title: Hermann von Helmholtz

text: Helmholtz studied the phenomena of electrical oscillations from 1869 to 1871, and in a lecture delivered to the Naturhistorisch-medizinischen Vereins zu Heidelberg (Natural History and Medical Association of Heidelberg) on 30 April 1869, titled "On Electrical Oscillations" he indicated that the perceptible damped electrical oscillations in a coil joined up with a Leyden jar were about 1/50th of a second in duration.


title: Hermann von Helmholtz

text: In 1871, Helmholtz moved from Heidelberg to Berlin to become a professor in physics. He became interested in electromagnetism, and the Helmholtz equation is named for him. Although he did not make major contributions to this field, his student Heinrich Rudolf Hertz became famous as the first to demonstrate electromagnetic radiation. Oliver Heaviside criticised Helmholtz's electromagnetic theory because it allowed the existence of longitudinal waves. Based on work on Maxwell's equations, Heaviside pronounced that longitudinal waves could not exist in a vacuum or a homogeneous medium. Heaviside did not note, however, that longitudinal electromagnetic waves can exist at a boundary or in an enclosed space.


title: Hermann von Helmholtz

text: Whoever, in the pursuit of science, seeks after immediate practical utility may rest assured that he seeks in vain.


title: Hermann von Helmholtz

text: Other students and research associates of Helmholtz at Berlin included Max Planck, Heinrich Kayser, Eugen Goldstein, Wilhelm Wien, Arthur König, Henry Augustus Rowland, Albert A. Michelson, Wilhelm Wundt, Fernando Sanford and Michael I. Pupin. Leo Koenigsberger, who was his colleague 1869–1871 in Heidelberg, wrote the definitive biography of him in 1902.


title: Tanya Maniktala

text: Tanya Maniktala (born 7 July 1997) is an Indian actress who mainly works in Hindi web shows. She is best known for her portrayal of Ishita in "Flames" (2018) and Lata Mehra in "A Suitable Boy" (2020).


title: Tanya Maniktala

text: Maniktala was born on 7 July 1997 in Delhi. She completed her graduation from Shivaji College, University of Delhi. She also worked as a copywriter during her early career days.


title: Tanya Maniktala

text: Maniktala made her acting debut in 2018 with "School Days". The same year, Timeliner's "Flames" opposite Ritvik Sahore, became her first success and she received praises for her performance.


title: Tanya Maniktala

text: In 2020, she portrayed Lata Mehra in BBC One's "A Suitable Boy" alongside Ishaan Khattar, which proved as a major turning point in her career. She received praises from the critics for her performance.


title: Tanya Maniktala

text: In 2021, she appeared in Netflix's "Feels Like Ishq" opposite Skand Thakur and in Sony LIV's "Chutzpah" alongside Varun Sharma. She also appeared in Netflix's "How To Fall In Love" opposite Ayush Mehra.


title: Tanya Maniktala

text: Maniktala will make her Hindi film debut with "Mumbaikar" alongside Vijay Sethupathi and Vikrant Massey. She also has Pratim D Gupta's Untitled next opposite Shantanu Maheshwari along with web series "P.I. Meena" and "Flames Season 3" in her kitty.


title: Crested gecko

text: The crested gecko or eyelash gecko (Correlophus ciliatus) is a species of gecko native to southern New Caledonia. In 1866, the crested gecko was described by a French zoologist named Alphonse Guichenot. This species was thought extinct until it was rediscovered in 1994 during an expedition led by Robert Seipp. Along with several other New Caledonian gecko species, it is being considered for protected status by the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna.


title: Crested gecko

text: The species was first described in 1866 as "Correlophus ciliatus" by the French zoologist Alphone Guichenot in an article entitled "Notice sur un nouveau genre de sauriens de la famille des geckotiens du Muséum de Paris" ("Notes on a new species of lizard in the gecko family") in the "Mémoires de la Société Scientifique Naturelle de Chérbourg". It was later renamed "Rhacodactylus ciliatus". Recent phylogenetic analysis indicates that "R. ciliatus" and "R. sarasinorum" are not closely related to the other giant geckos, so these two species have been moved back to the genus "Correlophus".


title: Crested gecko

text: The specific name, "ciliatus", is Latin, from "cilia" ("fringe" or "eyelashes") and refers to the crest of skin over the animal's eyes that resembles eyelashes.


title: Crested gecko

text: The crested gecko is endemic to South Province, New Caledonia. There are three disjunct populations, one found on the Isle of Pines and surrounding islets, and there are two populations found on the main island of Grande Terre. One population is around the Blue River, which is a protected provincial park, and the other is further north, just south of Mount Dzumac. They are seen around many topical climates.


title: Crested gecko

text: Crested geckos typically range from in length, including of tail length. Among the most distinctive features of these geckos are the hair-like projections found above the eyes, which greatly resemble eyelashes. This projections continue as two rows of spines that run from the eyes to the sides of their wedge-shaped head and continue to the base of their tail. Crested geckos do not have eyelids. Instead, a transparent scale, or spectacle, keeps each eye moist, and the geckos use their tongues to clear away debris.


title: Crested gecko

text: These geckos possess a semi-prehensile tail which they use to assist in climbing. The tail can be dropped (via caudal autotomy) to distract predators. Crested geckos do not regenerate their tails once lost; most adults in the wild lack tails.


title: Crested gecko

text: The toes and the tip of the semi-prehensile tail are covered in small hairs called setae. Each seta is divided into hundreds of smaller (approximately 200 nanometres in diameter) hairs called spatulae. It is believed these structures exploit the weak van der Waals force to help the gecko climb on most solid surfaces, most easily on flatter, smoother surfaces such as glass or wood. The toes have small claws which aid in climbing surfaces to which their toes cannot cling.


title: Crested gecko

text: The crested gecko has many naturally occurring color groups, including grey, brown, red, orange, and yellow of various shades. They have three color morphs in the wild, which include pattern-less, white-fringed, and tiger.


title: Crested gecko

text: Crested geckos are a mostly arboreal species, preferring to inhabit the canopy of the New Caledonian rainforests. They are able to jump long distances between branches to move to new locations. Crested geckos are nocturnal, and will generally spend the daylight hours sleeping in secure spots in high branches. Crested geckos are omnivores, and will opportunistically feed on fruit, nectar, pollen, and a variety of insects.


title: Crested gecko

text: Crested geckos were believed to be extinct prior to rediscovery in 1994. The species is currently being assessed for CITES protection and vulnerable status. The biggest single threat to the wild population appears to be the introduction of the little fire ant ("Wassmania auropunctata") to New Caledonia. The ants prey on the geckos, stinging and attacking in very large numbers, and they also compete with the geckos for food by preying on arthropods. Other threats to the wild population include habitat damage from wildfires, rodent predation, and habitat degradation from introduced deer and pigs.


title: Crested gecko

text: Little is known about the wild reproductive behavior of crested geckos; available information has been obtained from captive animals. Females generally lay two eggs per clutch, which hatch 60–150 days after they are laid. A female crested gecko only has to mate with a male once in order to lay 2 eggs every 4–6 weeks for a breeding cycle of upwards of 8–10 months. After a breeding cycle females in the wild go through a "cooling" cycle, usually prompted by slight temperature and daylight changes over the winter season. During this time, the females are able to regain the body mass and nutrients they lost during egg-laying.


title: Crested gecko

text: Crested geckos have two small sacs for calcium on the roof of their mouths. If an egg-laying female does not have enough calcium her sac will be depleted, and she can suffer from calcium deficiency. This can lead to a calcium crash, where the female appears shaky or wobbly, lethargic, has a lack of appetite, and can even result in death.


title: Crested gecko

text: Newly hatched crested geckos will generally not eat until after they have shed and eaten their skin for the first time, relying on the remains of their yolk sack for nutrition.


title: Crested gecko

text: Though the export of wild crested geckos is now prohibited, biologists exported several specimens for breeding and study before New Caledonia stopped issuing permits to export the species. From these specimens, different breeding lines were established, both in Europe and the United States. The crested gecko is now one of the most widely-kept and bred species of gecko in the world, second only to the common leopard gecko.


title: Crested gecko

text: Crested geckos can be very long-lived. While they have not been kept in captivity long enough for a definitive life span to be determined, they have been kept for 15–20 years or more.


title: Pravastatin

text: Pravastatin, sold under the brand name Pravachol among others, is a statin medication, used for preventing cardiovascular disease in those at high risk and treating abnormal lipids. It should be used together with diet changes, exercise, and weight loss. It is taken by mouth.


title: Pravastatin

text: Common side effects include joint pain, diarrhea, nausea, headaches, and muscle pains. Serious side effects may include rhabdomyolysis, liver problems, and diabetes. Use during pregnancy may harm the baby. Like all statins, pravastatin works by inhibiting HMG-CoA reductase, an enzyme found in liver that plays a role in producing cholesterol.


title: Pravastatin

text: Pravastatin was patented in 1980 and approved for medical use in 1989. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. It is available as a generic medication. In 2020, it was the 34th most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 17million prescriptions.


title: Pravastatin

text: Pravastatin is primarily used for the treatment of dyslipidemia and the prevention of cardiovascular disease. It is recommended to be used only after other measures, such as diet, exercise, and weight reduction, have not improved cholesterol levels.


title: Pravastatin

text: The evidence for the use of pravastatin is generally weaker than for other statins. The antihypertensive and lipid-lowering treatment to prevent heart attack trial (ALLHAT), failed to demonstrate a difference in all-cause mortality or nonfatal myocardial infarction/fatal coronary heart disease rates between patients receiving pravastatin 40 mg daily (a common starting dose) and those receiving usual care.


title: Pravastatin

text: Pravastatin has undergone over 112,000 patient-years of double-blind, randomized trials using the 40 mg, once-daily dose and placebos. These trials indicate pravastatin is well tolerated and displays few noncardiovascular abnormalities in patients. However, side effects may occur. A doctor should be consulted if symptoms such as heartburn or headache are severe and do not go away.


