title: All the Light We Cannot See

text: In Schulpforta, Werner begins working on radio technology alongside Frank Volkheimer—a large, gentle student—under the supervision of Schulpforta professor Dr. Hauptmann. Volkheimer eventually leaves to join the military. Werner befriends Frederick, a kind-hearted and inattentive student whose weakness earns him the ire of other students. The other students eventually beat Frederick, who becomes amnesiac, resulting in him being sent back to his home in Berlin. Two years after entering, when Werner asks to leave Schulpforta, Dr. Hauptmann lies about Werner's age and persuades Nazi officials to send him to the military.


title: All the Light We Cannot See

text: Werner is placed in a Wehrmacht squad led by Volkheimer that consists of engineer Walter Bernd and two soldiers named Neumann. The squad travels throughout Europe, tracking illegal enemy signals and executing whoever is producing them. Werner becomes increasingly disillusioned with his position, especially after his group kills an innocent young girl after he incorrectly traces a signal. When the squad reaches Saint-Malo, Etienne's signal is traced and Werner's group is told to track the broadcast. Werner tracks it to Etienne's house but recognizes the source as the one who broadcast the science programs he listened to at the orphanage. He becomes entranced by Marie-Laure when he sees her traveling to the bakery, and does not disclose the location of Etienne's house.


title: All the Light We Cannot See

text: When the Allied forces lay siege to Saint-Malo in August 1944, Marie-Laure grabs the Sea of Flames and hides in the cellar. After sleeping and waking up the next day, Marie-Laure leaves the cellar to drink water. When Von Rumpel enters the house for the Sea of Flames, Marie-Laure hides in the attic. Using Etienne's transmitter, she tries to call for help by transmitting herself reading a braille version of "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas" alongside pleas for rescue. During this, Von Rumpel unsuccessfully searches the entire house after discovering the Sea of Flames is no longer in the Saint-Malo model.


title: All the Light We Cannot See

text: Meanwhile Werner, Volkheimer, and Bernd become trapped beneath a pile of rubble in a cellar after Allied forces bomb the hotel in which were staying. Bernd is wounded in the explosion and dies. Werner mends a radio in an attempt to find help and discovers Marie-Laure's broadcasts. Several days later, Volkheimer realizes they could die soon and has Werner blow up the rubble with a grenade. After they escape, Werner goes to Etienne's house to rescue Marie-Laure and finds von Rumpel, who has become delirious after failing to find the Sea of Flames. After a brief standoff, Werner shoots and kills von Rumpel and meets Marie-Laure. As they flee from Saint-Malo, Marie-Laure places the Sea of Flames inside a gated grotto flooded with seawater from the tide, returning it to the ocean. She gives the key to Werner, who sends her away to safety. Werner is captured and sent to an American disarmament center, where he becomes gravely ill. One night, in a fit of delirium, Werner leaves the hospital tent and accidentally steps on a German landmine, which kills him instantly. Etienne is freed from Fort National and reunites with Marie-Laure.


title: All the Light We Cannot See

text: Thirty years later, Volkheimer finds Jutta and gives her Werner's belongings at the time of his death, including the model house that contained the Sea of Flames, and tells her Werner may have been in love. Jutta travels to France with her son Max, where she meets Marie-Laure in Paris; she is now working as a marine biologist at the Museum of Natural History. Marie-Laure opens the model and finds the key to the grotto. The story ends in 2014 with Marie-Laure, now 86 years old, walking with her grandson Michel in the streets of Paris.


title: All the Light We Cannot See

text: According to Anthony Doerr, the first inspiration for "All the Light We Cannot See" came during a 2004 train ride during which he saw a man become angry when his telephone call cut out after the train entered a tunnel. Doerr thought the man was forgetting the "miracle" of the ability to talk to someone from across the world using the phone. This led to him conceptualizing a story set in a time when such a thing would be considered a miracle. After the event, he wrote the title for the novel on a notebook. Initially, the only idea he had for the book was a girl reading to a boy over the radio. During a book trip to France in 2005, Doerr visited Saint-Malo and became fascinated by it. In particular, he was interested in its aged appearance in spite have been destroyed near the end of World War II. Doerr considered this "an early step" of writing the novel.


title: All the Light We Cannot See

text: The novel took ten years to write, much of which was spent researching for it. He researched diaries and letters written and sent during World War II, and visited Germany, Paris, and Saint-Malo for further study, though this research was hindered by his inability to speak French and German, and having to use Google Translate to read them. In spite of this, Doerr's research allowed him to add details related to each of the settings such as Nazi speech transcripts and the names of German radio manufacturers.


title: All the Light We Cannot See

text: Doerr wanted to write a novel that told a story of World War II in a new way. Before then, many of the war stories Doerr had read portrayed the French resistance as charismatic heroes and the German Nazis as evil torturers. He decided to tell a more nuanced story by featuring a sympathetic young boy named Werner who becomes tragically involved in Nazism and by having the French narrative surround a capable disabled person named Marie-Laure. To balance the sympathetic portrayal of a Nazi, however, Doerr wrote Reinhold von Rumpel as the evil Nazi archetype with which readers would be more familiar. Doerr considered writing the novel to be "fun and super frustrating all at once" because he wrote over 100 short chapters that alternated between point of views, which he likened to the building of a model house. Because of the lyrical style employed in the novel, Doerr intentionally kept the chapters short to make it accessible to readers.


title: All the Light We Cannot See

text: The writing style of "All the Light We Cannot See" is lyrical and poetic. According to book critic Steve Donoghue, the story is not simplistic and the writing is readily accessible by readers. The novel is mostly told in the present tense, and each chapter is short and direct. Throughout the writing of the novel, Doerr "allows simple details to say much". The descriptions of points of interest, such as battlefields and beaches, are detailed. In particular, the story from Marie-Laure's point of view uses sharp, sensory details of sound, touch, and smell.


title: All the Light We Cannot See

text: Marie-Laure's and Werner's stories are told in alternate chapters. The narrative moves with the brisk pace of a thriller novel; each chapter is a few pages long, and offers a glimpse of each of the characters and their circumstances. The stories of the two characters parallel each other; Marie-Laure's story is about her experiences without sight while Werner's story is about his fascination with sound. Much of the story takes place between 1934 and 1945, with a focus on the Battle of Saint-Malo in August 1944, where Marie-Laure's and Werner's stories converge. Throughout the novel, the narrative switches between events of the Battle of Saint-Malo and events leading up to it. The last part of the novel takes place in the present day.


title: All the Light We Cannot See

text: The characters in "All the Light We Cannot See" are often morally ambiguous rather than simplistic; the details Doerr uses in the novel prevent the reader from viewing Werner as merely an evil Nazi and Marie-Laure as merely a noble hero. Many of the characters, even the heroes, are flawed in some way. Marie-Laure believes she is not as courageous as others see her and that her experience of blindness is normal for her. Werner is tragically portrayed; he struggles to find free-will and redemption as he is forced to enter a Nazi military school to escape an unpalatable fate in mining, and is ultimately forced to join the military. In spite of his sympathetic portrayal, his actions as a Nazi and his increasing tolerance of violence are unexcused, though he ultimately finds redemption when he rescues Marie-Laure.


title: All the Light We Cannot See

text: Much of the novel deals with ethical themes. Germany's attempt to acquire all of Europe leads to its downfall while Von Rumpel tries to acquire the Sea of Flames, highlighting the dangers of possession. Another theme is the nature of sacrifice; Daniel gives the Sea of Flames to Marie-Laure to keep her alive despite the curse leading to his arrest and Werner is forced to reluctantly risk his life for Germany. The novel also deals with dilemmas such as choice versus fate and atrocity versus honor. According to "Los Angeles Times"'s Steph Cha, "The characters are constantly searching—for forbidden radio transmissions, for the Sea of Flames, for each other—locating tiny points in the chaos of the universe ... They look for meaning while facing the vastness and 'the seismic, engulfing indifference of the world', and their fates hinge on their ability to act when everything seems to be determined on scales they can only imagine."


title: All the Light We Cannot See

text: Doerr wanted to write a novel in which communication over long distances would have been considered a miracle, having been inspired by an event during his train journey. According to Dan Cryer of the "San Francisco Chronicle", many of Doerr's works play on his fascination with science and the natural world, of which "All the Light We Cannot See" is an example. Christine Pivovar of the "Kansas City Star" stated "Science and the natural world [in "All the Light We Cannot See"] take on the role of the supernatural in a traditional fairy tale".


title: All the Light We Cannot See

text: Creatures, geology, and technological advances such as radio waves are portrayed as fascinating marvels in the novel. Marie-Laure is fascinated by marine creatures such as the blind snail while Werner has a passion and gift for science and radio technology. The title refers to the infinite electromagnetic spectrum that includes light; according to Steph Cha, the invisibility of most of the electromagnetic spectrum is a common motif throughout the book, and imparts "texture and rhythm as well as a thematic tension, between the insignificant and miraculous natures of mankind and all the immeasurable components that make up our lives". When the story reaches the early 21st century, a character imagines the abundance of electromagnetic waves flowing from cell phones and computers.


title: All the Light We Cannot See

text: "All the Light We Cannot See" was published on May 6, 2014 by Scribner with a print run of 60,000 copies. It was commercially successful and became a breakout hit upon publication. By December 2014, the book had been reprinted 25 times, equaling 920,000 copies. It was on "The New York Times" Best Seller list for over 200 weeks, entering the list a few weeks after its publication. It sold well throughout the year; sales tripled after the novel lost the National Book Award to "Redeployment". In the run-up to Christmas that year, it was out of stock on Amazon and other booksellers. On Nielsen BookScan's rankings of adult fiction novels, "All the Light We Cannot See" was listed as the 20th-best-selling novel of 2014, selling 247,789 units; the fourth-best-selling novel of 2015 with sales of 1,013,616 units; and the tenth-best-selling novel of 2016 with sales of 366,431 units. "The Millions" reported sales of "All the Light We Cannot See" reached two million copies in March 2016. In January 2021, "Publishers Weekly" reported "All the Light We Cannot See" had sold 5.5 million copies in North America and 9.3 million copies worldwide. By September 2021, the novel had sold over 15 million copies. Anthony Doerr found the novel's popularity unexpected because it featuring a sympathetic Nazi and contains intricate passages about technology.


