title: Capitol Records

text: Designed by Welton Becket with Louis Naidorf, a young architect from Becket's office, serving as project designer the thirteen-story, earthquake-resistant Capitol Records Tower was the world's first circular office building and it is the base for several recording studios. Although not intended as a tribute to record players, its wide curved awnings and tall narrow tower mimic the appearance of a stack of gramophone records atop a phonograph. The building was commissioned by EMI after its acquisition of Capitol Records in 1955 and was completed in April 1956. The building is north of the intersection of Hollywood and Vine and is the center of the company's consolidated West Coast operations. It was nicknamed "The House That Nat Built" after the financial success of Capitol singer Nat King Cole. The rectangular ground floor is a separate structure joined to the tower after it was completed.


title: Capitol Records

text: In September 2006, EMI announced that it had sold the tower and adjacent properties for $50 million to New York-based developer Argent Ventures. In mid-2008, a controversy erupted over a plan to build a condominium complex next door, igniting fears that the building's acoustic properties, specifically its underground echo chambers, would be compromised. It was announced in November 2012 that Steve Barnett would become chairman and CEO of Capitol Music Group and would be based at the Capitol Records Building. Capitol and artist Richard Wyatt Jr. restored his Hollywood Jazz Mural on the south wall of the Capitol Records Building.


title: Capitol Records

text: Capitol's recording studios were designed to minimize noise and vibration, then newly important goals in the high-fidelity sound era. An inner wall floating on layers of rubber and cork was erected inside the building's concrete exterior walls, leaving a one-inch air gap to provide complete sound isolation. The facility also features subterranean echo chambers that allow engineers to add reverberation during the recording process. Eight trapezoidal chambers are located underground, with 10-inch concrete walls and concrete ceilings. Speakers on one side and microphones on the other permit an echo effect of up to five seconds. Studios A and B can be combined for the recording of orchestral music and symphonic film soundtracks. The first album recorded in the tower was "Frank Sinatra Conducts Tone Poems of Color".


title: Capitol Records

text: Capitol modified albums that were originally released in other countries on other labels. Albums released in the United States contained fewer tracks, usually no more than 11 or 12, compared to albums released in the United Kingdom due to differences in the method of publishing royalties were calculated in the two countries. Also, in the American market it was expected that albums would include the current hit single, whereas British albums typically did not duplicate songs released as singles.


title: Capitol Records

text: Possibly the best-known treatment of an international artist's recordings was the label's release pattern for various albums by the Beatles. This began with Capitol's release of "Meet the Beatles!", the first album by the band to be released by Capitol in the United States. It was based on the British album "With the Beatles", which contained 14 tracks and a running time of around 35 minutes. Capitol removed five tracks ("Money", "You've Really Got A Hold On Me", "Devil in Her Heart", "Please Mister Postman", and "Roll Over Beethoven") and added both sides of the band's first American hit single ("I Want To Hold Your Hand" c/w "I Saw Her Standing There") and the British single's B-side, "This Boy". "I Saw Her Standing There" was on the Beatles' first British album, "Please Please Me". This resulted in Capitol releasing "Meet the Beatles" as a 12-track album with a duration of around 30 minutes and made it comparable with other American pop albums. It also provided Capitol with unreleased tracks for use in later US Beatles albums such as "The Beatles' Second Album."


title: Capitol Records

text: Capitol also issued "duophonic" stereo releases of some recordings where the original master was monophonic. Capitol engineers split the single master mono track into two, boosted the bass on the right channel, boosted treble on the left channel and added a split-second delay between channels to produce a "stereo" release. This duophonic process meant that the Beatles' American fans occasionally heard a slightly different song from that heard by the rest of the world if they listened to the stereo version.


title: Capitol Records

text: This trend in the Beatles' American discography continued until 1967 when a new recording contract with EMI was signed. Unhappy with the way Capitol in the US and other companies around the world were issuing their work in almost unrecognizable forms, beginning in 1967 the Beatles gained full approval of album titles and cover art, track listing and running order in North America. Starting with "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", Beatles' albums were released unmodified. The issue of 45 RPM singles featuring album tracks was also stopped. Instead, non-album tracks were issued as singles between album releases.


title: Capitol Records

text: Beginning in 1948, Capitol Records were released in the UK on the Capitol label by Decca. After its 1955 acquisition of Capitol, EMI took over distribution in 1956. EMI's Parlophone unit handled Capitol label marketing in the UK in later years.


title: Capitol Records

text: In 2012, EMI was sold to Universal Music Group. Universal Music started Capitol as an autonomous label in the UK with the rights to the Beatles' catalog. This marks the first time that Capitol in the UK operated as an autonomous label.


title: Capitol Records

text: Capitol Records of Canada was established in 1949 by businessman W. Lockwood Miller. Capitol broke with Miller's company and formed Capitol Record Distributors of Canada Limited in 1954. EMI acquired this company when it acquired Capitol. The company was renamed Capitol Records of Canada Ltd. in 1958 after Miller's rights to the name expired. In 1959, Capitol of Canada picked up distribution rights for EMI's labels Angel, Pathé, Odeon, and Parlophone.


title: Capitol Records

text: In 1957, Paul White joined Capitol of Canada and in 1960 established an A&R department independent of the American company to promote talent for the Canadian market. The division found native talent such as Anne Murray and EMI musicians from other countries. Beginning in 1962, Capitol of Canada issued albums by British musicians such as Cliff Richard, Helen Shapiro and Frank Ifield. They accepted the Beatles long before the American company. By 1967, they were distributing non-EMI labels such as 20th Century Fox, Buena Vista Records, Disneyland, and Pickwick. The company was renamed Capitol Records-EMI of Canada in 1974, before the EMI Music Canada name was adopted in 1993. EMI Music Canada was absorbed into Universal Music Canada in 2012. In 2016, Universal Music Canada donated the EMI Music Canada archives to the University of Calgary.


title: Capitol Records

text: Capitol Latin focuses on Latin music artists in Latin America and the United States. It was founded in 1989 as EMI Latin and was renamed to Capitol Latin in 2009. Capitol Latin was merged with Universal Music Latin Entertainment in 2013.


title: Capitol Records

text: Capitol Records of Mexico was founded in the 60s decade by Capitol Records, years before Capitol belonged to EMI, when EMI purchased Capitol, the record company was called EMI Capitol of México until later it became EMI's local company, . The label no longer exists and its catalog belongs to Universal Music Mexico.


title: Capitol Records

text: Capitol Music Germany was founded by EMI Music Germany and inherited most of EMI's German artists catalog. In 2013, Capitol Germany was acquired by Universal and merged with UMG's Vertigo Berlin domestic division. The new label is called "Vertigo/Capitol".


title: Capitol Records

text: Capitol Music Group Sweden was relaunched in 2015 after UMG rebranded the Lionheart Music Group label. It originally existed as a division of EMI Music Sweden during the 90's and mid-2000's. EMI's Swedish offices were included in the Parlophone Label Group sale and were acquired by Warner Music Group, which owns the Capitol Sweden's back catalog.


title: Capitol Records

text: In France, Capitol Label Services (formerly Capitol Music France) exists as a division of Universal Music France, and bears the 70's Capitol "C" logo.


title: Capitol Records

text: Capitol's roster has included Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Hoyt Axton, Ella Fitzgerald, Judy Garland, Peggy Lee, Ella Mae Morse, Dinah Shore, Sam Donahue, The Band, Tina Turner, Garth Brooks, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, the Beach Boys, Brian Wilson, Bee Gees, Merle Haggard, Johnny Mercer, Megadeth (concurrently on Century Media Records), The Knack, NF, Everclear, Katy Perry, Mary J. Blige, Halsey, Duran Duran (concurrently on Warner Records), Beastie Boys, Juice Newton, The Kingston Trio, Neil Diamond, Iron Maiden, Richard Thompson, Minnie Riperton, Luscious Jackson, Linda Ronstadt, Eagles, Beck, Avenged Sevenfold, Don Henley, Yellowcard, Sam Smith, The Smithereens, Sparklehorse, Migos, Emeli Sandé, Queen Naija, Helena Paparizou, 5 Seconds of Summer, Brian Courtney Wilson, Yma Sumac, Niall Horan, Radiohead, Richard Marx, Trace Adkins, Empire of The Sun, Fletcher, Coldplay (concurrently on Atlantic Records), Stan Freberg, Rodney Carrington, Queen, and Wayne Newton.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: The Mitsubishi Lancer is an automobile produced by the Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi Motors since 1973.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: The Lancer has been marketed as the Colt Lancer, Dodge Colt, Plymouth Colt, Chrysler Valiant Lancer, Chrysler Lancer, Eagle Summit, Hindustan Lancer, Soueast Lioncel, and Mitsubishi Mirage in various countries at different times, and has been sold as the Mitsubishi Galant Fortis in Japan since 2007. It has also been sold as Mitsubishi Lancer Fortis in Taiwan with a different facelift than the Galant Fortis. In Japan, it was sold at a specific retail chain called Car Plaza.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: Between its introduction in 1973 and 2008, over six million units were sold. There have been nine generations of Lancers before the current model.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: Mitsubishi ended production of the Lancer in August 2017 worldwide, with the exception of Taiwan and China. An extensive facelift was given to the car by Pininfarina's Chinese offices.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: The first Lancer (A70) was launched in February 1973. It served to fill the gap between the Minica kei car and the larger Galant. The sporting 1600 GSR model began the Lancer's long and successful rally history, winning the Safari Rally twice and the Southern Cross Rally four times.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: There were four body styles, two- and four-door sedans, a two-door hardtop coupe and a long-running five-door station wagon (built until replaced by the front-wheel drive Lancer/Mirage Van in March 1984). Engines were different 1.2-liter, 1.4-liter, and 1.6-liter fours.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: This car was marketed under a variety of names: Dodge Colt in the United States, Plymouth Colt in Canada, Dodge Lancer in some Latin American countries, Chrysler Valiant Lancer in Australia, and Colt Lancer in some European markets.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: In February 1975, the Lancer was complemented by a hatchback called the Lancer Celeste, succeeding the Galant FTO. It was also called the Mitsubishi Celeste (New Zealand) or Colt Celeste in some markets; and sold as the Chrysler Lancer in Australia, the Dodge Lancer Celeste in El Salvador, the Plymouth Arrow in the United States, and the Dodge Arrow in Canada.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: Four-door Lancer assembly began in New Zealand in 1975, supplementing the larger English Hillman Avengers also built locally by importer Todd Motors. The Celeste was imported built-up from Japan initially and assembly of a single 1.6- liter, manual transmission model began in 1978 followed by a minor facelift about a year later.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: The Celeste was originally available with 1.4- and 1.6-liter options, while a bigger 2.0-liter model was added later. An even larger 2.6-liter four was available in the US-market Plymouth Fire Arrow. The Celeste was facelifted in 1978, receiving square headlights and bigger squarer bumpers. Production of the Lancer Celeste ended in July 1981 and it was replaced by the front-wheel drive Cordia in early 1982.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: In 1979, the all new Lancer EX was unveiled in Japan. Its new, clean and aerodynamic styling with integrated plastic bumpers reflected that of the recently introduced Galant and Sapporo. It was of a more European appearance than earlier Mitsubishi vehicles.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: This generation is only available as 4-door sedan, the 2-door sedan was axed while the previous generation Celeste coupé and wagon/van were continued for a few more years. Considerably more spacious, it grew in all dimensions. Only two engines were offered at first, a 1.4-litre MCA-Jet equipped engine paired with Mitsubishi's Silent Shaft Technology, which generated and a 1.6-litre engine that generated . The MCA-Jet system was an entirely new concept when compared with the previously used carburetor system. The MCA stands for Mitsubishi Clean Air which meant that the EX passed both Japan and US emission standards, while the new cylinder head design of the engine gave way for a Jet valve which introduced an extra swirl of air to the combustion chamber, swirling the fuel-air mixture for a cleaner, efficient and more thorough burn.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: In addition to these improvements, another breakthrough in the Lancer lineup was the Silent Shaft Technology, which was actually two counterbalancing shafts that rotated in opposite directions, cancelling the power pulses inherent in an inline four-cylinder engine. This reduced both engine noise and vibration, and provided a smoother driving experience. The 1.8-litre Sirius 80 engines were then introduced in the Lancer in 1980, expanding the Lancer's range of engines. Also, a turbocharged, engine was added in 1980 for sportier performance, and an intercooler system was also integrated in the existing turbocharged engine to produce in 1983.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: In 1980, The Lancer EX was introduced with a 1.8-litre turbocharged inline-four option known as the 1800GSR and GT Turbo. The first generation 1800GSR and GT were only available with a turbocharged, non-intercooled .