title: Pravastatin

text: These uncommon side effects should be promptly reported to the prescribing doctor or an emergency medical service:


title: Pravastatin

text: Contraindications, conditions that warrant withholding treatment with pravastatin, include pregnancy and breastfeeding. Taking pravastatin while pregnant could lead to birth defects. While the amount of pravastatin ingested by an infant from breastfeeding is low, patients breastfeeding should not take pravastatin due to potential effects on the infant's lipid metabolism.


title: Pravastatin

text: Pravastatin is cleared by the kidneys, giving it a distinct advantage over other statins when a potential for drug interactions using the hepatic pathway exists.


title: Pravastatin

text: Pravastatin acts as a lipoprotein-lowering drug through two pathways. In the major pathway, pravastatin inhibits the function of hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) reductase. As a reversible competitive inhibitor, pravastatin sterically hinders the action of HMG-CoA reductase by occupying the active site of the enzyme. Taking place primarily in the liver, this enzyme is responsible for the conversion of HMG-CoA to mevalonate in the rate-limiting step of the biosynthetic pathway for cholesterol. Pravastatin also inhibits the synthesis of very-low-density lipoproteins, which are the precursor to low-density lipoproteins (LDL). These reductions increase the number of cellular LDL receptors, thus LDL uptake increases, removing it from the bloodstream. Overall, the result is a reduction in circulating cholesterol and LDL. A minor reduction in triglycerides and an increase in high-density lipoproteins (HDL) are common.


title: Pravastatin

text: Initially known as CS-514, pravastatin is a derivative of ML236B (compactin), which was identified in a fungus called "Penicillium citrinum" in the 1970s by researchers of the Sankyo Pharma Inc. It is being marketed outside Japan by the pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb. In 2005, Pravachol was the 22nd-highest selling brand-name drug in the United States, with sales totaling $1.3 billion.


title: Pravastatin

text: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved generic pravastatin for use in the United States on 24 April 2006. Generic pravastatin sodium tablets were manufactured by Biocon Ltd, India and TEVA Pharmaceuticals in Kfar Sava, Israel.


title: Julie McCullough

text: Julie Michelle McCullough (born January 30, 1965) is an American model, actress and stand-up comedian. She was "Playboy" magazine's Playmate of the Month for February 1986, and played the role of Julie Costello on "Growing Pains" in 1989–90.


title: Julie McCullough

text: Julie McCullough, who is of Irish descent, was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and named after a 1950s song called "Oh Julie". She has one older brother, Joey. McCullough's parents divorced when she was four. Her mother, Nancy, a housewife, married Herman Paynter, a Marine one year later. In addition to living in Honolulu, she grew up in several states, including North Carolina, West Virginia, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, Texas, Nevada and California, as well as Canada and Italy. She considers herself Southern, having attended high school in Poplar Bluff, Missouri and Allen, Texas.


title: Julie McCullough

text: McCullough worked as a model in her teens before moving to California. In 1983, McCullough graduated from high school and was living in Allen, Texas, when a photographer approached her to pose for "Playboy" magazine. She became a Playboy model appearing in four issues: February 1985 (on the cover and as part of a "Girls of Texas" pictorial), February 1986 (as Playmate of the Month), September 1986 (on the cover and as part of a "Farmer's Daughters" pictorial) and October 1989 (a post-"Growing Pains" compilation of her first three shoots with extra pictures).


title: Julie McCullough

text: In 1989, officials of North Carolina Azalea Festival stripped Julie McCullough of her crown as Azalea Queen of Wilmington, because of controversy surrounding her appearance as a "Playboy" centerfold.


title: Julie McCullough

text: McCullough found work in a number of television and film projects. Her work included "Max Headroom", "The Golden Girls", a role in the 1987 film "Big Bad Mama II" co-starring Angie Dickinson, "Superboy" and the 1988 horror movie remake "The Blob". She starred in the syndicated adventure series "Robin's Hoods" as Stacey Wright with singer-actor Rick Springfield. "Robin's Hoods" lasted one season on television.


title: Julie McCullough

text: Julie McCullough landed the role of nanny Julie Costello on the television show "Growing Pains" in 1989. She appeared in eight episodes until she was fired in 1990, which allegedly stemmed from series star Kirk Cameron's conversion to evangelical Christianity, a conversion that, according to "The E! True Hollywood Story" episode focusing on the show, served to alienate him from his fellow cast members, as he did not invite any of them to his wedding. In his 2008 autobiography "Still Growing", Cameron states that he did not call for her to be fired and the show's producers have claimed that Julie's character was never intended to be a permanent character. However, the long-told story is that Cameron called for McCullough's termination because of his anger and objections to her having posed nude in "Playboy", accusing the show's producers of promoting pornography. A decade later, Cameron apologized to his TV family for some of his prior behavior due to his lack of maturity. He reportedly did not reconcile with McCullough, who claims that Cameron refused to speak to her during a later encounter. She remains critical of him, stating that she lost a lot from the public criticism she endured during the controversy. McCullough has criticized the evangelical television programming Cameron has produced, which she has viewed on one occasion, saying on her MySpace page:


title: Julie McCullough

text: After the "Growing Pains" scandal, McCullough made several television appearances on "Beverly Hills, 90210", "Jake and the Fatman", "Harry and the Hendersons" and "Drexell's Class".


title: Julie McCullough

text: McCullough now works as a stand-up comedian, and has performed at the Hollywood Improv, the Palms Hotel and Casino, and the Laugh Factory.


title: Julie McCullough

text: McCullough has appeared on the E! reality show "The Girls Next Door". She appeared in "Under the Covers", the ninth episode of the first season, which aired in October 2005, "We Can Work It Out", the thirteenth episode of the second season, which aired in November 2006 and "May the Horse Be With You", the second episode of the third season, which aired in March 2007.


title: Julie McCullough

text: McCullough married Canadian actor David Sutcliffe on November 10, 2001; they divorced in December 2003.


title: Julie McCullough

text: According to Dave Itzkoff, writing in an article in the June 2006 "Playboy" magazine, during the rise in popularity of MySpace, McCullough was ""Playboy"'s unofficial ambassador to the MySpace nation."


title: Julie McCullough

text: McCullough celebrated her 50th birthday at the Comedy Store club in Hollywood with a sold-out stand-up comedy show. Guests included Tia Carrere and Pauly Shore.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Edwin Washington Edwards (August 7, 1927 – July 12, 2021) was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as the U.S. representative for from 1965 to 1972 and as the 50th governor of Louisiana for four terms (1972–1980, 1984–1988, and 1992–1996), twice as many elected terms as any other Louisiana chief executive. He served a total of 16 years in gubernatorial office, which at 5,784 days is the sixth-longest such tenure in post-Constitutional U.S. history.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: An influential figure in Louisiana politics, Edwards, who was dubbed the "very last of the line of New Deal Southern Democrats", was long dogged by charges of corruption. In 2001, he was found guilty of racketeering charges and sentenced to ten years in federal prison. Edwards began serving his sentence in October 2002 in Fort Worth, Texas, and was later transferred to the federal facility in Oakdale, Louisiana. He was released from federal prison in January 2011, having served eight years. He was also considered to be the last remnant of the political machine founded and led by Huey Long and Earl Long to serve as Governor.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: In 2014, Edwards again sought election to the U.S. House of Representatives, running to represent . He placed first in the jungle primary, but was defeated by Republican Garret Graves by nearly 25 percentage points in the runoff election, a sign of Edwards' precipitous decline in popularity due to his felony conviction, as well as the Republican Party of Louisiana's growing dominance over state politics.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Edwin Washington Edwards was born in rural Avoyelles Parish, near Marksville. His father, Clarence Edwards, was a half-French Creole Presbyterian sharecropper, while his mother, the former Agnès Brouillette, was a French-speaking Roman Catholic. Edwards' ancestors were among early Louisiana colonists from France who eventually settled in Avoyelles Parish, referred to as the original French Creoles. Edwards, like many 20th century politicians from Avoyelles, assumed that he had Cajun ancestry, when in fact he may have had none. His father was descended from a family in Kentucky, who came to Louisiana during the American Civil War. His great-great-grandfather, William Edwards, was killed in Marksville at the beginning of the American Civil War because of his pro-Union sentiment.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Avoyelles Parish has been known for colorful politicians; another who stood out, F.O. "Potch" Didier, actually spent seven days in his own jail after being convicted of malfeasance in office during his own heated reelection.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: The young Edwards had planned on a career as a preacher. As a young man, he did some preaching for the Marksville Church of the Nazarene. He served briefly in the U.S. Navy Air Corps near the end of World War II. After his return from the military, he graduated at the age of twenty-one from Louisiana State University Law Center and began practicing law in Crowley, the seat of Acadia Parish. He relocated there in 1949 after his sister, Audrey E. Isbell, who had moved there with her husband, told him there were few French-speaking attorneys in the southwestern Louisiana community.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Edwards' career was thus helped by his being bilingual and articulate in both English and Cajun French. He learned to cultivate the goodwill of the media, working reporters and editorial page editors. One of his favorites was Adras LaBorde, the longtime managing editor of the "Alexandria Daily Town Talk" in Alexandria. LaBorde even influenced Edwards in regard to environmental policy.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Edwards entered politics through election to the Crowley City Council in 1954. He was a member of the Democratic Party which, in that era, had a monopoly on public offices in Louisiana, but which fell out of favor in the late 20th century. Edwards remained on the Crowley council until his election to the Louisiana State Senate in 1964; in that race he defeated, in a major political upset in the Democratic primary, the incumbent Bill Cleveland, a Crowley businessman who had served for twenty years in both houses of the Louisiana legislature. Years later as governor, Edwards appointed Cleveland's daughter, Willie Mae Fulkerson (1924–2009), a former member of the Crowley City Council, to the Louisiana Board of Prisons.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: After serving in the state Senate for less than two years as a floor leader for Governor John McKeithen, Edwards was elected to the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana's 7th congressional district, a position that he held from 1965 until 1972. He won the congressional seat in a special election called when the incumbent, T. Ashton Thompson of Ville Platte, was killed in an automobile accident near Gastonia, North Carolina. Edwards was easily reelected to three full terms in the House in 1966, 1968, and 1970.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: In 1968, he defeated Republican Vance William Plauché (1924–2013) of Lake Charles, son of former one-term Democratic Congressman Vance Gabriel Plauché, who was also a native of Avoyelles Parish. Edwards received more than 80 percent of the general election vote. While in Congress, Edwards served on the Public Works, Judiciary, and Internal Security committees. In 1970, he was one of the few Southern congressmen to support the extension for five years of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: In the election of 1971–1972, Edwards won the governorship after finishing first in a field of seventeen candidates in the Democratic primary, including the final race of former governor Jimmie Davis and Gillis Long, a relative of Huey Long. His greatest support came from southern Louisiana, particularly among its large numbers of Cajun, Creole, and African-American voters. In the first primary, Edwards led with 276,397 (23.8 percent). J. Bennett Johnston Jr., a state senator from Shreveport, followed with 208,830 (17.8 percent). In third place was former Congressman Gillis Long of Alexandria, with 164,276 (14 percent). Former Governor Jimmie Davis finished fourth with 138,756 (11.8 percent). Far to the rear of the pack was Congressman Speedy O. Long of Jena of rural La Salle Parish with only 61,359 (5.2 percent).


