P.redeckis's definitions
Piett was a loyal Imperial officer aboard Darth Vader's flagship, the Executor, during the Hoth campaign. As an attentive Captain aboard the Super Star Destroyer, he was more creatively minded than his by-the-manual superior, Admiral Ozzel. After Ozzel committed a fatal mistake during the hunt for the Rebels, Darth Vader promoted Piett to Admiral in his place.
Piett served in this capacity during the Battle of Endor. He perished aboard his vessel when a wayward A-wing starfighter crashed into the Executor's bridge.
Piett served in this capacity during the Battle of Endor. He perished aboard his vessel when a wayward A-wing starfighter crashed into the Executor's bridge.
by P.redeckis June 11, 2006
Get the Admiral Piett mug.Cardplayer. Scoundrel. You'll like him. That was Han Solo's hurried precis on his old pal, Lando Calrissian. While the description is accurate, it barely scratches the surface of this complicated rogue. Calrissian is at home in the shadowy reaches of the fringe, the underworld culture that permeates the galaxy. While he has rubbed elbows with hunters, mercs, outlaws and gangsters, Lando's main difference is that his elbows were covered by some of the most expensive and fashionable clothes this side of the Core. Lando has style and class; some would say in excess. He is a man of sophisticated tastes, and settles for nothing short of the best in his surroundings, his belongings, his look, and his female companionship.
Han and Lando go way back, you'll hear them say, but it hasn't always been friendship and camaraderie. Solo and Calrissian have been rivals in the past. A bitter point of contention between the two has been the ownership of the Millennium Falcon. The deceptively dilapidated freighter once belonged to Calrissian, and much to the gambler's chagrin, he lost it to Solo in a heated game of sabacc. Though Solo insists he won fair and square, Calrissian still questions Solo's victory, if only to goad the Corellian.
Lando was the first of the two friends to go "respectable," a fate worse than death to some smugglers. He distanced himself from the life on the run, and settled down in the floating metropolis of Cloud City, on the gas planet Bespin. Lando became baron-administrator of the city and its lucrative Tibanna gas mining operation. Where once he had only looked out for himself, Lando now found himself responsible for the lives of millions of Cloud City residents. Despite himself, Lando found that he had a knack for administrative duties, and enjoyed being a businessman and community leader as much as a cardshark.
Lando's new world came crashing down around him when the Empire arrived at Cloud City. It was shortly after the Battle of Hoth when the Dark Lord, Darth Vader, and the masked bounty hunter Boba Fett came before him. They had tracked down the Falcon and its crew heading to Cloud City, and forced Calrissian to agree to turn Solo over to the Empire. In exchange, the Empire would not interfere with Cloud City, and allow it to remain an independent colony. Calrissian was torn -- was a friend's life worth more than the lives of his people?
Reluctantly, Calrissian agreed to the Empire's plan and lured Solo into a trap. Throughout the ordeal, Vader kept altering his end of the bargain, and Calrissian was powerless to stop him. The gambler learned an important lesson: never deal with a Dark Lord.
With all the cards on the table, Lando realized that he was set up to lose. Although Solo was captured, frozen in carbonite, and taken to the vile gangster Jabba the Hutt, Calrissian seized the initiative to redeem himself. He freed Solo's friends, Leia Organa and Chewbacca, and warned Cloud City's populace of the impending Imperial takeover. Calrissian, aboard the Millennium Falcon, led the escape from the city. He even helped rescue a wounded Luke Skywalker before returning the fugitive Rebels to the Alliance fleet.
Calrissian volunteered in a daring mission to rescue Solo from Jabba the Hutt's fortress on Tatooine. He concealed himself in the armor of one of Jabba's many faceless skiff guards and infiltrated the palace. Lando was in perfect position when Skywalker sprung his rescue mission over the Great Pit of Carkoon.
The skiff guards never knew they had a Rebel in their midst. Calrissian helped dispose of several of the guards protecting the prisoners, and piloted the rescue skiff that spirited away the newly liberated Solo and his friends.
During the Battle of Endor, Calrissian again proved his mettle. Now a General in the Alliance Forces, Lando volunteered to spearhead the starfighter attack on the second Death Star while Admiral Ackbar led the capital ships. His past exploits in the Battle of Tanaab helped prepare him for the coming conflict. His unorthodox strategies worked well with Ackbar's more conservative tactics. When the Death Star proved operational, Ackbar was ready to retreat. Instead, Calrissian commanded the Alliance Fleet to engage the Imperial Fleet at point-blank range, offering limited protection from the Death Star's massive superlaser weapon.