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: New Zealand importer Todd Motors assembled the new Lancer EX from 1980 with 1.6-liter carburetor gasoline engine and a choice of manual or automatic transmission. The model was also a popular base for rally cars in that market, with some success. It was replaced by the front-drive Tredia in 1982 with the Cordia coupé equivalent effectively replacing the earlier Celeste.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: This generation was manufactured locally in Indonesia by Mitsubishi's partner, PT. Krama Yudha Kesuma Motor at their plant in Jakarta. Unique for this market, this generation was fitted with a 1.4-litre (1439 cc) 4G33 engine, inherited from the previous generation Lancer (never offered in the country) and possibly the only market that received this engine in this generation. It was only offered with a single trim called SL.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: In Europe, the Lancer EX sold well as its restrained styling better matched the desires of European buyers than its somewhat fussy predecessor. Other considerations concerned handling and also the demand for more passenger room, as Mitsubishi tailored the Lancer towards European consumers. It went on sale locally after making its European premier at the 1979 Frankfurt Show.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: Unlike in Japan at the time of introduction, European buyers could get a 1.2-litre option which suited local tax conditions. This engine later did become available in Japan as well, beginning in May 1981, but was discontinued in 1983 after the introduction of the smaller Lancer Fiore. Claimed outputs in Europe were lower than in the domestic market because of the net rating, with the 1200, 1400, and 1600 being good for respectively. Here, the Lancer EX was also offered with a turbocharged 2.0-litre SOHC engine, known as the Lancer EX2000 Turbo. It achieved a maximum output of and managed a top speed of . This model was equipped with Electronically Controlled Injection (ECI).


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: A rally version of the Lancer 2000 Turbo was made and homologated for Group 4 and Group B, made out . At home, sales of the turbo model were low because of emission regulations Japan imposed at that time.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: While the export was stopped in 1983, this generation was continued to be available in Japan until 1987. Sold together with Mirage-based front-wheel drive Lancer Fiore.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: Between 1982 and 2003, the Lancer in Japan derived from the subcompact Mirage—itself sold in many export markets under the name Colt. Mitsubishi had originally launched the Mirage in 1978 as a front-wheel drive hatchback, with a sedan variant later released in 1982—and a version of which sold in Japan as "Lancer Fiore". Five generations of Mirage were manufactured by Mitsubishi up until 2003, with new generations released in 1983 and 1987 (with the equivalent Lancer delayed until 1988), 1991 to 1995. It was not until 1988—with the 1979 to 1987 Lancer now departed—that the Mirage-based Lancer eschewed the Fiore suffix in the home market.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: Between 1982 and 1987, the aforementioned Mirage sedan with minor styling modifications sold as the Lancer Fiore through Japanese retail channels. The Fiore spanned two generations, the second of which came to the market in 1983. Internationally, the Fiore sedan often sold under the abbreviated name Lancer, and sometimes as the "Lancer F" (for example, in Germany). Thus, with the rear-wheel drive Lancer as introduced in 1979 and the front-wheel drive Lancer Fiore, Mitsubishi had two similarly sized models competing in the same market segment, sometimes even while sharing the Lancer badge.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: Although naming conventions varied, for all generations, sedan versions of the Mirage were typically badged as Lancer in export markets such as the Philippines, although notably not in the United States. In Japan, sedan variants of the Mirage and Lancer sold alongside one another with minor differences in trim. The station wagon, part of the 1983 and 1991 iterations, was typically known as the Lancer in export markets. Likewise, the Mirage coupe variant, available with the 1991 and 1995 generations, also became part of the Lancer lineup in some regions.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: Mitsubishi introduced replacements for the Mirage starting in 2000, with a new generation of Lancer sedan—now larger and having moved up to the compact segment. Then in 2002, a subcompact five-door hatchback badged Colt internationally became available, thus substituting the Mirage hatchback. By 2003, the Mirage had been completely phased out of mainstream Japanese production and Lancer became the primary title for Mitsubishi's compact offerings.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: May 2000 saw the release in Japan of the Lancer Cedia (meaning CEntury DIAmond); though in most markets the previous 1995 vintage Mirage-based Lancer soldiered on for a while longer, built at Mitsubishi's Mizushima plant in Japan. The new model was available in sedan and station wagon forms. In Europe, the Lancer was not offered in some countries, being too close to the size of the Dutch-built Mitsubishi Carisma, so the Evo VII model sold there bore the Carisma name. This series of Lancer was still sold in Japan for 3 years alongside the 2007 onwards generation Lancer, sold there as the "Galant Fortis".


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: In February 2003, for the 2004 model year, a heavily restyled Lancer surfaced with a front styling that brought it into line with the Mitsubishi corporate look, as well as a restyled rear, to further differentiate itself from the Lancer Evolution. The car's grille was then redesigned again in 2005 for the 2006 model year.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: In Japan, the Lancer Cedia was offered with many different trim levels and engines, including some options never exported, such as a cargo variant of the station wagon, which was replaced by a rebranded Nissan AD. It was also one of the first models to use the INVECS-III CVT transmission. There was also a Ralliart version of the Sportswagon which was powered by a turbocharged 1.8-liter GDI engine. Until 2010, it was still sold alongside the 9th generation, known in Japan as the Galant Fortis.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: In Taiwan, the Mitsubishi Lancer was produced and marketed by China Motor Corporation, and the car was slightly restyled in the beginning with larger front grilles, extra chrome trims, and the rear license plate located on the trunk lid instead of the rear bumper. Later, following the internationally sold facelift version, the front lamps were restyled and reshaped to be triangular while the tail lamps extended onto the trunk lid which is different from the version sold in other parts of the world. An additional facelift was added again in 2005 with white marker lights in the front replacing the amber ones and restyled tail lamps.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: In Indonesia, the Lancer was available in GLXi and SEi trims. It was assembled locally and sold from 2002 until 2012.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: In Malaysia, the Lancer was made available after Mitsubishi had sold all its shares in Malaysian carmaker Proton, marking the return of Mitsubishi in the Malaysian market after being absent since 1985 due to the agreement with Proton. The Lancer sold in Malaysia was powered by the "4G18" engine which also powered the early 1.6-liter Proton Waja model.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: In the Philippines, the Lancer Cedia was originally launched in 2003, sourced from Mitsubishi's Thailand plant until 2008, with 2008 to 2012 models assembled in Mitsubishi's production plant in Cainta, Rizal. It was offered with three trim levels; GLX, GLS and MX. Both GLX and GLS were powered with a 1.6-litre "4G18" SOHC engine with 110 PS (81 kW). The MX was powered with a 1.8-litre "4G93" SOHC engine. Transmission choices were a 5-speed manual (GLX and GLS) or "INVECS-III" CVT (GLS and MX). In 2005 and 2007 respectively, the Lancer received its first and second facelifts: featuring new headlights, tail lights, front fascia, trunk lid, rear bumper and wheel designs. In 2008, it got also a third facelift; featuring new tail lights, black smoked headlights, new wheel designs and front fascia. In 2007, Mitsubishi Philippines also marketed GT and GSR trims. Both were powered with a 2.0-litre "4G63" engine and mated with a 4-speed "INVECS-II" transmissions. The GT received semi-bucket seats and a Momo steering wheel while the GSR had leather seats and only came in Glaire Beige (champagne).


