title: Jacqueline Bisset

text: In 1999, Bisset appeared in two high-calibre television projects, playing the Virgin Mary in "Jesus" and Isabelle d'Arc in "Joan of Arc", opposite Jeremy Sisto and Leelee Sobieski in the respective titular roles. Bisset earned a Primetime Emmy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress for the latter performance. "Let the Devil Wear Black" (1999) was an independent film featuring Bisset in an ensemble cast, loosely retelling Shakespeare's "Hamlet" in modern-day Los Angeles.


title: Jacqueline Bisset

text: Bisset returned to the Biblical genre with "In the Beginning" (2000), playing Sarah, wife of Abraham. She had the leading role in "The Sleepy Time Gal" (2001), which premiered on SundanceTV and was cited by the Village Voice in its annual survey of the year's best undistributed films. One of her later TV movies, in 2003, was "", in which she portrayed Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. She did guest shots on "Hey Arnold!", "Ally McBeal" and "", and had key roles in the independent features "Swing" (2003), "Latter Days" (2003) and "Fascination" (2004).


title: Jacqueline Bisset

text: In 2005, Bisset was seen in the Domino Harvey biographical film "Domino" with Keira Knightley, directed by Tony Scott, playing a fictionalised version of Paulene Stone (renamed "Sophie Wynn"), whom she actually knew from their time as models in London. She filmed a cameo appearance for "Mr. & Mrs. Smith", but her performance was cut from the movie. In 2006, Bisset had a recurring role on the FX series "Nip/Tuck" as the ruthless extortionist James LeBeau. Her next role was in "Save the Last Dance 2" (2006) as the protagonist's ballet instructor. On Lifetime she appeared in an adaption of the Nora Roberts novel "Carolina Moon" (2007).


title: Jacqueline Bisset

text: Bisset starred in the lead role of Boaz Yakin's "Death in Love", which premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Her performance as a volatile Holocaust survivor earned her the Best Actress award at the Boston Film Festival. Later that year, she starred in "An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving" for the Hallmark Channel, and was nominated for a Satellite Award as Best Actress.


title: Jacqueline Bisset

text: In 2009, Bisset reunited with Linda Yellen for "The Last Film Festival", which was Dennis Hopper's final screen appearance. Hopper's untimely death in spring 2010 occurred before Yellen could begin postproduction, and she eventually launched a crowd-funding campaign to complete the film. It finally premiered in 2016.


title: Jacqueline Bisset

text: In 2010, Bisset was awarded the "Legion of Honour" insignia, with French President Nicolas Sarkozy calling her "a movie icon". Later that year she reprised her role in the sequel to "An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving", "An Old Fashioned Christmas".


title: Jacqueline Bisset

text: Following a recurring role on "Rizzoli & Isles" from 2011 to 2012, Bisset returned to the UK to film Stephen Poliakoff's 1930s jazz drama series "Dancing on the Edge", which started on BBC2 in 2013. For her work, she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film. Next, she played Gérard Depardieu's wife in "Welcome to New York" (2014) for controversial director Abel Ferrara. In 2015, she co-starred with Drew Barrymore and Toni Collette in "Miss You Already". The same year, she received a Stanislavsky Award at the 37th Moscow International Film Festival.


title: Jacqueline Bisset

text: Bisset had a recurring role in the American TV series "Counterpart" in 2017. On the indie circuit, Bisset kept busy with roles in four features in 2018: "Head Full of Honey", which reunited her with "The Deep" co-star Nick Nolte; "Backstabbing for Beginners" (opposite Ben Kingsley); "Here and Now" with Sarah Jessica Parker; and "Asher" with Famke Janssen and Ron Perlman. In 2019, she co-starred with Fabio Testi in the Lifetime movie "Very Valentine".


title: Jacqueline Bisset

text: In 2020, Bisset joined the cast of "Birds of Paradise" from Amazon Studios, shot in Budapest. She had a co-starring role in the fantasy/horror film "The Lodger" alongside Alice Isaaz, and plays a title role in Russell Brown's "Loren & Rose" (2022).


title: Jacqueline Bisset

text: Bisset has never married, but had long-term romances with French-Canadian actor Michael Sarrazin, Moroccan real estate magnate Victor Drai, Russian dancer/actor Alexander Godunov, Swiss actor Vincent Perez and Turkish martial arts instructor Emin Boztepe.


title: Jacqueline Bisset

text: In interviews, Bisset is often asked about being unmarried and childless. When she was 32, she told the press: "I couldn't in all conscience do what I do and have children. Could you imagine being the daughter of Raquel Welch? I've heard such horror stories, about the children in Hollywood." Bisset has been a "de facto" stepmother in two of her past relationships, as Sarrazin and Boztepe already had children before they met her.


title: Houston Rockets

text: The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home games at the Toyota Center, located in Downtown Houston. Throughout its history, Houston has won two NBA championships and four Western Conference titles. It was established in 1967 as the San Diego Rockets, an expansion team originally based in San Diego. In 1971, the Rockets relocated to Houston.


title: Houston Rockets

text: The Rockets won only 15 games in their debut season as a franchise in 1967. In the 1968 NBA draft, the Rockets were awarded the first overall pick and selected power forward Elvin Hayes, who would lead the team to its first playoff appearance in his rookie season. The Rockets did not finish a season with a winning record for almost a decade until the 1976–77 season, when they traded for All-Star center Moses Malone. Malone went on to win the NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award twice while playing with the Rockets and led Houston to the Eastern Conference Finals in his first year with the team. During the 1980–81 season, the Rockets finished the regular season with a 40–42 record but still made the playoffs. Led by Malone, the Rockets reached their first NBA Finals in 1981, becoming only the second team in NBA history to do so with a losing record. They would lose in six games to the 62–20 Boston Celtics, led by Larry Bird, Robert Parish, and future Rockets head coach Kevin McHale. , the 1980–81 Rockets are the last team since the 1954–55 Minneapolis Lakers to make it all the way to the NBA Finals with a losing record.


title: Houston Rockets

text: In the 1984 NBA draft, once again with the first overall pick, the Rockets drafted center Hakeem Olajuwon, who would become the cornerstone of the most successful period in franchise history. Paired with Ralph Sampson, they formed one of the tallest front courts in the NBA. Nicknamed the "Twin Towers", they led the team to the 1986 NBA Finals—the second NBA Finals appearance in franchise history—where Houston was again defeated by Larry Bird and the 67-win Boston Celtics. The Rockets continued to reach the playoffs throughout the 1980s, but failed to advance past the first round for several years following a second-round defeat to the Seattle SuperSonics in 1987. Rudy Tomjanovich took over as head coach midway through the 1991–92 season, ushering in the most successful period in franchise history. Led by Olajuwon, the Rockets dominated the 1993–94 season, setting a then-franchise record 58 wins and went to the 1994 NBA Finals—the third NBA Finals appearance in franchise history—and won the franchise's first championship against Patrick Ewing and the New York Knicks. During the following season, reinforced by another All-Star, Clyde Drexler, the Rockets—in their fourth NBA Finals appearance in franchise history—repeated as champions with a four-game sweep of the Orlando Magic, which was led by a young Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway. Houston, which finished the season with a 47–35 record and was seeded sixth in the Western Conference during the 1995 playoffs, became the lowest-seeded team in NBA history to win the title.


title: Houston Rockets

text: The Rockets acquired all-star power forward Charles Barkley in 1996, but the presence of three of the NBA's 50 greatest players of all-time (Olajuwon, Drexler, and Barkley) was not enough to propel Houston past the Western Conference Finals. Each one of the aging trio had left the team by 2001. The Rockets of the early 2000s, led by superstars Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming, followed the trend of consistent regular-season respectability followed by playoff underachievement as both players struggled with injuries. After Yao's early retirement in 2011, the Rockets entered a period of rebuilding, completely dismantling and retooling their roster.


title: Houston Rockets

text: The acquisition of franchise player James Harden in 2012 launched the Rockets back into perennial championship contention throughout the rest of the 2010s, with zero losing seasons in Harden's nine-season tenure with the team. Harden broke countless franchise and NBA records while on the team, winning three consecutive scoring titles between 2018 and 2020, and leading the team to two Western Conference Finals appearances (both times losing to the Golden State Warriors). Prior to the 2020–21 season, head coach Mike D'Antoni and general manager Daryl Morey left the organization, prompting Harden to seek a trade. He was traded to the Brooklyn Nets which started a rebuilding period.


title: Houston Rockets

text: Moses Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon, and James Harden have been named the NBA's MVPs while playing for the Rockets, for a total of four MVP awards. The Rockets, when piloted by Morey, were been renowned for popularizing the use of advanced statistical analytics (similar to sabermetrics in baseball) in player acquisitions and style of play.


title: Houston Rockets

text: The Rockets were founded in 1967 in San Diego by Robert Breitbard, who paid an entry fee of US$1.75 million to join the NBA as an expansion team for the 1967–68 season. The NBA wanted to add more teams in the Western United States and chose San Diego based on the city's strong economic and population growth, along with the local success of an ice hockey team owned by Breitbard, the San Diego Gulls of the Western Hockey League. The San Diego International Sports Center, which opened the previous year and was also owned by Bretitbard, would serve as home to the new franchise. A local contest to name the franchise chose the name "Rockets", as it paid homage to San Diego's theme of "a city in motion" and the local arm of General Dynamics developing the Atlas missile and booster rocket program.


title: Houston Rockets

text: Breitbard brought in Jack McMahon, then-coach of the Cincinnati Royals, to serve as the Rockets' coach and general manager. The team, which would join the league along with the Seattle SuperSonics, then built its roster with both veteran players at an expansion draft, and college players from the 1967 NBA draft, where San Diego's first ever draft pick was Pat Riley. In their first two games of the season, the Rockets were up against the St. Louis Hawks, and lost both of those games. Their first win in franchise history came the very next game which occurred three days after against the SuperSonics. The Rockets won on the road, 121–114. Johnny Green recorded 30 points and 25 rebounds for the Rockets. The following game, the SuperSonics held a 15-point lead for most of the first half, before the Rockets mounted a comeback to force overtime. The SuperSonics eventually pulled away and won the game, 117–110, though Art Williams recorded the first ever triple-double in franchise history, as he recorded 17 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists for the Rockets. The expansion Rockets ultimately lost 67 games in their inaugural season, which was an NBA record for losses in a season at the time.