Once a Rebel strike team deactivated the Death Star's protective deflector shield, Lando led the starfighters into the station's incomplete superstructure. Lando, aboard the Falcon, flew point into the twisting narrow corridors of the Death Star's innards. Once in the massive reactor core, he loosed a volley of concussion missiles at the Death Star's exposed heart. He then outran the fantastic explosion that followed, and the Millennium Falcon emerged triumphantly from the dying Death Star.
Han and Lando go way back, you'll hear them say, but it hasn't always been friendship and camaraderie. Solo and Calrissian have been rivals in the past. A bitter point of contention between the two has been the ownership of the Millennium Falcon. The deceptively dilapidated freighter once belonged to Calrissian, and much to the gambler's chagrin, he lost it to Solo in a heated game of sabacc. Though Solo insists he won fair and square, Calrissian still questions Solo's victory, if only to goad the Corellian.
Lando was the first of the two friends to go "respectable," a fate worse than death to some smugglers. He distanced himself from the life on the run, and settled down in the floating metropolis of Cloud City, on the gas planet Bespin. Lando became baron-administrator of the city and its lucrative Tibanna gas mining operation. Where once he had only looked out for himself, Lando now found himself responsible for the lives of millions of Cloud City residents. Despite himself, Lando found that he had a knack for administrative duties, and enjoyed being a businessman and community leader as much as a cardshark.
Lando's new world came crashing down around him when the Empire arrived at Cloud City. It was shortly after the Battle of Hoth when the Dark Lord, Darth Vader, and the masked bounty hunter Boba Fett came before him. They had tracked down the Falcon and its crew heading to Cloud City, and forced Calrissian to agree to turn Solo over to the Empire. In exchange, the Empire would not interfere with Cloud City, and allow it to remain an independent colony. Calrissian was torn -- was a friend's life worth more than the lives of his people?
Reluctantly, Calrissian agreed to the Empire's plan and lured Solo into a trap. Throughout the ordeal, Vader kept altering his end of the bargain, and Calrissian was powerless to stop him. The gambler learned an important lesson: never deal with a Dark Lord.
With all the cards on the table, Lando realized that he was set up to lose. Although Solo was captured, frozen in carbonite, and taken to the vile gangster Jabba the Hutt, Calrissian seized the initiative to redeem himself. He freed Solo's friends, Leia Organa and Chewbacca, and warned Cloud City's populace of the impending Imperial takeover. Calrissian, aboard the Millennium Falcon, led the escape from the city. He even helped rescue a wounded Luke Skywalker before returning the fugitive Rebels to the Alliance fleet.
Calrissian volunteered in a daring mission to rescue Solo from Jabba the Hutt's fortress on Tatooine. He concealed himself in the armor of one of Jabba's many faceless skiff guards and infiltrated the palace. Lando was in perfect position when Skywalker sprung his rescue mission over the Great Pit of Carkoon.
The skiff guards never knew they had a Rebel in their midst. Calrissian helped dispose of several of the guards protecting the prisoners, and piloted the rescue skiff that spirited away the newly liberated Solo and his friends.
During the Battle of Endor, Calrissian again proved his mettle. Now a General in the Alliance Forces, Lando volunteered to spearhead the starfighter attack on the second Death Star while Admiral Ackbar led the capital ships. His past exploits in the Battle of Tanaab helped prepare him for the coming conflict. His unorthodox strategies worked well with Ackbar's more conservative tactics. When the Death Star proved operational, Ackbar was ready to retreat. Instead, Calrissian commanded the Alliance Fleet to engage the Imperial Fleet at point-blank range, offering limited protection from the Death Star's massive superlaser weapon.
Once a Rebel strike team deactivated the Death Star's protective deflector shield, Lando led the starfighters into the station's incomplete superstructure. Lando, aboard the Falcon, flew point into the twisting narrow corridors of the Death Star's innards. Once in the massive reactor core, he loosed a volley of concussion missiles at the Death Star's exposed heart. He then outran the fantastic explosion that followed, and the Millennium Falcon emerged triumphantly from the dying Death Star.
by P.redeckis June 11, 2006
Get the Lando Calrissian mug.UrbanDictionary
UrbanDictionary is an online dictionary whose definitions are contributed by users. Most words featured on UrbanDictionary are slang, particularly ambiguous slang.