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: In Pakistan, this variant was launched in 2005 with cosmetic changes from the front and the back. Thai production was switched to the new model, and in all markets except for India the previous model was no longer marketed, four years after the Cedia's introduction. In India, it was first introduced at the 2006 Auto Expo in New Delhi as the Lancer Cedia, complementing the lower-priced Lancer. All Lancer variants were built by Mitsubishi's Indian partner Hindustan Motors. From 2009 on, it was sold under the Cedia name alone, available as the Cedia Select and the Cedia Sports. In order to comply with the emissions regulations and to accommodate lower quality petrol, it used a slightly detuned version of the SOHC 16-valve 4G94 found on the Lancer, having at 5250 rpm and at 4250 rpm. The Cedia, a rather expensive car for Indian conditions, was discontinued without a direct successor in June 2013 as Mitsubishi India chose to focus on SUVs. Production was reported to have ended in November 2012.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: In Australia, this series of Lancer was introduced as the CG series in July 2002 with the 2.0-liter "4G94" engine. The 2003 facelift, designated the CH series, introduced a heavily updated VR-X, which included new 16" alloys, stiffer suspension, body styling kit, and gear shifter borrowed from the Lancer Evolution. In 2004, the new Lancer wagon was introduced as a direct replacement for its ageing circa 1992 predecessor.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: In August 2005, all Lancers were upgraded to the 2.4-liter "4G69" engine, producing and of torque. The upgraded engine also saw a change in trim levels and upgraded equipment—the ES and LS models now featured a more upmarket looking black interior, while the VR-X gained a new black grille to closer resemble the Lancer Evolution IX. The equipment levels of all models were also upgraded, with the LS and VR-X gaining climate control, and a premium audio system sourced from the luxury Mitsubishi Verada. The Exceed model was discontinued, and all updated models now used JDM sized rear bumpers instead of the larger USDM sized versions. Additionally, the wagon also saw these changes; and as of 2007, continues to be sold alongside the sedan.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: The ES and LS models were given a minor facelift for the 2007 model year; this time gaining the same front grille as the US models, and putting it into line with the current corporate look—similar to that of the Colt and the locally built 380. A limited edition ES model dubbed "Velocity" went on sale prior to this generation being replaced. This package included VR-X grille, rear spoiler, leather/Alcantara bolstered seats, sports pedals, 15-inch alloy wheels and chrome exhaust tip—all for the same price as the previous standard ES.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: In some European markets, the Lancer began to take the place of the Carisma in 2004. It is powered by a 1.3-liter SOHC 16-valve "4G13" engine producing at 5,000 rpm and of torque at 4,000 rpm. The next engine in the range is the 1.6-liter SOHC "4G18" engine producing at 5,000 rpm and at 4,000 rpm. Finally, there is the 2.0-liter DOHC "4G63" producing at 5,750 rpm and at 4,500 rpm.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: In North America, the Lancer was introduced in 2001 for the 2002 model year as a direct replacement for the Mirage. In the United States, Chrysler had offered an unrelated Dodge Lancer at various stages between the 1950s and 1980s. However, when Daimler, who owned Chrysler at the time, briefly controlled Mitsubishi through the DaimlerChrysler-Mitsubishi alliance from 2000 through to 2004, the rights to the "Lancer" name were relinquished to Mitsubishi for usage in North America. Consequently, after Mitsubishi discontinued the 1995 series Mirage for North America in 2001, the replacement model adopted the Lancer name for the first time.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: North American Lancers were powered by a 2.0-liter "4G94" engine producing and of torque. In Mexico, the Lancer sedan was available in DE, ES, LS and GS trims with a 2.0-liter DOHC 4G63 engine.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: In addition to the facelift, North America received three additional models to the Lancer line in 2004—Lancer Ralliart, LS Sportback and Ralliart Sportback. Ralliart slots in between the base models and high-performance Evolution. These cars came equipped with Mitsubishi's 2.4-liter "4G69" engine (rated at / for the Sportback, and / for the Ralliart). The power gain was due to a tuned muffler for the Ralliart, and also included a new, stiffer suspension package that improved handling and lowered for Ralliart and lifted the LS Sportback by 2.9 inches. The LS Sportback had 15-inch steel or optional 15-inch alloy wheels. The Ralliart came with 16-inch alloy wheels, front bucket seats borrowed from Japan's Mitsubishi Evolution GT-A, optional fog lamps, and a new aerodynamic ground package for Ralliart. The LS Sportback and Ralliart Sportback were equipped with a four-speed INVECS-II automatic transmission, while the Ralliart came with a five-speed manual transmission with an option for the four-speed automatic.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: For the 2005 model year, the grille was changed to include more fins to reflect a closer similarity to the North American Galant. For the 2006 model year, the fascia was changed again from a bridged fascia to one with an open vent after Mitsubishi received complaints from current owners regarding its similarity in appearance to General Motors Division Pontiac's corporate look, and to bring the appearance closer to its bigger brother, the Evolution.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: The Lancer Sportback wagon was cancelled in the United States one year after its release, but the Mitsubishi Lancer wagon was sold in Canada for a while longer.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: In 2005, Mitsubishi revealed the "Concept X" model car at the Tokyo Motor Show and its "Concept Sportback" model at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The new Lancer was previewed by these two concepts. The new Lancer was officially revealed in January 2007 at the North American International Auto Show and went on sale in North American markets in March 2007 as a 2008 model. New Lancer features Mitsubishi's next-generation "RISE" safety body.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: With the exception of the Lancer Evolution X, the Lancer is marketed as the Galant Fortis (Latin for strong, brave and resolute) in the Japanese domestic market because the sixth generation of Lancer is still in production at that time. It comes in three trim levels: Exceed, Super Exceed, and Sport.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: Due to the popular demand for the previous 2000-era Lancer in Singapore, it continued to be sold alongside the new 2007 era Lancer which was called "Lancer EX" to differentiate itself from the former for two years. The 1.5- and 2.0-liter engine sizes and a flagship GT trim level were available in Singapore. For model year 2009, the design was refreshed all around with an updated front grille, darkened clear tail lamps, and chrome lining with an additional floor console internally. The rear for the 2.0-liter variants had disc brakes for better stopping power. From 2014 models onwards, only a 1.6-liter engine was offered in Elegance and Sports trim with factory AM/FM radio, ducktail spoiler, and 16” black gloss 10-spoke chrome rims or 16” Spaco gunmetal rims. For a limited period between 2015 and 2017, the Lancer EX had a slightly revamped rear with double rectangular “C-shaped” LED tail lamp clusters and had its Lancer badge positioned to the center of the boot.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: In Malaysia, the Lancer was first launched in August 2007 with a sole variant known as GT. The Lancer was then updated in 2009 and an EX variant was launched in July 2010. In October 2010, the Sportback bodystyle was launched in October 2010. The Lancer was then updated in August 2012 and April 2014. Also, Proton had renewed cross-licensing and technology transfer agreements with Mitsubishi as of October 2008 and lead to the Proton Inspira which is a badge-engineered 2007–2017 Lancer.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: In Indonesia, only the GT is sold and it utilizes the 2.0-liter "4B1" engine and is sold alongside the Evolution X. The previous generation Lancer was still sold, marketed as the Cedia using the 1.8-liter "4G9" engine.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: Hong Kong received its unique edition of the Lancer in 2008, dubbed the Lancer 2.0. The car comes in two trim levels, without a name for either of them. Both are equipped with the "4B11" 2.0-liter engine, seven airbags, eight-speaker stereo system, adaptive front-lighting system (AFS) with HID as well as 18-inch alloy wheels. The upper trim has a Ralliart style body kit which includes a revised front bumper, side skirt, rear bumper with diffuser, and the addition of a correct-to-Evolution X rear spoiler, while the lower trim makes do without the above-mentioned features.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: In the Philippines, the 9th generation Lancer was launched in mid-2008 as the "Lancer EX" to differentiate it from the previous generation Lancer sold alongside it, which would be discontinued by 2012. It was initially available only with a 2.0-litre "4B11" powerplant. The top-of-the-line GT and GT-A were added into the lineup in 2008. The GT and GT-A were essentially the same, both coming with rear spoilers, side skirts, and 18" alloy wheels, the only difference being that the GT came with a 5-speed manual, while the GT-A came with a CVT transmission with paddle shifters. A Ralliart version was also available, with a 2.0-litre single turbo engine making 240 hp paired to a 6-speed dual clutch automatic transmission. Like the Evolution X, it came with an all-wheel-drive system featuring active yaw control and an active center differential.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: In 2011, 3 trim levels were available: the base GLX which had no fog lights and three-beam headlights. It came with a 1.6-litre 4A92 MIVEC engine, making 117 hp, paired to a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic. The mid-range GLS has fog lights, GPS navigation with touchscreen. The same transmission options as the GLX were available. The top-of-the-line MX adds HID headlights, a blue LCD monitoring screen beneath the speedometer, and paddle-shifters. In 2010 the GT trim was phased out, while in 2012, the GLS was phased out.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: Between August 2015 and August 2017, GHK Motors (Mitsubishi Brunei) had offered a version of the Lancer Sportback under the name Mitsubishi Galant in Brunei. The Galant is equipped with the 2.4-liter engine, 18-inch alloy wheels, a Ralliart style front grille, side skirts, rear spoiler, and sports front seats.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: The Lancer was released in Australia in October 2007, designated the CJ series, and was initially available in ES, VR and VRX trim. The ES included cruise control, driver, passenger, and knee airbags, stability and traction control as standard. The VR added alloy wheels, fog lights, side skirts, boot lip spoiler, rain-sensing wipers, automatic headlights, six-disc CD changer, as well as curtain and side airbags. The VRX received extra skirts including front aprons, a larger rear spoiler, 18-inch alloys, 9-speaker Rockford Fosgate sound system, keyless entry, keyless engine start, and Bluetooth connectivity with voice control. All three models shared the same 4B11 2.0-litre engine and can be found with a manual gearbox or CVT. The Sportback body followed the sedan and has been available for all variants except the Aspire.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: In July 2008, the Lancer Evolution X (officially just "Lancer Evolution" at the time) became available for orders in Australia.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: In September 2008, another variant, the Aspire, was introduced. The Aspire was based on the 2009 model VRX, which had a new 4B12 2.4-litre engine. The Aspire included more luxury features and only came with a CVT, whereas the VRX maintained a manual gearbox option.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: In late 2008, the Ralliart variant became available. It featured a single turbocharged version of the 4B11 engine, all-wheel drive (AWD) and a twin-clutch six-speed (TC-SST) gearbox.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: In 2010, the limited edition ACTiV was added to the lineup. The ACTiV was based on the ES and added features such as 16-inch alloy wheels, side skirts, rear spoiler, hands-free Bluetooth and multi-function leather steering wheel.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: Various special models have also been introduced, such as the Platinum Edition, which is based on the VR but added a chrome grille, window surrounds (sedan only), MMCS satellite navigation, and Bluetooth. The RX version is derived from the ES but comes with standard alloy wheels. Another model introduced in 2010 was the SX coming with factory alloys, leather steering wheel, and gear shifter as well as factory spoiler.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: In Europe, a diesel model was also available from 2007 to September 2010. This was a 2.0-liter PD-TDI engine sourced from Volkswagen, with engine code BWC. From September 2010, it was also available with Mitsubishi's own 1.8-liter "4N1" engine. This engine has an aluminium cylinder block, four valves per cylinder and a common rail injection system with variable geometry turbocharger and variable valve timing. It develops and .