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Both Edwards and Johnston ran on reform-oriented platforms during the primary, but Edwards was more adept at making political deals and building alliances for the runoff round of voting. Edwards said that the major philosophical difference that he held with Johnston was in regard to their "awareness of problems of the poor". Johnston won the endorsement of Edwards' legislative colleague, Joe D. Waggonner of Bossier Parish, but the Shreveport state senator declined to accept Edwards' offer of a televised debate between the two.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Edwards defeated Johnston in the runoff, 584,262 (50.2 percent) to 579,774 (49.8 percent), in a less than one vote per precinct outcome. The victory showed that south Louisiana was eclipsing the north in both population and in future political domination of the state.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: On election night, Edwards gave public credit to the African American New Orleans political organization SOUL for his extremely narrow victory, stating that the 12,000 vote lead SOUL had bought him in New Orleans had put him over the top. Such public recognition of black political power by a Democratic governor of Louisiana was unprecedented.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: In the general election held on February 1, 1972, Edwards faced Republican gubernatorial nominee David C. Treen, then of Metairie. He did not run as the candidate who would continue the Democratic policies of his predecessor, John McKeithen, for whom Edwards had been a state senate floor leader. Instead he derided McKeithen as a "lame duck governor who doesn't want the new administration to do well. It'll make him look bad", considering a $30 million budget shortfall facing the next governor. Throughout the campaign, Edwards repeatedly insisted that Treen had no chance of victory. He said the climate was not right for a Republican governor in Louisiana. He ridiculed Treen as having "never held a public office. He has run for office four times and has been defeated all four times. He can't even generate enough enthusiasm in his home district (Jefferson Parish), where he is best known." He accused Treen of having adopted Edwards' own reform platform characterized as the "Era of Excellence".


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Though Treen ran a vigorous campaign, Louisiana's Democratic tradition favored Edwards from the start, as Edwards had predicted. Edwards polled 641,146 (57.2 percent) to Treen's 480,424 (42.8 percent). Edwards also overcame the south Louisiana "jinx" that had doomed former New Orleans Mayor deLesseps Story "Chep" Morrison Sr., in his three gubernatorial bids. Edwards picked up the enthusiastic backing of his runoff rival, J. Bennett Johnston, later a U.S. senator.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Bill Dodd, who was defeated for state superintendent of education in the same election cycle that Edwards was winning the governorship in for the first time, attributed the Edwards victory in part to political kingmaker Louis J. Roussel Jr., of New Orleans. According to Dodd, Roussel "can do more than any other individual in Louisiana to elect any candidate he supports for any office in this state. ... He is such a good administrator and motivator that he can put together an organization that will win in business and in politics."


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Both in his political rhetoric and in his public persona, Edwards cast himself as a Louisiana populist in the tradition of Huey P. Long and Earl K. Long. He was inaugurated as governor on May 9. One of his first acts was to call for a constitutional convention to overhaul Louisiana's bulky charter. Many of the sections on state government were written by delegate Robert G. Pugh, a prominent Shreveport attorney, who became an advisor to Edwards and two other governors thereafter. Voters approved the new constitution by a three-to-two margin in 1974, and government reorganization resulted. For the first time Louisiana operated with a "cabinet style" executive department in lieu of the hundreds of boards and commissions that had existed for decades, each its own fiefdom.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: During his first two terms in office, Edwards developed a reputation for being one of the most colorful and flamboyant politicians in the history of a state known for its unorthodox political figures. Charismatic, well dressed, and quick with clever one-liners and retorts, Edwards maintained wide popularity.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: On taking office, Edwards hired J. Kelly Nix as his executive assistant and in 1974 elevated him to first executive assistant. In the second term, however, Nix left the administration to take office as the Louisiana state school superintendent. Dale Thorn, who had been Edwards' press secretary while he was in Congress, continued in that position for the first and most of the second Edwards terms. He was later associate commissioner of higher education for the Louisiana Board of Regents, and an LSU journalism professor.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Edwards also depended heavily on state Senator Sixty Rayburn of Bogalusa, whose 44-year service earned him the sobriquet as "Dean of the Louisiana Senate". He also rewarded political friends, such as former legislative colleague Fred L. Schiele, whom he appointed in 1973 to succeed the embattled Noah W. Cross as sheriff of Concordia Parish in eastern Louisiana.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Under Edwards, Michael H. O'Keefe of New Orleans in 1976 was named president of the state Senate, an office that was held by the lieutenant governor prior to the implementation of the state Constitution of 1974. In 1983, as Edwards prepared to return to office, O'Keefe was engulfed in scandal and forced to leave the Senate. He was as replaced by Edwards loyalist Samuel B. Nunez Jr., of Chalmette in St. Bernard Parish. In 2013, O'Keefe was still serving time in prison for a 1999 conviction.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: After enduring three grueling rounds of voting in the 1971–1972 campaign, Edwards pushed a bill through the legislature that limited state elections to two rounds by having Democratic, Republican, and independent candidates run together on the same ballot in a nonpartisan blanket primary. Though the jungle primary system was intended to benefit Edwards' own political career, many observers cite it as being a major factor in the eventual rise of the state's Republican Party and the creation of a genuinely competitive two-party system. For this, Edwards was facetiously christened "father of Louisiana's Republican Party".


title: Edwin Edwards

text: William Denis Brown, III, a lawyer and a state senator from Monroe, was Edwards's floor leader in the upper legislative chamber in the first term as governor. A native of Vicksburg, Mississippi reared on a plantation north of Lake Providence in East Carroll Parish, Brown was instrumental in drafting the Louisiana Mineral Code. Thereafter from 1980 to 1988, Brown was the chairman of the Louisiana Board of Ethics.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Early in the first gubernatorial term, Edwards initiated the creation of the first new Louisiana state constitution in more than a half century. He intended to replace the Constitution of 1921, an unwieldy and outmoded document burdened with hundreds of amendments. A constitutional convention was held in 1973; the resulting document was put into effect in 1975. , the 1973 Constitution remains in effect. Edwards also undertook a major reorganization of the state government, abolishing over 80 state agencies and modeling the remaining structure after that of the federal government.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: In his first year in office, Edwards appointed his wife Elaine Edwards, also a native of Avoyelles Parish, to complete the Senate term of the deceased Allen J. Ellender. Mrs. Edwards served from August 1972 until that November, and during that time, the small town of Crowley boasted the governor, a U.S. Senator, and a U.S. Representative (former Edwards aide John Breaux), who all lived within a few blocks of each other.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: An outspoken supporter of civil rights, Edwards appointed more black people and women to high positions in his administration than had his predecessors.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Edwards named State Representative J. Burton Angelle of Breaux Bridge as his director of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, a key appointment which Angelle filled for Edwards' first three terms of office.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Edwards' tenure in the 1970s coincided with a huge boom in the state's oil and gas industry after the gas pricing crisis of 1973. Edwards was able to greatly expand the state's oil revenues by basing severance taxes on a percentage of the price of each barrel rather than the former flat rate. This oil money fueled a massive increase in state spending (a 163% increase between 1972 and 1980), and Edwards was able to consistently balance the state budget due to the boom in oil revenue. Much of this increased spending went toward health and human services programs and increased funding for vocational-technical schools and higher education.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Edwards easily won reelection in 1975, with 750,107 votes (62.3 percent). In second place was Democratic State Senator Robert G. "Bob" Jones of Lake Charles, son of former Governor Sam Houston Jones, with 292,220 (24.3 percent). Secretary of State Wade O. Martin Jr., ran third with 146,363 (12.2 percent). Thereafter, Jones and Martin became Republicans. Addison Roswell Thompson, the perennial segregationist candidate from New Orleans, made his last race for governor in the 1975 primary.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Though arguably minor compared to the Edwards scandals of the 1980s and 1990s, the governor was embroiled in several ethics controversies during his first two terms in office. At the time, Edwards was remarkably candid about his questionable practices. When questioned about receiving illegal campaign contributions, he replied that "It was illegal for them to give, but not for me to receive." He also insisted he saw no problem with investing in a proposed New Orleans office building called "One Edwards Square" (it was never actually named that) while still governor, and demonstrated his gambling prowess to the press on one of his frequent gambling trips to Las Vegas. Later, Edwards' commissioner of administration Charles Roemerfather of future governor Buddy Roemer – was convicted of taking bribes and having connections with Mafia boss Carlos Marcello. Edwards managed to avoid direct implication in the Roemer case.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: During the governor's first term, a disaffected former Edwards bodyguard named Clyde Vidrine made several high-profile accusations of corruption, including the sale of state agency posts. The accusations were investigated by a grand jury, but the Edwards administration attacked Vidrine's credibility and the investigation stalled. Later, Vidrine published a tell-all book called "Just Takin' Orders", which included salacious details of Edwards' frequent gambling trips and extramarital escapades. Vidrine was murdered in December 1986 by the husband of a woman he was guarding, who believed Vidrine was having an affair with his wife.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: In a 1976 scandal known as Koreagate, it came to light that Edwards and his wife Elaine had received questionable gifts in 1971, while Edwards was a U.S. representative. South Korean rice broker Tongsun Park was under investigation for trying to bribe American legislators on behalf of the South Korean government, and for making millions of dollars in commissions on American purchases of South Korean rice. Edwards admitted that Park gave Elaine an envelope containing $10,000 in cash, but insisted that the gift was given out of friendship and that there was nothing improper about it. In the course of the controversy, Edwards stated that he thought it was "super moralistic" for the U.S. government to prohibit American businessmen to accept gifts from foreign officials in the course of their business dealings. The scandal also engulfed Edwards's former congressional colleague Otto Passman of Monroe, who was later acquitted of all charges in the case, but nonetheless was defeated in his 1976 re-election bid by Jerry Huckaby of Ringgold.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Barred by the state constitution from seeking a third term immediately after his second, Edwards temporarily left politics in 1980 but made it clear he would run again for governor in 1983. He began raising money and touring the state long before the 1983 election, maintaining what supporters called "the government in waiting". Early in 1982, Edwards said that he was so committed to running again for governor that "only death alone can separate me from this. ... We are being led by a governor whose only answer to unemployment is to buy a $350,000 jet."