title: Houston Rockets

text: In 1968, after the Rockets won a coin toss against the Baltimore Bullets to determine who would have the first overall pick in the 1968 NBA draft, they selected Elvin Hayes from the University of Houston. Hayes improved the Rockets' record to 37 wins and 45 losses, enough for the franchise's first ever playoff appearance in 1969, but the Rockets lost in the semi-finals of the Western Division to the Atlanta Hawks, four games to two. The Rockets limped to a 27–55 finish in the 1969–70 season, before missing the playoffs by just one game in the 1970–71 season.


title: Houston Rockets

text: Off the court, Breitbard was facing serious financial losses primarily due to a controversial ongoing tax-assessment issue that had plagued his San Diego Sports Arena since it was built. He was also meanwhile still also on the hook for paying off the NBA expansion fee for the Rockets, in addition to construction-related bonds on the arena, which he had built with private funding. To make matters worse, the American professional sports economy had begun to plummet in the late 1960s, and professional basketball was being hit particularly hard with nearly all franchises in the NBA and ABA operating at a financial loss at this time.


title: Houston Rockets

text: On January 26, 1970, during an emotional press conference on the floor of the Sports Arena, Breitbard addressed the San Diego fans regarding his dire finances and the state of his Rockets basketball and Gulls hockey teams. "...We have been served an eviction notice..." Breitbard announced. "I've tried to work quietly, to iron this out. But, at the moment it appears impossible. I don't want to sell. I'm not interested in selling outside of San Diego. It seems to me the Rockets and Gulls are part of this town. This arena, the Gulls, the Rockets, are a part of me, and our fans have been wonderful to us." Over the next nearly year and a half, numerous fans circulated petitions and lobbied local officials to help keep the Rockets and Gulls afloat and in San Diego. Several proposals surrounding providing financial aid or payment relief to Breitbard, or having the City and/or County of San Diego take ownership of the arena were discussed, but Breitbard was running out of time. At least 14 private offers for the Rockets were made to Breitbard, though all would have resulted in the team being relocated out of San Diego, which Breitbard was adamantly opposed to. The tax-assessment situation surrounding the Sports Arena (which was the only large arena in the region) ultimately made the prospect of another local owner purchasing the team infeasible.


title: Houston Rockets

text: On January 12, 1971, the Rockets hosted the 1971 NBA All-Star Game at the San Diego Sports Arena, a close contest in which the West beat the East 108–107 in front of a packed house of 14,378 fans.


title: Houston Rockets

text: On June 23, 1971, the San Diego Rockets were abruptly sold by Breitbard to a Houston-based investment group. The NBA hurriedly approved the sale, believing the franchise was on the verge of folding. News of the sale broke before the coaches, players, and team employees and executives could even be notified. Local officials in San Diego were also caught by surprise.


title: Houston Rockets

text: In their fourth and final season in existence, the San Diego Rockets missed the playoffs by just one game in the standings and finished in the top ten in the NBA in home attendance.


title: Houston Rockets

text: Texas Sports Investments bought the franchise for $5.6 million and moved the team to Houston before the start of the 1971–72 season. The franchise became the first NBA team in Texas, and the nickname "Rockets" took on even greater relevance after the move, given Houston's long connection to the space industry.


title: Houston Rockets

text: Before the start of the season, Hannum left for the Denver Rockets of the American Basketball Association – later renamed Denver Nuggets, who joined the NBA in 1976 – and Tex Winter was hired in his place. In the first six games of the 1971–72 season in Winter's first head coaching season, the Rockets all lost those games with an average of around 15 points per game. Their first win of the season came on October 26, 1971, with a 104–103 win over the home team, Detroit Pistons. Their second win of the season came five days later, a 102–87 win over the Buffalo Braves. After that game, the Rockets lost their next 8 games, against the Knicks, Trail Blazers, Bullets (twice), Warriors, Celtics, Bucks and Bulls. Their next win was on November 17 on the road against the 76ers. However, Winter's clashes with Hayes, due to a system that contrasted with the offensive style to which Hayes was accustomed, made Hayes ask for a trade, leaving for the Baltimore Bullets at the end of the 1971–72 season.


title: Houston Rockets

text: It was also around this time that the Rockets would unveil their classic yellow and red logo and accompanying uniforms used until the end of the 1994–95 season. Winter left soon after, being fired in January 1973 following a ten-game losing streak, and was replaced by Johnny Egan. Egan led the Rockets back to the playoffs in 1975, where the franchise also won their first round against the New York Knicks, subsequently losing to the veteran Boston Celtics in 5 games. At that time the Rockets gained popularity in Houston, selling out several home games during the regular season as the Rockets battled for a playoff spot and then selling out all of their home playoff games.


title: Houston Rockets

text: In the 1975–76 season the Rockets finally had a permanent home in Houston as they moved into The Summit, which they would call home for the next 29 years. During the period, the franchise was owned by Kenneth Schnitzer, developer of the Greenway Plaza which included The Summit. After missing the 1976 playoffs, Tom Nissalke was hired as a coach, and pressed the team to add a play-making guard in college standout John Lucas and a rebounding center through Moses Malone, who he had coached in the ABA. The additions had an immediate impact, with the 1976–77 Rockets winning the Central Division and going all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, losing to the Julius Erving's Philadelphia 76ers 4 games to 2. The following season had the team regressing to just 28 wins due to an injury to captain Tomjanovich, who got numerous facial fractures after being punched by Kermit Washington of the Los Angeles Lakers and wound up spending five months in rehabilitation. After trading Lucas to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for Rick Barry, the Rockets returned to the playoffs in 1978–79, with "The Chairman Of The Boards" Moses Malone receiving the 1979 MVP Award, but the team was swept 2–0 by Atlanta in the first round. Nissalke was let go, and assistant Del Harris was promoted to head coach.


title: Houston Rockets

text: In 1979, George Maloof, a businessperson from Albuquerque, New Mexico, bought the Rockets for $9 million. He died the following year, and while the Maloof family expressed interest in selling the team, George's 24-year-old son Gavin took over the Rockets. A buyer was eventually found in 1982 as businessman Charlie Thomas and Sidney Shlenker purchased the franchise for $11 million; the Maloofs would later own the Sacramento Kings from 1998 to 2013. The Maloof period of ownership marked the first dominant period of the Rockets, highlighted by the team's first Western Conference Championship and NBA Finals appearance in 1981, their first year after being moved from the Eastern Conference. Prior to the 1980–81 season, the arrival of the Dallas Mavericks led to an NBA realignment that sent the Rockets back to the Western Conference. Houston qualified for the playoffs only in the final game of the season with a 40–42 record. The postseason had the Rockets beat the Lakers, in-state rivals San Antonio Spurs, and the equally underdog Kansas City Kings to become only the second team in NBA history (after the 1959 Minneapolis Lakers) to have advanced to the Finals after achieving a losing record in the regular season. In the NBA Finals facing Larry Bird's Boston Celtics, the Rockets blew a late lead in Game 1 and won Game 2 at the Boston Garden. However, afterwards the team failed to capitalize on the early success against the favored Celtics, and eventually lost in six games.


title: Houston Rockets

text: While new owner Charlie Thomas expressed interest in renewing with Moses Malone, who had been again chosen as MVP in 1981–82, the Rockets traded him to the Philadelphia 76ers for Caldwell Jones, as a declining regional economy made the Rockets unable to pay Malone's salary. When the Rockets finished a league worst 14–68, Celtics coach Bill Fitch was hired to replace outgoing Del Harris, and the team won the first pick of the 1983 NBA draft, used to select Ralph Sampson from the University of Virginia. Sampson had good numbers and was awarded the NBA Rookie of the Year award, but the Rockets still finished last overall, again getting the top pick at the upcoming 1984 NBA draft, used to select Hakeem Olajuwon from the University of Houston.


title: Houston Rockets

text: In his first season, Olajuwon finished second to Michael Jordan in NBA Rookie of the Year balloting, and the Rockets record improved by 19 games, good enough for a return to the playoffs as the third best team in the West, where they were upset by the sixth-seeded Utah Jazz. The duo of Olajuwon and Sampson earned much praise, and was nicknamed "Twin Towers". In the following season, Houston won the Midwest Division title with a 51–31 record. The subsequent playoffs had the Rockets sweeping the Sacramento Kings, having a hard-fought six-game series with Alex English's Denver Nuggets, and then facing defending champion Lakers, losing the first game but eventually managing to win the series – the only Western Playoffs defeat of the Showtime Lakers – to get to the franchise's second Finals appearance. The NBA Finals once again matched the Rockets up against the Celtics, a contrast to Houston's young front challenging the playoff-hardened Celtics front court of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish. The Celtics won the first two games in Boston, gave the Rockets their only home playoff defeat that season in game 4, and clinched the title as Bird scored a triple-double on Game 6.


title: Houston Rockets

text: After the Finals, Boston coach K. C. Jones called the Rockets "the new monsters on the block" feeling they had a bright future. But the team had a poor start to the following season, followed by nearly a decade of underachievement and failure, amidst players getting injured or suspended for cocaine usage, and during the playoffs were defeated in the second round by the Seattle SuperSonics in six games, with the final game being a double-overtime classic that saw Olajuwon notching 49 points, 25 rebounds and 6 blocks in defeat. Early in the 1987–88 season, Sampson, who had signed a new contract, was traded to the Golden State Warriors, bringing the Twin Towers era to an end just 18 months after their Finals appearance. Sampson's once-promising career was shortened due to chronic knee injuries, which forced his retirement in 1991. Jones' prophecy of a Rockets dynasty never materialized until the early 1990s.


title: Houston Rockets

text: In the next five seasons, the Rockets either failed to qualify for the playoffs or were eliminated in the first round. The first elimination in 1988 led to Fitch's dismissal, with Don Chaney replacing him as head coach. Chaney, like Olajuwon, also played for the Houston Cougars under Guy Lewis, having played along Elvin Hayes in the late 1960s. Chaney had his best season during 1990–91, where he was named the Coach of the Year after leading the Rockets to a 52–30 record despite Olajuwon's absence due to injury for 25 games. Despite Olajuwon's usual strong numbers, the underwhelming roster could not be lifted out of mediocrity. However, the attempts to rebuild the team nucleus incorporated players that would later make an impact in the years to come, such as Kenny Smith, Vernon Maxwell, Robert Horry, Mario Elie, Sam Cassell and Otis Thorpe.