Site features
It has recently arranged its terms into categories in which people may search for terms. One of its main motives is to emphasise the defining of words how you want to define them, hence its slogan: "Define your world". Because of this, one word may return many definitions. Individual definitions can be voted on based upon a thumbs up/down scale, and a running tally of votes is kept for each definition. Visitors may also view a randomly chosen word to expand their urban vocabulary. Users can submit sounds of spoken words and images to give a clear, understandable feeling of a certain definition. This feature has been very helpful to some, although it has been sparingly used; many terms are unable to be visualized. Other recently-added features of the site include a "Word of the Day", where subscribers receive a daily email containing a select term, and a chatroom.
The "Urbanelite" and the "UD terrorist"
When authors submit their definitions, they are permitted to include a name or pseudonym, and more recently, their location, which appears underneath the definition. These names cannot presently be password protected, and some names are used by many authors (anonymous and unknown being primary examples), while other authors with unique handles gain some degree of notoriety from the number or popularity of their definitions. The authors judged to make the most notable contributions are sometimes known as the "urbanelite" and have intercommunicated with each other via chatboard style back-and-forth definitions. This has led to a series of on-and-off flame wars on the website. Disliked members of the urbanelite are often the victims of having extremely disagreeable definitions superimposed under their nicknames by other authors trying to discredit them. This was first seen large scale happening to the inarticulate PlayStation fan with the handle of "sony roolz". The handle "sony roolz" was used by several urban dictionary regulars to make the user appear an immature and illiterate sociopath, with the abuse even extending beyond urbandictionary.
Over time a group of users formed into a loosely organised attack group with the sole aim of commandeering the names of urbanelites and writing a plethora of definitions packed with objectionable content, including racist statements, offensive jokes, poems in support of necrophilia, zoophilia and child molestation as well as plenty of statements where the victim 'admits' to homosexual activity and hatred of non-white races. These claims are desultory and conflicting, as are most spatial attacks. One victimised author refered to the people behind these attacks as the 'Urbandictionary Terrorist', believing there to be just one culprit. The handle "ud terrorist" stuck, and today many of the definitions of urbanelite authors that used to contribute to the site have disappeared. Prior to the new deletion system, some of these authors have had all their definitions removed as their continued presence was likely to spark more trolling.
Quality control
In order to keep definitions accurate and non-offensive, a so-called "quality control" system was established. Should a user disapprove of a certain word, they could submit a complaint. The user was able to choose one of five general reasons for which the definition ought be deleted and to enter additional comments about the rationale justifying the definition's deletion (such as if the definition was incoherent or hateful). Deletion requests were added to a pool that was reviewed by users who choose to participate in quality control. Users participating in the system made a judgement whether to keep the definitions on the website or to delete them by selecting for each one either "it stays" or "it goes". If the user was unsure, a "don't know" option was also selectable.
However, the site's management did not believe that this concept was working as intended. Many people were not, in their eyes, using it to solely erase definitions from the site that were inconsistent with the site's terms of service. For instance, many users recommended definitions of users they did not approve of or those containing opinions they did not agree with. Because of this, a many definitions that did not meet the site's criteria for deletion were removed from the website. As this was happening repeatedly, a new system has been established. Though complaints are still submitted, the quality control system is now invalid, with executive editors now determining whether a definition should remain on the website or not. Now, the site is offering free, non-executive editing positions. Users now determine whether a definition is appropriate for publication, and if not, the definition will not appear on the website. This system had, at its' inception, what appeared to be several weeks worth of backlogs, and is still open to abuse despite the posted guidelines.
More than just slang
Urban Dictionary's content contains more than slang. The names of many well-known figures, computer games, and other commonly-used terms exist. Also, because of Urban Dictionary's informality and anonymity and its popularity among teens, some people define their peers' names, usually to insult or profess their love for them. Many people believe that this does not ruin the site; they believe that the site has drifted away from being solely a slang dictionary, but instead a slang dictionary and a source from which people can learn more about the general conceptions that people have of certain things in everyday life. But, most definitions are rather opinionated and not very useful.
See also
Wiktionary
External links
Urban Dictionary
UrbanDictionary is an online dictionary whose definitions are contributed by users. Most words featured on UrbanDictionary are slang, particularly ambiguous slang.
