title: Franco Columbu

text: Columbu appeared as himself in the 1977 bodybuilding docudrama "Pumping Iron". He was the body building coach for Sylvester Stallone in the film "" (1985), and had roles in films that starred Schwarzenegger, including "Conan the Barbarian" (1982), "The Terminator" (1984), and "The Running Man" (1987). In addition, Columbu's name appears during the opening credits of Schwarzenegger's "Last Action Hero" as the director of fictional film "Jack Slater IV".


title: Franco Columbu

text: Columbu's later films, also as a writer and producer, included the cult film "Beretta's Island", (1993), "Doublecross on Costa's Island", which he also directed and "Ancient Warriors" (2003). These three films were almost entirely shot in his homeland of Sardinia. He was also featured, as an actor, in the low budget production of "".


title: Franco Columbu

text: Columbu lived in Los Angeles since the 1970s. He was a licensed chiropractor, earning his degree from Cleveland Chiropractic College in 1977. Columbu returned to his hometown of Ollolai in Sardinia every year towards the end of August to attend the local festivities.


title: Franco Columbu

text: On August 30, 2019, after feeling unwell while swimming off the coast of San Teodoro, Sardinia, Columbo died during transportation by helicopter to a hospital in Olbia, twenty-three days after his 78th birthday. He was survived by his wife, Deborah, their daughter, Maria, and three sisters: Anna, Gonaria and Celestina. A funeral was held in his birthplace of Ollolai on September 3. A memorial was held in Los Angeles on October 6, 2019.


title: Little Feat

text: Little Feat is an American rock band formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Lowell George and keyboardist Bill Payne in 1969 in Los Angeles. George disbanded the group because of creative differences shortly before his death in 1979. Surviving members re-formed Little Feat in 1987 and the band has remained active to the present.


title: Little Feat

text: Guitarist Jimmy Page stated that Little Feat was his favorite American band in a 1975 "Rolling Stone" interview.


title: Little Feat

text: Lowell George met Bill Payne when George was a member of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention. Payne had auditioned for the Mothers, but had not joined. They formed Little Feat along with former Mothers' bassist Roy Estrada and drummer Richie Hayward from George's previous band, The Factory. Hayward had also been a member of the Fraternity of Man whose claim to fame was the inclusion of their "Don't Bogart That Joint" on the million-selling "Easy Rider" film soundtrack. The name of the band came from a comment made by Mothers' drummer Jimmy Carl Black about Lowell's "little feet". The spelling of "feat" was an homage to the Beatles.


title: Little Feat

text: There are three stories about the genesis of Little Feat. One has it that George showed Zappa his song "Willin'," and that Zappa fired him from the Mothers of Invention, because he felt that George was too talented to merely be a member of his band, and told him he ought to go away and form his own band. The second version has Zappa firing him for playing a 15-minute guitar solo with his amplifier off. The third version says that Zappa fired him because "Willin contains drug references ("weed, whites and wine"). George often introduced the song as the reason he was asked to leave the band. On October 18, 1975 at the Auditorium Theater in Rochester, New York while introducing the song, George commented that he was asked to leave the band for "writing a song about dope".


title: Little Feat

text: In any version, Zappa was instrumental in getting George and his new band a contract with Warner Bros. Records. The eponymous first album delivered to Warner Bros. was recorded mostly in August and September 1970, and was released in January 1971. When it came time to record "Willin'," George had hurt his hand in an accident with a model airplane, so Ry Cooder sat in and played the song's slide part. Lowell's accident is referenced on the cover art of the band's 1998 album "Under the Radar". "Willin would be re-recorded with George playing slide for Little Feat's second album "Sailin' Shoes", which was also the first Little Feat album to include cover art by Neon Park, who had painted the cover for Zappa's "Weasels Ripped My Flesh". Early 1970s hard rock bands such as Grand Funk Railroad and Mountain were popular, but Little Feat never performanced hard rock.


title: Little Feat

text: Sometime during the recording of the first two albums, the band members along with ex-Mothers of Invention drummer Jimmy Carl Black ("the Indian of the group") backed soul singer Nolan Porter on his first album, "No Apologies".


title: Little Feat

text: The first two albums received nearly universal critical acclaim, and "Willin became a standard, subsequently popularized by its inclusion on Linda Ronstadt's album "Heart Like a Wheel".


title: Little Feat

text: Despite good reviews of their sophomore effort, lack of commercial success led to the band splitting up, with Estrada leaving to join Captain Beefheart's Magic Band, although he has given other reasons for quitting the band, such as to get away from the Los Angeles pollution and the L.A. city life.


title: Little Feat

text: In 1972 Little Feat reformed, with bassist Kenny Gradney replacing Estrada. The band also added a second guitarist in Paul Barrere, who had known George since they attended Hollywood High School in California, and percussionist Sam Clayton (brother of session singer Merry Clayton and the brother-in-law of the jazz saxophonist Curtis Amy) and as a result the band was expanded from a quartet to a sextet. Both Barrere and Clayton added vocals on many songs, although all the band members provided backing vocals in various tunes.


title: Little Feat

text: This new lineup radically altered the band's sound, leaning toward New Orleans funk. The group went on to record "Dixie Chicken" (1973)—one of the band's most popular albums, which incorporated New Orleans musical influences and styles—as well as "Feats Don't Fail Me Now" (1974), which was a studio-recorded attempt to capture some of the energy of their live shows. (The name of the latter album pays homage to the Fats Waller song.)


title: Little Feat

text: In 1973, Payne, Gradney, Barrere, Clayton and George (incorrectly credited as George Lowell) collaborated with jazz drummer Chico Hamilton on his Stax album "Chico the Master", which is a strong showcase for the band's leanings toward funk and R&B. In 1973 Little Feat backed Kathy Dalton on her "Amazing " album on the DiscReet label produced by Warner Brothers.


title: Little Feat

text: Due to disappointing sales the band disbanded a second time in 1973, Payne joined the Doobie Brothers and Hayward Ike Turner, they reformed in 1974.


title: Little Feat

text: In 1974 Lowell George, along with the Meters and other session musicians, backed Robert Palmer on his Island Records debut solo release "Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley" which opened with George's "Sailing Shoes." The whole band chipped in on Palmer's 1975 release, "Pressure Drop", which contained another George composition, "Trouble." 1976's "Some People Can Do What They Like", his third opus, opened with the Bill Payne/Fran Tate composition "One Last Look," and later featured Lowell's "Spanish Moon," although George and Gradney sat this one out. In March 1976, Little Feat served as the backing band on the first side of Akiko Yano's debut studio album "", released on the Philips label. The band remained based in Los Angeles due to doing session work on the side in addition to band activities.


title: Little Feat

text: The release of "The Last Record Album" in 1975 signaled another change in the Little Feat sound, with Barrere and Payne developing an interest in jazz-rock. Prior to the recording of "The Last Record Album", drummer Richie Hayward had a motorcycle accident and the liner to the LP release of "The Last Record Album" was decorated with copies of his many hospital bills. Also present was evidence of a late change to the running order of tracks: the lyrics for Barrere's song "Hi Roller" were printed on the sleeve, but scored out, and the words "maybe next time" scrawled over them. Sure enough, "Hi Roller" was the first track on the subsequent album "Time Loves a Hero".


title: Little Feat

text: George continued to produce the albums, but his songwriting contribution diminished as the group moved into jazz fusion, a style in which he had little interest. In August 1977, Little Feat recorded a live album from gigs at the Rainbow Theatre in London and Lisner Auditorium in Washington, D.C. "Waiting for Columbus" is considered by many rock music critics to be one of the best live albums of all time, despite the fact that significant portions of George's vocals and slide work were over-dubbed later in the studio. It was released in 1978, by which time it had become apparent that George's interest in the band was waning, as was his health.


title: Little Feat

text: George did some work on what would eventually become "Down on the Farm" but then declared that Little Feat had disbanded. In an interview with Bill Flanagan (for the book "Written in My Soul") conducted eleven days before his death, George made it clear that he felt the demise of Little Feat was due to his having allowed the band to be run democratically, with the result that Payne and, to a lesser extent, Barrere, had a presence as songwriters and in production which was disproportionate to their abilities. George was particularly scathing about Payne's attempts at jazz/fusion, citing an instance when Payne jammed with Weather Report on a TV show and dropped "into one of his 'Day at the Dog Races'. I just got out of there as fast as I could. It was embarrassing". In the same interview, George stated that he planned to reunite Little Feat without Payne and Barrere.


title: Little Feat

text: At this time Warner Bros. released George's only solo album, "Thanks, I'll Eat It Here", for which he had signed a contract in 1975. The album was mostly a collection of cover versions that George had been working on as a side project for several years and, in his biography, "Rock And Roll Doctor", Mark Brend states that George had hinted he only signed the solo contract to obtain funds to finance Little Feat (and Bill Flanagan states in "Written in My Soul" that George "didn't want his audience to assume a collection of other people's material marked the direction of Lowell George's solo career").


title: Little Feat

text: While touring in support of his solo album in June 1979, at the age of 34, George collapsed and died in his hotel room in Arlington, Virginia. An autopsy determined the cause of death was a heart attack.


title: Little Feat

text: The surviving members finished and released "Down on the Farm" before disbanding in 1979. A subsequent retrospective double album compilation of rare outtakes and live tracks, "Hoy-Hoy!", was released in 1981. The album is an overview of the history and sound of Little Feat and includes a cover of the Hank Williams song "Lonesome Whistle".


title: Little Feat

text: In 1981 and 1982, Barrere, Clayton, Gradney and Hayward performed several shows as "Barrere, Clayton, Gradney and Hayward" along with singer/guitarist Phil Brown.


title: Little Feat

text: Barrere then released two solo albums, 1983's "On My Own Two Feet" (Mirage) and 1984's "Real Lies" (Atlantic). Richie Hayward was the drummer on Robert Plant's 1985 funk and new wave flavoured "Shaken 'n' Stirred" (Es Paranza). Payne has always been a popular and busy session musician, as well as a songwriter, and during the band's first hiatus performed on a variety of albums by many famous musicians including J. J. Cale, the Doobie Brothers, Emmylou Harris, Pink Floyd, Bob Seger, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, and Stevie Nicks. He was a guest performer on Raitt's "Sweet Forgiveness" in 1977, which featured his composition "Takin' My Time."