title: Houston Rockets

text: Midway through the 1991–92 season, with the Rockets' record only 26–26, Chaney was fired and replaced by his assistant Rudy Tomjanovich, a former Houston player himself. While the Rockets did not make the playoffs, Tomjanovich's arrival was considered a step forward. In the next year, the Rockets improved their record by 13 games, getting the Midwest Division title, and winning their first playoff series in 6 years by defeating the Los Angeles Clippers, before an elimination by the SuperSonics in a closely contested Game 7 overtime loss.


title: Houston Rockets

text: On July 30, 1993, Leslie Alexander purchased the Rockets for $85 million. Following the bitter Game 7 loss in Seattle in overtime, Olajuwon gathered the team and famously stated "we go from here". The next season, in Tomjanovich's second full year as head coach, the Rockets began the 1993–94 season by tying an NBA record with a start of 15–0. Their first loss of the season came on December 3, 1993, as the Hawks, led by Dominique Wilkins' 27 points, defeated the Rockets, 133–111. The next game, the Rockets stormed a comeback against the Cleveland Cavaliers as they won by a single point, 99–98, on the road. The Rockets now had won their first 16 out of 17 games of the season, tying the 1948–49 Capitols for the best 17-game start in a season, at that time. On December 9, Olajuwon recorded 28 points, 16 rebounds and 4 blocks as the Rockets cruised past the visiting Heat in overtime to win their 18th game of the season. Led by Olajuwon, who was named the MVP and Defensive Player of the Year, the Rockets won 58 games, a franchise record at the time. After quickly dispatching the Portland Trail Blazers (who had made the finals just two years prior) in 4 games, they then faced the defending Western Conference champion Phoenix Suns, led by the previous year's MVP Charles Barkley. The series opened up in Houston, which saw the Rockets open up a big lead going into the fourth quarter. In both games, however, the Rockets inexplicably collapsed to allow the Suns a 2–0 lead going back to Phoenix. Following recent heart-breaking playoff losses by the Houston Oilers, it appeared as though the Rockets were doomed. Local newspapers labeled Houston as "Choke City", which the Rockets took to heart and ultimately came back to win the series in seven games. As "Choke City" became "Clutch City", the name permanently became a part of Houston folklore. The Rockets then soon defeated John Stockton and Karl Malone's Utah Jazz in five in the Conference Finals to advance to their third finals. The New York Knicks opened a 3–2 advantage, but the Rockets won the last two games on their home court and claimed their first championship in franchise history. Olajuwon was awarded the Finals MVP, after averaging 27 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots a game.


title: Houston Rockets

text: The Rockets initially struggled in the first half of the 1994–95 season, which they fixed by sending Otis Thorpe to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Olajuwon's former college teammate Clyde Drexler. With only 47 wins, the Rockets entered the playoffs as the sixth seed in the Western Conference. Still, a strong playoff run that earned Houston the nickname "Clutch City" had the Rockets defeating the West's top three seeds – the Jazz, Suns and Spurs – to reach back-to-back finals, this time against the Orlando Magic, led by Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway. When Houston swept the Finals' series in four games, they became the first team in NBA history to win the championship as a sixth seed, and the first to beat four 50-win teams in a single postseason en route to the championship. Olajuwon was again the Finals MVP, only the second player after Michael Jordan to win the award two years in a row. It was on the floor of The Summit after they captured their second title that head coach Rudy Tomjanovich proclaimed, "Don't ever underestimate the heart of a champion!"


title: Houston Rockets

text: During the off-season, the Rockets went for a change of visual identity, making navy blue and silver the new primary colors while adopting a new cartoon-inspired logo and pinstriped jerseys. The Rockets won 48 games in the 1995–96 season, in which Olajuwon became the NBA's all-time leader in blocked shots. The playoffs had the Rockets beating the Lakers before a sweep by the SuperSonics.


title: Houston Rockets

text: Before the start of the succeeding season, the Rockets sent four players to Phoenix in exchange for Charles Barkley. The resulting "Big Three" of Olajuwon, Drexler, and Barkley had a strong debut season with a 57–25 record, going all the way to the Western Conference finals before losing to the Utah Jazz 4–2 on a dramatic last-second shot by John Stockton. The following season was marked by injuries, and Houston finished 41–41 and the 8th seed, leading to another elimination by the top-seeded Jazz.


title: Houston Rockets

text: Drexler retired after the season, and the Rockets traded to bring in Scottie Pippen to take his place. In the lockout-shortened 1998–99 season, the Rockets lost to the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs. After the 1999 draft, the Rockets traded for the second overall pick Steve Francis from the Vancouver Grizzlies, in exchange for four players and a first-round draft pick. However, after Houston traded a discontented Pippen to Portland, and Barkley suffered a career-ending injury, the rebuilt Rockets went 34–48 and missed the playoffs, for only the second time in 15 years.


title: Houston Rockets

text: In the 2000–01 season, the Rockets worked their way to a 45–37 record. However, in a competitive Western Conference where seven teams won 50 games, this left the Rockets two games out of the playoffs. In the following off-season, a 38-year-old Olajuwon requested a trade, and, despite stating their desire to keep him, the Rockets reached a sign-and-trade agreement, sending him to the Toronto Raptors. The ensuing 2001–02 season—the first without Hakeem in two decades—was unremarkable, and the Rockets finished with only 28 wins.


title: Houston Rockets

text: After Houston was awarded the first overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft, they selected Yao Ming, a Chinese center. The Rockets missed the 2003 playoffs by one game, improving their record by 15 victories.


title: Houston Rockets

text: The 2003–04 season marked the Rockets' arrival to a new arena, the Toyota Center, a redesign of their uniforms and logo, and their first season without Rudy Tomjanovich, who resigned as head coach after being diagnosed with bladder cancer. Led by former Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy, the Rockets finished the regular season with a record of 45–37, earning their first playoff berth since 1999, again losing to the Lakers in the first round.


title: Houston Rockets

text: In the off-season, Houston saw major changes in the roster as the Rockets acquired Tracy McGrady in a seven-player deal with the Orlando Magic. The scoring champion McGrady and the strong rebounder Yao formed a well-regarded pair that helped the Rockets win 22 consecutive games in the 2007–08 season, which was at the time the 3rd longest winning streak in NBA history. Still, the duo was plagued with injuries – of the 463 regular season games for which they were teammates, Yao missed 146 and McGrady 160 – and did not win any playoff series, despite gathering leads over the Dallas Mavericks in 2005 and the Jazz in 2007. Despite this, Yao was selected to carry his home country's Five-star Red Flag at the Summer Olympics opening ceremony held at home in 2008. After the 2007 elimination, Van Gundy was fired, and the Rockets hired Rick Adelman to replace him.


title: Houston Rockets

text: For the 2008–09 season, the Rockets signed forward Ron Artest. While McGrady wound up playing only half the games before enduring a season-ending microfracture surgery, the Rockets ended the season 53–29, enough for the Western Conference's fifth seed. During the playoffs, the Rockets beat the Portland Trail Blazers four games to two, winning their first playoff round since 1997. During the series, Dikembe Mutombo injured his knee, which forced him to retire after 18 seasons in the NBA. However, the second round against the Lakers had the Rockets losing 4–3 and Yao Ming suffering yet another season-ending injury, this time a hairline fracture in his left foot.


title: Houston Rockets

text: During the 2009–10 season, the Rockets saw the departures of Artest in the off-season and McGrady, Joey Dorsey and Carl Landry during mid-season trades. Despite great play by Kevin Martin, who arrived from the Kings, and Aaron Brooks, who would eventually be chosen as the Most Improved Player of the season, the Rockets could not make it to the playoffs, finishing 42–40, 3rd in the Southwest Division. At that time, the Rockets set an NBA record for best record by a team with no All-Stars. The Rockets would also finish ninth in the Western Conference for the following two seasons, with Yao Ming getting a season-ending injury seven games into the 2010–11 season and deciding to retire during the 2011 off-season. Said off-season, which saw the NBA going through a lockout, had Adelman dismissed, and general manager Daryl Morey deciding to start a revamp of the Rockets based on advanced statistical analytics (similar to sabermetrics in baseball) in player acquisitions and style of play. Kevin McHale was named head coach, and the roster saw significant changes.


title: Houston Rockets

text: After the roster moves made by Morey during the 2012 NBA off-season, only four players were left from the 2011–12 Rockets roster: Chandler Parsons, Greg Smith, Marcus Morris, and Patrick Patterson, with the latter two leaving through trades during the 2012–13 season. The most important acquisition was reigning Sixth Man of the Year James Harden, who Morey called a "foundational" player expected to be Houston's featured player after a supporting role in the Oklahoma City Thunder. Harden caused an immediate impact as part of the starting lineup for the Rockets, with 37 points, 12 assists, 6 rebounds, 4 steals, and a block in the season opener against the Detroit Pistons, and an average of 25.9 points a game through the season. Combining Harden's performance and McHale's up-tempo offense, the Rockets became one of the highest-scoring offenses in the NBA, leading the league in scoring for the majority of the season. In the postseason, the Rockets fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round, losing the series 4–2.


title: Houston Rockets

text: Eager to add another franchise player to their team, the Rockets heavily pursued and then acquired free agent center Dwight Howard in the 2013 off-season. He officially signed with the Rockets on July 13, 2013. Led by the new inside-out combination of Howard and James Harden, and with a strong supporting cast including Chandler Parsons, Jeremy Lin, and Ömer Aşık, the Rockets were expected to jump into title contention in the upcoming season. However, that postseason, the Rockets were defeated in the first round by the Portland Trail Blazers, losing the series 4–2. Still, in the 2014–15 season, without Lin and Parsons but reinforced by Trevor Ariza, the Rockets started the season well, winning the first four games of the season for the first time since 1996–97, and winning each of their first six games by 10 points or more, the first team to accomplish this feat since the 1985–86 Denver Nuggets. Though the Rockets had many key players miss time throughout the entire season, James Harden took it upon himself to keep the Rockets near the top of the conference, turning him into an MVP front-runner. He became the first Rocket to score 50 points in a game since Hakeem Olajuwon, as well as the only player in franchise history to record multiple 50 point games in a season. On April 15, 2015, the Rockets beat the Jazz to claim their first-ever Southwest Division title and first Division crown since 1994, and by completing 56 wins finished with the third-best regular-season record in franchise history. During the playoffs, the Rockets beat the Mavericks 4–1 in the first round, and overcame a 3–1 deficit against the Los Angeles Clippers to win the Western semifinals and return to the Conference Finals for the first time in 18 years. In the Conference Finals, the Rockets were defeated by the Golden State Warriors 4–1.