title: Edwin Edwards

text: In 1979, Republican David Treen was narrowly elected governor on a pledge of good government reform. Edwards had supported Treen's opponent, Democratic Public Service Commissioner Louis Lambert of Ascension Parish. As widely expected, Edwards in 1983 defeated Treen's re-election attempt. The election offered a clear contrast between the flamboyant, charismatic Edwards and the low-key, policy-oriented Treen. While Treen focused on Edwards' reputation for corruption and dishonesty, Edwards sought to portray Treen as incompetent and unresponsive to the public. Treen said of Edwards: "It's difficult for me to understand his popularity", which indicated in the eyes of many that he did not fully comprehend Louisiana politics. The two major candidates spent over $18 million between them; the election became renowned as one of the most expensive campaigns ever conducted in a state the size of Louisiana. John Maginnis' 1984 book, "The Last Hayride", chronicles this colorful but lopsided campaign.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Treen's commissioner of administration, former legislator E. L. "Bubba" Henry, told the Democratic State Central Committee that Edwards had created a "smoke screen ... to divert attention from his own 'sweetheart deals' for his political friends", a reference to controversy which arose in the financing of a new baseball stadium for the University of Louisiana at Monroe (then known as Northeast Louisiana University).


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Before election day, Edwards joked with reporters: "The only way I can lose this election is if I'm caught in bed with either a dead girl or a live boy." Edwards zinged Treen many times, once describing Treen as "so slow it takes him an hour and a half to watch "60 Minutes"." During a gubernatorial debate in 1983, Treen asked Edwards, "How come you talk out of both sides of your mouth?" Edwards instantly responded, "So people like you with only half a brain can understand me."


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Then "Shreveport Journal" editor Stanley R. Tiner reported after the campaign of 1983 that Edwards did not believe in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and did not personally expect to go to heaven. There was an uproar in conservative religious circles, but the comments did not stop Edwards from finishing his term or winning a fourth election eight years later.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Edwards' brother, Marion David Edwards (1928–2013), was part of the 1983 campaign and of the entourage that headed to France and Belgium early in 1984 to raise money to repay a lingering $4.2 million campaign debt. Six hundred supporters joined the Edwardses on an eight-day tour that included dinner at Versailles and gambling in Monte Carlo. Each paid $10,000. Edwards expected a 70 percent profit on the contributors' tickets to retire the debt. Bumper stickers were printed in blue and gold campaign colors and distributed to those who contributed to the retirement of this debt. For years afterwards, motorists saw stickers on vehicles bearing the slogan, "I did Paris with the Gov." Attendees ranged from Sheriff Don Hathaway of Caddo Parish to the Lafayette artist George Rodrigue, known at the time for his oak tree symbol, later replaced by the widely recognized blue dog.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: State finances nosedived during the third Edwards administration. Money from petroleum severance taxes decreased sharply in the middle 1980s because of plummeting oil prices. In 1984, Edwards attempted to deal with the erosion of state revenue by approving $730 million—Edwards had requested $1.1 billion—in new personal taxes, including a 1 percentage point increase in the state sales tax, $61 million in higher corporate income taxes, and $190 million in additional gasoline taxes. The legislature, overwhelmingly dominated by lawmakers beholden to Edwards, passed these taxes into law, but the taxes were highly unpopular and damaged Edwards' level of public support. Republican State Representative Terry W. Gee of New Orleans said at the time, "Nobody realized the magnitude of what's going on; I've had 180 phone calls in two days against the higher taxes."


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Much of Edwards' support in the 1970s had been fueled by high levels of social spending during times of economic prosperity; with economic conditions worsening, his popularity waned. To obtain passage of the higher taxes, Edwards first submitted Treen's 1984–1985 proposed budget as a warning to lawmakers. The Treen budget, he claimed, would cut state spending too drastically and cause roads to fall apart, bridges to collapse, and insurance premiums to skyrocket. Edwards predicted that if lawmakers passed Treen's budget instead of the higher taxes the voters would rebel and blame the legislature itself for the results. In the end, Edwards got most of what he wanted and was able to use the excuse of teacher pay increases to put pressure on lawmakers.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: In February 1985, soon after his third term began, Edwards was forced to stand trial on charges of mail fraud, obstruction of justice, and bribery, brought by U.S. Attorney John Volz. The charges were centered around an alleged scheme in which Edwards and his associates received almost $2 million in exchange for granting preferential treatment to companies dealing with state hospitals. Edwards proclaimed his innocence and insisted that the charges were politically motivated by Volz and the Republican Party. The first trial resulted in a mistrial in December 1985, while a second trial in 1986 resulted in an acquittal. After Edwards and his four co-defendants were acquitted, the hotel where the jurors had been sequestered revealed that half of the jurors had stolen towels as they left. Edwards quipped that he had been judged by a "jury of my peers".