title: Little Feat

text: In 1986, Richie Hayward, Paul Barrere and Bill Payne were invited to play on "Blue Slipper", the 1987 debut album by Helen Watson. They subsequently appeared on her second album "The Weather Inside". The surviving former members of Little Feat then reformed in 1987 when Barrere, Clayton, Gradney, Hayward and Payne added songwriter/vocalist/guitarist Craig Fuller, formerly from the band Pure Prairie League, and Fred Tackett on guitar, mandolin and trumpet. The band admired Fuller's previous work and were impressed when he toured with them in 1978 as part of the Fuller/Kaz band. They didn't require an audition, having played with him on tour, and thus, the new Little Feat lineup was formed. The initial release by the new lineup, "Let It Roll", was a tremendous success and Fuller's presence proved to be a major factor. His strong vocals and songwriting abilities were showcased, co-writing 8 of the 10 songs and handling a large share of lead vocals. The first single, "Hate to Lose Your Lovin'", earned the band their first No. 1 hit on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. All Music Guide critic Stephen Erlewine stated " What's surprising about Let It Roll is not just that it works, but that it works smashingly." The LP garnered Feat a certified gold record status on February 14, 1989. On the heels of this success, previous Feat releases experienced a sudden surge in sales. The February 10, 1978 live release "Waiting for Columbus" went certified platinum on November 8, 1989. "Dixie Chicken", originally released on January 25, 1973, went certified gold also on November 8, 1989. The band received more exposure than ever, including an appearance on "Saturday Night Live". Concerts were booked nationally and Little Feat played enthusiastic, sold-out shows. Barrere, Payne and company were pleased by the audience reaction; not only were they able to put over the Feat classics, but the new music proved to be artistically and commercially successful. While some Little Feat diehards initially had difficulty accepting the band without Lowell George, the success of Little Feat with Fuller could not be disputed. The band made a comeback that introduced a whole new generation to Little Feat and reignited their past, even though their original creative genius (George) was no longer around.


title: Little Feat

text: The follow-up album, "Representing the Mambo", released in 1990 proved to be the group's last album for Warner Bros., who were uncomfortable with the album's more jazzy leanings. The third and final album by this lineup, "Shake Me Up" (1991), was released on Morgan Creek as was the soundtrack of the 1992 film "White Sands", which contained one song by Little Feat called "Quicksand and Lies", but this label folded soon afterwards and Little Feat moved from one label to another until the establishment of Hot Tomato Records in 2002.


title: Little Feat

text: Fuller departed in 1993, stating that touring required too much time away from his family. He went on to join a re-formed Pure Prairie League, who in 2005 released their critically acclaimed "All in Good Time," which heavily featured his songwriting, singing and acoustic guitar. Up until leaving PPL again in 2011, he performed about 40 shows yearly with them, as well as occasional shows with Little Feat in addition to performing solo shows.


title: Little Feat

text: Craig Fuller was replaced by Shaun Murphy in September 1993. Shaun had sung on all of the recent Little Feat albums and throughout 1993 she had toured as part of Bob Seger's band with Fred Tackett and Bill Payne.


title: Little Feat

text: Shaun's first album with the group was "Ain't Had Enough Fun". As well as having material specifically written for her, for increasing fan draw attracted to her hard-edged powerhouse voice, further albums" Under the Radar" and "Chinese Work Songs" saw Murphy become an integral part of the group sharing lead vocals and writing with Payne and Barrere. Her rendition of Bob Dylan's "It Takes a Lot to Laugh" was first recorded in studio on "Chinese Work Songs", and became a favorite in live appearances with Murphy as lead singer prior to her departure in 2009. After recording five studio albums and performing over 1,400 concerts with the band, Murphy's position was made redundant, and the group pared down to a six-piece collective entity. Shaun would subsequently form the Shaun Murphy Band, with a specific blues-oriented niche. As of May 2011, Shaun had released two albums and returned to take her place with the Silver Bullet Band in the 2011 tour of Bob Seger, in addition to many scheduled live appearances with the Shaun Murphy Band, one of which was to release a third album and DVD, "Live in Detroit".


title: Little Feat

text: In August 2009, Richie Hayward announced that he had recently been diagnosed with a severe liver disease and would be unable to work indefinitely. A benefit concert was organized and a website created where fans unable to attend could donate toward his treatment costs. Little Feat announced that their drum technician Gabe Ford would take his place.


title: Little Feat

text: Hayward married and was living on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, with his liver cancer in remission as he awaited a transplant. On Sunday, July 11, 2010, Little Feat played at the Vancouver Island Music Festival and Hayward was slated to play just a couple of tunes, but once he sat behind his kit, he finished out the night. Hayward had intended to return to the band in the event of recovery, but he died on August 12, 2010, from pneumonia and complications from lung disease.


title: Little Feat

text: In 2014, the band Leftover Salmon announced that Bill Payne had joined with them as a permanent member. He left them in 2015 to take up a permanent post in The Doobie Brothers' touring band: this restricted his ability to perform longer tours with Little Feat. After this, the full band would perform around 10 dates per year, while Barrere, Tackett, Gradney and Ford would sometimes tour playing Little Feat material as a four-piece called Funky Feat.


title: Little Feat

text: In 1994, Paul Barrere had been diagnosed with Hepatitis C and, in 2013, took a leave of absence from touring with Little Feat to combat the disease, and to remain close to his health providers. He later performed a few one-off gigs with Fred Tackett as an acoustic duo and recorded collaborations with longtime friend Roger Cole. In August 2015, it was announced that he was suffering from liver cancer. In 2017 the band was joined for some shows by the Midnight Ramble Horns (Steve Bernstein, Jay Collins, and Erik Lawrence) who then augmented the band for the 50th Anniversary tour of 2018. They continue to often join the band on selected dates. The band then toured more sporadically during the next four years. Paul Barrere died on October 26, 2019. Scott Sharrard, who had filled in for Barrere during Little Feat's 50th Anniversary tour, was later brought on board as a full-time band member.


title: Little Feat

text: On September 16, 2020, the band released a video rerecording of the 1975 Lowell George song "Long Distance Love". The video introduced a new band lineup with Tony Leone known for his work with Levon Helm and Phil Lesh joining on drums in place of Gabe Ford. Levon Helm's daughter Amy guested on backing vocals - she and Leone had previously played together in Ollabelle. A new song, the first in eight years, When All Boats Rise, was released in late October 2020.


title: Little Feat

text: Some of the prominent musicians and bands to play and record the music of Little Feat include Phish, The Black Crowes, The Byrds, The Bridge, Garth Brooks, Jackson Browne, Bob Dylan, Steve Earle, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Emmylou Harris, Taylor Hicks, Ron Holloway, Keisuke Kuwata, Nicolette Larson, Nazareth, Robert Palmer, The Radiators, Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt, Seatrain, John Sebastian, Richard Shindell, Carly Simon, Mick Taylor, Van Halen, Joe Walsh, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Sam Bush, Coco Montoya, Vince Herman, Inara George, Stephen Bruton, Widespread Panic, Warren Haynes and Gov't Mule, Blackberry Smoke, Jimmy Buffett, Anders Osborne and Gregg Allman.


title: Little Feat

text: In 2008, Little Feat reached their 20th anniversary as a once-again active band, and with just one lineup change since 1988. Jimmy Buffett has been an enthusiastic booster of the band for many years and his private record label was partnered with Feat's Hot Tomato Records to produce the CD "Join the Band". Released in mid-August 2008, the album features collaborations with Buffett, Dave Matthews, Emmylou Harris, Bob Seger, Béla Fleck, Brooks & Dunn, Chris Robinson (Black Crowes), Vince Gill, Mike Gordon (Phish), and Inara George.


title: Little Feat

text: Little Feat's songs "Sailin' Shoes" and "Fat Man in the Bathtub" were featured prominently in the 2010 Edward Norton film "Leaves of Grass."


title: Little Feat

text: On October 31, 2010, at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey the band Phish covered Little Feat's album, "Waiting for Columbus", for their annual Halloween show. As a result of this concert and the distribution of its recording, the album gained recognition from a wider audience among younger listeners.


title: Little Feat

text: On July 21, 2018, at Peach Fest at Montage Mountain in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the remaining members of Little Feat joined forces with moe., the Turkuaz Horns and the Ramble Band Horns to recreate and pay homage to the band's classic live album "Waiting For Columbus".


title: Little Feat

text: Since 2003 Little Feat has organised an annual fans' trip to Jamaica, where the full band plays several shows, often with guests, and various members perform solo and duo sets.


title: Paul Vario

text: Paul Vario (July 10, 1914 – May 3, 1988) was an American mobster and made man in the Lucchese crime family. Vario was a caporegime and had his own crew of mobsters in Brooklyn, New York. Following the testimony of Henry Hill, Vario was convicted in 1984, of fraud, and sentenced to four years in prison, followed by a conviction for extortion in 1985, and an additional sentence of 10 years in prison. He died on May 3, 1988, of lung failure in prison.


title: Paul Vario

text: Vario was born on July 10, 1914, in New York City. In 1925, at age 11, Vario was sentenced to seven months in juvenile detention for truancy. He later became a member of the Lucchese crime family.


title: Paul Vario

text: Vario and his first wife, Vita, had three sons, Peter, Paul Jr., and Leonard. He later married his second wife, Phyllis.


title: Paul Vario

text: Vario allegedly had a very violent temper. One night Vario took his wife, Phyllis, out to dinner. While they were sitting at the table, the maître d'hôtel accidentally poured wine on Phyllis' dress, then tried to dry it with a dirty rag. An enraged Vario hit the maitre d'hôtel twice. Later that night, Vario sent two carloads of men armed with baseball bats and pipes to assault the waiters after the restaurant had closed.


title: Paul Vario

text: On July 20, 1973, Leonard Vario died of severe burns at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn. The cause of his injuries was never discovered. At his funeral, two television cameramen and a police detective were beaten by the mourners.


title: Paul Vario

text: Vario's crew notably included Thomas DeSimone and Henry Hill. Vario owned a junkyard in Canarsie, Brooklyn where he reportedly oversaw schemes that included hijackings, loan-sharking, bookmaking and fencing stolen property. He and his associates were reputed to have been involved in criminal dealings at John F. Kennedy Airport, extorting money from shippers and airlines in exchange for labor peace.


title: Paul Vario

text: Vario was also involved in legitimate businesses that included a flower shop, a bar, a restaurant and a taxi stand. Vario would also use these business locations to conduct his illegal rackets. At his height, Vario was earning an estimated $25,000 a day for all these illegal rackets. According to Hill, Vario once told him that he had stashed $1 million in a single vault. During this period, Vario also served as a consigliere to Lucchese boss Carmine Tramunti.


title: Paul Vario

text: In 1970, Vario was cited for contempt of court and was sent to the Nassau County Correctional Facility on Long Island for seven months.


title: Paul Vario

text: On April 7, 1972, law enforcement placed an electronic listening device inside Vario's trailer at the junkyard and started gathering evidence against him. In addition, a police detective wearing a listening device started visiting the trailer. Vario was convinced the policeman was corrupt and soon started offering him bribes. The entire surveillance operation lasted about six months.


title: Paul Vario

text: In October 1972, police raided Vario's junkyard in Canarsie. On November 1, 1972, Vario was indicted on charges of tampering with a witness. He had allegedly advised Frank Heitman, a convicted gambler, to flee to Florida to avoid testifying to a grand jury in Nassau County. To arrest Vario, police had to chase his car for 20 minutes through the streets of Brooklyn before he finally stopped for them. On November 21, 1972, Vario was indicted on insurance fraud charges. He and several co-conspirators had stripped a boat of its equipment, sunk it, and then filed a $7,000 insurance claim. On December 7, 1972, Vario was indicted on charges that included attempting to bribe the officer at the trailer. Also in December 1972, Vario pleaded guilty to drunken driving and received probation. However, Vario violated probation in early 1973 and was in jail by February 1973.