title: All the Light We Cannot See

text: Critics positively received "All the Light We Cannot See". In a collection of fifteen reviews by book review aggregator Book Marks, twelve were either positive or rave reviews. The novel won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the 2015 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction. It was also shortlisted for the National Book Award and was the runner-up for the 2015 Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Fiction. It was considered among the best books released in 2014 by "Entertainment Weekly", "Kirkus Reviews", "The New York Times", "The Washington Post", and "NPR". Josh Cook of the "Star Tribune" and Yvonne Zipp of the "Christian Science Monitor" considered "All the Light We Cannot See" to be Doerr's best book. In a starred review for "Booklist", Brad Hopper called it "a novel to live in, learn from, and feel bereft over when the last page is turned". Cha, although having criticized the reliance on melodrama in the beginning, lauded the novel as a "beautiful, expansive tale". JoJo Marshall of "Entertainment Weekly" said "All the Light We Cannot See" is a "not-to-be-missed tale [that] is a testament to the buoyancy of our dreams".


title: All the Light We Cannot See

text: Critics praised the novel's writing style. William T. Vollmann writing for "The New York Times Book Review" found the novel easy to follow despite its flashbacks and considered it "a good read". In a review in "The Boston Globe", John Freeman praised Doerr's work, called his language fresh, and noted his use of show, don't tell. Amanda Vaill, in a review in "The Washington Post", considered the novel to be emotionally effective and unsentimental. She wrote; "Every piece of backstory reveals information that charges the emerging narrative with significance, until at last the puzzle-box of the plot slides open to reveal the treasure hidden inside". Although applauding Doerr's attention to detail, Carmen Callil writing for "The Guardian" considered the novel too long and the dialogue too American; though she forgave Doerr for these. Cryer found the prose to be "gorgeous", Doerr's writing to be robust, and the pacing to be "great".


title: All the Light We Cannot See

text: The characterization was also praised; "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette" Steven Novak found it to be where the merits of the novel are rooted. Sharon Peters of "USA Today" wrote; "Few authors can so gently—yet resolutely—pull readers into such deep understanding of and connection with their characters". The focus on characters and their choices in a wartime setting was found to be fresh by both "Kirkus Reviews" and "The New York Times" Janet Maslin. Evelyn Beck of "Library Journal" lauded the characters Marie-Laure and Werner, finding them "so interesting and sympathetic" they engage the reader. Vollman and Cha had differing opinions over which of he two main characters have the best characterization; Vollman cited Marie-Laure's "believable" representation of blindness and Cha cited Werner's internal struggle with Nazism. Vollman in particular criticized the use of Nazi stereotypes.


title: All the Light We Cannot See

text: In March 2019, Netflix and 21 Laps Entertainment acquired the rights to develop a limited television adaptation of "All the Light We Cannot See", with Shawn Levy, Dan Levine and Josh Barry as executive producers. It was announced in September 2021 Netflix had given the production a series order consisting of four episodes with Steven Knight as writer and Levy as director. The adaptation is set to star Aria Mia Loberti as Marie-Laure, Louis Hofmann as Werner, Mark Ruffalo as Daniel, Hugh Laurie as Etienne, Lars Eidinger as von Rumpel, and Nell Sutton as young Marie-Laure.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: Anfernee Deon "Penny" Hardaway (born July 18, 1971) is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Memphis Tigers men's basketball team in the American Athletic Conference (AAC). Hardaway played college basketball at Memphis and 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he was a four-time NBA All-Star and a two-time All-NBA First Team member.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: Hardaway is the son of Fae Hardaway (born 1951) and Eddie Golden. The name "Anfernee " () was that of a schoolmate of his mother. When she left Memphis to work in Oakland in 1974, she left her son with her mother Louise. His nickname came as a result of his grandmother's calling him "Pretty" with a southern drawl, thus sounding like "Penny". Hardaway's first love was football but his grandmother did not want him to get hurt. He grew up in the Binghampton neighborhood of shotgun houses in Memphis, Tennessee. As a teenager Hardaway refereed youth sports at the Memphis YMCA and played on the Memphis Y.M.C.A. Jr. Olympic basketball team.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: Hardaway grew up playing basketball in Memphis for Treadwell High School where he averaged 36.6 points, 10.1 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 3.9 steals, and 2.8 blocks as a senior and was named "Parade Magazine" National High School player of the year. He finished his high school career with 3,039 points.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: At Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis), Hardaway had to sit out the 1990–91 season with the Memphis State Tigers due to being academically ineligible according to the Proposition 48 regulation. His grades were so low that he was admitted to the University on a special exemption from University President Thomas G. Carpenter. He took the ACT five times with a maximum score of 17.2, with 17.5 being required to be eligible to play in college.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: While he was sitting out, Hardaway was robbed at gunpoint outside his cousin LaMarcus Golden's house and was shot in his foot by a stray bullet, putting his career in jeopardy. After he was inspired to do better in life and to accomplish more, he made the Dean's List with a 3.4 grade-point average as an education major.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: In the summer of 1992 Hardaway was selected to the 1992 USA Basketball Developmental Team that scrimmaged daily against the 1992 Olympic Team. Hardaway was teammates with Chris Webber, Bobby Hurley, Jamal Mashburn, Rodney Rogers, Eric Montross, Grant Hill, and Allan Houston.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: Hardaway returned for his junior season (1992–93) and bettered his numbers from the previous season. He averaged 22.8 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 6.4 apg, 2.4 spg, and 1.2 bpg. He accumulated two triple doubles. He was again named an All-American. He also was a finalist for the Naismith College Player of the Year and the John R. Wooden Award that are annually given the most outstanding player in college basketball.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: Hardaway achieved a 3.4 cumulative GPA, but passed up his senior season to enter the 1993 NBA Draft. In 1994, Memphis State retired his jersey number, 25, Hardaway's number while playing for the Tigers. He returned to the University of Memphis in May 2003 and graduated with a bachelor's degree in professional studies, ten years after leaving school early to turn pro.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: Hardaway was named #5 on the list of top 100 modern college point guards by collegehoopsnet.com. Additionally, he was a leading vote getter on ESPN Conference USA Silver Anniversary Team.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: Hardaway was selected by the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the 1993 NBA draft (third pick overall), but was traded along with three future first-round picks to the Orlando Magic for the rights to first overall pick Chris Webber. The Magic's intent was to draft Webber and pair him with Shaquille O'Neal until Hardaway – whose desire was to play alongside O'Neal – requested a second workout to show why he should be their pick. Two days before the draft, Hardaway participated in a pick-up basketball game with several Magic players and local talent and impressed the organization enough to make the draft day trade.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: He started out the season at the shooting guard position while he learned the point guard position from veteran Scott Skiles. By mid-season he took over point guard duties from Skiles. He immediately made an impact on the league, winning the MVP award at the inaugural Schick Rookie Game. Hardaway helped the Magic to their first playoff berth and first 50-win season. He averaged 16 points, 6.6 assists, 5.4 rebounds per game while his 190 steals ranked 6th in the league. He recorded his first career triple double on April 15 when he registered 14 points, 12 assists, and 11 rebounds against the Boston Celtics. For his efforts he was named to the NBA All-Rookie first team and was the runner-up for Rookie of the Year to Chris Webber.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: During the 1994–95 NBA season, the Magic won a franchise record 57 games while Hardaway averaged 20.9 points, 7.2 assists, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.7 steals per game. He was named a starter in his first NBA All-Star game and was named All-NBA First Team. The highlight of the playoff run was the second-round defeat of the Chicago Bulls. Along with Shaquille O'Neal, he led his team to the NBA Finals, where they were swept by the Houston Rockets. Despite the sweep Hardaway averaged 25.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 8 assists in the series, while shooting 50% from the field.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: An injury to star teammate Shaquille O'Neal at the start of the 1995–96 NBA season forced Hardaway to garner more of the scoring load during the first few weeks of the season. He responded by leading the Magic to a 17–5 start. He was named NBA Player of the Month for November by averaging 27.0 points, 6.5 assists, 5.8 rebounds, 2.2 steals, and 1 block per game. He was named a starter in the NBA All-Star Game for the second consecutive season while leading the Magic to a franchise record 60 wins. For the season he was named to the All-NBA First Team for the second consecutive year while averaging 21.7 points, 7.1 assists and 4.3 rebounds and capturing 166 steals which was good for 5th in the league. He also finished third in MVP voting. Hardaway was again the only player in the NBA who averaged at least 20 points and five assists and shot 50 percent on field goals during the regular season. The Magic's playoff run ended in the Eastern Conference Finals to the eventual champion Chicago Bulls. In the 12-game playoff run Hardaway averaged 23.3 points, 6 assists, and 4.7 rebounds.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: Hardaway later admitted his first serious knee injury was a 1996 playoff game against Detroit when Joe Dumars hit him in the back of his knee but played through the pain. He then said he underwent surgery during the off-season and felt that the injury had robbed him of his explosiveness.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: During the summer of 1996, Hardaway played on the 1996 US Olympic Games Basketball Team, which won a gold medal. Hardaway averaged 9 points, 4.4 assists, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.4 steals in the eight games. His two biggest contributions were in the quarterfinal game against Brazil where he chipped in 14 points and in the gold medal game against Yugoslavia where he scored 17 points.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: The departure of O'Neal during the off-season to the Los Angeles Lakers left Hardaway as the lone star on the Magic heading into the 1996–97 NBA season. Hardaway struggled through an injury-filled season but still managed to be named a starter for the third consecutive time in the NBA All-Star game. During the season, Hardaway, being the team leader, led a coup to fire then coach Brian Hill with only 33 games left during the season. In 59 regular-season games he averaged 20.5 points, 5.6 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game and was named to the All-NBA Third Team. The Magic managed to make the playoffs with a 45-win season. In the playoffs the Magic fell 0–2 to the Miami Heat in the first round. Hardaway then scored 42 points in game 3 and 41 in Game 4 to force a Game 5 in Miami (becoming the 1st player in NBA history to score 40 points in back to back playoff games when his team scores less than 100 while also being the first player to score 40 points back to back in the playoffs against a Pat Riley-coached team). Hardaway scored 33 points in Game 5 but the Magic fell short. Hardaway finished the playoffs with averages of 31 points, 6 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.4 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game. His playoff scoring average finished a close second to Michael Jordan (31.1).