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: In Ireland, the specifications are different from those of models sold in the United Kingdom. The Lancer is available in five-door hatchback (Sportback) or four-door sedan body styles. Engines are the 1.5- and 1.8-liter petrol and the 2.0-liter diesel—all available in the United Kingdom until 2012. Trim levels are GS2, GS3, and GS4 for the saloon, and GS2, GS3, and Juro (satellite navigation and rear-view camera) for the Sportback. The Sportback Juro model marked a temporary end to the line in the UK and was the most generously equipped. A Ralliart version (petrol), a detuned version of the Evolution, was also available. Mitsubishi intended to supply the UK with 400 further Lancers in late 2014.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: For the United States, the Lancer was initially available in DE, ES, and GTS trim levels. DE, ES, and GTS models are powered by a GEMA based "4B11", 2.0-liter DOHC engine producing (except for California models which have been detuned to to meet regulations). Transmission options include a brand new "F1CJA" continuously variable transmission (CVT), sourced from Jatco, alongside a regular "F5MBB" five-speed manual sourced from Aisin Seiki. GTS models get a six-speed paddle shift version of the CVT.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: In Canada, a fourth model (SE) was introduced to the Lancer lineup. The SE model is a cross between the ES and GTS models. Features not included in the SE model that is found in the GTS are the FAST key, automatic climate control, carbon-fiber trim pieces, leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob, and 18-inch wheels.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: For US markets, starting with the 2009 model year, an ES Sport version was released similar to the SE model for the Canadian market. Externally the ES Sport is similar in appearance to the GTS—with side skirts, rear spoiler, etc. (with the exception of the wheels, the ES Sport retains the ES wheelset). The ES Sport also uses the 2.0-liter engine.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: For 2012, A new trim level called SE was added. The SE model features the 2.4-liter "4B12" engine and Mitsubishi's all-wheel-drive system. The SE is only available with a CVT transmission. For 2013, another trim level called GT was added. Based on the all-wheel-drive SE trim level, excluding the all-wheel control system, the GT features sportier suspension, upmarket options, and an available manual transmission.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: The five-door hatchback version, known as the "Sportback", was introduced for the Canadian market in spring 2009, and in the US for the 2010 model year in mid-2009.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: A detuned and cheaper version of the Evolution X was announced at the 2008 North American International Auto Show. This model became available for purchase in the United States in October 2008.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: For 2009, the Ralliart is available exclusively with the TC-SST transmission. The TC-SST transmission equipped in the Ralliart offers two modes (Normal, Sport) rather than the three modes the same transmission offers in the Lancer Evolution X MR (Normal, Sport, S-Sport). The car also includes a simplified version of the Evolution X's AWD system, with a simple "mechanical limited-slip" rear differential.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: To differentiate it from the previous model, still, on sale, this model is marketed as "Lancer Serie R" in Chile. For the same reason, in El Salvador, depending on the engine and trim, this series is titled "Lancer EX" or "Lancer GT".


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: In Brazil, Lancer was officially sold by Mitsubishi Motors 2007–2017. Between 2015 and 2017 was produced in Catalão Mitsubishi's factory. It was sold in four versions: MT, HL, HLE, and GT. All versions come with the 2.0-liter "4B11" l4 engine (gasoline). The Lancer Sportback was sold until 2013 in a single version, signed by Ralliart, and the Lancer Evolution X is also sold, although not produced locally.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: In October 2015, Mitsubishi released details of the model year 2016 Lancer facelift for North America. The MY16 update was announced and released for Australia in December 2015. It sports a mildly altered front and does without the Ralliart-style grille of the MY15 version, now with a cleaner front bumper with integrated chrome upper and lower grilles. New C-shaped LED daytime running lamps surrounding the foglights and side skirts complete the exterior changes, while the cabin gains a high-contrast instrument cluster, a new front centre console with silver and black accents, and a new colour touchscreen audio system with DAB digital radio. It was also released in the Philippines in April 2016 and it came in two trims; GLS and GT-A.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: Mitsubishi Motors North America's executive vice president and CEO, Don Swearingen, confirmed in January 2017 that Mitsubishi would end the Lancer's production in August 2017, without a successor. Mitsubishi's main focus was to be on crossovers and SUVs, but production of the Mirage hatchback and the G4 sedan will continue due to ongoing popular demand for the Mirage nameplate in the North American market.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: The Lancer Fortis and Lancer iO are derivatives of the global Lancer model. Both models were developed primarily for the Taiwanese market, historically a stronghold for Mitsubishi vehicles.<ref name="Lancer Fortis 08/2007 news.u-car.com.tw"></ref> The Lancer Fortis and iO are locally assembled in Taiwan and China by CMC and Soueast respectively. CMC also exported the Lancer Fortis to the Middle East.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: The Lancer Fortis made its debut in Taiwan in August 2007. The Fortis has a unique exterior design, but its interior styling and mechanical underpinnings are largely identical to the global Lancer model. Early models of the Lancer Fortis were powered by the , 2.0-litre "4B11" engine paired to the INVECS-III CVT gearbox.<ref name="Lancer Fortis 08/2007 autonet.com.tw"></ref> Later variants were offered with the , 1.8-litre "4B10" plant, while the 2.0-litre Fortis models were discontinued by 2010.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: In April 2008, Mitsubishi launched the Lancer iO in Taiwan. The iO was pitched as a sportier version of the Lancer Fortis, featuring a more aggressive front grille and bumper combination.<ref name="Lancer iO 06/2008 feature.u-car.com.tw"></ref> In February 2012, Mitsubishi discontinued the Fortis-based iO, and launched the global Lancer locally under the iO nameplate. The Taiwanese colloquial term for the 2012 Lancer iO and the global Lancer is 'shark head' (鯊魚頭).<ref name="Lancer iO 04/2012 carstuff.com.tw"></ref>


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: The Lancer Fortis made its Chinese debut at the 2013 Shanghai Motor Show. The Chinese market Lancer Fortis features a different front grille and bumper design in addition to other minor cosmetic changes. The base models are powered by the , 1.6-litre "4A92" engine, and the range topping variants received the 1.8-litre "4B10". The Lancer Fortis in China is positioned in between the more expensive Lancer EX, and the cheaper Lancer Classic.<ref name="Grand Lancer 07/2016 carnewschina.com"></ref>


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: The Taiwanese market Lancer Fortis and iO were simultaneously facelifted in May 2014. The design of the front grille and bumper combination on both models became more aggressive, while the Fortis adopted the 'shark head' design and the headlamps from the global Lancer. The rear lamps on both models were also revised, and the interior designs received minor cosmetic enhancements. The powerplant configuration for both models was refined for better fuel efficiency but was otherwise largely unchanged.<ref name="Lancer Fortis/iO 05/2014 news.u-car.com.tw"></ref> The Chinese market Lancer EX was later updated in line with the Lancer iO design.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: In January 2017, Mitsubishi Motors agreed to continue the Lancer nameplate in certain Asian markets such as Taiwan and China after 2017, due to ongoing popular demand for the Lancer nameplate within the Chinese-speaking world. The development of the new Grand Lancer in Taiwan was led and designed by the Taiwanese China Motor Corporation (CMC). Part of the design was partnered with Pininfarina Shanghai. Due to the international version being discontinued, the new generation Lancer is built on the same platform as the existing model as an extensive facelift. It comes with the new Mitsubishi Dynamic Shield grille and redesigned creases over the side body panels. The interior, front hood, front bumpers, front fenders, front and rear door panels including the rear passenger door window, the boot lid, and the rear bumper have been completely redesigned for the new generation, while the rest is carried over from the pre-2017 model.


title: Mitsubishi Lancer

text: Since 2007, the Lancer has regularly featured within the Top 10 and Top 20 vehicle sales charts. Prior to the discontinuation of Lancer production in 2017, John Signoriello, CEO of Mitsubishi Motors Australia Ltd, decided to stockpile as many Lancers as possible, in order to sell them in succeeding years. The following table shows sales since 2006.


title: Dan Castellaneta

text: Daniel Louis Castellaneta (; born October 29, 1957) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for voicing Homer Simpson on the animated series "The Simpsons" (as well as other characters on the show such as Abraham "Grampa" Simpson, Barney Gumble, Krusty the Clown, Sideshow Mel, Groundskeeper Willie, Mayor Quimby, and Hans Moleman). Castellaneta is also known for voicing Grandpa in Nickelodeon's "Hey Arnold!", and has had voice roles in several other programs, including "Futurama", "Sibs" and "Darkwing Duck", "The Adventures of Dynamo Duck", "The Batman", "", "Aladdin", "Earthworm Jim", and "Taz-Mania".


title: Dan Castellaneta

text: In 1999, he appeared in the Christmas special "Olive, the Other Reindeer" and won an Annie Award for his portrayal of the Postman. Castellaneta released a comedy album "I Am Not Homer", and wrote and starred in a one-person show titled "Where Did Vincent van Gogh?".


title: Dan Castellaneta

text: Daniel Louis Castellaneta was born on October 29, 1957, at Roseland Community Hospital on Chicago's south side and was raised in River Forest and Oak Park, Illinois. He is of Italian descent, born to Elsie ("née" Lagorio; 1926–2008) and Louis Castellaneta (1915–2014), an amateur actor who worked for a printing company.


title: Dan Castellaneta

text: Castellaneta became adept at impressions at a young age and his mother enrolled him in an acting class when he was 16 years old. He would listen to his father's comedy records and do impressions of the artists. He was a "devotee" of the works of many performers, including Alan Arkin and Barbara Harris and directors Mike Nichols and Elaine May. He attended Oak Park and River Forest High School and upon graduation, started attending Northern Illinois University (NIU) in the fall of 1975.


title: Dan Castellaneta

text: Castellaneta studied art education, with the goal of becoming an art teacher. He became a student teacher and would entertain his students with his impressions. Castellaneta was a regular participant in "The Ron Petke and His Dead Uncle Show", a radio show at NIU. The show helped Castellaneta hone his skills as a voice-over actor. He recalled "We did parodies and sketches, we would double up on, so you learned to switch between voices. I got my feet wet doing a voiceover. The show was just barely audible, but we didn't care. It was the fact that we got a chance to do it and write our own material." He took a play-writing class and auditioned for an improvisational show. A classmate first thought Castellaneta would "fall on his face with improvisation" but soon "was churning out material faster than [they] could make it work."


title: Dan Castellaneta

text: Castellaneta began his acting career after his graduation from Northern Illinois University in 1979. He decided that if his career went nowhere he would still have a chance to try something else. He began taking improvisation classes, where he met his future wife Deb Lacusta. He started to work at The Second City, an improvisational theatre in Chicago, in 1983 and continued to work there until 1987. During this period, he did voice-over work with his wife for various radio stations.


title: Dan Castellaneta

text: He auditioned for a role in "The Tracey Ullman Show" and his first meeting underwhelmed Tracey Ullman and the other producers. Ullman decided to fly to Chicago to watch Castellaneta perform. His performance that night was about a blind man who tries to become a comedian and Ullman later recalled that although there were flashier performances that night, Castellaneta made her cry. She was impressed and Castellaneta was hired.