title: Paul Vario

text: On February 9, 1973, Vario was convicted on tax evasion charges. On April 6, 1973, Vario was sentenced to six years in federal prison for the tax evasion conviction.


title: Paul Vario

text: Vario was sent to the federal prison located in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. While in prison, Vario was part of the infamous "Mafia row" of prisoners.


title: Paul Vario

text: In 1975, Vario was released from federal prison. He was no longer the underboss in the Lucchese crime family; new boss Anthony Corallo had replaced Vario with Salvatore Santoro. On parole, Vario moved to a residence near Miami, Florida.


title: Paul Vario

text: In 1978, Vario approved his crew's participation in the infamous Lufthansa heist at JFK airport. The idea was presented to Vario by phone while he was in Florida. Vario quickly gave his approval, but insisted that Jimmy Burke, then in prison, supervise it. In December 1978, the crew successfully looted an estimated $5 million in cash and $875,000 in jewelry (equivalent to $ million in ).


title: Paul Vario

text: On February 9, 1984, Vario was convicted of defrauding the federal government. Now a government witness, Hill testified that Vario had arranged a fictitious restaurant job for Hill so that Hill could be released from federal prison. Vario was convicted and on April 3, 1984, he was sentenced to four years in federal prison and fined $10,000.


title: Paul Vario

text: On February 21, 1985, while serving his prison sentence, Vario was indicted in a racketeering conspiracy that involved extortion. He and co-conspirators were charged with extorting over $350,000 from air cargo companies at JFK airport, threatening them with labor problems if they did not pay. Convicted again with the help of Hill's testimony, he was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for extortion.


title: Paul Vario

text: Vario died on May 3, 1988, aged 73, from lung failure as a result of lung cancer while incarcerated at Fort Worth Federal Prison in Fort Worth, Texas. He is buried at St. John Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens, New York.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: Tegan and Sara () are a Canadian indie pop duo formed in 1998 in Calgary, Alberta. The band is led by identical twin sisters Tegan Rain Quin and Sara Keirsten Quin (born September 19, 1980). Both musicians are songwriters and multi-instrumentalists.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: The duo has released 10 studio albums. They have earned a Grammy nomination in 2012 for their video album "Get Along". Their 10th album "Crybaby" was released on October 21, 2022. Tegan and Sara's memoir "High School" was released on September 24, 2019. The TV series of the same name based on the memoir was released on Amazon Freevee in the fall of 2022.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: Tegan and Sara started writing songs at 15 years old, using an old guitar they found in their basement, once owned by their then-stepfather. One of the first songs they wrote was "Tegan Didn't Go To School Today", which was written by Sara. They later sang and recorded the song on a cassette tape. The band was first called Plunk, which stood for "light punk" due to their lack of a drummer and bassist. In 1997, they used their school's recording studio to record two demo albums: "Who's in Your Band?" and "Play Day". In 1998, they won Calgary's "Garage Warz" competition, which awarded them studio time. Using the studio time they won in this competition, they recorded their first professional demo under the name "Sara and Tegan" called "Yellow tape." This was followed by "Orange tape" and "Red tape". In May 1998, they opened for Hayden, in Calgary, marking their first major show.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: In 1999, they released their debut album "Under Feet Like Ours" as "Sara and Tegan", with producer Jared Kuemper. Two songs from "Red tape" appeared on the album, and two from "Orange tape". They later changed their name to "Tegan and Sara" because people misheard it as "Sara Antegan". They signed with Neil Young's Vapor Records and released "This Business of Art" through the label in 2000.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: In 2002, Tegan and Sara released their third album "If It Was You". Their fourth album, "So Jealous," was released in 2004 and led to wider success and attention, both locally and internationally. This album was released through both Vapor and Sanctuary. The band's 2007 album, "The Con," was released by Vapor and Sire because Sanctuary chose to no longer release new music in the United States. The album was co-produced by Chris Walla. Jason McGerr of Death Cab for Cutie, Matt Sharp of The Rentals (and previously Weezer), Hunter Burgan of AFI, and Kaki King all appeared and collaborated on the album.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: On October 26, 2009, Tegan and Sara released their sixth album, "Sainthood", which was produced by Chris Walla and Howard Redekopp. The duo also put out a three-volume book set titled "ON, IN, AT" that included stories, essays, journals, and photos of the band on tour in America in late 2008, writing together in New Orleans, and touring Australia. The photographs in the book were taken by Lindsey Byrnes and Ryan Russell. "Sainthood" debuted on the "Billboard" 200 chart at number 21 selling 24,000 copies in its first week. While recording the album, Tegan and Sara spent a week writing songs together in New Orleans. The song "Paperback Head" was the only song written by the pair to appear on the album, making it the first song on any Tegan and Sara album that they wrote together. Spin gave "Sainthood" four out of five stars and wrote, "Tegan and Sara's music may no longer be the stuff of teens, but its strength remains in how much it feels like two people talking."


title: Tegan and Sara

text: In 2011, they launched "2011: A Merch Odyssey", which saw at least one new item in the official online stores every month, all year long. A live CD/DVD combination package titled "Get Along" was released on November 15 and contains three films titled "States", "India", and "For the Most Part". It was nominated in the 2013 Grammy Awards for Best Long Form Music Video.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: Tegan and Sara began recording their seventh studio album, "Heartthrob," on February 20, 2012. Eight songs were produced by Greg Kurstin. Joey Waronker contributed drums to these songs. Two songs were produced by Mike Elizondo, with Victor Indrizzo contributing drums, Josh Lopez contributing guitar, and Dave Palmer contributing piano. The last two songs were produced by Justin Meldal-Johnsen. The first single "Closer" was released on September 25, 2012. The album was released on January 29, 2013, and debuted on the "Billboard" top 200 at number 3, the band's highest-charting record to date, selling 49,000 copies in its first week. "Heartthrob" debuted at number 2 on the Canadian chart, digital downloads chart and hit number 1 on the rock and alternative album charts. In July 2013, the album was shortlisted for the 2013 Polaris Music Prize. In March 2014, Tegan and Sara won three Juno Awards for Single of the Year, Pop Album of the Year, and Group of the Year.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: Tegan and Sara finished their eighth studio album on November 30, 2015. On March 10, 2016, the band announced via their Facebook account that the album's title would be "Love You to Death", with the release date set for June 3. They released the album's lead single "Boyfriend" on April 8. On April 25, tour dates were announced for their 2016 global tour in support of the album. The duo released a music video for each track on the album. For the tenth anniversary of the release of their album "The Con", Tegan and Sara collaborated with 17 artists including Cyndi Lauper to create "The Con X: Covers" in 2017. The participating artists created covers of "The Con"s original songs that benefitted the Tegan and Sara Foundation. Tegan and Sara also toured an acoustic version of "The Con" in 2017 with a portion of the proceeds supporting the Tegan and Sara Foundation.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: In May 2018 at Out Web Fest, Tegan stated they were working on a book, podcast, and new record. Their memoir "High School" was released on September 24, 2019, by MCD Books, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, alongside Simon & Schuster Canada and Virago Press in the United Kingdom. The memoir details their teenage years, growing up in Canada and "worshipping" Nirvana, Green Day and the Smashing Pumpkins. The book also details the twins' exploration of their sexuality. While researching the book, Tegan and Sara found cassettes of some of their earliest songs.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: In early 2019, Tegan and Sara announced they were working on their next record for release later that year. On July 9, 2019, they announced via Instagram that their ninth album would be called "Hey, I'm Just Like You", and would consist of 12 re-recorded songs they initially wrote as teenagers. It was released on September 27, 2019, three days after the release of their memoir.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: In April 2020, the duo created a live "show" that they named "Where Does the Good Grow", to entertain their fans during the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 12, 2020, they announced that they were releasing merchandise designed by EE Storey for "Where Does the Good Grow". The show was held every Thursday at 3 p.m. PST on their Instagram account, until the series finale on July 23, 2020.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: In 2021 it was announced that a TV show named "High School" based on their memoir of the same name would be filmed in Calgary directed by Clea DuVall. Two twins, Railey and Seazynn Gilliland, were cast as the main characters. The show was filmed from April to June 2022 and was released on Amazon Freevee in fall 2022.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: In July 2021, Tegan and Sara announced a return to the studio to work on their 10th studio album. On February 1, 2022, they announced "Still Jealous", a completely acoustic reimagining of "So Jealous", which was released on February 11, 2022.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: In April 2022 the duo announced they had left Warner Bros. records and signed a new record deal with Mom & Pop. They also released the first single "Fucking Up What Matters" from their upcoming tenth studio album on April 28, 2022. On July 12, 2022, they announced the album title, "Crybaby", and would that be released on October 21, 2022. The second single, "Yellow", was released on the same day, with the music video released on YouTube. The twins also announced their first tour in three years, which started in Philadelphia, PA on October 26, 2022, and ended in Vancouver on November 20.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: Tegan and Sara have credited Green Day, Nirvana, and Hole for "truly start[ing] to cement our desire to write and make our own music". During their teenage years, the duo were influenced by Hayden, the Smashing Pumpkins, Violent Femmes, Dinosaur Jr., and Teenage Fanclub. Other artists who have influenced Tegan and Sara include Depeche Mode, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Madonna, Kate Bush, David Bowie, Mike Elizondo, Pink, Lily Allen, Erasure, Ace of Base, Tom Petty, Britney Spears, Katy Perry, Ani DiFranco, the New Pornographers, Cyndi Lauper, Sinéad O'Connor, Against Me!, and Bruce Springsteen.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: At the age of 19, both Quins moved from their hometown of Calgary to Vancouver. In 2003, Sara moved to Montreal.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: For many years, Tegan lived in both Vancouver, B.C. and Los Angeles while Sara lived in Montreal and New York City.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: Tegan and Sara are active politically and socially engaged. They are both advocates for LGBTQ equality as well as for music education, literacy, and cancer research.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: The sisters are cousins with musician Jen Twynn Payne, drummer and lead vocalist for the Vancouver-based band The Courtneys.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: In December 2016, and in the wake of the United States' presidential election, the sisters founded the Tegan and Sara Foundation, to advocate for "economic justice, health and representation for LGBTQ girls and women". They have since partnered with Kiehl's to release Ultra Facial cleansers with limited edition packaging in order to raise funds for the foundation. Profits from "The Con X: Covers" and a portion of ticket prices from "The Con"s 10th anniversary tour went to the Tegan and Sara Foundation. At the end of The Con 10th anniversary tour in 2017, they stated they plan to take two years off from touring to focus on the Tegan and Sara Foundation and to make a new record.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: In 2013, the band partnered with Coolhaus, their "favourite ice cream sandwich truck", to create an ice cream sandwich in favour of same-sex marriage. The sandwich featured "double chocolate" cookies and salted caramel ice cream and was named, "Til Death Do Us Part".