title: Houston Rockets

text: The 2015–16 season saw Kevin McHale fired after a bad start where the team only won 4 of its first 11 games, and assistant J. B. Bickerstaff took over coaching duties. Inconsistent play led to the Rockets struggling to remain in the playoff qualifying zone, and surrounded by trade rumors. Houston only clinched its 2016 playoffs spot by winning its last game, finishing the season 41–41 to earn an eight seed and a match-up against the Warriors. Like in the previous year, the Rockets were once again defeated by Golden State in five games.


title: Houston Rockets

text: During the 2016 off-season, Mike D'Antoni was named as the Rockets' new head coach, and Dwight Howard opted out of his contract's final year, becoming a free agent. In the following free-agency period, the Rockets looked to embrace the play styles of both coach D'Antoni and Harden through the signings of Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon, two predominately perimeter players and good fits in Houston's up-tempo offense style.


title: Houston Rockets

text: When the 2016–17 season started, Harden was off to a great start and was widely considered a top MVP runner along with Kawhi Leonard, alongside former teammate Russell Westbrook. When the season ended, the Rockets were third in both the Western Conference and overall rankings, a major improvement from the season before. D'Antoni was named the NBA Coach of the Year, Eric Gordon the Sixth Man of the Year, and Harden finished second in MVP voting to Russell Westbrook. In the playoffs, the Rockets faced the sixth seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in a battle of the MVP frontrunners, as the winner was not announced until after the finals. The Rockets won the series 4–1 including Nene Hilario's perfect 12–12 in field goals in Game 4. In the following round, Houston opened with a dominating 27 points win over the San Antonio Spurs, lost the following two games and then tied the series again. The fifth game went into overtime and had both Manu Ginobili blocking James Harden's game tying three point attempt at the final second, and Nene injuring himself out of the postseason. Without Nene, the Rockets could not guard LaMarcus Aldridge, who scored 34 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the series-closing match.


title: Houston Rockets

text: During the 2017 off-season, the Rockets were purchased by Houston restaurant billionaire Tilman Fertitta for $2.2 billion, breaking the record for the price to purchase an American professional sports team. The team also acquired 8-time All-NBA player and 9-time All-Star Chris Paul in a trade from the Los Angeles Clippers, in exchange for seven players, cash considerations, and a top three protected 2018 first round draft pick. Even if Paul missed many games due to a knee injury, he was a key addition to the Rockets. The team finished the season with 65 wins, a record both league-leading and the best in franchise history. During the playoffs, Houston beat the Minnesota Timberwolves and Utah Jazz in five games before another confrontation with the Golden State Warriors. In Game 5 of the Conference Finals, the Rockets took a 3–2 lead in the series, but they saw Paul leave with an injured hamstring. His absence was felt in the two remaining games, where Houston led by halftime in Game 7 only to suffer a comeback by Golden State.


title: Houston Rockets

text: The Rockets had one draft pick entering the off-season, and they used it to select De'Anthony Melton, packaging him in a trade with the Phoenix Suns alongside Ryan Anderson to receive Brandon Knight and Marquese Chriss. In free agency, they signed James Ennis III, Michael Carter-Williams, and Carmelo Anthony. They started the season with a 1–4 record, and after 13 games where they went 6–7, Houston and Anthony mutually agreed to part ways, who was eventually traded to the Chicago Bulls and subsequently waived. After falling to the 14th seed in the Western Conference, James Harden went on a 32-game streak scoring at least 30 points per game—the second-longest in NBA history—with Harden averaging 41.1 points per game in that run. He drove the Rockets through a 21–11 push in that streak; and after beginning the season 11–14, the Rockets finished the season 42–15, winning 20 of their last 25 games and finishing fourth in the Western Conference after losing the final two games of the season, which would have potentially given them the second or third seed. After what was determined to be poor fits of the acquisitions made in free agency, on top of injuries, Daryl Morey traded the players acquired in the off-season at the trade deadline and replaced them with Austin Rivers, Kenneth Faried, Danuel House, and Iman Shumpert during the season. On April 7, 2019, against the Phoenix Suns, Houston became the first team in NBA history to make 25+ two-pointers and 25+ three-pointers in the same game, outscoring their last four opponents by 117 points, second-best in a four-game span in franchise history (127+ in February 1993); additionally, the Rockets' 149 points tied the fourth-most in franchise history and are the most since February 1993. They beat their own record for most three-pointers made by one team in a single game in NBA history two times with 26 and 27, and they are just the fourth team in NBA history to win four consecutive games by 24 or more points (the others are the 1990–91 Chicago Bulls, the 1992–93 Rockets, and the 1995–96 Bulls). The Rockets clinched a division title and a playoff berth for a seventh straight appearance. After defeating the Utah Jazz in five games, Houston faced Golden State for the fourth time in five years. The series began with a tight Game 1 decided by four points along with officiating that received scrutiny. With both teams winning their home games, putting the series at 2–2, Golden State won the next two games to eliminate the Rockets for the second year in a row along with the fourth time in five years.


title: Houston Rockets

text: During the 2019 off-season, Morey sought out to once again retool the roster. As part of a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Rockets traded Chris Paul, two future first round picks, and two future first round pick swaps in exchange for James Harden's former Thunder teammate Russell Westbrook. Nearing the trade deadline of the 2019–20 season, the Rockets were involved in a blockbuster, four-team trade which was centered around bringing Robert Covington back to the Rockets and sending centers Clint Capela and Nenê to the Atlanta Hawks. The trade cemented the Rockets' total commitment to a small ball, 5-out offense, a style of play which was considered revolutionary for its time. In their first twelve games since going 6'7" or shorter in their lineups, the Rockets went 10–2, being in the top percentile in win percentage, offensive rating, and point differential. In February, the month they made the trade, the double-MVP backcourt of Harden and Westbrook became the first teammates in NBA history to average 30+ points and 5+ assists per game. By the end of the season, Harden and Westbrook scored a combined 61.5 points per game, breaking Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal's previous record for the highest-scoring basketball duo since the ABA-NBA merger.


title: Houston Rockets

text: Following the suspension of the 2019–20 NBA season, the Rockets were one of the 22 teams invited to the NBA Bubble to participate in the final eight games of the regular season. After the Rockets were eliminated in the playoffs by the Los Angeles Lakers, D'Antoni and Morey informed the Rockets that they would both not return to the team for the 2020–21 season. During the off-season, Westbrook was traded to the Washington Wizards in December 2020. Rafael Stone was hired as the general manager after serving in general counsel and as an assistant general manager. Stephen Silas was hired as the Rockets' head coach.


title: Houston Rockets

text: In January 2021, Harden was traded to the Brooklyn Nets in a four-team trade. The Rockets began the season with an 11–10 start but ended up with a 17–55 record, the worst in the league despite with many injuries and trades.


title: Houston Rockets

text: In the 2021 NBA draft, the team selected Jalen Green with the second overall pick out of the NBA G League Ignite, pairing him alongside Kevin Porter Jr., who was acquired via trade the season prior for a top-55 protected second round pick. Because of their additions in the draft, including first round selections in Alperen Şengün and Josh Christopher, the team began focusing on developing and rebuilding around their young core, which resulted in John Wall being benched for the entire season. In the 2021–22 season, the Rockets were once again bottom of the league, with a 20–62 record. Jalen Green was selected to the NBA All-Rookie First Team with averages of 17.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.6 assists. In the 2022 NBA draft, the Rockets selected Jabari Smith Jr. at third and Tari Eason at 17th. They additionally acquired TyTy Washington's draft rights at 29th.


title: Houston Rockets

text: "List of the last five seasons completed by the Rockets. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Houston Rockets seasons."


title: Houston Rockets

text: During the four years the Rockets were in San Diego, they played their games in the San Diego Sports Arena, which had a seating capacity of 14,400. In their first season after moving to Houston, the Rockets did not have their own arena, and they played their first two years at various venues in the city, including the Astrodome, AstroHall, Sam Houston Coliseum and Hofheinz Pavilion, the latter eventually being adopted as their home arena until 1975. They also had to play "home" games in other cities such as San Antonio, Waco, Albuquerque, and even San Diego in efforts to extend the fan-base. During their first season, the Rockets averaged less than 5,000 fans per game (roughly half full), and in one game in Waco, there were only 759 fans in attendance.


title: Houston Rockets

text: Their first permanent arena in Houston was the 10,000 seat Hofheinz Pavilion on the campus of the University of Houston, which they moved into starting in their second season. They played in the arena for four years, before occupying The Summit in 1975. The arena, which could hold 16,611 spectators, was their home for the next 28 years. It was renamed the Compaq Center from 1998 to 2003. Following the 1994 title, the Rockets had a sellout streak of 176 consecutive home games, including the playoffs, which lasted until 1999. However, the struggling 2000–01 and 2001–02 seasons saw Houston having the worst attendance average in the league, with less than 12,000 spectators each season.


title: Houston Rockets

text: For the 2003–04 season, the Rockets moved into their new arena, the Toyota Center, with a seating capacity of 18,500. During the 2007–08 season where the team achieved a 22-game winning streak, the Rockets got their best numbers to date, averaging 17,379 spectators. These were exceeded once James Harden joined the team in 2012. The Rockets averaged 18,123 spectators during the 2013–14 season, selling out 39 out of the 41 home games. The 2014–15 season had even better numbers, with 40 sellouts and an average of 18,230 tickets sold.


title: Houston Rockets

text: When the Rockets debuted in San Diego, their colors were green and gold. Road uniforms featured the city name, while the home uniforms feature the team name, both in a serifed block lettering. This was the only uniform design the Rockets would use throughout their years in San Diego. The Rockets' first logo featured a rocket streaking with a basketball surrounded by the team name.


title: Houston Rockets

text: Upon moving to Houston in 1971, the Rockets replaced green with red. They kept the same design from their San Diego days, save for the change of color and city name. The logo used is of a player with a spinning basketball launching upward, with boosters on his back, leaving a trail of red and gold flames and the words "Houston Rockets" below it.


title: Houston Rockets

text: For the 1972–73 season, the Rockets introduced the famous "ketchup and mustard" logo, so dubbed by fans, featuring a gold basketball surrounded by two red trails, with "Houston" atop the first red trail and "Rockets" (all capitalized save for the lowercase 'E' and 'T') in black surrounding the basketball. The initial home uniforms, used until the 1975–76 season, features the city name, numbers and serifed player name in red with gold trim, while the away uniforms feature the city name (all capitalized except for the lower case 'T' and 'N'), numbers and serifed player name in gold with white trim.