title: Dan Castellaneta

text: Castellaneta is most famous for his roles on the longest-running American animated television show "The Simpsons", most notably as Homer Simpson. "The Tracey Ullman Show" included a series of animated shorts about a dysfunctional family. Voices were needed for the shorts, so the producers decided to ask Castellaneta and fellow cast member Julie Kavner to voice Homer and Marge Simpson respectively, rather than hire more actors. Homer's voice began as a loose impression of Walter Matthau, but Castellaneta could not "get enough power behind that voice" and could not sustain his Matthau impression for the nine- to ten-hour long recording sessions.


title: Dan Castellaneta

text: He tried to find something easier, so he "dropped the voice down", and developed it into a more versatile and humorous voice during the second and third season of the half-hour show. Castellaneta's normal speaking voice has no similarity to Homer's. To perform Homer's voice, Castellaneta lowers his chin to his chest, and is said to "let his IQ go."


title: Dan Castellaneta

text: Castellaneta likes to stay in character during recording sessions, and tries to visualize a scene in his mind so that he can give the proper voice to it. Despite Homer's fame, Castellaneta claims he is rarely recognized in public, "except, maybe, by a die-hard fan."


title: Dan Castellaneta

text: Castellaneta also provides the voices for numerous other characters, including Grampa Simpson, Barney Gumble, Krusty the Clown, Groundskeeper Willie, Mayor Quimby, Hans Moleman, Sideshow Mel, Itchy, Kodos, Arnie Pye, the Squeaky Voiced Teen and Gil Gunderson. Krusty's voice is based on Chicago television's Bob Bell, who had a very raspy voice and portrayed WGN-TV's Bozo the Clown from 1960 to 1984. During early recording sessions, he recorded a new version of Barney's loud trademark belch for every episode but discovered that it was not easy for him to belch each time a script called for it. Castellaneta chose a recording of what he believed was his best belch and told the producers to make that the standard.


title: Dan Castellaneta

text: Groundskeeper Willie's first appearance was in the season two episode "Principal Charming". The character was written as an angry janitor and Castellaneta was assigned to perform the voice. He did not know what voice to use and Sam Simon, who was directing at the time, suggested he use an accent. Castellaneta first tried using Hispanic voicing, which Simon felt was too clichéd. He then tried a "big dumb Swede", which was also rejected. For his third try, he used the voice of a grumpy Scotsman, which was deemed appropriate enough and was used in the episode. The voice was based partially on Angus Crock, a kilt-wearing chef from the sketch comedy show "Second City Television", who was portrayed by Dave Thomas.


title: Dan Castellaneta

text: Mayor Quimby, who first appeared in "Bart Gets an 'F', is a parody of various members of the Kennedy family. The episode script did not call for Quimby to be a parody of them, and Castellaneta improvised the accent. Sideshow Mel's voice is Castellaneta's impression of Kelsey Grammer, the voice of Sideshow Bob. Hapless Gil Gunderson is a spoof of actor Jack Lemmon's portrayal of Shelley Levene in the 1992 film adaptation of the play "Glengarry Glen Ross". Showrunner Mike Scully thought that Gil would be "a one-shot thing" but "Dan Castellaneta was so funny at the table read doing the character, we kept making up excuses in subsequent episodes to put him in." The Blue-Haired Lawyer's voice, as well as his demeanor, is based on lawyer Roy Cohn.


title: Dan Castellaneta

text: Castellaneta has won several awards for voicing Homer, including four Primetime Emmy Awards for "Outstanding Voice-Over Performance" in 1992 for "Lisa's Pony", 1993 for "Mr. Plow", 2004 for voicing several characters in "Today I Am a Clown", and 2009 for voicing Homer in "Father Knows Worst".


title: Dan Castellaneta

text: In 1993, Castellaneta was given a special Annie Award, "Outstanding Individual Achievement in the Field of Animation", for his work as Homer on "The Simpsons".


title: Dan Castellaneta

text: In 2004, Castellaneta and Julie Kavner (the voice of Marge) won a Young Artist Award for "Most Popular Mom & Dad in a TV Series". Homer was placed second on "TV Guide"s 2002 Top 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters, and in 2000, Homer and the rest of the Simpson family were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard.


title: Dan Castellaneta

text: Until 1998, Castellaneta was paid $30,000 per episode. During a pay dispute in 1998, Fox threatened to replace the six main voice actors with new actors, going as far as preparing for casting of new voices. The dispute was soon resolved and he received $125,000 per episode until 2004 when the voice actors demanded that they be paid $360,000 an episode. The issue was resolved a month later, and Castellaneta earned $250,000 per episode.


title: Dan Castellaneta

text: After salary re-negotiations in 2008, the voice actors received approximately $400,000 per episode. Three years later, with Fox threatening to cancel the series unless production costs were cut, Castellaneta and the other cast members accepted a 25 percent pay cut, down to over $300,000 per episode.


title: Dan Castellaneta

text: In the early 1990s, Castellaneta and Deb Lacusta wrote a script for an episode in which Barney becomes sober. They pitched their idea to showrunner Al Jean. Jean liked the story, but turned it down because he felt that it was too similar to "Duffless", an episode that the writers were already working on. They waited several years and offered their script, which they updated, to then-show runner Mike Scully, who liked it and had them make a few changes. Their script became the eleventh season episode "Days of Wine and D'oh'ses", which first aired April 9, 2000. Castellaneta and his wife have also written the episodes "Gump Roast", "The Ziff Who Came to Dinner", "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore", and "The Fight Before Christmas". In 2007, they were nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for the episode "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore". Castellaneta is also credited as a consulting producer.


title: Dan Castellaneta

text: Castellaneta has been a regular cast member in several other television series. In 1991, he played Warren Morris in the short-lived ABC live-action sitcom "Sibs". Heide Perlman, creator of "Sibs", wrote the part with Castellaneta in mind.


title: Dan Castellaneta

text: He provided the voice of the eponymous character in "The Adventures of Dynamo Duck", Megavolt in "Darkwing Duck", "Doc" Emmett Brown in "", the lead character in "Earthworm Jim" and several characters, including Grandpa Phil and the Jolly Olly Man, the mentally unstable ice cream truck driver, on Nickelodeon's "Hey Arnold!". He guest starred as The Robot Devil in five episodes of "Futurama", as well as the "Futurama" film "".


title: Dan Castellaneta

text: Castellaneta has also made guest appearances in a number of television series episodes. In 1992, he guest-starred in an episode of the legal drama "L.A. Law", as a Homer Simpson meetable character at a California amusement park who is dismissed for inappropriate behavior while in costume.


title: Dan Castellaneta

text: In 1996, he made a guest appearance as a Zoo Keeper in Season 2, Episode 12 “The One After the Superbowl” in Friends.


title: Dan Castellaneta

text: In 2005, he appeared in the episode "Sword of Destiny" in "Arrested Development" as Dr. Stein, a deadpan incompetent doctor.


title: Dan Castellaneta

text: In 2005, Castellaneta guest-starred as Joe Spencer in the "Stargate SG-1" season eight episode "Citizen Joe". He also appeared in episodes of "ALF", "Campus Ladies", "Castle", "Entourage", "Everybody Loves Raymond", "Frasier", "Friends", "Greek", "How I Met Your Mother", "Mad About You", "Married... with Children", "Murphy Brown", "NYPD Blue", "Parks and Recreation", "Reba", "Reno 911!", "That '70s Show", "Veronica Mars", "Hot in Cleveland", "Yes, Dear", and "Desperate Housewives".


title: Dan Castellaneta

text: He appeared as the Genie in the "Aladdin" sequel "The Return of Jafar" and on the 1994 "Aladdin" television series. The Genie had been voiced by Robin Williams in "Aladdin", and Castellaneta described replacing him as "sort of like stepping into "Hamlet" after Laurence Olivier did it, how can you win?" He also provided Genie's voice in the "Kingdom Hearts" video game series for both "Kingdom Hearts" and "Kingdom Hearts II" (with archived audio used for "" and its remake as well as for the later HD collections "Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix" and "Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix"). Castellaneta portrayed Aaron Spelling in the 2004 NBC film "Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Charlie's Angels", which followed the true story of how Spelling created the show. Other films in which Castellaneta has appeared include "Nothing in Common", "Say Anything...", "Super Mario Bros.", "The Client", "Space Jam", "My Giant", "The Simpsons Movie", "", "", "", "The Cat in the Hat" and "The Pursuit of Happyness".


title: Dan Castellaneta

text: In 2000, he won an Annie Award for his portrayal of the Postman in the animated Christmas television special "Olive, the Other Reindeer". In 2006, he appeared in Jeff Garlin's independent film "I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With" along with several other Second City alumni.


title: Dan Castellaneta

text: On February 22, 2000, his first music CD "Two Lips" was published. It was followed on April 23, 2002, by his first comedy CD, "I Am Not Homer", in which he and his wife perform several comedy skits. The majority of the sketches had been written and performed before the CD was recorded, and Castellaneta thought that it would be a good idea to preserve them "since [he and Lacusta] don't perform them much anymore."


title: Dan Castellaneta

text: Some came from their sketch series on a local radio station in Chicago and had to be lengthened from the "two-minute bits" that they were original, while several others were stage sketches performed in a comedy club in Santa Monica. Additionally, "Citizen Kane", a sketch in which two people discuss the film "Citizen Kane" with different meanings, was something the pair had performed at an art gallery. Castellaneta noted that "we already knew that these skits were funny, [but] some of them we polished and tightened." The skits were principally written by improvising from a basic point, transcribing the results, and then editing them to the finished scene. Castellaneta chose the title "I Am Not Homer" as a parody of Leonard Nimoy's famous first autobiography "I Am Not Spock", as well as to show that most of the comedy featured "is not the typical Homer comedy."


title: Dan Castellaneta

text: Alongside his television and film work, Castellaneta has appeared in a number of theatrical productions. In 1992, he starred in "Deb & Dan's Show" alongside his wife. In 1995, Castellaneta started writing "Where Did Vincent van Gogh?", a one man play in which he portrays a dozen different characters, including artist Vincent van Gogh. He first officially performed the play at the ACME Comedy Theatre in Los Angeles in 1999. In 2007, he appeared in "The Bicycle Men" at King's Head Theatre in London.


title: Dan Castellaneta

text: Castellaneta hosted the final of New York comedy show Thrills and Spills on December 31, 2015. The final was held in Montgomery, Alabama.