Site features
It has recently arranged its terms into categories in which people may search for terms. One of its main motives is to emphasise the defining of words how you want to define them, hence its slogan: "Define your world". Because of this, one word may return many definitions. Individual definitions can be voted on based upon a thumbs up/down scale, and a running tally of votes is kept for each definition. Visitors may also view a randomly chosen word to expand their urban vocabulary. Users can submit sounds of spoken words and images to give a clear, understandable feeling of a certain definition. This feature has been very helpful to some, although it has been sparingly used; many terms are unable to be visualized. Other recently-added features of the site include a "Word of the Day", where subscribers receive a daily email containing a select term, and a chatroom.
The "Urbanelite" and the "UD terrorist"
When authors submit their definitions, they are permitted to include a name or pseudonym, and more recently, their location, which appears underneath the definition. These names cannot presently be password protected, and some names are used by many authors (anonymous and unknown being primary examples), while other authors with unique handles gain some degree of notoriety from the number or popularity of their definitions. The authors judged to make the most notable contributions are sometimes known as the "urbanelite" and have intercommunicated with each other via chatboard style back-and-forth definitions. This has led to a series of on-and-off flame wars on the website. Disliked members of the urbanelite are often the victims of having extremely disagreeable definitions superimposed under their nicknames by other authors trying to discredit them. This was first seen large scale happening to the inarticulate PlayStation fan with the handle of "sony roolz". The handle "sony roolz" was used by several urban dictionary regulars to make the user appear an immature and illiterate sociopath, with the abuse even extending beyond urbandictionary.
Over time a group of users formed into a loosely organised attack group with the sole aim of commandeering the names of urbanelites and writing a plethora of definitions packed with objectionable content, including racist statements, offensive jokes, poems in support of necrophilia, zoophilia and child molestation as well as plenty of statements where the victim 'admits' to homosexual activity and hatred of non-white races. These claims are desultory and conflicting, as are most spatial attacks. One victimised author refered to the people behind these attacks as the 'Urbandictionary Terrorist', believing there to be just one culprit. The handle "ud terrorist" stuck, and today many of the definitions of urbanelite authors that used to contribute to the site have disappeared. Prior to the new deletion system, some of these authors have had all their definitions removed as their continued presence was likely to spark more trolling.
Quality control
In order to keep definitions accurate and non-offensive, a so-called "quality control" system was established. Should a user disapprove of a certain word, they could submit a complaint. The user was able to choose one of five general reasons for which the definition ought be deleted and to enter additional comments about the rationale justifying the definition's deletion (such as if the definition was incoherent or hateful). Deletion requests were added to a pool that was reviewed by users who choose to participate in quality control. Users participating in the system made a judgement whether to keep the definitions on the website or to delete them by selecting for each one either "it stays" or "it goes". If the user was unsure, a "don't know" option was also selectable.
However, the site's management did not believe that this concept was working as intended. Many people were not, in their eyes, using it to solely erase definitions from the site that were inconsistent with the site's terms of service. For instance, many users recommended definitions of users they did not approve of or those containing opinions they did not agree with. Because of this, a many definitions that did not meet the site's criteria for deletion were removed from the website. As this was happening repeatedly, a new system has been established. Though complaints are still submitted, the quality control system is now invalid, with executive editors now determining whether a definition should remain on the website or not. Now, the site is offering free, non-executive editing positions. Users now determine whether a definition is appropriate for publication, and if not, the definition will not appear on the website. This system had, at its' inception, what appeared to be several weeks worth of backlogs, and is still open to abuse despite the posted guidelines.
More than just slang
Urban Dictionary's content contains more than slang. The names of many well-known figures, computer games, and other commonly-used terms exist. Also, because of Urban Dictionary's informality and anonymity and its popularity among teens, some people define their peers' names, usually to insult or profess their love for them. Many people believe that this does not ruin the site; they believe that the site has drifted away from being solely a slang dictionary, but instead a slang dictionary and a source from which people can learn more about the general conceptions that people have of certain things in everyday life. But, most definitions are rather opinionated and not very useful.
See also
Wiktionary
External links
Urban Dictionary
by P.redeckis June 14, 2006
Get the Urbandictionary.com mug.Nicholas Hoult
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Nicholas Hoult born 7 December 1989 is the British actor best known for playing Marcus in the hit British film About a Boy.
He trained at the Sylvia Young Theatre School in London and made his film debut as Bobby in the Boxer Films/Fox Searchlight picture Intimate Relations. Although About A Boy marked his first leading role in a feature film, he had worked since the age of eight in film, television and theatre.