title: Tegan and Sara

text: In 2012, they appeared on the cover of "Under the Radar" magazine's "Protest" issue. Both were photographed holding a sign that read: "The rights of the minority should never be subject to the whim of the majority." Also in Canada, they were actively supporting Quebec students in their protest against that provincial government. In the U.S., both were vocal during California's Prop 8 debates. On November 10, 2016, rather than boycotting North Carolina for HB2, Tegan and Sara performed at The Orange Peel and donated their proceeds to Equality North Carolina in order to fight the legislation. This inspired the band Matt and Kim to match their donation in the form of merchandise proceeds.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: Due to the expansion of their audience they have gained a higher profile in the LGBTQ community. They were awarded Outstanding Music Artist at the GLAAD Media Awards, beating out high-profile musicians including Lady Gaga and Elton John. In June 2014, Tegan and Sara joined WorldPride to perform in the closing ceremonies at Yonge–Dundas Square in downtown Toronto.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: The duo partnered with Revel & Riot to create a T-shirt that would fund Revel & Riot's mission for LGBTQ rights. The "Animals" T-shirt features Tegan and Sara, a turtle, fox, koala, penguin, and a dragonfly all labeled with their Latin names. The text at the bottom reads "Gay behaviour is found in over 1500 species. LGBTQ equality now." All proceeds of the sale go to benefit the work of Revel & Riot.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: Tegan and Sara began touring after graduating from high school in 1998, traveling both by car and Greyhound bus. In 2000, they toured with Neil Young and the Pretenders. Other notable touring mates include Ryan Adams, Weezer, Bryan Adams, Jack Johnson, the Black Keys, Ben Folds, Gogol Bordello, Cake, City and Colour, Death Cab for Cutie, Hot Hot Heat, the Killers, New Found Glory, Paramore, Rufus Wainwright, Eugene Francis Jnr, the Jezabels, An Horse, Steel Train, Holly Miranda, and Speak.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: The sisters are known to engage in onstage banter, which often includes stories and commentary about their childhood, politics, and life on the road. This has become a characteristic trait of their live shows.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: They have performed at festivals including the Mariposa Folk Festival 2001, Sarah McLachlan's Lilith Fair 1999, 2010, Coachella 2005, 2008, 2013 Lollapalooza, SXSW 2005, 2013, Austin City Limits, Bonnaroo, Falls Festival, Sasquatch! 2010, Osheaga, Cyndi Lauper's True Colors Tour 2008; Southbound 2009, Glastonbury 2010, Lilith Fair, Australia's Groovin' the Moo 2010 and 2013, Splendour in the Grass 2016, Winnipeg Folk Festival 2011, Newport Folk Festival 2011, saskTel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival 2011, Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest 2011 and 2015, Outside Lands 2014, and Firefly 2014, and Area506 in August 2017 in Saint John, New Brunswick. They performed at the ending ceremony in June at Toronto World Pride 2014 and also at Boston Calling in May 2014.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: In 2013, Tegan and Sara opened for the band fun. on their Most Nights Summer Tour which started in Toronto, Ontario on July 6 and ended in Bridgeport, Connecticut on September 28.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: In January 2014, Katy Perry announced that Tegan and Sara, along with Capital Cities and Kacey Musgraves, would be the opening acts for the North American leg of her Prismatic World Tour. Tegan and Sara toured with Perry from September to October 2014.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: On February 25, 2014, Tegan and Sara announced their "Let's Make Things Physical Tour". The tour included a range of supporting acts for different cities, including Lucius, the Courtneys, Waters, and My Midnight Heart. The tour kicked off on May 6 in Columbia, Missouri, ending in November 2014.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: In July 2014, the pair opened for Lady Gaga's 2014 concert tour, in Quebec City in front of a crowd of 80,000.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: Their 2016 tour for "Love You to Death" started in London, UK, passing through Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan in July, Canada and the United States.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: In 2009, Tegan and Sara worked as producers for the first time. Tegan worked with char2d2 on the 2009 "Small Vampires EP", while Sara worked on the 2010 debut albums for Fences and Hesta Prynn.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: Tegan appeared on Against Me!'s song "Borne of the FM Waves of the Heart", and also appeared in the music video. She also sang backing vocals on Rachael Cantu's "Saturday" from her "Run All Night".


title: Tegan and Sara

text: In April 2008, Tegan wrote and recorded a song titled "His Love" at the request of Augusten Burroughs as a contribution to the audio version of his book "A Wolf at the Table". The two headlined "Spin"'s September 2008 Liner Notes benefit for Housing Works, a New York non-profit. Tegan sang with Jim Ward on his track "Broken Songs" and on the song "Contrails" by rapper Astronautalis which appeared on his 2011 album "This Is Our Science". She also appeared in the music video. Tegan was also featured in one of the songs off of Dan Mangan's new LP "Unmake", titled "Forgetery Redux". In 2017, Tegan was featured on Ria Mae's album on the song "Broken".


title: Tegan and Sara

text: Sara sings on the Reason's song "We're So Beyond This", and also appears in the music video. She was featured on rapper/songwriter/producer Theophilus London's track "Why Even Try" from his 2011 "Lovers Holiday" EP. Sara appears on Jonathan Coulton's 2011 album "Artificial Heart", providing vocals for the album's remake of the song Coulton wrote for Valve's game "Portal", "Still Alive". Sara covered Alicia Keys' "Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart" from Doveman's Burgundy Stain Sessions in 2011. In Kaki King's music video for "Pull Me Out Alive", Sara can be seen as well. Sara sang back-up vocals on two songs from former Smashing Pumpkins member James Iha's 2012 album "Look to the Sky": "To Who Knows Where" and "Dream Tonight".


title: Tegan and Sara

text: Their songs have been featured in the films "Dallas Buyers Club", "The Lego Movie", "G.B.F.", "Monster-in-Law", "Sweet November", "These Girls", and "The Carmilla Movie", and in the television shows "", "90210", "Being Erica", "Ghost Whisperer", "Grey's Anatomy", "The Hills", "Hollyoaks", "jPod", "The L Word", "Life Unexpected", "Melrose Place", "One Tree Hill", "Parenthood", "Rookie Blue", "The Vampire Diaries", "Veronica Mars", "Waterloo Road", "What's New, Scooby-Doo?", "Awkward", "Riverdale", "Girls", and "BoJack Horseman." Their song "Closer" was covered by "Glee" on the episode "Feud" which aired March 14, 2013 at 9 pm EST on Global for Canada and Fox for USA. The song is also used in the teaser trailer for the 2013 independent comedy film, "Exes". The songs "Closer" and "Back in Your Head" were featured in the 2016 video game "LOUD on Planet X".


title: Tegan and Sara

text: In 2011, Sara was a panelist on the CBC Radio One program "Canada Reads", defending Jeff Lemire's graphic novel "Essex County". The book, the first graphic novel to be featured as part of "Canada Reads", was voted off after the first round but then later placed No. 1 in a "People's Choice" poll with more votes than all other books combined.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: In early 2014, Tegan and Sara collaborated with The Lonely Island on a song called "Everything Is Awesome!!!" for "The Lego Movie" soundtrack. The movie opened in theatres on February 7, 2014. The song debuted at number 62 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart and number 24 on the Official UK Singles Chart. It received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song at the 87th Annual Academy Awards. In 2016, the twins had a short appearance on the show "Take My Wife" starring Cameron Esposito and River Butcher through a special YouTube-released holiday segment.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: In September 2017, Tegan appeared as a guest on Cameron Esposito's podcast, "Queery". In October 2017, Sara was a guest on the show. In October 2019, both sisters appeared together on the podcast.


title: Tegan and Sara

text: In 2020, their song "Make You Mine This Season" was featured in the film "Happiest Season" starring Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis. The film was directed by a friend of theirs, Clea DuVall.


title: Murad IV

text: Murad IV (, "Murād-ı Rābiʿ"; , 27 July 1612 – 8 February 1640) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1623 to 1640, known both for restoring the authority of the state and for the brutality of his methods. Murad IV was born in Constantinople, the son of Sultan Ahmed I (r. 1603–17) and Kösem Sultan. He was brought to power by a palace conspiracy when he was just 11 years old, and he succeeded his uncle Mustafa I (r. 1617–18, 1622–23). Until he assumed absolute power on 18 May 1632, the empire was ruled by his mother, Kösem Sultan, as "nāʾib-i salṭanat" (regent). His reign is most notable for the Ottoman–Safavid War, of which the outcome would partition the Caucasus between the two Imperial powers for around two centuries, while it also roughly laid the foundation for the current Turkey–Iran–Iraq borders.


title: Murad IV

text: Murad IV was born on 27 July 1612 to Ahmed I (reign 16031617) and his consort and later wife Kösem Sultan, an ethnic Greek. After his father's death when he was six years old, he was confined in the Kafes with his brothers, Suleiman, Kasim, Bayezid and Ibrahim.


title: Murad IV

text: Grand Vizier Kemankeş Ali Pasha and Şeyhülislam Yahya Efendi were deposed from their position. They did not stop their words the next day the sultan, the child of the age of 6, was taken to the Eyüp Sultan Mausoleum. The swords of Prophet Muhammad and Yavuz Sultan Selim were bequeathed to him. Five days later he was circumcised.


title: Murad IV

text: Murad IV was for a long time under the control of his relatives and during his early years as Sultan, his mother, Kösem Sultan, essentially ruled through him. In this period, the Safavid Empire invaded Iraq, Northern Anatolia erupted in revolts, and in 1631 the Janissaries stormed the palace and killed the Grand Vizier, among others.


title: Murad IV

text: At the age of 16 in 1628, he had his brother-in-law (his sister Gevherhan Sultan's husband, who was also the former governor of Egypt), Kara Mustafa Pasha, executed for a claimed action "against the law of God".


title: Murad IV

text: After the death of the Grand Vizier Çerkes Mehmed Pasha in the winter of Tokat, Diyarbekir Beylerbeyi Hafez Ahmed Pasha became a vizier on 8 February 1625.


title: Murad IV

text: An epidemic, which started in the summer of 1625 and called the plague of Bayrampaşa, spread to threaten the population of Istanbul. On average, a thousand people died every day. The people fled to the Okmeydanı to escape the plague. The situation was worse in the countryside outside of Istanbul.


title: Murad IV

text: Murad IV banned alcohol, tobacco, and coffee in Constantinople. He ordered execution for breaking this ban. He restored the judicial regulations by very strict punishments, including execution; he once strangled a grand vizier for the reason that the official had beaten his mother-in-law.