title: Dan Castellaneta

text: Castellaneta and his wife Deb Lacusta divide their time between the Californian cities of Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. The couple first met at an improvisational comedy class in Chicago, Illinois.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: James Scott Connors (born September 2, 1952) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He held the top Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ranking for a then-record 160 consecutive weeks from 1974 to 1977 and a career total of 268 weeks. By virtue of his long and prolific career, Connors still holds three prominent Open Era men's singles records: 109 titles, 1,557 matches played, and 1,274 match wins. His titles include eight major singles titles (a joint Open Era record five US Opens, two Wimbledons, one Australian Open), three year-end championships, and 17 Grand Prix Super Series titles. In 1974, he became the second man in the Open Era to win three major titles in a calendar year, and was not permitted to participate in the fourth, the French Open. Connors finished year end number one in the ATP rankings from 1974 to 1978. In 1982, he won both Wimbledon and the US Open and was ATP Player of the Year and ITF World Champion. He retired in 1996 at the age of 43.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: Connors grew up in East St. Louis, Illinois, across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, and was raised Catholic. During his childhood he was coached and trained by his mother and grandmother. He played in his first U.S. Championship, the U.S. boys' 11-and-under of 1961, when he was nine years old. Connors's mother, Gloria, took him to Southern California to be coached by Pancho Segura, starting at age 16, in 1968. He and his brother, John "Johnny" Connors, attended St. Phillip's grade school.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: Connors won the Junior Orange Bowl in both the 12- and the 14-year categories, and is one of only nine tennis players to win the Junior Orange Bowl championship twice in its 70-year history. In 1970, Connors recorded his first victory in the first round of the Pacific Southwest Open in Los Angeles, defeating Roy Emerson. In 1971, Connors won the NCAA singles title as a Freshman while attending UCLA and attained All-American status.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: He turned professional in 1972 and won his first tournament, the Jacksonville Open. Connors was acquiring a reputation as a maverick in 1972 when he refused to join the newly formed Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), the union that was embraced by most male professional players, in order to play in and dominate a series of smaller tournaments organized by Bill Riordan, his manager. However, Connors played in other tournaments and won the 1973 U.S. Pro Singles, his first significant title, toppling Arthur Ashe in a five-set final, 6–3, 4–6, 6–4, 3–6, 6–2.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: Connors won eight Grand Slam singles championships: five US Opens, two Wimbledons, and one Australian Open. He did not participate in the French Open during his peak years (1974–78), as he was banned from playing by the event in 1974 due to his association with World Team Tennis (WTT). and in the other four years was either banned or chose not to participate. He played in only two Australian Opens in his entire career, winning it in 1974 and reaching the final in 1975. Few highly ranked players, aside from Australians, travelled to Australia for that event up until the mid-1980s. Connors is one of thirteen men to win three or more major singles titles in a calendar year. Connors reached the final of the US Open in five straight years from 1974 through 1978, winning three times with each win being on a different surface (1974 on grass, 1976 on clay and 1978 on hard). He reached the final of Wimbledon four out of five years during his peak (1974, 1975, 1977 and 1978). Despite not being allowed to play or choosing not to participate in the French Open from 1974 to 1978, he was still able to reach the semifinals four times in the later years of his career.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: In 1974, Connors was the dominant player. He had a 99–4 record that year and won 15 tournaments of the 21 he entered, including three of the four Grand Slam singles titles. As noted, the French Open did not allow Connors to participate due to his association with World Team Tennis (WTT), but he won the Australian Open, which began in late December 1973 and concluded on January 1, 1974, defeating Phil Dent in four sets, and beat Ken Rosewall in straight sets in the finals of both Wimbledon and the US Open losing only 6 and 2 games, respectively, in those finals. His exclusion from the French Open denied him the opportunity to become the second male player of the Open Era, after Rod Laver, to win all four Major singles titles in a calendar year. He chose not to participate in the season-ending Masters Cup between the top eight players of the world and was not eligible for the World Championship Tennis (WCT) finals because he did not compete in the WCT's regular tournaments. Connors finished 1974 at the top of ATP Point Rankings. He also was the recipient of the "Martini and Rossi" Award, voted for by a panel of journalists and was ranked World No. 1 by Rex Bellamy, "Tennis Magazine" (U.S.), Rino Tommasi, "World Tennis", Bud Collins, Judith Elian and Lance Tingay.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: In 1975, Connors reached the finals of Wimbledon, the US Open and Australia, but he did not win any of them, although his loss to John Newcombe was close as Connors lost 9–7 in a fourth set tiebreak. He won nine of the tournaments he entered achieving an 82–8 record. While he earned enough points to retain the ATP No. 1 ranking the entire year and was ranked number one by Rino Tommasi, all other tennis authorities, including the ATP, named Arthur Ashe, who solidly defeated Connors at Wimbledon, as the Player of the Year. He once again did not participate in the Masters Cup or the WCT Finals.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: In 1976, Connors captured the US Open once again (defeating Björn Borg) while losing in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon. While winning 12 events, including the U.S. Pro Indoor in Philadelphia, Palm Springs and Las Vegas, he achieved a record of 90–8 and defeated Borg all four times they played. He was ranked No. 1 by the ATP for the entire year and was ranked number one by "World Tennis, Tennis Magazine" (U.S.), Bud Collins, Lance Tingay, John Barrett, and Tommasi. The ATP named Björn Borg as its player of the year.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: In 1977, Connors lost in the Wimbledon finals to Borg 6–4 in the fifth set and in the US Open finals to Guillermo Vilas, but Connors captured both the Masters, beating Borg, and the WCT Finals. While holding onto the ATP No. 1 ranking, "World Tennis" Magazine and most tennis authorities ranked Borg or Vilas No. 1 with Connors rated as No. 3 behind Borg.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: In 1978, Borg defeated Connors in the Wimbledon final, but Connors defeated an injured Borg at the US Open (played on hard court for the inaugural time) with both of their victories being dominating. Connors also won the U.S. Pro Indoor. While he retained the ATP No. 1 ranking at the end of the year, the ATP and most tennis authorities rated Borg, who also won the French Open, as the player of the year.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: Connors reached the ATP world No. 1 ranking on July 29, 1974, and held it for 160 consecutive weeks, a record until it was surpassed by Roger Federer on February 26, 2007. He was the ATP year-end no. 1 player from 1974 through 1978 and held the No. 1 ranking for a total of 268 weeks during his career. Connors relinquished his initial grip (160 weeks) on the No. 1 ranking for only one week, from August 23, 1977 to August 30, 1977, before resuming as No 1 for another 84 weeks.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: In 1979 through 1981, Connors generally reached the semi-finals of the three top Grand Slam events and the Masters each year, but he did win the WCT Finals in 1980. He was generally ranked third in the world those years.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: In 1982, Connors experienced a resurgence as he defeated John McEnroe in five close sets to win Wimbledon and Ivan Lendl to win the US Open after which he reclaimed the ATP No. 1 ranking. He also reached the semi-final of the Masters Cup and won five other tournaments. After trading the No. 1 ranking back and forth with McEnroe, he finished the year ranked No. 2 in points earned, but he was named Player of the Year by the ATP and was ITF World Champion due to his victories at Wimbledon and the US Open.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: In 1983, Connors, McEnroe and Lendl traded the No. 1 ranking several times with Connors winning the US Open for a record fifth time (beating Lendl in the final) and finishing the year as the No. 3 ranked player.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: Prominent contemporary players with Connors included Phil Dent, Brian Gottfried, Raul Ramírez, Harold Solomon, Dick Stockton, Roscoe Tanner, and Guillermo Vilas. His older rivals included Arthur Ashe, Rod Laver, Ilie Năstase, John Newcombe, Manuel Orantes, Ken Rosewall, and Stan Smith. His prominent younger opponents included Björn Borg, Vitas Gerulaitis, Ivan Lendl, and John McEnroe.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: During his best years of 1974 through 1978, Connors was challenged the most by Borg, with twelve matches on tour during that time frame. Borg won only four of those meetings, but two of those wins were in the Wimbledon finals of 1977 and 1978. Connors lost his stranglehold on the top ranking to Borg in early 1979 and wound up with an official tour record of 8–15 against Borg as Borg is four years younger and won the last ten times they met. Head to head in major championship finals, they split their four meetings, Borg winning two Wimbledons (1977 & 1978) and Connors winning two US Opens (1976 & 1978).