title: Houston Rockets

text: In the 1976–77 season, the Rockets modified their uniforms, featuring a monotone look on the Cooper Black fonts and white lettering on the road uniforms. On the home shorts, the team logo is located on the right leg, while the away shorts feature the team name wordmark on the same location. With minor modifications in the number font, this version was used in all four of their NBA Finals appearances, including their and championships.


title: Houston Rockets

text: Following the 1995 title, the Rockets opted to modernize their look. After a fan contest with over 5,000 entries, the team went with the idea of Missouri City artist Thomas Nash of a rocket orbiting a basketball, which was then reworked by Houston designer Chris Hill. Nash would later sue the Rockets for breach of contract, given they were using his idea despite not having paid the contest prizes. The NBA suggested that the identity should follow the cartoon-inspired imagery that other teams adopted during the 1990s, leading to a rocket painted with sharkmouth nose art orbiting a basketball. Red was retained, but navy blue and silver became the uniform's primary colors. Both the home white and away navy uniforms featured gradient-fading pinstripes and futuristic number fonts, with side stripes of navy fading to red. This was used until the 2002–03 season.


title: Houston Rockets

text: The Rockets released simplified logos and uniforms in the 2003–04 season, which were created by New York-based agency Alfafa Studio in association with Japanese designer Eiko Ishioka. The logo is a stylized 'R' in the shape of a rocket during takeoff, surrounded by a red orbit streak that can be interpreted as the central circle of a basketball court. Said "R" inspired the team's new custom typeface, designed so that every single digit could be read well from a distance, whether in the arena or on television. Red once again became the dominant color, with silver and black as secondary. In 2009, the Rockets invoked the championship years with an alternate red uniform, featuring gold numbers and side stripes. The Rockets had two sleeved alternate jerseys for the 2015–16 season, an alternate silver-colored uniform whose design referenced the design of NASA's Gemini-Titan rocket, and a red and gold jersey featuring the nickname "Clutch City". For the 2016–17 season, the Rockets began to wear a black alternate uniform.


title: Houston Rockets

text: Following the switch to Nike in 2017, the Rockets made some slight tweaks to the uniform. While the black "Statement" uniform remained mostly unchanged, the red "Icon" and white "Association" uniforms now feature truncated side striping that no longer wrap around the shoulders. The Rockets also wore a "City" uniform that was similar to their red "Icon" uniforms but with Chinese lettering in place of "Rockets" in front; the design was tweaked the following season with a deeper red and old gold accents.


title: Houston Rockets

text: On June 6, 2019, the Rockets unveiled a new secondary logo that depicts a basketball as a planet, and the ring has the "Houston Rockets" displayed with the classic "R" in the middle. A new uniform set was unveiled two weeks later. The red "Icon" and white "Association" designs featured updated block lettering and bold side panels that depict a launching rocket. The black "Statement" uniform remained with a few alterations. In addition, the Rockets brought back their throwback "ketchup and mustard" 1976–95 red uniform as part of Nike's "Classic" series. For the 2019–20 "City" uniform, the Rockets eschewed the Chinese New Year-themed designs and went with a NASA-inspired space theme.


title: Houston Rockets

text: The Rockets' "City" uniform for the 2020–21 season featured a powder blue base as a nod to the city of Houston. The colors resembled those of Houston's former NFL team, the Houston Oilers. For the 2021–22 season, the Rockets announced a partnership with Credit Karma to be featured on the team's jerseys as a sponsor.


title: Houston Rockets

text: The 2021–22 Rockets' "City" uniform referenced various uniform designs from the past. The navy base and white pinstripes were taken from the 1995–2003 uniforms. The modified "ketchup and mustard" logo on the waist, as well as a diagonally arranged "Houston" wordmark and block numbers, paid tribute to the 1975–1995 uniforms. The modern "R" logo and white double arches on the side were an homage to the 2003–2019 uniforms. The Rockets retained this "City" uniform in the 2022–23 season.


title: Houston Rockets

text: The mascot was introduced on March 14, 1995, formerly known as "Clutch" . From 1993 to 1995, the mascot was Turbo, a costumed man that performed acrobatic dunks and other maneuvers. In 1995, the Rockets debuted Clutch the Bear as a second mascot, a large teddy bear-like mascot that performs a variety of acts during the games. After eight years of serving as dual mascots, the performer playing Turbo retired, making Clutch the sole mascot for the team. The mascot was considered and voted fifth for the most recognizable mascot in the league, and was also inducted in the 2006 mascot Hall of Fame.


title: Houston Rockets

text: The Rockets have developed many rivalries within the Western Conference ever since the team returned there in 1980. Two are intrastate rivalries, with the San Antonio Spurs, who moved along with the Rockets after four years with them in the Eastern Conference, and the Dallas Mavericks, introduced that very season. Houston has faced both Texas teams in the playoffs since 1980, beating the Spurs three times and losing once. The Rockets lost twice to the Mavericks, while beating them once. Other famed rivalries were with the Los Angeles Lakers, who in the 1980s Showtime era only missed the NBA Finals when beaten by the Rockets, and the Utah Jazz, who the Rockets beat in both championship seasons but were defeated by Utah in five other occasions.


title: Houston Rockets

text: The Rockets currently do not own the draft rights to unsigned draft picks who have been playing outside the NBA.


title: Houston Rockets

text: A drafted player, either an international draftee or a college draftee who is not signed by the team that drafted him, is allowed to sign with any non-NBA teams. In this case, the team retains the player's draft rights in the NBA until one year after the player's contract with the non-NBA team ends. This list includes draft rights that were acquired from trades with other teams.


title: Houston Rockets

text: On October 4, 2019, the Rockets' general manager Daryl Morey issued a tweet that supported the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, which drew criticism from the Rockets' owner Tilman Fertitta who said that while Morey was the best general manager in the NBA, the Rockets were not a political organization. Morey later deleted the tweet. Morey's tweet resulted in the Chinese Basketball Association's suspension of its relationship with the Rockets and the issuance of a statement of dissatisfaction from the consulate office of China in Houston. On October 6, Morey and the NBA each issued a separate statement addressing the original tweet; Morey said that he never intended his tweet to cause any offense, while the NBA said the tweet was "Regrettable". The statements drew attention and subsequent bipartisan criticism from several US politicians. Chinese media outlets, including the Chinese Communist Party-run "People's Daily", described Morey and the NBA's statements as non-apologetic and unacceptable, because they did not contain the word "apologize".


title: White blood cell

text: White blood cells, also called leukocytes or leucocytes, are the cells of the immune system that are involved in protecting the body against both infectious disease and foreign invaders. All white blood cells are produced and derived from multipotent cells in the bone marrow known as hematopoietic stem cells. Leukocytes are found throughout the body, including the blood and lymphatic system.


title: White blood cell

text: All white blood cells have nuclei, which distinguishes them from the other blood cells, the anucleated red blood cells (RBCs) and platelets. The different white blood cells are usually classified by cell lineage (myeloid cells or lymphoid cells).


title: White blood cell

text: White blood cells are part of the body's immune system. They help the body fight infection and other diseases. Types of white blood cells are granulocytes (neutrophils, eosinophils, and basophils), and agranulocytes (monocytes, and lymphocytes (T cells and B cells)).


title: White blood cell

text: Myeloid cells (myelocytes) include neutrophils, eosinophils, mast cells, basophils, and monocytes. Monocytes are further subdivided into dendritic cells and macrophages. Monocytes and neutrophils are phagocytic.


title: White blood cell

text: Lymphoid cells (lymphocytes) include T cells (subdivided into helper T cells, memory T cells, cytotoxic T cells), B cells (subdivided into plasma cells and memory B cells), and natural killer cells.


title: White blood cell

text: Historically, white blood cells were classified by their physical characteristics (granulocytes and agranulocytes), but this classification system is less frequently used now.


title: White blood cell

text: Produced in the bone marrow, they defend your body against infections and disease. But, when there are too many white blood cells, it usually means you have infection or inflammation in your body. Less commonly, a high white blood cell count could indicate certain blood cancers or bone marrow disorders.


title: White blood cell

text: The number of leukocytes in the blood is often an indicator of disease, and thus the "white blood cell count" is an important subset of the complete blood count. The normal white cell count is usually between 4 × 10/L and 1.1 × 10/L. In the US, this is usually expressed as 4,000 to 11,000 white blood cells per microliter of blood. White blood cells make up approximately 1% of the total blood volume in a healthy adult, making them substantially less numerous than the red blood cells at 40% to 45%. However, this 1% of the blood makes a large difference to health, because immunity depends on it. An increase in the number of leukocytes over the upper limits is called leukocytosis. It is normal when it is part of healthy immune responses, which happen frequently. It is occasionally abnormal, when it is neoplastic or autoimmune in origin. A decrease below the lower limit is called leukopenia. This indicates a weakened immune system.


title: White blood cell

text: The name "white blood cell" derives from the physical appearance of a blood sample after centrifugation. White cells are found in the "buffy" "coat", a thin, typically white layer of nucleated cells between the sedimented red blood cells and the blood plasma. The scientific term "leukocyte" directly reflects its description. It is derived from the Greek roots "leuk-" meaning "white" and "cyt-" meaning "cell". The buffy coat may sometimes be green if there are large amounts of neutrophils in the sample, due to the heme-containing enzyme myeloperoxidase that they produce.


title: White blood cell

text: All white blood cells are nucleated, which distinguishes them from the anucleated red blood cells and platelets. Types of leukocytes can be classified in standard ways. Two pairs of broadest categories classify them either by structure (granulocytes or agranulocytes) or by cell lineage (myeloid cells or lymphoid cells). These broadest categories can be further divided into the five main types: neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils, lymphocytes, and monocytes. These types are distinguished by their physical and functional characteristics. Monocytes and neutrophils are phagocytic. Further subtypes can be classified.


title: White blood cell

text: Granulocytes are distinguished from agranulocytes by their nucleus shape (lobed versus round, that is, polymorphonuclear versus mononuclear) and by their cytoplasm granules (present or absent, or more precisely, visible on light microscopy or not thus visible). The other dichotomy is by lineage: Myeloid cells (neutrophils, monocytes, eosinophils and basophils) are distinguished from lymphoid cells (lymphocytes) by hematopoietic lineage (cellular differentiation lineage). Lymphocytes can be further classified as T cells, B cells, and natural killer cells.