title: Penny Hardaway

text: A devastating left knee injury incurred early in the 1997–98 NBA season required surgery and forced Hardaway to miss the majority of the season. Despite injury, he was voted to start NBA All-Star Game for fourth straight year, and had six points and three assists in 12 minutes at New York. However, he was criticized for attempting a comeback sooner than expected by playing in the All-Star Game. He played his last game a week after the All-Star game and missed the remainder of the season (Hardaway had since endured another four surgeries on his left knee up to the present that had gradually deteriorated his explosive athletic abilities). In 19 games he averaged 16.4 points, 4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.5 steals.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: Hardaway returned during the lockout-shortened 1999 season and managed to play in all 50 regular-season games to lead the Magic to a share of the best regular-season record in the Eastern Conference. He averaged 15.8 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists, and his 111 steals placed him 5th in the league. The Magic then lost a first-round series to the Philadelphia 76ers in which Hardaway averaged 19 points, 5.5 assists, 5 rebounds, and 2.3 steals. It would prove to be his final season in Orlando.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: In the Summer of 1999, at the urging of Phoenix Suns' point guard Jason Kidd, Hardaway was traded to the Phoenix Suns for Danny Manning, Pat Garrity and two future first round-draft picks.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: In 369 regular season games with the Magic, Hardaway averaged 19 points, 6.3 assists, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.9 steals per game. In 45 playoff games he averaged 21.8 points, 6.5 assists, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.9 steals.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: Hardaway landed in Phoenix via a sign-and-trade with Orlando before the start of 1999–2000 NBA season to team with fellow All-Star guard Jason Kidd, forming what the Suns labeled "BackCourt 2000". Injuries to Hardaway's foot and Kidd's ankle allowed them to play just 45 games together (33–12 with both in lineup). In 60 games Hardaway averaged 16.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 1.6 steals with a 42–18 record. The Suns finished with a 53–29 record and a 5th seed in the Western Conference Playoffs. The ankle injury to Kidd forced him to miss most of the first-round series against the defending champion San Antonio Spurs. Hardaway stepped up and recorded a 17-point, 13-assist, 12-rebound triple-double in a crucial Game 3 win. The Suns disposed of the Spurs in four games. The Conference Semi-Finals pitted Hardaway against his former teammate Shaquille O'Neal and the Lakers. The Suns fell short to the eventual champion Lakers in 5 games. Hardaway averaged 20.3 points, 5.7 assists, 4.9 rebounds, 1.6 steals, and 1 block per game during the nine playoff games.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: The outlook was optimistic heading into the 2000–01 NBA season, but two microfracture surgeries on his left knee forced Hardaway to miss all but four games during the season. In those four games he averaged 9.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.5 steals.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: Hardaway entered the 2001–02 NBA season healthy and managed to play in 80 regular-season games. Kidd and Chris Dudley had been traded to the New Jersey Nets for new point guard Stephon Marbury, Johnny Newman, and Soumaila Samake. Kidd's pass-first style was switched with Marbury's shoot-first style which led to Hardaway and Marbury butting heads. Hardaway managed to average 19.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 1.7 steals during the month of November. The team traded for guard Joe Johnson during the season which relegated Hardaway to the bench for the first time in his career. Despite this he averaged 12 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.5 steals during the regular season.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: Hardaway entered the 2002–03 NBA season coming off the bench. Inconsistent play by young Joe Johnson allowed Hardaway to get back into the starting lineup early in the season. His steady veteran play was a key component to a team that had young stars such as Marbury, Amar'e Stoudemire, and Shawn Marion. Hardaway did miss 24 games with a hand injury in which the team went 10–14 in his absence. He returned in time to record a 10-point, 10-assist, 10-rebound triple-double on April 9 against the Dallas Mavericks. Hardaway finished the regular season averaging 10.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.1 steals. The Suns gave the eventual Champion San Antonio Spurs a scare in the first round before losing in six games. Hardaway averaged 12.7 points, 6 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 2.2 steals in the series.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: The 2003–04 NBA season saw Hardaway shuffle in and out of the Suns starting lineup. He was traded to the New York Knicks January 6, 2004, along with Marbury and backup center Cezary Trybański in exchange for Howard Eisley, Maciej Lampe, Charlie Ward, and Antonio McDyess. The Suns also received the draft rights of Miloš Vujanić and two first-round draft picks in the deal. He averaged 8.7 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 2.9 assists in 34 games for the Suns. Phoenix used the cap room that was carved out via this trade to sign free-agent point guard Steve Nash to a huge deal starting in 2004–05.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: In 236 regular season games with the Suns he averaged 12.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 1.3 steals. In 15 playoff games he averaged 17.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 1.8 steals.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: Hardaway and Marbury helped lead the Knicks to the 2004 NBA Playoffs. In 42 regular-season games with the Knicks, Hardaway averaged 9.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1 steal. In 76 total games during the season he averaged 9.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.3 assists. In the playoffs the Knicks lost in the first round to the New Jersey Nets. Hardaway led the Knicks in scoring in two playoff games while averaging 16.5 points, 5.8 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.5 steals in the series.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: Hardaway spent most of 2004–05 NBA season fighting various injuries. He averaged 11.9 points, 2.6 assists, and 2.5 rebounds in an 11-game span during the middle part of the season. He finished the season averaging 7.3 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 2 assists in 37 games.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: Hardaway played just four games for the Knicks in the 2005–06 NBA season while trying to rehabilitate arthritic knees. He averaged 2.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 2 assists in those games.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: On February 22, 2006, Hardaway was traded back to Orlando, along with Trevor Ariza, for Steve Francis. Five days later, the Magic waived Hardaway.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: On August 9, 2007, Hardaway was signed by the Miami Heat reuniting him with former teammate Shaquille O'Neal. He wore jersey number 7, marking the first time in his pro career that he didn't wear number 1. On December 12, 2007, he was waived by the Miami Heat in order to free up a team spot for free agent Luke Jackson. In 16 regular season games, he averaged 3.8 points, 2.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists & 1.19 steals. His best game of the season was on November 17, with 6–6 shooting for 16 points in a win on the road over New Jersey Nets, 91–87.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: In 2011, Hardaway took over for his friend Desmond Merriweather as a coach for his middle school alma mater, Lester Middle School, while Merriweather was undergoing treatment for colon cancer. With a goal to have each of his players graduate from college, Hardaway instituted a mandatory tutoring program. He coached the Lester Lions to the West Tennessee State title 58–57, finishing 28–3 for the season.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: Hardaway was hired as head coach by his alma mater, the Memphis Tigers, on March 19, 2018. Hardaway was hired to replace former head coach Tubby Smith. In his first year as head coach, Hardaway led the Tigers to the NIT. He also secured the number one recruiting class in the country with the commitments of number one rated high school player James Wiseman, D. J. Jeffries, who decommitted from Kentucky; Boogie Ellis, who decommitted from Duke; and others. On May 17, 2019, Precious Achiuwa, a top-20 five-star recruit, signed with Memphis.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: Before Hardaway was drafted, he and future Orlando Magic teammate Shaquille O'Neal acted in prominent roles in the college basketball feature film "Blue Chips" (1994); Both players portrayed college freshman on the varsity basketball team of a fictional university.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: In the mid to late 1990s, Hardaway starred in the Nike advertising campaign "Lil Penny", featuring an alter ego puppet version of Hardaway which was voiced by comedian Chris Rock.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: Hardaway was featured in the ESPN "30 for 30" documentary series film "This Magic Moment" (2016) which focuses on the Orlando Magic teams led by him and Shaquille O'Neal in the mid-1990s.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: Hardaway made more than $120 million in his 16-season career. He owns a barbershop and beauty salon in downtown Memphis and a turf business based in Miami.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: Hardaway is also known for his efforts to promote sports in Memphis. In 2010, he helped revitalize the Bluff City Classic, a summer basketball league that provides a high level of competition for men and women players from the college, professional, and elite high school ranks. Hardaway also provided funding to build the University of Memphis Sports Hall of Fame. In 2011, Hardaway announced plans for a permanent $20 million multi-sports facility named FastBreak Courts Sportsplex in Cordova. The sporting complex would support volleyball, cheerleading and wrestling, with seven basketball courts, a 2,000-seat arena, rehabilitation clinic and classrooms. It was expected to boost the Memphis-area economy by generating over $14.5 million in annual visitor spending and directly supporting 236 local jobs.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: In 2012, Hardaway was announced to be part of an ownership group including Peyton Manning and Justin Timberlake that was to purchase a minority stake in the Memphis Grizzlies.


title: Penny Hardaway

text: Penny has a son Jayden who plays guard at the University of Memphis where Penny is head coach. Anfernee also has two daughters born in 1992 and 1995, both with his former girlfriend from high school. Penny also has a son that is a sophomore in HS.


title: Rae Dawn Chong

text: Rae Dawn Chong (born February 28, 1961) is a Canadian-American actress. She made her big screen debut appearing in the 1978 musical drama film "Stony Island", and in 1981 starred in the fantasy film "Quest for Fire", for which she received Genie Award for Best Actress.


title: Rae Dawn Chong

text: Chong later starred in films "Beat Street" (1984), "American Flyers" (1985), "The Color Purple" (1985), "Commando" (1985), "Soul Man" (1986), "The Principal" (1987), "" (1990), "Time Runner" (1993), and "Boulevard" (1994). She is the daughter of comedian and actor Tommy Chong.


title: Rae Dawn Chong

text: Chong was born on February 28, 1961, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, the first daughter of actor/comedian Tommy Chong. Her father is of Chinese and Scots-Irish descent and her birth mother, Gail Lewis, was of Black Canadian descent. Her sister Robbi Chong, by Maxine Sneed, is a model and actress. They have three younger half-brothers (one adopted) and a half-sister by their father's second wife. In addition to Rae Dawn, two of her sisters and her adopted brother Marcus Chong have pursued acting careers.


title: Rae Dawn Chong

text: Chong has said that her paternal grandfather left a poor village in China in the 1930s to live with an aunt in Vancouver, where Chinese immigrants were mostly sequestered in a small area due to racial discrimination, and that although he spoke Cantonese, he refused to teach it to his children or grandchildren. She said, "I think my grandfather had great racial shame, which was hard on us growing up. ... We grew up desperate to know anything about our Chinese culture." Later in life, though, her grandfather "saw the error of his ways and embraced his heritage."