title: Jimmy Connors

text: Nastase was another rival in Connors's prime. Though six years older than Connors, Nastase won ten of their first eleven meetings. However, Connors won 11 of their final 14 meetings. The two would team up to win the doubles championships at the 1973 Wimbledon and the 1975 US Open.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: Orantes upset Connors in the final of the 1975 US Open, but Connors was 11–3 overall against Orantes in tour events. On the other hand, Vilas wore down Connors in the final of the 1977 US Open and was much more competitive in all of their meetings. Connors was able to manage only a 5–4 record against Vilas in tour events.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: In 1975, Connors won two highly touted "Challenge Matches", both arranged by the Riordan company and televised nationally by CBS Sports from Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. The first match, in February and billed as $100,000 ($ today) winner-takes-all, was against Laver. Connors won that match, 6–4, 6–2, 3–6, 7–5. In April, Connors met Newcombe in a match billed as a $250,000 winner-takes-all. Connors won the match, 6–3, 4–6, 6–2, 6–4. Connors ended his business relationship with Riordan later in 1975.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: Connors played Newcombe in four tour events, with Newcombe winning the first two meetings on grass (1973 US Open quarterfinal and 1975 Australian Open final) and Connors winning the last two on hard courts (1978 Sydney Indoor quarterfinal and 1979 Hong Kong round of 16). Connors won all three meetings with Rod Laver in tour events.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: In 1984 Connors had made both the finals of Wimbledon and the WCT finals with semifinal appearances at the French Open, the US Open, and the Masters Cup. He finished the year as the No. 2 ranked player after McEnroe. In 1985 he made the semi-finals of the big 4 four events and finished number No. 4 for the year, a ranking he would again obtain in 1987 at the age of 35.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: Connors had shining moments against John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl, both of whom rose to prominence after Connors peaked in the mid-1970s. He would continue to compete against much younger players and had one of the most remarkable comebacks for any athlete when he reached the semifinals of the 1991 US Open at the age of 39.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: In the 1980 WCT Finals, Connors defeated the defending champion, John McEnroe. McEnroe and Borg were battling for the top spot in that year, while Connors played the role of the spoiler. However, in 1982, at age 29, Connors was back in the Wimbledon singles final, where he faced McEnroe, who by then was established firmly as the world's top player. Connors recovered from being three points away from defeat in a fourth-set tie-break (at 3–4) to win the match, 3–6, 6–3, 6–7, 7–6, 6–4, and claimed his second Wimbledon title, eight years after his first. Although Connors's tour record against McEnroe was 14–20, McEnroe is six years younger than Connors and had a losing record against Connors until he won 12 out of their last 14 meetings. Head to head in major championship finals, they split their two meetings, Connors winning the 1982 Wimbledon in five sets, and McEnroe winning the 1984 Wimbledon in straight sets. McEnroe won six of their nine meetings in Grand Slam events.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: Connors defeated another of the next generation of tennis stars, Ivan Lendl, in the 1982 US Open final and soon regained the No. 1 ranking. Connors had a tour record of 13–22 against Lendl, but Lendl is eight years younger than Connors and had a losing record against Connors until he won their last 17 matches from 1984 through 1992, after Connors's prime. Head to head in major championship finals, Connors defeated Lendl in both meetings, winning the 1982 and 1983 US Open.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: In the fourth round of the 1987 Wimbledon Championships, Connors defeated Mikael Pernfors, ten years his junior, 1–6, 1–6, 7–5, 6–4, 6–2, after having trailed 4–1 in the third set and 3–0 in the fourth set. In July 1988, Connors ended a four-year title drought by winning the Sovran Bank Tennis Classic in Washington, D.C. It was the 106th title of his career. Connors had played in 56 tournaments and lost 11 finals since his previous victory in the Tokyo Indoors against Lendl in October 1984.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: At the 1989 US Open, Connors defeated the third seed (and future two-time champion), Stefan Edberg, in straight sets in the fourth round and pushed sixth-seeded Andre Agassi to five sets in a quarterfinal.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: His career seemed to be at an end in 1990, when he played only three tournament matches and lost all three, dropping to No. 936 in the world rankings. However, after surgery on his deteriorating left wrist, he came back to play 14 tournaments in 1991. An ailing back forced him to retire from a five-sets match in the third round of the French Open against Michael Chang, the 1989 champion. Connors walked off the court after hitting a winner against Chang.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: Connors recuperated and made an improbable run to the 1991 US Open semifinals which he later said were "the best 11 days of my tennis career". On his 39th birthday he defeated 24-year-old Aaron Krickstein, 3–6, 7–6, 1–6, 6–3, 7–6, in 4 hours and 41 minutes, coming back from a 2–5 deficit in the final set. Connors then defeated Paul Haarhuis in the quarterfinals before losing to Jim Courier. 22 years later ESPN aired a documentary commemorating Connors's run.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: Connors participated in his last major tournament, in the 1992 US Open, where he beat Jaime Oncins, 6–1, 6–2, 6–3 in the first round, before losing to Lendl (then ranked No. 7), 6–3, 3–6, 2–6, 0–6 in the second round.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: In September 1992, Connors played Martina Navratilova in the third Battle of the Sexes tennis match at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. Connors was allowed only one serve per point and Navratilova was allowed to hit into half the doubles court. Connors won, 7–5, 6–2.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: However, this would not be the end of his playing career. As late as June 1995, three months shy of his 43rd birthday Connors beat Sébastien Lareau, 6–4, 7–6, and Martin Sinner, 7–6, 6–0, to progress to the quarterfinals of the Halle event in Germany. Connors lost this quarterfinal, 6–7, 3–6 to Marc Rosset. Connors's last match on the main ATP tour came in April 1996, when he lost, 2–6, 6–3, 1–6, to Richey Reneberg in Atlanta.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: In 1974, Connors and Riordan began filing lawsuits, amounting to $10 million, against the ATP and its president, Arthur Ashe, for allegedly restricting his freedom in the game. The lawsuits stemmed from the French Open banning Connors in 1974 after he had signed a contract to play World Team Tennis (WTT) for the Baltimore Banners. Connors was seeking to enter the French Open, but the ATP and French officials opposed WTT because of scheduling conflicts, so the entries of WTT players were refused between 1974 and 1978. Connors dropped Riordan and eventually the lawsuits after losing to Ashe in the 1975 Wimbledon final (according to the official film produced by Wimbledon 1975, his $2 million suit against Ashe was still outstanding when the two met in the 1975 Wimbledon final).


title: Jimmy Connors

text: At Wimbledon in 1977, he declined to participate in a parade of former champions to celebrate the tournament's centenary, choosing instead to practice in the grounds with Ilie Nastase while the parade took place. In 2000, he also declined to join a gathering of 58 former champions held to mark the millennium. In his 2013 autobiography, Connors blamed his missing the 1977 parade on the All England Club for not letting his doctor onto the grounds so that Connors could try on a customized splint for a thumb injury. Connors explained that this necessitated his rushing to meet the doctor at the entrance to the grounds, and then convincing Nastase to help him try out the splint on a practice court. By Connors's account, he then rushed to Centre Court for the parade, but was too late. He was booed when he played his first-round match the next day. Reaching the final, he lost in five sets to Borg, who a month later was able briefly to interrupt Connors's long hold on the world No. 1 ranking.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: Connors also irritated sponsors and tennis officials by shunning the end-of-year Masters championship from 1974 through 1976. However, he entered this round-robin competition in 1977 when it moved to New York City. Although Connors lost a celebrated late-night match to Vilas, 4–6, 6–3, 5–7, he took the title by defeating Borg in the final, 6–4, 1–6, 6–4.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: Connors is often considered among the greatest tennis players in the history of the sport. Connors won a male record 109 singles titles. He also won 16 doubles titles (including the men's doubles titles at Wimbledon in 1973 and the US Open in 1975). Connors has won more matches (1,274) than any other male professional tennis player in the open era. His career win–loss record was 1,274–282 for a winning percentage of 82.4. He played 401 tournaments, a record until Fabrice Santoro overtook it in 2008.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: In Grand Slam Singles events, Connors reached the semifinals or better a total of 31 times and the quarterfinals or better a total of 41 times, despite entering the Australian Open Men's Singles only twice and not entering the French Open Men's Singles for five of his peak career years. The 31 semifinals stood as a record until surpassed by Roger Federer at Wimbledon 2012. The 41 quarterfinals remained a record until Roger Federer surpassed it at Wimbledon 2014. Connors was the only player to win the US Open on three different surfaces: grass, clay, and hard. He was also the first male tennis player to win Grand Slam singles titles on three different surfaces: grass (1974), clay (1976), and hard (1978).


title: Jimmy Connors

text: Connors was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1998 and Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Hall of Fame in 1986. He also has a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame. In his 1979 autobiography, tennis promoter and Grand Slam winning player Jack Kramer ranked Connors as one of the 21 best players of all time. Because of his fiery competitiveness and acrimonious relationships with a number of peers, he has been likened to baseball player Pete Rose. In 1983, Fred Perry ranked the greatest male players of all time and put them in to two categories, before World War 2 and after. Perry's modern best behind Laver: "Borg, McEnroe, Connors, Hoad, Jack Kramer, John Newcombe, Ken Rosewall, Manuel Santana".


title: Jimmy Connors

text: In the modern era of power tennis, Connors's style of play has often been cited as highly influential, especially in the development of the flat backhand. Larry Schwartz on ESPN.com said about Connors, "His biggest weapons were an indomitable spirit, a two-handed backhand and the best service return in the game. It is difficult to say which was more instrumental in Connors becoming a champion. ... Though smaller than most of his competitors, Connors didn't let it bother him, making up for a lack of size with determination." Of his own competitive nature Connors has said, "[T]here's always somebody out there who's willing to push it that extra inch, or mile, and that was me. (Laughter) I didn't care if it took me 30 minutes or five hours. If you beat me, you had to be the best, or the best you had that day. But that was my passion for the game. If I won, I won, and if I lost, well, I didn't take it so well."


title: Jimmy Connors

text: His on-court antics, designed to get the crowd involved, both helped and hurt his play. Schwartz said, "While tennis fans enjoyed Connors's gritty style and his never-say-die attitude, they often were shocked by his antics. His sometimes vulgar on-court behavior—like giving the finger to a linesman after disagreeing with a call or strutting about the court with the tennis racket handle between his legs; sometimes he would yank on the handle in a grotesque manner and his fans would go wild or groan in disapproval—did not help his approval rating. During the early part of his career, Connors frequently argued with umpires, linesmen, the players union, Davis Cup officials and other players. He was even booed at Wimbledon—a rare show of disapproval there—for snubbing the Parade of Champions on the first day of the Centenary in 1977." His brash behavior both on and off the court earned him a reputation as the brat of the tennis world. Tennis commentator Bud Collins nicknamed Connors the "Brash Basher of Belleville" after the St Louis suburb where he grew up. Connors himself thrived on the energy of the crowd, positive or negative, and manipulated and exploited it to his advantage in many of the greatest matches of his career.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: Connors was taught to hit the ball on the rise by his teaching-pro mother, Gloria Connors, a technique he used to defeat the opposition in the early years of his career. Gloria sent her son to Southern California to work with Pancho Segura at the age of 16. Segura advanced Connors' game of hitting the ball on the rise which enabled Connors to reflect the power and velocity of his opponents back at them. Segura was the master strategist in developing Jimmy's complete game. In the 1975 Wimbledon final, Arthur Ashe countered this strategy by taking the pace off the ball, giving Connors only soft junk shots (dinks, drop shots, and lobs) to hit.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: In an era when the serve and volley was the norm, Björn Borg excepted, Connors was one of the few players to hit the ball flat, low, and predominantly from the baseline. Connors hit his forehand with a semi-Western grip and with little net clearance. Contemporaries such as Arthur Ashe and commentators such as Joel Drucker characterized his forehand as his greatest weakness, especially on extreme pressure points, as it lacked the safety margin of hard forehands hit with topspin. His serve, while accurate and capable, was never a great weapon for him as it did not reach the velocity and power of his opponents.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: His lack of a dominating serve and net game, combined with his individualist style and maverick tendencies, meant that he was not as successful in doubles as he was in singles, although he did win Grand Slam titles with Ilie Năstase, reached a final with Chris Evert, and accumulated 16 doubles titles during his career.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: At a time when most other tennis pros played with wooden rackets, Connors used the "Wilson T2000" steel racket, which utilized a method for stringing that had been devised and patented by Lacoste in 1953. He played with this chrome tubular steel racket until 1984, when most other pros had shifted to new racket technologies, materials, and designs.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: At the Tokyo Indoor in October 1983, Connors switched to a new mid-size graphite racket, the Wilson ProStaff, that had been designed especially for him and he used it on the 1984 tour. But 1985 again found Connors playing with the T2000. In 1987, he finally switched to a graphite racket when he signed a contract with Slazenger to play their Panther Pro Ceramic. In 1990, Connors signed with Estusa.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: Connors used lead tape which he would wind around the racket head to provide the proper "feel" for his style of game.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: Connors did commentary with NBC-TV in 1990 and 1991, during its coverage of the French Open and Wimbledon tournaments. During the Wimbledon tournaments of 2005, 2006, and 2007, Connors commentated for the BBC alongside John McEnroe (among others), providing moments of heated discussion between two former archrivals. Connors returned to BBC commentary at Wimbledon in 2014. Connors has also served as a commentator and analyst for the Tennis Channel since the US Open tournament of 2009.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: On July 24, 2006, at the start of the Countrywide Classic tournament in Los Angeles, American tennis player Andy Roddick announced his partnership with Connors as his coach. In September, 2006 Roddick reached the final of the U.S. Open, where he lost to Roger Federer. On March 6, 2008, Roddick announced the end of that 19-month relationship.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: In July 2013 former women's world No. 1 Maria Sharapova announced on her website that Connors was her new coach. On August 15, 2013, Sharapova confirmed that she had ended the partnership with Connors after just one match together.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: In 2013, Connors published his autobiography "The Outsider". It won the British Sports Book Awards in the "Best Autobiography/Biography" category.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: Connors was engaged to fellow tennis pro Chris Evert from 1974 to 1975, and they each triumphed in the singles events at the 1974 Wimbledon Championships, a feat labelled "The Lovebird Double" by the media. Their engagement was broken off shortly before the 1975 Wimbledon championship. Connors and Evert briefly reconciled in 1976 and 1978, before parting for good. In May 2013, Connors wrote his autobiography in which he alleged that Evert was pregnant with their child and that she unilaterally made the decision to have an abortion.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: Former Miss World Marjorie Wallace was engaged to Connors from 1976 to 1977, but in 1979 Connors married "Playboy" model Patti McGuire. They have two children, son Brett and daughter Aubree, and live in the Santa Barbara, California area.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: In the fall of 1988, Connors auditioned to host the NBC daytime version of "Wheel of Fortune", a show he and his wife "never missed an episode" of. However, the job went to Rolf Benirschke. According to show creator Merv Griffin, many news outlets tried to get their hands on Connors' audition tape, but Griffin refused to release it because he said "it wouldn't have been fair to Jimmy."