title: White blood cell

text: Neutrophils are the most abundant white blood cell, constituting 60-70% of the circulating leukocytes. They defend against bacterial or fungal infection. They are usually first responders to microbial infection; their activity and death in large numbers form pus. They are commonly referred to as polymorphonuclear (PMN) leukocytes, although, in the technical sense, PMN refers to all granulocytes. They have a multi-lobed nucleus, which consists of three to five lobes connected by slender strands. This gives the neutrophils the appearance of having multiple nuclei, hence the name polymorphonuclear leukocyte. The cytoplasm may look transparent because of fine granules that are pale lilac when stained. Neutrophils are active in phagocytosing bacteria and are present in large amount in the pus of wounds. These cells are not able to renew their lysosomes (used in digesting microbes) and die after having phagocytosed a few pathogens. Neutrophils are the most common cell type seen in the early stages of acute inflammation. The average lifespan of inactivated human neutrophils in the circulation has been reported by different approaches to be between 5 and 135 hours.


title: White blood cell

text: Eosinophils compose about 2-4% of white blood cells in circulating blood. This count fluctuates throughout the day, seasonally, and during menstruation. It rises in response to allergies, parasitic infections, collagen diseases, and disease of the spleen and central nervous system. They are rare in the blood, but numerous in the mucous membranes of the respiratory, digestive, and lower urinary tracts.


title: White blood cell

text: They primarily deal with parasitic infections. Eosinophils are also the predominant inflammatory cells in allergic reactions. The most important causes of eosinophilia include allergies such as asthma, hay fever, and hives; and parasitic infections. They secrete chemicals that destroy large parasites, such as hookworms and tapeworms, that are too big for any one white blood cell to phagocytize. In general, their nuclei are bi-lobed. The lobes are connected by a thin strand. The cytoplasm is full of granules that assume a characteristic pink-orange color with eosin staining.


title: White blood cell

text: Basophils are chiefly responsible for allergic and antigen response by releasing the chemical histamine causing the dilation of blood vessels. Because they are the rarest of the white blood cells (less than 0.5% of the total count) and share physicochemical properties with other blood cells, they are difficult to study. They can be recognized by several coarse, dark violet granules, giving them a blue hue. The nucleus is bi- or tri-lobed, but it is hard to see because of the number of coarse granules that hide it.


title: White blood cell

text: They excrete two chemicals that aid in the body's defenses: histamine and heparin. Histamine is responsible for widening blood vessels and increasing the flow of blood to injured tissue. It also makes blood vessels more permeable so neutrophils and clotting proteins can get into connective tissue more easily. Heparin is an anticoagulant that inhibits blood clotting and promotes the movement of white blood cells into an area. Basophils can also release chemical signals that attract eosinophils and neutrophils to an infection site.


title: White blood cell

text: Lymphocytes are much more common in the lymphatic system than in blood. Lymphocytes are distinguished by having a deeply staining nucleus that may be eccentric in location, and a relatively small amount of cytoplasm. Lymphocytes include:


title: White blood cell

text: Monocytes, the largest type of white blood cell, share the "vacuum cleaner" (phagocytosis) function of neutrophils, but are much longer lived as they have an extra role: they present pieces of pathogens to T cells so that the pathogens may be recognized again and killed. This causes an antibody response to be mounted. Monocytes eventually leave the bloodstream and become tissue macrophages, which remove dead cell debris as well as attack microorganisms. Neither dead cell debris nor attacking microorganisms can be dealt with effectively by the neutrophils. Unlike neutrophils, monocytes are able to replace their lysosomal contents and are thought to have a much longer active life. They have the kidney-shaped nucleus and are typically not granulated. They also possess abundant cytoplasm.


title: White blood cell

text: Some leucocytes migrate into the tissues of the body to take up a permanent residence at that location rather than remaining in the blood. Often these cells have specific names depending upon which tissue they settle in, such as fixed macrophages in the liver, which become known as Kupffer cells. These cells still serve a role in the immune system.


title: White blood cell

text: The two commonly used categories of white blood cell disorders divide them quantitatively into those causing excessive numbers (proliferative disorders) and those causing insufficient numbers (leukopenias). Leukocytosis is usually healthy (e.g., fighting an infection), but it also may be dysfunctionally proliferative. Proliferative disorders of white blood cells can be classed as myeloproliferative and lymphoproliferative. Some are autoimmune, but many are neoplastic.


title: White blood cell

text: Another way to categorize disorders of white blood cells is qualitatively. There are various disorders in which the number of white blood cells is normal but the cells do not function normally.


title: White blood cell

text: Neoplasia of white blood cells can be benign but is often malignant. Of the various tumors of the blood and lymph, cancers of white blood cells can be broadly classified as leukemias and lymphomas, although those categories overlap and are often grouped together.


title: White blood cell

text: A range of disorders can cause decreases in white blood cells. This type of white blood cell decreased is usually the neutrophil. In this case the decrease may be called neutropenia or granulocytopenia. Less commonly, a decrease in lymphocytes (called lymphocytopenia or lymphopenia) may be seen.


title: White blood cell

text: Neutropenia can be acquired or intrinsic. A decrease in levels of neutrophils on lab tests is due to either decreased production of neutrophils or increased removal from the blood. The following list of causes is not complete.


title: White blood cell

text: Symptoms of neutropenia are associated with the underlying cause of the decrease in neutrophils. For example, the most common cause of acquired neutropenia is drug-induced, so an individual may have symptoms of medication overdose or toxicity.


title: White blood cell

text: Treatment is also aimed at the underlying cause of the neutropenia. One severe consequence of neutropenia is that it can increase the risk of infection.


title: White blood cell

text: Defined as total lymphocyte count below 1.0x10/L, the cells most commonly affected are CD4+ T cells. Like neutropenia, lymphocytopenia may be acquired or intrinsic and there are many causes. This is not a complete list.


title: White blood cell

text: Like neutropenia, symptoms and treatment of lymphocytopenia are directed at the underlying cause of the change in cell counts.


title: White blood cell

text: An increase in the number of white blood cells in circulation is called leukocytosis. This increase is most commonly caused by inflammation. There are four major causes: increase of production in bone marrow, increased release from storage in bone marrow, decreased attachment to veins and arteries, decreased uptake by tissues. Leukocytosis may affect one or more cell lines and can be neutrophilic, eosinophilic, basophilic, monocytosis, or lymphocytosis.


title: White blood cell

text: Neutrophilia is an increase in the absolute neutrophil count in the peripheral circulation. Normal blood values vary by age. Neutrophilia can be caused by a direct problem with blood cells (primary disease). It can also occur as a consequence of an underlying disease (secondary). Most cases of neutrophilia are secondary to inflammation.


title: White blood cell

text: A normal eosinophil count is considered to be less than 0.65/L. Eosinophil counts are higher in newborns and vary with age, time (lower in the morning and higher at night), exercise, environment, and exposure to allergens. Eosinophilia is never a normal lab finding. Efforts should always be made to discover the underlying cause, though the cause may not always be found.


title: White blood cell

text: The complete blood cell count is a blood panel that includes the overall white blood cell count and differential count, a count of each type of white blood cell. Reference ranges for blood tests specify the typical counts in healthy people.


title: White blood cell

text: Differential leucocyte count: number/ (%) of different types of leucocytes per cubic mm. of blood. Below are reference ranges for various types leucocytes.


title: Richard Speck

text: Richard Benjamin Speck (December 6, 1941 – December 5, 1991) was an American mass murderer who killed eight student nurses in their South Deering, Chicago, residence via stabbing, strangling, slashing their throats, or a combination of the three on the night of July 13–14, 1966. One victim was also raped prior to her murder. A ninth potential victim, student nurse Corazon Amurao, survived by hiding beneath a bed.


title: Richard Speck

text: Convicted of all eight murders on April 15, 1967, Speck was sentenced to death. His sentence was reduced to 400–1,200 years in 1972. This was later reduced to 100–300 years. Speck died of a heart attack while incarcerated at Stateville Correctional Center on the eve of his 50th birthday.


title: Richard Speck

text: Richard Benjamin Speck was born in Kirkwood, Illinois in 1941 and was the seventh of eight children of Benjamin Franklin Speck and Mary Margaret Carbaugh. The family moved to Monmouth, Illinois, shortly after Speck's birth. He and his sister Carolyn (b. 1943) were much younger than their four older sisters and two older brothers. His mother was religious and a teetotaler. His father worked as a packer at Western Stoneware in Monmouth having previously worked as a farmer and logger.


title: Richard Speck

text: In 1947, when Speck was six years old, his father died from a heart attack at the age of 53. Speck was reportedly very close to his father.


title: Richard Speck

text: On May 10, 1950, three years after the death of his father, his mother Mary married Carl August Rudolph Lindberg in Palo Pinto, Texas. She and Lindberg had met during a train ride to Chicago. Lindberg was a traveling insurance salesman from Texas, with a 25-year criminal record that ranged from forgery to several DUIs. Lindberg was also a hard drinker which was the opposite of Speck's father. Speck and his sister Carolyn stayed with their married sister Sara Thornton in Monmouth for a few months so Speck could finish second grade, before joining their mother and Lindberg in rural Santo, Texas, west of Fort Worth, Texas, where Speck attended third grade.


title: Richard Speck

text: In 1951, after a year in Santo, Speck moved with his mother, Lindberg, and sister Carolyn to East Dallas. The family moved frequently, living at 10 different addresses, usually in poor neighborhoods over the next 12 years. Speck loathed his stepfather who was often drunk, verbally abusive, and was frequently absent.


title: Richard Speck

text: Speck struggled in school, refusing to wear the glasses that he needed for reading. He repeated the eighth grade at J. L. Long Jr. High School, in part because of his fear of people staring at him and his subsequent refusal to speak in class. In autumn 1957, Speck started ninth grade at Crozier Technical High School, but failed every subject. Speck did not return for the second semester, dropping out of school in January 1958, after his 16th birthday.


title: Richard Speck

text: Having started drinking alcohol at age 12, by age 15 he was getting drunk almost every day. His first arrest, in 1955 at age 13 for trespassing, was followed by dozens of other arrests for misdemeanors over the next eight years.


title: Richard Speck

text: From 1960 to 1963, Speck worked as a laborer for the 7-Up bottling company in Dallas. In October 1961, Speck met 15-year-old Shirley Annette Malone at the Texas State Fair. She became pregnant after three weeks of dating. The couple married on January 19, 1962, and initially moved in with his sister Carolyn and her husband. Speck's mother lived there as well having separated from Lindberg who was now living in California. Speck stopped using the name Richard Benjamin Lindberg when he got married and went back to using Richard Benjamin Speck. His daughter, Robbie Lynn Speck was born on July 5, 1962, while Speck was serving a 22-day jail sentence for disturbing the peace after a drunken melee in McKinney, Texas.