title: Murad IV

text: On 2 September 1633, the Cibali fire broke out, burning a fifth of the city. The fire started during the day when a caulker burned the shrub and the ship caulked into the walls. The fire, which spread from three branches to the city. One arm lowered towards the sea. He returned from Zeyrek and walked to Atpazan. The most beautiful districts of Istanbul were ruined, from the Yeniodas, Mollagürani districts, Fener gate to Sultanselim, Mesihpaşa, Bali Pasha and Lutfi Pasha mosques, Şahı buhan Palace, Unkapanı to Atpazarı, Bostanzade houses, and Sofular Bazaar. The fire that lasted for 30 hours was only extinguished after the wind stopped.


title: Murad IV

text: Murad IV's reign is most notable for the Ottoman–Safavid War (1623–39) against Persia (today Iran) in which Ottoman forces managed to conquer Azerbaijan, occupying Tabriz, Hamadan, and capturing Baghdad in 1638. The Treaty of Zuhab that followed the war generally reconfirmed the borders as agreed by the Peace of Amasya, with Eastern Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Dagestan staying Persian, Western Georgia stayed Ottoman. Mesopotamia was irrevocably lost for the Persians. The borders fixed as a result of the war, are more or less the same as the present border line between Iraq and Iran.


title: Murad IV

text: During the siege of Baghdad in 1638, the city held out for forty days but was compelled to surrender.


title: Murad IV

text: While he was encamped in Baghdad, Murad IV is known to have met ambassadors of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, Mir Zarif and Mir Baraka, who presented 1000 pieces of finely embroidered cloth and even armor. Murad IV gave them the finest weapons, saddles and Kaftans and ordered his forces to accompany the Mughals to the port of Basra, where they set sail to Thatta and finally Surat.


title: Murad IV

text: Murad IV put emphasis on architecture and in his period many monuments were erected. The Baghdad Kiosk, built in 1635, and the Revan Kiosk, built in 1638 in Yerevan, were both built in the local styles. Some of the others include the Kavak Sarayı pavilion; the Meydanı Mosque; the Bayram Pasha Dervish Lodge, Tomb, Fountain, and Primary School; and the Şerafettin Mosque in Konya.


title: Murad IV

text: Murad IV wrote many poems. He used the "Muradi" penname for his poems. He also liked testing people with riddles. Once he wrote a poetic riddle and announced that whoever came with the correct answer would get a generous reward. Cihadi Bey, a poet from Enderun School, gave the correct answer and he was promoted.


title: Murad IV

text: Due to the prominence during his reign of his mother Kösem Sultan and the fact that all of his sons died in infancy, Murad IV's family is not well known.


title: Murad IV

text: Only three of his many concubines are known and of the thirty-two children that Evliya Çelebi said that Murad IV had, five have not yet been identified, and the name of six others is still unknown.


title: Murad IV

text: Of the numerous concubines he had, only three certain consorts of Murad IV are known, plus some disputed:


title: Murad IV

text: Murad IV had at least fifteen sons, but none of them survived infancy and all of them died before their father (d. 1640):


title: Murad IV

text: Rumours had circulated that on his deathbed, Murad IV ordered the execution of his mentally disabled brother, Ibrahim (reigned 1640–48), which would have meant the end of the Ottoman line. However, the order was not carried out.


title: Murad IV

text: In the TV series "", Murad IV is portrayed by Cağan Efe Ak as a child, and Metin Akdülger as the Sultan.


title: Murad IV

text: In the film "Three Thousand Years of Longing" (2022), Murad IV is portrayed by Ogulcan Arman Uslu, with Kaan Guldur playing him a child.


title: Madhoo

text: Madhoo Shah (Madhubala) (born Padma Malini; 26 March 1969) is an Indian actress known for her works predominantly in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada language films. She was a part of Movies like "Phool Aur Kaante" (1991), "Roja" (1992), "Allari Priyudu" (1992), "Yodha" (1992), and S. Shankar's Tamil hit "Gentleman" (1993).


title: Madhoo

text: Madhoo is a Tamilian. Her birth name was Padma Malini but her father changed her name to Madhu Malini when she entered school. She was educated at St. Joseph's High School, Juhu and at University of Mumbai. She is the cousin of actress Hema Malini and therefore the aunt of Esha Deol.


title: Madhoo

text: Madhoo was signed on by action director Veeru Devgan for his son Ajay Devgan's debut in "Phool Aur Kaante" (1991), but her first release was K. Balachander' s "Azhagan" (1991), co-starring Mammooty, Bhanupriya and Geetha. She made her Hindi movie debut with another newcomer Ajay Devgn in "Phool Aur Kaante" (1991). She made her debut in the Malayalam film "Ottayal Pattalam" (1991), opposite Mukesh. The title role in Mani Ratnam's "Roja" (1992) made her very popular. She made her comeback in 2008, in the Hindi-language film, "Kabhi Socha Bhi Na Tha", and has been appearing in supporting roles in films since then. She has acted in 5 films with her real name Madhu. She made a comeback to the Tamil screen with Balaji Mohan's Tamil-Malayalam bilingual "Vaayai Moodi Pesavum / Samsaaram Aarogyathinu Haanikaram" in 2014. She has been hosting the DD National music television series "Rangoli" since August 2019.


title: Madhoo

text: Besides it, she has worked in television series such as "Kaveri", "Devi", "Soundaravalli" and "". She has also appeared as a guest judge at some reality shows. For her contribution to the Indian Cinema, she has been awarded many prestigious awards.


title: Madhoo

text: She married Anand Shah on 19 February 1999 whom she met during a photoshoot. They have two daughters Ameyaa and Keia. Madhoo's husband is the cousin of Jay Mehta, who is married to actress Juhi Chawla.


title: Irish Mob

text: The Irish Mob (also known as the Irish mafia or Irish organized crime) is a collective of organized crime syndicates composed of ethnic Irish members which operate primarily in Ireland, the United States, Canada and Australia, and have been in existence since the early 19th century. Originating in Irish-American street gangsfamously first depicted in Herbert Asbury's 1927 book, "The Gangs of New York"the Irish Mob has appeared in most major U.S. and Canadian cities, especially in the Northeast and the urban industrial Midwest, including Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, and Chicago.


title: Irish Mob

text: Organized crime also exists in Ireland, predominantly Dublin and Limerick, but only became of any significance in recent decades. The groups are not related to the American Irish Mob and most often consist of families focusing on the drug trade.


title: Irish Mob

text: Irish-American street gangs, such as the Dead Rabbits (led by future Congressman John Morrissey) and Whyos, dominated New York's underworld for well over a century. Beginning in the 1880s and 1890s, however, they faced competition from gangs consisting of recently arrived Italians and Jews. The Five Points Gang (led by Paul Kelly) would rise to prominence during the early 1900s, strongly rivaled by the Hudson Dusters, the Gopher Gang, and others during the period.


title: Irish Mob

text: In the early 1900s, with Italian criminal organizations such as the Morello crime family encroaching on the waterfront, various Irish gangs united to form the White Hand Gang. Although initially successful in keeping their Black Hand Italian rivals at bay, unstable leadership and infighting would lead to their eventual downfall. The murders of Dinny Meehan, Bill Lovett, and Richard Lonergan led to the gang's disappearance by 1925. The waterfront was then taken over by Italian mobsters Vincent Mangano, Albert Anastasia, and Joe Adonis. The Irish mob, however, reemerged in Coal Country and remained strong.


title: Irish Mob

text: During the early years of Prohibition, "Big" Bill Dwyer emerged among many in New York's underworld as a leading bootlegger. However, following his arrest and trial for violation of the Volstead Act during 1925 and 1926, Dwyer's former partners were split among Owney "The Killer" Madden, the English-born former leader of the Gopher Gang, and Frank Costello against Jack "Legs" Diamond, "Little" Augie Pisano, Charles "Vannie" Higgins and renegade mobster Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll.


title: Irish Mob

text: The most prominent members have included Eddie McGrath, James Coonan, Mickey Featherstone, James McElroy, and Edward Cummiskey.


title: Irish Mob

text: In the Irish/Italian Mob War of the 1970s, the Irish mob saw an increased threat from the Italian Mafia as the Genovese crime family sought control over the soon-to-be-built Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Also around this time, a power struggle emerged between Mickey Spillane and James Coonan, a younger upstart from Hell's Kitchen. Since the convention center was located in Spillane's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, Spillane refused to allow any involvement by the Italians. Although the Italian gangsters greatly outnumbered the members of the Irish mob, Spillane was successful in keeping control of the convention center and Hell's Kitchen. The Italians, frustrated and embarrassed by their defeat to Spillane, responded by hiring a rogue Irish-American hitman named Joseph "Mad Dog" Sullivan to assassinate Tom Devaney, Eddie "the Butcher" Cummiskey, and Tom "the Greek" Kapatos, three of Spillane's top lieutenants.


title: Irish Mob

text: In 1977 Spillane was murdered in a hail of bullets by assassins from the Genovese crime family. This prompted Coonan to form an alliance with Roy DeMeo of the Gambino crime family. The Genoveses decided that the Westies were too violent and well-led to go to war with and mediated a truce via the Gambinos.


title: Irish Mob

text: Coonan was imprisoned in 1986 under the RICO act. Featherstone became an informant after his arrest in the early 1980s.


title: Irish Mob

text: Boston has a well-chronicled history of Irish mob activity, particularly in the heavily Irish-American cities and neighborhoods like Somerville, Charlestown, South Boston ("Southie"), Dorchester and Roxbury where the earliest Irish gangsters arose during Prohibition. Frank Wallace of the Gustin Gang dominated Boston's underworld until his death in 1931, when he was ambushed by Italian gangsters in the North End. Numerous gang wars between rival Irish gangs during the early and mid 20th century would contribute to their decline.


title: Irish Mob

text: The Winter Hill Gang, a loose confederation of Boston-area organized crime figures, was one of the most successful organized crime groups in American history. It controlled the Boston underworld from the early 1960s until the mid-1990s. It derives its name from the Winter Hill neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts, north of Boston, and was founded by first boss James "Buddy" McLean.


title: Irish Mob

text: While Winter Hill Gang members were alleged to have been involved with most typical organized crime-related activities, they are perhaps best known for fixing horse races in the northeastern United States. Twenty-one members and associates, including Howie Winter, Joe McDonald, Johnny Martorano, and Sal Sperlinga were indicted by federal prosecutors in 1979. The gang was then taken over by James J. "Whitey" Bulger and hitman Stephen Flemmi and was headquartered in South Boston. During the 1980s, Bulger's criminal associates were Kevin Weeks, Patrick Nee, and Billy Shea.


title: Irish Mob

text: The present Winter Hill Gang operates in secrecy and often avoids drawing public attention and scrutiny. With the activation of RICO law, the Winter Hill Gang's ranks were quickly thinned with federal indictments against key players like George Hogan and Scott "Smiley" McDermott. The Winter Hill Gang quickly disbanded in the late 90s to early 2000s after many of the federal indictments failed to stick due to a lack of evidence and cooperating witnesses, making room for younger predecessors like Tommy "Two Guns" Attardo, Seán "Irish Car Bomb" McKenna, and Mickey "Mean Machine" Murphy to join the ranks.