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Russell B. Long had correctly predicted in March 1985 that Edwards would indeed be acquitted by a Louisiana jury and that the ensuing trial would not disrupt state government. When Long announced his retirement from the U.S. Senate seat that he had held since 1948, he indicated his preference for Edwards as his senatorial successor but added, correctly, that he did not think Edwards would enter the 1986 Senate election.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Prosecutors referred to Marion Edwards, also indicted in the alleged health care scheme, as a "bag man" for his brother. Marion ridiculed this characterization at a French Quarter bar in New Orleans, when media representatives were present. He placed a shopping bag on his head to resemble a crown and tossed about phony $100 bills.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Edwards later recited during a toast at a French Quarter bar, though his beverage was non-alcoholic as he was a teetotaler, a rhyming invitation for Volz to "kiss my ass". The trials were rather lengthy, and at one point during the first trial but before the mistrial Edwards rode to the Hale Boggs U.S. Courthouse on a mule from his hotel. When asked by reporters why he did so, he replied something to the effect that it was symbolic of the speed and intellect of the federal judicial system, but also that he supported "tradition". Marion Edwards, an attorney, often wore a pinstripe suit with a top hat and cane and held comedic press briefings at the end of each court session on the steps of the courthouse. Marion Edwards mocked the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney Volz, and United States Judge Marcel Livaudais, who presided over the trials.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Even after beating the Volz indictment, Edwin Edwards' popularity was in decline. Despite his acquittal, the trial brought many sordid details of Edwards's conduct under public scrutiny. It was revealed that during frequent gambling trips to Las Vegas, Edwards lost hundreds of thousands of dollars under aliases such as T. Wong and E. Lee, later paying these gambling debts using suitcases stuffed with cash of unknown origin.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: After the trial, Edwards' support for the legalization of gambling as a solution to the state's severe revenue shortages contributed to a further decline in his popularity. He had made unpopular budget cuts to education and other social programs earlier in his term. Beginning in January 1986, he argued that legalizing casino gambling in up to fifteen locations and creating a state lottery would be a way to restore the programs, but the state legislature rejected his gambling proposals. Entering a tough re-election campaign in 1987, Edwards seemed vulnerable. Going into the election, his disapproval ratings ranged from 52 to 71 percent.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: At first Edwards had predicted that a casino and a state lottery would net the state $600 million; then he lowered the expectations to $150 million. Both gambling measures would eventually be implemented, but not during Edwards' third term.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Several notable candidates lined up to face Edwards in the 1987 gubernatorial election. Perhaps his strongest early challenger was Republican Congressman Bob Livingston. Also in the race were Billy Tauzin, a then-Democratic Cajun congressman from Thibodaux who was a strong Edwards supporter while serving in the state legislature from 1972 to 1980; Democratic Secretary of State Jim Brown of Ferriday, and a Democratic congressman from Bossier City, Buddy Roemer, the son of former Commissioner of Administration Charles Roemer, who climbed up from a series of low poll rankings early in the campaign.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Louis J. Roussel Jr., the businessman from New Orleans who began his career as a bus driver, contributed $600,000 to Edwards in the losing race in 1987. Roussel had been a large donor to Bill Dodd, whose son, William Ford Dodd, ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in the same 1987 primary election.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Edwards was the issue of the campaign. Because of his name recognition, his resilient supporters, and unmatched political skill, even a weakened Edwards could safely assume he would win a place in Louisiana's unique primary election system runoff. The question was whether his opponent in the runoff would be someone who could beat him.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: There was a prevailing sense in the race that Edwards needed Livingston in the runoff. Livingston was a Republican in a state that had at that point elected only one Republican governor since Reconstruction. And Livingston was widely perceived as lacking in charisma and personality, which would work to Edwards's advantage. Any other opponent, a moderate Democrat without the ethical problems, would be dangerous. To that end, Edwards talked up Livingston. Perhaps the key moment in the 1987 race came at a forum between the candidates. As usual, the main topic of discussion was Edwin Edwards. His challengers were asked, in succession, if they would consider endorsing Edwards in the general election if they did not make it to the runoff. The candidates hedged, particularly Secretary of State Brown, a reliable Edwards supporter in the state Senate who in his 1979 election drew many of the same voters who supported fellow Democrat Louis Lambert in his failed gubernatorial bid in the same general election vs. Treen. The last candidate to speak was Buddy Roemer: "No, we've got to slay the dragon. I would endorse anyone but Edwards." The next day, as political commentator John Maginnis put it, Jim Brown was explaining his statement while Buddy Roemer was ordering "Slay the Dragon" buttons. Boosted by his endorsement as the 'good government candidate' by nearly every newspaper in the state, Roemer stormed from last place in the polls and on election night, overtook Edwin Edwards and placed first in the primary election, with 33 percent of the vote compared with Edwards' 28 percent. This marked the first time Edwin Edwards ever finished other than in first place in an election.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: In what seemed to be the end of Edwards' political career, the governor withdrew from the contest in his concession speech, automatically electing Buddy Roemer governor. In fact, he was cleverly setting a trap for Roemer. By withdrawing, Edwards denied Roemer the opportunity to build a governing coalition in the general election race, and denied him the decisive majority victory that he surely would have attained. In one stroke, Edwards made Buddy Roemer a minority governor. Also, Edwards virtually ceded control of the state to Roemer even before his inauguration. By doing so, he passed on the burden of the state's problems to the new governor, who was essentially under the gun even before assuming office. For four years, Roemer struggled to be a reform governor of Louisiana as so many had before him. And although virtually no one realized it at the time, Edwin Edwards quietly waited in the wings for a return to power.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: As the 1991 governor's race drew near, many of Edwards' friends encouraged him to abandon his planned comeback, believing that he had no chance to win. After Edwards' loss in 1987, Lanny Keller, a journalist for the defunct "Shreveport Journal" wrote that the only way Edwin Edwards could ever be elected again was to run against Adolf Hitler. These words turned out to be shockingly prophetic, since after the 1991 primary Edwards discovered his runoff opponent to be former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, David Duke. Edwards received 34 percent of the vote while Duke received 32 percent. Governor Roemer placed third, 80,000 votes behind Duke.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: The runoff between an avowed white supremacist and a former governor who was corrupt but was also perceived as minority-friendly, gained national attention. Support for Edwards grew in between the primary and the runoff. Louisiana Coalition against Racism and Nazism, an interest group, appeared on the landscape to challenge Duke, with its leadership including longtime Treen supporter Beth Rickey, a member of the Louisiana Republican State Central Committee from New Orleans. The coalition revealed through a recording of Duke at a White Nationalist conference that he was still involved in Ku Klux Klan activities.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Faced with the alternative of Duke, many who were otherwise lukewarm for Edwards found him looking ever better. Edwards found himself receiving endorsements from Treen and Roemer; even Republican President George H. W. Bush urged that Edwards, the Democrat, be elected over Duke. A popular bumper sticker urging support for Edwards (although clearly not produced by his campaign) read "Vote For the Crook. It's Important." Another read "Vote for the Lizard, not the Wizard." Edwards said that this would be his final term as governor and that he cared about leaving a good legacy, which made many hope that the corruption of his previous administrations would not be repeated. Edwards won by a wide margin. Continuing his artful use of humor to deflate an opponent, and referring to his considerable reputation as a ladies' man, Edwards said of Duke that "the only thing we have in common is that we both have been wizards beneath the sheets." He also feigned concern for Duke's health due to smoke inhalation "because he's around so many burning crosses" and when a reporter asked Edwards what he needed to do to triumph over Duke, Edwards replied "stay alive". On election day, Edwards defeated Duke in a landslide, 61 to 39 percent, a margin of nearly 400,000 votes.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: In his last term, Edwards asked his boyhood friend, Raymond Laborde, to leave the state House after twenty years to serve as commissioner of administration. Laborde, who had once defeated Edwards for class president at Marksville High School and had earlier been his legislative floor leader, agreed to join the administration. He invited former state Representative Kevin P. Reilly Sr., of Baton Rouge, former CEO of Lamar Advertising Company to serve as secretary of economic development. Reilly had been removed in 1986 as chairman of the Louisiana House Appropriations Committee after having criticized Edwards.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: In 1992, Edwards appointed the professional penologist, Richard Stalder, as secretary of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections, a position that used to be given to political supporters. Stalder remained secretary until 2008, serving during three subsequent gubernatorial terms in the position.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: During his previous term as governor, Edwards promoted casino gambling in Louisiana, which had been a major part of his platform in the 1991 campaign. In June 1992, his heavy lobbying led the state legislature to pass a bill calling for a single large land-based casino in New Orleans. He also appointed a board that, at his private direction, awarded 15 floating riverboat casinos that had been authorized by the Legislature and the Roemer administration. He appointed a political ally, Paul Fontenot, to head the State Police; he would oversee the licensing and investigation of casino operators. On another front he again demonstrated his broad commitment to civil rights by becoming the first Southern governor to issue an executive order protecting lesbian, gay, and bisexual persons from discrimination in state governmental services, employment, and contracts.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Despite the discovery that some licensees had links to organized crime or other unsavory ties, Edwards blocked the revocation of their licenses. But a political backlash against gambling-related corruption began. Though he had originally planned to run for re-election in 1995, he announced in June 1994, shortly after marrying his second wife Candy Picou, that he would be retiring from politics at the end of his term. Edwards was succeeded as governor by State Senator Murphy J. Foster Jr., who ran as an opponent of gambling interests. Edwards retired to a newly purchased home in Baton Rouge, intent on returning to a private law practice and living out his remaining days in contentment with his young wife, Candy (born 1964).


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Ron Gomez, whose second term in the legislature corresponded with Edwards' third term as governor, describes Edwards, accordingly:


title: Edwin Edwards

text: "Somehow, his brashness and arrogance over the years, traits that would have destroyed the average politician, have only seemed to endear him to his core constituency: minorities, organized labor, Cajuns and lower-income voters. It is exactly those groups who suffered the most over the quarter of a century he was in and out of the governor's office. Except for some black leaders who attached themselves to his entourage and gained political clout and monetary rewards through favors and appointments, the minority population as a whole has made very little progress culturally, educationally or socially because of his leadership."


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Former Congressman Cleo Fields achieved considerable notoriety in 1997 when an FBI surveillance videotape showed him accepting a large amount of cash (about $20,000) from Edwards and stuffing it in his pockets. At the time Fields stated that the incident was just an innocent business transaction between friends, and said there was a humorous explanation, which he would make public shortly thereafter. A cloud hung over Fields as an unindicted co-conspirator in Edwards' criminal trial and in the end Fields refused to deliver the promised "humorous" explanation, stating that at the time of the cash transfer, he was not an elected official, and therefore under no obligation to explain publicly.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: After being fingered by Texas for-profit prison entrepreneur Patrick Graham, who allegedly gave him $845,000 in conjunction with a scheme to locate a private juvenile prison in Jena in La Salle Parish, Edwards was indicted in 1998 by the federal government with the prosecution led by U.S. Attorney Eddie Jordan. The prosecution soon released transcripts of audio conversations, and excerpts of video surveillance that seemed to indicate dubious financial transactions. The Edwards investigation also resulted in the conviction of San Francisco 49ers owner Edward J. DeBartolo Jr., who admitted to paying Edwards a $400,000 bribe (DeBartolo was convicted for not reporting the extortion) in exchange for Edwards's assistance in securing a riverboat casino license.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Edwards was found guilty on seventeen of twenty-six counts, including racketeering, extortion, money laundering, mail fraud, and wire fraud; his son Stephen was convicted on 18 counts. "I did not do anything wrong as a governor, even if you accept the verdict as it is, it doesn't indicate that", Edwards told the press after his conviction. On his way to prison he said, "I will be a model prisoner, as I have been a model citizen". From 2002 to 2004 Edwin Edwards was incarcerated at the Federal Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Edwards' sometime co-conspirator, Cecil Brown, a Eunice cattleman, was convicted for his part in the payoffs in 2002.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: In 2004, Edwards filed for divorce from his second wife Candy, saying that Mrs. Edwards had "suffered enough" during his incarceration. In June 2005, the former Mrs. Edwards was arrested for threatening a police officer at a traffic stop in Port Barre, screaming "don't you know who I am?"


title: Edwin Edwards

text: In 2005, Edwards was moved to the Federal Correctional Institution in Oakdale in Allen Parish, where he served his sentence as inmate #03128-095. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, he was scheduled to be released on July 6, 2011. In prison, he served as the facility's librarian: "I did what I could for my fellow inmates. I helped a number of them get their GEDs and I was helping several more when my term expired. Now, I have to be honest; I didn't stick around to see if they succeeded..."