Hoult has also appeared with the English National Opera at the London Coliseum, firstly in their production of The Nutcracker and more recently in Swan Lake.
edit
Television
For the BBC:
Silent Witness
Mr. White Goes to Westminster
World of Pub
Waking The Dead
Murder In Mind
Holby City
Doctors
Casualty
Judge John Deed
For ITV
The Bill
Ruth Rendall's The Fallen Curtain
The Caucasian Chalk Circle
edit
Filmography
The Weather Man (2005) - Mike
Wah-Wah (2005) - Ralph Compton
Kidulthood (2005) - Blake
About a Boy (2002) - Marcus Brewer
Intimate Relations (1996) - Bobby
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Nicholas Hoult born 7 December 1989 is the British actor best known for playing Marcus in the hit British film About a Boy.
He trained at the Sylvia Young Theatre School in London and made his film debut as Bobby in the Boxer Films/Fox Searchlight picture Intimate Relations. Although About A Boy marked his first leading role in a feature film, he had worked since the age of eight in film, television and theatre.
Hoult has also appeared with the English National Opera at the London Coliseum, firstly in their production of The Nutcracker and more recently in Swan Lake.
edit
Television
For the BBC:
Silent Witness
Mr. White Goes to Westminster
World of Pub
Waking The Dead
Murder In Mind
Holby City
Doctors
Casualty
Judge John Deed
For ITV
The Bill
Ruth Rendall's The Fallen Curtain
The Caucasian Chalk Circle
edit
Filmography
The Weather Man (2005) - Mike
Wah-Wah (2005) - Ralph Compton
Kidulthood (2005) - Blake
About a Boy (2002) - Marcus Brewer
Intimate Relations (1996) - Bobby
by P.redeckis June 11, 2006
Get the Nicholas Hoult mug.Sabé is the most important of Queen Amidala's royal retinue of handmaidens. During crisis situations, Sabé and Amidala switch roles. Sabé becomes a decoy, disguised as the Queen, while Amidala adopts a simple gown of a handmaiden, and goes by her less formal name of Padmé Naberrie. When in this role, Sabé and Padmé secretly communicate with subtle signals as to not divulge their true identities. During the Trade Federation invasion of Naboo, Sabé posed as the Queen on several occasions.
by P.redeckis June 11, 2006
Get the Sabé mug.Phil Hartman (September 24, 1948 – May 28, 1998) was a Canadian-born American graphic artist, writer, actor, voice artist and comedian.
Early life
Philip Edward Hartmann was born in Brantford, Ontario, Canada to Rupert and Doris Hartmann; the family was of German Catholic descent.
Hartman's family migrated to the United States in the 1950s, and Hartman attended Westchester High School and Cal State Northridge in Los Angeles, California, becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen in the early-1990s.
The exact timing of his switch from "Hartmann" to "Hartman" is unknown, but all of his acting credits after 1986 were billed under the surname "Hartman".
Hartman and his wife Brynn had two children, Sean Edward Hartman (born 1989) and Birgen Hartman (born 1992).
Early career
Looking for what he described as "a psychological release valve", he joined the California-based comedy group The Groundlings in 1975. Hartman met comedian Paul Reubens while working with the group and the two became friends, often writing and working on material together.
One such collaboration was the character of Pee-wee Herman and the script of the feature film Pee-wee's Big Adventure. Hartman also met Jon Lovitz while with The Groundlings.
Hartman worked part time as a graphic artist, including designing album covers for popular rock bands. Hartman's covers include:
Poco's 1978 album Legend (photo)
Firesign Theatre's 1980 album Fighting Clowns (photo)
Three album covers for the band America
History: Greatest Hits in 1975 (photo)
Harbor in 1977 (photo)
Silent Letter in 1979 (photo).
He was also the designer for the logo of Crosby, Stills & Nash.
Television career
In 1986, Hartman joined the cast of NBC's popular variety show Saturday Night Live and stayed for eight seasons, which was a record at the time. Hartman was known for his impressions, which included Ronald Reagan, Charlton Heston, Frank Sinatra, Telly Savalas, Ed McMahon, Michael Caine, Jack Nicholson, Barbara Bush, Burt Reynolds, Phil Donahue, and former president Bill Clinton, which was perhaps his best-known impression. His other Saturday Night Live characters included Frankenstein and Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer. He returned twice to host the show following his 1994 departure and was honored at the show's 25th anniversary special in 1999 by the members of the cast who had started their careers on the show the same year: Jan Hooks, Mike Myers, Nora Dunn, Dennis Miller, Kevin Nealon, Jon Lovitz, and Victoria Jackson.