title: Rae Dawn Chong

text: After acting in a few television roles, Chong's second feature film was "Quest for Fire" (1981), for which she won the Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in 1983. Other notable roles have been in the films "Choose Me" (1984), "Beat Street" (1984), "The Color Purple" (1985), and "Commando" (1985). She appeared with her father in "Cheech & Chong's The Corsican Brothers" (1984) and "Far Out Man" (1990).


title: Rae Dawn Chong

text: At 19 years old, Chris Pratt was waiting tables at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company restaurant in Maui when he was scouted by Chong; she cast him in her directorial debut, the short horror film "Cursed Part 3", which was filmed in Los Angeles in 2000.


title: Rae Dawn Chong

text: On television, Chong starred opposite Adrian Pasdar in the science fiction drama series "Mysterious Ways" from 2000 to 2002. later she starred in the first season of Lifetime comedy-drama series "Wild Card" opposite Joely Fisher. She returned to television appearing in two episodes of "Better Things" in 2016, and two episodes of "9-1-1" (2018-19). In 2021, she played Betty Currie in the FX series "".


title: Rae Dawn Chong

text: In 2021, Chong was honored with the "Invisible Woman Award" from the Women Film Critics Circle for "Supporting performance by a woman whose exceptional impact on the film dramatically, socially or historically, has been ignored" for her performance in the drama film "The Sleeping Negro".


title: Rae Dawn Chong

text: Chong married Owen Bayliss, a stockbroker, and they had a son named Morgan. They divorced in 1982. In 1989, she married actor C. Thomas Howell, her co-star in the feature film "Soul Man". They divorced in 1990. In 2011, Chong married Nathan Ulrich (one of the founders of Xootr). They divorced in 2014.


title: Rae Dawn Chong

text: Chong has a song named after her titled "Raedawn", the eighth track of "Vaudeville Villain", the third studio album by British-American rapper-producer MF DOOM, released under the alias Viktor Vaughn. He confirms the reference in his lyrics "New drink, named it after Chong daughter".


title: Rae Dawn Chong

text: Comedian Stephen Lynch also has a song about Chong—"R.D.C. (Opie's Lament)"—as the 12th track on his 2000 debut album "A Little Bit Special".


title: Rae Dawn Chong

text: In the television show "Psych", the main characters Shawn and Gus have a "bi-annual Rae Dawn Chong marathon".


title: 2022 Copa Libertadores

text: The 2022 Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores was the 63rd edition of the CONMEBOL Libertadores (also referred to as the "Copa Libertadores"), South America's premier club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL.


title: 2022 Copa Libertadores

text: On 14 May 2020, CONMEBOL announced the candidate venues for the 2021, 2022 and 2023 club competition finals. On 13 May 2021, CONMEBOL's Council decided that the final would be played at the Estadio Monumental Isidro Romero Carbo in Guayaquil, Ecuador on 29 October 2022.


title: 2022 Copa Libertadores

text: On 25 November 2021, CONMEBOL announced the abolition of the away goals rule in all of its club competitions including the Copa Libertadores, which had been used since 2005. Accordingly, if in a two-legged tie two teams scored the same amount of aggregate goals, the winner of the tie would not be decided by the number of away goals scored by each team but by a penalty shoot-out.


title: 2022 Copa Libertadores

text: Brazilian club Flamengo were the champions, winning their third Copa Libertadores title after beating fellow Brazilian side Athletico Paranaense in the final by a 1–0 score. As winners of the 2022 Copa Libertadores, Flamengo earned the right to play against the winners of the 2022 Copa Sudamericana in the 2023 Recopa Sudamericana and also automatically qualified for both the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup and the 2023 Copa Libertadores group stage. Palmeiras were the defending champions, but were eliminated by Athletico Paranaense in the semi-finals.


title: 2022 Copa Libertadores

text: The winners and runners-up of each of the eight groups in the group stage advanced to the round of 16.


title: Mersal (film)

text: Mersal () is a 2017 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by Atlee who co-wrote the film with V. Vijayendra Prasad and S. Ramana Girivasan. Produced by Thenandal Studio Limited in their 100th production, the film stars Vijay and S. J. Suryah while Sathyaraj, Vadivelu, Nithya Menen, Kajal Aggarwal, Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Hareesh Peradi appear in pivotal supporting roles. The story revolves around two brothers; one is a magician avenging his parents's deaths and medical crimes, and the other, a reputed doctor who charges meagre amounts from his patients.


title: Mersal (film)

text: The film's principal photography commenced on 1 February 2017, at Chennai and was completed that September, within 130 working days. Filming took place on Gdańsk, Poland and Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. The background score and soundtrack album were composed by A. R. Rahman, while the cinematography was done by G. K. Vishnu and edited by Ruben.


title: Mersal (film)

text: "Mersal" was released worldwide on 18 October 2017, coinciding with Diwali. The film received mostly positive response with critics praising the performance of Vijay, A. R. Rahman's soundtrack, cinematography, social message and Atlee's direction, but criticised the cliched plot and excessive length. It is also a recipient of various accolades. The film was a commercial success, grossing worldwide, becoming one of the highest-grossing Tamil films. The film completed 100-day theatrical run on 25 January 2018. The film was released on 6 December 2018 in China by HGC Entertainment. Due to demand, the film was screened at the largest cinema theatre in Europe Grand Rex, France. The film was screened at the Hainan International Film Festival in Hainan, China and at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in South Korea.


title: Mersal (film)

text: An ambulance driver, medical broker, hospital worker and a surgeon are abducted at dawn, which is traced to Dr. Maaran, a doctor from Chennai, who is known for providing treatment to all at just . Maaran is arrested and interrogated by Inspector Ratnavel "Randy", who is assigned the case. Maaran explains that the four were responsible for the death of an auto driver's daughter and subsequent suicide of his wife due to their greed for money and negligence in providing proper healthcare. He gives Randy the locations of his hostages, but asserts that they can be saved only if they are taken in time to hospital just like the auto driver's daughter. Maaran reveals that he is not Maaran but his doppelgänger Vetri, a magician.


title: Mersal (film)

text: Vetri was also responsible for the death of Arjun Zachariah, a corrupt doctor who was killed during a stage performance in Paris two years ago. Daniel Arokiaraj, another corrupt doctor and the head of the state's medical council, sees Maaran's inexpensive healthcare as a threat to his flourishing hospital business and decides to kill Maaran using his goons but is saved in the nick of time by Vetri, who knocks Maaran unconscious and swaps places with him, providing clues to the police which led to his arrest. Maaran is rescued, while Vetri, manages to escape from Randy. Later, Maaran confronts Vetri, believing him to be the cause of all his problems. Vadivu, Maaran's compounder, and also Vetri's assistant, intervenes and explains to Maaran why Vetri is targeting doctors indulging in corrupt medical practices.


title: Mersal (film)

text: Past: Maaran and Vetri are the sons of Aishwarya "Aishu" and Vetrimaaran, an altrustic village wrestler and chieftain. Vetrimaaran decides to build a temple in his area and holds a large festive event. However, a fire breaks out, injuring many and killing two children due to lack of mobility. On the advice of Aishu, Vetrimaaran establishes a hospital in his village Manoor in Madurai with Daniel and Arjun as chief doctors, while Vetrimaaran manages the hospital. However, it soon turned out that Daniel and Arjun are money-minded misanthropists and performs a Caesarean section on Aishu, when she was in labour with her second child (Vetri) to extract more money from Vetrimaaran.


title: Mersal (film)

text: With an overdose of anaesthesia and loss of blood, Aishu dies while the child was declared as stillborn. When Vetrimaaran learns about this, he confronts Daniel, but is attacked. Vetrimaaran fights the henchmen, but gets stabbed to death by Daniel's assistant Kasi, where Daniel reveals that he was the mastermind behind the fire accident in the temple so that Vetrimaaran could build a hospital for their business profits. After having killed Vetrimaaran, Daniel and Arjun embezzled money in medical service to consolidate their dictatorship over the years, while creating a massive genocide from beyond.


title: Mersal (film)

text: However, Maaran is saved as Vetrimaaran has placed an unconscious Maaran (who had been struck on the head with a glass bottle) safely on a truck, but loses his memory and is unable to recollect anything that happened before passing out. Meanwhile, Vetri miraculously survives, and their paternal uncle (Vetrimaaran's younger brother) Vadivu takes care of him. Vetri and Vadivu are adopted by a famous magician Salim Ghosh, and Vetri soon learns all the magic tricks in order to exact vengeance.


title: Mersal (film)

text: Present: Upon learning his past from Vadivu, Maaran reconciles with Vetri and decide to finish Daniel, where they swap places. With Vetri (who is actually Maaran) seemingly in custody, Daniel meets him in prison and contemplates on misusing the medical industry for his personal gains. Meanwhile, Daniel's nephew Sesha tries to make a deal with Maaran (who is actually Vetri) to shut down his practice. However, when they both learn the truth, Vetri slits Sesha's hand. Daniel rushes to Vetri's hideout. Vetri defeats all of Daniel's henchmen and injures Daniel with a glass bottle, but just then, Kasi crashes a bus into Vetri, making him faint.


title: Mersal (film)

text: In the truck, Maaran also got involved in an accident orchestrated by Daniel, where he wakes Vetri up. As Vetri is injured, With Vetri's help, Maaran kills Kasi and also kills Daniel. Vetri is arrested for his role in the murders of all six people killed and is sentenced to life in prison. Before leaving, Vetri gives a press conference justifying his actions by exposing corrupt medical practices and embezzlement of money in the field; he adds that his endeavors will continue until the whole system is reformed. In prison, Vetri watches a news report in which, despite his efforts, another young girl in Odisha had died from negligent medical treatment.


title: Mersal (film)

text: On hearing this, Vetri escapes using his magic tricks and continues his mission. In the end, Maaran has conferred a statewide recognised medical counselor post.


title: Mersal (film)

text: Following the release of Atlee's "Theri", with Vijay in the lead, the pair was signed by Sri Thenandal Films for another project together in September 2016. Initially, reports were surfaced that Atlee will be directing Mahesh Babu after "Theri", and was developing the script for the past seven months which did not happen; Similarly, Vijay too being signed for "Sangamithra" produced by Thenandal Films, but as the film demanded 250 days of the schedule which he could not afford, he politely declined the offer. It was reported that the film will begin production only after the release of Vijay's "Bairavaa". In October 2016, Safwan Saleem, the chief executive officer of the production house, confirmed the project; and further announced that writer V. Vijayendra Prasad, who had earlier worked in films like the "Baahubali" series and "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" will be a part of the technical team.