title: Irish Mob

text: Irish-American organized crime outfits such as the "Irish Kings" who were active from 2013 to 2016 and others who are still presently active form the backbone of organized crime in South Boston and the greater Boston area.


title: Irish Mob

text: The Irish Mob War is the name given to conflicts throughout the 1960s between the two dominant Irish-American organized crime gangs in Massachusetts: the Charlestown Mob in Boston, led by brothers Bernard and Edward "Punchy" McLaughlin, and the Winter Hill Gang of Somerville (just north of Boston) headed by James "Buddy" McLean and his associates, Howie Winter and Joe McDonald. It is widely believed that the war began when George McLaughlin tried to pick up the girlfriend of Winter Hill associate Alex "Bobo" Petricone, also known as actor Alex Rocco. McLaughlin was then beaten and hospitalized by two other Winter Hill members. Afterward, Bernie McLaughlin went to Buddy McLean for an explanation. When McLean refused to give up his associates, Bernie swore revenge but was soon killed by McLean in Charlestown City Square.


title: Irish Mob

text: The war resulted in the eradication of the Charlestown Mob with its leaders, Bernie and Edward McLaughlin, and Stevie and Connie Hughes all having been killed. George McLaughlin, the one who started the war, was the only one who survived by being sent to prison. McLean was also killed, by Charlestown's Hughes brothers, and leadership of The Winter Hill Gang was taken by his right-hand man, Howie Winter and mentor, Joe McDonald. The remnants of the Charlestown Mob were then absorbed into the Winter Hill Gang, who were then able to become the dominant non-Mafia gang in the New England area.


title: Irish Mob

text: In the early 1970s, another mob war was taking place in South Boston between two other Irish-American gangs: the Killeen Gang, which controlled bookmaking and loansharking, and the Mullen Gang, which was made up of thieves. In 1971, Killeen enforcer Billy O'Sullivan was shot and killed outside his house. The following year, Donald Killeen was murdered and the remaining members of both organizations were absorbed into the Winter Hill Gang. One of Killeen's key associates was Whitey Bulger. In 1973, Bulger was appointed by Howie Winter to operate the South Boston rackets. Throughout the remainder of 1970s, Bulger used his influence to have rival mobsters murdered. Among his victims were Spike O'Toole, Paul McGonagle, Eddie Connors and Tommy King.


title: Irish Mob

text: During the 1970s and 1980s, the FBI's Boston office was largely infiltrated through corrupt federal agent John J. Connolly, by which Whitey Bulger was able to use his status as a government informant against his rivals (the extent of which would not be revealed until the mid to late 1990s).


title: Irish Mob

text: The scandal was the basis for the non-fiction book "Black Mass" and its 2015 dramatic film adaptation, and it was partially the inspiration for the film "The Departed".


title: Irish Mob

text: The prominent Irish street gang pre-twentieth-century were the Schuylkill Rangers headed by Jimmy Haggerty, whose boyhood home was located on Arch Street in the area between Eighteenth and Nineteenth Street known as "McAran's Garden".


title: Irish Mob

text: After numerous arrests for theft and similar offenses, Haggerty and Schuylkill Ranger Hugh Murphy were convicted of the robbery of a Ninth Street store and sentenced to ten years imprisonment on December 12, 1865. He was pardoned by Governor Andrew G. Curtin eight months later, in part due to Haggerty's political connections and his promise to leave the country upon his release, and lived in Canada for a brief time before returning to the city to resume his criminal career. Haggerty remained a major underworld figure in Philadelphia until January 1869 when he was arrested on several counts of assault with intent to kill; during his arrest, he shot the arresting police officer. He was caught trying to escape from prison but was later released on bail and fled the city. Staying in New York City for a brief time, he returned to Philadelphia in April to surrender himself to authorities after the wounded police officer had received "hush money". He won both court cases against him but was ordered at the second trial to return to the Eastern State Penitentiary by the District Attorney for violating the terms of his release. While his lawyers argued the ruling, Haggerty disappeared from the courthouse during a recess in what was suspected to have been a planned escape.


title: Irish Mob

text: Daniel "Danny" O'Leary fought with Maxie Hoff over control of Philadelphia's bootlegging throughout Prohibition. Jack "Legs" Diamond was a prominent mobster in both Philadelphia and New York City.


title: Irish Mob

text: In the years following World War II, the K&A Gang was the dominant Irish gang in the city's underworld. A multi-generational organised crime group made up of predominantly Irish and Irish American gangsters, the gang originated from a youth street gang based around the intersections of Kensington and Allegheny, which grew in power as local hoods and blue-collar Irish Americans seeking extra income joined its ranks. In time, the group expanded and grew more organised, establishing lucrative markets in gambling, loan sharking, and burglary.


title: Irish Mob

text: The gang moved into the methamphetamine trade in the late 1980s and expanded into the Fishtown and Port Richmond neighborhoods. John Berkery, a member of the K&A burglary crew, became leader of the gang and was influential in expanding the drug trade. In 1987, Scarfo crime family soldier Raymond Martorano, Berkery, and dozens of others, were indicted for their involvement in a large methamphetamine ring.


title: Irish Mob

text: The successors of Michael Cassius McDonald's criminal empire of the previous century, the Irish-American criminal organizations in Chicago were at their peak during Prohibition, specializing in bootlegging and highjacking. However, they would soon be rivaled by Italian mobsters, particularly Al Capone and the Chicago Outfit.


title: Irish Mob

text: The organizations existing before Prohibition – including the North Side Gang, which included Dion O'Banion, Bugs Moran, Hymie Weiss, and Louis Alterie; the Southside O'Donnell Brothers, with the McKenna Crime family; the Westside O'Donnell's (led by Myles O'Donnell); Ragen's Colts; the Valley Gang; Roger Touhy; Frank McErlane; James Patrick O'Leary; and Terry Druggan – most of them were in competition with Capone for control of the bootlegging market.


title: Irish Mob

text: The Irishtown Bend (also known as the Angle), Haymarket (was located at the site of the Gateway Sports and Entertainment Complex), Ohio City, Detroit Shoreway, and Whiskey Island neighborhoods produced prominent pre-prohibition gangs included the McCart Street Gang and the Cheyenne Gang. The Blinky Morgan Gang became notorious after a robbery led to the murder of Detective William Hulligan. The crime was extensively covered, in newspapers, and a reward of $16,000 was offered. Most of the gang was caught, in Michigan, after being infiltrated by undercover police.


title: Irish Mob

text: Publisher Daniel R. Hanna Sr. hired Chicago gangsters James Ragen and Arthur B. McBride as heavies during the Cleveland circulation wars between the Cleveland Leader and Cleveland News verses The Plain Dealer.


title: Irish Mob

text: Thomas Joseph McGinty known as Blackjack McGinty, was a former professional featherweight boxer, one of the city's largest bootleggers, and operated gambling establishments on West 25th Street as well as the Mounds Club in Lake County.


title: Irish Mob

text: The Mounds Club was repeatedly raided by law enforcement, including Safety Director Eliot Ness, and was eventually shut down in 1950.


title: Irish Mob

text: McGinty was a member of the Cleveland Syndicate, which was also composed of Jewish gangsters Moe Dalitz, Louis Rothkopf, Maurice Kleinman, Sam Tucker, and Charles Polizzi the adopted brother of Alfred Polizzi, head of the Italian Mayfield Road Mob. It operated casinos in Youngstown, Northern Kentucky and Florida. John and Martin O'Boyle were also part of the Irish faction of the Syndicate.


title: Irish Mob

text: The Syndicate had significant operations, in Newport, Kentucky and Northern Kentucky, which had eighteen casinos or gambling halls, including the original Flamingo, and Tropicana. A notable casino was The Beverly Hills Club, which had high-profile entertainment acts such as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Nat King Cole. These establishments were the precursors to the casinos built in Las Vegas. The Syndicate's reign, in Northern Kentucky, came to an end following a botched attempt to discredit George Ratterman, a reform minded candidate for sheriff and a federal crack down during the Kennedy Administration.


title: Irish Mob

text: McGinty and other members of the Syndicate were founders of the Desert Inn in Las Vegas. He was also involved in Meyer Lansky's Hotel Nacional de Cuba in Havana, Cuba. McGinty held an interest in numerous race tracks, including Maple Heights, Fair Grounds Race Course, Thistledown Racecourse, Fairmount Park Racetrack, Aurora Downs, and the Agua Caliente Racetrack.


title: Irish Mob

text: In the 1930s, James "Shimmy" Patton and Daniel T. Gallagher operated a large movable casino known as the Harvard Club at several locations on Harvard Ave. It could accommodated 500–1,000 people and was one of the largest casinos between New York and Chicago. It defied numerous raids until it was finally shut down by Frank Lausche in 1941


title: Irish Mob

text: "Handsome" Larry Davidson a former prohibition agent, and Dan F. Coughlin operated a rum-running organization on Lake Erie from Cleveland. The ring imported liquor from Canada to Cedar Point and Toledo and then distributed the alcohol to the Chicago area.


title: Irish Mob

text: In the late 1930s, Arthur B. McBride launched a wire service that supplied bookmakers with the results of horse races. He also invested in the Continental Press and Empire News, both based in Cleveland and run by mobsters Morris "Mushy" Wexler and Sam "Gameboy" Miller. James Ragen, another friend and associate in the wire business, was murdered in 1946 in a Chicago gangland feud. A federal grand jury in 1940 indicted 18 people, including McBride and Wexler, over the supply of information used in gambling. The allegations were based on federal laws that forbade interstate transmission of lottery results; prosecutors treated the race results as lottery lists. He was never arrested or tried over his role in the business. McBride went on to found the Cleveland Browns.


title: Irish Mob

text: In the 1960s and 70s, the Kilbane Brothers, Martin, and Owen Kilbane operated prostitution, gambling, and loan sharking rackets on Cleveland's east side. The Kilbane Brothers were convicted of murder for hire of Marlene Steele by her husband Euclid Municipal Judge Robert Steele. The Kilbane Brothers were also convicted of killing Andrew Prunella, a rival pimp and gangster.


title: Irish Mob

text: Danny Greene, was the former president of the Longshoreman Local 1317, who was ousted for corruption. He then became an enforcer for mobster Alex "Shondor" Birns. Also, Mayfield Road Mob underboss, Frank "Little Frank" Brancato employed Greene as muscle for the city's garbage rackets. Greene got into a dispute with a garbage hauler "Big Mike" Frato. Greene caused his car to be blown up. Following this Frato attacked Greene in a park and fired three shots, which missed. Greene shot and killed Frato during the attack.


title: Irish Mob

text: Greene formed a crew known as "The Celtic Club." He moved into the vending machine racket, which was controlled by Thomas "The Chinaman" Sinto. His relationship with Alex "Shondor" Birns also soured after a dispute concerning a loan. Birns and Greene put contracts on each other. Birns was murdered by a car bomb, which was planted by a Hell's Angel member who was hired by a Greene associate.