Also in 1986, Hartman was chosen to play the role of Captain Carl, one of Pee-Wee Herman's close friends and famed sea captain in the first season of Pee-Wee's Playhouse.
From 1991 to 1998, Hartman also provided the voices for a number of characters on the popular animated series, The Simpsons, including dubious attorney Lionel Hutz, B-movie actor Troy McClure, and slippery monorail shyster Lyle Lanley; Hartman expressed interest in making a live action version of this character, but the film was never made. In the episode "Selma's Choice", he lent his voice to three different characters, one of which being the aforementioned Hutz.
In 1994, Hartman left SNL. His last scene on Saturday Night Live consisted of him consoling Chris Farley.
In 1995, he became one of the stars of the NBC sitcom NewsRadio, where he portrayed fatuous radio news anchor Bill McNeal. Many have credited the cancellation of the show with Hartman's passing, citing that the humor was thrown off balance despite the casting of Lovitz (who replaced Hartman).
Movies
Hartman's filmography includes often secondary or supporting roles in such feature films as Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, Greed, Houseguest, Coneheads, Stuart Saves His Family (voice only), Sgt. Bilko, So I Married an Axe Murderer, CB4, Jingle All the Way and Small Soldiers, the last of which would become his final silver screen appearance and was thus dedicated to him.
His last role was in the English version of Hayao Miyazaki's Kiki's Delivery Service, where he provided the voice of Jiji the cat. The movie was dedicated to his memory.
Video games
Hartman provided the voice of Captain Blasto in the PlayStation video game Blasto. Although there were plans for a sequel to the game, the sequel was immediately cancelled when Hartman died.
Murder
Hartman was murdered on May 28, 1998, in his Encino, California home, at the age of 49. As he slept, Hartman was shot twice in the head by his wife, Brynn, who, hours later, turned the gun on herself with a shot to the head. The reasons for the murder-suicide are unknown, although friends of the Hartmans speculated in the press that the combination of their marriage problems and Brynn's drug addictions probably contributed.
Hartman's murder caused considerable mourning in Hollywood. NewsRadio produced a special episode where the cast sincerely and tearfully mourned the death of Hartman's on-screen counterpart. Jon Lovitz joined the show in his place and stayed with it until its ultimate cancellation. Lovitz had been a Saturday Night Live cast member alongside Hartman for four seasons, and had also worked with Hartman when the both had cameos in the 1986 comedy Three Amigos.
Out of respect, The Simpsons retired Hartman's characters, rather than finding another voice actor. The episode "Bart the Mother" marked his final appearance on the show, and was dedicated to him.
At the time of his death, Hartman was preparing to voice several characters on Simpsons creator Matt Groening's other animated series Futurama, among them Zapp Brannigan. Groening wrote the character specifically for him, but Hartman had nonetheless insisted on auditioning. After he died, the lead character, Philip J. Fry, was named in his honor. Billy West (the voice of Fry, among many other Futurama characters) took his place. West's original audition formed the basis of Brannigan's final voice. By coincidence, however, his portrayal bears many similarities to Hartman's own vocal stylings.
Hartman was posthumously nominated for an Emmy Award for his portrayal of Bill McNeal in NewsRadio, but lost out to actor David Hyde Pierce. Upon learning Hartman did not win the award, NewsRadio co-star Dave Foley joked: "What's this guy gotta do to win an Emmy?"
Early life
Philip Edward Hartmann was born in Brantford, Ontario, Canada to Rupert and Doris Hartmann; the family was of German Catholic descent.
Hartman's family migrated to the United States in the 1950s, and Hartman attended Westchester High School and Cal State Northridge in Los Angeles, California, becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen in the early-1990s.
The exact timing of his switch from "Hartmann" to "Hartman" is unknown, but all of his acting credits after 1986 were billed under the surname "Hartman".
Hartman and his wife Brynn had two children, Sean Edward Hartman (born 1989) and Birgen Hartman (born 1992).
Early career
Looking for what he described as "a psychological release valve", he joined the California-based comedy group The Groundlings in 1975. Hartman met comedian Paul Reubens while working with the group and the two became friends, often writing and working on material together.
One such collaboration was the character of Pee-wee Herman and the script of the feature film Pee-wee's Big Adventure. Hartman also met Jon Lovitz while with The Groundlings.
Hartman worked part time as a graphic artist, including designing album covers for popular rock bands. Hartman's covers include:
Poco's 1978 album Legend (photo)
Firesign Theatre's 1980 album Fighting Clowns (photo)
Three album covers for the band America
History: Greatest Hits in 1975 (photo)
Harbor in 1977 (photo)
Silent Letter in 1979 (photo).