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Two men whom Edwards defeated in Louisiana elections—David C. Treen and J. Bennett Johnston Jr.—and a third who was his protégé and successor in the Seventh District U.S. House seat, U.S. Senator John Breaux, confirmed in July 2007 that they intended to approach then U.S. President George W. Bush to seek a pardon or commutation for Edwards, who celebrated his 80th birthday in prison in August 2007. Bush denied a pardon for Edwards before he left the presidency on January 20, 2009.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Edwards supporters also lobbied U.S. President Barack Obama for a pardon for Edwards so he might run in the 2011 Louisiana gubernatorial election. Obama did not reply to petitions by supporters of Edwards and lacking a pardon, Edwards remained ineligible to seek the governorship of Louisiana until the end of his life and would have only been eligible to run after fifteen years would have passed from the end of his sentence.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: In 2009, Edwards was listed as an "honorary pallbearer" at the funeral of perennial political candidate L. D. Knox of Winnsboro, who in the 1979 gubernatorial contest, when Edwards was not on the ballot, legally changed his name to "None of the Above" Knox to dramatize his support for the "None of the Above" option in elections.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: On January 13, 2011, Edwards was released from prison and served the remainder of his sentence at a halfway house. His sentence ended on July 6, 2011 and he began three years of probation. He entered into home confinement at his daughter's Denham Springs, Louisiana home through the supervision of a halfway house, on January 13, 2011. Following that, Edwards was placed on probation. On February 7, 2013, Edwards was granted early release from probation due to good behavior. His wife Trina made the announcement on her Facebook page.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: In a poll taken in October 2011, months after he had been released from prison, 30 percent of respondents named Edwards the state's best governor since 1980.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: In February 2014, Edwards announced that he was contemplating running in the 2014 election to represent the Louisiana's 6th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives, which is centered on the state capital of Baton Rouge. With U.S. Representative Bill Cassidy exiting the seat to run for the Senate, Edwards said of the solidly Republican district: "I'm the only hope the Democrats have here." He formally declared his candidacy at a March 17 meeting of the Press Club of Baton Rouge, saying, "I want you to know, I'm going to give it every effort." If no candidate wins a majority of the vote, a runoff would be held on December 6, 2014, between the top two candidates. Two other Democrats, a Libertarian and nine Republicans, most notably Garret Graves, a former aide to Governor Bobby Jindal, State Senator Dan Claitor, businessman Paul Dietzel, II, and State Representative Lenar Whitney, also sought the seat.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: After Edwards' announcement, Cassidy told KEEL radio news in Shreveport that he doubted that Edwards "has a chance. It's a conservative district, and he's obviously not a conservative. But it kind of shows, I think, to a certain extent that the Democratic bench is weak." Louisiana political writer John Maginnis said that Edwards was "likely to make the runoff" because of his name recognition, but "I don't see how he could win in a strong GOP-performance district like the 6th. But it should be entertaining." State pollster Elliott Stonecipher said that "the most basic math of the Edwards race yields an 'it is not impossible' answer" and former Governor Buddy Roemer said that while it is unlikely, "yes, [Edwards] can win".


title: Edwin Edwards

text: An April 2014 article in "Politico" that discussed his chances noted that he was "still sharp as a razor" and "in remarkably vigorous health". He pronounced himself "disappointed" with President Obama for "sitting" on the Keystone Pipeline and listed his campaign priorities as "Building support for a high-speed rail system between Baton Rouge and New Orleans and emphasizing the good aspects of Obamacare, while doing what I can to change or amend the provisions that I think are onerous." He said that he would have voted against the Affordable Care Act, but criticized Governor Jindal for not accepting the Medicaid expansion. If elected, he hoped to serve on the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, to spur the construction of elevated roadways in the state.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: A September 2014 survey of statewide Louisiana voters by Public Policy Polling found that 40% had a favourable opinion of Edwards, 44% did not and 17% were unsure. Asked whether they would rather have Edwards as governor than incumbent Republican governor Bobby Jindal, 47% said they would prefer Edwards, 43% preferred Jindal and 10% were not sure.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Edwards finished first in every poll taken of the race, though only with a plurality. Runoff polls showed him losing to all of his Republican opponents. An article in "The Times-Picayune" in late October 2014 noted that he had run a vigorous, serious campaign and noted that, as previously, analysts were split on whether he could actually win. David Wasserman of "The Cook Political Report" said that for Edwards, "mathematically, victory is something close to impossibility." Conversely, a spokesman for Republican opponent Lenar Whitney and political analyst Michael Beychok both said that he had a chance to win and Republican candidate Garret Graves said "There's no one alive anymore in this state that has the experience or, quite frankly, the tactics (of) Edwin Edwards." Edwards was expected to make the runoff, with his chances dependent on which Republican joins him, with several analysts saying that Edwards' best chance would come if Whitney, the most conservative Republican running, does so. Edwards' strategy was to appeal to black and Cajun voters and conservative Democrats, also campaigning on college campuses to appeal to younger voters. Columnist Bob Mann predicted that if Edwards made the runoff, the media would decry Louisiana voters' toleration for corruption when, "in truth (Edwards) never really had a chance to win."


title: Edwin Edwards

text: As expected, Edwards as the principal Democratic candidate led the 2014 primary field for Congress with 77,862 votes (30.1 percent), winning every parish in the district. He then faced the Republican runner-up, Garret Graves, in the December 6 runoff election. Graves had received 70,706 "jungle primary" votes (27.4 percent). Losing Republican candidates were Paul Dietzel II, with 35,013 votes (13.6 percent), state Senator Dan Claitor with 26,520 (10.3 percent), and state Representative Lenar Whitney with 19,146 votes (7.4 percent). Edwards lost to Graves by a 62–38 percent margin in the runoff. It was only the second loss of his political career.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Edwards has the seventh longest gubernatorial tenure in post-Constitutional U.S. history at 5,784 days. Few governors have served four four-year terms. Edwards followed George Wallace of Alabama, Jim Hunt of North Carolina, Bill Janklow of South Dakota, Terry Branstad of Iowa, Lewis Cass of Michigan, and Jim Rhodes of Ohio as 16-year governors. However, Branstad was elected to a fifth nonconsecutive term as governor of Iowa in 2010, placing him second to George Clinton of New York (21 years) as the longest-serving governor in U.S. history, and won a sixth term as governor in 2014. In December 2015 Branstad surpassed New York's George Clinton as the longest-tenured governor in American history, with 8,169 days in office.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Veteran journalist Iris Kelso once described Edwards as clearly "the most interesting" of the six governors that she had covered while working for three newspapers and WDSU, the NBC television affiliate in New Orleans. Kelso declared Edwards more colorful than Earl Long, whom she covered for less than a year in the office.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: In 1949, Edwards married Elaine Schwartzenburg, whom he had met at Marksville High School. The couple had four children. In 1972, Edwards appointed her as an interim U.S. senator to complete the unfinished term of Allen J. Ellender of Houma, who died while campaigning for his seventh term in office. On July 1, 1989, the couple divorced after forty years of marriage. They had begun living apart on March 15, 1989.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: In 1994, Edwards married Candy Picou (born 1964). In 1997, the couple entered the headlines when they attempted to have a child. Edwards had a vasectomy reversal, and the couple froze sperm to attempt to have a baby but were not successful.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: In July 2011, Edwards married Trina Grimes, his prison pen pal. They began corresponding while he was serving his sentence for corruption. At the time of the wedding, he was 83, and she was 32. On August 1, 2013, Grimes gave birth to their child. In 2013, Edwards and Trina co-starred in an A&E reality show, "The Governor's Wife" based on their life together.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: One of Edwards's brothers, Nolan Edwards, a former assistant district attorney in Acadia Parish, was murdered in Crowley by an irate client in 1983, the same year that Edwards was engineering his comeback bid for a third term as governor. Nolan's killer, Rodney Wingate Jr., of Church Point, Louisiana, then killed himself. Wingate had been pardoned by Governor Edwards in 1980 for two drug convictions in the 1970s, a pardon procured through the intervention of Nolan Edwards. Nolan's murder halted the 1983 politicking. Newspapers carried a photograph of brothers Edwin and Marion locked in an embrace on an airport tarmac.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Marion Edwards, an insurance agent and political consultant, was a cancer survivor and counseled other patients for many years. Born on July 10, 1928, in Marksville, he died on January 12, 2013, at the age of eighty-four at his home in Broussard near Lafayette, Louisiana. The cause of death was not released. The Marion D. Edwards Fellowship in Hepatic Oncology at the M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute in Houston, Texas, is named in his honor. Marion Edwards, who was Nazarene, was survived by his second wife, the former Deborah "Penny" Meaux, and three daughters from his first marriage to Aline Luther Edwards: Wanda Edwards, Elizabeth Kersten, and Donna Edwards.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Another brother, Allen Edwards, the longtime owner of a farm and heavy equipment company in Quitman in northern Arkansas, died in 2009, while Edwards was in prison. Edwards did not attend the funeral because of security difficulties.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Edwards was an uncle by marriage to former U.S. Representative Charles Boustany, a Republican from Lafayette, whose district includes much of the territory represented from 1965 to 1972 by then-U.S. Representative Edwin Edwards. Boustany's wife is the former Bridget Edwards, a daughter of Nolan Edwards.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: On July 29, 2011, Edwards married Trina Grimes Scott (born August 1978) from Baton Rouge, at the Monteleone Hotel in New Orleans. Edwards' one-time prison pen pal, she was fifty-one years his junior and was born midway in his second term as governor. She is a Republican.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Edwin and Trina Edwards were the subjects of the reality show "The Governor's Wife", which premiered October 27, 2013, on the Arts & Entertainment Network. The program focused on Trina's rearing of teenaged sons and acting as stepmother to Edwards' daughters who are almost twice her age. According to the A&E description of the program: "Between school projects, running for president of the Homeowner's Association, fending off skeptics who think she's a gold digger, and thoughts of adding a baby of their own to the mix, the Edwards clan truly represents a new take on the modern family." The couple announced February 15, 2013 that Trina was pregnant. Trina gave birth to their son on August 1, 2013.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: In 2015, Edwards was hospitalized for pneumonia. On December 13, 2016, Edwards was hospitalized under stable condition again for pneumonia in Baton Rouge.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Edwards was rushed to the hospital again by ambulance in November 2020, with shortness of breath. Edwards returned to his home in Gonzales after spending two nights at Our Lady of the Lake Medical Center in Baton Rouge. It was reported that he had a common head cold and he reportedly tested negative for both COVID-19 and pneumonia, as well as the flu. His wife told the media that he was resting well and "giving orders" once he got home.


title: Edwin Edwards

text: Edwards was sent to hospice care for pain in his lungs in Gonzales, Louisiana on July 6, 2021. He died six days later on July 12, 26 days short of his 94th birthday. The cause of death was respiratory complications. At the time of his death, Edwards had outlived four of his successors: Dave Treen, Buddy Roemer, Mike Foster, and Kathleen Blanco.


title: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

text: In 1955, Edmund Goldman acquired the 1954 film from Toho and enlisted the aid of Paul Schreibman, Harold Ross, Richard Kay, and Joseph E. Levine to produce a revised version for American audiences. This version dubbed most of the Japanese dialogue into English, altered and removed key plot points and themes. New footage was produced with Burr interacting with body-doubles and Japanese-American actors in an attempt to make it seem like Burr was part of the original Japanese production.