title: Irish Mob

text: John Scalish the head of the Mayfield Road Mob died, leaving a power vacuum. James Licavoli and John Nardi both attempted to take control. Open warfare broke out between the Licavoli and Nardi factions. Greene backed John Nardi's claim. The Licavoli faction had difficulty killing Greene and hired Ray Ferritto, a Buffalo gangster, to kill Greene.


title: Irish Mob

text: The war was costly. Mayfield Road Mob Consigliere Leo "Lips" Moceri was murdered. John Nardi was killed exiting the Teamsters Joint Council 41 office by a car bomb. Danny Greene was murdered coming out of his dentist's office by a car bomb. During the war, 37 car bombs were used and Cleveland went by the moniker "Bomb City, USA." Throughout Greene's criminal activities he was a top-echelon informant for the FBI.


title: Irish Mob

text: Ray Ferritto was arrested for the killing and flipped on the Mayfield Road Mob and other gangsters. This led to numerous arrests. During the investigation, Jimmy Fratianno, the boss of the Los Angeles crime family become a government informant. This was the first time a mafia boss became a cooperative government witness. Greene's story became the subject of the film Kill the Irishman.


title: Irish Mob

text: Members of Greene's crew, Kevin McTaggart, Keith Ritson, Frederick (Fritz) Graewe, and Hartmut (Hans the Surgeon) Graewe went on to work in a drug ring with Thomas Sinito. The drug ring was a major distributor of marijuana and cocaine. The ring was responsible for 19 murders. Ritson was murdered while in the ring, McTaggart was sentenced to life and the Graewe Brothers were sentenced to lengthy prison terms.


title: Irish Mob

text: The Joseph "Legs" Laman gang specialized in the "snatch racket," which involved kidnapping wealthy bootleggers and gamblers. Many kidnappings attributed to the Purple Gang were committed by the Laman gang. The gang ran into trouble when it began kidnapping legitimate business people. During a ransom pickup of David Cass, a wealthy real estate dealer, the police arrived and Laman was shot and taken into custody. After Laman was arrested his associates executed Cass. Laman turned state's witness and the gang was broken up. Laman was sentenced to 30 to 40 years in prison.


title: Irish Mob

text: Owney Madden was a former bootlegger, who controlled the Hell's Kitchen rackets and owned several night clubs including the Cotton Club. Madden relocated to Hot Springs, Arkansas in 1935. Upon arriving he operated the Hotel Arkansas casino and a wire service. During Madden's time Hot Springs became a gambling hot spot with had ten large casinos, numerous smaller gambling dens, and off-track betting parlors.


title: Irish Mob

text: Tommy Banks operated an organization known as the Minneapolis Syndicate that engaged in bootlegging. Kid Cann and his two brothers led a Jewish-American organized crime family known as the Minneapolis Combination and as "The AZ Syndicate". Banks and Cann divided Minneapolis into territories with a handshake and worked side by side both during and after prohibition. Another powerful Irish-American gangster based in Minneapolis was Edward G. Morgan, alias "Big Ed", whom Paul Maccabee has described as, "a slot machine king and muckraking journalist for the "Twin City Reporter" scandal sheet", who operated in a close alliance with St. Paul-based Irish mob boss Danny Hogan.


title: Irish Mob

text: An early prohibition gang, the Terminal Gang, consisted of many from the Irish Channel neighborhood, including Frankie Mullen, Harold “The Parole King” Normandale, and Fred Kelly. The gang was closely aligned with Democratic Mayor Martin Behrem and was named for the Terminal Station where many acted as livery drivers. The gang would rob fares as well as engaging in gambling, alcohol, and narcotics rings. The gang was decimated after the defeat of Mayor Martin Behrem.


title: Irish Mob

text: William Bailey and business partner Manuel Acosta operated a bootleg and hijack gang during prohibition. In 1930, Bailey was murdered on the orders of New Orleans crime family acting boss Silvestro Carollo. New Orleans Police believed the killing was in retaliation for a liquor hijacking.


title: Irish Mob

text: Unlike, other Irish mobsters the new leader has asscioates across various ethnic organizations. Gaining the respect of both the Italians and African American groups. Today, it's believed to be run by Danny "Pretty Boy" Nickens, who's kept a low key profile, up until his retirement from the military.


title: Irish Mob

text: An Irish prison gang established itself as an alternative to the Aryan Brotherhood. The gang expanded from dealing drugs in prison to drug trafficking in Oklahoma, Kansas, and California.


title: Irish Mob

text: Racketeer and political boss Tom Dennison controlled prostitution, gambling and bootlegging, in the 1920s


title: Irish Mob

text: John Patrick Looney controlled gambling, prostitution, illegal liquor, extortion, and protection rackets in Rock Island. He studied law and was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1889. He was a member of the Democratic Party. He operated a newspaper, which was used to blackmail opponents. He controlled approximately 150 gambling dens. The Looney gang entered into a war with William Gabel's gang. During the war, William Gabel and John Patrick Looney's son, Connor Looney, were murdered. Looney was later charged and convicted of the murder of Willam Gabel. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison and served 8½ years. Looney died in 1942 at a tuberculosis sanitarium in El Paso, Texas. Looney served as the model for John Looney, a major character in Max Allan Collins' graphic novel "Road to Perdition". The character was renamed John Rooney and portrayed by Paul Newman in Sam Mendes' 2002 film adaptation.


title: Irish Mob

text: The Shelton Brothers Gang was an early Prohibition-era gang that controlled bootlegging in Southern Illinois. The Shelton Brothers Gang and rival Charles Birger gang engaged in a war with the Ku Klux Klan that concluded with a shoot out at Herrin. The attack broke the back of the KKK's leadership and widespread bootlegging continued. The Shelton Brothers Gang engaged in a war with Charles Birger's gang that concluded, in 1925, when the Shelton Brothers were convicted of the murder of a mail carrier. In 1928, Charles Birger was convicted of ordering the killing Joe Adams, the mayor of West City, Illinois, a Shelton backer, and hanged.


title: Irish Mob

text: Thomas Egan and Thomas Kinney formed Egan's Rats a large organized gang. A rival Hogan Gang led by Edward "Jelly Roll" Hogan also operated in the city. The gangs engaged, in the Egan-Hogan War of 1921–23, which resulted in the breakup of Egan's Rats.


title: Irish Mob

text: Jack Kennedy controlled bootlegging and operated nightclubs in Toledo. Kennedy became involved in a turf war with Thomas Licavoli's gang. An enforcer of the Licavoli gang and childhood friend of Kennedy, Joseph "Wop" English, killed Kennedy. Licavoli was arrested for conspiracy to commit murder in the slayings of Kennedy and three other club owners. Convicted, in 1934, Licavoli was sentenced to life imprisonment at the Ohio Penitentiary, despite attempts by Cleveland mobster Alfred Polizzi to secure parole.


title: Irish Mob

text: Gerald James Hayes, known as "Gentleman Jimmy", Hayes moved from Cleveland to Toledo as a child and eventually worked as a taxi cab driver. He sold his interest in the limo business and operated the Villa, Ramona Casino, Hollywood Club, Point's Casino, and Club Manito. He also opened a few clubs in the Cleveland area. In 1934, Hayes was found murdered, in Detroit, where he had been watching a World Series game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Detroit Tigers. His wife, Eleanor, continued to operate his casinos for several years following his death. There is speculation that Hayes was murdered by Thomas Licavoli's gang because he may have been called as a witness in Licavoli's Kennedy murder trial or the Licavoli gang was trying to take over his gaming operations.


title: Irish Mob

text: The West End Gang is one of Canada's most influential organized crime groups. Active since the early 1900s and still active today, their rise to notoriety did not begin until the 1960s when they were known simply as the "Irish gang". Their criminal activities were focused on, but not restricted to, the west side of Montreal. Most of the gang's earnings in the early days were derived from truck hijackings, home invasions, kidnapping, protection racket, drug trafficking, extortion and armed robbery.


title: Irish Mob

text: The gang, which is dominated by – but not exclusively limited to – members of Irish descent, began to move into the drug trade in the 1970s. They began to import hashish and cocaine and developed important contacts in the United States, South America and Europe with some members working out of Florida.


title: Irish Mob

text: Since that time, the gang has formulated ties to the Montreal Mafia, the "Cosa Nostra," the Hells Angels, and Colombian cartels.


title: Irish Mob

text: During the 1960s, the majority of crime in Dublin was petty crime, while murder and gun-related crime were extremely rare. There was a strong sense of community between families, and the church had an influence on creating the law-abiding state of mind in Dublin. A breeding ground for criminals was at the state-funded reform schools run by Catholic religious orders, which had harsh policies in teaching and looking after juvenile delinquents, aiming, often in vain, to turn them away from a life of crime. Martin Cahill and Christy Dunne were noted to be at these schools.


title: Irish Mob

text: During the 1970s, Dublin saw an increase in gun crime. One cause of the increase was the upheaval, and violence in Northern Ireland. The main culprit for bringing in gun crime into Dublin was a paramilitary group called Saor Éire, which conducted multiple bank robberies to fund their organisation. During one such robbery at Allied Irish Bank, Garda officer Richard Fallon was killed. One notable person who joined Saor Éire was Christy Dunne, who would go on to establish one of the first Irish crime families, aided by his connection to organized crime in Great Britain.


title: Irish Mob

text: Soon ordinary criminals (with little political influence), would join/cooperate with the Dunne crime family. Mainly partaking in co-operative robberies, this included Christy's eight brothers, and many recruits who would then pursue their own crime families such as Martin Cahill, John Cunningham, George Mitchell, and John Gilligan. The majority of these criminals coming from the poor and uneducated industrial slums of inner-city Dublin.


title: Irish Mob

text: In the beginning, Dunne specialized in kidnapping. In 1978, the Dunnes broke into an Antigen pharmaceutical factory, stealing pharmaceutical drugs which would go for a high price on the black market. Due to the profit, the Dunnes would put their priorities in the drug trade as their main source of income.


title: Irish Mob

text: What also occurred during this period is the emergence of the Provisional IRA and the Official IRA, who did the bulk of bank robberies and murder. This allowed crime families to conduct their activities under the radar.


title: Irish Mob

text: While the Dunnes would be the first crime family to get involved with the drug trade, Money was earned in the millions in the 1980s through the heroin epidemic. It was considered easier money and more lucrative than bank robberies.


title: Irish Mob

text: The heroin crisis destroyed communities of working-class inner-city neighborhoods, which were once considered to be safe. Despite this many citizens protested and took their own actions against the epidemic, most notable was Concerned Parents Against Drugs. Some of these vigilantes took extreme actions such as murdering or blowing up the apartment of a believed drug-dealer.