title: Richard Speck

text: In July 1963, at the age of 21, Speck was sentenced to serve three years in prison after being convicted of forgery and burglary. Speck had forged and cashed a co-worker's $44 paycheck and also robbed a grocery store for cigarettes, beer, and $3 in cash. He was paroled in 1965 after serving 16 months at Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas. His release lasted a week. Speck was arrested again on January 9, 1965. Speck attacked a woman in the parking lot of her apartment building, wielding a carving knife, but fled when the woman screamed. The police arrived within minutes and apprehended Speck a few blocks away. Speck was convicted of aggravated assault, given a 16-month sentence to run concurrently with a parole violation sentence, and returned to prison in Huntsville. However, due to an error, he was released just six months later upon the completion of his parole violation sentence on July 2, 1965. After his release, Speck worked for three months as a driver for the Patterson Meat Company. Although he had six accidents in the company's truck, he was fired for failing to show up for work.


title: Richard Speck

text: In December 1965, upon the recommendation of his mother, Speck moved in with a 29-year-old divorced woman, an ex-professional wrestler and now a bartender at his favorite bar, Ginny's Lounge, to babysit her three children. In January 1966, Malone who had been separated from Speck filed for divorce. That same month, Speck stabbed a man in a knife fight at Ginny's Lounge. He was charged with aggravated assault, but a defense attorney hired by his mother got the charge reduced to disturbing the peace. Speck was fined $10 and jailed for three days after he failed to pay the fine. This was the last time Speck was in police custody in Dallas.


title: Richard Speck

text: On March 5, 1966, Speck bought a 12-year-old car then robbed a grocery store the following evening, stealing 70 cartons of cigarettes, which he then sold out of the trunk of his car in the grocery store's parking lot. The police traced the car (which Speck had abandoned) and issued a warrant for his arrest for burglary on March 8. Had he been apprehended under that warrant, it would have been his 42nd arrest in Dallas and would have surely resulted in another prison term. On March 9, 1966, Speck's sister Carolyn drove him to the Dallas bus depot, where he took a bus to Chicago, Illinois.


title: Richard Speck

text: Speck stayed with his sister Martha Thornton and her family in Chicago for a few days, and then returned to his boyhood hometown of Monmouth, Illinois, where he initially stayed with some old family friends. Speck's brother Howard was a carpenter in Monmouth and found a job for him sanding plasterboard for another Monmouth carpenter. Speck became angry when he learned his ex-wife had remarried two days after she was granted a divorce on March 16, 1966. He moved to the Christy Hotel in downtown Monmouth on March 25 and spent most of his time in the downtown taverns. At the end of March, while Speck and some acquaintances were on a bar-hopping trip to Gulfport, Illinois they were detained overnight by police there after Speck reportedly threatened a man in a tavern restroom with his knife.


title: Richard Speck

text: On April 3, Mrs. Virgil Harris, a 65-year-old resident of Monmouth, returned home at 1:00 a.m. to find a burglar in her house brandishing a knife. He was a 6-foot-tall white man who was "very polite" and spoke "very softly with a Southern drawl." The man blindfolded her, tied her up, raped her, ransacked her house, and stole the $2.50 she had earned babysitting that evening.


title: Richard Speck

text: A week later, Mary Kathryn Pierce, a 32-year-old barmaid who worked at her brother-in-law's tavern, Frank's Place, in downtown Monmouth, was last seen leaving the tavern at 12:20 a.m. on April 9. She was reported missing on April 13, and her body was found that day in an empty hog house behind the tavern. She had died from a blow to her abdomen that ruptured her liver.


title: Richard Speck

text: Speck had frequented Frank's Place, and the empty hog house was one of several he had helped build in the preceding month, so Monmouth police briefly questioned him about Pierce's death when he showed up to collect his final carpentry paycheck on April 15 and asked him to stay in town for further questioning. When police showed up at the Christy Hotel on April 19 to continue questioning Speck, they discovered he had left the hotel a few hours earlier, carrying his suitcases and saying he was just going to the laundromat. He had instead left town. A search of his room turned up a radio and costume jewelry Mrs. Virgil Harris had reported missing from her house, as well as items reported missing in two other local burglaries in the previous month.


title: Richard Speck

text: On April 19, 1966, Speck returned to stay at his sister Martha's second-floor apartment at 3966 N. Avondale Ave., in the Old Irving Park neighborhood on the Northwest side of Chicago, where she lived with her husband, Gene Thornton, and their two teenage daughters. Martha had worked as a registered nurse in pediatrics before she was married, and her husband Gene worked nights as a railroad switchman. Speck told them an unbelievable story about having to leave Monmouth after refusing to sell narcotics for a "crime syndicate" there. Gene Thornton, who had served in the U.S. Navy, thought that the U.S. Merchant Marine might provide a suitable occupation for his unemployed brother-in-law, so on April 25 he took Speck to the U.S. Coast Guard office to apply for a letter of authority to work as an apprentice seaman. The application required being fingerprinted and photographed, and having a physical examination by a doctor.


title: Richard Speck

text: Speck found work immediately after obtaining the letter of authority, joining the 33-member crew of Inland Steel's "Clarence B. Randall", an L6-S-B1 class bulk ore lake freighter, on April 30. Speck's first voyage on the "Clarence B. Randall" was brief, since he was stricken with appendicitis on May 3, and was evacuated by U.S. Coast Guard helicopter to St. Joseph's Hospital in Hancock, Michigan, on the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan's Upper Peninsula where he had an emergency appendectomy.


title: Richard Speck

text: After he was discharged from the hospital, Speck returned to stay with his sister Martha and her family in Chicago to recuperate. On May 20, he rejoined the crew of the "Clarence B. Randall" on which he served until June 14, when he got drunk and quarreled with one of the boat's officers and was put ashore on June 15. For the following week, Speck stayed at the St. Elmo, an East Side, Chicago flophouse at E. 99th St. & S. Ewing Ave. Speck then traveled by train to Houghton, Michigan, staying at the Douglas House, to visit Judy Laakaniemi, a 28-year-old nurse's aide going through a divorce, whom he had befriended at St. Joseph's Hospital. On June 27, after Judy gave him $80 to help him until he found work, Speck left to again stay with his sister Martha and her family in Chicago for the next two weeks.


title: Richard Speck

text: On June 30, Speck's brother-in-law Gene drove him to the National Maritime Union (NMU) hiring hall at 2335 E. 100th St. in the Jeffery Manor neighborhood of South Deering, Chicago to file his paperwork for a seaman's card. The NMU hiring hall was one block east of five attached two-story brick townhouses, three of which were occupied by South Chicago Community Hospital senior student nurses and Filipino exchange registered nurses. Eight of these nurses lived in the easternmost townhouse at 2319 E. 100th St., just from the NMU hiring hall.


title: Richard Speck

text: On Friday, July 8, 1966, Speck's brother-in-law Gene drove him to the NMU hiring hall to pick up his seaman's card and register for a berth on a ship. Speck lost out that day to a seaman with more seniority for a berth on the SS "Flying Spray", a C1-A cargo ship bound for South Vietnam, and returned to his sister Martha's apartment for the weekend.


title: Richard Speck

text: By Monday, July 11, Speck had outstayed his welcome with his sister Martha and her family. After packing his bags and again being driven by his brother-in-law to the NMU hiring hall to await a berth on a ship, Speck stayed the night at Pauline's rooming house, about away at 3028 E. 96th St., in the Vets Park neighborhood of South Deering, Chicago.


title: Richard Speck

text: On Tuesday, July 12, Speck returned to the NMU hiring hall. In mid-afternoon, he received an assignment on Sinclair Oil's tanker SS "Sinclair Great Lakes", which was a 30-minute drive away in East Chicago, Indiana. When he arrived there, he found that his spot had already been taken, and he was driven back to the NMU hiring hall, which was then closed. Speck did not have enough money for a rooming house, so he dropped his bags off six blocks east at the Manor Shell filling station at 9954 S. Torrence Ave. and slept in an unfinished house just off E. 103rd St.


title: Richard Speck

text: On Wednesday, July 13, Speck picked up his bags and checked in at the NMU hiring hall. He was angry for being sent to a non-existent assignment, and he talked for 30 minutes in the car with his sister Martha and her husband Gene, who had driven down to visit him at 9 a.m. They parked on E. 100th St. next to Luella Elementary School, across the street from the townhouses where the nurses lived. At 10:30 a.m., he was tired of waiting at the NMU hiring hall for a job. Speck had $25 that his sister had given him, and he left and walked about east on E. 100th St. to check in at the Shipyard Inn at E. 101st St. & S. Avenue N; the inn was an East Side, Chicago rooming house.


title: Richard Speck

text: Speck spent the rest of the day drinking in nearby taverns before he accosted Ella Mae Hooper at knifepoint; she was a 53-year-old woman who had spent the day drinking at the same taverns that Speck had patronized. Speck took her to his room at the Shipyard Inn, raped her, and stole her black $16 mail-order .22 caliber Röhm pistol. He then left, dressed entirely in black, armed with a switchblade, and Ella Mae Hooper's handgun. After dinner at the nearby Kay's Pilot House, Speck returned to drink at the Shipyard Inn's tavern until 10:20 p.m. and walked about west on E. 100th St. to the nurses' townhouse at 2319 E. 100th St.


title: Richard Speck

text: At 11 p.m. on July 13, 1966, Speck broke into the 2319 E. 100th St townhouse in Chicago's Jeffery Manor neighborhood; the townhouse was functioning as a dormitory for student nurses. He entered and, using only a knife, killed Gloria Davy, Patricia Matusek, Nina Jo Schmale, Pamela Wilkening, Suzanne Farris, Mary Ann Jordan, Merlita Gargullo, and Valentina Pasion. Speck, who later claimed he was both drunk and high on drugs, may have originally planned to commit a routine burglary. Speck held the women in a room for hours, leading them out one by one, stabbing or strangling each to death, then finally raping and strangling his last victim, 22-year-old Gloria Davy. Intervals of between twenty and thirty minutes elapsed between each murder.


title: Richard Speck

text: One woman, Corazon Amurao, escaped death because she crawled and hid under a bed while Speck was out of the room. Speck possibly lost count or might have known eight women lived in the townhouse but was unaware that a ninth woman was spending the night. Amurao stayed hidden until almost 6 a.m.