He was also the designer for the logo of Crosby, Stills & Nash.
Television career
In 1986, Hartman joined the cast of NBC's popular variety show Saturday Night Live and stayed for eight seasons, which was a record at the time. Hartman was known for his impressions, which included Ronald Reagan, Charlton Heston, Frank Sinatra, Telly Savalas, Ed McMahon, Michael Caine, Jack Nicholson, Barbara Bush, Burt Reynolds, Phil Donahue, and former president Bill Clinton, which was perhaps his best-known impression. His other Saturday Night Live characters included Frankenstein and Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer. He returned twice to host the show following his 1994 departure and was honored at the show's 25th anniversary special in 1999 by the members of the cast who had started their careers on the show the same year: Jan Hooks, Mike Myers, Nora Dunn, Dennis Miller, Kevin Nealon, Jon Lovitz, and Victoria Jackson.
Also in 1986, Hartman was chosen to play the role of Captain Carl, one of Pee-Wee Herman's close friends and famed sea captain in the first season of Pee-Wee's Playhouse.
From 1991 to 1998, Hartman also provided the voices for a number of characters on the popular animated series, The Simpsons, including dubious attorney Lionel Hutz, B-movie actor Troy McClure, and slippery monorail shyster Lyle Lanley; Hartman expressed interest in making a live action version of this character, but the film was never made. In the episode "Selma's Choice", he lent his voice to three different characters, one of which being the aforementioned Hutz.
In 1994, Hartman left SNL. His last scene on Saturday Night Live consisted of him consoling Chris Farley.
In 1995, he became one of the stars of the NBC sitcom NewsRadio, where he portrayed fatuous radio news anchor Bill McNeal. Many have credited the cancellation of the show with Hartman's passing, citing that the humor was thrown off balance despite the casting of Lovitz (who replaced Hartman).
Movies
Hartman's filmography includes often secondary or supporting roles in such feature films as Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, Greed, Houseguest, Coneheads, Stuart Saves His Family (voice only), Sgt. Bilko, So I Married an Axe Murderer, CB4, Jingle All the Way and Small Soldiers, the last of which would become his final silver screen appearance and was thus dedicated to him.
His last role was in the English version of Hayao Miyazaki's Kiki's Delivery Service, where he provided the voice of Jiji the cat. The movie was dedicated to his memory.
Video games
Hartman provided the voice of Captain Blasto in the PlayStation video game Blasto. Although there were plans for a sequel to the game, the sequel was immediately cancelled when Hartman died.
Murder
Hartman was murdered on May 28, 1998, in his Encino, California home, at the age of 49. As he slept, Hartman was shot twice in the head by his wife, Brynn, who, hours later, turned the gun on herself with a shot to the head. The reasons for the murder-suicide are unknown, although friends of the Hartmans speculated in the press that the combination of their marriage problems and Brynn's drug addictions probably contributed.
Hartman's murder caused considerable mourning in Hollywood. NewsRadio produced a special episode where the cast sincerely and tearfully mourned the death of Hartman's on-screen counterpart. Jon Lovitz joined the show in his place and stayed with it until its ultimate cancellation. Lovitz had been a Saturday Night Live cast member alongside Hartman for four seasons, and had also worked with Hartman when the both had cameos in the 1986 comedy Three Amigos.
Out of respect, The Simpsons retired Hartman's characters, rather than finding another voice actor. The episode "Bart the Mother" marked his final appearance on the show, and was dedicated to him.
At the time of his death, Hartman was preparing to voice several characters on Simpsons creator Matt Groening's other animated series Futurama, among them Zapp Brannigan. Groening wrote the character specifically for him, but Hartman had nonetheless insisted on auditioning. After he died, the lead character, Philip J. Fry, was named in his honor. Billy West (the voice of Fry, among many other Futurama characters) took his place. West's original audition formed the basis of Brannigan's final voice. By coincidence, however, his portrayal bears many similarities to Hartman's own vocal stylings.
Hartman was posthumously nominated for an Emmy Award for his portrayal of Bill McNeal in NewsRadio, but lost out to actor David Hyde Pierce. Upon learning Hartman did not win the award, NewsRadio co-star Dave Foley joked: "What's this guy gotta do to win an Emmy?"
by P.redeckis June 11, 2006
Get the Phil Hartman mug.The Seinfeld Chronicles is the pilot episode of the NBC series, Seinfeld. It originally aired on July 5, 1989. The original title of the episode was Good News, Bad News however it has been confirmed by the creators that the title of the pilot is The Seinfeld Chronicles.