title: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

text: "Godzilla, King of the Monsters!" was theatrically released in the United States on April 27, 1956, and was followed by an international release. The film was responsible for introducing Godzilla to a worldwide audience, as the 1954 film remained unavailable officially outside of Japan until 2004.


title: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

text: Injured American reporter Steve Martin is brought from the ruins of Tokyo to a hospital filled with maimed and wounded citizens. A recent acquaintance, Emiko, discovers him by chance among the victims and attempts to find a doctor for him. Martin recalls in flashback stopping over in Tokyo, where a series of inexplicable offshore ship disasters catches his attention. When a victim of those disasters washes up on Odo Island, Martin flies there for the story, along with security officer Tomo Iwanaga. There he learns of the island inhabitants' long-held belief in a sea monster god known as "Godzilla", which they believe caused the ship disasters. That night, a heavy storm strikes the island, destroying houses and killing some villagers. The islanders believe that Godzilla was actually responsible for the destruction.


title: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

text: Martin returns to the island with Dr. Yamane, who is leading a team to investigate the damage. Huge radioactive footprints and prehistoric trilobite are discovered. An alarm rings and Martin, the villagers, and Dr. Yamane's team head up a hill for safety. Near the summit, they encounter Godzilla, and they quickly flee downhill. Upon Dr. Yamane's later return to Tokyo, he deduces that Godzilla is tall and was resurrected by the repeated hydrogen bomb testing in the Pacific. To Yamane's dismay, the military responds by attempting to kill the monster using depth charges. Martin contacts his old friend, Dr. Daisuke Serizawa, for dinner, but Serizawa declines due to a previous commitment with his fiancée, Emiko, Dr. Yamane's daughter.


title: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

text: Emiko goes to Serizawa's home to break off her arranged engagement with him because she is actually in love with Hideo Ogata, a salvage ship captain. Dr. Serizawa, however, gives her a demonstration of his secret project, which horrifies her. She is sworn to secrecy and unable to bring herself to break off the engagement. Godzilla surfaces from Tokyo Bay, unharmed by the depth charges, and attacks the city, destroying a train before returning to the bay. The next morning, the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) supercharges the tall electrical towers along Tokyo's coast to repel the monster.


title: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

text: Godzilla resurfaces that night and breaks through the electrical towers and JSDF defense line using his atomic heat breath. Martin documents Godzilla's rampage via tape recorder and is injured during the attack. Godzilla returns to the sea and the flashback ends. Martin wakes up in the hospital with Emiko and Ogata. Horrified by the destruction, Emiko reveals to them the existence of Dr. Serizawa's Oxygen Destroyer, which disintegrates oxygen atoms in saltwater and causes all marine organisms to die of acidic asphyxiation. Emiko and Ogata go to Dr. Serizawa to convince him to use his powerful weapon on Godzilla, but he initially refuses. After watching a television broadcast showing the nation's continuing plight, Serizawa finally gives in to their pleas.


title: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

text: A ship takes Ogata, Serizawa, Yamane, Martin, and Emiko out to the deepest part of Tokyo Bay. In hardhat diving suits, Ogata and Serizawa are lowered down by lifelines near Godzilla to plant the weapon. Ogata is pulled up, but Serizawa delays his ascent and activates the device. He radios the surface of its success and wishes Emiko and Ogata happiness together. Serizawa cuts his lifelines, taking the secret of his invention to the grave. Godzilla succumbs to the Oxygen Destroyer, which dissolves its body and bones. All aboard the ship mourn the loss of Dr. Serizawa. Martin reflects that the world can "live again" due to Serizawa's ultimate sacrifice.


title: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

text: In 1955, Edmund Goldman approached Toho International Inc., (a Los Angeles-based subsidiary created to distribute Toho films overseas) about purchasing the rights to "Godzilla". Toho had shown Goldman advertising materials, which interested him in a screening of the film. Goldman then made Toho an offer of $25,000 for the theatrical and television rights, which they accepted quickly. The contract was signed on September 27, 1955. The contract stipulated that Toho and Goldman agreed that the film would be "narrated, dubbed in English and completed by the revisions, additions, and deletions," with final approval by Toho.


title: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

text: Paul Schreibman assisted in the film's acquisition. Samuel Z. Arkoff of American International Pictures also made a bid for the film, negotiating with Toho for three months until he discovered the rights had already been sold to Goldman. Goldman enlisted the help of Harold Ross (sometimes credited as Henry Rybnick) and Richard Kay of Jewell Enterprises to distribute the film. According to Goldman, Ross and Kay's idea was to dub the film and hire Raymond Burr. Goldman would later sell his interest to Jewell Enterprises.


title: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

text: Ross and Kay turned to Joseph E. Levine to further finance the project. The duo arranged a screening of the film for Levine in Los Angeles. The film's possibilities excited Levine and paid $100,000 for half of the rights. This arrangement allowed the rights to "Godzilla" to be split between Jewell Enterprises and Levine's Embassy Pictures. Levine enlisted Edward Barison to create Trans World Releasing Corp., to distribute the film. Levine also enlisted producer Terry Turner to develop promotional strategies, which cost $400,000. Turner managed to get the film mentioned by Steve Allen on "The Tonight Show". Levine and Turner initially considered the title "Godzilla, the Sea Beast", but eventually settled on "Godzilla, King of the Monsters". Ross and Kay hired Terry O. Morse to direct the film. Schreibman had arranged for Burr to participate in the film. Morse was paid $10,000 for re-writing and directing the film and Burr was paid the same amount for a single day's work.


title: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

text: Alterations and new footage with Burr interacting with body doubles were produced to appeal to American audiences, as foreign films held no appeal to the mainstream public at the time. Morse viewed the original Japanese cut, with an English translation of the script, to find key scenes in which Burr could be inserted. Rather than dub the entire film, Morse chose to retain most of the original Japanese dialogue and have Frank Iwanaga translate, albeit inaccurately, those scenes and alternate with Burr narrating. Burr worked with body-doubles, who were filmed over their shoulder to conceal their faces. Editing techniques were also used to mask the body doubles and the original Japanese actors. Asian-American extras were hired to play minor roles. The new footage was filmed in three days on a rented soundstage at Visual Drama Inc. Since he was contracted for only one day, Burr was forced to work a 24-hour shift to shoot all his scenes. Set decorator George Rohr provided mock-up sets that resembled the sets in the original Japanese cut. Overt references to the atom bomb and hydrogen bomb, such as the bombing of Nagasaki, the Bikini Island tests, radioactive contamination of tuna by American and Russian bomb tests, were omitted.


title: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

text: The dubbing required for the entire film was recorded in under five hours. James Hong and the other voice actors have not given any details of the film's production. The voice actors were locked in a room with Morse and were told to read for every role. Each line was recorded at different speeds and the best one was chosen to match the footage. The voice actors never saw the film as they recorded their lines. The voice actors dubbed the entire film sitting at a table with a microphone before them. Hong confirmed that several Japanese actors auditioned for the voice-over job. However, Hong and Sammee Tong were hired due to their versatility. Tong recorded voices for six older characters, while Hong recorded for seven younger characters.


title: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

text: "Godzilla, King of the Monsters!" opened on April 4, 1956, in Loew's State Theater in New York City. It was theatrically released in the United States on April 27, 1956, to 283 theaters as a double-feature with "Prehistoric Women". The film earned more than $2 million in rentals during its initial theatrical run. The film earned a $200,000 profit for its producers. The TV rights were sold to RKO, and it made its television broadcast debut in 1959 on KHJ-TV in Los Angeles. The film was theatrically released in Japan on May 29, 1957, as "Kaijū Ō Gojira" ("Monster King Godzilla") to a positive reception from Japanese audiences, with the English dialogue subtitled in Japanese and the film cropped in Toho Pan Scope 2:1.


title: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

text: It was the first Japanese feature to become a commercial success in the United States and was, at the time, the fourth foreign film to have grossed more than $1 million at the American box office. Goldman originally acquired the film to distribute in the American and Canadian markets. Due to the film's commercial success, however, foreign distributors became interested in acquiring the American cut. Trans World, therefore, renegotiated with Toho to license the American version to foreign markets.


title: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

text: This version of the film became an international hit across the Western world. It was released in France on February 14, 1957, where it became the 79th top-grossing film of 1957, selling 835,511 tickets.


title: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

text: The film received mixed reviews from critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 83% based on 24 reviews, with an average rating of 6.70/10. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 60/100 based on 7 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

text: "New York Times" film critic Bosley Crowther disparaged "Godzilla, King of the Monsters!", dismissing it as "an incredibly awful film". After complaining about the dubbing, the special effects ("a miniature of a dinosaur") and the similarity to "King Kong", he concluded, "The whole thing is in the category of cheap cinematic horror-stuff, and it is too bad that a respectable theater has to lure children and gullible grown-ups with such fare". On the film's alterations, critic Danny Peary accused the producers of making "deletions that arouse suspicions regarding the cover up of references to damage done by the A-bomb". Film critic Tim Lucas noted, "Much has been done to Americanize the Godzilla series over the decades, much of it inane and destructive, but the craft and cleverness that went into "Godzilla, King of the Monsters!" is immediately apparent". Over the years, original director Ishirō Honda was asked by film historians if the alterations made by the American version without his permission had offended him. Honda found the alterations amusing, stating that his film was "trying to imitate American monster movies".


title: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

text: In writing for "Ritual and Event", Aaron Kerner stated, "the 1956 "Godzilla, King of the Monsters" transforms "Gojira" into a run of the mill science fiction film". William Tsutsui criticized the film for watering down the original themes, stating, "although "Gojira" was not exactly eviscerated in this transition, with the terrifying charm of the monster thankfully surviving the cinematic surgery, much of the emotional power, intellectual depth, social relevance, and visceral impact of "Gojira" was lost in its translation to US movie screens". Film historian David Kalat felt that Burr's narration during Godzilla's rampage improves upon the original scene, stating, “Burr’s speeches here are chilling and memorable”. Kalat further praised how the narration renders Burr's character as impotent, stating, “not even the American hero can save the day this time”.