title: Mersal (film)

text: The film featured Vijay playing triple role for the first time in his career, as a doctor, magician and a head of panchayat in the film. A report from "Deccan Chronicle" said that: "The actor’s comic timing will be brought on screen through the magician’s role. His portions are intended to evoke laughter and lighten up the mood." The report further denied claims that Vijay will play a Sikh in the film. Vijay learnt a few magic tricks in preparation for his role as the magician. He learnt the magic tricks from three magicians: Gogo Requiem from the Republic of Macedonia, Raman Sharma from Canada, and Dani Belev from Bulgaria.


title: Mersal (film)

text: Hema Rukmani, CEO of Sri Thenandal Films announced that the film would be the 100th production of the company, instead of "Sangamithra"; On 21 April 2017, the producers announced that the film would be launched under their newly renamed banner Thenandal Studio Limited and also announcing a release date of October 2017. At the first look launch of "Sangamithra" at the Cannes Film Festival, Hema Rukmani said that "Most people look at Vijay as a ‘mass actor.’ But, I’ve seen him perform and he's an outstanding actor. I’ve noticed a lot of things during shooting. His sense of continuity is brilliant. Whether the assistant director remembers or not, he will know. I had the great joy of watching him improvise and it is a treat." The production of the film began without announcing a title; on 21 June 2017, the makers announced the title as "Mersal" and also released the first look poster of the film.


title: Mersal (film)

text: In December 2016, actresses Jyothika, Kajal Aggarwal and Samantha Ruth Prabhu were announced as the female leads for the film. However, the production team later revealed that Jyothika opted out of the film due to unavoidable reasons, and later Simran Deepak Bagga, Anushka Shetty & Asin were approached later both declined the offer. and the role went to Nithya Menen in her first association with Vijay. In January 2017, A. R. Rahman was reported to compose the film's background score and soundtrack album, collaborating with Vijay after ten years since "Azhagiya Thamizh Magan" (2007). Actors S. J. Suryah and Sathyaraj also joined the cast as supporting actors, the former in a negative role with two looks in the film. Vadivelu who eventually wanted to act with Vijay in "Theri", missed the role due to unavoidable reasons. He was later announced as a part of this project. Other comedians Kovai Sarala, Sathyan and Rajendran also joined the film.


title: Mersal (film)

text: Atlee's usual cinematographer George C. Williams whom worked for "Raja Rani" and "Theri", was supposed to work in this film too, but failed due to date clashes with his other project. Later, newcomer G. K. Vishnu, an erstwhile assistant of Richard M. Nathan was signed on this project. The official cast and crew members working in the film, were announced by Thenandal Films in January 2017, with Anal Arasu as the action choreographer, Ruben who worked with Atlee in his previous projects were announced as the film's editor, T. Muthuraj as the film's production designer, Shobi and Prem Rakshith as dance choreographers, Neeraja Kona and Komal Shahani as the costume designers. During the film's production, Hareesh Peradi, Yogi Babu and Cheenu Mohan joined the film's cast.


title: Mersal (film)

text: A launch event for the film was held at Adityaram Studios in Chennai on 1 February 2017 with production beginning thereafter. The shooting of the film took place at Panaiyur in East Coast Road, Chennai on the first day of the shoot, and went continuously for 20 days until 19 February. The team took a brief break after production and then started the second schedule in Chennai on 1 March 2017. On 15 March, one of the stills from the film unofficially released through the internet with Vijay in a twirled moustache and a dhoti, and went viral. Following the schedule's completion, the team headed to Rajasthan on 31 March, despite being reported that filming may take place in Europe, after the second schedule.


title: Mersal (film)

text: The team has decided to shoot with Vijay and Nithya Menen in Jaisalmer for a song (which was later titled as "Aalaporaan Thamizhan"), irrespective of the hot weather prevailing in the location. The steam engine named 7161WP AKBAR was used in this film while shooting in Rajasthan. An action sequence was also filmed at Rajasthan and within its completion, the team completed the Rajasthan schedule on 12 April 2017. Then, the team planned for a month-long schedule in Europe on 25 April, with Vijay, Kajal Aggarwal and other cast members being present. A song (titled "Maacho") and few action sequences were filmed at Poland (Gdańsk, Poznań and Rzeszów's airport), as well as filming being conducted in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia.


title: Mersal (film)

text: Following the shooting in Europe, the team returned to Chennai in June 2017 and began the intermediate schedule on 5 June 2017, with Samantha being present and was filmed subsequently at the location. In mid-July 2017, sources had reported that the team had planned to complete the entire shooting within 130 working days, so that the team would have enough time to work on the film's post-production. However, the film's shooting was affected following the indefinite strike announced by the Film Employees Federation of South India (FEFSI) on 1 August, and another strike on 1 September. After FEFSI withdrew the strike on 13 September, work on the film's production been resumed, with few scenes being shot at the Kathipara Junction in Chennai, leading to traffic congestion as the shoot went till 8:00 A.M. despite the officials gave permission to shoot till 6:00 A.M. Following a song shoot and patchwork sequences the principal photography was wrapped up.


title: Mersal (film)

text: The character Maaran (or doctor), played by Vijay in the film, was inspired from Dr. Balasubramanian, a doctor who hails from Bodinayakkanur, Theni district, and charges from patients. It is also known that Vijay's character Jeevanantham in "Kaththi" (2014), is inspired by a real-life social activist. Critics noted that the film has similarities related to MGR-starrers "Kudiyirundha Koyil" (1968) and "Neerum Neruppum" (1971), where he played dual roles, Rajinikanth-starrer "Moondru Mugam" (1982), and Kamal Haasan's "Apoorva Sagodharargal" (1989; "Appu Raja" in Hindi), which had the actors playing triple roles. Shyam Gowtham in his review for the magazine The Week has stated about the references of M. G. Ramachandran in the film saying "Vijay is doing what M. G. Ramachandran, did in the 1950s; the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu did what Joseph Goebbels did in Hitler’s Germany—use cinema to propagate its ideology. Thus, it changed the way films were made. There are four instances in the film where Vijay is compared with MGR—in fact, his introduction scene starts with an MGR song."


title: Mersal (film)

text: A. R. Rahman composed the soundtrack album and background score of "Mersal", teaming up with Vijay for the third time, after his films "Udhaya" (2004), and "Azhagiya Tamizh Magan" (2007), and his first collaboration with Atlee. The lyrics for the film were written by Vivek, who also teams up with Rahman for the first time. It marked the first release of Vijay and Rahman in the silver jubilee year. The audio rights of the film were acquired by Sony Music India, for a record price. The tracks "Aalaporaan Thamizhan" and "Neethanae" were released as singles on 10 and 17 August 2017. The audio launch event was held on 20 August 2017, at Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai, which was touted to be the "biggest Kollywood event of the year", and it saw the attendance of prominent celebrities from the Tamil film Industry being present at the event, which also featured a live music performance by Rahman and his team. The album crossed 100 million streams, within 10 days, setting a streaming record for a Tamil album.


title: Mersal (film)

text: The first look posters released on 21 June 2017 became the highest retweeted first look in Twitter, close to 50,000 people.


title: Mersal (film)

text: As an innovative approach, Hema Rukmani teamed up with ICONICbot, an Indo-Austrian Venture, powered by actor Vishakha Singh, to launch an artificial intelligence based chat-bot for the production house through Facebook Messenger. This is a first-of-a-kind initiative in the South Indian film industry, in which an artificial intelligence technology is used to connect with all movie goers personally, where chat-bots are used in Hindi cinema by top stars for promoting their films. Hema Rukmani had stated that "though we share the information about the film through the official Twitter handle of the production house, there must be false news prevailing all around. So, we had planned for launching TSL chatbot where fans can share the relevant information with them exclusively."


title: Mersal (film)

text: The film is the first South-Indian film to get a Twitter emoji of its first look and also to trademark its title. Few sources from the production house stated that "if one uses the term "Mersal" for commercial purposes, a part of their revenue should be paid to the team as royalty".


title: Mersal (film)

text: The teaser trailer of the film unveiled on 21 September 2017 (coinciding Atlee's birthday) and became the most-viewed Indian movie teaser with 34.6 million views, surpassing "Kabali" (2016) and "Vivegam" (2017), and became the first Indian movie teaser to get 1 million likes.


title: Mersal (film)

text: Two TV spots were premiered during the television broadcast of "" (Tamil dubbed version) on 8 October 2017.


title: Mersal (film)

text: Sources claimed that the innovative marketing strategies of the film contributed to the film's success. Exchange4Media, an advertising company commented that "Mersal" was one of the South Indian films that disrupted the digital marketing space.


title: Mersal (film)

text: "Mersal" was earlier scheduled for theatrical release on 29 September 2017, however as Shankar's "2.0" which was scheduled for release on Diwali (18 October 2017) got delayed due to extensive visual effects; the producers decided to release the film on that date. On 16 October 2017, the film received a U/A certificate from CBFC, with few cuts after getting NOC from AWBI.


title: Mersal (film)

text: The film opened on more than 3,300 screens worldwide which is highest for a Tamil film. In Malaysia, the film released on 800 screens, and more than 275 screens in Kerala. In Karnataka, the film was released in 100 screens, and in Andhra Pradesh, it accounted 400 screens. The film was later screened in PVR Cinemas and Inox Multiplex on 24 October 2017, following their strike against the double taxation row which held on 3 October. The film was re-released again in March 2018, following the producer council's strike against digital service providers over the increase of Virtual Print Fee charges.


title: Mersal (film)

text: "Mersal" was screened at Grand Rex, France, which is the largest cinema theatre in Europe, due to the high demand of the film. It was further released in Japan in four major cities Tokyo, Ebino, Osaka and Nakayama, which is the highest for a Tamil film. The film was released in China by HGC Entertainment on 6 December 2018, through 10,000 screens, which "Mersal" becomes the first Tamil film to be released in this country. The film was screened at the Hainan International Film Festival in Hainan, China in March 2019, and at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in Bucheon, South Korea at 29 July 2018.