title: Richard Speck

text: Two days after the murders, Speck was identified by a drifter named Claude Lunsford. Speck, Lunsford, and another man had been drinking the evening of July 15 on the fire escape of the Starr Hotel at 617 W. Madison. On July 16, Lunsford recognized a sketch of the murderer in the evening paper and phoned the police at 9:30 p.m. after finding Speck in his (Lunsford's) room at the Starr Hotel. The police, however, did not respond to the call although their records showed the call had been made. Speck then attempted suicide, and the Starr Hotel desk clerk phoned in the emergency around midnight. Speck was taken to Cook County Hospital at 12:30 a.m. on July 17. At the hospital, Speck was recognized by Dr. LeRoy Smith, a 25-year-old surgical resident physician, who had read about the "Born To Raise Hell" tattoo in a newspaper story. The police were called, and Speck was finally arrested.


title: Richard Speck

text: Concerns over the recent Miranda case that had vacated the convictions of a number of criminals meant Speck was not even questioned for three weeks after his arrest.


title: Richard Speck

text: Felony Court Judge Herbert J. Paschen appointed an impartial panel to report on Speck's competence to stand trial and his sanity at the time of the crime—a panel of three physicians suggested by the defense and three physicians selected by the prosecution, consisting of five psychiatrists and one general surgeon. The panel's confidential report deemed Speck competent to stand trial and concluded he had not been insane at the time of the murders.


title: Richard Speck

text: While awaiting trial, Speck participated in twice-weekly sessions with part-time Cook County Jail psychiatrist, Dr. Marvin Ziporyn. These continued after Speck's transfer from Cermak Memorial Hospital (inside Chicago's House of Corrections) on July 29, 1966, until February 13, 1967, the day before Speck was transferred to Peoria to stand trial. Ziporyn prepared a discharge summary with depression, anxiety, guilt, and shame among Speck's emotions, but also a deep love for his family. It went on to note an obsessive-compulsive personality and a "Madonna-prostitute" attitude towards women. Ziporyn maintained Speck viewed women as saintly until he felt betrayed by them for some reason, after which hostility developed. Speck was also diagnosed with organic brain syndrome, resulting from cerebral injuries he had suffered earlier in his life, and stated he was competent to stand trial but was insane at the time of the crime due to the effects of alcohol and drug use on his organic brain syndrome.


title: Richard Speck

text: Dr. Ziporyn did not testify for the defense or the prosecution, as both sides were troubled to learn before the trial that Ziporyn was writing a book about Speck for financial gain. Ziporyn also earned the ire of the Cook County Jail, which fired him as its part-time psychiatrist the week after Speck's trial ended. At some point during his interviews with Speck, Ziporyn had obtained a written three-sentence consent from Speck authorizing him to tell "what I am really like." Ziporyn's biography of Speck was published in the summer of 1967.


title: Richard Speck

text: Speck later claimed he had no recollection of the murders, but he had confessed the crime to Dr. LeRoy Smith at the Cook County Hospital. Smith did not testify, because the confession was made while Speck was sedated. Illinois Supreme Court Justice John J. Stamos, Cook County's state attorney when Speck was tried, who knew of the hospital confession, stated, "...we didn't need it. We had an eyewitness." Speck confessed to the murders for the first time in public when he spoke to "Chicago Tribune" columnist Bob Greene in 1978. In a film that inmates made at the Stateville Correctional Center in 1988, Speck recounted the brutal murders in detail. He again stated he was high that night, but then he undercut the idea that the drugs were a mitigating factor, asserting he could just as well have "done it sober".


title: Richard Speck

text: Speck's jury trial began April 3, 1967, in Peoria, Illinois, three hours southwest of Chicago, with a gag order on the press. In court, Speck was positively identified by the sole surviving student nurse, Corazon Amurao. When Amurao was asked if she could identify the killer of her fellow students, Amurao rose from her seat in the witness box, walked directly in front of Speck and pointed her finger at him, nearly touching him, and said, "This is the man."


title: Richard Speck

text: In addition, Lieutenant Emil Giese testified that fingerprints at the scene had been matched to Richard Speck.


title: Richard Speck

text: On April 15, after 49 minutes of deliberation, the jury found Speck guilty and recommended the death penalty. On June 5, Judge Herbert J. Paschen sentenced Speck to die in the electric chair, but granted an immediate stay pending automatic appeal. The Illinois Supreme Court subsequently upheld his conviction and death sentence on November 22, 1968.


title: Richard Speck

text: In December 1965 and March 1966, "Nature" and "The Lancet" published findings by British cytogeneticist Patricia Jacobs and colleagues of a chromosome survey of patients at Scotland's only security hospital for the developmentally disabled. Nine of the patients, ranging from to height, were found to have an extra Y chromosome, the XYY syndrome. Jacobs' hypothesis, that men with XYY syndrome are more prone to aggressive and violent behavior than males with the normal XY karyotype, was later shown to be incorrect.


title: Richard Speck

text: In August 1966, Eric Engel, a Swiss endocrinologist and geneticist at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, wrote to Speck's attorney, Cook County Public Defender Gerald W. Getty, who was reportedly planning an insanity defense. He suggested, based on Jacobs' unsubstantiated theory and Speck's height of , that Speck might have XYY syndrome. A chromosome analysis performed the following month by Engel revealed that Speck had a normal XY karyotype. One month later, a court-appointed panel of six physicians rejected Getty's insanity argument and concluded that Speck was mentally competent to stand trial.


title: Richard Speck

text: In 1968, biochemist Mary Telfer and associates published data from a genetic analysis, similar in design to Jacobs', of subjects confined in psychiatric hospitals and penal institutions in Pennsylvania. Of the five XYY patients identified, four exhibited moderate to severe facial acne, leading the group to suggest that acne be added to the list of defining XYY characteristics. Subsequent research failed to substantiate this observation as well.


title: Richard Speck

text: After Getty contacted Telfer to discuss her findings and their possible relevance to his client, Telfer wrote a speculative piece for the British journal "Think" in which she mistakenly reported that Speck had an XYY karyotype. That, combined with his extensive acne scarring, led her to describe Speck as "the archetypal XYY male".


title: Richard Speck

text: In a three-part series on the XYY syndrome published in April 1968, "The New York Times" presented Jacobs' unsubstantiated theory associating the syndrome with violent behavior as an established fact, and noted that the karyotype had been cited as a mitigating factor by attorneys defending an XYY man charged with murder in Paris, and another in Melbourne. It also identified Speck as a "classic example" of an "XYY criminal" and citing Telfer and Getty as sources, predicted that XYY syndrome would form the crux of his insanity defense. Similar articles followed, again citing Telfer, in "Time" and "Newsweek", and six months later in "The New York Times Magazine".


title: Richard Speck

text: In May 1968, Speck's chromosomes were karyotyped a second time by Engel, with the same result: a normal 46,XY genome. After Speck's conviction and death sentence were upheld by the Illinois Supreme Court later that year and the appeals process moved to the Federal court system, articles continued to appear in the lay press reporting (or implying) that Speck's supposed XYY genotype would be invoked as a mitigating factor.


title: Richard Speck

text: In a review article published in the "Journal of Medical Genetics" in December 1968, Michael Court Brown found no overrepresentation of XYY males in chromosome surveys of Scottish prisons and hospitals for the developmentally and mentally disabled, and suggested that any conclusions drawn from study populations composed solely of institutionalized males were likely distorted by selection bias.


title: Richard Speck

text: In May 1969, at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, Telfer "et al." reported that they had found no evidence of significant behavior differences, on average, between men with XYY karyotypes and those with normal genomes, and that XYY males had been unfairly stigmatized by earlier unsupported speculation.


title: Richard Speck

text: On June 28, 1971, the U.S. Supreme Court (citing their June 3, 1968 "Witherspoon v. Illinois" decision) upheld Speck's conviction but reversed his death sentence, because more than 250 potential jurors were unconstitutionally excluded from his jury because of their conscientious or religious beliefs against capital punishment. The case was remanded back to the Illinois Supreme Court for re-sentencing.


title: Richard Speck

text: On June 29, 1972, in "Furman v. Georgia", the U.S. Supreme Court declared the death penalty unconstitutional, so the Illinois Supreme Court's only option was to order Speck re-sentenced to prison by the original Cook County court.


title: Richard Speck

text: On November 21, 1972, in Peoria, Judge Richard Fitzgerald re-sentenced Speck to from 400 to 1,200 years in prison (eight consecutive sentences of 50 to 150 years), which was then reduced to 100 to 300 years. He was denied parole in seven minutes at his first parole hearing on September 15, 1976, and at six subsequent hearings in 1977, 1978, 1981, 1984, 1987, and 1990.


title: Richard Speck

text: While incarcerated at the Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill, Illinois, Speck was given the nickname "Birdman" after the film "Birdman of Alcatraz", because he kept a pair of sparrows that flew into his cell. He was described as a loner who kept a stamp collection and enjoyed listening to music. His contacts with the warden included requests for new shirts, a radio, and other mundane items. The warden merely described him as "a big nothing doing time." Speck was not a model prisoner; he was often caught with drugs or distilled moonshine. Punishment for such infractions never stopped him. "How am I going to get in trouble? I'm here for 1,200 years!"


title: Richard Speck

text: Speck loathed reporters, and granted only one press interview, in 1978, to "Chicago Tribune" columnist Bob Greene. During that interview, he publicly confessed to the murders for the first time, and said he thought he would get out of prison "between now and the year 2000," at which time he hoped to run his own grocery store business. When Greene asked him if he compared himself to celebrity killers like John Dillinger, he replied, "Me, I'm not like Dillinger or anybody else. I'm freakish."


title: Richard Speck

text: Speck stated that at the time of the killings, he "had no feelings," but things had changed: "I had no feelings at all that night. They said there was blood all over the place. I can't remember. It felt like nothing ... I'm sorry as hell. For those girls, and for their families, and for me. If I had to do it over again, it would be a simple house burglary." Speck's "final thought for the American people" was, "Just tell 'em to keep up their hatred for me. I know it keeps up their morale. And I don't know what I'd do without it."


title: Richard Speck

text: In his book "", John E. Douglas of the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit refers to a telling prison incident Speck revealed to him in an interview: "he found an injured sparrow that had flown in through one of the broken windows and nursed it back to health. When it was healthy enough to stand, he tied a string around its leg and had it perch on his shoulder. At one point, a guard told him pets weren't allowed. 'I can't have it?' Speck challenged, then walked over to a spinning fan and threw the small bird in. Horrified, the guard said, 'I thought you liked that bird.' 'I did,' Speck replied. 'But if I can't have it, no one can.'"