title: Irish Mob

text: Often Larry Dunne could not meet the demand for heroin, so many others got involved, but Larry was still considered the main source. One was Tony "King Scum" Felloni, once in the prostitution business, he would move into the drug trade. Overall there was mutual respect, and practically no conflict between crime families and drug king-pins, around the 1980s.


title: Irish Mob

text: In 1983 Larry Dunne was finally be arrested and was not able secure bail when drugs were found in his mansion. This led him to leave the country, but he was caught in 1985 in Portugal. The passing of the Criminal Justice Act made life harder for drug-traffickers. As a result, by the mid-1980s, the majority of the Dunnes were in prison or had fled.


title: Irish Mob

text: With the end of the Dunne family, many saw it as an opportunity to join the drug trade and be number one (it was estimated to be roughly 40 groups). The person who became the next drug-kingpin was John Gilligan. Once a small-time crook, during the time of his sentencing in Portlaoise Prison he formed a mob of 6, including Bryan Meehan, Peter Mitchel and Paul Ward. Gilligan started off selling marijuana, since this was less of a priority for the gardai and the buyers had more money. Later Gilligan's membership would grow to a much larger number, but with that came a lack of loyalty.


title: Irish Mob

text: Veronica Guerin was a reporter who wrote a series of articles in the early 1990s, reporting on John Traynor, Gerry Hutch and John Gilligan. This led to Guerin being the target of multiple murder attempts. Though she survived for a time, she was eventually killed in the outskirts of Dublin on the N7 by Bryan Meehan, Peter Mitchell, Seamus Ward, and Charles Bowden, all members of Gilligan's crime syndicate. As a reaction to this murder, the Criminal Assets Bureau was formed in Ireland.


title: Irish Mob

text: A wave of 400 subsequent arrests saw the end of Gilligan's mob. But once again this led to the rise of factions hoping to replace the leader. These included George Mitchell, Christy Kinahan and John Cunningham, often dealing with their finance overseas, in order to avoid the Criminal Assets Bureau. These events would later be depicted in the 2003 Irish film "Veronica Guerin".


title: Irish Mob

text: By the early 2000s, many of Dublin's crime bosses had fled to Spain, due to the harsher laws combatting crime families. One of the more notable is Christy Kinahan and his mob.


title: Irish Mob

text: In Crumlin and Drimnagh in South Dublin, a gang dispute led to two factions (one led by Freddie Thompson and the other by Brian Rattigan) engaging in a gang war with 16 people dead as a result. Rattigan was sent to prison after shooting at a police van, but continued leadership of his gang while in prison. 2005 saw the peak of the murder per day ratio, with three people killed in two days, plus a murder earlier in the year. Three people were murdered on 8 October 2007 and three more in the next two years.


title: Irish Mob

text: Much like Dublin, Limerick had little crime in the 1960s, despite having overcrowded neighborhoods suffering from poverty and unemployment. Many were forced to move to Southill, which saw an increase in antisocial behavior. No organised crime was present, but there were very disorganized gangs of youths which often committed vandalism.


title: Irish Mob

text: Brothers Mike and Anthony Kelly committed robberies in their youth. Mike would frequently get into fights at pubs (which would later get out of hand, after someone was killed). During the pub fighting days (which he was known for) he would also take-up armed robbery and other serious crimes. Later Kelly and associates would set up protection rackets, which would also combat antisocial behavior, by using harsh and violent action towards vandals. Every day, Mike Kelly collected a pound from each house, supplying a form of protection. The main purpose of earning money was to fund his drinking problem.


title: Irish Mob

text: During the 1990s Keane's were considered the most powerful crime family in Limerick. The Keane's turf was mainly Saint Mary's Park. They had neighborhood allies being the Collopys (including Brian Collopy and Phillip Collopy). They'd also hire a violent hitman named Eddie Ryan, to be an enforcer. In the late nineties the drug-trade would have two major mobs. These being The Keane-Collopy (led by Christy Keane and younger violent brother Kieran Keane) and The Ryans (led by Eddie Ryan). There was a dispute between these two factions, and at one stage Eddie Ryan tried to kill Christy Keane, but his gun jammed. With motivations of revenge, the Keanes executed Ryan. This would be considered a catalyst in the Limerick Feud. This led to war between the Ryans and Keanes, and eventually McCarthy-Dundon.


title: Irish Mob

text: Another crime family would appear on the sideline, after Wayne Dundon came back from Hackney, England (as he was deported back to his home country). Wayne would form the McCarthy-Dundon gang which involved his brothers; John Dundon, Ger Dundon, and Dessie Dundon. Along with their cousins the McCarthy family. At first they would pose as allies to both The Ryans and Keane-Collopy. But in the background, schemed their own plans to defeat the two gangs. Eventually they would make their move and kill Kearan Keane (one of the bosses of the Keane-Collopy) in 2003. This would result in the demise of the Keane-Collopy's reign. And to be replaced by McCarthy-Dundon. However many murders between the factions would occur, roughly 20 killed and 100 arrested (in relation to the feud).


title: Irish Mob

text: Today organized crime is the main focus of police in Limerick. The number of arrests has significantly increased, and the number of crimes has significantly decreased. Gang warfare still occurs, but not as often. Turf wars over council housing/working-class estates, are particularly common in Southill (McCarthy-Dundon turf) and Saint Mary's Park (Keane-Collopy turf). Also executions or intimidation of civilians that get in the way of the crime organisations have decreased. However, the example of Ryan Collins is still not forgotten.


title: Irish Mob

text: Many Limerick crime families' higher-ups are said to operate on a global scale. On the other hand, of the few gang gang-killings related to the Limerick Feud are done by those who are in their teenage years. These teenagers also partake in drug-related crimes (such as drug-dealing for McCarthy-Dundon and Keane-Collopy crime families).


title: Irish Mob

text: Another faction in Rathkeale, is Rathkeale Rovers, who is part of the local Rathkeale traveller community.


title: Irish Mob

text: The Kinahan cartel, led by Christy Kinahan and Daniel Kinahan, established themselves as a leading criminal force on the Costa del Sol in 2003. In May 2010, "Operation Shovel" – a joint Irish-Spanish police operation – led to the arrests of Kinahan and 21 other Cartel members in Spain and the seizure of twenty vehicles, firearms and over €1 million in cash. The investigation focused on drug trafficking, money laundering and property investments in which Kinahan was allegedly involved. Kinahan and his associates were released without charge due to lack of evidence. On 24 September 2015, Gary Hutch was shot dead by a balaclava-clad gunman in a private apartment complex near Marbella, beginning the Hutch–Kinahan feud. Kinahan gang member James Quinn was convicted of being involved in the murder by being a lookout and helping the killer to reach and flee the scene. He was sentenced to 28 years in prison. On 17 August 2016, Trevor O'Neill, a Dublin City Council worker from Drimnagh, was shot and killed in a case of mistaken identity outside the Bouganvillia Hotel in Costa de la Calma, near the seaside resort of Santa Ponça, Mallorca. Gardaí believe that he was mistaken for a member of the Hutch family by the Kinahan gang.


title: Irish Mob

text: The Irish Mob has been alluded to in numerous novels and short stories. The Sherlock Holmes mysteries mention James Moriarty as a criminal mastermind in London and his gang associates Sebastian Moran and Paddy Flynn (all Irish names) which though never expressly stated hint a connection to the Irish Mob.


title: Irish Mob

text: Irish mobsters appeared as characters in the early "gangster" films of the 1930s and film noir of the 1940s. These roles are often identified with actors such as James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Frank McHugh, Ralph Bellamy, Spencer Tracy, Lynne Overman, and Frank Morgan (although Bellamy, Morgan and Overman were not of Irish descent), as well as stars including Humphrey Bogart and Edward G. Robinson.


title: Jacques Lacan

text: Jacques Marie Émile Lacan (, , ; 13 April 1901 – 9 September 1981) was a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist. Described as "the most controversial psycho-analyst since Freud", Lacan gave yearly seminars in Paris from 1953 to 1981, and published papers that were later collected in the book "Écrits". His work made a significant impact on continental philosophy and cultural theory in areas such as post-structuralism, critical theory, feminist theory and film theory, as well as on the practice of psychoanalysis itself.


title: Jacques Lacan

text: Lacan took up and discussed the whole range of Freudian concepts, emphasizing the philosophical dimension of Freud's thought and applying concepts derived from structuralism in linguistics and anthropology to its development in his own work, which he would further augment by employing formulae from predicate logic and topology. Taking this new direction, and introducing controversial innovations in clinical practice, led to expulsion for Lacan and his followers from the International Psychoanalytic Association. In consequence, Lacan went on to establish new psychoanalytic institutions to promote and develop his work, which he declared to be a "return to Freud", in opposition to prevalent trends in psychology and institutional psychoanalysis collusive of adaptation to social norms.


title: Jacques Lacan

text: Lacan was born in Paris, the eldest of Émilie and Alfred Lacan's three children. His father was a successful soap and oils salesman. His mother was ardently Catholic – his younger brother entered a monastery in 1929. Lacan attended the Collège Stanislas between 1907 and 1918. An interest in philosophy led him to a preoccupation with the work of Spinoza, one outcome of which was his abandonment of religious faith for atheism. There were tensions in the family around this issue, and he regretted not persuading his brother to take a different path, but by 1924 his parents had moved to Boulogne and he was living in rooms in Montmartre.


title: Jacques Lacan

text: During the early 1920s, Lacan actively engaged with the Parisian literary and artistic avant-garde. Having met James Joyce, he was present at the Parisian bookshop where the first readings of passages from "Ulysses" in French and English took place, shortly before it was published in 1922. He also had meetings with Charles Maurras, whom he admired as a literary stylist, and he occasionally attended meetings of Action Française (of which Maurras was a leading ideologue), of which he would later be highly critical.


title: Jacques Lacan

text: In 1920, after being rejected for military service on the grounds that he was too thin, Lacan entered medical school. Between 1927 and 1931, after completing his studies at the faculty of medicine of the University of Paris, he specialised in psychiatry under the direction of Henri Claude at the Sainte-Anne Hospital, the major psychiatric hospital serving central Paris, at the Infirmary for the Insane of the Police Prefecture under Gaëtan Gatian de Clérambault and also at the Hospital Henri-Rousselle.


title: Jacques Lacan

text: Lacan was involved with the Parisian surrealist movement of the 1930s, associating with André Breton, Georges Bataille, Salvador Dalí, and Pablo Picasso. For a time, he served as Picasso's personal therapist. He attended the "mouvement Psyché" that Maryse Choisy founded and published in the Surrealist journal "Minotaure". "[Lacan's] interest in surrealism predated his interest in psychoanalysis," former Lacanian analyst and biographer Dylan Evans explains, speculating that "perhaps Lacan never really abandoned his early surrealist sympathies, its neo-Romantic view of madness as 'convulsive beauty', its celebration of irrationality." Translator and historian David Macey writes that "the importance of surrealism can hardly be over-stated... to the young Lacan... [who] also shared the surrealists' taste for scandal and provocation, and viewed provocation as an important element in psycho-analysis itself".