title: Mersal (film)

text: North Star Entertainment along with SN Techs Film Distribution Company have secured the distribution rights for the film in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana; Global United Media has secured the distribution for the film in Kerala; Horizon Studios acquired the Karnataka rights; MKS Talkies has secured the distribution rights for the film in Australia and New Zealand, ATMUS Entertainment has secured the distribution rights for the film in United States. The overall pre-release revenue of "Mersal" is reported to be in the region of , which includes the Tamil Nadu theatrical rights about , Karnataka distribution rights about , Kerala rights about , Andhra Pradesh and Nizam rights about , Rest of India, for , and Overseas rights about . The worldwide theatrical rights accounted to , whilst the satellite rights, sold to , music rights for , home video rights for , and Hindi dubbing rights for .


title: Mersal (film)

text: The television broadcast rights were sold to Zee Tamil for 30 crore in July 2017. The film had its global television premiere on 14 January 2018 on occasion of the Thai Pongal festival. The satellite rights of the Telugu and the Malayalam dubbed versions were acquired by Star Maa and Asianet respectively. Later, Udaya TV acquired the rights for the Kannada dubbed version of the film titled "Maayagara" and premiered it through their channel on 13 September 2020. It is available in digital streaming platforms through Netflix and ZEE5 (in Tamil), Sun NXT (in Kannada), and Hotstar (in Malayalam). The film's Hindi dubbed version was directly premiered on Dhinchaak TV channel (now renamed to Goldmines) on 13 March 2022.


title: Mersal (film)

text: In the opening day of its release the film earned 31.3 crore in domestic region and 47.1 crore worldwide.


title: Mersal (film)

text: At the Chennai city box office, the film collected 1.50 crore and became the highest opening day grosser, beating Ajith Kumar's "Vivegam". The film became the biggest opener in Tamil Nadu at that point, grossing 24.8 crore and yielded a share of 14.1 crore to its distributors. It eventually broke the record of Rajinikanth's "Kabali" which earlier collected 21.5 crore.


title: Mersal (film)

text: The film collected 1.7 crore from the premiere shows held at United States and 2.5 crore the following day, totalling up to 3.08 crore. The film earned A$133,057 (68.01 lakh) from 25 locations, upon its release in Australia and earned £94,311 (₹81.08 lakhs) upon its release in United Kingdom in 37 locations, according to trade analyst Taran Adarsh. The film collected ₹90.31 lakhs from its opening day in Malaysia around 800 theatres.


title: Mersal (film)

text: In its five-day opening weekend, the film collected 140 crore (1.4 billion Indian rupees) worldwide and 170 crore its first week. In 12 days, the film grossed 200 crore worldwide, including 130 crore domestically in India. It has become the highest-grossing film of Vijay's career, and the first of his films to enter the 200 crore club. At the end of its fifth week, the film had reportedly collected 120 crore in Tamil Nadu, 16 crore in Kerala, 13 crore in Karnataka and 15 crore from the rest of India, tallying 164 crore (1.6 billion rupees) domestically and 260 crore (2.6 billion rupees) worldwide. According to The Hans India article published in January 2018, the movie has raked in 244.8 crores by the end of its run.


title: Mersal (film)

text: However, according to the articles by "Hindustan Times", "Financial Express" and "India Today", one of the leading distributors, Ramanathan, owner of the Abhirami Mega mall, said that the numbers reported by Mersal are highly inflated and the movie has not raked in 200 crore as reports claim.


title: Mersal (film)

text: M. Suganth, editor-in-chief of "The Times of India" rated the film three-and-a-half out of five and said, "With Mersal, we have got this year's most engaging mass masala movie. When you have a mass hero in full form like Vijay is in the film, how can things go wrong?". Manoj Kumar R. of "The Indian Express" also gave three-and-a-half out of five stars stating "Atlee has not just exploited Vijay's stardom to deliver a flamboyant crowd-pleaser (which he did in "Theri" already) but has fleshed out an interesting script that plays up the best onscreen traits of the actor."


title: Mersal (film)

text: "Sify" rated the film three out of five stars and said the film as a "formulaic mass masala action film with a strong social message, whistle worthy moments, eye candy heroines and grand visuals". It further added that the film "relies squarely on the charm of its leading man (Vijay) to pull off its over-the-top tone". Priyanka Sundar of "Hindustan Times" said that the film "is not about the story, but the way it is delivered; the emotions, sentiment and social message formed the crux of the story", but criticised the length of the second half and the manner in which Samantha's character's arc is resolved. "Behindwoods" stated there are triple Vijay in the movie and it had created triple positive impact and rated it 2.75 out of five stars.


title: Mersal (film)

text: Baradwaj Rangan of "Film Companion South" called the film as "gigantic, but deflavoured take of "Apoorva Sagotharargal"". He added that "the lack of newness is compensated for by rich production values", but praised Vijay's performance saying "Vijay is one actor who seems to be getting younger on screen. He moves beautifully in the dance sequences. He even manages an effective dramatic bit. But he’s let down by the writing". Anupama Subramanian of "Deccan Chronicle" gave two-and-a-half out of five stars and added "Though the storyline is not new, Atlee cleverly uses the terrific screen presence of Vijay and presents it in an engaging way". Vishal Menon of "The Hindu" had opined that the film had "references to yesteryear blockbusters; but that could not be determined as dislikeable; it is quite enjoyable".


title: Mersal (film)

text: Sreedhar Pillai of "Firstpost" called that "the perfect film for the larger-than-life image of its superstar Vijay, has something in it to satiate viewers with varied tastes", giving a rating of three out of five stars. "Indiaglitz" gave three out of five stars saying "With his winning formula of old wine in a new bottle, Atlee has proved beyond doubt his caliber as a commercial director and has delivered a sure shot winner". "The New Indian Express"-based critic Daniel Thimmayya called the film as "ultimate commercial entertainer that rides on Vijay's solid performance and Atlee's slick storytelling".


title: Mersal (film)

text: Srivatsan S of "India Today" gave three out of five saying "one could say that "Mersal" is nothing but the rise of a matinee idol". Poornima Murali of "News18" called the film "as good in parts: during the evocative flashbacks"; but pointed out a few lame dialogues, logical contradictions and frequent song sequences. Vikram Venkateshwaran of "The Quint" wrote "It’s got three whole Vijays, with intersecting plot lines, great fight scenes and twelve murders, that will either squeeze your heart, or make you cheer along, all in the name of entertainment". Writing for "Manorama Online", Prem Udhayabhanu gave the film three out of five stars saying "The film charms the fans with an elaborate canvas spun for the hero and a social message weaved into it".


title: Mersal (film)

text: Shyam Goutham, in his review for the magazine "The Week" wrote "through the film which is packaged with heavy drama and action sequences, Atlee tries to convey a message. For a Vijay fan, there are enough wow moments—slow-motion scenes, 'Ilayathalapathy' saving people and punch dialogues. In fact, a scene showing Vijay talking to the media about the problems in the country has become mandatory". "Ananda Vikatan" rated the film 43 out of 100.


title: Mersal (film)

text: The film was subjected to several criticisms with the first being, the interim ban issued against the film producers by Madras High Court, for using the title "Mersal" for promotions. In a lawsuit filed by Rajendran of AR Film Factory, he registered the title "Mersalayitten" at the Tamil Film Producers Council in 2014, and claimed that the use of the title will affect the business of his film. The high court later dismissed the plea on 6 October 2017. The Tamil Film Producers Council strike from 6–13 October over double taxation row, and the denial of NOC from Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) were rumoured to affect the plans release; however, it was resolved later.


title: Mersal (film)

text: Upon release, several notions expressed in the film were opposed by various organisations. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the ruling political party of Government of India, and the then ruling AIADMK had objected to scenes in which the protagonist, played by Vijay, criticises the recently introduced Goods and Services Tax, and also a scene in which a character ridicules Digital India, an initiative promoted by the Government of India. The ruling BJP demanded that those scenes be cut from the film for future viewership. Several medical associations such as the Tamil Nadu Government Doctors' Association, condemned the film for the alleged cynical portrayal of doctors working in government-operated hospitals. Doctors working with the Indian Medical Association planned to boycott the film and shared links of the film on pirated websites online, in the hope that it would cause monetary losses to the makers of the film. These acts were seen as an attack on freedom of expression by opposing political parties and various other celebrities working in Tamil cinema. Shashi Tharoor condemned BJP's acts against "Mersal", similar to infringement of democratic rights.


title: Mersal (film)

text: Though the film was touted to have an approximate collection of 250 crore, the production house Thenandal Studio Limited had to file for bankruptcy due to the high production costs involved. The social media propaganda loss of this film amounts to an approximate 60 crore, with references citing Atlee exceeding the production budget. However, G. Dhananjayan opined that the film was considered profitable to all distributors across Tamil Nadu region, as was, the film's producer Murali Ramaswamy. In November 2018, the Canada-based magician Raman Sharma, who worked in the project accused Thenandal Studios of non-payment of dues and slammed the company for their unprofessional behaviour. In August, Sharma's team sent a legal notice to the makers, demanding the rest of his payment under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. The financial tussles surrounding over the production house led the makers shelve all of their upcoming projects: notably the company's big-budget film Sangamithra, Dhanush's untitled project with Karthik Subbaraj and his directorial film, A. R. Rahman's virtual reality film "Le Musk", and other productions; furthermore, their completed projects "Vallavanukkum Vallavan" and "Iravaakaalam" remained unreleased.


title: Mersal (film)

text: At the 65th Filmfare Awards South, "Mersal" received eleven nominations including those for Best Director (Atlee), Best Actor (Vijay) and Best Supporting Actor (S. J. Surya). It won in two categories – Best Supporting Actress (Menen) and Best Music Director (Rahman). At the 10th Vijay Awards, the film received eight nominations and won three awards: Favourite Film, Best Director and Favourite Song. "Mersal" received twelve nominations at the 7th South Indian International Movie Awards ceremony and won five awards, including Best Director for Atlee, Best Actor in a Negative Role for Surya and Best Music Director for Rahman. Among other wins, the film received ten Techofes Awards, seven Edison Awards, five Ananda Vikatan Cinema Awards and two Norway Tamil Film Festival Awards. At the international ceremonies, the film won one award for Best Foreign Film at the National Film Awards UK. and Best International actor award for Vijay at International Achievement Recognition Award UK.