title: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

text: Film historian Steve Ryfle called the film's flaws "obvious" when compared with the Japanese version. However, when judged on its own merits, Ryfle commented, "the film is one of the best American atomic-monster movies of the 1950s, on par with – or even better than – the classic giant-ant thriller "Them!"." Ryfle added that the film's scripting, directing, and special effects were "far superior" than other American monster films of the same period.


title: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

text: In 1994, footage of Toho's faux widescreen version was included in Toho Video's 40th anniversary special edition LaserDisc.


title: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

text: The film was released on DVD and VHS by Simitar in 1998 and on DVD and VHS by Classic Media in 2002. In 2006, Classic Media and Sony BMG released a two-disc DVD set titled "Gojira: The Original Japanese Masterpiece". This release features both the 1954 film and the 1956 American version, making the original Japanese version of the film available on DVD in North America for the first time. This release features theatrical trailers, audio commentaries by film historians Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski, two 13-minute documentaries titled "Godzilla Story Development" and "Making of the Godzilla Suit", and a 12-page essay booklet by Ryfle. This release also restores the original ending credits of the American film which, until recently, were thought to have been lost.


title: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

text: In 2012, the Criterion Collection released a "new high-definition digital restoration" of "Godzilla" on Blu-ray and DVD. This release includes a remaster of the 1956 American version, "Godzilla, King of the Monsters", as well as other special features such as interviews with Akira Ikufube, Japanese film critic Tadao Sato, actor Akira Takarada, Godzilla performer Haruo Nakajima, effects technicians Yoshio Irie and Eizo Kaimai and audio commentaries on both films by David Kalat, author of "A Critical History and Filmography of Toho’s Godzilla Series." In 2014, Classic Media reissued "Gojira" and "Godzilla, King of the Monsters!" in a 2-disc DVD release, to commemorate the release of Legendary's "Godzilla" film. This release retained the same specs and features as the 2006 DVD release.


title: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

text: In 2017, Janus Films and the Criterion Collection acquired the film, as well as other Godzilla titles, to stream on Starz and FilmStruck. In 2019, the film was included as part of a Blu-ray box set released by the Criterion Collection (their 1000th release), which included all 15 films from the franchise's Shōwa era. In May 2020, the film became available on HBO Max upon its launch.


title: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

text: In 1977, Italian filmmaker Luigi Cozzi released to Italian theaters a further modified and colorized version of "Godzilla, King of the Monsters", with a soundtrack that used a magnetic tape process similar to Sensurround. Though the Italian colorized version was released as "Godzilla", it is referred to by fans, and by Cozzi himself, as "Cozzilla". Cozzi coined that title as a pen name when he was writing for magazines, later adopting it as the production company name for re-releasing the film. According to Cozzi, Toho had licensed the colorized version to Turkey. Cozzi noted that his colorization was the first attempt ever done at colorizing a black-and-white feature.


title: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

text: Due to the success of the 1976 remake of "King Kong", Cozzi attempted to cash in on the film's success by re-releasing "Gorgo". Cozzi, however, was unable to acquire the film because "the King Brothers asked for too much money". Cozzi then selected "Godzilla" as his second option. He originally intended to acquire the original 1954 film, but Toho was only able to provide negatives for the 1956 American version. Cozzi's regional distributors refused to release it after discovering that the film was in black-and-white, so he chose to colorize it to secure its release. Cozzi renegotiated with Toho, gaining their approval. Included in the new deal was that Toho retained sole ownership of the colorized negative. Cozzi had final approval over the stock footage, music, and colorization. At the time, theatrical films were required to run for 90 minutes. Therefore, Cozzi was forced to add stock footage to extend the film's runtime: "The decision to insert extra footage was because the original film was 1 hour and 20 minutes. While this was the normal length in the fifties, a film to be shown theatrically had to run 1 hour and 30 minutes in the mid-seventies. So we were forced to add material to it to reach that length. Its final length was 1 hour and 45 minutes".


title: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

text: The decision by Cozzi to specifically add real footage of death and destruction from war-time film reels was intentional. He wanted to give such an old feature an "up-to-date and more violent look". While editing the film, Cozzi was aware that certain stock footage did not match the Godzilla footage, but he chose to proceed anyway, feeling that the "effect would have been stronger than the defects". Additional footage was recycled from "The Train" and "The Day the Earth Caught Fire". As tributes, Cozzi added brief clips from "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" and "Godzilla Raids Again", taken from his personal 16mm prints. He coined the term "Spectrorama 70" for advertising purposes, referring to the film's colorization and for a feeling of 70mm. Cozzi stated that it "helped to give a 'bigger' look to my "Godzilla" theatrical re-release advertising materials".


title: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

text: For the soundtrack, Cozzi reprocessed the original 1956 soundtrack, turning it into a magnetic band eight-track stereophonic variation by adding new music and sound effects. Cozzi later added Sensurround effects and special giant loudspeakers to the theaters playing the film. Using the pseudonym "Magnetic System", Vince Tempera composed the film's additional score alongside Fabio Frizzi and using his personal electric piano. Cozzi hired Tempera after he expressed interest in collaborating on a project. Tempera, a fan of Godzilla, immediately accepted. Cozzi selected synth music because he wanted the score to give his version of the film a "modern look" and have audiences see the difference between the new scenes and the originals. During the film's opening weekend, Tempera's additional score was released as a 45 rpm record (it was later released as a 33 rpm LP).


title: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

text: Cozzi hired Enzo Nistri to paint a new poster for Cozzi's colorized release (Nistri's poster was later used on the cover of "Fangoria" magazine). Cozzi hired Armando Valcauda to do the colorization of the film, while Alberto Moro, Cozzi's mentor, was hired to edit the film. It was colorized frame-by-frame using stop motion gel photography. The process took only three months, as they were in a rush to release the film. Valcauda did all the colorization himself, while Cozzi edited the film with Moro. Cozzi noted that Yamato Video in Milan owns one new 35mm print of the colorized version and an original colorized 35mm film negative, acquired from Toho. Yamato planned to release the original 1954 version, the 1956 American cut, and the 1977 Italian color cut on DVD. Those plans, however, were abandoned after the DVD release of the 1954 film flopped financially.


title: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

text: While the 1954 film is credited for starting the franchise and establishing the template for "tokusatsu" filmmaking, "Godzilla, King of the Monsters!" was responsible for introducing international audiences to the character of Godzilla. The Japanese version was unavailable overseas until 2004, when it was given a limited theatrical run in North America to commemorate the franchise's 50th anniversary. In 1982, a subtitled version of the Japanese cut was screened at New York and Chicago film festivals honoring Takeshi Shimura's work.


title: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

text: After the release of the 1956 American version, Toho adopted the moniker "King of the Monsters" in publicity materials. The moniker was used as the title for the and as the title for . Subsequent Godzilla films featured reporters as the leads. Author David Kalat credits Burr for this trend, stating, "these reporter heroes may owe their prominence to the legacy of Raymond Burr's Steve Martin". In 2018, NECA released a repainted Godzilla figure based on the theatrical poster of "Godzilla, King of the Monsters!".


title: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

text: In 1985, New World Pictures released "Godzilla 1985", an American localization of the 1984 Japanese film "The Return of Godzilla". Like "Godzilla, King of the Monsters!", new footage was filmed for the American version, scenes and themes re-edited or omitted, and the entire dialogue dubbed in English. Burr reprised his role as Steve Martin, acting as an adviser to the Pentagon, but did not interact within the Japanese characters as he had done in "King of the Monsters". "The Return of Godzilla" was a sequel to the 1954 film, and "Godzilla 1985" served as a sequel to "Godzilla, King of the Monsters!".


title: Siege of Carthage (Third Punic War)

text: The siege of Carthage was the main engagement of the Third Punic War fought between Carthage and Rome. It consisted of the nearly-three-year siege of the Carthaginian capital, Carthage (a little north east of Tunis). In 149 BC, a large Roman army landed at Utica in North Africa. The Carthaginians hoped to appease the Romans, but despite the Carthaginians surrendering all of their weapons, the Romans pressed on to besiege the city of Carthage. The Roman campaign suffered repeated setbacks through 149 BC, only alleviated by Scipio Aemilianus, a middle-ranking officer, distinguishing himself several times. A new Roman commander took over in 148 BC, and fared equally badly. At the annual election of Roman magistrates in early 147 BC, the public support for Scipio was so great that the usual age restrictions were lifted to allow him to be appointed commander in Africa.


title: Siege of Carthage (Third Punic War)

text: Scipio's term commenced with two Carthaginian successes, but he tightened the siege and commenced a construction of a large mole to prevent supplies from getting into Carthage via blockade runners. The Carthaginians had partially rebuilt their fleet and it sortied, to the Romans' surprise; after an indecisive engagement the Carthaginians mismanaged their withdrawal and lost many ships. The Romans then built a large brick structure in the harbour area, which dominated the city wall. In the spring of 146 BC, the Romans launched their final assault and over seven days systematically destroyed the city and killed its inhabitants; only on the last day did they take prisoners50,000, who were sold into slavery. The formerly Carthaginian territories became the Roman province of Africa, with Utica as its capital. It was a century before the site of Carthage was rebuilt as a Roman city.


title: Siege of Carthage (Third Punic War)

text: The main source for almost every aspect of the Third Punic War is the historian Polybius ( – ), a Greek sent to Rome in 167 BC as a hostage. His works include a now-lost manual on military tactics, but he is now known for "The Histories", written sometime after 146 BC. Polybius's work is considered broadly objective and largely neutral as between Carthaginian and Roman points of view. Polybius was an analytical historian and wherever possible personally interviewed participants, from both sides, in the events he wrote about. He accompanied the Roman general Scipio Aemilianus during his campaign in North Africa which resulted in the storming of Carthage and Roman victory in the war.


title: Siege of Carthage (Third Punic War)

text: The accuracy of Polybius's account has been much debated over the past 150 years, but the modern consensus is to accept it largely at face value, and the details of the war in modern sources are largely based on interpretations of Polybius's account. The modern historian Andrew Curry sees Polybius as being "fairly reliable"; while Craige Champion describes him as "a remarkably well-informed, industrious, and insightful historian".