title: Jimmy Connors

text: In the 1990s, he joined his brother John as an investor in the Argosy Gaming Company, which owned riverboat casinos on the Mississippi River. The two owned 19 percent of the company which was headquartered in the St. Louis metropolitan area of East Alton, Illinois. Argosy narrowly averted bankruptcy in the late 1990s and Connors' brother John personally sought Chapter 7 bankruptcy. In the liquidation, Connors, through his company, Smooth Swing, acquired the Alystra Casino in Henderson, Nevada, for $1.9 million from Union Planters Bank, which had foreclosed on John. In 1995, John Connors had opened the casino with announced plans to include a Jimmy Connors theme area. It was shuttered in 1998 and became a magnet for the homeless and thieves who stripped its copper piping. The casino never reopened under Connors' ownership and it was destroyed in a May 2008 fire.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: In October 2005, Connors had successful hip-replacement surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: On November 21, 2008, Connors was arrested outside an NCAA basketball game between the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of California at Santa Barbara after refusing to comply with an order to leave an area near the entrance to the stadium. The charges were dismissed by a judge on February 10, 2009.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: On July 24, 2018, LiveWire Ergogenics, Inc. announced that Connors joined the firm as a spokesman and advisor. The company focuses on special purpose real estate acquisitions and the licensing and management of fully compliant turnkey production facilities for cannabis-based products and services.


title: Jimmy Connors

text: In December 2019, Connors appeared as himself on season 18 episode 9 of "Family Guy" titled "Christmas is Coming".


title: Butch Cassidy

text: Robert LeRoy Parker (April 13, 1866 – November 7, 1908), better known as Butch Cassidy, was an American train and bank robber and the leader of a gang of criminal outlaws known as the "Wild Bunch" in the Old West.


title: Butch Cassidy

text: Parker engaged in criminal activity for more than a decade at the end of the 19th century and the early 20th century, but the pressures of being pursued by law enforcement, notably the Pinkerton detective agency, forced him to flee the country. He fled with his accomplice Harry Longabaugh, known as the "Sundance Kid", and Longabaugh's girlfriend Etta Place. The trio traveled first to Argentina and then to Bolivia, where Parker and Longabaugh are believed to have been killed in a shootout with the Bolivian Army in November 1908; the exact circumstances of their fate continue to be disputed.


title: Butch Cassidy

text: Parker's life and death have been extensively dramatized in film, television, and literature, and he remains one of the most well-known icons of the "Wild West" mythos in modern times.


title: Butch Cassidy

text: Robert LeRoy Parker was born on April 13, 1866, in Beaver, Utah Territory, the first of 13 children of English immigrants Maximillian Parker and Ann Campbell Gillies. The Parker and Gillies families had converted to the Mormon faith while still living in the United Kingdom. Maximillian Parker was 12 years old when his family arrived in Salt Lake City in 1856 as Mormon pioneers. Ann Gillies was born and lived in Tyneside in northeast England before immigrating to the U.S. with her family in 1859 at age 14. The couple were married in July 1865.


title: Butch Cassidy

text: Parker fled his home as a teenager and, while working on a dairy ranch, met cattle thief Mike Cassidy. He subsequently worked on several ranches, in addition to a brief apprenticeship with a butcher in Rock Springs, Wyoming, where he got his nickname (by the word "butcher", which morphed later into "Butch"), to which he soon added the last name Cassidy in honor of his old friend and mentor.


title: Butch Cassidy

text: Butch Cassidy's first criminal offense was minor. Around 1880, he journeyed to a clothier shop in another town but found it closed. He broke into the shop and stole a pair of jeans and some pie, leaving an IOU promising to pay on his next visit. The clothier pressed charges, but Cassidy was acquitted by a jury. He continued to work on ranches until 1884, when he moved to Telluride, Colorado, ostensibly to seek work, but perhaps to deliver stolen horses to buyers. Cassidy led a cowboy's life in Wyoming and Montana before returning to Telluride in 1887, where he met Matt Warner, the owner of a racehorse. Cassidy and Warner raced the horse at various events, dividing the winnings between them.


title: Butch Cassidy

text: Cassidy's first bank robbery took place on June 24, 1889, when Warner, two of the McCarty brothers, and he robbed the San Miguel Valley Bank in Telluride. Businessman L. L. Nunn had taken a controlling interest in the bank the previous year. The robbers stole around $21,000 (), after which they fled to the Robbers Roost, a remote hideout in southeastern Utah.


title: Butch Cassidy

text: In 1890, Cassidy purchased a ranch on the outskirts of Dubois, Wyoming. This location is across the state from the notorious Hole-in-the-Wall, a natural geological formation, and a popular hideout for outlaw gangs, including Cassidy's, during the era. Cassidy's ranching was possibly a façade for clandestine activities, perhaps with Hole-in-the-Wall outlaws, as he was never financially successful at ranching. Cassidy's ranch used the "unmistakable brand" of "Reverse-E, Box, E".


title: Butch Cassidy

text: In early 1894, Cassidy became involved romantically with rancher and outlaw Ann Bassett. Her father was a rancher who did business with Cassidy, supplying him with fresh horses and beef. That same year, Cassidy was arrested at Lander, Wyoming, for stealing horses and possibly for running a protection racket among the local ranchers there. He was imprisoned in the Wyoming State Prison in Laramie, where he served 18 months of a 2-year sentence; he was released and pardoned in January 1896 by Governor William Alford Richards. He became involved briefly with Bassett's older sister Josie before returning to Ann.


title: Butch Cassidy

text: Cassidy associated with a wide circle of criminals, most notably his closest friend William Ellsworth "Elzy" Lay, Harvey "Kid Curry" Logan, Ben "The Tall Texan" Kilpatrick, Harry Tracy, Will "News" Carver, Laura Bullion, and George "Flat Nose" Curry, who collectively became the so-called "Wild Bunch". The gang assembled sometime after Cassidy's release from prison in 1896, and took its name from the Doolin–Dalton gang, also known as the "Wild Bunch".


title: Butch Cassidy

text: On August 13, 1896, Cassidy, Lay, Logan, and Bob Meeks robbed the bank at Montpelier, Idaho, escaping with roughly $7,000. Cassidy recruited Harry Alonzo Longabaugh, also known as the "Sundance Kid", into the gang soon after.


title: Butch Cassidy

text: Bassett, Lay, and Lay's girlfriend Maude Davis all joined Cassidy at Robbers Roost in early 1897. The four hid there until early April, when Lay and Cassidy sent the women home so that the men could plan their next robbery. They ambushed a small group of men carrying the payroll of the Pleasant Valley Coal Company in the mining town of Castle Gate, Utah, on April 22, 1897, stealing a sack of silver coins, with which they fled back to the Robbers Roost.


title: Butch Cassidy

text: On June 2, 1899, the gang robbed a Union Pacific "Overland Flyer" passenger train near Wilcox, Wyoming, a robbery that earned them a great deal of notoriety and resulted in a massive manhunt. Many notable lawmen took part in the hunt, but they did not find them. Kid Curry and George Curry had a shootout with lawmen following the train robbery, killing Sheriff Joe Hazen. Tom Horn, a killer-for-hire employed by the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, was told by explosives expert Bill Speck about the Hazen shooting. Pinkerton detective Charlie Siringo was then assigned the task of capturing the outlaws. He became friends with Elfie Landusky, who was using the last name Curry after becoming pregnant by Kid Curry's brother Lonny Logan, and Siringo intended to locate the gang through her.


title: Butch Cassidy

text: On July 11, 1899, Lay and others were involved in a Colorado and Southern Railroad train robbery near Folsom, New Mexico, which Cassidy might have planned and personally directed. A shootout ensued with local law enforcement, during which Lay killed Sheriff Edward Farr and Henry Love; Lay was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment at the New Mexico State Penitentiary.


title: Butch Cassidy

text: The Wild Bunch typically separated following a robbery and fled in different directions, later reuniting at a predetermined location such as the Hole-in-the-Wall, Robbers Roost, or Fannie Porter's brothel in San Antonio.


title: Butch Cassidy

text: Cassidy approached Utah Governor Heber Wells to negotiate an amnesty. Wells advised him to ask the Union Pacific Railroad to drop their criminal complaints against him, and Union Pacific chairman E. H. Harriman attempted to meet with Cassidy through Warner. On August 29, 1900, Cassidy, Longabaugh, and others robbed Union Pacific train No. 3 near Tipton, Wyoming, breaking Cassidy's earlier promise to the governor of Wyoming and ending any chance for amnesty.