title: Mersal (film)

text: Prior to the film's release, Hollywood stuntman Serge Crozon Cazin, who starred in Ajith Kumar's "Vivegam", and S. S. Rajamouli expressed their anticipations on the film, with the latter calling it as "a fantastic film to look forward to". Following the criticism towards the GST and Digital India-scenes levied by BJP, Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, Vishal, Vijay Sethupathi, Arvind Swamy and Khushbu Sundar, extended his support towards "Mersal" and praised Vijay and the team for "bravely addressing social issues in the film". As H. Raja criticised the Censor Board officials over the film's certification after watching the film online, demanding that they should be removed from posts, Gautami Tadimalla, the member of CBFC who watched a screening of the film on 22 October, claimed that "Mersal has been given a fair censor certificate. There was no foul in the film’s dialogues with reference to GST, and asking the scenes to be lifted off the film is a direct threat to freedom of speech." The South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce wrote a letter to Smriti Irani, the Information and Broadcasting minister, seeking action against H. Raja for watching the pirated version of the film online. In a positive note, "Mersal" emerged as the most tweeted hashtag of 2017 in the entertainment section, according to a survey report by Twitter.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: Joseph Harry Fowler Connick Jr. (born September 11, 1967) is an American singer, pianist, composer, actor, and television host. He has sold over 28million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with 16million in certified sales. He has had seven top20 US albums, and ten number-one US jazz albums, earning more number-one albums than any other artist in US jazz chart history.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: Connick's best-selling album in the United States is his Christmas album "When My Heart Finds Christmas" (1993). His highest-charting album is his release "Only You" (2004), which reached No.5 in the US and No.6 in Britain. He has won three Grammy Awards and two Emmy Awards. He played Leo Markus, the husband of Grace Adler (played by Debra Messing) on the NBC sitcom "Will & Grace" from 2002 to 2006.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: Connick began his acting career as a tail gunner in the World War II film "Memphis Belle" (1990). He played a serial killer in "Copycat" (1995) before being cast as a fighter pilot in the blockbuster "Independence Day" (1996). Connick's first role as a leading man was in "Hope Floats" (1998) with Sandra Bullock. He also lent his voice to the animated cult classic "The Iron Giant" (1999). His first thriller film since "Copycat" was "Basic" (2003) with John Travolta. Additionally, he played a violent ex-husband in "Bug", before two romantic comedies, "P.S. I Love You" (2007), and the leading man in "New in Town" (2009) with Renée Zellweger. In 2011, he appeared in the family film "Dolphin Tale" as Dr. Clay Haskett and in its 2014 sequel.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: Harry Connick Jr. was born and raised in New Orleans. His mother, Anita Frances Livingston (née Levy), was a lawyer and judge in New Orleans. His father, Harry Connick, was the district attorney of Orleans Parish from 1973 to 2003. His parents also owned a record store. Connick's father is a Roman Catholic of Irish, English, Northern Irish, and German ancestry. Connick's mother, who died of ovarian cancer, was Jewish (her parents had emigrated from Minsk and Vienna, respectively). Connick and his sister, Suzanna, were raised in the Lakeview neighborhood of New Orleans.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: Connick started learning keyboards at age three, playing publicly at age five, and recording with a local jazz band at ten. When he was nine years old, Connick performed Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 Opus 37 with the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra (now the Louisiana Philharmonic). Later he played a duet with Eubie Blake at the Royal Orleans Esplanade Lounge in New Orleans. The song was "I'm Just Wild About Harry". This was recorded for a Japanese documentary called "Jazz Around the World". The clip was also shown in a Bravo special called "Worlds of Harry Connick, Junior." in 1999. His musical talents were developed at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and under the tutelage of Ellis Marsalis Jr. and James Booker.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: Connick attended Jesuit High School, Isidore Newman School, Lakeview School, and the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts which are all in New Orleans. Following an unsuccessful attempt to study jazz academically, and having given recitals in the classical and jazz piano programs at Loyola University, Connick moved to the 92nd Street YMHA in New York City to study at Hunter College and the Manhattan School of Music. There he met Columbia Records executive, Dr. George Butler, who persuaded him to sign with Columbia. His first record, "Harry Connick Jr.", was a mainly instrumental album of standards. He soon acquired a reputation in jazz because of extended stays at high-profile New York City venues. His next album, "20", featured his vocals and added to this reputation.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: Connick's reputation was growing and director Rob Reiner asked him to provide a soundtrack for his romantic comedy, "When Harry Met Sally..." (1989), starring Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal. The soundtrack consisted of several standards, including "It Had to Be You", "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" and "Don't Get Around Much Anymore". The soundtrack earned double-platinum status in the United States. Connick won his first Grammy Award for Best Jazz Male Vocal Performance for his work on the soundtrack.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: Connick made his screen debut in "Memphis Belle" (1990), based on a true story about a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber crew in World War II. In that year he began a two-year world tour. In addition, he released two albums in July 1990: the instrumental jazz trio album "Lofty's Roach Souffle" and a big-band album of mostly original songs titled "We Are in Love", which also went double platinum. "We Are in Love" earned him his second consecutive Grammy for Best Jazz Male Vocal.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: "Promise Me You'll Remember", his contribution to the "Godfather III" soundtrack, was nominated for both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award in 1991. In a year of recognition, he was also nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Performance in a Variety Special for his PBS special "Swingin' Out Live", which was also released as a video. In October 1991, he released his third consecutive multi-platinum album, "Blue Light, Red Light", on which he wrote and arranged the songs. Also in October 1991, he starred in "Little Man Tate", directed by Jodie Foster, playing the friend of a child prodigy who goes to college.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: In November 1992, Connick released "25", a solo piano collection of standards that again went platinum. He also re-released the album "Eleven". Connick contributed "A Wink and a Smile" to the "Sleepless in Seattle" soundtrack, released in 1993. His multi-platinum album of holiday songs, "When My Heart Finds Christmas", was the best-selling Christmas album in 1993.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: In 1994, Connick decided to branch out. He released "She", an album of New Orleans funk that also went platinum. In addition, he released a song called "(I Could Only) Whisper Your Name" for the soundtrack of "The Mask", starring Jim Carrey, which is his most successful single in the United States to date.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: Connick took his funk music on a tour of the United Kingdom in 1994, an effort that did not please some of his fans, who were expecting a jazz crooner. Connick also went on a tour of the People's Republic of China in 1995, playing at the Shanghai Center Theatre. The performance was televised live in China for what became known as the Shanghai Gumbo special. In his third film "Copycat" (1995), Connick played a serial killer who terrorizes a psychiatrist (played by Sigourney Weaver). The following year, he released his second funk album, "Star Turtle", which did not sell as well as previous albums, although it did reach No. 38 on the charts. However, he appeared in the most successful movie of 1996, "Independence Day", with Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: For his 1997 release "To See You", Connick recorded original love songs, touring the United States and Europe with a full symphony orchestra backing him and his piano in each city. As part of his tour, he played at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway, with his final concert of that tour in Paris being recorded for a Valentine's Day special on PBS in 1998. He also continued his film career, starring in "Excess Baggage" (1997) opposite Alicia Silverstone and Benicio del Toro.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: In May 1998, he had his first leading role in director Forest Whitaker's "Hope Floats", with Sandra Bullock as his female lead. In 1999 he released "Come By Me", his first album of big band music in eight years, and embarked on a world tour, visiting the United States, Europe, Japan and Australia. In addition, he provided the voice of Dean McCoppin in the animated film "The Iron Giant".


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: Connick wrote the score for Susan Stroman's Broadway musical "Thou Shalt Not", based on Émile Zola's novel "Thérèse Raquin", in 2000; it premiered in 2001. His music and lyrics earned a Tony Award nomination. He was also the narrator of the film "My Dog Skip", released in that year.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: In March 2001, Connick starred in a television production of "South Pacific" with Glenn Close, televised on the ABC network. He also starred in his twelfth movie, "Mickey", featuring a screenplay by John Grisham. In October 2001, he released two albums: "Songs I Heard", featuring big band re-workings of children's show themes, and "30", featuring Connick on piano with guest appearances by several other musical artists. "Songs I Heard" won Connick another Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Album, and he toured performing songs from the album, holding matinees at which each parent had to be accompanied by a child.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: In 2002, he received a for a "system and method for coordinating music display among players in an orchestra." Connick appeared as Grace Adler's boyfriend (and later husband) Leo Markus on the NBC sitcom "Will & Grace" from 2002 to 2006.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: In July 2003, Connick released his first instrumental album in fifteen years, "Other Hours Connick on Piano Volume 1". It was released on Branford Marsalis' new label Marsalis Music and led to a short tour of nightclubs and small theaters. Connick appeared in the film "Basic". In October 2003, he released his second Christmas album, "Harry for the Holidays", which went gold and reached No. 12 on the "Billboard" 200 albums chart. He also had a television special on NBC featuring Whoopi Goldberg, Nathan Lane, Marc Anthony and Kim Burrell. "Only You", his seventeenth album for Columbia Records, was released in February 2004. A collection of 1950s and 1960s ballads, "Only You", went top ten on both sides of the Atlantic and was certified gold in the United States in March 2004. The "Only You" tour with big band went on in America, Australia and a short trip to Asia. "Harry for the Holidays" was certified platinum in November 2004. A music DVD "Harry Connick Jr."Only You" in Concert" was released in March 2004, after it had first aired as a "Great Performances" special on PBS. The special won him an Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Direction. The DVD received a Gold & Platinum Music VideoLong Form awards from the RIAA in November 2005.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: An animated holiday special, "The Happy Elf", aired on NBC in December 2005, with Connick as the composer, the narrator, and one of the executive producers. Shortly after, it was released on DVD. The holiday special was based on his original song "The Happy Elf", from his 2003 album "Harry for the Holidays". Another album from Marsalis Music was recorded in 2005, "", a duo album with Harry Connick Jr. on piano together with Branford Marsalis on saxophone. A music DVD, "A Duo Occasion", was filmed at the Ottawa International Jazz Festival 2005 in Canada, and released in November 2005.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: He appeared in another episode of NBC sitcom "Will & Grace" in November 2005, and appeared in an additional three episodes in 2006.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: "Bug", a film directed by William Friedkin, is a psychological thriller filmed in 2005 starring Connick, Ashley Judd, and Michael Shannon. The film was released in 2007. He starred in the Broadway revival of "The Pajama Game", produced by the Roundabout Theater Company, along with Michael McKean and Kelli O'Hara, at the "American Airlines Theatre" in 2006. It ran from February 23 to June 17, 2006, including five benefit performances running from June 13 to 17. Connick's performance was highly acclaimed; as David Rooney wrote in "Variety", "With his handsome wholesomeness and those mellifluous Sinatra-esque pipes, it’s hard to imagine a leading man more tailor-made for this 1954 show." The "Pajama Game" cast recording was nominated for a Grammy, after being released as part of Connick's double disc album Harry on Broadway, Act I.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: He hosted The Weather Channel's miniseries "100 Biggest Weather Moments" which aired in 2007. He was part of the documentary , released in November 2007. He sat in playing piano on Bob French's 2007 album "Marsalis Music Honors Series: Bob French". He appeared in the film "P.S. I Love You", released in December 2007. A third album in the "Connick on Piano" series, "Chanson du Vieux Carré" was released in 2007, and Connick received two Grammy nominations for the track "Ash Wednesday", for the Grammy awards in 2008. "Chanson du Vieux Carré" was released simultaneously with the album "Oh, My NOLA". Connick toured North America and Europe in 2007, and toured Asia and Australia in 2008, as part of his My New Orleans Tour. Connick did the arrangements for, wrote a couple of songs, and sang a duet on Kelli O'Hara's album that was released in May 2008. He was also the featured singer at the Concert of Hope immediately preceding Pope Benedict XVI's Mass at Yankee Stadium in April 2008. He had the starring role of Dr. Dennis Slamon in the Lifetime television film "Living Proof" (2008). His third Christmas album, "What a Night!", was released in November 2008.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: Harry has a vast knowledge of musical genres and vocalists, even Gospel music. One of his favorite Gospel artists is Stellar Award winner and Grammy nominated artist Kim Burrell of Houston, Texas. "And when Harry Connick Jr. assembled a symphony orchestra for Pope Benedict XVI’s appearance at Yankee Stadium in 2008, he wanted Burrell on vocals"