It was rebroadcast in 1990 after the show had been picked up as a series.
The episode was written by creators, Larry David & Jerry Seinfeld and was directed by Art Wolff.
Plot
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Jerry Seinfeld and George Costanza are seated at Pete's Luncheonette debating over a shirt button. The waitress, Claire, comes over to their table and pours each a cup of coffee. George tells Claire he does not want caffeine in his coffee and Jerry corrects him by telling George she is an expert waitress. The two continue to talk and finally leave when Jerry has to do laundry.
The following evening while watching a late Mets game, he receives a phone call from a potential girlfriend, Laura, whom he met on the road. She asks if she can stay over his apartment since she cannot find a "decent hotel" (a fact George contests). Jerry invites her but is unsure if her visit is intended to be romantic or not. George and Jerry continue to debate fine details in Laura's conversation with Jerry to determine the true nature of the visit. A character known in the pilot as "Kessler," (who in all future episodes is known as Kramer) joins in asking Jerry why he would even give her a choice about where to sleep by bringing in another bed. The episode gives viewers a quick glimpse at George's profession (real estate) and also Kramer's (questionable get rich quick schemes).
At the airport, George and Jerry continue to talk in an effort to identify the possible signals Laura might give upon her arrival. Laura arrives and takes Jerry (and George) by surprise. The two arrive at Jerry's apartment and he feels uncomfortable with the situation. Laura removes some excess clothing to get comfortable and asks for wine. Jerry believes he has gotten to the bottom of the whole question. His plans are abruptly interrupted when he learns Laura has a fiancé. Jerry realizes he has no chance with Laura but has already committed himself — and his studio apartment — to an entire weekend with her.
Note
The episode does not feature the character of Elaine Benes. Her character was introduced as a result of constructive criticism based on this episode.
Lee Garlington, who played Claire (the waitress at Pete's) in the pilot, although credited as a regular, was not asked to appear in the series and is only featured in this episode.
The restaurant Jerry and George are eating lunch at is known as Pete's Luncheonette in this episode. It will later be known as the well-known Monk's Cafe for the remainder of the series.
It was rebroadcast in 1990 after the show had been picked up as a series.
The episode was written by creators, Larry David & Jerry Seinfeld and was directed by Art Wolff.
Plot
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Jerry Seinfeld and George Costanza are seated at Pete's Luncheonette debating over a shirt button. The waitress, Claire, comes over to their table and pours each a cup of coffee. George tells Claire he does not want caffeine in his coffee and Jerry corrects him by telling George she is an expert waitress. The two continue to talk and finally leave when Jerry has to do laundry.
The following evening while watching a late Mets game, he receives a phone call from a potential girlfriend, Laura, whom he met on the road. She asks if she can stay over his apartment since she cannot find a "decent hotel" (a fact George contests). Jerry invites her but is unsure if her visit is intended to be romantic or not. George and Jerry continue to debate fine details in Laura's conversation with Jerry to determine the true nature of the visit. A character known in the pilot as "Kessler," (who in all future episodes is known as Kramer) joins in asking Jerry why he would even give her a choice about where to sleep by bringing in another bed. The episode gives viewers a quick glimpse at George's profession (real estate) and also Kramer's (questionable get rich quick schemes).
At the airport, George and Jerry continue to talk in an effort to identify the possible signals Laura might give upon her arrival. Laura arrives and takes Jerry (and George) by surprise. The two arrive at Jerry's apartment and he feels uncomfortable with the situation. Laura removes some excess clothing to get comfortable and asks for wine. Jerry believes he has gotten to the bottom of the whole question. His plans are abruptly interrupted when he learns Laura has a fiancé. Jerry realizes he has no chance with Laura but has already committed himself — and his studio apartment — to an entire weekend with her.
Note
The episode does not feature the character of Elaine Benes. Her character was introduced as a result of constructive criticism based on this episode.
Lee Garlington, who played Claire (the waitress at Pete's) in the pilot, although credited as a regular, was not asked to appear in the series and is only featured in this episode.
The restaurant Jerry and George are eating lunch at is known as Pete's Luncheonette in this episode. It will later be known as the well-known Monk's Cafe for the remainder of the series.
by P.redeckis June 11, 2006
Get the The Seinfeld Chronicles mug.