba in "The Godfather Part II" (1974), Wolfe Morris in "Cuba" (1979) and Juan Fernández de Alarcón in "The Lost City" (2005).


title: Fulgencio Batista

text: In literature and movies, Batista's regime is commonly referred to as the "greens" (opposite the Communist "reds"), because of the green uniforms his soldiers wore.


title: Bidet

text: A bidet ( or ) is a bowl or receptacle designed to be sat on in order to wash one's genitalia, perineum, inner buttocks, and anus. The modern variety has a plumbed-in water supply and a drainage opening, and is thus a plumbing fixture subject to local hygiene regulations. The bidet is designed to promote personal hygiene and is used after defecation, and before and after sexual intercourse. It can also be used to wash feet, with or without filling it up with water. In several European countries, a bidet is now required by law to be present in every bathroom containing a toilet bowl. It was originally located in the bedroom, near the chamber-pot and the marital bed, but in modern times is located near the toilet bowl in the bathroom. Fixtures that combine a toilet seat with a washing facility include the electronic bidet.


title: Bidet

text: Opinions as to the necessity of the bidet vary widely over different nationalities and cultures. In those cultures which use it habitually, such as in parts of Western, Central and Southern Europe, Eastern Asia and some South American countries such as Argentina, it is considered an indispensable tool in maintaining good personal hygiene. It is commonly used in North African countries such as Egypt. Rarely is it used in sub-Saharan Africa and North America.


title: Bidet

text: Bidets are primarily used to wash and clean the genitalia, perineum, inner buttocks, and anus. Some bidets have a vertical jet intended to give easy access for washing and rinsing the perineum and anal area. The traditional separate bidet is like a wash-basin which is filled with clean water, and may then be used for many other purposes such as washing feet.


title: Bidet

text: A bidet shower (also known as "bidet spray", "bidet sprayer", or "health faucet") is a hand-held triggered nozzle, similar to that on a kitchen sink sprayer, that delivers a spray of water to assist in anal cleansing and cleaning the genitals after defecation and urination. In contrast to a bidet that is integrated with the toilet, a bidet shower has to be held by the hands, and cleaning does not take place automatically. Bidet showers are common in countries where water is considered essential for anal cleansing.


title: Bidet

text: Drawbacks include the possibility of wetting a user's clothing if used carelessly. In addition, a user must be reasonably mobile and flexible to use a hand-held bidet shower.


title: Bidet

text: A bidet is a plumbing fixture that is installed as a separate unit in the bathroom besides toilet, shower and sink, which users have to straddle. Some bidets resemble a large hand basin, with taps and a stopper so they can be filled up; other designs have a nozzle that squirts a jet of water to aid in cleansing.


title: Bidet

text: There are bidets that are attachable to toilet bowls, saving space and obviating additional plumbing. A bidet may be a movable or fixed nozzle, either attached to an existing toilet on the back or side toilet rim, or replacing the toilet seat. In these cases, its use is restricted to cleaning the anus and genitals. Some bidets of this type produce a vertical water jet and others a more-or-less oblique one. Other bidets have one nozzle on the side rim aimed at both anal and genital areas, and other designs have two nozzles on the back rim. The shorter one, called the "family nozzle", is used for washing the area around the anus, and the longer one ("bidet nozzle") is designed for washing the vulva.


title: Bidet

text: Such attachable bidets (also called "combined toilets", "bidet attachments", or "add-on bidets") are controlled either mechanically, by turning a valve, or electronically. Electronic bidets are controlled with waterproof electrical switches rather than a manual valve. There are models that have a heating element which blows warm air to dry the user after washing, that offer heated seats, wireless remote controls, illumination through built in night lights, or built in deodorizers and activated carbon filters to remove odours. Further refinements include adjustable water pressure, temperature compensation, and directional spray control. Where bathroom appearance is of concern, under-the-seat mounting types have become more popular.


title: Bidet

text: An add-on bidet typically connects to the existing water supply of a toilet via the addition of a threaded tee pipe adapter, and requires no soldering or other plumbing work. Electronic add-on bidets also require a GFCI protected grounded electrical outlet.


title: Bidet

text: Personal hygiene is improved and maintained more accurately and easily with the use of both toilet paper and a bidet as compared to the use of toilet paper alone. In some add-on bidets with vertical jets, little water is used and toilet paper may not be necessary. Addressing hemorrhoids and genital health issues might also be facilitated by the use of bidet fixtures.


title: Bidet

text: Because of the large surface of the basin, after-use and routine disinfection of stand-alone bidets require thoroughness, or microbial contamination from one user to the next could take place. Bidet attachments are sometimes included on hospital toilets because of their utility in maintaining hygiene. Hospitals must consider the use of bidet properly and consider the clinical background of patients to prevent cross-infection. Warm-water bidets may harbor dangerous microbes if not properly disinfected.


title: Bidet

text: From an environmental standpoint, bidets can reduce the need for toilet paper. Considering that an average person uses only of water for cleansing by using a bidet, much less water is used than for manufacturing toilet paper. An article in "Scientific American" concluded that using a bidet is "much less stressful on the environment than using paper". "Scientific American" has also reported that if the US switched to using bidets, 15 million trees could be saved every year.


title: Bidet

text: In the US, UK, and some other countries, wet wipes are heavily marketed as an upgrade from dry toilet paper. However, this product has been criticized for its adverse environmental impact, due to the non-biodegradable plastic fibers composing most versions. Although the wipes are promoted as "flushable", they absorb waste fats and agglomerate into massive "fatbergs" which can clog sewer systems and must be cleared at great expense. Bidets are being marketed as cleaning better than toilet paper or wet wipes with fewer negative environmental effects.


title: Bidet

text: The use of water in many Christian countries is due in part to the biblical toilet etiquette which encourages washing after all instances of defecation. The bidet is common in predominantly Catholic countries where water is considered essential for anal cleansing, and in some traditionally Orthodox and Protestant countries such as Greece and Finland respectively, where bidet showers are common.


title: Bidet

text: In Islam, there are many strict rules concerning excretion; in particular anal washing with water is required. Consequently in Middle Eastern regions where Islam is the predominant religion, water for anal washing is provided in most toilets, usually in the form of a hand-held "bidet shower" or "shattaf".


title: Bidet

text: Bidets are becoming increasingly popular with the elderly and disabled. Combined toilet/bidet installations make self-care toileting possible for many people, affording greater independence. There are often special units with higher toilet seats allowing easier wheelchair transfer, and with some form of electronic remote control that benefits an individual with limited mobility or otherwise requiring assistance.