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: The film "New in Town" starring Connick and Renée Zellweger, began filming in January 2008, and was released in January 2009. Connick's album "Your Songs" was released on CD, September 22, 2009. In contrast to Connick's previous albums, this album is a collaboration with a record company producer, the multiple Grammy Award winning music executive Clive Davis.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: Connick starred in the Broadway revival of "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever", which opened at the St. James Theatre in November 2011 in previews. It closed in January 2012, after 29 previews and 57 performances.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: Connick appeared on the May 4, 2010 episode of "American Idol" season 9, where he acted as a mentor for the top 5 finalists. He appeared again the next night on May 5 to perform "And I Love Her".


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: On January 6, 2012, NBC president Robert Greenblatt announced at the Television Critics Association winter press tour that Connick had been cast in a four-episode arc of NBC's long-running legal drama, "" as new Executive ADA, David Haden, a prosecutor who is assigned a case with Detective Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay).


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: On June 11, 2013, Connick released a new album of all original music titled "Every Man Should Know". Connick debuted the title track live on May 2, 2013 episode of "American Idol" and appeared on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" the following week to discuss his new project. A 2013 US summer tour was announced in support of the album.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: Connick returned to "American Idol" to mentor the top four of season 12. He performed "Every Man Should Know" on the results show the following night.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: On September 3, 2013, the officials of "American Idol" officially announced that Connick would be a part of the judging panel for season 13 alongside former judge Jennifer Lopez and returning judge Keith Urban.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: "Angels Sing", a family Christmas movie released in November 2013 by Lionsgate, afforded Connick an onscreen collaboration with fellow musician Willie Nelson. The two wrote a special song exclusively for the movie. Shot in Austin, Texas, "Angels Sing" features actor/musicians Connie Britton, Lyle Lovett, and Kris Kristofferson and is directed by Tim McCanlies, who previously worked with Connick in The Iron Giant.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: In January 2019, it was announced that Connick was hired by piano instruction software company Playground Sessions as a video instructor.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: On October 25, 2019, he released a new album of Cole Porter compositions rearranged by Connick himself from Porter's The Great American Songbook including “Anything Goes” and “You Do Something To Me.” After selecting the songs, and writing and orchestrating the arrangements, he assembled and conducted the orchestra which features his longtime touring band with additional horns and a full string section.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: Along with his album, Connick announced his return to Broadway on September 16, 2019 with "Harry Connick Jr. — A Celebration of Cole Porter", a multimedia celebration of the Cole Porter songbook. The production was conceived and directed by Connick himself with the addition of theatrical and film elements accompanied by a company of dancers and an onstage orchestra.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: Harry released his new album "Alone With My Faith" on March 19, 2021. With the Coronavirus pandemic casting a long shadow in 2020, Connick retreated to his home studio during the lockdown and emerged with an album of new music. He arranged all of the songs, played every instrument, and sang every part. In addition to the familiar, traditional songs, Connick wrote and recorded new tracks that tell the story of his experience coping during lockdown and feeling the full spectrum of emotions that came with it. Both the album cover and the music videos for “Amazing Grace” and “Alone With My Faith” were conceived and directed by Harry’s daughter Georgia Connick. "Alone With My Faith" earned Connick his 16th career GRAMMY nomination for Best Roots Gospel Album as part of the 64th annual GRAMMY awards.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: Harry joined the cast of Annie Live! as Sir Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks - opposite Taraji P. Henson's devious Miss Hannigan. The live production aired December 2, 2021 on NBC and also coincided with the release of the Annie Live! Cast Album – the original soundtrack of the NBC television event.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: On 28 September 2022, Australia’s Seven Network announced Connick Jr. would be a judge on the revival of "Australian Idol" in 2023.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: Connick, a New Orleans native, is a founder of the Krewe of Orpheus which is a music-based New Orleans krewe. It takes its name from Orpheus of classical mythology. The Krewe of Orpheus parades on St. Charles Avenue and Canal Street in New Orleans on Lundi Gras (Fat Monday)the day before Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday).


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: On September 2, 2005, Connick helped organize and appeared in the NBC-sponsored live telethon concert, "A Concert for Hurricane Relief", for relief in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. He spent several days touring the city to draw attention to the plight of citizens stranded at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center and other places. At the concert he paired with host Matt Lauer and entertainers including Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Kanye West, Mike Myers, and John Goodman.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: On September 6, 2005, Connick was made honorary chair of Habitat for Humanity's Operation Home Delivery, a long-term rebuilding plan for families who survived Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast. His actions in New Orleans earned him a Jefferson Award for Public Service.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: Connick's album "Oh, My NOLA", and "" were released in 2007, with a following tour called the My New Orleans Tour.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: Connick and Branford Marsalis devised an initiative to help restore New Orleans' musical heritage. Habitat for Humanity and New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity, working with Connick and Marsalis announced on December 6, 2005, plans for a Musicians' Village in New Orleans. The Musicians' Village includes Habitat-constructed homes, with an "Ellis Marsalis Center for Music", as the area's centerpiece. The Habitat-built homes provide musicians, and anyone else who qualifies, the opportunity to buy decent, affordable housing.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: In 2012, Connick and Marsalis received the S. Roger Horchow Award for Greatest Public Service by a Private Citizen, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: On April 16, 1994, Connick married former Victoria's Secret model Jill Goodacre who is originally from Texas, at the St. Louis Cathedral, New Orleans. Jill is the daughter of sculptor Glenna Goodacre, originally from Lubbock, and now Santa Fe, New Mexico. The song "Jill", on the album "Blue Light, Red Light" (1991) is about her. They have three daughters: Georgia Tatum (born April 17, 1996), Sarah Kate (born September 12, 1997), and Charlotte (born June 26, 2002). The family lives in New Canaan, Connecticut and New Orleans.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: In 2011, Harry wrote Kate's debut song "A Lot Like Me". The song was released to celebrate the debut of American Girl's newest historical characters Cecile Rey and Marie Grace Gardner. "A Lot Like Me" is available on iTunes. The proceeds from "A Lot Like Me" went towards Ellis Marsalis Center for Music.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: Connick is a supporter of hometown NFL franchise New Orleans Saints. He was caught on camera at the Super Bowl XLIV, which the Saints won, in Miami by the television crew of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" during the post-game celebrations. Ellen's mother Betty was on the sidelines watching the festivities when she spotted Connick in the stands sporting a Drew Brees jersey.


title: Harry Connick Jr.

text: Connick was arrested by the Port Authority Police in December 1992 and charged with having a 9mm pistol in his possession at JFK International Airport. After spending a day in jail, he agreed to make a public-service television commercial warning against breaking gun laws. The court agreed to drop all charges if Connick stayed out of trouble for six months.


title: Philip V of Spain

text: Philip V (; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was King of Spain from 1 November 1700 to 14 January 1724, and again from 6 September 1724 to his death in 1746. His total reign of 45 years is the longest in the history of the Spanish monarchy. Philip instigated many important reforms in Spain, most especially the centralization of power of the monarchy and the suppression of regional privileges, via the Nueva Planta decrees, and restructuring of the administration of the Spanish Empire on the Iberian peninsula and its overseas regions.


title: Philip V of Spain

text: Philip was born into the French royal family (as Philippe, Duke of Anjou) during the reign of his grandfather, King Louis XIV. He was the second son of Louis, Grand Dauphin, and was third in line to the French throne after his father and his elder brother, Louis, Duke of Burgundy. Philip was not expected to become a monarch, but his great-uncle Charles II of Spain was childless. Philip's father had a strong claim to the Spanish throne, but since Philip's father and brother were expected to inherit the French throne, King Charles named Philip as his heir presumptive in his will. He ascended the Spanish throne in 1700.


title: Philip V of Spain

text: Philip was the first member of the House of Bourbon to rule as King of Spain. It was well-known that the union of France and Spain under one monarch would upset the balance of power in Europe, and that other European powers would take steps to prevent it. Philip's accession in Spain provoked the 13-year War of the Spanish Succession, which continued until the Treaty of Utrecht forbade any future possibility of unifying the French and Spanish crowns while confirming his accession to the throne of Spain. It also removed the Spanish Netherlands and Spanish-controlled Italy from the Spanish monarchy. In 1724, Philip abdicated in favor of his eldest son, Louis. The new king died later that year, and Philip took the throne again. As a result of his depression, his wife Elisabeth Farnese held control over the Spanish government. When Philip died in 1746, he was succeeded by his son Ferdinand VI.


title: Philip V of Spain

text: Phillip's reign has been generally criticized by historians, though some praise is occasionally offered for his reforms. Historian Stanley G. Payne wrote that "Felipe V was a neurotic, vacillating ruler, concerned with outward decorum and brave only in battle. He had little sense of Spanish interests and needs."